by your lawes taken away your selues who haue sought them ye so excuse as that ye would haue men to thinke ye iudge them not allowable but tollerable only and to be borne with for some helpe which ye find in them vnto the furtherance of your purposes till the corrupt estate of the Churâ—h may be better reformed Your lawes forbidding Ecclesiasticall persons vtterly the exercise of Ciuill power must needs depriue the Heads and Maisters in the same Colledges of all such authoritie as now they exercise either at home by punishing the faults of those who not as children to their parents by the law of Nature but altogether by ciuill authority are subiect vnto them or abroad by keeping Courts amongst their tenants Your lawes making permanent inequalitie amongst Ministers a thing repugnant to the word of God enforce those Colledges the Seniors whereof are all or any part of them Ministers vnder the gouernment of a maister in the same vocation to choose as oft as they meet together a new president For if so ye iudge it necessary to do in Synods for the auoyding of permanent inequality amongst Ministers the same cause must needs euen in these Collegiate assemblies enforce the like Except per aduenture ye meane to auoid all such absurdities by dissoluing those Corporations and by bringing the Vniuersities vnto the forme of the Schoole of Geneua Which thing men the rather are inclined to looke for in as much as the Ministery whereinto their founders with singular prouidence haue by the same statutes appointed them necessarily to enter at a certaine time your lawes bind them much more necessarily to forbeare till some parish abroad call for them Your opinion concerning the law Ciuill is that the knowledge thereof might be spared as a thing which this land doth not need Professors in that kind being few ye are the bolder to spurne at them and not to dissemble your minds as concerning their remoouall in whose studies although my selfe haue not much bene conuersant neuerthelesse exceeding great cause I see there is to wish that thereunto more encouragement were giuen as well for the singular treasures of wisedome therein conteined as also for the great vse we haue thereof both in decision of certaine kinds of causes arising daily within our selues and especially for commerce with Nations abroad whereunto that knowledge is most requisite The reasons wherewith ye would perswade that Scripture is the onely rule to frame all our actions by are in euery respect as effectuall for proofe that the same is the onely law whereby to determine all our Ciuill controuersies And then what doth let but that as those men may haue their desire who frankely broch it already that the worke of reformation will neuer be perfect till the law of Iesus Christ be receiued alone so pleaders and Counsellors may bring their bookes of the Common law and bestow them as the students of curious needlesse arts did theirs in the Apostles time J leave them to scanne how farre those words of yours may reach wherein ye declare that whereas now many houses lye waste through inordinate suites of law This one thing will showe the excellencie of Discipline for the wealth of the Realme and quiet of Subiects that the Church is to censure such a party who is apparantly troublesome and contentious and without REASONABLE CAVSE vpon a meere will and stomacke doth vexe and molest his brother troble the Country For mine owne part I do not see but that it might verie well agree with your principles if your discipline were fully planted euen to send out your writs of surcease vnto all Courts of England besides for the most things handled in them A great deale further I might proceed and descend lower But for as much as against all these and the like difficulties your answer is that we ought to search what things are consonant to Gods will not which be most for our owne ease and therefore that your discipline being for such is your errour the absolute commaundement of Almightie God it must be receiued although the world by receiuing it should be cleane turned vpside downe herein lyeth the greatest danger of all For whereas the name of diuine authority is vsed to countenance these things which are not the commaundements of God but your owne erronious collections on him ye must father whatsoeuer ye shall afterwards be led either to do in withstanding the aduersaries of your cause or to thinke in maintenance of your doings And what this may be God doth know In such kinds of error the mind once imagining it selfe to seeke the execution of Gods will laboureth foorthwith to remoue both things and persons which any way hinder it from taking place and in such cases if any strange or new thing seeme requisite to be done a strange and new opinion concerning the lawfulnesse therof is withall receiued and broched vnder countenance of diuine authoritie One example herein may serue for many to shew that false opinions touching the will of God to haue things done are wont to bring forth mightie and violent practises against the hinderances of them and those practises new opinions more pernitious then the first yea most extremely sometimes opposite to that which the first did seeme to intend Where the people tooke vpon them the reformation of the Church by casting out popish superstition they hauing receiued from their Pastors a generall instruction that whatsoeuer the heauenly father hath not planted must be rooted out proceeded in some forrein places so far that down went oratories the very teÌ„ples of God theÌ„selues For as they chanced to take the compasse of their coÌ„mission stricter or larger so their dealings were accordingly more or lesse moderate Amongst others there sprang vp presently one kind of meÌ„ with whose zeale forwardnesse the rest being compared were thought to be maruelous cold dull These grounding theÌ„selues on rules more generall that whatsoeuer the law of Christ commandeth not thereof Antichrist is the author and that whatsoeuer Antichrist or his adherents did in the world the true professors of Christ are to vndoe found out many things more then others had done the extirpation whereof was in their conceipt as necessary as of any thing before remoued Hereupon they secretly made their dolefull complaints euery where as they went that albeit the world did begin to professe some dislike of that which was euill in the kingdome of darknesse yet fruits worthy of a true repentance were not seene that if men did repent as they ought they must endeuour to purge the earth of all maner euill to the end there might follow a new world afterward wherein righteousnesse only should dwell Priuate repentance they sayd must appeare by euery mans fashioning his owne life contrary vnto the custome and orders of this present world both in greater things and in lesse To this purpose they had alwayes in their mouthes those greater
euen as vpwarde in God beneath whom themselues are they see that character which is no where but in themselues and vs resembled Thus farre euen the Painims haue approched thus farre they haue seene into the doings of the Angels of God Orpheus confessing that the fiery throne of God is attended on by those most industrious Angels carefull how all things are performed amongst men and the mirror of humaine wisedome plainely teaching that God mooueth Angels euen as that thing doth stirre mans heart which is thereunto presented amiable Angelicall actions may therefore be reduced vnto these three generall kindes first most delectable loue arising from the visible apprehension of the puritie glory and beautie of God inuisible sauing onely vnto Spirites that are pure secondly adoration grounded vpon the euidence of the greatnes of God on whom they see how all things depende thirdly imitation bred by the presence of his exemplary goodnes who ceaseth not before them daily to fill heauen and earth with the rich treasures of most free and vndeserued grace Of Angels wee are not to consider onely what they are and doe in regard of their owne being but that also which concerneth them as they are lincked into a kinde of corporation amongst themselues and of societie or fellowship with men Consider Angels each of them seuerally in himself and their law is that which the Prophet Dauid mentioneth All ye his Angels praise him Consider the Angels of God associated and their lawe is that which disposeth them as an Army one in order and degree aboue an other Consider finally the Angels as hauing with vs that communion which the Apostle to the Hebrewes noteth and in regard whereof Angels haue not disdained to professe themselues our fellowseruants from hence there springeth vp a third law which bindeth them to workes of ministeriall imployment Euery of which their seuerall functions are by them performed with ioy A part of the Angels of God notwithstanding we know haue fallen and that their fall hath beene through the voluntary breach of that lawe which did require at their hands continuance in the exercise of their high and admirable vertue Impossible it was that euer their will should chaunge or incline to remit any part of their dutie without some obiect hauing force to auert their conceit from God and to draw it an other way and that before they attained that high perfection of blisse wherein now the elect Angels are without possibilitie of falling Of any thing more then of God they could not by any meanes like as long as whatsoeuer they knew besides God they apprehended it not in it selfe without dependencie vpon God because so long God must needes seeme infinitely better then any thing which they so could apprehend Thinges beneath them could not in such sort be presented vnto their eyes but that therein they must needs see alwayes how those things did depend on God It seemeth therefore that there was no other way for Angels to sinne but by reflex of their vnderstanding vpon themselues when being held with admiration of their owne sublimitie and honor the memorie of their subordination vnto God and their dependencie on him was drowned in this conceipt whereupon their adoration loue and imitation of God could not choose but be also interrupted The fall of Angels therefore was pride Since their fall their practises haue beene the cleane contrary vnto those before mentioned For being dispersed some in the ayre some on the earth some in the water some amongest the minerals dennes and caues that are vnder the earth they haue by all meanes laboured to effect an vniuersall rebellion against the lawes and as farre as in them lyeth vtter destruction of the workes of God These wicked Spirites the Heathens honoured in stead of Gods both generally vnder the name of Dii inferi Gods infernall and particularly some in Oracles some in Idoles some as household Gods some as Nymphes in a word no foule and wicked spirite which was not one way or other honored of men as God till such time as light appeared in the world and dissolued the workes of the diuell Thus much therefore may suffice for Angels the next vnto whom in degree are men 5 God alone excepted who actually and euerlastingly is whatsoeuer he may be and which cannot hereafter be that which now he is not all other things besides are somewhat in possibilitie which as yet they are not in act And for this cause there is in all things an appetite or desire whereby they incline to something which they may be and when they are it they shall be perfecteâ— then now they are All which perfections are contained vnder the generall name of Goodnesse And because there is not in the world any thing wherby another may not some way be made the perfecter therefore all things that are are good Againe sith there can be no goodnesse desired which proceedeth not from God himselfe as from the supreme cause of all things and euerie effect doth after a sort conteine at least wise resemble the cause from which it proceedeth all things in the world are sayd in some sort to seeke the highest and to couet more or lesse the participation of God himselfe Yet this doth no where so much appeare as it doth in man because there are so many kindes of perfections which man seeketh The first degree of goodnesse is that generall perfection which all things do seeke in desiring the continuance of their beeing All thinges therefore coueting as much as may be to be like vnto God in being euer that which cannot hereunto attaine personally doth seeke to continue it selfe another way that is by ofspring and propagation The next degree of goodnesse is that which each thing coueteth by affecting resemblance with God in the constancy and excellencie of those operations which belong vnto their kind The immutabilitie of God they striue vnto by working either alwayes or for the most part after one and the same manner his absolute exactnes they imitate by tending vnto that which is most exquisite in euery particular Hence haue risen a number of axiomes in Philosophie shewing how The workes of nature do alwayes ayme at that which cannot be bettered These two kinds of goodnesse reheâ—rsed are so neerely vnited to the things themselues which desiâ—e them that we scarcely perceiue the appetite to stirre in reaching foorth her hand towards them But the desire of those perfections which grow externally is more apparent especially of such as are not expressely desired vnlesse they be first knowne or such as are not for any other cause then for knowledge it selfe desired Concerning perfections in this kind that by proceeding in the knowledge of truth and by growing in the exercise of vertue man amongst the creatures of this inferiour world aspireth to the greatest conformity with God this is not only knowne vnto vs
degree although aboue other creatures on earth to whom nature hath denied sense yet lower then to be sociable companions of man to whome nature hath giuen reason it is of Adam said that amongst the beastes Hee found not for himselfe any meete companion Ciuill societie doth more content the nature of man then any priuate kinde of solitary liuing because in societie this good of mutuall participation is so much larger then otherwise Herewith notwithstanding wee are not satisfied but we couet if it might be to haue a kinde of societie fellowship euen withal maÌ„kind Which thing Socrates intending to signifie professed himselfe a Citizen not of this or that coÌ„mon-welth but of the world And an effect of that very natural desire in vs a manifestâ—token that we wish after a sort an vniuersall fellowship with all men appeareth by the wonderfull delight men haue some to visit forrein countries some to discouer natioÌ„s not heard of in former ages we all to know the affaires dealings of other people yea to be in league of amitie with them this not onely for traffiques sake or to the end that when many are coÌ„federated each may make other the more strong but for such cause also as moued the Queene of Saba to visit Salomon in a word because nature doth presume that how many meÌ„ there are in the world so many Gods as it were ther are or at least wise such they should be towardes men Touching lawes which are to serue men in this behalfe euen as those lawes of reason which man retaining his original integritie had bin sufficient to direct each particular person in all his affaires duties are not sufficient but require the accesse of other lawes now that man and his offspring are growne thus corrupt sinfull againe as those lawes of politie regiment which would haue serued men liuing in publique societie together with that harmlesse disposition which then they should haue had are not able now to serue when mens iniquitie is so hardly restrained within any tolerable bounds in like maner the nationall lawes of mutuall commerce beâ—weene societies of that former and better qualitie might haue bene other then now when nations are so prone to offer violence iniurie and wrong Here upon hath growne in euery of these three kinds that distinction between Primarie Secundarie lawes the one grounded vpon sincere the other built vpon depraued nature Primarie lawes of nations are such as concerne embassage such as belong to the courteous entertainment of forreiners and strangers such as serue for