should to the next Point And truly I find nothing new in the folding up this Conclusion but that he says he may add that Ministers are prohibited from meddling with Wordly Affairs by the Canons of Antient Councils grounded upon the Apostles Doctrine The Church is much beholding to this Lord that he will vouchsafe to name her Antient Councils He doth not use to commit this Fault often and yet lest he should sin too much in this kind he doth but tell you that he may add these but he adds them not It may be he doubts that if he should name those Canons some sufficient Answer might be given them and yet the Truth remain firm that it is not only lawful but fit and expedient in some times and cases for Bishops to intermeddle with and give Counsel in Temporal Affairs and though this Lord names none yet I will produce and examine such Canons and Antient Councils as I find and see what they say in this business The first I meet withal is But here I find my self met with and prevented too by a Book entituled Episcopacy asserted made by a Chaplain of mine Mr. Jer. Taylor who hath learnedly looked into and answered such Canons of Councils as are most quick upon Bishops or other Clergy-Men for meddling much in Temporal Affairs And therefore thither I refer the Reader being not willing to trouble him with saying over another Man's Lesson only I shall examine such Councils if any I find which my Chaplain hath not met with or omitted And the last that I meet with is the Council of Sardis which though the last is as high up in the Church as about the Year 347. And there was a Canon to restrain Prelats from their frequent resorts to the Court Yet there are many Cases left at large in which they are permitted to use their own Judgment and Freedom So that Canon seems to bring along with it rather Counsel than Command And howsoever they are well left to their Liberty as I conceive it because to frequent the Court as over-loving the place is one thing and to go thither though often when good Cause calls for them be that Cause Spiritual or Temporal is far from an Offence For if it be Spiritual they must go that 's their Office and Duty directly And I see no Reason why the Physitians should be forbid to visit the places of greatest Sickness This I am sure of Constantine the Great commanded the personal attendance of Bishops and other Clergy-Men in his Court. And if it be Temporal they may go that 's their Duty by Consequence especially if they be called For as their exemplary Piety may move much so do I not yet know any designs of State which are made the worse by Religion or any Counsels of Princes hurt by being communicated with Bishops in whom doth or should reside the Care of Religion and Religious Conversation But perchance I have known some Counsels miscarry for want of this The next is the first Council at Carthage and there the Prohibition runs thus They which are of the Clergy non accedant ad Actus seu Administrationem vel Procurationem domorum which forbids as I conceive it this only that they should not be Stewards of the Houses or Bailiffs of the Lands of great Persons And this may be both in regard of the great trouble belonging to such Places and the hazard of Scandal which might arise in case there should happen any failure in such great Accounts And in the Code of the African Councils it is thus read non sint Conductores Procuratores nec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inhonesto negotio victum quaerant which I think is the truer Reading And then this Council doth not fordid all meddling in in Secular Affairs but such as by their dishonest gain draw Scandal upon the Church And there is great Reason such should be forbidden them A third I meet withal and that is the Council of Eliberis about the Year of our Lord 306. where the Canon seems to be very strict against Clergy-Men's going to Markets and Fairs negotiandi causa to make profit by negotiation but require them to send their Son their Friend or their Servant to do such business for them And yet this Prohibition as strict as it seems is not absolute nor binding farther than that they shall not pursue those matters of Gain out of their own Provinces but if they will and think fit they might for all this Canon negotiate either for their necessary maintenance or improvement of their Fortunes so that they wandred not abroad out of their own Province where they serve In the mean time when all these or any other Councils are duly weighed and their meaning right taken this will be the result of all that neither Bishop nor other Clergy-Man might or may by the Canons of Holy Church ambitiously seek or voluntarily of himself assume any Secular Engagement And as they might not ambitiously seek great Temporal Employments so might they not undertake any low or base ones for sordid and covetous ends Nor might they relinquish their own Charge to spend their Strength in the assistance of a foreign one But though they might not seek or voluntarily assume Secular Employment yet they might do any lawful thing impos'd on them by their Superiours And so might the Bishop who had no Superiour in his Province if the Prince required his Service or that he thought it necessary for the present State of the Church in which he liv'd For if he might transmit his Power to those of the inferiour Clergy no doubt but he might deal himself in such Civil Affairs as are agreeable to the dignity of his Place and Calling and generally the Bishop or any other Clergy-Man may and might by the ancient Canons of the Church be employed in any Action of Piety though that Action be attended with Secular care and trouble And this is without any strain at all collected out of that great and famous Council of Chalcedon one of the four first General Councils approved of highly throughout all Christendom and with great reverence acknowledged in the Laws of this Kingdom And therefore after the Canon of that Council had laid it down in general terms that neither Bishop Clerk nor Monk should farm Grounds or immescere se mix himself as it were with such Temporal Affairs it adds some exceptions of like Nature to those by me expressed especially the last of them And some of these will expound the Canon of any Council which I have yet seen that speaks most against Clergy-Mens embarking themselves in Secular Business And therefore though this Lord would not yet I have laid before you whatsoever is come to my Knowledge out of the Antient Councils where by this last cited and great Council his Lordship may see that Bishops should meddle with and order some Temporal Affairs as Persons in that kind fitter to be trusted
cannot desire more than your Lordship resolves upon In any thing that my Assistance may be useful to Mr. Vice-Chancellour or otherwise I trust my faithful endeavours shall make good how unfeignedly I desire to shew my self Exon. Coll. Novem. 24. 1630. Your Lordships Most ready at Command John Prideaux May it please your Lordship IF it be not too boldly done of us to interrupt your Lordship's greater Affairs we should hope that you would be pleas'd to accept with favour these few lines from us which are according to our humble Duty and Service to congratulate your Lordship's honourable Reformation of the University so well begun We cannot nor can any man else dissemble it The Corruption was gotten up high and come to stand almost in praecipiti Some medicinal hand was of necessity and that speedily to undertake the Cure Which God who well saw the weightiness of the work would should be no other than your Lordship's though your Lordship would not There were others more Powerful Your Lordship would have been our Friend however It would be envious you were sickly and the like But the Infallible Eye saw you and what it purposed to effect by you whilst you walked thus under the Fig-trees that we may so speak and Covert of your excuses Truly it was strange to see such backwardness at the Undertaking and yet now such Readiness and Skill in the Execution We see it and must with all gratefulness acknowledge amongst your manifold and great Occasions both for Church and State no pains spared no opportunity omitted either by Word or Letter that may any way advance the business in hand From this Zeal of your Lordship to Learning and the welfare of the University there is no ingenious breast amongst us but takes fire and would be glad to be seen though amidst the dependance of so worthy an Enterprize Our selves in an inferiour Distance are even angry with our selves that we have not hitherto signifi'd to your Lordship our forwardness in our Places But now we assure your Lordship as we have not been altogether negligent for the time past so from henceforward to be industrious in what belongs to us in taking notice of Formalities in laying hands upon the reigns and liberty of Dispensations and looking to the performance of other Duties As for the point of Dispensations and Proceeding of Bachelours which now draws on somewhat it may seem to be out of the way of the Proctours But it is so poor a thing to the Universal good that we would request your Lordship not to entertain so much as a thought that we make the least account of it And since we understand your Lordship's Desire we shall put on resolution to make stop of all manner of Dispensations we mean for defect of time or of that nature and this without any mincing of the matter or deriving the Cause or Envy farther than our selves Truly it would be a foul Shame for any more for us to be found either backward or luke-warm to Good Order when our Chancellour himself is seen to press so nobly for it Besides the reward that we may look for that when in after-ages your Lordship's Honours shall be recorded and this Reformation amongst the rest I and amongst the chiefest O it hath a Genius and must live we also may claim to have our Names read for those in the time and circuit of whose office so great a work was undertaken Thus humbly craving Pardon for our boldness we rest Oxford Nov. 29. 1630. At your Lordships Service To be commanded Ralph Austen Henry Stringer Proctors of the University About this time the Principality of St. Edmund's-Hall became void by the death of Dr. Rawlinson And the Provost of Queen's College and the Fellows there made choice of Mr. Ayrie to succeed him This Claim for the freedom of Election and a Queen's-College Man to be elected they had formerly made under the Chancellourship of the Lord Arch-Bishop Bancroft who promised them very fair for the next avoydance but prevailed with them to let his Nomination stand for Dr. Rawlinson Now they write their Letters to me and humbly besought me that their Choice of Mr. Ayrie who had been of their College might stand And withall they sent me up their Writings and Evidences which they had to shew that the Right of Election of a Principal to the Hall aforesaid was in the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College and not in the Chancellour of the University as the rest of the Halls are After much Debate and full Consideration taken I writ to the Vice-Chancellour as followeth S. in Christo. Sir I Have now at last with much ado got a little time to look over the Evidences which the Provost of Queen's College sent unto me concerning their Right of the Choosing of the Principal of St. Edmund's-Hall Upon view of the Deed from the University in which I find the Chancellour a Party and of the other Disputes raised concerning this business when the Right Honourable the Earl of Dorset was Chancellour all which concluded for the Right of the College to Choose I think their Right is unquestionable And the rather because I find that the Right Honourable my late Predecessour the Lord Steward upon view of these Writings declared in a Letter of his the Right to be in the College And for that the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College have not only made this Claim to their Right of Choice but have also from time to time made actual Choice of the several Principals successively whensoever That Place hath been void and have at this time made their humble suit unto me for Confirmation of their Right I am very willing to preserve this their Right unto them And do hereby Pray and Require you as my Deputy there to give Mr. Ayrie whom the Provost and Fellows have lately Chosen Admission into the Principality of the said Hall and all such Rights as are thereunto belonging And this I am content to do for the love of Justice without reflecting upon the suddenness of their late Choice which might have been done with more Respect to me and less Hazard to themselves So for this time I leave you to the Grace of God and rest LONDON House March 4. 1631. Your very Loving Friend GVIL London DIe Mercurii viz. vicesimo die Aprilis Anno Dom. 1631. habitâ deliberatione à Venerabili Viro Dr. Smith Vice-Cancellario un à cum aliis Collegiorum Aularum Praefectis de quibusdam negotiis ad Vniversitatem spectantibus per Collegia Aulas denunciandis Cùm innotesceret Commissionem Regiae Majestatis authoritate editam emissam fuisse quibusdam Viris Primariis ad inquirendum de Feodis Salariis in Curiis Justitiae ratione Officiorum debitis Nec constaret quantum haec Commissio ad Vniversitatem pertineret Placuit Vice-Cancellario cum consilio consensu reliquorum Collegiorum Aularum Praefectorum tunc praesentium Dom.
