having the name among the three mighties He was also Captain of the Guard to David and after the Death of Ioab he was made Lord General of the Host by King Solomon in Ioabs room 1. King 2. 35. And this is fully to be proved by excellent learned men As Sigonius Bertram Casaubon Moulin especially by the learned Hugo Grotius upon Mal. 5. 21. Where he doth accurately shew out of the Text Iosephus Philo and other Monuments of the Jews that there was no distinction of Courts the one Ecclesiastical the other Civil as Calvin and Beza and some others that follow them would have it but the Judges and Courts were united and the Priests and Levites the principal Judges and Officers in every Court to whom the people were to be obedient upon pain of Death Deut. 17. 12. They being appointed to hear every cause between blood and blood between plea and plea and between Stroke and Stroke being matters of Controversie within thy Gates And as our Laws call them Pleas of the Crown and Common pleas or whatsoever else did arise among them pertaining to God and the King 1 Chron 26. 30. 32. for which purpose God did scatter them in every Tribe and turned the curse of Iacob into a singular blessing to be divided in Iacob and scattered in Israel Appointing 1700 to be on the West-side Iordan and 2700 on the East-side The ancient frame of our Kingdome for 500. years beforre the Conquest was thus disposed and governed As Spelman sheweth fully in his learned Glossary and Councels and happy had it been if things had continued so still But now the Law being otherwise setled and the Courts divided it is not safe or easie to make alteration Only without change of Law or Courts the Benches may continue as they are though some more Judges be added in most Courts and some Eclesiastical persons among them as in the Saxon times Comes praesidebat foro Comitatus non solus sed adjunctus Episcopo hic ut jus divinum ille ut hnmanum diceret alterque alteri anxilio esset Consilio Praesertim Episcopus Comiti nam in hunc illi annimadvertere saepe licuit errantem cohibere Idem igitur utrique territorium jurisdictionis terminus Glossarium in Comes pag. 111. The Bishop and Earl of the County were joint Magistrates in every Shire and did assist each other in all Causes and Courts and so Mr. Selden in his History cap. 14. Sect. 1. By this means there was great union and harmony between all judges and officers whereas now there is great contention for jurisdiction and intollerable clashing in all Courts by Injunctions prohibitions Consultations and crosse orders to the great Vexation of the Clients and Subjects And by multiplying several Courts the number of Lawyers is greatly increased as Lord Cook sheweth 4. Instit. p. 76. Where he gives divers reasons of the increase of Suits in Law and in the same Book reckoneth up no lesse then 74. Courts of Law and justice of all sorts in the Kingdome besides the Ecclesiastical Courts Which are not many for the number and had little businesse to do when they were in greatest power For commonly two or three proctors were enough to dispatch the businesse of any Bishops Court without Advocates But in the Courts of Common Law there is a farâ— greater number of Lawyers in these times whereas there was but an 140. Lawyers and Attorneys appointed by that Martial and Legislative King Edw. 2. When he distinguished the Courts and appointed the number of Lawyers and Attorneys for the whole Kingdome whereof the Writ is referred unto by Lord Cook 4. Instit. pag. 76. But the writ it self is put down by Spelman in his Glossary pag. 44. 58. Sed hodie forte in uno Comitatu tot solummodo Atlornati reperiantur But the Division and Separation of the Ecclesiastical Courts from the Temporal seems to have proceeded first from Pope Nicholas the first as is mentioned in Gratian. Com. Cum ad verum 96. Distinct. about two hundred years before the Conquest which was imitated among us by William the Conquerour whose Statute for that purpose is recited and illustrated by Spelman in his Glossary and lately also published by Mr. Selden and Lord Cook 4. Instit. c. 52. So that as the Pope hath been the Authour of much evill in the World oftentimes so in this particular when he came to the height of his greatnesse having de facto the Supremacy in all Ecclesiastical matters he made the Clergy subject only to himself and his Deputies and Legates and such officers as he sent among us But at length Hen. 8. Contested with the Pope and recovered the Supremacy of his Crown though it cost much blood and opposition in his time But he having recovered it and it being approved by Parliament it is fully setled upon the King and vested in his Crown And as Lord Cook saith 4. Instit. pag. 331. His Majesty hath and Queen Elizabeth before him had as great and ample Supremacy and Iurisdiction Ecclesiastical as ever King of England had before them and that had justly and rightly pertained to them by divers other Acts and by the ancient Laws of England if the Clause of annexation in the said Statute of 1 Eliz. had never been inserted Wherefore the Speech of Iohn Pym as in Rushworths Collections 4. Caroli That the Supremacy was given by parliament to the Crown and as he seemeth to understand it may be taken away by parliament is a dangerous opinion not to be endured Lord Cook saith 4. Instit. pag. 325. The Act 1. Eliz is an Act of Restitution not a gift meerly given which was not formerly due and belonging to the jurisdiction of the Crown If therefore the King hath his Supremacy vested in his Crown so firmly and is Custos ntriusque Tabulae by the Word of God as the Arch-bishop sheweth Then this Ecclesiastical Head must be allowed to have some Ecclesiastical Sences to be consulted withal excellently learned and principal persons of the Clergy And as he addeth truly If Cranmer the Arch-bishop had been thus dealt withal and suppressed in the minority of our young Iosias Ed. 6. What had become of the great work of our Reformation and also if Ridley Latimer Hooper and the rest of the protestant Bishops Martyrs afterwards had been set aside and neglected the Reformation could not have been effected Therefore unlesse the King have good choice of Ecclesiastical persons excellently Learned Bishops both in the ancient Councels Fathers Histories and Controversies and in Canon and Civil Laws requisite to determine of great difficulties that will continually happen in the Church whereof the Conusance belongeth to the Spiritualty as Lord Cook sheweth out of the Statute 25. H. 8. cap. 21. and commendeth them for their Knowledge Integrity and Sufficiency and if so then much more at this day I saith Coke When all kind of Learning is eminently advanced to an higher
And the two Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York had place of any great Temporal Lords Dukes Earls and Marquesses or great Officers as appears by the Statute of 31. Hen. 8. câ—p 10. and Lord Cooke 4. Instit. pag. 361. and to what end should they hold such priviledges and places of Honour in Parliament unlesse they had the right and power of voting in all Cases unlesse in cases of blood and all our ancient Parliaments and Statutes do fully reckon the Lords Spiritual in the first place and then the Lords Temporal and lastly the House of Commons These being the three estates in Parliament but the Kings person doth not make one of the three estates as some of late have affirmed but Lord Cook the great Oracle of our Common-Law doth otherwise account 4. Instit. cap. 1. Shewing of what persons the Parliament consisteth This Court consisteth of the Kings Majesty sitting there as in his Royal politick capacity and of the three estates of the Realm viz. First Are the Lords Spiritual Arch-bishops and Bishops being in number 26. who sit there by Succession in respect of their Counties or Baronies parcel of their Bishopricks which they hold also in their politick Capacity And every one of these when any Parliament is to be holden ought ex debito justitiae to have a Writ of Summons 2. The Lords Temporal Dukes Marquesses Earls Uiscounts and Barons who sit there by reason of their dignities which they hold by Descent or Creation in number at this time 106. and likewise every one of these being of full age ought to have a Writ of Summons ex debito justitiae 3. The third estate is the Commons of the Realm whereof there be Knights of Shires or Counties Citizens of Cities and Burgesses of Burroughs All which are respectively elected by the Shires or Counties Cities and Burroughs by force of the Kings Writ ex debito justitiae And none of them ought to be omitted and these represent all the Commons of the whole Realm and trusted for them and are in number at this day 493. In the beginning Romulus ordained a hundred Senators for the good Government of the Common-wealth afterwards they grew to 300. and so many were of the House of Commons in Fortescues time cap 18 fol. 40. as Lord Coke alledgeth him How the number of the Commons is increased to 500. or more let them inquire that please perhaps the number of Burgesses of Corporation and some Towns which the Kings have lately allowed to come unto the Parliaments may be a reason of their great increase Lord Coke saith that anciently when the Parliaments were holden at Westminster the Commons â—ate in the Chapter-House of the Abbot of Westminster and the Common Chronicles do mention that heretofore in the time of H. 8. The Commons sate in the Black Friers where there were many large Chambers and Rooms But since the distinction of Cottages and free-Chappells 1. Ed 6. c. 14. The Commons sit in the ancient and beautiful Chappel of St. Stephens Abbey founded by King Stephen so that they now sit in the Temple of God The learned Montague against Selden cap. 1. pag. 290 saith that Sedet in Templo Dei may be understood either Materiraliter as the great Turk doth whose palace is that which sometimes was the chief patriarchal Church built by Iustinian the Emperor the Church of sancta Sophia or spiritualiter taking it for contra Ecclesiam Dei by persecuting Christians in quantum Christians for that they profess the name of Christ Jesus who are the living Temples of the Holy Ghost c. The Bishops presence and voting in the Parliaments may well seem necessary in these times when the Parliament doth undertake to determine Controversies of Religion of the greatest difficulty as of predestination absolute Reprobation universal Grace Free-will and final perseverance Sir Iohn Eliott and Iohn Pym zealous men in Religion would not yield to the King 40 Caroli Tunnage and Poundage till they had first setled Religion touching the points of Ariminianisme they accounting that Arminius was an upstart Heretick very dangerous to the truth as Rushworth relateth in his Collections p. 659. Now if Parliaments will undertake to dispute and determine such great and difficult points of Religion as of Predestination absolute Reprobation universal Grace Free-will and final perseverance It is fit that the learned Bishops should have power to vote in such difficult matters of so great Concernment as well as any Members of the House of Lords or Commons for it is well known that many of the Bishops are men of excellent Learning judgement and abilities as being long trained up in the Universities and some of them publick professors reading Lectures in Diuinity and Heads of Colledges that they might be well informed concerning these points or any other better then Sir Iohn Eliott or Iohn Pym or any other Member of the House of Commons whosoever he be or of the House of Lords whereof very few are learned or expert in the difficult points of Gods