though never so high-mounted look upwards still to Heaven they 'l say with King David in all humility I am a worm and no man The Contemplation of the Vastness and Glory of Heaven as Cicero observes in Somnio Scipionis will make them best see what a pitiful Spot in comparison the whole Globe of the Earth is and the glory of it and much more with humble Eyes reflect upon their own pittiful punyships But if they are alwayes looking downwards upon the many under them their Brains usually Crawl with scorn pride and disdain and turning Giddy they forget themselves till they catch a fall if not their Ruine And though they may pride themselves and strut in their High Shoes and take delight in exposing their Inferiors whom they ought to protect to contempt and scorn or for sport suffer them to be baited by Dogs and perhaps cry Hollou 'T is ten to one but they meet at some time or other with so Rugged a Repartee as to make them sick of such Unchristian Games and sometimes to their shame expose also the knotty side of their own gay Arras and prove that all is not Gold that glisters Popery and Mahometism were born both in one and the same Century and had one and the same Midwife namely Ignorance or Barbarism Truth and the Press would stifle them both and the Turk knows it as well and therefore Politickly prohibits Printing so also doth the Pope prohibit what he can all Printing but what passes with his own Imprimatur's and some others also would have the Press at the same lock and they alone to keep the Key And thus whilst men hear but of one Ear and from one Mouth they are kept in ignorance and seldom grow wiser than the Pope and Conclave that Excommunicated Galileo I think it was for holding the Motion of the Earth For Errors and Superstition Tyranny and Oppression like Owls and all other works of darkness hate the light and cannot endure to be seen by day-light whereas the Naked Truth feeks no Corners is bare indeed but is not nor needs not to be ashamed Lording over Gods Heritage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominantes Cleris 1 Pet. 5.3 Domineering over Gods People was never the mind of Christ nor St. Peter nor had ever any Bishops any such lawful Commission even when the High-Commission-Courts were up whereby alone they had Authority and Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical to Lord it over Gods Heritage No no It is the Reliques of the Luciferian Pride of that Grand Impostor that ridiculously stiles himself The Successor of St. Peter yet imitates him in nothing but in denying his Master that sets his insulting Toe upon the Necks of Kings and Emperors enslaves mens Bodies and Estates as well as Souls wheresoever he can domineer 'T is this Prelatical Pride this Exercising Dominion Luke 22.24 like the Princes of the Gentiles which is here condemned and is but a Brat of Popery whereever the Changeling is found and which our Blessed Saviour would banish from amongst his Clergy Luke 22.25 It shall not be so amongst you But say some It shall be so though let Christ and Laws let God and Man say what they will at least some men would practise it still which is worse than saying so but Rome was not built nor cannot be destroyed in one day THE Naked Truth The Second Part. THE Bishops and Convocation held at London Anno Dom. 1552. in the Reign of King Edward VI. whereof many of them were Martyrs at their Death as well as the first Reformers in their life-time in their Articles now usually called The Articles of the Church of England the 19 20 21. I meet with very remarkable Passages to begin this Discourse ARTICLE 19. ECclesia Christi visibilis est coetus fidelium in quo verbum c. The visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is Preached and the Sacraments be duly Administred according to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same Where note by the way that a Parish Church may be the right Church of Christ by this Definition As the Church of Jerusalem of Alexandria and of Antioch hath Erred so also the Church of Rome hath Erred not only in their living but also in matters of Faith ARTICLE 20. IT is not Lawful for the Church to Ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods Word written neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another wherefore although the Church be a Witness and Keeper of holy Writ yet as it ought not to Decree any thing against the same so beside the same ought not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation ARTICLE 21. GEneral Councils may not be gathered together without the Commandment and Will of Princes And when they be gathered forasmuch as they be an Assembly of men whereof all be not Governed with the Spirit and Word of God they may Err and sometimes have Erred not only in worldly matters but also in things pertaining unto God Wherefore things Ordained by them as necessary to Salvation have neither strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of the holy Scripture Whence it is evident that by the Articles of the Church of England men the best of them are subject to Error which if true and very few except the Pope and Papists do deny Then with what Front can any Synod or Assembly of men Anathematize and Damn and by Excommunication deliver to the Devil all that obey not their Canons and Decrees except those Decrees be evident from the plain and undisputed sense of Holy Scriptures For if it be acknowledged that they may be in the wrong then others that they condemn may be in the right and owned by God though disowned by frail men The Popes whereof their own Writers say some have been Arrians and denyed the Divinity of Christ as Pope Liberius some Idolaters as Marcellinus some Atheists as Alexander VI. and Leo X. that said Hem quantum reddit nobis haec fabula Christi and Sextus IV. that built a Male Stew for Sodomy some Conjurers and Socerers Platina c vit Pap. as Martin II. Silvester II. John XIX John XX. John XXI Silvester III. Benedict VIII Sergius IV. Gregory VI. and many others which see at large in the lives of the Popes writ by one of their own Secretaries Platina But I love not to rake in this sink nor had I mentioned it here but as necessary to my design in shewing first all men are Erroneous none Infallible no not the Pope himself as the * Test Rhem. Annot. Mat. 23.2 a Enchir. Cont. cap. 3. de Sum. Pont. b Stella in Lucae cap. 9. Rhemists vainly vaunt and suppose And so says a Costerus the Jesuite and also b Didacus Stella Suarez Stapleton and many others and indeed the whole Fabrick of their
