he cannot in iustice punishe you though your people bee not taught Bicause you haue seene al those wel bestowed whom he quallified for that calling so do now expect a blessing from him vpon your labours that you might send more The subterfudge will be but the couert of a net to aske as coÌ„monly our prelats do how there shoulde be possiblie founde as many learned men as Wales requireth seeing they who are founde are not placed there And doe you deale well with the lord that be cause al canot be brought at once to serue him as hee willeth therefore they that may shall not The same is to bee saide of the ministers liuings Remoue the dumb ministers nonfideÌ„ts the L. bb if you will not do this you go beside the word of God so there is no direction for you and there will be mo liuings void able to maintain godly ministers then shal be I feare me good men found to supplie the places And verely I maruaile what men persuade theÌ„selues the Lord to be wheras they thinke hee can be satisfied with suche sielie shifts is it not a strange matter to finde Church liuings in Wales for L. bb nonresideÌ„ts idoles to sin against God and starue soules withal and deny any to be there for godly ministers do honor God and work the saluation of his people The children must starue for want of breade because the dogs before their eies must be fed therewith Good reason yea but the remouing of those men would be likelie to set the land on fire Marke how sutile the deuil is in the maintenance of his kingdome When godly ministers are deprined because they will not link theÌ„selues with wicked B. b to betraie the kingdonm of Christ and ouerthrow the lawes of this land there is no inconuenience sered But if satans messengers be once shoued at behold the land wil not be able to beare this losse I grant in deede my Ll. that men which make no conscience for gaine sake to break the law of the eternal and massaker soules as these do are dangerous subiectes and not to be trusted any further then they are fed The stay therefore must be either in regarde of these men or the common people These men are of 2. sorts some few haue gifts for the ministery those would be imploied that way and compelled to bee faithfull The most of them are vnsauerie salt notwithstanding far be it that they and their families should be turned vnto the wide world to seeke their liuings and therefore some part of that which now they possesse with sacriledge bestowed vpon them being out of the ministerie they might enioy with a good conscience And a small thing this way allotted vnto them woulde be blessed wheras whatsoeuer now they possesse is execrable For the people the stay for them is eyther in regard of the publike meetings on the Sabboth or the sacraments mariage and burial For the keeping of the Sabboth The word requireth they should if possibly they can resorte where preaching is vntill good ministers bee placed in euery parrish If the places be too farre as commonly our parrishes be very large and it is not likely in short time to plant preachers so neere together as the people may euery Sabboth resort to them they must be enioyned to meete togither in their parishe churches some discreet man from among themselues appointed to read the word and vse som forme of praiers as shal be thought meetest by the aduise of the godly learned Concerning the sacraments the word requireth they should resort vnto a preaching minister for them There is adulterie amongst the â—â—fidels therefore a minister is not essentially required in Matrimonle Ruth 4.10.11 not attempt to keepe their children vnbaptized any longer then they must of necessitie Marriage is most conueniently to be done by the minister But it is no proper essentiall worke of the a minister and therfore may be solemnised by others at the magistrats appointment Concerning buriall it is a worke of christian charitie and being the last dutie that we are to performe towards the departed we ought to accompanie them decently and orderly with all comlinesse vnto the graue The word mentioneth or includeth no forme of prayers vsed at burials therefore they ar superfluous nether is the minister as in an actioÌ„ belonginge to his office to haue any more to doe herein then any other of the brethren Thus haue I set downe vnto your Hh. the onelye course