and it hath ben handled at large also yet all little enough Such is the female misconceit of the lasciuious malecontent and the male miscontent of the learned ignoraunt of this age euer learning and neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth Notwithstanding seeing in the iudgement of the most wise and best learned this Germane Booke seemed for sound iudgement inferiour to none and for graue discourse equall to any it was therfore thought by them an action no lesse commodious to the people then commendable to the Author that he who in the causes of present controuersie hath propounded his iudgement vnto all shoulde haue his iudgement expounded vnto vs. The which although it hath beene curstly censured by a certaine suspicious and suspected Criticke emulous of his betters credite who in his professed lectures hath vsed the remembraunce of his name in disdaine with Sarauia nescio quis Yet his best auditors there and others his betters elsewhere haue found this difference betweene Sarauia and him that besides his great learning and no lesse experience of the which this great Censor neuer had the one neuer will haue the other Sarauia hath made knowen to him and the whole world by this his resolute definitiue who he is whereas the other in one whole tearme hath so behaued himselfe in the same cause that albeit wee all know who he is yet we could neuer tell where to finde him So hoppeth he betweene the stone and the Altar that as a man distract betweene feare and flattery he maketh vp his doubtfull resolution with this harmelesse confession Sentio quod sentio quod nescio I know what I know what I doe not know I but now we see the aduerse part partly by theyr lawlesse outrage and partly by theyr lawfull restraint to be nowe as impotent in their faction as they are odious in their opinion to be at this time as vnable as they were at all times vnworthy to preuaile and then what neede we any longer striue when the ennemy can no longer stand I aunswer that their increase was seene long since to be at the full and their credite appeareth euen now to be in the Waine For the which as we are to giue God thankes who in taking Iustice vpon some of them hath taken pitty vpon the whole Church so likewise are we to pray for the rest that in good time we may see eyther theyr speedy amendement or their present preferment For it is time O Lord that thou haue mercy vppon Sion yea the time is come Notwithstanding in the meane time wee haue entertained this profered aide not so much to inuade the seditious brethren or to bring home the resolued recreant as to strengthen the godly Subiect and to bring forward the well affected Protestant With the which if any man finde himselfe agreeued let him shew for it but so that Sarauia may vnderstand what he saith For my part if I haue conceiued him right the fruite is yours if I haue deliuered him not right the fault is mine Sure I am the Author meant you well and my Authors And so doe I. The Translator TO THE MOST REuerend father in Christ John by the prouidence of God Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of al England and Metrapolitane To the renovvmed and most honored Heroicke Sir Christopher Hatton Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Chauncellour of England As also to the noble and right honorable Sir William Cecill Baron of Burghley Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Treasurer of England of her Maiesties most Honorable priuy Counsell my very good Lordes true felicity THe auncient receiued custome of dedicating books to men of name and authority is growne and grounded vppon many reasons great waighty all which it shal be needelesse for me to reuise in this place But for my part there are chiefly three causes mouing me to consecrat this my small trauell to you the most Honorable and honored of me my good Lordes First that thereby I might testifye vnto you the duety and deuotion of a loyall and gratefull minde towards you that find my selfe seuerally and singularly bound vnto you all and euery one of you For first one of you vppon my repaire into England disdained not to entertaine me a stranger with no straunge countenance and straunge courtesie The other also dained to accept me vnworthy into his owne family And the other of his especiall fauour brought to passe that by her Maiesties priuiledge and preferment I might be made of a forreiner a freeman of an alien a Cittizen And seeing I haue receiued all these fauours without any deede or desert of mine God thou knowest mine vnworthines I were but too ingrate and vnkinde if I should bury in darke and deepe silence your so rare and religious demerites But whereas I haue no other thing to render or repay vnto your Honors but a mine of thanks and a thankfull minde that mind wil I alwaies beare and that duety in minde so that I will not cease to worship the sacred memory of your religious loue towardes me Another cause is the very nature of the argumente I vndertake the which I could not well prosecute without some particular mention of the Church of England In the which seeing I haue now my part and portion of a pastoral prouince and praised be the Lord my lotte is fallen vnto me in a faire ground might I not seeme vnmindfull of my good neglecting my duty if when I vndertake the cause of those Churches which are alien and outlandish I should ouerslip the state of mine own Church now gremiall to me and mere English But when mine hearts desire and praier to God is that I may some waies benefite my countreymen if I forget thee O Ierusalem And yet if I should forget my duety herein the meere alliance and relation of the matters them selues is such and so great as that by ordinary course of necessary consequence I must be inforced to inferre and praefer the mention thereof in my bookes But because I am but new made of Flemish sterling that is of Outlandish English it may be happely that they which are home-bred will thinke I deale not wel with them to deale with them and that I meddle too farre when I come so neare For which cause I thought it necessarye for mee to commend and commit my selfe vnto your Honorable patrocinie that this stranger book might freely passe vnder your safe conduct Neither shall it grieue me much though it be vniustly cast by most voices if it may iustly passe your accoumpt neither shall it hurt me much though the inraged multitude in disordered throngs cast stones at mee only if your Honors vouchsafe to giue me the white stone But the last cause is for that I am in some doubt how this discourse will be taken of them for whose sakes especially it was vndertaken For it is to be feared that they