Decrees And whosoever is wise and sober will be willing to refer these matters to the Convocation who are a part of the Parliament and have the same priviledges as other Parliament men have as Lord Cook sheweth 4. Instit. cap. 74. pap 322. c. And their proper office and duty is to debate of matters of Religion of Heresies Schismes and other like matters as Lord Cook sheweth very fully The Bishops being the principal men that Reformed our Religion made the 39 Articles both the lesser and greater Catechism Common Prayer Book and the Book of Ordination the Homilies and whatsoever else hath been setled in Religion so that they are most necessary and fit to be present in all Parliaments Dr. Burgesse having written an examination of the reasons asserted by Bishop Hall and Archbishop Williams of York And this Author having written against his examination of the reasons the Doctor made a further Reply Wherein he saith pag. 5. that if it can be made good that in the * Wetten-Gem of the Saxons the Bishops exercised a legislative power in voting of laws as our Biâ—hops have done in Parliaments the Examiner must provide him another Advocate for my part I must yeild the cause I hope it appears clearly by that is here alledged out of good Authority that the Bishop had a legislative power in voting and therefore by his own confession he must yeild the cause and contend no farther about it There is one reason further to be considered why the Bishops might well be of great Authority in all Parliaments and publick Assemblies and that is by reason of their Learning and Knowledge in languages and matters of Law and policy which they got by travail into forraign parts for most of them in their youth were bred in the English Colledge at Rome which was built and endowed by the Kings of England Ina and many others after him for the education of Learned Scholars sent
the Chancery and Courts of Equity in charge of a Divine Minister So ran that Channel till Sir Francis Bacons Father had it from a Bishop and now a Bishop had it again from Bacon And had King Iames lived to have effected his desires the Clergy had fixed firm footing in Courts of Judicature out of the road of Common Law and this was the true cause of Williams Invitation thither To prevent many Complaints and Mischiefs there can be no better way then to follow the Example of Gods own chosen people of Israel where the chief fathers of the priests and Levites were Judges in all Courts both high and low sitting together with some chief men of the other Tribes of the Laity as they are now called And though our Law be otherwise of late years and the jurisdiction of Courts divided yet it was not so anciently and the King may put some of the Clergy in some places and Courts at least of Equity as King Iames did design if he had lived longer and that without any prejudice to the Law or Courts of Justice CHAP. IV. Concerning the Honour and Dignity of the Bishops in the time of the Saxons and so continued to these times FOr the Dignity Order and Estimation of the Clergy they were from the beginning reckoned and accounted equal with the best as appears by the Laws of divers Kings as first of the first Christian King Ethelbert who in his Laws doth provide in the first place for their rights and priviledges and what Satisfaction shall be made for any wrong done to the Church or Bishops or Clergy Quicunque res Dei vel Ecclesiae abstulerit duodecima componat solutione Episcopi res undecima solutione Sacerdotis res nona solutione Diaconi res sexta solutione Clerici res trina solutione Pax Ecclesiae Violata duplici emendetur solutione Volens scilicet tuitionem eis quos quorum doctrinam susceperat praestare saith Bede These being the first Laws of our first Christian King of the Saxons they ought to be reverenced for their Antiquity piety and Christian Justice in rendering to every man his own due though some men talk not only of taking away superfluities but of cutting up both root and branches O Tempora O Mores And afterwards about the time of King VVithred there were laws made Quomodo damna injuriae sacris ordinibus illata sunt compensanda And often elsewhere in the Councils many Laws do ordain what satisfaction shall be given to the Church and Bishops for several offences committed for then the Bishops had a great part in all fines and shared in forfeitures and penalties with the King Furthermore for point of Honour and Dignity it appears by the Laws of King Athelstan that every Archbishop was equal to a Duke of a Province Every Bishop to an Earl and so esteemed in their valuations Vide K. Athelstani Regis apud Lambardum p. 71. Concil Britannica pag. 405. cap. 13. de Weregeldis 1. capitum aestimationibus The Title of Baron was not then known or used among the Saxons but they called the Nobility Thanes Vid. K. Inae pag. 187. Sect. 9. and the Bishops were equal or rather superiour to the Thanus Major and the priest to the Thanus minor The Bishop and Earl are valued at eight thousand Theynses Messe-Theynes and Worald-Theynes id est Presbyteri secularis Thani jusjur andum in Anglorum lege reputatur aeque sacrum cùm Sacerdos Thani rectitudine dignus est The Priest was then accounted equal to a Knight or Lord of the Town and was commonly styled by the name of Sir as a Knight was though now it be derided and out of use Out of these Laws and some others doth the learned Antiquary who is so well versed in the Antiquities and Monuments of our Laws and Kingdome fully set down the ancient dignity and order of the Clergy Magno sane in honore fuit Universus clerus cum apud Populum Proceres tum apud ipsos Reges Angliae Saxonicos nec precaria hoc quidem concessione sed ipsis confirmatum legibus Sacerdos ad altare Celebrans minori Thano i. e. Villae Domino atque militi aequiparabatur in censu capitis pariter aestimatus pariterque alias honorandus quia Thani rectitudine dignus est Inquit Lex Abbas sine Câ—nobiarcha inter Thanos majores quos Barones Regis appellarunt posteri primicerius fuit Episcopus similiter inter Comites ipsos majores qui integro fruebantur comitatu juribusque Comitivis Archiepiscopus Duci satratrapae amplissimae Provinciae pluribus gaudenti comitatibus praeficiebatur Vt caeteri omnes Ecclesiastici comparibus suis omnibus secularibus Amplectebantur Reges universum clerum laeta fronte ex eo semper sibi legebant primos a consisiis primos ad officia Reipublicae obeunda Quippe sub his seculis apud ipsos solum erat literarum clavis scientiae dum militiae prorsus indulgerent laici factumque est interea ut os sacerdotis oraculum esset plebis Episcopi oraculum Regis Reipuâ— Primi igiâ—ur sedebant in omnibus Regni comitiis tribunalibus Episcopi in Regali quidem palatio cum Regni magnatibus in comitatu una cum comite Iusticiaerio comitatus in Turno Vicecomitis cum Viceâ—omite in Hundredo cum Domino Hundredi sic ut in promovenda justitia usquequaque gladius gladium adjuvaret nihil inconsulto sacerdote qui velut saburra in navi fuit ageretur Mutavit priscam hanc consuetudinem Gulielmus primus c. After the Conquest William the first divided the Ecclesiastical Courts from the secular not with a purpose to diminish the Ecclesiastical authority Imo jurejâ—rando confirmavit leges sanctae matris Ecclesiae quoniam per cam Rex Regnum solidum habent subsistendi firmamentum Yet the Bishops and Clergy do not now expect or desire to enjoy their ancient splendor amplitude and dignities seeing the greatnesse of their Revenue which should uphold the dignity is long since taken away So that well might Bishop Latimer in his Sermon before King Edward say We of the Clergy have had too much but that is taken away and now we have too little For there was no lesse in the whole taken away from them then many hundred thousands sterling too incredible to be here briefly expressed I will only mention one for example the Arch-bishoprick of York from which was taken 72. mannors and Lordships at one instant by one of the last statutes of Hen. 8. and the like happened to Canterbury London Lincoln and all the rest which me thinks should be enough to satisfie that men should not go about to strip them of these poor pittances that are left unto them being but small fragments in comparison of their ancient patrimony which the liberality and piety of the primitive times haâ— conferred on them when Charity
God as they pronounced or prescribed Thus the reverend and Learned Bishop Bilson in his perpetual Government cap. 4. Besides in every City there were private and peculiar Rulers 21. in number as Iosephus saith and also to every Magistracy in those Cities there was allotted two of the Tribe of Levi for assistance as Iosephus witnesseth and if those could not determine the busâ—nesse then they did appeal to the great Council And so Grotius sheweth most accurately upon Mat. 5. 21. Now God appointed these offices and dignities and power of Judicature to the Priests and Levites besides their attendance upon Gods service and the Course of every Priest and Levite was but one Week in half a year to attend at the Temple as Iosephus and Scaliger and Selianus doth shew with other accurate Chronologers so that beside their attendance upon Gods Service they had time and leisure enough to be helpful in the Government of the Kingdome Yea sometimes the principal Judges were chosen out of the Tribe of Levi as at the beginning of their Common-wealth Moses himself of that Tribe the greatest prophet prince that ever was among them So after in succeeding times Ely the high Priest was made Judge in his time So also Samuel a Levite was cheif Judge in Israel as 1 Sam. 7. 15. who judged Israel all the dayes of his life And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethell and Gilgal and Mispeh and judged Israel in all those places much alike as our judges do go their Circuits every year throughout the Land p. 17. And his return was to Ramah for there was his House and there he judged Israel and there he built an Altar to the Lord. And his three Sons after him Samuel made them being Levites Iudges over Israel though they did not walk in their Fathers ways but turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted judgement After the Captivity of Babylon for some 500 years till the coming of Christ the Priesthood had the greatest stroke in the Government As Ezra the Priest and brother to Iesus the high priest that returned from the Captivity whose memory is honourable among the righteous as learned Montague sheweth against Selden pag. 377. He had Commission from the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes to govern and order the Controversie Ezra 7. 12 25. and gave him authority to set Magistrates and judges which might judge the people and power to execute the laws of God and the King pag. 26. and to inflict punishments unto death or banishment or to confiscation of goods or imprisonment So that Ezra had great authority and full power given him and his worthy Acts are there recorded So afterwards under the Maehabees who were priests the Common-wealth was governed and it pleased God to make that Family victorious as any other almost that ever governed that Common-wealth as Sir Walter Raleigh sheweth lib. 2. cap. 15. If thus it were anciently among the chosen people of God why then should any in these dayes be so much displeased that a Bishop or a Clergy man should have any part in the Government of the Common-wealth or assistance of Government for the better Ordering and Directing of judgment or to be Counsellor to a Prince as Zechariah the Levite was a wise Counsellor 1 Chron. 26. 