for vs so small is the ioy we take in these strifes to labour vnder the same yoke as men that looke for the same eternall reward of their labours to be ioyned with you in bands of indissoluble loue and amity to liue as if our persons being many our soules were but one rather then in such dismembred sort to spend our few and wretched daies in a tedious prosecuting of wearisome contentions the end whereof if they haue not some speedy ende will be heauie euen on both sides Brought alreadie we are euen to that estate which Gregorie Nazianzene mournefully describeth saying My minde leadeth mee sith there is no other remedie to flye and to conuey my selfe into some corner out of sight where I may scape from this cloudie tempest of malitiousnesse whereby all parts are entred into a deadly warre amongst themselues and that little remnant of loue which was is now consumed to nothing The onely godlines we glory in is to finde out somewhat whereby we may iudge others to be vngodly Each others faults we obserue as matter of exprobration and not of griefe By these meanes wee are growne hateful in the eyes of the Heathens themselues and which woundeth vs the moâ—e deeply able we are not to denie but that we haue deserued their hatred With the better sort of our owne our fame and credit is cleane lost The lesse wee are to maruell if they iudge vilely of vs who although we did well would hardly allow therof On our backs they also build that are lewd and what we obiect one against an other the same they vse to the vtter scorne and disgrace of vs all This we haue gained by our mutuall home-dissentions This we are worthily rewarded with which are more forward to striue then becommeth men of vertuous and mild disposition But our trust in the almightie is that with vs contentions are now at their highest floate and that the day will come for what cause of despaire is there when the passioÌ„s of former enmitie being allaied we shal with ten times redoubled tokens of our vnfainedly reconciled loue shewe our selues each towards other the same which Ioseph and the brethren of Ioseph were at the time of their enteruiew in Aegypt Our comfortable expectation and most thirstie desire whereof what man soeuer amongst you shall any way helpe to satisfie as we truly hope there is no one amongst you but some way or other will the blessings of the God of peace both in this world and in the world to come be vppon him moe then the starres of the firmament in number VVhat things are handled in the Bookes following THe first Booke concerning lawes in generall The second of the vse of diuine lawe conteined in scripture whether that be the onely lawe which ought to serue for our direction in all things without exception The third of lawes concerning Ecclesiasticall Politie whether the forme thereof be in scripture so set downe that no addition or change is lawfull The fourth of generall exceptions taken against the lawes of our politie as being popish and banished out of certaine reformed Churches The fift of our lawes that concerne the publike religious duties of the Church and the maner of bestowing that power of order which inableth men in sundrie degrees and callings to execute the same The sixt of the power of iurisdiction which the reformed platforme claymeth vnto lay-elders with others The seauenth of the power of iurisdiction and the honor which is annexed thereunto in Bishops The eighth of the power of ecclesiasticall dominion or supreme authoritie which with vs the highest gouernour or Prince hath as well in regard of domesticall iurisdictions as of that other forreinly claimed by the Bishop of Rome The first Booke Concerning Lawes and their seuerall kindes in generall The matter conteined in this first Booke 1 THe cause of writing this generall discourse concerning lawes 2 Of that lawe which God from before the beginning hath set for himselfe to doe all the things by 3 The law which natural agents obserue their necessary maner of keeping it 4 The lawe which the Angels of God obey 5 The lawe whereby man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God 6 Mens first beginning to vnderstand that lawe 7 Of mans will which is the first thing that lawes of action are made to guide 8 Of the naturall finding out of lawes by the light of reason to guide the will vnto that which is good 9 Of the benefit of keeping that lawe which reason teacheth 10 How reason doth lead men vnto the making of humane lawes whereby politique societies are gouerned and to agreement about lawes whereby the fellowship or communion of independent societies standeth 11 Wherefore God hath by scripture further made knowne such supernaturall lawes as do serue for mens direction 12 The cause why so many naturall or rationall lawes are set downe in holy scripture 13 The benefit of hauing diuine lawes written 14 The sufficiencie of scripture vnto the end for which it was instituted 15 Of lawes positiue conteined in scripture the mutabilitie of certaine of them and the generall vse of scripture 16 A conclusion shewing how all this belongeth to the cause in question HE that goeth about to perswade a multitude that they are not so well gouerned as they ought to be shal neuer waÌ„t attentiue fauourable hearers because they know the manifold defects whereunto euery kind of regiment is subiect but the secret lets and difficulties which in publike proceedings are innumerable ineuitable they haue not ordinarily the iudgement to consider And becâ—â—se such as openly reproue supposed disorders of state are taken for principall friendes to the common benefite of all and for men that carry singular freedome of mind vnder this faire and plausible colour whatsoeuer they vtter passeth for good and currant That which wanteth in the waight of their speech is supplyed by the aptnes of mens minds to accept and beleeue it Whereas on the other side if we maintaine thinges that are established wee haue not onely to striue with a number of heauie preiudices deepely rooted in the hearts of men who thinke that herein we serue the time and speake in fauour of the present state because thereby we eyther hold or seeke preferment but also to beare such exceptions as minds so auerted before hand vsually take against that which they are loath should be powred into them Albeit therefore much of that we are to speake in this present cause may seeme to a number perhaps tedious perhaps obscure darke and intricate for many talke of the truth which neuer sounded the depth from whence it springeth and therfore when they are led thereunto they are soone weary as men drawne from those beaten pathes wherewith they haue bene inured yet this may not so farre preuaile as to cut off that which the matter it selfe requireth howsoeuer the nice humour of some be therewith pleased or no.