commodious traffique and the like Secundary lawes in the same kinde are such as this present vnquiet world is most familiarly acquainted with I meane lawes of armes which yet are much better known then kept But what matter the law of nations doth containe I omit to search The strength and vertue of that law is such that no particular natioÌ„ can lawfully preiudicâ— the same by any their seueral laws ordinances more then a man by his priuate resolutions the law of the whole coÌ„mon-welth or state wherin he liueth For as ciuill law being the act of a whole body politique doth therfore ouerrule each seuerall part of the same body so there is no reason that any one commoÌ„-welth of it self should to the preiudice of another annihilate that whereupon the whole world hath agreed For which cause the Lacedemonians forbidding all accesse of strangers into their coasts are in yâ— respect both by Iosephus Theodoret deseruedly blamed as being enimies to that hospitality which for coÌ„mon humanities sake al the nations on earth should embrace Now as there is great cause of coÌ„munioÌ„ consequently of laws for the maintenance of coÌ„munion amongst nations So amongst nations Christian the like in regard euen of Christianitie hath bene aâ—waies iudged needfull And in this kinde of correspondence amongst natioÌ„s the force of general councels doth stand For as one the same law diuine wherof in the next place we are to speak is vnto al ChristiaÌ„ churches a rule for the chiefest things by meanes whereof they al in that respect make one Church as hauing all but One Lord one faith and one baptisme So the vrgent necessitie of mutual communion for preseruation of our vnitie in these things as also for order in some other things coÌ„uenient to be euery where vniformly kept maketh it requisit that the church of God here on earth haue her lawes of spirituall commerce betweene Christian nations lawes by vertue wherof all Churches may enioy freely the vse of those reuerend religious and sacred consultations which are termed councels generall A thing whereof Gods owne blessed spirit was the author a thing practised by the holy Apostles themselues a thing alwaies afterwardes kept and obserued throughout the world a thing neuer otherwise then most highly esteemed of till pride ambition and â—yranny began by factious and vile endeuors to abuse that diuine inuention vnto the funherance of wicked purposes But as the iust authoritie of ciuill courtes and Parliaments is not therefore to be abolished because sometime there is cunning vsed to frame them according to the priuate intents of men ouer-potent in the common-welth So thâ— grieuous abuse which hath bene of councels should rather cause men to studie how so gratious a thing may againe be reduced to that first perfection then in regard of staines and blemishes sithens growing be held for euer in extreame disgrace To speake of this matter as the cause requireth would require very long discourse All I will presently say is this Whether it be for the finding out of any thing whereunto diuine lawe bindeth vs but yet in such sort that men are not thereof on all sides resolued or for the setting downe of some vniforme iudgement to stand touching such thinges as being neither way matters of necessitie are notwithstanding offensiue and scandalous when there is open opposition about them be it for the ending of strifes touching matters of Christian beliefe wherein the one part may seeme to haue probable cause of dissenting from the other or be it concerning matters of politie order and regiment in the Church I nothing doubt but that ChristiaÌ„ men should much better frame themselues to those heauenly precepts which our Lord and Sauiour with so great instancie gaue as concerning peace and vnitie if we did all concurre in desire to haue the vse of auncient councels againe renued rather then these proceedings continued which eyther make all contentions endlesse or bring them to one onely determination and that of all other the worst which is by sword It followeth therefore that a new foundation being laid wee now adioyne hereunto that which commeth in the next place to be spoken of namely wherefore God hath himselfe by scripture made knowne such lawes as serue for direction of men 11 Al things God only excepted besides the nature which they haue in
might haue eased them of much aftertrouble But a greater inconuenience it bred that euery later endeuoured to bee certaine degrees more remoued from conformitie with the Church of Rome then the rest before had bene whereupon grew maruellous great dissimilitudes and by reason thereof iealousies hartburnings iarres and discords amongst them Which notwithstanding might haue easily bene preuented if the orders which each Church did thinke fit and conuenient for it selfe had not so peremptorily bene established vnder that high commaunding forme which tendered them vnto the people as things euerlastingly required by the law of that Lord of Lords against whose statutes there is no exception to be taken For by this meane it came to passe that one Church could not but accuse condemne another of disobedience to the wil of Christ in those things where manifest difference was betweene them whereas the selfesame orders allowed but yet established in more warie and suspense maner as being to stand in force till God should giue the opportunitie of some general cōference what might be best for euery of them afterwards to doe this I say had both preuented all occasion of iust dislik◠which others might take and reserued a greater libertie vnto the authors themselues of entring into farther consultatiō afterwards Which though neuer so necessary they could not easily now admit without some feare of derogation from their credit and therfore that which once they had done they became for euer after resolute to maintaine Caluin therfore the other two his associats stiffely refusing to administer the holy Communion to such as would not quietly without contradiction and murmur submit themselues vnto the orders which their solemne oath had bound them to obey were in that quarell banished the towne A fewe yeares after such was the leuitie of that people the places of one or two of their Ministers being fallen voyde they were not before so willing to be rid of their learned Pastor as now importunate to obtaine him againe from them who had giuen him entertainment and which were loath to part with him had not vnresistable earnestnes bene vsed One of the towne ministers that sawe in what manner the people were bent for the reuocation of Caluin gaue him notize of their affection in this sort The Senate of two hundred being assembled they all craue Caluin The next day a generall conuocation They crye in like sort againe all VVe will haue Caluin that good and learned man Christs Minister This saith he when I vnderstood I could not choose but praise God nor was I able to iudge otherwise then that this was the Lordes doing and that it was maruellous in our eyes and That the stone which the builders refused was now made the head of the corner The other two whom they had throwne out together with Caluin they were content should enioy their exile Many causes might lead them to bee more desirous of him First his yeelding vnto them in one thing might happily put them in hope that time would breed the like easines of condescending further vnto them For in his absence he had perswaded them with whome he was able to preuaile that albeit himselfe did better like of common bread to bee vsed in the Eucharist yet the other they rather should accept then cause any trouble in the Church about it Againe they saw that the name of Caluin waxed euery day greater abroad and that together with his fame their infamy was spread who had so rashly and childishly eiected him Besides it was not vnlikely but that his credite in the world might many wayes stand the poore towne in great stead as the truth is their ministers forrein estimation hitherto hath bene the best stake in their hedge But whatsoeuer secret respects were likely to moue them for contenting of their mindes Caluin returned as it had bene an other Tully to his olde home He ripely considered how grosse a thing it were for men of his qualitie wise and graue men to liue with such a multitude and to be tenants at will vnder them as their ministers both himselfe and others had bene For the remedie of which inconuenience hee gaue them plainely to vnderstand that if he did become their teacher againe they must be content to admit a complet forme of discipline which both they and also their pastors should now be solemnely sworne to obserue for euer after Of which discipline the maine and principall partes were these A standing ecclesiasticall Court to be established perpetuall Iudges in that Court to be their ministers others of the people annually chosen twise so many in number as they to be iudges together with them in the same Court these two sorts to haue the care of all mens manners power of determining all kind of Ecclesiasticall causes and authoritie to conuent to controll to punish as farre as with excōmunication whomsoeuer they should thinke worthy none eyther small or great excepted This deuise I see not how the wisest at that time liuing could haue bettered if we duly consider what the present estate of Geneua did then require For their Bishop and his Clergie being as it is said departed from them by moonelight or howsoeuer being departed to choose in his roome any other Bishop had beene a thing altogether impossible And for their ministers to seeke that themselues alone might haue coerciue power ouer the whole Church would perhaps haue bene hardly construed at that time But when so franke an offer was made that for euery one minister there should be two of the people to sit and giue voyce in the Ecclesiasticall Consistory what inconuenience could they easily find which themselues might not be able alwayes to remedy Howbeit as euermore the simpler sort are euen when they see no apparant cause iealous notwithstanding ouer the secret intents and purposes of wiser men this proposition of his did somewhat trouble them Of the Ministers themselues which had stayed behinde in the Citie when Caluin was gone some vpon knowledge of the peoples earnest intent to recall him to his place againe had beforehand written their letters of submission and assured him of their alleageance for euer after if it should like him to harken vnto that publique suite But yet misdoubting what might happen if this discipline did goe forwarde they obiected against it the example of other reformed Churches liuing quietly and orderly without it Some of chiefest place and countenance amongst the laitie professed with greater stomacke their iudgements that such a discipline was little better then popish tyrannie disguised and tendered vnto them vnder a new forme This sort it may be had some feare that the filling vp of the seates in the Consistorie with so great a number of lay men was but to please the mindes of the people to the ende they might thinke their owne swaye somewhat but when things came to triall of practise their Pastors learning would bee at all times of force to ouerperswade
all kind of furtherances vnto his cause could espie in the whole Scripture of God nothing which might breed at the least a probable opinion of likelihood that diuine authority it selfe was the same way somewhat inclinable And all which the wit euen of Caluin was able from thence to draw by sifting the very vtmost sentence and syllable is no more then that certaine speeches there are which to him did seeme to intimate that all Christian Churches ought to haue their Elderships indued with power of excommunication and that a part of those Elderships euery where should be chosen out frō amongst the laitie after that forme which himselfe had framed Geneua vnto But what argument are ye able to shew whereby it was euer prooued by Caluin that any one sentence of Scripture doth necessarily enforce these things or the rest wherein your opinion concurreth with his against the orders of your owne Church We should be iniurious vnto vertue it selfe if we did derogate from them whom their industrie hath made great Two things of principall moment there are which haue deseruedly procured him honour throughout the world the one his exceeding paynes in composing the Institutions of Christian Religion the other his no lesse industrious trauailes for exposition of holy Scripture according vnto the same institutions In which two things who soeuer they were that after him bestowed their labour he gayned the aduantage of preiudice against them if they gaine said and of glorie aboue them if they consented His writings published after the question about that discipline was once begunne omit not any the least occasion of extolling the vse and singular necessitie thereof Of what accompt the Maister of sentences was in the Church of Rome the same and more amongest the Preachers of reformed Churches Caluin had purchased so that the perfectest diuines were iudged they which were skilfullest in Caluins writings His bookes almost the very Canon to iudge both doctrine and discipline by French Churches both vnder others abroad and at home in their owne Countrey all cast according vnto that mould which Caluin had made The Church of Scotland in erecting the fabricke of their reformation tooke the selfe same paterne Till at length the discipline which was at the first so weake that without the staffe of their approbation who were not subiect vnto it themselues it had not brought others vnder subiection beganne now to challenge vniuersall obedience and to enter into open conflict with those very Churches which in desperate extremitie had bene relieuers of it To one of those Churches which liued in most peaceable sort and abounded as well with men for their learning in other professions singular as also with diuines whose equals were not elsewhere to be found a Church ordered by Gualters discipline and not by that which Geneua adoreth vnto this Church the Church of Heidelberge there commeth one who crauing leaue to dispute publiquely defendeth with open disdaine of their gouernement that To a Minister with his Eldership power is giuen by the law of God to excommunicate whomsoeuer yea euen kings and princes themselues Here were the seedes sowne of that controuersie which sprang vp betweene Beza and Erastus about the matter of excommunication whether there ought to be in all Churches an Eldership hauing power to excommunicate and a part of that Eldership to be of necessitie certaine chosen out from amongest the laity for that purpose In which disputation they haue as to me it seemeth deuided very equally the truth betweene them Beza most truly maintaining the necessitie of excommunication Erastus as truly the nonnecessitie of layelders to be ministers thereof Amongest our selues there was in King Edwards dayes some question moued by reason of a few mens scrupulositie touching certaine things And beyond Seas of them which fled in the dayes of Queene Mary some contenting themselues abroad with the vse of their owne Seruice booke at home authorised before their departure out of the Realme others liking better the Common prayer booke of the Church of Geneua translated those smaller contentions before begun were by this meane somewhat increased Vnder the happy raigne of her Maiesty which now is the greatest matter a while contended for was the wearing of the Cap and Surplesse till there came Admonitions directed vnto the high Court of Parliament by men who concealing their names thought it glory inough to discouer their minds and affections which now were vniuersally bent euen against all the orders and lawes wherein this Church is found vnconformable to the platforme of Geneua Concerning the defendor of which admonitions all that I meane to say is but this There will come a time when three words vttered with charitie and meeknesse shall receiue a farre more blessed reward then three thousand volumes written with disdainefull sharpnes of wit But the maner of mens writing must not alienate our hearts from the truth if it appeare they haue the truth as the followers of the same defendor do thinke he hath and in that perswasion they follow him no otherwise then himselfe doth Calvin Beza and others with the like perswasion that they in this cause had the truth We being as fully perswaded otherwise it resteth that some kind of tryall be vsed to find out which part is in error 3 The first meane whereby nature teacheth men to iudge good from euill as well in lawes as in other things is the force of their owne discretion Hereunto therefore Saint Paule referreth oftentimes his owne speech to be considered of by them that heard him I speake as to them which haue vnderstanding iudge ye what I say Againe afterward Iudge in your selues is it comely that a woman pray vncouered The exercise of this kind of iudgement our Sauiour requireth in the Iewes In them of Berea the Scripture commendeth it Finally whatsoeuer we do if our owne secret iudgement consent nor vnto it as fit and good to be done the doing of it to vs is sinne although the thing it selfe be allowable Saint Paules rule therefore generally is Let euery man in his owne minde be fully perswaded of that thing which he either alloweth or doth Some things are so familiar and plaine that truth from falshood and good from euill is most easily discerned in them euen by men of no deepe capacitie And of that nature for the most part are things absolutely vnto all mens saluation necessarie either to be held or denied either to be done or auoided For which cause Saint Augustine acknowledgeth that they are not onely set downe but also plainely set downe in Scripture so that he which heareth or readeth may without any great difficultie vnderstand Other things also there are belonging though in a lower degree of importance vnto the offices of Christian men which because they are more obscure more intricate and hard to be iudged of therefore God hath appointed some to spend their whole time principally in the studie of things diuine to