14. Benajah a Priest son of Iehojadah was one of David's twelve Captaines being the third Captain of the host for a moneth and in his Course consisting of 2400 was his son Amizabad Benajah also was of David's principal Worthies having the name among the three Mighties He was also Captain of the guard to David and after the death of Ioab he was made Lord General of the Host by King Solomon in Ioabs room 1 Kings 22. 35. So and much rather may a Clergy men now be an Officer in great place or a Justice of Peace in the Country who handles Matters of Equity and good Conscience for preserving of publick peace order and quietness among neighbours wherein happen many businesses that depend much upon the Conscience of a Justice and the Equitable rules of Scripture whereof Clergy men are the most competent interpreters As also many Causes happen touching the Estates and persons of the Clergy who have little reason to be subject onely to secular Judges without some of their own tribe on the bench to see fair carriage and indifferent dealing But for matters of Religion concerning God and his Worship and difficult points of Divinity the Clergy then were and so ought now to be the principal men to be imployed as may clearly appear by the doings of K. David about removing of the Ark to the place that he had provided for it upon which text King Iames hath written a very pious and excellent Meditation Pag. 81. upon the 1 Chron. 15. some of those words are fit to be here recited When the Ark of God whereunto they sought not in the dayes of Saul had continued long at Kiriah-jearim David out of his Zeal and Piety was moved to prepare a Tent for it in the City of David and when he began to remove it he called a great assembly of principal Men but did not make that use of the Priests and Levites as he ought to have done and therefore the Action prospered not but there happened a terrible judgment upon Uzzah which hindered the progresse of the good work and David was afraid of God that day saying How shall I bring the Ark of God home to me so the Ark rested in the House of Obed-Edom But afterwards upon better advice David perceived his Errour and confesseth it Cap. 15. 12 13. Speaking to the Chief of the Priests and Levites Sanctify your selves both ye and your brethren that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord God For because you did it not at the first the Lord God made a breach upon us for we sought him not after the due order This was a great and a godly work that was then intended and therefore King David called a great Assembly about it 1. Of the Elders of Israel 2. Of the Captaines of thousands and hundreds whose Names and Praises are recorded 3. The Priests and Levites Who did it not at the first But now upon better advice King David assembled at first the Children of Aaron and the Levites v. 4. So that men of all Estates were now present in this godly work This is to be marked well of Princes and of all those of any high Calling or Degree that have to do in Gods Cause David doth nothing in matters pertaining to God without the presence and especiall Concurrence of Gods Ministers appointed to be spiritual rulers in Gods Church And at the first meant to convay the same Ark to Ierusalem finding their absence and want of their Counsel hurtful therefore he saith to them Ye are the Chief Fathers of the Levites because ye did it not at the first Thus saith King Iames of blessed memory but
now there is a generation of men who do not think the Clergy necessary Men to be consulted that will interpret Scriptures remove the Ark of God as it were and do things without the presence vote and suffrage of the Chief Fathers of the Levites which how it agreeth with this pious Example of King David and King Iames's Meditations upon it I leave to be Considered CHAP. VII I◠the first frame of our English Common-wealth the Bishops in every Diocess were the principal Iudges The Charter of William the Conquerour for the dividing the Courts The Statute of Circumspectè agatis 13. Ed. 1. and Articuli Cleri 9 Ed. 2. appointing what Cause shall belong to the Ecclesiastical Courts THe first frame of our English Common-wealth was so setled and ordered by the Saxon Kings when once they became Christians That the Bishop of the Diocess together with the Aldermen of the County and so their Deputies in-inferior Courts under them should be equal Judges together upon the same Bench in the same Courts and there determine all Causes in the forenoon church-Church-matters and in the afternoon secular business as Selden sheweth in his notes upon Eadner p. 166. and Bishop Iewel in part observes in his Defence of the Apology Part 6. p. 522. This Course continued till William the Conquerour and perhaps it had been very happy for our Kingdome if the frame of our Laws and Courts had so still continued joyned together for many reasons that I will not now further insist upon Gulielmus primus sacrum à Civili discriminavit forum etenim florente Saxonum imperio mutuas injure dicundo veluti tradebant operas atque eodem utebantur his quotannis for◠Dioeceseos Episcopus simul provinciae Praeses seu vice-Comes quem Sheriffe nunc dicimus interdum Ealderman nominabant c. The Conquerour first separated the Temporal Courts from the Ecclesiastical yet not diminishing the authority of the Churches Jurisdiction which by his oath he confirmed and promised to preserve affirming Quod per Ecclesiam Rex regnum solidum habent subsistendi fundamentum So that he subverted rather Ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction but as formerly in the County or in the Hundred so now in the Bishops Court all Ecclesiastical Causes were heard and determined For the old manner the Laws of King Edgar do shew it Cap. 5. Intersit unusquisque Hundredi Gemoto ut superius est praescriptum habeantur burgemottitres quotannis duo vero scire-gemotti de istis adsunto loci Episcopus Aldermannus doceatque alter jus divinum alter saeculare In Hundredo aderant Thani quos Barones vocant posteri ut patet e. L. Ethelredi Cap. 1. ipsique judices Ecclesiastici cum partis illius Clero in Hundredo enim non minus quà m in Comitatu unà haec agebantur quae ad forum pertinent Ecclesiasticum quae ad saeculare donec Gulielmus Conquestor divisis jurisdictionibus hanc ab illa separavit For the Division of the Courts and the Erection of the Ecclesiastical to sit by themseves under the Bishop and Arch-deacon it appears by the Charter of King William to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln And though it be sent in the direction by name to them only yet it seems it grew after to be a general law no otherwise then the Statute of Circumspecte agatis that hath a special reference onely to the Bishop of Norwich as Lord Coke saith 2 Instit. 487. The Bishop of Norwich is there put but for example but it extendeth to all the Bishops within the Realm And so Selden telateth in his History of Tithes Cap. 14. Sect. 1. and in his Ianus Lib. 2. Sect. 14. And in his notes upon Eadner p. 167. The words of it as they are recorded are Willielmus gratia Dei Rex Anglorum Comitibus vice comitibus omnibus Francigenis Anglis qui in Episcopatu Remigii Episcopi terras habent salutem Sciatis vos omnes coeteri mei fideles qui in Anglia manent quod Episcopales leges quae non bene nec secundum sanctorum Canonum praecepta usque ad mea tempora in regno Anglorum fuerunt Communi Consilio Cousilio Episcoporum Abbatum omnium principum regni mei emendandas judicavi Propterea mando regia authoritate Praecipio ut nullus Episcopus vel Archidiaconus de Legibus Episeopalibus amplius in Hundret placita teneant nec causam quae ad regimen animarum pertinet ad judicium secularium hominum adducant sed quicunque secundum Episcopales leges de quacunque causa vel culpa interpellatus fuerit ad locum quem ad hoc Episcopus elegerit nominaverit veniat ibique de causa sua respondeat non secundum Hundret sed seeundum Canones Episcopales leges rectum Deo Episcopo suo faciat Which I the rather transcribe saith Selden because also it seems to give the Original of the Bishops consistory as it sits with us divided from the Hundred or County Court wherewith in the Saxon times it was joyned And in the same Law it is added further Hoc etiam defendo ut nullus laicus homo de legibus quae ad Episcopum pertinent se intromittat Thus Selden Only the words of the Charter are more fully recited out of the Records by another Learned Author Si vero aliquis per superbiam elatus ad justitiam Episcopalem venire noluerit vocetur semel secundo tertio Quod si nec ad emendationem venerit excommunicetur Et si opus fuerit ad hoc vindicandum fortitudo justitia Regis vel vicecomitis adhibeatur Ille autem qui vocatus ad justitiam Episcopi veniro noluerit pro unaquaque vocatione legem Episcopalem emendabit Hoc etiam defendo mea authoritate interdico ne ullus Viceeomes aut praepositus aut minister Regis nec aliquis laicus homo de legibus quae ad Episcopum pertinent se intromittat nec aliquis laicus homo alium hominem sine justitia Episcopi ad judicium adducat Iudicium vero in nullum locum portetur nisi in Episcopali sede aut in illo loco quem ad hoc Episcopus constituerit And the punishment for disobedience to the Ecclesiastical Judges was much alike as formerly was enacted under the Saxon Kings as by King Alured Si quis Dei rectitudines aliquas deforciot reddat Lathlite cum Dacis Witam cum Anglis And the same Law is afterwards confirmed and renewed by King Canutus and by other Kings Whereby it appeareth how before the Conquest and likewise after for a long time the authority and jurisdiction of the Church was maintained and upheld by the setled Laws of the Kingdome How they had power in their Courts to excommunicate and further by the help of the King and the Sheriffe to proceed against stubborn offenders and such as opposed or contemned their authority so that here is
trouble Lastly let us out of our adversaries own grants and confessions prove what themselves deny They grant the Clergy a jurisdiction whereby they can cite before their Courts Hereticks Drunkards Adulterers and such like infamous persons admit accusations against them hear and examine witnesses and give sentence of excommunication on those that are lawfully convicted If by vertue of spiritual jurisdiction from Christ received they can do these things why shall they not by the accession of secular jurisdiction by the King conferred imprison the same malefactors or by such like civil punishments restrain their base incontinencies This Act of correction is no less warrantable in its own nature then that of excommunication both being put in execution by just and legitimate authority niether do corporal punishments lesse conduce to the Reformation of delinquents and the Churches good then those meerly spiritual Therefore by the allowance of superiour authority it is no less expedient that Clergy-men should inflict one kind of chastisement rather then another In a word learned M. Calvin doth grant that what Controversies soever happened between Christians to avoid strife and division they were wont to referre them to their Bishops by their judgment to be decided And St. Austin tells us that he dayly spent some time in secular affairs either by his sentence determining and setling them or cutting them off by his interposition Furthermore he records that St. Paul employed Church-men in such troublesome matters If private Christians do lawfully commit their civil Controversies to the arbitrement of Bishops surely Christian Kings may to the same Bishops lawfully commit the judgment of the like Causes if at the request of private men it be nor unlawful for Church-men to intermedle with secular