their spirituall vocation for I see that the Apostles themselves were therein subject to the Heathen Princes and gave commandement to all Christians in generall that they likewise should doe the same and thereupon S. Austin saith that in those things that concern this life wee must be subject to them that govern humane things But my meaning is that a temporall Prince cannot properly dispose the matters of the Church if he have not Ecclesiasticall function and ability as well as Temporall for I doubt not but that the government of the Church and of the Common-wealth are not only distinct members in this his Majesties kingdome but distinct bodies also under their peculiar heads united in the person of his Majesty yet without confusion of their faculties or without being subject the one to the other For the King as meerly a temporall Magistrate commandeth nothing in Ecclesiasticall causes neither as the supream Officer of the Church doth he interpose in the temporall government but like the common arch arising from both these pillars he protecteth and combineth them in perpetuall stability governing that of the Church by his Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction and that of the Common-wealth by his temporall For this cause as Moses was counted in sacerdotibus Psal. 99. 6. though he were the temporall Governour of the people of Israel so the Laws of the Land have of old armed the King persona mixta medium or rather commune quiddam inter laicos sacerdotes and have thereupon justly assigned to him a politique body composed as well of Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction as temporall like to that of David Jehosaphat Hezekias and other Kings of Juda who not onely in respect of their Crown led the Armies of the people against their enemies but as anointed with the holy oyle ordered and disposed the very function of the Levites of the Priests and of the Temple as you may read in their severall lives in the books of the Kings and Chronicles But the Kings of England have proceeded yet further in the gradations of Ecclesiasticall profession as thinking it with David more honourable to be a door-keeper in the House of God then to dwell in the tents of the ungodly that is to execute the meanest office in the service of God then those of greatest renowne among the Heathen and Infidels Therefore they have by ancient custome even before the Conquest amongst other the solemnities of their Coronation not only been girt with the regall sword of Justice by the Lay Peers of the Land as the embleme of their temporall authority but anointed also by the Bishops with the oyle of Priesthood as a mark unto us of their Ecclesiasticall profession and jurisdiction And as they have habenam regni put upon them to expresse the one so also have they stolam sacerdotii commonly called vestem dalmaticam as a Leviticall Ephod to expresse the other The reasons of which if we shall seek from the ancient Institutions of the Church it is apparent by the Epistle of Gregory the great unto Aregius Bishop of France that this vestis dalmatica was of that reverence amongst the Clergy of that time that the principall Church-men no not the Bishops themselves might wear it without licence of the Pope And when this Aregius a Bishop of France requested that he and his Archdeacon might use it Gregory took a long advisement upon the matter as a thing of weight and novelty before he granted it unto them But 22. years before the time of Edward the Confessor unto whom those hallowed vestures happily did belong with which his Majesty was at this day consecrated these dalmaticae otherwise called albae stolae were by the Councell Salegunstadiens cap. 2. made common to all Deacons and permitted to them to be worn in great solemnities which the Kings of England also ever since Edward the Confessors time if not before have always been attired with in their Coronations And touching their unction the very books of the Law doe testifie to be done to the end to make them capable of spirituall jurisdiction for it is there said that Reges sacro oleo uncti sunt spiritualis jurisdictionis capaces the Kings being anointed with the holy oyle are now made capable of spirituall jurisdiction This ceremony of unction was not common to all Christian Kings for they being about Hen. 2. time 24. in number onely four of them besides the Emperor were thus anointed namely the Kings of England France Jerusalem and Sicil. The first English King as far as I can find that received this priviledge was Elfred or Alured the glorious son of noble and devout Ethelwolphus King of West-Saxony who about the year of our Lord 860. being sent to Rome was there by Leo 4. anointed and crowned King in the life of his father and happily was the first King of this Land that ever wore a Crown whatsoever our Chroniclers report for of the 24. Kings I speak of it is affirmed in ancient books that only four of them were in those days crowned But after this anointing Alured as if the Spirit of God had therewith come upon him as it did upon David being anointed by Samuel grew so potent and illustrious in all kindes of vertues as well divine as morall that in many ages the world afforded him no equall zealous towards God and his Church devout in prayer profuse in alms always in honourable action prudent in government victorious in wars glorious in peace affecting justice above all things and with a strong hand reducing his barbarous subjects to obedience of Law and to love equity the first learned King of our Saxon Nation the first that planted literature amongst them for himself doth testifie in his Preface to Gregories Pastorall that there were very few on the South-side Humber but he knew not one on the South-side of the Thames that when he began to reign understood the Latine Service or could make an Epistle out of Latine into English c. He fetched learned men from beyond the Seas and