give no right to the Bishops or Authority to the Decrees they ordained and tho' all the Art and Cruelty imaginable was used to cut off a future Succession by burning imprisoning and banishing the Lawful Bishops yet it pleased God so to order it that the major Part of the Lawful undoubted Bishops who were made in King Edward's Reign and which lived till Queen Elizabeth's days joyned again in continuing the Succession of Bishops and restoring the Reformation settled in Convocation which has been preserved without Interruption to this very Day And those Bishops that were set aside in Queen Elizabeth's Reign were either justly deposed in King Edward's Days and never rightly restored or else were ordained by them who had no Authority to give them Jurisdiction in this Nation and so had no further right than the Civil Magistrate could give which the same Power had again taken away So that the Ordination of Archbishop Parker was so far from being irregular that it was made by those who only had proper Right and Title to ordain For the rest of King Edward's Bishops being Dead the sole Authority did Regularly devolve on the few that were left And the Queen the Nobility and Gentry the Clergy and the Main Body of the Nation were so well satisfied of the unlawful Authority of those Bishops that were set aside and the undoubted Right of those who ordained Archbishop Parker that of about 9400 Clergy above 9200 did with great Joy receive the Bishops and the Reformation and the rest of the Nation even those that were formerly zealous for the Church of Rome did joyn with them in Prayers and Sacraments and there was an Universal Agreement and Concurrence in the Communion of the Church of England for 10 or 11 Years together so that there was no other Penal Law but that of 12 d. a Sunday to stir up lazy People to mind their Duty and we might have continued so till this Day in that happy Concord had not the Pope excommunicated and deposed the Queen and prohibited all her Subjects under Pain of an Anathema to own her Soveraignty and submit to the Bishops of the Church of England Upon which many separated from our Communion and have disturbed our Government ever since So that it is plain the Schism is on the side of the Papists who upon pretence of Papal Authority did withdraw themselves from the Communion of their own Bishops and make a formal division in the Church which was before united in Peace and Truth But suppose there was some circumstantial defect in the Succession of some of our first Bishops as to matter of Form in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign after so many of their Predecessors had been unjustly turned out and destroyed in Queen Mary's Days their Misfortunes do not at all concern the present Bishops of the Church of England for if the Matter of our Reformation and the Constitution of our Church be Sound and Catholick as it is beyond all possible Contradiction and the Consecration of our Bishops was Valid as to the matter of Order there being no Regular Succession of Bishops continued on by those who were set aside in Queen Elizabeth's Reign because they knew it was in vain when they saw the Kingdom so well settled and the People so unanimously joyning with the Reformed Bishops after all those Popish Bishops were Dead there could be nothing required in Reason to give the Protestants a full Right and Authority but the Reception of the Queen and the whole Kingdom and that they had long before and all the Bishops for many Successions since that Time came into vacant Places and the Bishops that now are were none of them Born and come into none but void Places and so are as Firmly and Canonically settled as any Bishops in the World. This being the true Account of the Reformation of the Church of England I proceed now to consider the Argument in the pretended Conference with Bishop Gunning and Bishop Pearson so many Years ago and lately Reprinted by Henry Cruttenden at Oxon. And first it begins with a Definition of Schism in this Manner Schism is a Voluntary Separation of one Part from the whole true visible Hierarchical Church of Christ And then he goes on to a Syllogism in this manner Whoever make a Voluntary Separation of themselves from the whole true visible Church of Christ are Schismaticks But all those of the English Protestant Party make a Voluntary Separation of themselves from the whole true visible Church of Christ. Therefore all those of the English Protestant Party are Schismaticks He goes about to prove that we separate from the visible Church because we separate from the Roman and Greek Churches and all others in Communion with them and this seems to be the full Substance and Design of the first Argument Now to avoid all doubt and entring into Disputes about Foreign Churches whose Case is in some Regard much different from ours of the Church of England I shall therefore instead of the Protestant Party proceed to Answer for the Protestants of the Church of England I will not go to examine the definition of Schism any one that desires further Satisfaction about it may look into the Conference it self as it is printed where it is learnedly and acutely examined by the Bishops themselves In Answer therefore to the major Proposition it is so far from being true that we separate from the visible Church of Christ that we separate from no true Church or Society of Christians in the World. But to the better stating of this Matter we must consider that there is a twofold Communion one of Coordination and another of Subordination Churches Coordinate i. e. of several Provinces several Nations and Countries owe no Obedience one to another and are not bound to observe the same Rites and Customs and to agree in all School-disputes and Niceties concerning Theological Opinions no more than several Kingdoms are bound to have the same Laws and Constitutions This is acknowledged by all sober Divines in all Ages Accordingly several Churches and Countries have had their peculiar Rules and Orders still living in Peace and Unity and so might it be at this Day did not the Church of Rome by Force and Subtilty go about to enslave all Mankind to their private Errors and Impositions As therefore several Kingdoms do maintain Peace one with another and give all friendly Assistance if there be Occasion for their mutual Happiness and Defence yet keep to their own Laws and Customs in other Matters so tho' we differ in some Opinions and Practices from Rome and other Churches yet we retain that Christian Charity and Respect for them which one Coordinate Church or Kingdom ought to have for another and so there is no Schism made at all by us nor so much as any Separation but what distance of Place and difference of Circumstances do necessarily make Neither do we send Emissaries Abroad to
