of him as he did his Dutchy of Normandy and do him Homage for it which would add a great Honour to that Crown Then was he be-before-hand with Pope Alexander to make Religion give Reputation to his Pretended Right he promised likewise to hold it of the Apostolick See if he prevailed in his Enterprize whereupon the Pope sent him a Banner of the Church with an Agnus of Gold and one of the hairs of Saint Peter And he likewise by great Promises got his own Brother Odo Bishop of Baieux to furnish him with Forty Ships for his Expedition After William had with great difficulty got the Battel at Hastings wherein King Herold happen'd to be kill'd with an Arrow in his Eye some of his Nobility with all their Power strove to establish Edgar Atheling the next of the Royal Issue in his Right to the Crown but the false Bishops rather bent to let in a Foreign Enemy being fool'd by him with fair Promises than to assist the Native Prince and by their Example drew in the Nobility to trust to his Personal Oath made at his Coronation before the Altar of St. Peter to defend the Holy Church that was the Papist Church and the Rectors and to Govern the Universal People according to the Laws but this Oath and his Promises were as weak to bind him as the single hair of St. Peter he had got from the Pope for as soon as he had Establish'd himself he was not such a Fool to do Homage for England to the French King nor to hold the same of the Apostolick See nor to defend the Bishops and Abbots in their fat Bishopricks and Abbies but as Cambden saith He made such clear work with them that he did not leave one English Ecclesiastick whom he thrust not out of his place and fill'd their Rooms with Erench Sr. Johns And for the English Nobility he drove some to fly to Scotland some to Norway some to Hungary and any other Places where they could be received till in the end he had totally destroyed them and filled their Places with French Contes and to shew himself no partial Dealer with those who would trust his word he spared not his own Brother Odo the Bishop of Baieux but notwithstanding the Forty Ships with which he had Supplied him on promise of better dealing he seized and Confiscated all his Treasure which he had which was very great and hoarded up with an Intention to have bought the Papacy And it is no wonder if mali Corvi malum ovum And he practised the same deceit against themselves and their false Religion had taught him towards others for let a Papist Prince swear never so many Oaths to Papists of his own Religion and break them all the same Religion fits him with Popes enough at his Elbow to Confess and Absolve him instantly or if he doubts his Trencher-Popes cannot do it he can have for Money his Unholiness himself to Absolve him from any Oath Covenant or League with any other Papist Prince whether of Peace or War and how many Examples are there of the same And more easily can he do it with his own Subjects as Dan. Hist fol. 143. King John a Papist King forswore himself to Papist Subjects being Absolved from his Oath by the Pope King John for the Glory of God and Emendation of the Kingdom in Parliament makes Articles of Agreement between him and the Barons wherein are Confirmed all the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom and Mutual Oaths taken on both sides by the King and Barons in Solemn manner for the Observation of the same Articles The King likewise sends his Letters Patents to all Sheriffs of the Kingdom to cause all Men of what degree soever within their several Shires to Swear to observe the Laws and Liberties thus granted by his Charter There we see a Papist King agrees with Papist Subjects on Oath in the highest manner and both the King and Barons and the whole Body of the People of what degree soever are solemnly Sworn before God And the Laws and Liberties are likewise Confirmed by Act of Parliament But the next News in the History we hear of is He hath some Papist evil Councellors who tell him he was now a King without a Kingdom a Lord without a Dominion and a Subject to his Subjects whereon this Papist King sends to the Pope and by Bribery he Absolves the King from his Oath Nullifies the Act of Parliament and Excommunicates the Lords Now therefore let it be shewn how these Papist Lords being laid in the Pickle of Excommunication and not having Personam standi in Judicio could have done to have bound the Conscience of their Papist King to have performed to them his Contract Covenant League and Oath or let it be no wonder if Protestants are very fearful to have a Successor of such a Religion or if they think that these Lords had not been more happy if they had had a Protestant King or of any Religion which would have bound his Conscience to have kept his Word and much more his Oath to his Subjects The Papist Lords grown Desperate of Right from their English Papist King run into the other Extreme and will Trust themselves to the Oath of a Foreign Papist King seeing their own would not keep his they send therefore over-Sea and go in great haft to Louys the French Kings Son to Sollicit him to take upon him the Crown of England who is their tres humble Serviteur and as ready to Swear to them as they to him A French Oath pretended surer than an English and to make wise to them that a French Oath was surer than an English over therefore he comes to England in Person with as great a Fleet and Army as the Power of France could make on so likely hopes of a Conquest incouraged by so great a Power of the English Barons who call'd them in and joyned with them and being Landed in Kent in May the Lords bring him to London where he takes his Solemn Oath to Restore their Laws and Liberties and recover their right for them King John who had first forsworn himself was notwithstanding in the Field with another Army against King Louys but fell into a Feaver and Died or as some say was poisoned On his Death many of the English Lords hoping to find more Truth in the Son than in the Father returned from Louys to their Native King and suddenly Crowned Henry the Third the eldest Son of King John being then but Nine years old in a great Parliament Assembled at Gloucester 28 Octob. by which Parliament his Tutelage by Reason of his Minority was Committed to the Great Marshal William Earl of Pembrook a Man Eminent both in Courage and Council And it is likewise to be noted That this Henry was begotten by King John of Isabel the Daughter and Heir of Aymer Earl of Angloulesm who was before the Marriage pre-contracted to Hugh le Brun Earl of March
