humbly and piously according to the godly and holesome Canons and constitutions of their Mother the Church that so from her and her Governours and from the Kings most sacred Majesty they may to their comfort and commendation receive the commendation of modest and discreet men and such as are farre from any humour of Innovation and let this subtile Innovator with his popular devices goe by who with Iudas of Galile and boasting Theudas seekes with faigned words and deceitfull speeches to beguile simple and well meaning soules and to draw much people after him But by reading of the holy Scriptures which now GOD be praised for it almost every one with Timothy knowes of a childe they understand what befell such seducers and their followers and therefore they have no list either in piety or reason to follow them for they as many as obeyed them were dispersed and brought to nought To conclude I desire to make any sober man and indued with common reason my judge whether he would thinke that the Lords Archbishops and Bishops and the whole Convocation house men of singular wisedome piety and learning as their yeares breeding and education gives them should bee at so much trouble and charge to sit so long together to consider of the state of the Church and to consult with the Kings Majesty about the same as by the words in his Majesties Writ may appeare and then to devise and frame Canons and lawes usefull and necessary for the good pious and peaceable Government thereof and that the Kings Majesty also according to his supreme power in all causes Ecclesiasticall as well as temporall should give his royall assent under the broad seale of his kingdom for confirmation of them as all Princes and Monarchs have done in the first sixe generall Councels if after all this is done all such their Lawes and Canons so made and established should be turned into Tennis Balls for Vicars Parsons and Parishioners to tosse and bandy up and down and question at their pleasure and not to have them executed nor allowed before they be maintained rationibus cogentibus I believe otherwise but that I leave to whom it concernes There is one thing more which I cannot choose but touch upon this Author for For mee thinkes that modesty and discretion which he commended in the Alderman of Grantham he hath not reserved for our commendation in himselfe For thus he twitteth the Vicar The Communion you out of the Booke of fast 1. of the King are pleased to call Second Service In my poore opinion modesty and discretion might have taught him to have forborne such petulant language Surely the man could not but know but that the booke of Fast was not compiled nor ordered to be read publikely in every Congregation without the appointment of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury nor without his Majesties gracious directions and royall Confirmation thereof and if the Vicar having such authority for his warrant doe call the Communion the second Service me thinkes in common discretion and ordinary civility he ought not to have a Ieere cast upon him by a bettter man than this Secretary can bee for the reflection of the jest and scorne you are pleased transcends the Vicars head quite and cleane and strikes hie and aloft upon the toppes of hills and mountaines from whom hee may bee taught to learne to keepe better distance Well the Vicar is pleased having so good authority to call it the Second Service but this man is not pleased Truly I cannot but pitty the Vicar that has met with a man so hard to please When the poore man did president himselfe in his actions and setting the Lords Table Altarwise by the Kings Chappell and Quires in Cathedralls the man is not pleased hee will upon Vmbrages have it ordered otherwise if this feigned Letter deserved any credite when the Vicar performes the reverence appointed by Canon to that blessed Name of Iesus he is pleased So it bee done So and So with such limitations and hedgings and inclosures as the canon never allowed or thought on except it meant to build with one hand and pull down with another otherwise he is not pleased Now he does but conforme his speech to such language as he heares used by the chiefest and most eminent personage in all our Cathedrall Churches and by the Kings Majesty our supreme Governours in all things belonging or in any wise appertaining to matters of the Church whether they bee Rites or Ceremonies words or actions and yet he is not pleased He wil have his Vicar neither doe nor so much as speak as they doe but he will be displeased and lend him a smart jerke for so doing What trow you has put the mans mouth so out of taste that he can in no sort rellish what was done by the Archbishop that then was and what he did by his Majesties authority that now is whom God of his infinite mercy long preserve I hope he hath more learning than to conceive the Second Service to be a new thing and so to be ashamed of the name For besides the Liturgies of Saint Basil and Saint Chrysostome and others used in the Greeke Church and those that have beene used at all times in the Westerne Churches wherein he sees with his eyes both the First and Second Service distinct one from another He may also observe the use hereof in the Primitive Church if he please to consult with Saint Iustin Martyr Tertullian Origen Saint Cyprian Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine or read a Councell which hee will not deny but hee is bound to read the Nicene Councell and hee shall perceive there the first and second service distinguished one from another Hee shall finde one service wherein there was sola Oratio he shall finde a Second service wherein â—â— And I looked and there was none to helpe and I wondred that there was none to vphold Esa. 63.1 But those mine enemies which would not I should raigne over them bring them hither and slay them before me Luc. 19.27 Vnum vos poscimus omnes Cap I. pag. 1.2 3 Cap. II. 3. ad 7. Cap. III. p 7. ad 9. Cap. IV. p 9. ad 15. Cap. V. p. 15. ad 18. Cap. VI. p. 18. ad 22. Cap. VII p. 22. ad 25. Cap. VIII p. 25. ad 29. Cap. IX p. 29. ad 36. Cap. X p. 36. ad 43 Cap. XI p. â—3 ad 60. Cap. XII p. 60 ad 66. Cap. XIII p. 66. ad 71. Cap XIV p. 71 Cap. XV. p 79. ad 84. Cap XVI p. 84. ad 93. Cap. XVII p. 93. ad 97. Cap. XVIII p. 97. ad 104. Cap. XIX p. 104. ad 110 Cap. XX p. 110. ad 115. Cap. XXI p. 115. ad 121. Cap. XXII p. 121. ad 130. Cap. XXIII p. 130. ad 137. Cap. XXIV p. 137. ad 147. Cap XXV p 147. usque ad finem The Letter By that time that you have gained some more experience in the cure of soules you shall