the end that in these more doubtfull cases their vnderstanding might be a light to direct others If the vnderstanding power or facultie of the soule be sayth the grand Phisitian like vnto bodily sight not of equall sharpnesse in all what can be more conuenient then that euen as the darke-sighted man is directed by the cleare about things visible so likewise in matters of deeper discourse the wise in heart do shew the simple where his way lyeth In our doubtfull cases of law what man is there who seeth not how requisite it is that professors of skill in that facultie be our directors So it is in all other kinds of knowledge And euen in this kind likewise the Lord hath himselfe appointed that the Priests lips should preserue knowledge and that other men should seeke the truth at his mouth because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts Gregory Nazianzene offended at the peoples too great presumption in controlling the iudgement of them to whom in such cases they should haue rather submitted their owne seeketh by earnest intreatie to stay them within their bounds Presume not ye that are sheepe to make your selues guides of them that should guide you neither seeke ye to ouerskip the fold which they about you haue pitched It sufficeth for your part if ye can well frame your selues to be ordered Take not vpon you to iudge your selues nor to make them subiect to your lawes who should be a law to you For God is not a God of sedition and confusion but of order and of peace But ye will say that if the guides of the people be blind the common sort of men must not close vp their owne eyes and be led by the conduct of such if the Priest be partiall in the law the flocke must not therefore depart from the wayes of sincere truth and in simplicitie yeeld to be followers of him for his place sake and office ouer them Which thing though in it selfe most true is in your defence notwithstanding weake because the matter wherein ye thinke that yee see and imagine that your wayes are sincere is of farre deeper consideration then any one amongest fiue hundred of you conceiueth Let the vulgar sort amongst you know that there is not the least branch of the cause wherin they are so resolute but to the triall of it a great deale more appertaineth then their conceipt doth reach vnto I write not this in disgrace of the simplest that way giuen but I would gladly they knewe the nature of that cause wherein they thinke themselues throughly instructed and are not by meanes whereof they daily run themselues without feeling their owne hazard vppon the dâ—nt of the Apostles sentence against euill speakers as touching things wherein they are ignorant If it be graunted a thing vnlawfull for priuate men not called vnto publique consultation to dispute which is the best state of ciuill Policie with a desire of bringing in some other kind then that vnder which they already liue for of such disputes I take it his meaning was if it be a thing confest that of such questions they cannot determine without rashnesse in as much as a great part of them consisteth in speciall circumstances and for one kind as many reasons may be brought as for another is there any reason in the world why they should better iudge what kind of regiment Ecclesiasticall is the fittest For in the Ciuill state more insight and in those affaires more experience a great deale must needes be graunted them then in this they can possibly haue When they which write in defence of your discipline and commend it vnto the Highest not in the least cunning manner are forced notwithstanding to acknowledge that with whom the truth is they knowe not they are not certaine what certainty or knowledge can the multitude haue thereof Waigh what doth mooue the common sort so much to fauour this innouation and it shall soone appeare vnto you that the force of particular reasons which for your seuerall opinions are alleaged is a thing whereof the multitude neuer did nor could so consider as to be there with wholly caried but certaine generall inducements are vsed to make saleable your Cause in grosse and when once men haue cast a phancie towards it any slight declaration of specialties will serue to lead forward mens inclinable and prepared minds The methode of winning the peoples affection vnto a generall liking of the Cause for so ye terme it hath bene this First in the hearing of the multitude the faults especially of higher callings are ripped vp with maruellous exceeding seuerity and sharpnesse of reproofe which being oftentimes done begetteth a great good opinion of integritie zeale holinesse to such coÌ„stant reproouers of sinne as by likelihood would neuer be so much offended at that which is euill vnlesse themselues were singularly good The next thing hereunto is to impute all faults and corruptions wherewith the world aboundeth vnto the kind of Ecclesiasticall gouernement established Wherin as before by reprouing faults they purchased vnto themselues with the multitude a name to be vertuous so by finding out this kind of cause they obtaine to be iudged wise aboue others whereas in truth vnto the forme euen of Iewish gouernement which the Lord himselfe they all confesse did establish with like shew of reason they might impute those faults which the Prophets condemne in the gouernors of that common wealth as to the English kind of regiment Ecclesiasticall whereof also God himselfe though in other sort is author the staines and blemishes found in our State which springing from the root of humaine frailty and corruption not only are but haue bene alwaies more or lesse yea and for any thing we know to the contrary will be till the worlds end complained of what forme of gouernement soeuer take place Hauing gotten thus much sway in the hearts of men a third step is to propose their owne forme of Church gouernement as the onely soueraigne remedy of all euils and to adorne it with all the glorious titles that may be And the nature as of men that haue sicke bodies so likewise of the people in the crazednes of their minds possest with dislike and discontentment at things present is to imagine that any thing the vertue wherof they here commended would helpe them but that most which they least haue tried The fourth degree of inducements is by fashioning the very notions conceipts of mens minds in such sort that when they read the Scripture they may thinke that euery thing soundeth towards the aduancement of that discipline and to the vtter disgrace of the contrary Pythagoras by bringing vp his Schollers in the speculatiue knowledge of numbers made their conceipts therein so strong that when they came to the contemplation of things naturall they imagined that in euery particular thing they euen beheld as it were with their eyes how the elements of
Church staÌ„deth bound by the law of God to put downe Bishops and in their roomes to erect an eldership so authorized as you would haue it for the gouernmeÌ„t of each parish Deceiued greatly they are therfore who think that all they whose names are cited amongst the fauourers of this cause are on any such verdict agreed Yet touching some materiall points of your discipline a kind of agreement we grant there is amongst many diuines of reformed Churches abroad For first to do as the Church of Geneua did the learned in some other churches must needs be the more willing who hauing vsed in like maner not the slow tedious help of proceeding by publike authoritie but the peoples more quick endeuor for alteratioÌ„ in such an exigent I see not well how they could haue staied to deliberat about any other regimeÌ„t theÌ„ that which already was deuised to their hands that which in like case had bene takeÌ„ that which was easiest to be established without delay that which was likeliest to content the people by reason of some kind of sway which it giueth them When therfore the example of one Church was thus at the first almost through a kind of coÌ„straint or necessitie followed by many their concurrence in perswasion about some materiall points belonging to the same policie is not strange For we are not to maruell greatly if they which haue all done the same thing do easily embrace the same opinion as coÌ„cerning their owne doings Besides mark I beseech you that which Galen in matter of philosophie noteth for the like falleth out euen in questions of higher knowledge It fareth many times with mens opinioÌ„s as with rumors reports That which a credible person telleth is easily thought probable by such as are well perswaded of him But if two or three or foure agree all in the same tale they iudge it then to be out of controuersie and so are many times ouertaken for want of due consideration eyther some common cause leading them all inâ—â— error or one mans ouersight deceiuing many through their too much credulitie and easinesse of beliefe Though ten persons be brought to giue testimony in any cause yet if the knowledge they haue of the thing whereunto they come as witnesses appeare to haue growne from some one amongst them and to haue spred it selfe from hand to hand they all are in force but as one testimony Nor is it otherwise here where the daughter Churches do speake their mothers dialect here where so many sing one song by reason that hee is the guide of the quier concerning whose deserued authoritie amongst euen the grauest diuines we haue already spoken at large Will ye aske what should moue those many learned to be followers of one mans iudgement no necessitie of argument forcing them thereunto your demaund is answered by your selues Loath ye are to thinke that they whom ye iudge to haue attained as sound knowledge in all points of doctrine as any since the Apostles time should mistake in discipline Such is naturally our affection that whom in great things we mightily admire in them we are not perswaded willingly that any thing should be amisse The reason whereof is for that as dead flies putrifie the oyntment of the Apothecarie so a little folly him that is in estimation for wisedome This in euery profession hath too much authorized the iudgement of a few This with Germans hath caused Luther and with many other Churches Caluin to preuaile in all things Yet are we not able to define whether the wisedome of that God who setteth before vs in holy Scripture so many admirable paternes of vertue and no one of them without somewhat noted wherin they were culpable to the end that to him alone it might alwayes be acknowledged Thou onely art holy thou onely art iust might not permit those worthy vessels of his glory to be in some thinges blemished with the staine of humaine frailtie euen for this cause least wee should esteeme of any man aboue that which behoueth 5. Notwithstanding as though ye were able to say a great deale more then hitherto your bookes haue reuealed to the world earnest chalengers ye are of triall by some publique disputation Wherein if the thing ye craue bee no more then onely leaue to dispute openly about those matters that are in question the schooles in Vniuersities for any thing I know are open vnto you they haue their yearely Acts and Commencements besides other disputations both ordinary and vpon occasion wherein the seuerall parts of our owne Ecclesiasticall discipline are oftentimes offered vnto that kind of examination the learnedest of you haue bene of late yeares noted seldome or neuer absent from thence at the time of those greater assemblies and the fauour of proposing there in conuenient sort whatsoeuer ye can obiect which thing my selfe haue knowne them to graunt of Scholasticall courtesie vnto straungers neither hath as I thinke nor euer will I presume be denied you If your suite be to haue some great extraordinary confluence in expectation whereof the lawes that already are should sleepe and haue no power ouer you till in the hearing of thousands ye all did acknowledge your error and renounce the further prosecutioÌ„ of your cause happily they whose authority is required vnto the satisfying of your demaund do think it both dangerous to admit such coÌ„course of deuided minds vnmeet that laws which being once solemnly established are to exact obedience of all men and to constraine therunto should so far stoup as to hold theÌ„selues in suspeÌ„se froÌ„ taking any effect vpoÌ„ you till some disputer can perswade you to be obedient A law is the deed of the whole body politike wherof if ye iudge your selues to be any part theÌ„ is the law eueÌ„ your deed also And were it reasoÌ„ in things of this qualitie to giue meÌ„ audience pleading for the ouerthrow of that which their own very deed hath ratified Laws that haue bin approued may be no man doubteth again repealed to that end also disputed against by the authors thereof theÌ„selues But this is wheÌ„ the whole doth deliberate what laws each part shal obserue not when a part refuseth the laws which the whole hath orderly agreed vpon NotwithstaÌ„ding for as much as the cause we maintain is God be thanked such as needeth not to shun any triall might it please theÌ„ on whose approbatioÌ„ the matter dependeth to coÌ„descend so far vnto you in this behalf I wish hartily that proofe were made euen by solemne confereÌ„ce in orderly quiet sort whether you would your selues be satisfied or else could by satisfying others draw theÌ„ to your part Prouided alwaies first in asmuch as ye go about to destroy a thing which is in force to draw in that which hath not as yet bin receiued to impose on vs that which we think not our selues bound vnto to ouerthrow those things whereof we are possessed that therefore
