the Statute of the 25th Year of King Edward the third And We do likewise hereby forbid and inhibit all Our Subiects to impose administer or tender the said Oath or Covenant And if notwithstanding this Our Gracious Proclamation any person shall presume to impose tender or take the said Vow or Covenant We shall proceed against him or them with all severity according to the known Laws of the Land Given at Our Court at Oxford the One and Twentieth day of June in the Nineteeth Year of Our Reign God Save the KING a Malach. 4. 2. b Psal. 13. 43. c Sat. 8. d M. T. Cic. in Tusc. qu. l. 2. e Max. Serm. de benef. f Aelius Lamgrid g Plut in apoph h See his Life and dâ—ath in a boâ—k entituled 〈◊〉 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Hos. 13. 9. Mar. 5. 26. Sen. de benef. Psal. 126. 5. Aug. Serm. de Johan Bap. Cyprian Seâ—n l. 4. de im nort Mat. 8. 24 25. Mat. 16. 26. Mat. 13. 46. Mr. Nye p. 21. Our last refuge Tabula post naufragium Hendersons Speech p. 32. Were this Covenant written on the plaster of the wall over against the Pope Beshazzar-like in his sacrilegious pompe it would make his heart to tremble his countenance to change his head and Miter to shake his joynts to loosen and all his Cardinals and Prelates to be astonished at it E. W. his Preface to the Solemn League It is the cleerest that ever was penned here below the finger of God is in it too By help of that hand which wrote the Ten words first this was indicted and written sure enough for truly it is as the good Word of God The Covenanters answer Reply See Mr. Coleman his Sermon The Covenanters answer Coleman serm. p. 21. Nye's Speech p. 15. Reply 1. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Eccles. 5. 1. The Covenanters answer Mr. Case serm. p. 42. Ch. 10. 28. Mr. White in a Sermon at Lambeth Reply 1. Ch. 10. 28. See the Assembly at Perth Cic. off Eras. Adag. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The Covenanters answer Eras Adag. de tripode dictum Jam. 3. 11. The Covenanters answer See exhortation to the taking of the Solemn League p. 4. Article 36. Heb. 13. 7. The Ordering of Priests Quest Will you reverently obey your Ordinary and other chief Ministers unto whom the Government and Charge is committed over you following with a glad minde and will their godly Admonitions and submitting your selves to their godly judgements Answ I will so do the Lord being my helper Ob. Sol. Ob. Sol. Math. 7. 1. Gal 5. 15. Gal. 6. 2. Divin. Instit. lib. 5. c. 20. Mat 26. 52. 1 Pet. 2. 25. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Act. 1. 20. * Ambros. com in Ephes. cap. 4. v. 10. Apostoli sunt Episcopi Jerom. ad Marcel Apud nos Apostolorum locum tenent Episcopi Cyp. c. 7. l. 3. Apostolos â—d est Episcopos praepositos Dominus elegit August in Psal. 45. loco patrum erunt silii id est Apostolorum Episcopi Et ibid. Dilatatum est Evangelium in omnibus sinibus mundi in quibus principes Ecclesiae id est Episcopi sunt constituti * Aug. Ep. 162. Comment in Apoc. hom 2. Ambrose 1 Cor. 11. 16. Occumenus Arethas Marlorat Pareus in Apoc. c. 1. 2. Policarp Episcopus Smyrnae Onesimus Ephesi Antipas Pergami c. * Edit Teclae it is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} thy wif which demonstrateth that the Angell there signifieth one singular man of Authority in the Church and not the whole Clergy of that place Ep. ad Episc. Winton * Concil. Nice Can. 5. Conc. Antioch Can. 6. Concil. Sard. Can. 14. Conc. Chal. Act. 15. c. 29. Ignatius in Ep. ad Philad. Irenaeus l. 3. c. 3. Tertul. l. de baptismo Euseb. l. 6. c. 40. Jerom ep ad Nepot Optatus l. 1. cont. Parmen. Amb. in Eph. cap. 4. Basil Eph. 70. * Epiphanius Haeres 75. p. 295. Aug. ad quod vult Deum Aëriani ab Aërio quodam sunt nominati qui cum esset Presbytr doluisse fertur quod Episcopus non patuit ordinari dicebat Presbyterum ab Episcopo nulla differentia debere discorni Hieron. in Tit. Con. 1. Art 15. c. 29. Episcopum in Presbyteri gradum reducere est sacrilegium Anatolius Constant Episcop dixit ij qui dicuntur ab Episcopali dignitate ad Presbyteri ordinem descendisse si justis de causis condemaantur nec Presbyteri honore digni sunt See Art 36. l. de Consecrat It is evident to all men reading holy Scriptures and ancient Authors that from the Apostles time there have been these three Orders in the Church of Christ and that a Bishop ought to correct and punish such as are unquiet criminous and disobedient within his Diocess according to such authority as he hath by the word of God * Vide Record in Exchequer I will preserve and maintain to you and the Churches committed to your charges all Canonical Priviledges and I will be your Protector and Defender to my power by the assistance of God as every good King in his Kingdom in right ought to defend the Bishops and Churches under their Government c. Then laying his hand on the book on the Communion Table he saith The things which I have before promised I shall perform and keep so help me God and by the contents of this book * Cic. Tusc. quast Ob. Sol. * Pro Mur. tolle nomen Catonis * Statut. Edw. 3. Ann. 25. The Church of England was founded in the state of Prelacy c. for we ow to it our best laws made in the Saxon times and Charta Magna it self The enion of the two Roses York and Lancaster the marriage with Scotland and above all the Plantation and Reformation of true Religion See Vindication of Episcopacy pag. 23 24. See also the Statute book of 16 Rich. 2. where the Commons shew That the Prelates were much profitable and necessary to their Soveraign Lord the King and the Realm c. †Jerome Advers. Luc. c. 4. Ecclesiae salus à summi sacerdotâ—s dignitate pendet cui si non exors quaedam ab omnibus eminens detur protestas tot in Ecclesia efficientur Schismata quot sacerdotes Cypr. Ep. 3. Non aliunde Haereses abortae sunt aut nata Schismata quan inde quod sacerdoti Dei non obtemperatur nec unus in Ecclesia ad tempus sacerdos al tempus judex vice Christi cogitatur * Athanas Apol. 2. Colithus quidam presbyter in Ecclesia Alexandrina alios Presbyteros ordinare praesumpserat sed rescissa fuit ejus Ordination omnes ab â—o constituti Presbyteri in laicorum ordinem redacti See Epiph. Haer. 75. The order of Bishops begets Fathers in the Church but the order of Presbyters Sons in Baptism but no Fathers or Doctors See also G. Abbot in his Tract of the Visibility of the Church and in his Answer to Hill * Apol. Confess Augustan c. de numero usu Sacrament Not saepe protestati sumnâ— summa cum voluntate conservare politiam Ecclesiasticam gradus in Ecclesia factos etiam summa authoritate scimus enim utili consilio Ecclesiasticam disciplinam have mode quo veteres eam describunt constitutam * Luther Tom. 2. p. 320. Nemo contra statum Episcoporum veros Episcopos vel bonos pastores dictum putet quiquid contra hos tyrannos dicitur †Gerard de Ministerio Eccles. Nemo nostrum dicit nihil imeresse inter Episcopum Presbyterum sed agnoscimus distinctionem graduum propter {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Ecclesiae ut concordia conservetur * Calv. de necess reform Ecclesiae Talem nobis Hierarchiam si exhibeant in qua sic eminâ—ant Episcopi ut Christo subesse non recusent ut ab iâ—o tanquam unico capite pendeant ad ipsum referantier in qua sic inter se fraternam societatem colant ut non alio modo quam eâ—us veritâ—te sint colligati tum vero nullo non anathemate dignos fateor si qui erunt qui noa eam reverenter summaque obedientia observent †Beza de grad. Minist. Evang. c. 18. Sess. 3. Quod si nunc Ecclesiae instauratae Anglicanae suorum Episcoporum Archi episcoporum authoritate suffultae perstant quemadmodum hoc illis nostra memoria contigit ut ejus ordinis homines non tantum insignes Dei Martyres sed etiam praestantissimos Doctores Pastores habuerit c.