OF THE LAVVES of Ecclesiasticall Politie Eight bookes By Richard Hooker IESVS CHRISTVS CONTERET CAPVT TVVÌ„ GEN 3 ERO MORSVS INFERN TVVS OSE 13 CONFIDITE VICI MVÌ„DVÌ„ IOA. 16. VBI TVA MORS VICTORIA 1 COR 15. Printed at London by Iohn Windet dwelling at the signe of the Crosse-keyes neare Paules wharffe and are thereto be solde 1604. TO THE READER THis vnhappie controuersie about the receiued ceremonies and discipline of the Church of England which hath so long time withdrawne so many of her Ministers from their principall worke and imployed their studies in contentious oppositions hath by the vnnaturall growth and daungerous fruites thereof made knowne to the world that it neuer receiued blessing from the father of peace For whose experience doth not finde what confusion of order and breach of the sacred bond of loue hath sprung from this dissention how it hath rent the bodie of the Church into diuers parts and diuided her people into diuers Sects how it hath taught the sheepe to despise their pastors and alienated the Pastors from the loue of their flockes how it hath strengthened the irreligious in their impieties and hath raised the hopes of the sacrilegious deuourers of the remaines of Christs patrimony and giuen way to the common aduersary of Gods truth and our prosperity to grow great in our land without resistance who seeth not how it hath distracted the mindes of the multitude and shaken their faith and scandalized their weakeness and hath generally killed the very hart of true pietie and religious deuotion by changing our zeale towards Christes glory into the fire of enuie and malice and hart-burning and Zeale to euery mans priuate cause This is the summe of all the gaines which the tedious contentions of so many yeares haue brought in by the ruine of Christs kingdome the encrease of Satans partly in superstition partly in impietie So much better were it in these our dwellings of peace to endure any inconuenience whatsoeuer in the outward frame then in desire of alteration thus to set the whole house on fire Which moued the religious hart of this learned writer in Zeale of Gods truth and in compassion to his Church the mother of vs all which gaue vs both the first breath of spirituall life and from her breasts hath fed vs vnto this whatsoeuer measure of growth we haue in Christ to stand vp and take vpon him a generall defence both of her selfe and of her established lawes and by force of demonstration so farre as the nature of the present matter could beare to make knowne to the world and these oppugners of her that all those bitter accusations laid to her charge are not the faultes of her lawes and orders but either their owne mistakes in the misvnderstanding or the abuses of men in the ill execution of them A worke subiect to manifold reprehensions and oppositions and not sutable to his soft and milde disposition desirous of a quiet priuate life wherein hee might bring forth the fruits of peace in peace But the loue of God and of his countrey whose greatest daunger grew from this diuision made his hart hot within him and at length the fire kindled and amongst many other most reuerend and learned men he also presumed to speake with his pen. And the rather because he sawe that none of these ordinary obiections of partialities could eleuate the authoritie of his writing who alwayes affected a priuate state and neither enioyed nor expected any the least dignitie in our Church What admirable height of learning and depth of iudgement dwelled within the lowly minde of this true humble man great in all wise mens eyes except his owne with what grauitie and maiestie of speach his tongue and pen vttered heauenly mysteries whose eyes in the humility of his hart were alwayes cast downe to the ground how all things that proceeded from him were breathed as from the spirit of loue as if he like the bird of the holy Ghost the Doue had wanted gall let them that knew him not in his person iudge by the these liuing Images of his soule his writings For out of these euen those who otherwise agree not with him in opinion do affoord him the testimony of a milde and a louing spirit and of his learning what greater proofe can we haue then this that his writings are most admired by those who themselues do most excell in iudicious learning and by them the more often they are read the more highly they are extolled and desired Which is the cause of this second edition of his former bookes and that without any addition or diminution whatsoeuer For who will put a pencile to such a worke from which such a workeman hath taken his There is a purpose of setting forth the three last books also their fathers Posthumi For as in the great declining of his bodie spent out with study it was his ordinary petition to almightie God that if he might liue to see the finishing of these bookes then Lord let thy seruant depart in peace to vse his owne words so it pleased God to grant him his desire For he liued till he sawe them perfected and though like Rachel he dyed as it were in the trauell of them and hastened death vpon himselfe by hastening to giue them life yet he held out to behold with his eyes these partus ingenii these Beniamins sonnes of his right hand though to him they were Benonies sonnes of paine and sorrowe But some euill disposed mindes whether of malice or couetousnesse or wicked blinde Zeale it is vncerteine as if they had beene Egyptian