which was to them a Just and Necessary Right though it had been so long delay'd and was a Restitutio Naturalium and no less yea rather a more necessary Right though it hath been longer delayed were an Act of Legitimation of the Children of all Protestant Parents born between June 14. 1641. and March 24. 1660 who at the time of their begetting were not prohibited by the Moral Law of God to Contract Marriage would be Restitutio Natalium Restitutio Natalium as necessary to the Relief of the Children of such as suffered for his Majesty in his Dominions as Restitutio Naturalium to such as were born beyond Sea And be a great Relief to the Children of such Parents as Suffered for his Majestie in his Dominions and are far more in number than such Children as happened to be born beyond Sea there having been so many whose Necessities Disabled them to transport themselves from the Danger at home yet could not avoid it by staying here but living in fear of the power of the Sword Dared neither to Marry by the Common Prayer-Book because prohibited nor by the Ordinances of Parliament because by such Publication of themselves they had been Exposed to have been seised on by their Enemies So it seems either such Act of Legitimation or the former Act of Confirmation of Marriages will be Just and Necessary for the Suffering-Party not yet Relieved 5. If Bishops acknowledg in deed what they alledge in words Not necessary for a King to be Marryed by a Priest or Common-Prayer Book Supremacy in Causes Ecclesiastical in the King then must they acknowledg Supremacy of Marriage to be in him because they alledg Marriage to be a Cause Ecclesiastical and they themselves De facto Exercise the supremacy of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in it and if they give him Supremacy of Jurisdiction of Marriage in general They much more give Supremacy of Jurisdiction of his own Marriage in particular for majus continet minus Et cui licet quod majus est non aequum est quod minus non Licere If therefore a King of England hath Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of his own Marriage and neither Pope nor Bishop can null or invalidate any Mariage of the King his Predecessors to Depose him from his Throne nor any Marriage of his own to Dis-inherit his Lineal Heir from the Succession Jus Coronae in the King relating to Marriage and Succession as shall be after further shewn is different from that of Subjects and as is by the Bishops themselves affirmed Canon 2. The same Supremacy belongs to the King which belonged to the godly Kings of the Jewes who could thereby marry themselves without Priest or Bishop The matter therefore must come to this Push If the Bishop acknowledg the King hath Supreme Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of his own Marriage and no longer under a Guardian of the Spiritualities then must he acknowledg he may Exercise the Acts of such Supremacy for frustra est illa potentia quae nunquam reducitur in actum And if he will acknowledg the King to be Supreme Ordinary as all the Common Law-Books do then must he acknowledg he may Exercise all Acts of a Supreme Ordinary But if he will not acknowledg him to have Ecclesiastical Supremacy and to be Supreme Ordinary and to have the same Supremacy the godly Kings of the Jewes had of their own Marriages Then must the Bishop shew a sign of his Mission from God to Exercise Supremacy and to be Supreme Ordinary over Marriages of Kings which neither Pope nor Bishop nor Priest ever could or can do Now all the height of Ecclesiastical Supremacy of Marriage whereof human Power is Capable A. King may dispence with Malum Probibitum in his own Marriage but not with Malum in S◠is to Dispence with Malum Prohibitum but not with Malum in se Malum Prohibitum is that which is Prohibited only by some positive Law of Man Malum in se is that which is Prohibited by the Moral Law of God As Prohibitions of Marriage without Banns Licence Ceremony Common Prayer-Book Priest or Temple these make only Mala Prohibita Because Prohibited only by the Positive Laws of Men and not by the Moral Law of God and Vnumquodque Dissolvitu◠eodem modo quo conflatum est All Lawes made of Marriage by men may be again dispenced changed repealed and abrogated by men who have the Supremacy of Marriage But Adultery Fornication Desertion of Virgins after Deslouring Divorce of a Wife without cause Abdication of a Natural Child without Crime charging a Child on a wrong Father charging adulterous or false Children on the Husband of a Woman Married by a Priest in a Temple c. These are Mala in se Because prohibited by the Moral Law of God which is Eternal and Immutable and cannot therefore be dispenced with or confirmed but all Lawes Customs Canons and Acts of Parliament Dispencing or Confirming any of these are void A King therefore who hath Supremacy Ecclesiastical may Dispence with all Mala prohibita if there were any in his own Marriage He may Self-Marry himself A King being Supreme Ordinary may Marry himself without Ceremonies by the Law of the Land as the