them to the contrary 7. Nor is mine owne intent any other in these seuerall bookes of discourse then to make it appeare vnto you that for the ecclesiasticall lawes of this land we are led by great reason to obserue them and ye by no necessitie bound to impugne them It is no part of my secret meaning to draw you hereby into hatred or to set vpoÌ„ the face of this cause any fairer glasse then the naked truth doth afford but my whole endeuour is to resolue the conscience and to shew as neare as I can what in this controuersie the hart is to thinke if it will follow the light of sound and sincere iudgement without either clowd of preiudice or mist of passionate affection Wherefore seeing that lawes and ordinances in particular whether such as we obserue or such as your selues would haue established when the minde doth sift and examine them it must needes haue often recourse to a number of doubts and questions about the nature kindes and qualities of lawes in generall whereof vnlesse it be throughly enformed there will appeare no certaintie to stay our perswasion vpon I haue for that cause set downe in the first place an introduction on both sides needfull to bee considered Declaring therein what law is how different kindes of lawes there are and what force they are of according vnto each kind This done because ye suppose the lawes for which ye striue are found in scripture but those not against which we striue vpon this surmise are drawne to hold it as the very maine pillar of your whole cause that scripture ought to be the onely rule of all our actions and consequently that the Church-orders which wee obserue being not commaunded in scripture are offensiue and displeasant vnto God I haue spent the second booke in sifting of this point which standeth with you for the first and chiefest principle whereon ye build Wherevnto the next in degree is that as God will haue alwayes a Church vpon earth while the worlde doth continue and that Church stand in neede of gouernment of which gouernment it behoueth himselfe to bee both the author and teacher so it cannot stand with dutie that man should euer presume in any wise to chaunge and alter the same and therefore That in Scripture there must of necessitie be found some particular forme of politie Ecclesiasticall the lawes whereof admit not any kinde of alteration The first three bookes being thus ended the fourth proceedeth from the generall grounds and foundations of your cause vnto your generall accusations against vs as hauing in the orders of our Church for so you pretend corrupted the right forme of Church politie with manifolde popish rites and ceremonies which certaine reformed Churches haue banished from amongst them and haue thereby giuen vs such examples as you thinke wee ought to follow This your assertion hath herein drawne vs to make search whether these bee iust exceptions against the customes of our Church when ye pleade that they are the same which the Church of Rome hath or that they are not the same which some other reformed Churches haue deuised Of those foure bookes which remaine and are bestowed about the specialties of that cause which lyeth in controuersie the first examineth the causes by you alleaged wherefore the publique duties of Christian religion as our prayers our Sacramants and the rest should not be ordered in such sort as with vs they are nor that power whereby the persons of men are consecrated vnto the ministerie be disposed of in such maner as the lawes of this Church doe allow The second and third are concerning the power of iurisdiction the one whether laâ— men such as your gouerning Elders are ought in all congregations for euer to bee inuested with that power the other whether Bishops may haue that power ouer other Pastors and there withall that honour which with vs they haue And because besides the power of order which all consecrated persons haue and the power of iurisdiction which neither they all nor they only haue there is a third power a power of Ecclesiasticall Dominion communicable as wee thinke vnto persons not Ecclesiasticall and most fit to be restrained vnto the Prince or Soueraigne commaunder ouer the whole body politique the eight booke we haue allotted vnto this question and haue sifted therein your obiections against those preeminences royall which thereunto appertâ—ine Thus haue J layd before you the briefe of these my trauailes and presented vnder your view the limmes of that cause litigious betweene vs the whole intier body whereof being thus compact it shall be no troublesome thing for any man to find each particular controuersies resting place and the coherence it hath with those things either on which it dependeth or which depend on it 8. The case so standing therefore my brethren as it doth the wisdome of gouernors ye must not blame in that they further also forecasting the manifold strange dangerous innouations which are more then likely to follow if your discipline should take place haue for that cause thought it hitherto a part of their dutie to withstand your endeuors that way The rather for that they haue seene alreadie some small beginninges of the fruits thereof in them who concurring with you in iudgement aboute the necessitie of that discipline haue aduentured without more adoe to separate themselues from the rest of the Church and to put your speculations in execution These mens hastines the warier sort of you doth not commend yee wish they had held themselues longer in and not so dangerously flowne abroad before the fethers of the cause had beene growne their errour with mercifull terms ye reproue naming them in great commiseration of mind your poore brethren They oâ— the contrary side more bitterly accuse you as their false brethreÌ„ against you they plead saying From your breasts it is that we haue sucked those thinges which when ye deliuered vnto vs ye termed that heauenly sincere and wholesome milke of Gods word howsoeuer yee now abhorre as poyson that which the vertue thereof hath wrought and brought forth in vs. Ye sometime our companions guides and familiars with whome we haue had most sweete consultations are now become our professed aduersaries because wee thinke the statute-congregations in Englande to bee no true Christian Churches because wee haue seuered our selues from them and because without their leaue or licence that are in Ciuill authoritie wee haue secretly framed our owne Churches according to the platforme of the worde of God For of that point betweene you and vs there is no controuersie Alas what would ye haue vs to doe At such time as ye were content to accept vs in the number of your owne your teachinges we heard we read your writinges and though wee would yet able wee are not to forget with what zeale yee haue euer profest that in the English congregations for so many of them as bee ordered according
vnto their owne lawes the very publique seruice of God is fraught as touching matter with heapes of intollerable pollutions and as concerning forme borrowed from the shoppe of Antichrist hatefull both waies in the eyes of the most holy the kinde of their gouernment by Bishops and Archbishops Antichristian that discipline which Christ hath essentially tyed that is to say so vnited vnto his Church that wee cannot accompt it really to be his Church which hath not in it the same discipline that verie discipline no lesse there despised then in the highest throne of Antichrist all such partes of the word of God as doe any way concerne that Discipline no lesse vnsoundlie taught and interpreted by all authorized English Pastors then by Antichrists factors themselues at Baptisme crossing at the Supper of the Lord kneeling at both a number of other the most notorious badges of Antichristian recognisance vsuall Being moued with these and the like your effectuall discourses whereunto we gaue most attentiue eare till they entred euen into our soules and were as fire within our bosomes we thought we might hereof be bold to conclude that sith no such Antichristian synagogue may be accompted a true Church of Christ ye by accusing all congregations ordered according to the lawes of England as Antichristian did meane to condemne those congregations as not being any of them worthy the name of a true Christian Church Ye tell vs now it is not your meaning But what meant your often threatnings of them who professing thēselues the inhabitants of mount Sion were too loth to depart wholly as they should out of Babylon Whereat our hearts being fearefully troubled we durst not we durst not continue longer so neere her confines least her plagues might suddenly ouertake vs before we did cease to be partakers with her sinnes for so we could not choose but acknowledge with griefe that we were when they doing euill we by our presence in their assemblies seemed to like thereof or at least wise not so earnestly to dislike as became men heartily zealous of Gods glory For aduenturing to erect the discipline of Christ without the leaue of the Christian Magistrate happily ye may condemne vs as fooles in that we hazard thereby our estates and persons further then you which are that way more wise thinke necessary but of any offence or sinne therein committed against God with what conscience can you accuse vs when your owne positions are that the things we obserue should euery of them be dearer vnto vs then ten thousand liues that they are the peremptory commaundements of God that no mortall man can dispence with them and that the Magistrate grieuously sinneth in not constraining thereunto Will ye blame any man for doing that of his owne accord which all men should be compelled to do that are not willing of themselues When God commandeth shall we answer that we will obey if so be Caesar will graunt vs leaue Is discipline an Ecclesiasticall matter or a Ciuill If an Ecclesiasticall it must of necessitie belong to the duty of the Minister And the Minister ye say holdeth all his authority of doing whatsoeuer belongeth vnto the spirituall charge of the house of God euen immediatly from God himselfe without dependency vpon any Magistrate Whereupon it followeth as we suppose that the hearts of the people being willing to be vnder the Scepter of Christ the Minister of God into whose hands the Lord himselfe hath put that Scepter is without all excuse if thereby he guide them not Nor do we finde that hitherto greatly ye haue disliked those Churches abroad where the people with direction of their godly ministers haue euen against the will of the Magistrate brought in either the doctrine or discipline of Iesus Christ. For which cause we must now thinke the very same thing of you which our Sauiour did sometime vtter concerning false harted Scribes and Pharises They say and do not Thus the foolish Barrowist deriueth his schisme by way of conclusion as to him it seemeth directly and plainely out of your principles Him therefore we leaue to be satisfied by you from whom he hath sprung And if such by your owne acknowledgement be persons dangerous although as yet the alterations which they haue made are of small and tender groath the changes likely to insue throughout all states and vocations within this land in case your desire should take place must be thought vpon First concerning the supreme power of the highest they are no small prerogatiues which now thereunto belonging the forme of your discipline will constraine it to resigne as in the last booke of this treatise we haue shewed at large Againe it may iustly be feared whether our English Nobility when the matter came in tryall would contentedly suffer themselues to be alwayes at the call and to stand to the sentence of a number of meane persons assisted with the presence of their poore teacher a man as sometimes it hapneth though better able to speake yet little or no whit apter to iudge then the rest from whom be their dealings neuer so absurd vnlesse it be by way of cōplaint to a Synod no appeale may be made vnto any one of higher power in as much as the order of your discipline admitteth no standing inequalitie of Courts no spirituall iudge to haue any ordinary superiour on earth but as many supremacies as there are parishes seuerall Congregations Neither is it altogether without cause that so many do feare the ouerthrow of all learning as a threatned sequell of this your intended discipline For if the worlds preseruation depend vpon the multitude of the wise and of that sort the number hereafter be not likely to waxe ouer great when that where with the sonne of Syrach professeth himselfe at the heart grieued men of vnderstanding are already so little set by howe should their mindes whom the loue of so pretious a iewell filleth with secret iealousie euen in regard of the least things which may any way hinder the flourishing estate thereof choose but misdoubt least this discipline which alwayes you match with diuine doctrine as hir naturall and true sister be found vnto all kinds of knowledge a stepmother seeing that the greatest worldly hopes which are proposed vnto the chiefest kind of learning ye seeke vtterly to extirpate as weedes and haue grounded your platforme on such propositions as do after a sort vndermine those most renowmed habitations where through the goodnesse of almightie God all commendable arts and sciences are with exceeding great industrie hitherto and so may they euer continue studied proceeded in and profest To charge you as purposely bent to the ouerthrow of that wherein so many of you haue attained no small perfection were iniurious Only therfore I wish that your selues did well consider how opposite certaine your positions are vnto the state of Collegiate societies whereon the two Vniuersities consist Those degrees which their statutes bind them to take are
They vnto whom we shall seeme tedious are in no wise iniuried by vs because it is in their owne hands to spare that labour which they are not willing to endure And if any complaine of obscuritie they must consider that in these matters it commeth no otherwise to passe then in sundry the workes both of art and also of nature where that which hath greatest force in the very things we see is notwithstanding it selfe oftentimes not seene The statelinesse of houses the goodlines of trees when we behold them delighteth the eye but that foundation which beareth vp the one that roote which ministreth vnto the other nourishment and life is in the bosome of the earth concealed if there be at any time occasion to search into it such labour is then more necessary then pleasant both to them which vndertake it and for the lookers on In like manner the vse and benefite of good lawes all that liue vnder them may enioy with delight and comfort albeit the groundes and first originall causes from whence they haue sprung be vnknowne as to the greatest part of men they are But when they who withdraw their obedience pretend that the lawes which they should obey are corrupt and vitious for better examination of their qualitie it behoueth the very foundation and roote the highest welspring and fountaine of them to be discouered Which because wee are not oftentimes accustomed to doe when wee doe it the paines wee take are more needefull a great deale then acceptable and the matters which wee handle seeme by reason of newnesse till the minde grow better acquainted with them darke intricate and vnfamiliar For as much helpe whereof as may be in this case I haue endeuoured throughout the body of this whole discourse that euery former part might giue strength vnto all that followe and euery later bring some light vnto all before So that if the iudgements of men doe but holde themselues in suspence as touching these first more generall meditations till in order they haue perused the rest that ensue what may seeme darke at the first will afterwardes be founde more plaine euen as the later particular decisions will appeare I doubt not more strong when the other haue beene read before The lawes of the Church whereby for so many ages together wee haue bene guided in the exercise of Christian religion and the seruice of the true God our rites customes and orders of Ecclesiasticall gouernment are called in question wee are accused as men that will not haue Christ Iesus to rule ouer them but haue wilfully cast his statutes behinde their backes hating to bee reformed and made subiect vnto the scepter of his discipline Behold therefore wee offer the lawes whereby wee liue vnto the generall triall and iudgement of the whole world hartily beseeching almightie God whome wee desire to serue according to his owne will that both wee and others all kinde of partiall affection being cleane laide aside may haue eyes to see and hearts to embrace the things that in his sight are most acceptable And because the point about which wee striue is the qualitie of our lawes our first