compelled the Nobles of his Land to set their sons to school and to apply themselves to learn the Laws and Customes of their Country admitting none to places of Justice without some learning nor sparing any that abused their places for unto such himself looked diligently He divided the Kingdome into Shires Hundreds Wapentakes and them again into Tithings and free Bourghs compelling every person in his Kingdome to be so setled in some of those free Bourghs that if he any way trespassed his fellows of that free Bourgh answered for him The memory of this admirable Prince carrieth me from my purpose but to return to it his successors have ever since been consecrated and thereby made capable of spirituall jurisdiction and have accordingly used the same in all ages and thought by the Pope to be so enabled unto it that Nicholas 2. doubted not to commit the government of all the Churches of England unto
Edward the Confessor as by and by we shall more largely declare And the Kings of France being so likewise consecrated ever since the time of Clodoveus alià s Ludovicus whom Saint Remigius Bishop of Rheimes both baptized and anointed about the year of our Lord 500. have from time to time in all ancient ages exercised the like Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction insomuch that Clodoveus himself being but newly entred into iâ— doubted not to appoint a Councell at Orleans and to call thither the Bishops and Clergy of France but out of the motion of Priestly minde to use the very words of the Councell coÌ„manded the Priests meaning the Bishops to assemble there for debating necessary matters which in his own consideration he had advised upon and delivered to them in heads and titles and they having answered thereunto and framed the Canons of that Councell accordingly did submit them to his judgement and desiring if it approved them himself for greater authority would confirm them Tom. 2. Concil pag. 309 in rescripto Synodi The Kings of Jerusalem and Sicil were also anointed and endowed with Ecclesiasticall authority whereof we shall speak more anon for the right of both these Kingdomes resideth at this present upon the Kings of Spain who till the same came unto them were neither anointed nor crowned and though since that time they have been dignified with both these Prerogatives yet are they not so illustrious in them as in the Kings of England and France for that these are ancient Kingdomes raised by their own power and prowesse and those other of lesse continuance erected by the Pope and not absolute but Feodaries of his Sea And touching that of France also the meer right thereof resteâ—h upon his Majesty of England though de facto another for the time possesseth it So that in this point of unction our Soveraign the King of England is amongst the rest of the Kings of Christendome at this day Peerlesse and transcendent and well therefore might William Rufus say that himself had all the liberties in his Kingdome which the Emperour challenged in his Empire Mat. Paris But I wonder why the Papists should so confidently deny the Kings of England to be capable of spirituall jurisdiction when Pope Nicholas 2. of whom wee spake before in an Epistle to King Edward the Confessor hath upon the matter agreed that it may be so for amongst other priviledges that he there bestoweth upon the Church of Saint Peter of Westminster then newly founded by that vertuous King He granteth and absolutely confirmeth that it shall for ever be a place of Regall Constitution and Consecration and a perpetuall habitation of Monkes that shall be subject to no living creature but the King himself free from Episcopall service and authority and where no Bishop shall enter to give any orders c. Tom. Concil part 3. pa. 1129. a. In which words I note first that the Kings of England in those ancient days being before their Coronation meerly Lay persons were by their consecration made candidati Ecclesiasticae potestatis and admitted to the administration thereof for to what other purpose was Consecration ordained but to make secular things to belong unto the Temple and Lay persons to become sacred and Ecclesiasticall like Jacobs stone in the time of the Morall Law which presently upon the anointing thereof became appropriate to the House of God Secondly he plainly maketh the King head of this Monastery that is of the place it self and of all the persons and members therof which then by consequence he might likewise be of all other Ecclesiasticall persons and places through the whole Kingdome And even that also he granteth in a sort in the end of his Epistle Vobis posteris vestris regibus committimus advocationem tuitionem ejusdem loci omnium totius Angliae Ecclesiarum ut vice nostra cum concilio Episcoporum Abbatum constituatis ubique quae justa sunt So that if the Kings of England be pleased to execute this Ecclesiasticall authority as the Popes Vicar then by this his Charter they are invested therewith and peradventure the Clergy of Rome can never revoke it being granted posteris regibus and the Epistles of the Popes being as Barclayus saith of Nich. 1. to Michael the Emperour as an Ecclesiasticall Law Lib. de potest Papae ca. 2. pag. 13. But in the mean time it is hereby evident which I endeavour to prove that the Kings of England are justly capable of spirituall jurisdiction by the Popes own confession for which purpose onely I here alledge it And to give more life to the matter it appeareth by Baronius that Pope Vrbane the granted not onely as much in the Kingdome of Sicil to the King of Spain being the anointed King thereof but added also to that his Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction divers branches of spirituall power belonging meerly to the keys and not to the sword that is to the very function of a Bishop as namely that of Excommunication All which though Baronius impugneth mainly to be of no validity because that all