Primitive times For Peter Patriarch of Alexandria and immediate Successor to the great Athanasius sadly complains of Lucian the Arian his Simoniacal invading of that See That he did it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodorit lib. 4. c. 20. as Theodorit reports it and 't is not to be wondred at if a usurping Bishop and monstruous Heretick enter by Goldsmiths Row into that famous City of Alexandria Isidore Pelusiota gives Cyril the Patriarch an account of Martinianus a Presbyters robbing the Church of Pelusium Isidor Pelus ep ad Cyril for money to buy Votes at Alexandria for his Election upon which the holy Patriarch threatens him with Excommunication unless he forbear It seems 't was too commonly practised at Constantinople in those early days for Evagrius tells us Evagr. l. 2. c. 2 that Chrysaphius a Commander of Theodosius Guards demanded of Flavian Patriarch of Constantinople satisfaction for his advancement to that See But to shame him for so base a demand Flavian sent him the Communion Plate of the Church To revenge which indignity Chrysaphius and Dioscorus together procured him to be kickt or trode to death in the Eutychian Council Dioscorus of Alexandria was also promoted by the same Simonist Chrysaphius yet was not fully convicted so as to be excommunicated for it till after his death the subtile Merchants having cloaked the Simony Evagr. l. 2. c. 4. under the dress of some civil power that he had purchased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet Eusebiüs Bishop of Dorilaeum so far detected him in the great Council of Chalcedon that the second Canon was voted upon that occasion against Simony We read also of an accusation brought before St. Chrysostom by six Asian Bishops against Antoninus Metropolitan of Ephesus as for other things so particularly for taking Money for Ordination Palladius in vita Chrysost It seems it was so common to buy it that the Ordained pleaded a custom so to do and if that they sin'd it was ignorantly But St. Chrysostom degraded them and Antonine being dead he enabled them to recover on his Heirs their Money got from them by fraud and Simony Pope Simplicius tells us of his deposing Gaudentius Bishop of Aufin Simplic epist 3. and all ordained by him being convicted of Simony And to prevent it Justinian decrees that the Electors who sign the Instrument of choice Novel 123. should take an Oath that they named them not for Money or promise or any other thing but the real worth of the Elect. The methods also of Elections were often alter'd to prevent this insinuating wickedness Sometimes the Clergy and People chose three Novel ib. Anno 541. and the Metropolitan and Bishops of that Province pickt out one Sometimes again the Metropolitan and Bishops propounded three Conc. Arelat ◠Can. 54. and the Clergy and People chose out one as was decreed in the Council of Aries Zeno the Emperor shut up the great Church doors of Constantinople left a fair Paper on the Altar gave the Key to an Eunuch ordered fasting Niceph. l. 16. c. 18. and Prayers forty days that God would order them a Bishop Flavit as borrow'd Money of the Bankers bribed the Eunuch his name is inscribed and accepted as a Patriarch divinely called but the Bankers tell where the Money was borrowed and he rejected Thus every age hath applied some remedy to this growing disease which is not yet extirpated Greg. Mag. held a Council at Rome to obviate it where it appeared that money was taken in the name of Fees to Clerks and Notaries Greg. Decr. in Conc. Rom. can Therefore they decree that thenceforth no Fee should be given for Clerks labour Instruments Paper Wax Pall or any other thing whatsoever Yet they left it to the Parties discretion to give some small gratuity at pleasure It would tire a well breathed Reader to repeat all that Charles the Great 's Capitulars and later Councils have determined in this matter I shall only observe that hitherto this crime hath been too hard for humane wisdom Averruncet Deus 3. We are now to consider the severity of the Laws made against it which we will consider 1. as Canonical 2. Civil 3. Statute and 4. Common Law we shall begin with the Canon Law 1. The Canon Law Greg. Magn. observes to Theodorick and Theobert Kings of France that Simony was of the Devils plantation Et in ipso ortu suo zelo apostolicae ultionis percussa damnata est Greg. l. 7. ep 114. that it was blasted by St. Peter's Thunder in its first budding And from thence the Church held Simony to be a haerely now we may reasonably guess they intended not the practise to be so but the opinion of its lawfulness against the Apostles and all succeeding Councils judgment The Apostles Canon declares as in Johannes Antiochenus collection Can. 29. tit 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Bishop Presbyter or Deacon hath attained his dignity by Money let him be deposed and him that ordained him and let him be altogether cut off from the Church or Communion as the Latine version hath it Alexius Aristinus in his Synopsis places it Can. 25. and it differs a little in words rather than in sense The next is the second Canon of the Council of Chalcedon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Bishop shall cause Ordination for Money and bring unsaleable grace to sale and ordain a Bishop or Presbyter or Deacon Codex Can. ecclesiae universalis hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 between Bishop and Presbyter or any one that is numbred in the Clergy for Money or shall advance any Steward Advocate or Mansionary for Money or any at all of the Canons for his own filthy lucre He that is convicted to have attempted it let his own degree be indangered And he that is Ordained let him be nothing profited by his Ordination or promotion got by Merchandizing but let him be without his dignity or cure which he gets by Money 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if any shall appear an Agent in this base and unlawful gain if he be a Clerk let him fall from his own degree but if a Laick or Monk let him be Anathema There are several other Canons to this purpose made by later Councils as Can. 22 and 23. Conc. 6th and Can. 4 5 19. of the 2d Nicene Council Tit. 1. c. 24. and many others reckon'd up by Photius in his Nomocanon and Antiochenus not needful here to recite But by these 't is manifest what care the Church of God ever took to suppress this growing mischief 2. We now come to the Civil Law The holy Emperors found that the Crosier was insufficient to beat it down unless their Sword were joyned with it and therefore Novel Const 130. cap. 19. Decrees Vide Joh. Antioch Nomocan tit 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. Just Nov. 6. 123. 56. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
is made in the Pocket not in the Pate nor do they examine his Conversation but his Compensation 't is no matter if he be no able Scholar so he be an able man Nay a Child will serve the turn for the best Bishoprick in France if he send a golden Orator to procure it The Pope once told his Cardinals upon preferring a mean man if the King of England had desired his Horse to be made a Bishop he would not have refused him for the King had commended him not in a long Testimonial but in a round Summ which with them is the Total of all perfection The Centum Gravamina complains indoctis agasonibus stabulariis dantur beneficia Hostlers and Grooms were well enough letered if well enough lined Picus Count Mirandula tells Pope Leo 10th to his face and his Council in Lateran That they gave Church Livings lenonibus Catamitis to Pimps and Panders Ganymedes and what not for Money Yea the very Apostolical Legates as they fanatically Cant in the Council of Trent confess men were ordained into the Church that had nothing Canonical but their Copes and Cassocks What Nauclerus confesses of Boniface 9th time Curiam Romanam labe Simoniacâ infamem esse was true long before Gen. 49. and it may serve for their Character ever since Let the Engglish Clergy rejoyce that they live out of the reach of these Tarpeian Harpies which made our Predecessors purses tremble at every screich of the impure Bird. 3. And to buy and sell the Mansions of the holy Ghost Here the Pastors and Teachers are set over the Church by the holy Ghost the Church is the Temple of Christ and the whole matter spiritual Now in buying and selling these Gods people are bought and sold like Slaves in this profane Market The Souls of Men once valued so high as to be the purchase of our Saviours precious bloud are now sold for a sacrilegious Bribe O unheard of impudence That makes those invaluable Jewels the matter of vain Mens traffick Epiph. This was so hateful to the ancient of piety that they judg'd the very opinion of its lawfulness a haeresy Aug. ad quod vult d. de haer in principio Greg. l. 3. ep 13. passim and so doth Epiphanius St. Augustine Greg. Mag. and so de Langius and Schaffnaburgensis in their Chronicles all along Yea so hateful hath it been to the whole Christian Community that an Oath hath been administred against it for many ages And for England in particular 't is decreed in Conc. primo Oxon. under the said Archbishop Stephen Langton That all Bishops should impose an Oath on any suspected person that nec promiserit Lib. 2 tit 6. de jureju nec dederit aliquod praesentanti nec aliquam propter hoc inierit pactionem I confess this Oath is very large but it shews the piety of those times would not endure any kind of bargain about these things And so watchful was this Council over the Bishops that they decreed in Collation of a Praebend Commendum or the like the Bishop should receive nothing for Institution or Mission no nor vel chartâ super hoc faciendâ Nor might he suffer his Officials or Archdeacons to extort any thing because says the gloss 't was