Petrus tanquam os Apostolorum caput pro omnibus respondet Truth distinguisheth Christs Disciples from other men then Love declareth and maketh known whose they are Truth then is first of all to be searched after Pilate once made this seasonable Quaere Quid est veritas But unhappy man he turned his back before Truth it selfe returned him an answer No marvell then if much bussle and stirre have continued ever since about it His haste to please men exivit as Iudaeos lost him and so will us that resolution Pilate to get favour of the Iewes made haste out and left Truth behind him The like reflexion upon the men of Gr. and their friends moved our Pen-man to affect a by-path and to run counter flat-crosse to the present directions of the Governours of our Church Marry you may not parallell him with Pilate it was not for favour but deare charities sake which he commends to the Vicar and preferres before all obedience to Ceremonies appointed by the Church And doubtlesse if the Vicar could have seene Truth the foundation of his Charity he would have received it as he doth the commands of his mother the Church with all reverence and subjection but a formall recommendation of disguised charity he conceiveth ought neither to be given nor received as a legall supersedeas to the rules of Truth and directions of his Ordinary Wherefore for the calling and setting of the Lords Table he thinks fit to follow the directions of his Ordinary and to traverse the whole matter contained in this strangers bill and to give answer to the chiefest points thereof CAP. II. Of the antiquity of Christians Altars in Scripture In the Decretals THe first point I will begin withall is this The name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar in the Christian Church The Authour maintaines it is but not according to his owne directions to the Vicar rationibus cogentibus and so makes a bad cause starke naught Now that neither the Authour nor my selfe be mistaken in the name of Christian Church let us both hearken to St. Ambrose Accipe quae dico anteriora esse mysteria Christianorum quam Iudaeorum And againe Intellige primò priùs coepisse populum Christianum quà m populam Iudaeorum Christ was Christ before he was born of the blessed Virgin Himselfe saith Before Abraham was I am And as Christ was so were Christians and Christian Sacraments and Christian Ceremonies before Christ was borne or the Iewes either Iudaei quando esse coeperunt sayes St. Ambrose I pray you when began the Iewes why ex Iuda pronepote Abraha from Iudah Abrahams nephewes sonne 1. Take we then a view of the Christian Church in the Old Testament and there we find the name and use of Altars is above eight hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Tables in Gods Service The children of God by the light of nature infused into them without any direction or speciall command or rather by inspiration of Christs blessed Spirit who delighted to walk with the sonnes of men erected Altars Noah that durst not step out of the Ark without speciall warrant and direction from God by instinct of nature guided by Christs Spirit built an Altar Abraham also with whom Christ walked as a friend built two Altars in one Chapter Whereupon St. Ambrose sayes ubi Bethel est hoc est Domus Dei ibi Ara ubi Ara ibi invocatio But the name of Table came in with the Ceremoniall Law about Anno 2465. Whether the Church of God before Moses was called Christian I will not dispute but sure I am that it had the same Christ that we have for their Saviour and we are assured out of St. Ambrose that it was Populus Christianus it was a Christian Church if it were a Church at all which no Christian can doubt of Therefore in the Christian Church the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar But the name of Altars and their religious use is in the Christian Church guided by Christs Spirit above 1200. yeares more ancient than the name of Tables in the Church of the Iewes and above 2300. more ancient than the name of Tables in the Christian Church erected by the Apostles among the Gentiles 2. The Church in the New Testament I am sure is a Christian Church in the notion of this Authour and at Antioch it was so first called And I am as sure that the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar therein but if I be not deceived of the same or a later date that our Saviour maketh mention of a Christian Altar and of a Christian oblation in his own Christian Church where he saith If thou bringest thine offering to the Altar c. Leave there thine offering at the Altar c. I suppose no Christian will deny and this was neare three yeares before he makes mention of a Table at which the hand of him that betrayed him was with him S. Paul maketh mention of an Altar at which Priests in the New Testament do serve and of a Table which is the very same Hitherto the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar 3. For the Primitive Church Damasus sayes that Euaristus died a blessed Martyr this man lived within eighty yeares after Christ Anno 112. who if we believe the Decretall maketh mention of Altars For he speaketh of the dedication of Churches and consecration of Altars Hyginus that lived Anno 154. and died a Martyr maketh mention of Altars for according to Gratian he made a decree concerning the re-dedication of a Church si motum fuerit Altare Pius succeeded him and lived Anno 158. who according to Gratian maketh mention of Altars and of a linnen cloth spread upon Altars whereunto the practice of the Church agreeth for Corpus Domini non in sericis sed in syndone munda consecratur Wherefore for 158. yeares it may seem there is mention made of Altars and none at all of the Communion-Table Ob. But the Centurists tell us that these Epistles are forged things and trifles of no worth Or if they be true then you may see how timely the mystery of iniquity began to worke in the Church of Rome in the dedication of Churches and consecration of Altars Sol. If they be forged things why did no Catholike Father not so much as in the Greek Church detect the same and cry them downe How comes it to passe that both the East and West Church keep so good correspondency in the use of Altars and in the dedication of them Was this a mystery of iniquity in the West Church and none in the East But who gave this Quaternion of Ministers authority to brand the Martyrs of the Primitive Church and the whole Church both Greek and Latine with
found no other favour but Vt Laicus communicet to communicate in the same place that the Laity did and was not permitted Locum Sacerdotis usurpare to approach unto the Altar or take the place of a Priest any more So Cornelius deposed Novatus that was made Bishop in a Taverne and after he had performed publike penance he was received only In communionem Laicorum to communicate with the Laity Now that these distinctions of places were strictly observed in the Catholike Church within 200. yeares after Christ appeareth manifestly out of Tertullian who to the shame and confusion of Hereticks very excellently discovereth the want thereof among them Non omittam ipsius haereticae conversationis descriptionem I will tell you saith he what the fashion of Hereticks is in their meeting how light vaine and base it is issuing out of the earth and the braines of idle men Sine gravitate sine authoritate sine disciplina very sutable to their faith For first of all quis Catechumenus quis Fidelis incertum you shall see no distinction made amongst them of Catechumeni Fideles Pariter adeunt pariter audiunt pariter orant they run in a rout together and so heare and pray all in one place and if Heathen men come in while they are at their Sacrament before these Swine doe they cast their Pearles licèt non veras though they be false Prostrationem disciplinae and when they prostrate discipline in this manner they would be commended for their purity and simplicity Cujus penes nos curam lenocinium vocat the care whereof amongst us they stile the trappings of the Whore of Babylon For the reformation of these grosse and odious abuses and to restore the Church to her ancient and reverend discipline the Councell of Ancyra was assembled Here you shall finde cleerely how Audientes Catechumeni Fideles Clerici Sacerdotes were distinguished by all which their mistake sheweth