were the churches of olde planted watered and increased It is a thing better knowen and commended then that I need to repeat it or themselues to repent it Notwithstanding there be some in these daies which take vp but to shrewdly this sentence of ours as if it were some Anabaptisticall fancie when it is said that the Church hath at this day if not Apostles yet Apostolique Ministers but as for the fancie if Anabaptisticall let themselues looke to that least they take themselues by the nose For my part I would but know whether the gospel yet at this day now after a 1500. yeares be come to the eares of all Nations In the meane time let them consider howe many nations whom the Apostles neuer saw by the paines and preaching of godlie Pastors who in this labour succeeded the Apostles haue receiued the Lord Christ I will not nowe stand to tell them onely this I conclude that the commaund and commission of preaching the Gospell standeth yet in his ful strength and force in the church of God and shuld so long as there is any nation that knoweth not the Lord. That at this day there is none sent by the churches of Christ to the nations which haue not knowen Christ it is not long of the lacke of sufficient power to send but of sufficient persons to be sent or at least wise of a better zeal to aduāce the kingdom of Christ Indeed no man ought to tempt the Lord Did not himselfe forbid his Apostles to stir one foot out of Ierusalem to discharge their duty before they had receiued the holy Ghost So requisite is it that a man bee throughly furnished for so great an enterprise before he vndertake it And therefore because the iudgement of one man may be ouer-weening and deceiued especially if he may be his owne iudge it is requisite that the authoritie of the church in that case be expected But here is required an Authority Apostolique the which if the Church haue not although it haue fit men neither hath it the power to send For who can giue that to another which hee hath not himselfe Whosoeuer therefore is sent whether you please to call him an Apostle or an Euangelist or a Bishop hee hath need of the like and no lesse power then Timothy and Titus had in the like and no lesse charge This therefore is the authoritie which is assigned to the church by the Keies the which the Lord our Sauiour gaue not so much to Peter and his collegiats as to the Church it selfe so that of right it maye doe that at this daye which it could of old namely wher occasion serueth to giue in commission vnto sufficient men the publishing of the Gospell with Authoritie Apostolique That the Apostolike authoritie is as necessarie for the conseruing and confirming as for the founding and first planting of Churches Chap. XVIII BVt for as much as the power Apostolike is no lesse needfull and necessarie for the conseruing and confirming as for the planting and first placing of churches we must also haue a special regard to that For by reason as it is thought of Bishops and Arch-bishops Primats and Metropolitanes which haue succeeded the Apostles and the Euangelists there is now some controuersie moued for that And verely I haue oftentimes wondered with my selfe what it is that should make anie learned or religious man thinke that the office of Apostles and Euangelistes is ceased in the Church and that at this day there are none possessed of any authoritie Apostolike to whom the other Elders ought to supply in the gouernance of the Church and I wonder the more that there bee any that should thinke the power Apostolike a thing so extraordinarie as if it were not possible that it should be deuolued to their posteritie Indeed the Church hath not continued those names amongst vs but is that sufficient to prooue that with those titles the authority also is surceased First if a man would but well marke the latter daies of the Apostles of Paule especially he should find that the Apostolike gouernment could not possibly end with the Apostles For by those things the sacred Scripture doth testifie of Paule wee may iudge of the rest who no doubt were no lesse carefull for the good of the Church euen to their last gaspe wheresoeuer it pleased God to translate them out of this life But the second Epistle of S. Paul to Timothie indited about the last of his daies doth witnesse abundantly what an vniuersall care hee had euen then of the Churches There hee maketh mention of his fellow-labourers whereof some he had sent to goe vnto diuers Churches and some hee sent for to come vnto himselfe that beeing now readie to flit out of this life he might giue them his last charge of all things concerning the welfare of the Church and the furnishing of that building himselfe had left vnfinished This his last will and Testament hee left with them The which had beene to no purpose had the power Apostolike died with him or had the authoritie of that their legacie beene compelled within the circuit of euery particular parish For they all whom Paul there remembreth as Titus Marke Luke Crescens Tithicus and Timothie himselfe were associate with Paule in his Apostolike sea as vnto whose seuerall charge hee had demised many and sundry Churches The which if it were not free for them with that recreant Demas to cast vp and giue ouer while Paul yet liued how much lesse after he was dead Wherefore now they were made and remaine his heires as before they were his peeres of his Apostolike paines and praeheminence That the other Apostles had also their consorts and collegiats in their Apostolike charge vnto whom themselues discontinuing this life they demeaned the no lesse care of the Churches with the like authoritie there was neuer wise man that doubted of it And furthermore that their lawfull authoritie with the which they prosecuted and perseuered in the Lord his affaires could no more be extinguished with them then it was abolished with the Apostles so long as there was any church remaining But as they succeeded the Apostles so had they their successors vpon whom if themselues did not bestow the power they had receiued the Church did which is heire generall of the power Apostolike But goe to nowe let vs imagine if there can bee such a conceit that it is not so as I haue saide let vs suppose also for a while that the Apostles left all vnto Pastors and Elders of equall authoritie who had onely the charge of their seuerall Churches and their prouinces limited within the precincts of their owne onely parishes What then shall we say became of those Churches in the which the Apostles intercepted by death or they which with the Apostles did gouerne the Churches could not ordeine anie Pastors Did their death fal out so pat that euerie Church had their Pastors and Doctors and that none of them was left
