thousand Of the which foure and twenty were appointed to bee ouerseers of the workes for the house of the Lord and sixe thousand were ordayned Rulers and Iudges in all Israell And least any man shoulde thinke that they were Iudges onely in Ecclesiasticall causes as some now a dayes would hold men in hād forcing the Scriptures to that forme of gouernement they see in some Churches let the six and twenty Chapter of the same Booke be wel read and aduisedly perused and he shal find that the Isharites Chenanas and his brethren men of might were deputed officers and Iudges for the businesse without ouer Israell Of the Hebronits Hesabias and his brethren men of might a thousand and seuen hundred were appointed Officers for Israell beyond Iordan westward in all the businesse of the Lord and for the seruice of the King And in the same Chapter it is sayd that Dauid appoynted the kinse-men of Iedijas men of might two thousand seuen hundred Princes of families ouer the Rubenites and the Gadites and the halfe tribe of Manasses for euery matter pertaining to God and the King To these I may adde that which I read in the nineteenth of the 2. of the Chronicles of king Iehosophat who intending the restauration of Gods worship and the reformation of the common wealth appointed Iudges Leuits and Priests and Princes of the families of Israell for the iudgement and cause of the Lord. And where as some thinke by that in the last verse of this Chapter That the Priests and Leuites were onely deputed ouer Ecclesiasticall causes because it is there written Behold Amarias the Priest shall be the chiefe ouer you in all matters of the Lord and Zebadias the sonne of Ismaell a ruler of the house of Iuda shall be for all the Kings affaires c. As if he had there put some difference betweene matters ciuill and Ecclesiastitall It is an errour growen as I haue sayde of a certaine fore-seasoned opinion of that gouernment which we see now in the Church or Rome and some other reformed churches For who seeth not that in this place the kings affaires and in the sixe and twenty of the former booke the seruice of the King doth not signify al one with ciuil matters and politique affaires but what so euer pertayned to the Kings right Such as were first described by Samuel and afterwards eyther imitated or augmented by the consent of the people as it often commeth to passe of the which ther was nothing prescribed by Moyses But what the businesse of the Lord was the tenth verse going before declareth by particulars For the Priests were interpreters of the law as well ciuill as ceremoniall and the King so appointing they were also the ordinary Iudges thereof These things I doe therfore remember that all men may know what is lawfull for the Ministers of the Gospell who succeede the Leuiticall Ministery in ciuill causes vnder a christian Magistrate not that I would wishe them intangled therewith any otherwise then the necessity of time and causes may require and that we may also know that those precepts of our Sauiour were giuen to no other end then that as I haue sayd that misconceite of his kingdom should not be strengthned in the mindes of his Disciples Least they should thinke the power which was giuen them were annexed with such autority as that they might alter at their pleasure and innouate publique estates by theyr peculiar power Chap. XXV Theyr error confuted that thinke no ciuill affaires of the common wealth ought to be committed to the Bishops and Pastors of the Church NOw a dayes this common error hath inuaded the mindes not onely of the common sort but of some part of the learned also so that there are manye of that side very strongly opinionate that the ciuill affaires of the common wealth doe nothing at all appertaine to Bishops and Ministers no more then if they were neyther cittizens nor any suppliment of the common wealth Curriers Diers Weauers Beere-brewers Smithes Fullers Marchauntes and Pedlers furnish the common house and giue their voyce in things concerning the common wealth neyther can I dissalow the same in a common wealth but that the Pastors of Churches shoulde stande excommunicate out of their generall assemblies it is a thing vtterly against the equal right of al Cittizens Seeing they liue vnder the same lawes obey the same Magistrate beare the same burdens of the common wealth Seeing in such publique assemblies they doe consult as wel of theyr liues and goods and what so euer else vpon the which not onely theyr owne estate but the publique good of theyr Churches also doth depend seeing I say they doe consult of these no lesse then of cloth and wooll and fish and felles importing and transporting any other commodities is ther any light of reason or light reason why godly Ministers ought to haue lesse care of the common wealth then common Burgomaisters If they can alledge no reason what colour can they set vppon theyr mishapen ground Why they aboue all others should be excluded the ciuill assemblies or Parliaments prouincial whom it chiefely concerneth to see least the flocke committed to theyr charge be layd open to Wolues In those things which concerne the safety of theyr soules nay but in those things also which touch the security of theyr bodies Are they not appointed of God watchmen and ouerseers as it were in a hie tower or heedeful centrenel as they which are to see from far what mischiefes are like to insue that they may admonish as well the people as the Magistrats themselues of such things as are to be auoided The which in deed they cannot doe so long as they are kept fasting from the conscience and conference of such thinges as are done in the common wealth If the Church could stand safe though the cōmon wealth fell to decay or if the one might rise by the ruines of the other I had the lesse to say but when as Church and common wealth are imbarked in the same vessell saile together in the same danger how should the deuout minister be lesse solicited for the safety of the common state then are the common Burgesses who for the most part iudge one thing cōmodious for the Church an other for the common wealth another for themselues and their own estate These are in office but for a year they neuer forsake theyr charges These may prouide many waies for themselues theyr own estate with the detriment of the Church danger of the commō wealth they can by no means preserue themselues or theirs vnlesse both Church common wealth together be preserued These consult that the common wealth sustaine no domage in corne and cattell in wares and marchaundise least themselues at any time should want their sweet return They doe not a little regard these things but besides these theyr especial care is that iustice faith godlines and true religion decay not in the
to be paid vnto God also as well as to Caesar as a testimony of our loyall subiection to his diuine Maiestie And is not the reason also as great for our heauenly King as an earthly Caesar Solomon in his Prouerbs among many other religious precepts hath giuen vs this Honour the Lord in thy riches and in the first fruits of all thy increase and thy barnes shal be filled with aboundaunce and thy wine presses shall burst themselues with new wine For no doubt we owe a tribute to the Lord as vnto the great King no otherwise then to an earthly Prince vnto whom wee may pay tribute for two respects both that hee may be able for those charges he vndertaketh for the common-wealth also that we may testifie vnto him our fealty and subiection as to our lawfull King the first being for our vse the second for his honour But now the first of these hath no place in God neither doth hee require any thing of vs in that behalfe but the latter is so much the more due to God by how much the more God is greater than man and the profession of subiectiō is necessary in euery faithful christian Wherfore after the Lord had appointed Israel a peculiar people to himselfe forthwith as Prince and chiefe Lord ouer his people he demanded the tenth of all their increase with orher rites and royalties of his supreame power And wheras it was alwaies an heinous matter among the Esterne Monarks to appear before the King without a present God required the like honor of his people namely for that hee was both king and Lord ouer his people For which cause in the law where all the males are commanded to appeare before the Lord they are forbidden to come neere without an offring Moreouer is there not yet extant in Malachy a shamfull rebuke against the Iewes which practised deceit in their first fruits and in their tythes That sacrilege the Lorde iustlie punished in them with the dire of a contagious dearth the which notwithstanding hee promiseth if they will amend that fault that hee would open the windowes of heauen and powre out vppon them a gracious plentye of all thinges The wordes of the Prophet are these VVill a man spoyle his Iudges but yee haue spoyled mee and say in what what things haue we spoiled thee in tythes and first fruits Yee are cursed with cursing it selfe for ye the whole nation haue spoiled me Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house and let there bee meat in mine house and proue me now saith the Lord of hosts if