did accordingly teach the Church practically and by their own example Matt. 28.20 to observe all that was commanded them conform to their Lord's farewel command did proceed with consent and concurrence of the Church and people of God to the Election of so High and Extraordinary an Officer as an Apostle It strongly imports that it was their Masteâ—â—â— mind that they should so do not only in the particular Election of that Apostle but also and much more in the choice of the Inferiour and Ordinary Office-bearers of the Church X Thus we also find that the Looking out Nomination and Election of the Deacons whose Office is one of the ordinary tho' inferiour Offices of the Church is given by the appointment of the Apostles to the multitude of the Disciples or ordinary Believers In which Action these things are clearly evident 1. That the twelve Apostles call the Multitude together and appoint Deacons to be chosen and also appoint their determinate Number viz seven being so many as they judged would serve the Church's need at that time as also they ordain and lay hands on these Deacons after they are chosen and and so state and confirm them in their Office. 2. That the multitude of Disciples or Believers are left by the Apostles to their own freedom and discretion in the Election and choice of those seven qualified as the Apostles had directed 3 That the Looking out Nomination and Election of those seven is accordingly performed by the multitude of Believers In prima instantia without the prelimitation 〈◊〉 a previous Nomination or Choice 4. That the same multitude of Beleivers present or as the word is set these seven before the Apostles who ordain and lay hand upon them and so invest and confirm them in the Office. XI And as in all Christ's Institutions so particularly in this of the Election of the Office-beaters of his own house there appears a most Beautiful and Harmonious order For as the Election of the first and extarordinary Officers of the Church was immediately performed by our Lord Jesus Christ the Chief Pastor Head of the Church so the Election of the succeeding and ordinary Officers of the Church is very consequentially performed by the inferiour Pastors and Members of the Church respectively each of them acting and keeping within the limits prescribed by the Chief Pastor and Head of the Church XII Suteable to these excellent Patterns and examples set down in the Holy Scriptures the General Assembly of this Church Gen assemb 1649 sess 40 in the directory for Electing of Ministers appoints the order thereof in this manner 1. The Presbitry sends one of their own Number to the Congregation for which a Minister is to be Elected and he having preaâ—â—ed before them concerning the necessity of a well qualified Pastor and the great need that the People have to be diligent and fervent in Prayer to the Lord for such He is to signifie to them that the Presbitry out of their care for that People will send them Preachers whom they may hear But withall he advertiseth them that if they desire to hear any other the Presbitry will endeavour to satisfie them upon the sute of the Elders of the Coagregation for that Effect 2. Within some competent time thereafter The Presbitry is again to send a Minister to that Congregation on a certain day before appointed for that end who having then Preached and intimat to the People that they are to go about the Election of a Pastor the Session is to proceed to it the Minister that Preached moderating therein And the Election being made is to be intimate to the People And if upon intimation they acquiesce and consent to the Person chosen then the Presbitry is to proceed to his tryals But if the People dissent from the Person Elected by the Session the Presbitry is to take cognition thereof and after they have fully heard and considered the whole affair they are to judge and decide in it And where Congregations are unfit as in some cases they may be to make any Election the Presbitry is to provide them with a fit Pastor XIII Our Reverend Brethren the Ministers of the province of London incline to think that the power of Election doth ordinarly belong not so much to the People Jus Divin regim Eccles Pag. 98.99 in margine and Jus Divine Minist evang Pag 12 7. but rather to such as are in Office when Judicially conveened As for extraordinary cases I speak nothing of them For these must have extraordinary remedies But certainly dum suppetit remedium or dinarium nunquam recurrendum est ad remedium extraordinarium XIV Master Rutherfoord and others do unanimously agree that what ever be the People's share and interest in the Election of their Pastors it is indeed a deliberative and approbative but not an Authoritative Action yet as is said it is an Action truly Ecclesiastical properly and only belonging to the Church as such And that the People are indeed very nearly concerned in the right choice of their Pastors as being the most special ordinary means appointed of God for their Spiritual and Eternal welfare XV. From all which it is abundantly evident that the Right and power of the Looking out Nomination and Election of the Office-bearers of the Church of God doth properly and only belong to the Church as such and no way to any single person upon the account of priviledge or otherways call him patron or what you please and that the negative interests of Patronage are inconsistent with and destructive of that unlimited freedom and liberty of Election granted to and appointed by Jesus Christ to his Church for providing herself with such as may be most fit and proper for bearing Office therein XVI I need not add after this that the method of entring the Pastors of the Church by Patrons marrs that beautiful constant and uniform order that appears in all these ordinances and institutions of which our Blesed Lord who is a God of order and not of confusion Is the Author And therefore we may very Justly conclude it can be none of his For by this method of Patronage some Pastors are oblidged to enter by Patrons and some without them as in cases where it is doubtful who hath right to Present or where the Heirs of the last Patron are not entered as we term it or as the Civilians term it nondum adierunt haereditatem And in many other cases which oft times put both Presbitry and People to a stand not knowing how to behave and in the mean time the Congregation must unavoidably lye desolate at lest for half a Year for during that time the Patron is not oblidged to Present Again some must enter by those they call Ecclesiastical Patrons as Bishops c others by Laick Patrons whereof some are Courtiers others Souldiers or mean and Ignorant Mechanicks c. Some must enter by Patrons residing at a distance in the country