Kings of Israel and Judah did without a Priest Banns Lycence Book of Cannons Common Prayer-Book Temple or any Ceremony And being Supreme Ordinary as the Kings of Israel and Judah were needs not the Bishops Certificate but may Certifie his own Marriage according to the Moral Law of God And this is clear and unanswerable by any who doth not deny the Supremacy Ecclesiastical 6. As Supremacy in the Person of the King inables him to Dispence with and Confirm his own Marriage in manner before said So à fortiore the Supremacy of this Statute made by the Supreme Legislative Power both of the King and Parliament united can clear the Marriage therein intended from all the Mala Prohibita laid on it for no Mala Prohibita could be laid on it but by some former Common-Law Custom Canon or Statute-Law But this Statute hath Supremacy of all those for Leges Posteriores Priores contrarias abrogant Latter Laws abrogate all former which are contrary So all contrary Laws which were before of Marriage Filiation Heirship Succession and Certificates of Bishops contrary to the intention of this Statute for the Safety of the Lady his Companion and their Eldest Son and Heir are by the same Intention abolished 7. As this Statute had Power to Enact what it Intended So is it manifest This Statute intended not that Marrlage or Filiation should be tryed by Certificate of the Bishop that it never intended to restrain the Companion Royal to be one Married by the Mass-Book or Book of Canons or their Eldest Son and Heir to be only one so made by the Certificate of a Bishop for Edward the Third who was the Author of this Statute was one of the most Wise Valiant Kings at that time
Wife of God's making shall by him be call'd though he false Translate Scripture for it Concubine and Whore And a Whore and Adulteress of the Bishops making shall be call'd a Wife of God's making of which Episcopal Abuses to get Money I shall only cite one Practique in Scotland and after some others in England Craig Feudorum Fo. 230. saith Memini Robertum Magistrum de Semphil Patrem Roberti nunc Principem illius familiae cùm ex concubinatu Joannae Hamiltoniae hunc ipsum filium suscepisset ei impensè faveret in Articulo Mortis cù sibi decedendum videret ad Aedem sacram se in Lecticâ deferri curaret ibique nuptiis solemniter peractis cùm domum rediisset Octavo pòst die fatis concessisse Ex quo subsequente Matrimonio licet in Lecto agritudinis in quo Decessit solemniter peracto filius antea susceptus non minùs in Haereditate successit quà m si ex legitimo Matrimonio natus fuisset I remember that Robert the Master of Semphil Father of Robert now chief of that Family when he had begotten him by his Concubine Madam Joane Hamilton and intirely loved him He being at point of Death when he saw himself past hopes caused himself to be carried to the Holy Church in a Litter and there the Ceremonies of Marriage being solemnly perform'd when he was brought back again to his House he died eight dayes after from which subsequent Marriage although in the bed of Sickness wherein he deceased the Son begot before did as Lawfully succeed to the Inheritance as if he had been begot in Lawful Matrimony And why should not the Lady have been call'd Wife but Concubine and the Son have succeeded without so barbarous a Ceremony as hurrying a Dying Man to a Priest and a Temple when he was gasping for another world to get a Wife in this an Act more proper to hasten his Death and Burial than Marriage and to have been abhorred by all Dutiful Children had they not been compell'd by the Tyranny of such Popish Ecclesiastical Laws as to the Dishonour of the two so Renown'd Protestant Kingdoms in Great Britain are Tolerated to prey worse than Death on them and their Posterity But of the false Translations of Scripture by Bishops in all other words related to Marriage see more at large Lib. 2. cap. 1. 142 ad 162. Of certain differences between a Wife of the Bishop's making and Wife of God's making which make the first neither within the Law of God nor the Statute There 's no Protestant Nation in Christendom wherein the Jurisdiction usurped by Bishops is so high and Extravagant in making other Mens Wives and Children for them as in England 1. The first difference between a Wife of the Bishop's making and of God's making is The former lets herself to Hire to him who will give most Jointure Dower or Thirds for her but the latter doth neither buy nor sell her Husband but he keeps his own and she hers both Money Goods and Lands Concerning mercenary Marriages Vid. Lib. 1. cap. 6.113 Vsque ad 118. 2. A Wife of the Bishops making hath Power to Steal and Esloigne all her Husband's Substance and to put it into the hands of his Enemies for her own use and he can have no account against her because as is already shewn Lib. 1. p. 70. The Bishop by his Sacrament of Marriage hath Transubstantiated two persons into one person but the Wife of Gods making is under account and nothing keeps a Steward Faithful but Account 3. The Wife of the Bishops making hath Power given her by the Benediction of a Priest in a Temple if she is not able her self to hire unknown persons with her Husbands Goods to Rob Beat and Disseise her Husband and Esloigne his Goods and no remedy against her But a Wife of Gods making though she hath Gods Benediction which is above the Priests hath no such power but there 's remedy against her 4. The Wife of the Bishops making hath Power to lay all her secret and unknown debts true and feigned by her Confederates and as many as she will on her husband and to undo him and no remedy against her 5. The Wife of the Bishops making hath Power by the Benediction of a Priest in a Temple to commit as many Trespasses either with Tongue or hand truly or by Confederacy with complices as often as she pleases