things are void he saith that the Church doth against her self yet the King of Spain both holdeth and exerciseth this function and jurisdiction onely by the connivency of the Pope but defended therein by Cardinall Ascanius Colonna against Baronius But to leave forain examples and to goe on with our domesticall precedents It is manifest by other ancient Authorities Charters and Manuscripts that the Pope thereby granted no more to King Edward and his successors then the same King and his Predecessors before assumed to themselves For this Epistle could not be written to S. Edward before the end of his reign Nicholas not being Pope till then and in the Laws of the same King before that time published himself doth plainly declare himself to be Vicarius suâ—d â—i Regis not summi pontificis yea and that in the government of the Church For the words of his own Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 17. be these The King because he is the Vicar of the highest King is appointed to this purpose that he should rule his earthly Kingdome and the Lords people and should above all things worship his holy Church and govern it and defend it against them that would wrong it and to pull the evill doers out of it c. So that write the Pope what he will S. Edward here taketh upon him to have the rule and government of the Church of England committed to him from God and not from the Pope and to be Gods Vicar not the Popes wherein he imitated his predecessors for King Edgar speaking of the government of the Church saith in plain tearms that it belonged to himself ad nos saith he spectat And because Casaubon in citing this place out of the Manuscript is charged by Parsons to falsifie it and that it is or should be on the contrary ad vos spectat scil Ecclesiasticos give me leave to defend that worthy man
and displeasure of many in the world is now obstinately bent to beat down root up overthrow and destroy whatsoever the piety and wisdome of our forefathers built and contributed in the Primitive times of their faith and conversion to Christianity as if all they did were Popish and superstitious fit to be rooted up and as if themselves had a Commission as large as the great Prophet had from God and were set over the Nations and Kingdomes to root out and pull down to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant Jer. 1. 10. But if men will rest satisfied either with proof from divine authority there wants not enough here to guide their consciences or with humane Laws and Statutes confirmed and fully enacted by many Parliaments whereby they are now become ancient and fundamentall as well as any other Laws together with the constant course and practice of above a thousand years in our Common-wealth there wants not here the testimony of all our ancient Monuments Statutes Deeds and Charters of our Kingdome Princes and Noble men which this learned Knight hath more fully and compleatly published in order of time and in their originall Saxon-language in his first Tome of our English Laws and Councels for the first five hundred years before the Conquest being his last work before his death Whereunto when the second Tome which he hath also finished shall be added for the next 500. years after the Conquest together with his learned Commentary upon all difficult and ancient rites and customes there will be abundant proof from all humane Laws and the authority of our Common Law together with the practice of our Kingdome in severall ages that no man can raise a doubt or exception that shall not receive satisfaction fully and clearly As for the Laws of Israel and the Heathens also in imitation of Gods own people the Decrees and Canons of generall Councels in succeeding times here is also such abundant testimony produced that no judicious Reader can refuse to yeeld his vote thereto and approbation for continuance There is another noble and religious Knight of Scotland Sir James Sempil who hath so accurately laboured in this argument and proved the divine right of Tithes from the holy Scriptures insisting thereupon onely and no other humane Authorities or Antiquities further then he finds thē to play upon the Text pro or contra as himself saith in his Preface that much satisfaction may be received from his pious endeavours having therein cleared some Texts of Scripture from sinister interpretations and exactly considered the first Institution and Laws for Tithes delivered by God himself both in the Old and New Testaments If both these godly and learned witnesses of the truth will not serve the turn to convince the judgement of some ill-affected they being both raised up by God out of both Nations like to Eldad and Medad among the people extraordinarily to prophecy and defend the truth being moved and inspired doubtlesse by God himself besides those that belong to the Tabernacle to uphold and maintain his own cause against the adversaries of his Church yet they may well stop the mouths of worldlings and Mammonists from clamour and inveighing and perswade them to acquiesce upon the known and fundamentall Laws of the Kingdome which areas ancient and fundamentall as any other or rather more because they concern especially the upholding and maintenance of the worship of God then which nothing can be more necessary or fundamentall and therefore the pious and good King Edward the Confessor doth begin his Laws with the recitall and confirmation of the Ecclesiasticall Lawes and particularly of Tithes Church-possessions and Liberties thereof A legibus igitur sanctae matris Ecclesiae sumentes exordium quoniam per eam Rex regnum solidum habent subsistendi fundamentum leges libertates pacem ipsius concionati sunt Because thereby the King and Kingdome have their solid foundation for subsistence therefore the laws liberties and peace thereof are first proclaimed and established And thus begins also Magna Charta Nos intuitu Dei pro salute animae nostrae