Patronage must be Laick and if it be out of the Patrimony of the Church the Patronage must be Ecclesiastick III. But not to insist on these Topicks this pretence is absolutly groundless 1. Because the Argument adduced striks equally against all for of Patronages and against all such negative interests in the Election or Maintenance of the Ministers of the Gospel as are not of Divine appointment and institution IV. Next Bishops have no more warrand from Scripture for such an interest and priviledge than others have And the power of Patronage hath been as grosly abused if not more and as scandalously offensive and I am sure more prejudicial to the interests of the Church and to the thriving of Religion when in the hands of the Bishops than when in the hands of other persons And there is no ground from Scripture either by precept promise or example that any one Church Officer should ordinarly be intrusted with such an interest and priviledge in the Looking out Nomination and Election and in the Maintenance or Living of the Ministers of the Gospel V. But to cut of all farther debate we utterly disclaime any such Officer in the Church as a Bishop in a sense superior to or distinct from an ordinary preaching Presbiter or Elder These terms are of one and the self same signification in the Scripture as will appear to any that will be at the pains to read the Texts where ever the word Bishop is mentioned And I know no man or Angel that hath power to separate what the Spirit of God in the Scripture has joyned and made one and the same And consequently a Bishop can have no such priviledge Non entis nulla sunt accidentia nullae affectiones nullae proprietates VI. And tho' prelacy were a Lawful Office as it is not and tho' the Prelates were Successors to the Apostles as they most ridiculously pretend since as we already cleared it was impossible the design of their Office could admit of any Succession yet sure I am in this priviledge of Patronage they never did nor doe follow the example of the Apostles For even the Apostles themselves in the Election of Matthias to be one of their number made use of the Concurrence of the People And in the ordination of the Pastors of the Church they made use of the concurrence both of the Presbitry and People And if they joined the Presbitry and People and admitted them to an interest in relation to the highest acts of the Ministerial Call they questionless also left them a share 1 Tim 4.14 in the Looking out Nomination and Election of the ordinary pastors Nam qui vult majus vult etiam minus Act 15.2 25.27 Act 13.1 2.3 Act. 14 27 28 Nay which is more the ordinary Teachers of the Church and others did concurr in sending out of the very Apostles themselves to some special pieces of their Ministry And accordingly the Apostles think it not below their Dignity to give them an account how they had behaved in their Commission So that let the Prelates pretend Succession to whom they will they can never pretend to be Successors of the Apostles to whom a Sole power of Jurisdiction and Ordination was as much a Stranger as to any Presbyter in the Church VII But lastly if by Ecclesiastick Patronages the Lawful Church Judicatories be meant tho' in that case both the Title of Patronage and the extent of power thereby understood must be rejected yet there is no doubt but the Judicatories of the Church have a very special hand and interest in the Looking out Nomination and Election of the Ministers of the Gospel and have a power Ministerially to authorize them for their office and to send them forth to Labour in the Lord's Vine Yard And by consequence do also Ministerially invest them with a Right to meddle with their Maintenance A Ministers only Right thereto being a Lawful call to the Office and Faithful discharge of his duty in it as we have formerly marked SECT XIX A pretence from the failings and mistakes of the Church Judicatories c. I. THE last pretence that I shall notice is this that Presbitries and People are not infallible but are subject to Mistake and Erre in the Election and Choice of Pastors as well as the Patrons And therefore the Patron 's Power of Election is no more injurious to the Church than she is to her self II. For answer to this it may be considered First That the lawful and ordinary method of Electing the Pastors of the Church being an Ordinance and Institution of Divine Appointment and the power of Patronage on the contrary being nothing else but an useless Invention of Men and a most groundless and unreasonable Usurpation upon the Church and clearly inconsistent with and destructive of the Institutions of Jesus Christ The Church and People of God may very safely and confidently rely and depend upon the Lord for his Blessing and direction in the right choice of the Ministers of the Gospel when they Act in a way of his own appointment which they who Act in so unjust and unwarrantable a method as this of Patronage have no ground to expect And tho' the Lord for wise and holy ends may some times leave his Church and People to themselves and let them fall in errors and mistakes in this as well as in other cases yet duty must not be forsaken for fear of failings in the performance We must both Pray to God for a discovery of what is duty when it is unclear to us and when it is discovered we must Pray for strength and assistance to perform it a right and then set about it in the Lord's strength with a humble confidence and dependance upon him for his blessing and direction who hath never said to the house of Jacob seek ye my face in vain III. Next tho' as is already said there be no institution either in Church or State but what by Reason of the Weakness and Corruption of Men may be abused yet this is no sufficient ground for laying aside an institution that is either morally necessary or positively enjoined by God The only rule and remedie in this case is Tollatur abusus et maneat usus let the matter be regulate by Acting in it according to the word of God which fully and clearly discovers what both Church-Judicatories and People may or may not do in the case But on the contrary the abuse and offensiveness of unnecessary unwarrantable institutions does strongly militate against their farther use If the Presbitry do at any time miscarry in a way that they are warranted by God to follow we must pray that God may purge his own House and purifie the Sons of Levi And the help and assistance of Superior Church-Judicatories must be made use of And in cases of general and publick defection the Civil Magistrate may employ his power circa Sacra But those mistakes can never warrand us to leave the institutions of the infinite love and wisdom of God and betake our selves to our own weak and witless inventions in the matters of God. Christ's promised presence with his Church may be a sufficient encouragement for his People to cleave and adhere to him in wayes of his own appointment Whereas those who go astray and follow crooked Paths ingyring themselves as Officious and Busie Bodies in the affairs of the Church without a Lawful Call can expect nothing but that God in his Justice should leave them to be a Snare both to themselves and others Certainly were these things really believed as all prosess they do peoples practise would be very far different from what it is But such is the Atheism of mans heart that while we confess the truths of God with our Lips our Hearts are too oft far from him IV. I begin now to be weary of noticeing such trifles And the truth is it might be amazing to hear men otherways rational offer such empty pretences instead of Solid and Convincing reasons if the cause would admit of any better But it is Vitium Causae and so we need no more admire to see a weakness inevitably cleave to the ablest Wits in the defence of what is unjustifiable than to see the strongest of men succumb in raising a weight that is above his natural strength to undergo The strength of mens Spirits as well as of their Bodies have their limits and are not infinite And since I mind nothing farther that can be objected but what with very much ease may receive a full solution from the Grounds already represented I think it will be needless to give either the Reader or my self any farther trouble on this Subject V. I shall only add that it is the duty of all God's People in this land to wrestle with God that he may incline the hearts of all Ranks of Men in their several stations and capacities to return to a hearty and cordial Compliance with and a chearful Acquiescence in the just and rational Determinations that were once made by publick Authority in this Nation both in this and other steps of a true Reformation And that the Lord may not be provoked by a too open Contempt of the Gospel of Peace the Crying Sin of the Nation and our sinful slighting of his Mercies to suffer his Church after so much wrestling to sink under her present Bondage and Captivity by reason of this and other unjust and grievous usurpations into which after so many and great Deliverances we are again for our Sins brought into Subjection FINIS