but that Christ left a Pattern of Government to his Church to continue till the end of the world and doubtlesse his Apostles with whom he conversed forty dayes after his Resurection speaking of those things which appertain to the kingdom of God Act. 3. 1. delivered that to the Church which they received from their Master What Government or Discipline was that There can be conceived but three formes of Government Episcopal most conformable to Monarchy Presbyterial to Aristocracy and Independent as they tearm it to Democracy Presbyterial or Independent it could not be for Presbyterial is no Elder then the Reformation in Geneva and the Independent no Elder then New-England whereas Episcopal Government hath been time out of mind not in one but in all Churches A and sith it was not first constituted by any Sanction of a General Counsel it follows necessarily according to St. Augustins observation that it must needs be an Apostolical Institution For what not one Church but all Churches not in one age but all ages hath uniformly observed and practised and no man can define who after the Apostles were the beginners of it must needs be supposed to be done by Order or Tradition from them 7. This form of Government was not only generally received and embraced by Catholicks but even by Hereticks and Schismaticks who though they severed from the Communion of the Church in Doctrine yet not in Discipline For the Novatians and Donatists had Bishops of their own from whom they took their names only * Aerius who stood for a Bishoprick and missed it out of discontent broached that new Doctrine wherewith the heads of our Schismaticks are so much intoxicated viz. That there ought to be no distinction in the Church between a Bishop and a Presbyter and for this confounding those Sacred Orders was himself ranked among Hereticks and stands upon record in the Bedrolls of them made by Epiphanius Angustin and Philastrius It is true he had other brands on him but this was the proper mark put upon him by those ancient Fathers who mention this Tenet of his as Erroneous and Heretical I grant some of the ancient Doctors affirm That in the beginning till the prevention of Schism made this distinction between Bishops and Presbyters they were all one in name as now they are in those essential parts of their function viz. Preaching of the Word and administration of the Sacraments But Aerius was the first who professedly oppugned the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy maintaining That there ought to be no difference and distinction between Bishops and Elders 8. This assertion of Aërius as in the Doctrine thereof it was defined by the Doctors of the Church to be Heresie so in the practise thereof it is condemned by the great Councel of Chalcedon to be Sacriledge To confound say they the Ranks of Bishops and Elders and to bring down a Bishop to the inferior degree of an Elder is no lesse then Sacriledge Now I would fain know how that comes to be truth now which was condemned for Heresie and to be Piety now which was branded for Sacriledge above 1200 agoe 9. Neither were the Fathers of the Councel of Chalcedon only zealous in this cause which so much concerned the honour of the Church but the other three also whose authority St. Gregory held to be the next to the four Evangelists and the Doctrine thereof is after a sort incorporated into our Acts of Parliament Eliz. 1. In these Councels which all consisted of Bishops Episcopacy it self is almost in every Canon and Sanction either Asserted or Regulated 10. Next to the Primitive Church we owe a reverend respect to the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas who either have Bishops as in Poland Transilvania Denmark and Swethland or the same function is in Nature though not in Name to wit Intendents and Super-intendents as they would have them if they could as I understood from many Ministers in France or at least approve of them as appeareth by the testimony of Beza Sadiel Scultetus and others 11. What should I speak of the Articles of Religion ratified by a Sequence of Religious Princes succeeding one the other and confirmed by Act of Parliament to which all Beneficed men are required under pain of losse of their livings within a moneth to professe their assent and consent in which both the Power and Consecration of Bishops and Ministers is expresly asserted and their distinction from Presbyters or of the Statute of Carlile the 15. of Edw. 2. and the first of Qu. Eliz. with very many other unrepealed Acts in which Episcopall Government is either related unto or regulated and confirmed in such sort that quite to abolish and extirpate it would bring a confusion and make a stop as well in Secular as Ecclesiastical Courts And therefore our zealous Reformers if they think themselves not too good to be advised by the Great Counsellor ought to take heed how they rashly and unadvisedly pluck up the tares as they esteem them of holy Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws ne simul eradicent triticum lest together with those tares as they count them they pluck up by the roots the good wheat of many profitable and wholesome Laws of the Common-wealth and Acts of Parliament 12. But if the Authority of both Houses could soon cure these sores in precedent Acts of Parliament yet how will they make up the breaches in the Consciences of all those who in the late Protestation and this New Covenant have taken a Solemn Oath to maintain the Priviledges of the Members of Parliament and the Liberties of the Subject The most Authentical evidence whereof are Charta Magna and the Petitionof Right in both which the Rights of the Church and Priviledges of Episcopal Sees are set down in the Fore-front in Capital Letters 13. To strain this string a little higher the power of granting Congedeliers together with the investitute of Archbishops Bishops and Collation of Deanries and Prebends with a setled Revenue from the First-fruits and Tenths there is one of the fairest flowers in the Kings Crown and to rob the imperial Diadem of it considering the King is a Person most Sacred is Sacriledge in a high degree and not Sacriledge only but Perjury also in all those who attempt it For all Graduates in the University and men of Ranck and Quality in the Common-wealth who are admitted to any place of eminent Authority or Trust take the Oath of Supremacy whereby they are bound to defend and Propugne all Preeminences Authorities and Prerogatives annexed to the Imperial Crown whereof this is known to be one inherent in the King as he is Supreme head of the Church within his Realms and Defender of the Faith 14. Yet for all this admit that Reason of State should inforce the Extirpation of Episcopacy thus rooted as it hath been said both in the Royal Prerogative and Priviledge of the Subject and in the Laws of the Land it is a golden Maxim of Law
keep his Oath sincerely and intirely But in this Covenant and Oath there are many Ambiguities For what is meant in the first clause by common enemies Either the world the flesh and the Divel which indeed are as it were sworn enemies to all true Religion or Papists or Independents who are both enemies to the Discipline and Government of the Scotch Church In the second clause what is meant by Church government by Archbishops Bishops c either all government by Bishops or the present Government only with the late Innovations and abuses thereof If all government by Bishops then in taking this Oath we condemn not only the perpetual Government of the Church from the Apostles time till the reformation of Religion in the dayes of Hen. 8. but also the reformed Churches in England Ireland Denmark Swethland Poland Saxonie and other parts of Germany where either they have Archbishops and Bishops or tantmount Intendents and Superintendents If the present government only with innovations and abuses let them explain what are the innovations and abuses we swear against else we cannot swear in judgement What is meant by Hierarchy the word signifieth holy Government being derived from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} holy and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} rule or government And is it fit crudely without any glosse to forswear all holy Government In the third clause what is meant by defending the Kings person in the defence of the true Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms Is it a limitation or not If it be no limitation what doth it there There ought to be no idle and if I may so speak hang-by words in an Oath for the Wiseman teacheth us when we speak to God our words must be few If it be a limitation how doth this Covenant agree with the Oathes of Supremacy and Allegiance by which we