ad exaltationem sanctae Ecclesiae c. and so also many other Statutes successively pour le common profit de Saint Esglise del Realm c. The possessions tithes and rights of the Clergy being thus setled they may doubtlesse be enjoyed having been freely collated according as was foretold by the Prophets Esay and others by Kings Nobles and many good men fully confirmed by Law and Parliament established by the possession of many hundred years that although in the beginning perhaps things were not so commanded in particular as any man else may enjoy lands goods chattels gifts and grants whatsoever is freely collated purchased or obtained by industry or is freely given and bequeathed by Ancestors or other Benefactors although perhaps there be not divine right in speciall to prove and justifie so much land money rents or goods of any sort to be his due and right God did foretell and promise by the Prophet Esay cap. 49. 23. that he would raise up in the Church of the redeemed Kings and Queens to be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to his Church that is saith Calvin upon the Text Magni Reges ac principes non solùm Christi jugum subierunt sed etiam facultates suas contulerunt ad erigendam fovendam Christi Ecclesiam ita ut se patronos tutores ejus praestarent Kings and Princes should give much Lands Revenues and great maintenance for the worship of God and his Ministers attending thereon which promise God abundantly performed by many and great Emperours Kings and Princes in all Countries after their conversion to the faith The donations gifts and buildings of Constantine the first and great Christian Emperour born at York and Helena his mother an English Lady exceeding religious and devout are famous in History together with their buildings and endowing of many ample and beautifull Churches in severall Counties of the Empire Neither did he thus alone in his own persō but he also gave leave to his subjects to doe the like whereby the Church was greatly enriched in a short time C. L. 1. c. de sacrosanct Ecclesiis § Si quis authent de Ecclesia The gifts and buildings of divers other Emperours and Kings as Theodosius Justinian Pipin and Charles the great are endlesse to be repeated When as any doth the like now or repair old Churches formerly built he is by some ignorant people tearmed Popish or Popish affected The grants buildings and gifts of our own English Kings Noble men and Bishops ever since our first conversion are famous in our Histories especially of King Lucius and Ethelbert the two first of the British and Saxon Kings so also of Egbert Alured Ethelwolph Edgar Edward the Confessor and many others in times following after the Conquest no Princes or Nobles being more bountifull then ours in England Their
service of God not onely Samaria hath exceeded Jerusalem but even Babylon put down Sion And so Theodoret complaineth that the heathens did give their tenths and first-fruits to be employed in their idolatrous service to the maintenance of their Temples Oratories Priests and Altars in more liberall manner then Christians but saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such honour saith he speaking of the care taken for the Egyptian Priests Gen. 47. the Priests of the living God and Ministers of our Redeemer Christ Jesus have not with us And much lesse have they in these days especially with us who boast to have reformed things amisse For yet amongst those of the Church of Rome it is otherwise that think nothing too dear for their Jesuites and have their Priests in so great respect that they fall down on their knees and desire their blessing every morning but Nuper Tarpeio quae sedit culmine cornix Est bene non potuit dicere dixit erit Mr Selden saith that the Turks pay the tenth according to the Mosaicall Law which they receive as authentique but keep it according to Mahomets fancy and the doctrine of his Canonists Mr Blunt an accurate observer in his travails affirmeth that the Turks in their principall Cities have very stately Moskeetoes i. Churches of magnificent building accommodated with goodly Colledges for the Priests lodgings and Bathes equall to the Monasteries of any City in Christendome Aelian relateth as Mr Selden citeth him that some kinde of beasts in Africa alwayes divided their spoile into eleven parts but would eat onely the tenne leaving the eleventh as a kinde of first-fruits or Tithe and why may not beasts of the field teach men the practice of piety seeing man that is without understanding is compared to them Thus Jews Pagans Turks and some beasts have had a care to pay Tithes but many Christians in these times come farre short in their duties and may bee upbraided with these examples Which are here more largely insisted on to shew the impiety of many men in these last days who are more inexcusable then ever any people were because we have the rules and practice of all ages set before us for our direction as before the Law of Moses in Abraham and Jacob and likewise under the Law during the Priesthood of Aaron and since under the Gospel abundant light to guide us besides all the Records Histories and Monuments of Gods judgements in former times to instruct us All which saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 10. are written and recorded for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come If we therefore offend now we are greater sinners then any former people as sinning against conscience knowledge and examples of all ages and like to the servant that knew his Masters will but did it not who therefore must be beaten with many stripes CAP. XXVII That they are due by the Law of the Land AS they are due by the law of Nature and of Nations by the Law of God and of the Church so are they likewise due by the very Temporall Laws of the Land as well ancient as later therefore Edward the elder and Guthrun Saxon and Danish Kings punished the not payment of Tithes by their temporall Constitutions Lambard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 54. Tom. 1. Concil Britan. pag. 392. King Athelstan about the year of our Lord 924. not onely decreed them to be paid by himself his Bishops Aldermen and Officers but maintaineth that his Law by the example of Jacob saying Decimas meas hostiam pacificam offeram tibi and by other effectuall Authorities providing precisely that his owne Tithes should diligently be paid and appointing a time certain for doing thereof viz. the feast of the decollation of S. John Baptist. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pa. 57. Tom. 1. Concil p. 402. King Edmund about the year 940. in a solemn Parliament as well of the Laity as Spiritualty ordained that every man upon pain of his christendome and being accursed should pay them truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 73. Tom. 1. Concil pag. 420. King Edgar in a great Parliament about the yeare 959. confirmed the payment of Tithes assigning certain times when every thing should be paid viz. the Tithe of all young things before Whitsontide of the fruits of the earth by the harvest aequinoctiall i. about the 12. Septemb. and of seed by Martimas and this to be done under the pain mentioned in the Book of the Lawes of the Land whereby it appeareth that the Laws of the Land had anciently provided for the payment hereof though the Book remaineth not to us at this day as well as the Laws of the Church And he further enacted that the Sheriffe as well as the Bishop and Priest should compell every man to pay their Tithes and should set it forth and deliver it if they would not leaving to the party offending onely the 9th part and that the other eight parts should be divided four to the Lord and four to the Bishop and that no man should herein be spared were hee the Kings Officer or any Gentleman whatsoever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 77. Tom. 1. Concil pa. 444. King Canutus about the yeare 1016. made the like Law with some little enlargement as appeareth in his Laws ca. 8. and as Malmesbury testifieth strictly observed all the Laws of the ancient Kings de gestis Regum Angl. lib. 2. p. 55. And he wrote also about the 15. year of his reign from beyond the seas a long letter to all the Bishops and Nobility of England conjuring them by the faith that they ought both to himself and to God that they caused these Lawes touching Tithes and Rights of the Church to be duly executed and the Tithes to be paid as abovesaid Malmsb. p. 74. But King Edward the Confessor about the year 1042 made all certain namely that Tithe was due unto God and should be paid the tenth sheafe the tenth foal the tenth calf the tenth cheese where cheese was made or the tenth days milk where there was no cheese made the tenth lamb the tenth fleece the tenth part of butter the tenth pigge and that they that had but a calfe or two should pay for every of them a penny And to this price is the Parson generally holden at this day when ten of our pennies are scarcely worth one of that time He also ordained that Tithe should be paid of bees woods meadows waters mils parks warrens fishings coppises orchards and negotiations and out of all things saith the Law that the Lord giveth the tenth is to be rendred unto him that giveth the nine parts with the tenth and bindeth the Sheriffe as well as the Bishop to see this executed And all these were granted saith the Book by the King Barons and Commonalty as appeareth in those his Laws cap. 8. and Hoveden Annal. part poster pag. 602. Long after the learned Author had written this he published the first Tome
a year So that the Appropriation of a Parsonage was no more at the first but a grant made by the Pope c. to an Abbot Prior Prebend or some other spirituall person being a Body politique and successive that he and his successors might for ever be Parsons of that Church that is that as one of them died his successors might enter into the Rectory and take the fruits and profits thereof without further trouble of admission institution or induction which upon the matter was no more but to doe that briefly at one cut that otherwise might and would in length of time be done at severall times as to admit institute and induct the whole succession of a religious body politique at once whereas otherwise every successour must have had a particular institution and induction and therefore every such successour during his time was as perfect an Incumbent as if he had been particularly instituted and inducted but when the succession failed then it was again presentative as upon the death of an ordinary Incumbent and by extinction of the House dissolution cession or surrender of the House and Order the appropriation is determined and they are now again presentative for the appropriation is but as a stop in a run which being taken away the former right renueth What alteration then did the Statute make of them did it make them lay or temporall Livings no the words of the Statute are That the King shall have them in as large and ample manner as the Governors of those houses had them c. So that though the Statute changed the owner of the thing yet it changed not the nature of the thing The Monasticall persons had them before as spirituall Livings and now the King must have them in as large manner but still as spirituall Livings and with much more reason might the King so have them then any other temporall men for as the Kingdome and Priesthood were united in the person of our Saviour Christ so the person of a King is not excluded from the function of a Priest though as Christ being a Priest medled not with the kingdome so they as Kings medle not with the Priesthood Yet by the Laws of the Land the King is composed as well of a spirituall body politique as of a temporall and by this his spirituall body he is said to be supream Ordinary that is chief Bishop over all