whereunto reasonable creatures are bound but as hath bene shewed we restraine it to those onely duties which all men by force of naturall wit either do or might vnderstand to be such duties as concerne all men Certaine half waking men there are as Saint Augustine noteth who neither altogether asleepe in folly nor yet throughly awake in the light of true vnderstanding haue thought that there is not at all any thing iust and righteous in it selfe but looke wherwith nations are inured the same they take to be right and iust Wherupon their conclusion is that seeing each sort of people hath a different kind of right from other and that which is right of it owne nature must be euery where one and the same therefore in it selfe there is nothing right These good folke saith he that I may not trouble their wits with rehearsal of too many things haue not looked so far into the world as to perceiue that Do as thou wouldest be done vnto is a sentence which all nations vnder heauen are agreed vpon Refer this sentence to the loue of God it extinguisheth all heinous crimes referre it to the loue of thy neighbor and all grieuous wrongs it banisheth out of the world Wherefore as touching the law of reason this was it seemeth Saint Augustines iudgement namely that there are in it some things which stand as principles vniuersally agreed vpon and that out of those principles which are in themselues euident the greatest morall duties we owe towards God or man may without any great difficultie be concluded If then it be here demaunded by what meanes it should come to passe the greatest part of the law morall being so easie for all men to know that so many thousands of men notwithstanding haue bene ignorant euen of principall morall duties not imagining the breach of them to be sinne I deny not but lewd and wicked custome beginning perhaps at the first amongst few afterwards spreading into greater multitudes and so continuing from time to time may be of force euen in plaine things to smother the light of naturall vnderstanding because men will not bend their wits to examine whether things wherewith they haue bene accustomed be good or euill For examples sake that grosser kind of heathenish idolatrie wherby they worshipped the very workes of their owne hands was an absurdity to reason so palpable that the Prophet Dauid comparing idols and idolaters together maketh almost no ods betweene them but the one in a maner as much without wit and sense as the other They that make them are like vnto them and so are all that trust in them That wherein an idolater doth seeme so absurb and foolish is by the Wiseman thus exprest He is not ashamed to speake vnto that which hath no life he calleth on him that is weake for health he prayeth for life vnto him which is dead of him which hath no experience he requireth helpe for his iourney be sâ—â—th to him which is not able to go for gaine and worke and successe in his affaires he seeketh furtherance of him that hath no maner of power The cause of which senselesse stupidity is afterwards imputed to custome When a father mourned grieuosly for his son that was taken away suddenly he made an image for him that was once dead whom now he worshipped as a God ordeining to his seruants ceremonies sacrifices Thus by processe of time this wicked custome preuailed was kept as a law the authority of Rulers the ambition of craftsmen and such like meanes thrusting forward the ignorant and increasing their superstition Vnto this which the Wiseman hath spoken somwhat besides may be added For whatsoeuer we haue hitherto taught or shal hereafter coÌ„cerning the force of mans naturall vnderstanding this we alwayes desire withall to be vnderstood that there is no kind of faculty or power in man or any other creature which can rightly performe the functions alotted to it without perpetuall aide concurrence of that supreme cause of all things The benefit whereof as oft as we cause God in his iustice to withdraw there can no other thing follow then that which the Apostle noteth euen men indued with the light of reason to walke notwithstanding in the vanity of their mind hauing their cogitations darkned being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardnes of their harts And this cause is meÌ„tioned by the Prophet Esay speaking of the ignorance idolaters who see not how the manifest reason condemneth their grosse iniquity and sinne They haue not in them saith he so much wit as to thinke shall I bow to the stocke of a tree All knowledge and vnderstanding is taken from them For God hath shut their eyes that they cannot see That which we say in this case of idolatry serueth for all other things wherein the like kind of generall blindnes hath preuailed against the manifest lawes of reason Within the compasse of which lawes we do not onely comprehend whatsoeuer may be easily knowne to belong to the duty of all men but euen whatsoeuer may possibly be known to be of that quality so that the same be by necessary consequence deduced out of cleere and manifest principles For if once we descend vnto probable collections what is conuenient for men we are then in the territory where free and arbitrarie determinations the territory where humane lawes take place which lawes are after to be considered 9 Now the due obseruation of this law which reason teacheth vs cannot but be effectuall vnto their great good that obserue the same For we see the whole world and each part thereof so compacted that as long as each thing performeth onely that worke which is naturall vnto it it thereby preserueth both other things and also it selfe Contrariwise let any principall thing as the Sun the Moone any one of the heaueÌ„s or elemeÌ„ts but once cease or faile or swarue and who doth not easily conceiue that the sequele thereof would be ruine both to it selfe whatsoeuer dependeth on it And is it possible that man being not only the noblest creature in the world but euen a very world in himselfe his transgressing the law of his nature should draw no maner of harme after it Yes tribulation and anguish vnto euerie soule that doth euill Good doth followe vnto all things by obseruing the course of their nature and on the contrarie side euill by not obseruing it but not vnto naturall agents that good which wee call Reward not that euill which wee properly tearme Punishment The reason whereof is because amongst creatures in this world onely mans obseruation of the lawe of his nature is Righteousnesse onely mans transgression Sinne. And the reason of this is the difference in his maner of obseruing or transgressing the lawe of his nature Hee doth not otherwise then voluntarily the one or the other What we do against our