Provincial and Synodal heretofore made and such as they judg'd worthy to be continued should from thenceforth be kept and obeyed But I never heard that these Commissioners did ever do any thing to the purpose Yet this Power of granting Commissions and Authority of this nature was by 1 Eliz. 1. for ever united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm and upon this Statute and foundation was built the Star-Chamber and High-Commission-Court and the Authority of all Canon-makers Synodical But down came the Fabrick by repealing 1. Eliz. 1. in 17 Car. 1.11 and also in and by 13 Car. 2.12 By which last Statute that unreasonable Oath also ex Officio by vertue whereof the Spiritual Courts if a man had lain with a Wench or a Wife had plaid foul play if examined by every little Surrogate and Register must either be their own accusers or by Perjury damn themselves was abrogated also and taken away together with that same choaking c. Oath and for company all the Fraternity thereof and Fellow canons of 1640 and Provision made by striking at the foundation 1 Eliz. 1. on which their High-Commission Courts were built that no more Commissions be granted by his Majesty for the future but the Spiritual-Courts by that Statute of 13 Car. 2.12 just in statu quo wherein they were 1639. Now will it be worth the while to consider what State they were in 1639 no great I 'le warrant if their Basis on which their Star-Chamber and High Commission-Court were built be taken away For the said Statute of 13 Car. 2.12 does not only provide against the Canons made in the year 1640. but also against any other Ecclesiastical Laws not formerly confirmed allowed or Enacted by Parliament which the Canons of 1603. never were or by the established Laws of the Land as they stood in the year of our Lord 1639. So that it is not so difficult to get out of this Labyrinth that does so puzzle many men as some do imagine For all Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions till the Statutes of Hen. 8. to the contrary were derived from the Pope as Supream Head of the Church This Head being beheaded the Supremacy was vested in the Crown and for Rules and Canons to walk by King Hen. 8. was empowered by the Statute aforesaid to nominate 32. Commissioners one Moiety Lay and the other Clergy yet they did nothing perhaps for that reason But 1 Ed. 6.2 This great Flower of the Crown is taken care for and not for ornament only but for weightier reasons it is Enacted that all Processes Ecclesiastical Summons Citations c. be from the first day of July then next following made in the name and with the Stile of the King as it in Writs original or Judicial at the Common-law and the Test thereof in the name of the Archbishop or Bishop or other having Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction who hath the Commission and grant of the Authority Ecclesiastical immediately from the Kings Highness and that his Commissary Official or Substitute exercising Jurisdiction under him shall put his name in the Citation or Process after the Test So that if there be any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in England distinct from his Majesties Lay-Courts they must be such as acknowledge his Majesties Supremacy above their Hierarchy and as a Testimony thereof all their Processes Ecclesiastical Citations Summons c. ought to be made in the name and with the Stile of the King as it is in Writs original and judicial at the Common law and also the Kings Arms Engraven in the Seal of their Spirital Court Oh! but this would be to buckle and stoop and thrust the Hierarchy and holy Pastoral Head under a Lay-girdle for though the Pope be exil'd this Realm it is hard to exile the Hierarchical Spirit witness the Fifth-Monarchy men Presbyterians and you know who they 'le keep no Courts at all first no will they not Then who cares who are the Losers If they go thereto and be so pettish And it is a proper Query what penalty they have and do incur by keeping their Spiritual Courts otherwise which were first founded upon the Popes Title and since that determination now vested in his Majesty as all other Courts good reason and Law too and all their original and judicial Processes ought to be in his Majesties name and under the Seal of his Majesty as a token of their due Homage by striking Sail and lowring their old rotten over-worn Top Sayls to the Kings-Flag 'T is true the said Statute of 1 Edw. 1.2 is repealed by 1 Mar. 2. but I care not for that for it is revived again by Repealing 1 Mar. 2. in the Statute 1 Jac. 25. And 't is well worthy our observation what 1 Mar. 2. The Bishops and Clergy of the Province of Canterbury in their Convocation assembled do acknowledge and confess in their Supplication to their Majesties Philip and Mary in these very words Insuper Majestatibus vestris supplicamus pro sua Pietate efficere dignentur ut ea quae ad Jurisdictionem nostram Libertatem Ecclesiasticam pertinent sine quibus debitum nostri Pastoralis officii curae animarum nobis commissae exercere non possumus nobis superiorum temporum injuriâ ablatâ restituantur ea nobis Ecclesiae perpetuo illaesa salva permaneant ut omnes leges quae hanc nostram Jurisdictionen libertatem Ecclesiasticam tollunt seu quovis modo impediunt abrogentur c. that is Moreover we do in all humility Petition your Majesties That out of your great Piety you would vouchsafe to make such Provision That those things which belong to our Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Liberties without which we cannot duly discharge that Pastoral Office and cure of Souls committed to our Care and taken from us lately by the Iniquity of the Times may be again restored to us so that they may for ever remain inviolate and safely secured and assured to us and the Church And that all the Laws which have taken away or do any ways hinder our Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Liberties may be made null and void Here 's ado and a whining for their dear Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Liberties which the Convocation themselves being Judges were at that time taken from them and abrogated and if since that time they have not catch'd it again 't is to be fear'd 't is desperate now and never to be retriev'd But Queen Elizabeth was enabled and empowered 't is the words of the Statute to retrieve their Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by granting them Commissions to that purpose of which large Power granted by Parliament they made such large use as is complained in 17 Car. 1.11 at large against Magna Carta c. which I am loth to repeat but would willingly have it lie buried and never rise up in Judgement against any Successors as seem to be of the same sanguine complexion that 13 Car. 2.12 damns all such Commissions for ever and that his Majesty
it a day after But these are rich and mighty and with Beaver cock'd make Speeches and give in charge to pay Procurations to one another that will not be forgotten I 'le warrant and not as the holy Scripture says Remember the Poor but Rememember the Rich Arch-deacon and the richer Bishop with your Procurations Synodals and Visitations though the poor Vicar's Family pine and pinch for 't a Month after And if they may not thus gò snips and share in every Benefice throughout the whole Diocess then Woe be to you with Suspensions Anathema's Excommunications and the Goal And yet some of these Arch-Deacons pay neither to Church nor Poor neither to Assessments nor yet keeping Hospitality or so much as keeping House These Undue-dues then thus coming into Mr. Arch-Deacons hands though he be alive and alive's like 't is no contradiction to say they come in manus mortuas Is it not within the Statutes of Mortmain If they can shew any License from the King or any of his Predecessors to vex his Subjects thus against Law Reason and Equity If they had orderly sued out their Writ ad quod Damnum out of Chancery before they had established this Ecclesiastical Revenue and Annuity let them shew it But to plead only a Custom of Sinning against Law Reason and Conscience is the absurdest of all their Pleas. And in good earnest if there were no Law against it Is there any Conscience that a poor lean bare-bone-Vicar should thus greaze a fat Arch-deacon in the Fist I know that when the Devil shew'd our blessed Saviour