it selfe that say there were no Churches till 200. yeares after Christ. CAP. IX Where the Communion was celebrated The installation of Bishops The Bishops Throne S. Iames's Chaire in Ierusalem S. Peter's Chaire in Rome What kept S. Austine in the bosome of the Church Hereticks had no Church Succession of Bishops from the Apostles necessary to prove a true Church How S. Irenaeus S. Augustine Tertullian confounded Hereticks The detection of the creeping in of Aereticks A true succession of Bishops in the Ch. of England When Schismaticks crept into it LET us now come to speak more particularly of that place of the Church where the Priests served This was called Presbyterium because it was a place appointed for Priests to administer the Sacrament in Here Anicetus gave the Eucharist to Polycarpus Anno 167. Hither Theotechnus brought Marinus to receive the Sacrament thereby to be encouraged to endure Martyrdome Here were made the inthronizations of Bishops Egesippus sayes that he was present at Rome when Anicetus was installed Anno 167. And many personages of great quality were present at the solemnity of Fabianus his installation All these received their president from the Apostles For S. Iohn went from Ephesus into a Church Constituere Episcopos to ordaine Bishops For this purpose a Chaire or Throne was placed in the Presbytery or Chancell Vrbanus Bishop of Rome Anno 230. speaking thereof sayes that before his time Sedes in EpiscoporuÌ„ Ecclesiis excelsae constitutae inveniuntâ—r ut thronus speculationem potestatem judicandi solvendi ligandi à Domino sibi datam doceat their High-place put them in minde of their high authority given of the Lord to binde and loose And Vrbanus may well say they were found there for there they had continued in the principall Sees even from the Apostles Sublimiorem quandaÌ„ sedem fuisse indicat historia de Cathedra Iacobi that there were such lofty seats S. Iames his Chaire is an evidence say the Centurists out of Eusebius that bare them no great good will The Bishops seat of S. Iames continued in the Church till Eusebius his time Anno 326. which the Brethren there ordinarily have shewed unto all men Such a Seat it was wherein Saint Irenaeus saw Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna sit Anno 180. Such a Chaire S. Austin telleth Petillianus remained both at Ierusalem and Rome from the Apostles dayes till his time Though saith he you slanderously call the Chaire in other Churches Cathedram pestilentiae what cause hath the Church of Rome given you to say so of it In qua Petrus sedit in qua â—odie Anastasius sedet or the Chaire of the Church of Ierusalem In qua Iacobus sedit in qua hodie Iohannes sedet quibus nos in Catholica unitate connectimur to which two Churches we are joyned in Catholick Vnity The succession of Bishops in such a Chaire was one thing amongst others that kept St. Augustine from departing out of the bosome of the Catholicke Church For thus he saith in his answer to the Epistle of Manichaeus Multa in Ecclesiae gremio me justissimè tenent-tenet ab ipsa sede Petri Apostoli usque ad praesemem episcopatum successio sacerdotum The succession of Priests from Saint Peters seat keepes me of right in the Church Tenet Catholicae nomen the name of this Catholick See keeps mee in For whereas all Hereticks would bee called Catholicks yet when they demanded by a stranger be ubi ad Catholicam conveniatur where is the Catholick Church at which they meet Nullus haereticorum vel basilicam sâ—am vel dâ—mum audeat oâ—â—endere there is none of them all that dare undertake to doe that The very note whereby Hereticks were knowne from Catholicks was that Catholicks could shew their Churches and the very Chaires in them wherein there was not onely a Morall succession in purity of faith and manners but a Locall succession of Bishops continued even from the Apostles times which Hereticks could not shew and therefore were hereby convinced to be such and so put to shame and confounded Thus Irenaeus confoundeth Valentinus Cerdon and Marcion We are able saith he to reckon up all those that were appointed Bishops by the Apostles in their severall Churches unto our time But because that was too long a businesse for the worke then in hand therefore he reckons up those that had succeeded the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Church of Rome And to them succeeded Linus then Anacletus 3º loco Clemens Clementi Euaristus Euaristo Alexander then Sixtus deinceps Hyginus post Pius post quem Anicetus Then Soter and now 12º loco Episcopatum ab Apostolis habet Eleutherius By this ordination and succession saith hee the tradition which is from the Apostles received in the Church and the publishing of the faith hath come even to us which we being able to shew confundimus omnes eos qui quoquo modo vel per suam placentiam vel vanam gloriam vel
per coecitatem malam sententiam praeterquam oportet colligunt we put all those to confusion that through vaine glory or ignorance broach new doctrines in the Church For none of all these Heretickes can derive their succession from the Apostles nor shew how their doctrines were received by Tradition from them For before Valentinus there were no Valentinians and he came to Rome under Hyginus and increased his faction under Pius and continued unto Anicetus Cerdon also that was before Marcion came in under Hyginus who was the eighth Bishop and Marcion prevailed under Anicetus which was the tenth So those that are called Gnosticks from Menander Simons Disciple All these sell into Apostacy after the Church had continued a long time Thus Tertullian confoundeth Valentinus Apelles and other Hereticks edant origines ecclesiarum suarum evolvant ordinem sacerdotum ita per successionem ab initio decurrentem ut primus ille episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit habuerit authorem antecessorem Let Heretickes shew that they had an Apostle for the Author of their doctrine or some Apostolicke man whom they doe succeed as Polycarpus was placed by Saint Iohn in the Church of Smyrna and Clemens by Peter in the Church of Rome Confingant tale quid Haeretici I would faine see Hâ—reticks to set their heads to devise such a pedigree This hee was sure they could not for Valentinus and Marcion saith he came in under Antoninus the Emperour and were cast out of the Church by Eleutherius In this sort doth Saint Cyprian confound Novatian Novatianus in Ecclesiâ nâ—n est nec Episcopus computari potest Novatian is neither Bishop nor member of the Church qui Evangelica Apostolica traditione contempta nemini succedens à seipso ordinatus est because hee cannot prove his succession according to Apostolicall tradition To conclude thus doth Saint Augustine confound the Donatists and Sectaries of his time Numerate Sacerdotes vel ab ipsa sede Petri in illo ordine Patrum quis cui successit videte They that say there were no materiall Churches built till 200. yeares after Christ are more injurious to the Church and unjust to themselves and to all true members of the Catholicke Church than perhaps every one is aware For if in all this time there were no materiall Churches then there could bee no materiall Chaire wherein their Bishops were enthronized and if no Chaire then no reall inthronization then no personall succession from the Apostles whereby the right faith was derived from God the Father to his Sonne whom he hath sent into the world out of his owne bosome