I wil not open vnto you the windowes of heauen that I may poure vpon you a blessing that their may be no end of aboundance c. Among the people of God it was alwais reputed an special exercise of gods religion to pay tithes truly of all that they possessed which they knew to be giuen not so much to a mortall priest as to the immortall God Doth not the Pharisie in the gospel glory in his fidelitie of true tything as in a rare virtue CHAP. X. An answere to certaine obiections the which it is confirmed by that the ministers of the gospel are worthy no lesse honor then were the priests of old among the people of God BVt it is excepted that the times are altered that at this day vnder the gospel the Priesthood is trāslated into Christ whose shadow it was that hee hath imposed an end to all outward rites by which means the right of tything is also antiquated with the Priest-hoode and all that outward glorie which made the antique Priests more honorable is therwithall ecclipsed Neither is there any man at this day which can arrogate to himselfe without impiety those auncient honours of the former priest-hood Is it not regestred among the chiefe errors of Antichrist that he vaunteth and aduanceth himselfe for Hic-priest Because that honour at this day is proper and peculiar to Christ alone In place of the auncient Priest-hood which was accompanied with an externall and a religious maiestie our Sauiour hath substituted the Ecclesiastical ministery base and abiect in great disgrace and cleane out of countenance And hath hee not giuen them their christning also according to their calling For therefore he gaue them the seruile names of Apostles and Ministers and Deacons and Bishops and Pastors setting aside all titles of Honor and dignity as are the names of Fathers and Doctors and Lords and such like that they might knowe what they were to conceyue of them selues their Ministery and that the people might likewise learne what reckoning to make of theyr paines and theyr persons Here is a faire tale surely and well soothed But what of all this that the Pastors and Bishops of Christ his Church are worthy lesse Honor in a christian common wealth then were of yore the Elder Priests Why then let vs conclude with al a lya or too that the leuitical priesthood is more honorable thē Christs that the ministery of the law is more glorious then that of the Gospell then the which if there can be any assertion more absurd this conclusion of theirs shall goe for no bad confection For if the Honor due to the Minister be to be measured according to the outward shew we may well conclude that Aaron was worthy double reuerence and our Sauiour the high Priest thrise sacred none at all For why he was inuestured with no mitre no labels nor did he glister with gold and precious stones But let vs first take that they giue vs in good worth namely that the Priests of olde were to be honored with no small obsequy then let vs examine the case what is to be deducted therof from the Euangelique Minister You are to vnderstand therefore that in most parts of the old ceremonies many times two things did meete in one which notwithstanding were diuerse and distinct in them selues of which the one did containe the shadow and promise of that which was to be exhibited in Christ the other did pertayn to some proper and especiall duety in the Church the shadowes are ceased those things being performed which in Christ were promised but the bond of especial duty remaineth as yet not cancelled For example sake the commaundement of keeping the Sabaoth hath a promise of eternall rest and a shadow of the rest of our bodies the seuenth day and besides that it includeth a morall dutie of seruing of God and ceasing from our labours The other precepts also do cōtain that duety of external worship which is due vnto God together with the rites of that time the rites being relinguished the worship of God to be retained The like we may say of the Priesthood in the which ther were sundry respects Whatsoeuer was typical was determined in Christ but of the other partes which were morall namely such as concerned the instructiō of the people the ministery of the Sacraments the regiment of the church the
and it hath ben handled at large also yet all little enough Such is the female misconceit of the lasciuious malecontent and the male miscontent of the learned ignoraunt of this age euer learning and neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth Notwithstanding seeing in the iudgement of the most wise and best learned this Germane Booke seemed for sound iudgement inferiour to none and for graue discourse equall to any it was therfore thought by them an action no lesse commodious to the people then commendable to the Author that he who in the causes of present controuersie hath propounded his iudgement vnto all shoulde haue his iudgement expounded vnto vs. The which although it hath beene curstly censured by a certaine suspicious and suspected Criticke emulous of his betters credite who in his professed lectures hath vsed the remembraunce of his name in disdaine with Sarauia nescio quis Yet his best auditors there and others his betters elsewhere haue found this difference betweene Sarauia and him that besides his great learning and no lesse experience of the which this great Censor neuer had the one neuer will haue the other Sarauia hath made knowen to him and the whole world by this his resolute definitiue who he is whereas the other in one whole tearme hath so behaued himselfe in the same cause that albeit wee all know who he is yet we could neuer tell where to finde him So hoppeth he betweene the stone and the Altar that as a man distract betweene feare and flattery he maketh vp his doubtfull resolution with this harmelesse confession Sentio quod sentio quod nescio I know what I know what I doe not know I but now we see the aduerse part partly by theyr lawlesse outrage and partly by theyr lawfull restraint to be nowe as impotent in their faction as they are odious in their opinion to be at this time as vnable as they were at all times vnworthy to preuaile and then what neede we any longer striue when the ennemy can no longer stand I aunswer that their increase was seene long since to be at the full and their credite appeareth euen now to be in the Waine For the which as we are to giue God thankes who in taking Iustice vpon some of them hath taken pitty vpon the whole Church so likewise are we to pray for the rest that in good time we may see eyther theyr speedy amendement or their present preferment For it is time O Lord that thou haue mercy vppon Sion yea the time is come Notwithstanding in the meane time wee haue entertained this profered aide not so much to inuade the seditious brethren or to bring home the resolued recreant as to strengthen the godly Subiect and to bring forward the well affected Protestant With the which if any man finde himselfe agreeued let him shew for it but so that Sarauia may vnderstand what he saith For my part if I haue conceiued him right the fruite is yours if I haue deliuered him not right the fault is mine Sure I am the Author meant you well and my Authors And so doe I. The Translator TO THE MOST REuerend father in Christ John by the prouidence of God Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of al England and Metrapolitane To the renovvmed and most honored Heroicke Sir Christopher Hatton Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Chauncellour of England As also to the noble and right honorable Sir William Cecill Baron of Burghley Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Treasurer of England of her Maiesties most Honorable priuy Counsell my very good Lordes true felicity THe auncient receiued custome of dedicating books to men of name and authority is growne and grounded vppon many reasons great waighty all which it shal be needelesse for me to reuise in this place But for my part there are chiefly three causes mouing me to consecrat this my small trauell to you the most Honorable and honored of me my good Lordes First that thereby I might testifye vnto you the duety and deuotion of a loyall and gratefull minde towards you that find my selfe seuerally and singularly bound vnto you all and euery one of you For first one of you vppon my repaire into England disdained not to entertaine me a stranger with no straunge countenance and straunge courtesie The other also dained to accept me vnworthy into his owne family And the other of his especiall fauour brought to passe that by her Maiesties priuiledge and preferment I might be made of a forreiner a freeman of an alien a Cittizen And seeing I haue receiued all these fauours without any deede or desert of mine God thou knowest mine vnworthines I were but too ingrate and vnkinde if I should bury in darke and deepe silence your so rare and religious demerites But whereas I haue no other thing to render or repay vnto your Honors but a mine of thanks and a thankfull minde that mind wil I alwaies beare and that duety in minde so that I will not cease to worship the sacred memory of your religious loue towardes me Another cause is the very nature of the argumente I vndertake the which I could