They vnto whom we shall seeme tedious are in no wise iniuried by vs because it is in their owne hands to spare that labour which they are not willing to endure And if any complaine of obscuritie they must consider that in these matters it commeth no otherwise to passe then in sundry the workes both of art and also of nature where that which hath greatest force in the very things we see is notwithstanding it selfe oftentimes not seene The statelinesse of houses the goodlines of trees when we behold them delighteth the eye but that foundation which beareth vp the one that roote which ministreth vnto the other nourishment and life is in the bosome of the earth concealed if there be at any time occasion to search into it such labour is then more necessary then pleasant both to them which vndertake it and for the lookers on In like manner the vse and benefite of good lawes all that liue vnder them may enioy with delight and comfort albeit the groundes and first originall causes from whence they haue sprung be vnknowne as to the greatest part of men they are But when they who withdraw their obedience pretend that the lawes which they should obey are corrupt and vitious for better examination of their qualitie it behoueth the very foundation and roote the highest welspring and fountaine of them to be discouered Which because wee are not oftentimes accustomed to doe when wee doe it the paines wee take are more needefull a great deale then acceptable and the matters which wee handle seeme by reason of newnesse till the minde grow better acquainted with them darke intricate and vnfamiliar For as much helpe whereof as may be in this case I haue endeuoured throughout the body of this whole discourse that euery former part might giue strength vnto all that followe and euery later bring some light vnto all before So that if the iudgements of men doe but holde themselues in suspence as touching these first more generall meditations till in order they haue perused the rest that ensue what may seeme darke at the first will afterwardes be founde more plaine euen as the later particular decisions will appeare I doubt not more strong when the other haue beene read before The lawes of the Church whereby for so many ages together wee haue bene guided in the exercise of Christian religion and the seruice of the true God our rites customes and orders of Ecclesiasticall gouernment are called in question wee are accused as men that will not haue Christ Iesus to rule ouer them but haue wilfully cast his statutes behinde their backes hating to bee reformed and made subiect vnto the scepter of his discipline Behold therefore wee offer the lawes whereby wee liue vnto the generall triall and iudgement of the whole world hartily beseeching almightie God whome wee desire to serue according to his owne will that both wee and others all kinde of partiall affection being cleane laide aside may haue eyes to see and hearts to embrace the things that in his sight are most acceptable And because the point about which wee striue is the qualitie of our lawes our first entrance hereinto cannot better be made then with consideration of the nature of lawe in generall and of that lawe which giueth life vnto all the rest which are commendable iust and good nâ—mely the lawe whereby the Eternall himselfe doth worke Proceeding from hence to the lawe first of nature then of scripture we shall haue the easier accesse vnto those things which come after to be debated concerning the particular cause and question which wee haue in hand 2 All thinges that are haue some operation not violent or casuall Neither doth any thing euer begin to exercise the same without some foreconceiued ende for which it worketh And the ende which it worketh for is not obteined vnlesse the worke bee also fit to obteine it by For vnto euery ende euery operation will not serue That which doth assigne vnto each thing the kinde that which doth moderate the force and power that which doth appoint the forme and measure of working the same we tearme a Lawe So that no certaine ende could euer bee attained vnlesse the actions whereby it is attained were regular that is to say made suteable fit and correspondent vnto their ende by some Canon rule or lawe Which thing doth first take placâ— in the workes euen of God himselfe All thinges therefore doe worke after a sort according to lawe all other thinges according to a lawe whereof some superiours vnto whome they are subiect is author onely the workes and operations of God haue him both for their worker and for the lawe whereby they are wrought The being of God is a kinde of lawe to his working for that perfection which God is giueth perfection to that hee doth Those naturall necessary and internall operations of God the generation of the Sonne the proceeding of the Spirit are without the compasse of my present intent which is to touch onely such operations as haue their beginning and being by a voluntary purpose wherewith God hath eternally decreed when and how they should bee Which eternall decree is that wee tearme an eternall lawe Dangerous it were for the feeble braine of man to wade farre into the doings of the most High whome although to knowe bee life and ioy to make mention of his name yet our soundest knowledge is to know that wee know him not as indeede hee is neither can know him and our safest eloquence concerning him is our silence when we confesse without confession that his glory is inexplicable his greatnesse aboue our capacitie and reach Hee is aboue and wee vpon earth therefore it behoueth our wordes to bee warie and fewe Our God is one or rather very onenesse and meere vnitie hauing nothing but it selfe in it selfe and not consisting as all things doe besides God of many things In which essentiall vnitie of God a Trinitie personall neuerthelesse subsisteth after a maner far exceeding the possibilitie of mans conceipt The works which outwardly are of God they are in such sort of him being one that each person hath in them somewhat peculiar and proper For being three and they all subsisting in the essence of one deitie from the Father by the Sonne through the Spirit all things are That which the Sonne doth heare of the Father and which the Spirit doth receiue of the Father the Sonne the same we haue at the haÌ„ds of the Spirit as being the last and therfore the nearest vnto vs in order although in power the same with the second and the first The wise and learned among the very Heathens themselues haue all acknowledged some first cause whereupon originally the being of all things dependeth Neither haue they otherwise spoken of that cause then as an Agent which knowing what and why it worketh obserueth in working a most exact order or lawe Thus much is signified by that which Homer mentioneth
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much acknowledged by Mercurius Trismegist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much cōfest by Anaxagoras Plato terming the maker of the world an Intellectual worker Finally the Stoikes although imagining the first cause of all things to be fire held neuerthelesse that the same fire hauing arte did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They all confesse therfore in the working of that first cause that counsell is vsed reason followed a way obserued that is to say constant order and law is kept wherof it selfe must needs be author vnto it selfe Otherwise it should haue some worthier and higher to direct it and so could not it selfe be the first Being the first it can haue no other then it selfe to be the author of that law which it willingly worketh by God therefore is a law both to himselfe and to all other things besides To himselfe he is a law in all those things whereof our Sauiour speaketh saying My Father worketh as yet so I. God worketh nothing without cause All those things which are done by him haue some ende for which they are done and the ende for which they are done is a reason of his will to do them His will had not inclined to create woman but that he saw it could not be wel if she were not created Non est bonum It is not good man should be alone Therfore let vs make an helper for him That and nothing else is done by God which to leaue vndone were not so good If therfore it bee demanded why God hauing power hability infinit th' effects notwithstāding of that power are all so limited as wee see they are the reason hereof is the end which he hath proposed and the lawe whereby his wisedome hath stinted th' effects of his power in such sort that it doth not worke infinitely but correspōdently vnto that end for which it worketh euen al things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in most decent and comely sort all things in measure number waight The generall ende of Gods external working is the exercise of his most glorious and most abundant vertue Which abundance doth shew it selfe in varietie and for that cause this varietie is oftentimes in scripture exprest by the name of riches The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake Not that any thing is made to be beneficial vnto him but all things for him to shew beneficence and grace in them The particular drift of euery acte proceeding externally from God we are not able to discerne and therefore cannot alwaies giue the proper and certaine reason of his works Howbeit vndoubtedly a proper and certaine reason there is of euery finite worke of God in as much as there is a law imposed vpon it which if there were not it should be infinite euen as the worker himselfe is They erre therfore who think that of the will of God to doe this or that there is no reason besides his will Many times no reason knowne to vs but that there is no reason thereof I iudge it most vnreasonable to imagine in as much as hee worketh all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely according to his owne will but the counsell of his owne will And whatsoeuer is done with counsell or wise resolution hath of necessitie some reason why it should be done albeit that reason bee to vs in somethings so secret that it forceth the wit of man to stand as the blessed Apostle himself doth amazed therat O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God How vnsearchable are his iudgements c That law eternall which God himself hath made to himselfe and therby worketh all things wherof he is the cause and author that law in the admirable frame wherof shineth with most perfect beautie the countenance of that wisdome which hath testified concerning her self The lord possessed me in the beginning of his way euē before his works of old I was set vp that lawe which hath bene the patterne to make and is the Carde to guide the world by that law which hath bene of God and with God euerlastingly that law the author and obseruer whereof is one only God to be blessed for euer how should either men or Angels be able perfectly to behold The booke of this law we are neither able nor worthy to open and looke into That little thereof which we darkly apprehend we admire the rest with religious ignorance we humbly meekly adore Seeing therfore that according to this law he worketh of whom through whom for whom are all things althogh there seeme vnto vs cōfusion disorder in th' affaires of this present world Tamen quon am bonus mund◠rector temperat rectè fieri cuncta ne dubites Let no man doubt but that euery thing is wel done because the world is ruled by so good a guide as transgresseth not his owne law then which nothing can be more absolute perfect iust The law wherby he worketh is eternall and therfore can haue no shew or colour of mutability for which cause a part of that law being opened in the promises which God hath made because his promises are nothing else but declarations what God will do for the good of men touching those promises the Apostle hath witnessed that God may as possibly denie himselfe and not be God as faile to performe them And cōcerning the counsel of God he termeth it likewise a thing vnchangeable the counsel of God and that law of God wherof now we speake being one Nor is the freedome of the wil of God any whit abated let or hindered by meanes of this because the impositiō of this law vpō himselfe is his own free volūtary act This law therfore we may name eternal being that order which God before al ages hath set down with himself for himself to do all things by 3 I am not ignorant that by law eternall the learned for the most part do vnderstand the order not which God hath eternally purposed himselfe in all his workes to obserue but rather that which with himselfe he hath set downe as expedient to be kept by all his creatures according to the seuerall conditiō wherwith he hath indued them They who thus are accustomed to speake apply the name of Lawe vnto that onely rule of working which superiour authority in poseth whereas we somewhat more enlarging the sense thereof terme any kind of rule or Canon whereby actions are framed a lawe Now that lawe which as it is laid vp in the bosome of God they call eternall receiueth according vnto the different kinds of things which are subiect vnto it different and sundry kinds of names That part of it which ordereth naturall agēts we call vsually natures law that which Angels doe clearely behold and without any swaruing obserue is a law coelestiall and heauenly the law of reason that which
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
simple men who knowing the time of their owne Presidentship to bee but short would alwayes stand in feare of their ministers perpetuall authoritie and among the ministers themselues one being so farre in estimation aboue the rest the voyces of the rest were likely to be giuen for the most part respectiuely with a kinde of secret dependencie and awe so that in shewe a maruellous indifferently composed Senate Ecclesiasticall was to gouerne but in effect one onely man should as the Spirite and soule of the residue doe all in all But what did these vaine surmises boote Brought they were now to so straight an issue that of two thinges they must choose one namely whether they would to their endlesse disgrace with ridiculous lightnes dismisse him whose restitution they had in so impotent maner desired or else condescende vnto that demaund wherein hee was resolute eyther to haue it or to leaue them They thought it better to be somewhat hardly yoked at home then for euer abroad discredited Wherefore in the ende those orders were on all sides assented vnto with no lesse alacritie of minde then Cities vnable to holde out longer are wont to shewe when they take conditions such as it liketh him to offer them which hath them in the narrow streightes of aduantage Not many yeares were ouerpassed before these twice sworne men aduentured to giue their last and hotest assault to the fortresse of the same discipline childishly graunting by comon consent of their whole Senate that vnder their towne seale a relaxation to one Bertelier whom the Eldership had excommunicated further also decreeing with strange absurditie that to the same Senate it should belong to giue finall iudgemēt in matter of excōmunication and to absolue whom it pleased them cleane contrary to their owne former deedes and oaths The report of which decree being forth with brought vnto Caluin Before sayth he this decree take place either my bloud or banishment shall signe it Againe two dayes before the Cōmunion should be celebrated his speech was publiquely to like effect Kill me if euer this hand do reach forth the things that are holy to thē whom THE CHVRCH hath iudged despisers Whereupon for feare of tumult the forenamed Bertelier was by his friends aduised for that time not to vse the liberty granted him by the Senate nor to present himselfe in the Church till they saw somewhat further what would ensue After the Communion quietly ministred and some likelihood of peaceable ending these troubles without any more ado that very day in the afternoone besides all mens expectation concluding his ordinary sermon he telleth them that because he neither had learned nor taught to striue with such as are in authority therefore sayth he the case so standing as now it doth let me vse these words of the Apostle vnto you I commend you vnto God the word of his grace and so bad them hartily all A dew It sometimes commeth to passe that the readiest way which a wise man hath to conquer is to flie This voluntarie and vnexpected mention of sudden departure caused presently the Senate for according to their woonted maner they still continued onely constant in vnconstancy to gather themselues together and for a time to suspend their own decree leauing things to proceed as before till they had heard the iudgement of foure Heluetian Cities concerning the matter which was in strife This to