businesses it cannot be unlawful to do the same by the appointment of the King For as the matter stands he doth no less interest himself in state affaires who decides controversies as an Elect Arbitrator then he who decides the same as a Iudge ordained by the Prince Let us conclude that ambitiously to hunt after or with prejudice to the Function of Priesthood to exercise Civil Jurisdiction from the hand of a King and to administer the same to the better establishing of the peace and discipline of the Church is an Act lawful and praise-worthy most agreeable to the ancient practice of the Church and no wayes repugnant to the Divine Scriptures To this Determination of the learned Bishop Davenant there is nothing replied by Dr. Burgesse but in an insolent manner he terms him onely a speculative Divine as if such a famous professor in the university and a most learned Bishop for twenty years together who was highly reputed for learning and piety should be so scornfully neglected by one that never spent seven years in the university nor ever enjoyed any fellowship a place of continuance in any Colledge to gain more then common learning in a trivial way as appeared fully when he came back to the University to go out Doctor and would needs take upon him to answer the Divinity Act which he performed so contemptibly that he was hissed and scorned publickly by all the Auditors and accordingly censured by Doctor Prideaux who reprehended him sharply in publick for his ignorance and insuffiency and some Papists who are commonly present at such publick Acts among the multitude hearing him to be so destitute of Latine Logick and distinctions upon the state of his questions publickly were heard to say Alass poor black sheep what maketh thee here Whereof I was both an eye and ear witnesse But as is formerly affirmed if some principal men of the Clergy be not in places of Authority and Judicature and some be not Justices of the Peace in every Shire the ordinary Clergy will be trampled on by the vulgar people in most vile manner taxed and assessed unreasonably by Constables and Committee-men and all such officers as is well-known by many instances which might be alledged and are commonly known to say nothing of the insolency of Souldiers and Quarter-masters who will be sure when they come to any parish to set first upon the Ministers house and furnish him with company enough to consume all that he hath in barnes or buttery without any mercy or compassion which may be easily proved but that it is a thing notoriously known past denial so that the Clergy may complain with the Apostle that they are made the fisth of the world and are the off scouring of all things to this day And all this done by the Parliament-members and officers who pretended to advance religion to maintain and uphold Ministery as well as Magistracy But the Laws being taken away or suspended whereby Ministers should be preserved and maintained there is risen up such a swarm of Sectaries Anabaptists Quakers and a rascal rabble of others who deny the calling of ministers and are as ready to oppress them in as violent manner as those Rebels that did rise in the 5. Rich. 2. Wat Tyler Iack Straw Iack Shepherd Tom Millar Hob. Carter and such like fellows as Cowper relateth them in his Epitome of Chronicles and as Iohn Stow reporteth in the Confession of Iack Straw at his death They would have destroyed all Bishops Monks Canons and Parsons and would have dispatched them all Only begging Friers should have lived that might have sufficed for ministring the Sacraments in the whole Realm Poor begging Friers having no good Lands or Revenues were not the object of the peoples malice but all rich men Lords and Gentlemen especially Clergy men should have been made a prey And so or worse is the Case of the Clergy in these times All principal al learned Divines if they have any Estates are miserably cast out of their houses and livings Bishops Deanes and Doctors or others of any eminent note are shamefully persecuted Only poor Curats poor Lecturers poor New-lights poor Schoolmasters who are like the begging Friers are suffered to continue and yet the Anabaptists and Quakers and such like are ready to cashier them to pull down Churches Steeple-houses and Stone-houses as they call Churches in derision but as Solomon saith there is no new thing under the Sun from the beginning of the world to the end it is so that necessitous men theeves and beggars will seise upon the estates of rich men if they have once power in their hands and can but lay hold on them The Speech of Doctor WILLIAMS Lord Arch-bishop of York in defence of the Bishops Rights to Sit and Vote in Parliaments I Shall desire as much water or time of your Honorable Lordships as your Lordships can well afford in a Committee because all that I intend to speak in this business must be to your Lordships onely as Resolved for mine own part to make hereafter no Remonstrance at all to his most excellent Majesty for these several reasons 1. That I have had occasion of late to know that our Soveraign whom God bless and
AN APOLOGY FOR The Ancient Right and Power OF THE BISHOPS To SIT and VOTE IN PARLIAMENTS As the first and principal of the three Estates of the KINGDOME As Lord Coke sheweth 3. Institut C. 1. and other both learned LAVVYERS and ANTIQUARIES as Camden Spelman Selden and many others WITH An Answer to the Reasons maintained by Dr. Burgesse and many others against the Votes of BISHOPS A Determination at Cambridge of the Learned and Reverend Dr. DAVENANT B. of Salisbury Englished The Speech in Parliament made by Dr. WILLIAMS L. Archbishop of York in defence of the BISHOPS Two SPEECHES spoken in the House of Lords by the Lord Viscount NEWARKE 1641. London Printed by W. Godbid for Richard Thrale at the Crosse-Keyes at St. Paul's gate entring into Cheape-side 1660. To the READER DOctor Williams Lord Arch-bishop of York made an accurate Speech in Parliament to defend the rights of the Bishops and the learned Bishop Hall made an abstract of his reasons against which Doctor Burgesse published an Examination wherein there is little material if once the principal doubt be cleared whether Bishops had anciently Votes in Parliament and were Barons or that which is equal or superiour unto Barons being accounted Thanes in the times of the Saxons before the Conquest which I hope is so fully cleared in this following discourse as there will be little question remaining Though Parliaments began as our Histories shew long after the Conquest in this manner as now they are held yet they had Assemblies Gemots of the Estates and principal nobility whereof the Bishops and Clergy were alwayes an eminent party according to the Laws and Custome of those times and equivalent in authority to our Parliament They had several Gemots as the first was Wittena-gemott idem apud Anglo-saxones fuit quod apud nos hodie Parliamentum parumque a Folkmotto differebat nisi quod hoc annuum esset è certis plerumque causis illud ex arduis contingentibus legum condendarum gratia ad arbitrium principis indictum In Folckmotto semel quotannis sub initio Calendarum Maii tanquamin aâ—nuo Parliamento convenere Regni principes tam Episcopi quà m Magistratus liberique homines Iurantur laici omnes coram Episcopis in mutuum faedus in fidelitatem in jura Regni conservanda Consulitur de communi salute de pace de bello de utilitate publica promovenda c. Sciregemott si pluries opus non esset bis solummodo in anno indicebatur Aderat provinciae Comes aderat Episcopus aderant Magnates omnes Comitatenses Episcopus jura divina enuntiabat vindicabat Comes secularia alter alteri auxilio De causis hîc cognitum est tam criminalibus quam civilibus sed jurisdictiones postea separabat Gulielmus primus videtur hoc idem fuisse quod olim Turnum dicemus Vicecomitis non minus quam hodie nunc dicitur bis in anno tenebatur aderant que omnes unà comitatus magnates Teâ—itiâ— liberi Many other Gemots and Meetings they had but in all these publick Gemots the Clergy were principal members as appears by the laws of King Edgar Cap. 5. Gemottis adsunto locii Episcopus Aldermannus hoâ— est Comes doceatque alter jus divinum alter jus saeculare Thus the learned Glossary sheweth out of whom it was necessary to shew the several assemblies then in use that we need not contend about the French word Parliament which came in use about the time of Hen. 3. But whatsoever their Assemblies were the Bishops were alwayes principal members thereof and though once in 25. Edward 1. there is mention of a Parliament at St. Edmunebury whereby the Clergy were excluded for denying of money which they refused to grant by reason of a prohibition from Pope Boniface in regard of many Levies latel yraised upon the state Ecclesiastical As of later times there was a Parliament once held without Lawyers in 6. Hen. 4. at Coventry as both our Histories do testifie and also the Kings Writ directed to the Sheriff whereof the words are Noluâ—us autem quod in seu aliquis alius vicecomes Regni nostri praedicti aut Apprenticius aut alius homo ad legem aliqualiter sit electus Vnde Parliamentum illud laicorum dicebatur indoctorum quo jugulum Ecclesiae atrociâ—s petebatur as alearned Author saith Yet I hope notwithstanding the inconsiderate zeal of this Examiner our Histories shall never be blemished with such a reproach as to report the loss or defect in Parliament of either learned Clergy or Lawyers to direct and assist in whatsoever matters are proper to their faculties and the publick welfare of the Kingdome The most Accurate History of the ancient City and famous Cathedral of Canterbury being an exact Description of all the Rarities in that City Suburbs and Cathedral together with the Lives of all the Arch bishops of that See Illustrated with divers Maps and Rigâ—res Published by Will. Somner Author of the late Saxon Dictionary 4to And is to be sold by Richard Thrale at the Crosse-Keyes at Paul's gate entring into Cheape-side The Contents of the several Chapters CHAPTER I. COncerning Government Ecclesiastical and Civil in the state of nature from Adam till Moses which was about 2500 years the same person was both chief Magistrate and also Priest unto God CHAP. II. The government of the Church and State of Israel by Moses and Aaron and their Successors until Christ about 1500 years That there was not then two several Iurisdictions the one Ecclesiastical the other Civil CHAP. III. Concerning the Union of the Courts of Iustice in the time of the Saxon Kings after they were converted to the faith The division of the Courts being brought in by William the Conqueror as appears by his Statute CHAP. IV. Concerning the Honour and Dignity of Bishops in the time of Saxons and so continued to these times CHAP. V. Concerning Barons and the title thereof and how the Bishops became Barons being no addition of honour to them but inforced upon them by the Conqueror and since continued to this day CHAP. VI. Concerning the Legislative power and Votes of the Bishops in making laws Concerning the Statute 11. H. 7. whereby Empson and Dudley proceeded and what great treasures they brought to the King Calvin and Beza at Geneva were members of their chief Council of State consisting of 60 and so may Bishops in England be members of Parliament King David appointed Priests and Levites in all Courts of Iustice. The Clergy had many priviledges as Lord Coke sheweth upon Magna Charta 2 Instit. pag. 2 3. Ambition and Coveteousness of the Presbyterians the principal cause of all our troubles CHAP. VII In the first frame of our English Common wealth the Bishops in every Diocess were the principal Iudges The Charter of William the Conqueror for dividing the Courts The Statute of Circumspecte agatis 13. Ed. 1. and Articuli Cleri 9. Ed. 2. appointing what
