by another act declare that all Priests or Ecclesiasticall Gods law in two parlamēts made to affirme two contradictoryes persons by the law of God might lawfully marry and all contrary decrees are repealed and made voyd And what will you say to such Parlamēts one sayth that by the law of God Priests may not marry another that by the law of God it is lawfull for them to marry and yet this law of God is but one law and cannot be repugnant to it selfe and it may be noted how far Cranmer dispensed with his owne conscience dissembled Crāmers deep dissimulation in Religion and preuaricated in this K. Henryes Parlament who hauing his own Trull desiring opēly to enioy her yet for feare of the King not ōly kept her close but so also collogued with the rest or rather aboue the rest being the chiefest in place and authority in that Court vnder the King as he not only commended his high learning and knowledge but did also crouch creep to haue that confirmed which in his hart he did abhorre and vpon the first occasion offered did vtterly condemne I see he could make his garment to serue the tyme indeed his horse to trauell according to the weather O constant Prelate and worthy founder of our new English Ghospell 101. These then M. Hall being the first Taylers that framed this wedding garment of yours and tanke riders who taught you to runne this liberall race to let loose the reynes to all carnall delights and yet still to keep the name of spirituall Pastours you haue little cause to call it the law of equity which in the first making condemned the makers of so great inconstancy and faythles leuity as you haue heard but let vs follow you further in your demands Doth God say you make difference between Greece and England Ecclesiasticall and ciuill laws may be altered by such as are in suprem authority in the one and other causes I answere you that he doth and if they make an ill law in Greece you are not bound to follow it in England but to eschew and auoyd it or in case they be dispensed in some Ecclesiastical law by supreme Ecclesiasticall authority propter duritiam cordis eorum and to auoyd a further inconuenience it will not presently follow that you or yours in England may do the same as our Soueraigne in England can exempt a man from any law in particuler it will not I hope presently follow that all other subiects may clayme the same priuiledg againe if his Maiesty make some fauourable and beneficial law for all his subiects in generall which the Emperour in Bohemia would not allow were it not a wise question to demand Doth God make difference betweene King Iames and the Emperour Matthias between Prage London England England Bohemia These things M. Hall which depend on Ecclesiasticall or Ciuil lawes may be dispensed or altered when the occasions are very vrgent by them who haue supreme authority in the one and other Courts 102. Your last demand well bewrayeth your ignoaance and sheweth that you want the first grounds or principles of Philosophy or els you would neuer haue framed so impertinent a M. Hall ignorant demand question If it be lawfull say you why not euery where if vnlawfull why is it done any where I see now that we must take heed for this argument cornu ferit yet shall I with your leaue shew it to be much weaker then you take it for yea to be altogeather loose and impertinent and it may be answered in one word that such thinges as of their owne nature are intrinsecally euill as to kill steale lye slaunder and the like are vnlawful in all tymes places and persons but this is not so in other things which being of their owne nature and intrinsecall essence indifferent are made vnlawfull by some positiue law to the contrary and that either diuine as is working on the Saboth day in the old law marriag of more wiues at once and the like which therfore are vnlawful because they are prohibited but yet so as that they may by God the maker of them be dispensed in as not ill of their owne intrinsecall nature but as they haue annexed his prohibition restraint or Ecclesiasticall as of breaking of fasts commanded of neglecting feasts or omitting the ordinary ceremonyes rites or ordinances of the Church for as all men are children of this Mother so they ought to obey her precepts and no priuate authority can infringe which by so generall and publicke is imposed or els finally Ciuill for if the King command that none beare armes in the night tyme that they carry not corne to other Countreyes that they transpose no cloath or the like these things of their owne nature free are now made necessary by the ciuill command of the Prince and as he may dispense in the one so may the supreme spirituall Pastour in the other the one as chiefest in ciuill the other in Ecclesiasticall causes 103. This difference M. Hall not obseruing as he is dull in distinguishing confoundeth M. Halls confuse hudling of thinges togeather huddleth vp things togeather and supposeth either all things to be of their own nature good or euill or commanded a like by God for all to obserue which is not so for some things are left to the temporall Magistrate others to the spirituall to dispose and as Kings are to be obeyed according to S. Peter so also the Church according to our Sauiour and as to disobey the King in ciuil Matt. 28. matters is capitall so it is schismaticall not to obey the Church and as he is held a traytour who rebelleth against the King so he an Heathen or Publican who will not heare the Church and hence it commeth that as one King is of equall authority with another and so may recall any edict proclamation decree or iniunction made by his predecessours so likewise may one supreme Pastour when vrging necessity shall so require reuoke or repeale any Ecclesiasticall law made before his tyme and that eyther in all or in part as the nature of the thing shall require or a Generall Councell determine or he and his Councell shall thinke expedient and this prohibition of the marriage of Priests being of this nature I meane Ecclesiasticall it may be dispensed for one place and not for another and so it may also be lawfull or vnlawfull in one place and not in the other as the prohibition or dispensation in different places doth either bind or excuse The title which M. Hall giues vs of Romish Church I passe ouer as not worthy of reflexion this poore man must needs shew his nature and be contemptuous in all things 104. At length he commeth to the conclusion of this his obiection out of the Trullan Coūcell which is that it giueth leaue to all to marry This sacred Councell sayth he doth not only vniuersally approue this practise