haue done at the first before they gaue assēt vnto any order had shewed some wit discretion in thē but now to do it was as much as to say in effect that they would play their parts on stage Caluin therfore dispatcheth with all expedition his letters vnto some principall pastor in euery of those cities crauing earnestly at their hands to respect this cause as a thing whereupō the whole state of religion piety in that church did so much depend that God all good men were now ineuitably certaine to be trampled vnder foot vnlesse those foure Cities by their good means might be brought to giue sentence with the ministers of Geneua when the cause should be brought before them yea so to giue it that two things it might effectually containe the one an absolute approbation of the discipline of Geneua as consonant vnto the word of God without any cautions qualifications ifs or ands the other an earnest admonition not to innouate or change the same His vehemēt request herein as touching both points was satisfied For albeit the sayd Heluetian Churches did neuer as yet obserue that discipline neuerthelesse the Senate of Geneua hauing required their iudgement concerning these three questions First after what manner by Gods commaundement according to the Scripture and vnspotted religion excommunication is to be exercised Secondly whether it may not be exercised some other way then by the Consistorie Thirdly what the vse of their Churches was to do in this case answer was returned from the sayd Churches That they had heard already of those consistoriall lawes and did acknowledge them to be godly ordinances drawing towards the prescript of the word of God for which cause that they did not thinke it good for the Church of Geneua by innouation to change the same but rather to keepe them as they were Which aunswer although not aunswering vnto the former demaunds but respecting what Maister Caluin had iudged requisite for them to aunswere was notwithstanding accepted without any further reply in as much as they plainely saw that when stomacke doth striue with wit the match is not equall And so the heat of their former contentions began to flake The present inhabitants of Geneua J hope will not take it in euill part that the faltinesse of their people heretofore is by vs so farre forth layd open as their owne learned guides and Pastors haue thought necessarie to discouer it vnto the world For out of their bookes and writings it is that I haue collected this whole narration to the end it might thereby appeare in what sort amongst them that discipline was planted for which so much contention is raised amongst our selues The reasons which mooued Caluin herein to be so earnest was as Beza himselfe testifieth for that he saw how needfull these bridles were to be put in the iawes of that Citie That which by wisedome he saw to be requisite for that people was by as great wisedome compassed But wise men are men and the truth is truth That which Caluin did for establishment of his discipline seemeth more commendable then that which he taught for the countenancing of it established Nature worketh in vs all a loue to our owne counsels The contradiction of others is a fanne to inflame that loue Our loue set on fire to maintaine that which once we haue done sharpeneth the wit to dispute to argue and by all meanes to reason for it Wherefore a maruaile it were if a man of so great capacitie hauing such incitements to make him desirous of
all kind of furtherances vnto his cause could espie in the whole Scripture of God nothing which might breed at the least a probable opinion of likelihood that diuine authority it selfe was the same way somewhat inclinable And all which the wit euen of Caluin was able from thence to draw by sifting the very vtmost sentence and syllable is no more then that certaine speeches there are which to him did seeme to intimate that all Christian Churches ought to haue their Elderships indued with power of excommunication and that a part of those Elderships euery where should be chosen out frō amongst the laitie after that forme which himselfe had framed Geneua vnto But what argument are ye able to shew whereby it was euer prooued by Caluin that any one sentence of Scripture doth necessarily enforce these things or the rest wherein your opinion concurreth with his against the orders of your owne Church We should be iniurious vnto vertue it selfe if we did derogate from them whom their industrie hath made great Two things of principall moment there are which haue deseruedly procured him honour throughout the world the one his exceeding paynes in composing the Institutions of Christian Religion the other his no lesse industrious trauailes for exposition of holy Scripture according vnto the same institutions In which two things who soeuer they were that after him bestowed their labour he gayned the aduantage of preiudice against them if they gaine said and of glorie aboue them if they consented His writings published after the question about that discipline was once begunne omit not any the least occasion of extolling the vse and singular necessitie thereof Of what accompt the Maister of sentences was in the Church of Rome the same and more amongest the Preachers of reformed Churches Caluin had purchased so that the perfectest diuines were iudged they which were skilfullest in Caluins writings His bookes almost the very Canon to iudge both doctrine and discipline by French Churches both vnder others abroad and at home in their owne Countrey all cast according vnto that mould which Caluin had made The Church of Scotland in erecting the fabricke of their reformation tooke the selfe same paterne Till at length the discipline which was at the first so weake that without the staffe of their approbation who were not subiect vnto it themselues it had not brought others vnder subiection beganne now to challenge vniuersall obedience and to enter into open conflict with those very Churches which in desperate extremitie had bene relieuers of it To one of those Churches which liued in most peaceable sort and abounded as well with men for their learning in other professions singular as also with diuines whose equals were not elsewhere to be found a Church ordered by Gualters discipline and not by that which Geneua adoreth vnto this Church the Church of Heidelberge there commeth one who crauing leaue to dispute publiquely defendeth with open disdaine of their gouernement that To a Minister with his Eldership power is giuen by the law of God to excommunicate whomsoeuer yea euen kings and princes themselues Here were the seedes sowne of that controuersie which sprang vp betweene Beza and Erastus about the matter of excommunication whether there ought to be in all Churches an Eldership hauing power to excommunicate and a part of that Eldership to be of necessitie certaine chosen out from amongest the laity for that purpose In which disputation they haue as to me it seemeth deuided very equally the truth betweene them Beza most truly maintaining the necessitie of excommunication Erastus as truly the nonnecessitie of layelders to be ministers thereof Amongest our selues there was in King Edwards dayes some question moued by reason of a few mens scrupulositie touching certaine things And beyond Seas of them which fled in the dayes of Queene Mary some contenting themselues abroad with the vse of their owne Seruice booke at home authorised before their departure out of the Realme others liking better the Common prayer booke of the Church of Geneua translated those smaller contentions before begun were by this meane somewhat increased Vnder the happy raigne of her Maiesty which now is the greatest matter a while contended for was the wearing of the Cap and Surplesse till there came Admonitions directed vnto the high Court of Parliament by men who concealing their names thought it glory inough to discouer their minds and affections which now were vniuersally bent euen against all the orders and lawes wherein this Church is found vnconformable to the platforme of Geneua Concerning the defendor of which admonitions all that I meane to say is but this There will come a time when three words vttered with charitie and meeknesse shall receiue a farre more blessed reward then three thousand volumes written with disdainefull sharpnes of wit But the maner of mens writing must not alienate our hearts from the truth if it appeare they haue the truth as the followers of the same defendor do thinke he hath and in that perswasion they follow him no otherwise then himselfe doth Calvin Beza and others with the like perswasion that they in this cause had the truth We being as fully perswaded otherwise it resteth that some kind of tryall be vsed to find out which part is in error 3 The first meane whereby nature teacheth men to iudge good from euill as well in lawes as in other things is the force of their owne discretion Hereunto therefore Saint Paule referreth oftentimes his owne speech to be considered of by them that heard him I speake as to them which haue vnderstanding iudge ye what I say Againe afterward Iudge in your selues is it comely that a woman pray vncouered The exercise of this kind of iudgement our Sauiour requireth in the Iewes In them of Berea the Scripture commendeth it Finally whatsoeuer we do if our owne secret iudgement consent nor vnto it as fit and good to be done the doing of it to vs is sinne although the thing it selfe be allowable Saint Paules rule therefore generally is Let euery man in his owne minde be fully perswaded of that thing which he either alloweth or doth Some things are so familiar and plaine that truth from falshood and good from euill is most easily discerned in them euen by men of no deepe capacitie And of that nature for the most part are things absolutely vnto all mens saluation necessarie either to be held or denied either to be done or auoided For which cause Saint Augustine acknowledgeth that they are not onely set downe but also plainely set downe in Scripture so that he which heareth or readeth may without any great difficultie vnderstand Other things also there are belonging though in a lower degree of importance vnto the offices of Christian men which because they are more obscure more intricate and hard to be iudged of therefore God hath appointed some to spend their whole time principally in the studie of things diuine to
the end that in these more doubtfull cases their vnderstanding might be a light to direct others If the vnderstanding power or facultie of the soule be sayth the grand Phisitian like vnto bodily sight not of equall sharpnesse in all what can be more conuenient then that euen as the darke-sighted man is directed by the cleare about things visible so likewise in matters of deeper discourse the wise in heart do shew the simple where his way lyeth In our doubtfull cases of law what man is there who seeth not how requisite it is that professors of skill in that facultie be our directors So it is in all other kinds of knowledge And euen in this kind likewise the Lord hath himselfe appointed that the Priests lips should preserue knowledge and that other men should seeke the truth at his mouth because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts Gregory Nazianzene offended at the peoples too great presumption in controlling the iudgement of them to whom in such cases they should haue rather submitted their owne seeketh by earnest intreatie to stay them within their bounds Presume not ye that are sheepe to make your selues guides of them that should guide you neither seeke ye to ouerskip the fold which they about you haue pitched It sufficeth for your part if ye can well frame your selues to be ordered Take not vpon you to iudge your selues nor to make them subiect to your lawes who should be a law to you For God is not a God of sedition and confusion but of order and of peace But ye will say that if the guides of the people be blind the common sort of men must not close vp their owne eyes and be led by the conduct of such if the Priest be partiall in the law the flocke must not therefore depart from the wayes of sincere truth and in simplicitie yeeld to be followers of him for his place sake and office ouer them Which thing though in it selfe most true is in your defence notwithstanding weake because the matter wherein ye thinke that yee see and imagine that your wayes are sincere is of farre deeper consideration then any one amongest fiue hundred of you conceiueth Let the vulgar sort amongst you know that there is not the least branch of the cause wherin they are so resolute but to the triall of it a great deale more appertaineth then their conceipt doth reach vnto I write not this in disgrace of the simplest that way giuen but I would gladly they knewe the nature of that cause wherein they thinke themselues throughly instructed and are not by meanes whereof they daily run themselues without feeling their owne hazard vppon the dâ—nt of the Apostles sentence against euill speakers as touching things wherein they are ignorant If it be graunted a thing vnlawfull for priuate men not called vnto publique consultation to dispute which is the best state of ciuill Policie with a desire of bringing in some other kind then that vnder which they already liue for of such disputes I take it his meaning was if it be a thing confest that of such questions they cannot determine without rashnesse in as much as a great part of them consisteth in speciall circumstances and for one kind as many reasons may be brought as for another is there any reason in the world why they should better iudge what kind of regiment Ecclesiasticall is the fittest For in the Ciuill state more insight and in those affaires more experience a great deale must needes be graunted them then in this they can possibly haue When they which write in defence of your discipline and commend it vnto the Highest not in the least cunning manner are forced notwithstanding to acknowledge that with whom the truth is they knowe not they are not certaine what certainty or knowledge can the multitude haue thereof Waigh what doth mooue the common sort so much to fauour this innouation and it shall soone appeare vnto you that the force of particular reasons which for your seuerall opinions are alleaged is a thing whereof the multitude neuer did nor could so consider as to be there with wholly caried but certaine generall inducements are vsed to make saleable your Cause in grosse and when once men haue cast a phancie towards it any slight declaration of specialties will serue to lead forward mens inclinable and prepared minds The methode of winning the peoples affection vnto a generall liking of the Cause for so ye terme it hath bene this First in the hearing of the multitude the faults especially of higher callings are ripped vp with maruellous exceeding seuerity and sharpnesse of reproofe which being oftentimes done begetteth a great good opinion of integritie zeale holinesse to such coÌ„stant reproouers of sinne as by likelihood would neuer be so much offended at that which is euill vnlesse themselues were singularly good The next thing hereunto is to impute all faults and corruptions wherewith the world aboundeth vnto the kind of Ecclesiasticall gouernement established Wherin as before by reprouing faults they purchased vnto themselues with the multitude a name to be vertuous so by finding out this kind of cause they obtaine to be iudged wise aboue others whereas in truth vnto the forme euen of Iewish gouernement which the Lord himselfe they all confesse did establish with like shew of reason they might impute those faults which the Prophets condemne in the gouernors of that common wealth as to the English kind of regiment Ecclesiasticall whereof also God himselfe though in other sort is author the staines and blemishes found in our State which springing from the root of humaine frailty and corruption not only are but haue bene alwaies more or lesse yea and for any thing we know to the contrary will be till the worlds end complained of what forme of gouernement soeuer take place Hauing gotten thus much sway in the hearts of men a third step is to propose their owne forme of Church gouernement as the onely soueraigne remedy of all euils and to adorne it with all the glorious titles that may be And the nature as of men that haue sicke bodies so likewise of the people in the crazednes of their minds possest with dislike and discontentment at things present is to imagine that any thing the vertue wherof they here commended would helpe them but that most which they least haue tried The fourth degree of inducements is by fashioning the very notions conceipts of mens minds in such sort that when they read the Scripture they may thinke that euery thing soundeth towards the aduancement of that discipline and to the vtter disgrace of the contrary Pythagoras by bringing vp his Schollers in the speculatiue knowledge of numbers made their conceipts therein so strong that when they came to the contemplation of things naturall they imagined that in euery particular thing they euen beheld as it were with their eyes how the elements of