making her husband pay Damages till undone and he hath no remedy 6. A Wife of the Bishops making hath full Power by virtue of the said Benediction to hire Adulterers with her Husbands Goods and Money to get Children to succeed to them and he has no remedy Adulteresses protected and the Son of an Adulterer made Heir before the Lawful Child of the Husband by Episcopal Certificat 7. A Wife of the Bishops making if she hath a Daughter by her Husband and Elope and run away from him with another man and hath Issue by her New Companion the Adulterer her Eldest Son this Son of the Adulterer shall be Heir to the Husbands Inheritance though he were the greatest Peer in the Land Yea though he had an Elder Daughter before of his own begetting by her As appears 7 H. 4. fo 9. Where the Case was That Julian took to Husband John de C. in the County of York and was Married at Fleetsham and the said John had Issue by her W After the said Julian Eloped and went into the County of N. and it being not Felony in those daies took to Husband W. B. and he had Issue by her W. her Eldest Son who after sued to be Heir to John and the true Heir of John objected against him the Elopement of his Mother â—â—dian and his being begotten by the Adulterer and not by John On which Justice Rikhill gives Judgment That if John were within the Four Seas at the time of the begetting of W. then W. was the Son and right Heir-Male of John The Calf his whose Cow is Bull'd by anothers Bull. And of this he giveth a good Lusty Reason For saith he who that Bulleth my Cow the Calf is mine And my Lord Coke Com. 244 doth on the Margin refer to this Authority of Justice Rikhill and agrees with him as right as a Gun and adds over That no Proof ought to be admitted to the contrary and therein I think none will Envy Justice Rikhill or my Lord Coke who I think were within the Four Seas and never out to enjoy the Liberty of Conscience in disposing their own Goods how they please But there appears no Reason why they should deny the same Liberty of Conscience to all the rest of their fellow Subjects who live within the same Four Seas to dispose of their own Goods as they think Just neither ought they by so unequal a Sentence to have given away the Successions of True and Lawful Heirs without allowing them hearing or witnesses to those who are false and adulterous And
therefore from such Wives of the Bishops making Injust for a Prince much more for a Judge or Bishop to force an Heir on another and such Judges of Marriage Filiation and Succession of the same making Libera nos Domine Iniquum est aliquem haeredem invito à Principe dari Craig Feâ—d 267. much more must it be for a Judge or Bishop Object 6. There is no Bishops Certificate of the Marriage and Filiation The Form of the Bishops Certificate of Marriage Cok. Lib. Intra fo 181. In Dower on a Nunquam fuit in legitimo Matrimonio copulata pleaded A Writ is sent to the Bishop to Certifie who returns this Certificate Et praedictus Episcopus per literas suas Patentes Clausas c. And the foresaid Bishop by his Letters Patents and Close hath Certified to the Justices here That by virtue of the foresaid Writ to him directed Convocating before him such of right as are to be Convocated hath diligently Enquired and Certified the truth of the matter That in the Chappel of B. in the County of G. in the Diocess of L. the Sixth day of Aug. An. 1606. Matrimony true pure and lawful per verba de praesenti according to the Form and Rites of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England between the said A. B. and C. B. was solemnized by one Mr. A. U. Clork in the prosence of J.J. W.B. W. W. R.M. Witnesses in this part by the said Bishop examined and sworn and of other Witnesses then present the said A. B. and C. D. his Wife being of Lawful Age and of all other Matrimonial Contracts free cleer and clean as the Witnesses so sworn and examined believe The Form of the Bishops Certificate of Bastardy Rast Lib. Intra 105. b. On a Plea of Bastardy pleaded and a Writ to the Bishop to Certifie he makes a Return Venerabilibus viris Justiciarijs in Brevi Regio praesentibus annex specific permissione Divinâ C. Episcopus c. Certificamus quòd diligentem solertem fieri fecimus Inquisitionem de materijs in Brevi praedict ' Content ' per quam invenimus per Legitimas in hâc parte probationes alia in hâc parte Canonicè requisit ' quòd infra nominat ' N.H. de T. A. H. de P. J. H. de P. P. H. de P. Bastardi sunt quilibet corum Bastardus est prout praedict ' R. B. in Brevi praedict ' nominat ' placitando allegavit non Legitimè prout praedict ' N. A. J. E. placitando allegarunt hoc idem nobis satis constat We Certify That we have made diligent and cunning Inquisition of the Matters contain'd in the Writ by which we find by Lawful Proofs and other things Canonically in this behalf required that the within named N. H. of T. A. H. of P J.H. of P. and E. H. of P. are Bastards and every of them is a Bastard as the said R. H. in his Writ aforesaid named in Pleading hath alledg'd and not Legitimate as the said N. A. J. and E. have in Pleading alledg'd and this appears cleer enough to us Having shewn the Form of these Certificates what they are I now answer to the Objection 1. That the Letter of the Statute not mentioning either Marriage Legitimation Bishop or Certificate there needs no Proof or use of these at all but it is sufficient to prove a Lady Companion De Facto and an Eldest Son de Facto as mention'd in the Statute 2. Admit there was a Marriage or Legitimation to be proved the Statute doth not limit to any special manner of Probation but leaves liberty to make Probation qu cunque modo as in all other Matters 3. A Penal Statute cannot be extended by Equity to make Treason against an Heir so made only by Certificate of the Bishop