Mid-wiues as soone as they were borne and their father dead smothered them and by conueying away the perfect Copies left vnto vs nothing but certaine olde vnperfect and mangled draughts dismembred into peeces and scattered like Medeas Abyrtus no fauour no grace not the shadowes of themselues almost remaining in them Had the father liued to see them brought forth thus defaced he might rightfully haue named them Benonies the sonnes of sorrowe But seeing the importunities of many great and worthy persons will not suffer them quietly to dye and to be buried it is intended that they shall see them as they are The learned and iudicious eye will yet perhaps delight it selfe in beholding the goodly lineaments of their well set bodies and in finding out some shadowes and resemblances of their fathers face God grant that as they were with their bretheren dedicated to the Church for messengers of peace so in the strength of that little breath of life that remaineth in them they may prosper in their worke and by satisfying the doubtes of such as are willing to learne may helpe to giue an end to the calamities of these our ciuill wars ST A Preface To them that seeke as they tearme it the reformation of Lawes and orders Ecclesiasticall in the Church of ENGLAND THough for no other cause yet for this that posteritie may knowe wee haue
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
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
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
what nature and force lawes are according vnto their seuerall kinds the lawe which God with himselfe hath eternally set downe to follow in his owne workes the law which he hath made for his creatures to keepe the law of naturall and necessarie agents the law which Angels in heauen obey the lawe whereunto by the light of reason men find themselues bound in that they are men the lawe which they make by composition for multitudes and politique societies of men to be guided by the law which belongeth vnto each nation the lawe that concerneth the fellowship of all and lastly the lawe which God himselfe hath supernaturally reuealed It might peraduenture haue beene more popular and more plausible to vulgar eares if this first discourse had beene spent in extolling the force of lawes in shewing the great necessity of them when they are good and in aggrauating their offence by whom publique lawes are iniuriously traduced But for as much as with such kind of matter the passions of men are rather stirred one way or other then their knowledge any way set forward vnto the triall of that whereof there is doubt made I haue therefore turned aside from that beaten path and chosen though a lesse easie yet a more profitable way in regard of the end we propose Least therefore any man should maruailâ— whereunto all these things tend the drift and purpose of all is this euen to shew in what manner as euery good and perfect gift so this very gift of good and perfect lawes is deriued from the father of lights to teach men a reason why iust and reasonable lawes are of so great force of so great vse in the world and to enforme their minds with some methode of reducing the lawes whereof there is present controuersie vnto their first originall causes that so it may be in euery particular ordinance thereby the better discerned whether the same be reasonable iust and righteous or no. Is there any thing which can either be throughly vnderstood or soundly iudged of till the very first causes and principles from which originally it springeth bee made manifest If all parts of knowledge haue beene thought by wise men to bee then most orderly deliuered and proceeded in when they are drawne to their first originall seeing that our whole question concerneth the qualitie of Ecclesiasticall lawes let it not seeme a labour superfluous that in the entrance thereunto all these seuerall kinds of lawes haue beene considered in as much as they all concurre as principles they all haue their forcible operations therein although not all in like apparent and manifest maner By meanes whereof it commeth to passe that the force which they haue is not obserued of many Easier a great deale it is for men by law to be taught what they ought to do then instructed how to iudge as they should do of law the one being a thing which belongeth generally vnto all the other such as none but the wiser and more iudicious sorte can performe Yea the wisest are alwayes touching this point the readiest to acknowledge that soundly to iudge of a law is the waightiest thing which any man can take vpon him But if we wil giue iudgement of the laws vnder which we liue first let that law eternall be alwayes before our eyes as being of principall force and moment to breed in religious minds a dutifull estimation of all lawes the vse and benefite whereof we see because there can be no doubt but that lawes apparently good are as it were things copied out of the very tables of that high euerlasting law euen as the booke of that law hath said concerning it selfe By me Kings raigne and by me Princes decree iustice Not as if men did behold that booke and accordingly frame their lawes but because it worketh in them because it discouereth and as it were readeth it selfe to the world by them when the lawes which they make are righteous Furthermore although we perceiue not the goodnesse of lawes made neuerthelesse sith things in