number gaue essence and being to the workes of nature A thing in reason impossible which notwithstanding through their misfashioned preconceipt appeared vnto them no lesse certaine then if nature had written it in the very foreheads of all the creatures of God When they of the family of loue haue it once in their heads that Christ doth not signifie any one person but a qualitie whereof many are partakers that to be raised is nothing else but to be regenerated or indued with the said quality and that when separation of them which haue it from them which haue it not is here made this is iudgement how plainely do they imagine that the Scripture euery where speaketh in the fauour of that sect And assuredly the very cause which maketh the simple and ignorant to thinke they euen see how the word of God runneth currantly on your side is that their minds are forestalled and their conceits peruerted before hand by being taught that an Elder doth signifie a lay man admitted onely to the office of rule or gouernement in the Church a Doctor one which may only teach and neither preach nor administer the Sacraments a Deacon one which hath charge of the almes boxe and of nothing else that the Scepter the rod the throne kingdome of Christ are a forme of regiment onely by Pastors Elders Doctors and Deacons that by mysticall resemblance mount Sion and Jerusalem are the Churches which admit Samaria and Babylon the Churches which oppugne the said forme of regimeÌ„t And in like sort they are taught to apply al things spoken of repairing the wals and decayed parts of the city temple of God by Esdras Nehemias the rest as if purposely the holy Ghost had therein ment to foresignifie what the authors of admonitions to the Parliament of supplications to the Councell of petitions to her Maiesty and of such other like writs should either do or suffer in behalfe of this their cause From hence they proceed to an higher point which is the perswading of men credulous ouer capable of such pleasing errors that it is the speciall illumination of the holy Ghost whereby they discerne those things in the word which others reading yet discerne them not Dearly beloued saith S. Iohn Giue not credit vnto euery Spirit There are but two wayes whereby the spirit leadeth men into 〈◊〉 truth the one extraordinarie the other common the one belonging but vnto some few the other extending it selfe vnto all that are of God the one that which we call by a speciall diuine excellency Reuelation the other Reason If the Spirit by such reuelation haue discouered vnto theÌ„ the secrets of that discipline out of Scripture they must professe themselues to be all euen men women and children Prophets Or if reason be the hand which the Spirit hath led them by for as much as perswasions grounded vpon reason are either weaker or stronger according to the force of those reasons whereupon the same are grounded they must euery of them from the greatest to the least be able for euery seuerall article to shewe some special reason as strong as their perswasion therin is earnest Otherwise how can it be but that some other sinewes there are from which that ouerplus of strength in perswasion doth arise Most sure it is that when mens affections do frame their opinions they are in defence of error more earnest a great deale then for the most part sound belieuers in the maintenance of truth apprehended according to the nature of that euidence which Scripture yeeldeth which being in some things plaine as in the principles of Christian doctrine in some things as in these matters of discipline more darke and doubtfull frameth correspondently that inward assent which Gods most gracious Spirit worketh by it as by his effectuall instrument It is not therefore the feruent earnestnes of their perswasion but the soundnes of those reasons whereupon the same is built which must declare their opinions in these things to haue bene wrought by the holy Ghost and not by the fraud of that euill Spirit which is euen in his illusions strong After that the phancie of the common sort hath once throughly apprehended the Spirit to be author of their perswasion concerning discipline then is instilled into their hearts that the same Spirit leading men into this opinion doth thereby seale them to be Gods children and that as the state of the times now standeth the most speciall token to know them that are Gods owne from others is an earnest affection that way This hath bred high termes of separation betweene such and the rest of the world whereby the one sort are named Theâ—rethren â—rethren The godly and so forth the other worldlings timeseruers pleasers of men not of God with such like From hence they are easily drawne on to thinke it exceeding necessarie for feare of quenching that good Spirit to vse all meanes whereby the same may be both strengthned in themselues and made manifest vnto others This maketh them diligent hearers of such as are knowne that way to incline this maketh them eager to take and to seeke all occasions of secret conference with such this maketh them glad to vse such as Counsellors and directors in all their dealings which are of waight as contracts testaments and the like this maketh them through an vnweariable desire of receiuing instruction from the maisters of that companie to cast off the care of those verie affaires which do most concerne their estate and to thinke that then they are like vnto Marie commendable for making choyce of the better part Finally this is it which maketh them willing to charge yea oftentimes euen to ouercharge themselues for such mens sustenance and reliefe least their zeale to the cause should any way be vnwitnessed For what is it which poore beguiled soules will not do through so powerfull incitements In which respect it is also noted that most labour hath bene bestowed to win and retaine towards this cause them whose iudgements are commonly weakest by reason of their sex And although not women loden with sinnes as the Apostle S. Paul speaketh but as we verily esteeme of them for the most part women propense and inclinable to holines be otherwise edified in good things rather then caried away as captiues into any kind of sinne and euill by such as enter into their houses with purpose to plant there a zeale and a loue towards this kind of discipline yet some occasion is hereby ministred for men to thinke that if the cause which is thus furthered did gaine by the soundnes of proofe wherupon it doth build it selfe it would not most busily endeuor to preuaile where least hability of iudgement is and therefore that this so eminent industry in making proselytes more of that sex then of the other groweth for that they are deemed apter to serue as instruments and helps in the cause Apter they are through the eagernes of their affection
whose mouthes at the first sounded nothing but onely mortification of the flesh were come at the length to thinke they might lawfully haue their sixe or seuen wiues apeece they which at the first thought iudgement and iustice it selfe to be mercilesse cruelty accompted at the length their owne hands sanctified with being imbâ—ued in Christan bloud they who at the first were wont to beate downe all dominion and to vrge against poore Constables Kings of Nations had at the length both Consuls and Kings of their owne erection amongst themselues finally they which could not brooke at the first that any man should seeke no not by law the recouery of goods iniuriously taken or withheld from him were growne at the last to thinke they could not offer vnto God more acceptable sacrifice then by turning their aduersaries cleane out of house home and by inriching theÌ„selues with al kind of spoile and pillage which thing being laid to their charge they had in a readinesse their answer that now the time was come when according to our Sauiours promise The meeke ones must inherite the earth and that their title hereunto was the same which the righteous Israelites had vnto the goods of the wicked Aegyptians Wherefore sith the world hath had in these men so fresh experience how dangerous such actiue errors are it must not offend you though touching the sequell of your present misperswasions much more be doubted then your owne intents and purposes do happily aime at And yet your words already are somewhat when ye affirme that your pastors Doctors Elders and Deacons ought to be in this Church of England whether hir Maiestie and our state will or no when for the animating of your consederates ye publish the musters which ye haue made of your owne bands and proclaime them to amount I know not to how many thousands when ye threaten that sith neither your suites to the Parliament nor supplications to our Conuocation house neither your defences by writing nor chalenges of disputation in behalfe of that cause are able to preuaile we must blame our selues if to bring in discipline some such meanes hereafter be vsed as shall cause all our harts to ake That things doubtfull are to be constered in the better part is a principle not safe to be followed in matters concerning the publique state of a common weale But howsoever these and the like speeches be accompted as arrowes idly shot at randon without either eye had to any marke or regard to their lighting place hath not your longing desire for the practise of your discipline brought the matter already vnto this demurrer amongst you whether the people and their godly pastors that way affected ought not to make separation from the rest and to begin the exercise of discipline without the licence of Ciuill powers which licence they haue sought for and are not heard Vpon which question as ye haue now deuided your selues the warier sort of you taking the one part and the forwarder in zeale the other so in case these earnest ones should preuaile what other sequell can any wise man imagine but this that hauing first resolued that attempts for discipline without superiors are lawfull it will follow in the next place to be disputed what may be attempted against superiors which will not haue the scepter of that discipline to rule ouer them Yea euen by you which haue stayed your selues from running headlong with the other sort somewhat notwithstanding there hath bene done without the leaue or liking of your lawfull superiors for the exercise of a part of your discipline amongst the Cleargy thereunto addicted And least examination of principall parties therein should bring those things to light which might hinder and let your proceedings behold for a barre against that impediment one opinion ye haue newly added vnto the rest euen vpon this occasion an opinion to exempt you from taking oathes which may turne to the molestation of your brethren in that cause The next neighbour opinion whereunto when occasion requireth may follow for dispensation with oathes already taken if they afterwards be found to import a necessity of detecting ought which may bring such good men into trouble or damage whatsoeuer the cause be O mercifull God what mans wit is there able to found the depth of those daungerous and fearefull euils whereinto our weake and impotent nature is inclinable to sinke itselfe rather then to shew an acknowledgement of error in that which once we haue vnaduisedly taken vpon vs to defend against the streame as it were of a contrary publique resolution Wherefore if we anie thing respect their error who being perswaded euen as ye are haue gone further vpon that perswasion then ye allow if we regard the present state of the highest gouernour placed ouer vs if the quality and disposition of our Nobles if the orders and lawes of our famous Vniuersities it the profession of the Civil or the practise of the Common law amongst vs if the mischiefes whereinto euen before our eyes so many others haue fallen headlong from no lesse plausible and faire beginnings then yours are there is in euery of these considerations most iust cause to feare least our hastines to embrace a thing of so perilous consequence should cause posterity to feele those euils which as yet are more easie for vs to preuent then they would be for them to remedy 9. The best and safest way for you therefore my deere brethren is to call your deeds past to a new reckening to reexamine the cause ye haue taken in hand and to try it euen point by point argument by argument with all the diligent exactnesse ye can to lay aside the gall of that bitternesse wherein your minds haue hitherto ouer abounded and with meeknesse to search the truth Thinke ye are men deeme it not impossible for you to erre sift vnpartially your owne hearts whether it be force of reason or vehemency of affection which hath bred and still doth feed these opinions in you If truth do any where manifest it selfe seeke not to smother it with glosing delusions acknowledge the greatnesse thereof and thinke it your best victory when the same doth preuaile ouer you That ye haue bene earnest in speaking or writing againe and againe the contrary way should be no blemish or discredit at all vnto you Amongst so many so huge volumes as the infinite paines of Saint Augustine haue brought foorth what one hath gotten him greater loue commendation and honour then the booke wherein he carefully collecteth his owne ouersights and sincerely condemneth them Many speeches there are of Iobes whereby his wisedome and other vertues may appeare but the glory of an ingenuous mind he hath purchased by these words onely Behold I will lay mine hand on my mouth I haue spoken once yet will I not therefore maintaine argument yea twice howbeit for that cause further I will not proceed Farre more comfort it were
euen as vpwarde in God beneath whom themselues are they see that character which is no where but in themselues and vs resembled Thus farre euen the Painims haue approched thus farre they haue seene into the doings of the Angels of God Orpheus confessing that the fiery throne of God is attended on by those most industrious Angels carefull how all things are performed amongst men and the mirror of humaine wisedome plainely teaching that God mooueth Angels euen as that thing doth stirre mans heart which is thereunto presented amiable Angelicall actions may therefore be reduced vnto these three generall kindes first most delectable loue arising from the visible apprehension of the puritie glory and beautie of God inuisible sauing onely vnto Spirites that are pure secondly adoration grounded vpon the euidence of the greatnes of God on whom they see how all things depende thirdly imitation bred by the presence of his exemplary goodnes who ceaseth not before them daily to fill heauen and earth with the rich treasures of most free and vndeserued grace Of Angels wee are not to consider onely what they are and doe in regard of their owne being but that also which concerneth them as they are lincked into a kinde of corporation amongst themselues and of societie or fellowship with men Consider Angels each of them seuerally in himself and their law is that which the Prophet Dauid mentioneth All ye his Angels praise him Consider the Angels of God associated and their lawe is that which disposeth them as an Army one in order and degree aboue an other Consider finally the Angels as hauing with vs that communion which the Apostle to the Hebrewes noteth and in regard whereof Angels haue not disdained to professe themselues our fellowseruants from hence there springeth vp a third law which bindeth them to workes of ministeriall imployment Euery of which their seuerall functions are by them performed with ioy A part of the Angels of God notwithstanding we know haue fallen and that their fall hath beene through the voluntary breach of that lawe which did require at their hands continuance in the exercise of their high and admirable vertue Impossible it was that euer their will should chaunge or incline to remit any part of their dutie without some obiect hauing force to auert their conceit from God and to draw it an other way and that before they attained that high perfection of blisse wherein now the elect Angels are without possibilitie of falling Of any thing more then of God they could not by any meanes like as long as whatsoeuer they knew besides God they apprehended it not in it selfe without dependencie vpon God because so long God must needes seeme infinitely better then any thing which they so could apprehend Thinges beneath them could not in such sort be