speakes of in the Character that he gives too truly of the common devotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where mens profit is there is their Religion If any here shall urge the practice of ancient times after the Apostles wherein the Bishops were sometimes chosen by the people I answer first that it was not constantly so Secondly that the practice doth not so much convince the legallity of that course as the evills that it produced doth demonstrate the inconveniency for as one saith Vt eligeret excitavit tumult us Commisit varias caedes infinitis prapè malis turbavit Christianam remp as Tumult was the leader on to those elections so they were the occasions of divers murders and of disturbing the Christian Common-wealth with almost infinite mischiefes Thirdly A facto ad jus non valet argumentum it doth not follow that it was just because they did it for examples are to be examined and corrected by rules and as the same Authour of whom I last spake hath well determined Non quid aliquando factum fuit sed quid perpetuò ficri debet perquirendum est We ought not so much to enquire what hath sometimes been done as what ought in all times to be done But alas nothing is well done now unlesse the franticke people have the conduct and manage of it Omnes nempè imperatores in hac mundisenect â natura gignit nullos milites as he also goes on Nature is growne so strong in this old age of the world that shee brings forth all Emperours no Souldiers in these daies But as Lycurgus once answered a certaine man that would needs perswade him to leave the Government of Sparta to the people Go thou saith he first and leave the mannage of thy house to them and if that course shall please thee well then come and make it thy request that the multitude may have the rule and regiment of all things So say I unto those that would have the matters of the Church or of the State in these daies left unto the people let them first go and resigne up the rule of their private Families and estates unto them and indeed perhaps they had almost as good do it before hand for it is most likely to follow after with speed for where there are so many Masters of all things no man is like long to be Master of any thing ex pede herculem wee may make a pretty guesse at it by what the motions towards such a Government have already given us a taste of But were it so that the right of Election were in the people yet if the right of Ordination be not in them likewise there will be a maime and failing in that Commission which is pretended for an universall Ministry and will any say that this is needlesse or this also belongeth unto the people Indeed they have gotten great promotions of late since the old plea of Korah and his company that was once buried alive with the Authors hath gotten above ground againe among us in these daies and men of any ranke dare tell both Moses and Aaron both King and Minister that they take too much upon them seeing all the Congregation are holy every one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift you up your selves above the Congregation of the Lord Both Royall and Ministerial power for it seems it is their fate to suffer together are made a scatter among the people It was shrewdly spoken by Tertullian in his Book de praescriptione adversus Hereticos c. 41. Nusquam faciliùs proficitur quam in castris rebellium ubi ipsum esse illic promereri est There is no readier way to preferment then to be in the Rebels Tents where the very presence of men is meritorious How easie is it to get up from hence both into the Pulpit and into the Throne Alphonsus a Castro I confesse ascribes it unto Luther as if it were his Doctrine how justly I have neither oportunity nor lust now to examine That all Christians are Priests and that they are consecrated to this Office in their Baptisme and that they have all equall power without distinction either of Sexe or Condition but yet so that it is not lawfull for any to exercise this power Nisi per consensum communitatis But by the consent of the Community Quia quod est omniū communiter nullussingulariter potest usurpare nisi vocetur because no man cansingly usurp that power which belongeth unto all in common unlesse he be called as if the power of Ministry or Priesthood were derived first to the Community and then from the Community to him that doth exercise the Ministry or Priesthood A fancy that may well contend for the prize in point of wisdome and commodiousnesse to Gods people with that which our State-Levellers have taken upon them to vent that will have the multitude to be the originary King as it were put them both together and make them a Melchisedech a King and a Priest and then they will be well contented and live in peace if we can but perswade them to admit of one condition that there may bee but one head and one heart amongst them all and that all the rest may be cut off and ripped out otherwise we may conjecture without the helpe of an Ephemerides or consulting with the Starres what excellent Grapes are like to grow upon such Thornes In the meane time I cannot but wonder me thinks that either of these Pleas for civill or Church power should be so Authenticall with some in these daies and yet that Korah and his followers had such ill luck as to speed no better then they