make that to be impossible to Christians which amongst Iewes Pagans Heretiks and infidells if we belieue the records of all antiquity hath in exteriour proofe and practise been found possible out of this which I haue deliuered we see this impossibility so diuersly refuted by the Fathers as there are diuers meanes by them assigned to the contrary S. Ambrose as you haue heard named the protection of the Church the patronage of Angells the prayer of Christ S. Augustine addeth our free will preuented by grace Origen our prayers proceeding from both S. Hierome the grace and merit of Christ his passion peculierly applyed to virgins all these praysed al preached al perswaded virginity and not one of them all euer taught thought of this fancy nor yet any other heretike before Luther whose incontinency was notorious that I can remember for albeit some abased the worth therof aduanced marriage too far and because they could not reach to the highest would confound high and low gold siluer heauen and earth marriage and virgininity togeather yet were they not so sauage as to say that a chast life was impossible or by an vnauoydable necessity subiect to secret mischiefe and irremediable misery as this man and his maister doth tell vs. 18. And this being supposed that women the weaker sex can both lawfully vow virginity perseuere in the same to the end there seemeth to be no lesse difficulty in vowes of Clergy men which proceed no lesse from their owne free deliberate election for the Church forceth non thereunto but only to keep the vowes which without any enforcement they haue made which is the very case of the widdowes before mentioned in S. Paul and being come to so ripe The vow of Clergy men voluntarily made performed with facility age to so perfect knowledge of themselues and their owne forces they may if they list take vpon them this sweet and easy yoake of a purer life best beseeming the calling and function of an Ecclesiasticall man and not aboue the power and ability of any that will sincerely imbrace it and vse the ordinary meanes of prayer and such things as make our prayers more auailable as fasting haire cloath disciplines and other mortifications to preserue it for if yong virgins to vse S. Augustins argument which he vsed against August l. 8. Confession c. 11. himselfe being yet in heresy when he was perswaded as our Protestants are that he could not conteyne if yong virgins I say in all ages haue vowed and dedicated their virginity to God with so singular constancy haue preserued it why may not mature men do the like and if to them not only marriage be vnlawfull as S. Augustine sayth but euen the desire of marrying be damnable why may not Clergy men also vow and by their vowes be bound to conteyne or punished punished if they transgresse 19. Yea so much is this within our power assisted with Gods grace which is neuer wanting if we be not wanting to our selues that in case any who had no calling to an ecclesiasticall life should vnwillingly be promoted thereunto Many vnwillingly made Priests who yet were bound to liue chast in the time of S. Austine yet were he bound vnto this chastity to vow it I say and neuer vnder deadly sinne to violate his vow this if the Church now should practise how would M. Hall and his lasciuious companions brand vs with Antichristianisme crye out vpon vnlawfull vowes forced continency impossible necessity How would he not stir vp his impure wit to inuent if he could baser tearmes then of shauelings a filthy vow a Popish tyranny a doctrine of Diuells and yet this was not only approued but practised also in the primitiue Church and that very vsually for thus writeth S. Augustine against such as committed aduowtry because as they sayd they could not conteyne which I feare me will proue the center of perfection of our marryed Ministers Quando terremus August l. 2. de adulterinis cōiugijs cap. vltimo ne adulterinis coniugijs haerendo pereant inaeternum solemus eis proponere continentiam Clericorum qui plerumque ad eandemsarcinam subeundam rapiuntur inuiti c. When we terrify men sayth he least in their aduowtrous marriages they euerlastingly perish we are wont to lay before them the continency of Clergy men who for the most part are taken against their wills to vndergo that burthen hauing vndergone it beare it through to the end We say therefore vnto the aduowtresse what if you also by violence of people should be taken to beare this burthen Would yow not chastly performe the office imposed vpon you and presently turne your selues to aske strength of God of which before you did not thinke vpon but they say that the honour doth much comfort Clergy men and we do answere them let feare also withhold you for if many of Gods Ministers haue receaued the office sodenly and without further thinking thereon because they hope therby to shine more gloriously in the kingdom of Christ haue liued chast how much more ought you by