quietly to Prison And if they do not That Refusal shall be as a Breach of the Peace and not have any Appeal Thirdly We Command that the Delegates which at this present are in hand with the Statutes make all the speed that possibly they can for the finishing of that Great and Excellent Work yet so as that presently they lay all other Statutes aside till they have drawn up two Perfect and sufficient Statutes for Causes of Appeal the one in matters of Instance and those things that belong to the Chancellour's Court There the other for all kind of Appeals in other Causes whatsoever and that they keep as near to the ancient Statutes of our University as possibly they can so as they may also meet with all the present Inconveniences And likewise that they presently draw up the form of another Statute for the weekly Meeting every Monday in Term and out of Term of all the Heads of Colleges and Halls that shall be in Town to consider of the Peace and Government of our University as occasion may arise That so all things may be deliberately put when there is Cause to the Convocation according to such Directions as we shall give to your Chancellour from whom you shall receive them And these Our Letters shall be your sufficient Warrant on this behalf Given under Our Signet at Our Honour of Woodstock the 24th day of August in the seventh year of Our Reign 1631. IN Convocatione habit a 26 die Augusti 1631. promulgata sunt Edicta à Serenissima Regis Majestate ad Venerabilem Virum Doctorem Smith Sacrae Theologiae Professorem Vice-Cancellarium Vniversitatis Oxon. missa in quibus Sententia Serenissimi Regis priùs ore tenus lata de Thomâ Forde AEgidio Thorne Johanne Hodges ex Academia exterminandis tum de Athertono Bruch Johanne Doughtye Procuratoribus munere Procuratorioprivandis nune scriptis consignata ac privato Sigillo munita Ac insuper Edict a quaedam Regia circa Concionum Censuram Appellandi potestatem aliaque ad Regimen Academiae spectantia transmissa sunt ad Venerabilem Vice-Cancellarium Deinde perfectis hiscè Regis Literis Procuratores Regio mandato alacriter Morem gerentes Officii sui Insignia humillimè deposuerunt Et Venerabilis Vir Doctor Ratcliffe Principalis Collegii AEnei-Nasi Magister Turner Collegii Merton Vice-Custos juxta factam sibi à Serenissima Re = gis Majestate potestatem alios Procuratores ex iisdem Collegiis substituendi praesentarunt egregios viros à se juxta novissima Statuta Regia nominatos Ille scilicet Magistrum Laurentium Washington Collegio AEnei-Nasi Hic vero Magistrum Johannem Erles è Collegio Merton ut pro eo quod superat istius unni admitterentur ad munus Procuratorium obeundum Deinde proestitis per praefatos Magistrum Erles Washington respectivè juramentis de supremâ Regiae Majestatis authoritate agnoscendâ de Fidelitate sive Allegiantiâ nec non de officiis Procuratorum fideliter praestandis juxta Statuta Decreta in eu parte edita provisa admissi respectivè fuerunt ad officia Procuratoria statim iisdem Dominus Vice-Cancellarius officiorum Insignia in manus tradidit viz. Claves Libros Deinde hujusmodi Dispensatio petita erat Supplicant Venerabili Convocationi Doctorum Magistrorum Regentium non-Regentium Procuratores partis hujus anni ut differatur eorum Computus in diem quando reddendus sit Computus pro uno anno integro Conceditur simpliciter Cum nos Guilielmus Smith Sacrae Theologiae Professor Honoratissimi Cancellarii Vniversitatis Oxon. Commissarius sive Vice-Cancellarius contra Thomam Forde Clericum Magistrum Artium ex Aula St. Mariae Magd. in Vniversitate Oxon. AEgidium Thorne Clericum S. Theol. Bac. è Collegio Baliol. Guilielmum Hodges Clericum Magistrum Artium Collegii Exon. Socium Vniversitatis praedictae pro quibusdem pravis offensivis assertionibus sive Materiis contra Edicta Regia ad perturbationem pacis tranquilitais Vniversitatis Oxon. notoriè tendentibus in quibusdam eorum respectivè Concionibus in Ecclesiae Beatae Mariae Virginis Oxon. Anno instante viz. 1631. Mensibus ejusdem traditis promulgatis juxta Statuta Vniversitatis praedictae Edicta Regia processimus deinde Causis eisdem ad Regiam Majestatem devolutis iidem praedicti Thomas Forde AEgidius Thorne Guilielmus Hodges coram Serenissima Regia Majestate Regiis suis Consiliariis assidentibus legitimè judicialiter citati comparentes de eisdem pravis assertionibus sive materiis in eorum respective Concionibus praedictis aliisque enormibus legitimè etiam convicti fuerint Vnde Serenissima Majestas Regia habito Honoratissimorum Consiliariorum suorum Consilio eosdem singulos ab Vniversitate praedictâ Banniendos expellendos fore decreverit nobis Banniendos expellendos mandaverit remisserit Idcirco Nos Guilielmus Smith Vice-Cancellarius Commissarius antedictus praefatos Thomam Forde AEgidium Thorne Guilielmum Hodges juxta mandatum Regium Statuta dict ae Vniversitatis erga ejusmodi Delinquentes provisa Privilegiis Vniversitatis privandos exaendos fore à finibus ej usdem expellendos exterminandos banniendos fore decernimus prout eosdem Thomam AEgidium Guilielmum ipsorum quemlibet sic privamus exuimus expellimus exterminamus bannimus ipsorumque quemlibet pro sic privato exuto expulso exterminato bannito declaramus publicamus Intimantes etiam iisdem eorum cuilibet quòd intra quatuor dies proximè post publicationem praesentium ab Vniversitate praedicta finibus ejusdem recedant exeant recedat exeat Monentes intimantes peremptoriè per praesentes sic monemus quòd nullus infra Praecinctum Vniversitatis praedictos Thomam AEgidium Guilielmum aut eorum aliquem acceptet foveat aut defendat sub poenâ juris Dat. sub Sigillo Officii Cancelariatûs Vniversitatis Oxon. vicesimo die mensis Augusti Anno Dom. 1631. In this year was the Chappel at Queen's = College Wainscotted Right Reverend my most Honoured good Lord HOW much I am bound to thank my good God who in the midst of trouble hath so much blessed me with your Lordship's grace and favour to rowl my self upon In confidence that through these Clouds by your Lordship's goodness and mediation the Royal favour of my most gracious and blessed Sovereign will shine upon me Nemo proficiens erubescit saith Tertul. No man is ashamed to relate the story of his offence when he is come to himself and begins to thrive in the way of a better opinion and judgment It hath been my great grief and misery but to be thought to be possessed with that damned Spirit of opposition which in Publick exercise I have cryed down and conjured or to give fire to any factious Spirit to rebel against Authority and the breath of
supported all his Actions And I cannot but profess unto you that he hath deserved exceeding well not of my self only but of the whole University and of every Man in particular whose Sons have been bred there during the time of this his Government But for this Vigilancy and pains of his I must not overload him but think upon some other worthy and able Man to succeed that may and will not take upon him the Office only but go in the same way into which he hath led him And after some deliberation I have fixed my resolution upon Dr. Bailye President of St. John's-Coll and Dean of Sarum upon whom I shall be for'cd to lay the greater burthen if his Majesty hold his Gracious pur pose of Honouring the University with his Presence this present Year And he will therefore need all the assistance that either his Predecessours and the rest of the Heads can give him These are therefore to pray and require you to allow of this my Nomination and Choice of Dr. Baylie to the Vice-Chancellourship and I will not doubt but that you will all afford him your best Advice Counsel and help to the performance of all such things as may any way concern the Honour and good Government of the University So I bid you all heartily Farewel and rest To my very loving Friends the Vice Chancellour the Doctors the Proctors and the rest of the Convocation of the University of OXFORD Lambeth July 12. 1636. Your very loving Friend and Chancellour W. CANT S. in Christo. Sir SInce I writ last to you the Dean of Christ-Church came to me and acquainted me with two things which are very necessary you should both know and remedy The one is that the University seems to be unwilling to contribute to the Charge of the Plays which are to be at Christ-Church Now this charge as by reason of their Building they are not able to bear alone So I must needs acknowledge there is no reason that they should whatever their ability be For the King is to be entertained by Oxford not by Christ-Church And that he lyes there is but for the Conveniency of the place where there are so many fairLodgings for the great Men to be about him Indeed if Christ-Church men will say they will have no Actors but of their own House let them bear the charge of their own Plays on God's name But if they will take any good Actors from any other College or Hall upon trial of their sufficiency to be as good or better than their own then I see no reason in the World but that the whole University should contribute to the Charge And I pray see it ordered and let your Successour follow you accordingly The other is that since the University must contribute to this Charge for so it was done when King James came and at the last coming of Queen Elizabeth both within my own memory I hold it very sit that all the Materials of that Stage which are now to be made new and the Proscenium and such Apparel whatever it be as is wholly made new shall be laid up in some place fit for it to which the Vice-Chancellour for the time being shall have one Key and the Dean of Christ-Church the other that it may not be lost as things of like nature and use have formerly been And if any College or Hall shall at any time for any Play or Show that they are willing to set forth need the