did in their suit for the like especially for the latter since they had not only the same privileges of nature with these but seeme to have altogether as seemely a title from the Scripture had they but had the skill of our moderne interpretation for what these men find for their purpose in our daies from Saint Peter and Saint Iohn That God hath made us Kings and Priests or a Royall Priesthood c. The like they might have urged for ought I know for themselves Exod. 19.6 where God promiseth the people upon their obedience that they should be a kingdome of Priests unto him And yet however it came to passe the calling of Aaron and his Sons and their Successours and of their Brethren the Levites was their enclosure without the Election or Consecration of the multitude It might suffice to discover the folly of these pretenders to tell them what exception one hath made against the force of that argument which they would draw from the named places Si nihil est Sacerdotis officium quia omnes vocaniur Sacerdotes oportebit eadem ratione te fateri ut Christus nihil sit supra quemquam corum de quibus dictum est nolite tangere Christos meos If the office of a Priest or Minister shall be nothing because all are
before we sleep concerning our thoughts and demeanour that day with some such questions as the Philosophers verse doth imply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where I have been What I have done What duties I should have done that day and have omitted And seeking pardon and grace for the future and strengthening our selves against our sins with holy resolutions And if every morning we would bethinke our selves what temptations we may fall into that day and if we can contrive prudently the avoydance of them if not to desire Gods helpe and the grace of his Spirit to arme us against them Sixthly It will behove us to bend our selves most against those sinnes unto which we are most enclined and against our master-sinnes Seventhly To be wary of our Society and as much as we may to avoid evill Company and to associate our selves with those that are good evill communication corrupts good manners Eighthly To meditate often of the presence of God who is with us every where seeing all our most secret thoughts hearing our most whispering words and observing all our most private actions See Psal 139. and meditate upon it To contemplate of the houre of death the frailty of life the vanity of the world the profitablenesse of righteousnesse having the promises of this life and that which is to come of the all-sufficiency of God and Christ of the day of Iudgement of the joyes of heaven and the paines of hell of eternity and above all of Gods love toward us in Christ Iesus of his Passion Resurrection Ascension of his Kingdome Priesthood and Glory and of the glorious patternes of his holy life Ninthly Be frequent and fervent in Suppplications to God for the King and his Family the Church the Kingdoms for the obtaining of a remedy to our miseries and desolations with submission to his Will and regard unto his glory And let all be offered up with a firme faith in Christ Jesus resting upon Gods mercy toward us in him For a helpe unto these Duties I do not undertake to prescribe any thing in this kind in particular but if I might without offence give my advice I would advise all good Christians that wish well to the King Church and Kingdom to give themselves to a private weekly Fast once a weeke at the least during these miseries to be employed in earnest Supplication to God for pardon of the sins and the removall of his judgements from the King and his people and these Nations and for the obtaining of grace and holinesse and in other holy duties agreeable thereunto Now for the Loyall Party in particular I have only thus much to say 1. To intreat them to get honest pious able Ministers amongst them that may instruct them and guide them in the waies of God and assist them with prayer and Supplication 2. That they make it their principall care to set up Religion in their Camps and to keep up a pious discipline amongst the Souldiers in case they shall have more to do in that way 3. That they take heed of violence and revengefull thoughts which may engage God against them and that they meditate not cruelty or retaliation But that their endeavours be fixed upon the honour of God and directed to the good of the King and the Church and Kingdome with a resolution to be regulated and guided by his Majestie as they ought and not to take upon them to be the carvers of their owne reparations nor seeking to returne evill for evill for the private injuries they have received but observing that golden rule of the Apostle Let your moderation be known unto all men that they may not by their fury and violence both displease God and overturne the businesse they shall have to mannage but that by their meeknesse and patience and Christian carriage they may stop the reviling mouths of their adversaries and shew themselves to be sincere Christians as well as Loyall Subjects The Lord of strength and wisdome and grace and mercy Arme us with his Strength direct us by his Wisdome sanctifie us with his Grace and Crowne us with his Mercy Through him who is the Lord of all Power and Wisdome and Grace and Mercy even Christ Iesus our Lord Amen A HELP FOR HVMILIATION