as humaine felicitie doth import in as much as the dignity of this exceedeth so far the others value But be it that God of his great liberality had determined in lieu of mans endeuors to bestow the same by the rule of that iustice which best beseemeth him namely the iustice of one that requiteth nothing mincingly but all with pressed and heaped and euen ouer-inlarged measure yet could it neuer hereupon necessarily bee gathered that such iustice should adde to the nature of that reward the property of euerlasting continuance sith possession of blisse though it should be but for a moment were an aboundant retribution But we are not now to enter into this consideration how gratious and bountifull our good God might still appeare in so rewarding the sonnes of men albeit they should exactly performe whatsoeuer duty their nature bindeth theÌ„ vnto Howsoeuer God did propose this reward we that were to be rewarded must haue done that which is required at our hands we failing in the one it were in nature an impossibility that the other should be looked for The light of nature is neuer able to find out any way of obtaining the reward of blisse but by performing exactly the duties and works of righteousnes From saluation therefore and life all flesh being excluded this way behold how the wisedome of God hath reuealed a way mysticall and supernaturall a way directing vnto the same end of life by a course which groundeth it selfe vpon the guiltinesse of sinne and through sinne desert of condemnation and death For in this way the first thing is the tender compassion of God respecting vs drowned and swallowed vp in miserie the next is redemption out of the same by the pretious death and merite of a mighty Sauiour which hath witnessed of himselfe saying I am the way the way that leadeth vs from miserie into blisse This supernaturall way had God in himselfe prepared before all worlds The way of supernaturall dutie which to vs he hath prescribed our Sauiour in the Gospell of Saint Iohn doth note terming it by an excellency the worke of God This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent Not that God doth require nothing vnto happinesse at the hands of men sauing onely a naked beliefe for hope and Charity we may not exclude but that without beliefe all other things are as nothing it the ground of those other diuine vertues Concerning faith the principall obiect whereof is that eternall veritie which hath discouered the treasures of hidden wisedome in Christ concerning hope the highest obiect wherof is that euerlasting goodnesse which in Christ doth quicken the dead concerning charity the finall obiect whereof is that incomprehensible beauty which shineth in the countenance of Christ the sonne of the liuing God concerning these vertues the first of which beginning here with a weake apprehensioÌ„ of things not seene endeth with the intuitiue vision of God in the world to come the second beginning here with a trembling expectation of things far remoued and as yet but onely heard of endeth with reall and actuall fruition of that which no tongue can expresse the third beginning here with a weake inclination of heart towards him vnto whom we are not able to approch endeth with endlesse vnion the mistery wherof is higher then the reach of the thoughts of men concerning that faith hope charity without which there can be no saluation was there euer any mention made sauing only in that law which God himselfe hath from heauen reuealed There is not in the world a syllable muttered with certaine truth coÌ„cerning any of these three more then hath bene supernaturally receiued from the mouth of the eternall God Lawes therefore concerning these things are supernaturall both in respect of the maner of deliuering them which is diuine and also in regard of the things deliuered which are such as haue not in nature any cause from which they flow but were by the voluntary appointment of God ordeined besides the course of nature to rectifie natures obliquity withall 12 When supernaturall duties are necessarily exacted naturall are not reiected as needlesse The law of God therefore is though principally deliuered for instruction in the one yet fraught with precepts of the other also The scripture is fraught euen with lawes of nature In so much that Gratian defining naturall right whereby is meant the right which exacteth those generall duties that concerne men naturally euen as they are men termeth naturall right that which the bookes of the Lawe and the Gospell do containe Neither is it vaine that the Scripture aboundeth with so great store of lawes in this kind For they are either such as we of our selues could not easily haue found out and then the benefit is not small to haue them readily set downe to our hands or if they be so cleere manifest that no man indued with reason can lightly be ignorant of them yet the spirite as it were borrowing them from the schoole of nature as seruing to proue things lesse manifest and to induce a perswasion of somewhat which were in it selfe more hard and darke vnlesse it should in such sort