use of any or all of these things it shall be as lawful and free for them to have and to use them as for Christ-Church Provided that after the use they do carefully restore them to the place whence they were taken And to the end these things may be kept with the more safety and indifferency to the University I think it very fit that an Inventory be made of them and that one Copy thereof remain with them at Christ-Church and the other in such fit and convenient place as the Vice Chancellour and the Heads shall agree on For my part I think it fittest that an Inventory should be kept in the University Registry that so you may not only have access to it so often as you shall have cause but also leave it ready for direction in future times in like Cases of expence And I think it not amiss that these my Letters which concern the ordering of these Businesses should be Registred also And further that the University may see how the Money which they allow towards these Charges is expended I think it very requisite that your self and the Heads should name three or four Men of good experience in those things that may see at what Rates all things are bought and paid for And an Accompt delivered in to the Vice-Chancellour and the Heads at such time as the Vice-Chancellour shall call for them And also that their Hands be set to both Copies of the above named Inventories I have thought upon Dr. Fell Dr. Sanders and the Warden of Wadham as very fit Men for this purpose And if you and the Heads shall think it requisite to joyn any more to them you may name whom you please For the Play which I intend shall be at St. John's I will neither put the University nor the College to any Charge but take it wholly upon my self And in regard of the great trouble and Inconvenience I shall thereby put upon that House as also in regard it shall set out one of the Plays by it self I think there is great reason in it and do therefore expect it that no Contribution should be required from St. John's towards the Plays at Christ-Church And I pray let me have an Accompt from you of the settlement of these things So I leave you to the Grace of God and rest Croydon July 15. 1636. Your loving Friend W. CANT Reverendissime Cancellarie TEnsis ad Coelum Palmis contemplamur attoniti inexplebilem vestrum largiendi Ardorem Benficia omnino aedificas superstruere festinas donis praemissis facultatem utendi Cum enim Academiam stupefeceris Arabico Librorum Thesauro mox eos intelligendi causâ Praelectorem Arcani Sermonis impensè fundasti per oculos per aures immanat eadem perpetua 〈◊〉 Praelectorem istum non solo fundasti hortamine verùm Te tuâ Tuâ quamdiu vita res supererit hoc est si votis annuerit Deus ultra soeculum in oeternum Vim omnem effundis in Te positam aliorum legare pergis voluktatem una cum beneficiis Exempla largiris velut proprium 〈◊〉 non ultra satis foelicem reddidisses Academiam nisi prorsus Arabicam utrumque Polum utrumque Solem imò Globum utrumque revolvis animo sumptu studioso disquiras novo tuae Academiae Ornamenta Praeonerosa benefaciendi Consuetudine diductus es tantùm non egenus ut emineas in mediocritate rerum sed virtutum Apice
Distemper from Proctor to Proctor which must needs do a great deal of harm considering how much they must be trusted with the Execution of the Statutes Therefore I pray deal seriously with both the Proctors but especially with Proctor Brown and let him know that he can give me no Content if for the remainder of his time he be not careful of the Statutes and their due performance And at Easter when the new Procters are chosen I must desire you to look to them if they do not look carefully to the Duty of their places and in this particular especially Besides I hear a whispering from thence that during your short abode at Sarum in this Term-time the Schools were scarce ever called so much as once I pray God it may be found they have called the Schools at all since the Publication of the new Statutes You shall do well to examin this and by the answer which the Proctors give you you will be able to discover something both of their diligence and intentions besides it cannot be but that Mr. Belle's death and a new and unexperienced Successor must needs give some hindrance to the Statutes which pertain to Service But I hope this will be but a temporary inconvenience and soon blown over by the diligence of Mr. Gayton and tell him I expect it Besides you shall do well to have a care of Noctivagation and other disorders else you will quickly have the Distempers of the Night break out in the Day and now the Spring comes on if your self do not take some pains that way I doubt the Proctors will be negligent enough though of their negligence I can give no reason unless it be because by the new Statutes the University is made half sharer in the Mulcts which how small they are will appear by their accounts With a special Caution for the observation of the Statute for speaking Latin Lambeth Feb. 24. 1636 7. W. Cant. SIR I Had almost forgotten a business to you of greater consequence than this and I cannot well tell whether Mr. Vice-chancellor hath acquainted you with it or no for I writ not unto him very expresly in the business but now recalling it I thought fit to write thus much to your self You know that Mr. Chillingworth is answering of a Book that much concerns the Church of England and I am very sorry that the young Man hath given cause why a more watchful eye should be held over him and his Writings But since it is so I would willingly desire this favour from you in the Church's Name that you would be at the pains to read over this Tract and see that it be put home in all Points against the Church of Rome as the Cause requires And I am confident Mr. Chillingworth will not be against your altering of any thing that shall be found reasonable And to the end that all things may go on to the Honour of the Church of England I have desired Dr. Potter who is particularly concern'd in this business so soon as ever he is returned from London to speak with you about it And when all these Tryals are over I would be content that both this Book and all others that shall be hereafter licensed in the University have such an Imprimatur of the Licencer before it as we use here above which I shall leave to the Wisdom of the Vice-chancellor and the Heads Lambeth March 3. 1636 7 W. Cant. A Passage out of a Letter of the Vice-chancellor's THE University do now generally resent that your Grace obtained and the King confirmed unto us the greatest Benefit that ever came to the Publick and God willing no Man shall disturb it while I sit Vice-chancellor My Answer to it IT is a hard thing in this Age to bring Men to understand the good that is done them and therefore I am the more glad that the University doth it that so great a Benefit given them by such a King may not only be received but acknowledged by them and the Memory of it delivered to Succession And I shall hope that your Successors after you will keep it in that way into which it is now put unless they can find a better and more useful for the Learned Press April 10. 1637. W. Cant. Mr. Vice-chancellor THERE was an English Translation of a Book of Devotion Written by Sales Bishop of Geneva and Entitl'd Praxis Spiritualis sive Introductio ad vitam devotam Licensed by Dr. Haywood then my Chaplain about the latter end of November last but before it passed his hands he first struck out divers things wherein it varied from the Doctrin of our Church and so passed it But by the Practice of one Burrowes who is now found to be a Roman-Catholick those Passages struck out by Dr. Haywood were interlined afterwards as appears upon Examination before Mr. Attorney-General and by the Manuscript Copy and were printed according to Burrows's Falsifications The Book being thus Printed gave great and just offence especially to my self who upon the first hearing of it gave present Order to Seize upon all the Copies and to Burn them publickly in Smithfield Eleven or Twelve Hundred Copies were Seized and Burnt accordingly buut it seems Two or Three Hundred of the Impression were dispersed before the Seizure Now my desire is that if any Copies of this Translation be or shall be sent to Oxford you would call them in and take such Order for the Suppressing of them there as is here already taken And so I commend you to God's Grace and rest Lambeth May 4. 1637. Your Loving Friend W. Cant. SIR YOU are now upon a very good way toward the setting up of a Learned Press and I like your Proposal well to keep your Matrices and your Letters you have gotten safe and in the mean time to provide all other necessaries that so you may be ready for that work For since it hath pleased God so to bless me as that I have procured you both Privilege and means for that work I should be very glad to see it begun in my own Life-time if it raight be And because the beginning of such a work will be very difficult as also the procuring of a sussicient Composer and Corrector for the Eastern Languages you have done exceeding well to think of him at Leyden and to get him over upon as good Terms as you can and to give him an Annual Pension in the mean time that he may not be tempted from your Service So God speed you I have sent you down by this Carrier my Book of the University Statutes which I give that the Library-keepers may read their own Duties in it for having none I doubt they keep neither old Statutes nor new so well as they should And it may be if you and the rest of the Curators would look well to it you might find many things there out of order and sit to be amended And