feeing the Letter of the Statute makes not any such Treason and it would be of very dangerous Consequence to make any Intentional or Express Statute to give Power to any Bishop or Arch-Bishop to declare Kings or their Successors by Certificates under pain of Treason for then is the old Papal Power and greater than the Papal put into their hands of making and deposing them at their pleasure either under Pain of Excommunication or Treason and the power of Declaring or laying the Penalty of Treason in the Bishop would be greater than it was of Excommunication in the Pope 4. It is manifest that the Wise and Renowned King Edward the Third the Author of this Statute as hath been already shewn never intended they should have thereby any such Power or Pretence which though sufficient to answer the Objection I shall give some further Touch of the Mischiefs that insue by them to the People as well as to Princes Of the Mischiefs that insue of Bishops Certificates of Marriage and Filiation which Certifie other kinds of Heirs than the Heir intended by this Statute The Original of Certificates of Marriage came not from Christ but from the Priests of Priapus and the Devil 1. The Original of Bishops Certificates of Marriage and Filiation came not from Christ or his Apostles for we neither find that he or they ever Contracted or Married any Man and Woman nor gave Certificate of Marriage or Filiation themselves nor Precept to their Successors to do the same 2. The only Original of them which can be found came from the Priests of Priapus who forbid all Marriages except by the Ceremonies of a Priest in a Temple of which kind of unclean Priests I shall only here repeat a short Note before mentioned from Cornelius Agrippa de Van. Scient p. 738. in these words Sordidissimus Priapus pro Deo habitus hunc coluerunt primi illi Religionum artifices Chaldaei Aegyptii Assyrii Babylonii Arabes Scythae Aethiopes ac perinde tota Africa Asia Europa nec fas erat ullum Sacerdotem fiori qui Priapi sacris non crat initiatus Hic est ille Belphegor Idolum omnium antiquissimum quod est Chamos dictum à Chamo filio Noe. The filthy Priapus was reputed a God him worshipped the first Founders of superstiâ—ous Religions The Chaldaeans Egyptians Assyrians Babylonians Arabians Scythians Ethyopians and almost all Africa Asia and Europe neither was it lawful for any to be made a Priest unless he was first Initiated in the Sacred Rites of Priapus This is Belphegor of all other the most ancient Idol which is likewise call'd Chamos from Cham the Son of Noah That these Priests of Priapus who is the same with Baal-Peor and Milcom had their Doctrine of compelling Women and Men to be Married by Priests with Ceremonies from the Devil appears by what use they put it to Numb 25.1 And the People began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab and they call'd the People to the sacrifice of their Gods and the People did eat and bowed down to their Gods and Israel joyned himself to Baal Peor And in the Scripture Idolatry
Facto by the Birth of a Child Secondly That such Marriage and Matrimony between Persons not prohibited by the Moral Law are Lawful I prove 1 The Lawfulness of such Marriage and Matrimony in Respect no Prohibition by the Law of God of the same though without Ceremony 1. Because all Marriage and Matrimony is Lawful which is not Prohibited by the Moral Law of God but these are not Prohibited by the Moral Law of God Therefore they are Lawful Prohibition of Marriage without Ceremony not Prohibited by the Law of God is the Doctrine of Devils The Major is proved 1 Tim. 4.1 Because all Humane Laws forbidding Marriages or Meats which are not forbidden by the Moral Law of God are declared to come from the Devil and to be the Doctrine of Devils And accordingly all Papal and Episcopal Laws all Ecclesiastical Canon and Civil Laws all Decrees of Councils of Trent or any other Councils or Synods forbidding to Marry in any Circumstance or Ceremony not forbidden by the Law of God came from the Devil and are the Doctrine of Devils which see proved Lib. 1. p. 52. And that the final cause of such Prohibitions of Marriage without Pontifical Ceremonies The final Cause of such Prohibitions is only filthy Lucre of the Priests are only accumulation of Fees and Ambition of Pontiffs and Bishops Vid. Lib. 1. p. 55 56 57. 2. All Marriage and Matrimony is Lawful which is not a Sin or a Transgression but such Marriage and Matrimony which are not Prohibited by the Law of God are no Sin or Transgression Therefore they are Lawful The Minor is proved 1 Joh. 3.4 Sin is the Transgression of the Law And Rom. 4.15 Where no Law no Transgression Where no Law is there is no Transgression 3. What is declared no Sin by Scripture is lawful but Marriage between persons not Prohibited is declared no Sin by Scripture therefore Lawful The Minor is proved 1 Cor. 7.28 If thou marry thou hast not sinned and if a Virgin marry she hath not sinned 4. What is commanded by Scripture is Lawful and not Prohibited But Marriage and Matrimony is commanded by Scripture to young Women therefore Lawful The Minor is proved 1 Tim. 5.14 I will therefore the young women marry bear Children 5. What is in Scripture commanded and blessed between persons not Prohibited is Lawful and not Prohibited But Marriage and Matrimony by Carnal knowledge and multiplying Mankind is commanded and blessed in Scripture Therefore Lawful The Minor is proved Gen. 1.27 Male and Female â—reated he them And God blessed them and said unto them Increase and Multiply and replenish the earth 6. What is rewarded in Scripture in Persons not Prohiâ—ited is Lawful and not Prohibited but Marriage and Matrimony between Persons not Prohibited is rewarded Therefore â—awful The Minor is proved 1 Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Childbearing