O Lord the Great and dreadfull God keeping the Covenant mercy to them that love thee and to them that keep thy Commandements And a God of judgement and fury even a consuming fire unto thine enemies Bow down thine eares O Lord and heare open thine eyes O Lord and see the great afflictions and miseries of thy poore and wretched people who are assembled before thee this day to call upon thee for mercy Stir up our hearts we besseech thee that we may seek thy face and obtaine thy pittie compassion towards us O Lord 〈◊〉 God we doe not come before thee in any trust or confidence in our owne righteouâ—nesse but in the multitude 〈◊〉 thy mercies towards us 〈◊〉 Christ Jesus in whom the hast promised us a gracious accesse unto thee who is both â—â— Priest and our Sacrifice to make an attonement betwixt thee and us by whose hand we desire to offer up unto thee the sacrifices not of Bullockes and Goats but of troubled spirits and broken and contrite hearts which thou hast assured us thou wilt not despise Wee confesse O Lord that we have sinned and committed iniquitie and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy Precepts and from thy judgements neither have we harkened unto thy Servants which spake in thy name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the people of the Land We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walke in thy Laws which thou hast set before us by thy Servants the Prophets neither the terrors of Sinai nor the comforts of Sion neither the threatnings of Moses nor the gracious Promises of Christ have wrought upon our stubborne soules to make us forsake our sins in the feare of the one nor to embrace righteousnesse in the hope of the other Thou hast assayed many times to draw us unto thee by the Cords of love in great mercies and blessings which thou hast showred downe upon us Thou hast given us the dew of heaven and the fatnesse of the earth Thou hast opened the Treasures of thy bounty unto us in the plenty and aboundance of the fruits of the ground glorified thy selfe in wonderfull deliverances of us from the violence and conspiracies of our adversaries Thou hast been a shadowunto us against the heat and a shelter against the storm Thou hast strengthened the barrs of our gates and made peace in all our borders and to these and many other mercies thou hast added that which is above all in setling the true Religion among us and making the light of the Gospell to shine upon us the splendour whereof made us unto the greatest part of the world beside as the dwellings of Israell unto the
out of a Church-complainant in Queene Elizabeths Dayes taxing the like fault in some Reformers of that time Pamphagum quendam Helluonem spurcissimum cum ad convivia invitatus esset in delicatiores cibos sordes conjecisse ferunt Vt solus quibus vellet vesceretur certè quâ olim aviditate gurges ille atque helluo ad cibos accersit eadem reformatores nostri ad devorandas Ecclesiae opes accersisse mihi vidētur cclesia enim opes arripiunt cū condemnant omnium malorum semina alimenta esse dicunt in privates quaestus nequissimè transferunt It is said of one Pamphagus or Eate-all a most filthy Glutton that when hee was invited to a Feast hee went and cast some filth or durt into the most delicate dishes that he might enjoy them wholly to himselfe Iust so saith he doe our Reformers seeme to us to have addressed themselves to the devouring of the riches of the Church They cast durt upon the Churches Revenues and condemne them as the fountaines and causes of much mischiefe but it is that they may gaine them to themselves And truely that is but an unmannerly tricke to spit in the Pottage to deprive others of it and then to eate it all themselves But give me leave to propound unto them some few interrogatories out of the same Author Si divitiis virtutem enervari statuant quid divitiis circumfluere tam vehementèr contendunt Si opum abundantiâ Ecclesiae puritatem concidisse existiment quid tanti mali causam non sibi quoque perniciosam futurum putant Si affluentior rerum copia sine scelere possideri non possit quid illis sceleratius qui cupiditati violentiam avaritiae rapinas adjungunt If riches bee so hurtfull why doe they keepe such adoe to become rich and if wealth cannot bee possessed without unrighteousnesse what is more unrighteous than they that have undone a King a Church and almost two whole Kingdomes to enrich themselves or are they so armed against the temptations of Mammon that none of his Witchcrafts can hurt them or if they may be so happy why may not others as well as they And if some of the Ministery have abused their riches are there not others to bee found that have done much good with them But have you never heard of some Clergy-Reformers that heretofore cryed down Pluralities whilst they could not get them themselves for my part I confesse I approve them not and yet not upon those termes it is well knowne unto some I think But when there was by this happy Reformation a scatter of Benefices made amongst them by the persecution of the Orthodox and Loyall Ministery how easily was their old Doctrine forgotten and what scrambling there was amongst them for Pluralities How were they ready to choak themselves with Greedinesse swallowing down three or four Livings at one time But to the pure all things