in some respect the foundation of these patronages we are in search of if we consider that as at the first appearance this was a trust in it self not discommendable but rather in some cases necessar and useful so in after times it did by little and little degenerat into this pretended right of Patronage we are to treat of to the subversion of the Liberties of the Christian Church for whose defence in the Lawful enjoyment of her Patrimony it was at first introduced And it may likewise be observed that those persons at the time of the Councils cited were not called Patrons but only Ecclesiarum Defensores Vide Caranz summ Concil folio 126. folio 146. Ecclesiarum Exequutores vel Advocati which clearly shews the Nature of that trust to have been vastly different from the right of patronage as it was afterwards practised IX But in the time of the Emperor Justinian about the middle of the sixth Century there appears some clearer Lineaments of the rights of Patronage as in the Novel 57. Novel 57. Novel 123. and Novel 123 yet even at this time it is vastly short of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it afterwards came to under the protection of the Canon Law and many are of opinion that at this time this Power did not extend any farther than to the presentation of the Minores Clerici as they were called and that it had no interest in the Election of the Pastors and Governours of the Church who were then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 termed Episcopi as they think is clear from the 123 Novel where it is appointed ut ad Electionem Episcopi convenirent omnes Clerici Primores Civitatis So that if by the Rules of Analogy we may be allowed to draw this power of presentation or Commendation as it was called but not a jus etigendi and apply it to our times it will have place in the Election of none of the Office bearers of the Church but only in that of Readers Precentors Schoolmasters Beddels and the like For these are the Officers thâ—t correspond to the Minores Clerici of that time And thence they conclude that it can never be proven that before the year DC Patronage had any interest in the Call of the Pastors of the Church X. But be this as it will it is pretty clear that before these Novels there was nothing like the priviledges of patronage in use that right being not so much as once named in all the former Laws of the Roman Empire which were reduced and Compyled into a Body by the same Emperor And all the mention that is made of it in the Novels is but in some few to witt in the 1.57.67.123 and 131. This may yet farther appear from the very terms of praesentatio advocatio guardias habere c. which have not the least scent of the Saecula purior is latinitatis XI And as the priviledges of Patronage were late of entring into the Empire so certainly they have been some considerable time in use in the Empire and Church of Rome before they have been brought thence and settled in Scotland XII But be the time of the entry of Patronage what it will that which seems to have given the first rise and occasion to it was the building of Kirks and Meeting-places for the publick worship of God or the allocating and giving ground to build them on or lastly the Mortification or settlement of a Benefice or constant maintenance on such as should serve the Cure thereat for upon such acts the Founders of Kirks and Benefices did assume or as others pretend did Reserve to themselves and their heirs in all time thereafter a priviledge and power to nominat and present those who should serve as Pastors at such a Kirk and a sole Power of giving them a legal Right Title to the Rents and profits of the Living during their Incumbency And that even albeit such founders had not built the whole Kirk or settled the whole benefice but only a part of them for the Canonists maintain that he who builds but One corner of a Kirk hath a right to the patronage as well as he that builds the other Three XIII Many of the Canonists do grant and it is very clear from the Canon law it self that the patrons did at first assume this priviledge Decretal l. 3. Tit. 38. Ca. 3. rather by the Connivance of the Church than by her express and deliberate Consent and far less by her positive appointment and Institution And even the Council of Trent does acknowledge that in many cases Jus patronatus ex usurpatione quaesitumest The Patron on the one hand counting this priviledge to be his due Concil Trident. sess 25. decret de Reform cap. 9. in point of merit and desert and looking upon it as no small degree of unthankfulness in the Church to gain say or oppose his claim to it And the Church it may be also thinking it hard on the other hand in point of gratitude to refuse it since the design of this priviledge primo intuitu might appear to reach no farther but to preserve some memory of such good and pious deeds that the Benefactors might not seem to have utterly lost what they devoted for pious uses it being indeed hard enough at the first sight to discern betwixt plausible corruptions and truly useful institutions Inter triticum lolium sayes Jerom Quamdiu in herbaest nondum culmus venit ad Spicam grandis Similitudo in discernendo aut nulla aut perdifficilis distantia So that by such concurring circumstances of ambition on the Patrons part and of indeliberate favour on the part of the Church at a time when the mystery of iniquity had already wrought to some sort of perfection for even in the Apostles days it had begun to work and when Superstition and Corruption as well in Worship and Doctrine 2. Thes 2.7 as in Morals was much advanced and humane Inventions were creeping in apace into the room of the ordinances of Jesus Christ The Church was by degrees robbed of her Spiritual Priviledges that the aspiring humours of the great ones might be Gratified with her spoils and that their greatness might under the specious and plausible Title of the Churches Patrons and Defenders appear with the more lustre and splendor before Men It being esteemed no small Addition to their Honour and to the Interest they had over People as to their Bodies and Temporal Concerns to be likewise invested with a priviledge that in a manner gave them a preheminence over Peopl's Souls and Spiritual interests to that degree that no Minister without the Patrons express and positive wartand and appointment might have access to serve in Sacris at such a Kirk or have a legal Right and Title to the rents and profits of a Benefice tho' all others interessed were satisfied to the full with his sufficiency good Behaviour and faithful discharge of