commanded by them as of old so nowe they may professe alwaies remembred that they doe it for the good of the church A degree of the vniuersity or any other testimony of learning ought not to impair the authority of the Pastors or to disturbe the good order of the Church That at this day they which are created Doctors are for the most part Elders I doe not mislike it for of olde also it was but a very rare and extraordinary thing for lay-men to professe the woorde publiquelie But time place and necessitye may limite this matter and prescribe an order therevnto not to bee ordered by head-strong and desperate temeritie Yong mē must here take heed least they presuming for their learning vpon the Vniuersities testimony they should therefore thinke that they are already adopted into the orders of the holy ministery vnlesse they be otherwise ordained then so the which I would haue thought scarse worthy the noting were it not that I haue found some to farre ouershot in this error There are also some others at this day who disclaiming the office of Pastors and that ordination which is solemnised by the Bishops will notwithstanding be accounted Doctors in the church but to baptise to minister the sacraments to visite the sicke to bury the dead to read publique prayer in the Church they think it stands not with their credit And why For sooth because they see these parts of the ministery performed sometimes by some not deeply learned Againe there are other which thinke it no smal part of reformation that euery church should haue with their Pastor a Doctor as if good men one Pastor who of duetye is also a Doctor could not discharge both parts Many such fancies I wittingly omit and recount them amongst the wel-pleasing dreams of such as learne to feed themselues whome verely I cannot so well like of For albeit I confesse that certaine Doctours publiquely professed in the Church which were not Pastors yet I find how that was vsed in the Apostles times of necessity and afterwards very extraordinarily onely then when either the vrgent necessity or the present commodity of the Church did so require For the ordinarye Doctours of the church are the Bishops themselues who if they could suffise to perform al duties alone they needed nor Elders nor Deacons to ioyne with them We know how in a small Church one Elder is enough And that the greatnes and great increase of Churches made this diuersity of ministers both for order and number But if anye man desire to see more of this argument he may read the writers of this age These thinges as I thinke may serue for this turne who purpose not to treat of euery thing exactly but onely to shew what I find wanting in some Churches which would seeme the best reformed To the which end I haue recounted vnto you the diuers degrees of the ministers of the church euen as they were ordained of the Lord and deliuered of the Apostles and receiued of our first fathers and Apostolik predecessors In whose foot-steps we may more safely continue then by not containing our selues therin to intangle our proceedings in some other new and strange extrauagants The second Booke Of the honour which is due vnto Prelats and Elders in the Church Chap. I. That by a certaine law of Nature among all nations the Presidents of Religion were esteemed worthie great honour HOw great the dignitie and excellencie of the Gospell is aboue all the vnhalowed mysteries of prophane nations and how farre it excelleth the Leuiticall Priest-hoode of Moses also and consequently in how great regarde of honour the same ought to be amongst all that professe Christianity the time hath bene when it was needlesse to tell but now more then necessary to proue For the lewdnes I might say the irreligion of some men in this our age doth of force compell me somewhat more earnestly to lay to their charge the neglect dutie of ingrate mindes towardes Gods Ministers whome while they depriue of their due honour they bring Religion it selfe into deepe disdaine and withall they bewray that they make no great account of God himself whose Legats they depraue For there be which think it were not a poinct matter if they were not left woorth a poinct and thinke it neuer the worse for the common-welth if they had no place at all in the common-wealth Because forsooth it is said of our Sauiour his Apostles that they renounced all worldly honours therefore are they thought worthy no honour in the world any vile or vulgar esteeme if so bee they may haue that is enough for them least haplie they should bee exalted in their owne sence and become proud of nothing Thus they thinke none worthie of honour that either doe not affect it or are not infected with it This errour is to bee confuted in this discourse in the which it shall bee shewed that by all rights both of God and man the sacred ministerie in a well ordered common-wealth hath alwaies beene had in greatest honour and estimation amongst all nations and that Christians aboue all others doe owe no lesse to their Pastors then did of olde the people of God to their Priests Albeit the life of man bee inuolued and ouer-cast with darke and thicke mistes of errour and ignoriunce insomuch that manie times it is dazeled at the view and sight of such thinges which of themselues are cleare enough notwithstanding there are yet some thinges so cleare and so manifest as in the which no man beeing not sencelesse or besotted can pleade or pretend any ignorance Such are those generall notions of sinne which GOD the author of nature hath imprinted and imprized in our heartes and mindes as thinges which are ingendred and congenerate with vs such is Religion towardes GOD loue towardes our parentes and reuerence towardes our progenitors And albeit the relique of God his Image is many waies disteyned in vs since the attaindour of our first parentes yet is it not altogether destroyed there alwayes remayned such a resplendent light of that diuine nature as by the which men might naturally and clearely see both what was good and what was not good and conceaue in some sort also what was godly and what was godlesse Indeede the Gentiles aberred from the true knowledge of the Godhead and the true worship thereof yet notwithstanding in this one thing they were well resolued that there was a GOD and that hee was to bee honoured Their Religion was depraued by them yet were not they depriued of Religion but now where it is come to that passe that men thinke eyther that there is no God or no worshippe of God there the minde may bee sayde not to erre but to raue for they alone offend against that notion of God which is ingrauen in the mindes of all men and which ingrafteth a voluntarie Religion and a religious inclination will they nill they in the heart of euerie man Nor was