auoyding aduowtry to liue chastly fearing not to shinelesse in the kingdome of God but to burne in hell fire Hither to S. Augustine And where at this tyme was the impossibility of which M. Hall heere dreameth necessity I graunt there is of obseruing the vow once made and facility impossibility there is none 20. There would be no end if I should alleadge the Fathers words for the possibility of single life S. Augustine shall suffice who sayth August l. 2. de adul coniugijs cap. 29. Non terreat sarcina continentiae leuis erit si Christi erit Christi erit si fides aderit quae impetratà iubente quod iusserit Let not the burthen of continency affright vs it will proue light if it be of Christ it will be of Christ if we haue confidence which obteynes the thing commanded of him that commands So he And in another place speking of these vowes and how far they bind the makers he hath these wordes Quod cuiquam antequam vouisset De adult coniug l. 1. cap. 24. licebat c. that which any man might lawfully do before he vowed seeing he hath vowed neuer to do it shall be vnlawful but so as he vowed that which was to be vowed as is perpetual virginity or continency after wedlocke in such as are loosed from the band of matrimony by the death of one party els let the faythfull chast couple being aliue by mutuall consent release to ech other these carnall dutyes which for the one to vow without the other is vnlawfull These thinges therefore and the like which are lawfully vowed when men haue vowed are by no means to be violated c. Thus far S. Augustine With more to the same effect in many other places of his workes and so easy he maketh this matter to be as if God did graunt nothing to man more
be so full but a more full and cautelous may be made as supplying that wherein this is wanting which is very much of that which this man pretendeth as now you shall see 65. And for the better decision of this point vnderstanding of this Canon it will be necessary What in general i◠decreed in the Trullan Councell touching the marriage of Priests Clergy men to know what touching the marriage of Clergy men hath beene deliuered in this Councell all which may be reduced to foure heads whereof the first concerneth their wiues the rest themselues Touching the first in the 4. Canon one restrictiō is made that if any Bishop Priest Deacon Subdeacon c. shall haue carnall copulation with a Religious woman that he be deposed if any lay man that he be separated and the reason is vt qui Christi sponsae vitium attulerit because he hath deflowred the spouse of Christ And in the next precedent Canon is made another wherein it is defyned that whosoeuer hath twice beene marryed or hath had a concubine can neither be Bishop Priest or Deacon and likewise that none can be Bishop Priest or Deacon who haue marryed a widdow or one put from her husband and truely if marriages be free for Clergy men without all restraint and the Councell haue made so full a decree as none can make a fuller why may they not haue as much liberty heerein as other men haue and marry toties quoties their wiues shal dye and they haue list to take others And if Ecclesiasticall men by this Councell haue an expresse prohibition to the cōtrary then I infer that they are restrained for if this prohibition were not the decree of their marriage were more ful more peremptory more absolute as he hath more ful peremptory and absolute liberty who is free to go where he will then he who is forbidden many places where els willingly he would go this needeth no more proofe then this other heere it is midnight ergo heere it is not noone day 66. The second point defyned is in the 6. Canon where according to the constitutions of the Apostles it is determined Vt deinceps nulli penitus None permitted to marry after ordination hypodiacono vel Diacono vel Presbytero post sui ordinationem contrahere liceat c. That heereafter it be not lawfull for any Subdeacon Deacon or Priest to marry after his ordination and if he presume to do it let him be deposed but if any who are to be Clergy men will by the law of matrimony haue a wife let him marry before he be eitheir Subdeacon Deacō or Priest So there which particulerly toucheth M. Hall if he haue any orders for I vnderstand that he was Minister first and marryed after which heere to such as be in holy orders is absolutely forbidden and thereupon it followes that such as were made Priests Deacons or Subdeacons of marryed men after the death of their wiues were for eeuer debarred from marrying againe 67. The third thing decreed is that which Bishops forbidden to vse their wiue which they had before their ordination before I mentioned out of the 10. and 48. Canons in both which Bishops are forbidden not only to vse their wiues but also to dwell with them yea their wiues are commanded to liue in a Monastery which must be procul ab Episcopi habitatione exstructum built far off from the house of the Bishop where the sayd Bishops are commanded to prouide for them and that if any do the contrary he be deposed 68. The 4. and last thing is that which M. Hall hath painted out in his margent setting it The Coūcell allowed marryed men to be made Priests but with some restriction downe at full length and it is only the mayne proofe of his epistle of which he so much braggeth and vaunteth as you haue heard and sayth that it is as full and absolute a decree as any Protestant Church can make or els he will be condemned as faithles and to the end he may not complaine that I extenuate or diminish the force of his argument by following another translation as lesse fauouring him although in the thing it selfe I find no difference in any edition I will take the Text out of his owne booke truly turned out of Greeke into Latin as he sayth by