are absolutely bound to defend the Kings person royal Dignities and Prerogatives of the Crown without any if or of restriction or qualification In the fourth clause what is meant by Malignants or evill instruments a word never used till of late in any Statute Law or Ordinance and never so much abused as at this day In the sixth clause how far extend these words I will assist and defend all those that enter into this League and Covenant in the maintaining and persuance thereof Doth it reach to giving battle to the King Sequestring Estates plundering houses and trampling all Laws under foot and to the justifying all the outrages committed in the maintaining and pursuing this League If not why is it not circumscribed with that limitation in the first Protestation By all good and lawful means or so far as lawfully I may There being so many Amphibologies Ambiguities and riddles in this Oath we must have some Oedipus of the Synod to read and clearly expound them before we can safely engage our conscience by Oath to perform them No Covenant may be made or Oath taken which implyeth in it contradictions for in such an Oath or Covenant we play fast and loose say and unsay and overthrow the nature of an Oath and take Gods name in vain The Schools and ancient Doctors constantly maintain that it exceedeth even Divine Omnipotency to reconcile Contradictions which are amongst those many things St. Augustine speaketh of which God therefore cannot do because he is Omnipotent But there are apparent contradictions in this Covenant and Gordian knots which cannot be untied For First It is said in the Preface that the Noblemen Barons c. enter into this Covenant according to the commendable practice of these Kingdoms in former times and yet Mr. Nye in his Speech published by special order of the House upon the very day the Covenant was read and sworn unto and subscribed by the Honorable House of Commons and Reverend Assembly of Divines Sept. 25. saith p. 12. That such an Oath for matter persons and other circumstances hath not been in any age or oath we read of in sacred or humane stories And Mr. Coleman in his Sermon commanded to be printed by the Commons of the House of Parliament Sept. ult. 1643. p. 18. Ask your Fathers consult with the aged of our times whether ever such a thing were done in their dayes or in the dayes of their Fathers before them And in his Epistle Dedicatory An Oath if vain makes the Land to mourn an Oath if weighty makes it rejoyce This is a new thing and not done in our Land before and I hope will have a new effect not seen by our people before We are to swear in the first branch That we will really and constantly endeavour the preservation of the reformed Religion in the Church of Scotland in Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government and yet in the same branch we swear to endeavour to bring the Churches of God in these three Kingdoms of which Scotland is one to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in form of Church Government according to the Word of God and the example of the best reformed Churches But this cannot be done if Scotland be preserved in her present Directory for Worship Discipline and Government for the Government in the Church of England Ireland Denmark Swethland Poland Saxony and in all the Churches of the East not subject to the Pope is Episcopal and that is proved to be most conformable to the Word of God by the writings of Bilson Downham Armagh never yet answered by any We swear in the same branch That we will endeavour to reform the Doctrine of the Church of England according to Gods Word and yet preserve the reformed Religion in Scotland in Doctrine whereas the Doctrine of the Church of England and Scotland is all one as appears by the Confession of the one and Articles of the other All the difference between the Church of England and Scotland is concerning Discipline and Liturgie not Doctrine as it is distinguished from them We swear in the second branch That we will endeavour the extirpation of Prelacy and Schisms whereas Prelacy hath been ever and is the special if not only means to extirpate Schisme If Prelacy be taken away saith St. Jerome ad Luc. and the preeminencie of one Presbyter above another tot Schismata erunt quot Sacerdotes That is to extirpate Church-government by Archbishops Bishops c. and yet in the third branch we swear to preserve the rights and priviledges of the Parliament and liberties of the Kingdoms among which liberties of the Kingdom of England and priviledges of the Parliament are the contents of Magna Charta and Petition of Right in which the Government of Archbishops and Bishops and the rights and priviledges of the Church are comprised In the third branch we swear to preserve and defend his Majesties Person and Authority without any diminution of his just power and greatness and yet in the sixth Article we swear to assist and defend all those that enter into this League and Covenant in
charitutes patria complectitur But this Covenant is many wayes derogatory to the honour of England For the Church of Scotland is not only set before the Church of England in it but is also propounded as a pattern of a Church intirely reformed not only in Doctrine but in Discipline also and Worship and therefore to be preserved in all three But the Church of England as an imperfect draught of a Church defective in all and consequently to be reformed in all according to Gods Word and the pattern of other reformed Churches whereas in truth the Church of England as it was reformed before the Church of Scotland so it was more exactly and perfectly Reformed priùs tempore dic honore And no marvel sith the Church of England was reformed by the authority of the Prince and the wisdom of the State but the Church of Scotland by the zeal of private men The Church of England was reformed not only in Dâ—ctrine but also in Discipline and Liturgy conformably to the ancient and best Churches whereas the Church of Stotland though it imbraced Apostolical doctrine yet it had not the exercise of Apostolical discipline since the Reformation till King James of blessed memory restored Episcopal Government there where they before writing after the copie set by Calvin they had set up the Presbytery or government by Lay Elders unknown to any Elder age of the Church But howsoever the glory of the English Church of late hath been eclipsed in the eyes of many yet by the testimonies of the best Reformed Churches beyond the Seas in the Reign of Qu Elizabeth and King James it may appear that she shined among all the Golden Candlesticks set in the Western and Northern parts of Christendom velut interâ—ignes Luna minores She supported all other Reformed Churches and the Church of Scotland by name as their own Chronicles relate And howsoever some thing hath been questioned in the Discipline and Liturgie of the Church of England by the Scholars of Aerius the Heretick opposing all Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and Liturgie yet the doctrine of the Church of England hath been alwayes kept sarta tecta and held sound and Orthodox by all that carryed the name of Protestants and the Articles of Religion together with the Apology of Bishop Jewell wherein the whole Doctrine of the Church of England is comprised are inserted into the harmony of Protestant Confessions and approved by the suffrage of all Orthodox Churches To swear therefore to endeavour the reforming of the Church of England in Doctrine according to the Word of God is either to swear actum agere to do that which is done already and so to swear vainly or to swear to pervert it it being straight already which is to swear impiously No solemn Covenant especially confirmed by millions of Oaths between two Kingdomes ought to be made without necessary and urgent occasion for otherwise in such a solemn and publick manner to call God as it were from heaven to attest with us would be a taking of his Name in vain Such Covenanting is like the casting the holy anchor among the Athenians and the creating a Dictator among the Romans never to be acted or attempted but in some great exigent of state to preserve it from imminent ruine and destruction But there is no such necessity at this time of engaging both Kingdoms and locking them fast in such a League for the Popish party is at a lower ebb now in England then it hath been heretofore and his Majesty hath bound himself by many Oaths even signed with the blood of his Redeemer at the holy Communion to maintain the Protestant Religion and not only to enliven the Acts formerly made against Seminary Priests Jesuits and Popish Recusants but also to give his royall Assent to any such further Acts as the wisdom of the Parliament and State should offer unto him for the advancement of the Protestant and suppressing of the Romish Religion And as for the Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of the Subject there needs no entring into this New League for their ratification and confirmation For they are sufficiently established by former Acts of Parliament unrepealed and by the late Protestation generally made by all the Subjects of this Kingdom May 5. 