if she continue in Faith and Charity and Holiness with Sobriety The Lawfulness of Marriage which is not Prohibited by the Law of God is acknowledged by the Church of England Which I prove thus All Marriage acknowledged Lawful by the 39 Articles is acknowledged Lawful by the Church of England but the present Marriage whether there are any Witnesses alive or no to prove it Ceremonial is acknowledged Lawful by the 39 Articles Therefore the present Marriage is acknowledged Lawful by the Church of England The Minor is proved thus All Marriage not Prohibited by the Law of God is acknowledged lawful by the 39 Articles But the present Marriage is not Prohibited by the Law of God Therefore the present Marriage is acknowledged Lawful by the 39 Articles Though it is no ways necessary amongst so many clear and unanswerable Precepts and Examples of Scripture it self as are here cited establishing the Lawfulness of the present Marriage to add the Humane Authority of the Church of England or any other National Church yet in regard the Bishops in their Practice and Certificates deny that Doctrine of the Lawfulness of Marriage which they themselves acknowledge and pretend to establish in their own Book of Articles To confute therefore those Certificates of theirs out of their own mouths I have here inserted their own 32d Article without which they are not able to secure the Lawfulness of their own Marriages and Legitimation of their own Children against Papists Ossens Gnosticks Nicholaitans Hermogenians and other Hereticks but only on this Principle That all Marriages not Prohibited by the Law of God are Lawful as appears by the Article it self made Anno Dom. 1562. in the Fourth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Roger's Articles p. 185 187 188. where is mentioned 1. That Bishops Priests and Deacons are not Prohibited by God's Law to Marry therefore it is Lawful for them to Marry 2. That it is Lawful for them and all other Christian men to marry at their own discretion as they shall judge the same to serve best to Godliness Whence will likewise follow That the Doctrine of the Church of England and the Ceremonies of the Church of England are two distinct things and to use the words of the Article As every Christian may Marry or not Marry according to his Discretion where not Prohibited by the Law of God so he may Marry with or without Ceremonies where not Prohibited by the same Law of God As Adam might have eaten of all the Fruits in Eden with Ceremony or without Ceremony according to his Discretion where not Prohibited by the Law of God And I think no man will question this 32d Article not to be according to the Doctrine of the Church of England And the same Article touching Marriage is known to be the Doctrine of the Helvetian Bohemian Saxon Suevian and all the Reformed Churches If therefore the Tree is Holy the Fruit is Holy if the Marriage is Lawful the Son is Lawful I have therefore proved him Lawful by Three unanswerable Laws 1 The Act of Parliament of Treasons 2 The Law of the Church of England 3 The eternal and immutable Law of God in the Scriptures 2. The Lawfulness of such Marriage and Matrimony without Ceremony appears in Respect of no Command of any Ceremony by the Law of God 1. There 's no Commandment of any Ceremony in Marriage in the whole Scriptures either Old Testament or New of Moses or Christ of Prophets or Apostles but the same as hath been already shewn have been invented by Priests of Priapus Venus Juno Diana Popes and Bishops either for Lust Covetousness or Ambition No Sin where no breach of a Commandment of God 2. The Scripture makes nothing unlawful nor Sin but what is a breach of the Commandment of God where there 's no Commandment therefore of God of joyning Ceremony with Marriage or Matrimony Marriage and Matrimony between Persons not Prohibited is lawful without them This is proved Luk. 18.18 And a certain Ruler asked him saying Good Master What shall I do to inherit eternal life The answer is
The Mother of Henry the 3d. pre-contracted when King John Married her So if the World had been so much given to slander the Legitimation of the King 's Eldest Son as it is now here had been a greater Exception against the Succession of the Crown to him than can be now in the least shadow pretended for Isabel being pre-contracted to a former Man was a Woman Prohibited by the Law of God to be Contracted or Married by another Man Yet did neither this nor his Minority nor the amazing Danger of a Foreign Enemy Landed assisted by the Native Nobles possessed of the Royal City and entred into the Bowels of the Kingdom Deter this Wise and Noble Parliament for making use of the Coronation of the King 's Eldest Son Coronation of the King 's eldest Son the best remedy against the Barons calling in the French as the best Remedy against it and to Commit his Guardianship to a Person of Courage and Council they Succeeded accordingly for Louys was beaten in a Battel at Lincoln by the Protector and sending back for Recruits into France which were with great Expedition there provided and sent with a Mighty Fleet which Fleet was likewise met and beaten by the English Fleet at Sea and the Army therein Vanquished by God's great Providence which News coming to the Ears of Lovys made him hopeless of any longer Subsistance here with Safety and thereupon makes a Composition for his passage home abjures his Claim to the Kingdom and returns to France But if Louys had prevailed here wiâ—â— Security had the English Nobles had in his French Oath for within a little while after he had taken it he made spoil and plunder of all he could lay hands on Louys a Papist King breaks his French Oath to the Papist Subjects of England Friend or Foe which made many of the English he breaking