adjudged Simony so to do V. l. 3. tit 6. cap. Quia juxta St. Edmund goes farther with his Council and degrees nulli liceat Ecclesiam nomine dotalitatis ad aliquem transferre vel pro praesentatione alicujus personae Pecuniam vel aliquod aliud emolumentum pacto interveniente recipere c. In English thus Let it be lawful for none to transfer a Church to any man in the name of a Dowry which is commonly called Smock Simony or to receive any Money for the presentation of any person or to bargain for any other profit Which if any shall do and be convict in Law or shall confess it we decree him as well by royal as our own authority to be deprived of the Patronage of that Church for ever This Canon being the chiefest against Simoniacal Patrons is by Sharrock's Edition of the Provincial reckon'd to St. Edmund but that is a mistake for 't is plac'd upon Richard Wethershead in the old Books who was St. Edmund's Predecessor and so 't is in the Syllabus of this election and so 't is reckon'd by other good Authors and accordingly it bears date A. D. 1229 which was two years before Edmund came to the see of Canterbury And for the royal authority mentioned in it I conceive it depends upon a former Canon made under Richard Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Henry the 2 d in his Synod held at London A. D. 1175. Which decreed that every Patron taking reward for any presentation should lose his Patronage for ever As Hoved. notes in Vita Hen. 2 d at which decree Henry the 2 d and Richard the First were present and consented But because both these transferred and forfeited a temporal right which the Law it seems would not allow a Canon to do they both prov'd ineffectual 'T is pretty to observe what pains the Glossator on this Canon takes to explain Perpetuum to be during the life of that Patron being loath such horrid breaches of trust should be too severely punished when 't is plain that the King and Church did by that means declare the trust forfeited for ever by the abuse of it But the Canon being rejected the Lords portion is become his Daughters the Patrons children are enabled to live by Sacriledge and yet himself declared unfit to bear any Trust in the Church affairs And the very Clouds labour with the weight of Curses that hang over his head Cursed be the Deceiver saith Malachi 1.14 and he is no small one that deceives God in what is intrusted to him and Mal. 3.9 Ye are cursed with a Curse for ye have robbed me Remigius Altissiodor renders Anathema by alienatio and says Com. in Zack 14. Bibl. pa tom 1. 't is in rebut quas homines vota facientes templo affigebant a se alienas faciebant and in truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put by good Authors for donarium Deo consecratum any thing devoted to God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Exitio desttinatus one devoted to perdition and both from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to set apart as believing the curse of God and Man is intail'd on him that takes to himself what is devoted to God So that our Patrons Panegyrick is spoken from Mount Ebat Gen. 27.12 and by these acts as Jacob told his Mother he rather brings a curse then a blessing on his Family And this was Justin Martyr's sense of Anathema too V. quaest 121. yea their own fathers in their dedications did themselves load them that abridge or pervert their free Donations with most * Darius curse Ezra 6.1 The common form is venientibus contra haec destruentibus
he be a man of very despicable parts and fortunes 4. 'T is unlawful to perswade others to give or promise any Pension or reward to procure a Living This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the ancient Canons and Civil Law that they so heavily anathematize Nomoc. tit 1. c. 5. Schol. this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Photius And so doth our Law condemn it too else how came the Incumbent then in the University and knowing nothing of the bargain to be outed for Simony which he never medled in as in Baker and Rogers Case Cro. Eliz 788. And in Fowler and Lapthorn's Case 17. Jac. in the Kings Bench. So that such Setters mend not the matter but make it worse and are often instruments of discovery and witnesses of truth Arsenius the Monk makes them all as guilty as Simon Mugus Synopsis Can. c. 49. not only Presenter and Presentee but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he proves by the Apostolical and Chalcedon Canons though he mistake the 22d for the 2d And they are likewise condemned by the 6th and 7th Synod by Tharasius Epistle and St. Basil's 85 Canon and Gennadius the Patriarchs Epistle which is evidence enough of the Churches judgment in this case 5. 'T is not lawful to give any Bonds or Covenants that may hinder the Incumbent from the full enjoyment of the Church and all its profits during life As is plain by all the Canons but is more particularly declared against in that of Photius Nomoc. tit 1. c. 5. Schol. where he tells us not only Money giving is condemned but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. all Securities of what kind soever all Bonds by Sureties and all Pledges c. which are there decreed to be void which Decrees he takes out of the Canons and civil Law And our Canons forbid the Patron to take aliquod emolumentum pacto interveniente And elsewhere nullam pactionem inierit he shall make no bargain at all And the Constitutions of Othobon the Legate made Anno Domini 1268 Lind. l. 5. tit 3. c. nulli liceat Const Othob tit 33. c. quia plerunque universas promissiones pactiones penitus revocat all Bonds Contracts Bargains are void of what kind soever made in consideration of a Presentation Nor is the Statute much short that provides If any Person by reason of any Bond for any Benefit whatsoever directly shall Present c. the Presentation is void Will not the word any Bond contain charitable Bonds nor Bonds for Resignation 'T is believed Patrons would not trouble themselves about Bonds for no benefit whatsoever Hence Justice Foster is suspected of too little reason or honesty Noy 142. that was so earnest in Baker and Mountford's case to declare a Bond taken by the Patron from the Presentee to pay 10 l. per annum to his Predecessors Son in the University whilst unpreferred a good Bond though he offered a precedent for it in the Earl of Sussex case where he said a like Bond for payment of 5 l. per annum to his Predecessors Widow was held lawful for both are alike unreasonable as will appear upon these ensuing considerations 1. That the Patron hath no right to all or any part of the profits and therefore can no more dispose them than of any other mans estate The Ordinary hath the profits tempore vacationis the Parson hath the Freehold and the Fee-simple is in nubibus in abeiance in gremio legis says Sir Edw. Cooke There are some that hold the Fee-simple in the Parson but none ever thought it in the Patron Cap. 23. You may see this point well discussed by Mr. Hughes of Grayes Inn in his Parsons Law where he gives the reason of the Laws policy to be to avoid alienations and disseisins to be made by the Church or any other And in truth the right of Patronage Cowell in v. Patronus is jus praesentandi Clericum ad ecclesiam vacantem ex parte ei concessum qui consentiente Episcopo vel instruxit vel dot avit ecclesiam 'T is a right to present a Clark to a vacant Church granted to him in part who with the Bishops consent either built or endowed the Church And much to the same purpose is it described by the Gloss in the Provinciale vetus saying L. 2. tit 2. cap. circumspecti agatis Jus Patronatus est honorificum jus onerosum utile competens alicui in ecclesia pro eo quod Diaecesani autoritate illam fundavit dotavit vel construxit ipse vel is a quo justam causam habet 'T is an honourable burdensome and useful right in a Church accruing to any one for that he founded endowed or built it by the authority of the Diocesan either himself or some other from whom he claims So that says the glosse non respicit oblationes vel decimas It relates not to Offerings and Tythes but would remain if they were taken away Nor will that which we call an Advowson give him better right to convert the profits to any other use than the Parsons for Cook 's Instit L. 4. p. 240. 1. fol. 17. out of Bracton calls it a power to present to a Church in his own name not in anothers still it relates to the Church not to its profits which Law and Custom kept out of his fingers But whoever shall consider the tremenduous circumstances with which the Instruments of Foundation Endowment or both were offer'd upon the Altar to devest and disseise themselves and their heirs of the building Gleabes and profits and to put all into the right and possession of Almighty God and his Church with the dreadful Imprecations upon all that should attempt to alter or diminish it would wonder any after-ages would venture to touch the Anathema and thereby intitle themselves to their fathers Curses but of this before Patrons are Advocates 't is strange they should prove Adversaries Patroni à patrocinio not à latrocinio Their duty is to find out a good Shepherd for the flock not a Simoniack for his Purse How early this Right of Patronage came into the Church may be discover'd by Justinians Law contain'd in the Novels where he provides Novell 57. c. 2. That if any built a Church and endowed it he might present a Clark to it but the Patriarch might refuse to ordain him if he judged him not fit for the service And by another Law he provides Novell 123. c. 18. as a suppliment to the former That if the Patron nominated an unworthy Person to the Church so built and endowed the Bishop might both refuse him and prefer whom he judged worthy that so Patrons might present worthy men or lose their Right Both these Laws imply that the Right accrues from the foundation of the Church yet was it never so absolute but the Bishop had a Negative voice