his wrath upon them and their families for keeping up humane inventions in the matters of God so prejudicial to the true privileges and interests of his Church But this we shall have occasion to clear farther in the progress of this discourse III. Next if these be the only terms and conditions on which men will gratifie the Church that she subject her self and her spiritual Liberties to such a yoke of Slavery as this Priviledge imports I am sure the Church will be better without such Favours than with them IV. If there were once a reasonable competency settled upon the Church for the maintenance of her Pastors and other pious and necessary uses or if what was once settled and sacrilegiously taken from her were again restored and that faithfully administrat without dilapidation and misapplication there would be but little need of encouragement for any farther additions It hath been observed in all Ages That excesse in this matter hath been more fatal to the true interests of the Church than any defect could be Too much tends to introduce a depravation of Life and Manners in Church-men and by a necessar connexion also a Corruption in Worship and Doctrine If Wordly riches had been proper for advancing the work of the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ who was Lord of all had never been so scant in his allowance to his Disciples and Apostles It is an old observation that when the Church had but Lignei calices she had aurei Episcopi and when she got golden chalices she got wooden Bishops or Pastors The sense is easily understood tho' it be not exactly literal So true it is that Religio peper it divitias Filia Matrem devoravit Religion brought forth Riches and the daughter devoured the Mother V. Lastly to say that the denyal of the priviledges of Patronage is the cause of this discouragement Is but the Fallacia non causae pro causa for the truth is that which is the only cause of Peoples discouragement in the bestowing of their goods for pious uses is the scandalous and sacrilegious mismanagment of the uncontraverted Patrimony of the Church by misapplying it contrary to its design and nature of which there are no sort of Men under Heaven so guilty as many of the Patrons are The Lord himself tells his Servant Moses no devouted thing that a man shall devout unto the Lord of all that be hath both of Man and Beast Levit. 27 28. and of the feild of his possession shall be sold and redeemed and much less sacrilegiously robbed every devouted thing is most holy unto the Lord. Deo dicata says Amandus Polanus Ei Sacra maneant Polanus in Danel cap. 1. v. 2. nam si Is zelus in Rege idololatrico scilicet Nebuchadnezare fuit ut censuerit vasa Deo Israelis Sancta non alio quam in sui Dei seu potius Idoli fanum infereuda multo magis Christiani Magistratus bona illa quae tempore Papatus Deo dicata fuerunt usibus Ecclesiae relinquere debent Imo quanto magis Episcopos id facere decet i. e. That which is once devouted to God ought to remain Holy to him for if the zeal of an Idolatrous Prince to wit Nebuchadnezar oblidged him to believe that the Holy Vessells of the God of Israel were not to be otherways disposed of but for the service of his own God or rather his Idols temple much more ought a Christian Magistrat to leave these goods for the use of the Church which in the time of Popery were consecrat for pious uses c. see and compare this with Ezra 1.7.8 where all these Vessells are returned to their right and proper use Our own Rollock inveighs very sharply against the sacriledge of this Nation in his time in misapplying to the use of privat Persons what was taken from the Popish Church and citeth such as are guilty to answer it before the Tribunal of the Soveraign and Impartial Judge of all the Earth Rollock in Dan. and he tells them that tho' they slight and neglect his warning it shall be a standing witness against them to render them Inexcusable c. And our famous and worthy Reformer Mr. Knox whose testimony I value above a thousand others In a letter dated in August 1571. direct to the general Assembly at Stirling speaks his mind very freely on this subject with all the earnestness sincerity of a Person that was looking very shortly to step over the Threshold of time into Eternity Take his own words Because says he the dayly decay of my Natural strength threatens me with a sudden departure from this valley of misery therefore of Love and Conscience I exhort you yea in the fear of God I Charge and Command you that you take heed to your selves and to the flock of God And that with the like uprightness and strength in God ye gainstand the merciless Devourers of the Patrimony of the Church If Men will spoil let them do it to their own Peril and condemnation But communicat ye not with their Sins of whatsoever state they be neither by consent nor by silence but with publick protestation make known to the World that ye are innocent of such robbery which will er'e it be long provock God's vengence on the Committers of it c. And I am sure the experience of many Families in Scotland may confirm this Religione mutatâ says a learned Lawyer sic statu priori inverso Finkel hoc.t. Patronus curabit ut bona Ecclesiae piis usibus legata non tantum preserventur augeantur sed ad usum alium aeque pium convertantur puta ad cultum alium divinum ad salutem Rei publicae ad conservandum Ministerium ad sum Scholarum pauperes juvandos Nosocomia condenda c. i. e. When there is an alteration of Religion and by consequence an inversion of the former state of Affairs a Patron ought to take care that the goods of the Church and what is left for pious uses be not only preserved and augmented but that they be applyed to other as pious uses as for the worship of God in a lawful manner for the safety of the Common wealth for the maintaining of the Ministry for the use of Schools the help of the poor the building of Hospitals c. VI. I might add the joint Testimony of our own Church in her Books of Disciplin c. many other things But this being a head that I have but accidentally fallen upon and a Subject that would lead me our a great length and much farther than the design of this discourse will allow I shall leave it Such as desire farther information may find enough and too much to satisfie their curiosity in the publick records of the Nation They may also consult the learned Sir Henry Spelman's tractat de non temerandis Ecclesits and his larger work of Teiths They may also see D. Forbes's gemitus Ecclesiae
SECT VIII The Ground of Patronage from a Grant or Concession of the Church examined I. THe next ground that is urged for a foundation to the rights of Patronage is that the Patrons of Kirks and Benefices enjoy the priviledge acclaimed in reference to the Call and Maintenance of the Ministry by a grant and concession from the Church and that consequently it is a Lawful institution and no usurpation volenti enim non fit injuria In explication of the meaning of this great and concession some take one course and some another For some by this grant do understand that the Church hath alienat and transferred her right of Election and divested her self of it in favours of the Patrons Other again do understand by this concession that the Patron acts by vertue of a Commission from and as Impowered by the Church without founding on any higher ground of Property in the priviledge by vertue of ane alienation of the right of Election made by the Church to him I shall examin this concession distinctly in both senses the first in this and the other in the next Section II Before we pass any farther it may be observed that this ground adduced for a foundation of the right of Patronage does evidently acknowledge that the right and priviledge acclaimed is primarly and originally a Church power which were enough without any farther to take off this pretence III. But to come particularly to the first sense in which this pretended Concession may be understood viz. that the Church hath a lienat her right of Election and divested her self of it in the Patrons favours it is to be considered First that the Church is utterly incapable to alienat or transfer her Spiritual rights and priviledges or to divest her self of them these are interests that are not at her desposal she being only intrusted by Jesus Christ her sole King and Lawgiver with the custody and administration of them for the good and edification of the present and succeeding generations These rights are founded upon a