not well prosecute without some particular mention of the Church of England In the which seeing I haue now my part and portion of a pastoral prouince and praised be the Lord my lotte is fallen vnto me in a faire ground might I not seeme vnmindfull of my good neglecting my duty if when I vndertake the cause of those Churches which are alien and outlandish I should ouerslip the state of mine own Church now gremiall to me and mere English But when mine hearts desire and praier to God is that I may some waies benefite my countreymen if I forget thee O Ierusalem And yet if I should forget my duety herein the meere alliance and relation of the matters them selues is such and so great as that by ordinary course of necessary consequence I must be inforced to inferre and praefer the mention thereof in my bookes But because I am but new made of Flemish sterling that is of Outlandish English it may be happely that they which are home-bred will thinke I deale not wel with them to deale with them and that I meddle too farre when I come so neare For which cause I thought it necessarye for mee to commend and commit my selfe vnto your Honorable patrocinie that this stranger book might freely passe vnder your safe conduct Neither shall it grieue me much though it be vniustly cast by most voices if it may iustly passe your accoumpt neither shall it hurt me much though the inraged multitude in disordered throngs cast stones at mee only if your Honors vouchsafe to giue me the white stone But the last cause is for that I am in some doubt how this discourse will be taken of them for whose sakes especially it was vndertaken For it is to be feared that they
Churches Of these things therefore I inferre That there was left of the Apostles Authoritie Apostolike to their successors whom they had disposed ouer many Churches and that partly for the establishing of such Churches as were throughly finished and partly for the finishing of such as were left not throughly formed and partly also for the planting of newe where as yet there was none founded And this was the cause why Paule beeing shortly to take his leaue of his life sent Crescens into Galatia and Titus into Dalmatia and sent for Timothie and Marke to make their repaire vnto himselfe Euen as the Lord himselfe being now readie to giue vp this life prouided for his Disciples in like manner the Apostles tooke great care for those Churches which were gathered and were to bee gathered from among the Gentiles otherwise how should the Churches haue receiued their so great increase after the Apostles Verely it is with teares to bee lamented that their holy Apostolike zeale is at this day so cooled amongst vs that no man so much as once thinketh of publishing the Gospell vnto Nations altogether estraunged from the faith of Christ But now seeing there were manie Churches lefte of the Apostles but newe begun and more not yet begun according to that power they had receyued of the Lord the work of the Gentiles conuersion which was begun by them was to be followed to the ende Of the which it followeth that the Apostolike power giuen of the Lord for the edifiying of his Church doth yet remaine in the Church And those parts of Apostolike gouernment as they were giuen of old to certain singular Bishops so are they to be giuen at this day where they are not giuen and so are they to remaine where they are giuen If any man desire some reformation to bee had in that kind for my part I am not against it The disposing of this power the Church hath as it alwayes had yet so as where the Lord hath giuen a Christian Magistrate hee bee not left out nor loose his part For they doubtlesse are those Seniors Auncients and Elders of the which there is so often mention in the Bible whom we read to haue beene ioyned of old with the Priests and Leuites in weightie matters for they are in stead of the whole people That the authoritie of Bishops ouer Priests or Elders is approued by the consent of the Churches throughout the whole world Chap. XX. THat which we read to be done of al Churches from the Apostles times and of the Fathers throughout the compasse of the whole earth and the same continued euen vnto these our daies I do alwaies holde as a sacred Canon of the Apostles not to bee repealed Neyther is it a smal presumption to abrogate that which hath beene receyued with so greate and vniuersall consent from the which to reuolt besides that it is in it selfe an vncouth declination of a conceit giddie and head-strong it will also bring with it a greater mischiefe and misery to the Church then many at the first will conceiue or any in the end can releeue Among the old Canons which for their antiquity are called the Apostles wee read this that followeth It becommeth the Bishops of euery nation to know who is the chiefe among them which is to bee accounted as it were the head without whose opinion these ought to do nothing of any great moment but that euerie man doe those things which belong vnto his owne parish and the villages which are of the same Neither let himselfe doe any thing without the knowledge of all for so there shall be concord and God shall be glorified through our Lord in his holy spirit This Canon a worde or two translated is renued in the Councell of Antioch in these wordes The Bishops which are in seuerall prouinces ought to know that he which is Bishop in the Metropolitane Cittie hath charge also of the whole prouince for that they which haue any businesse recourse from all places to the Metropolis or mother Cittie Wherefore it seemeth expedient that hee excell the rest in honour and that the other Bishops doe nothing of anie great moment without him according to the auncient decree of our Fathers but onely those things which pertaine vnto their owne precincts the Parishes subiect to the same For let euerie Bishop haue authoritie ouer his owne prouince and let him gouerne the same according to his owne deuotion and let him haue charge of the whole prouince which is subiect to his Cittie that hee may create Priestes and Deacons and dispose all things with iudgment besides this let him doe no other thing without the Bishop of the mother Church neyther hee himselfe without the opinion of the rest In which Canon renewed and reestablished I obserue two thinges the first is the Antiquitie of the Canon the other is That the prouince was not alwaies committed to the Bishop of the Metropolitane Cittie seeing a cause is added why Ecclesiasticall controuersies are to be presented to the Bishop of the Metropolitane Cittie rather then to any other of the which seeing the Apostles Canon made no mention the first Fathers seemed not alwaies to haue had that respect of the said Metropolis The antiquitie of this custome is sufficiently declared in the seuenteenth chapter of the Nicene councel as followeth Let the auncient custome preuaile which was in Egypt Lybia and Pentapolie that the Bishops of Alexandria haue an excellency supreme dignitie ouer all these Seeing that this is also the custome with the Bishop of Rome In like manner at Antioch and in other Prouinces primacie dignitie honor authoritie is giuen vnto those Churches But this is most plaine that if any man he made a Bishop without the consent of the Metropolitane The great Councell defineth that he ought not to be a Bishop Thus goeth the Law neither were it anye great matter to confirm the same with the Canons of other Councels and Ecclesiasticall histories But by this it may appeare what was the iudgement of all those auncient fathers concerning this matter That some are of opinion that Patriarches and Archbishops were first created of the Nicene councell or as some will haue it of the first Constantinopolitane Councell their opinion is their errour for the Nicene councell which was called about the twentie yeare of Constantine the great testifieth that it enacteth no new thing when it commaunded that the olde custome should bee continued so that it was no new thing at that time for some one Bishop to haue superiour authority ouer the rest of his brethren his authoritie being limited by certaine lawes But that some argue how that to be president ouer diuers Prouinces to haue charge of them belongeth to the office of an Apostle and an Euangelist and that one and the same man cannot bee an Apostle and an Euangelist and a Bishoppe for that these are distinct offices I may answere them that neuer yet any before these our