Kemnitius though I need not to take all for truth which M. Hall whome presently by his owne testimony I shall condemne for faithles proposeth for such Thus then it runneth 69. Quoniam in Romana Ecclesia loco Canonis seu Can. 13. decreti traditum esse cognouimus c. For that we haue knowne it deliuered in the Roman Church by way of Canon or decree that such Deacons or Priests as are to be esteemed worthy of ordering professe for the tyme to come neuer to know their wiues we following the old Canon of the Apostolicall sincere exquisite and orderly constitution will haue the lawful coniugal cohabitation of holy men or men in holy Orders euen from this day heereafter to be valid firme no wayes dissoluing their coniunction or copulation with their owne wiues therefore if any one be found worthy c. he is not to be prohibited to ascend to this degree for that he dwelleth with his lawfull wife neither let it be demanded of him in the tyme of his ordering or be compelled that he would or ought to abstayn from the lawful vse of his owne wife So he out of the Councell And this is that rare iewell he hath found in scraping the dunghill of this condemned Synod 70. All these things then being defyned in this Councell let vs now see whether this one decree be so full absolute peremptory and cautelous No Bishop named in the Trullan Councells Canon cyted by M. Hall as that no Protestant Church in Christēdome can make a more full for the marriage of Ecclesiasticall persons for first no Bishop is heer named and by other Canons they are by name excluded Againe heere is no graunt for Priests to marry after their ordination nor yet is that recalled of hauing but one wife or debarring such as haue marryed widdows c. and cannot this in your opinion M. Hall be more full more absolute I hope you will graunt Bishops to be Ecclesiasticall men and likewise Priests who are ordered out of wedlocke as you were your selfe if that disorderly promotion of yours may haue that title and then vpon that concession I make this argument or demonstration rather to conclude you faithles No Canon is so ful and absolute for the marriage of Ecclesiasticall persons as a fuller cannot be made which allows not all Bishops the chiefest of the Clergy all single Priests leaue to marry such as may marry not to take what wiues they last but the Canon cyted by M. Hall is such a one ergo it may be more Two most euident demōstrations full and absolute And
nothing maketh for M. Hall would follow thereof against vs but that the Greeke Priests Deacons and Subdeacons were marryed which is to be vnderstood before their ordination as the Glosse expoundeth and the Councell as before you haue heard did define and it is ridiculous to say as M. Hall doth that then they began to distinguish for wheras the Grecians de sacto had in this separated themselues from the Latin Church had made Councells or rather Conuenticles of their owne and were borne out in al by the sword of their Emperors where the fact and practise was so different as all might see it with their eyes little need there was that any should inuent a distinction or limitation of liberty as this man dreameth and the Canon he cyteth out of Gratian if it be a Canon is but a declaration of the fact which was so conspicuous as could not be denyed shewing only what was don in the East Church what not permitted in the West 91. And wheras M. Hall auerreth that this Canon graunted that all the Clergy of the East M. Halls want of Logicke might marry but not of the West his glosse fouly corrupteth the Text and conteyneth an euident vntruth for neither all the Clergy nor any of the Clergy could marry in the Easterne Church and this man seemeth to be of very grosse capacity that will haue these two propositions to be equipollent or to beare the same sense Priests Deacons and Subdeacons in the Greeke Church are marryed and this all the Clergy of the East may marry for first Priests Deacons and Subdeacons make not al the Clergy or els Bishops Archbishops Patriarches Metropolitans shall not be Clergy men which yet are the chiefest of that ranke and to whome all the other as inferiours to their betters are subordinate and depend which yet are debarred from marriage Againe that Priests Deacons and Subdeacons in Greece were then marryed is cleare but it is no lesse cleare that they were not marryed when they were Priests Deacons It was lawful for married men in Greece to be made Priests but neuer lawful for Priests to marry and Subdeacons but before as the Councell declared for although it were permitted that marryed men might be made Priests yet was it forbiddeÌ„ that Priests should be made marryed men and the same of Deacons and Subdeacons and so I conclude with M Hall that not only all the Clergy of Greece might not marry but that no Clergy man in holy orders for such only are specially so tearmed might marry at all I hope M. Hall that your brayns are not so far spent but that if you pause a while and scratch your head where it doth not itch you will conceaue this difference that marryed men may be preferred to the Clergy but not Clergy men permitted to marry the first by the Trullan Councel was granted the other neuer allowed and therfore these words of yours all the Clergy of the East might marry may be crowned with a siluer whet-stone 92. By that which I haue sayd vnto this obiection of Pope Steuens Canon that it is of no authority as hauing no certayne Authour that it maketh not against vs in case it were true that M. Halls collections thereon are false you may well of your selfe without any further discourse be able to iudge what regard is to be had to his vaunting demands and interrogations multiplyed without cause for after the words of Pope Steuen thus he writeth Liberally but