be cleared the very applying of them vnto cases particular is not without most singular vse and profite many wayes for mens instruction Besides be they plaine of themselues or obscure the euidence of Gods owne testimonie added vnto the naturall assent of reason concerning the certaintie of them doth not a little comfort and confirme the same Wherefore in as much as our actions are conuersant about things beset with many circumstances which cause men of sundry wits to be also of sundry iudgements concerning that which ought to be done requisite it caÌ„not but seeme the rule of diuine law should herein helpe our imbecillity that we might the more infallibly vnderstand what is good what euill The first principles of the law of nature are easie hard it were to find men ignorant of them but concerning the duty which natures law doth require at the hands of men in a number of things particular so farre hath the naturall vnderstanding euen of sundry whole nations bene darkned that they haue not discerned no not grosse iniquity to bee sinne Againe being so prone as we are to fawne vpon our selues and to be ignorant as much as may be of our owne deformities without the feeling sense whereof we are most wretched euen so much the more because not knowing theÌ„ we cannot as much as desire to haue them taken away how should our festâ—ed sores be cured but that God hath deliuered a law as sharpe as the two edged sword pearcing the very closest and most vnsearchable corners of the heart which the law of nature can hardly humaine lawes by no meanes possible reach vnto Hereby we know euen secret concupiscence to be sinne and are made fearefull to offend though it be but in a wandering cogitation Finally of
in all partes of decent demeanor So that the law of Angels wee cannot iudge altogether impertinent vnto the affaires of the Church of God Our largenesse of speech how men do finde out what thinges reason bindeth them of necessitie to obserue and what is guideth them to choose in things which are left as arbitrary the care we haue had to declare the different nature of lawes which seuerally concerne all men from such as belong vnto men eyther ciuilly or spiritually associated such as pertaine to the fellowship which nations or which Christian nations haue amongst themselues and in the last place such as concerning euery or any of these God himselfe hath reuealed by his holy worâ— all serueth but to make manifest that as the actions of men are of sundry distinct kindes so the lawes thereof must accordingly be distinguished There are in men operations some naturall some rationall some supernaturall some politique some finally Ecclesiasticall Which if we measure not each by his owne proper law whereas the things themselues are so different there will be in our vnderstanding and iudgement of them confusion As that first error sheweth whereon our opposites in this cause haue grounded themselues For as they rightly maintaine that God must be glorified in all thinges and that the actions of men cannot tend vnto his glory vnlesse they be framed after his law So it is their error to thinke that the only law which God hath appointed vnto men in that behalfe is the sacred Scripture By that which we worke naturally as when we breath sleepe mooue we set forth the glory of God as naturall agents doe albeit we haue no expresse purpose to make that our end nor any aduised determination therein to follow a law but doe that we doe for the most part not as much as thinking thereon In reasonable and morall actions another law taketh place a law by the obseruation whereof we glorifie God in such sort as no creature else vnder man is able to doe because other creatures haue not iudgement to examine the qualitie of that which is done by them and therfore in that they doe they neither can accuse nor approue themselues Men doe bothe as the Apostle teacheth yea those men which haue no written lawe of God to shewe what is good or euill carrie written in their hearts the vniuersall lawe of mankind the law of reason whereby they iudge as by a rule which God hath giuen vnto all men for that purpose The lawe of reason doth somewhat direct men how to honour God as their Creator but how to glorifie God in such sort as is required to the end he may be an euerlasting Sauiour this we are taught by diuine law which law both ascertaineth the truth and supplieth vnto vs the want of that other lawe So that in morall actions diuine law helpeth exceedingly the lawe of reason to guide mans life but in supernaturall it alone guideth Proceed wee further let vs place man in some publique societie with others whether Ciuill or Spirituall and in this case there is no remedie but we must adde yet a further lawe For although euen here likewise the lawes of nature and reason be of necessary vse yet somewhat ouer and besides them is necessary namely humane and positiue lawe together with that lawe which is of commerce betweene grand societies the law of nations and of nations Christian For which cause the lawe of God hath likewise said Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers The publique power of all societies is aboue euery soule contained in the same societies And the principall vse of that power is to giue lawes vnto all that are vnder it which lawes in such case we must obey vnlesse there be reason shewed which may necessarily enforce that the lawe or reason or of God doth enioyne the contrarie Because except our owne priuate and but probable resolutions be by the lawe of publique determinations ouerruled we take away all possibilitie of sociable life in the worlde A plainer example whereof then our selues we cannot haue How commeth it to passe that wee are at this present day so rent with mutuall contentions and that the Church is so much troubled about the politie of the Church No doubt if men had bene willing to learne how many