presented vnto their eyes but that therein they must needs see alwayes how those things did depend on God It seemeth therefore that there was no other way for Angels to sinne but by reflex of their vnderstanding vpon themselues when being held with admiration of their owne sublimitie and honor the memorie of their subordination vnto God and their dependencie on him was drowned in this conceipt whereupon their adoration loue and imitation of God could not choose but be also interrupted The fall of Angels therefore was pride Since their fall their practises haue beene the cleane contrary vnto those before mentioned For being dispersed some in the ayre some on the earth some in the water some amongest the minerals dennes and caues that are vnder the earth they haue by all meanes laboured to effect an vniuersall rebellion against the lawes and as farre as in them lyeth vtter destruction of the workes of God These wicked Spirites the Heathens honoured in stead of Gods both generally vnder the name of Dii inferi Gods infernall and particularly some in Oracles some in Idoles some as household Gods some as Nymphes in a word no foule and wicked spirite which was not one way or other honored of men as God till such time as light appeared in the world and dissolued the workes of the diuell Thus much therefore may suffice for Angels the next vnto whom in degree are men 5 God alone excepted who actually and euerlastingly is whatsoeuer he may be and which cannot hereafter be that which now he is not all other things besides are somewhat in possibilitie which as yet they are not in act And for this cause there is in all things an appetite or desire whereby they incline to something which they may be and when they are it they shall be perfecteâ— then now they are All which perfections are contained vnder the generall name of Goodnesse And because there is not in the world any thing wherby another may not some way be made the perfecter therefore all things that are are good Againe sith there can be no goodnesse desired which proceedeth not from God himselfe as from the supreme cause of all things and euerie effect doth after a sort conteine at least wise resemble the cause from which it proceedeth all things in the world are sayd in some sort to seeke the highest and to couet more or lesse the participation of God himselfe Yet this doth no where so much appeare as it doth in man because there are so many kindes of perfections which man seeketh The first degree of goodnesse is that generall perfection which all things do seeke in desiring the continuance of their beeing All thinges therefore coueting as much as may be to be like vnto God in being euer that which cannot hereunto attaine personally doth seeke to continue it selfe another way that is by ofspring and propagation The next degree of goodnesse is that which each thing coueteth by affecting resemblance with God in the constancy and excellencie of those operations which belong vnto their kind The immutabilitie of God they striue vnto by working either alwayes or for the most part after one and the same manner his absolute exactnes they imitate by tending vnto that which is most exquisite in euery particular Hence haue risen a number of axiomes in Philosophie shewing how The workes of nature do alwayes ayme at that which cannot be bettered These two kinds of goodnesse reheâ—rsed are so neerely vnited to the things themselues which desiâ—e them that we scarcely perceiue the appetite to stirre in reaching foorth her hand towards them But the desire of those perfections which grow externally is more apparent especially of such as are not expressely desired vnlesse they be first knowne or such as are not for any other cause then for knowledge it selfe desired Concerning perfections in this kind that by proceeding in the knowledge of truth and by growing in the exercise of vertue man amongst the creatures of this inferiour world aspireth to the greatest conformity with God this is not only knowne vnto vs
whom he himselfe hath so instructed but euen they do acknowledge who amongst men are not iudged the neerest vnto him With Plato what one thing more vsuall then to excite men vnto the loue of wisedome by shewing how much wise men are thereby exalted aboue men how knowledge doth rayse them vp into heauen how it maketh them though not Gods yet as Gods high admirable and diuine And Mercurius Trismegislâ—s speaking of the vertues of a righteous soule Such spirits sayth he are neuer clâ—yed with praising and speaking well of all men with doing good vnto euery one by word and deed because they studie to frame themselues according to THE PATERNE of the father of spirits 6 In the matter of knowledge there is betweene the Angels of God and the children of men this difference Angels alreadie haue full and complete knowledge in the highest degree that can be imparted vnto them men if we view them in their spring are at the first without vnderstanding or knowledge at all Neuerthelesse from this vtter vacuitie they grow by degrees till they come at length to be euen as the Angels themselues are That which agreeth to the one now the other shall attaine vnto in the end they are not so farre disioyned and seuered but that they come at length to meete The soule of man being therefore at the first as a booke wherein nothing is and yet all thinges may be imprinted we are to search by what steppes and degrees it riseth vnto perfection of knowledge Vnto that which hath bene alreadie set downe concerning naturall agents this we must adde that albeit therein we haue comprised as well creatures liuing as void of life if they be in degree of nature beneath men neuerthelesse a difference we must obserue betweene those naturall agents that worke altogether vnwittingly and those which haue though weake yet some vnderstanding what they do as fishes foules and beasts haue Beasts are in sensible capacitie as ripe euen as men themselues perhaps more ripe For as stones though in dignitie of nature inferior vnto plants yet exceed them in firmenesse of strength or durability of being and plants though beneath the excellency of creatures indued with sense yet exceed them in the faculty of vegetation and of fertility so beasts though otherwise behind men may notwithstanding in actions of sense and phancie go beyond them because the endeuors of nature when it hath an higher perfection to seeke are in lower the more remisse not esteeming thereof so much as those things do which haue no better proposed vnto them The soule of man therefore being capable of a more diuine perfection hath besides the faculties of growing vnto sensible knowledge which is common vnto vs with beasts a further hability whereof in theÌ„ there is no shew at all the ability of reaching higher then vnto sensible things Till we grow to some ripenesse of yeares the soule of man doth only store it selfe with conceipts of things of inferiour and more open qualitie which afterwards do serue as instruments vnto that which is greater in the meane while aboue the reach of meaner creatures it ascendeth not When once it comprehendeth any thing aboue this as the differences of time affirmations negations and contradictions in speech we then count it to haue some vse of naturall reason Whereunto if afterwards there might be added the right helpes of true art and learning which helpes I must plainely confesse this age of the world carying the name of a learned age doth neither much know nor greatly regard there would vndoubtedly be almost as great difference in maturitie of iudgement betweene men therewith inured and that which now men are as betweene men that are now and innocents Which speech if any condemne as being ouer hyperbolicall let them consider but this one thing No art is at the first finding out so perfect as industrie may after make it Yet the very first man that to any purpose knew the way we speake of and followed it hath alone thereby performed more very neere in all parts of naturall knowledge then sithence in any one part thereof the whole world besides hath done In the pouertie of that other new deuised aide two things there are notwithstanding singular Of maruellous quicke dispatch it is and doth shew them that haue it as much almost in three dayes as if it dwell threescore yeares with them Againe because the curiositie of mans wit doth many times with perill wade farther in the search of things then were conuenient the same is thereby restrained vnto such generalities as euery where offering themselues are apparant vnto men of the weakest conceipt that need be So as following the rules precepts thereof we may find it to be an Art which teacheth the way of speedy discourse and restraineth the minde of man that it may not waxe ouer wise Education and instruction are the meanes the one by vse the other by precept to make our naturall faculty of reason both the better and the sooner able to iudge rightly betweene truth and error good and euill But at what time a man may be sayd to haue attained so farre foorth the vse of reason as sufficeth to make him capable of those lawes whereby he is theÌ„ bound to guide his actions this is a great deale more easie for common sense to discerne then for any man by skill and learning to determine euen as it is not in Philosophers who best know the nature both of fire and of gold to teach what degree of the one will serue to purifie the other so well as the artisan who doth this by fire discerneth by sense when the fire hath that degree of heate which sufficeth for his purpose 7 By reason man attaineth vnto the knowledge of things that are and are not sensible It resteth therfore that we search how maÌ„ attaineth vnto the knowledge of such things vnsensible as are to be knowne that they may be done Seeing then that nothing can moue vnlesse there be some end the desire whereof prouoketh vnto motion how should that diuine power of the soule that Spirit of our mind as the Apostle termeth it euer stir it selfe vnto action vnlesse it haue also the like spurre The end for which we are moued to worke is somtimes the goodnes which we conceiue of the very working it selfe without any further respect at all and the cause that procureth action is the meere desire of action no other good besides being thereby intended Of certaine turbulent wits it is said Illis quieta mouere magna merces videbatur They thought the very disturbaÌ„ce of things established an hyre sufficient to set them on worke Sometimes that which we do is referred to a further end without the desire whereof we would leaue the same vndone as in their actions that gaue almes to purchase thereby the prayse of men Man in perfection of nature being made according to the likenes of
lesse good was not preferred before a greater that wilfully which caÌ„not be done without the singular disgrace of nature the vtter disturbance of that diuine order wherby the preeminence of chiefest acceptation is by the best things worthily chalenged There is not that good which coÌ„cerneth vs but it hath euidence â—nough for it selfe if reason were diligent to search it out Through neglect thereof abused we are with the shew of that which is not somtimes the subtilty of Satan inueagling vs as it did Eue sometimes the hastinesse of our wils preuenting the more considerate aduice of fouÌ„d reasoÌ„ as in the Apostles wheÌ„ they no sooner saw what they liked not but they forthwith were desirous of fit froÌ„ heauen sometimes the very custome of euil making the hart obdurate against whatsoeuer instructions to the coÌ„trary as in theÌ„ ouer whoÌ„ our Sauior spake weeping O IerusaleÌ„ how often thou wouldst not Still therfore that wherwâ—th we stand blameable can no way excuse it is In doing euill we prefer a lesse good before a greater the greatnes whereof is by reasoÌ„ inuestigable may be known The search of knowledge is a thing painful the painfulnes of knowledge is that which maketh the will so hardly inclinable thereunto The root hereof diuine maledictioÌ„ wherby the instrumeÌ„ts being weakned wherwithall the soule especially in reasoning doth worke it preferreth rest in ignorance before wearisome labour to know For a spurre of diligence therefore we haue a naturall thirst after knowledge ingrafted in vs. But by reason of that originall weaknesse in the instruments without which the vnderstanding part is not able in this world by discourse to worke the very conceipt of painefulnesse is as a bridle to stay vs. For which cause the Apostle who knew right well that the wearines of the flesh is an heauy clog to the will striketh mightily vpon this key Awake thou that sleepest Cast off all which presseth downe Watch Labour striue to go forward and to grow in knowledge 8 Wherefore to returne to our former intent of discouering the naturall way whereby rules haue bene found out concerning that goodnes wherewith the wil of man ought to be moued in humaine actions As euery thing naturally and necessarily doth desire the vtmost good and greatest perfection whereof nature hath made it capable euen so man Our felicitie therefore being the obiect and accomplishment of our desire we cannot choose but wish and couet it All particular things which are subiect vnto action the will doth so farre foorth incline vnto as reason iudgeth them the better for vs and consequently the more auaileable to our blisse If reason erre we fall into euill and are so farre forth depriued of the generall perfection we seeke Seeing therefore that for the framing of mens actions the knowledge of good from euill is necessarie it onely resteth that we search how this may be had Neither must we suppose that there needeth one rule to know the good and another the euill by For he that knoweth what is straight doth euen thereby discerne what is crooked because the absence of straightnesse in bodies capable thereof is crookednesse Goodnesse in actions is like vnto straitnesse wherfore that which is done well we terme right For as the straight way is most acceptable to him that trauaileth because by it he commeth soonest to his iourneys end so in action that which doth lye the euenest betweene vs and the end we desire must needes be the fittest for our vse Besides which fitnes for vse there is also in rectitude beauty as contrariwise in obliquity deformity And that which is good in the actions of men doth not onely delight as profitable but as amiable also In which consideration the Grecians most diuinely haue giuen to the actiue perfection of men a name expressing both beauty and goodnesse because goodnesse in ordinary speech is for the most part applied onely to that which is beneficiall But we in the name of goodnesse do here imploy both And of discerning goodnes there are but these two wayes the one the knowledge of the causes whereby it is made such the other the obseruation of those signes and tokens which being annexed alwaies vnto goodnes argue that where they are found there also goodnes is although we know not the cause by force whereof it is there The former of these is the most sure infallible way but so hard that all shunne it and had rather walke as men do in the darke by hap hazard then tread so long and intricate mazes for knowledge sake As therefore Physitians are many times forced to leaue such methods of curing as themselues know to be the fittest and being ouerruled by their patients impatiency are fame to try the best they can in taking that way of cure which the cured will yeeld vnto in like sort coÌ„sidering how the case doth staÌ„d with this present age full of tongue weake of braine behold we yeeld to the streame thereof into the causes of goodnes we will not make any curious or deepe inquiry to touch them now then it shal be sufficient when they are so neere at hand that easily they may be conceiued without any farre remoued discourse that way we are contented to proue which being the worse in it selfe is notwithstanding now by reason of common imbecillity the fitter likelier to be brookt Signes and tokens to know good by are of sundry kinds some more certaine and some lesse The most certaine token of euident goodnesse is if the generall perswasion of all men do so account it And therefore a common receiued error is neuer vtterly ouerthrowne till such time as we go from signes vnto causes and shew some manifest root or fountaine thereof common vnto all whereby it may clearly appeare how it hath come to passe that so many haue bene ouerseene In which case surmises and sleight probabilities will not serue because the vniuersall consent of men is the perfectest and strongest in this kind which comprehendeth onely the signes and tokens of goodnesse Things casuall do varie and that which a man doth but chaunce to thinke well of cannot still haue the like hap Wherefore although we know not the cause yet thus much we may know that some necessary cause there is whensoeuer the iudgements of all men generally or for the most part run one the same way especially in matters of naturall discourse For of things necessarily naturally done there is no more affirmed but this They keepe either alwaies or for the most part one tenure The generall and perpetuall voyce of men is as the sentence of God himselfe For that which all men haue at all times learned nature her selfe must needes haue taught and God being the author of nature her voyce is but his instrument By her from him we receiue whatsoeuer in such sort we learne Infinite duties there are the goodnes