nor from the Sonne to his Apostles nor from the Apostles to succeeding Bishops For as Tertullian reaoneth very excellently if we will have the truth to be adjudged of our side it must appeare by this if we walk in that rule quam Ecclesiae ab Apostolis Apostoli à Christo Christus à Deo tradidit which we have received of the Apostles they of Christ Christ of God Those that deprive us of the benefit of this Apostolicall tradition plucke one speciall staffe out of our hands whereby wee stay our selves from falling from the true Catholicke Church and beat all Hereticks out of our Communion Miserable were we if he that now sitteth Arch-Bishop of Canterbury could not derive his succession from St. Augustine St. Augustine from St. Gregory St. Gregorie from St. Peter For hee that remembreth whom hee succeeds will doubtlesse endevour and pray to be heire to their vertues as well as possessor of their places What a comfort is this to his Grace and to all those that receive consecration from him and to all those that they shall ordaine when they remember that this Grace can say Ego sum haeres Apostolorum Sicut caverunt Testamento sicut Fidei commiserunt sicut adjuraverunt ita teneo I am the Apostles heire the Faith which they have by Will bequeathed to the Church that I hold Mea est possessio Olim possideo prior possideo habeo origines firmas ab ipsos authoribus quorum fuit res Here I and my Predecessors have kept possession here are my evidences which I have to shew that I have received the right Faith from the true Owners Vos verò but as for you Marcion and Apelles exhaeredaverunt semper ubdicaverunt the Apostles Christ God Himselfe hath dis-inherited you and cast you out On the other side what a confusion is this to all Hereticks or Schismaticks when the Fathers of our Church and all true children of the Church shall be able to tell them that they have no right of inheritance or portion in their Mother Quando unde venistis Quid in meo agitis non mei tell us when and from whence you come and what you make your selves to doe in the Church that are no sons of the Church We can with Saint Irenaeus point you to the time of your comming in You Cartwright and your brood came in as most Sabbatarians did under Arch-Bishop Whitguift and you Ames and Brightman with your Laodiceans came in under Arch-Bishop Bancroft and you Vicars and our Cotton with his fugitives came in or rather went out under Arch-Bishop Abbot Thus Saint Irenaeus Saint Cyprian Saint Augustine and other holy Fathers have detected the Donatists Marcionists and other Sectaryes of their times and so put them to utter confusion And so by their example are we taught to doe and our duty is to blesse God that wee are able so to doe Cotton therefore or whosoever else is the Author of this Letter shewed himselfe a sly and subtile Merchant when he would make use of the authority of a learned and godly Bishop of our Church against his mind utterly to overthrow the Truth of our Church by making simple people believe there were no Churches nor Altars till 200. yeares after Christ. For if this were so and that he could tell us when our Church came in then there would no be cause but to honour him and his party for a true Church as well as this of ours And it would bee no reproch to him and his adherents to have their comming in detected and thereby themselves discovered to bee no other but such whose comming in may be discovered CAP. X. Dedication and Consecration of Churches used by godly Bishops and taxed by the Centurists for the Mystery of Iniquitie What penance was performed by Hypocrites and Apostata's before their admittance into the Church Of Confession Exomologefis Dayes of Penance and Absolution Citizens Penance I Will passe from the placing of the Bishops Chaire to the dedication of his Church where it was set The dedication of Churches within two hundred yeares after Christ sheweth clearely that there were Churches within that time There is mention of Dedication of Churches under Euaristus Anno 112. and under Hyginus Anno 154. under Calixtus of
Gloria eos obligent quia veritate non possunt that vanity may make a side when Verity cannot do it Nusquam faciliùs perficitur quà m in Castris rebellium Souldiers never rise to promotion so fast as when they serve under Rebels ubi ipsum esse illic promereri est where their presence is worth sufficient Itaque alius hodie Episcopus cras alius hence it is that they take their Superintendency by turns he that is Head to day is Tayle to morrow hodiè Diaconus qui cras Lector He that is a Deacon to day must come downe a pinne to morrow and bee glad to bee an Elder Hodiè presbyter qui cras Laicus He that is a learned Lecture-man to day will cry ha' you any Bowles or Trayes to mend to morrow Nihil interest illis licèt diversa tractantibus dum ad unius veritatis expugnationem conspirent Though they agree like Harpe and Harrow among themselves 't is all one so the conspiracy hold good against the Truth Ipsae mulieres haereticae quà m procaces It is a world to see what pert Gynny Birds their Gossips are quae audeant docere contendere exorcismos agere curationes repromittere forsitan tingere preach and dispute they will so earnestly and outragiously well that their husbands Talent will shew ordinary and his faculty but reasonable But when they set themselves to exorcising and taking Devils to taske they make Darrels hayre stand upright Thus amongst Schismaticks libera sunt omnia soluta every one does what he list For ubi Deus non est nec veritas ulla est where God is not there is no Truth and where there is no Truth merito talis disciplina est such a discipline suteth right well And now I pray you tell mee if Mr. Cotton or his Vmbra here have not spun a faire thread There were no Churches within 200. yeares of Christ then certainly there were no Schooles in all that time and if no Schooles then none of all these degrees and distinction of places names no Educati Audientes Catechumeni Competentes no not Fideles neither and least of all Diaconi and Sacerdotes For Deacons and Priests after long tryall were chosen out of the ranke of Fideles and these must first of all be Neophyti and these Competentes and Competentes must first be Catechumeni and these must be Audientes and Educati And if there were no Deacons nor Priests for 200. yeares after Christ to continue and derive power of Ordination and Consecration from the Apostles to their successors I am sure there are none now Then may Mr. Cotton by vertue of an extraordinary spirit set up a Church of his owne Then have some of our Lecturers rose of their right sides for these may speak as long as their Lungs last and never care for comming into Orders as Origen did I have often beene thinking why the chiefe of this new Corporation have beene so loath to take Benefices to read the Prayers of the Church and to Administer Sacraments as Deacons and Priests should doe and my wit would never serve me to dive into the mystery till this lucky man came with his open Letter in his hand as Sanballat did to disturbe the Church of the Iewes And from him I understand the cause For he saith like Ananias the High Priest You understand nothing know you not that wee conforme our selves to the Primitive Church And in the Primitive Church and for 200. yeares after Christ there were no Churches Why this is full and satisfactory For then every Child can conclude if there were no Churches there were neither