1641. The Reasons alleadged in the preface of the Covenant have scarce any colour of truth and not so much as a shadow of necessity Reas. 1 The first is That other means of Supplications Remonstrances Protestations c. have proved uneffectual and therefore no remedy for a desperate cure but this uniting of minds and swords with the strongest tie of a National Covenant Answ Whereunto I answer That to all those Supplications Remonstrances and Protestations his Majesty hath given gracious answers and hath often heretofore and of late offered honorable conditions of Peace which have been refused Reas. 2 The second is That for the preservation of themselves and their Religion from utter ruine and destruction they were constrained to make this League Answ Whereunto I answer That Religion and the Church are in danger of ruine and destruction as well by the Anabaptists Brownists and other Sectaries who take this Covenant and have grown most insolent upon this new League as by the Papists and that the greatest fear of utterly ruining and destroying this Kingdom is from the continuance of this Civill and unnatural War which is fomented by it Reas. 3 The third is The commendable practise of these Kingdoms in former times Answ In this reason they plead Obsignatis tabulis they avouch that which never hath been nor can be produced and the contrary hath been proved before Reas. 4 The last reason is The example of Gods people in other Nations Whom they mean by these other Nations is expressed in the exhortation to the taking of this Solemn League and Covenant p. 5. namely the Netherlands and Rochellers But as he in Plato's Dialogue said Exemplum ô holpes eget exemplo so we may say of these these are examples without example late practises in our age and memory without any Precedent in former ages and the best times of the Church Neither yet are they parallel to this For the King of Spain against whom the Netherlands and the French King against whom the Rochellers entred into a League Defensive and Offensive with us were persecuters of the true Protestant Religion and oppressors of their known Liberty whereas our gracious Soveraign is a Professor of the Gospell and a Defender of the Orthodox Protestant Faith and a maintainer of the Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of Subjects as appeareth by his Royal Assent to the Petition of Right Every one that sweareth must have an eye to the conditions of a sacred Oath set down by the Prophet Jerem. 4. 2. He must swear in truth judgement and righteousness in truth not falsly in judgement not rashly in righteousness not wickedly But no man can take this Oath in righteousness for not
only Scripture but even Nature teacheth every man That it is an unrighteous thing if not impious and sacrilegious to disanul abrogate and overthrow the last Wils and Testaments of all the Founders of and Benefactors to Bishopricks Deanaries and Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and to alienate their revenues to another end then they intended especially those lands being dedicated to God and that for the maintenance of his true worship and not any superstitious end It is an unjust thing to thrust out a world of men without any crime or legal forfeiture out of their dignities preferments and Estates whereof they and their predecessors have been legally possessed time out of mind I appeal to their own consciences whether a man might lawfully swear to endeavour the extirpation of all the Judges of the Kings Bench and Common Pleas Barons of the Exchequer Serjeants at Law Counsellours Barrestors and Atturneys or of all Maiors Sheriffs Aldermen Common-councel men Masters and Wardens of Companies Sword bearers Officers and Beadles I am sure such an Oath were Votum devovendum and faedus faedum not only an illegall but a detestible and execrable Oath Obj. And what can they alleadg to difference this from such a one If they say Lord Bishops Deans Arch-deacons c. are no where mentioned in Scripture no more is there of Lord Maiors or Lord chief Barons c. Answ Yea but Magistrates and Judges are named though not with such honorable titles So are Bishops and Deacons and there is as great a necessity of Ecclesiastical Magistrates as civill of order in the Church as in the City and State of some preferments and encouragements for Clergy men and Civilians as for Common Lawyers As this Oath cannot be taken in righteousness so neither in judgement for who can judiciously swear to preserve the Doctrine Discipline and Worship of a Nation which he knoweth not How can he swear in truth that he will indeavour to Reform the Doctrine of the Church of England according to Gods Word which he knoweth and hath acknowledged in his former Protestation and subscribed to the Articles of Religion to be as it is conformable there-unto But these reasons have been touched before and the Readers stomachis like to loath Cramben his coctam No Oath ought to be taken or Covenant entred into which is repugnant to the just and wholesome Laws of the Kingdom now in force For to take such an Oath is to swear to sin and consequently to sin in swearing unless they can make disobedience to the Laws of the land no sin But this Covenant is repugnant to many Laws of England namely all those Statutes and Acts of Parliament whereby Episcopal Government and Ecclesiastical Courts are established and regulated To this Argument it is answered by those who have a hand in pulling down that sacred order that hath laid holy hands upon them That the Acts of Parliament are not like the Laws of Medes and Persians that cannot be altered and in particular that all the former Acts passed in favour of Episcopacy are vertually repealed by that Ordinance of both Houses wherein it is resolved That Episcopal Government shall be cut off root and branch Reply 1 But neither is this answer any way satisfactory nor better then their former For first The resolution to make an Act is not the enacting a Law Many things may fall out between such a Resolution and the Execution thereof in which interim they who take this New Oath may absolutely forswear themselves in breaking the Oath of Canonical obedience to Bishops yet in being Though both Houses should concur to make such an Act for the utter abolishing of Episcopacy yet till the Royal Assent were gained thereunto such an Ordinance could never be improved to an Act of Parliament much lesse of force to Repeal many former Acts For as neither the King with the Commons without the Peers nor the King and Peers without the Commons so neither the Peers and Commons without the King can Make or Repeal any Act made by the Three Estates For that which is Established by Authority must be abrogated by equal Authority and the concurrence of the Three Estates in their Votes is that golden tripos out of which we are to hear the Soveraign and authentical Oracles of the Law Contrary Oaths and Protestations may not be taken for they destroy one the other and he that taketh them is like the Satyre in the Poet who out of the same mouth bloweth hot and cold Can the fountain saith St. James out of the same place send out sweet and bitter waters But this new Covenant and Protestation is contrary to that which was taken by both Houses and all the Subjects of this Kingdom May 5. 1641. For in that we swear to maintain the Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of the Subject and no man doubteth but Bishops Deans c. are Subjects and their liberties and priviledges are expresly mentioned both in Charta Magna and the Petition of Right But in this we abjure all Prelacy that is Government by Archbishops Bishops Deans c. No man ought to sollicit much lesse inforce upon penalties any of the Clergy to take an Oath contrary to the Oaths they have formerly taken both in their ordination and institution and induction into their Benefices namely the Oath of Canonical obedience to their Bishops and of the Defence and Maintenance of the Priviledges of their Sees But such is the Oath comprised in this New Covenant Therefore it can in no wise be taken at least by any Clergy and Beneficed men As for these Clergy men who pretend that they above all others cannot Covenant to extirpate that Government because they have as they say taken an Oath to obey the Bishops in licitis honestis they can tell if they please that they that have sworn obedience to the Laws of the Land are not thereby prohibited from indeavouring by all lawful means the abolition of those Laws when they prove inconvenient and mischievous And if yet there should any Oath be found into which any Ministers or others have entered not warranted by the Laws of God and the Land in this case they must teach themselves and others to call for Repentance not pertinacy in them Reply 1 No man absolutely sweareth obedience to the Laws of the Land actively for then every disobedience to the Laws of the Land should be perjury but actively or passively that is either to do that which is commanded by the Law or patiently to submit to the penalty thereof Which Oath notwithstanding any Member of Parliament may move for the abrogation of such a Law I grant that notwithstanding any ingagement by former Oath a Member of the Parliament may move to have a Bill preferred for the abolition of a Law in case it hath proved inconvenient and mischievous But such are not the Laws by which Episcopacy is estabished and spiritual Courts regulated All the