lawes their actions in this life are subiect vnto and what the true force of each lawe is all these controuersies might haue dyed the very day they were first brought forth It is both commonly said and truly that the best men otherwise are not alwayes the best in regard of societie The reason wherof is for that the law of mens actions is one if they be respected only as men and another wheÌ„ they are considered as parts of a politique body Many men there are then whom nothing is more commendable when they are singled And yet in societie with others none lesse fit to answere the duties which are looked for at their handes Yea I am perswaded that of them with whom in this cause we striue there are whose betters among men would bee hardly found if they did not liue amongst men but in some wildernesse by themselues The cause of which their disposition so vnframable vnto societies wherein they liue is for that they discerne not aright what place and force these seuerall kindes of lawes ought to haue in all their actions Is there question eyther concerning the regiment of the Church in generall or about conformitie betweene one Church and another or of ceremonies offices powers iurisdictions in our owne Church Of all these things they iudge by that râ—le which they frame to themselues with some shew of probabilitie and what seemeth in that sort conuenient the same they thinke themselues bound to practise the same by all meanes they labour mightily to vpholde whatsoeuer any law of man to the contrarie hath determined they weigh it not Thus by following the law of priuate reason where the law of publique should take place they breede disturbance For the better inuâ—ing therefore of mens mindes with the true distinction of lawes and of their seuerall force according to the diâ—ferent kind and qualitie of our actions it shal noâ— peraduenture be amisse to shew in some one example how they all take place To seeke no further let but that be considered then which there is not any thing more familiar vnto vs our foode What thinges are foode and what are not we iudge naturally by sense neither neede we any other law to be our director in that behalfe then the selfe-same which is common vnto vs with beastes But when we come to consider of foode as of a benefite which God of his bounteous goodnes hath prouided for all thinges liuing the law of reason doth here require the dutie of thankefulnesse at our handes towards him at whose hands we haue iâ— And least appetite in the vse of foode should leade vs beyond that
point there should not neede any question to growe and that which is growne might presently ende if they did yeelde but to these two restraints the first is not to extend the actions whereof they speake so lowe as that instance doth import of taking vp a strawe but rather keepe themselues at the least within the compasse of morall actions actions which haue in them vice or vertue the second not to exact at our hands for euery action the knowledge of some place of scripture out of which we stand bound to deduce it as by diuerse testimonies they seeke to enforce but rather as the truth is so to acknowledge that it sufficeth if such actions be framed according to the lawe of reason the generall axiomes rules and principles of which lawe being so frequent in holy scripture there is no let but in that regard euen out of scripture such duties may be deduced by some kinde of consequence as by long circuite of deduction it may be that euen all truth out of any truth may be concluded howbeit no man bound in such sort to deduce all his actions out of scripture as if eyther the place be to him vnknowne whereon they may be concluded or the reference vnto that place not presently considered of the action shall in that respect be condemned as vnlawfull In this we dissent and this we are presently to examine 1 In all parts of knowledge rightly so termed thinges most generall are most strong Thus it must be in as much as the certaintie of our perswasion touching particulars dependeth altogether vpon the credite of those generalities out of which they growe Albeit therefore euery cause admit not such infallible euidence of proofe as leaueth no possibilitie of doubt or scruple behind it yet they who claime the generall assent of the whole world vnto that which they teach and doe not feare to giue very hard and heauie sentence vpon as many as refuse to embrace the same must haue speciall regard that their first foundations and grounds be more then slender probabilities This whole question which hath bene mooued about the kinde of Church regiment we could not but for our owne resolutions sake endeuour to vnrip and sift following therein as neare as we might the conduct of that iudiciall method which serueth best for inuention of truth By meanes whereof hauing found this the head theoreme of all their discourses who pleade for the chaunge of Ecclesiasticall gouernment in England namely That the Scripture of God is in such sort the rule of humane actions that simply whatsoeuer we doe and are not by it directed thereunto the same is sinne wee hold it necessarie that the proofes hereof be waighed be they of waight sufficient or otherwise it is not ours to iudge and determine onely what difficulties there are which as yet withhold our assent till we be further and better satisfied I hope no indifferent amongst them will scorne or refuse to heare First therefore whereas they alleage that wisedome doth teach men euery good way and haue thereupon inferred that no way is good in any kind of action vnlesse wisedome do by scripture leade vnto it see they not plainely how they restraine the manifold wayes which wisedome hath to teach men by vnto one only way of teaching which is by scripture The boundes of wisedome are large and within them much is contayned Wisdome was Adams instructor in Paradise wisdome indued the fathers who