made of how obdurate is his conscience that groans not under these heavy weights of sin Venturing boldly on that villany that all good mens hearts in former ages trembled at I must leave him to prepare his answer at that great Tribunal or else for slighting this timely notice 2. Let us consider the things bought and sold which to shew them to be Simony must be the gifts of the holy Ghost both ordinary and extraordinary real or so accepted Whatsoever is sacriledge to take away from the Church is Simony to buy or sell in the Church But we may reduce them though scarcely numerable to the ensuing heads 1. Buying and Selling the instituted means by which the holy Spirit is attained as Prayers whose Evangelical worth cannot be valued and if purchased are worth nothing 'T is the worst kind of Usury to take ten per Cent. for our Prayers or else not to let them out I confess I know no Church that hires out Prayers or Masses at 12 d. a piece but the Church of Rome which excells in this kind of Alchimy turning all Materials into Gold In our Church 't is decreed by Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury in a Provincial Synod holden about the year 1250 That no Masses be sold nor any thing given or taken for Annalia or Tricennalia Missarum Prov. vetu sl tit 2. cap. praeterea venal as Lindwood shews us which were Masses for a year or 30 Masses if the word be rightly written and not triennalia as some suspect which would be Masses for three years So too for Sacraments largely or strictly taken since they were the Golden Vessels in which grace was conveyed the Church ever held them invaluable knowing that it would have beggered all the Angels of Heaven fully to compensate for any one of them Hence Stephen Langton in the first Council of Oxford Anno Christi 1222 decreed Provin ib. cap. firmiter Inhibemus That nothing be required for Baptism Chrisme vel aliquod Ecclesiasticum Sacramentum And so is the Legantine Constitution of Otho A. D. 1236. tit 4. cap. auditu horribili c. concerning Confession or Penance as they call it which is again confirmed by Othobon another Legate A. D. 1268 with stricter Injunctions as appears tit 2. cap. Quoniam caeca potest as c where he speaks not of Confession and Chrisme only but adds Et qui alia quaelibet Sacramenta interventu Pecuniae conferunt sitales invenerint sc Archidiaconi eos tanquam Simoniacos puniant 2. To Buy or Sell the Offices of the Church instituted by the holy Ghost which t is very probable was the design of Simon Magus to have been an Apostle or at least a Bishop in the Church For 1. By Apostles or Apostolical men only was the power of miracles conferred on others and therefore it must be their authority that he would purchase and 't is the authority denominates the person 2. He desires to do it by laying on of hands which was an act of Office power in Ordination Confirmation and such like 3. It seems by St. Peter's answer he so understood him for he says Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter or in this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 8.21 As if he had told him Thou hast no share in the Apostleship nor Call to be in the Clergy or to publish this word of God which is confirmed with these miracles 4. The powring out these gifts upon men was but an extraordinary Ordination to the Ministry Which appears 1. In that it was not given to all that were baptized for then Simon had shared without Money 2. Nor can men give any Reason for these gifts of tongue unless they were to be used in the Ministry Since the faith might be confirmed as well to their own minds internally by the Testimony of the holy Ghost 3. Nor were these gifts given to any Woman that we read of and therefore were not necessary to confirmation of the faith nor sanctification in the faith internally for that they needed as well as men but that Sex was forbidden the Ministry Nor do we want concurrent judgments in this point both ancient and modern but that is beside my design to prosecute Only I observe Cornel. a Lapide so very particular as to affirm that he desired the Bishoprick of Samaria A Lap. in loc l. 4. de notis eccl c. 13. And Bellarmine is very certain he offered Money for the Episcopal authority Constat Simon Episcopalem authoritatem ambivisse durâ pecuniâ emere voluisse That the buying or selling any office instituted by the holy Ghost in the Church was adjudged Symony appears by Stratford who decrees Anno Domini 1342 as Sharrock affirms out of a Mss. in Bodley's Library nec decet episcopum manus impositionem vendere nec ministrum calamum venundare And accordingly 't is determined in the Council that from thence-forward the whole charges of every distinct Ordination and Letters of Orders sealed in England should cost the Ordained but 6 d. and all instruments for setling the Clerk in his benefice but 12 d. vid. Lindwood l. 3. tit 22. de censibus Cap. Saeva miserabilis c. And if the Candidate for Orders proved Simoniacal ad quoscunque Ordines ne praesumat accedere says Walter Reynold Arch. Cant. in the second Council at Oxford A. D. 1322. And if he could get into Orders undiscover'd yet is he declared by Edmund Arch. Cant. Irregular and he compares him with Homicides Incendiaries and forbid to dispense divine Mysteries till he have made full satisfaction to the Church Prov. Vet. l. 1. tit 4. de Ordinandis Thus too it was managed under Pope Greg. M. in the reign of Mauritius who following the sacred Rules of his Predecessors decreed nihil unquam de ordinationibus accipiendum no nor for the Pall nor any Papers and gives this reason for it Greg in Synodo Rom. Quia non decet aut Episcopos suam manum aut Ministros vel Notarios suam vocem vel calamum vendere And indeed it looks a little uncouth that a man should purchase leave to serve God and hire the preferment of being Christ's Messenger And that the Ordainer should sell the Spirit as Judas did the Son and the Ordained like cursed Jews should be the Buyers Midas Fable is but too sinfully verified in such men since their Touch turns all to Gold Doubtless they would not give the droppings of their Nose whose very breath cost men so dear But we may well desist this Crime being more rare than Wolves in England since the Reformation and seems to be a native plant of Italy flourishing no where so well as where the Pope hath set his foot Of which the select Cardinals make a most sad Complaint to Paul 3 d. saying they discovered in Eligentibus caecitatem in Electis insulsitatem in utrisque Simoniacam perversitatem The scrutiny at Rome who is fit for Orders
ed occurrat deos in gladio iro furoris viadictae maledictionis aeternaev Apostolatus Benedict in Aug. Append. sido f. 60. direful Imprecations and why may they not fear the effects as Hiel the Bethelite many years after did feel the curse that Joshua many ages before Joshua 6.26 had laid upon him that should rebuild Jericho for Hiel to please prophane Ahab and to shew how gallantly he could delude those ancient curses built on though he had lost his First-born Son Abiram till all his Children perished one after the other So that the Gates which were the last thing done were erected in the death of his youngest Son Segub Thus was the City built but no Heir left to inherit it 1 King 16.34 Yea the whole English Nation have by joynt Votes and Statutes commanded the Bishops of each Diocess Stat. 25. Edw. 1. Anno Christi 1297. twice every year solemnly to excommunicate all Persons whatsoever that shall violate the great Charter in any clause of it The first of which confirms the Rights and Freedoms of the Church which these men so boldly violate Nor hath the dire effect been less visible in this Kingdom than any other Look what curses overthrew Necuchadnezzar the same or like extirpated our William the Conquerer and Henry the Eighth De non temereccles in pref p. 24. and that as Spelman observes out of several Authors at the same period all their Names and Bloud being rooted out of the earth in the sixty eighth year after their violations As for Henry the 8th he married Wives enough and on purpose to prevent the defect of issue and enervate the foreboadings of his Adversaries And left children enough to have possessed the Royal Throne to many Generation had he not left a sacrilegious Phthisis amongst them which the piety of his Children could not attone And for the Conqueror 't is observed by all sorts of Historians how eagarly vengeance pursued him after he had turn'd thirty six Parish Churches in Hampshire with all their Revenues to his own use for a Forrest He did it in the Eighteenth year of his Reign and Anno 19 his Son Richard was there goared by a Stag Speed fol. 429. says Speed Ib. Cambd. Brit. p. 259. But Mr. Cambden says by a pestilent Air breaking out of the Earth The next year his Horse affrighted with the flames of the City of Maunts which he burnt with the Church of St. Maries and two Anchorites yarkt so unexpectedly Math. Par. fol. 13. as to break his Riders Belly of which he died His Grandchild Henry Son of Robert Duke of Normandy Speed ib. hunting in this Forrest is struck through the Jaws with a Bough of a Tree and so ends his days Math. Paris f. 71. His other Brother William made Earl of Flanders was slain by his Uncle Henry the 1st Robert Duke of Normandy the Conquerors eldest Son had his eyes put out Ib. f. 73. by his younger Brother Henry the 1st and is starved to death after twenty six years imprisonment by his Brothers Order in Caerdiff Castle in Wales His Son William Rufus was slain by a slant rebound of an Arrow shot at a Dear by Sir Walter Tyrrel in the said Forrest Anno Regni 13 whilst himself gave the prophane command Trahe Diabole Math. Par. f. 