in Queen Elizabeth's Reign did possess the Places of Lawful Bishops yet living or united themselves to such as did possess them therefore they were Schismatical and no Lawful Bishops of the Church of England For as soon as these Lawful Bishops were turned out others were put into their Places and not only so but contrary to all Rule and ordorly Government in the Church For the most certain Fundamental Constitution of the Church in all Ages and the constant Order of all Societies which is always tacitly supposed tho' not formally observed is that while particular Churches keep to the Faith and Unity of the Catholick Church as ours had done all things ought to be managed by the Archbishop and Bishops of the Province and so by the Chief Governors and main Body of the Society or else things cannot be Regularly done but here the Archbishop and the Major Part of the Bishops are set aside and others put into their Places while they were yet alive and Dr. Burnet adds that of the inferiour Clergy who were Sixteen Thousand Twelve Thousand were likewise turned out so there could be nothing Regularly done by the Convocation either in the Upper or Lower House And further they were not content with the present Possession but secretly said in their Minds These are the Heirs come let us kill them and their Inheritance shall be ours therefore after they had bereaved them of their Bishopricks and their Livings they quickly took away many of their Lives And are not all these Men Schismaticks with a Witness and all those that were Ordained by them into other Mens Places and Government It matters not to our business to pursue all the Successions and Changes in Queen Mary's Days I will rather proceed to consider the State of the Bishopricks after Queen Mary's Death when Queen Elizabeth restored the Church to that Regular Constitution which was settled before by the undoubted Lawful Archbishops and Bishops in King Edward's Days Bishopricks void by Death Archbishop Poole of Canterbury Bishop King of Oxford Bishop Capon of Salisbury Bishop Parfew of Hereford Bishop Holyman of Bristol Bishop Glin of Bangor Bishop Brookes of Glocester Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Norwich void Rochester void Bishops in Possession of the other Bishopricks but uncanonically for the Reasons above named Bishop Bonner of London Bishop Thirlby of Ely. Bishop White of Winchester Bishop Watson of Lincoln Bishop Pool of Peterburgh Bishop Bourne of Bath and Wells Bishop Turbervill of Exeter Bishop Bayne of Lichfield and Coventry Bishop Christophorson of Chichester Bishop Pates of Wonchester Bishop Goldwell of St. Asaph Bishop Kitchin of Landaffe Who conformed In the Province of York Archbishop Heath of York Bishop Tunstall of Durham Bishop Scot of Chester Bishop Oglethorp of Carlisle 'T is confessed that 14 or 15 were turned out or went away in Queen Elizabeth's Days but according to our Author 's own Argument they were Schismaticks and no Lawful Bishops because they came into the Places of Lawful Bishops while they were alive or else were ordained by and communicated with such Schismaticks I add they usurped their Places by turning out the Metropolitans and Major Part of the Bishops of each Province and so could have no Lawful Authority or Jurisdiction Queen Elizabeth therefore set them aside and so removed this Violence and Usurpation And being willing to restore all things as they were settled in King Edward's Reign she calls back the Bishops that were still alive which were only Five in number Bishop Barlow Scory Coverdale Kitchin and Thirlby And all but Thirlby concurred in settling the Reformation so we had still the Major Part of the Lawful Bishops to renew the Succession and they did Ordain Archbishop Parker and others and it has been Regularly continued ever since Thus the Authority of our present Bishops as to Order and Jurisdiction is beyond dispute One Objection was insisted upon by Queen Mary and others to justify the Deprivation of the Protestant Bishops and others of the Clergy because some of them were married Men and perhaps they married after Orders which was threatned with Deposition by many ancient Canons To which I Answer that living in a Married Estate is not by Divine Authority inconsistent with the Exercise of the Priesthood but was always allowed in the Church and ever practised in the Greek Church till this Day and has been oftentimes dispensed withal in the Roman Church for secular Ends. So that the allowing Marriage before or after Orders is a Circumstance that depends upon the Discretion of the Church and if for some Reasons Clergy-men were heretofore prohibited to marry after Orders yet in this long Interval of General Councils upon the great Experience of the Mischiefs and Inconveniences that came by forbidding it particular Churches may dispense with that Rigour accordingly this Provincial and National Church and the Law of the Land which had much better Authority than the Pope had left every body to their Liberty to marry or not to marry as they saw good and so they that did marry offended against no Law of God and Man and therefore were unjustly Deposed from their Bishopricks upon that Account But then our Author says that they in Queen Mary's Days were Lawful Bishops and he proves it from the Confession of Protestants who grant that the Church of Rome and all those of her Communion are true Churches of Christ. Now as to the first Part of the Argument I Answer In time of great Schism and tumultuous Proceedings there may be so far the Remains of a true Church that many Pious Christians who are not at all or else ignorantly ingaged in the Schism may be saved but we have no Reason to say that the Popish Bishops in Queen Mary's Days were Lawful Bishops or the governing Part were then the National Church of England the true Right and Authority of the Church was in those Lawful Bishops that were made in King Edward's Days and that was the true Church of England which did adhere to them and their Constitutions But then the Author does Object that Protestants do grant that the Church of Rome and all those of her Communion are true Churches of Christ. Never was People's Charity more abused than ours of the Church of England has been in this kind to justify the Errors and Schism of the Church of Rome and all upon a mere and generally wilful Mistake In short therefore 't is true and we do acknowledge that the Substance of the Christian Religion is professed by the Church of Rome tho' mingled with Errors And so many that honestly and sincerely serve God in her Communion may be saved but yet many may be damned for too pertinaciously maintaining and propagating the Errors of the Church of Rome especially those that desert and refuse Obedience to the Bishops of the Church of England setting up Altar against Altar and so keeping up a Schism amongst us where they have such plentiful Means of being better
THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England Justified according to the Canons of the Council of Nice and other General Councils and the Tradition of the Catholick Church BEING AN ANSWER to a Paper reprinted at Oxford called the SCHISM of the Church of England Demonstrated in four ARGUMENTS formerly Proposed to Dr. Gunning and Dr. Pearson the late Bishops of Ely and Chester by two Catholick Disputants in a celebrated Conference upon that Point In which Answer the unworthy and false dealings of the PAPISTS are shewed and the Charge of SCHISM returned upon them and the CHURCH of ENGLAND proved truly Catholick and Apostolick in her Doctrine and Constitution By Dr. Saywell CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes Printer to the University For Edward Hall Bookseller there And are to be sold by Luke Meredith at the Angel in Amen-Corner London 1688. TO THE READER READER THOU hadst not now been troubled with the following Papers if a Relation of part of a pretended Conference with Bishop Gunning late Lord Bishop of Ely and Bishop Pearson late Lord Bishop of Chester had not been afresh Reprinted at Oxford and sent abroad into the World as a piece unanswerable by these two Eminent Prelates of our Church In which tho' there be nothing new and which has not been long ago answer'd yet to satisfie the World about the Truth of that Matter and to remove any prejudice that some might otherwise conceive concerning these Learned and Pious Bishops I will give a short account as near as I can at this distance of time of the Matter of Fact and then proceed to a particular Answer to the several Arguments in order as they lie The Conference was managed in writing about 30 Years ago and by mutual agreement nothing was to be made Publick without the allowance and consent of both Parties But such was the disingenuity and unworthiness of one of the Romish Disputants that contrary to the Faith and Promise he had made he sets forth a Book and pretends it to be an account of the Conference with Bishop Gunning and Bishop Pearson when he had left out changed and misplaced Matters as he pleased himself insomuch that his Partner was very much ashamed of his dishonest and unfaithful Dealing and did utterly condemn him for what he had done and renounced his having been engaged in approving or consenting to such a hase and disingenuous Proceeding and did openly own and acknowledge so much to the Persons concerned An account whereof was given to the World by Mr. Thomas Smith of Christ-College in Cambridge in a little Book called a Gagg for the Quakers with an Answer to Mr. Denn's Quaker no Papist Lond. Printed for J. C. and are to be sold near the North-door of St. Paul's Church-yard 1659. That which follows in your Book about Mr. Gunning and Mr. Pearson who disputed against the Romanists all who know these Ministers know to be superfluous and frivolous However I think fit to tell you the Romanist who put forth an Edition of that Dispute hath so changed transposed added diminished and made of it what he list that I believe it will be as soon owned for your I mean not J. S. but H. D's Conference as Mr. Pearson's or Mr. Gunning's I must now tell you further what you have been oft enough told that that Relation cannot expect to be regarded by Mr. P. or any sober Person which is disclaimed and disowned by Three of the Four who were Disputants viz. by both the Protestants and half the Papists But chiefly I must entreat you to consider whether the inserting above 200 Lines at a time as a part of the Conference which never was part of it besides all professed Additions secondly whether the leaving out whole Sheets of the Protestants which the Papists thought too hard to answer and thirdly the scarce suffering any one Argument and Answer of both to come together but casting usually parts of the same Paper of Mr. G. many score Leaves asunder one from another be not a scandal that any Christian would desire might be cover'd with silence And I would gladly know from any Ingenuous Person whether this might not be Answer enough to a Book put out at the charge of the Romanist's own Purse and Conscience A Discourse by being mangled rendred so unintelligible that scarce any Man ever read it over or will. Reverend Mr. William Moor the deceased Library-Keeper was perswaded by J. S. to read one Leaf but professed before many Witnesses he would not read another if you would give him the whole Impression because it was so unintelligible for the Causes above-mentioned This account was thought sufficient to satisfie the World that the Relation of that Conference ought not to be regarded and that it needed no other Answer But perhaps some will demand why was not the Conference then Printed whole and intire Now the reason of that was because the Popish Adversary did run all the Dispute into obscure and metaphysical Niceties that few could understand and fewer would take the pains to read it and so it was not thought fit and a needless charge to trouble the World with it Besides both the Bishops did tell their Friends when they discoursed with them about a fuller Answer that they thought it altogether unnecessary because though the Dispute were mangled and misrepresented yet that which they had Printed was still unanswered by them and unanswerable by any of their Party and they were perswaded that all Men who would carefully read the Book would be of the same mind And as for this Paper that is added at the end of the pretended Conference and now Reprinted at Oxford the Author do's not so much as say that it was part of their Dispute but a pure Addition of his own wherein they were no more concerned than other Divines and they did not think they were bound to answer whatsoever he should afterwards write and publish to the World and yet this Oxford Paper would without any ground or the least colour impose upon the World that this is a part of that forementioned Conference Neither did the Cause it self or the state of Affairs then require any particular Discourse upon that subject the Books of Bishop Fern Arch-bishop Bramhall Dr. Hammond and Dr. Heylin being then in every Bodies hands wherein they had fully vindicated the Church of England from any imputation of Schism and the learned Men of that time were so well satisfied with what they had written that it was needless to trouble the World upon that account But now 't is expected every thing that peeps out should receive a due Answer I have therefore endeavour'd to prove from truly Catholick Principles such as our Adversaries themselves cannot gain-say that not only the Doctrine and Constitution of our Church is most sound and Catholick but even the Order of our Succession and the Method of our Reformation was truly Regular and Canonical and that all the Author 's own Arguments do return