inconveniency and mischief in the Church hath grown from the corrupt and ill execution of the Laws which may be removed by a Reformation of the Bishops and inferiour Officers without any change of the Law No man is prohibited from indeavouring the abolition of any Law by lawful means But this entring into Covenant and swearing the extirpation of Bishops themselves and abrogation of the Laws made in favour of them without and against the Kings Command will never be proved a lawfull means of alteration of Laws either by the Law of God or the Land Whereas they lispe but dare not speak out That the Oaths which Ministers take at their Ordination and Institution are unlawful and call for Repentance I demand of them Whether they are yet unresolved concerning the unlawfulness of their Oaths taken at their Ordination If they are not resolved will they take a contrary Oath and so run the hazard of Perjury If their belief of the lawfulness of that Oath be pendulous and wavering so must needs be their belief of the lawfulness of their Ordination and entring into the Ministery For they hang both upon the same string if the one slip the other fals down to the ground Have they not subscribed the Articles of Religion whereof one is The justification of the forme of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops and of the Ordination of Priests and Deacons Is it not an expresse Canon of the Apostle Obey them that have oversight of you in the Lord and is there any colour of pretence to question the lawfulness of obeying them in licitis honestis that is in things lawful and honest Let us hear what they can say to this Dilemma Either the form of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops and Ordination of Priests and Deacons confirmed together with the Articles of Religion by Act of Parliament is a lawful form and agreable to Gods word or not If lawful and agreable to Scripture then the Oath they take at their Ordination to Obey their ordinary and submit to his godly Admonitions and just Censures God being their helper bindeth their conscience from taking this in which they vow their utter extirpation If it be an unlawful form and repugnant to holy Scriptures then no Bishops or Ministers have been lawfully made or by a lawful form since the first Reformation in England which to aver were to cast such a fowl blurre upon the Church as cannot be fetched out with the tears no nor with the bloud of those who so slander the Queen of all the reformed Churches This Dilemma with the two horns of it wounds them which way so ever they go Some flie to an extraordinary Calling but there they are stopt with a counter demand viz. What miracles do they whereby they may prove their extraordinary Calling for an extraordinary Calling must be extraordinarily proved Others say That Oath was tyrannically imposed upon them by the Bishops and therefore bindeth not their Conscience But they cannot escape this way neither for Oaths imposed by a lawful Authority though tyrannically abused binde the conscience if the thing promised be lawful not because such an Oath is imposed but because Gods name is interposed by whom they ingage themselves to the performance of what they have sworn so it be not malum in se Besides it is not true that this Oath was imposed by Bishops for it was appointed by Act of Parliament in which the Articles are confirmed neither are any Ministers inforced to take Orders but they offer themselves to the Bishop and humbly desire him to lay his holy hands on them and freely and voluntarily submit to the taking of this Oath of Obedience to their Ordinary A third sort answer That indeed they took the Oath of Canonical obedience to their Bishops but they have long ago repented of such an Oath But these are crushed in their flight and driven to the wall For if they repent of that Oath taken at their Ordination they must repent also of their Orders given them by Bishops For their Orders were given them upon the undertaking to perform that and other Conditions assented to by them with this clause so God help me or God being my helper Again To repent of a lawful Oath taken and such I have proved it to be even now is in plain English and down right terms To confesse themseves perjured And if such an answer might passe for currant no Oath would be any tie upon the conscience for they might say as these Ministers do That they indeed took such an Oath but they repent the taking it A fourth sort answer with some more colour of probability That the Oath made to Bishops expired with them and that Bishops now if they are not dead yet they are dying and breathing out their last gaspe for both Houses have voted them down But these Brethren should have weighed with themselves and communed with their own hearts before they put their hands to this new Covenant Whether the present Votes of both houses can dispense with a lawfull and solemn Oath taken at their Ordination and signed with Christs bloud at the Communion which they immediately receive from the hands of the Bishop after he hath laid hands on them 2. Dalo et non concesso granting that in regard of those precedent votes and this new Covenant taken by both Houses for the extirpation of Episcopacie Bishops might be said to be dying What then doth this discharge them of their Oath No more then it will a Wife for withdrawing her duty and loyaltie from her Husband while he is a dying and looking for a good houre The Ceremonial Law was dying as soon as Christ was born yet till it was dead and buried too both he and his Apostles observed it Therefore till Episcopacie is dead and buried this Oath may not be lawfully taken by any ordained by them Nay nor then neither by their leave for how know they whether it may not be revived and raised up again by future Acts of Parliament in times as well affected to the Clergie as these are ill And if it be so the wounds of their Consciences will bleed afresh No man can doubt but that Episcopacie better sorteth with Monarchie then Presbytery or Independency and it is certain that Episcopacie concurring with Royal Majesty and the Authority of the Peers first constituted Parliaments and it hath likewise been confirmed by Parliaments in all succeeding Ages It is a plant which either Christ himself planted or his Apostles as is demonstratively proved in Bilson his perpetuall government of the Church Downams answer to Paul Bains Dr. Reynolds his letter commented upon by the Primate of Armagh and Bishop Andrews his Opusc. It sprung up together with the gospell in this Nation and hath ever since growne by it as a succour They were Arch-bishops and Bishops who had a hand in platting the Garland of our peace and safety by uniting first the two Roses