54. Shoot you Devil Henry the 1st was the Conqueror's fourth Son Ib. Fol. 69. Speed 459. and succeeded Rufus in the Throne whose two Sons William and Richard and his Daughter Mary were all drowned together in a calm day nigh the English Shoar And the King himself dies of a surfeit of Lampreys Here is bloud touching bloud vengeance upon vengeance And so concludes this sacrilegious Conquerors Race his name being quite put out But Judgment is often swifter than sixty eight years Act. 5. for Annanias and Saphira died presently And William Marshal Earl of Pembroke that rob'd the Bishop of Furnes of two Mannors belonging to his Bishoprick in Ireland was assured by the Bishop that in the next generation his name should be extinct and the King was told by him that he should live to see it Yet 't was unlikely enough Math. Paris f. 687. for he had five Sons lively and valiant men but alas all died Earls of Pembroke successively within twenty five years and his name and family utterly blotted out of the World Cardinal Woolsey seemed the Darling of his Prince and Countrey for many years but he ventures on sacrilege Anno Hen. 8.17 and is in a premunire Goodwin fol. 104. Anno Reg. 21 and despoiled of all even to the want of Bread And the next year he is forced to take a Purge say some Mart. 304. Poyson say others to get rid of his hated life Nor did any one of his five Friends miss of divine Vengeance that he imployed in his Sacrilege as is manifested by Goodwin at large Goodw. f. 67. There is a Family in the County of Lincoln of a Noble Stock to whom Fortune had never been unkind till they dispeopled the Parish where they were seated by Inclosure and impounded the Parish Church within their own yard and took all the profits to their own use Since which a brisk and smart Providence hath so closely pursued them that five Lords successively Possessors and about nine or ten Heirs Male have perished in the space of twenty years A meer stranger to their bloud is now in possession of the scantling left and there remains but one feeble Female to support it Stanislaus Socolovius takes the Turks succesful inrodes into Hungary Orat. Stanis Socolov Gul. Tyrius de bello sacro 17. to be a judgment on that Nation for seizing Churches Revenues And William Bishop of Tyre imputes the dismal blow given to the Knights Templars to the heavy displeasure of God upon them for detaining the Lands and Tythes given to the Church to their own use Instances in this kind are almost infinite and humane experience is nigh cloyed with evidences of the smart Reflections providence hath made upon Sacrilege Whoever desires to be further satisfied in this matter may be sufficiently furnished in Bredenbachius and several other Authors Bredenb de sacrileg vind paene that handle it at large And therefore with great reason did that noble General Monk Duke of Albemarle rejoyce that in all his ample Revenues he had not one foot of Church Lands Nor is it from our purpose to observe how exuberantly the blessings of Heaven have distilled on their heads that have been careful to augment rather than detract from the Lords Portion God blessed the house of Obed-Edom for protecting the Ark but smote all the Philistines that imprisoned it wheresoever it came so that Ashdod Gath and Ekron cryed out 1 Sam. 5.11 Let it go again to its own place that it slay us not and our People for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the City
the hand of God was very heavy there Who was greater than Moses that made Collections for the service of God Or who was more successful than David that rejoyced at the free oblations of the People Instead of detracting he made large provision for the worship of God 1 Chron. 29.3 4 5 9. offering vast treasures Even 3000 talents of the Gold of Ophir and 7000 talents of refined Silver besides Vessels of Gold and precious Stones And this course too steer'd that magnisicent Prince Solomon the Wise What vast Treasures did Constantine the Great a Prince unparalell'd for Wisdom Piety and Puissance powre out upon the Church to the provoking the envious Devil to cry out in his hollow shreiks in the air Hodie venenum infusum est in Ecclesiam Thus Charles the Great made it his chief study to increase the maintainance of Religion and God blessed them accordingly While a sacrilegious Henry the 8th is ever in straights Hieron de Cevallos says If the Spanish Territories be surveighed it will appear the Ecclesiasticks have full as much as the Seculars which occasioned Boterus to say That for the Reverence and Wealth this Nation bestowed upon the Church Relat. Vnivers l. 1 p. 4. God gave them Potozzi Megalupae and the rest of the Indian Mines And indeed we have the best security the World affords to expect such success for God himself passes his word for it Malach. Mal. 3.10 3.10 Bring you all the Tythes into the Store-house that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts if I will not open you the Windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it and ver 11. I will rebuke the Devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your Vine cast her Fruit. St. Aug. affirms Aug. serm 210 de temp Decimae ex debilo requiruntur and brings in God challenging the whole prosits as Lord of the world then dividing it thus Reserva Tibi Nonas da Mihi Decimam c. Keep your Nine parts to your selves give me the Tenth If you will not give me the Tenth I will take away your Nine Walafrid Srabo dereb eccl c. 27.29 if you give it I will multiply your Nine So that men may assure themselves to thrive well if they tyth well And that 't is the best security to our own estate to be just to God He that cannot trust God on his Word and Promise whom can he trust Nor can he be other than an Infidel that promises himself Prosperity whilst he strives to starve Religion 'T is very probable that the glory and honour which the Kings of the Earth were to bring to the Christian Church Rev. 21.24 were Riches and Reverence And so 't is said of whole Nations to Rev. 21.26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the Nations into it And in truth want without a power of miracles will expose the Church to contempt for it will depress mens spirits and and cool their zeal If the Preacher live at the Patron or Parishioners Trencher he must be civil to their crimes A Church must be so refulgent as to awe huffing Atheists in Scarlet or Buff from affronting it Alexander the Great reverences Jaddus the High Priest of Hierusalem but not without his Pontificalia Eccles 9.15 The Poor mans Wisdom will be despised A dull and blockish Irreverence will assault a poor Divine from a stupid Plough-boy The common Farmer will loath heavenly Manna out of a Beggers hands Majesty it self without its Crown and Scepter its Pomp and State would soon be slighted Nor doth any thing hold off the trembling multitude from trampling on the Judge more than his Trumpet Robes and Grandeur So that to impair the Churches Revenue is to attempt its ruine and must needs draw the heavy vengeance of its Founder after it Whilst to increase it is to act for and with God and so ensures the blessing to us and our Posterity 4. Lastly in a word all things essentially belonging to the Ministerial calling admit of Simony whether Antecedent as Election when suffrages are bought and sold Presentation in contracting for the Church Ordination agreeing its price with the Bishop or his Officers Institution or Induction 2. Or Concomitant as making Merchandise of the Word and Sacraments 3. Or consequent as taking Bribes to conceal presentable crimes Or binding men in Church censures not to reform ill manners but to be paid for loosing them Or to pay Archidiaconal procurations that they may not personally visit their Churches which is declared by Othobon the Legates constitution sapere Simoniacam pravitatem V. tit 19. c. Deus omni Nor is any Church far from intentional Symony That makes Canons not to direct their peoples practise but to be dispensed with for their Money They are well called Retia in the Church of Rome being more profitable than St. Peter's Nets and deserve execution by the Besome of Destruction rather than to be executed 3. The means by which Simony is effected and they are either generally by Bargaining or particularly by the things Bargained for 1. Generally by Bargaining which in this case is utterly unlawful because the subject matter is so It is no more lawful to treat of it than of the conditions and Rates of Rebellion Murder Whoredom and such like In which to endeavour to perswade is to woe a mans consent to evil and to get him to promise what is a sin to perform and consequently 't is to oblige him to sin Whereas that work becomes none better than the Devil since 't is but to undertake the office of a Tempter I the more wonder any tongue can be so base as to accept the employ Men must first reckon him a mercenary wretch whom they send in this Errand The Casuists reckon them amongst the Contract us illiciti and the Canons condemn the bargaining Ames defines Simonie de Cons 15. c. 42. f. 12. quocunque modo commutare rem sacram vel spiritualem pro temporali He matters not what is exchanged so it be a bartering of a temporal for a spiritual and gives a double reason for it because sacred things are prophaned and polluted and handled as worldly things when they are brought into bargaining and valued by worldly things 2. Because 't is unjust to sell what ought freely to be given And in truth the very debates as means do partake of the nature of and are desecrated by the end But let us hear them treat The Patrons Agent is fain to Lapwing conscience while he negotiates propounding an old Horse to sale or tacking a crakt Abigail at the tail 〈◊〉 the Presentation Or in honest words desiring him to be obliged to be cosened in part of his Glebes or Tythes saying the Patron desires a peaceable Man that should not be severe with himself or Tenents