all the Kingdoms of the World in a moment of time he said unto him All this power will I give thee and the glory of them Luke 4.5 6. for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it But that was a Lie Yet the Pope says that all the Kingdoms of the World and the Power and the Glory of them are his and delivered unto him and to whomsoever he will he gives them but most especially all Bishopricks and Benefices are his in his donation And he gave them conditionally to go snips in them all that as the High-priest under the Law had the Tenth of the Priest's Tythes so he would have the tenth part of every Bishoprick and Benefice And though the Bishop is not the High-Priest as Aaron was and also that His Majesty has the Tenths yet they would be known too in their places and go snips with all the Rectors and Vicars in the Diocess by Procurations Synodals and Visitations c. which amounts to as much as His Majesties Tenths in many Benefices and in many also much more Though Aaron's Law is exemplified in paying the Tenths in England yet never did Aaron exact two Tenths or three Tenths of the Tribe of Levi let them even take all for me I hope in time they 'l have enough Inventum est quod in quibusdam locis Presbyteri duo denos vel quatuor denos denarios Episcopis in censum annis singulis darent quod penitus abolendum esse decrevinus Syn. Cab. 2â— cap. 17. that is We hear says the Synod that in some places the Elders or Presbyters pay the Bishops every year twelve pence or fourteen pence as a Subsidy or Annuity which we hereby Decree shall henceforth be utterly abolished It is to be hoped the King and Parliament will be Petition'd to make such a Decree too here in England Twelve pence or fourteen pence yearly for Procurations It would be well for thousands of poor Benefic'd Vicars in England if they could put off the rich Bishop or his Great Eye the Arch-deacon with ten times so much no they 'l have it to a peny or else suspend the profits of the Benefice silence the Minister ab officio and not leave him and his Family a farthing to live upon till they be paid and till the charges of the Sequestration and costs of Suit be also paid or else by Excommunication his Soul is delivered to Satan and his Body to the Goal from whence there is no deliverance till the charges of putting him also into Goal and for his delivery thence be also paid which is about seven pounds for Spiritual-Court-Fees and other consequents thereof I know it So that want of Money delivers the poor Priest to Satan and the Goal soul and body and ready Cash again delivers him from both The Pope that has the Keys of Heaven-gates if he says true pay the Porter and he lets you in And our Absolution-men pretend to have the Key of Hell-gates and to let men out from the Devil to whom they themselves had delivered them for being poor and un-able to pay but upon condition tho' that if they have any credit to borrow money enough or empty the Pewter-shelf to Alchymize into money to pay the Porter they let you out and you are as you were rectus in Curiâ as honest Christians as ever and you and they as good Friends as ever Thus Orpheus is said to trade to Hell by the Poets and also to redeem men thence by Musick These by Money do the feat Oh Money Money oh the vertue of Money the vice of wanting Money our blessed Saviour says It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but at this rate quite contrary It is hard for a poor Man or a poor Vicar to come there if he do not pinch very hard to get money for these men whoever goes without or in whose debt soever he dies if he dies in their debt He had better no he knows his doom There wants nothing but * A yellow coâ—t painted with Devils and Hell fire with which the Inquisition do array the Jews and Hereticks when they burn them in Spain and Portugal Sambenitas and a Faggot with the Writ de Haeretico comburendo to make him the most Wretched This is a pretty thriving Trade if it would but last and for my part I that have as much power to Curse Anathematize and Excommunicate as any Bishop or Arch-deacon of them all and to absolve them again with all my reading and experience in their Spiritual Courts and Jurisdictions few men have had more or so much as I I say I here protest considering the premisses and the repealing of 1 Eliz. 1. that I know not by what Authority we do these things by what Authority we deliver the King's Subjects to the Devil and back again at pleasure what Rule Canon Law or Authority we go by and who gave us this Authority and Commission since His Majesty cannot give any such Commission by 13 Car. 2.12 Luther spoil'd the Pope's Market for Indulgences to this day and 't is an even lay but some honest Protestant or other will by vertue of the Naked Truth spoil this Trade to Hell and back again But how the Devil should be so much at their devotion and beck as if he was their Goaler to take all that
The Naked Truth The Second Part. In Several INQUIRIES Concerning the CANONS AND Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Canonical Obedience Convocations Procurations Synodals and Visitations ALSO OF THE Church of England AND Church-wardens AND The Oath of Church-wardens AND OF SACRILEDGE The Second Edition Corrected and Amended Blanditur Cathedra Speculaest Inde denique superintendis Sonans tibi Episcopi nomine non Dominum sed officium Alta sedens non alta sapiens sed humilia de te Sentiens humilibusque consentiens Praesis ut prosis debitor non Dominator Bernard lib. 2. de Consideratione London Printed for Francis Smith and are to be Sold at his Shop at the Elephant and Castle near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1681. THE EPISTLE TO THE READERS Courteous Reader NO man does more Reverence Good Bishops than my self nor does any man less dread them with a slavish fear I admire them at my distance but I do not Idolize them I honour them but I do not fall down and worship them I can say My Lord and yet not add My God Nor will you find in this ensuing Inquiry the least Tang of Bitterness or yellow Choler No nor so much as one tart or harsh Expression being so far from justly disgusting any that I shall not so much as set their Teeth on Edge so insipid and simple an humour have I cherisht all along through this whole Discourse for fear of any Satyrical mixtures that I doubt you will scarce find any Salt Savour or Smacky Rellish here 't will scarce bite the Tongue of a Sinner Solomon sayes Prov. 17.27 That men of understanding are of excellent Spirits To render the words litterally from the Original Men of understanding are long-nos'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Septuagint Translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A man of understanding is Long-breasted metaphorically put for Patient His heart is not near his month he is not easily Provoked and therefore men will neither shew their Wit nor Grace to be angry without a cause without a good and honest cause at what is here Writ Let us rather say with that good German Emperor We ought to be angry with our Sins not with our Friends that tell us of them Yet I cannot say in truth that I have concealed my name because I have no skill nor strength to bear good and evil report with Equanimity For I bless Almighty God that as his Providence has exercised me with both in no small measure so I have found by long and large experience His strength in my weakness that I can say without vain