are pure I confesse it and yet there is a vast difference between Purity and Hypocrisie Sure these things are of no good report The God of heaven grant the spirit of sincerity amongst us In the meane time let them and those others that are like them remember that as he speaks vitiosos reprehendere sed probare vitia condemnare nocentes sed Crimina absolvere to reprehend other men as vitious and approve the same vices in themselves to condemne them as nocent and to forgive themselves for the same crimes is no good signe of an upright Conscience And then they that rob the Church out of zeale to sanctity put a velvet Maske upon a foul and an ugly strumpet and goe about to arme the devill against himselfe Indeed Sacrilege is one great bane wherewith Sathan hath used to poison Reformations and Rebellion another Heare how Master Calvin chid some heretofore for this miscarriage in their worke First in an Epistle to Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury he notes this as a blemish of the English Reformation Certè nunquam integra florebit Religio donec Ecclesiis melius prospectum fuerit ut idoneos habeant pastores qui docendi munus serio obeant Id quo minus fiat occultis quidem artibus obsistit Sathan Vnum tamen apertum obstaculum esse intelligo quod praedae expositi sint Ecclesiae reditus malum sane intollerabile Certainly saith he Religion will never flourish entirely till there be better care taken for the Churches that they may have competent Pastours that may seriously and diligently exercise the function of Teaching This indeed Sathan strives to hinder by secret stratagems But there is one manifest impediment as I understand That the Revenues of the Church are exposed to the spoyle which is intruth an unsufferable evill And againe in an Epistle to Viretus Acriter aurem illis velli cavi de administratione bonorum Ecclesiasticorum in tempore cogitandumillis esse qualiter Deo hominibus rationem reddituri forent Papam fuisse furem Sacrilegum Videndum ne simus successores I urged them sharply about the administration of Church-Goods That they ought to thinke upon it in time how they should be able to render an account to God and men I told them that the Pope had beene a thiefe and a Church Robber and wee were to looke to it that wee doe not prove his successors And agreeable to these speeces of Master Calvin is that complaint of Zuickius in a Letter of his to Caivin Huc ventum videtur quod non sine gemitu dixerim Vt magna nostrorum pars credat sese tum demum verè regnum Antichristi evasisse si cum bonis Ecclesiaeludant pro libito Nec ulli disciplinae subsint O egregium Christianismum It is come to this passe saith he which I may speak not without lamentation That a great part of our people thinke they have then at length truely escaped the Kingdome of Antichrist if the Church goods bee exposed to be the game of all men at pleasure and that they be subject to no discipline O egregious Christianity Iust such a Reformation is this of our dayes I am even wearied with this sad contemplation and almost confounded with that floud heap of Mischiefes and Corruptions that wilde Forrest and Desart of thornes and briers that have over-spread the face of this poore Church of ours I am gotten into the middest of them but can scarce tell how to get out my medirations are even out of breath I am entangled in this brake of our Calamities neither can I see to the end of them Wheresoever I looke I see too much matter for lamentation When I looke upon the houses of God and see them demolished and neglected When I goe into them and behold how they are profaned and abused When I consider the waste that is made in the peaceable and orderly assemblies of the people which are devoured and consumed by Factions and Sectious Conventicles When I looke upon the unreverent and unseemly behaviour of those
with the vertues and Clemency of his Person adorned the greatnesse and dignity of his office When the Throne and the Scepter of lawful and just power armed as it were with coelestiall lightning and strengthned with the sinew of the Divine authority from whence it was orderly derived and received as a Ray of that majesty and Authority which is in God himselfe summoning the Consciences of men unto obedience in the vertue and force of the divine Ordinance yeelded protection unto the lives and liberties of the People security unto Religion and divine worship solidity unto the Peace and Vnity of this Church and nation and was like a Cherubim and a flaming sword against the invasions of Violence Injustice and Oppression Iustice was dispensed in the right Channells being derived from the proper Fountaine the Lawes which are it were the life-bloud of a nation ranne freely without such obstructions they now meet with through all the veines and vessels of this lody and yeelded unto each Member its equall and just supply at least in so good a measure and manner as was sufficient to preserve the Body in good liking and prosperity and though the secret Briberies and partiabities of some inferiour instruments of Government caused some smaller distempers in this kinde yet they were such as might have had easie cures and did not at all destroy the constitution of the body Wee were governed by authenticall and certaine Rules and were not subject unto