have done especially that Bishop who stands named in the Margin and against whom in particular the Speech was in part directed should as I conceive to vindicate himself as well as the Cause have taken this task upon him But since I see all Men silent and the Speech go away in triumph as if it were unanswerable truth though the Bill be now past and the Bishops with their Votes cast out of the House and from all Civil Employment yet I thought it fit if not necessary to call this Speech to an account in every passage and with all due respect approve what is just and give the rest such an Answer as it deserves And though you may think this Answer comes too late as indeed it doth to remedy the present Evil yet I have thought fit to go on with these my Endeavours that if these miserable distracted times have an end which I have no hope to live to see the Errours of this Speech may appear and the Bishops perhaps recover their ancient Rights If not as I confess 't is very hard in England that yet the World may see how unjustly they suffer'd and with what misguided Zeal this Lord hath fallen upon the Church as indeed he hath done in all kinds And I pray God something fall not therefore upon Him and His. The Speech then begins thus My Lords I shall not need to begin as high as Adam in answer to what hath been drawn down from thence by a Bishop concerning this Question for that which is pertinent to it will only be what concerns Bishops as they are Ministers of the Gospel What was before being of another Nature can give no Rule to this Whether this Reverend Bishop now Lord Arch-Bishop of York did begin his Speech as high as Adam I cannot tell nor what proof he made after such beginning for I was committed long before this Speech was made but if he did bring it down from Adam I think there may be good Reason for it For it will appear for the two thousand years before the Law and for two thousand years more under the Law of Moses that the Priests especially the High and Chief Priests did meddle in all the great Temporal Affairs which fell out in their times And first for the time before the Law 't is manifest and receiv'd by all Men that the Primogenitus the First-born was Priest and the First-born in the Prime and Leading Families were as the Chief-Priests in their several Generations and 't is more than absurd to think that all these Prime Men in their several Families first and Tribes after being Priests should be estranged from all their Civil and Temporal Affairs and leave them in the hands of Younger and Weaker Men. And as before the Law there is no express Text for this their forbearance to help to manage Civil Affairs so neither can there any sufficient Reason be given why they should abstain Neither did they For instance Abraham was a Priest and a great one for he was a Patriarch Heb. 7. 4. And his Priesthood appears in that he was the first Minister of the Sacrament of Circumcision Gen. 17. 23. and yet he managed his Family and trained up his Servants in that which is most opposite to the Priestly Function even for War Nay took them and went in Person against five Kings and redeemed his Kinsman Lot by the Sword Gen. 14. 14 16. And Melchisedeck who is expresly called the Priest of the high God was King of Salem also a King and a Priest too so both capable by one Person And as he received Tythes as a Priest so no doubt can be made but he ordered and governed Civil Affairs as a King Before these Noah was a Priest and offered Sacrifice Gen. 8. 20. and yet all the great care and trouble of building the Ark and managing the preservation of the whole World was committed to him by God himself and undertook by him Gen. 6. Under the Law the Case comes under fuller and clearer Proof And in the first entrance Moses himself was Saccrdos Sacerdotum the Man that consecrated Aaron Exod. 40. 13. and after reckon'd with 〈◊〉 among the Priests of God Psal. 99.6 and yet the whole Princely Jurisdiction resided in him all his days But God commanded him to settle the Priesthood upon Aaron to teach the World that few Men's Abilities were fit for the Heighth of both those Places since Moses himself was order'd to ordain Aaron and divide the Burthen After this division the High Priest did meddle in Civil Affairs even the greatest as well as Moses continued his Care of the Synagogue In the numbering of the People for War a thing of sole Imperial Cognisance if any Aaron was joined in Commission with Moses by God himself to number them by their Armies and they did it Numb 1. 3. 17. 44. In the ordering of the Standards and Ensigns of the Children of Israel in their removes from place to place God's own Command came alike to Moses and Aaron Numb 2. 1 2. the Silver Trumpets to call the Assemblies of the People together did belong to Moses the People had nothing to do with them nor might they tumultuously assemble but orderly as the Sound of the Trumpets directed them but the Priests the Sons of Aaron were to sound them Num. 10. 8 9,11 And this Duty lay upon them as well when they went to War as when they sacrificed In the Survey of the Land of Promise Aaron was interessed as well as Moses And this appears plainly First in that when the Spies all save Joshua and Caleb had brought up an evil Report upon the Land the People fall into a Murmuring and were as mad against Aaron as against Moses Numb 14. 2 5. Secondly because when the Land of Promise came to be divided among the Tribes no Spiritual business was it and yet in the Commission which Moses gave for the solemn Division of the Land both to Reuben Gad and the half Tribe of Manasses on the one side of Jordan and on the other side to the other Tribes and to all the Princes of the several Tribes of Israel Eleazar the Priest was first and principal Numb 32. 2 28. 34.17 even before Joshua himself and that not only here during Moses his life but even after at the actual Division of the Land to every Tribe though Joshua was then the Leader of the People Josh. 19. 51. In the great Murmuring of the People at Kadesh for want of Water which was like enough to break out into an Insurrection the Commission which God himself gave out to gather the Assembly together and to satisfie the People with Water out of the Rock a harder thing for Moses to do when he looks upon the People than for God when he looks upon the Rock went jointly to Moses and Aaron Numb 20. and they performed it accordingly Thus far it went and in all these great Particulars in Aaron's
Life time as if God would give a pattern in the first High Priest under the Law what his Successours in some Cases might and in some must do in great and Civil Affairs And not so only but to instruct the Successours of Moses also what value they should put upon Aaron and his Successours if they will follow the way which God himself prescribed and which hath been taken up and followed in all well govern'd Kingdoms as well Christian as Heathen till this very time that this ignorant boisterous Faction hath laboured to bear sway as a learned Country-Man of ours hath observed And therefore though God set the pattern in Aaron yet he continued it farther to shew as I conceive that his Will was it should continue For no sooner was Aaron dead but his Son Eleazar succeeded in all those great Civil employments as well as in the Priesthood For when the People of Israel were come into the plain of Moab near Jerico and were ready to enter into the Land of Promise God himself joyned Eleazar with Moses for the numbring of all the People that were found fit for War which they were to expect at their entrance into Canaan Numb 26. 1 3. In the difficult point of Inheritance for the Daughters of Zelophehad when they came and demanded right of Moses their demand was made to him and Eleazar and the Princes of the Congregation Numb 27. 2. which they would not have done had not Eleazar had a Vote in that Judicature with Moses and the Princes And no less than God himself commanded Moses to declare Joshua to be his Successour in the presence of the Congregation Josh. 17. 4. And orders farther that Joshua shall stand before Eleazar the Priest and that Eleazar shall ask Counsel for him after the Judgment of Vrim before the Lord. Numb 27. 18 19 23. Now I would fain know of this Lord whether Eleazar might give Joshua the Counsel which he asked of God for him If he might not why did God appoint him to ask it for Joshua If he might then he might give Counsel in Temporal Affairs for so runs the Text about the War to be had with the Canaanites At Eleazar's word they should go out and at his word they should come in both Joshua and all the Children of Israel Phineas the Son of Eleazar but Priest too though not High Priest till after his Father's Death was employed by Moses in the War against the Midianites Numb 31. 6. and the Trumpets put into his Hands After the Victory over them the Captains and the Spoil were brought to Moses Eleazar and the chief Fathers of the Congregation to divide them v. 12 26. and an express Law ordained that if there be a matter too hard for them in Judgment I pray mark it 't is between blood and blood between plea and plea between stroke and stroke these are no Ecclesiastical Matters I trow that they should go unto the Priests the Levites and to the Judges that shall be in those days Deut. 17. 8 9. and he that will not hearken unto the Priest and Judge shall die v. 12. Was the Priest here excluded from all Temporal affairs Nay was he excluded from any when his Judgment was required between Blood and Blood Nay the Geneva Note adds here that the Judge was to give Sentence as the Priests counsel him by the Law of God which gives the Priest a greater power than the Judge since he was to follow the Priest's Direction and Dr. Raynolds tells us very learnedly that this Law was made to establish the highest Court of Judgment among that People in which all harder Causes both Ecclesiastical and Civil should be determined without farther Appeal When the People made War and came nigh unto the Battle the Priest was to approach and speak unto them and when he had done the Officers were to speak to them likewise which must needs imply that the Priests which were present were not strangers to some at least of the Counsels of the War Deut. 20. 