liued before the law with the knowledge of holy things by the wisedome of the lawe of God Dauid attained to excell others in vnderstanding Salomon likewise to excell Dauid by the selfe same wisdome of God teaching him many things besides the law The waies of well-doing are in number euen as many as are the kindes of voluntarie actions so that whatsoeuer we do in this world and may do it ill we shew our selues therein by well doing to be wise Now if wisedome did teach men by scripture not onely all the wayes that are right and good in some certaine kind according to that of S. Paule concerning the vse of scripture but did simply without any maner of exception restraint or distinction teach euery way of doing well there is no art but scripture should teach it because euery art doth teach the way how to do some thing or other well To teach men therefore wisedome professeth and to teach them euery good way but not euery good way by one way of teaching Whatsoeuer either men on earth or the Angels of heauen do know it is as a drop of that vnemptiable fountaine of wisdom which wisdom hath diuersly imparted her treasures vnto the world As her waies are of sundry kindes so her maner of teaching is not meerely one and the same Some thinges she openeth by the sacred bookes of Scripture some things by the glorious works of nature with some things she inspireth them frō aboue by spirituall influence in some things she leadeth and traineth them onely by worldly experience and practise We may not so in any one speciall kinde admire her that we disgrace her in any other but let all her wayes be according vnto their place and degree adored 2 That all things be done to the glory of God the blessed Apostle it is true exhorteth The glory of God is the admirable excellencie of that vertue diuine which being made manifest causeth men and Angels to extoll his greatnes and in regard thereof to feare him By beeing glorified it is not meant that he doth receiue any augmentation of glory at our hands but his name we glorifie when we testifie our acknowledgement of his glorie Which albeit we most effectually do by the vertue of obedience neuerthelesse it may be perhaps a question whether S. Paule did meane that wee sinne as oft as euer wee goe about any thing without an expresse intent and purpose to obey God therein He saith of himselfe I do in all things please all men seeking not mine owne commoditie but rather the good of many that they may be saued Shall it hereupon be thought that S. Paule did not moue eyther hand or foote but with expresse intent euen thereby to further the common saluation of men We moue we sleepe wee take the cuppe at the hand of our friend a number of thinges we oftentimes doe onely to satisfie some naturall desire without present expresse and actuall reference vnto any commaundement of God Vnto his glory euen these thinges are done which we naturally performe and not onely that which morally and spiritually we doe For by euery effect proceeding from the most concealed instincts of nature his power is made manifest But it doth not therefore follow that of necessitie we shall sinne vnlesse we expressely intend this in euery such particular But be it a thing which requireth no more then onely our generall presupposed willingnesse to please God in all things or be it a matter wherein wee cannot so glorifie
wherof is by this rule sufficiently manifested although we had no other warrant besides to approue them The Apostle S. Paul hauing speech coÌ„cerning the Heathen saith of theÌ„ They are a law vnto theÌ„selues His meaning is that by force of the light of reasoÌ„ wherewith God illuminateth euery one which cometh into the world meÌ„ being inabled to know truth from falshood and good from euill do thereby learne in many things what the will of God is which will himselfe not reuealing by any extraordinary meanes vnto them but they by naturall discourse attaining the knowledge thereof seeme the makers of those lawes which indeed are his and they but onely the finders of them out A law therefore generally taken is a directiue rule vnto goodnesse of operation The rule of diuine operations outward is the definitiue appointmeÌ„t of Gods owne wisedome set downe within himselfe The rule of naturall agents that worke by simple necessity is the determination of the wisedome of God known to God himselfe the principall director of them but not vnto them that are directed to execute the same The rule of naturall agents which worke after a sort of their owne accord as the beasts do is the iudgement of common sense or phancy concerning the sensible goodnes of those obiects wherwith they are moued The rule of ghostly or immateriall natures as spirits Angels is their intuitiue intellectual iudgement concerning the amiable beauty high goodnes of that obiect which with vnspeakeable ioy and delight doth set them on worke The rule of voluntary agents on earth is the sentence that reason giueth coÌ„cerning the goodnes of those things which they are to do And the sentences which reason giueth are some more some lesse general before it come to define in particular actioÌ„s what is good The maine principles of reason are in theÌ„selues apparent For to make nothing euideÌ„t of it selfe vnto maÌ„s vnderstaÌ„ding were to take away al possibility of knowing any thing And herein that of Theophrasâ—us is true They that seeke a reason of all things do vtterly ouerthrow reason In euery kind of knowledge some such grounds there are as that being proposed the mind doth presently embrace them as free from all possibilitie of error cleare and manifest without proofe In which kind axiomes or principles more generall are such as this That the greater good is to be chosen before the lesse If therefore it should be demanded what reason there is why the will of man which doth necessarily shun harme and couet whatsoeuer is pleasant and