boasting I walk without much concern by Honour and Dishonour by evil Report and good Report Nor is it because I am afraid or ashamed at any thing here writ that I thus appear on the publick Stage in Masquerade in such Disguise to walk Incognito But the Subject of my Inquiries leads me necessarily to rake in a Nest of Wasps and Hornetts peevish by nature more enraged by Interest thus to be disturbed of a warm nest and therefore would certainly buzze about my Ears if I were not thus muffled and Hooded up Yet I hope I have here disarmed them of their Weapons by taking the Sting out of their Tails at least the Venom that though they may yet make a Humming Noise yet they shall be as Stingless as Drones Besides I am neither of the Race of the Decii nor of the Curtii to sacrifice all my quiet to the Publick good in this thankless Age wherein many men are of so currish a disposition and so used to the Collar about their Necks that they are ready to snap at those Fingers that would pull it off But however in short what wise man would be content to be a Butt to be shot at though Armed Cap-a-pee with Armour of Proof The inconvenience for it wants not some of allowing to the Press this Liberty so natural and agreeable to our English Complexion and Constitution and the Common-mother of the Naked Truth which is usually begot betwixt this bandying Pro and Con cannot possibly equal that of making a Monopoly of the Press taking in the Common and confining it to a certain set of men that would seem to keep the Key of Knowledge and the Press and they neither enter in themselves and they that would enter in they hinder like surly Porters that usually keep out better men than they let in Magistrates and good Bishops should say with St. Paul We can do nothing against the Truth 2 Cor. 3.8 but for the Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is We have no power as the Original imports to do any thing against the Truth but for the Truth Nor have all the Bishops in England any power over us although they had as lawful a Commission for their Spiritual Courts and Jurisdiction as once they had more than St. Paul had over those Corinthians which he confesses in the Tenth Verse was for Edification not for Destruction 2 Cor. 13.10 A good Magistrate may do a man good so may a good Bishop but neither of them have power any lawful Power given them to do harm or wrong And if they chance to find me out notwithstanding my Disguise I 'le answer for every tittle here declared with the words of our Blessed Redeemer If I have spoken Evil bear witness of the Evil but if Well Why smitest thou me And I am sure what is here pretended has no design in the world but purely in all Humility and Love to Truth the Publick-weal And if in any thing I be mistaken my Errors shall never be Heresies none shall upon a rational Conviction more readily and willingly retract them than my self One would wonder a little at first at that Passage 1 Tim. 6.17 1 Tim. 6.17 where the Apostle gives the Charge to Rich men that they be not high-minded since Poor and Proud is true to a Proverb The Latines by one and the same word expresse a man humble in mind and humbled with afflictions they are so near a Kin and the way God usually takes to make a man humble is to humble him as he did Nebuchadnezzar by afflictions For Prosperity puffeth up and swells a man naturally and if through Grace a Rich man be not high-minded he had need keep a constant Watch and Ward over his mind for height will tempt his mind to be high-minded and proud as Lucifer Thus have I seen a man stretch and stand on tip-toe and stalk in High Shooes upon a Church-Steeple and look with scorn on all below and yet if he had stood on even ground and measured fair with those Inferiors he despis'd as Pigmies he would not be able to reach their heads In climbing Masons and Carpenters well observe whilst men look upwards they cannot be giddy crown'd vertiginous and turn-sick but if they look down 't is odds but their Brains turn round till they fall 'T is most true in Morals and in Divinity whilst men
nor his Successors shall never grant them any more Repealing 1 Eliz. 1. their great Foundation So that we are come at length to an easie Resolution of the Query For if the Spiritual Courts be askt the question By what Authority they do these things and who gave them this authority Whether God or man Not God for certain because there is not the least Specimen of Chancellors Registers Sumners Officials Commissaries Advocates Notaries Surrogates c. or any ejusdem farinae in Holy Writ Nor from Man because his Majesty has by Statute Enacted never to empower them with any more Commissions to the worlds end But if they pretend they have it ab origine as was their original from that old Hierarchy of the Pope that founded them they incur a Praemunire the greatest of punishments on this side death nay any might kill a man attainted in Praemunire without being prosecuted as an Homicide till Eliz. 5.1 took away that severity but at this day they forfeit goods and liberty but not life So that if the Question I say be put to them concerning their Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Spiritual Courts as in another case it was put by our Blessed Saviour to the Pharisees Is it from Heaven or from men I fear all their Learned Doctors of their Canon-Law must answer as the Pharisees did We cannot tell And if so I think they have brought their Hogs to a fine Market if after all this Cry there appear to be so little Wool who 'le give five hundred pounds for a Chancellors-place and as much or more for a Registers-place And though the Clergy or others might by the Kings Commission make Laws and Canons while 1 Eliz. 1. was in force and which lasted all her and King James his Reign and till 17 Car. 1. yet then the branch of that Statute of 1 Eliz. 1. being taken away and also Repealed by his present Majesty 13 Car. 2.12 till which time the Canons in 1603 and 1640. were in force but now that their Basis is taken away that branch 1 Eliz. 1. I cannot discern where their Authority lies more than in the said days of Queen Mary when they confest they had none But this I do not peremptorily assert but leave it to the consideration of men of greater abilities reading and leisure than my necessary Diversions and constant Employs will at present admit And I wish with all my heart if wishes would do that most of the Canons of 1603. and also some of 1640. were of more Authority than indeed they are And if the Reader knew me he would also know it is my Interest which can never Lye to have them and the Clergy and the Hierarchy too of greater and more justifiable Authority than they have at present Yet nevertheless as I have Christened this my Discourse in the Title-page The Naked Truth it shall never be said whatever be the Consequence that it derogates from the name I have no Picque no Design no Interest against Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction but on the contrary I have one of my own where my Predecessors have exercised as much Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction though not so often it being but a little one as any Bishop in England and therefore if the Naked Truth did not silence Interest I would not enlarge one Syllable more And I will further add that the first Reformers whereof many of them were Martyrs do seem to be so divinely Inspired in composing the 39 Articles of the Church of England that is of the Doctrine of the Church of England that there is scarce one Fanatick in England so Foppish as to differ or deny so evenly have they cut a hair betwixt the Remonstrant and Anti-remonstrant and other diversity of opinions that though they differ toto Coelo from one another yet they all concenter and agree in those 39 Articles of the Church of England But when the said Branch of 1 Eliz. 1. gave power to the Queen and her Successors to set up a High-Commission Court They made work I 'le promise you woful work sometimes and about trifles too So that I must say of them and the Canons of 1603 and 1640. as is usually said of a great Wit viz. Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixturâ dementiae And this will appear if we further consider that even those men of the Hierarchy that most vaunt those Canons and Impose them upon others Though a burden too heavy to be born yet they themselves will not touch them with one of their Fingers when thwarting their Interest of which take a few Instances that first occur and come into my mind Who regards or observes Can. 2.4.5.7.9.11 14. of 1640 For are all Socinian-Books and also those of Brownists Separatists Anabaptists Familists and other Sects burnt Are none kept bought nor sold as Can. 2. 4. does enjoyn Is the Communion-Table every where plac'd Altar-wise and Rail'd in as recommended Can. 7 Indeed the 6th Canon with the c. Oath is too much kept and a shame it should be suffered indeed to be Imposed upon the Consciences of the Clergy being disallowed by Act of Parliament as aforesaid But pitiful is the case of young Clergy-men especially if they be put to the sad choice either to swallow the Oath of Canonical obedience with the c. to-boot and into the bargain or else starve for want of Institution to a Living Are all Conventiclers Separatists and members of gathered-Churches Excommunicated and every three Months declared to be such to put the Zealots in mind to take out a Writ de excommunicato capiendo against them and put them all in Gaol And who will lay out money to build Gaols enough to hold them all Can. 9. and 11. and Can. 65. 1603 who reads Prayers upon the Inauguration-day of King Charles 2. as enjoyned Can. 2 who furnishes all the Parishes with two Books of Common-Prayers compiled for that purpose as decreed Can. 2 Who does upon every Eve of the Festivals and Saints days in the year as well as upon all Holy-days read Prayers publickly or if they do a little in some places in the Morning how few in the Afternoons and yet enjoyn'd Can. 14 How many Spiritual Courts do take care to put into the Condition of the Bonds of Security given by the Party to be Married by Licence That the Parties or one of them have or hath been a Month commorant in the said Jurisdiction immediately before the said Licence granted look the Condition of their Printed Bonds there 's not a word of it but catch that catch may they know among themselves the weakness of their Canons and therefore every one makes his own Market and the best he can of them yet this is decreed Can. 16. 1640. Who can make the States of Venice Holland Genoa Switzerland c. believe that the most High and Sacred order of Kings if taken in opposition to Aristocracy and other modes of Government is of Divine-Right being the Ordinance of God
there be any such thing should desire to hold it at this Precarious Rate they do I say not this that I grudge any Power they have but wish them more But Power though fading is so pleasant to some Men that they are loth to part with it or like frank Gamesters venture it for a better and as much more rather like drowning Men they lay hold of that that does but help to sink and drown them in conclusion And is it not worth the greatest care to give relief in this Extremity or set the Church that is the Kingdom to rights which has gone so long lame and limping on the right side But how shall this be done there 's the skill or who shall do it The Synod sure that call themselves the Representative Church of England in pain of Anathema to all that dare deny Ay but the Laity the Laity have got generally an odd opinion to see with their own Eyes and not by Spectacles especially not Spectacles of Clergy make which of old they were so long us'd to they thought it spoiled their eye-sight and so being kept blind the Clergy led them by the nose whilst the ignorant Laity pinn'd their Faith upon the Clergy-mans sleeve and Ignorance was the Mother of their Devotion Besides The naked Truth is uniform but Canons and Decrees of Clergymen do so differ and clash one with another that it is impossible they should all be truth Truth which never yet was patcht and Pye-bal'd or wore a Party-colour'd Coat But how has one Council condemn'd and curst another to the pit of Hell How usual for one Pope to dig up the Carcase of his immediate Predecessour and either hang him up in Effigie at least or throw his dead Body after it has been sufficiently abused at farewell into Tyber Again why do Clergy men only Represent in Council and not all the Brethren the Laity as of old How come Synod men to be so lickt that all others compar'd to them are but an ugly shapeless Lump of deformity Or how come they the Clergy to be the Representative Church of England when met in Synod though the Lay-people never gave any Votes in their Election nor so much as any of their Advices consulted about the chusing those Members of the Convocation And if not how come they obliged to obey their Decrees and Canons when they never gave them their Suffrages and consent Though the Clergy chuse some of them the Nether-house for so they distinguish Parliament like yet the Vpper house is made up of Bishops and the Richer Dignitaries Deans Arch-Deacons c. which make up by far the major part the Inferiour Clergy of the Kingdom have no Vote in their Election and yet must be concluded by them their Canons and Decrees as if they really had given their Suffrages to their Election and the Constituting of the Synod for it is all but umbrage As for Example In the Diocess of London there are Five Arch-deaconries namely the Arch-deaconries of London Essex Middlesex Colchester and Hartford In each of these Arch-deaconries Two of their Inferiour Clergy are chosen Procurators for the ensuing Synod Elected de novo as often as there is a new Parliament chosen And these Ten one would think should be a very fine ballance to the Hierarchy and Richer Dignitaries the Bishop Dean Five Arch-deacons the Chapter c. and almost but not altogether able to turn the Scales But I thank you when it comes to there 's no such matter for it is five to one that not one of those Synod men which with such ado are Elected shall sit For the Bishop out of these Ten chuses and culls out Two and sends the rest home again as if they never had been chosen And how then should these Synod men be called properly and in pain of Damnation so owned for the Representative Church of England since they are not at all Elected by the Laity nor any of the Vpper-house chosen by the Clergy and of the Nether house but Two of Ten that are chosen are suffered to sit Besides that said Branch of 1 Eliz. 1. on which the Convocation did once flourish being now wither'd and made of no effect what does a Convocation signifie all these things consider'd together towards a Representative Church of England and to lay Burthens and Impositions necessary or unnecessary upon the Natives without his Majesties Commission Besides since 1 Eliz. 1. is repealed whereby the High-Commission-Court had so great Power as by vertue of that Statute to dispense with the said Statute of 1 Edw. 6.2 after it was revived by 1 Jacob. 