wherof is by this rule sufficiently manifested although we had no other warrant besides to approue them The Apostle S. Paul hauing speech coÌ„cerning the Heathen saith of theÌ„ They are a law vnto theÌ„selues His meaning is that by force of the light of reasoÌ„ wherewith God illuminateth euery one which cometh into the world meÌ„ being inabled to know truth from falshood and good from euill do thereby learne in many things what the will of God is which will himselfe not reuealing by any extraordinary meanes vnto them but they by naturall discourse attaining the knowledge thereof seeme the makers of those lawes which indeed are his and they but onely the finders of them out A law therefore generally taken is a directiue rule vnto goodnesse of operation The rule of diuine operations outward is the definitiue appointmeÌ„t of Gods owne wisedome set downe within himselfe The rule of naturall agents that worke by simple necessity is the determination of the wisedome of God known to God himselfe the principall director of them but not vnto them that are directed to execute the same The rule of naturall agents which worke after a sort of their owne accord as the beasts do is the iudgement of common sense or phancy concerning the sensible goodnes of those obiects wherwith they are moued The rule of ghostly or immateriall natures as spirits Angels is their intuitiue intellectual iudgement concerning the amiable beauty high goodnes of that obiect which with vnspeakeable ioy and delight doth set them on worke The rule of voluntary agents on earth is the sentence that reason giueth coÌ„cerning the goodnes of those things which they are to do And the sentences which reason giueth are some more some lesse general before it come to define in particular actioÌ„s what is good The maine principles of reason are in theÌ„selues apparent For to make nothing euideÌ„t of it selfe vnto maÌ„s vnderstaÌ„ding were to take away al possibility of knowing any thing And herein that of Theophrasâ—us is true They that seeke a reason of all things do vtterly ouerthrow reason In euery kind of knowledge some such grounds there are as that being proposed the mind doth presently embrace them as free from all possibilitie of error cleare and manifest without proofe In which kind axiomes or principles more generall are such as this That the greater good is to be chosen before the lesse If therefore it should be demanded what reason there is why the will of man which doth necessarily shun harme and couet whatsoeuer is pleasant and sweete should be commanded to count the pleasures of sinne gall notwithstanding the bitter accidents wherwith vertuous actions are compast yet stil to reioyce and delight in them surely this could neuer stand with reason but that wisedome thus prescribing groundeth her lawes vpon an infallible rule of comparison which is that small difficulties when exceeding great good is sure to ensue and on the other side momentanie benefites when the hurt which they drawe after them is vnspeakeable are not at all to be respected This rule is the ground whereupon the wisedom of the Apostle buildeth a law inioyning patience vnto himselfe The present lightnes of our affliction worketh vnto vs euen with aboundance vpon aboundance an eternall waight of glory while we looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporal but the things which are not seene eternall Therefore Christianity to be embraced whatsoeuer calamities in those times it was accompanied withall Vpon the same ground our Sauiour proueth the law most reasonable that doth forbid those crimes which meÌ„ for gaines sake fall into For a man to win the world if it be with the losse of his soule what benefit or good is it Axiomes lesse generall yet so manifest that they need no further proofe are such as these God to be worshipped Parents to be honored Others to be vsed by vs as we our selues would by them Such things as soone as they are alleaged all men acknowledge to be good they require no proofe or further discourse to be assured of their goodnes Notwithstanding whatsoeuer such principle there is it was at the first found out by discourse drawne from out of the very bowels of heauen and earth For we are to note that things in the world are to vs discernable not onely so farre forth as serueth for our vitall preseruation but further also in a twofold higher respect For first if all other vses were vtterly taken away yet the mind of man being by nature speculatiue and delighted with coÌ„templation in it selfe they were to be known euen for meere knowledge and vnderstandings sake Yea further besides this the knowledge of euery the least thing in the whole world hath in it a secoÌ„d peculiar benefit vnto vs in as much as it serueth to minister rules Canons and lawes for men to direct those actions by which we properly terme humane This did the very Heathens themselues obscurely insinuate by making Themis which we call Ius or Right to be the daughter of heauen and earth Wee knowe things either as they are in themselues or as they are in mutuall relation one to another The knowledge of that which man is in reference vnto himselfe and other things in relation vnto man I may iustly terme the mother of al those principles which are as it were edicts statutes and decrees in that law of nature wherby humaine actions are framed First therefore hauing obserued that the best things where they are not hindered do still produce the best operations for which cause where many things are to concurre vnto one effect the best is in all congruity of reason to guide the residue that it preuailing most the worke principally done by it may haue greatest perfection when hereupon we come to obserue in our selues of what excellencie our soules are in comparison of our bodies and the diuiner part in relation vnto the baser of our soules seeing that all these concurre in producing humaine actions it cannot be well vnlesse the chiefest do commaund and direct the rest The soule then ought to conduct the bodie and the spirit of our mindes the soule This is therefore the first lawe whereby the highest power of the minde requireth generall obedience at the hands of all the rest concurring with it vnto action Touching the seuerall graund mandates which being imposed by the vnderstanding facultie of the minde must be obeyed by the will of man they are by the same method found out whether they import our dutie towardes God or towards man Touching the one I may not here stand to open by what degrees of discourse the mindes euen of meere naturall men haue attained to knowe not onely that there is a God but also what power force wisedome and other properties that God hath and how all thinges depend on him This being therefore presupposed from that
knowne relation which God hath vnto vs as vnto children and vnto all good thinges as vnto effectes whereof himselfe is the principall cause these axiomes and lawes naturall concerning our dutie haue arisen That in all things we go about his ayde is by prayer to be craued That he cannot haue sufficient honor done vnto him but the vttermost of that we can do to honour him we must which is in effect the same that we read Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy mind Which law our Sauiour doth terme the First and the great Commaundement Touching the next which as our Sauiour addeth is like vnto this he meaneth in amplitude and largenesse in as much as it is the roote out of which all laws of dutie to men-ward haue growne as out of the former all offices of religion towards God the like naturall inducement hath brought men to know that it is their duty no lesse to loue others then themselues For seeing those things which are equall must needes all haue one measure if I cannot but wish to receiue al good euen as much at euery mans hand as any man can wish vnto his owne soule how should I looke to haue any part of my desire herein satisfied vnlesse my self be careful to satisfie the like desire which is vndoubtedly in other men we all being of one and the same nature To haue any thing offered them repugnant to this desire must needs in all respects grieue them as much as me so that if I do harme I must looke to suffer there being no reason that others should shew greater measure of loue to me then they haue by me shewed vnto them My desire therefore to be loued of my equals in nature as much as possible may be imposeth vpon me a naturall dutie of bearing to them-ward fully the like affection From which relation of equalitie betweene our selues and them that are as our selues what seuerall rules and Canons naturall reason hath drawne for direction of life no man is ignorant as namely That because we would take no harme we must therefore do none That sith we would not be in any thing extreamely dealt with we must our selues auoide all extremitie in our dealings That from all violence and wrong wee are vtterly to abstaine with such like which further to wade in would bee tedious and to our present purpose not altogether so necessary seeing that on these two generall heads alreadie mentioned all other specialties are dependent Wherefore the naturall measure wherby to iudge our doings is the sentence of reason determining and setting downe what is good to be done Which sentence is either mandatory shewing what must be done or else permissiue declaring onely what may be done or thirdly admonitorie opening what is the most conuenient for vs to doe The first taketh place where the comparison doth stand altogether betweene doing and not doing of one thing which in it selfe is absolutely good or euill as it had bene for Ioseph to yeeld or not to yeeld to the impotent desire of his lewd mistresse the one euill the other good simply The second is when of diuerse things euill all being not euitable we are permitted to take one which one sauing only in case of so great vrgency were not otherwise to be taken as in the matter of diuorce amongst the Iewes The last when of diuers things good one is principall and most eminent as in their act who sould their possessions and layd the price at the Apostles feete which possessions they might haue retained vnto themselues without sinne againe in the Apostle S. Paules owne choyce to maintaine himselfe by his owne labour whereas in liuing by the Churches maintenance as others did there had bene no offence committed In goodnes therefore there is a latitude or extent whereby it commeth to passe that euen of good actions some are better then other some whereas otherwise one man could not excell another but all should be either absolutely good as hitting iumpe that indiuisible point or Center wherein goodnesse consisteth or else missing it they should be excluded out of the number of wel-doers Degrees of wel doing there could be none except perhaps in the seldomnes oftennes of doing well But the nature of goodnesse being thus ample a lawe is properly that which reason in such sort defineth to be good that it must be done And the law of reason or humaine nature is that which men by discourse of naturall reason haue rightly found out themselues to be all for euer bound vnto in their actions Lawes of reason haue these markes to be knowne by Such as keepe them resemble most liuely in their voluntarie actions that very manner of working which nature her selfe doth necessarily obserue in the course of the whole world The workes of nature are all behoouefull beautifull without superfluitie or defect euen so theirs if they be framed according to that which the law of reason teacheth Secondly those lawes are inuestigable by reason without the helpe of reuelation supernaturall and diuine Finally in such sort they are inuestigable that the knowledge of them is generall the world hath alwayes bene acquainted with them according to that which one in Sophocles obserueth corcerning a branch of this law It is no child of two dayes or yeasterdayes birth but hath bene no man knoweth how long sithence It is not agreed vpon by one or two or few but by all which we may not so vnderstand as if euery particular man in the whole world did know and confesse whatsoeuer the law of reason doth conteine but this lawe is such that being proposed no man can reiect it as vnreasonable and vniust Againe there is nothing in it but any man hauing naturall perfection of wit and ripenesse of iudgement may by labour and trauaile find out And to conclude the generall principles thereof are such as it is not easie to find men ignorant of them Law rationall therefore which men commonly vse to call the law of nature meaning thereby the law which humaine nature knoweth it selfe in reason vniuersally bound vnto which also for that cause may be termed most fitly the lawe of reason this law I say comprehendeth all those things which men by the light of their naturall vnderstanding euidently know or at least wife may know to be beseeming or vnbeseeming vertuous or vitious good or euill for them to do Now although it be true which some haue said that whatsoeuer is done amisse the law of nature and reason therby is transgrest because euen those offences which are by their speciall qualities breaches of supernaturall lawes do also for that they are generally euill violate in generall that principle of reason which willeth vniuersally to flie from euill yet do we not therfore so far extend the law of reason as to conteine in it all maner lawes
as to liue vertuously it is impossible except we liue therefore the first impediment which naturally we endeuor to remoue is penurie and want of thinges without which we cannot liue Vnto life many implements are necessary moe if we seeke as all men naturally doe such a life as hath in it ioy comfort delight and pleasure To this end we see how quickly sundry artes Mechanical were found out in the very prime of the world As things of greatest necessitie are alwaies first prouided for so things of greatest dignitie are most accounted of by all such as iudge rightly Although therefore riches be a thing which euery man wisheth yet no man of iudgement can esteeme it better to be rich then wise vertuous religious If we be both or either of these it is not because we are so borne For into the world we come as emptie of the one as of the other as naked in minde as we are in body Both which necessities of man had at the first no other helpes and supplies then only domesticall such as that which the prophet implieth saying Can a mother forget her child such as that which the Apostle mentioneth saying He that careth not for his owne is worse then an Infidell such as that concerning Abraham Abraham will commaund his sonnes and his household after him that they keepe the way of the Lord. But neither that which we learne of our selues nor that which others teach vs can preuaile where wickednes and malice haue takē deepe roote If therefore when there was but as yet one only family in the world no meanes of instruction humane or diuine could preuent effusion of bloud how could it be chosen but that when families were multiplied and increased vpon earth after seperation each prouiding for it selfe enuy strife cōtention violence must grow amongst thē for hath not nature furnisht man with wit valor as it were with armor which may be vsed as well vnto extreame euill as good yea were they not vsed by the rest of the world vnto euill vnto the contrary only by Seth Enoch and those few the rest in that line We all make complaint of the iniquitie of our times not vniustly for the dayes are euill But compare them with those times wherein there were no ciuil societies with those times wherein there was as yet no maner of publique regimēt established with those times wherin there were not aboue 8. persons righteous liuing vpon the face of the earth and wee haue surely good cause to thinke that God hath blessed vs exceedingly and hath made vs behold most happie daies To take away all such mutuall greeuances iniuries wrongs there was no way but only by growing vnto compositiō and agreement amongst thēselues by ordaining some kind of gouernment publike and by yeelding themselues subiect thereunto that vnto whom they graunted