sweete should be commanded to count the pleasures of sinne gall notwithstanding the bitter accidents wherwith vertuous actions are compast yet stil to reioyce and delight in them surely this could neuer stand with reason but that wisedome thus prescribing groundeth her lawes vpon an infallible rule of comparison which is that small difficulties when exceeding great good is sure to ensue and on the other side momentanie benefites when the hurt which they drawe after them is vnspeakeable are not at all to be respected This rule is the ground whereupon the wisedom of the Apostle buildeth a law inioyning patience vnto himselfe The present lightnes of our affliction worketh vnto vs euen with aboundance vpon aboundance an eternall waight of glory while we looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporal but the things which are not seene eternall Therefore Christianity to be embraced whatsoeuer calamities in those times it was accompanied withall Vpon the same ground our Sauiour proueth the law most reasonable that doth forbid those crimes which meÌ„ for gaines sake fall into For a man to win the world if it be with the losse of his soule what benefit or good is it Axiomes lesse generall yet so manifest that they need no further proofe are such as these God to be worshipped Parents to be honored Others to be vsed by vs as we our selues would by them Such things as soone as they are alleaged all men acknowledge to be good they require no proofe or further discourse to be assured of their goodnes Notwithstanding whatsoeuer such principle there is it was at the first found out by discourse drawne from out of the very bowels of heauen and earth For we are to note that things in the world are to vs discernable not onely so farre forth as serueth for our vitall preseruation but further also in a twofold higher respect For first if all other vses were vtterly taken away yet the mind of man being by nature speculatiue and delighted with coÌ„templation in it selfe they were to be known euen for meere knowledge and vnderstandings sake Yea further besides this the knowledge of euery the least thing in the whole world hath in it a secoÌ„d peculiar benefit vnto vs in as much as it serueth to minister rules Canons and lawes for men to direct those actions by which we properly terme humane This did the very Heathens themselues obscurely insinuate by making Themis which we call Ius or Right to be the daughter of heauen and earth Wee knowe things either as they are in themselues or as they are in mutuall relation one to another The knowledge of that which man is in reference vnto himselfe and other things in relation vnto man I may iustly terme the mother of al those principles which are as it were edicts statutes and decrees in that law of nature wherby humaine actions are framed First therefore hauing obserued that the best things where they are not hindered do still produce the best operations for which cause where many things are to concurre vnto one effect the best is in all congruity of reason to guide the residue that it preuailing most the worke principally done by it may haue greatest perfection when hereupon we come to obserue in our selues of what excellencie our soules are in comparison of our bodies and the diuiner part in relation vnto the baser of our soules seeing that all these concurre in producing humaine actions it cannot be well vnlesse the chiefest do commaund and direct the rest The soule then ought to conduct the bodie and the spirit of our mindes the soule This is therefore the first lawe whereby the highest power of the minde requireth generall obedience at the hands of all the rest concurring with it vnto action Touching the seuerall graund mandates which being imposed by the vnderstanding facultie of the minde must be obeyed by the will of man they are by the same method found out whether they import our dutie towardes God or towards man Touching the one I may not here stand to open by what degrees of discourse the mindes euen of meere naturall men haue attained to knowe not onely that there is a God but also what power force wisedome and other properties that God hath and how all thinges depend on him This being therefore presupposed from that
of our fathers to be followed we therefore may not allow such customes as the Church of Rome hath because we cānot account of thē which are in that Church as of our fathers 6 To their allegation that the course of Gods owne wisedome doth make against our conformitie with the Church of Rome in such things 7 To the example of the eldest Church which they bring for the same purpose 8 That it is not our best politie as they pretend it is for establishment of sound Religion to haue in these thinges no agreement with the Church of Rome being vnsound 9 That neither the papists vpbraiding vs as furnished out of their store nor any hope which in that respect they are said to conceiue doth make any more against our ceremonies then the former allegations haue done 10 The griefe which they say godly brethren conceiue at such ceremonies as we haue common with the Church of Rome 11 The third thing for which they reproue a great part of our ceremonies is for that as we haue them from the Church of Rome so that Church had them from the Iewes 12 The fourth for that sundry of them haue bene they say abused vnto idolatrie and are by that meane become scandalous 13 The fift for that we retaine them still notwithstanding the example of certaine Churches reformed before vs which haue cast them out 14 A declaration of the proceedings of the Church of England for the establishment of things as they are 1 SVch was the ancient simplicitie and softnes of spirit which sometimes preuailed in the world that they whose wordes were euen as oracles amongst men seemed euermore loth to giue sentence against any thing publiquely receiued in the Church of God except