themselues may haue that which we peraduenture discerne not should not this breed a feare in our harts how we speake or iudge in the worse part concerning that the vnaduised disgrace whereof may be no meane dishonour to him towards whom we professe all submission and awe Surely there must be very manifest iniquitie in lawes against which we shall be able to iustifie our contumelious inuectiues The chiefest roote whereof when we vse them without cause is ignorance how lawes inferiour are deriued from that supreme or highest lawe The first that receiue impression from thence are naturall agents The lawe of whose operations might be happily thought lesse pertinent when the question is about lawes for humane actions but that in those very actions which most spiritually and supernaturally concerne men the rules and axiomes of naturall operations haue their force What can be more immediate to our saluation then our perswasion concerning the lawe of Christ towardes his Church What greater assurance of loue towards his Church then the knowledge of that mysticall vnion whereby the Church is become as neare vnto Christ as any one part of his flesh is vnto other That the Church being in such sort his he must needes protect it what proofe more strong then if a manifest lawe so require which law it is not possible for Christ to violate And what other lawe doth the Apostle for this alleage but such as is both common vnto Christ with vs and vnto vs with other things naturall No man hateth his owne flesh but doth loue and cherish it The axiomes of that lawe therefore whereby naturall agentes are guided haue their vse in the morall yea euen in the spirituall actions of men and consequently in all lawes belonging vnto men howsoeuer Neither are the Angels themselues so farre seuered from vs in their kind and manner of working but that betweene the lawe of their heauenly operations and the actions of men in this our state of mortalitie such correspondence there is as maketh it expedient to know in some sort the one for the others more perfect direction Would Angels acknowledge themselues fellow seruants with the sonnes of men but that both hauing one Lord there must be some kinde of lawe which is one and the same to both whereunto their obedience being perfecter is to our weaker both a paterne and a spurre Or would the Apostle speaking of that which belongeth vnto Saintes as they are linked together in the bond of spirituall societie so often make mention how Angels are therewith delighted if in thinges publiquely done by the Church we are not somewhat to respect what the Angels of heauen doe Yea so farre hath the Apostle S. Paule proceeded as to signifie that euen about the outward orders of the Church which serue but for comelinesse some regard is to be had of Angels who best like vs when we are most like vnto them
in all partes of decent demeanor So that the law of Angels wee cannot iudge altogether impertinent vnto the affaires of the Church of God Our largenesse of speech how men do finde out what thinges reason bindeth them of necessitie to obserue and what is guideth them to choose in things which are left as arbitrary the care we haue had to declare the different nature of lawes which seuerally concerne all men from such as belong vnto men eyther ciuilly or spiritually associated such as pertaine to the fellowship which nations or which Christian nations haue amongst themselues and in the last place such as concerning euery or any of these God himselfe hath reuealed by his holy worâ— all serueth but to make manifest that as the actions of men are of sundry distinct kindes so the lawes thereof must accordingly be distinguished There are in men operations some naturall some rationall some supernaturall some politique some finally Ecclesiasticall Which if we measure not each by his owne proper law whereas the things themselues are so different there will be in our vnderstanding and iudgement of them confusion As that first error sheweth whereon our opposites in this cause haue grounded themselues For as they rightly maintaine that God must be glorified in all thinges and that the actions of men cannot tend vnto his glory vnlesse they be framed after his law So it is their error to thinke that the only law which God hath appointed vnto men in that behalfe is the sacred Scripture By that which we worke naturally as when we breath sleepe mooue we set forth the glory of God as naturall agents doe albeit we haue no expresse purpose to make that our end nor any aduised determination therein to follow a law but doe that we doe for the most part not as much as thinking thereon In reasonable and morall actions another law taketh place a law by the obseruation whereof we glorifie God in such sort as no creature else vnder man is able to doe because other creatures haue not iudgement to examine the qualitie of that which is done by them and therfore in that they doe they neither can accuse nor approue themselues Men doe bothe as the Apostle teacheth yea those men which haue no written lawe of God to shewe what is good or euill carrie written in their hearts the vniuersall lawe of mankind the law of reason whereby they iudge as by a rule which God hath giuen vnto all men for that purpose The lawe of reason doth somewhat direct men how to honour God as their Creator but how to glorifie God in such sort as is required to the end he may be an euerlasting