not inough if he yield this why not more shall it be lawfull in the East which in the VVest is not do the Ghospells or lawes of equity Many idle wordes alter according to the foure corners of the world doth God make difference betweene Greece and England if it be lawfull why not euery where if vnlawfull why is it done any where so then you see we differ not from the Church in this but from the Romish So M. Hall And by this you may perceaue the veyne of the man and his Thrasonical boasting he would fayne be crowing if he had but any aduantage there should need no other trump to sound out his prayses conquests and triumphs then his owne pen but all this noyse wil proue but the sound of anempty tubb and powder shot without bullet a froth I meane of idle wordes and childish clamours as full of vanity as deuoyd of wit 93. If he yield this sayth this wise man why not more but of what yielding doth he dreame in the words cyted in Steuen the seconds name I find no yielding nor resisting no fighting nor vanquishing no battaile nor conquest there it is only related what the Grecians did vpon their false Councell what liberty they vsurped in so much as their Priests Deacons and Subdeacons were marryed but that it was not permitted in the Latin Church what is that more which this Epistler would haue him to yield he answereth very wisely by another demand shall it be lawfull in the â—ast which in the VVest is not I answere him yes and further to gratify the man do add that one the selfe same thing at one tyme may be vnlawfull and yet lawfull at another And if he know not this his parishioners are troubled with a seely Minister who haue him for their Curate though this in the meane tyme I must tell him that Steuen sayth nothing of this fact of the Grecians whether it be lawful or vnlawfull and therefore M. Hall frames collectioÌ„s out of his fingers ends without any ground or graunt of his authors I know he stretcheth far and maketh him to say that they might marry but he sayth not so much but only that they were marryed whether well or il he defyneth not But to come to our case 94. He cannot be ignorant what our Sauiour answered the Pharisies touching the question propounded about putting away their Matt. 29. wiues in S. Matthews Ghospell which they vrged to shew that it was lawfull to marry another euen during the life of the former so there had beene a bill of diuorce made between them our Sauiour replyed Moyses ad duritiam cordis vestri permisit vobis dimittere vxores vestras ab initio autem non fuitsic Moyses permitted you for the hardnes of Euen the law of God did bind at one tyme not at another your hart to dismisse your wiues but from the beginning it was not so as if he had sayd in the beginning euery one was bound to one wife so long it was not lawfull to haue more but in the end Moyses permitted diuorces and then vpon his permission it was lawful if heere some light head should dally as M. Hall doth aske what is Gods law changed by tymes shal that be lawfull to day which yesterday was vnlawfull if it be Gods law it endureth for euer if it be abrogated by a contrary permission it cannot be the law of God and so forth all were idle babling
Fathers and Councels before alleadged do demonstrate 51. The next is that this freedome was still allowed vntill a thousand yeares after Christ to wit that all Priests might marry but A lye in print this is to grosse a lye and fitter for him to make who is father of lyes then for any of his children or schollers I see the Philosopher well to haue aduised a lyar though M. Hall follow not his aduise oportet mendacem esse memorem he who will lye must haue a good memory remember what he hath sayd in one place that he do not contradict it in another and so be taken in the manner as heere this honest man is who M. Hâ—al of a very weake memory two leaus before told vs out of Steuen the second that in the Western Church no one of the Clergy from the SubdeacoÌ„ to the Bishop had leaue to marry whereas this Steuen was made Pope in the yeare 752. that is two hundred forty and eight yeares before the thousand how doth he heere tell vs that after thousand yeares from Christ this liberty which before wauered was ruined c. what liberty do you meane M. Hall of Clergy mens marriage then your memory is very short for what freedome was there in Steuens tyme when none from the Subdeacon to the Bishop might marry or what did all the Popes you heere name add vnto this restraint Againe the first wordes of your Trullan decree made more theÌ„ forty years before this Steuen was Pope do cleane cast and condemne you as confessing euen then the Church of Rome to haue decreed the single life of the Clergy 52. The third vntruth is that this feeedom The third vntruth wauered in the tyme of Nicholas the first who was made Pope in the yeare 858. for in all his tyme as before I sayd no such matter was euer mentioned none discussed and it seemeth to me very strange to heare M. Hall to talke of Freedome Single life of the Clergy long in vse euen by M. Hals own Authours before the tyme of Nicholas the first vnder this Nicholas for marriage that should wauer when as out of Steuens testimony and his owne Councell a hundred yeares before no Subdeacon Deacon Priest or Bishop was permitted to marry for where at that tyme was this freedome in the Greeke Church perhaps but how was their marriage ruined by these Popes their wiues debarred single life vrged when as stil that incontinent Clergy continued as before as still borne out by their violent Emperours and schismatical Patriarkes if he meane of the Latin Church as needs he must then I aske him againe in Pope Steuens tyme where was this freedome where in the tyme of the Trullan Synod where before where after when did it