the Bishops in England and in that his Ecclesiasticall or Spirituall authority doth many things which otherwise in his temporall he could not doe and therefore the Statute of 25 H. 8. cap. doth agnise the words authoritate nostra regia Suprema Ecclesiastica qua fungimur which the King useth in divers Charters touching spirituall causes doe testifie that he taketh upon him the execution thereof and therefore in this respect he may much better hold them then his lay subjects Neither is this authority of the King founded upon the Statute of H. 8. or any other puisne institution but deduced anciently from the very Saxon Kings as appeareth by many of their Laws and Charters wherein as supream Ordinary they dispose of the rights and jurisdiction of the Church delivering unto religious persons greater or lesser portion thereof according to their own pleasure and abridging and exempting other from the authority of the Bishops and Archbishops or any other Ecclesiasticall Prelate And in this respect it seemeth that the Chappell of the Kings house was in ancient time under no other Ordinary then the King himself for William the Conquerour granting all exemption to Battail Abbey granteth that it shall be as free from the command of any Bishops as his own Chappell Dominica Capella which as it thereby seemeth was under no other Bishop then the King himself But the Bishops agreed to the granting away of these Church Livings It is true that the Law accounteth the judgement of the major part to be the judgement of all but the Bishops cannot be said to have agreed unto it as being willing with it but as concluded by legall necessity and inference For though all the Bishops said nay yet the Lay Barons by reason of their number exceeding the Bishops were not able to hinder it and no man doubteth that in publique suffrages very many times major pars vincit meliorem therefore I neither accuse nor condemn the reverend Bishops herein for their voices though they had given them every one against the Bill were not able to hinder it Neither doe I think but that they being men of another profession unexercised in the elenchs of the Law were overtaken in the frame of words and thereby passed that away in a cloud which if they had perceived could never have been won from them with iron hooks But in this matter there being a question of Religion Whether Tithes be due jure divino or whether they could be separated from the Church it was not properly a question decidable by the Parliament being composed wholly of Lay persons except some twenty Bishops but the question should first have been moved amongst the Bishops by themselves and the Clergy in the Convocation house and then being there agreed of according to the Word of God brought into the Parliament For as the Temporall Lords exclude the Bishops when it commeth to the decision of a matter of bloud life and member so by the like reason the Bishops ought to exclude the Temporall Lords when it commeth to the decision of a question in Theology for God hath committed the Tabernacle to Levi as well as the kingdome to Juda and though Juda have power over Levi as touching the outward government even of the Temple it self yet Juda medled not with the Oracle the holy Ministery but received the will of God from the mouth of the Priest Therefore when Valentinian the Emperour required Ambrose to come and dispute a point of Arianisme at his Court he besought the Emperour that he might doe it in the Consistory amongst the Bishops and that the Emperour would bee pleased not to be present among them lest his presence should captivate their judgements or intangle their liberty That after the Appropriation the Parsonage still continueth spirituall It appeareth by that which is afore shewed and the circumstances thereof that the Appropriating of a Parsonage or the endowing of a Vicarage out of it doe not cut the Parsonage from the Church or make it temporall but leaveth it still spirituall as well in the eye of the Common Law as of the Canon Law for if it became temporall by the Appropriation then were it within the Statute of Mortmain and forfaited by that very Act. But it is agreed by the 21 Ed. 3. f. 5. and in Plowd Com. fo 499. that it is not Mortmain and therefore doth continue spirituall for which cause also the Ordinary and Ecclesiasticall Officers must have still the same authority over such appropriate Churches as they had before those Churches
being now dead in whose behalf I must avow that the originall is plainly ad nos and not ad vos which lest it should seem either mistaken or questionable King Edgar himself doth manifestly clear it both by deeds and words for of his own authority he removed generally the Clerks of that time that were not professed out of the Monasteries and placed in their rooms Monks and regular persons as appeareth by his owne words in his Charter of Malmesbury Malmsb pag. 58. l 17. And also in the foundation Book of the Abbey of Winchester written all in golden letters wherein likewise he prescribeth the rules for the government of the religious persons there and saith that himself will look to â—â—e Monks and that his wife Aelfthryth shall look to tâ—e Nuns And lest it should seem that he had done this rather out of the will of a Prince then by just authority Hoveden and Historia Jornalensis doe testifie that he did it by the advice and means of Ethelwould Bishop of Winton and Oswald Bishop of Worcester So that the very Clergy of that time agnised executed and affirmed his jurisdiction herein which I will close up with a materiall sentence out of his Charter in Glastenberry extant in Malmsbury de gest Reg. li. 2. pag. 57. where the words be these Concessit etiam scil Edgarus ut sicut ipse in propria ita totius insulae causas in omnibus tam Ecclesiasticis quà m secularibus negotiis absque ulla ullius contradictione Abbas Conventus corrigeret that is King Edgar granted that the