Sauiour this we are taught by diuine law which law both ascertaineth the truth and supplieth vnto vs the want of that other lawe So that in morall actions diuine law helpeth exceedingly the lawe of reason to guide mans life but in supernaturall it alone guideth Proceed wee further let vs place man in some publique societie with others whether Ciuill or Spirituall and in this case there is no remedie but we must adde yet a further lawe For although euen here likewise the lawes of nature and reason be of necessary vse yet somewhat ouer and besides them is necessary namely humane and positiue lawe together with that lawe which is of commerce betweene grand societies the law of nations and of nations Christian For which cause the lawe of God hath likewise said Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers The publique power of all societies is aboue euery soule contained in the same societies And the principall vse of that power is to giue lawes vnto all that are vnder it which lawes in such case we must obey vnlesse there be reason shewed which may necessarily enforce that the lawe or reason or of God doth enioyne the contrarie Because except our owne priuate and but probable resolutions be by the lawe of publique determinations ouerruled we take away all possibilitie of sociable life in the worlde A plainer example whereof then our selues we cannot haue How commeth it to passe that wee are at this present day so rent with mutuall contentions and that the Church is so much troubled about the politie of the Church No doubt if men had bene willing to learne how many lawes their actions in this life are subiect vnto and what the true force of each lawe is all these controuersies might haue dyed the very day they were first brought forth It is both commonly said and truly that the best men otherwise are not alwayes the best in regard of societie The reason wherof is for that the law of mens actions is one if they be respected only as men and another wheÌ„ they are considered as parts of a politique body Many men there are then whom nothing is more commendable when they are singled And yet in societie with others none lesse fit to answere the duties which are looked for at their handes Yea I am perswaded that of them with whom in this cause we striue there are whose betters among men would bee hardly found if they did not liue amongst men but in some wildernesse by themselues The cause of which their disposition so vnframable vnto societies wherein they liue is for that they discerne not aright what place and force these seuerall kindes of lawes ought to haue in all their actions Is there question eyther concerning the regiment of the Church in generall or about conformitie betweene one Church and another or of ceremonies offices powers iurisdictions in our owne Church Of all these things they iudge by that râ—le which they frame to themselues with some shew of probabilitie and what seemeth in that sort conuenient the same they thinke themselues bound to practise the same by all meanes they labour mightily to vpholde whatsoeuer any law of man to the contrarie hath determined they weigh it not Thus by following the law of priuate reason where the law of publique should take place they breede disturbance For the better inuâ—ing therefore of mens mindes with the true distinction of lawes and of their seuerall force according to the diâ—ferent kind and qualitie of our actions it shal noâ— peraduenture be amisse to shew in some one example how they all take place To seeke no further let but that be considered then which there is not any thing more familiar vnto vs our foode What thinges are foode and what are not we iudge naturally by sense neither neede we any other law to be our director in that behalfe then the selfe-same which is common vnto vs with beastes But when we come to consider of foode as of a benefite which God of his bounteous goodnes hath prouided for all thinges liuing the law of reason doth here require the dutie of thankefulnesse at our handes towards him at whose hands we haue iâ— And least appetite in the vse of foode should leade vs beyond that
We may not giue our selues this liberty to bring in any thing of our will nor choose any thing that other men bring in of their will we haue the Apostles themselues for authors which themselues brought nothing of their owne wil but the discipline which they receiued of Christ they deliuered faithfully vnto the people In which place the name of discipline importeth not as they who alleage it would faine haue it construed but as any man who noteth the circumstance of the place and the occasion of vttering the words will easily acknowledge euen the selfe same thing it signifieth which the name of doctrine doth and as well might the one as the other there haue bene vsed To helpe them farther doth not Saint Ierome after the selfe same maner dispute We beleeue it not because we reade it not Yea We ought not so much as to knowe the things which the booke of the Lawe containeth not sayth Saint Hilarie Shall we hereupon then conclude that we may not take knowledge of or giue credit vnto any thing which sense or experience or report or art doth propose vnlesse we find the same in scripture No it is too plaine that so farre to extend their speeches is to wrest them against their true intent and meaning To vrge any thing vpon the Church requiring thereunto that religious