first come in when went it out by what authority was it done by what Authour recorded and can such great mutation be made and no memory left thereof to posterity I thinke not 53. The fourth is when he sayth Now by The 4. vntruth the hands of Leo the ninth c. for what in this matter did this Leo truely no more then Nicholas for there is extant in his life set out by Baronius in his history but one decree of his touching this matter which M. Hall may be ashamed to apply to this purpose vnles he meane to plead for the freedome of all harlots as well as for his wife for these are the words of that decree as Petrus Dam. ep ad CunibertuÌ„ EpiscopuÌ„ Taurinen S. Peter Damian relateth them in whome only they are extant and who perhaps was present at the Councell Leo Papa sayth he constituit vt quaecumque damnabiles feminae intra Romana moenia reperirentur Presbyteris prostitutae ex iunc deinceps Lateranensi palatio adiudicarentur ancilla Leo the Pope ordeyned that whatsoeuer wicked women should be found within the walls of Rome to haue byn naught with Priests from thence forward should be condemned as seruing mayds to the Lateran pallace So he And in this place as the same Authour sayth they were to remaine vnder a penitentiall habit and rule and that such were truely harlots appeareth out of the same letter where after he sayth Quas deprehenderit sacrilega Presbyteris admixtione prostratas I hope M. Hall will make some difference betwixt his wife and such a one and then I inferre that Pope Leo of Priests marriages made no decree but only punished their concubines and that only in the citty of Rome and this Minister deserues little thankes of his fellowes that in pleading for their wiues taketh all lawes made by any Pope against lewd harlots to haue been also made against them as though Ministers wiues such people did conuenire vniuocè and were all of one predicament 54. The fifth vntruth is that he maketh Nicholas The fifth vntruth the second to be one of those who denyed marriage to Priests or rather who ruined their marriages with Leo and Gregory for he likewise neuer dealt about marriages at all and concerning the incontinent Clergy in his tyme one decree of his touching Priests we find in Gratian Nullus Missam audiat Presbyteri quem scit concubinam indubitanter habere c. Let no man heare Gratian. dis 32. c. Nullus the masse of a Priest which he certainly knoweth to keep a concubine which point is there put vnder excommunication by the Synod M. Hall seems to be of toto iealous a disposition that can heare nothing spoken of concubines but presently his mind runnes on Ministers wiues and there was no need for Nicholas to deny marriage vnto Priests when as such in the Church of Millan as after holy orders had knowne their wiues or had maintayned that they might be knowne accused themselues of the heresy of the Nicolaits before S. Peter Damian sent thither vpon the report of their scandalous incontinency that without al coÌ„pulsion or inforcemeÌ„t in this forme of words Nicolaitarum quoque haeresim nihilominus condemnamus c. We do notwithstanding condemne the heresy of the Nicholaits and as much as lyeth in vs vnder the oath aforsayd do promise to keep backe not only Priests but deacons and subdeacons from all filthy copulation of their wiues or concubins So the Bishop of Millan to his Clergy 55. Last of all it is another vntruth that The six vntruth vnder Gregory the seauenth whom this rayling companion calleth the brand of hell the marriage The marriage of Priests more ruined by other succeeding Pops then by Gregory the seauenth of Priests was ruined because it neuer had so deep roote in the Latin Church as in his time for Henry the Emperours variance with this Pope gaue liberty to that loose Clergy to put themselues out of order and withdraw their necks from the yoke of Ecclesiasticall disciplin as the turmoyls of our Conquerour caused the like in England at the same tyme the Diuell taking the
craddle of your Ghospells infancy a worke too vnsauery but to shew that we condemne not marriage although in that state there be many aduowtrers for the abuse is to be sequestred as before I haue sayd from the thing the argument were not good to say single fornication is a lesse sinne then aduowtry ergo it is better for men not to marry but to liue at liberty rather chuse to commit the lesser sinne then to put themselues in danger of the greater because both are damnable and all are bound not to commit the one or the other euen so it fareth in Priests of whose state we may not as these men euery wher do against Both wius and concubins to such as haue vowed chastity are vnlawfull all rules of learning or honesty conclude that it is better for them to marry then to keep a concubine as though they were bound to one of these two extrems and that their state after their solemne vows were altogeather the same with other lay men and that it were as free for them to marry as before for both the one and the other after their promise made to God of perpetuall chastity is wicked vnlawfull and damnable and we hold not these to be termini causales or to infer one the other you are bound to auoyd fornication ergo you must needs haue a wife or on the contrary side if you haue not a wife you will haue a hundred harlots for betweene these extremes there is the single life of of such as liue in perpetuall chastity which any one may follow and all are bound to follow who haue vowed it and their marriage is a greater sinne then single fornication with another woman in regard of the iniury done to the vow to the sacrament to the woman marryed to the issue to the vow by breaking the band made to God by a contrary band made to his The marriage of a Priest doth iniury to 4. at once to the vow to the