well pleased Howsoeuer therefore prophane men make small account of that honour which is due vnto the Elders notwithstanding that the same is sacred and to bee compared with the sacrifices which were offered of olde in the Lords Temple it is apparantly manifest by the manifold testimonies of Scripture CHAP. VII Certaine other reasons confuted and the truth confirmed by manie testimonies of Scripture BVt it shall not bee amisse for vs to see in this place how farre out of all order the frenzie of certaine vngodly men will hurrie it selfe who will not onely not deigne to contribute of their owne to the Ministers but they hardly vouchsafe them those honest stipends which they pay vnto them out of the robberies of their owne Churches Out of that one example of Paule they thinke they may set the Minister to plough and harrow or whatsoeuer mannuarie drudgerie that by this meanes all sacred studie might languish and the little flocke of Christ being left desolate of learned Pastors might lie open to the rapine torture of foxes and cater-pillers and wolues of all sortes There is no great neede say they of any great store of Learning in a Minister it is enough if with a little zeale and a few good wordes they can exhort the people to a certaine kind of verbal deuotion and for this the Bible is extant in the mother toong as for the deepe-sprung-brestes of the learned Muses it sufficeth diuines if they may get but a smacke of them by the way or sucke them as through an hardle O diuine wisedome Christ in thy Fathers bosome is not this with that recreant Iulian to enuy thy Christian people the liberall Artes And that which not And thou seest it But let vs returne to Paule who in an Epistle to the Corinthians recounteth of the labour of his handes by the which hee got his owne liuing as a prayse to himselfe and a reproch to the Corinthians shall it followe of this that all Ministers of the Gospell ought to doe the like for so they thinke But now can not I tell whether I shal rather disclaim the impudencie or disdaine the ignorance of these men seeing the Apostle himselfe doth plainely resolue that hee did more in that case then he needed and lesse then hee might For had he not as great right to put them to as great charges as did the other Apostles But for certaine causes hee would not and therefore spared them But who seeth not heere that this the commemoration of the Apostle is a certaine exprobation vnto the people of that dutie they neglected So long as that Epistle shall bee read among men that shame will sticke fast to the Corinthians that they suffered so excellent an Apostle to want in so plentifull a Cittie Doubtlesse therefore it is but too too bad dealing both with Paule and with vs to vrge that which the Apostle was vrged to doe once or twise vpon occasion of necessitie that he might offend no man or least any being offended should say or thinke he preached the Gospell not so much for the loue of religion as for the hope of reward and to passe ouer as neuer seene the more autentike examples of other Apostles and of Paule also himselfe who else where openly testifieth that the Churches had abundantly ministred vnto him all thinges necessary that hee also freely exacted the same thing of them and that of dutie as in the fourth to the Philippians from the tenth verse to the twentie and to Philemon from the eight verse to the nineteene But what is the reason may we thinke that that one place of the Corinthes should bee so much noted which maketh mention of the labour of the Apostle his handes and that notable place of the Actes should bee so little spoken of where it is reported that the faithfull layde the price of their possessions at the Apostles feete and that they left all their substance in their handes And why is not that example of Ananias and Saphira as well quoted who for detracting somewhat of the price of their owne landes were seuerely punished by present death Ingrating couetousnes no doubt and irreligious ingratitude hath made them there as quicke sighted as Argus but here as bleare-eyed as Oules so that thereat they stare herein they are starke blind But that the intoxicate frenzie of these men may appeare the more outragious it shall well requite our paines if in this place we make regarde to the Euangelike precepts of Christ in this cause In the tenth of Mathew and the tenth of Luke wee reade and wee may remember how the Lorde when hee had sent his Apostles to preach the Gospell gaue them authoritie to feede vpon those things that they found amongst the faythfull The labourer saith hee is worthie of his reward And Paule in his first Epistle to Timothie the fift chapter The Elders which rule well sayth he are worthie of double honour especially they which labour in the worde and doctrine For the Scripture saith Thou shalt not mussle the mouth of the Oxe which treadeth out the corne And in his first Epistle to the Corinthians the ninth chapter from the fift verse to the fifteene he maketh a plaine and a plentifull demonstration by seuen seuerall argumentes that they which preach the Gospell ought to liue of the Gospell His first reason is taken from the Soldiour That no man goeth to warre-fare of his owne costes and charges The second is drawne from the husbandmen Who if they plant a vine it is reason that they should eate of the fruite of the vine The third is borrowed of the shepheard Who feed their flockes and are fedde by their flockes And that no man should thinke the Apostle spake of affection he addeth Say I these thinges according to man Namely as a man moued with auarice or carryed away with couetousnesse Nay then he prouoketh of his side the law it selfe which alwayes inioyned vs a certaine ciuilitie and semblable kindnes euen vnto brute beastes if they doe vs any seruice that wee may well knowe how much rather wee ought to performe the same towards men I say towardes men which aboue all men deserue well of all men And this is the fourth argument in that place which he amplifieth by the similitude of him which ploweth and thresheth out the corne for the commoditie thereof It is written in the law of Moses sayth he Thou shalt not mussle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne Doth God take care for Oxen eyther sayth hee not this altogether for our sakes for our sakes no doubt it is written that hee which eareth should eare in hope and that he which thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope The fift argument is drawne from them which sowe corne in hope to make a good haruest If we haue sowne to you sayth he spirituall thinges is it a great thing if wee reape your carnall thinges There is no proportion at