the Pall. Which Maximilian the Emperor calls palliatum Simoni-amactoak for Simony in his Letters to Adrian the 6th These payments like Excise imposed on Ale by Frederick Duke of Saxony Chro. ad an 1486. made the Sellers mensuram minuere non absque grandi scandalo murmure Communitatis says Langius And so will these payments give men occasion to abate their care of the peoples safety and to be very strict for their dues Coming to it as to a Farm rather than a Church And as our Statute 21. Car. 2 imposing 9 d. per Barrel on Ale indemnified the Sellers as to rate or price So must the Patron be quiet and permit his fluxt Presentee to reimburse himself though by very oppressive means Plut. in polit preceptis Plutarch says you may not enter some Temples till you have laid down your Gold because 't was counted a heinous crime to bring it in but many in England can't come into the Temples without it though persons cry In Sancto quid facit aurum What Concord between Christ and Mercurius the Temple and the Market yet these two things that agree no more says Dr. Taylor than Contemplation and a Cart-rope met in Jerusalem and are no Strangers in England but to the publick calamity For the Patrons great purge makes the Priest bite sharp to supply his empty Bowels 4. And the Presentee is made by it uncapable of his Office for how should the people believe a perjur'd man Qui culpas debet emendare committit says Gregory He that should correct commits the faults Lib. 7. ep 113. How can he condemn indirect ways in others that practises them himself Can he press self denial that hath ventur'd his conscience and credit both for self Interest Can the Patron reverence him at the Altar whom he knows forsworn at the Consistory And how can the people honour him as a Divine whom they know to be a worldling What guide will he prove that missed his way at the very entrance How can he joyn in Communion with them whilst his conscience is not cleansed by Repentance And what Repentance can there be without Renunciation and Restitution but of this more hereafter 5. His peace and safety depends on the silence of the Patron Procurer and Agents which makes him a Slave to wicked and covetous men so that he dare not rebuke with any authority greater servitude his Enemies can't wish him They can blow him away with the breath of their mouth he stands so tickle If they confess and amend he is ruined 'T is a kind of treason against God of which he must fear the discovery nor can he sleep more soundly than the Thief that fears some of his Accomplices may betray him The neck of his Incumbency is in their Halter and they may sniffle him when they please Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia that famous Arian hired a Quean to sware that holy Eustathius got the child in her arms and so got him banished But after being sick she confessed what summ the Arians gave her to swear against her and said 't was one Eustathius Aerarius got the child which turned to the ruine of the Contrivers In Christo Justell tom 2. v. lib. Synodalem He is no safer than the unchaste wife that dares not deny her paramour any thing for fear he tell and looks pale like Faux and his Conspirators lest the truth should come to light O unhappy Preacher that fears light more than darkness 6. Lastly their Incumbent is all good mens scorn if known Joh. 2.16 our Saviour never shewed a brisker zeal than against the Bank and Marketting in the Temple 1 King 5.27 How sharply doth Elisha proceed against his Servant Gehazi for this crime clapping the disease of Naaman incurably upon him and his seed for ever Numb 22.7 8. The Angel with a drawn sword resolves Balaam's ruine for going to sell his blessing St. Peter shews the occasion of his displeasure 2 Pet. 2.15 that he loved the wages of unrighteousness and so we may take that place Jude 11. that the Gnostick Teachers ran after Balaam's error to sell their prophesy and blessings for reward by this Balaam kindled the wrath of God against him Numb 22.22 After this crime old Isaac would not bless his Son Esan though he sought it with tears Heb. 12.17 That subtil Magician Hildebrand knowing how hateful this sin was to all good men blackned Henry the 4th Emperor with it in hope to draw all mens affections from him Plat. in vit Greg. 7. Though 't is most evident that Prince deposed Hereman the Bishop of Babenburgh for entring Simoniacally And he sat in the Church of Babenberg to present to the rich Abbey of Fulda and had great offers for it but he was ashamed of them and called out an humble Monk of Helvord named Reucelinus whom he preferred to that dignity So again in a great strife of bribes for the Lorissan Abbey V. Lamb. Schassmaburg Chron. he rejected all and presented one that never thought of it and commended Severus's way of rejecting Obtruders and accepting the most modest as most fitting But above all instances see St. Peter's zeal against Magus Pereat tecum Pecunia tua When he would have purchased the Bishoprick of Samaria or an Apostleship as hath been formerly shewed and as Urban 2d seems to believe in his Decretal Epistle to Lucius Provost of St. Juventius Anno 1099 where he argues that to buy Church livings was Simony because Magus did not desire the holy Ghost of whom he was unworthy but the power to give it to others as the Apostles did upon which in just indignation the Apostle stooke him Epist 237. voce tonitrus says St. Bernard with that thundring sentence knowing 't was the profit of bestowing those gifts he looked after For he considered how cheerfully fathers would deposite great summs to procure the gifts of Tongues to their children without the harsh and tedious Padagogy of School-masters And how ready rich men would be to purchase wisdom and gifts of prophecy and to understand all mysteries if they could be had in a moment so that they were the res Ecclesiasticae the profits of Religion he aimed at and therefore that is the first notion of Simony And against it that great Apostle is so hot What favour the Fathers had for it hath been shewed in part and may be easily conjectur'd by the sharp Canons made against it We will conclude this part with the zeal of that mirror of Learning and all goodness Dr. Michael Honywood late Dean of Lincoln who was wont to protest he would no more converse with a Simoniacal Clergy man of what rank so ever than with a Felon burnt in the hand or branded on the Forehead Yet as hateful as this crime hath been to all good Christians former ages have not been so happy as to be free from this accursed practice no not the hither side of the
upon the Patron Some think the Peoples rights of Election were swallowed up by this Advancement of Patrons But 't is very plain by all the debates of this matter that though many things are produced or producible out of Antiquity about the Peoples Rights in chusing of Bishops yet there is no footstep of any such Right to choose Presbyters or Parochial or Congregational Ministers which yet is the point in issue between the Church of England and their Adversaries And 't is pity it is no more minded by the Litigants on both sides For whatsoever Canon gives people any Right gives it in conjunction with the Clergy but what Clergy are there to choose in a single Congregation And if there were what need they choose another to make a Pastoral Relation must there be Pastors upon Pastors in Infinitum Hath not the Church of Virginia authority to send a Pastor among the Indians to feed them with the word and doctrine and baptize them upon that command Go teach all nations and baptize them without the peoples choice Will any affirm he can preach no otherwise than as a gifted Brother among them This New England fancy hath hindred the salvation of the Indians amongst them And had the Apostles and Elders believed it had hindred the salvation of the world Men should consider that in the Primitive times there were no Parishes to choose nor did the People pay the Presbyters but the Bishop Nor were they so fixt in any place Pallad in vita Chrys. as not to be moveable at the discretion of the Bishop Chrysostom maintained many Presbyters whom he sent to preach in Phaenicia at his own charge Nor did the world know any other distinction but of City and Regionary Presbyters They were bred up in the Church from Lectors Acolytes Exorcists Sub-deacons Deacons Priests in all which offices they usually staid some time and were advanced at the discretion of the Bishop without the People Nor were they permitted to convert any offering made in the Country to their own use but accounted for it at the City Altar Nor do we hear any Complaints of the people against the usurpations of these Patrons now newly erected which we may reasonably believe they would have done had they found any Law of God broken or custom of the Church alter'd or Rights of the People invaded or Ministers obtruded against the usual practice These things consider'd an unprejudiced mind will be satisfied the people never had nor used any right in choosing Congregational guides whatever they might do in Electing Bishops whom they owned as compleat Pastors for worship and censures too and from whom they received their Presbyters and to whom they made their Offerings Nor are the Patrons Antichristian as some are pleased to call them whilst they conscientiously manage their Right of Praesentation without these sacrilegious practises but are lovers of their Nation and Religion in building them Synagogues And might have expected prayers and thanks from any but these murmurers that defame what they cannot imitate A good Author tells us Dugd. View of our troubles c. 35. p. 411. that some in Praise-God Barebones Parliament Dec. 13 1653 