in regard of substance that the word waranteth to bee taken in such a deformed estate as ours is And now my Ll. let my counsell bee acceptable vnto you a Dan. 4.24 breake off your sinnes by rooting out these plants which the Lord neuer planted in hys vineyard and your iniquities by adoring the same as much as in you lyeth so there may be an healing of your former ouer-sight If not the lords face will be against you yours and the whole land for euill and not for good O my Ll. is it not a miserable case that meÌ„ shold so liue vnder your gouerment in this life as they canot possibly but liue in hel in the life to come O my Ll. heaen cannot be obtained when we are gone Oh my Ll. now is the time for the gospell to flowrish in Wales or neuer Oh my Ll. if her Maiestie and your Hh. whome from my very heart I wish the Lord to blesse should be gone the way of all the world for mine owne part the very staffe of my hope to see any good doone amongest my brethren should be broken Blame me not therefore if I deale earnestly in a cause of so great a moment and so vnlikely to be obtained of our wofull posterities whome my suit in a most nere sort concerneth Oh whye should they haue cause to saye the Lorde bee iudge betweene vs and the gouernours whiche were vnder Queene Elizabeth in the daies of our fathers for they might haue opened our eies and healed our wounds which now alasse are desperat and past recouerie It is now ful 29. yeares and vpward since Babilon hath bin ouerthrown in Wales rather by the voice of hir Maiesties good lawes whome good Lord forget not for this woorke then by the sound of anye trumpet from the mouthes of the sons of Aaron among vs. But alasse what shall we and our posteritie be the better for this if Syon bee not built And what comfort can Zerubabell or nehemiah haue to bring a people out of Babilon if they meane but to reaedifie Sbilo seeing it is the beautie of Syon wherin the Lord delighteth Wee haue cause indeede to thanke God that this wicked eitie hath bene by hir Maiestie in some sort broken downer but we are neuer the better seeing the walls of Sion lie euen with the ground Nowe for the space 28. yeares no man greatly labored to hir maiesty the Parliament your Hh. or to the people themselues either by
* choice None of our readers is such ergo (7) 7 Euery minister is * an instrument to make knowen by the word preached the purpose a Colos 1.20.23 28. of God concerning mans reconciliatioÌ„ No reder is such ergo (8) 8 Euery minister is able to lay open * the mysteries of saluation No reader is c Looke this reason in the book ergo (9) 9 Euery minister is an * instrument of our new b 1. Pet. 1.21 birth No bare reader is c ergo (10) 10 Euerie minister is able by the preaching of the Gospell to manifest those hidden secreats whiche the Prophets them-selues could not artaine vnto 1 Pet 1.10.12 without great search and enquirie No bare reader can doo this by preaching ergo (11) 11 Euery minister is * able by his publike ministery to bring the elect vnto the knowledge of the truth and so to saluation c 1. Tim. 2.4 No bare reader can doe this ergo (12) 12 Whosoeuer are fit in regard of their sufficiencie to bee their minysters alone that would haue no God d 2. Chron. 15.3 are no ministers indeede All bare readers not beeing able to lay open the will of the true God are onely fit to bee their ministers that would haue no God ergo they are no ministers indeede (13) 13 They are no ministers whosoeuer are able to performe the whole worke of their ministerie without studie and giuing heed vnto learning as the c 1. Tim. 3.14.14 apostle commandeth But all our readers if they can read can performe the whole work of their calling as long as they liue without any further studye ergo they are no ministers indeed 14 14 Euery minister * is able to expound that which f Act. 8.13.14 cannot be vnderstoode without an interpretour viz that which is to be learned out of the word concerning the Lorde mans saluation Our bare readers cannot do this ergo 15 15 Euerie minister * is a minister of that waye whereby the Lord bestoweth vpon men the spirite of wisedome and reuelation through his knowledge g Eze. 2.17 Our bare readers are not such ergo 16 16 Euery * minister is able to make the word of God powerfull either vnto to death or vnto life in