Diocesse nor Parish belonging to them nor Priests nor degrees out of which those Priests and Deacons should be taken I believe that in those times some did stand and some did speak and some did Lecture and to doe these no orders are required and hereunto these men conforme themselves Secondly as they had Schooles and degrees so likewise had they publike Libraries furnished with usefull and necessary books to fit such as were in the place of Auditors and others in time to be serviceable in the Church Eusebius tels us that Philo his bookes were chained up in the publike Library at Rome Anno 39. The bookes also of Origen were placed in a publike Library in Caesarea after that of a Lecturer he took holy Orders Alexander Patriarch of Ierusalem built a famous Library there from whence Eusebius had his helpes for compiling of his History Anno 197. And if they had publike Libraries to preserve bookes and Schooles for Professors to read them and Scholers to be trained up under them to do the Church service and for no other end at all can we imagine they were without Churches for those to serve God in whom they had fitted and inabled for that purpose This were to imagine Mariners Calkers and Pilots 200. yeares before there were any Ships It were weaknesse to think that their Persecutors would give leave to building of Schooles and Libraries but not of Churches for they hated all alike As appeareth by Dioclesian who spared their bookes and Libraries no more than he did their Churches but burnt and destroyed all Thirdly they had publike Treasuries to keepe the goods of the Church that came unto them by Oblations and other revenues whereby the members of the Church that aâ—tended the service of God were maintained and the poore and such Christians as lived in exile or in prison were relieved This is cleere out of the Canons of the Apostles and Iustin Martyr and Tertullian Arcae genus est whereunto he that is disposed stipem apponit Haec quasi deposita pâ—etatis sunt This stock qui praesidet the Bishop bestowed in pious uses S. Iustin tels us the very same The richer sort every Sunday when the Eucharist is administred offer what they think good and what is then so gathered in communi aerario apud praepositum deponitur thereby to relieve Orphans Widowes Prisoners and Strangers No Communion then in the Primitive Church was without Obons for the use not only of the Priest who was to live of the Altar but also of the poore And S. Ambrose gives the reason why they relieved the poore with almes to be this that the poore might relieve them with their prayers Defensionem requiro saith he defensionem habeo I crave defence against the Goths that intended violently to possesse the Arrians of the Churches of Catholicks and a defence I have sed in orationibus pauperum Coeci illi Claudi robust is bellatoribus fortiores sunt The blinde and the lame are the thundring and victorious Legion Munera pauperum Deum obligant what is given to the poore is lent to the Lord and we have him fast bound for the Loane and the principall This I am perswaded in my conscience hath preserved all our Cathedrall Churches from the rapine of sacrilegious hands and hearts as impure whatsoever
say the people ran round about the Altar where it stood and where the Diptychs were read and that is not only in the Presbytery but in sacrario in the most holy place of all the Chancell and not in the body of the Church among the people which he would make us believe by englishing Diptychs by Lessons and Chapters This I am sure is not true for lessons and Chapters were taken out of the word of God But Diptychs contained the Catalogue of Generall Councells or of such holy and Catholicke Bishops who had derived themselves their Faith and Religion from the Apostles or Apostolicke men that faithfull men who desired as they in the Councell of Chalcedon make profession iter ambulare Regium to keep the King of Heavens hiâ—-way might daily see what guides to follow and what paths to shunne This was the holy and profitable use of these Diptychs much unlike that List of persons censured by holy Church called with some reproach of truth and Christian Religion Catalogus testium veritatis and as unlike a Calendar that I have seene wherein the Holy Martyrs and Confessors of Iesus Christ who not onely had place sometime in these Diptychs but whose names are written in heaven are rased out and Traitors Murderers Rebels and Hereticks set in their roomes that if Penry Hâ—cket or Legate had come in time they might have challenged as Orient and Scarlet coloâ—â—ed a Die as some of them These Calendars were as unluckily made as these Diptychs were alledged by the Author for his purpose to make the people and marre the Altar and â—eâ—ace the ancient forme of Gods true Service which is by naming of them utterly made voyde and frustrated For it appeareth hereby and by the fifth Councell of Constantinople that the Altar did stand in the Presbytery and not in the midst of the Church among the people And so I come to his next authority CAP. XVII Whether the Quire may be found in the body of the Church out of Durandus and Platina That Boniface the second divided the Quire from the people how to be understood How long this was done before the fifth Councell of Constantinople Of the Priests turning about at the Altar IF Durandus examined the cause why the Priest turneth himselfe about at the Altar and found Scripture for it medio Ecclesiae c. he did more than the Author of this Epistle did in examining Durandus or Platina either For if from Durandus and his reason hâ—e can inferre the Quire was then in the body of the Church from examining Platina and his testimony he shall finde that the Quire did not stand in the body of the Church Platina saith that Boniface the 2d. though the Author tell us not so divisit populum à Clero cum celebraretur hee divided the people from the Clergy in the administration of the Eucharist He saith not he was the first that so divided them This is put in by the Author and is not true For 300. yeares and upward before Boniface was borne even in Saint Cyprians Tertullians and Irenaeus his time they were so divided And if in 300. yeares a disorder crept into the Church he did no more than his duty in dividing the people from the Clergy when the Sacrament was Celebrated In the same manner it may bee said in time to come that our Diocesane divided the people from the Clergy by setting a rayle to enclose the Lords Table yet is not he the first in these latter times that began to conforme his Diocesse to the practice of the Primitive Church in that respect Neither can ages to come reason in this sort as this man doth that therefore the Quire was in his time in the body of the Church For we know this is not so Secondly That which Platina reporteth of Boniface the 2d. was about Anno. 525. The people then were divided from the Clergy and this was about 800. yeares before Durandus could examine causes of the Priests turning about So that if the Author allow what Platina saies he must disallow what himselfe saies that the Quire was in Durands time in the body of the Church For wee are sure out of Platina that neere 800. yeares before Durandus was borne the people were divided from the Clergy at the Celebration of the Sacrament Therefore in all that time the Quire was not in the body of the Church Thirdly Boniface the 2d. was foure yeares before the particular Synod of Constantinople