entrance hereinto cannot better be made then with consideration of the nature of lawe in generall and of that lawe which giueth life vnto all the rest which are commendable iust and good nâ—mely the lawe whereby the Eternall himselfe doth worke Proceeding from hence to the lawe first of nature then of scripture we shall haue the easier accesse vnto those things which come after to be debated concerning the particular cause and question which wee haue in hand 2 All thinges that are haue some operation not violent or casuall Neither doth any thing euer begin to exercise the same without some foreconceiued ende for which it worketh And the ende which it worketh for is not obteined vnlesse the worke bee also fit to obteine it by For vnto euery ende euery operation will not serue That which doth assigne vnto each thing the kinde that which doth moderate the force and power that which doth appoint the forme and measure of working the same we tearme a Lawe So that no certaine ende could euer bee attained vnlesse the actions whereby it is attained were regular that is to say made suteable fit and correspondent vnto their ende by some Canon rule or lawe Which thing doth first take placâ— in the workes euen of God himselfe All thinges therefore doe worke after a sort according to lawe all other thinges according to a lawe whereof some superiours vnto whome they are subiect is author onely the workes and operations of God haue him both for their worker and for the lawe whereby they are wrought The being of God is a kinde of lawe to his working for that perfection which God is giueth perfection to that hee doth Those naturall necessary and internall operations of God the generation of the Sonne the proceeding of the Spirit are without the compasse of my present intent which is to touch onely such operations as haue their beginning and being by a voluntary purpose wherewith God hath eternally decreed when and how they should bee Which eternall decree is that wee tearme an eternall lawe Dangerous it were for the feeble braine of man to wade farre into the doings of the most High whome although to knowe bee life and ioy to make mention of his name yet our soundest knowledge is to know that wee know him not as indeede hee is neither can know him and our safest eloquence concerning him is our silence when we confesse without confession that his glory is inexplicable his greatnesse aboue our capacitie and reach Hee is aboue and wee vpon earth therefore it behoueth our wordes to bee warie and fewe Our God is one or rather very onenesse and meere vnitie hauing nothing but it selfe in it selfe and not consisting as all things doe besides God of many things In which essentiall vnitie of God a Trinitie personall neuerthelesse subsisteth after a maner far exceeding the possibilitie of mans conceipt The works which outwardly are of God they are in such sort of him being one that each person hath in them somewhat peculiar and proper For being three and they all subsisting in the essence of one deitie from the Father by the Sonne through the Spirit all things are That which the Sonne doth heare of the Father and which the Spirit doth receiue of the Father the Sonne the same we haue at the haÌ„ds of the Spirit as being the last and therfore the nearest vnto vs in order although in power the same with the second and the first The wise and learned among the very Heathens themselues haue all acknowledged some first cause whereupon originally the being of all things dependeth Neither haue they otherwise spoken of that cause then as an Agent which knowing what and why it worketh obserueth in working a most exact order or lawe Thus much is signified by that which Homer mentioneth
wherof is by this rule sufficiently manifested although we had no other warrant besides to approue them The Apostle S. Paul hauing speech coÌ„cerning the Heathen saith of theÌ„ They are a law vnto theÌ„selues His meaning is that by force of the light of reasoÌ„ wherewith God illuminateth euery one which cometh into the world meÌ„ being inabled to know truth from falshood and good from euill do thereby learne in many things what the will of God is which will himselfe not reuealing by any extraordinary meanes vnto them but they by naturall discourse attaining the knowledge thereof seeme the makers of those lawes which indeed are his and they but onely the finders of them out A law therefore generally taken is a directiue rule vnto goodnesse of operation The rule of diuine operations outward is the definitiue appointmeÌ„t of Gods owne wisedome set downe within himselfe The rule of naturall agents that worke by simple necessity is the determination of the wisedome of God known to God himselfe the principall director of them but not vnto them that are directed to execute the same The rule of naturall agents which worke after a sort of their owne accord as the beasts do is the iudgement of common sense or phancy concerning the sensible goodnes of those obiects wherwith they are moued The rule of ghostly or immateriall natures as spirits Angels is their intuitiue intellectual iudgement concerning the amiable beauty high goodnes of that obiect which with vnspeakeable ioy and delight doth set them on worke The rule of voluntary agents on earth is the sentence that reason giueth coÌ„cerning the goodnes of those things which they are to do And the sentences which reason giueth are some more some lesse general before it come to define in particular actioÌ„s what is good The maine principles of reason are in theÌ„selues apparent For to make nothing euideÌ„t of it selfe vnto maÌ„s vnderstaÌ„ding were to take away al possibility of knowing any thing And herein that of Theophrasâ—us is true They that seeke a reason of all things do vtterly ouerthrow reason In euery kind of knowledge some such grounds there are as that being proposed the mind doth presently embrace them as free from all possibilitie of error cleare and manifest without proofe In which kind axiomes or principles more generall are such as this That the greater good is to be chosen before the lesse If therefore it should be demanded what reason there is why the will of man which doth necessarily shun harme and couet whatsoeuer is pleasant and sweete should be commanded to count the pleasures of sinne gall notwithstanding the bitter accidents wherwith vertuous actions are compast yet stil to reioyce and delight in them surely this could neuer stand with reason but that wisedome thus prescribing groundeth her lawes vpon an infallible rule of comparison which is that small difficulties when exceeding great good is sure to ensue and on the other side momentanie benefites when the hurt which they drawe after them is vnspeakeable are not at all to be respected This rule is the ground whereupon the wisedom of the Apostle buildeth a law inioyning patience vnto himselfe The present lightnes of our affliction worketh vnto vs euen with aboundance vpon aboundance an eternall waight of glory while we looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporal but the things which are not seene eternall Therefore Christianity to be embraced whatsoeuer calamities in those times it was accompanied withall Vpon the same ground our Sauiour proueth the law most reasonable that doth forbid those crimes which meÌ„ for gaines sake fall into For a man to win the world if it be with the losse of his soule what benefit or good is it Axiomes lesse generall yet so manifest that they need no further proofe are such as these God to be worshipped Parents to be honored Others to be vsed by vs as we our selues would by them Such things as soone as they are alleaged all men acknowledge to be good they require no proofe or further discourse to be assured of their goodnes Notwithstanding whatsoeuer such principle there is it was at the first found out by discourse drawne from out of the very bowels of heauen and earth For we are to note that things in the world are to vs discernable not onely so farre forth as serueth for our vitall preseruation but further also in a twofold higher respect For first if all other vses were vtterly taken away yet the mind of man being by nature speculatiue and delighted with coÌ„templation in it selfe they were to be known euen for meere knowledge and vnderstandings sake Yea further besides this the knowledge of euery the least thing in the whole world hath in it a secoÌ„d peculiar benefit vnto vs in as much as it serueth to minister rules Canons and lawes for men to direct those actions by which we properly terme humane This did the very Heathens themselues obscurely insinuate by making Themis which we call Ius or Right to be the daughter of heauen and earth Wee knowe things either as they are in themselues or as they are in mutuall relation one to another The knowledge of that which man is in reference vnto himselfe and other things in relation vnto man I may iustly terme the mother of al those principles which are as it were edicts statutes and decrees in that law of nature wherby humaine actions are framed First therefore hauing obserued that the best things where they are not hindered do still produce the best operations for which cause where many things are to concurre vnto one effect the best is in all congruity of reason to guide the residue that it preuailing most the worke principally done by it may haue greatest perfection when hereupon we come to obserue in our selues of what excellencie our soules are in comparison of our bodies and the diuiner part in relation vnto the baser of our soules seeing that all these concurre in producing humaine actions it cannot be well vnlesse the chiefest do commaund and direct the rest The soule then ought to conduct the bodie and the spirit of our mindes the soule This is therefore the first lawe whereby the highest power of the minde requireth generall obedience at the hands of all the rest concurring with it vnto action Touching the seuerall graund mandates which being imposed by the vnderstanding facultie of the minde must be obeyed by the will of man they are by the same method found out whether they import our dutie towardes God or towards man Touching the one I may not here stand to open by what degrees of discourse the mindes euen of meere naturall men haue attained to knowe not onely that there is a God but also what power force wisedome and other properties that God hath and how all thinges depend on him This being therefore presupposed from that
nor any thing in such wise aboundeth that as being superfluous vnfruitfull and altogether needlesse we should thinke it no losse or danger at all if we did want it 14 Although the scripture of God therefore be stored with infinite varietie of matter in all kinds although it abound with all sorts of lawes yet the principal intent of scripture is to deliuer the lawes of duties supernaturall Oftentimes it hath bene in very solemne maner disputed whether all things necessary vnto saluation be necessarily set downe in the holy Scriptures or no. If we define that necessary vnto saluation whereby the way to saluation is in any sort made more plaine apparent and easie to be knowne then is there no part of true Philosophie no art of account no kind of science rightly so called but the Scripture must conteine it If onely those things be necessary as surely none else are without the knowledge and practise whereof it is not the will and pleasure of God to make any ordinary graunt of saluation it may be notwithstanding and oftentimes hath bene demanded how the bookes of holy Scripture conteine in them all necessary things when of things necessary the very chiefest is to knowe what bookes we are bound to esteeme holy which point is confest impossible for the Scripture it selfe to teach Whereunto wee may aunswere with truth that there is not in the world any Arte or Science which proposing vnto it selfe an ende as euery one doth some ende or other hath bene therefore thought defectiue if it haue not deliuered simply whatsoeuer is needfull to the same ende but all kinds of knowledge haue their certaine bounds and limits each of them presupposeth many necessary things learned in other sciences and knowne before hand He that should take vpon him to teach men how to be eloquent in pleading causes must needes deliuer vnto them whatsoeuer precepts are requisite vnto that end otherwise he doth no◠the thing which he taketh vpon him Seeing then no man can pleade eloquently vnlesse he be able first to speake it followeth that habilitie of speech is in this case a thing most necessary Notwithstanding euery man would thinke it ridiculous that he which vndertaketh by writing to instruct an Orator should therfore deliuer all the precepts of Grammar because his profession is to deliuer precepts necessarie vnto eloquent speech yet so that they which are to receiue them bee taugt before hand so much of that which is thereunto necessarie as comprehendeth the skill of speaking In like sort albeit Scripture do professe to conteine in it all thinges which are necessarie vnto saluation yet the meaning cannot bee simply of all things which are necessarie but all things that are necessary in some certaine kind or forme as all things that are necessarie and either could not at all or could not easilie be knowne by the light of naturall discourse all things which are necessarie to be knowne that we may be saued but knowne with presupposall of knowledge cōcerning certaine principles wherof it receaueth vs already perswaded and then instructeth vs in all the residue that are necessary In the number of these principles one is the sacred authority of Scripture Being therefore perswaded by other meanes that these Scriptures are the oracles of God themselues do then teach vs the rest and lay before vs all the duties which God requireth at our hands as necessary vnto saluation Further there hath bene some doubt likewise whether conteining in scripture do import expresse setting downe in plaine tearmes or else comprehending in such sort that by reason we may frō thence conclude all things which are necessary Against the former of these two constructions instance hath sundrie wayes bene geuen For our beliefe in the Trinity the Coeternity of the Sonne of God with his Father the proceeding of the Spirite from the Father and the Sonne the duty of baptizing infants these with such other principall points the necessity wherof is by none denied are notwithstanding in Scripture no where to be found by expresse literall mention only deduced they are out of scripture by collection This kind of cōprehension in scripture being therefore receiued still there is no doubt how far we are to proceed by collection before the full and complete measure of things necessary be made vp For let vs not thinke that as long as the world doth endure the wit of man shal be able to found the bottome of that which may be concluded out of the scripture especially if things conteined by collection do so far extend as to draw in whatsoeuer may be at any time out of scripture but probably and coniecturally surmised But let necessary collection be made requisite and we may boldly deny that of all those things which at this day are with so great necessitie vrged vpon this Church vnder the name of reformed Church discipline there is any one which their bookes hetherto haue made manifest to be conteined in the Scripture Let them if they can alleage but one properly belonging to their cause and not common to them and vs and shew the deduction thereof out of scripture to be necessarie It hath beene already shewed how all things necessarie vnto saluation in such sort as before we haue maintained must needes be possible for men to knowe and that many things are in such sort necessarie the knowledge whereof is by the light of nature impossible to be attained Whereupon it followeth that either all flesh is excluded from possibility of saluation which to thinke were most barbarous or else that God hath by supernaturall meanes reuealed the way of life so far forth as doth suffice For this cause God hath so many times and waies spoken to the sonnes of men Neither hath he by speech only but by wilting also instructed and taught his Church The cause of writing hath bene to the end that things by him reuealed vnto the world might haue the longer cōtinuance and the greater certainty of assurance by how much that which standeth on record hath in both those respects preeminence aboue that which passeth from hand to hand and hath no pennes but the toongs no bookes but the eares of men to record it The seueral bookes of scripture hauing had each some seuerall occasion and particular purpose which caused them to be written the contents thereof are according to the exigence of that speciall end whereunto they are intended Hereupon it groweth that euery booke of holy scripture doth take out of all kinds of truth naturall historicall forreine supernaturall so much as the matter handled requireth Now for as much as there hath bene reason alleaged sufficient to conclude that all things necessary vnto saluation must be made knowne and that God himselfe hath therefore reuealed his will because otherwise men could not haue knowne so much as i◠necessary his surceasing to speake to the world since the publishing of the Gospell of Iesus Christ and the