were earnestly voting down Patrons but others urged that this was an attempt to destroy the Subjects Property and that ended the debate Our dissenting Brethren so far favour that Anabaptistical fury in complaining of Patrons invading the peoples Rights as if they meant to espouse their folly Questionless Patrons are apprehensive enough that Dissenters Principles can't take place but by their ruine and therefore will keep a watchful Eye upon them But I return and am only to disswade them from the ill use of that Spiritual Trust that is in their hands If the Patron will be charitable L. 7. ep 110. he ought also to be just and not to rob for a Burnt offering Gregory the Great hath vehemently lashed this wickedness telling men they were more loaden by their Sacrilege than eased by their Charity That 't was one thing to give Alms to purge our sins and another to sin that we may give Alms. He says the rule is Prov. 3.9 honour the Lord with thy substance not with other mens Did not Justice Foster know that the sacrifice of the wicked was an abomination to the Lord. Is not this to rob the Spouse of Christ for an offering to her Husband to sacrifice the Priest for atoning of the Deity or like Judas to relieve the Poor with our Saviours ointment O blind hypocrisy that expects Grapes from Thorns and to receive good for doing evil 2. These charitable Bonds are a very compendious way to starve Religion out of the world For if the Patron may give 5 l. to the Widow why not 10 l. to the Daughter and 20 l. more to the use of the Poor and as much more to repair High-ways c. and require Bonds for all these And Justice Foster declare them good 'T is easy to cut large Cantals out of another mans Loaf And the Logicians will tell him a quatenus ad omne valet argumentum If one be lawful all of the same kind are We may presume all honest Lawyers ashamed of the Decision 3. Should these charitable Bonds be judged good corrupt Patrons might by this colour avoid all Convictions of Simony For what is more easy than to take Bonds in others names for our own advantage Can men ever want pretences for Charity are poor such rare and scarce Commodities Is it meet for Courts of Judicature to assist such avaricious Earth-worms to baffle the wisdom of the whole Nation at once And render their just and holy Laws ridiculous In the Act against Simony England hath shewed its love to Learning and Religion as well as to Justice and Equity and is it not sad if a false hearted Bond disguised under a cloak of charity should render all vain All the wine of Consolation to Learning and Piety may be drawn out at this one Tap of feigned charity Should the Lawyers declare the Law in favour of these Bonds they would but encourage Sacrilege and help forward these Patrons damnation and stain the Reverend Scarlet by sharing in the sin and suppress the Law to support the Malefactor But let the Simonist remember if he escape this Bar there is another at which the conscience will tell the whole Story and then the Sentence will be Thy Money perish with thee O voice of Thunder but a stony heart can't hear it 6. 'T is Simony to give Bonds for Resignation at the Patrons pleasure though upon pretence of a Son to be preferred when fit 'T is true at first blush this Plea seems reasonable Crook p. 2. 248. and found favour 8. Jac. in Jones and Lawrences case as Sir Geeorge Crook reports it And so did another 5 Car. 1. in the Kings Bench Crook Car. 1.180 between Babington and Wood reported by the same Author where was no pretence of a Son But 't is
and informed him of the accusation desiring him to write his Name and Titles upon a Paper which he would shew the Synod to the utter confutation of his Adversaries Which when the poor Patriarch had done a Resignation of the Patriarchate was written above his name and deliver'd to the Synod Upon which they inaugurated young Theophylact into the Chair of Constantinople Anno Domini 944. Others I confess say Tryphon was but his Substitute till he came to that age This young Patriarch suited well his entrance living but twelve years and that in all kind of Luxury and Riot minding Dogs and Horses more than Churches and the Souls of men And leaving nothing remarkable but that instead of feeding Christs Sheep he fed 2000 Horses with the profits of his Bishoprick Cedrenus And better could not be expected from such an Entrance He died 956. 7. As we have shewed it no Simony to purchase an Advowson in Fee so 't is as plain Simony to purchase the next Presentation especially if the Church be empty or the Incumbent sick or aged This is malum in se though haply not malum prohibitum For here 't is presumed the intention is Simoniacal And in truth the right of Patronage is not salable at all if it be a spiritual thing only but in England 't is accounted by some a meer temporal thing But by the most and best 't is reckon'd partly temporal V. Glos 1. q. 1. quod autem and partly spiritual and so it will prove for as Lindwood de jurejurando well notes consider it as descendable to heirs and purchasable in Fee and so 't is temporal but jus patronatus praesentatio dicuntur spiritualia respectu rei ad quam praesentatur quae spiritualis est Consider it as 't is a presentation to a Church and to exercise divine offices and so 't is spiritual And all the profits of a Church are spiritual as devoted to God and his Service And so is the Parson presented too Extra de judic c. quanto ubi de hoc Accordingly the Canons determine their actions to be managed in foro ecclesiastico but the custom of England is otherwise Now how much Patrons scrape out of these sales of Advowsons is not easy to imagine Were the Church their Freehold they could scarcely make more and get the cure served Horne in his Speculum Justitiariorum tells us the Advowson of a Church is so much in the spirituality that there can be no alienation thereof but in Fee-simple Cap. 2. s 27. sub Titulo Contracts If this were the law under Edw. 1 and Edw. 2 in whose reign this Reverend Judge is said to live how came it to be alter'd and Contracts pro hâc vice now thought lawful Do the Lawyers change the Law at their pleasure as Sectaries do Religion then is both Religion and Law ambulatory and may both leave the Kingdom at length We may yet hope a right English Parliament will find time to retrench these Enormities and new lopp this overgrown Tree of Avarice In the mean time let Patrons know that if Law allow it conscience cannot for in them 't is rapine sacrilege betraying of trust living on what is none of their own and enriching themselves with Church-Revenues Com. In Luc. 4. multi leprosi I wish they would hear St. Ambrose Malè quaesitâ mercede non tam patrimonium facultatûm quam the saurum criminum congregârunt aeterno supplicio brevi fructu By ill got Goods we increase our treasure of sins rather than of Money little benefit but everlasting punishment And again in his Book de dignitate Sacerdotali he says Caro suscepit dignitatem anima perdidit honestatem they receive Money into their pockets and lose honesty out of their hearts Our law doth so detest this avaricious course that it hath made it punishable but to Elect a Scholar or Fellow c. 31 Eliz. 6. into any Colledge for Money which is a small thing compared with presenting a Priest to a Church 4. Having laid down what is Simony in Law and Conscience as far as we could judge and occasion offered we must now consider what respect the Common Law hath for it by which we shall discover the true old English spirit that disdained avarice and falshood and scorned to do a contumelious action The Abridger of our Statutes says in the Preface the whole Senate have bestowed at least half their time and industry in hacking at part of the Branches Boughs Sprouts Roots or Leaves of that monstrous ugly and hideous Tree Avaritia Yet it still sprouted again like a Hydraes head in another form and different shape But the Common Law hath had the same bent and design Simony is odious in the eye of the Common Law Inst 3. c. 71. f. 153. says Coke its greatest Oracle where he gives a double instance of it A Gardein in Socage may not present to a Living because he cannot account to the heir for it as being of no value nor benefit to him And therefore the Heir shall present though he be under age And also if an heir of Tenent in Capite have Livery cum exitibus yet shall the heir not present to an Advowson V. Com. in stat 31. Eliz. 6. because no issues nor profits can be taken thereof He farthera ffirms 't was the more odious because always accompanied with perjury Again in another place he tells us the Common Law so much detested Simony that before the Statute of Westm the 2d no damages could be recover'd upon a Quare Impedit lest says he any profit the Patron should take should savour of Simony And this seems to me reasonable enough yet still for if the Patron have costs why should he have damage of that which never could be profit to him Inst 2. Westm 2. c. 5. f. 362. had he had it and could be no diminution of his Revenue had he lost it but we must acquiesce in publick judgment Yet he says 't is so with the King still For he can have no damage upon his Quare impedit because he could not recover any by the Common Law before and that Statute helps him not though it do the Subject And the same Author seems very certain Bonds for resignation could not be sued at Common Law till the Statute of Westm the 2d for that the Incumbent once instituted and setled the Patron could have no Writ to remove him â—b fol. 357. though wrongfully presented and gives these reasons for it 1. Because having Curam animarum a great charge he might the more effectually and peaceably attend it 2. Because he came in by a Judicial Act from the Bishop to the Church who is supposed in Law to act Scrutatis Archivis And the form of Institution implies no less for the Te instituo ad tale beneficium habere curam animarum Et accipe curam tuam meam Accept thine and