2 5. and the whole Law the Judicial as well as the rest was delivered by Moses after he had written it unto the Priests the Sons of Levi and unto all the Elders of Israel Deut. 31. 9. so was the Priest trusted with the Custody and in the discussing of the Law and as is before mentioned Eleazar had his Hand in distributing the Land of Canaan to the several Tribes as well as Joshua and the other Elders of Israel Josh. 14. 1. Nay though this were not ordinary and usual yet Eli was so far trusted with and employed in Temporal Affairs as that being High Priest he was also Judge over Israel fourty Years 1 Sam. 4. 18. and after him Samuel a Levite Judged Israel and no Man better Yea and after the Captivity of Babylon also for well near five Hundred Years the Priesthood had the greatest Stroke in the Government as under the Maccabees and they did all that belonged unto them very worthily and it pleased God to make that Family very victorious After Samuel when that People had Kings to Govern them in that great and most unnatural Conspiracy of Absalom against his Father David in that great distress Hushai was ordered by David to return and mix himself with the Counsels of Absalom and to impart all things to Zadoc and Abiathar the Priests that by them and their Sons David might come to know what was useful or necessary for him to do 1 Sam. 15. 27. 32. 35. and Hushai's making no scruple nor reply to this makes it clear that Zadoc and Abiathar were formerly trusted with David's Counsels and that Hushai had observ'd them to be prudent and secret And when David was old he called a kind of Parliament for the settling his Son Solomon in the Kingdom To that great Assembly he gathered together all the Princes of Israel with the Priests and the Levites 1 Chron. 23. 1 2. so far was he from turning their Votes out of the House of that great Consultation that Six Thousand of them were by the Wisdom of that Senate made Officers and Judges throughout the Kingdom v. 4. and this was done on both sides of Jordan in all businesses of the Lord and in the Service of the King 1 Chron. 26. 30 32. In the beginning of Solomon's Reign Abiathar the High Priest was in all the great Counsels of that State but falling into the Treason of Adonijah he was deprived by Solomon and Zadock made High Priest in his Room 1 King 2. 27 35. And when Jehosaphat repaired the decays of that State he set the Priests and the Levites in their right places again according to that Law in Deut. 17. 8 9. and restored to them that Power in Judicature which was by God's appointment settled in them 2 Chron. 19. 8. And that he had relation to that Law is manifest because he pitches almost upon the same words v. 10. as Dr. Raynolds hath observed before
Hominum by the Businesses which Men brought to him and he desires that he may ease himself in part upon him that was at his desire designed his Successor to which the People expressed their great liking by their Acclamation And these Businesses he dispatch'd with that great Dexterity to most Mens content that Men did not only bring their Secular Causes before him but were very desirous to have him determine them And S. Ambrose was in greater Employment for Secular Affairs than S. Augustin was for he was Bishop and Governour of Milan both at once and was so full of this Employment that S. Augustin being then upon the Point of his Conversion complains he could not find him at so much leisure as he would And this besides many Bishops and Clergy-Men of great Note who have been employ'd in great Embassics and great Offices under Emperors and Kings and discharged them with great Fidelity and Advantage to the Publick and without detriment to the Church And surely they would never have taken this Burthen upon them had their Conscience been hurt by it or had it been inconsistent with their Function or absolutely against the ancient Canons of the Church of which they were so conscientious and strict Observers My Lord goes on to another Argument and tells us They are separated unto a special Work and Men must take heed how they mis-employ things dedicated and set apart to the Service of God They are called to Preach the Gospel and set apart to the Work of the Ministery and the Apostle saith Who is sufficient for these things Shewing that this requireth the Whole Man and all is too little Therefore for them to seek or take other Offices which shall require and tie them to employ their Time and Studies in the Affairs of this World will draw a Guilt upon them as being inconsistent with that which God doth call them and set them apart unto This is my Lord's next Argument And truly I like the beginning of it very well and I pray God this Lord may be mindful of it when time may serve For surely Men ought to take heed how they mis-employ Things dedicated and set apart to the Service of God And therefore as Ministers must not mis-employ their Persons or their Times which are dedicated to God and his Service no more must Lay-Men take away and mis-employ the Church Revenues devoutly given dedicated and set apart to maintain and hold up the Service of God and to refresh Christ in his poor Members upon Earth And if ever a Scambling time come for the Church-Lands as these Times hereafter must I hope his Lordship will remember this Argument of his and help to hold back the Violence from committing more Sacrilege whereas too much lies heavy on the Kingdom already The rest of the Argument will abide some Examination First then most true it is that Bishops are called to Preach the Gospel and set apart to that Work but whether they be so set apart as that what Necessity soever requires it they may do nothing else but Study and Preach is no great Question For certainly they may in Times of Persecution labour many ways for their Perservation and in Times of Want for their Sustenance and at all Times if they be called to it give their best Counsel and Advice for the publick Safety of the State as well as their own Nor doth that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 2. 16. Who is sufficient for these things hinder this at all For though this great Calling and Charge requires the whole Man though all that the ablest Man can do in it be too little all things simply and exactly consider'd yet he that saith here None are sufficient for these things for so much the Question implieth saith also in the very next Chapter that God hath made him and others able Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3. 6. and if able then doubtless sufficient And the Greek word is the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficient in the one place and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made us sufficient in the other Besides it may be the sense of the Places will bear it that no Man is sufficient for the Dignity of the Office which brings with it the savour of Life or Death to all Men and yet that many Men are made sufficient by God's Grace to perform this Office that is to bring both the one and the other But howsoever be the Office as high as it is and be the Men never so sufficient yet the Function is such as cannot be daily performed by the Priest for the Preaching part nor attended by the People for their other necessary Employments of Life which made the Wisdom of God himself command a Sabbath under the Law and the Church to settle the Lord's-Day and other Holy-days under the Gospel for the Publick Service and Worship of God and the Instruction of the People I say in regard of this a Bishop or a Priest who shall be judged fit for that Publick Service may give Counsel in any Civil Affairs and take upon him if not seek any Office temporal that may help and assist him in his Calling and give him Credit and Countenance to do the more good among his People but not to the desertion of his Spiritual Work And this Lord is much deceived if he thinks all Offices do require and tie them to employ their Time and Studies in the Affairs of this World If they be such Offices as do I grant with him that to take them unless it be upon some urgent Necessity may draw a Guilt upon them But if they be such as Clergy-Men may easily execute in their empty Hours without any great hindrance to their Calling and perhaps with great Advantage to it then out of doubt it can draw no Guilt upon them which take them And this Lord in this Passage is very cunning For instead of speaking of Bishops having any thing to do in Civil Affairs he speaks of nothing but taking of Offices Now a Clergy-Man may many ways have to do in Temporal Affairs without taking any set Office upon him which shall not tie up his Time or his Studies to the Affairs of this World as it seems this Lord would persuade the the World all do Now that a Bishop or other Clergy-Man may lawfully meddle with some Temporal Affairs always provided that he entangle not himself with them for that indeed no Man doth that Wars for Christ as he ought 2 Tim. 2. 4. is I think very evident not only by that which the Priests did and might do under the Law but also by that which was done after Christ in the Apostle's time and by some of them To Study and Practise Physick is as much inconsistent with the Function of a Minister of the Gospel as to Sit Consult and give Counsel in Civil Affairs But St. Luke though an Evangelist continued his Profession as appears Colos. 4. 14. where St.