that the first occasion of creating one Bishop ouer aboue the rest of the Elders was by reason of scisme notwithstanding it therfore followeth not that it was done for that cause onely or that it was not done of any diuine institution But the occasion of creation of Bishops alledged by Hierom is a coniecture but too vncertain grouÌ„ded vpon no likelihood of reasoÌ„ that for the offence of one Church the Apostles contrary to the Lord his institution should place one Bishop ouer al the Churches which had not offended that throughout the whole world This were very hard Neyther doe wee read at any time that the Elders of the Church of Corinth gaue the occasion of this scisme but that it was taken of the people by reason of that opinion they had of their Pastors and Elders by whome they were eyther baptized or brought to the faith But for men to swell in the vanity of theyr humors with an ouer-prised conceyt of theyr Teachers as also of theyr parents and place of theyr naâ—â—uity and such like singularities it is as you know an ordinary thing among men And yet they for whose sake this scisme was set abroache at Corinth were not at Corinth so that for the auoyding of this scisme the Elders which were to be set in som better order vnder one Bishop were Paul himselfe Apollos and Cephas and such disordered fellowes by whome the people were drawen to such a singularity Without doubt me thinks this was a vayne motion and an idle conceite of Hierome as is also that which he addeth of a decree made throughout the whole world Good now let me aske him this question When or of whom that decree could be made or at least wise how or by what possible means so generall a consent could be obtained agaynst the will of the Lorde in the first ordinaunce of Elders For presently in all the Churches throughout the whole worlde Bishops were aboue Elders both in honour and authority That blessed Paul would change the Lord his own institutitutioÌ„ or if he would that he could it is not likely The other Apostles dispersed throughout diuers regions were ignorant of those thinges which were done at Corinth so that they cannot be suspected to haue giuen theyr voyces to the ratifying of this decree But that we may imagin that this scisme at Corinth came to theyr knowledge at the length that after some miraculous manner they all met together from diuerse foreine and the farthest partes in the worlde I say to imagin all this yet can any man euer imagine that for the auoyding of this one scisme they all would conspire together for the ouerthrow of the Lord his owne institutioÌ„ And much lesse could this be done after the Apostles time that all Churches should assemble and consent to alter and exautorate that which was both ordayned of the Lord and deliuered of the Apostles At the least some of them would haue still receyued the first institution But of the antiquity of this custome we will call Hierome himselfe for a witnes and we shall finde him not onely in this place but also in his Epistle to Euagrius At Alexandria sayth he euen to Heraclas Dionisius Bishops the Elders chose one from among themselues and placed him in a higher degree and named him their Bishop In like manner as if an armie should name them an Emperour And yet by the way I would not the people should here be deceaued thinke by these words of Hierome that the Elders alwaies placed one of their owne companie ouer them There are innumerable examples where the Elders being discarded the people and the cleargie haue elected either Deacons or some others which were not reputed among the cleargie By the which also it may appeare that the churches were not acquainted at all with that generall decree or that they had any such regard therof in their elections of Bishops that they must alwaies choose from among their Elders their ordinarie Bishop Yet be it so and let vs yeeld thus much to Hierome that there was such a decree made then must wee needes say that either they made the same contrary vnto the Lord his institution and so wee must also say that al those fathers al their councels shamefully erred which wee cannot saye they did in anye other thing and we haue shewed they could not do in this or els we must say that they made it in a thing indifferent neither with the institution of God nor against it but in the meere power and sole disposing of them from whome it proceeded And then what are we sillie men that we should once dare to condemne that decree vnto the which all Christendome did condescend Wherefore as before I now againe inferre that this censure was but the priuate conceit of Hierome repugnaunt to the generall iudgement of all the fathers which either went before him or liued after him And therefore when as he knew full wel that it would be obiected against him that this was but his bare censure not the sentence of the holy Scripture he assaieth to make good the same with scripture and therupon he first pawneth Paul his Epistle to the Philippians in the which hee greeteth the Byshops Deacons of that church as also the 20. of the Acts and the 1. of Titus where they which were Elders are called Bishops To the which places before I make any further answer it shal not be amisse to heare what Theodoret saith of this matter he expounding this place of Paul writeth thus they call Bishops Elders for that at that time they had hoth the names as it well appeareth in the 20. of the Acts and the 1. to Titus For with Bishops he ioyneth Deacons when he had made no mention of elders neither could it otherwise be that there should he many Bishops the Pastors of one citty by which means it commeth to passe that they were the Elders of one cittie whom he calleth Bishops But in this Epistle hee calleth the blessed Epaphrodite then Apostle for hee saith your Apostle and my companion in labour So that he manifestly sheweth that he had the dispensation of a Bishop committed to him when he had the denomination of an Apostle Thus much Theodoret Now you shal vnderstand that the error of Hierom and Aerius grew of the not different and confused vse of these titles a Bishop and an Elder as they were then in vse But when as the same thing befalleth the title of an Apostle also is it not strange that they should rather erre in the one then the other For where as Barnabas Epaphroditus and manie others are called Apostles yet no man thereby euer thought that there was no difference betweene them and the twelue Apostles but because the history of the calling of the twelue Apostles and those other which were likewise called Apostles is better knowen vnto them and more familiar with them then is that of the
well pleased Howsoeuer therefore prophane men make small account of that honour which is due vnto the Elders notwithstanding that the same is sacred and to bee compared with the sacrifices which were offered of olde in the Lords Temple it is apparantly manifest by the manifold testimonies of Scripture CHAP. VII Certaine other reasons confuted and the truth confirmed by manie testimonies of Scripture BVt it shall not bee amisse for vs to see in this place how farre out of all order the frenzie of certaine vngodly men will hurrie it selfe who will not onely not deigne to contribute of their owne to the Ministers but they hardly vouchsafe them those honest stipends which they pay vnto them out of the robberies of their owne Churches Out of that one example of Paule they thinke they may set the Minister to plough and harrow or whatsoeuer mannuarie drudgerie that by this meanes all sacred studie might languish and the little flocke of Christ being left desolate of learned Pastors might lie open to the rapine torture of foxes and cater-pillers and wolues of all sortes There is no great neede say they of any great store of Learning in a Minister it is enough if with a little zeale and a few good wordes they can exhort the people to a certaine kind of verbal deuotion and for this the Bible is extant in the mother toong as for the deepe-sprung-brestes of the learned Muses it sufficeth diuines if they may get but a smacke of them by the way or sucke them as through an hardle O diuine wisedome Christ in thy Fathers bosome is not this with that recreant Iulian to enuy thy Christian people the liberall Artes And that which not And thou seest it But let vs returne to Paule who in an Epistle to the Corinthians recounteth of the labour of his handes by the which hee got his owne liuing as a prayse to himselfe and a reproch to the Corinthians shall it followe of this that all Ministers of the Gospell ought to doe the like for so they thinke But now can not I tell whether I shal rather disclaim the impudencie or disdaine the ignorance of these men seeing the Apostle himselfe doth plainely resolue that hee did more in that case then he needed and lesse then hee might For had he not as great right to put them to as great charges as did the other Apostles But for certaine causes hee would not and therefore spared them But who seeth not heere that this the commemoration of the Apostle is a certaine exprobation vnto the people of that dutie they neglected So long as that Epistle shall bee read among men that shame will sticke fast to the Corinthians that they suffered so excellent an Apostle to want in so plentifull a Cittie Doubtlesse therefore it is but too too bad dealing both with Paule and with vs to vrge that which the Apostle was vrged to doe once or twise vpon occasion of necessitie that he might offend no man or least any being offended should say or thinke he preached the Gospell not so much for the loue of religion as for the hope of reward and to passe ouer as neuer seene the more autentike examples of other Apostles and of Paule also himselfe who else where openly testifieth that the Churches had abundantly ministred vnto him all thinges necessary that hee also freely exacted the same thing of them and that of dutie as in the fourth to the Philippians from the tenth verse to the twentie and to