stand for the honour and freedome of any Church that is thus intangled But two things render his condition yet worse 1. He is not in the Church as a Guide or Ruler for his Presentation Institution Induction are all void Simony enervates the vertue of all Seals Non suscepisti saith St. Ambrose quia gratuitò eam non recepisti Amb de dig sacerd c. 5. And again Quod dedit pecunia fuit quod accepit lepra fuit He gave Money and received Leprosy that is nothing but the guilt of sin For 't is a Maxime Nulli ex culpâ lucrum none may be a gainer by his crimes In Ordination Leo observes we get not the Spirit of God but a Lying Spirit Si spiritus veritatis gratis accipitur proculdubio spiritus mendacii esse convincitur qui non gratis accipitur 1. q. 1. gratia Nay they are not Priests nor is any thing conveyed and so says Greg. Mag. Quicundque studet per dationem sacrum ordinem accipere Ib. Idem sacerdos non est And again Presbyter si per pecuniam ecclesiam obtinuerit Ib. Idem non solum ecclesiâ privetur sed etiam sacerdotii honore spolietur so that this Church is void and he ceases to be a Priest Nor would they acknowledge his offerings or service to be acceptable or pure Hier. In Mat. c. 1. v. 11. So says St. Hierom Panem pollutum offerunt quantum ad se qui ad altare indignè accedunt quique dato munere sacerdotium praesumunt As to themselves they offer polluted bread Thus the Council of Roan Dec. 7. q. 1. Sanctitum if any enter turpis lucri gratiâ dejiciatur a clero alienus existat a regula He is outed as irregular and his Priestly acts are such Quae fieri non debent sed fact a valent good to others not to himself To conclude all the Canons and imperial Constitutions go the same way making all things void such a Simonist can do at least as to himself Hence the Casuists rule Sa aphor Sim. n. 10. Collatio beneficii Simoniaca nulla est 't is a meer nullity to present by Simony We must say of him as Peter of Simon Magus Thou hast no part nor lot in this matter Act. 8. He is a Usurper of that holy office by his Criminal Entry 2. He stands ipso facto Excommunicate Navar. l. c. n. 111. both from his Orders his Living and the Catholick Church In ecclesiâ Dei eos consortium habere non posse qui sancti Spiritus gratiam nundinentur saith Ambrose Amb. in Luc. 19. they can't hold Church-Communion that trade with the grace of God's Spirit He that gets any Benefice or Ministry by reward Dec. 1. q. 1. Reperimur Ex eodem tempore se noverit anathematis opprobrio condemnatum atque a participatione corporis sanguinis domini alienum And what comfort can he take in his Calling that is thus intangled with Nullities and Curses and prejudiced by his sins 1. That the Primitive Church made no Canons against Patrons was because in that age there was no such thing but Election and Ordination brought the Clergy into their Churches Offices and Profits And hence the Canons militate against Ordainers and Ordained Electors and Elected but the Reason is the same The Patron being the sole Elector and shares with the Bishop in filling the Church and here money qualifies for the Ministry the spiritual Office is purchased and the grace of God is bought and sold as then 5. Since Christians are not Stoicks to think all sin equal the Incumbent will do well to consider in what rank the most pious Christians placed Simony Ambr. de dig Sacerd. c. 5. St. Ambrose calls it mortale vitiositatis is virus the deadly poison of vitiousness Pope Paschal calls them primos praecipuos haereticos ab omnibus sidelibus respuendos the first and chiefest hereticks to be rejected by all the faithful again all crimes compared to Simoniacal heresy Dec. 1. q. 7. pater quasi pro nihilo reputantur are accounted nothing Tharasius said the Macedonian heresy was more tolerable for that made the holy Ghost Gods servant but this makes him mans Slave or his Beast to be bought or sold at his pleasure Ep. Synod Yea he thinks it equal to the sin against the holy Ghost Aequaliter peccantes his qui blasphemaverint dicentes Christum in Beelzebub ejicere daemonia and adds that 't is like the crime of the Traytor Judas that sold his Christ to the Jews his Murderers Perpetua mulctatur damnatione says Gregory and Nazi says as Gratian recites him Nam Spiritus sancti donum pretio comparari quid aliud est quam Capitale crimen And St. Ambrose again Illum constat execrabile Christo perpetrasse flagitium 't is a wickedness execrable to Christ And hence again those pious men in the Council of Meaux in most fervent manner cry out Cavendum est summopere studendum c. We must beware and endeavour by all might and main And by the merits of Christs bloud must forbid to all Bishops and Kings and all higher powers and all Cherishers Electors Grat. 1. q. 7. Et mox Consenters and Ordainers to any Ecclesiastical dignity that none may attain any place by Simoniacal heresy by himself or any Promoter with any Service Craft Promise Commodity or Gift whatsoever By which we may see the zeal of godly men to extirminate that crime we contrive to bring in 'T is perverseness in our judgments if we reckon that a small thing which they esteemed heavier than a Milstone and St. Peter so severely condemned and for a taste of our own Church she hath clos'd with the Primitive in her resentments of it for she calls it the detestable Sin of Simony and says buying and selling Spiritual and Eccesiastical Functions Can. 1. Jac. 1603. can 40. Offices Promotions Dignities and Livings is execrable before God I am afraid he will prove a Bastard Son that thinks otherwise Nor is there any Sect that espouses the Simoniacal cause among the many bad causes owned in the world 6 This Incumbent's condition is very miserable in the world 1. Tim. 3.7 for 1. He is under a very illname 'T is his duty to endeavour a good report of those that are without but he hath a bad one amongst those that are within If Solomon be right that a good name is better than great Riches Prov. 22.1 he makes a bad bargain that parts with his Money for a bad one Crudelis est qui famam negligit saith St. Aug. but what is he that famam destruit ruins his good name To have a good Conscience is most necessary to his salvation but to have a good name is most necessary to his vocation 'T is no good Character of a Divine to be reputed shameless Contemptu famae contemnuntur virtutes says one Fame can't
be despised but virtue is cast off with it and by so doing men fit themselves for farther villanies Liberiùs peccant cum pudor omnis abest A blushful countenance is a kind of trash to an over fleet Villain A grave Philosopher asures us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. they have very impure souls that desire to be much spoken of for their great wickedness rather than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than abstaining from evil to live obscurely He must expect to be esteemed of no reputation that hath no other instruction for the Ministry but a Bag of Money under his arm 2. His Bonds given as his best qualification are suable at Law so that he must quit his Living compound with his Patron or pay it with charges Inst 3. f. 154. This was adjudged says Coke in the Common pleas Pasche Eliz. 40. rot 1745 in Gregory and Oldbury's case The Statute made nine years before doth not vacate the Bond unless he plead a Simoniacal Contract which is a very husbandly way to vacate the Living but doubtful whether it would void the Bond at last 3. It will blast his fortunes in marriage for who will bestow any thing better than an Abigail on him that is but Tenent by curtesie and is blown away by one breath of the Patrons mouth out of all he hath If the Incumbent conceals it when askt he cheats the Father-in-Law if he confess it the bargain is broken Nor is his credit better for who will lend him any considerable summ how importunate soever his necessities be that knows him indebted in a thousand Marks or out of his Living So that this kind of Simony is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 utter undoing Is his Purse so big as to talk of a Purchase but first says the Patron let him discharge my Bond and the fuller he is thought to be the greater is the Demand so that he hath the pains and the Patron the profit of his good husbandry And who will marry such an Incumbents Daughter whose Father may soon appear scandalous and so shame him and out of all and so lye upon him Our gentle Mother Academia blushes to see her Sons so bad Logicians as not to find this fallacy or distinguish themselves out of these Bonds But is it not better to have a Living in this manner Obj. than none at all 'T is better be idle than rob or steal Sol. and to follow no trade than a sinful one but much better with Marlorat to work with a Spade in a Town-Ditch than either 2. 'T is better to provide for the publick safety of the Church of Christ than our own Christ left Heaven to do it service and why can't we a Living All refusing these Simoniacal Contracts the Condition of all is better'd by it 3. You will lose nothing by it but appear the more conscientious and fitting man for the Ministry 4. The Money paid to enter by sin would maintain you till an entrance be offer'd without sin 5. 