a Heb. 4 12.2 2. chro 2 1â— some of the hearers Our readers are not able to doe this ergo 17 Euerye minister is * able to deuide the word of God aright 12 vnto the seuerall vse of the hearers b 2. Tim 1.10 coâ—os 1.5.7 Our readers are not able to do this ergo 18 18 Euery minister is able to tech those that can read c 1. Tim 5.22 3.10 as wel as himself No bare reader can do this ergo 19 19 Euery minister can doe some thing in regarde of teaching his flocke which euery christian who can read well distinctly is not able to performe Our readers can not do this ergo 20 20 whosoeuer by naturall gifts alone are able to performe whatsoeuer belongethto their d Rom 7.7 12.3 epheâ— 3.8 1. coa 3.10 4.7 heb 5.4 ephes 4.7 calling they are no ministers bicause there is some thing to speak the least in the ministry of euery minister whiche cannot postiblie bee performed by natural gifts alone Our readers are able by the onely gifts of nature to perfourme whatsoeuer belong vnto their calling ergo our readers are no ministers indeed 21 21 Euery minister * hath gifts to labour in Gods husbandrie and Gods building 22 1. Cor. 3.8 1. Thes 5.2 our readers haue not ergo 22 Euerye * minister hath necessarily annexed vnto his calling workes of that admiration that it maye bee truly sayd of them who is fit for these things 2. Cor. 2.16 our readers are not ergo 23 23. Euerye minister is able to make the Lord so knowen to the elect that they dare call vpon him in saith and full perswasion to be hard Rom. 10.14 8.15 our readers cannot do this ergo 24. Euerie minister is able to coÌ„pare spirituall things with spirituall things 24 and to speake the worde e 1. Cor. 2 13. 1. thes 4.11 of GOD as the word of God our readers are not able to doe this ergo 25 25 Whosoeuer preserueth * not knowledge in his lips that is wanteth the thing the wâ—â—â—whereof in a priuate man not beeing censurable by the church viz. not being a sin in it selfe giueth the Lord the church iust cause both to keep them from the mynisterie and to expell them out of the ministery in whome this want is found though they bee euerye way els qualified for the ministery according vnto the a 1. Tim. 3.2.7 â—ir 1.6.7 1. cor 4.2.1 thes 2.2.11 proprieties required in the word hee is no minister Our readers haue this wante in them because their lips doe not preserue knowledge ergo they are no ministers indeed Thus my reason is in the booke page 8. drawen out of Mala. 2.7 is to bee concluded For although a man want all other proprieties of a minister yet being fit to teach he hath some allowaunce from the Lorde to bee a minister whereas the want heere of kepeth back the Lordes whole consent from the admission of him into the ministerie in whom it is The reason whereof is that all other proprieties in a minister sauing this are such as according to the ordinance of God ought to be in euery christian as to be modest harberous no striker c. as well as in the minister though not in the same measute this by the Lords institution is to be in the minister onely of necessitie howbeit other christians also may be and are capable thereof 26 26 Whosoeuer vndergoeth that ministery Looke the book page 8. and no other whereof a Turk Painime or Iewe who will not learne true religion may be capable he in deede is no minister Our readers vndergoe no other ministerie 27 c. ergo 27 They whose ministery make the whole religion of christians not to haue in it so much as one mystery the secrecie whereof euen in regard of knowledge might disable one that neuer heard of true religion to be a publike minister thereof are no ministers in deede The ministerye of all bare readers is such ergo 28 28 They are no ministers who for their ministery alone call for the wrath of God vpon the gouern ours and the land where they are tollerated our readers though otherwise the holiest men vnder heauen call c ergo 29 All ministers * maye truely say of themselues 19 2. Cor. 5.20 now then are we ambassadours from Christe as though God did beseeche you through vs we pray you in Christs steade that you be reconciled vnto God Our readers cannot truely say c ergo 30 Euery one that is a minister in deed hath more