higher Title than that they can be altered and transmitted from hand to hand by pactions or promises betwixt man and man. In such cases the Church can do nothing against the truth she is not therein sui juris 1 Cor. 6 20 and 7 23. ye are not your own says the Apostle ye are bought with a price be not ye the servants of men do not enslave your selves by losing your Rights and Liberties The Church can no more make over her Spiritual Rights and Priviledges or subject her self to strange Lords new Lawgivers therein than a woman can make over the right of her Body which only belongs to her Lawful Husband or an Innocent person the right of his life to a Murderer nemo est Dominus suae vitae aut suorum membrorum or than a Prince the rights of his Crown and Kingdom and the liberties of his People to a foraign power or a person in Non-age the right of his estate as the Apostle expresly tells us That the heir differs nothing here from a servant or in a word then the Administrators and Governours of a City and Community can Alienat the Rights of their Constituents All these and many other acts of the like nature as to the translation of property are but frustraneous ineffectual endeavours like a man's attempt to raise a weight that is without and above the compass of his natural strength Grave saxum Sysyphon urget IV. And tho' de facto such attempts may oft be made yet de jure they are void and without effect And let the conveyance be exprest under what termes and carried under what cover or disguise you will the right stands still Immoveable and remains where it was at first nemo potest nisi quod de Jure potest we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth V. It is our Lord Jesus Christ and he alone who is the Church's only Head and Law-giver that hath power to settle the rights and priviledges of his Church in such hands and such order as his infinite love and wisdom thinks fit All the right and power the Church hath in these is only a naked Trust to keep and manage them according to the appointment and instructions of her Lord and Master And when she exceeds that she debords and goes beyond her Commission so that all the transmission she can make is but Jus a non habente potestatem like a grant of the property of an estate by a person that hath no other right to it but a naked commission to uplift and collect the rents for the use of the true Proprietar And therefore the Church without her Lord and Head's consent can alienate or divest her self of none of her rights and priviledges that have been purchased to her at no less rate then the precious Blood of the eternal Son of God. And as there is not the least ground to pretend that ever Jesus Christ hath given such a consent so there is far less ground to expect that ever he will give it now after he hath sealed his last will and testament in all things that concern the Kingdom of God by his own death and hath declared that he will have it stand firm and unalterable by men or Angels till he come again The Church can no more divest her self of the right she hath to elect her own Office-bearers than she can transfert the Inheritance of the Kingdom of Christ to which that liberty is annexed And happy is it for the Church and Saints of God that their stock and Inheritance is not in their own hand and at their own disposal math 6.13.20 luk 12 33. It is far better secured their treasure is lodged where neither moth nor rust does corrupt nor theives break thorow and steal VI. And as our Lord Jesus Christ hath the only right of property and power of disposal of the Church's rights and priviledges so he is the only just and true Proprietar of her rents and patrimony and when an office vaiks the rents return to the Church her self as Proprietar under Christ to be disposed of for other pious uses And therefore if the ancient Canons have not only discharged the alienation of the Church's goods or temporal patrimony but hath expresly declared all contracts relative to such alienations utterly void and null and have declared that the goods so alienat are still the Church's own Concil ancyrom can 15 c. notwithstanding of such Bargains and Transactions how much more must the Church be incapable to alienat or divest her self of these Spiritual Rights and Priviledges conferred upon her by her Head and King and by him purchas'd at no less Rate than the price of his own most precious blood VII And as de jure The Church cannot make any such alienation of her Rights and Liberties so it is positively denyed that ever she hath de facto made the same But on
Title who for the most part if it were in their power would be content to have their Predecesâ—ors Deeds and Grants made in favours of the Church declared null and void And far less can this pretence conclude any thing to found the other Priviledges of Patronage relating to their Negative Interests in the Call and Maintenance of the Ministry III. Next it is but too evident that whatever be pretended this care for Defence of the Church's Patrimony from Dilapidation and Misapplications is the least part of the Patron 's business or concernment All the care he takes in this affair being meerly that no Body shall have Power to Dilapidate or Misapply the Church's Rents and Livings but Himself And certainly in this respect the Power of Patronage may most justly and deservedly be termed a Jus onerosum a very grievous and burdensome power to the Church of God so that if there were a particular Office appointed for preventing the Dilapidation and Mismanagement or Misapplying of the Church's Patrimony and for punishing of such as should be found guilty of it I am sure there is no sort of Men in the Nation that would feell the weight of Justice more deservedly upon that account than the most part of the Patrons themselves who as they are de Facto guilty with many other Sacrilegious Impropriators of the Dilapidating and Misapplication of the Church's Livings Patrimony without the least colour of Material Right so they do pretend as we may have farther occasion to observe that de Jure they may lawfully retain in their own hands whatever part of the Benefice they can agree with the Intrant to allow And that in the cases of vacancy the Fruits and Profites of the Benefice must return to their own private use IV. But thirdly the defence of the Church in her Rights and Patrimony and in her Liberties and Priviledges also Is indeed a thing very necessar and desireable and therefore it is a duty incumbent not only on every Christian in power in their several stations but in a special manner upon the civil Magistrat who by his office is the Church's Nursing Father And not only is it the duty of all Magistrats but their Honour and Profit also and it will likewise be their Comfort that they have imployed all their Power and Interest and brought all their Honour and Authority to the New Jerusalem for whose good our blessed Lord took upon him the state of a Servant and sends forth his Angels as ministring Spirits But any power the civil Magistrat hath in these matters is only a power circa Sacra and no power in Sacris with reference to a Negative Interest in the Maintenance of the Ministers of the Gospel to which they have a full and better Right by vertue of their Spiritual capacity and faithful Discharge of their duty therein than all the Powers on Earth can give them The Magistrats power is only Cumulative whereby he may confirm and maintain the Rights and Liberties of the Church but no way privative of them He may and ought to interpose his Interest and Authority for her defence in the injoyment of her Rights but can neither deprive her of them not confer or confirm the same in favours of any other that usurps or invads them to