upon his own Head and evidently prove himself and other English Papists guilty of Schism An ANSWER to a Paper called the Schism of the CHURCH of ENGLAND demonstrated c. IT has been the constant Profession of the Church of England that the Word of God interpreted by Catholick Tradition and a truly Oecumenical Council not a Patriarchal one of a few Italians in the West ought to be hearkened to in Matters that concern the Peace and Unity of the Church And it has been also frequently and learnedly proved by our English Bishops and Divines that the Points in difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome are so far from being Matters of Faith that they are modern Errors imposed upon the Christian World besides and contrary to the Determinations of General Councils and Catholick Tradition so that our dissent about them from the Roman Church can be by no means accounted Heretical or Schismatical but all these Arguments urged by the Oxford Paper will evidently prove that those Bishops Priests and Lay-men that set up Altar against Altar and hold separate Congregations in Opposition to the Church of England do break the order of Catholick Communion and are guilty of Schism But before I apply my self to return an Answer to the several Arguments it will be requisite to give a short account of the Reformation In the Reign of Hen. 8. there was an Assembly held the Determinations whereof are now extant and to be seen wherein the Archbishops and Bishops Bishop Bonner and Gardner Voysey Heath Tunstall amongst the rest did declare that the Bishop of Rome ought to have no jurisdiction here in England but the Archbishops and Bishops and the National Church had Power to order all Matters within themselves without the concurrence of the Pope so as they did keep to the Faith and Unity of the Catholick Church and for this they alledged the Authority of the Council of Nice and other General Councils And as for the byshoppe of Rome it was many hundreth yeres after Christe before he coude acquire or gette any primacy or gouernance above any other byshoppes out of his province in Italie Sithe the whyche tyme he hath ever vsurped more and more And though some parte of his power was gyven unto hym by the consent of the emperours kynges and princis and by the consent also of the clergie in generalle councelles assembled yet surely he atteyned the moste parte thereof by meruaylous subtiltie and crafte and speciallye by colludynge with greatte kynges and princis sometyme trayninge theym into his deuotion by pretence and colour of holynes and sanctimonie and some tyme constraining them by force and tyranny Wherby the sayde byshoppes of Rome aspired and arose at lengthe vnto suche greatnes in strength and auctoritie that they presumed and toke vpon them to be heddes and to put lawes by their owne auctoritie not onely vnto al other byshoppes within Christendome but also vnto themperours kinges other the princis and lordes of the worlde and that under the pretence of the auctoritie commytted vnto them by the gospell Wherin the saide bishops of Rome do not onely abuse and peruerte the true sense and meaning of Christis worde but they doo also cleane contrarie to the vse and custome of the primitiue churche and also do manyfestly violate as well the holy canons made in the churche immediately after the tyme of the apostels as also the decrees and constitutions made in that behalfe by the holy fathers of the catholike churche assembled in the fyrst general councels and finally they do transgresse theyr owne profession made in their creation For all the byshoppes of Rome always whan they be consecrated and made byshoppes of that see do make a solemn profession and vowe that they shall inuiolably obserue and kepe all the ordinances made in the eight first general councels amonge the whiche it is specially provided and enacted that all causes shall be fynished and determyned within the prouince where the same be begon and that by the byshops of the same prouince and that no byshop shall exercise any iurisdiction out of his owne diocese or province aud dyverse suche other canons were then made and confyrmed by the sayd councels to represse and take away out of the churche al suche primacy and iurisdiction ouer kinges and bishops as the bishops of Rome pretend now to haue ouer the same In the Reign of King Edward 6. The Bishops and Clergy having free Liberty to meet and debate of Matters of Religion without the Pope did find other Abuses and Corruptions besides that of the Pope's Usurpation over the Governours of the Church and did in the Convocation 1552. establish Articles of Religion a publick Liturgy and Book of Ordination the same in substance with those that are now in use amongst us and the Archbishops and a far major part of the Bishops were consenting thereunto not above 5 or 6 were displaced for their disorderly behaviour and dissent from their Brethren and others by the Metropolitan and Bishops of the Province ordained and settled in their Bishopricks according to the usual custom of that time as all Historians and our very Adversaries are forced to confess The Church of England being thus regularly settled was never from that time to this very day regularly changed by any Canonical Authority but has oftentimes been confirmed since both by the Authority of the Convocation and of our Kings and Parliaments and consequently the present Bishops are Lawful Pastors without any guilt of Heresy or Schism and all within their several charges are bound by the Council of Nice and other general Councils to live in their Communion and to submit to them as those that are appointed by the Holy Ghost to direct and govern them in Matters of Religion and all Neighbour Churches are obliged to allow us the Communion of Coordinate Churches and to own us as true Members of Christ's mystical Body The Holy Catholick Church The only Objection of any Moment that is made against this Regular Succession is from the interruption it met with in the short Reign of Queen Mary But when the Matter of Fact is looked into it will appear that nothing which was done in her Reign will be any prejudice to our Succession nor can by any means take off the Regular Settlement of the Church of England by the Convocation in King Edward's Reign but that the Acts thereof are still in force except in some particulars which have been changed by Convocations afterwards For the Synods which were held and the Ordinations that were made in Queen Mary's days were not carried on in a Regular Manner by the Archbishops and Bishops of the Province but by the Authority of the Pope and those Bishops which were justly deposed and set aside and so had no jurisdiction nor any right or title to exercise their Authority in this Realm and therefore could