all betweene these thinges we giue you much greater things then we receiue of you The sixt argument is drawne from the diuine institution of God vnder the old Testament because it was then of the Lord ordained that the Priestes and Leuites so many as minister at the Altar should liue of the Altar Doe you not knowe sayth hee that they which minister about holie thinges eate of the thinges of the Temple and that they which waite at the Altar are partakers with the Altar And last of all hee sheweth that the like institution was ordeyned of the Lord vnder the new Testament That they which preach the Gospell shall also liue of the Gospell By which reasons it is made as cleare as noone-day that all Christians are bound in dutie to honour their Pastors And how then should they be excused of ingratitude vngodlines which defraud them of their due honour That the contempt of the Minister redoundeth to God their Maister and that no man so much as God himselfe is thereby held in scorne that one place in the sixt to the Galathians the sixt verse doth abundantly declare which is after this sort Let him that is taught in the worde communicate with him that taught him all his goodes Bee not deceiued God is not mocked For whatsoeuer a man soweth that shall hee also reape for he that soweth to the flesh shall reape corruption but hee that soweth to the spirite shall of the spirite reape life euerlasting Let him which is instructed sayth hee communicate all his goodes Good Lord will some say what meaneth he by this What he meaneth may easily be vnderstood by a Synecdoche by the which he sayth All his goods for part of all his goods How great a part it is not prescribed vnto the old people the tenth part was layd forth vnto the new people no part seeing they owe of dutie vnto Christ their Lord and Sauiour not the tenth onely but the ninth eight seuenth sixt fift and euen the whole and all if the necessitie of the Church requireth so much To this he addeth God is not mocked as if hee should haue saide It is but in vaine that you make so many vaine excuses for here the question is not of mans mainteinance but of God and the Gospels countenance not what honour you shew to man but what due regard ye yeelde vnto God thinke not you pintch on the Parsons side when God himselfe is the partie you may haplie delude them but God will not be dallyed withall Here therefore if wee could but once conceiue the least part of that which all rich men and Nobles Barons Earles Dukes and Kinges themselues doe owe vnto the Ministers of Gods Church and that the same might once bee freely giuen according as Gods lawes doe commaund and the godly dutie of a gratefull minde doth require how great might we think would the treasure of the Church be in a good Christian common-wealth Chap. VIII That the good examples of our fore-fathers prescribe a lawe to their successors WHen our Fore-fathers had well considered that there was no certaine prescription set downe as a lawe vnto them for this matter vnder the Gospel which precisely limited what and howe much euery man was to giue they wisely willingly set downe a law vnto themselues and their successors and they gaue vnto the church tithes oblations glebes and yearly reuenues from out their possessions that thereby the Pastor might bee maintained the poore releeued and the youth instructed The which voluntarie donations are now ratefied vnto the Church by the same lawes which make good to euerie man the propriety of his own possessions Who doubteth of the liberality of the Primitiue Christians which brought the price of their lands to the Apostles but that they might as well haue giuen them the land it selfe if the state of the time and place had bene such But they which did then expect the subuersion of that place and people and looked for no better world vnder those vngodlie Priestes then their Lorde and Sauiour had found before them they thought good to sell all and onely of their meer bountie no man compelling them thereunto they committed al the mony to be at the Apostles curtesie This their example hath beene well followed by our godly forefathers who willingly out of their own wealth haue liberally prouided for the church not for once but for all ages the which thing they thought to be neerly appertaing to their duetie I am not ignorant that this religious action hath degenerated into a preposterous zeale for which cause curteous reader I giue thee to vnderstand that I do not here defend any godles or superstitious donations but onely note vnto thee the great vntowardnes of mans nature which is alwais more prone to ruine into contrary enormities then to run on in the way of harmelesse mediocrity Wee easily stumble from one extreame to another but yet their fall is more tolerable which transgresse in excesse then they which offend in defect as it is alwaies more easie to deduct from aboundance that which is needlesse then to supply in an exigent that which is needful Happely some cur-modgen or cursed Church-robber will scorn at this who haue alredy set down this for their rest ether with a gredy mind to rifle the church or with a galled conscience to reteine that they haue rifled from the church rather then of any godly deuotion to passe any thing of their owne vnto the welfare thereof But let him scorne at me and scorne for me yet let him beware he laugh not God to scorne it sufficeth me if he can so satisfie God CHAP. IX That the oblations of Christians are part of Gods worship ALbeit God be not to be wone by gifts for what needeth he seeing hee needeth not anie yet notwithstanding he requireth som fruit of our religious thoughts and some testimonie of our loyall mind and he will be honored of our earthly substance for this is part of that worship which is due vnto God and in the which wee prooue and professe our selues thankefull for those benefits we haue receiued Do you not know that God will bee so worshipped in spirite and truth that is in mind and faith that in the mean while there be no want of extearne worship in the honour and homage of our bodies For he is the maker and maintainer both of body and soule and therefore of right hee is to be worshipped in them both And are not our bodies the temples of the holy Ghost which dwelleth in vs In like manner seeing hee is also the onely doner of all our wealth and worldly goods of like right he requireth our duty and his honor in this behalfe Whereupon our Lord and Sauiour being mooued in a case of paying tribute to Caesar made this answere That wee must giue vnto God that which is Gods and vnto Caesar that which is due vnto Caesar shewing thereby that there is a tribute due