22.15 or else you can haue no inheritance among 4 them that are sanctified but bee excluded out of the citie of God amongst dogges theeues murderers and inchanters if you be not wrought vpō by their hands whom the Lord hath sanctified to that office I am bolde therefore in the cause of Gods honour and of your own saluation to intreat you 4 as you meane to haue anie fellowship and communion in heauen with the blessed saints and angels as you intend to haue anie part in that kingdome which the Lorde Iesus hath purchased with his owne bloud as you woulde haue any interest in him and his sacred passions that while you haue time you labour with might and maine to prouide your selues of the meanes whereby you may bee translated out of the kingdome of darknes wherin you now liue vnto the blessed possessiō of sweet Sion the citie of the liuing God In which cause if your endeuours wil be colde and backeward I pronounce vnto you that you shal as surelie perish and bee damned as the Turkes Heathens or any other Idolaters who cannot abide the name of Iesus Christ Be afraide therefore as the apostle a Heb. 4.1 admonisheth you least by forsaking the oportunitie of being saued which at this day is offered vnto you you be depriued of your saluation How shal you be able to beare it when in the day of vengeance you shall see your selues arraigned of high treason before Gods tribunall seate for reiecting the pardon he offreth in Christ Iesus vnto you Would you but vouchsafe to seeke the same in the worde preached In the worde preached I saye for if you will imbrace Christ and haue pardon of your sinnes by his passions you must haue that brought to passe by preaching Christ I graunt may be otherwise taught but as the apostle saith b Ephe. 4.21 not as the truth is in Iesus and therefore wythout comforte and wythout saluation The small reckoning my brethren that hitherto you haue made of Christ truely taught vnto you testifieth vnto your faces that you haue not knowen the Lord c Iere. 4.22 that you are foolish children wise you may be to doe euill but to do well you haue no knowledge as saith the prophet Yea it testifieth that you declare your sinnes as Sodome and hide them not and out of al doubt it will bring woe vnto your soules d Esay 3.9 vnlesse you haue preaching for you haue rewarded euill vnto your selues For Christ his sake then for your owne felieities sake acknowledge in the practise of your liues that the Lorde hath tied 5 the foode of vnderstanding and knowledge vnto the mouthes of those pastors 5 e Ier. 3.15 who at the 6 least in regard of gifts 6 are according vnto his owne heart 7 The Apostle proclaimeth 7 vnto the Colossians f Gollos 1.20.21 that as it was the good will pleasure and decree of the eternal to reconcile all men vnto himselfe by Iesus Christ so he neuer purposed to make this reconciliation knowen vnto any but by the word preached a vers 23.28 he telleth 8 b Rom. 16.25 1. Tim. 3.16 1. Cor. 2.7 vs in many place 8 that saluation is a mystery so of necessitie must haue some wider opening than the withered hands of bare readers can reach vnto 9 Blessed Peter sheweth in plaine wordes that our newe birth can no way be wrought in vs 9 but by the worde preached c 1. Pet. 1.21 Those great and 10 hidden secretes which the very Prophets themselues coulde not attaine vnto wythout greate inquirie 10 d 1. Pet. 1.10 can be made knowen vnto you belike contrarie vnto the expresse word of the holie ghost e vois 12. by those who can not preach the Gospell 11 In what 11 a desperate case then is my deare country the place of the sepulchres of my fathers f Nehe. 1. who hopeth for saluation and hath no meanes to be brought into the knowledge of the truth g 1. Tim. 24. by the publike ministerie And what a publike miniscerie or miserie rather is that in whose handes saluation is not because the knowledge of the truth is not in their handes Ieroboam 12 woulde thou haddest againe thy vnlearned priests 12 h 2. Chro. 13 9 For it is out of controuersie that they are sit to be the ministers onelie of them that woulde haue no God i 2. Cro. 15.3 but we would haue Ichouah for our God 13 and serue him Timotheus 13 to the ende he might be made more fit to cal men to saluation was commaunded to take heede vnto himselfe and vnto learning and to continue therein k 1. Tim. 4.13 15 16 but our Ministers if they can reade are able without any further learning to make saluation knowen vnto vs. Is reading 14 