25. all the Reign of King James and part of Car. 1. so that they never did admit the King's Arms into the Seal of the Court nor yet vouchsafe to send Process and Citations c. in any other Name no not the Kings but their own only is to be attributed to the dreadful awe in which Nobles Lawyers Gentry and Commonalty were kept by the Terrors of a Star-Chamber and High Commission-Court Which being now Dissolved Quere whether they must not be accountable for the neglect of that Statute of 1 Edw. 6.2 whenever Authority shall reckon with them in good time But in other cases 't is said Forbearance is no Acquittance These Oecumenical Provincial Synodical Classical c. Assemblies and Synods with their Directories and Impositions Canons and Decrees have made a great deal of noise and bub-bub in the World Theod. lib. 1. c. 6. which brings to my mind that passage of Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia an Arrian to the Lord Paulinus Bishop of Tyrus namely Some approved one Party some another The Actions of both parts lookt not only like a Tragedy but also deserved much weeping and lamentation The case was not now as in former times for they were not Forraign Enemies that took Arms against the Church but Men of one Houshold of one Kindred yea and such as were Fellows at one Table instead of Lances they whetted their Tongues one against another Nay moreover when they were Members compacted and united into one body yet for all that they were armed to Battle within themselves Then since as must be confessed men whilst humane are subject to erre and especially in their own cases and for their own Interest to be partial cruel and passionate since one Canon contradicts another one Synod another one Assembly another and perhaps all of them repugnant to Truth Holy Scripture and the Laws of this Realm Until it please God to send us the Infallible Spirit God grant us the humble meek and milde Spirit not this bloody cruel Horse-leach Spirit of imposing upon men and making them believe in spight of their teeth and putting out their eyes because they are not so good and clearly discerning or more quicksighted than our own calling one another Heretick to the end of the Chapter which has as aforesaid caused most of the Miseries Wars Mutinies Bloodshed and Calamities in the
Visitations may be exacted of and paid by the Inferiour Clergy to the richer Dignitaries Answ Procurations are certain Impositions exacted from the Clergy by the Bishops and his Eyes called Arch-Deacons in their Visitations claiming the same by ancient Custom but no Law The original of these Procurations is pretended to be a Compact or Agreement made betwixt the Incumbent and the Visitor viz. the Bishop or Arch-Deacon whereby each Incumbent charged himself or his Benefice with such a yearly Rent to the Visitor to defray his and their Charges at some great Town fit for their reception at a publick Meeting or Visitation of the Clergy rather than be pestered with entertaining the Visitor and his Train which grew like a snow-ball the further it roll'd in their Ecclesiastick Visitations which of old were the only Visitations But he that has but a life-Estate as no Parson or Vicar has any more in his Benefice can never grant a Rent for ever out of such Benefice and bind his Successors nil dat quod non habet it is not so much as an Annuity or Rent-seck much less can the Incumbent or Termer grant a Rent-charge no not with the consent of the Patron Spiritual Livings being surely incorporeal things You see then if some do but of any fashion get in one foot it is hard getting them out again perhaps they 'l say as some have done that no Clergyman Benefic'd Rector not Vicar has any Freehold in his Living but all is the Bishop's and the Inferiour Clergy that do the great Work are but the Bishops Curates and Journey-men I 'le assure you some of them are so ignorant that they know no better and dare not value themselves nor behave themselves in his presence at a higher rate And yet this Lording over the Clergy this exercising Dominion one Clerg man over another as the Princes of the Gentiles and usually call'd Prelacy is not only absolutely forbid by our Blessed Saviour as aforesaid but as much care and provision made against the Pride and Avarice of the greater sort of Clergymen if such cob-web and net-work Laws or Canons could hold the mighty as heart can wish To instance in a few that first come to my mind at present for some men will never take warning until their Iniquities become to be hateful to all Mankind Our Blessed Saviour warns them the Apostle Peter warns them not to play the Bishop for filthy lucre but of a ready mind the ancient Councils Fathers Canons Laws and Statutes warn them and command to forbear this more than bestial rapacity but surdo fabulam for of all spoyls none are made with more ease and safety than when the Inferiour Clergy become a Prey to the great ones yet no spoils are so unchristian unhumane nor so unnatural Tygers spare their own whelps Eagles Hawks and Kites use not their sharper Talons against Birds of their own feather Dogs indeed and Swine only of all Brutes have a stomach to feed upon eat up and devour their own kind Dictum est etiam quod in plerisque locis Archidiaconi super Fresbyteros exerceant Dominatisnem ab eis censum exigant Cabilonens Synod 2. cap. 15. quod magis ad Tyrannidem quà m ad Rectitudinis ordinem pertinet Si enim Episcopi juxta Petri Apostoli sententiam non debent esse dominantes in clero sed farma facti gregis ex animo multò minùs isti boc facere debent Sed contenti sint regularibus disciplinis teneant propriam mensuram quod eis ab Episcopis jungitur hoc per parochias suas exercere studeant nihil per cupiditatem aut avaritiam prasumentes that is It is reported that in many places Arch-Deacons domineer over Parish Priests and will have Money of them which exaction borders upon Tyranny rather than right Order and Justice For if Bishops in the opinion of the Apostle Peter ought not to Lord it over the Clergy but take the oversight of the flock not by constraint but willingly much less should these Fellows do the same but be content with good Discipline and the Corps of their Arch-Deaconry keeping within their own bounds and endeavour to put the Bishops Injunctions in execution all over the Diocess not daring to do any thing through Avarice or greediness There is a like Order made in Concil Lateran sub Alexandro 3. Concil Lat. par 2. c. 3. to the Archbishop of Canterbury against Exactions of this nature and the Extortions of the Arch-Deacon of Coventry Object If it be objected that these Synods are none of the Four first General Councils Answ It is readily confest for how should they make Laws against the Exorbitances of Arch-Deacons when there was no such Creature in nature exercising any Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical Anast in vit Sixt. Rom. Episc and therefore could not abuse their Authority till they had it to abuse I read indeed Anno Dom. 260. of St. Lawrence an Arch-Deacon Martyr'd in that year saith Anastasius But this Arch-Deacon had nothing of our Arch-Deacons but the Name he was indeed Arch-Deacon in English the Arch-servant or Chief Deacon to the