assent of Christian beliefe wherewith the words of the holy Prophets are receiued to vrge any thing as part of that supernaturall and Celestially reuealed truth which God hath taught and not to shewe it in Scripture this did the auncient Fathers euermore thinke vnlawfull impious execrable And thus as their speeches were meant so by vs they must be restrained As for those alleaged words of Cyprian The christian religion shall find that out of this scripture rules of all doctrines haue sprâ—ng and that from hence doth spring and hether doth returne whatsoeuer the Ecclesiasticall discipline doth coÌ„teine surely this place would neuer haue bin brought forth in this cause if it had bene but once read ouer in the author himselfe out of whom it is cited For the words are vttered concerning that one principall commaundement of loue in the honour whereof he speaketh after this sort Surely this commaundement containeth the Law and the Prophets and in this one word is the abridgement of al the volumes of scripture This nature and reason and the authority of thy word O Lord doth proclaime this we haue heard out of thy mouth herein the perfection of all religion doth consist This is the first commandement and the last thing being written in the booke of life is as it were an euerlasting lesson both to men and Angels Let Christian religion reade this one word and meditate vpon this commaundement and out of this scripture it shall find the rules of all learning to haue sprung and from hence to haue risen and hither to returne whatsoeuer the Ecclesiasticall discipline containeth and that in all things it is vaine and bootelesse which charity confirmeth not Was this a sentence trow you of so great force to proue that Scripture is the onely rule of all the actions of men Might they not hereby euen as well proue that one commandement of Scripture is the onely rule of all things and so exclude the rest of the Scripture as now they do all meanes besides Scripture But thus it fareth when too much desire of contradiction causeth our speech rather to passe by number then to stay for waight Well but Tertullian doth in this case speake yet more plainely The scripture sayth he denieth what it noteth not which are indeed the words of Tertullian But what the scripture reckoneth vp the Kings of Israell and amongst those Kings Dauid the scripture reckoneth vp the sonnes of Dauid and amongst those sonnes Salomon To proue that amongst the Kings of Israell there was no Dauid but only one no Salomon but one in the sonnes of Dauid Tertullians argument will fitly proue For in as much as the scripture did propose to recken vp all if there were moe it would haue named them In this case the scripture doth deny the thing it noteth not Howbeit I could not but thinke that man to do me some peece of manifest iniury which would hereby fasten vpon me a generall opinion as if I did thinke the scripture to deny the very raigne of King Henry the eight because it no where noteth that any such King did raigne Tertullians speech is probable concerning such matter as he there speaketh of There was saith Tertullian no second Lamech like to him that had two wiues the scripture denieth what it noteth not As therefore it noteth one such to haue bene in that age of the world so had there beene moe it would by likelihood as well haue noted many as one What infer we now hereupon There was no second Lamech the scripture denieth what it noteth not Were it consonant vnto reason to diuorce these two sentences the former of which doth shew how the later is restrained and not marking the former to conclude by the later of them that simply whatsoeuer any man at this day doth thinke true is by the scripture denied vnlesse it be there affirmed to be true I wonder that a cause so weake and feeble hath bene so much persisted in But to come vnto those their sentences wherein matters of action are more apparantly touched the name of Tertullian is as before so here againe pretended who writing vnto his wife two bookes and exhorting her in the one to liue a widdow in case God before her should take him vnto his mercy and in the other if she did marry yet not to ioyne her selfe to an infidel as in those times some widowes Christian had done for the aduancement of their estate in this present world he vrgeth very earnestly Saint Paules words onely in the Lord whereupon he demaundeth of them that thinke they may do the contrary what Scripture they can shew where God hath dispensed and graunted licence to do against that which the blessed Apostle so strictly doth inioyne And because in defence it might perhaps be replied seeing God doth will that couples which are maried when bothe are infidels if either party chaunce to be after conuerted vnto Christianity this should not make separation betweene them as long as the vnconuerted was willing to reteine the other on whom the grace of Christ had shined wherefore then should that let the making of mariage which doth not dissolue mariage being made after great reasons shewed why God doth in Conuerts being maried allow continuance with infidels and yet disallow that the faithfull when they are free should enter into bonds of wedlocke with such concludeth in the end concerning those women that so mary They that please not the Lord do euen thereby offend the Lord they do euen thereby throw themselues into euill that is to say while they please him not by