vnto whom wee associate our selues in the one are men simply considered as men but they to whom we bee ioyned in the other are God Angels and holy men Againe the Church being both a society and a society supernaturall although as it is a society it haue the selfe same originall grounds which other politique societes haue namely the naturall inclination which all men haue vnto sociable life and consent to some certaine bond of association which bond is the law that appointeth what kind of order they shall be associated in yet vnto the Church as it is a societie supernaturall this is peculiar that part of the bond of their association which belong to the Church of God must be a lawe supernaturall which God himselfe hath reuealed concerning that kind of worship which his people shall do vnto him The substance of the seruice of God therefore so farre forth as it hath in it any thing more then the lawe of reason doth teach may not be inuented of men as it is amongst the Heathens but must be receiued from God himselfe as alwaies it hath bene in the Church sauing only when the Church hath bene forgetfull of her dutie Wherefore to end with a generall rule concerning all the lawes which God hath tyed men vnto those lawes diuine that belong whether naturally or supernaturally either to men as men or to men as they liue in politique societie or to men as they are of that politique societie which is the Church without any further respect had vnto any such variable accident as the state of men and of societies of men and of the Church it selfe in this world is subiect vnto all lawes that so belong vnto men they belong for euer yea although they be positiue lawes vnlesse being positiue God himselfe which made them alter them The reason is because the subiect or matter of lawes in generall is thus farre foorth constant which matter is that for the ordering whereof lawes were instituted and being instituted are not chaungeable without cause neither can they haue cause of chaunge when that which gaue them their first institution remaineth for euer one and the same On the other side lawes that were made for men or societies or Churches in regard of their being such as they doe not alwayes continue but may perhaps bee cleane otherwise a whil◠after and so may require to bee otherwise ordered then before the lawes of God himselfe which are of this nature no man indued with common sense will euer denie to bee of a different constitution from the former in respect of the ones constancie and the mutabilitie of the other And this doth seeme to haue beene the very cause why Saint Iohn doth so peculiarly tearme the doctrine that teacheth saluation by Iesus Christ Euangelium aeternum an eternall Gospell because there can be no reason wherefore the publishing thereof should be taken away and any other in stead of it proclaimed as long as the world doth continue where as the whole lawe of rites and Ceremonies although deliuered with so great solemnitie is notwithstanding cleane abrogated in as much as it had but temporary cause of Gods ordeining it But that we may at the length conclude this first generall introduction vnto the nature and originall birth as of all other lawes so likewise of those which the sacred Scripture conteineth concerning the author wherof euen infidels haue confessed that he can neither erre nor deceiue albeit about things easie and manifest vnto all men by common sense there needeth no higher consultation because as a man whose wisedome is in waighty affaires admired would take it in some disdaine to haue his counsell solemnely asked about a toye so the meannesse of some things is such that to search the Scripture of God for the ordering of them were to derogate from the reuerend authoritie and dignitie of the Scripture no lesse then they do by whom Scriptures are in ordinarie talke very idly applyed vnto vaine and childish trifles yet better it were to bee superstitious then prophane to take from thence our direction euen in all things great or small then to wade through matters of principall waight and moment without euer caring what the lawe of God hath either for or against our disseignes Concerning the custome of the very Paynimes thus much Strab◠witnesseth Men that are ciuill do leade their liues after one common lawe appointing them what to do For that otherwise a multitude should with harmony amongest themselues concurre in the doing of one thing for this is ciuilly to liue or that they should in any sort menage communitie of life it is not possible Nowe lawes or statutes are of two sorts For they are either receiued from Gods or else from men And our auncient predecessors did surely most honor and reuerēce that which was from the Gods for which cause consultation with Oracles was a thing very vsuall and frequent in their times Did they make so much account of the voyce of their Gods which in truth were no Gods and shall we neglect the pretious benefite of conference with those Oracles of the true and liuing God whereof so great store is left to the Church and wherunto there is so free so plaine and so easie accesse for al men By the Commandements this was Dauids confession vnto God thou hast made me wiser then mine enemies Againe I haue had more vnderstanding then all my teachers because thy testimonies are my meditations What paynes would not they haue bestowed in the study of these bookes who trauailed sea and land to gaine the treasure of some fewe dayes talke with men whose wisedome the world did make any reckoning of That litle which some of the Heathens did chance to heare concerning such matter as the sacred Scripture plentifully conteineth they did in wonderfull sort affect their speeches as oft as they make mention thereof are strange and such as themselues could not vtter as they did other things but still acknowledged that their wits which did euery where else conquer hardnesse were with profoundnesse here ouer-matched Wherfore seeing that God hath indued vs with sense to the end that we might perceiue such things as this present life doth need and with reason least that which sense cannot reach vnto being both now and also in regard of a future estate hereafter necessary to be knowne should lye obscure finally with the heauenly support of d propheticall reuelation which doth open those hidden mysteries that reason could neuer haue bene able to find out or to haue knowne the necessitie of them vnto our euerlasting good vse we the pretious gifts of God vnto his glory and honour that gaue them seeking by all meanes to know what the will of our God is what righteous before him in his fight what holy perfect and good that we may truly and faithfully do it 16 Thus farre therefore we haue endeuoured in part to open of
and their potent opposites vtterly to cast away themselues for euer Wherefore least it should so fall out to them vpon whom so much did depend they were not permitted to enter into warre nor conclude any league of peace nor to wade through any acte of moment betweene them and forraine states vnlesse the Oracle of God or his Prophets were first consulted with And least domesticall disturbance should wash them within themselues because there was nothing vnto this purpose more effectuall then if the authority of their lawes and gouernors were such as none might presume to take exception against it or to shewe disobedience vnto it without incurring the hatred detestation of al men that had any sparke of the feare of God therefore he gaue them euen their positiue lawes from heauen and as oft as occasion required chose in like sort Rulers also to leade gouerne them Notwithstāding some desperatly impious there were which adventured to try what harme it could bring vpon them if they did attempt to be authors of confusion and to resist both Gouernours and Lawes Against such monsters God mainteined his owne by fearefull execution of extraordinarie iudgement vpon them By which meanes it came to passe that although they were a people infested and mightily hated of all others throughout the world although by nature hard harted querulous wrathful impatiēt of rest and quietnes yet was there nothing of force either one way or other to worke the ruine and subuersion of their state till the time before mentioned was expired Thus we see that there was not no cause of dissimilitude in these things betweene that one only people before Christ and the kingdomes of the world since And whereas it is further alleaged that albeit in Ciuill matters and things perteining to this present life God hath vsed a greater particularity with them then amongst vs framing lawes according to the quality of that people and Countrey yet the leauing of vs at greater liberty in things ciuill is so farre from prouing the like liberty in things pertaining to the kingdome of heauen that it rather proues a streighter bond For euen as when the Lord would haue his fauour more appeare by temporall blessings of this life towards the people vnder the Lawe then towards vs he gaue also politique lawes most exactly whereby they might both most easily come into and most stedfastly remaine in possession of those earthly benefites euen so at this time wherein he would not haue his fauour so much esteemed by those outward commodities it is required that as his care in prescribing lawes for that purpose hath somewhat fallen in leauing them to mens consultations which may be deceiued so his care for conduct and gouernement of the life to come should if it were possible rise in leauing lesse to the order of men then in times past These are but weake and feeble disputes for the inference of that conclusion which is intended For sauing only in such consideration as hath bene shewed there is no cause wherefore we should thinke God more desirous to manifest his fauour by temporall blessings towards them then towards vs. Godlinesse had vnto them and it hath also vnto vs the promises both of this life and the life to come That the care of God hath fallen in earthly things and therefore should rise as much in heauenly that more is left vnto mens consultations in the one and therefore lesse must be graunted in the other that God hauing vsed a greater particularity with them then with vs for matters perteining vnto this life is to make vs amends by the more exact deliuery of lawes for gouernment of the life to come these are proportions whereof if there be any rule we must plainely confesse that which truth is we know it not God which spake vnto them by his Prophets hath vnto vs by his onely begotten Sonne those mysteries of grace and saluation which were but darkely disclosed vnto them haue vnto vs more cleerely shined Such differences betweene them and vs the Apostles of Christ haue well acquainted vs withall But as for matter belonging to the outward cōduct or gouernment of the Church seeing that euen in sense it is manifest that our Lord Sauiour hath not by positiue lawes descended so farre into particularities with vs as Moses with them neither doth by extraordinary means oracles and Prophets direct vs as them he did in those things which rising daily by new occasions are of necessitie to be prouided for doth it not hereupon rather follow that although not to them yet to vs there should be freedome libertie graunted to make lawes Yea but the Apostle S. Paule doth fearefully charge Timothy euen In the sight of God who quickneth all of Christ Iesus who witnessed that famous confession before Pontius Pilate to keepe what was commaunded him safe and sound til the appearance of our Lord Iesus Christ. This doth exclude al liberty of changing the lawes of Christ whether by abrogation or addition or howsoeuer For in Timothy the whole Church of Christ receiueth charge concerning her duty And that charge is to keepe the Apostles commaundement And his commaundement did conteine the lawes that concerned Church gouernement And those lawes he straightly requireth to be obserued without breach or blame till the appearance of our Lord Iesus Christ. In Scripture we graunt euery one mans lesson to be the common instruction of all men so farre forth as their cases are like and that religiously to keepe the Apostles commandemēts in whatsoeuer they may concerne vs we all stand bound But touching that commandement which Timothy was charged with we swarue vndoubtedly from the Apostles precise meaning if we extend it so largely that the armes thereof shall reach vnto all things which were cōmanded him by the Apostle The very words themselues do restraine thēselues vnto some one speciall commandemēt among many And therfore it is not said Keepe the ordinances lawes constitutions which thou hast receiued but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great cōmandement which doth principally concerne thee and thy calling that cōmandement which Christ did so often inculcate vnto Peter that cōmandement vnto the carefull discharge whereof they of Ephesus are exhorted Attend to your selues to all flock wherin the holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased by his owne bloud finally that cōmandement which vnto the same Timothy is by the same Apostle euen in the same forme maner afterwards again vrged I charge thee in the sight of God the Lord Iesus Christ which will iudge the quicke dead at his appearance in his kingdom Preach the word of God When Timothy was instituted into that office then was the credit and trust of this duty committed vnto his faithfull care The doctrine of the Gospell was thē giuen him as the precious talent or treasure of Iesus Christ