Philemon from the eight verse to the nineteene But what is the reason may we thinke that that one place of the Corinthes should bee so much noted which maketh mention of the labour of the Apostle his handes and that notable place of the Actes should bee so little spoken of where it is reported that the faithfull layde the price of their possessions at the Apostles feete and that they left all their substance in their handes And why is not that example of Ananias and Saphira as well quoted who for detracting somewhat of the price of their owne landes were seuerely punished by present death Ingrating couetousnes no doubt and irreligious ingratitude hath made them there as quicke sighted as Argus but here as bleare-eyed as Oules so that thereat they stare herein they are starke blind But that the intoxicate frenzie of these men may appeare the more outragious it shall well requite our paines if in this place we make regarde to the Euangelike precepts of Christ in this cause In the tenth of Mathew and the tenth of Luke wee reade and wee may remember how the Lorde when hee had sent his Apostles to preach the Gospell gaue them authoritie to feede vpon those things that they found amongst the faythfull The labourer saith hee is worthie of his reward And Paule in his first Epistle to Timothie the fift chapter The Elders which rule well sayth he are worthie of double honour especially they which labour in the worde and doctrine For the Scripture saith Thou shalt not mussle the mouth of the Oxe which treadeth out the corne And in his first Epistle to the Corinthians the ninth chapter from the fift verse to the fifteene he maketh a plaine and a plentifull demonstration by seuen seuerall argumentes that they which preach the Gospell ought to liue of the Gospell His first reason is taken from the Soldiour That no man goeth to warre-fare of his owne costes and charges The second is drawne from the husbandmen Who if they plant a vine it is reason that they should eate of the fruite of the vine The third is borrowed of the shepheard Who feed their flockes and are fedde by their flockes And that no man should thinke the Apostle spake of affection he addeth Say I these thinges according to man Namely as a man moued with auarice or carryed away with couetousnesse Nay then he prouoketh of his side the law it selfe which alwayes inioyned vs a certaine ciuilitie and semblable kindnes euen vnto brute beastes if they doe vs any seruice that wee may well knowe how much rather wee ought to performe the same towards men I say towardes men which aboue all men deserue well of all men And this is the fourth argument in that place which he amplifieth by the similitude of him which ploweth and thresheth out the corne for the commoditie thereof It is written in the law of Moses sayth he Thou shalt not mussle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne Doth God take care for Oxen eyther sayth hee not this altogether for our sakes for our sakes no doubt it is written that hee which eareth should eare in hope and that he which thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope The fift argument is drawne from them which sowe corne in hope to make a good haruest If we haue sowne to you sayth he spirituall thinges is it a great thing if wee reape your carnall thinges There is no proportion at
Ministers a thing neuer so much in controuersie as at this day Of the which we will first heare what was the opinion of those fathers which liued in time next after the Apostles CHAP. XI The iudgement of the Fathers concerning the oblations of the faithfull I Wil first begin with Origen who liued vnder Seuerus about two hundred yeares after our Sauiour Hee vppon the eighteenth Chapter of Numbers in his eleuenth Homily writeth thus It is behooueful and it is also beneficiall that first fruits should be offered vnto the Priestes of the Gospell For so hath the Lord also ordained that they which preach the Gospell should liue of the Gospell and they which serue at the altar should also be partakers of the altar And as this is due decent so of the contrary part I account it both vnmeete and vndecent and vngodly also that he which worshippeth God and entreth into the Church of God and knoweth that the Priests and Ministers do wait at the altar and attend eyther vppon the word of God or the Ministerie of the church should not offer vnto the Priestes the first things of those fruits of the earth which God hath giuen by bringing forth his Sonne and sending foorth his raine Neither can I thinke such a mind to bee mindfull of God neither that hee thinketh or beleeueth that God hath giuen the fruits he hath receaued which hee so hordeth togeather as if they were none of Gods For if he beleeued they were giuen him of God hee would also acknowledge that in rewarding the Priests he therby honored God for his gifts And moreouer that these things the better to be obserued may bee taught by the word of God let vs heare what the Lord saith in the Gospell Wo be vnto you Scribes and Pharises ye hypocrites which tythe Mint that is pay tythe of Mint Cummin and Ane-seeds and let passe the greater things of the Law Hypocrites these thinges ought yee to haue done and not to haue left the other vndone c. The same authour proceedeth in the same booke How then dooth our righteousnes exceede the righteousnes of the Scribes and Pharisies if they dare not tast of the fruits of the earth before they haue offered the first fruits vnto the Priestes and the tythes are set forth for the Leuits and I doing none of these things doe so abuse the fruits of the earth as that the Priest knoweth not of them the Leuite is ignoraunt of them the altar of God doth not taste of them Ireneus the Scholler of Polycarpus in his fourth booke the foure and thirtie chapter writeth of the sacrifices and oblations of Christians the which thing hee also in many other places remembreth whereby the custome and opinion of the church at that time concerning that matter may the beter appeare The words of the holy Father are these VVherefore we ought to offer to God the first fruits of his creaturts as Moses saith Thou shalt not appeare emptie in the sight of the Lorde thy God that in what things a man hath shewed himselfe thankfull in those things he which is deputed ouer him might thank fully receaue that honour of him And that kind of oblation is a 〈…〉 ain allowed For there were oblations there and there are oblations heere also There were sacrifices among the old people there are sacrifices in the Church also but the manner of them is onelye altered seeing that nowe these are offered not of bond slaues but of free-men For there is one and the same Lorde but there is a seuerall forme of seruile oblations and a seuerall forme of them which are free that euen by these oblations also there might appeare some token of our liberty For there is nothing idle or endlesse with him without some signe or sense And for this cause indeed they did consecrate theyr tenthes but they which haue obtained their libertie doe dedicate to the Lords vse al things that they haue chearfully freely giuing those things which are of lesse account hauing indeed a greater hope that widowe and poore woman casting in heere all her substance into the Lord his treasurie c. Afterwardes in the same chapter hee addeth this Wherefore seeing the church offereth with singlenes for iust cause is the gift thereof accepted as a pure sacrifice before God Euen as Paule also writeth vnto the Philippians I was euen filled after that I had receiued of Epaphroditus that which cam from you an odour which smelleth sweete a sacrifice acceptable and pleasant vnto GOD. For wee ought to offer oblations vnto God and in all things to be found thankefull vnto God our maker offering the first-lings of those his creatures in a pure mind and faith without hypocrisie in a ferme hope and feruent loue And this oblation the church onely doth present pure vnto the Creator offering vnto him of his owne creatures with thankes-giuing c. And againe in the same chapter But we offer vnto him not as hee needed our offerings but to shew our selues thankefull vnto him for his bountie and to sanctifie his creatures For as God hath no neede of those th ngs which come from vs so we haue need to offer some thing vnto God Irenaeus calleth Almes and oblations good actions as also Cyprian calleth them good workes Paule beeing their Author who calleth them good deedes and distributions and good workes 1. Tim. 6.18 Tit. 3.14 Heb. 13.16 and Sacrifices with the which God is wel pleased Many other thinges of the like import might bee cited out of the same Authour But let vs attend vnto that of Cyprian in the like sense the wordes some-what altered who in his foure and thirtie Epistle writeth thus of the Readers whome hee had ordained Nowe you shall vnderstand that wee haue appointed for them the honor of an Elder that they should bee honoured with the same fees that the Elders are and that they should deuide the allowaunce for euerie moneth in equall portions The fees which were deuided euerie moneth vnto the Priestes hee calleth the honour of the Presbyterie But out of his sixtie Epistle wee may also make some estimate of what wealth the Church of Carthage was namely by a certaine contribution made by the Cleargie and layitie of that place For there were collected no lesse then an hundred sestercees which they sent to the Bishops of Mauritania to redeeme captiues beeing also readie to send more if need were The wordes of Cyprian are these VVee haue sent vnto you an hundred sestercees That is 2500. ducates at the least or vnles that may seeme to great a sum for that time 2500000 which were gathered heere in the Church ouer the which I am president by the fauour of God the contribution beeng made by the Cleargie and people that are amongst vs the which you shall dispose there according vnto your best indeuours And in his sixtie sixe Epistle he writeth thus The tribe of Leuie which attended vpon the