it were wonderfull apparently euill for that they did not so much incline to that seueritie which delighteth to reproue the least things it seeth amisse as to that charity which is vnwilling to behold any thing that dutie bindeth it to reproue The state of this present age wherein zeale hath drowned charitie skill meeknes wil not now suffer any mā to maruel whatsoeuer he shal hear reproued by whōsoeuer Those rites ceremonies of the church therefore which are the selfesame now that they were whē holy vertuous men maintained thē against prophane and deriding aduersaries her owne children haue at this day in derision Whether iustly or no it shall then appeare when all thinges are heard which they haue to alleage against the outward receiued orders of this church Which in as much as thēselues do compare vnto mint and comin graunting thē to be no part of those things which in the matter of politie are waightier we hope that for small things their strife will neither bee earnest nor long The sifting of that which is obiected against the orders of the church in particular doth not belong vnto this place Here we are to discusse onely those generall exceptions which haue bene taken at any time against them First therfore to the end that their nature and vse whereunto they serue may plainely appeare and so afterwardes their qualitie the better be discerned we are to note that in euery grand or main publique dutie which God requireth at the hāds of his Church there is besides that matter and forme wherein the essence therof consisteth a certaine outward fashion whereby the same is in decent sort administred The substance of all Religious actions is deliuered from God himself in few words For example sake in the sacraments Vnto the element let the word be added and they both doe make a sacrament saith S. Augustine Baptisme is giuen by the element of water and that prescript forme of words which the church of Christ doth vse the sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ is administred in the elements of bread and wine if those mysticall words be added thereunto But the due and decent forme of administring those holy sacramēts doth require a great deale more The end which is aimed at in setting downe the outward forme of all religious actiōs is the edification of the Church Now men are edified when either their vnderstanding is taught somewhat whereof in such actions it behoueth all men to consider or whē their harts are moued with any affectiō suteable therunto whē their minds are in any sort stirred vp vnto that reuerence deuotion attention due regard which in those cases seemeth requisit Because therfore vnto this purpose not only speech but sundry sēsible means besides haue alwaies bin thought necessary especially those means which being obiect to the eye the liueliest the most apprehensiue sense of all other haue in that respect seemed the fittest to make a deepe and strong impression from hence haue risen not onely a number of praiers readings questionings exhortings but euen of visible signes also which being vsed in performance of holy actions are vndoubtedly most effectual to open such matter as men when they know remēber carefully must needs be a great deale the better informed to what effect such duties serue We must not thinke but that there is some ground of reason euen in nature whereby it commeth to passe that no nation vnder heauen either doth or euer did suffer publique actiōs which are of waight whether they be ciuil and temporall or else spirituall and sacred to passe without some visible solemnitie the very strangenes whereof and difference from that which is common doth cause popular eyes to obserue and to marke the same Wordes both because they are common and doe not so strongly moue the phancie of man are for the most parte but sleightly heard and therfore with singular wisdome it hath bene prouided that the deeds of men which are made in the presence of witnesses should passe not onely with words but also with certaine sensible actions the memory wherof is farre more easie and durable then the memorie of speech can be The things which so long experience of all ages hath confirmed and made profitable let not vs presume to condemne as follies and toyes because wee sometimes know not the cause and reason of them A wit disposed to scorne whatsoeuer it doth not conceiue might aske wherefore Abraham should say to his seruant Put thy hand vnder my thigh and sweare was it not sufficient for his seruant to shew the Religion of an othe by naming the Lord God of heauen and earth vnlesse that straunge ceremonie were added In contracts bargaines and conueiances a mans worde is a token sufficient to expresse his wil. Yet this was the auncient maner in Israell concerning redeeming and exchanging to establish all things A man did pluck off his shooe and gaue it his neighbour and this was a sure witnesse in Israel Amongst the Romans in their making of a bondman free was it not wondred wherefore so great a doe should bee made The maister to present his slaue in some court to take him by the hand and not