Tables and attend them too Therefore the Work was not unlawful in its self for them for then it had been Sin in them to do it at all at any time For that which is simply evil in and of it self is ever so therefore the most that can be made of this Example is that it was lawful very lawful and and charitable too for the Apostles to take care of those Tables themselves and they did it For all the Provision for the Poor was brought and laid at the Apostles feet Acts 4. 35. which doubtless would never have been done had it been unlawful for the Apostles to order and to distribute it But when they found the encreasing Burthen too heavy for both the one Work and the other then though both were lawful yet it was more expedient to leave the Tables than the Word of God with which the World was then as little acquainted as now 't is full of and I pray God it be not full to a dangerous Surfeit Now this as I conceive in Humility states the Bishops Business For to me it seems out of Question that it is most lawful for Bishops to be conversant in all the Courts Councils and Places of Judicature to which they have been called since the Reformation in the Church and State of England till they find themselves or be found unable to discharge the one Duty and the other And then indeed I grant no serving of Tables no nor Council Tables is to be preferred But then you must not measure Preaching only by a formal going up into the Pulpit For a Bishop and such Occasions are often offer'd may Preach the Gospel more publickly and to far greater Edisication in a Court of Judicature or at a Council Table where great Men are met together to draw things to an Issue than many Preachers in their several Charges can and therefore to far more Advancement of the Gospel than any one of his Lordship's Sect at a Tables end in his Lordship's Parlour or in a Pulpit in his Independent Congregation wheresoever it be And when he hath said all that he can or any Man else this shall be found true that there is not the like Necessity of Preaching the Gospel lying upon every Man in Holy Orders now Christianity is spread and hath taken Root as lay upon the Apostles and Apostolical Men when Christ and his Religion were Strangers to the whole World And yet I speak not this to cast a Damp or Chilness upon any Man's Zeal or Diligence in that Work No God forbid For though I conceive there is not the same Necessity yet a great Necessity there is still and ever will be to hold 〈◊〉 both the Verity and Devotion which attend Religion and Non 〈◊〉 est Virtus quam quaerere parta tueri So there may be as great Vertue in the Action though perhaps not equal Necessity of it Besides Deacons were not Lay Men but Men in Holy Orders though inferiour to the Apostles as appears by Stephen's undertaking the Libertines and Cyrenians in the Cause of Christ and Philip's Preaching of Christ in Samaria and Baptizing And if they were of the Seventy as Epiphanius thinks they were Haer. then they were Presbyters before they had this Temporary Office if such it were put upon them Therefore if to meddle with these things were simply unlawful in themselves or for Men in Holy Orders Or if all meddling with them were such a Distraction as must needs make them leave the Preaching of the Gospel then these Seventy might not discharge the Office to which they were chosen and if this be so then this Lord must needs infer that the Apostles and all which chose them did sin in Instituting such Men to take care of the Tables and to distract them from Preaching of the Word which they thought unfit for themselves to do And yet I hope my Lord will not say this in his privatest Conventicle Nay yet more though this Care was delivered over to the Deacons in ordinary yet Calvin tells us plainly that in things of moment they could do nothing Nec quicquam without the Authority of the Presbyters So they meddled still Next this Lord shews since the Apostles did not think fit to distract themselves with Business about these Tables how they ought to apply themselves And this he sets down in the Apostle's Words Acts 6. 4. But we will give our selves continually to Prayer and the Ministery of the Word And yet I hope this Lord doth not think the Apostles by this word continually meant to do nothing else but Pray and Preach For if they did one of these two continually without any intermission then they could do nothing else which is most apparently false And indeed which it seems this learned Lord considered not this word continually is not in the Text. For in the Greek the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we will be constant and instant in Prayer and Ministration of the Word which may and ought to be done though neither of them continually and which many of God's Servants have done and yet meddled some way or other with temporal or worldly Affairs The Argument is over The rest of this Passage is this Lord's Rhetorick which I shall answer as I repeat it Did the Apostles saith his Lordship Men of extraordinary Gifts think it unreasonable for them to be hindred from giving themselves continually to Preaching the Word and Prayer by taking care of the Tables of the poor Widows No sure they they did not think it unreasonable that is this Lord's word to make the present business of the Bishops more Odious as if it were against common Reason But there 's no such word in the Text. The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not meet Now many things may not be meet or comely which yet are not altogether unreasonable Nay which at some times and upon some occasions may be meet and comely enough nay perhaps necessary for the very Gospel it self and therefore no way unreasonable howsoever at this time unfit for the Apostles and worthily refused by them Well the Rhetorick goes on Did the Apostles thus and can the Bishops now think it reasonable or lawful for them Yes the Times and Circumstances being varied and many things become fit which in some former Times were not they can think it both reasonable and lawful nay necessary for some of them What To contend for sitting at Council Tables No God forbid perhaps not to sue for sitting there but certainly not to contend for it but to sit there being called unto it and to give their best Advice there never unlawful and oft-times necessary And here let me tell this Lord by the way that the Bishop which he hath sufficiently hated was so far from contending for this that though he had that Honour given him by His Majesty to sit there many Years yet I do here take it upon my Christianity and Truth that he did
Lord and others it may be made ready to receive them Now this Lord having thus belaboured these two Points that Bishops by meddling in Civil Affairs do hurt themselves in their Consciences and in their Credits he proceeds to instruct us farther And thus As these things hurt themselves in their Consciences and Credits so have they and if they be continued still will make them hurtful to others The Reason is because they break out of their own Orb and move irregularly There is a Carse upon their leaving their own Place My Lord is now come to his second general part of his Speech and means to prove it if he can that Bishops by any kind of meddling in Civil Affairs do not only hurt themselves in Conscience and in Credit but also if they continue in them they will make them hurtful to others also And that he may seem to say nothing without a Reason his Lordship tells us the Reason of this is because they break out of their own Orb and move irregularly But I conceive this Reason weak enough For first as is before proved these Stars to follow my Lord in his Metaphor are not so fixed to their Orb of Preaching the Gospel but that they may do other things also at other times so this be not neglected And therefore it will not follow that all their Motions out of this Orb are irregular Secondly when they do thus move they are not violently to break out of their Orb but to sit still till Authority find cause to call any of them a little aside to attend Civil Affairs that they may proceed never the worse and the Gospel the better As for that Curse which this Lord speaks of which follows upon their leaving of their own Place I know of none nor any leaving of their own Place This I am sure of whatever this Lord says that many extraordinary Blestings and Successes have come both upon this Kingdom and other Nations by Counsels given by Clergy-Men and I pray God his Counsels such as they have been do not bring Dishonour and a Curse to boot upon this Church and Kingdom But his Lordship goes on with his Metaphor and argues very strongly by Similitudes which hath but a Similitude of Argumentation The Heavenly Bodies while they keep within their own Spheres give Light and Comfort to the World but if they should break out and 〈◊〉 from their regular and proper Motions they would set the World on 〈◊〉 So have these done While they kept themselves to the Work of the Ministery alone and gave themselves to Prayer and the Ministery of the Word according to the Example of the Apostles the World received the greatest Benefits from them they were the Light and Life thereof But when their Ambition cast them down like Stars from 〈◊〉 to Earth and they did grow once to be advanced above their Brethren I do appeal to all who have been versed in the antient Ecclesiastical History or modern Histories whether they have not been the common Incondiaries of the Christian World never ceasing from Contention one with another about the Precedency of their Sees and Churches Excommunicating one another drawing Princes to be Parties with them and thereby casting them into bloody Wars This Argument is grounded upon si 〈◊〉 ruat if Heaven falls we shall get store of Larks But Heaven cannot sall and so 't is here The Heavenly Bodies while they keep within their own Spheres give Light and Comfort to the World but if they should break out which is impossible and fall from their Regular Motions which cannot possibly be they would set the World on fire or perhaps drown it again had not God promised the contrary according as the Irregular Motion bended So have these done Nay not so with this Lord's leave For First Clergy-Men are not so fixed to their Orbs as those Heavenly Bodies are but in themselves are free and voluntary Agents which those Bodies are not And Secondly they may and ought as occasion is offered them do many things in publick Civil Affairs which may much advantage the Gospel of Christ and they will never Fire the World by such attendance upon them and they may and ought give themselves to Prayer and to the Ministery of the Word notwithstanding this and they may be the same Benefits to the World of Light and Life as before Yea and I make no doubt but that when this Lord and his Followers will be as liberal and devout as the Primitive Christians were who sold their Land and 〈◊〉 the Money and laid it at the Apostles Feet Acts 4. 