and after adding the thistle unto them Nay they had the chief hands in planting the reformed Religion in this Kingdome and some of them watered it with their bloud If in this Covenant the Wow had been to endeavour the removall of all Antichristian Prelates Popish Archbishops and Bishops corrupt Chancellours Arch-deacons and Officialls that would have been no more then as it were pulling off some withered buds from the rod of Aaron But simply to abjure Prelacie with an English glosse far worse then the Scotch Text that is Church Government by Archbishops Bishops c. is either to blast with a poysoned breath or to pluck up that rod which ever since the reformation hath happily budded in this Church and to deprive us soe farr as in them lyeth for ever of the goodly and fair Almonds it hath heretofore and no doubt will in succceding Ages bear if they be not nipt in the bud Many glorious Martyres such as were Cranmer Ridley Latimer Hooper Farrar Philpot Many noble Champions of the reformed religion as B Jewell Bilson Andrews Abbot Fr. White Dr. Reynolds Nowel Sutcliffe Field Many eminnet Preachers B. Mathews King Babbington Felton Lake Party Dr. Sinnewes Thompson Goodwin Eedes Boyse Many munificent Patrons of Learning and Religion Founders of or Benefactours to Vniversities Schools Colledges Halls and Hospitalls as Merton Chichley Waiâ—fleete Wickham Kemp Leichfield Fox Oldham Grindall Whitgift G. Abbot and divers others Here if they cast in our dish some Beckets and Gardiners and Bonuers which were indeed bitter Almonds we can easily rid our hands of them For it was not Prelacie but Popery that imbittered or rather poysoned them Which poyson since the reformation is drawn out and taken away from Episcopacie in England by the Oath at their Consecration which cutteth off all their dependencie from the Pope and since that none have given him a more deadly Wound then our learned and every way accomplished Vshers Mortons Halls and Prideauxes Howsoever was there not a Saul among the Prophets a Julian among the Emperours a Judas among the Apostles a Diotrophes among the Elders and a Nicholas among the Deacons and must these most sacred and divine Callings like so many trees of Paradise planted by God himself be extirpated for here and there some rotten or perished fruit found at some times upon the branches Desine paucorum diffundere crimen in omnes Yea but manifold abuses have crept into the ecclesiasticall Courts Commutations delays and excessive fees And have not the like or as bad in secular Shall we then have no Consistories or Courts at all The Bishops as it is objected but not proved have corrupted the Gospell and have not some Judges the Laws Shall we then have no more Judges upon the Bench A Synod of Priests and Elders condemned our Saviour and divers Councels have defined heresies for Doctrines Defide and set up Idolatry and Superstition shall we then have no more Aslembltes of Divines Nay truth cannot be concealed Rupto jecore exibit caprificus There have been strange passages in former Parliaments at which our Archives and Records blush must we therefore vâ—te down all Votes and take away all Parliaments God forbid Let all those who are now most exasperated against the reverend Fathers of the Church and others as they tearm them of the prelaticall Clergie coole their heat and put water into their Wine either with that precept of our Saviour Judge not that ye be not judged condemn not that ye be not condemned or that Item of the Apostle Devoure not lâ—st ye be devoured one of another or of that modest and ingenuous confessiou of a devout Father Toleramus toleramur we must bear with some things in the Clergie for they must bear with more in the Laitie Tolerari non tolerare est intolerabile He is of a most intolerable nature and disposition who expects that others should tolerate him in all things and he tolerate others in nothing for such a disposition is diametrically opposite to the Apostles precept Bear ye one anothers Burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ Noe Oath ought to be taken or Covenant made which is against Charity For Covenants and Leagues are made to confirm and strengthen not to weaken or any way loosen those natural and civill tyes whereby we are bound one to another Charitie is the end of the Law and summe of the Gospell and bond of perfection it self As whatsoever is not done out of faith so whatsoever is not done in Charity is sin But this Covenant is against Charity and offers violence to Humanity it self For by it we are bound to loose and untie all Bonds whatsoever whether of affinytie or consanguinity or of intimate friendship cum qua mariuntur et pro qua moriuntur verae amiciliae candidat If our brother or our sonne and daughter or the wife that lyes in our bosome or our friend that is as our own soul be a malignant we are sworn by this Covenant to detect them and betray them to the seveâ—itie of the close Committee and barbarous cruelty of the Sequestrators and their instruments And Malignants in the sense of them who tender this Oath are all such without exception who swim against the streame or rather torrent that bears all down before it all who comply not with the times all who complain of the Liberties of Subject trencht upon and their propriety invaded of Churches prophaned monuments of the dead defaced of hundreds of able and learned and orthodox divines of irreprovable life and carriage turned out of their benefices and illeterate Ignonoramus's and zealous beautifeux's set in their rooms who preach as familiarly blasphemie and treason as they pray Non-sense Lastly who make scruple of the managing of this present warr whereby the Kings person and life is endangered It is tâ—ue they professe to fight for King and Parliament To rescue the one and preserve the other But as in the Civill broyles in Italie a great Commander sometimes said My sword though it have a keen edge and can divide between the bone and marrow yet it cannot distinguish a Guelf from a Gibbeline So it is most certain that the Canon or musquet bullet distinguisheth not between King and Subject much lesse between the King his Head and his Crown his Person and his power The primitive Christians though they desired nothing more then to glorifie Christ by their death who saved them by his and therefore ran with as much alacrity to Martyrdome as to silver games wherein prizes of infinite value were to be wonne yet they could never be brought by any tortures or torments to discover any Christian to the heathen persecutors that sought to bereave them of their estate liberty or life But here by vertue of this new Covenant not only a Christian Brother is bound by a strict Oath to detect another but the son his Father the Wife her Husband the Daughter her
Intendents and Super-intendents in Germany Presidents in the Reformed Synods in France and Masters Provosts and Heads of Colledges and Hals in our Universities who have a kind of Prelacy and Authority over the Fellows and Students whereof the major part are Divines and in holy Orders Here I conceive it will be said That none of these are aimed at but only Diocesan Bishops already banished out of Scotland And Prelates indeed they are in a more eminent degree and if Prelacy be restrained to them it is Episcopacy that is principally shot at to the Extirpation whereof I dare not yield my Vote or Suffrage lest this New Oath intangle me in perjury For both my self and all who have received Orders in this Kingdom by the Imposition of Episcopal hands have freely Engaged our selves by Oath to obey our Ordinary and to submit to his godly Judgement and in all things lawful and honest to receive his Commands If then we now swear to endeavour the Abolishing of Episcopacy we Swear to Renounce our Canonical Obedience that is as I apprehend we swear to forswear our selves It is true that the Dr. was furnished with many other Reasons for Episcopacy besides these and of some he gave a hint in the Assembly it self upon other occasions as namely these that follow Dr. Featley's Sixteen Reasons FOR Episcopal Government Which he intended to have delivered in the Assembly immediately after his precedent Speech but was not permitted 1. THat the name of Episcopacy even as it signifieth a degree of Eminency in the Church is a Sacred and Venerable Title first in holy Scripture ascribed to our blessed Redeemer who as he is Dominus Dominantium Lord of Lords so also Episcopus Episcoporum Bishop of Bishops the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls next to the Apostles whose office in the Church is styled by the holy Ghost Episcope a Bishoprick Let another take his Bishoprick though it be translated Let another take his Office yet the Original signifies not an Office at large but an Episcopal function that Office which Judas lost and Matthias was elected into which was the Office and Dignity of an Apostle * lastly to those whom the Apostles set over the Churches as namely to Timothy and Titus who in the Subscription of the Apostles Letters Divinely inspired are styled Bishops in the restrained sense of the word 2 Tim. 4. written from Rome to Timotheus the first Bishop elected of the Church of Ephesus and to Titus the first elect Bishop of the Church of the Cretians How ancient these Subscriptions are it is not certain among the Learned If they bear not the same date with the Epistles themselves the contrary whereof neither is nor can be Demonstrated yet they are undoubtedly very ancient and of great Authority And in them the word Bishop cannot be taken at large for any Minister or Presbyter but for a singular person in Place or Dignity above other Pastors for there were many other Presbyters in Ephesus both before and besides Timothy Act. 20. 