under Menna and Agapetus and almost twenty yeares before the fifth Generall Councell of Constantinople under Iohn the Patriarch and Vigilius which Councell this Author bringeth here to prove that the Altar stood in the body of the Church among the people because cucurrit omnis populus circum circa Altare Now this Author assures us out of Platina that Boniface had divided the people from the Clergy Anno. 525. Therefore hee must needs confute himselfe and tell us that in the fift Councell of Constantinople Anno. 545. the Altar did not then nor 20. yeares before stand in the body of the Church among the people for Boniface made a separation twenty yeares before Haud commodè haec divisa sunt temporibus Wherefore if this man will examine his owne Authors as Durandus did the cause of the Priests turning about hee must say that the Quire was not then in the body of the Church when Durandus lived nor for 800. yeares before that and when he is come so high S. Cyprian and others will lift him up so much higher that he may looke 300. yeares further and never finde the Altar in the body of the Church among the people but alwayes inclosed at the upper end of the Chancell and the people ever divided from the Clergy cum celebraretur as himselfe tells us out Platina Fourthly Let it be granted that the Priest turnâ—th himselfe about at the Altar and that this reason is yeelded for the same In medio Ecclesiae aperui os meum doth it therefore follow that the Priest and the Altar stood in the body of the Church among the people Could not the Priest turne himselfe about at the Altar and say I opened my mouth in the midst of the Congregation but the Altar must needs thereupon stand in the midst of the Church When supplication intercession consecration and giving of thanks unto God the Father were finished by the Priest with his face unto the East and the next office to be performed being to blesse the people is it not fit he turne him after reverence done towards the holy Altar and with his face into the West blesse the Congregation of the Lord and doe it upon this ground aperui os in medio Ecclesiae but this Author will conclude that therefore the Quire stood in the body of the Church among the people David praised God In medio ecclesiae yet no man can from thence inferre that he stood in the Sanctum Sanctorum where the Lord
pernicious purpose must in reason be in the heart of this Scribe otherwise it was utterly impertinent to scare the poore Vicar with such terrible and astounding words And better had it beene to have kept such mortall bolts as these in store and not to discharge them so soone before discretion had brought him within eye-reach of the right marke Had this man beene so wise as the Vicar was to president himselfe by what he sees done in the Kings or Bishops Houses or Chappels he would have kept these shafts in his Qâ—iver and bestowed them as he sees M. Casaubon and our learned Bishops by the Kings direction doe upon grosse and impious abuses cleerely discovered as well in Altars as in Sacrifices and not therewith to strike through Oblations sacrifices and Altars themselves together with the holy and reverend use and users thereof from whom he hath his Priesthood Orders Faith and Religion too if he have any at all In shooting after this blinde heedlesse fashion not the judgement only and learning but the discretion and piety of the Archer to his Mother the Church and to all reverend antiquity stands in greater hazzard of the shot than the unremarkable actions of a simple Vicar They are not Altars which still stand in the Churches of sound Protestants and may remaine in some of ours or to make use of their Covers and Ornaments Tables may bee placed in their roomes of the same length and fashion the Altars were of as this Author tels us with which practise he also concurreth in opinion they are not Altars I say or Sacrifices or Oblations that true Christians and good Protestants have in execration but the grosse and vile abuses of these Against abuses onely good Christians protested and from thence received they their names This the most learned Bishop in his Apologie for King Iames of happy memory putteth the Cardinall in minde of Salva protestatione hac haud ulla est fides Nostra nisi quae Vestra est vel esse debet vetus 〈◊〉 illa Catholica The Protestant holds the same Catholicke faith which is or ought to bee the same in Rome and over all the Christian world The Protestant hath the abuses and Novelties only which are crept into the Romane Church in detestation not the things themselves no not the name of the very Masse it selfe For as the same Reverend Bishop telleth the Cardinall in the Kings name In missa si missa fiunt quae sum 〈◊〉 antiatione vestra ibi submissa â—unt bono fi loco res essent non valde de nomine litigaret Rex The King would like well enough of the Masse if her Priests would â—hrive her of Transubstantiation the name should beget no reall difference Those therefore were not well advised nor throughly informed of the doctrine of our Church and of pious antiquity that by their violent and unlearned clamours incited the people unto that horrible out-rage committed in breaking downe of Altars and caused them to boggle and spie umbrages and scandals at the things themselves where none at all could have beene found if these Arietes gregis had partaken as much of the mild temper of the sheep as they did of the Rams horne But where simplicity and ignorance is armed nothing can be expected but a violent confusion and the like disorder This disorder committed de facto as the Author speakes the supreme Magistrate thought meet to punish not by a kind of law but by a law yet in force to punish the same de jure in case it should be committed The law was made by Queen Mary and is this If any shall unlawfully contemptuously or maliciously of their owne power or authority pull downe deface spoile or break downe any Altar or Altars c. such person or persons are to be punished as in the law is expressed Queene Mary who made this law did repeale the law made by King Edward for the authorizing of the Book of Common Prayer Queene Elizabeth who did establish King Edwards law for authorizing the Book of Common Prayer did repeale Queene Maries repeale thereof but that part of the Statute which concerneth the punishing of such disorderly people that of their own authority riotously pull down Altars c. the said Queene Elizabeth of famous memory repealeth not but it is still in force that the Magistrate whom it concernes may proceed against delinquents that violate the Lords Table standing Altar-wise or break or deface the pictures of Christ or of Saints in Church-windowes or crosses or the like upon that Statute if any should so offend which God foâ—bid if Sergeant Rastales hand and starre point and lead me not into an errour CAP. XXI Altars crept not into the Church Altars Consecrated with more ceremony and regarded with more reverence than any part of the Church appeareth out of Bishop Iewell On the Altar stood the Crosse of CHRIST in the Primitive Church and in Saint Chrysostomes time and remained there in Queene Elizabeths Raigne sometime steps unto the Altar drawne with Curtaines Archbishops and Bishops and all sorts of people doe reverence towards the Altar Barbarous Souldiers kisse them Penitents prostrate before them Saint Ambrose willing to be made a Sacrifice for them THe drift of the Author in this