simplicity of the Euangelike ministery IF any man obiect that these tenures in fee are accompanied with certaine Royalties ciuill iurisdictions secular titles honors and retinewes in which thinges the auncient Nobilitie are an ornament vnto the King and the Countrey and therefore not agreeable vnto the simplicitie of the ministerie which thing the Lord him selfe taught as well by expresse doctrine as especiall example Because indeede such thinges they doe but intangle a man in extearne vanities and solicite their heartes with the cares of this world in the which it becommeth a Bishop to be secure And furthermore for that the Lord himselfe beeing requested to sit but as arbiter betweene two brethren denied the same And againe when the Apostles made the question which of them should bee the greatest hee made aunswere and sayd The Kings of the Gentils raigne ouer them and they which beare rule ouer them are called gracious Lordes but yee shall not be so but he that is greatest amongst you let him be as the least and he which is Prince as he which ministreth By which the wordes and examples of our Sauiour wee are taught that the Ministery of the Gospell hath nothing common with the Common-wealth It may suffice for an answere vnto this obiection which wee haue before noted namely that all this they talke of hath his place in that estate in the which our Sauiour and his Apostles liued not in that common-wealth in the which the chiefe Magistrates acknowledge Christ Iesus their chiefe Lord and soueraigne King For as the Magistrate is of an other calling now in the Church then before he had so is it reason also that the seruaunts of the Lorde should bee of better estate in the Common-wealth then before they were The Magistrate which before was an enemie and a persecutour according vnto the prophesie of Esaias is become a Foster-father of the Church and a religious worshipper of the Lorde Christ vnder whome were it not an absurd thing that the seruaunts of Christ should haue no more honour then vnder a persecutor But because it is not set downe expreslie in the Scripture what of what sort and how great the same ought to bee many mens mindes are heere at a maze and some are of mind so to leaue it as at a dead losse and yet notwitstanding the thing it selfe is not so hard to find out and it is in his owne nature wel enough knowen and that both by the written lawe of God and the vniuersall censure of all nations were it not for the awkewarde interpretation of those scriptures which I haue nowe cited Out of the which notwithstanding there is nothing els directie concluded but that it is not any part of the Ecclesiasticall function to intermedle in ciuil affaires the which indeed is out of all controuersie Neither is that the question but whether the same man that is a Pastor may not togeather with the ministery of the Gospell bee lawfully imployed in politique affaires for the benefite of the Church and good of the Common-wealth For when as the Minister of the church is cittizen also of the common-wealth he ought not thinke any thing not pertaining to him that pertaineth to the Common-wealth so that beeing lawfully called hee may not vndertake some part of the ciuill estate As for that which I lately cited concerning our Sauiour who refused to be an arbiter it is nothing to this question For the spirite of Christ in the mouth of Paul doth plainly teach vs that the meanest of the church are good enough to iudge of earthlie causes for that one day they shall iudge the worlde yea the Angels themselues a iudgement farre greater then this The which seeing the Apostle affirmeth of any Christian is it to bee thought that onely Christ alone was no fit man to take vp a small matter betweene two brethren if they both had bene content to stand vnto his iudgement Wee cannot therefore imagine that our Sauiour Christ simplye refused the office of an arbiter but that hee denied himselfe to bee that iudge which might command both parties to stand vnto his arbiterment And is not this then a slight testimonie for to proue it not lawfull for a Bishop who is both a Cittizen and a subiect to exercise anye ciuill iurisdiction the Magistrate so commaunding him or to execute some other pension of the Common-wealth not abhorring altogeather from his profession beeing furnished with sufficient authority to discharge it That the foure-score and second Canon commandeth him to be disordered who vndertaketh both Prouinces the Ecclesiasticall power and the secular principality for my part I say not against it if so be that it bring no inconuenience vnto the Bishoppes of the Church and that it may bee done with the good leaue of the Prince and without anie great hurt to the Church and Common wealth And thereupon we are also bolde to say that Theophilus and Cyrill Byshops of Alexandria transgressed that Canon of whome Socrates reporteth that of themselues they tooke vnto themselues the principality of that citty In like manner doe the Bishops of Rome when as they improoue vnto themselues those things which are Caesars For when as they are the vassals and subiectes of the Emperour they haue notwithstanding extolled themselues aboue their Lords and aduanced the sheepheardes croysier aboue the royall scepter But for those Bishops which vaile their bonnet to their Soueraigne and obey their Princes in honest and godly things there is not the like reason And many things many times are done in the Common-wealth extraordinarilye so that there can no lawe bee published or made which it is not lawfull for to gain-say at some time or other for the good of the Common-wealth Neither is the other example that they vrge of anye force For had our Sauiour meant to haue inthronized himselfe in that earthly kingdome which he neuer ment yet would hee haue refused that tumultuous course For what power had that part of the people to annoint him King CHAP. XX That it is lawfull for Bishops to heare ciuil causes and to determine vpon them THat Bishops had to deale in ciuill causes when as the parties submitted themselues to their iudgement it is sufficiently known by the writings of the Fathers the works of Iustinian The which although it were a matter of no smal trouble vnto the godlie Bishops yet the iniquitie many times of secular Iudges their delayes demurs and cauils in lawe were such as that the Bishops of meere charity were moued vnto this labour Neither are they therein to be so censured as if they vsurped the place of the ciuill Magistrate for he did it by the consent of the chiefe Magistrate as it appeareth in the writings of Iustinian in his first booke de Episcopali audientia the fourth title where hee commaundeth that there should be that reuerence giuen vnto their iudgement which is due vnto the hiest powers from whome it is not lawfull to appeale
subiect to Lawes and Magistrates as well as other men Or may they not bee commaunded if they cannot be entreated by them vnto whome they are subiect to doe good to the Church or Common-wealth Neither is that of Paule to Timothie any thing at all against this assertion No man that warreth intangleth himselfe in the affaires of this life For the affaires of this life are those with the which we get thinges needfull for this present life not those things which appertaine to the publique estate of the Prince or Common-wealth War-fare it selfe is one of the publike affaires of the Common-wealth vnto the which whosoeuer is leuied must leaue his domesticall affaires so that if a man would vrge the similitude thorowly Hee which warreth vnto God must leaue all his domestical affairs against that example of Paule of whom no man wil doubt but that he discharged his Pastorall duty faithfully yet notwithstanding intangled himselfe in the affaires of this life when necessity constrained him to get his liuing with his handie labor and to spend that time in the affaires of this life which other-wise he might better haue imployed either in praier or in Preaching Beeing ready no doubt to haue done the like in publique affairs which he did in priuate had the Magistrates commanded and the good of the people required the same Wherefore the sense of the similitude is this that we must abstaine from those things which do so hinder the VVarre to the which wee are called as that they force vs to for-sake the same That the vse of certaine things which doe perteine vnto the Common-wealth as