Bishop of all the Servants or Deacons about him He was Chief Turn-key Prudent de Coronis saith Prudentius describing his Office at best but Chief Porter or Door keeper that kept the Keys of the poor mans Box and the Church-doors Claustris sacrorum praeerat to use the words of Prudentius coelestis arcanum domus fidis gubernans clavibus votasque dispensans opes The Arch-Deacon was chief Turn-key or chief Steward among the Deacons and chosen by themselves from among themselves The next Arch-Deacon I read of was one Stephen Anno 255. Arch-Deacon to Cornelius Pope of Rome St. Ambrose had got one about the year 400. Afterwards the Name by the favour of the Emperors of Constantinople became a Name of some repute for till then Mr. Arch-Deacon was not suffered to sit nor yet to be cover'd in presence of a Parish Priest But about this time as before Diocesans began to appropriate the Name of Bishops to themselves alone which in the Apostles days signified no more than Presbyter as appears by 1 Pet. 5.1 Tit. 1.5 6 7. where the Presbyter in the fifth verse is called Bishop in the seventh verse and Acts 20. the Elders or Presbyters verse seventeen are called Bishops verse twenty eight Take heed therefore unto the flock over which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Bishops also Arch-Deacons and the Bishops-Dean or Deacon was chosen though very improperly out of the Presbyters who had lost that servile name in that of Priest or Elder than which the Church never knew a greater Title of honour but as Diocesses did increase so did the profit also of being the Bishop's Deacon or Dean and what Priest or Rector that could would not strive to be the Favorite-Dean or Arch-Dean Though as we esteem in England such Men are more properly called Arch Priests And these Arch-Deacons
command the Sick person to come and visit him or at least give him a meeting at such a Church and such a Tavern and then he shall hear what Prayers he will say over him St. James says Jam. 1.27 pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this To visit the Fatherless and Widdows c. What to do To pill them and poll them No surely that would not be a very pure Religion except of such a pure Religion as is made up of pure Money the Fatherless I suppose like not the visits of such kind of Fathers they had rather they would keep away and not help to make them poorer and add Affliction to the Afflicted of such Visiters better have their Room than their Company Is this your Kindness to your Friends when you come to visit them Hah Indeed I find that Allowance is taken care for in Visitations of old but what Not Money but Food and Drink such as the poor Vicar and his Family makes shift with but never never any Money in ancient time For which let him that lists consult Wil. Lindewood in his Provincial Constit l. 3. de Censubus Procurationibus f. 159 160. Johannes de Aten in his Glosses on Otho's and Othobon's Constitutions f. 43 89. Angelus de Clavasio in his Summa Angelica Tit. Visitatio also Gratian. Distinct 42. cap. non opertet Also Concil Lateran sub Innocent 3 Pap. An. 1215. cap. 33 34. Also Concil apud Castrum Gunter An. 1251. Concil Surius Con. Tom. 3. p. 746. apud Salmar An. 1253. Synod Andegavensis An. 1263. Concil Provincial apud Langres An. 1264. Concil Burdegal An. 1582 c. collected by Laurentius Bochellus Decret Eccles. Gallican lib. 5. Tit. 15. Devisitatione Procuratione personis quibus commissa est potestas visitandi Also Concil Coloniens An. 1549. Concil Trident Sess 24. de Reformatione cap. 3. Thomas Zerula in his Praxis Episcopal par 1. Tit. visitatio They all concur Vt nullus Procurationem recipiat nisi in Locis visitatis duntaxat tum Tantum victuallibus à locis quae visitantur That Meat and Drink when the Visiters are athirst or hungry shall be given them but not one Farthing of Money For says the said Council of London Anno 1200. The Children ought not to lay up for the Parents but Parents for their Children How far is it then from the Piety of Fathers if rich Prelates that ought like good Pastors to provide for the wants of their poor Flocks under them should be burthensom to their Inferiours And therefore the said John de Aton in his Gloss on that clause of Othobon's Constitution f. 89. hath these Words viz. Nos tam Ecclesiarum indemnitati quam Praelatorum saluti consultius provedentes districtius inhibemus nè quis eorum Procurationem quae ratione visitationis debeter ab Ecclesia quacunque recipiat nisi cum eidem visitationis officium impendit qui vero receperit donec restituerit ab Ingressu Ecclesiae sit suspensus By this Law then the Bishops and Archdeacons must make restitution of all the Moneys they received for Procurations or else be Suspended and not suffered to enter into the Church until they restore those ill-gotten Goods Et haec ratio fortè movet Episcopos hujus Regni qui in Visitationibus suis Procurationes ab Ecclesia communiter non exigunt quia ad singulas Ecclesias ob causam Visitationis non declinant lecet plenè personas visitent tà m Clerum quam populum ob hanc causam nunc ad unum locum nunc ad alium congruum convocando cumtamen Procurationem debeant recipere tantum modo de locis visitatis In short Visitations of old were to a good end like that of Paul and Barnabas by preaching the Word again to them to confirm them or strengthen and corroborate them in the Faith Afterwards this Godly usage became a Trade but never till there was Money to be got by it a nusance that Pride and Covetousness invented and continues in spight of the Laws and Canons of God and man For which cause the learned French Bishop Claudius Espencaeus complains in these words Comment in Epist ad Titum c. 1. Minores non tantum Episcopi sed ut Archidiaconi eorumque male officiosit absit verbo invidia nam de malis loquor Officiales Vicarii dum Diocaeses Parochias obequitant non tam facinorosos criminum reos poenis correctionibus à vitiis deterrent quo fine Peregrinationes hujusmodi olim jam fucrint jure canonico ordinatae quam pecuniâ praesenti numeratâ titulo Procurationis nè dicam fictitiae Jurisdictionis emungunt exigunt tum Clericos tum Laicos First they bring their printed Articles for the Church-wardens of every Parish to buy and though they have half a score of them which the Parish has bought ten years together yet still they must buy a new Book every year or lay down the money for it and then you may chuse whether you will take it with you or no Then also the Church-wardens must swear to keep and observe those Articles And are not all that do so forsworn Then they must give money a grant for being sworn then they must swear to Present and if they do not make a Presentment they are Excommunicated if they do put in a Presentment usually written in Court and very brief with an omnia benè for which they pay a shilling then also for putting in the Presentment a shilling more For three shillings and six pence or three shillings and eight pence a Church-warden may escape cleverly But saith the said French Bishop the Minor Bishops and Arch-deacons and their wickedly-officious pardon the Word for I speak only of the wicked Officials and Vicar-generals in their Visitations do not so much deterr men from sin by punishing the criminals as to drain their Purses by exacting ready monies of the Clergy and Laity by the name of Procurations and I know not what feigned Jurisdiction Thus the said good Bishop Espencaeus And therefore in the greatest height of Popery in England the Kings Judges and Justices in his Temporal Courts have usually decreed that Excommunicate persons shall be absolved clave errante when the Judges disallowed the cause for which a man was Excommunicated And many Actions of the Case have been brought against the Arch-deacons c. for Excommunicating men for things out of their cognizance and exceeding the limits of their Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions namely when they meddle with the right of Patronage exempt Churches being Lay-Fees c. and have made them pay sawce for being so sawcy and pragmatical I 'le instance in one Pat. 18 Edw. 1. m. 26. De libertatibus liberarum Capellarum Regis Rex omnibus c. salutem Inspeximus literas celebri memoriae Domini H. Regis Angliae patris nostri patentes in hec verba Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliae Dominus Hiberniae