37. to make a Stock for their and the Church's Wants the Bishops will be well content to follow the Apostles Example as far and as well as they can But if the Bishops may meddle with no Temporal Affairs according to the Example of the Apostles how came the Apostles to meddle with the Receiving first and after with the Layings out of all this Money For say it was to be employed on charitable Actions yet some Diversion more or less it must needs be to the Preaching of the Gospel But since the Example and Practice of the Apostles is so often pressed by this Lord I would willingly his Lordship should tell me if he will make their Practice a Rule general and binding why now among Christians all should not be common as the Apostles and other Believers had it and that no Man might say that ought of the things which he possessed was his own Acts 4. 32. and then where is the Property of the Subject And then why do we not go up and down and Preach at large according to the Examples of the Apostles and endure neither Division of Parishes nor Parish Churches And why do we not receive the Communion after Supper at 't is well known Christ and his Apostles did Indeed if any Bishops or other Clergy-Men should become falling Stars from Heaven to Earth especially if their Sin should be so like the Devil 's as to cast themselves down by their own Ambition That as it makes the Fall heavy to them so yet I must say to this Lord that both Fall and Fault is the Person 's the Episcopal Office is not the cause of it as is here charged by him Nor did they become falling Stars so soon as they did once grow to be advanced above their Brethren as this Lord insinuates it For among the Apostles themselves there was a Chief in order S. Luke 22. 26. and some were advanced to Dignity and Power above their Brethren even in the Apostles Days whom yet I presume this Lord will not be so ill advised as to call fallen Stars As for the Appeal which he makes to all them who have been versed in Antient or Modern Ecclesiastical Histories that 's no great matter For in all Histories you shall find great Men of all sorts doing what in Honour and Duty should not be done and Ambition hath been the cause of
very much of this and Ambition sticks so close to Humane Nature as that it follows it into all Professions and Estates of Men And I would to God Clergy-Men had been freer from this Fault than Histories testifie they have But this hath been but the fault of some many Reverend Bishops in all Ages have been clear of it and 't is a personal Corruption in whomsoever it is and cannot justly be charged upon the Calling as this Lord lays it Neither have the worst of them some Popes of Rome excepted been the common Incendiaries of the Christian World But Incendiaries is grown a great word of late with this Lord and some of the poor Bishops of England have been made Incendiaries too by him and his Party But might it please God to shew some token upon us for good that they which hate us may see it and be ashamed Psalm 86. 17. there would be a full discovery who have been the Incendiaries indeed in these Troubles of England and then I make no question but it will appear that this Lord flames as high and as dangerously as any Man living But behold saith God all ye that kindle a Fire that compass your selves about with Sparks walk in the light of your own Fire and in the Sparks which your selves have kindled This shall ye have of my hand ye shall lie down in Sorrow Isai. 50. 11. Next I pray be pleased to consider how unworthily and fallaciously withal this Lord manages this Proof For all this Discourse tends to prove it unlawful for Bishops to intermeddle in Secular Affairs that so to do is hurtful to themselves in Conscience and in Credit and to others also by this their irregular Motion And this he proves by their never ceasing from Contention one with another either about the Precedency of their Sees or Churches They have indeed some and sometimes contended too eagerly for their Sees and Churches but neither all nor any that I know with a never-ceasing but the Bishop of Rome for his Supremacy And say this were so yet these Contentions were about their own proper Places not about Civil Affairs which now should lie before his Lordship in Proof and therefore was no irregular Motion of theirs in regard of the Object but only in regard of the manner Nor were they out of their Orb for this though faulty enough The like is to be said for that which follows their Excommunicating one another upon these Quarrels As for their drawing of Princes to be Parties with them thereby casting them into bloody Wars this hath seldom happened and whenever it hath happened some Church business or other hath unhappily set it on not their meddling in Temporal Affairs But whatever caused it the Crime of such misleading of Princes is very odious and as hateful to me as it can be to his Lordship But the Persons must bear their own Faults and not the Calling and sure I am this Lord would think me very wild if I should charge the antient Barons Wars in England upon his Lordship and the Honourable Barons now living But howsoever by this 't is plain that this Lord would not only have the Bishops turned out of all Civil Employments but out of their Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions also They must have no Power nor Superiority there neither their Sees must be laid as level as Parity can make them For all these Mischiefs came on saith he as soon as they were once advanced above their Brethren And one thing more I shall take occasion to say Here 's great Clamour made against the Bishops and their meddling in Civil Affairs but what if the Presbytery do as much or more Do they Sin too by breaking out of their Orb and neglecting the Work of the Ministery No by no means Only the Bishops are faulty For do you think that Calvin would have taken on him the Umpirage and composing of so many Civil Causes as he did order between Neighbours if so great Sin had accompanied it For he dealt in Civil Causes and had Power to inflict Civil Punishments in his Consistory For he committed divers to Prison for Dancing and those not mean ones neither and he arbitrated divers Causes and in a great Controversie between the Senate of Geneva and a Gentleman he tells one Frumentius who laboured for a Reconciliation that the Church of Geneva was not so destitute but that Fratres mei saith he huic Provinciae subeundae pares futuri essent some of his Brethren might have been fit for that Work Belike he took it ill that in such a Business though meerly Civil he and his Fellow-Ministers should be left out And for matters in the Common-wealth he had so great Power in the Senate and with the People that all things were carried as he pleased And himself brags of it that the Senate was his and the People his And to encrease his Strength and make it more formidable he brought in Fifty or more of the French his Country-men and Friends and by his solicitation made them Free Denizons of the City of which and the Troubles thence arising he gave an account to Bullinger Anno 1555. Or can you think that Beza would have taken upon him so much Secular Employment had he thought it unlawful so to do For whereas in the Form of the Civil Government of that City out of the Two hundred prime Men there was a perpetual Senate chosen of Sixty as Bodin tells us my worthy Predecessour Arch-Bishop Bancroft assures me Beza was one of these Threescore And yet what a crying Sin is it grown in a Bishop to be honoured with a Seat at the Council-Table Besides this when Geneva sent a solemn Embassie to Henry IV. of France about the razing of a Fort which was built near their City by the Duke of Savoy Beza would needs go along to commend that Spiritual Cause unto the King and how far he dealt and laid Grounds for others to deal in all such Civil Causes as were but in Ordine ad Spiritualia is manifest by himself And I am sure Laesus proximus may reach into the Cognizance of almost all Civil Causes Or can any Man imagine that so Religious a Man as Mr. Damport the late Parson of St. Stephen's in Coleman-street would have done the like to no small hindrance to Westminster-Hall had he thought that by this meddling he had hurt both his Conscience and his Credit whereas good Man he fled into New-England to preserve both Or if Mr. Alexander Henderson would have come along with the Scottish Army into England and been a Commissioner as he was in that whole Treaty wherein many of their Acts of Parliament concerning the Civil Government of that Kingdom were deliberated upon and confirm'd if he had thought his so doing inconsistent with his Calling Or that the Scots being so Religious as they then were even to the taking up of Arms against their King for Religion
be quieted by this Assurance that neither the Law nor their Liberty as Subjects is thereby infringed And for Physick the Profession is honourable and safe and I know the Professors of it will remember that Corpus Humanum Man's Body is that about which their Art is conversant not Corpus Ecclesiasticum or Politicum the Body of the Church State or Commonwealth Bastwick only hath been bold that way But the Proverb in the Gospel in the Fourth of St. Luke is all I 'll say to him Medice cura teipsum Physician heal thy self And yet let me tell Your Majesty I believe he hath gained more by making the Church a Patient than by all the Patients he ever had beside Sir both my self and my Brethren have been very coursely used by the Tongues and Pens of these Men yet shall I never give Your Majesty any sow'r Counsel I shall rather manifie Your Clemency that proceeded with these Offenders in a Court of Mercy as well as Justice Since as the Reverend Judges then declared You might have justly called the Offenders into another Court and put them to it in a way that might have exacted their Lives for their stirring as much as in them lay of Mutiny and Sedition Yet this I shall be bold to say and Your Majesty may consider of it in Your Wisdom That one way of Government is not always either fit or safe when the Humours of the People are in a continual Change Especially when such Men as these shall work upon Your People and labour to infuse into them such malignant Principles to introduce a Parity in the Church or Commonwealth Et si non satis sua sponte insaniant instigare And to spur on such among them as are too sharply set already And by this means make and prepare all Advantages for the Roman Party to scorn Vs and pervert Them I pray God bless Your Majesty Your Royal Consort and Your hopeful Posterity that You may Live in Happiness Govern with Wisdom Support Your People by Justice Relieve them by Mercy Defend them by Power and Success And Guide them in the true Religion by Your Laws and most Religious Example all the long and lasting Days of Your Life Which are and shall be