withdraw their People from their Obedience and set up Altar against Altar in a Schismatical manner and I wish they could say as much that they did not go about to disturb our Peace and Communion But secondly there is a Communion of Subordination that which all Bishops Priests and all others owe of submission to the Archbishops and Bishops c. and to the Canons and Constitutions of each Province and Nation in all Lawful things and this is heartily done by all true Members of the Church of England herein we follow the command of God Obey them that have the rule over you the command of the Council of Nice and other General Councils the Laws Ecclesiastical and Civil of this Church and Nation But those that call themselves Roman Catholicks are plainly guilty of Schism for they separate from the Communion of all Coordinate Churches which will not embrace their Errors and be subject to their Authority they send Emissaries abroad all over Christendom to withdraw Persons from their Obedience to their own Bishops and set up Altar against Altar Communion against Communion contrary to the constant Order of the Catholick Church So that the Disorders Tumults Conventicles which he complains of in England are Chargeable upon them But the Protestants of the Church of England are in Doctrine most Pure in Charity most Catholick and in their Practice and Publick Service most conformable to the Primitive and Catholick Church of any in the World. The second Argument WHoever adhere to Schismatical Pastors as Schismatical is understood in our Definition are Schismaticks But all English Protestants adhere to Schismatical Pastors as Schismatical is understood in our Definition therefore all English Protestants are Schismaticks He goes about to prove that we adhere to Schismatical Pastors because we derive our Succession from those that Ordained Archbishop Parker and others in Opposition to the major Part of the English Bishops who were then alive and into the Places of many of them while they were alive and never Lawfully Deprived This is the Substance of the second Argument In Answer to which I deny that the Bishops set aside in Queen Elizabeth's Reign were Lawful Bishops of the Church of England because they were violently and uncanonically thrust in or rather they invaded those Bishopricks in Queen Mary's Days So that the Bishops which Ordained Archbishop Parker and others and those that held Communion with them were the only Lawful Regular Bishops of the Church of England at that time they being Regularly constituted in King Edward's Days and never legally Deprived All the other of King Edward's Bishops which complied except Thirlby and Kitchin were dead and so the full Authority must remain with the rest that survived and they all but Thirlby did concur in the Ordination of Archbishop Parker and others or Communicated with them Neither was Archbishop Parker and many others consecrated into other Mens Places while they were alive for Cardinal Poole the Archbishop of Canterbury and about nine or ten Bishops more were Dead and Archbishop Parker and others were elected confirmed and consecrated into vacant Places in due Order according to the usage of this Kingdom for many Ages except in the Form of the Ordinal in which there was nothing wanting to the Essence and Validity of their Consecration So that Archbishop Parker's Authority and many others is beyond Dispute also by the tacit consent of the rest who ought to have opposed it at their Confirmation when they were summon'd to that purpose if they had any Legal Exception to make against their being made Bishops which being not done and the Consecration proceeding they are in all Reason and Justice shut out from any further Opposition and they ought to be concluded to have given their tacit Consent which we may the rather believe because many of them agreed to the Reformations in King H. 8. and King Edw. 6. Days and seem more now for Political than Ecclesiastical Reasons to refuse to comply because they had made themselves Obnoxious to all Parties already by their former Changes and Cruelty So they thought it better to regain their Credit with the Romanists by their standing out than to be looked upon as Time-servers and little regarded by the People But then this Argument does demonstratively return upon the Author himself and the Popish Bishops in Queen Mary's Days as will appear by the following Catalogue Bishops justly Deposed in King Edward's Days for not obeying the Laws and their Deposition consented to and approved by the Bishops as appears by their Ordaining others into their Places Bishop Bonner of London Bishop Gardner of Winchester Bishop Day of Chichester Bishop Heath of Worcester Bishop Voysey of Exeter Some say he resigned Bishop Tunstall of Durham Who is said to have resigned Bishops rightly Consecrated and in actual Possession at King Edward's Death Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury Consecr Hen. 8. Bishop Ridley of London Edw. 6. Bishop Poynet of Winchester Edw. 6. Bishop Goodrick of Ely. Hen. 8. Bishop Salscot alias Capon of Salisbury Hen. 8. Bishop Chambers of Peterburgh Hen. 8. Bishop King of Oxford Hen. 8. Bishop Bulkley of Bangor Hen. 8. Bishop Parfew alias Wharton of St. Asaph Hen. 8. Bishop Samson of Lich. and Coventry Hen. 8. Bishop Kitchin of Landaffe Hen. 8. Bishop Bush of Bristol Hen. 8. Bishop Bartow of Bath and Wells Hen. 8. Bishop Ferrar of St. David's Edw. 6. Bishop Scory of Chichester Edw. 6. Bishop Hooper of Worcester and Glocester Edw. 6. Bishop Coverdale of Exeter Edw. 6. Bishop Taylor of Lincoln Edw. 6. Bishop Harley alias Harvey of Hereford Edw. 6. Rochester void In the Province of York Archbishop Holgate of York Consecrated Hen. 8. Bishop Aldrich of Carlisle Hen. 8. Bishop Bird of Chester Hen. 8. Durham void Of these in the Province of Canterbury Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley Poynot Scory Coverdale Taylor Harvey alias Harley Bush Hooper Ferrar and Barlow were removed A. D. 1554 as Dr. Burnet relates Bishop Goodrick died about that Time and all the rest that complied except Bishop Thirlby and Bishop Kitchin either before or about the Time of Queen Mary's Death And it does not appear they were at all Active in turning our their Brethren In the Province of York Archbishop Holgate Bishop Bird turned out In the Province of Canterbury Rochester being void and Worcester and Glocester united there could be but Twenty in all and we find here Eleven i. e. the Archbishop and Major Part of the Bishops unjustly and uncanonically turned out In the Province of York Durham was void so Archbishop Holgate and Bishop Bird were the Major Part unjustly turned out Now let me take up our Author's Argument Whosoever possess the Sees and Offices of Lawful Bishops those Lawful Bishops yet living or unite themselves to such as possess them are such Schismatical Pastors This is our Author 's Major Proposition to which I add this Minor. But the Popish Bishops that were set aside