the Judges But Ministers have no remedy to help themselves there being none of the Clergy upon the Bench in any authority CHAP. II. Of the Government of the Church and State of Israel by Moses and Aaron and their Successors until Christ about 1500 years That there were not two several Iurisdictions one Ecclesiastical the other Civil WHen God delivered his chosen people out of Aegypt and conducted them through the Wildernesse towards the promised Land of Canaan He began first to publish his Law And by Moses delivered them many Laws in Five Books Whatsoever Lawes he gave either moral ceremonial or Judicial they are all contained in the Five books of Moses and no man could better understand them then the Priests and Levites For God made his Covenant with Levy of Life and Peace The Law of Truth was in his mouth The Priests Lips should preserve knowledge and they should seek the Law at his Mouth Mal. 2. 5 6 7. and so Ezekiel 44. 23. They shall teach my people the difference between the Holy and prophane and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean and in Controversie they shall stand in judgement and they shall judge according to my Iudgements and they shall keep my Lawes and my Statutes in all mine Assemblies They being the principal Judges and Lawyers in that Common-wealth of Gods own Constitution And whereas it is now granted on all hands that there were three Courts of Justice in that Kingdome 1. The great Council of the 70. Elders 2. The Court of Judgement which was in in every good Town where there were many families 3. The Court of three or some few more The Priests and Levites were principal men both Judges and Officers in all Courts Scophtim Scoterim as 1. Chron. 23. 4. both to give sentence and judgement and also to execute the same So the Divines do affirm in their late Annotations upon 1. Chron. 26. 29 30. 2. Chron. 19. 8. 11. They did study the Judicial and politick Laws and had power to see the Law of God and Injunctions of the King to be observed and to order divine and humane affairs And they held also other honourable offices for we read that Zechariah a Levite was a wise Counsellour and Benjah a Priest Son of Iehojadah was one of Davids twelve Captains being the third Captain of the Host for the third month and in his course consisting of 24000. was his Son Amizabad Benjah also was one of Davids principal worthies having the name of the three mighties He was also Captain of the guard to David and after the Death of Ioab he was made Lord General of the Army by King Salomon in Ioabs room 1. K. 2. 35. It is recored 1 Chron. 26. 30. That of the Family of the Hebronists Levites there were a thousand and seven hundred Officers on this side Iordan westward in all businesses of the Lord and in the service of the King and two thousand and seven hundred chief Fathers and men of valour whom King David made Rulers over the Reâ—bonists the Gaditeâ—s and the half Tribe of Manasses for every matter pertaining to God and affairs of the King v. 31. 32. Whereby it manifestly appears that the same Judges and Officers being Priests and Levites most of them did hear and determine all sorts of causes pertaining to God and affairs of the King both Ecclesiastical and Temporal so that there was not several Courts the one Ecclesiastical and the other Civil as in these times some do affirm too peremptorily according to the Common practise and usage of these days as Godwin in his Moses and Aaron lib. 5. Beza Iunius and divers others with the Kirkmen of Scotland lately Rutherford Gillespie Baily and others So also the Papists generally who that they may establish the Popes Supremacy above Kings and their Common-laws do affirm that Regimen Ecclesiasticum est distinctum a politico as Bellarmine de Romano pontifice lib. 1. cap. 5. so our zealous party for the like ends and reasons would maintain a Government in the Clergy seperate from and independent upon the Civill Magistrate and such as ought to be directed and ruled only by the word of God and his Spirit ruling as they suppose in their classical Assemblies where they think the Throne of Christ is only to be advanced and all his holy Ordinances put in execution Whereas the King is Custos utriusqne tabulae and the Supremacy in causes Ecclesiastical as well as Temporal is acknowledged by our Statutes and annexed to the Crown For Execution thereof an Act was made 1. Eliz. cap. 1. But if the Statute had not been made to annexe the Supremacy to the Crown yet as the Lord Cook saith 4. Instit. p. 331. King Iames hath and Queen Elizabeth had before him as great and ample Supremacy and Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical ase ver King of England had before them and that had justly and rightly pertained to them by divers other Acts and by the ancient Law of England if the said clause of annexation in the said Statute 1. Eliz. had never been inserted But Iohn Pym in his Speech in Parliament 4. Caroli as Rushworth hath it in his late Collections saith that the high Commission was derived from the Parliament As if the Parliament gave the King the Supremacy as a gift of their own and that it was not vested in the Crown but as they gave it so they may take it away when they please and suppresse the Court of high Commission as they have done The duty of the Court was to reform and correct all Heresies Schismes Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities But now upon Suppression of the Court all Heresies and Schismes in the world are broke out and such abominable abuses offences and enormities as never were known in this Kingdome with allowance and toleration This follow 's upon the new light and doctrine of Iohn Pym and all the rest of the Presbyterians who have stirred up all these troubles and of late they called the House of Commons the Supream power of the Nation in all Addresses and Petitions made unto them It was a great Error of Calvin and Beza and many others that follow them to affirm that there was one Court Ecclesiastical and another Civil in Israel Calvin upon Ieremiah 19. 1. pag. 152. saith Scimus duos fuisse ordines publicos vel duplex regimen ut loquuntur sacerdotes erant praefecti Ecclesiae nempe quoad legem ita ut spiritualis esset eorum gubernatio erant seniores populi qui prae erant rebus politicis utriusque vero quaedam inter se communio Calvin understood only the plain Hebrew not the Rabbins and Talmud nor the Jewish Antiquities Therefore in several places he is mistaken as upon Numb 11. 17. Where God appointed first the 70. Elders to be joyned as Assistants to Moses He doth interpret the Text I will take off the Spirit that is upon thee and put
Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same ordaineth establisheth and enacteth that from henceforth the same evection and making of the same Duke and all the Names of dignity to the said George or to Iohn Nevil befor henceforth void and of none effect c. And much more the Lord Cook addeth to the same purpose as also York the Herald pag. 223. The late Lord Brook who was slain at Lichfield when he was ready to batter the Cathedral Church in his book against Bishops speaking much against them and magnifying the Temporal Barons saith that though their Honours are derived from the King yet being once made Lord their Honour is vested in their blood and cannot be taken away but his Lordship was not learned in Law or Herauldry He might have taken notice what Lord Bacon saith in his Apopthegmes That blood is no better then the blood of a black Pudding that wants Fat and Suet Honour is vested in the lands Mannors and Revenues which when they are lost and gone farewell Honour and Title Edward Lord Cromwell Grandchild to him that spoyl'd the Church sold the head of his Barony Oukham in Rutland and wasting his whole estate left himself as little land in England as his Grandfather left to the Monasteries by the Feudal Law his Barony is lost The last Edward Lord Zouch who dyed 1. Caroli who was a very great Baron anciently sold the Head of his Barony Haringworth in Northampton-shire and all the Lands which he had insomuch that Henry Howard Earl of Northampton said He was a Baron sans terre Whereupon he bought again some other lands but having no Sons his Barony his extinct Henry Daubeny Earl of Bridgewater created 20. Iuly 30. H. 8. dyed without Issue Anno ... Edw. 6. and so his Name Family and Dignity extinct This Earl was reduced to that extream poverty that he had not a servant to wait on him in his last sicknesse nor means to buy Fire or Candles or to bury him but all was done for him in Charity of his Sister Cicely married to Iohn Bourchier the first of that name Earl of Bath Many more might be alleadged but these are enough to shew that when Lords have lost their Lands and Revenues then they are not fit men to fit and vote in Parliament and many there are who though noâ— wholly impoverished yet so decayed that they are not so fit as the Bishops to be present in Parliaments who if they might have enjoyed their ancient Lands and Mannors were indeed the most able and worthy to be Members in Parliament both in regard of their great estates and their Knowledge and Learning in all kinds far beyond the Temporal Lords Lastly Whereas Dr. Burgesse saith the Bishops are Barones Eleâ—mosynarii and would thence infer that they are but as Arbitrary Almsmen like the poor Knights of Windsor who may be abated or taken away at pleasure This is but a spightful inference upon the bare word Eleemosyna without the true sense of it For as the Learned Glossary sheweth Barones Eleemosynarii apud Stanfordum in jure nostro dicuntur Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates Priores qui praedia suae Ecclesia a Rege tenent per Baroniam Baronias etiam suas ex Eleemosyna Regum perhibentur accepisse licet ipsa praedia aliorum saepe munificentia consequuti fuerint And sometimes not only by the gift of other noble persons but also themselves did buy and purchase many Mannors and Lands conferring them on their Successours and being so bought they cannot in justice be taken away as if all had been given by the King and others as meer Alms. Lanfranck Arch-bishop of Canterbury bought and recovered 25. Mannors and left them to his Successors Harvey the first Bishop of Ely in the time of Hen. 7. bought and left many Mannors to his Successors and so likewise did many other Bishops enriching much their Bishopricks and leaving besides many testimonies of their piety by building Colledges and Hospitals And other good works to the benefit of all men They founded also almost all the Colledges in both Universities to their eternal honor so long as Learning shall flourish in this Kingdome CHAP. VI. Concerning the Legislative power and Votes of the Bishops in making Laws Concerning the Statute 11. H. 7. Whereby Empson and Dudley proceeded and what great Treasures they brought to the King Calvin and Beza at Geneva were Members of their Chief Council of State consisting of 60. and so many Bishops in England be Members in Parliament King David appointed Priests and Levites in all Courts of Iustice. The Clergy had many priviledges as Lord Cooke sheweth upon Magna Charta 2. Instit. pag. 2 3. Ambition and Covetousnesse of the Presbyterians the principal cause of all our Troubles BUt concerning the Legislative power and Votes of Bishops in making Laws to regulate the Kingdome and to preserve peace and justice among all sorts of men there is not to be forgotten an ancient Law of King Athelstan Concil pag. 402. c. 11. That worthy King in his Laws hath one De Officio Episcopi quid pertinet ad Officium ejus Episcopo jure pertinet omnem rectitudinem promovere Dei scilicet ac seculi imprimis debet omnem ordinatum Dei instruere quid ei jure sit agendum quid secularibus judicare debeat Debet enim sedulo pacem concordiam operari cum seculi judicâ—bus qui rectum velle diligunt in compellationum adlegationem docere ne quis alii perperam agat in jurejurando vel in â—rdalio Nec pati debet aliquam circumventionem injustae mensurae vel injusti ponderis sed convenit ut per Consilium Testimonium ejus omne legis scitum Burgi mensura omne pondus ponderis sit secundum ejus institutum valde rectum Ne quis proximum suum seducat pro quo decidat in peccatum Et semper debet Christianus providere contra â—mnia quae praedicta sunt ideo debet se magis de pluribus intromittere ut sciat quomodo grex agat quem ad Dei manum custodire suscept ne diabolus eum laniet nee malum aliquid super seminet c. Christianis omnibus necessarium est ut rectum diligant iniqua condemnent saltem sacris ordinibus evecti justum semper erigant prava deponant Hinc debent Episcopi cum secularibus judicibus interesse judiciis ne permittant si pessint ut illius culpa aliqua pravitatum germina pullulaverint Et sacerdotibus pertinet in sua diocaesi ut ad rectum sedulo quemcumque juvent nee patiantur si possint ut Christianus aliquis alii noceat non potens impotenti non summus infimo non praelatus subditis non dominus hominibus suis vel servis aut liberis molestus existat secundum Episcopi dictionem per suam mensuram convenit ut servi testamentales operentur super omnem