Epistle is the disgrace of Altars To this purpose he hath framed these words to serve his turne two wayes 1. By the manner of their comming in and that was creeping 2. By the meanes of their creeping in and that was by Complying with the Iewes For as much as the most ancient and holy Fathers of the Primitive Church and the most learned and pious Fathers of our own Church have Christian Altars and Sacrifices in due honourable and reverend estimation there is no cause at all why a man not bigge with selfe love nor made to kindle a faction quae jam plus satis calescit should picke a quarrell first with them then with their name then with their comming in by phrasing it so contemptuously in that terme of creeping whereby is implyed their comming into the Church in some base secret undue and unobservable manner I dare be bold to say that no man of judgement and learning though hee look over Antiquity as the Devill lookt over Lincolne will say and meane to justifie what hee saies by sound proofes out of good antiquity that Altars crept into the Church It were not amisse if this Pen-man would looke the face of his actions in the envious mans tares these he shall finde crept up among the Wheat no man knowing how when the honest Husband-man and his servants thought no hurt but were at rest and asleepe The case is not so with Altars the Husband-men themselves that labour faithfully in the Lords Vineyard the Governours of Christs Church and the true and only successors of the Apostles brought them in by the speciall direction of Gods holy Spirit I shall not need to spend much time in proofe hereof
solemnely performed and done openly before all Israel and before this Sunne But if the Altar had crept in then the Bishop had crept in much more for no Bishop was enthronized before his Altar was Consecrated and if the Bishop crept in then I am sure hee himselfe crept in and if he crept in the Sextons might doe well to shew him the way out For without the Church militant and triumphant in earth and in heaven shall bee dogges and whosoever maketh or telleth lyes And with untruth this saying that Altars crept into the Church hath more affinity than I could wish and more than all the water in his Well can wash off if hee make not ignorance his refuge and save himselfe under the shadow of her wings And thus much of the manner of creeping in of Altars CAP. XXII Complying with the Iewes doth not argue the creeping in of Altars The enemies of the Church have long pickt a quarrell at her Altars and her Priests The Councell of Aquisgrane defendeth them At what houre of the day Altars came in Christian Altars came in at Noahs floud and have so continued in the Christian Church ever since Danger to meddle with holy and consecrate things King Iames of blessed memory washed his hands of medling with them The polity of the Christian Church was framed by the patterne of the Iewish Church Sonne of the Church an honourable name The complying of Sabbatarians with the Iewes IN the next place the Author shewes the means wherby Altars crept into the Church and that is By a certaine complying in phrase with the people of the Iewes Now see what a froward or blinde destiny haunted and led the Secretary of this Letter For that very reason which he brings to prove the creeping in of Altars doth cleerly demonstrate that they did not creepe in He tels us what he has read in Kemnitius Gerardus and other sound Protestants yet such as suffer Altars still to stand It appeares he sailed not farre for his gold And the Commodities which he brings are common upon every petty Chapmans stall and such as will be his utter undoing when they come to be rifled into The complying in phrase with the people of the Iewes is the meanes whereby Altars crept in say you But I say and I hope to produce those that will make it good that this complying both in phrase and in other respects is the only assurance that we have that Altars did not creepe in but were brought in or rather continued in the Christian Church of the Gentiles from the Christian Church of the Iewes and were alwayes in both these in honourable and reverend estimation and ought not to be turned off by any Christian so disgracefully There is not any one ancient Father that ever I see who doth not derive the polity of the Christian Church and take their patterne in laying downe the platforme thereof from Gods Church among the Iewes as well before Moses as after as well in externall Rites and Ceremonies as in the internall spirituall and essentiall parts of Gods service I shall take as little paines for this rich and sure commodity as the Author did for the ruine of his cause The Councell of Aquisgrave jâ—st 800. yeares agoe hath furnish me abundantly that I need look no further There were in those times some Factors for the Synagogue of Satan that would not be pleased neither with Priests Altars Oblations Sacrifices nor with the very Churches and Houses of God themselves or any consecrated things but kindly perswaded themselves that some of these they might pull downe and cast out and make the rest their prey These things were made common Table-talke and the food of Conventicles and in the end it was commonly given out Haec non ex authoritate divina constare that all these and the like had but slender or no ground in holy Scripture Sed potius arbitrario cordis nostri say the Bishops imò cupiditate quadam inventione commenta esse but by some slye device of our owne were brought in or as this man speakes crept into the Church These things being by the carefull Spyes and witty Agents at times buzd into the Kings eares The godly and learned Fathers of that Councell think fit to present an humble declaration of the truth concerning these matters and give his Highnesse to understand that if these Objectors and Surmisers would diligently read and seriously weigh what in that writing was contained they would be brought to acknowledge Nos quae Dei sunt ad vestram salvationem ad regni stabilimentum that the things which are established in the Church and which we have delivered are the things of God and such as make for your Majesties eternall salvation and for the establishing of your Kingdomes and Dominions Se verò but those that say that these things crept into the Church Ea quae sunt mundi Dei voluntati usque quaque contraria existunt ad animarum interitum pertinent absque dubio loqui To come home then to the very point whether Altars crept into the Christian Church by a kinde of complying in phrase with the Iewes let the authority of S. Ambrose commend one ground of Christianity to those that hold by that Title Accipe quae dico anteriora esse mysteria Christianorum quam Iudaeorum Christians are more ancient than Iewes so are the mysteries of their Religon their Sacraments Sacrifices Altars more ancient than any of these among the Iewes Therefore the dreame of complying must needs be idle There are twelve houres of the day and in one of these Altars came into the Christian Church They crept not in by complying And the Councell of Aquisgrave will tell us plainly at what houre of the day they came in The Morning of the World was from Adam to Noah saith S. Gregory the third houre from Noah to Abraham the sixth houre from Abraham to Moses the ninth houre from Moses to Christ the twelfth houre from Christ to the worlds end At what houre of the day now did Altars come in Heare these holy Fathers speake True it is say they Religio primum coepit â—ine Altare ab Abel justo Religion at first was without an Altar Altars came not in at Sun rise This man would then have said they crept in under some cloud Well the third houre was from Noah to Abraham And now Arrige aures Pamphile for we are upon the very houre of the comming in of Altars Noah being preserved from the great danger of the floud Non extra Altare sedjam supra Altare holocausta Deo obtulit he offered holocausts upon an Altar And if the Vicar had erected such an Altar the only holocaust needed not to have beene his discretion except he would have beene as prodigall with his discretion as this Author for there were sacrifices of thanks and praise which Noah taught him to offer on an Altar Come we to the