her prejudice V. Fourthly it is the constant opinion of Divines that the Church herself hath power to censure such as are guilty of Symoniacal or Sacrilegious Dilapidations and Misapplications of het Patrimony And this they gather by due Analogy from the Apostle Peter's inflicting Acts 5 Acts 8. of the punishment of Death upon Ananias and Saphira for their Sacrilegious Concealments of what they had Consecrate to God for the use of his Church and from the carriage of the same Apostle in the case of Simon Magus from whom the crime of Simony derives it's Name VI. But beside all this the word of God as it is compleatly perfect in every thing so it is noways deficient in settling institutions properly Ecclesiastical for the oversight of these matters For in the Primitive and Apostolick times we find that the care of the Collecting and Distributing of the goods of the Church was committed to the Deacons who being ordinar and standing Office-bearers in the Church were countable to her for their Administration and Censurable by her in case they were found to Maleverse These Office-bearers had truly a kind of power in Sacris or a lawful warrand to medle with a thing Consecrated and Devoted to God for pious uses And as this office was in it self most useful and necessary in the Church and founded upon a lawful warrand so it was ordinarly exerced by Men of Credit and Interest Acts. 6 1 Cor. 12 23 24 25 28. and such as were Eminent for Piety as is clear from 1 Cor. 12. And it is to be regrated that the Church for want of a Maintenance to such Officers stands deprived for the most part of their patrociny and protection VII They are styled in the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word Importing the standing over against a Man for help in the lifting of a burden that is too weighty for him alone And is a term that very properly and more fully and significantly expresseth the Nature and Design of this Office than any word in our Language can For without such helps so our Translation renders the word who may take upon them the care of collecting and dispensing what was bestowed upon the Church for pious uses the work of the Ministry could not but meet with many Hinderances and Obstructions For when the Pastors of the Church like the neglected Levits Nehem. 13. must flee every one to his field and be entangled in Secular Affairs and Law suits for recovery of their Livings how is it possible that they can wait upon the duties of their function as they ought the diligent and Faithful discharge of the Ministerial Office is of it self without the unnecessar addition of other civil Affairs of so great a weight and requires so much assiduity and application that it made even the Apostle Paul himself one of the greatest and most eminent Ministers that ever the Christian Church had cry out who is sufficient for these things or how is it possible when the Pastors of the Church 2 Cor. 2 16. are so inveigled in civil business and debates but they must turn cold and faint in that edge and zeal that renders them useful and profitable Labourers in the Lord's Vine-Yard VIII And tho' this office of Deacons may seem to be among the lowest yet in the primitive times it was of no mean account Men of the best note and consideration for piety and wealth were ordinarly intrusted with it as is clear from that fore-cited place And that because of the great use and necessity the Church had of them And therefore in Diaconis potius quam Pastoribus elegendis curandum ut caeteris paribus lautioris
Gal. 3.28 Col. 3 11. but sure I am in matters of common Right there is no respect of persons for in Christ there is neither bond nor free Sect. XII The power of Patronage is destructive of the Institutions of Christ for Election of the Pastors of his Church 1. AS we have asserted that Patronage is no divine Institution and that the Patrons have not the right of Electing the Pastor's of the Church so we must also shew to whom this Right of Election doth properly belong lest others that have as little Right may lay claime to it as it hath fallen out in the matter of the Church's Patrimony which when it was taken from the Popish Clergy who had no true Right to it was not restored to the reformed Church but to private persons who to say no worse I am sure had as little Right as the former possessors II. And therefore the next ground that we shall insist upon against Patronage shall be this that as this power is no divine Institution but a manifest usurpation so which is worse it clearly destroyes and renders useless the ordinances appointed by Jesus Christ the Church's only Head for the Election of the Ministers of his Church And thereby carries with it the guilt of Rejecting our Blessed Lord from being King and Law-giver in his own House and of Establishing strange Lords and new Law-givers therein For the Patrons Looking out Nomination of and pitching upon such a determinate person to be a Pastor of the Church without the consent of either Presbitry or People does evidently take away the ordinance of a free and unlimited Election of such as may be fittest for such a charge and most acceptable to the congregation concerned to be made by the Church Judicatories and Church of believers respectively each of them acting what is proper for their several places and stations as being the only party intrusted with it by Jesus Christ the sole King and Law-giver in his own Church III. And tho' the Patron may sometimes pitch upon and present a person of true worth yet as this is but meerly accidental and the case does generally fall out quite otherwise so nothing should be done to hinder the Election of one more worthy And a well qualified Pastor may be one among a Thousand as it is Job 33. Is enim eligendus says Origen ex omnibus qui Doctior qui Sanctior qui omni virtute praestantior That is he that among all is the Holiest in Life the most Learned and the most Eminent in all manner of vertue is the person that ought to be Elected So likewise the free Election of such ought to be intirely left to these entrusted by Jesus Christ therwith IV. The discerning of the Spirits and the knowing of the Voice of Christ in his Called Sent Servants is the priviledge of the Church as such and does fit and qualifie the Church and not the Patron to make a due and suteable choice of her Pastors and therefore the Church and not the Patron as such hath only right to medle therein I say the Patron as such hath not the right of Election for tho' the Patron as a Church-Member or as a Church-officer in the Congregation where he lives whether he be Elder or Deacon may have that Voice and Concurse in the Election which the other Members and Office-bearers have yet as Patron and under that Reduplication he can have no such Right as the Priviledge acclaimed amounts to V. And what ever diversity of Judgment may be found among Divines as to the seat of this Church power yet it is agreed upon by all that write on the Subject and clearly evident from the Scriptures that this Power and Right of Election Acts. 14.23 1 Tim. 4.14 belongs only to the Church as such and consequently it cannot belong to the Patron as a Negative Interest due to him in the extent acclaimed And accordingly it is clear beyond all debate that the Church was in the Actual possession of this power and right of Election for several hundreds of years before such a device as Patronage was heard of in the Christian World. This is a truth as evident from Antiquity as any thing can be for in all the ancient Councils Canons Fathers and Historians of the Church there is not the least mention of such a priviledge as this of Patronage And when ever they have occasion to speak of the Forms of the Election