the Sheriffs c. cannot as the Law then was and now is make such Execution and give the Clerks presented Jus in Re or possession And if a Bishop or Arch-deacon for they are but men do refuse the same wantonly or through prejudice or design for a Kingsman or a Friend of his own when modestly requested by the Clerk presented and will not admit him habilem then the Law has provided a Writ called Quare Impedit to force him to shew a Lawful cause in the Kings-Courts and by them approved or otherwise to force the Bishop to make Execution according to the Patrons Presentment Thus we see in Times of greatest Popery our Ancestors did assert their own Proprieties against Arbitrary Proceedings of Men that call'd themselves the Church the Church I le give but one Instance more to show what little pretence the Clergy alone have to entitle themselves alone the Church Representative of England distinct from the Lay-Brethren and that is in making a Canon to Cringe to the East and Bow at the Name of Jesus Object How now will some say Of all instances you might have forborn this For can any good Christian do too much Reverence to the Name of Jesus We now know what you would be at Phil. 2.10 11. for does not the Apostle say that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow c. this might have been let alone Answ But I will not let it go so yet must acknowledge readily and chearfully That there is no other Name under Heaven by which we can be saved nor any other name except that of God and Jehovah that deserves more signal Reverence And yet notwithstanding Bernardus non videt omnia nor the Church the Church I mean the Clergy in her Placet's always rational much less Infallible The words in Phil. 2.10 11. are That at the Name of Jesus every knee not every head should how of things in Heaven therefore not litterally to be understood for there is no knees there to bow and things in Earth and things under the Earth there is no knees there neither except those in Graves and they are too senceless at least too stiff to bow And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Therefore such as take the words litterally ought at the same time that they bow the head or knee to use also their Tongues and confess at the same time that Jesus Christ is Lord. But I say in obedience to this Holy Scripture or rather some Clergy-men's Comment thereon Men at this day at the Name of Jesus bow their heads not their knees yet the Text speaks not one word of that nay in all discourse as well as in the Church men that understand it in the litteral sence ought to bow the knee and not dop the head and also at the same time they ought with their Tongues confess That Jesus Christ is Lord. Thus when we hear a Common-Swearer 100 times in an hour swear by Jesus as is usual and often we ought by this Interpretation to make a Legg every time and with our Tongues Eccho to him and cry out Jesus Christ is Lord. But such was the wisedom for want of comparing the Words with the Context For by the Name of Jesus there is understood the Power and Soveraignty of Jesus to which God hath highly Exalted him not those 4. or 5. Letters but a Power above every Name that is above every Creature or above all created Powers whether in Heaven or in Earth or under the Earth that they might how the knee to him that is adore him So Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower not the Letters Jehovah or Jah is a strong Tower or the found and noise of those words but The Power of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous run unto it and are safe not into the Letters or found of the Name Yet notwithstanding if any man will show Reverence at the Name of Jesus I am not offended so he shew as much Reverence at the Name of God and at the Name of the Holy Ghost It is a hard and harsh saying of some and borders upon Blasphemy to make distinctions in the Holy Trinity as if we were more beholden to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity than to the First or Third Person This Grates to make a difference in Reverencing The Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity But in this Instance I only show that the Clergy the Clergy much less a few of the Clergy because Higher and Taler have shown no Charter hitherto nor reason to have such a Charter granted to them to be without the Laity The Church The Churth of England The whole Oecumenical Council of Nice had erred shamefully but for one single ey'd man Paphnutius And it is pretty reading in the Council of Trent to see how at a loss the Fathers were for a Resolution 'till Post-Night till the Packet return'd from Rome one said with their Holy Ghost in a Cloak-bagg So that the next day after the Post came in People repair'd to the Counsel-House for News and to know how squares would go as men do now to a Country Coffee-house on a Post-night to know how things go above But is it not strange Impudence Atheism and Effrontery thus to take Gods holy Name and Spirit in vain by making the Holy Ghost father all our Escapes and By-blows adulterately begotten by Self-Interest Pride Passion Revenge crasty Fetches covetons designs whether the French or the Spanish Interest carry it still The stile is It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us God forgive them And this is the Church The Church that is the Clergy the Clergy or rather the Few the Few the least in number I will not say I cannot say the worst of the number nor the Idlest of the number But add to them Lay-Chancellors or Vicar-Generals Sumners Registers c. To make up this Church the Church of England And you make them worse and worse I look upon the Church of England as the greatest Bull-Work against Popery what This latter sort of men are they such a Bull-work no the Protestants of England The Protestant Laws of England embodied with the Fundamental-Laws of the Realm Ruine one and you ruine the other for they must live and die together Thus have I evidenced that the Laity in the Apostles times were the Church and as much Canon-makers and Rule-makers and had the conduct of the infallible Spirit and gifts of the Holy Ghost as well as the Apostles and therefore certainly the Christian People as well as the Clergy of England are the Church of England Nay In Hen. 3. time when the Popish Prelates were most Rampant and Othoben the Pope's Nuncio had almost Beggar'd that King keeping him poor and doing what he list with him yet when they were to be excommunicated that Infringed Magna Charta The Clergy nor the Synod did not make it but the King and