to haue a Ciuill iurisdiction in certaine Citties or townes which a man may discharge by another to be of the Kings councel in certain causes to be present at the publik assemblies of the kingdome to deliuer his iudgement in thinges concerning the state to vndertake and discharge a royall Embassee at certaine times of the yeare to be present at sessions and assises and to vndertake all these by the Kings especiall commaundement or generall commission that these things I say and such like are of that wicked nature that whosoeuer vseth them cannot be a Bishop or a Minister this I say should haue bene prooued and this also that the Minister which intermedleth in any of these things for a publique commoditie beeing there-vnto called and commanded by the Magistrate dooth commit a wicked thing and vnworthy his calling CHAP. XXIII That diuerse functions are not confounded albeit vndertaken of one man THAT which is commonly said of the state Ecclesiastique that it is distinct from the Ciuil estate is altogeather impertinent to this question seing both callings become not one though one man be called to them both Are not the parts of of a Lawyer diuerse and the partes of a Physicion diuerse yet the same party may play both partes and prooue as good a Lawyer as a Physicion In like manner the same man may be both Physicion and Diuine and cure the body as a leach and comfort the soule as a spirituall Father Spiridion was a husband man and got his liuing by graizing yet was hee a Bishop of the Church and a Pastor of soules shall we thinke that he confounded both these functions I but a Bishop requireth the whole man neither yet is one man sufficing for more charges I but this indefinite censure is vncertainelie true and certainely false and there are manye presidentes to the contrary both in the old Testament and in other antique histories First I would know whether Spiridion both Pastor of sheepe and of souls were not a man able for both these charges No man as yet so far as I can learne hath enuied him his ferme with his Bishoprick No man hath dared to condemne that holy men but all men haue worthely admired both his simplicity and his sanctimony and yet might hee haue beene more greedy of graizing then of gaining soules had his mynde ben set vppon coueteousnes But why then might not the same man haue beene both Bishop and the kings Counseller as well No doubt the greatnes of euerye charge is chiefely to be considered and then also the supply of necessary ayde which a man may haue in either charge whereby he may well discharge the same There are some Churches more great then other som som haue more busines some lesse in so much that the Pastor may haue much time sometime to spare from his ordinary charge And in a great Church where the Bishop hath many and great affayres it may be he hath many and great helps Had these two functions beene so aduerse and contrary the one to the other that they could neuer be exercised together by the same man Moyses would neuer haue beene both Prince and Priest ouer the people of God But I feare me some silly shrewd fellow wil haue his action against me for that I haue called Moyses a Priest And yet I would haue him first to vnderstand that after he had created Aaron himselfe stil continued both Prophet and Pastor as he was before But that Ely Samuel were both Iudges and Priests together it cannot be denied You will say that was a thing extraordinary and I say that I do not speak of any ordinary thing neyther of all the Pastors of the Church onely I vrge what may lawfully be done where the welfare of the Church or common wealth requireth the same and in the meane while these examples shal proue that the same thing hath beene done But if so be you would haue a view of a ciuill authority which was also ordinary may it please you consider those forty eight Citties of the Leuites and the gouernement thereof For they could not be gouerned without a Magistrate and ordinary Iudges shall we say that they chose them Magistrats out of other Tribes to determine theyr controuersies when as themselues were ordinary Lawyers and not onely present but president at ordinary Iudgements Deutronomy the one and twenty Chapter and first verse euery question and controuersie is determined according to theyr censure And is there not the like reason of those royalties which are giuen to clergy men in a christian common wealth with those Citties and suburbs the old Israelites gaue the Priests and Leuites by the commandement of God Chap. XXIIII That Dauid and Solomon vsed the aide of Priestes and Leuits in ciuill affaires ANd as the most renowmed and religious Princes Dauid Salomon others vsed the Priests and Leuites at their command as other subiects in ciuill gouernement so likewise may christian kings vse the ayde of Bishops other Pastors of the church if there be any among them which may stand either them or the common wealth in any stead In the first of the Cronicles the three and twenty Chapter at the commaundement of Dauid there is a suruey made of al the Leuites from thirty yeares of age and vpwards and ther were found eight and thirty
power or hath he by any counsell aduised them to withdraw their bountie from his seruantes or that they should haue no regard of those duties they haue performed or not to grace with titles of honour their honest demerits of whose truth wisdom they haue made great vse had great experience Nabuchadnezer preferred Daniel amongst the Babilonians Darius aduanced Mardocheus among the Persians and shall it not be lawfull for a Christian King to honor the seruants of Christ for their religion that vpon a certain religion forsooth That the meane may be exceeded no man doubteth namely when as diuine honors are giuen to mortal men or where immoderate dignities are ambitiously affected of them who ought to be the patterns of modestie the Doctors of humilitie but yet that ciuil honour cannot bee thought immoderate but of immoderate men which according to the custome of the Cuntry is giuen for iust causes by the aduised Prince to his approued Subiects How many most holy men whose liues were only priuat yet publikly renowned which haue suffered themselues to be called Lords witnesse the two Testaments 3. Reg. 18. Did not Abdias the seruant of K. Achab meeting with Elias salute him by the name of Lord 4. Reg. 4. Was not Elizeus honored of the Sunamite by the name of Lord Did not the keeper of the prison call Paul and Barnabas by the name of Lordes Acts. 16. And yet the modestie of their mindes notwithstanding was no lesse then that of Peter who would not suffer himselfe to bee honored of Cornelius aboue measure We read of Paul Barnabas how they rent their clothes and ran into the throng repealed the diuine honors which Iupiters Priest with the peple would haue done vnto them and verely if so bee in the name of Lord ther had bene any such eminent honor or imminent danger as som think they would haue refused that I conclude therefore that in a Christian common-wealth which is the Church of Christ all externe things as wealth riches preferment and ciuill honours may bee referred of all and euerie the faythfull of any calling or condition whatsoeuer to the glorie of GOD and the good of the Church and the benefite of the common-wealth For so indeede they ought to bee referred With the which I include this also that the seruantes of Christ ought so to prepare themselues both for honour and ignominie both for wealth and want as that they may vse all thinges aright to the honour of God and edifiyng of his Church Chap. XXIX Of the Bishop familie and retinue BEsides all this the Bishops retinue ordinarie attendants are no small motes in the eies of some that cannot without enuie behold the same For doe they not therein imitate the peeres and potentates of the lande Not Christ I warrant you not Peter not Paule were euer thus garded But alâs poore popular and child-pleasing speech simple are the men whom these faire wordes make faine for I dare be bold to say that the retinue of Christ his Apostles was as honorable as it might be in respect of the time the thing for the which he came into the world much more honorable should haue beene if God had meant to restore mankind after an other sort then he did And yet as it was our Lord and Sauiour was not without aboue fourescore men in his family which waited vpon him whither he went or went before him whither he was to come I but there were no gallant Gentlemen to braue it in their chains of gold there were no barbed steeds to praunce it in their siluer studded raynes In that solemne pompe when Christ would shewe his glorie vnto the Cittie hee was well mounted vppon a sorie Asse attended with the simple companie of his weake Disciples I but this againe is but a popular perswasion in the which ther is nor pith nor rind against the thing in question Will they neuer learne that our Sauiour after that manner prouided for that season least eyther hee should incurre the suspicion of affecting an earthly kingdome or other-wise might haue hindered the worke of our redemption Doubtles had he bene knowen in his kind to Herod to Pilate and to the chiefe Priests that which the people did of a