of Pastors they still set down a method wherein the Church it self does freely Elect in every thing absolutely inconsistent with the Rights of Patronage VI. There is not the least hint in all these Ancient Writers that with any shadow can be alledged for the power of Patronage Some thing there is indeed now and then mentioned for clearing and instructing the power of the Civil Magistrate circa sacra But that is an interest quite different from the Rights of Patronage and which does not at present fall in our way to debate VII It would be tedious and to no purpose to offer to prove from Antiquity See Padri Paulo's Hist of the Council of Trent Cyprian Epist 33 34 37 55 63. Theodoret Histor tripart lib. 2. cap. 12. lib. 4. cap. 22. lib 6. cap. 9. Socrat. Hist Eccles cap. 28. c. Decret dist 63. can Quanto Can. vota civium Can. Sacrorum c. Chemnit examen Counc Trident. parte page 408. seq editionis Francosurt in 80. Didoclar alt Damascen c. the Interest of the Church in the Election of her Pastors since it is a point that I have found very little contraverted These who are curious may consult the debates even of those Men whom they call the Fathers at Trent whereof many as corrupt as they were would gladly have had the Church restored to her primitive Rights of Election and many others both Popish and Protestant Writers which it would be weariesome to cite VIII But not to insist any farther on these Topicks let us follow Augustin's rule Mittamus ea quae ab utraque parte dicipossunt ad Scripturae judicium revocetur controversia Agustin cont Jul. The clearest and fafest Methods in Debates of this Nature which concern the Interest of Christ and his Church is to decide them by the sentence of the Scriptures to the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to these it is because there is no Light in them Isay 8.20 Thus we find the Apostles and multitude of Disciples for so was the Church of Believers then termed meet together for the Election of an extraordinary Office-bearer in the Church viz. an Apostle And a list made by them both to wit the Apostles and Believers of two Joseph and Matthias But the designation of the particular person for this extraordinary Office they leave to the Divine Determination by Lot. IX And if the Apostles who were Instructed by Christ in all things that concerned his Kingdom and
others by those that reside neither in the Country nor Nation yea and some by Women as hath been formerly observed Some by one Patron others by many c. Ministri says Doctor Ames dati sunt Ecclesiae a Christo ut eadem or dinaria et certa ratione possint ab omni Ecclesiâ procurari sed si ab alijs penderet vocatio Ecclesia saepe destitueretur certa ratione sibi ministros procurandi et proinde talis Ecclesia esset a Christo Jnstituta quae non esset sibimet sufficiens in seipsa de cas conscien L 4 C 25 25 That is Ministers are apointed by Christ in his Church that by the same certain and ordinary method they may be procured by every Church But if the Call of the Ministry must depend upon others the Church might oft-times be destitute of a certain method of procuring her own Pastors so that in that case such a Church should be institute by Christ as were not sufficient in it self to provide for her ordinary Necessities which is altogether inconsistent with the infinite Wisdom and Fidelity of Christ And tho' this Author it may be understand the Church otherways than we do yet that makes no difference in the present case The Argumentis very cogent in what ever sense the term be taken XVII Nay which is yet worse this method of Patronage destroyes or at least weakens the very nature of a Ministers Call for the Call of a Minister must be Divine and not humane it must be of God and not of Men. The Call of the Apostles indeed was neither of Men nor by Men their Office in the Church being extraordinary long since determined They were called immediately by the Lord himself to be Ear and Eye witnesses of his Doctrine Miracles and Resurrection That they might afterwards deliver them to the World. as is clear from Acts 1.23 In which it was impossible for them to have any Successors whence it is that the Apostle Paul calls himself an Apostle born out of Time Tho' his Call to the Office was immediatly by Christ himself and he reckoned himself in other respects to be not a Whit behind the very Chiefest Apostles But the calling of the ordinary and standing Officers of the Church 1 Cor 15.89 10 2 Cor ij 15. such as Preaching and Ruling Elders Doctors and Deacons tho' it be by Men that is by the intervention of such men as have divine warrand and Commission to Act therein yet it must not be of Men that is it neither hath its Authority from men nor must it come thorow the hands of such men as have no warrand from Jesus Christ the Church's only Head and Law. giver to medle in it For this were truly to make them the Servants of Men and not of God. XVII And that this method of calling the Ministers of the Gospel by Patrons makes their Call to be partly Humane and of Men I think will need but little to clear it it being evident that the rise of the external Call at least flowes from such Men as the Spirit of God never breathed the call of his sent Servants by and to whom the Looking out Nomination and Election of the Pastors of the Church and the Presenting them to the Church Judicatories for Tryal and Admission was never entrusted or committed And therefore a Minister's Call in that method must at lest in part be Humane and not Divine And consequently must be of Men and not of God Malum enim ex quolibet defectu bonum non nisi ex integracausa And as such an unwarantable Mixture cannot but pro tanto very much weaken I shall not say nullifie a Mininister's Call so certainly it cannot but very much marr his Confidence and obstruct his Comfort in the exercise of his Ministry as we shall see hereafter To this purpose Zanchius tells us after he hath been speaking of the Ministerial call Ex his autem omnibus apparet quam nulla sit vel non Legitima eorum Dei Ministrorum vel Ecclesiae Pastorum vocatio qui solius Regis vel Reginae vel Patroni vel Episcopi aut Archiepiscopi Diplomate Bullis Jussu Judicio fiunt vel Eliguntur id quod dolendum est adhu◠fieri in ijs Ecclesiis qui tamen purum Dei verbum habent sequuntur ut in Ecclesia Anglicana c. That is it is very clear how much either Null or at lest not Lawful the Call of those Ministers of God or Pastors of the Church must be who take their Election only from the Patents Bulls Warrands or Appointment of a King Queen Patron or Bishop c Which yet to our grief is done even in these Churches who have and follow the profession of the true word of God as in England c. XVIII And lastly the Assertors of this pretended power of Patronage cannot deny but it were most absurd and unreasonable for any single Person how pious and judicious soever to assume and take upon him the Looking out Nomination and Election of all the Ruling Elders and Deacons of a Congregations And to oblidge the Church to accept and receive such as he should so Nominat and Elect tho' those viz. the Ruling Elders and Deacons be but the inferiour Officebearers of the Church and the people of God no way so neerly concerned in the right choice of them as in that of their Pastors who are appointed of God as the most special ordinary means of their Salvation And therefore for any Man without Christ's warrand to assume the Nomination and Election of the Pastors of the Church who are the principal Office-bearers in the House of God and in the right and due choice of whom the good of Souls is so neerly concerned must be much more absurd and unreasonable And there is no ground that can be urged for allowing the Patrons a priviledge of Electing the Principal Office-bearers of the Church that may not with much more force and advantage be pressed for giving him a power to Elect the Inferiour Office bearers also I grant the case is different but still I see no difference that with any appearance of reason can be assigned to determine the point in favours of the Right of Patronage as to the Principal Office bearers and not as to others save this that the Patrons settling of a Maintenance in favours of the Pastors must give him a greater Interest in the choice of those than he can have in that of the others on whom he hath conferred no Benefice And of how much weight this pretence is we have already seen and shall not repeat what we have said upon this Head. SECT XIII The power of Patronage is against the Freedom and Interest of common Society I. AS this power of Patronage is no Institution of Jesus Christ but clearly inconsistent with and destructive of his Institutions so it is against the Freedom Interest of the Church considered as a Common Society