things hence or that the complying of these holy Fathers with Gods people the Iewes is in this respect any argument of their secret and undue creeping in or not rather a forcible argument to warrant and justifie the bringing of them into the Christian Church and the due honouring of them being no worse things than such as the types whereof were shewed Moses in the Mount and are themselves with their Priests and holy service performed about them visible types of the triumphant Church in heaven and for this cause as chiefly because they are the seats and Chaires of estate where the Lord vouchsafeth to place himselfe amongst us as Optatus speaketh have beene in all ages so greatly honoured and regarded of the most wise most learned and most blessed Saints of God So that he which saies Altars crept into the Church by a kindâ— of complying with the people of the Iewes may with as good reason say that the orders of Archbishops Bishops Priestâ— and Deacons with their severall offices and degrees with their attyre habits and vestments together with oblations tythes glebe lands and maintenance crept into the Christian Church by a kinde of complying with the Iewes and are therefore alike and altogether to bee cast out of the Church as Iudaicall Ceremonies But God forbid that any sonne of the Church as this man intitles himselfe or Vniversity either should shew so little good affection and learning as to speake or thinke the worse of any of these for their complying with the people of the Iewes herein and cast them out as Iudaicall ceremonies For what the Patriarchs and people of the Iewes practised by the law of nature or the rule of right reason or by inspiration of Gods Spirit many hundred yeares before the Ceremoniall or Leviticall Law was given are not to be ranked among Iudaicall Ceremonies which were fulfilled in our Saviour Christ and were by him taken away and nailed to his Crosse. The Councell of Aquisgrane and the Fathers whom they follow take us out another lesson For then making of vowes singing of Psalmes and spirituall Songs keeping of Feasts observing of Fasts dedicating of places for Gods Worship ordayning and maintaining of Priests and Deacons as well as Altars should all be cast out from the face of this man and his abettors as Moses was from the presence of Pharaoh beware thou see my face no more thou art crept in among us that are the sons of the Church under a Vizard made of a kind of complying with the Iewes whose Mosaicall ceremonies we renounce But it is to be hoped that he that weares the name of the Sonne of the Church will not to her wrong under that ensigne advance the party of Donatus Nihil honorificentius quà m ut Imperator Ecclesiae filius esse dicatur sayes Saint Ambrose a sonne of the Church is a name for Kings and Emperors the nursing Fathers of the Church and it were sacriledge to steale it away from them and convey it to their and her enemies But if this man be a sonne of the Church then may we say with Iacob deliver me ô Lord I pray thee from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau lest he come and smite the Mother upon her Children He had shewed himselfe more likâ—â— sonne of the Church if he had said that the name of Sabbath had crept into the Church in a kinde of complying in phrase with the people of the Iewes and that in a shadow of things to come as if Christ were not come in the flesh against the Apostles express doctrin and charge Col. 2. and from hence would have sought to have cast out that old leaven out of our Church which hath sowred the affections of too many towards the Church and disturbed the peace and hindred the pious devotion thereof CAP. XXIII The conceit of a Dresser unworthy a Divine Suting Psychicus in Tertullian The Patriarch and Bishops in the fifth Councel expresse a different apprehension thereof Christs first institution of the Sacrament no rule to us in matters Circumstantiall An Altar confessed by the Author Saint Paul did and the Church may order things otherwise than Christ used The Eucharist to be received Fasting THe Authour hath much busied himselfe to pull downe disgrace and cast out Christian Altars as ever did Abraham Isaac or Iacob or the old Christians before Moses or Moses David Salomon or any of the Patriarches before CHRIST or any blessed Martyres holy Saints of God and zealous Christians since Christ have beene to build consecrate adorne and honour them Whose Factor he is and of whom he is to receive his pay the enemy of Altars that befriended him with this inspiration best knowes But if his pay must be proportioned noâ— by his good will but by his good successe then can it not be good The man I thinke was borne when all good starres had their backes toward him And if he bare not Sisera's minde why do the Stars fight against him in their order for that wherin he thinkes to winne a reputation by disgrace of Altars brings them honour and him confusion at every turne Such is the proud mans destiny In eo deijciuntur in quo extâ—lluntur sayes Saint Austin their table is their snare their prosperity their ruine they hope to leane on a wall and adders sting them Sicut fumus peribunt The higher smoake mounteth the further from heaven the neerer to nothing So hath it fared with this man from the beginning hitherto The higher he built his hopes upon old writers or new the lower is he beaten with their fall upon his head It is found by his owne Authors that Altars were in the Christian Church within lesse than 200. yeares after Christ that they did not stand in the body of the Church that they did not creepe in that their complying confuteth their creeping Hitherto wee are gone already and now comes forth a reason against the setting of the Lords Table Altarwise made of such stuffe that if he had studyed all his life long to honour Altars in the opinion of good Christians and to fill his owne face with shame he could not I thinke find any comparable to this fulsome and nasty conceit of a Dresser The Country people would suppose them Dressers I confesse unfainedly that this speech was so scandalous and offensive to me and I perswade my selfe it is no lesse to any Christian apprehension and trencht so close upon blasphemy that I could not choose but take up such stones as lay neere mee to cast at it And I cannot but wonder how any man I will not say in holy orders meditating on the holy Eucharist Consecrated upon the most holy Altar standing no otherwise than it ever did in the holy Catholicke Church but any man of gentle extraction liberall education and virtuous disposition could have so unhallowed and degenerate a thought come into his mind fitter for Epicurus or one of Bacchus Priests than