27 28. and in the Island of Creet or Candie there must of necessity be more then one Pastor or Minister Besides St. Paul investeth Timothy in Episcopal power making him a Judge of Presbyters both to rebuke them 1 Tim. 5. 1 and to prefer and reward them vers. 17. and to censure them ver. 19. Against an Elder receive no accusation but under two or three witnesses and giveth to Titus expâ—esly both potestatem ordinis jurisdictionis of Oâ—der and Jurisdiction of Order in these words Chap. 1. 5. That thou shouldst ordain Elders in every City and of Jurisdiction I left thee in Creet that thou shouldst continue {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to correct or red esse the things that remained or those things which the Apostle before intended to amend but had not redressed 2. The Angels of the seven Churches Apoc. 10. 20. were no other in the judgement of the best Learned * Commentators both Ancient and Later then the Bishops of those Sees for in those Provinces or Territories there cannot be conceived to be lesse then many hundred ordinary Preachers and Pastors yet there were but seven precisely answering to the seven golden Candlesticks Seven Candlesticks seven lights burning in them these can be no other then seven prime Pastors who had the oversight of the rest for the Errors and Abuses in all those Churches are imputed to them and they reproved for not redressing them Chap. 2. 14. Thou hast them that maintain the Doctrine of Balaam and vers 20. Thou sufferest the * woman Jezebel to teach c. 3. It is confessed by Molinaeus and other Learned Patrons of Presbyterial Government themselves that Episcopacy is a plant either set in the Church by the Apostles themselves or their immediate Successors in the first and best ages of the Church and is it agreeable to Piety to swear the Extirpation of such a plant 4. It cannot be denyed that when the Church most flourished and was of far larger extent then now it is over the face of the Christian World there was no * other Government then Episcopacy regulated by Divine precepts and Ecclesiastical Canons and shall we swear to Extirpate that Government under the which the Church most thrived and slourished Shall we swear against our Prayers viz. for the rooting out of that upon which we are enjoyned to pray God to pour down the dew of his blessing Surely the dew of heaven burns not the root of any Plant upon earth but waters it and makes it grow 5. They were Bishops who had the chiefest hand first in the plantation of Christian Religion in the dayes of Lutius King of Britan and after in the restitution in the dayes of Etheldred King of Kent and in the Reformation of it in the Reign of Edward the sixth and Queen Elizabeth and is it a Religious act to eradicate that Government and Power which both planted and pruned Religion it self 6. Christ died not intestate he made his last Will and Testament and by it bequeathed many Legacies to his Church and among them not onely Catholike Doctrine but Discipline also This Discipline if it be not Episcopal Government moderated by Evangelical and Apostolical Rules the whole Church is guilty of the losse of a Sacred and Precious Jewel for certain it is out of Records of all ages of the Church that no other was ever retained or can be found save this before the Religious Reformer and Magistrates of Geneva having banished their Popish Bishops were after a sort necessitated to draw a new Plat-forme of Ecclesiasticall Discipline by Lay-Elders Christ as the Apostle teacheth us was faithfull in the house of God as Moses and if Moses after his forty dayes speech with God on the Mount received a Patern from God and delivered it to the Jewes not only of Doctrine but of Dicipline also which continued till Christs coming in the flesh it cannot be conceived
Possumus quod jure possumus we can do no more then lawfully we may If Episcopal Government must be overthrown it must be done in a lawful way not by Popular Tumults but by a Bill passed in Parliament and that to be tendered to his Majesty for his Royal Assent And how such a Bill can be pressed upon his Majesty who hath taken an Oath * at his Coronation to preserve Bishops in their Legal Rights I must learn from our great Masters of the Law For by the Gospel all inducements to sin are sin and solicitations to perjury are tainted with that guilt neither is there any power upon earth to dispence with the breach of Oaths lawfully taken 15. If we desire that this Church of England should flourish like the Garden of Eden we must have an eye to the nurseries of good Learning and Religion the two Universities which will never be furnished with choice plants if there be no Prefeâ—ments and Incouragements to the Students there who for the far greater part bend their studies to the Queen of all Professions Divinity which will make but a slow progresse if Bishopricks Deanries Archdeaconries and Prebendaries and all other Ecclesiastical dignities which like silver spurs prick on the industry of those who consecrate their Labours and endeavours to the glorifying of God in imploying their talent in the Ministery of the Gospel be taken away What sails are to a Ship that are affections to the soul which if they be not filled with the hope of some rewards and deserved preferments as a prosperous gale of wind our sacred studies and endeavours will soon be calmed for * honos alit artes omnesque incenduntur studio gloriae jacentque ea semper quae apud quosque improbantur Honor nourisheth Arts and all men are inflamed with desire of Glory and those Professions fall and decay which are in no esteem with most men And if there are places both of great Profit Honor and Power propounded to States-men and those that are learned in the Law like rich Prizes to those that prove Masteries shall the professors of the Divine Law be had in lesse esteem then the Students and Practicers in the Municipal And shall that Profession only be barred from entring into the Temple of honour which directeth all men to the Temple of Virtue and hath best right to honour by the Promise of God Honorantes me honorabo those that honor me I will honor because they most honour God in every action of their function which immediately tendeth to his glory They will say That Episcopal Government hath proved inconvenient and prejudicial to the State and therefore the Hierarchy is to be cut down root and branch Of this argument we may say as Cicero doth of Cato his exceptions against * Murena Set aside the Authority of the Objectors the Objection hath very little weight in it For it is liable to many and just exceptions and admitteth of divers Replyes First it is said That Episcopal Government is inconvenient and mischievous and prejudicial to the State but it was never proved to be so Secondly Admit some good proof could be brought of it yet if Episcopacy be of Divine Institution as hath been proved it must not be therefore rooted out but the Luxurious stems of it pruned and those additions to the first institution from whence these inconveniences have grown ought to be retrenched Thirdly If Episcopacy hath proved inconvenient and mischievous in this age which was most * beneficial and profitable in all former ages the fault may be in the Maladies of the Patient not in the method of Cure This age is to be Reformed not Episcopacy Abrogated that the Liberty and looseness of these times will not brook the Sacred bands of Episcopal Discipline is rather a proof of the integrity thereof then a true argument of any malignity in it to the State without which no effectual †means or course can be taken either for the suppressing Schismaticks or the continuation of a lawful and undenyable succession in the Ministery 16. Lastly Though some of late think they have brought gold and silver and precious stones to build the house of God by producing some stuff out of Antiquity to prove the Ordination of Presbyters by meer Presbyters yet being put to the test it proves meer trash for there can be no instance brought out of Scripture of any Ordination without Imposition of Apostolical or Episcopal hands neither hath prime Antiquity ever approved of meer Presbyters laying hands one upon another but in Orthodoxal Councels revoked cassated and disannulled all such Ordinations as we may read in the Apologies of * Athanasius and elsewhere What shall I need to add more save the testimony of all Christians of what denomination soever under the Cope of heaven save only the Mushrom Sect of Brownists sprung up the other night all who have given their name to Christ and acknowledge and have some dependence