Place Hodgkins was only a Suffragan but communicated with these three in the Consecration and therefore became a Schismatick As our Author does only in this Argument vary in Form and Circumstance from his former Arguments so I must apply the same Answer for Substance to his Assertions Day and Veysey were justly set aside in King Edward's Days for not consenting to the Decree of the major part of the Bishops as appears by the Protector 's Letter to Bishop Gardner in Dr. Burnet's Collection and Bishop Scory and Coverdale were by the consent of the Archbishop and Bishops Regularly settled in their Places in peaceable Times wherein no Cruelties were exercised no Man was put to Death for his Religion and only that Discipline was used to turn out those that would not quietly submit to the Determinations of the major part of the Bishops of the Province and as for Bishop Barlow he was Consecrated a Bishop of this Church near ' twenty Years before in King Henry the Eighth's Days and so was Bishop Hodgkins Suffragan at Bedford So that we have the Four Consecrators of Archbishop Parker duly consecrated in quiet Times by the Archbishop and Bishops of the Province and therefore endued with the undoubted Power both of Order and Jurisdiction beyond all Dispute Therefore unless any can shew a better Title not only the Power of Order which they did Confer but of Jurisdiction also must be unquestionable and consequently the whole Succession of English Bishops ever since is exactly Regular and Canonical The only Pretenders to a better Title were those fourteen Popish Bishops set aside by Queen Elizabeth But these four Mens Title is more Firm and Ancient than theirs for the Popish Bishops were either such as were legally Deposed and thrust themselves afterwards in the Places of the Lawful Bishops and then put many of them to Death or all else but Bishop Thirlby were ordained by or communicated with them during their Schism and Usurpation and therefore neither the Ordainers nor Ordained had any Right or Jurisdiction in the Church of England so that Bishop Barlow Bishop Scory Bishop Coverdale being undoubted Regular Bishops of the Church of England at King Edward's Death and all that was done in Queen Mary's Days being acted by Bishops that had no Lawful Jurisdiction the Regular Authority of Ordaining and Conferring Jurisdiction as well as Order was devolved to them and they might take Bishop Hodgkins into their Assistance to add the greater Solemnity to their Ordination so that those Fourteen were so far from being Regular Bishops of the Church of England that they will not be able to clear themselves of Schism Murder and the damnable Heresy of the Deposing Doctrine 'T is very unreasonable therefore that the Bishops of the Church of England should be charged with Schism for declining their Authority so long as they have a Regular Succession from the undoubted Lawful Bishops who were free from any such foul Guilt or Suspicion and the Clergy were so well satisfied with their Authority that of 9400 above 9200 did really submit to it and heartily embrace the Reformation and the Queen Nobility Gentry and the whole Kingdom as I said before did willingly and joyfully adhere to their Communion and for ten or eleven Years lived in Peace and Unity till the Pope by his Bull of Excommunication and Deposition made a Disturbance The fourth Argument WHosoever Subject themselves unto these as their Lawful Pastors who have no Jurisdiction over them are Schismaticks But English Protestants ever since Queen Elizabeth's Time have Subjected themselves to these as their Lawful Pastors who have no Jurisdiction over them Therefore c. are Schismaticks The second Proposition he proves because we had no Regular Succession at home nor derived none from abroad and could have none from Rome Constantinople or any other Church But all this is founded upon a false and groundless Supposition Whereas we had Four True Lawful Regular Bishops with full Power of Order and Jurisdiction from whom we derive our Succession and might have had many more had not they unjustly put them to Death and so needed not any Assistance from Rome or Constantinople or any Place else And as for the Coustitution of our Church it is established by Divine Right committed to us by Succession from Christ and his Apostles and we Act by the Power we received from the Holy Ghost for the Pastoral Charge the Care of Souls the Right and Power of Baptizing and Consecrating the Eucharist the Power of binding and loosing the Power of Ordination c. are all Spiritual Offices received from God. Neither do we derive them from any secular Magistrates but from the Bishops of the Province according to the constant Tradition of the Church which St. Cyprian says did descend down from Divine Tradition and Apostolical Observation and the Council of Nice and other General Councils Approve and Confirm the same And as for many of the Formalities that are used in the first Nomination Election and Confirmation of Bishops they were not observed by Christ and his Apostles nor commanded by the Church and so are accidental Ceremonies Appointed by the State to testify their good liking of the Person that as the Church doth think him well qualify'd and fit to be Preferred to such a Sacred Office so the State is well satisfied that he is a Man that will be Useful and Faithful to the Temporal Government which is agreeable to the Apostles Direction that he should have a good report of them that are without But still that which is Essential and the Authority and Power to execute the Sacred Office of a Bishop or Priest in their respective Charges is derived from the Bishops of the Province and after great Violence and Disorder from as many or the major part of them which survive And this Method is established and allowed by the Catholick Church as long as Provincial and National Churches keep to her Faith and Unity as Ours has done So that every Bishop and Priest orderly constituted in his Place does act by the Power and Appointment of the Catholick Church and they contemn the Catholick Church that desert and disturb them in the Performance of their Office Hence we may understand our Saviour's meaning when he says if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican Which in the first Place does require us to hear our own particular Parish Priest and Bishop while they are Constituted and live in the Unity of the Church but principally if does oblige us to hearken to the Catholick Church So that if our own Pastors turn Hereticks or set themselves up by undue means and not according to the Order of the Church they are not to be hearkned to but we must according to our Saviour's Command here the Church and not those Pastors that will not themselves hear and obey the