ministrie should be vtterly taken away and their estate made againe dependent vpon the voluntary deuotion of men In these thinges they easily perceiue how vnfit that were for the present which was for the first age conuenient enough The faith zeale godlines of former times is worthily had in honour but doth this proue that the orders of the Church of Christ must bee still the selfesame with theirs that nothing may be which was not then or that nothing which then was may lawfully since haue ceased They who recall the Church vnto that which was at the first must necessarily set boundes and limits vnto their speeches If any thing haue bene receiued repugnant vnto that which was first deliuered the first things in this case must stand the last giue place vnto them But where difference is without repugnancie that which hath bene can be no preiudice to that which is Let the state of the people of God when they were in the house of bondage and their maner of seruing God in a strange land be compared with that which Canaan and Ierusalem did afford and who seeth not what huge difference there was betweene them In Aegypt it may be they were right glad to take some corner of a poore cottage there to serue God vpon their knees peraduenture couered in dust and strawe sometimes Neither were they therefore the lesse accepted of God but he was with them in all their afflictions and at the length by working their admirable deliuerance did testifie that they serued him not in vaine Notwithstanding in the very desert they are no sooner possest of some little thing of their owne but a tabernacle is required at their handes Beeing planted in the land of Canaan and hauing Dauid to be their King when the Lord had giuen him rest from all his enemies it greeued his religious minde to consider the growth of his owne estate and dignitie the affaires of religion continuing still in the former manner Beholde now I dwell in an house of Cedar trees and the Arke of God remaineth still within curtaines What hee did purpose it was the pleasure of God that Salomon his sonne should performe and performe it in maner suteable vnto their present nor their auncient estate and condition For which cause Salomon writeth vnto the King of Tyrus The house which I build is great and wonderfull for great is our God aboue all Gods Whereby it clearely appeareth that the orders of the Church of God may bee acceptable vnto him as well being framed sutable to the greatnes and dignitie of later as when they keepe the reuerend simplicitie of aunciente◠times Such dissimilitude therefore betweene vs and the Apostles of Christ in the order of some outward things is no argument of default 3 Yea but wee haue framed our selues to the customes of the Church of Rome our orders and ceremonies are Papisticall It is espied that our Church-founders were not so carefull as in this matter they should haue bene but contented themselues with such discipline as they took from the Church of Rome Their error we ought to reforme by abolishing all Popish orders There must bee no communion nor fellowship with Papistes neither in doctrine ceremonies nor gouernment It is not enough that wee are deuided from the Church of Rome by the single wall of doctrine reteining as we do part of their ceremonies and almost their whole gouernment but gouernment or ceremonies or whatsoeuer it be which is popish away with it This is the thing they require in vs the vtter relinquishment of all thinges popish Wherein to the ende wee may answer them according vnto their plaine direct meaning and not take aduantage of doubtfull speech whereby controuersies growe alwaies endlesse their maine position being this that nothing should bee placed in the Church but what God in his word hath commaunded they must of necessitie holde all for popish which the Church of Rome hath ouer and besides this By popish orders ceremonies and gouernment they must therefore meane in euery of these so much as the church of Rome hath embraced without commandement of Gods word so that whatsoeuer such thing we haue if the Church of Rome haue it also it goeth vnder the name of those thinges that are Popish yea although it be lawfull although agreeable to the word of God For so they plainely affirme saying Although the formes and ceremonies which they the Church of Rome vsed were not vnlawfull and that they contained nothing which is not agreeable to the word of God yet notwithstanding neither the word of God nor reason nor the examples of the eldest Churches both Iewish and Christian do permit vs to vse the same formes and ceremonies being neither commanded of God neither such as there may not as good as they and rather better be established The question therefore is whether we may follow the Church of Rome in those orders rites and ceremonies wherein wee doe not thinke them blameable or else ought to deuise others and to haue no conformitie with them no not as much as in these thinges In this sense and construction therefore as they affirme so we denie that whatsoeuer is popish wee ought to abrogate Their arguments to proue that generally all popish orders and ceremonies ought to be cleane abolished are in summe these First whereas wee allow the iudgement of Saint Augustine that touching those thinges of this kinde which are not commaunded or forbidden in the scripture wee are to obserue the custome of the people of God and decree of our forefathers how can we retaine the customes and constitutions of the Papistes in such things who were neither the people of God nor our forefathers Secondly although the formes and ceremonies of the Church of Rome were not vnlawfull neither did containe any thing which is not agreeable to the word of God yet neither the worde of God nor the example of the Eldest Churches of God nor reason doe permit vs to vse the same they being heretiques and so neare about vs and their orders beeing neither commaunded of God nor yet such but that as good or rather better may be established It is against the word of God to haue conformitie with the Church of Rome in such things as appeareth in that the wisdome of God hath thought it a good way to keepe his people from infection of Idolatry and superstition by seuering them from idolaters in outward ceremonies and therefore hath forbidden them to doe thinges which are in themselues very lawfull to be done And further whereas the Lorde was carefull to seuer them by ceremonies from other nations yet was he not so careful to seuer them from any as from the Aegyptians amongst whom they liued and from those nations which were next neighbours vnto them because from thē was the greatest feare of infection So that following the course which the wisdom of God doth teach it were more safe for
boughes or send New yeares-gifts vnto our friends or feast on those dayes which the Gentiles then did or sit after prayer as they were accustomed For so they inferre vpon the premises that as great difference as commodiously may be there should be in all outward ceremonies betweene the people of God and them which are not his people Againe they teach as hath bene declared that there is not as great a difference as may be betweene them except the one do auoide whatsoeuer rites and ceremonies vncommanded of God the other doth embrace So that generally they teach that the very difference of spirituall condition it selfe betweene the seruants of Christ and others requireth such difference in ceremonies betweene them although the one be neuer so farre disioyned in time or place from the other But in case the people of God and Belial do chaunce to be neighbours then as the daunger of infection is greater so the same difference they say is thereby made more necessary In this respect as the Iewes were seuered from the Heathen so most especially from the Heathen neerest them And in the same respect we which ought to differ howsoeuer from the Church of Rome are now they say by reason of our meerenesse more bound to differ from them in ceremonies then from Turkes A straunge kind of speech vnto Christian eares and such as I hope they themselues do acknowledge vnaduisedly vttered We are not so much to feare infection from Turkes as from Papists What of that we must remember that by conforming rather our selues in that respect to Turkes we should be spreaders of a worse infection into others then any we are likely to draw from Papists by our conformity with them in ceremonies If they did hate as Turkes do the Christians or as Cananites of old did the Iewish religion euen in grosse the circumstance of locall neernes in them vnto vs might happily enforce in vs a duty of greater separation from them then from those other mentioned But for as much as Papists are so much in Christ neerer vnto vs then Turkes is there any reasonable man trow you but will iudge it meeter that our ceremonies of Christian religion should be Popish then Turkish or Heathenish Especially considering that we were not brought to dwell amongst them as Israell in Canaan hauing not bene of them For euen a very part of them we were And when God did by his good Spirit put it into our hearts first to reforme our selues whence grew our separation and then by all good meanes to seeke also their reformation had we not onely cut off their corruptions but also estranged our selues from them in things indifferent who seeth not how greatly preiudiciall this might haue bene to so good a cause and what occasion it had giuen them to thinke to their greater obduration in euill that through a froward or wanton desire of innouation wee did vnconstrainedly those thinges for which conscience was pretended Howsoeuer the case doth stand as Iuda had beene rather to choose conformity in things indifferent with Israell when they were neerest opposites then with the farthest remoued Pagans So we in like case much rather with Papists then with Turkes I might adde further for more full and complete answere so much concerning the large oddes betweene the case of the eldest Churches in regard of those Heathens and ours in respect of the Church of Rome that very cauillation it selfe should be satisfied and haue no shift to flye vnto 8 But that no one thing may deteine vs ouer long I returne to their reasons against our conformity with that Church That extreme dissimilitude which they vrge vpon vs is now commended as our best safest policie for establishment of sound religion The ground of which politique position is that Euils must be cured by their contraries therfore the cure of the Church infected with the poyson of Antichristianity must be done by that which is therunto as cōtrary as may be A medled estate of the orders of the Gospell the ceremonies of popery is not the best way to banish popery We are cōtrarywise of opiniō that he which will perfectly recouer a sicke and restore a diseased body vnto health must not endeuor so much to bring it to a state of simple cōtrariety as of fit proportion in contrariety vnto those euils which are to be cured He that will take away extreme heat by setting the body in extremity of cold shall vndoubtedly remoue the disease but together with it the diseased too The first thing therefore in skilfull cures is the knowledge of the part affected the next is of the euill which do affect it the last is not onely of the kind but also of the measure of contrary things whereby to remoue it They which measure religion by dislike of the Church of Rome thinke euery man so much the more sound by how much he can make the corruptions thereof to seeme more large And therefore some there are namely the Arrians in reformed Churches of Poland which imagine the cancre to haue eaten so far into the very bones and marrow of the Church of Rome as if it had not so much as a sound beliefe no not cōcerning God himselfe but that the very beliefe of the Trinity were a part of Antichristian corruption and that the wonderfull prouidence of God did bring to passe that the Bishop of the Sea of Rome should be famous for his triple crowne a sensible marke whereby the world might know him to be that mysticall beast spoken of in the Reuelation to be that great and notorious Antichrist in no one respect so much as in this that he maintaineth the doctrine of the Trinity Wisdome therefore and skill is requisite to knowe what parts are sound in that Church and what corrupted Neither is it to all men apparant which complaine of vnsound parts with what kind of vnsoundnesse euery such part is possessed They can say that in Doctrine in Discipline in Prayers in Sacraments the Church of Rome hath as it hath in deede very foule and grosse corruptions the nature whereof notwithstanding because they haue not for the most part exact skill and knowledge to discerne they thinke that amisse many times which is not and the salue of reformation they mightily call for but where and what the sores are which need it as they wote full little so they thinke it not greatly materiall to search Such mens contentment must be wrought by stratageme the vsuall methode of art is not for them But with those that professe more then ordinary common knowledge of good from euill with them that are able to put a difference betweene things naught things indifferent in the Church of Rome we are yet at controuersie about the maner of remouing that which is naught whether it may not be perfectly helpt vnlesse that also which is indifferent be cut off with it so farre till no rite or ceremony remaine which
number gaue essence and being to the workes of nature A thing in reason impossible which notwithstanding through their misfashioned preconceipt appeared vnto them no lesse certaine then if nature had written it in the very foreheads of all the creatures of God When they of the family of loue haue it once in their heads that Christ doth not signifie any one person but a qualitie whereof many are partakers that to be raised is nothing else but to be regenerated or indued with the said quality and that when separation of them which haue it from them which haue it not is here made this is iudgement how plainely do they imagine that the Scripture euery where speaketh in the fauour of that sect And assuredly the very cause which maketh the simple and ignorant to thinke they euen see how the word of God runneth currantly on your side is that their minds are forestalled and their conceits peruerted before hand by being taught that an Elder doth signifie a lay man admitted onely to the office of rule or gouernement in the Church a Doctor one which may only teach and neither preach nor administer the Sacraments a Deacon one which hath charge of the almes boxe and of nothing else that the Scepter the rod the throne kingdome of Christ are a forme of regiment onely by Pastors Elders Doctors and Deacons that by mysticall resemblance mount Sion and Jerusalem are the Churches which admit Samaria and Babylon the Churches which oppugne the said forme of regimeÌ„t And in like sort they are taught to apply al things spoken of repairing the wals and decayed parts of the city temple of God by Esdras Nehemias the rest as if purposely the holy Ghost had therein ment to foresignifie what the authors of admonitions to the Parliament of supplications to the Councell of petitions to her Maiesty and of such other like writs should either do or suffer in behalfe of this their cause From hence they proceed to an higher point which is the perswading of men credulous ouer capable of such pleasing errors that it is the speciall illumination of the holy Ghost whereby they discerne those things in the word which others reading yet discerne them not Dearly beloued saith S. Iohn Giue not credit vnto euery Spirit There are but two wayes whereby the spirit leadeth men into 〈◊〉 truth the one extraordinarie the other common the one belonging but vnto some few the other extending it selfe vnto all that are of God the one that which we call by a speciall diuine excellency Reuelation the other Reason If the Spirit by such reuelation haue discouered vnto theÌ„ the secrets of that discipline out of Scripture they must professe themselues to be all euen men women and children Prophets Or if reason be the hand which the Spirit hath led them by for as much as perswasions grounded vpon reason are either weaker or stronger according to the force of those reasons whereupon the same are grounded they must euery of them from the greatest to the least be able for euery seuerall article to shewe some special reason as strong as their perswasion therin is earnest Otherwise how can it be but that some other sinewes there are from which that ouerplus of strength in perswasion doth arise Most sure it is that when mens affections do frame their opinions they are in defence of error more earnest a great deale then for the most part sound belieuers in the maintenance of truth apprehended according to the nature of that euidence which Scripture yeeldeth which being in some things plaine as in the principles of Christian doctrine in some things as in these matters of discipline more darke and doubtfull frameth correspondently that inward assent which Gods most gracious Spirit worketh by it as by his effectuall instrument It is not therefore the feruent earnestnes of their perswasion but the soundnes of those reasons whereupon the same is built which must declare their opinions in these things to haue bene wrought by the holy Ghost and not by the fraud of that euill Spirit which is euen in his illusions strong After that the phancie of the common sort hath once throughly apprehended the Spirit to be author of their perswasion concerning discipline then is instilled into their hearts that the same Spirit leading