on either the Patriarch of Constantinople in the East or of Rome in the West or of Muscovia in the North or of Alexandria in the South together with the Cophtie Maronites Abissones and Chineses not only admit of Episcopal Government and most willingly submit to it but never had or at this day have any other Neither is this or can it be denyed by our Aerians but they tell us that these are Christians at large who hold many Errors and Superstitions with the Fundamentâ—ls of Christian Doctrin their Churches are like oare not cleansed from earth like gold not purged from dross like threshed wheat not fanned from the chaffe like meal not sifted from the bran like wine not drawn off the lees we are say they upon a Reformation and the new Covenant engageth us to endeavour the Reformation of the Church of England in Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government according to the Word of God and according to the example of the best Reformed Churches The best Reformed which are they whether the remainders of the Waldenses and Albigenses in Piemont and the parts adjoyning or of the Taborites in Bohemia or of the Lutherans in Germany or those that are called after the name of Calvin in France and else where First for the Waldenses the fore-runners of Luther as he himself confesseth they had Bishops who Ordained their Pastours a Catalogue whereof we may see in the History of the Waldenses first written in French and after translated into English by a learned Herald Secondly for the Luther an Churches they have Prelates governing them under the titles of Archbishops and Bishops in Poland Denmark and Swâ—thland but under the name of Super intendents Intendents in Germany and as for their judgement in the point it is expresly fet down in the * Apology of the Augustane Confession in these words We have often protested our earnest desires to conserve the discipline of degrees in the Church by Bishops
Nay * Luther himself who of all men most bitterly inveighed against the Antichristian Hierarchy yet puts water into his wine adding Let no man hereby conceive that I speak any thing against the state of Bishops but only against Romish Wolves and Tyrants Neither are the Lutherans of another minde at this day witness their every-way accomplished †Gerard None of us saith he affirmeth That there is no difference between a Bishop or Presbyter or Priest but we acknowledge a difference of Degrees for good Order sake and to preserve Concord in the Church Here me-thinks I see the Smectimnuans bend their brows and answer with some indignation What have we to do with Lutherans who have Images in their Churches and Auricular confession and maintain Consubstantiation and Ubiquity and intercision of grace and many other Errors We are of Calvin and hold with the Doctrine and Discipline of Geneva which hath no allay at all of Error and Superstition but is like the pure Angel-gold Here though I might as many have done crave leave to put in a Legal Exception against the authority of Calvin and Beza in matter of Discipline because they had a hand in thrusting out the Bishop of Geneva and the Lay Presbyterian Government was the issue of their brain and we know it is natural for Parents to dote upon their own Children and accompt them far fairer and more beautiful then indeed they are yet such was the ingenuity of those worthy Reformers and such is the evidence and strength of Truth that in this point concerning the Abolition of Episcopacy in the Church of England I dare chuse them as Umpires First let * Calvin speak in his exquisite Treatise concerning the Necessity of Reforming the Church the most proper place if any were clearly to deliver his judgement in this Controversie where having â—ipt up the abuses of the Romish Hierarchy in the end thus he resolves Let them shew us such an Hierarchy in which the Bishops may have such preheminency that yet they refuse not themselves to be subject to Christ that they depend upon him as the only Head and refer all to him and so embrace brotherly society that they are knit together by no other means then his truth and I will confess they deserve any curse if there be any who will not observe such an Hierarchy with reverence and greatest obedience After him let us hear †Bezae in that very Book which he wrote against Saravia a Prebend of Canterbury concerning different Degrees in the Clergy but saith he if the Reformed Churches of England remain still supported with the authority of their Archbishops and Bishops as it hath come to passe in our memory that they have had men of that rank not only famous Martyrs but most excellent Doctors and Pastours which happiness I for my part wish that they may continually enjoy c. Surely he that so highly extolled our Bishops and wished that that Order might like the tree in the Poet continually bring forth such golden boughs and fruit would not readily swear to endeavour the utter Extirpation thereof THE END BY THE KING His Majesties Proclamation forbidding the Tendring or Taking of the late Vow or Covenant devised by some Members of both Houses to Engage His Majesties good Subjects in the Maintenance of this odious Rebellion WHEREAS We have lately seen a Vow or Covenant pretended to be taken by some Members of both Houses of Parliament whereby after the taking notice of a Popish and Traiterous Plot for the subversion of the true Reformed Prote stant Religion and the Liberty of the Subiect and to surprize the Cities of London and Westminstr They do promise and covenant according to their utmost power to assist the Forces pretended to be raised and continued by both Houses of Parliament against the Forces raised by Vs and to assist all other persons that shall take the said Oath in what they shall do in pursuance thereof which Oath as the same hath been taken without the least colour or ground the Contrivers thereof well knowing that there is no popish Army within this Kingdom that We are so far from giving countenance to that Religion that We have alwayes given and alwayes offered Our consent to any Act for the suppression of Popery and the growth thereof and that the Army raised by Vs is in truth for the necessary defence of the true Reformed Protestant Religion established by Law the Liberty and Property of the Subiect and Our own Iust Rights according to Law all which being setled and submitted to or such a free and peaceable Convention in Parliament being provided for that the same might be setled We have offered and are still ready to Disband our Armies and as the said Oath was devised only to prevent Peace and to pre-engage the Votes of the Members of both Houses directly contrary to the Freedom and Liberty of Parliament and to engage them and Our good Subiects in the maintenance of this horrid and odious Rebellion so it is directly contrary as well to their natural Duty as to the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy established by Law which obliges them to bear to Vs Truth and Faith of Life Members and Earthly Honour and to defend Vs to the utmost of their powers against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against Our Person Our Crown and Dignity and to do their best endeavours to disclose and make known to Vs all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which shall be against Vs and to their power to assist and defend all Iurisdictions Priviledges Preheminences and Authority belonging to Vs or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm And whereas We are informed that some desperate seditious persons do endeavour to perswade and seduce others of Our good Subiects to take the saith Oath thereby to engage them and this Kingdom into a continuanee of these miserable and bloudy distempers We do therefore out of Grace and Compassion to our people and that they may not by any craft or violence suffer themselves to be seduced against their Duty and Conscience warn them of their natural Allegiance and their Obligations by Oaths lawfully administred to them and wish them to remember the great Blessings of God in peace and plenty which the whole Kingdom hath received whilst that Duty and those Oaths were carefully observed and the unspeakable miseries and calamities they have suffered in the breaking and violation thereof And we do straitly Charge and Command Our loving Subiects of what degree and quality soever upon their Allegiance that they presume not to take the said Seditious and Traiterous Vow or Covenant which endeavours to withdraw them from their natural Allegiance which they owe unto Vs and to which they are or ought to be sworn and are bound by the known Laws of the Land albeit they are not sworn and engages them in Acts of High Treason by the express letter of