Church as the Pope and his Adherents in England do not So that though Archbishop Parker and others were Ordained but by Four Bishops which is more then the Canons do require to be present yet it was according to the Constitution and Order of the Catholick Church and so all Catholick Bishops must allow and approve of what was done And they and their Successors are established by Christ according to that Command and Authority which he gave to his Apostles to whom as he gave Authority over the whole World so he hath promised to be with them and their Successors to the end of the World. And none have better asserted and maintained the Divine and Apostolical Right of Episcopal Government as well against the Pope and Jesuits as the Presbyterians and Erastians than the Bishops and Divines of the Church of England Our Author therefore does take wrong Measures and seems not to be acquainted with the State of our Affairs when he does Object to us the deriving our Spiritual Authority from secular Magistrates For no Church in the World hath more heartily defended the Episcopal Primitive Church Government in Opposition to the Pope and other Innovators than ours has done And now we have been Governed by many Successions of Archbishops and Bishops according to that Divine Tradition and Apostolical Observation and are at this Day settled under the Conduct of as Learned and Pious Bishops and Clergy as perhaps ever has been in any Age since the first Founding of the Christian Church and heartily United in the Profession of and Conformity to the truly Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith and Discipline which is Established in the Church of England in Provincial and National Synods and likewise by the Law of the Land neither are there any that pretend any Succession derived down in Opposition to ours much less a Regular and Orderly Jurisdiction over us and if the Popish Bishops in the beginning had a pretended Claim yet they being all long since Dead and none continued to succeed in their Places all Pretence is now wholly out of Doors and the Present Bishops are guilty of no Schism their Order is undoubted and their Succession uninterrupted and so their Title and Authority is as firm and unquestionable as any upon Earth and they must be Schismaticks before God and the Catholick Church that do not submit to them and joyn in their Communion in all Lawful Things as the Service of our Church is in all its Offices and Administrations beyond Dispute and to joyn in them is all that is required of any Lay-person to be a Member of our Communion And now I have vindicated the justness of the Authority of the Church of England let us consider with what a different Spirit and Temper the Reformers did proceed from that of the Papists on the side of the Reformers nothing but Love Kindness and Charity on the Part of the Papists nothing but Cruelty Murder and Destruction For they did not only uncanonically Depose their Spiritual Fathers the Lawful Bishops in Queen Maries Days but Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury Bishop Ridley of London Bishop Latimer Bishop Hooper and Bishop Ferrar were burnt to Death with many other Priests and Lay-persons and others were forced to fly their Country to avoid the like Destruction Now come we to consider how these Bishops that had been the cause of all this Cruelty and Bloodshed in Queen Maries Days and were wrongfully thrust into the Places of the True and Lawful Bishops whom they Murthered or forced to fly their Country were treated themselves by the Reformed Bishops when the Tide was turned another way as it was in the Days of Queen Elizabeth And one would think that the Nation being thus exasperated against them by the cruel Usage they shewed to others they would meditate the like Revenge aud retaliate upon them with the like Severity but it is quite contrary to the meek Spirit of Orthodox Christians thus to imbrue their Hands in Blood upon the Account of Religion or to seek to Revenge themselves in the like manner They committed their cause to God in whom they did put their trust and left it to him to plead it with their Adversaries But they themselves did render nothing but Good for Evil Mercy for Cruelty And though they did remove the Bishops from those Sees to which they had no just Title because they were Men of Blood and would not conform to the Publick Order settled in King Edward's Days and give such Security to pay due Allegiance to her Majesty as in justice they ought to have done yet they were treated with all Civility Archbishop Heath was suffered to abide in one of his own purchased Houses never restrained to any Place and died in great Favour with the Queen who bestowed many Gracious Visits on him during his Retirement Tunstall Bishop of Durham spent the remainder of his time with Archbishop Parker by whom he was kindly entertained and honorably Buried the like Civility was shewed to Thirlby Bishop of Ely in the same House and to Bourn Bishop of Wells by the Dean of Exon in which two Houses they Died about ten or eleven Years after White Bishop of Winchester though at first imprisoned for his Insolencies after some time was suffered to enjoy his Liberty and to Retire himself to what Friend he pleased The like Favour was shewed to Turbervile Bishop of Exeter who being a Gentleman by Birth of an Ancient Family could not want Friends to give him Entertainment Watson Bishop of Lincoln having endured a short Restraint spent the remainder of his Time with the Bishops of Ely and Rochester till being found practising against the State he was finally shut up in Wisbich Castle where at last he Died. Oglethorp Bishop of Carlisle Died soon after his Deprivation of an Apoplexy Bayne Bishop of Lichfield of the Stone and Morgan Bishop of St. Davids of some other Disease the December following his Deprivation but all of them in their Beds and at perfect Liberty The rest disposed of themselves as they pleased but no Restraint was laid upon them and were perfectly out of all Fear or Danger of hard Usage so far were the Reformers from putting them to Death upon the Account of Religion Only Bishop Bonner was kept in the Tower for his own Security to preserve him from the Outrage of the Multitude which he had highly exasperated against him by his former Cruelties But so gentle was his Usage and so answerable in all Respects to his Character that one would have look'd on it rather as a chosen Retirement than a Restraint This clear Account being given of the Lawful Authority and undoubted Succession of the Bishops in Queen Elizabeth's Days by whom the Reformation was continued which was happily begun in King Edward the sixth's Reign come we now to consider the state of the inferior Clergy at that Change as we have set it down by Mr.