manner is changed but the kinde remaineth ther is not the like order in circumstance but the same ordinance in substance of the office The chiefe parts of the Priests function were these to teach religion to interprete the law to gouerne the Church to administer the Sacraments to stande between God and the people to make sacrifice to purge sins All which parts albeit our Lord and Sauiour hath only wholly discharged and some of them also so peculiarly improued to himselfe as that they cannot be imparted with any mortall thing besides him selfe yet notwithstanding he hath made many of them of that nature as that without any disparagement to his person they might be left in common to others In deede no sinner can bee made a sufficient mediator between God and man Neyther can he which is not pure from the guilt of sinne him selfe expiat with bloud the sinnes of man or auert by death the wrath of God The auncient Priests bare the figure onely of those more then diuine functions but the thing it selfe was in Christ alone And therfore whosoeuer at this day shal challenge to himself the one of these committeth blasphemy against Christ But as the Lord did nothing in derogation of his heauenly dignity when he gaue power vnto all christians to offer spirituall sacrifice namely the sacrifice of praise and praier c. For al they which in a true faith worship God are made Kings and Priests euen so likewise without any prophanation of his peculiar Priesthood hath he committed the other parts thereof which I touched before namely the teaching of religion the expounding of the law the ministring of the Sacraments the gouerning of the Church and such like I say he hath graunted and demised these and such like parts of his diuine Priesthood to his Apostles Chuch ministers who in this respect may participat the honor of the old Priesthood without impiety may also be called Priests without gealosie The which name although in the first age of the Church we doe not read that it was giuen to the Ministers of the Church least happely the Ministers of the olde Synagogue the new Church might be confounded For as yet the old Priesthood remayned or the flesh memory thereof continued yet afterwards the Fathers did not amis when they renewed the same againe in themselues the Prophet Esay being their author the spirit of God their warrant who diuined long before that God should raise to him selfe Priests Leuits out of the Gentiles Neyther is there any daunger at all in the name at this day were it not for the sacrilege of the Bishop of Rome who hath set vp Altar against Altar Priesthood against Priesthood the sacrifice of the Masse against the sacrifice of Christ inuading by all meanes those partes of the Priesthood which are peculiar to Christ alone of which matter we are not to speake in many words at this time Briefly this we desire may be made knowen to all that we detest the impiety of the Romaine Antichrist for so much as pertaineth to this part of the Priesthood we acknowledge no other Priest but the Lord Iesus In the other parts which we haue noted wee hold that the Apostles other Pastors of the church haue lawfully vndertaken the dignity as of their legacy so of the Priesthood also Now then I ioyne more chosely with them for the issue of their whole argument answere That whatsoeuer in the leuiticall Priestood did fore-shadow the office of Christ is vtterly abolished by the bloudshed of Christ of the which no part may be vsurped by any mortall man Againe that the rites ceremonies outward pomp of the Priesthood as wel in the ornature of the body as the ordinaunce of tithes as they were then challēged are togither deceased by the same meanes but yet that honor which was due to thē in regard of the worthines of theyr holy ministery is by no means impaired perished much lesse The Priesthood of Aaron being abrogated the rights of that Priesthood after their seuerall manner are also abrogated and with them the ministery of the Church is translated from the Tribe of Leuy to the company of Apostles and their successors In whom seeing all things which merit any Honor are greater then they which were in the Leuiticall Priests doth it not necessarily follow that a christiā doth owe no lesse honor to his Pastor then the Iew did perform to his Priest I confesse the duty of tithes oblations after that manner and order they were offered vnder Moyses are ceased vnder Christ Not that christiā people should be lesse bounteous towardes their Pastors then were the Iewish nation towards their Priests but rather that the free people should exceede the seruile and that a christian should doe that of his owne accord which the Iew did by constraint For where as christians haue receyued of the Lord not onely the like graces but farre greater blessings then the Iewes and seeing the Ministery of them whom the Lord hath set ouer his church is in nothing inferior or lesse necessary then the Ministery of the law of force if not rather of duety there remaineth as great a necessity of due honor for this as for that at the least no lesse seeing that what soeuer was ceremonious in the olde oblations of tithes and offerings is so diminished as that what so euer was morall therein reteyneth his force still Had there been no proportion between both these Ministeries the necessary duties of them both the Scripture would neuer haue sayd that As they which minister about holy thinges eate of those thinges whicb are of the Temple and they which waite at the Altar are partakers with the Altar So the Lord hath ordained that they which preach the Gospell should liue of the Gospell That our Sauiour ordayned the Ministery of the Gospell with no ornature of outward beauty no magnificence of worldly statelines as he did of old the Mosaicall ministery it was not to this end that Christians should doe lesse Honor to theyr Pastors then did of old the Israelites but for that the worthines thereof is such that it needeth no outward ornaments The which notwithstāding if it may haue it is not magnified therin if it may not haue it is not diminished therefore But where the ministery of the Gospell is receyued in a triumph as it were of publique authority there al worldly goods ought to supply to the Honor of our Sauiour and the health of his seruants so that they may be denied where they are proffered and requested where they they are denied according as the cause the time the place the people doe require As for the seruants of Christ they ought to be ready for all assayes for honor and dishonor good report and euill report plenty and pouerty life and death for that they are to vse this world as not vsing it the fashion whereof passeth away God vnder