So Dr. Burgesse termeth the Learned Dr. Davenant Bishop of Salisbury only a speculative Divine He being an eminent and principal Divine Head of Queens Colledge in Cambridge and publick Professor and chosen by King Iames to be sent to the Synod of Dort and by his Learned works publickly famous and renowned Such malapert language against such Honourable and eminent Bishops from an inferiour Doctor is not to be endured without sharp censures Now though some Canons may seem to forbid the Bishops and Clergy to intermeddle with secular affairs yet that is not absolutely forbidden but in a qualified sense as in the famous Council of Clâ—veshoe under Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 747. Can. 1. Negotiis secularibus plusquà m Dei servitiis quod absit subditus existit To attend secular affairs more then spiritual and to be wholly imployed and conversant in Temporal matters without due regard to the better part But it will not hinder sacred studies nor the diligent preaching of the Gospel that some principal men at convenient times have a charge and over-sight of Temporal affairs and the carriage of publick businesse And concerning this see more in Bishop Davenants Determinations at Cambridge Quest. 11. Civilis jurisdictio jure conceditur personis Ecclesiasticis Thus much might serve for Reply to the Examiner Dr. Burgesse especially upon the fifth reason which I hold to be the only thing material in the whole Discourse for the rest will appear to be needlesse if this be clear'd But if he would look back to former times he shall find that our Kingdome and Government followed the ancient manner of Gods own people of Israel whose Ceremonies and Rituals though they be now abolished yet the general rules of Justice Equity Government and Order do still remain And as God made the priesthood then honourable in the Kingdome of Israel and committed a great part of the Government unto them so doubtlesse now under the Gospel the priesthood ought to be Honourable and to have a principal part in the ruling and governing of the Kingdome To be a Priest in Israel was to be a cheif man Levit 21. 4. and therefore in all their Courts of Justice the priests and Levites were cheif men in authority for deciding all causes both in the great Court of Sanedrim at Ierusalem which was a Continuation of the 70. Elders appointed by God himself Numb 11. and was answerable in authority to our Parliaments it being the highest Court of Judicature in that Kingdome and so in the second Court of Judgement as our Saviour calleth it Mat. 5. 22. where there were 23 Judges whereof 7. were of the Laity as we now call them Elders of the Cities and every good City consisted of _____ Families unto which 7. of the Elders there were added 14 Priests and Levites as Iosephus sheweth lib. 4. cap. 8. where though he seem to say that the number of the Judges was seven yet if his next words following be well observed he sheweth the addition of two priests and Levites to each of the other Magistrates of the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intellig it singulos magistratum gerentes quibus singulis bini erant additi adsessores periti juris quos Iosephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocat Septem ergo municipes loci erant judices praeterea adsessores quatuordecim qui ex Levitis maxime sumebantur his supernumer arii accessisse videntur unus alter So Grotius in Mat. 5. 21. and so also the English Translation doth render the place In every City or Township let there be seven Governours such as are approved in vertue and famous for their Justice and let each of these Magistrates have two Ministers of the Tribe of Levi. In this Court of Judgement all manner of causes were heard of Life and Death whatsoever matters of Controversie within their gates Ecclesiastical or Temporal Yet excepting some weighty businesses concerning a whole Tribe or the high priest or a false Prophet which belonged only to the great Council at Ierusalem Whether also they might appeal in any doubtful cause which was too difficult for the inferiour Courts Iudices in portis cujusque Civitatis jus super causis majoribus reddebant in homicidas lege agere solebant de quibus agitur Deutr. 16 18. 21 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 autem paena erat gladius quia de homicidis inibi cognoscebatur ut Moses nos docet Christus Grotius in Mat. 5. 21. When King David was old and neet his Death he appointed Salomon to be King after him and caused a Parliament of all Israel to be assembled wherein he gathered together all the Princes of Israel with the Priests and Levites 1 Chr 24 1. 2. In this great Parliament the priests and Levites were not omitted not in any Court of Justice in that Kingdome For as it is p. 4. There were six thousand of them appointed Officers and Judges throughout the land of Israel which is the thing that now many of our Common people do much dislike not well induring a few Justices of Peace to be of the Clergy whereas we have the example of David guided and directed by the Spirit of God as the Text saith 1 Chron. 28 12 13 19. So disposing and ordering the Levites that he appointed some for the outward businesse over Israel for Officers and Judges a thousand and seven hundred were Officers of Israel on this side Iordan in all businesses of the Lord and in the service of the King This Text is very plain to prove that the same man may be employed in Ecclesiastical matters of the Church as also in the Kings Service So pag. 32. David appointed two thousand and seven hundred cheif Fathers to be Rulers over the Reubenites Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasses who were beyond Iordan for every matter pertaining to God and affairs of the King and c. 26. 14. Zecharias a Levite is commended for a wise Counsellour But that now any of the Clergy should be Councellours Judges or Officers unto Princes is accounted by some an unlawful thing or at least not very commendable Whereas we see by this very law and direction of King David that the Levites might attend businesse belonging to the worship and service of God and instruction of the people as also of the publick service and affairs of King and State So the Divines in their late Annotations on the Bible do acknowledge that the Levites did study the Judicial and politick Laws and had power to see the law of God and injunctions of the King to be observed and to order divine and humane affairs 1 Chron. 26. 29 30. 2 Chron. 19. 8 11. So the Learned Grotius Sicut lex erat uan praeptrix divini omnis humanique juris ita apud Hebraeos penes eosdem erat juris utriusque interpretatio Upon Mal. 2. 4. and so other Commentaries do affirm as Lavater in cap. 23. Per
first among us by William the Conquerour And why should there not be judges partly Spiritual as well as Temporal in all Courts As it was anciently among our Ancestors the Saxons or at least why should not the Supream Court of justice which is to give Law to all other inferiour Courts be well tempered and mingled with all sorts of men Ecclesiastical and Civil the most learned wise and choicest that can be found in the whole Kingdom Why not Priests and Levites admitted into the number as well as in the Sanedrim of the Iews which was equal to our Parliament and was first instituted by God himself And I take it there can be no just exception but that our Christian Kingdomes may most safely follow the general Rules of Policy and Government which God ordained among his own chosen people without any imputation of judaism Now among them some cheif Fathers of the Priests and Levites were not only judges and elders in their own Cities which were allowed them to the Number of forty eight in the whole but sate with the Elders of other Cities and were Iudges and Officers over Israel Yea many things by Gods law were wholly and cheifly reserved to the Knowledge and Sentence oâ— the Priests As Leprosie Iealousie Inquisition for Murder Falsewitnesse and such like which now among us for most part belong to the Common-law in which cases the People and Elders were to consult the Priests and take direction from them And so Bertram in his Treatise De Politia Iudaica cap. 9. doth make it manifest Prorsus est extra Controversiam judices manicipales cujusque Civiâ—atis ut vocantur seniores fuisse Chiliarchos Centuriones quinquagâ—narios decuriones tot quot esse poâ—erant in quaque Civitate ita ut ex illis Levitae quidam in praefectos assumerentur si modo in ea aliquot erant Levitae sin minus ex proxima urbe Levitis assignata advocabâ— ntur And again in his Cap. 10. David in Civili politia dicitur ex Levitis destinasse judices prafectis sexies mille Ex Levitiâ— judices praefecti assumpti sunt hac ratione ut primum essent ex Levitis quidam qui Adsessores essent Iudicum Ordinariorum Municipalium qui seniores dicebantur Qui aliquando de plano ut vulgo loquuntur judicarâ—nt de rebus leviâ—ribus quales erant pecuniariae vel soli vel assumpto uno aliquo ex loci vel Vrbis seâ—ioribus Deinde ut essent etiam quidam alii qui judicatas res exequerentur Vel certe quod verisimilius est qui assessores erant judicum ordinariorum qui ut ipsi de rebus pecuiariis cognoscerent judicarent ipsamque rem judicatam exequerentur c. Ex eadem familia adhibiti sunt ad regendam ad Civilem politiam gubernandam Ita tamen ut nulla esset utriusque politiae confusio permixtio Et cap 11. Ad utrumque judicium tam civile quam Ecclesiasticum adhibiti sunt Levitae in praefectos eodem videlicet modo quo eos ad id muneris desig naverat David c. Thus and much more to this purpose Bertram doth often throughout his Book deliver his judgement that the priests and Levites were Judges in the civil Courts of Justice and not only in the Ecclesiastical To this Sigonius agreeth lib. 6. Repub. Hebraeâ—rum cap. 7. speaking of the Sanedrim Inivêre hoc Concisium Rex cum principibus populi ac septuâ—aginta senioribus populi Pontifex cum principibus sacerdotum scribis