authoritie to rule gouerne by them the peace tranquilitie happy estate of the rest might be procured Men alwaies knew that when force and iniurie was offered they might be defendors of themselues they knew that howsoeuer men may seeke their owne cōmoditie yet if this were done with iniury vnto others it was not to be suffered but by all men and by all good means to be withstood finally they knew that no man might in reason take vpon him to determine his owne right and according to his owne determination proceed in maintenance therof in as much as euery man is towards himselfe and them whom he greatly affecteth partiall and therfore that strifes troubles would bee endlesse except they gaue their common consent all to be ordered by some whom they should agree vpon without which consent there were no reason that one man should take vpon him to be Lord or Iudge ouer an other because although there be according to the opinion of some very great and iudicious men a kind of naturall right in the noble wise and vertuous to gouerne them which are of seruile disposition neuerthelesse for manifestation of this their right mens more peaceable contentment on both sides the assent of them who are to be gouerned seemeth necessarie To fathers within their priuate families nature hath giuen a supreme power for which cause we see throughout the world euen from the first foundation therof all men haue euer bene taken as lords lawfull kings in their own houses Howbeit ouer a whole grand multitude hauing no such dependēcie vpon any one consisting of so many families as euery politique societie in the world doth impossible it is that any should haue complet lawful power but by consent of men or immediate appointment of God because not hauing the naturall superioritie of fathers their power must needs be either vsurped then vnlawfull or if lawfull then either graunted or consented vnto by them ouer whom they exercise the same or else giuen extraordinarily frō God vnto whom all the world is subiect It is no improbable opinion therefore which the Arch-philosopher was of that as the chiefest person in euery houshold was alwaies as it were a king so when numbers of housholds ioyned themselues in ciuill societie together kings were the first kind of gouernors amongst them Which is also as it seemeth the reason why the name of Father continued still in them who of fathers were made rulers as also the ancient custome of gouernors to do as Melchisedec and being kings to exercise the office of priests which fathers did at the first grew perhaps by the same occasion Howbeit not this the only kind of regiment that hath bene receiued in the world The inconueniences of one kinde haue caused sundry other to be deuised So that in a word all publike regimēt of what kind soeuer seemeth euidently to haue risen from deliberate aduice consultation compositiō betweene men iudging it cōuenient behoueful there being no impossibilitie in nature considered by it self but that men might haue liued without any publike regiment Howbeit the corruption of our nature being presupposed we may not deny but that the lawe of nature doth now require of necessitie some kinde of regiment so that to bring things vnto the first course they were in vtterly to take away all kind of publike gouernmēt in the world were apparantly to ouerturn the whole world The case of mans nature standing therfore as it doth some kind of regiment the law of nature doth require yet the kinds therof being many nature tieth not to any one but leaueth the choice as a thing arbitrarie At the first when some certaine kinde of regiment was once approued it may be that nothing was then further thought vpon for the maner of gouerning but all permitted vnto their wisedome and discretion which were to rule till by experience they found this for all parts very inconuenient so as the thing which they had deuised for a remedie did indeede but increase the soare which it should haue
theÌ„selues receiue externally some perfection froÌ„ other things as hath bene shewed In so much as there is in the whole world no one thing great or small but either in respect of knowledge or of vse it may vnto out perfectioÌ„ adde somewhat And whatsoeuer such perfection there is which our nature may acquire the same we properly terme our good our soueraign good or blessednes that wherin the highest degree of all our perfectioÌ„ consisteth that which being once attained vnto there caÌ„ rest nothing further to be desired therfore with it our soules are fully coÌ„tent satisfied in that they haue they reioyce thirst for no more wherfore of gooâ— things desired some are such that for themselues we couet them not but only because they serue as instruments vnto that for which we are to seeke of this sorte are riches an other kind there is which although we desire for it selfe as health vertue knowledge neuerthelesse they are not the last marke whereat we aime but haue their further end whereunto they are referred so as in them we are not satisfied as hauing attained the vtmost we may but our desires doe still proceede These things are linked and as it were chained one to another we labour to eate and we eate to liue and we liue to do good the good which we do is as seede sowne with reference vnto a future haruest But we must come at the length to some pause For if euery thing were to bee desired for some other without any stint there could be no certaine end proposed vnto our actions we should go on we know not whether yea whatsoeuer we do were in vaine or rather nothing at all were possible to be done For as to take away the first efficient of our being were â—o annihilate vtterly our persons so we cannot remoue the last finall cause of our working but we shall cause whatsoeuer we worke to cease Therfore some thing there must be desired for it selfe simply and for no other That is simply for it selfe desirable vnto the nature wherof it is opposite repugnant to be desired with relation vnto any other The oxe and the asse desire their food neither propose they vnto themselues any end wherfore so that of them this is desired for it selfe but why By reason of their imperfection which cannot otherwise desire it whereas that which is desired simply for it selfe the excellencie thereof is such as permitteth it not in any sort to be referred to a further end Now that which man doth desire with reference to a further end the same he desireth in such measure as is vnto that end conuenient but what he coueteth as good in it selfe towardes that his desire is euer infinite So that vnlesse the last good of all which is desired altogether for it selfe be also infinite we doe euill in making it our end euen as they who placed their felicitie in wealth or honour or pleasure or any thing here attained because in desiring any thing as our finall perfection which is not so we do amisse Nothing may be infinitly desired but that good which in deed is infinite For the better the more desirable that therefore most desirable wherin there is infinitie of goodnes so that if any thing desirable may be infinit that must needes be the highest of all things that are desired No good is infinite but onely God therefore he our felicitie and blisse Moreouer desire tendeth vnto vnion with that it desireth If then in him we be blessed it is by force of participation coniunction with him Againe it is not the possession of any good thing can make them happie which haue it vnlesse they inioy the thing wherewith they are possessed Then are we happie therfore when fully we enioy God as an obiect wherein the powers of our soules are satisfied euen with euerlasting delight so that although we be meÌ„ yet by being vnto God vnited we liue as it were the life of God Happines therfore is that estate wherby we attaine so far as possibly may be attained the ful possession of that which simply for it selfe is to be desired and containeth in it after an eminent sorte the contentation of our desires the highest degree of all our perfection Of such perfection capable we are not in this life For while we are in the world subiect we are vnto sundry imperfections griefe of body defectes of minde yea the best thinges we doe are painefull and the exercise of them grieuous being continued without intermission so as in those very actions whereby we are especially perfected in this life wee are not able to persist forced we are with very wearines that often to interrupt theÌ„ which tediousnes cannot fall into those operations that are in the state of blisse when our vnion with God is complete Complete vnion with him must be according vnto euery power and facultie of our mindes apt to receiue so glorious an obiect Capable we are of God both by vnderstanding and will by vnderstanding as hee is that soueraigne truth which comprehendeth the rich treasures of all wisdom by will as he is that sea of goodnesse whereof who so tasteth shall thirst no more As the wil doth now worke vpon that obiect by desire which is as it were a motion towards the end as yet vnobtained so likewise vpon the same hereafter receiued it shall worke also by loue Appetitus inhiantis fit amor fruentis saith Saint Augustine The longing disposition of them that thirst is chaunged into the sweete affection of them that taste and are replenished Whereas wee now loue the thing that is good but good especially in respect of benefit vnto vs we shall then loue the thing that is good only or principally for the goodnes of beauty in it self The soule being in this sorte as it is actiue perfected by loue of that infinite good shall as it is receptiue be also perfected with those supernaturall passions of ioy peace delight All this endlesse and euerlasting Which perpeâ—uitie in regard whereof our blessednes is termed a crowne which withereth not doth neither depend vpon the nature of the thing it selfe nor proceede from any naturall necessitie that our soules should so exercise themselues for euer in beholding and louing God but from the wil of God which doth both freely perfect our nature in so high a degree continue it so perfected Vnder man no creature in the world is capable of felicitie and blisse first because their chiefest perfection consisteth in that which is best for theÌ„ but not in that which is simply best as ours doth secondly because whatsoeuer externall perfection they tende vnto it is not better then themselues as ours is How iust occasioÌ„ haue we therfore euen in this respect with the Prophet to admire the goodnes of God Lorde what is man that thou shouldest exalt him aboue the workes of thy hands so farre as to
other might haue But then must they shewe some commission wherby they are authorized to sit as iudges and we required to take their iudgement for good in this case Otherwise their sentences will not be greatly regarded when they oppose their Me thinketh vnto the orders of the Church of England as in the question about surplesses one of them doth If we looke to the colour blacke me thinketh is more decent if to the forme a garment downe to the foote hath a great deale more cōlinesse in it If they thinke that we ought to proue the ceremonies cōmodious which we haue reteined they do in this point very greatly deceiue themselues For in all right equity that which the Church hath receiued held so long for good that which publique approbation hath ratified must cary the benefit of presumption with it to be accompted meet and conuenient They which haue stood vp as yesterday to challenge it of defect must proue their challenge If we being defendants do answer that the ceremonies in question are godly comely decent profitable for the Church their reply is childish vnorderly to say that we demaund the thing in question shew the pouerty of our cause the goodnes wherof we are faine to begge that our aduersaries would graunt For on our part this must be the aunswere which orderly proceeding doth require The burthen of prouing doth rest on them In them it is friuolous to say we ought not to vse bad ceremonies of the Church of Rome and presume all such bad as it pleaseth themselues to dislike vnlesse we can perswade them the contrary Besides they are herin opposite also to themselues For what one thing is so common with thē as to vse the custome of the Church of Rome for an argument to proue that such such ceremonies cānot be good profitable for vs in as much as that church vseth them Which vsual kind of disputing sheweth that they do not disallow onely those Romish ceremonies which are vnprofitable but count all vnprofitable which are Romish that is to say which haue bene deuised by the Church of Rome or which are vsed in that Church and not prescribed in the word of God For this is the onely limitation which they can vse sutable vnto their other positions And therefore the cause which they yeeld why they hold it lawfull to reteine in Doctrine and in Discipline some things as good which yet are common to the Church of Rome is for that those good things are perpetual commandements in whose place no other can come but ceremonies are changeable So that their iudgement in truth is that whatsoeuer by the word of God is not changeable in the Church of Rome that Churches vsing is a cause why reformed Churches ought to change it and not to thinke it good or profitable And least we seeme to father any thing vpon them more thē is properly their owne let them reade euen their owne words where they complaine that we are thus constrained to be like vnto the Papists in Any their ceremonies yea they vrge that this cause although it were alone ought to moue them to whom that belongeth to do thē away for as much as they are their ceremonies and that the B. of Salisbury doth iustifie this their complaint The clause is vntrue which they adde concerning the B. of Salisbury but the sentence doth shew that we do them no wrōg in setting downe the state of the question betweene vs thus Whether we ought to abolish out of the Church of England all such orders rites and ceremonies as are established in the Church of Rome and are not prescribed in the word of God For the affirmatiue whereof we are now to answer such proofes of theirs as haue bene before alleaged 5 Let the Church of Rome be what it will let them that are of it be the people of God and our fathers in the Christian faith or let them be otherwise hold them for Catholiques or hold them for heretiques it is not a thing either one way or other in this present question greatly material Our conformity with thē in such things as haue bene proposed is not proued as yet vnlawfull by all this S. Augustine hath said yea and we haue allowed his saying That the custome of the people of God and the decrees of our forefathers are to be kept touching those things wherof the scripture hath neither one way nor other giuen vs any charge What then Doth it here therfore follow that they being neither the people of God nor our forefathers are for that cause in nothing to be followed This consequent were good if so be it were graunted that onely the custome of the people of God the decrees of our forefathers are in such case to be obserued But then should no other kind of later laws in the church be good which were a grosse absurdity to think S. Augustines speech therefore doth import that where we haue no diuine precept if yet we haue the custome of the people of God or a decree of our forefathers this is a law and must be kept Notwithstanding it is not denied but that we lawfully may obserue the positiue constitutions of our owne Churches although the same were but yesterday made by our selues alone Nor is there any thing in this to proue that the Church of England might not by law receiue orders rites or customes from the Church of Rome although they were neither the people of God nor yet our forefathers How much lesse when we haue receiued from them nothing but that which they did themselues receiue from such as we cannot deny to haue bene the people of God yea such as either we must acknowledge for our owne forefathers or else disdaine the race of Christ 6 The rites and orders wherein we follow the Church of Rome are of no other kind thē such as the Church of Geneua it selfe doth follow thē in We follow the church of Rome in moe things yet they in some things of the same nature about which our present controuersie is so that the difference is not in the kind but in the number of rites only wherein they and we do follow the Church of Rome The vse of wafer-cakes the custom of godfathers godmothers in baptisme are things not commanded nor forbidden in scripture things which haue bene of old are reteined in the Church of Rome euen at this very hower Is conformity with Rome in such things a blemish vnto the Church of England vnto Churches abroad an ornament Let thē if not for the reuerence they ow vnto this Church in the bowels wherof they haue receiued I trust that pretious and blessed vigor which shall quicken thē to eternall life yet at the leastwise for the singular affection which they do beare towards others take heed how they strike least they wound whom they would not For vndoubtedly it cutteth deeper thē they