Abbot Covent of Glastenberry should correct or amend all causes as well Ecclesiasticall as secular within the whole Isle of Glastenberry as himself did within his own Isle namely of England So that the King here denounceth that himself hath the correction or ordering of all Ecclesiasticall causes within this his Isle And in further declaration thereof doth by that his Charter by and by after prohibit all Bishops from medling within the Isle of Glastenberry and lest he should seem to doe a new thing he closeth it up with this apology That his predecessors Cemwines Ines Ethelardus Cuthredus Elfredus Edwardus Ethelstanus Edmundus had all of them done the like and he might have added out of Bede l. 2. c. 7. that Cenwalch King of West-Saxon of his own authority divided the Sea of Agilbert his Bishop being a French man and of another language which he understood not and gave one part thereof unto Winus a man of his own Nation which though he were afterwards compelled by necessity and discontent of Agilbert to reunite yet his successor Inas divided them again and then they so continued Hen. Huntington l. 4. pa. 33. l. 49. It is true that ad majorem cautelam King Edgar required John 12. to confirme these priviledges lest any as he saith should in future time either take them away or throw out the Monks but himself had first done it of himself and the vigor that the Pope added to it was rather a fortifying of it with a curse against robbers and spoilers then an enlargement of the validity thereof as quicking thereby a livelesse body For so likewise may the Popes own authority be disputable insomuch as he also required the generall Synod then holden at Rome Anno 965. as Malmsbur saith to confirm it But the fashion of those times was that secular Princes sought sometimes to have their temporall Laws confirmed by the Pope with a curse against the breakers thereof as did Howell Dhae for those his Laws of Wales and in like manner was it usuall for Councels and Synods to seek the confirmation of their Canons from temporall Princes as did that of Orleans before spoken of from Clodoveus and the Councell of Toledo from Euricus who made a speciall Law for establishing it as you may see in the Laws of the Wisegothes l. 12. tit 1. ca. 3. ut sic gladius gladium adjuvaret It may be objected that Edgar being the great King of this whole Isle for he styled himself totius Albionis basileus might usurp upon the Church and doe these things rather in the will of a Prince then by just authority It is manifest partly by that which I said before but plentifully by his Charters that the Clergy of that time were so far from denying or repining at this his jurisdiction that they affirmed and subscribed unto it as appeareth in his Charters And how large soever his Dominion was his humility was as great for though in matters of government he carried himself as the head Officer of the Church yet in matters of faith he was so obedient that to expiate his incontinency with a Nun he threw himself at the feet of Dunstan his Bishop submitted himself to seven years penance and presumed not to be consecrated till the 14. year of his reign But these things were no novelties either in the person of Edgar or in the Princes of those ages for the minor Kings themselves within the orbs of their own Dominion used the like jurisdiction as you may perceive by those cited by Edgar in the Charter of Glastenberry and by many other in particular Charters of their own Yea the Kings of Mercia that were but vassals and underlings to the Kings of West-Saxony within the limits of their little Kingdome used the same plenitude of authority as appeareth by the Charter of Kenulphus who lived about the year 850. made to the Abbot of Abingdon wherein he saith Sit autem prae-dict ' rus liberum ab omni regali obstaculo Episcopali jure in sempiternum aevum ut habitantes ejus nullius regis aut ministrorum suorum Episcopive aut suorum officialium jugo deprimantur sed in omnibus rerum eventibus as defensionibus causarum Abbatis Abbindenensis Monasterii de caetero subjiciantur Term. Trinitat 1 H. 7. f. 18. b. And it is there said by the Judges fol. seq b. that many Abbeys in England had larger words then these in the Kings Charter as Omnimoda justitia quicquid regales potestates conferri possunt To leave the Saxon Kings and to come to the Normans that we may see by what channell this fluent of authority hath been deduced to his Majesty Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury in the Conquerours time would have given the Abbotship of S. Augustines but the new King saith the book i. William the Conquerour did deny it saying that he would conferre all Pastorall Staves in his Realm and would not conferre that power to any whatsoever Govern you saith he that which appertaineth to faith and Christianity among the Monks but for their outward service you shall let me alone with that You see here that the King doth not in covert manner or by little and little creep into Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction but with an absolute resolution whilest he yet stood as it were but upon the threshold of his Kingdome and might justly fear some notable transmutation in