Sacrament to the woman to the issue wife which euen in ciuil contracts among men is held vnlawfull to the Sacrament of matrimony in that he maryeth who is not capable of marriage so prophanely abuseth that which by our Sauiours institution is sacred to the woman he marryed for she being perswaded that it is true lawful matrimony liueth continually in sacrilegious incest being indeed not his wife but an infamous concubine to his issue because it is vnlawfull and bastardly by the Canon law Such is the happynes of this freedome 60. But to end this matter M. Hall not coÌ„tented M. Halls false accusation of Gregory the 7. refuted to haue called Pope Gregory the seauenth the brand of hell vrgeth further against him how his decrees were contemned himselfe was deposed and that the Churches did ring of him ech where for Antichrist let vs heare his owne wordes and then discusse them But how approued those decrees were of the better sort sayth he appeares besides that the Churches did ring of him ech where for Antichrist in that at the Councell of VVorms the French and German Bishops deposed this Gregory in this name among other quarrels for separating man wife violence did this not reason neither was Gods will heere questioned but the Popes wilfullnes what broyles heeron ensued let Auentine witnes Hitherto M. Hall There is no remedy will we nill we this man will begin will go forward will end with vntruths for heere are three more at the least or to speake more plainly no one true word in the whol narration but first let vs consider in a word or two the thing it selfe 61. Dayly experience teacheth vs that where once emnity enters between Princes and Where there is emnity betweene Princes there is also most commonly open detractioÌ„ of ech other men of authority how easy how frequent a thing it is to deuise bitter speaches against one the other and that because both will seeme to haue been iniured both to haue iustice on their side both to mayntayne a lawfull quarrell and whatsoeuer the aduerse part doth though neuer so well or themselues though neuer so ill all are so couered ouer with new coates crests and mantles as a lambe shall seeme a wolfe a fearefull hare a fierce lyon and on the contrary side in behalfe of themselues a Tiger shall be tame and the rude Beare a beautifull beast wherefore from the partyes so interessed no sound vnpartiall iudgment can be expected but that is to be sought from others who being free froÌ„ faction and capacity sufficient to discerne the grounds of the whole contention shall with all candour deliuer the same and there can be no greater coniecturall signe that any Prince mainteyneth a wrong cause then to see his own subiects of most power learning and credit to disclay me from him to rise to write against him to condemne his actions and vtterly to forsake him and this not only happened in Germany to Henry the fourth in this quarrell with Gregory the seauenth but in all other nations at that tyme and all other writers since of any name or note haue condemned him and praysed the Pope or if any mercenary companion haue set his soule to sale and betrayed truth for temporall rewards as the number of such hath beene few so hath their memory beene infamous their credits crazed and their reports as partial as iniurious as lying by all heretiks only excepted who place all their hope in lying been disesteemed 62. In the tyme of Gregory the seauenth ten Authours are cyted by Bellarmine to haue defended 27. Authours alleadged by Bellarmine in defence of Pope Gregory the seauenth him all graue learned and holy men and the chiefest for name or fame that then liued of which the two SS Anselmes were most eminent to wit ours of Canterbury and the other of Luca whose sanctity euen by the testimony of Sigebert the schismaticall monke and fauourer of the Emperour was declared by God in many miracles which he wrought and a little after these men by twenty two other Authours recounted by the same Cardinall of which some report that he shined with miracles as Martinus Polonus Lambertus Shaffnaburgensis and others some Vincent in â—â—â—culo l. 25. c. 44. that he had the gift of prophesy as Vincentius the French Historiographer some that he was most constant in Ecclesiasticall rigour as Otho Frisingensis and Nauclerus in fine for his singular zeale Oth. lib. 6. cap. 32. Naucl. Generat 36. vide Genebrar in Chronico anno 1073. learning vertue iudgment and perseuerance vntill the end all writers cyred in the Cardinal giue him an honourable testimony to which I will adioyne two others by him pretermitted but both of them graue and learned and such as no one who fauoured the Emperour is to be compared with all 63. The first is Harimanus Schedesius a German Scedel Registro Chron. ata 6. who stileth Gregory Virum
turne and casting away their wiues quas praeter ius The marriage of Priests against law and conscience faâ—que sibi copulauerant which against all law and conscience they had marryed they did marry others and bestowed all their tyme in gluttony drunkenes which the Bishop not enduring with the consent of King Edgar thrust them all out So he And were not these honest men indeed trow you worthy of M. Godwins prayse and compassion and how was their marriage then esteemed lawfull why by so learned and vertuous a man is tearmed to be against law and conscience which can be for no other reason then for the solemne vow of chastity annexed vnto their order 97. If from priuate authority we will draw this matter to more publicke we shall find that by S. Dunstane three Councells were called to wit at London VVinchester and Calne and this marriage coÌ„demned in them all Another CouÌ„cell was called after at VVinchester 1070. and the Marriage of Priests condemned by many Councells