his Oath to them to think themselves disobliged thereby from the Oath they had given him and to forsake his Party and more would have forsaken him had it not been for shame of Inconstancy and that he had their Hostages in France whom he would have on their Revolt Destroyed And to shew his Intention of perfecting his Perjury to the height if he could have got Power there was a constant Report and generally divulged concerning the Confession of the Viscount Melun a Frenchman who lying at the point of Death touch't with Compunction is said to reveal the Intention and Vow of Louys which was not only to Destroy the English Nobility but if he could the whole Nation Dan. Hist 148. The like Example is of the French Catholick more properly Papist Faith to the Nobility and People of Scotland Buchan Rer. Scot. Lib. 17. p. 156. where appears The French Papists were called into Scotland by the Scotch Papists to assist them against the Protestants there on Mutual Agreement on Oaths between the Papist of both Nations but when the French Army came they spoyl'd alike both Papist and Protestant And the French Garison at Leith destroy all with Fire and Sword as far as they could reach A French Papist King forsworn to the Papist Nobility of Scotland Clades autem Ex vastatione Agrorum non minus ad Papanos sine discrimine Scotorum Nobilitatem Extinguendam esse in corum autem praediis mille Catraphractos Equites Gallos collocari posse reliquam Multitudinem Servorum Loco habendam id Consilium literis ejus ad Gallum interceptis divulgatum mirum quantum Gallorum odium Jam aliis de Causis natum auxit Ambianus autem Episcopus non modo Romane Cause minus aequos sed etiam Gallorum partibus minus quam ipse Censebat aequum addictos in dicta causa agere rapere truci dare jubebat The Devastation of the Countrey about Leith by the French fell no less on the Papist than Protestant Labross advised that the whole Scottish Nobility was without any Difference made to be destroyed and a Thousand French Barbed Horse to be planted on their Estates and the rest of the Multitude to be kept for Slaves which Council his Letters being intercepted wherein he had sent the same to the French King after it was divulged 't is wonderful how it increased the hatred against the French which for other Causes was already sufficiently begun The Bishop of Amiens likewise without over hearing the Cause Commanded not only those who favoured not the Romish Religion but the French Cause as much as he would have them to be pursued taken by Force and Killed Henry the 3d. a Papist King forsworn to Papist Subjects To return again to England we left where King John having broken his Oath to the Nobility and Parliament being dead the same Oath of preserving the Laws and Liberties was again obtained of his Son Henry the Third who in the Barons Wars wanting Money a Tenth is granted him by the Clergy and a Scutage by the Layity of Three Marks of every Knights Fee yet with this Agreement That the often Confirmed Charter of Magna Charta and Charta Forestae should be again Rectified Confirmed and Sworn to and that in the most Solemn and Ceremonial manner as Religion or State could ever devise to do The Solemn manner of giving his Oath by Henry the Third to confirm his Subjects Liberties The King therefore with all the great Nobility of England all the Bishops and Chief Prelats in their Pontificalibus with burning Candles in their hands assemble to hear and pronounce the Terrible Sentence of by-Excommunication against the Infringers of the Charters and at the lighting of one of those Candles the King having received one in his hand gives it to a Prelate who stood by saying It becomes not me who am no Priest to hold this Candle my heart shall be a greater Testimony and withal laid his hand spread on his Breast the whole time the Sentence was Read which was thus pronounced Authoritate Dei Omnipotentis c. which done he caused the Charter of King John his Father granted by his free Consent to be likewise openly Read in the end having thrown away their Candles which lay smoaking on the ground they cryed out So let them who incur this Sentence be extinct and stink in Hell And the King with a loud voice said As God me help I will as I am a Man a Christian a Knight a King Crowned and Anointed inviolably observe all these things And therewithal the Bells rung out and all the people shouted for Joy Dan. Hist 169. but his Oath came to nothing Henry the 3d. secretly Absolved from his Oath to his Subjects by the Pope for he secretly sent to the Pope for his Absolution from them and the Pope for Money by his Apostolick Sentence Absolves the King from his Oath to his Subjects whence insued great Wars and Miseries in the Land Bac. Hist. 86. and though Magna Charta was in his time granted yet he never kept it but
Daughters to the Priest in Auricular Confessions to have their Nakedness discovered their Estates purloined the Secrets of their Houses and oftentimes their Lives betrayed to their Enemies and they shall be compelled to submit to the false Certificate of the Insolent Priest to disinherit their True and Natural Children and Heirs and to appoint false and adulterous Heirs and fils de Prestre to Succeed to their Inheritances and no Probation shall be admitted to the Contrary from which more than Pagan slavery a Protestant Successor will free them but never a Papist 6. If a Papist Successor happen all Lay-Papists shall Suffer for every one Offence two Punishments and shall pay all Fees Fines Taxes and Tributes double one to the Pope and his Officers the other to the King and his Officers one to the Spiritual Court another to the Temporal Court It is said of the Ass in the Fable That when he was let out of the Camp where his Master was to Graze he was admonished by his fellow Ass