a secrete consent as it were of the whole world and so that certain portions were designed for the Bishops allowance others also for the other Priests and Ecclesiasticall persons which were in ordinarie residence in euery Cathedrall Church and last of all other Priestes also were ordained by the Bishops euerie where through the cuntrie ouer parish Churches with standing titles who were by that meanes called to a perticular part of the coÌ„mon charge with the Bishop least that which was to bee cared for by all should bee neglected of euerie one as it commonly commeth to passe there is no doubt had none of the Church goodes beene taken from the Cleargie but by this meanes the poore and needie should haue beene much better prouided for by the seueral Cleargie-men of euery particular territorie then when the fourth part of the remaines of the Church goodes were imployed to their vse in common and that also with more ease and much lesse murmure But the trumperie not the pouertie of the Church Munkes and Nunnes and such others which were called religious persons purloyning that fourth part vnder the title of Euangelike pouertie which they professed haue vtterly robbed both the Cleargie and the pouertie and haue brought in a straunge and wonderfull disorder into the auncient ordering of Church goodes so that that part which of olde was due vnto the poore is now in the winding vp deuolued to the rich that I may omit the manifold abuses of Impropriations and Commendams such other shifting sacrilegious titles Ambrose in his thirtie and one Epistle the fift booke The possessions saith he of the Cleargie are the prouisions of the needie and therefore let the Churches keepe reckoning of this how many captiues they haue redeemed how many poore they haue refreshed how many exiles they haue harbored For the Church hath golde not to purse but to disburse and to releeue the necessities of the needie What profite is it to keepe that which profiteth not Augustine also in his treatise vppon Iohn the one and twentith chapter disputeth of that right which the Apostles and Ministers haue by the worde of GOD to receyue carnall things of them vnto whom they minister spirituall things They giue gold saith he and they receyue grasse And in his tenth Tome there is extant no lesse then a whole Homilie concerning the paying of tythes as of dutie Hierome also in his third chapter vpon Malachie amongst other thinges which concerne this opinion hath these wordes That which we say of tythes and first fruits which of olde were giuen of the people to the Priestes and Leuites vnderstand yee also to concerne the people of the Church who are commaunded not onely to pay tythes and first fruites but also to sell all that they haue and giue to the poore and to follow the Lord. The which so great a matter if we will not performe yet at the least lets vs imitate the beginnings of the Iewes that wee may giue part of all vnto the poore and affoord the Priests and Leuites their due honour For which cause the Apostle sayth Honour the widdowes which are true widowes And That the Elder is to bee honored with double honour especially he which laboureth in worde and doctrine the which dutie who so now will not performe hee is proued thereby to defraude and supplant God himselfe and hee is cursed therefore of God in the penurie of all things so that he which soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly and hee which soweth liberally shall reape liberally c. Many other thinges of like sort may wee read in that place to this sense But if I should repute vnto you whatsoeuer the Fathers haue written of this argument I should but repeate the same things and be tedious to the Reader in a matter of no controuersie Chap. XIII A distinction of Church goods THe goods of the Church are not all of one fort for there are some which coÌ„sist in the oblations of the people some in proper possessions some in rents and reuenewes some in lawfull fees and ancient roialties Al the which are commonly distinguished into two seuerall kinds whereof some are called Spirituall and some accounted Temporall But seeing these tearmes do neyther so fitly nor yet so fully expresse the nature of these things more proper words were to be deuised by more perfect Ciuilians For vnto that which is Temporall there is nothing in nature opposite but that which is Eternall and to that which is Spiritual nothing is contrary but that which is Carnal or corporal They therefore speak more aptly of these thinges who for the worde Temporall vse the words Ciuil and humane and for Spiritual the words Sacred holy and diuine Now albeit that ought generally to be accounted holy sacred whatsoeuer is consecrated to God and his Ministerie yet notwithstanding they cal oblations because they more nearely concerne God and his seruice more properly sacred and diuine thinges not so much for distinction sake as for that the condition and proprietie therof is such But humane and ciuil goods they account the fields and possessions of the Church for that in nature and condition they are not vnlike vnto those which other Citizens possesse and are therefore giuen vnto the Cleargie that not onely in the Church but also in the common-wealth they may be of good estate and wel able to maintaine the credit of the place and person they sustaine the which by no good meanes they can be able to vphold if in worldly welth they be so curtold and kept so thread-bare as that they cannot be in case to be as bountifull as other men Great matters are looked for at the hands of the Cleargie as hospitalitie releeuing the poore and such other thinges which Christ himselfe not onely taught but in person performed in some good sort And is it not a shame for a Bishop to exhort others vnto charitie towards the poore and needie and himselfe neither to put the same in practise nor yet to be able But least any man should thinke that this distinction came out of the Popes Mint and therefore to bee reiected he shal vnderstand by those things we haue now cited that it is the Fathers the autentike Fathers Ambrose in his Epistle de tradendis basilicis maketh mention of the collations of the people and the fields which the Church possessed Wherefore the gifts and oblations of the faithfull which they offer of their owne accord are to be accounted holy goods goâ—â—s sacred and diuine because in that case the chiefe respect is not of man but of God Vnder this kinde we comprise the paiment of tenthes and tythes also albeit there bee great difference betwene those tythes which eyther now the people pay of their owne voluntarie not constrained or haue of olde religiously vndertaken by a lawe imposed vpon themselues and their posteritie to pay vnto the Ministers those tythes which Princes gaue vnto them and laid out for them by their