boughes or send New yeares-gifts vnto our friends or feast on those dayes which the Gentiles then did or sit after prayer as they were accustomed For so they inferre vpon the premises that as great difference as commodiously may be there should be in all outward ceremonies betweene the people of God and them which are not his people Againe they teach as hath bene declared that there is not as great a difference as may be betweene them except the one do auoide whatsoeuer rites and ceremonies vncommanded of God the other doth embrace So that generally they teach that the very difference of spirituall condition it selfe betweene the seruants of Christ and others requireth such difference in ceremonies betweene them although the one be neuer so farre disioyned in time or place from the other But in case the people of God and Belial do chaunce to be neighbours then as the daunger of infection is greater so the same difference they say is thereby made more necessary In this respect as the Iewes were seuered from the Heathen so most especially from the Heathen neerest them And in the same respect we which ought to differ howsoeuer from the Church of Rome are now they say by reason of our meerenesse more bound to differ from them in ceremonies then from Turkes A straunge kind of speech vnto Christian eares and such as I hope they themselues do acknowledge vnaduisedly vttered We are not so much to feare infection from Turkes as from Papists What of that we must remember that by conforming rather our selues in that respect to Turkes we should be spreaders of a worse infection into others then any we are likely to draw from Papists by our conformity with them in ceremonies If they did hate as Turkes do the Christians or as Cananites of old did the Iewish religion euen in grosse the circumstance of locall neernes in them vnto vs might happily enforce in vs a duty of greater separation from them then from those other mentioned But for as much as Papists are so much in Christ neerer vnto vs then Turkes is there any reasonable man trow you but will iudge it meeter that our ceremonies of Christian religion should be Popish then Turkish or Heathenish Especially considering that we were not brought to dwell amongst them as Israell in Canaan hauing not bene of them For euen a very part of them we were And when God did by his good Spirit put it into our hearts first to reforme our selues whence grew our separation and then by all good meanes to seeke also their reformation had we not onely cut off their corruptions but also estranged our selues from them in things indifferent who seeth not how greatly preiudiciall this might haue bene to so good a cause and what occasion it had giuen them to thinke to their greater obduration in euill that through a froward or wanton desire of innouation wee did vnconstrainedly those thinges for which conscience was pretended Howsoeuer the case doth stand as Iuda had beene rather to choose conformity in things indifferent with Israell when they were neerest opposites then with the farthest remoued Pagans So we in like case much rather with Papists then with Turkes I might adde further for more full and complete answere so much concerning the large oddes betweene the case of the eldest Churches in regard of those Heathens and ours in respect of the Church of Rome that very cauillation it selfe should be satisfied and haue no shift to flye vnto 8 But that no one thing may deteine vs ouer long I returne to their reasons against our conformity with that Church That extreme dissimilitude which they vrge vpon vs is now commended as our best safest policie for establishment of sound religion The ground of which politique position is that Euils must be cured by their contraries therfore the cure of the Church infected with the poyson of Antichristianity must be done by that which is therunto as cōtrary as may be A medled estate of the orders of the Gospell the ceremonies of popery is not the best way to banish popery We are cōtrarywise of opiniō that he which will perfectly recouer a sicke and restore a diseased body vnto health must not endeuor so much to bring it to a state of simple cōtrariety as of fit proportion in contrariety vnto those euils which are to be cured He that will take away extreme heat by setting the body in extremity of cold shall vndoubtedly remoue the disease but together with it the diseased too The first thing therefore in skilfull cures is the knowledge of the part affected the next is of the euill which do affect it the last is not onely of the kind but also of the measure of contrary things whereby to remoue it They which measure religion by dislike of the Church of Rome thinke euery man so much the more sound by how much he can make the corruptions thereof to seeme more large And therefore some there are namely the Arrians in reformed Churches of Poland which imagine the cancre to haue eaten so far into the very bones and marrow of the Church of Rome as if it had not so much as a sound beliefe no not cōcerning God himselfe but that the very beliefe of the Trinity were a part of Antichristian corruption and that the wonderfull prouidence of God did bring to passe that the Bishop of the Sea of Rome should be famous for his triple crowne a sensible marke whereby the world might know him to be that mysticall beast spoken of in the Reuelation to be that great and notorious Antichrist in no one respect so much as in this that he maintaineth the doctrine of the Trinity Wisdome therefore and skill is requisite to knowe what parts are sound in that Church and what corrupted Neither is it to all men apparant which complaine of vnsound parts with what kind of vnsoundnesse euery such part is possessed They can say that in Doctrine in Discipline in Prayers in Sacraments the Church of Rome hath as it hath in deede very foule and grosse corruptions the nature whereof notwithstanding because they haue not for the most part exact skill and knowledge to discerne they thinke that amisse many times which is not and the salue of reformation they mightily call for but where and what the sores are which need it as they wote full little so they thinke it not greatly materiall to search Such mens contentment must be wrought by stratageme the vsuall methode of art is not for them But with those that professe more then ordinary common knowledge of good from euill with them that are able to put a difference betweene things naught things indifferent in the Church of Rome we are yet at controuersie about the maner of remouing that which is naught whether it may not be perfectly helpt vnlesse that also which is indifferent be cut off with it so farre till no rite or ceremony remaine which
they be glad we are not to enuie them this their solace we do not thinke it a duty of ours to be in euery such thing their tormentors And whereas it is said that Popery for want of this vtter extirpation hath in some places taken roote and florished againe but hath not beene able to reestablish it selfe in any place after prouision made against it by vtter euacuation of all Romish ceremonies and therefore as long as we hold any thing like vnto them we put them in some more hope then if all were taken away as we deny not but this may be true so being of two euils to chuse the lesse we hold it better that the friends and fauorers of the Church of Rome should be in some kind of hope to haue a corrupt religion restored then both we and they conceiue iust feare least vnder colour of rooting out Popery the most effectuall meanes to beare vp the state of religion be remooued and so a way made either for Paganisme or for extreme barbāritie to enter If desire of weakening the hope of others should turne vs away from the course we haue taken how much more the care of preuenting our owne feare withhold vs from that wee are vrged vnto Especially seeing that our owne feare we knowe but wee are not so certaine what hope the rites and orders of our Church haue bred in the hearts of others For it is no sufficient argument thereof to say that in maintaining and vrging these ceremonies none are so clamorous as Papists and they whom Papists suborne this speech being more hard to iustifie then the former and so their proofe more doubtfull then the thing it selfe which they proue He that were certaine that this is true must haue marked who they be that speake for Ceremonies he must haue noted who amongst them doth speake oftnest or is most earnest he must haue bene both acquainted throughly with the religion of such and also priuy what conferences or compacts are passed in secret betweene them and others which kinds of notice are not wont to be vulgar and common Yet they which alleage this would haue it taken as a thing that needeth no proofe a thing which all men know and see And if so be it were graunted them as true what gaine they by it Sundry of them that be Popish are eger in maintenance of Ceremonies Is it so strange a matter to find a good thing furthered by ill men of a sinister intent and purpose whose forwardnesse is not therefore a bridle to such as fauour the same cause with a better and sincerer meaning They that seeke as they say the remouing of all Popish orders out of the Church and reckon the state of Bishop in the number of those orders do I doubt not presume that the cause which they prosecute is holy Notwithstanding it is their owne ingenuous acknowledgement that euen this very cause which they terme so often by an excellency The Lords cause is gratissima most acceptable vnto some which hope for pray and spoile by it and that our age hath store of such and that such are the very sectaries of Dionysius the famous Atheist Now if hereupon we should vpbraide them with irreligious as they do vs with superstitious fauourers if we should follow them in their owne kind of pleading and say that the most clamorous for this pretended reformation are either Atheists or else proctors suborned by Atheists the answer which herein they would make vnto vs let them apply vnto themselues and there an end For they must not forbid vs to presume or cause in defence of our Church-orders to be as good as theirs against them till the contrary be made manifest to the world 10 In the meane while sory we are that any good and godly mind should be grieued with that which is done But to remedy their griefe lieth not so much in vs as in themselues They do not wish to be made glad with the hurt of the Church and to remoue all out of the Church whereat they shew themselues to be sorrowfull would be as we are perswaded hurtfull if not pernitious thereunto Till they be able to perswade the contrary they must and will I doubt not find out some other good meanes to cheere vp themselues Amongst which meanes the example of Geneua may serue for one Haue not they the old Popish custome of vsing Godfathers and Godmothers in Baptisme the old Popish custome of administring the blessed Sacrament of the holy Eucharist with Wafer cakes Those thing◠the godly there can digest Wherefore should not the godly here learne to do the like both in them and in the rest of the like nature Some further meane peraduenture it might be to asswage their griefe if so be they did cōsider the reuenge they take on them which haue bene as they interpret it the workers of their continuance in so great griefe so long For if the maintenance of Ceremonies be a corrosiue to such as oppugne them vndoubtedly to such as mainteine them it can be no great pleasure when they behold how that which they reuerence is oppugned And therefore they that iudge themselues Martyrs when they are grieued should thinke withall what they are when they grieue For we are still to put them in mind that the cause doth make no difference for that it must be presumed as good at the least on our part as on theirs till it be in the end decided who haue stood for truth and who for error So that till then the most effectuall medicine and withall the most sound to ease their griefe must not be in our opinion the taking away of those things whereat they are grieued but the altering of that perswasion which they haue concerning the same For this we therefore both pray and labour the more because we are also perswaded that it is but conceipt in them to thinke that those Romish Ceremonies whereof we haue hetherto spoken are like leprous clothes infectious vnto the Church or like soft and gentle poysons the venome whereof being insensibly pernicious worketh death and yet is neuer felt working Thus they say but because they say it onely and the world hath not as yet had so great experience of their art in curing the diseases of the Church that the bare authoritie of their word should perswade in a cause so waightie they may not thinke much if it be required at their hands to shewe first by what meanes so deadly infection can growe from similitude betweene vs and the Church of Rome in these thinges indifferent Secondly for that it were infinite if the Church should prouide against euery such euill as may come to passe it is not sufficient that they shewe possibilitie of dangerous euent vnlesse there appeare some likelihood also of the same to follow in vs except we preuent it Nor is this inough vnlesse it be moreouer made plaine that there is no good and
they would rather forsake Christianitie then endure any fellowship with such as made no cōscience of that which was vnto them abhominable And for this cause mention is made of destroying the weake by meates and of dissoluing the work of God which was his church a part of the liuing stones whereof were beleeuing Iewes Now those weake brethren before mentioned are said to be as the Iewes were and our ceremonies which haue bene abused in the Church of Rome to be as the scandalous meates from which the Gentiles are exhorted to abstaine in the presence of Iewes for feare of auerting them from Christian faith Therefore as charitie did bind them to refraine frō that for their brethrens sake which otherwise was lawfull enough for them so it bindeth vs for our brethrens sake likewise to abolish such Ceremonies although we might lawfully else retaine them But betweene these two cases there are great oddes For neither are our weake brethren as the Iewes nor the ceremonies which we vse as the meates which the Gentiles vsed The Iewes were knowne to be generally weake in that respect whereas contrariwise the imbecillitie of ours is not common vnto so many that we can take any such certaine notice of them It is a chance if here and there some one be found and therefore seeing we may presume men commonly otherwise there is no necessitie that our practise should frame it selfe by that which th' Apostle doth prescribe to the Gentiles Againe their vse of meates was not like vnto our of Ceremonies that being a matter of priuate action in common life where euery man was free to order that which himselfe did but this a publike constitution for the ordering of the Church and we are not to looke that the Church should change her publique lawes and ordinances made according to that which is iudged ordinarily and commonly fittest for the whole although it chance that for some particular men the same be found incōuenient especially whē there may be other remedy also against the sores of particular inconueniences In this case therefore where any priuate harme doth growe we are not to reiect instruction as being an vnmeete plaster to apply vnto it neither can wee say that hee which appointeth teachers for phisitians in this kind of euill is as if a man would set one to watch a childe all day long least he should hurt himselfe with a knife whereas by taking away the knife from him the daunger is auoyded and the seruice of the man better imployed For a knife may be taken away from a childe without depriuing them of the benefite thereof which haue yeares and discretion to vse it But the Ceremonies which children doe abuse if we remoue quite and cleane as it is by some required that wee should then are they not taken from children onely but from others also which is as though because children may perhaps hurt themselues with kniues wee should conclude that therefore the vse of kniues is to bee taken quite and cleane euen from men also Those particular Ceremonies which they pretend to be so scandalous we shall in the next booke haue occasion more throughly to sift where other things also traduced in the publike duties of the Church whereunto each of these appertaineth are together with