not to go too near another Camp which was in sight of them because that was the Enemies To which the other answered If the Enemy took him he would lay no worse Burdens on him than his Master did therefore it matter'd not which he went nearest A Lay-Papist therefore though the pamper'd Papist Priest perswade him otherwise would shew less Discretion than that gross-headed Animal should he not less fear to be in the Camp of a Protestant Successor though the supposed Enemy who would Load him but with half the Burden of his Master than to be in the Camp of a Papist Successor though his Master who will assuredly lay double the Punishment and double the Burden on him which a Protestant will do whose Camp will be like the Camp of Alexander the Great where the Persians found as courteous entertainment as the Macedonians And he used to say He would be the Common Father and his Camp should be the Common City of the World Dominicans and Jesuits 7. If a Papist Successor happen he will either favour the Jesuits and their followers or the Dominicans and their followers if he favour the Jesuits the Dominicans will be ruin'd if he favour the Dominicans the Jesuits will be ruin'd and so consequently the Lay-followers of both Again If a Papist Successor happen Guelphs and Gibellins he will either favour the Guelphs or the Gibellins the one being for the Papal the other for the Regal Supremacy if he favour the Guelphs the Gibellins will be ruin'd if he favour the Gibellins the Guelphs will be ruin'd Were not the Lay-Papist better have a Protestant Successor who will free them from both these sorts of Botefeâ— Papist Priests who set their own Papist Flock to tear one another that they may prey on both Were it not more wise for the Lay-Papist to do with their Guelphs and Gibellins as Bodin saith they did in all the Cities of Italy where these two Factions raged namely to Elect Strangers for their Magistrates Judges who were neither Guelphs nor Gibellins of all which Miseries which will assuredly be imposed and continued on them by their Priests and Princes whom no Covenant-Oath or Sacred Obligation of Conscience can tye if they happen to fall into the hands of a Papist Successor Let all Lay-Papists therefore but seriously consider if it be not more happy for them to be freed by a Protestant Successor Lay-Papist to be Prohibited nothing from whence a Protestant is not Prohibited except Publick Offices than inslaved to them by a Papist Let them but consider whether it is not better for them to be permitted to them by the Protestants the same Liberty from all penal Laws Taxes Tributes Oaths and Tests as Protestants have themselves than to have the same taken from both by a Papist Successor It will be the Interest of a Protestant Successor to prohibit the Lay-papist no other Idols no other Priests no other Sacrifice no other Offences Recusancies Crimes Arms Conventions nor any thing else except publick Offices which if really considered are rather Burdens than Benefits in all respects besides that of publick Safety than he prohibits equally his own Protestant Subjects It will be the Interest of a Protestant Successor to Rule by Laws and Love but a papist Successor will believe that it is his Interest to Rule by an Arbitrary power and Fire and Sword To Conclude Let the Lay-papist but consider at what rate they themselves who were Papists were Ruled by H. 8. a Papist King together with the Protestants who hanged the one for not acknowledging him Supreme Head of the Church and burnt the other for not believing Transubstantiation insomuch that a French Papist who came over hither and saw it Cryed out Deus bone quomodo hic vivunt gentes ubi suspenduntur Papistae comburuntur Anti-Papistae Good God said he what shift do people make to live here where Papists are hang'd and Anti-papists burnt And let them consider the more fresh example of Philip the Second of Spain the Son-in-Law of H. 8. after his Death by Marriage with Queen Mary for did he not Rule his Papists as well as Protestants Subjects in Holland and the Vnited Provinces after the same rate as H. 8. had done his here in England for he first by Oath and Agreement bound himself as well to his Papist as Protestant Subjects not to infringe their Laws and Liberties nor to increase the ancient Number of their Bishops which was but three But he notwithstanding his Oath indeavour'd to bring in amongst them the Inquisition increased the Number and Power of their Bishops from three to seventeen for every Province one both of them destructive to their Consciences Laws Liberties and Propriety but being after a long War overthrown by the Vnited Provinces and their Confederates he acknowledged them free and Soveraign States whereby they recover'd again their lost Liberties And though as is noted by Sir William Temple in his Excellent Observation on the Vnited Provinces Cap. 5. p. 200. the Roman Catholick Religion was alone excepted by the States from the Common Protection of their Laws making Men as they believed worse Subjects than the rest by the acknowledging of a Foreign and Superior Jurisdiction for so must all Spiritual Power needs be as grounded on greater Hopes and Fears than any Civil at least where the perswasions from Faith are as strong as from Sense of which there are so many Testimonies Recorded by the Martyrdoms Penalties Conscientious Restraints and Severities suffered by infinite persons in all sorts of Religion besides this Profession seemed still a Retainer of the Spanish Government which was then the greatest Patron of it in the World Yet was the Care of the States to give all Men ease in this point who ask'd no more than to serve God and save their own Souls in their own way and forms Of the great good Effects of not compelling Men to Faith or form of Worship