Cambden who wrote the Annals of those Times The Account that he gives us is this that the Number of Ecclesiastical Promotions was 9400 of all which only 80 Rectors of Churches 50 Prebendaries 15 Presidents of Colleges 12 Archdeacons 12 Deans and six Abbots were turned out in all 175 most if not all of them very likely put in unjustly in Queen Maries Days or else chosen out particularly for their known Obstinacy and Humour in contending for the Errors of the Church of Rome And yet what a poor handful they were to the rest which were above 9200 who did Return to Lawful Settlement of the Church in King Edward's Days and the true Canonical Bishops then remaining who concurred in Ordaining Archbishop Parker and other Bishops restoring and setling the Reformation God Almighty in his due Time put an end to all those immoderate Heats and Contentions and inspire Papists and other Dissenters with that Charitable and Peaceable Temper which always eminently appeared in the true Catholicks of the Church of England And let all those that heartily desire the Advancement of Religion and the Salvation of Mankind consider that the way to promote the Glory of God and the Peace and Unity of the Church is not to carry on secular Designs to impose the private Opinions of the Council of Trent and Roman Schools nor yet the Fanatical Devices of some Modern Reformers but by maintaining the truly Ancient and Apostolick Faith Devotion and Discipline delivered and recommended to us by the Word of God and Example and Authority of the Primitive and Catholick Church which is and can be observed no where in greater Perfection than in the Church of England as is Established by Law. THE END Concionatores imprimis videbunt ne quid unquam doceant pro concione quod à populo religiosè teneri credi velint nisi quod fit consentanenÌ„ doctrinae Peteris Novi Testamenti quodque ex illa ipsa doctrina Catholici patres veteres Episcopi collegerint Now their sense does no where appear more undoubted than in the decrees of General Councils and in the Practice and Tradition that was generally allowed in the Primitive Church Synod Lond. A. 1571. C. Concionatores Firmil Ep. ad Cypr. inter Ep. Cypr. n. 75. Contra Ep. Step. Papae Eos qui Romae sunt non ea in omnibus observare quae sunt ab origine trâ—adita frustra Apostolorum auctoritatem pretendere Vide Concil Trull Can. 13. can 55. Where the Church of Rome is commanded by name to amend some Errors which yet she has never done so the Church did not think the Bishop of Rome had authority to give Laws to her but was himself bound to submit to the Canons and the Order of the Church See the Subscription to a Book called the Institution of a Christian Man. Institut of a Christian Man. Londini in aedibus Thomae Bertleti Regii impressoris A. 1537. p. 47 48. Acts Mon. v. 2. p. 346. dedicated to the King H. 8. by Thomas Archbishop of Canter and Edward Archbishop of York and all other Bishops and Prelates and Arch-deacons of this Realm Can. Apost 34. Concil Nicen. c. 4. 6. Concil Antioch c. 9. Con. Const. p. 1. c. 2. Con. Eph. c. 8. Con. Calced c. 28. See the Popes Oath dist 16. c. 8. sancta octo c. See Dr. Heylin's Reform Vindic. Dr. Burnet's Hist. of the Reform part 2. book 1. p. 195. Coll. of Record pag. 209. n. 55. Qui undecennium primum meminerunt RegÃnae Elizabethae haud quicquam eomitius vel romissius fuisse praedicabunt Decimo tertio demum anno biennio scilicet post quam Pius 5. Bullam huâ— suaâ—â— parum piam misisset atque ex ea boreales illae turbae extitissent paulo tum facta commotior ut par erat statuere cepit contra bullas tabellarios sed praeterquam in eos nihil superstitionis vestrae causa sancitum est durius c. audi Philopatrum ipsum Jesuitam Reginam de regni sui initiis sic alloquentem Dum initio Regni tui mitius aliquanto cum Catholicis ageres dum nullum adhuc vehementissimè urgeres nullum admodum premeres vel ad sectae tuae participationem vel Fidei antiquae abnegationem omnia sane tranquilliore cursu incedere videbantur nec audiebantur magnae querelae nec insignis aliqua dissensio aut repugnantia cernebatur nec deerant quanquam male qui Ecclesias vestras ut vobis placeant ac gratificarentur corpore saltem etsi non animo frequentabant legiâ— hic Jesuitico atramento depicta puta minus hic dici plus intelligi Bishop Andrew's Torturâ Torti p. 148 149. Ita religio in Anglia mutata orbe Christiano mirante quod tam facile sine 〈◊〉 Cambden Elizab. p. 36 39. Ex hac religionis mutatjone ut observarunt politici Anglia facta est omnium reguorum in orbe Christiano liberrima oputentior quam secrdis superioribus p. 40. Vid. Bull. Pontif apud Combd p. 179. Synod Lond. An. 1603. c. 30. Tantum aberat ut Ecclesia Anglicana ab Italiae Galliae Hispaniae Germaniae aliisve similibus Ecclesiis voluerit per omnia recedere quic quid eas sciret tenere aut observare ut quod Ecclosiae Anglicanae Apologia profitetur cenemonias illas cum Reverentia susciperet quae utra Ecclesiae incommodum hominum sobriorum offensionem retinere posse senserat in iis tantum articulis à praedictis Ecclesiis dissentiret in quibus eadem ipsae tum à pristina sua integritate prius desciverant tum etiam ab Ecclesiis Apostolicis à quibus proseminatae sunt That is we only separate from and reform their Errors but do not separate from their Persons and Communion See how the Church of England does Communicate with all Churches in the Vindication of Bishop Gunning the late Lord Bishop of Ely by Dr. Saywell in his Evangelical and Catholick Unity pag. 302 c. Guide in Controversy dis 3. c. 8. n. 84. B. Churches Coordinate may without Schism or fault differ from one another or one of them from all the rest in several Doctrines and Opinions c. Thus he vindicates the Church of Rome wherein it differs from the Greek and other Churches and by the same Reason other Churches may differ from her without Schism or Fault Heb. 13. 17. Firmil inter Ep. Cypr. 75. de Stephano Epis. Romano ait peccatum verò quam magnum tibi exaggerasti quando te à tot gregibus scidisti excidisti n. teipsum noli te fallere Siquidem ille est verè Schismaticus qui se à Communione Ecclesiasticae unitatis apostatam fecerit dum n. putas omnes à te abstinere posse solum te ab omnibus abstinuisti S. Cyprian did joyn with Fermilian in the same Cause and it was thought by them in those early Days that there was no Obligation to adhere to the