'T is better to have a bad Living with a good conscience than a good Living with a bad one 'T is more reasonable to believe the Lord hath no need of us than to intrude without a call Dec. de Sim. ◠q. 6. Greg. Mag. tells Siagrius Is qui invitatus renuet quaesitus refugit sacris altaribus est admovendus Qui ultro ambit vel importunè se ingerit est proculdubio repellendus This was the Primitive modesty some feigning themselves Fools some denying themselves to be Christians Others refusing to be baptized Others hiding themselves to avoid their Elections Greg. Nazianzen after he was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople equal then to the best preferment in the world by an Oecumenical Council observing some few Egyptian Bishops against him Hist eccl l. 7. c. 7. refused the Patriarchate as Sozomen and many others affirm Prisci viri sanctique homines difficilius ad Pontificatum vocabantur quam nunc ex alio amoventur Ae◠Sylv. ep 25. Cyp. to 1. ep 52. says Aeneas Sylvius And Holy Cyprian assures us Cornelius vim passus est ut episcopatum coactus exciperet Cornelius was forced into the Popedome by plain violence Eusebius Emissenus that great light of the Church was earnestly solicited to accept the Patriarchate of Alexandria by the Synod of Antioch or at least by Eusebius Patriarch of Constantinople Socrat. hist l. 2. c. 6. but he refused it as he had fled before to Alexandria from Antioch to avoid that Patriarchal See Pontius shews with what unwillingness holy Cyprian was call'd forth to the Primacy of Carthage Pontius in vit Cypr. Synesius that acute Divine and Philosopher declared in a Letter to his Brother that he believed not the Resurrection on purpose to avoid the Bishoprick of Cyrene which yet could not defend him Evagrius however took him at his word and hath left him on Record as an Infidel to the Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Evagrius l. 1. c. 15. being in his opinion not so much as willing to seem to believe it So Eusebius Pamphili urged by the Common shout of the City of Antioch and solicited by Constantine's Letters upon the request of the Synod at Antioch yet constantly refused the Patriarchal See The Emperor hearing him alledge that it was against the Decree of the Fathers to remove from a less to a greater or other Diocess commended his self-denial Sozom. l. 2. c. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nyssen gives us a fair account of that man of wonders Gregorius Thaumaturgus Nyssen in vit Greg. Thaumat his flight into the Wilderness to escape the Chair of Naeo-Caesarea yet at length was strangely brought back to it by the prayers and contrivance of Phedimus Greg. Turon l. 10. c. 1. Jo. Diac. l. 1. c. 39 40. So Gregory the great after he was chosen by the Clergy and People of Rome to the Papal dignity wrote earnestly to Mauricius then Emperor to refuse his Confirmation of what the Electors had done that he might escape so weighty a charge as Gregory Turonensis and Joh. Diaconus report it The Rule then was Quaeratur Cogendus Epiph. ep ad Joh. Hieros his Neighbour Bishops oft caught ordained and restored several Presbyters that fled from him to escape cape holy Orders And this was the Imperial Decree that whoever was ambitious of holy Orders Col. l. 1. tit 3. de epis cler c. 31. should not be received This Sentence executed would abate the number of Simonists and make a thin Church amongst Conformists and Non-conformists too however it may serve to raise a shameful blush on the face of such as purchase their way of Entry 6. The world will conclude there is no merit where the entrance is attempted by Money 7. By such a Preferment you are more intangled than advanced and in a year or two when the Patrons will and pleasure is may be as far to seek as ever 8. By
the Canons of the Church Simoniacal Entrance makes you uncapable of any Ecclesiastical promotion for ever Pius the 5th his Bull speaks not so much the sense of the Roman as the Catholick Church The Canons Civil Law and Decretals all affirming deposition Cum omni fiducia clamo Qui per Simoniam ordinatus est alienus est a sacerdotio adding this reason 1. q. 7. Si quis omnem 1. q. 2. Si quis dator neque enim venalis est gratia spiritius you get no more than Simon Magus by it who was extirminated for ever Perpetua mulctetur damnatione says Greg. And because Simony vacates all Seals and conveys no right the Casuists affirm you are bound in conscience to resign whatever is so gotten and to make Restitution of what profits you have received If you think these Canons void in Law yet they are not in Conscience nor in Law neither as it seems by the Statute made 25 Hen. 8. c. 19. which affirms all Canons not contrariant nor repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of the Realm nor to the damage or hurt of the King's Prerogative Royal shall be now still executed This is the Statute of the submission of the Clergy and was the rule they were to walk by Nor is the matter altered in this Statute of Simony 31 Eliz. 6 for the fourth Paragraph provides that the Act should not restrain any censures Ecclesiastical but that the Ordinary might execute them as before the making of the said Act upon which Degge delivers his opinion that corrupt Patrons Parsons Coun. p. 2. c. 5. who take Bonds for Resignation without any reasonable cause apparent may be called to account before the Ordinary c. and censured if occasion be and doubtless so may the Incumbent too Some say the Statute of 25 Hen. 8. c. 19 is expired as temporary and indeed so it was designed provided a body of Canons had been pickt our of the ancient Councils to have been ratified by some subsequent act but that was not done and probably never will and therefore under correction we may say it is in force still Lastly such an Incumbent ought to consider he is self-called and not called of God Christ the first Priest of the Christian Church would not stir till his father had sent him Nor did any Apostle enter the office but as Christ sent them John 20.21 As my Father sent me so send I you Nor is there any in that office that taketh this honour to himself but he that is called of God as Aaron was Heb. 5.4 He that acts without a warrant will not be born out in what he doth To ingage without command hath received punishment in successful fights If we will act without Commission we must do it without comfort too expecting as well we may to hear that reproachful Nippe who required these things at thy hand We forge the Broad Seal of Heaven if we enter upon our Saviour's Embassy without his Order The Church is bid to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth able Labourers into his Harvest Matth. 9.38 And how can we expect wages except he sets us on work But these hire themselves and bear witness to themselves of their own worth artificial Pastors made by their own contrivance Like Bastards they are Sons of their own fortunes true Terrae filii that no body else will father And thus to enter says Amesius is planè Diabolicum Cas Conse l. 4. c. 25. n. 20. a meer promotion of the Devil for as he adds officium curae animarum est spirituale Dei donum proinde idem in genere ex naturâ rei est illud officium emere cum eo quod fecit Simon Act. Ib. n. 21. 8. 'T is not doubted but the right of calling is principally in Christ but by way of Delegation in the Bishop acting in the behalf of Christ by virtue of the Commission granted to him Joh. 20.21 and in the Patron to whom the people must be supposed to have delegated their power of electing or rather consenting which when the dust of contention that blinds mens eyes is laid will appear as lawful as any Churches can elect Representatives to appear for them in Synods but then to purchase this delegated consent of the Patron is the fowlest of all corruptions We then enter injussi non vocati 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 227. and therefore ipsos diaboli nuntios efficaciter convinci posse says Hunnius from Luther and shew our selves to be the Devils Messengers Luther tells us himself he that hears one uncalled doth hear Diabolum corporaliter loquentem a Devil incarnate preaching In. Luc. 12.42 This Simoniack Call is from Pluto the God of Hell and Wealth and his Ambassadors they are Hear how honest Stella derides them on those words Quem constituit dominus super familiam O quanti sunt Praelati says he quos non constituit dominus sed ipsi se constituerunt suâ ambitione favoribus aut pecuniis and thinks God permits them only for the peoples sins as a plague and curse to their Congregations Then says he thou art called of God Exod. 4.13 Jer. 1.6 Is 6.5 Jon. 1. Quando sine Tuâ solicitâ diligentiâ dignitas Tibi offertur and wonders any would be so bold as to purchase what Moses Jeremiah and Isaiah refused and bewailed and Jonah fled from A man may satisfy his conscience that he is called of God when his own strong and constant inclinations shall lead him to the Ministry and his Friends not only consent but devote him that way and his own abilities are not only sufficient but are better for that way than any other And then that he be invited in by some Church or Patron which is a Churches Representative and approved ordained and instituted by the Bishop whom Christ Commissioned to that purpose But says Stella the Church ever pronounced him unworthy that thought himself worthy Let us now conclude with this hearty Obtestation to both Patrons and Presentees to remember that self-denial is a Gospel grace self-seeking is a Gospel disgrace by the first we can do no hurt by the second we seldom do good In this danger Alcibiades will tell you 't is better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to fly the danger than escape at Tryal A good conscience cannot easily close with suspected wickedness but much less when 't is detected I know your hearts are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and you are hired by your profit to turn a deaf ear yet I would be loath to make my Addresses to you as the Cynick did to a dead Statue only to learn to bear a Repulse I think I may confidently say if this Doctrine be hid 't is hid to them that perish whom the God of this world hath blinded If therefore you desire to escape the Crime and Curse of Magus if you have any regard to the honour of God any care