Mushrome Ordinances those abortive issues of the wombe of Sedition those unformed lumps and dead motions of a diseased and dropsie state begotten by no legitimate Father but by the Incubus of a rebellious people and Army There was then no professed and ordinary infliction of punishments without any offences going before them no offences then without their precedent Lawes to give the lye to the Blessed Apostles who tell us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That sinne is the transgression of the Law 1 Iohn 3.4 And againe By the Law is the knowledge of sinne Rom. 3.20 And againe where no law is there is notransgression Rom. 4.15 Then Iustice was administred in the right method there went a faire hearing before cndemnation and the sentence of the law was the Vsher to Execution It was managed by the right and genuine instruments enabled by authentical Commissions from the supreame Magistrate the force and vertue whereof was like a lively sap dispensed from the Royall Root into those severall Branches of Government which made them beare the fruits of Peace and lustice and safety to the people The motion of Rule was like a naturall motion derived from the head unto the members by those legall Officers which were as the Nerves and Sinewes of this body propagated from thence into the severall Regions and parts thereof And the Scales and weights and the mensures of justice were the same unto all sorts without any open or professed inequality when the eyes of the Iudges were fixed not on the Persons but their Causes without such diversification of the sacred inviolable rules of right as now according to the severall inclinations of parties and interests There was not then as now one measure for a Cavalier to yeeld him nothing though his case bee never so cleare and just and another for a Parliamenteer to yeeld any thing he will stand for though his pretences and colours bee never so weake Men were not then wracked and goard between the two horns of that unreasonable Dilemma nor crushed to peeces in the presse of that Pharaohtick and unconscionable oppression under which the poore loyall party many of them suffer at this day and many more would suffer were it not for the mercy of some good men that they have to deale with and such whose hearts God hath made tender towards them in these hard times to bee laid open to have all their debts exacted with all severity by their Creditors and in the mean time to be utterly disabled for the recovery of their owne or the enjoyment of their estates Whereby they should be furnished to pay that which is required of them which is much worse than to require men to make Bricke without straw It was not so with us heretofore But now the Ornament and Defence of the Royall Crowne is cast downe and that gracious and pious Prince that adorned it is now sent away from the Throne of his Majesty to bee the ornament of a Iaile or Prison of whom wee may say more truely than he of Socrates Carolus carcerem intravit ignominiam loco detracturus King Charles by being so long a Prisoner hath taken away the ignorminy and reproach of imprisonment and I might perhaps be pardoned if I should say that it may be lookt upon hereafter rather as a reward than as a punishment and truly it may bee considered by those that are the Authors thereof that it is no good way of Reformation to bring the Prisons into too much credit unlesse they meane to set up their owne trade by it and to encourage men to rob and steale and to murder on purpose that they may have the reward of a Iayle or Prison But to goe on now in stead of a just and legall Authority that awfull Bond that layes hold upon the very soule an illegall and usurped power is set up which a rectified Conscience so farre disclaimes that it accounts it a sin to submit unto it and there is like to be little peace or setled order in that rule where obedience it selfe is a transgression Strength and outward force may prevaile for a while and make slaves mor than subjects of a people it may binde their carkasses but it is Authority that rules the heart and that is none where it is not just The great comfort and encouragement of every duty unto man is when it strikes through them unto God This is it that doth at once secure and sanctifie and sweeten our performances Where Intrusion and usurpation is there all these are wanting unto the soule What hope then is there that an usurped Dominion should either recover or maintaine a setled concord in this Nation where it is opposed by so many branches of just Interests against it and cannot in any likelihood be held up but by great oppressions of the people which must needs make the yoake thereof too irkesome to bee borne either with long Peace or Patience The Laws of the Kingdome are obstructed and intercepted those true conceptions are stifled and destroyed by the adulterate superfaetations of Ordinances The Great and once awfull and venerable Court of Parliament that was the wombe of our wholsome Laws is degenerated into Factions and become the Seminary of Sedition and instead of being the great Counsell of the King is become his enemy and whilst that which was ordained for the Physick of the Kingdome is enforced upon us for a perpetuall Diet as it usually falls out it is become mortall unto the body and in stead