good zeale they would haue done for their own aduancement but then would they neuer haue crucified the Lord of glorie Neither would he which tooke in good worth the honor of that oyntment which was powred vpon him and receiued royall presents of the wise men golde myrhe and frankincense haue euer refused that honour which was due vnto him from all earthly Princes might it haue stoode with the saluation of mankind But is not this a worthy kind of arguing which is vsed aswel against the Papists as against vs to reason from the times actions of a faithles people to the times and duties of a christian nation neither doe I commend in our Bishops either pride or ryot or any superfluous excesse but this I say that that retinue is not to be disalowed which the receaued and continued custome of the countrey requireth It was an auncient custome in the Church that a Bishop should neuer walke forth alone or be alone hee had records and eie-witnesses of al his actions Now they which are more indifferent to Bishops had rather they should bee attended with gown-mē the which I also had rather But let vs weigh the matter in an euen ballaunce for they which would haue the Bishops retinue to be men of his owne quality seeme to say some-what and to stand to the examples of the ancient Fathers But it is wel knowen that our BB. are neuer without such also Wherefore the question is now of the number which cannot bee prescribed to all alike for that their reuenues are not all alike But go too let vs once againe alow Bishops their ancient attendants The more there is of them the greater is his family so a greater number of seruants and so a greater retenue by ods then is as this day and shall not their enuy also increase with the company for company But the seruing mens swords and the Gentlemens chains do gall them at the heart and paine them in their eies as if good men it were a thing misbeseming the calling of christians that a Bishop shuld be attended by Gentlemen whether old or young That yong Gentlemen and wel nurtered should be preferred to some godly BB. that they may attend his person and marke his maners therby become the better and better learned there no is no man without an enuious eye that can mislike the same Bishops houses haue bene alwaies Colliges of learned men and schooles of al virtue and what hindreth that they may not now be But least I should seme to haue taken vpon me the patrociny rather of BB. then of their calling I may not seeme to set forth the virtues of any which at this
ought to be reuersed vnto their lawful vse for the which they first serued The Arke of the Lord was taken of the Philistines and prophaned but it did not therefore cease to be sacred to God being receiued againe from the Philistines it was no lesse to be esteemed then it was before The vessels and ornaments of Solomons temple were translated by Nabucadnezar to Babylon the which things beeing laid vp in the Temple of his Gods after his manner he vsed them religiously But Babylon beeing conquered Cyrus in the right of a conquerour might haue praied vpon them yet when he once knew that they afore-times pertained to the holy worship of the most holy in the temple of Solomon he abstained from them and cōmanded that they shuld bee restored to their former vse againe More wisely or more religiously done least hapiy hee might haue incurred the same crime of cursed sacrilege for the which the Lord had iustly punished prophane Balthasar his predecessour By the which it may appeare that what things are once destined to the vse of the Church are sacred vnto God for euer not is it lawful at any time to distract them to foraine vses CHAP. V. A distinction of those Church-goods which the Church of Rome possesseth at this day BVt when as all the goods which we see in the Church of Rome are not of the same kind we cannot giue the same iudgement of them al. There is therfore a threfold difference of them alwaies to be remembred In the first order I place those which our godly Fathers gaue to the Church for the maintenance of the Pastors and the relief of the poore In the second order I place those which were granted to the church for superstitious vses as for Masses Dirges Monks and Nuns morow Masse-priests And in the last order I place those infinite donations pernitious to the Common-welth which were either rashly made by Kings and Emperors or wrongfully extorted from them by force or fraud of which kinde are the inuestiture of those Ecclesiasticall fees which were giuen by godly Princes to the churches the which when as by that title they do pertaine to them of right yet the BB. of Rome doth chalenge the whole right therof to himselfe But these things seeing that by the lawes both of God man they pertain to Kings alone that which is Caesars is to be giuen to Caesar The Lord hath forbidden ministers to be Kings ouer their churches therefore in the 22. of Luke he purgeth that humor in the heads of his Apostles with this Aloes The Kings of nations rule ouer them and they which haue power ouer them are called bountifull but it shall not be so with you that is you shall not be Kings with which magnificent titles of bountifull and gratious they flatter them which haue smal cause bearing the heauy yoke of their cruell dominion Wherefore in this case christian Kings may lawefully reuerse what-soeuer the Bishop of Rome hath vnlawfully raked to himselfe by fraud or by force But heere I require discretion and moderation to bee vsed that Caesar do not so reuerse those things which are Caesars that together he fal to rifle those things which are Gods Indeed the cleargy of Rome hath rauisht them both but they are not worthy whom the christian Magistrat shuld imitate neither is he a mā of worth that wil punish theft with sacrilege What things the error of our fathers gaue to superstitious vses they ar void I confesse supestition and idolatry being taken away the godly Magistrat may dispose of such goods as hee shall thinke good neither hath the church any right to chalenge in these And yet if the authority of the former law aleadged and the counsel of the learned father Augustine be of any worth those legacies which were giuen for the celebrating of masses the nourishing of Monks may be conuerted to some better vse by the which the memory of the testator may be solemnized in another a more lawful kind In the 16. of Numb the censors with the which the 250. rebels offered vp incense as Priests in sin vngodlines were notwithstanding hallowed before God and therfore that in no wise they might afterwards be imploied in any common vses he commanded them to be drawn into brode plates for a couering to the altar So were the instruments which the irreligious abused conuerted to a sacred and a religious vse The which commandement indeed althogh it be not general yet it conteineth therein an especiall instruction by the which we are taught what ought to be done in such a case Augustine in his 154. Epistle to Publicola is of opinion that the Idols Idol-temples groues which were put down were not to be diuerted to any priuate vse but to bee conuerted into publike seruices and the honor of the true God that the like thing may be done by them which is done in the men themselues who are conuerted from a sacrilegious impious people to the true religion of the liuing God Least otherwise it might seem to be done not of conscience but for couetousnes But seing the law of God prescribeth nothing in this matter and whatsoeuer Moses hath written therof concerneth the people of Israell in perticular I make it no matter of religion why the Magistrate may not determine herein as it shal seeme best to his godly wisedome Nor doe I disauow the decree of the Emperours Honorius and Theodosius but I aduise al Princes and other chiefe Magistrates who haue earst reformed Churches or shall here-after that this one thing be alwais wel considered of them namely that Churches were but robbed of their rights by Monestaries when they gleaned to themselues the duty of tythes and oblations which things christian Princes and people haue consecrated of old to the honor of their Pastors the comfort of the poore For they preposterouslie take vpon them the gouernement of Churches contrary vnto the order of the ancient Church and vnder the title of voluntary pouerty these gathered that to themselues which was giuen to the poore for necessity CHAP. VI That the goods of Monks are not all of one kind AS in those goods which the Pastors and rectors of the Church possesse I haue shewed that ther is great difference so neither are we to think that the goods of Monks are all of one sort It were to long to repeat how they came to so great wealth neither is it needfull onely this I wuld haue wel noted that whatsoeuer the Monks possessed which of right was due to the Pastors of the church that al that did pertaine to the first order of church-goods which I before noted the which indeed after the subuersion of Monasteries are not to be taken for wast so long as there is anie Church remaining Wherevpon I infer that all popish idolatrie being put down onely those things which maintained either tyranny or idolatry do deuolue by right to the Chequer the