the daily Prayers of Your Sacred Majesty's most Loyal Subject and Most Dutiful Servant as most bound W. Cant. Arch-Bishop LAVD's SPEECH AT THE CENSURE OF J. Bastwick H. Burton and W. Prinn My LORDS I Shall not need to speak of the infamous Course of Libelling in any kind Nor of the Punishment of it which in some Cases was Capital by the Imperial Laws as appears Cod. l. 9. T. 36. Nor how patiently some great Men very great Men indeed have born Animo civili that 's Sueton. his word laceratam existimationem The tearing and rending of their Credit and Reputation with a gentle nay a generous Mind But of all Libels they are most odius which pretend Religion As if that of all things did desire to be defended by a Mouth that is like an open Sepulchre or by a Pen that is made of a sick and a loathsom Quill There were Times when Persecutions were great in the Church even to exceed Barbarity it self Did any Martyr or Confessor in those Times Libel the Governours Surely no not one of them to my best Remembrance yet these complain of Persecution without all shew of cause and in the mean time Libel and Rail without all measure So little of kin are they to those which suffer for Christ or the least part of Christian Religion My Lords It is not every Man's Spirit to hold up against the Venome which Libellers spit For S. Ambrose who was a stout and a worthy Prelate tells us not that himself but that a far greater Man than he that 's King David had found out so it seems in his Judgment 't was no matter of ordinary Ability Grande inventum a great and mighty Invention how to swallow and put off those bitter Contumilies of the Tongue And those of the Pen are no whit less and spread farther And it was a great one indeed and well beseemed the greatness of David But I think it will be far better for me to look upward and practise it than to look downward and discourse upon it In the mean time I shall remember what an Antient under the name of S. Hierom tells me * Indignum est praeposterum 'T is unworthy in it self and preposterous in demeanour for a Man to be ashamed for doing good because other Men glory in speaking ill And I can say it clearly and truly as in the presence of God I have done nothing as a Prelate to the uttermost of what I am conscious but with a single Heart and with a sincere Intention for the good Government and Honour of the Church and the maintenance of the Orthodox Truth and Religion of Christ professed established and maintained in this Church of England For my Care of this Church the reducing of it into Order the upholding of the external Worship of God in it and the setling of it to the Rules of its first Reformation are the Causes and the sole Causes whatever are pretended of all this malicious Storm which hath lowred so black upon me and some of my Brethren And in the mean time they which are the only or the chief Innovators of the Christian World having nothing say accuse us of Innovation They themselves and their Complices in the mean time being the greatest Innovators that the Christian World hath almost ever known I deny not but others have spread more dangerous Errors in the Church of Christ but no Men in any Age of it have been more guilty of Innovation then they while themselves cry out against it Quis tulerit Gracchos And I said well Quis tulerit Gracchos For 't is most apparent to any Man that will not wink that the Intention of these Men and their Abettors was and is to raise a Sedition being as great Incendiaries in the State where they get Power as they have ever been in the Church Novatian himself hardly greater Our main Crime is would they all speak out as some of them do that we are Bishops were we not so some of us might be as passable as other Men. And a great trouble 't is to them that we maintain that our Calling of Bishops is Jure Divino by Divine Right Of this I have said enough and in this place in Leighton's Case nor will I repeat Only this I will say and abide by it that the Calling of Bishops is Jure Divino by Divine Right tho' not all Adjuncts to their Calling And this I say in as direct opposition to the Church of Rome as to the Puritan Humour And I say farther that from the Apostles times in all Ages in all Places the Church of Christ was governed by Bishops And Lay-Elders never heard of till Calvin's new-fangled Device at Geneva Now this
defire your Lordships to give me leave to recite briefly all the Innovations charged upon us be they of less or greater Moment and as briestly to answer them And then you shall clearly see whether any cause hath been given of these unsavory Libels and withall whether there be any shew of cause to fear a change of Religion And I will take these great pretended Innovations in order as I meet with them First I begin with the News from Ipswich Where the First Innovation is that the last Years Fast was enjoyned to be without Sermons in London the Suburbs and other infected Places contrary to the Orders for other Fasts in former times Whereas Sermons are the only means to humble Men c. To this I say First That an after-Age may without Offence learn to avoid any visible Inconvenience observed in the former And there was visible Inconvenience observed in Mens former flocking to Sermons in Infected Places Secondly This was no particular Act of Prelates but the business was debated at the Council-Table being a matter of State as well as of Religion And it was concluded for no Sermons in those Infected Places upon this Reason that Infected Persons or Families known in their own Parishes might not take occasion upon those by-days to run to other Churches where they were not known as many use to do to hear some humorons Men Preach For on the Sundays when they better kept their own Churches The Danger is not so great altogether Nor Thirdly is that true that Sermons are the Only means to humble Men. For though the Preaching of God's Word where it is performed according to his Ordinance be a great means of many good Effects in the Souls of Men Yet no Sermons are the only means to humble Men. And some of their Sermons are fitter a great deal for other Operations Namely to stir up Sedition as you may see by Mr. 〈◊〉 for this his printed Libel was a Sermon first and a Libel too And 't is the best part of a Fast to abstain from such Sermons 2. The Second Innovation is That Wednesday was appointed for the Fast-day and that this was done with this Intention by the Example of this Fast without Preaching to suppress all the Wednesday Lectures in London To this I answer First That the appointing of Wednesday for the Fast-day was no Innovation For it was the day in the last Fast before this And I my self remember it so above forty years since more than once Secondly If there be any Innovation in it the Prelates named not the day my Lord Keeper I must appeal to your Lordship The day was first named by your Lordship as the usual and fittest day And yet I dare say and swear too that your Lordship had no aim to bring in Popery nor to suppress all or any the Wednesday Lectures in London Besides these Men live to see the Fast ended and no one Wednesday Lecture suppressed 3. The Third Innovation is that the Prayer for seasonable weather was purged out of this last Fast-Book which was say they one cause of Ship-wrecks and tempestuous weather To this I say First in the General this Fast-Book and all that have formerly been made have been both made and published by the command of the King in whose sole Power it is to call a Fast. And the Arch-Bishop and Bishops to whom the ordering of the Book is committed have power under the King to put in or leave out whatsoever they think fit for the present Occasion as their Predecessors have ever done before them Provided that nothing be In contrary to the Doctrine or Discipline of the Church of England And this may serve in the General for all Alterations in that or any other Fast-Book or Books of Devotion upon any particular Occasions which may and ought to vary with several times and we may and do and will justifie under his Majestys Power all such Alterations made therein Secondly For the particular When this last-Book was set out the weather was very seasonable And it is not the custom of the Church nor fit in it self to pray for seasonable weather when we have it but when we want it When the former Book was set out the weather was extreme ill and the Harvest in Danger Now the Harvest was in and the weather good Thirdly 〈◊〉 most inconsequent to say that the leaving that Prayer out of the Book of Devotions caused the Shipwrecks and the Tempests which followed And as bold they are with God Almighty in saying it was the cause For sure I am God never told them that was the cause And if God never revealed it they cannot come to know it yet had the Bishops been Prophets and foreseen these Accidents they would certainly have prayed against them Fourthly Had any Minister found it necessary to use this Prayer at any one time during the Fast he might with ease and without Danger have supplied that want by using that Prayer to the same purpose which is in the Ordinary Liturgy Fifthly I humbly desire your Lordships to weigh well the Consequence of this great and dangerous Innovation The Prayer for fair weather was left out of the Book for the Fast Therefore the Prelates intend to bring in Popery An excellent Consequence were there any shew of Reason in it 4 The Fourth Innovation is That there is one very useful Collect left out and a Clause omitted in another To this I answer First As before It was lawful for us to alter what we thought fit And Secondly Since that Collect made mention of Preaching and the Act of State forbad Sermons on the Fast-days in infected Places we thought it fit in pursuance of that Order to leave out that Collect. And Thirdly For the branch in the other which is the first Collect though God did deliver our 〈◊〉 out of Romish Superstition yet God be blessed for it we were never in And therefore that clause being 〈◊〉 expressed we thought fit to pass it over 5. The Fifth Innovation is That in the sixth Order for the Fast there is a passage left out concerning the abuse of Fasting in relation to Merit To this I answer That he to whom the ordering of that Book to the Press was committed did therefore leave it out because in this Age and Kingdom there is little Opinion of Meriting by Fasting Nay on the contray the Contempt and Scorn of all Fasting save what humorous Men call for of themselves is so rank that it would grieve any Christian Man to see the necessary Orders of the Church concerning Fasting both in Lent and at other set times so vilified as they are 6. The Sixth Innovation is That the Lady Elizabeth and her Princely Children are dashed that 's their phrase out of the new Collect whereas they were in 〈◊〉 Collect of the former Book For this First The Author of the News knows full well that they are left out of the