It may also be remembred from former and latter times how that many of the Nobility and others who resided ordinarly at Court or went abroad upon Foreign Employments and had the Patronages of many Kirks and Benefices in their hands were wont upon the solistation of Friends and Servants and many times from Motives and to Ends of a more dangerous and fatal consequence to send Presentations in favours of such as they never saw in the face nor so much as ever heard of either before or after that time without making the least shadow of a previous Inquiry into the qualifications and condition of either Preacher or People They being as unfit and incapable to discern in either as they were unable and inconcerned to improve any discovery they should make for the good of the People by looking out and presenting a Pastor that might be fit and proper for them Vbi ille Canon says Athanasius ut a palatio mittatur is qui futurus est Episcopus In Epist ad vitam Solit. agentes Neither need we forget how many that entered to the Ministry in this method were the occasion of no small trouble to the Church of God in this Nation SECT XIV The power of Patronage hath been grosly abused and seandalously offensive without any necessity or use I. THE next Ground I shall insist upon against the pretended right of Patronage is That as it is no Divine Institution but clearly destructive of the Institutions of Christ and of the Natural Freedom and Interests of the Church considered as a society So it is likewise an useless and unnecessary Invention and hath been the Fountain and Occasion of many gross abuses and most scandalously offensive to all sorts of Christians in the Church of God. And therefore ought not to be tolerat and allowed in any Christian Church or State. II. As for its usefulness or necessity I cannot understand neither have I ever heard any thing pretended in its defence from this Head. And it is impossible any end or use of it can be thought on but what may very well and far better be attained by the due and orderly method of Election set down in the Scriptures For as the Church is sufficiently and much better provided for in that method by her infinitely wise and loving King and Head so there needs no other right to give a Minister of the Gospel a lawful Title to his Maintenance and Living but his spiritual Capacity and faithful discharge of the duties of his Function The Workman says our Lord is worthy of his wages so that unless the Patron will pretend that he can state a Minister in a Spiritual Capacity and so assume a power of Ordination as well as of Election and truly he hath as good ground to claim the one as the other he can give him no right to his Maintenance as we have already proven And therefore such a power is not to be tolerate in the Church by any Christian Magistrate who ought to use all his Power and Authority for God and the edification of his People by being a terrour to evil doers and removing of such corrupt and useless Institutions as put an obstruction in the way of the precious Ordinances of Jesus Christ for the Calling of such as may be fittest for the Ministerial Charge as being the most special ordinary Means both of his own and his People's Eternal Happiness III. And the Church having in her purest times enjoyed her lawfully called Pastors e're such a thing as Patronage was heard of in the World and when she had no Christian Magistrate to protect and defend her It cannot but seem wonderful Quorsum or for what end such an Invention shall now be maintained in and over the Church when there are Christian Magistrates who Virtute Officij are bound to plead for and defend her in her Rights and Liberties seing all that is necessar in reference to the Call of a Gospel Ministry and to their true Right and Maintenance is far better provided for by Methods of Divine Appointment The right of Patronage is as little and less useful and I am sure far more prejudicial in this case than in the Call and Maintenance of Men of other Professions such as Lawyers Phisicians and common Mechanicks Only men have still a greater itch to be medling in the matters of God without a lawful Call than in other things that of their own Nature are subject and by Divine Appointment are left to a humane Regulation nitimur in vetitum And therefore as we had once good reason to bless God that the publick Authority of the Nation in the Year 1649. had abolished this corrupt custom so on the other hand it is to be regrated that there hath not been that same sense of Justice since with a suteable acquiescence to their so just and rational Determination especially considering that if there was any prejudice or loss of Patrimony sustained it was on the Church's part and not on the Patron 's as the Act 1649. will easily clear to any that will be at the pains to peruse it IV. In this manner do all Protestant Divines and our own Writers in particular argue against the superstitious Corruptions and Ceremonies of the Romish and English Churches And the truth is if we would but allow our selves calmly and without heat and prejudice to consider the matter it cannot but be very surprysing to see that men who pretend to act for the good and edification of the Church should yet hazard her Peace and Unity and the scandalizing and offending or the marring of the progress of their poor Brethren in the ways of God by forcing and violently imposing upon them as the only terms of Communion under the pain both of Church Censures and Legal Punishments The practice of what themselves confess to be at best but indifferent and no way necessar either upon the account of a Divine Command or Moral Use And which their Brethren upon solid and undenyable Grounds taken from the Word of God and the Principles of the Reformation believe to be superstitious and sinful Especially since they are forced to acknowledge that these Institutions in which they both agree are not only Lawful but do likewise abundantly satisfie all the necessary ends for which they are appointed there being nothing alledged in favour of these superstitious and unnecessary additions but a pityful and empty shadow of worldly decency and fashionablness so much decryed by the word of God Be not ye conform to this present evil world says the Apostle and which in no equity can ever come in competition with the least hazard of losing the Church Unity or offending the meanest of Christ's Followers These Practices must certainly render such men justly obnoxious to the heavy charge of Schism and to that Wo denounced by our blessed Lord against such as should be instrumental see Matth. 18.7 in bringing divisions and offences into the Church V. But to