these to be touched and such reasons to be examined as haue at any time beene brought either against the one or the other In the meane while against the conueniencie of curing such euils by instructiō strange it is that they should obiect the multitude of other necessary matters wherin Preachers may better bestow their time then in giuing men warning not to abuse Ceremonies a wonder it is that they should obiect this which haue so many yeares together troubled the Church with quarels concerning these things and are euen to this very houre so earnest in them that if they write or speake publiquely but fiue words one of them is lightly about the dangerous estate of the Church of England in respect of abused ceremonies How much happier had it bene for this whole Church if they which haue raised contention therein about the abuse of rites and Ceremonies had considered in due time that there is indeede store of matters fitter and better a great deale for teachers to spend time and labour in It is through their importunate and vehement asseuerations more then through any such experience which we haue had of our owne that we are forced to thinke it possible for one or other now and then at leastwise in the prime of the reformation of our Church to haue stumbled at some kinde of Ceremonies Wherein for as much as we are contented to take this vpon their credite and to thinke it may be sith also they further pretend the same to be so dangerous a snare to their soules that are at any time taken therein they must giue our teachers leaue for the sauing of those soules bee they neuer so fewe to intermingle sometime with other more necessary thinges admonition concerning these not vnnecessarie Wherein they should in reason more easily yeelde this leaue considering that hereunto we shall not neede to vse the hundreth part of that time which themselues thinke very needefull to bestowe in making most bitter inuectiues against the ceremonies of the Church 13 But to come to the last point of all the Church of England is grieuously charged with forgetfulnesse of her dutie which dutie had bene to frame her selfe vnto the patterne of their example that went before her in the worke of reformation For as the Churches of Christ ought to be most vnlike the synagogue of Antichrist in their indifferent ceremonies so they ought to be most like one vnto an other and for preseruation of vnitie to haue as much as possible may be all the same Ceremonies And therefore S. Paul to establish this order in the Church of Corinth That they should make their gatherings for the poore vpon the first day of the Saboth which is our sunday alleageth this for a reason that he had so ordained in other Churches Againe as children of one father and seruants of one family so all Churches should not only haue one dyet in that they haue one word but also weare as it were one liuerie in vsing the same Ceremonies Thirdly this rule did the great Councell of Nice follow when it ordained that where certaine at the feast of Pentecoste did pray kneeling they should pray standing the reason whereof is added which is that one custome ought to be kept throughout all Churches It is true that the diuersitie of Ceremonies ought not to cause the Churches to dissent one with another but yet it maketh most to thauoyding of dissention that there be amongst them an vnitie not onely in doctrine but also in Ceremonies And therefore our forme of seruice is to be amended not onely for that it commeth too neare that of the Papistes but also because it
theÌ„ are the same which the Church of Rome vseth Eccles. discipl fol. 12. T.C. lib. 1. p. 131. T.C. lib. 1. p. 20. T.C. lib. 1. p. 25 T.C. l. 1. p. 13â— T.C. l. 1. p. 30. T.C. l. 1. p. 131. T.C. l. 1. p. 132 Tom. 2. Brâ—â— 73. Con. Africa cap. 27. Lib. de Idololatria He seemeth to mean the feast of Easter day celebrated in the memory of our Sauiours resurrection and for that cause termed the Lords day Lib. de Anima T.C. l. 3. p. 178. T.C. l. 3. p. 17â— T.C. l. 3. p. 180. That wheras they who blame vs in this behalfe wheÌ„ reason euicteth that all such ceremonies are not to be abolished make answere that when they condemne popish ceremonies their meaning is of ceremonies vnprofitable or ceremonies in stead wherof as good or better may be deuised they cannot hereby get out of the briers but contradict and gainesay themselues in as much as their vsuall maner is to proue that ceremonies vncommaunded of God and yet vsed in the Church of Rome are for this very cause vnprofitable to vs and not so good as others in their place would be T.C. lib. p. 171. What an open vntruth is it that this is one of our principles not to be lawful to vse the same ceremonies which the Papists did when as I haue both before declared the contrary and euen here haue expressely added that they are not to be vsed when as good or better way be established Ecclesi discipl fol. 100. T.C. l. 3. p. 176. As for your oftâ—Ì„ repeating thaâ— the ceremonies in question are godly comely decent it is your old wont of demaunding the thing in question and an vndoubted argument of your extreme pouerty T.C. l. p. 174. T.C. l. 3. p. 177. And that this complaint of â—urs is iust in that we are thus constrained to be like vnto thâ— Papists in any their ceremonies and that this cause only ought to moue â—hem to whom that belongeth to do theirs away for as much 〈◊〉 they are their ceremonies the Reader may further seâ— in the B. of Salisbury who brings diuerse proofes thereof That our allowing the customes of our fathers to be followed is no proofe that we may not allow some customes which the Church of Rome hath although we do not accoÌ„pt of them as of our fathers That the course which the wisedome of God doth teach maketh not against our conformitie with the Church of Rome in such things T.C. lib. 1. p. 89. 131. Leuit. 18.3 Leuit. 19.27 Leuit. 19.19 Deut. 22.11 Deut. 14.7 Leuit. 11. Ephes. 2.14 Leuit. 18.3 Leuit. 19.27 Leuit. 21.5 Deut. 14.1 1. Thes. 4.13 Leuit. 19.19 Deut. 22.11 Deut. 14.7 Leuit. 11. Leuit. 19.19 Deut. 14. Leuit. 11. Eph. 2.14 That the exaÌ„ple of the eldest Churches is not herein against vs. T.C. l. 1. p. 132. The Councels although they did not obserue themselues alwaies in making of decrees this rule yet haue kept this consideration continually in making of their lawes that they would haue the Christians differ from others in their ceremonies To. 6. cont Faust. Mâ—nich lib. 20. cap. 4. T.C. l. 1. p. 132. Also it was decreed in â—nother Councell that they should not decke their houses with bay leaues greene boughes because the Pagans did vsesâ— and that they should not rest from their laâ—or those daies that the Pagans did that they should not keepe the first day of euery moneth as they did T.C. l. 3. p. 132 Tertul. saith O sayth he better is the religion of the Heathen for they vse no solemnitie of the Christians neither the Lords day neither c but we are not afraid to be called Heathen T.C. l. 1. p. 133. But hauing shewed this in generall to be the politie of God first and of hâ—â— people afterwards to put as much difference as can be commodiously betweene the people of God and others which are not I shall not c. That it is not our best policy for the establishment of sound religion to haue in these thinges no agreement with the Church of Rome being vnsound T.C. l. 1. p. 132 Common reason also doth teach that contraries are cured by their contraries Now Christianity and Antichristianity the Gospell and Popery be contraâ—ies and therefore Antichristianitie must be cured not by itselfe but by that which is as much as may be contrary vnto it T.C. l. 1. p. 132 If a man would bring a drunken man to sobrietie the best and nearest way is to carry him as farre from his excesse in drinke as may be and if a man could not keepe a meane it were better to fault in prescribing lesse them he should drinke theÌ„ to fault in giuing him more then he ought As we see to bring a sticke which is crooked to be straight we do not only how it so farre vntill it come to be straight but we bend it so farre vntill we make it so crooked of the other side as it was before of the first side to this end that at the last it may stand straight and as it were in the midway betweene both the crookes That we are not to abolish our Ceremonies either because Papists vpbraide vs as hauing taken from them or for that they are sayd hereby to conceiue I know not what great hopes T.C. l. 3. p. 178. By vsing of these Ceremonies the Papists take occasion to blaspheme saying that our religion cannot stand by it selfe vnlesse it lâ—â—ue vpon the staffe of their Ceremonies T.C. l. 1. p. 179. To proue the Papists triumph and ioy in these things I alleaged further that there are â—oâ—e which make such clamors for these ceremonies as the Papists and those which they suborne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 T.C. l. 3. p. 179. Thus they conceiuing hope of hauing the rest of their poperie in the end it causeth them to be more frozen in their wickednesse c. For not the cause but the occasion also ought to be taken away c. Although let the reader iudge whether they haue cause giuen to hope that the tails of Popery yet remaining they shall the easilier hale in the whole body after considering also that Maister Bucer noteth that where these things haue bene left there Popery hath returned but on the other part in places which haue bene clensed of these dregs it hath not bin seene that it hath had any entrance Ecclesi disâ— fol. 94. T.C. l. 3. p. 180. There be numbers which haue Antichristianitie in such detestation that they câ—â—not without griefe of mind behold them And afterwards such godly brethren are not easily to be grieued which they seeme to be when they are thus martyred in their minds for ceremonies which to speake the best of them are vnprofitable The griefe which they say godly brethren conceiue in regard of such Ceremonies as we haue common with the Church of Rome T.C. l. 3. p. 171 Although the corruptions in them sticke not straight to the heart yet as gentle
scandalous at certain times and in certaine places and to certaine men the open vse thereof neuerthelesse being otherwise without daunger The verie nature of some rites and Ceremonies therfore is scandalous as it was in a number of those which the Manichees did vse and is in all such as the law of God doth forbid Some are offensiue only through the agreement of men to vse them vnto euill and not else as the most of those thinges indifferent which the Heathens did to the seruice of their false Gods which an other in heart condemning their idolatrie could not doe with them in shew and token of approbation without being guiltie of scandall giuen Ceremonies of this kinde are either deuised at the first vnto euill as the Eunomian Heretiques in dishonour of the blessed Trinitie brought in the laying on of water but once to crosse the custom of the Church which in Baptisme did it thrise or else hauing had a profitable vse they are afterwards interpreted and wrested to the contrarie as those Heretiques which held the Trinitie to be three distinct not persons but natures abused the Ceremonie of three times laying on water in Baptisme vnto the strengthning of their heresie The element of water is in Baptisme necessarie once to lay it on or twice is indifferent For which cause Gregorie making mention thereof sayth To diue an infant either thrice or but once in Baptisme can be no way a thing reproueable seeing that both in three times washing the Trinitie of persons and in one the Vnitie of Godhead may be signified So that of these two Ceremonies neither being hurtfull in it selfe both may serue vnto good purpose yet one was deuised and the other conuerted vnto euill Now whereas in the Church of Rome certaine Ceremonies are said to haue bene shamefully abused vnto euill as the Ceremonie of Crossing at Baptisme of kneeling at the Eucharist of vsing Wafer-cakes and such like the question is whether for remedie of that euill wherein such Ceremonies haue bene scandalous and perhaps may be still vnto some euen amongst our selues whome the presence and sight of them may confirme in that former error whereto they serued in times past they are of necessitie to be remoued Are these or any other Ceremonies wee haue common with the Church of Rome scandalous and wicked in their verie nature This no man obiecteth Are any such as haue bene polluted from their verie birth and instituted euen at the first vnto that thing which is euill That which hath bene ordeyned impiously at the first may weare out that impietie in tract of time and then what doth let but that the vse thereof may stand without offence The names of our monethes and of our dayes wee are not ignorant from whence they came and with what dishonour vnto God they are said to haue bene deuised at the first What could be spoken against any thing more effectuall to stirre hatred then that which sometime the auncient Fathers in this case speake Yet those very names are at this day in vse throughout Christendome without hurt or scandall to any Cleare and manifest it is that thinges deuised by Heretiques yea deuised of a very hereticall purpose euen against religion and at their first deuising worthy to haue bene withstood may in time growe meete to be kept as that custome the inuentors wherof were the Eunomian Heretiques So that customes once established and confirmed by long vse being presently without harme are not in regard of their corrupt originall to be held scandalous But coÌ„cerning those our Ceremonies which they reckon for most Popish they are not able to auouch that any of them was otherwise instituted theÌ„ vnto good yea so vsed at the first It followeth then that they all are such as hauing serued to good purpose were afterward conuerted vnto the contrary And sith it is not so much as obiected against vs that we reteine together with them the euil wherwith they haue bin infected in the Church of Rome I would demand who they are whom we scandalize by vsing harmles things vnto that good end for which they were first instituted Amongst our selues that agree in the approbation of this kinde of good vse no man wil say that one of vs is offensiue and scandalous vnto another As for the fauorers of the church of Rome they know how far we herein differ dissent froÌ„ them which thing neither we conceale they by their publike writings also professe daily how much it grieueth them so that of theÌ„ there will not many rise vp against vs as witnesses vnto the inditement of scandal whereby we might be coÌ„demned cast as hauing strengthned theÌ„ in that euil wherwith they pollute themselues in the vse of the same Ceremonies And concerning such as withstaÌ„d the Church of England herein hate it because it doth not sufficiently seeme to hate Rome they I hope are far enough froÌ„ being by this meane drawne to any kind of popish error The multitude therfore of them vnto whom we are scaÌ„dalous through the vse of abused ceremonies is not so appareÌ„t that it can iustly be said in general of any one sort of meÌ„ or other we cause theÌ„ to offend If it be so that now or theÌ„ some few are espied who hauing bin accustomed heretofore to the rites ceremonies of the Church of Rome are not so scowred of their former rust as to forsake their auncient perswasioÌ„ which they haue had howsoeuer they frame theÌ„selues to outward obedience of laws orders because such may misconster the meaning of our ceremonies and so take theÌ„ as though they were in euery sort the same they haue bin shal this be thought a reason sufficieÌ„t wheron to coÌ„clude that some law must necessarily be made to abolish al such ceremonies They answer that there is no law of God which doth bind vs to reteine theÌ„ And S. Pauls rule is that in those things froÌ„ which without hurt we may lawfully absteine we should frame the vsage of our libertie with regard to the weakenes and imbecillitie of our brethren Wherefore vnto them which stood vpon their owne defence saying All things are lawfull vnto me he replyeth But all things are not expedient in regard of others All things are cleane all meates are lawfull but euill vnto that man that eateth offensiuely If for thy meates â—ake thy brother bee grieued thou walkest no longer according to charitie Destroy not him with thy meate for whome Christ dyed Dissolue not for foodes sake the worke of God Wee that are strong must beare the imbecillities of the impotent and not please our selues It was a weakenesse in the Christian Iewes and a maime of iudgement in them that they thought the Gentiles polluted by the eating of those meates which themselues were afraid to touch for feare of transgressing the lawe of Moses yea hereat their hearts did so much rise that the Apostle had iust cause to feare least