id est legis doctoribus ut per spicere liqueat ex Evangeliis ubi agitur de judicio Christi Voco autem principes populi duodecim princâ—pes tribuum qui Regâ— assidebant Quare Ioseph ab Arimath Senator sive decurio nobilis idem Concilii particeps fuit siquidem scriptum â—st ipsum cum caeteris assensum damnationi Christi non praebuisse Principes autem sacerdotum dico illos qui vicenis quaternis sacer dotum classibus seu vicibus singuli singulis praeerant Scribas vero ipsos legis Doctores quos Prophetas Iosephus vocavit It is manifest hereby and by the reasons alledged already in cap. 2. that is a gross error of Doctor Burgesse who affirmeth that in Numb 11. There is no foot-step appears that the Priests were any of the 70. Elders appointed by Moses Now seeing David appointed no lesse then six thousand Levites for the outward businesses it could not be but that many of them were employed in their secular and civil affairs whereas now there is not one hundred of the Clergy imployed throughout our whole Kingdome there being not above two or three Justices of peace in a whole Shire But their presence and assistance at publick meetings of Justices as at the Assises and Quarter-sessions and other occasions is very necessary to the rest of the inferiour Clergy who wil otherwise be crushed and trampled on in many businesses debates and contentions that do happen continually from the perverse and obstinate party of the Laity For Laici semper sunt infesti Clericis is a true saying in the Common Law The Priests the Sons of Levi saith God shall come neer or forth out of the Cities where they were placed in every Tribe and by their word shall all striâ—e and plague be tryed Remembring alwayes that doubtful and weighty matters were reserved to the great Council of Priests and Judges that sate in the place which the Lord did chuse for the Ark to rest in as Deut. 17. 8. 9. c. If there come a matter too hard for thee in judgement between blood and blood cause and cause plague and plague of matters in question within thy gates thou shalt arise and go up to the place which the Lord thy God shall chuse and shalt repair unto the Priests and Levites This Council or Senate of the Elders residing at Ierusaâ—em in Iehosophats time who no doubt did not infringe but rather observe the Tenour of the Law consisted of Levites and of Priests and of the heads of the Families of Israel And had Amazias the high priest cheif over them in all matters of the Lord as Zebediah a Ruler of the House of Iudah cheif for all the Kings affairs and was a Continuance of the 70. Elders which God adjoyned unto Moses and bare the burden of the people with him And this Court cannot be better resembled among us then to our Parliament for there was but one Council of that nature in the whole Land of Iury and that consisting of some of the cheifest of every Tribe and they not only debated and concluded the highest affairs of that Realm as War peace appeals from all inferiour Courts punishments of whole Cities and Tribes and such like but also ruled and rectified all cases omitted or doubted in Moses Law and were obeyed throughout the Land â—pon pain of loosing goods or life or being for ever excluded from the people of
arise in those first ages most of which heresies were such as were fit to be beaten down by authority rather then by reason and argument they being so impious insolent and blasphemous so after his time when he had setled the Bishops authority yet there being two Courts where did arise many differences and debates between the Bishops and the secular Judges of that time touching cognisance of some Causes Iustinian the Emperor made a lâ—w like unto that Circumspecte agatis of our King Ed. 1. agreeing with it in substance of matter and arising from the same ground and pointing to the same end The Novel is thus Si delictum sit Ecclesiasticum egens castigatione vel mulcta Ecclesiastica Deo amabiles Episcopi hoc discernant nihil commnnicantibus clarissimis provinciae Iudicibus Neque enim volumus talia negotia scire omnino Civiles Iudices cum oporteat talia Ecclesiastice examinari emendari secundum sacras divinas regulas quas etiam sequi nostrae non dedignantur leges And further for the greatness of the Bishops authority it will appear fully if we look upon the Lawes as they lye concatenaâ—ae in the same title where it is said of the Bishops Cum sint ordinarii Iudices And again Similes praefectis praetorio and further Ordinarie quoque procedant The linked Texts in that title of the Code as they stand cited do fully shew the greatness of the Bishops Coâ—â—â—â— and authority when they are compared and said to be Similes praefectis praetorio who were Illustres Iudices and so stiled in the law they being indeed the most supreme Judges in the whole Empire there being but three in that spacious Empire One in Asia Praefectus praetorio Orientis Another in Europe Praefectus praetorio Illyrici The third in Africa Praefectus praetorio legionibus militiae Africanae The Civil Magistrates were respectively Judges of the Causes which the Emperour had translated from the Empire to the Church which when the Emperour had done and made the Bishops the Judges in the Church as the praefecti praetorio were in the Empire before it appears hereby fully how great the authority of the Bishops and their Consistories were wherein they were assisted by their vicar-generals whom we now call Chancellors as a learned Civilian observes who are no upstarts in the world rising out of the Bishops Sloath as one though otherwise Learned and Eloquent mis-called them but had their original from the law it self Touching whom I will here say something out of the learned Civilians because commonly their place and original is much mistaken by the ignorantly zealous people who do now abound in the world and think nothing lawful in government unless their be express text of Scriture for it as if no calling government or subordination of officers in the Church were lawful but what is expressely and fully set down in the Scriptures and no power and authority left in the hands of Christian Kings and Magistrates to appoint Judges and Officers for Church-discipline as well as for Civil Judicature Therefore to return as the praefecti praetorio quia illustres erant antestabant caeteris dignitatibus ideo habebant vicarios suos in Civilibus causis audiendis terminandis So were the Bishops then and so are they now Illustres judices antestabant antestant caeteris dignitatibus in Ecclesia For the law parallels them in the Church with the Chief Judges in the Empire as well in this as in the rests of the Parts of their Honour wherewith the Emperour had honoured them and the Laws honour them at this day Iustinians Code hath sundry lawes some of his own some of the Emperours before him even from the dayes of Constantine the great which shew that Bishops in their Episcopal audience sate not without their Chancellors although their Chancellors sate often without the Bishops whose higher charge in Christs Church permitted not the Bishops presence in Court-Causes ordinarily And though not under the name and title of Chancellors nor alwayes vicar generals officials or Commissaries yet they had other titles but the same offices Ecclesiasticâ— or Episcoporum Ecdici as much as to say as Church Lawyers or Bishops Lawyers professed Civilians and Canonists of that age the very self same officers and office that the Bishops vicar-generals then were and now are who together with the Bishops then made and do now make but one and the same Tribunal and Consistory their Commissions they held from the Bishops but their Jurisdiction from the Law And the Cause why the Imperial power furnished the Bishops with these officers was the multitude and variety of Ecclesiastical Causes more in that age then now the decision whereof in their Consistories being left to the Bishops the Emperor doubted might have drawn them from prayers and divine exercises And a second reason was that the cause of the cognisance of their Courts were more likely to have thereby a more speedy ready and Judicious trial before Judges of the same learning which require a whole man then before Judges of another then an higher requiring as the Bishops pastoral office doth a whole man too And a third reason also may be added because the Clerks suites and quarrels should not be divulged and spread abroad amongst the secular sort which trenched many times upon the whole profession especially in capital matters wherein Princes anciently so much tendered the Clergy that if a Clerk had committed an offence worthy of death or open shame whereby he became perpetually infamous he was not first executed or put to open shame before he was degraded by the Bishop and his Clergy and so was executed and put to â—hame not as a Clerk but as a lay malefactor for the Honour and Dignity of Priesthood It were to be wished this Order were retained still that Clerks should not passe immediately when they fall into such excesses from the Altar to the Halter but hang or suffer other shame without their Priesthood which Order if it were retained still or might be restored would much honour the Church and no whit derogate from the jurisdiction of the Crown The Determination of a Question made by the right Reverend Iohn Davenant late Lord Bishop of Sarum QUEST 11 th Civil Iurisdiction is by right granted to Ecclesiastical persons IT is by the warrant of Christ himself that the Church doth claim and execute a Spiritual Jurisdiction in punishing the offences of her Children For it can admit an accusation against the inordinate courses of any Christian and hath power to chastise him being by sufficient witnesses convicted either by denying him the Sacraments or if he continue obstinate in his wickednesse by an utter exclusion of him from the fellowship and Communion of other Christians I know none so malignant or unskilful in Ecclesiastical affairs that will deny this authority which indeed goes not beyond excommunication to have been conferred upon Churchmen from the beginning by