men into this opinion doth thereby seale them to be Gods children and that as the state of the times now standeth the most speciall token to know them that are Gods owne from others is an earnest affection that way This hath bred high termes of separation betweene such and the rest of the world whereby the one sort are named Theâ—rethren â—rethren The godly and so forth the other worldlings timeseruers pleasers of men not of God with such like From hence they are easily drawne on to thinke it exceeding necessarie for feare of quenching that good Spirit to vse all meanes whereby the same may be both strengthned in themselues and made manifest vnto others This maketh them diligent hearers of such as are knowne that way to incline this maketh them eager to take and to seeke all occasions of secret conference with such this maketh them glad to vse such as Counsellors and directors in all their dealings which are of waight as contracts testaments and the like this maketh them through an vnweariable desire of receiuing instruction from the maisters of that companie to cast off the care of those verie affaires which do most concerne their estate and to thinke that then they are like vnto Marie commendable for making choyce of the better part Finally this is it which maketh them willing to charge yea oftentimes euen to ouercharge themselues for such mens sustenance and reliefe least their zeale to the cause should any way be vnwitnessed For what is it which poore beguiled soules will not do through so powerfull incitements In which respect it is also noted that most labour hath bene bestowed to win and retaine towards this cause them whose iudgements are commonly weakest by reason of their sex And although not women loden with sinnes as the Apostle S. Paul speaketh but as we verily esteeme of them for the most part women propense and inclinable to holines be otherwise edified in good things rather then caried away as captiues into any kind of sinne and euill by such as enter into their houses with purpose to plant there a zeale and a loue towards this kind of discipline yet some occasion is hereby ministred for men to thinke that if the cause which is thus furthered did gaine by the soundnes of proofe wherupon it doth build it selfe it would not most busily endeuor to preuaile where least hability of iudgement is and therefore that this so eminent industry in making proselytes more of that sex then of the other groweth for that they are deemed apter to serue as instruments and helps in the cause Apter they are through the eagernes of their affection
that maketh them which way soeuer they take diligent in drawing their husbands children seruants friends and allies the same way apter through that naturall inclination vnto pity which breedeth in them a greater readines then in men to be bountifull towards their Preachers who suffer want apter through sundry opportunities which they especially haue to procure encouragements for their brethren finally apter through a singular delight which they take in giuing very large and particular intelligence how all neere about them stand affected as coÌ„cerning the same cause But be they women or be they men if once they haue tasted of that cup let any man of contrary opinion open his mouth to perswade them they close vp their eares his reasons they waigh not all is answered with rehearsall of the words of Iohn We are of God he that knoweth God heareth vs as for the rest ye are of the world for this worlds pompe vanity it is that ye speake and the world whose ye are heareth you Which cloake sitteth no lesse fit on the backe of their cause then of the Anabaptists when the dignitie authority and honour of Gods Magistrate is vpheld against them Shew these egerly affected men their inhabilitie to iudge of such matters their answer is God hath chosen the simple Conuince them of folly and that so plainely that very children vpbraid them with it they haue their bucklers of like defence Christs owne Apostle was accompted mad The best men euermore by the sentence of the world haue bene iudged to be out of their right minds When instruction doth them no good let them feele but the least degree of most mercifully tempered seueritie they fasten on the head of the Lords vicegerents here on earth whatsoeuer they any where find vttered against the cruelty of bloud-thirstie men and to themselues they draw all the sentences which Scripture hath in the fauour of innocencie persecuted for the truth yea they are of their due and deserued sufferings no lesse prowd then those ancient disturbers to whom S. Augustine writeth saying Martyrs rightly so named are they not which suffer for their disorder and for the vngodly breach they haue made of Christian vnitie but which for righteousnes sake are persecuted For Agar also suffered persecution at the hands of Sara wherein she which did impose was holy and she vnrighteous which did beare the buâ—then In like sort with theeues was the Lord himselfe crucified but they who were matcht in the paine which they suffered were in the cause of their sufferings disioyned If that must needs be the true Church which doth endure persecution and not that which persecuteth let them aske of the Apostle what Church Sara did represent when she held her maide in affliction For euen our mother which is free the heauenly Ierusalem that is to say the true Church of God was as he doth affirme prefigured in that very woman by whom the bondmaide was so sharply handled Although if all things be throughly skanned she did in truth more persecute Sara by prowd resistance then Sara hir by seueritie of punishment These are the pathes wherein ye haue walked that are of the ordinary sort of men these are the very steps ye haue troden and the manifest degrees whereby ye are of your guides and directors trained vp in that schoole a custome of inuring your cares with reproofe of faults especially in your gouernors an vse to attribute those faults to the kind of spirituall regiment vnder which ye liue boldnesse in warranting the force of their discipline for the cure of all such euils a slight of framing your conceipts to imagine that Scripture euery where fauoureth that discipline perswasion that the cause why ye find it in Scripture is the illumination of the spirit that the same spirit is a seale vnto you of your neernes vnto God that ye are by all meanes to nourish and witnesse it in your selues and to strengthen on euery side your minds against whatsoeuer might be of force to withdraw you from it 4. Wherefore to come vnto you whose iudgement is a lanterne of direction for all the rest you that frame thus the peoples hearts not altogether as I willingly perswade my selfe of a politique intent or purpose but your selues being first ouerborne with the waight of greater mens iudgements on your shoulders is laid the burthen of vpholding the cause by argument For which purpose sentences out of the word of God ye alleage diuerse but so that when the same are discust thus it alwayes in a manner falleth cut that what things by vertue thereof ye vrge vpon vs as altogether necessarie are found to be thence collected onely by poore and maruelous slight coniectures I need not giue instance in any one sentence so alleaged for that I thinke the instance in any alleaged otherwise a thing not easie to be giuen A verie strange thing sure it were that such a discipline as ye speake of should be taught by Christ and his Apostles in the word of God and no Church euer haue found it out nor receiued it till this present time contrariwise the gouernmeÌ„t against which ye beÌ„d your selues be obserued euery where throughout all generations and ages of the Christian world no Church euer perceiuing the word of God to bee against it Wee require you to finde out but one Church vpon the face of the whole earth that hath bene ordered by your discipline or hath not bene ordered by ours that is to say by episcopall regiment sithence the time that the blessed Apostles were here conuersant Many things out of antiquitie ye bring as if the purest times of the Church had obserued the selfesame orders which you require and as though your desire were that the Churches of olde should be paternes for vs to follow and euen glasses wherin we might see the practise of that which by you is gathered out of scripture But the truth is ye meane nothing lesse All this is done for fashions sake onely for ye complaine of it as of an iniury that meÌ„ should be willed to seeke for examples and paternes of gouernment in any of those times that haue bene before Ye plainly hold that froÌ„ the very Apostles times till this present age wherein your selues imagine ye haue found out a right patern of sound discipline there neuer was any time safe to be followed Which thing ye thus endeuour to proue Out of Egesippus ye say that Eusebius writeth how although as long as the Apostles liued the Church did remaine a pure virgin yet after the death of the Apostles and after they were once gone whom God vouchsafed to make hearers of the diuine wisedome with their owne eares the placing of wicked error began to come into the Church Clement also in a certaine place to confirme that there was corruption of doctrine immediately after the Apostles times alleageth the prouerb that There are few sonnes like their fathers Socrates
rashnes God was not ignorant that the Priests and Iudges whose sentence in matters of controuersie 〈◊〉 ordained should stand both might and oftentimes would be deceiued in their iudgement Howbeit better it was in the eye of his vnderstanding that sometime an erroneous sentence definitiue should preuaile till the same authoritie perceiuing such ouersight might afterwardes correct or reuerse it then that strifes should haue respit to growe and not come speedily vnto some end Neither wish we that men should do any thing which in their hearts they are perswaded they ought not to doe but this perswasion ought we say to be fully setled in their harts that in litigious and controuersed causes of such qualitie the will of God is to haue them to do whatsoeuer the sentence of iudiciall and finall decision shall determine yea though it seeme in their priuate opinioÌ„ to swarue vtterly from that which is right as no doubt many times the sentence amongst the Iewes did seeme vnto one part or other contending and yet in this case God did then allow them to doe that which in their priuate iudgement it seemed yea and perhaps truly seemed that the lawe did disallow For if God be not the author of confusion but of peace then can he not be the author of our refusall but of our contentment to stand vnto some definitiue sentence without which almost impossible it is that eyther wee should auoyd confusion or euer hope to attaine peace To small purpose had the Councell of Ierusalem bene assembled if once their determination being set downe men might afterwards haue defended their former opinions When therefore they had giuen their definitiue sentence all controuersie was at an ende Things were disputed before they came to be determined men afterwardes were not to dispute any longer but to obey The sentence of iudgement finished their strife which their disputes before iudgement could not doe This was ground sufficient for any reasonable mans conscience to build the dutie of obedience vpon whatsoeuer his owne opinion were as touching the matter before in question So full of wilfulnes and selfeliking is our nature that without some definitiue sentence which being giuen may stand and a necessitie of silence on both sides afterward imposed small hope there is that strifes thus far prosecuted will in short time quietly end Now it were in vaine to aske you whether ye could be content that the sentence of any Court already erected should bee so farre authorized as that among the Iewes established by God himselfe for the determining of all controuersies That man which wil do presumptuously not harkning vnto the Priest that standeth before the Lord to minister there nor vnto the Iudge let him dye Ye haue giuen vs already to vnderstand what your opinioÌ„ is in part concerning her sacred Maiesties Court of high Commission the nature whereof is the same with that amongst the Iewes albeit the power be not so great The other way happily may like you better because Maister Beza in his last booke saue one written about these matters professeth himselfe to be now weary of such combats and encounters whether by word or writing in as much as he findeth that controuersies therby are made but braules therfore wisheth that in some common lawfull assembly of Churches all these strifes may at once be decided Shall there be then in the meane while no doings Yes There are the waightier matters of the lawe iudgement and mercie and fidelitie These things we ought to do and these things while we contend about lesse we leaue vndone Happier are they whom the Lord when he commeth shall finde doing in these things then disputing about Doctors Elders Deacons Or if there be no remedie but somewhat needs ye must do which may tend to the setting forward of your discipline do that which wise men who thinke some Statute of the realme more fit to be repealed then to stand in force are accustomed to do before they come to Parliament where the place of enacting is that is to say spend the time in reexamining more duly your cause and in more throughly considering of that which ye labour to ouerthrow As for the orders which are established sith equitie and reason the law of nature God and man do all fauour that which is in being till orderly iudgement of decision be giuen against it it is but iustice to exact of you and peruersnes in you it should be to denie thereunto your willing obedience Not that I iudge it a thing allowable for men to obserue those lawes which in their hearts they are stedfastly perswaded to be against the law of God but your perswasion in this case ye are all bound for the time to suspend and in otherwise doing ye offend against God by troubling his church without any iust or necessary cause Be it that there are some reasons inducing you to think hardly of our lawes Are those reasons demonstratiue are they necessary or but meere probabilities only An argument necessary demonstratiue is such as being proposed vnto any mâ— vnderstood the mind cannot choose but inwardly assent Any one such reason dischargeth J graunt the conscience and setteth it at full libertie For the publike approbatioÌ„ giuen by the body this whole Church vnto those things which are established doth make it but probable that they are good And therefore vnto a necessary proofe that they are not good it must be giue place But if the skilfullest amongst you can shew that all the bookes ye haue hitherto written be able to afford any one argument of this nature let the instance be giuen As for probabilities what thing was there euer set downe so agreeable with soâ—â—â—d reason but some probable shewe against it might be made Is it meete that when publikely things are receiued and haue taken place generall obedience thereunto should cease to bee exacted in case this or that priuate person led with some probable conceipt shoulde make open protestation I Peter or Iohn disallow them and pronounce them nought In which case your answere will be that concerning the lawes of our Church they are not onely condemned in the opinion of a priuate man but of thousands yea and euen of those amongst which dâ—uers are in publique charge and authoritie As though when publique consent of the whole hath established anything euery mans iudgement being thereunto compared were not priuate howsoeuer his calling be to some kind of publique charge So that of peace and quietnes there is not any way possible vnlesse the probable voice of euery intier societie or body politique ouerrule all priuate of like nature in the same body Which thing effectually proueth that God being author of peace and not of confusion in the Church must needs be author of those mens peaceable resolutions who concerning these thinges haue determined with themselues to thinke and do as the Church they are of decreeth till they see necessary cause enforcing