allegoricall or anagogicall To retort his scoffe I might say it seemeth an Elephant of absurdity to the Gnat of his learning but I desire rather to satisfie him Si malitia non mutaverit intellectum then to disgrace him It cannot be denied if there be a correspondency betweene the body of our Church and Common wealth with the body of the Church and Common wealth of the Jewes the same must also hold proportionably amongst the members thereof and in consequence that the passages of state of government of peace warre liberty oppression prosperity adversity and other occurrents either active or passive must hold some aspect and analogy one unto the other And then also that whatsoever is denounced against the enemies of the one trencheth comparatively against the enemies of the other Come then unto the matter The prophet inveigheth against them that seeke to spoile oppresse or disturbe the Church of God seated in India be it openly by war or secretly by some stratagem of wit Doth not this thwart them also that attempt the like in our Church Yes saith he against them of the King of Spaines Armado in 88. and those of the Powder Treason wherein the universall desolation both of the King and Kingdome Church and Common-wealth were not onely projected but attempted by our enemies But shew me will he say what hath the appropriating of a pelting Parsonage or the pulling downe of a stone-house which you call a Church is unto this for the one is an Elephant the other but a Gnatt I answer Eadem est ratio partium quae est totius And out of this reason and analogy our Saviour Christ argueth him that casteth but a lascivious looke to be guilty of the great Commandement non maechaberis as well as him that committed the very heinous act it selfe and then also that whatsoever the Prophet denounceth against them that spoile the Church in generall the same descends upon every particular man that spoileth the same in any particular part as Omne genus praedicatur de omnibus singulis suis speciebus etiam infimis individuis Now that the taking up of these parsonages and defacing of places of publike prayer is a spoile of the Church of God appeareth in this that the meanes and maintenance of the seruice of God and of his ministers is thereby diminished and destroyed which subtraction of maintenance from the minister God in Malachi 3. 8. declareth to be a spoyling of himselfe for that his seruice is thereby hindred and his Church impaired And although this man affirmeth that although there were never a stone-Church or minister in the kingdome yet the Church and service of God might stand well enough for that every mans family is a Church and every master thereoftyed to instruct his servants every father his children yet by example of the Church in the time of the Apostles we ought to have places of publicke prayer and some to instruct these masters and fathers for the husbandman the artisan the day-labourer are not commanded to neglect their vocation and turne preachers as too many now adayes do And though perhaps some such good men out of their devotion would preach now and then to instruct their brethren yet who shall do it ordinarily and where shall the Assembly be entertained for every town hath not a Guild-hall a Sessions-house a Cock-pit or a Play-house fit for such a multitude And though they may as he saith serve God abroad with Paul in a dungeon with Ieremy or on a muckhill with Iob yet heat or cold wet or wind will hinder them at one time or other so that doubtlesse it were very necessary to have a man and a place publickly appointed for the service of God in every Congregation And then since this man cannot perform his office without maintenance and such a place as we speake of the taking of them away puts him from doing his duty deprives his parishioners of their instruction and then by consequence spoyles the Church of God and so the curse of the Psalme lyeth justly against them But let us now take a view of the gnat he speaketh of and which he contemneth so much in respect of the smalnesse thereof Had there been but three or foure of these livings taken from the Church his fancy might have had the more colour to use such fond applications but if it cometh to three or foure hundred it groweth now beyond the size of a Gnat what shall we then say of 3845. livings or appropriate Parsonages thus taken from the Church which is more by 1126. then the halfe of all those that remaine and within 897. as many as them all for the Churches not appropriate are but 5439. through all England and Wales So that the parishes of the Churches appropriate containe neare about the one halfe of the kingdome which is more if Hierome in his Epistle to Dardanus as I take it deceive me not then twice so much as all the land of Iudea though we reckon the kingdome of Israel into it but many times more then the kingdome of Iudea which conteined but the two tribes onely that stucke to God and of whose times this Psalme seemeth to be a prophecie And thus ye see both the gnat and the Elephant that he speaketh of though I mean not to propose them to you by way of comparison but discover his intemperance or want of judgement But to support his credit with a broken prop it may be he will say that upon the appropriating these Churches and transferring of them to the King there was a provision left in most of the parishes for a Vicar or Curate to do divine service there and that nothing was taken from them but superfluity so to keepe them in diet and bridle their immoderate luxurie which he proclaimeth to be so exorbitant as scarcely all England and Virginia to boot can satisfie Lord blesse us is it possible that our Church-men should become so monstrous or hath Shimei thus railed against the body of them without his perill I hope much better of their temperance then of his tongue But I leave them to make their own Apology for I have digressed beyond my purpose and therefore will spend no time in discoursing upon the provision made for Vicars and Curates in these Churches appropriate He seemeth to be of Micahs mind that ten shekels or a matter of foure nobles a year besides diet and a suite of apparell is a faire maintenance for one of our Ministers In which point I have else-where declared my selfe at large and will not therefore here insist upon it onely this I would know of him what surplusage or superfluity there could be to give unto the King or take from the Church when besides the maintenance of the Ministers much was to be disposed by them in relieving the poore and other pious uses Henricus Spelmannus Richardo suo Careo viro praestanti Sal. P. D. MAnsuctudinis tuae prorsus