of all the Clergy out of Temporal offices is a motion of the first impression and was never heard of in the English Common-wealth before this Bill I come in the third place to the main part of this cause the things to be severed from all men in holy orders which are as I told you of three kinds First matters of Freehold as the Bishops votes in parliament and Legislative power Secondly matters of favour as to be a Judge in Star-chamber to be a privy Counsellour to be a Justice of peace or a Commissioner in any Temporal affairs Thirdly and mixt matters of Freehold and Favour too as the Charters of some Bishops and many of the ancient Cathedrals of this Kingdome who allow them a Justice or two within themselves or their Close as they call it and exempt those grave and learned men from the rudenesse and insolency of Tapsters Brewers Inn-keepers Tailours and Shoomakers which do integrate and make up the bodies of our Country Cities and Incorporations And now is the Axe laid to the very root of the Ecclesiastical tree and without your Lordships justice and favour all the branches are to be lopt off quite with those later clauses and the Stock and root it self to be quite grâ—bb'd and digged up by that first point of abolishing all Vote and Legislative power in all Clergy men leaving them to be no longer any part of the people of Rome but meer Slaves and Bondmen to all intents and purposes And the priests of England one degree inferiour to the priests of Ieroboam being to be accounted worse then the Tayle of the people Now I hope no English man will doubt but this Vote and Representation in Parliament is not only a freehold but the greatest freehold that any Subject in England or in all the Christian world can brag of at this day that we live under a King and are to be governed by his Laws that is not by his arbitrary Edicts or Rescripts but by such Laws confirmed by him and assented to by us either in our proper persons or in our Assignees and Representations This is the very Soul and Genius of Magna Charta and without this one spirit that great Statute is little lesse then Littera occidens a dead and uselesse peice of paper You heard it most truly opened unto you by a wise and judicious Peer of this House that legem patere quam ipse tuleris was a Motto wherein Alexander Severus had not more interest then every true born English man No forty shillings man in England but doth in person or Representation enjoy his freedome and liberty The prelates of this Kingdome as a Looking-glass and Representation of the Clergy have been in possession hereof these thousand years and upwards The princes of the Norman race for their own ends and to strengthen themselves with men and money erected the Bishopricks soon after the Conquest into Baronies and left them to sit in that House with their double capacities about them the later invented for the profit of the prince not excluding the former remaining always from the beginning for the profit and concernment of the poor Clergy Which appears not only by the Saxon Laws set forth by Mr. Lambard and Sir Henry Spelman but also by the Bishops Writs and Summons to parliament in use to this very day We have many preceedents upon the Rolls that in Vacancy of Episcopal Seas the Guardian of the Spirituals though but a simple priest hath been called to sit in this Honourable House by reason of that former Representation and such an officer I was my self over that Sea whereof I am Bishop some 25 years agoe and might then have been summoned by Writ unto this Honourable House at that very time by reason of the Spiritualty of that Diocesse which then as a simple priest I did by virtue of the aforesaid office represent And therefore most noble Lords look upon the Ark of God representative that in this time floates in great danger in this deluge of waters If there be any Cham or unclean Creature therein out with him and let every man bear his own Burthen but save the Ark for God and Christ Jesus his sake who hath built it in this Kingdome for saving of people and your Lordships are too wise to conceive that the Word and Sacraments the means of our Salvation will be ever effectually received from those ministers whose persons shall be so vilified and dejected as to be made no parcels or fragments of this Commonwealth No saith Gregory the last trick the Devil had in this world was this that whâ—â— he could not bring the word and Sacraments into disgrace by errors and Heretical opinions he invented this project and much applanded his wit therein by casting slight and contempt upon the preachers and ministers And my Noble Lords you are too wise to beleive what the Common people talk that we have a vote in the election of Knights and Burgesses and consequently some Figure and Representation in the Noble House of Commons They of the Ministry have no vote in these elections they have no Representation in that Honourable House and these contrary assertions are so slight and groundlesse as I will not offer to give them any answer And therefore right Honourable Lords have a special care of the Church of England your Mother in this point and as God hath made you the most noble of all the peers of the Christian World so do not you give way that our Nobility shall be taught henceforth as the Romans were in the time of the first and second Punick wars by their Slaves and Bond-men only and that the Church of God in this Island may come to be served by the most ignoble Ministers that ever have been seen in the Christian Church since the passion of our Saviour And so much for the first thing which this Bill intends to sever from persons in holy orders viz. votes representations in parliament The next thing to be severed from them by this Bill is of a much baser mettal and alloy sittings in Star Chamber sittings at Councel-Table sitting in Commissions of the peace and other Commissions of secular affairs which are such favours and graces of Christian princes as the Church may have a being and subsistence without them The Fortunes of our Greece do not depend upon these Spangles and the Soveraign prince hath imparted and withdrawn these kind of favours without the envy or regret of any wise Ecclesiastical persons But my Noble Lords this is the Case Our King hath by the Statute restored unto him the Head-ship of the Church of England and by the Word of God he is Custos utriusque Tabulae And will your Lordships allow this Ecclesiastical Head no Ecclesiastical Sences at all No Ecclesiastical person to be consulted withal not in any Circumstances of time and place If Cranmâ—r had been thus dealt withal in the minority of our young Iosias King Edward the sixth
of pious memory what had become of that great Work of our Reformation in this flourishing Church of England But I know before whom I speak I do not mean to dine your Lordships with Coleworts the harsh Consequences of this point your Lordships do understands as well as I. The last robe that some persons in holy orders are to be stript of hath a kind of mixture of Freehold and favour of the proper right and the graces of the King which are certain old Charters that some few Bishops and many ancient and Cathedral Churches have purchased procured from the ancient Kings before since the conquest to inable them to live quiet in their own prâ—cincts and close as they call it under a Justice or two of their own body without being abandoned upon every slight occasion to the injuries and vexations of Mechanical Tradesmen of which your Lordships best know these Countrey Incorporations do most consist Now whether these few Charters have their foundation by favour or by right I should conceive under your Lordships favour it is neither favour nor right â—o take them away without some just crime objected and proved for if they be abused in any particular Mr. Attorney General can find an ordinary remedy to repair the same by a Writ of Ad quod damnum without troubling of the two Houses of Parliament and this is all I shall speak to this point And now I come to the fourth part of this bill which is the manner of Inhibition heavy every way heavy in the penalty heavier a great deal in the incapacity the weighing of penalty will you consider I beseech you the small wyers that is poor Causes that are to induce the same and then the heavy lead that hangs upon these wyers It is thus if a natural subject of England inâ—ereâ—â—ed in the Magna Charta and petition of Right as well as any other yet being a person in holy orders shall happen unfortunately to vote in Parliament to obey his Prince by way of Councel or by way of a Commissionerâ— be required thereunto then is he presently to loose and forfeit for his first offence all his Means and Livelyhood for one year and for the second to forfeit his Freehold in that kind for ever and ever And I do not believe that your Lordships ever saw such an heavy weight of censure hang upon such thin wyers of reasons in any Act of Parliament made heretofore This peradventure may move others most but it does not me it is not the penalty but the incapacity and as the Philosophers would call it the natural impotency imposed by this Bill on men in holy orders to serve the King or the State in this kind be they otherwise never so able never so willing not never so vertuous which makes me draw a kind of Timanthes vail over this point and leave it without any amplification at all unto your Lordships wise and inward thoughts and considerations The fifth point is the Salvo made for the two Universities to have Justices of the peace amongst them of their own heads of Houses which I confess to be done upon mature and iust consideration for otherwise the Scholers must have gone for Justice to those parties to whom they go for their Mustard and Vinegar but yet under favour the reasons and inducements cannot be stronger then may be found out for other Ecclesiastical persons as the Bishop of Durhans who was ever since the dayes of K. Iohn suffered by the Princes and Parliaments of England to exercise justice upon the parties in those parts as being in truth the Kings subjects but the Bishops Tenents and therefore not likely to have their Causes more duly weighed then when the ballance is left in the hand of their own proper Landlords The Case of the Bishop of Ely for some parts of that Isle is not much different but if a little partiality doth not herein cast some mist before mine eyes the Case of the Dean and City of Westminster wherein this Parliament is now sitting is far more considerable both in the antiquity extent of Jurisdiction and the warrants whereupon it is grounded then any one of those places before mentioned for there is a clear Statute made 27. Eliz. for the drawing all Westminster St. Clemenst and St. Martins le grand London into a Corporation to be reigled by a Dean a Steward 12 Burgesses and 12 Assistants And if some salve or plaister shall not be applied unto Westminster in this point all that government and Corporation is at an end But this I perceive since is taken into Consideration by the Honorable House of Commons themselves I come now to the last point and the second Salvo of this Bill which is for Dukes Marquisses Earls Viscounts Barons or Peers of this Kingdome which is a clause that looks with a kind of contrary glance upon persons in holy orders It seems to favour some but so that thereby and in that very Act it casts an aspersion of baseness and ignobility upon all the rest of that holy profession for if no persons in holy orders ought to intermeddle in secular affairs how come these Nobles to be excepted out of that universal negative is it because they are nobly born then surely it must be granted that the rest must be excluded as being made of a rough and base piece of clay For the second part of this reason in beginning of the Bill can never bear out this Salvo that the office of the ministery is of so great importance that it will take up the whole man and all his best endevours Surely the office of the ministry is of no greater importance in a poor man then in a noble man nor doth it take away the whole man in the one and but a piece of him in the other I cannot give you many Instances herein out of Scripture because you know that in those dayes not many mighty not many noble were called c. 1 Cor. 1. 26. but when any noble were called I do not find but they did put more of the whole man and their best endevours upon the ministery then men in holy orders are at the least in holy Scripture noted to have done I put your Lordships in mind of those noblemen of Beraea compared with those of Thessalonica in the 17. of the Acts of the Apostles So that this Salvo for the nobility must needs be under your Lordships favour a secret wound unto the rest of the ministery unlesse your Lordships by your great wisdome will be willing to change it into a Panacea commonplaister both to the one and the other and under your Lordships favour I conceive may be done upon a very forcing argument The office of the ministry is of equal importance takes up the whole man and all his best endevours in the noble born as well as in the mean born minister but it is lawful all this notwithstanding for the noble