power or hath he by any counsell aduised them to withdraw their bountie from his seruantes or that they should haue no regard of those duties they haue performed or not to grace with titles of honour their honest demerits of whose truth wisdom they haue made great vse had great experience Nabuchadnezer preferred Daniel amongst the Babilonians Darius aduanced Mardocheus among the Persians and shall it not be lawfull for a Christian King to honor the seruants of Christ for their religion that vpon a certain religion forsooth That the meane may be exceeded no man doubteth namely when as diuine honors are giuen to mortal men or where immoderate dignities are ambitiously affected of them who ought to be the patterns of modestie the Doctors of humilitie but yet that ciuil honour cannot bee thought immoderate but of immoderate men which according to the custome of the Cuntry is giuen for iust causes by the aduised Prince to his approued Subiects How many most holy men whose liues were only priuat yet publikly renowned which haue suffered themselues to be called Lords witnesse the two Testaments 3. Reg. 18. Did not Abdias the seruant of K. Achab meeting with Elias salute him by the name of Lord 4. Reg. 4. Was not Elizeus honored of the Sunamite by the name of Lord Did not the keeper of the prison call Paul and Barnabas by the name of Lordes Acts. 16. And yet the modestie of their mindes notwithstanding was no lesse then that of Peter who would not suffer himselfe to bee honored of Cornelius aboue measure We read of Paul Barnabas how they rent their clothes and ran into the throng repealed the diuine honors which Iupiters Priest with the peple would haue done vnto them and verely if so bee in the name of Lord ther had bene any such eminent honor or imminent danger as som think they would haue refused that I conclude therefore that in a Christian common-wealth which is the Church of Christ all externe things as wealth riches preferment and ciuill honours may bee referred of all and euerie the faythfull of any calling or condition whatsoeuer to the glorie of GOD and the good of the Church and the benefite of the common-wealth For so indeede they ought to bee referred With the which I include this also that the seruantes of Christ ought so to prepare themselues both for honour and ignominie both for wealth and want as that they may vse all thinges aright to the honour of God and edifiyng of his Church Chap. XXIX Of the Bishop familie and retinue BEsides all this the Bishops retinue ordinarie attendants are no small motes in the eies of some that cannot without enuie behold the same For doe they not therein imitate the peeres and potentates of the lande Not Christ I warrant you not Peter not Paule were euer thus garded But alâs poore popular and child-pleasing speech simple are the men whom these faire wordes make faine for I dare be bold to say that the retinue of Christ his Apostles was as honorable as it might be in respect of the time the thing for the which he came into the world much more honorable should haue beene if God had meant to restore mankind after an other sort then he did And yet as it was our Lord and Sauiour was not without aboue fourescore men in his family which waited vpon him whither he went or went before him whither he was to come I but there were no gallant Gentlemen to braue it in their chains of gold there were no barbed steeds to praunce it in their siluer studded raynes In that solemne pompe when Christ would shewe his glorie vnto the Cittie hee was well mounted vppon a sorie Asse attended with the simple companie of his weake Disciples I but this againe is but a popular perswasion in the which ther is nor pith nor rind against the thing in question Will they neuer learne that our Sauiour after that manner prouided for that season least eyther hee should incurre the suspicion of affecting an earthly kingdome or other-wise might haue hindered the worke of our redemption Doubtles had he bene knowen in his kind to Herod to Pilate and to the chiefe Priests that which the people did of a good zeale they would haue done for their own aduancement but then would they neuer haue crucified the Lord of glorie Neither would he which tooke in good worth the honor of that oyntment which was powred vpon him and receiued royall presents of the wise men golde myrhe and frankincense haue euer refused that honour which was due vnto him from all earthly Princes might it haue stoode with the saluation of mankind But is not this a worthy kind of arguing which is vsed aswel against the Papists as against vs to reason from the times actions of a faithles people to the times and duties of a christian nation neither doe I commend in our Bishops either pride or ryot or any superfluous excesse but this I say that that retinue is not to be disalowed which the receaued and continued custome of the countrey requireth It was an auncient custome in the Church that a Bishop should neuer walke forth alone or be alone hee had records and eie-witnesses of al his actions Now they which are more indifferent to Bishops had rather they should bee attended with gown-mē the which I also had rather But let vs weigh the matter in an euen ballaunce for they which would haue the Bishops retinue to be men of his owne quality seeme to say some-what and to stand to the examples of the ancient Fathers But it is wel knowen that our BB. are neuer without such also Wherefore the question is now of the number which cannot bee prescribed to all alike for that their reuenues are not all alike But go too let vs once againe alow Bishops their ancient attendants The more there is of them the greater is his family so a greater number of seruants and so a greater retenue by ods then is as this day and shall not their enuy also increase with the company for company But the seruing mens swords and the Gentlemens chains do gall them at the heart and paine them in their eies as if good men it were a thing misbeseming the calling of christians that a Bishop shuld be attended by Gentlemen whether old or young That yong Gentlemen and wel nurtered should be preferred to some godly BB. that they may attend his person and marke his maners therby become the better and better learned there no is no man without an enuious eye that can mislike the same Bishops houses haue bene alwaies Colliges of learned men and schooles of al virtue and what hindreth that they may not now be But least I should seme to haue taken vpon me the patrociny rather of BB. then of their calling I may not seeme to set forth the virtues of any which at this