in England same againe renewed in the yeare 1102. S. Anselm called a Councell which was held at S. Peters Church in VVestminster that by the common consent of al the Bishops the Nobility King himselfe in which Councell the noble men also were present not as Iudges or dealers in Ecclesiasticall affayres nor yet out of any right or duety which they could claime in that Court Malmes l. de Pontif. Angliae in Anselmo Houeden Florentius Matt. Paris Matth. Vestmonaster in ann 1102. but as Malmesbury writteth Huic Conuentui affuerunt Archiepiscopo Anselmo petente à Rege Primates Regni c. At this assembly at the request of the Archbishop Anselme made to the King were present the noble men of the Kingdom that therby whatsoeuer should be decreed by the authority of the Councell might by the vniforme care solicitude of both orders be put in execution So he And of this Councell the decrees are extant in Malmesbury where touching this point by common agreement of all thus it was defined 98. That no Archdeacon Priest Deacon Chanon marry a wife or keep her whome he hath marryed and the same of a Subdeacon after his vow of chastity that a Priest as long as he keepeth vnlawfull company with a woman be not Legall nor say Masse nor if he do that his Masse be heard that none take Subdeaconship or any higher order without the vow of chastity that the children of Priests be not heirs of their Fathers Churches So there And six years after which was the last before his death he called another the Charter whereof is extant in Florentius and Houeden it beginneth thus Haec sunt statuta de Archidiaconibus Presbyteris Diaconious Subdiaconibus Canonicis in quocuÌ„que gradu constitutis c. These are the statutes which Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury and with him Thomas A famous Councell in which the King to wit Henry the first all the Bishops nobility were present the elect of Yorke and all the Bishops of England in the presence of our renowned King Henry with the assent of his Earles and Barons decree in the yeare of our Lord 1108. concerning Archdeacons Priests Deacons Subdeacons Canons of what degree soeuer So the inscription and for that the assembly was so great honourable and the decree so plaine and grounded on antiquity to which it doth appeale in the very entrance I haue thought it requisite heere entierly to insert it that it may also be extant in our English tongue Thus then it goes 99. It is decreed that Priests Deacons and Subdeacons do liue chastly haue no women in their houses besids their neerest kinsfolkes according to that which the holy Councell of Neece hath defined But such Priests Deacons Subdeacons as after the interdiction of the Councell of London immediatly before mentioned The strict decrees of the Coun-of LondoÌ„ against the incontinent Clergy haue kept their wiues or marryed others if they will any more say Masse let them put them away so far from them that neither the women enter into their houses nor they into the houses of the women neither let them purposely meet in any other house neither let such womeÌ„ dwel in the territory or precincts of the Church if vpon some iust occasion they must speake togeater let them speake without the dores before two witnesses but if by two or three lawfull witnesses or publike report of the parishioners any one shal be accused to haue transgressed this decree he shall purge himselfe by bringing six competent witnesses of his owne order if he be a Priest if he be a Deacon foure two if a Subdeacon and he who failes heerein shall be adiudged a transgressour of the sacred decree But such Priests as contemners of the diuine Altar and holy orders haue chosen rather to dwell with their women let them be remoued from their diuine office depriued of all Ecclesiastical liuing and being declared infamous be put out of that rancke or order but he who out of stubbornes and contempt shal not leaue his woman and shall presume to say masse if he be called to make satisfaction shall refuse to come let him be excommunicated The same declaratory sententence comprizeth all Archdeacons and Canons if by them the statutes be transgressed either of leauing their women or auoyding their dwelling with them or for the distriction of the censure againe all Archdeacons shal sweare that they shall take no bribes for permitting the transgression of this decree neither shall they suffer Priests whome they know to haue women to sing Masse or appoint their substitutes and the Deanes also shall sweare the same and the Archdeacon or Deane who shall refuse to sweare shall leese his Archdeaconry or Deanry But the Priests who shal resolue with themselus by leauing their women to serue God and the holy altars for forty dayes forbearing their office shall haue for that tyme their substitutes in which tyme such pennance shall be enioyned them as shall seeme fit to the Bishop to impose So far this Councell 100. I pretermit others of later tymes whereof one of them was called vnder this King Henry the first and in the same were present such Bishops as both Huntingdon and out of him verbatim trusty Roger his Eccho I meane Houeden say that they were Columna Regni radij sanctitatis hoc tempore The pillars of the Kingdome and Houeden anno 1175. shining beames of sanctity at this tyme and another vnder his Nephew the second Henry who was also present therin called by Richard of Canterbury both which were held at London and both condemned this incestuous mariage and the like did diuers others after these which are confessed by our Aduersaryes and need not heere to be alleadged for that which already hath beene sayd of the Councells of S. Dunstane in one of which was King Edgar and these others of S. Anselme with the other particuler testimonyes before