onely to say in the hearing of the publique magistrate I will that this man become free but after these solemne wordes vttered to strike him on the cheeke to turne him round the haire of his head to be shaued off the magistrate to touch him thrise with a rod in the end a cap and a white garment to be giuen him To what purpose all this circumstance Amongst the Hebrewes how strange in outward appearance almost against reason that he which was minded to make himselfe a perpetuall seruant should not only testifie so much in the presence of the iudge but for a visible token thereof haue also his eare bored through with a nawle It were an infinite labour to prosecute these things so far as they might be exempplified both in ciuill and religious actions For in bothe they haue their necessary vse and force The sensible things which Religion hath allowed are resemblances framed according to things spiritually vnderstood wherunto they serue as a hand to lead and a way to direct And whereas it may peraduenture be obiected that to adde to religious duties such rites and ceremonies as are significant is to institute new sacraments sure I am they will not say that Numa Pompilius did ordaine a sacrament a significant ceremonie he did ordaine in commanding the Priests to execute the work of their diuine seruice with their handes as farre as to the fingers couered thereby signifiing that fidelitie must be defended and that mens right handes are the sacred seate thereof Againe we are also to put them in mind that themselues do not holde all significant ceremonies for sacramentes in as much as imposition of handes they denie to be a sacrament and yet they giue thereunto a forcible signification For concerning it their words are these The party ordained by this ceremony was put in mind of his seperation to the worke of the Lord that remembring himselfe to be taken as it were with the hand of God from amongst others this might teach him not to account himselfe now his owne nor to doe what himselfe listeth but to consider that God hath set him about a worke which if he will discharge accomplish he may at the hands of God assure himselfe of reward and if otherwise of reuenge Touching significant ceremonies some of thē are sacramēts some as sacramēts only Sacraments are those which are signes tokēs of some general promised grace which alwaies really descendeth from God vnto the soule that duly receiueth thē other significant tokēs are onely as sacraments yet no sacraments Which is not our distinction but theirs For concerning the Apostles imposition of handes these are their owne words Manuum signum hoc quasi sacramentum vsurparunt They vsed this signe or as it were sacrament 2 Concerning rites and ceremonies there may be fault either in the kinde or in the number and multitude of them The first thing blamed about the kind of ours is that in many thinges we haue departed from the auncient simplicitie of Christ and his Apostles we haue embraced more outward statelinesse we haue those orders in the exercise of Religion which they who best pleased God and serued him most deuoutly neuer had For it is out of doubt that the first state of thinges was best that in the prime of Christian Religion faith was soundest the scriptures of God were then best vnderstood by all men all parts of godlines did then most abound and therefore it must needes follow that customes lawes and ordinances deuised since are not so good for the Church of Christ but the best way is to cut off later inuentions and to reduce thinges vnto the auntient state wherin at the first they were Which rule or canō we hold to be either vncertain or at leastwise vnsufficient if not bothe For in case it be certain hard it cannot be for them to shew vs where we shall finde it so exactly set downe that wee may say without all controuersie These were the orders of the Apostles times these wholly and onely neither fewer nor moe then these True it is that many things of this nature be alluded vnto yea many thinges declared and many thinges necessarily collected out of the Apostles writings But is it necessary that all the orders of the Church which were then in vse should be contained in their bookes Surely no. For if the tenor of their writinges be well obserued it shall vnto any man easily appeare that no more of them are there touched then were needfull to be spoken of somtimes by one occasion and sometimes by another Will they allow then of any other records besides Well assured I am they are farre enough from acknowledging that the church ought to keepe any thing as Apostolicall which is not found in the Apostles writings in what other recordes soeuer it be found And therefore whereas S. Augustine affirmeth that those thinges which the whole Church of Christ doth hold may well be thought to bee Apostolicall although they be not found written this his iudgement they vtterly condemne I will not here stand in defence of S. Augustines opinion which is that such thinges are indeede Apostolicall but yet with this exception vnlesse the decree of some generall councell haue happily caused them to be receiued for of positiue lawes and orders receiued throughout the whole Christian world S. Augustine could imagine no other fountaine saue these two But to let passe S. Augustine they who condemne him herein must needs confesse it a very vncertaine thing what the orders of the Church were in the Apostles times seeing the scriptures doe not mention them all and other records thereof besides they vtterly reiect So that in tying the Church to the orders of the Apostles times they tie it to a maruellous vncertain rule vnlesse they require the obseruatiō of no orders but only those which are knowne to be Apostolicall by the Apostles owne writings But then is not this their rule of such sufficiencie that we should vse it as a touchstone to trie the orders of the Church by for euer Our ende ought alwaies to bee the same our waies and meanes thereunto not so The glory of God and the good of his Church was the thing which the Apostles aymed at and therefore ought to bee the marke whereat we also leuell But seeing those rites and orders may be at one time more which at an other are lesse auaileable vnto that purpose what reason is there in these thinges to vrge the state of one onely age as a patterne for all to followe It is not I am right sure their meaning that we should now assemble our people to serue God in close secret meetings or that common brookes or riuers should be vsed for places of baptisme or that the Eucharist should be ministred after meate or that the custome of Church feasting should bee renued or that all kinde of standing prouision for the