the way whereby the Lord will bestow vpon men the spirite of wisedome 14 and reuelation thorough his knowledge l Ephe. 2.17 No no 15 downe therfore vnto hell with that doctrine whence it sprang 15 and issued that seeketh saluation vnto men by reading of that which canner be vnderstoode without an expounder a Act. 8.30.32 And here I would 16 know of you which so long haue cōtented your selues with bare reading 16 whether for the space of nine and twenty years complet you haue selt either in your selues or perceiued in others the woorde to haue bene so powerfull as it is said to be b Heb. 4.12 If you haue not bee you assured that it is not the worde whereof the apostle speaketh in that place which worketh those effectes in some of the hearers either vnto death or vnto life For the word of God is liuelie as hee there setteth downe and mightie in operation and sharper then anie two edged swoord and entereth through euen to the deuiding asunder of the soul and the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart Besides that wofull experience sheweth that the spirite of God meaneth not the word read in this place the second verse of the chapter euidentlie conuinceth that it must needes bee the woorde preached vnto whome these imperiall titles as I may say are ascribed But saye the holie ghost what it will say the people of Wales had rather be lims of the deuil to bee euerlastinglie destroyed then labour to haue the woorde that by meanes thereof they might be made the members of Christ and so eternallie saued 17 Though 17 the or dinaunce of God be to demde the worde aright c 2 Tim. 2.15 vnto the seuerall vse of the hearers though 18 saluation be a thing that must be learned 18 euen of them who can read d Colos 15.7 our reading Baalites scane able to reade 19 19 though the decleration of the same bee such a thing as euerie christian who
can read well and distinctlie is not able to perfourme 20 e 1. Tim 5.22 ephes 4.7.12 20 and such a thing as proceedeth not from and gift of nature in vs a Rom. 12.3.77 ephe 3.8 1. cor 3.21.3.10 he 6.4 reading a naturall gift 21 though it be a labour to be ouer anie people in the Lord b 1. Cor. 3.9 thes 5.12 tim 5.17 a labour 2 so woonderfull as the Apostle in the admiration thereof crieth out who is sit for these things 21 c 2. Cor. 2.16 Reading a worke of small labour and lesse wonder yet you my deare countri-men wil rather aduenture the bloud of your selues 22 cruell and frozen securitie than giue eare vnto that great saluation whiche firste was preached by the Lord himselfe d Heb. 2.3 ephe 2.17 and can be made or dinarily knowen vnto no nation vnder heauen but by 23 preaching e Rom. 10.14 How can the way of saluation 24 be made known vnto you by those that are not able to compare spirituall things with spirituall 23 24 f 1. Cor. 2.13 O Lord hast thou euer giuen them 25 anie allowance to bee thy Ministers 25 whose lippes neuer preserued knowledge g Mal. 2.7 and dare wee gaine-say thee to thy face in admitting them 26 furious madnes 26 to thinke that our readers according to the Cannon of the word haue the message of saluation in their hands whereas they haue no more fitnes to declare the same in regard of sufficiencie than a verie Painim Turke or Iewe which denieth and defieth Christ Iesus may well inough haue if hee can read English or welch A thing to bee astonied at euen among the worshippers of heathen gods that the religion of christians and the woorship of the God that made heauen earth should not haue in it so much as one misterie 27 whose secrecie euen in regarde of knowledge 27 might disable one that neuer heard of true religion to be a publike Minister thereof O earth couer this our sinne O heauen conceale it least in the wrath and anger of God hell requite it What wordes shall I vse to make this sincke deeplye into your Honours heart and into the hearts of others whome it concerneth namelie that the great God the mightie and fearefull Lord hath a great and a blouddie reckoning wyth England and Wales and the gouernours of them 28 because the of-scouring of all contempt 28 and derision are permitted to represent his place and person among vs. As sure as the Lord liueth thys sinne shall neuer bee vn punished vnlesse betimes you repent betimes redres this sacrilege by placing those ouer vs who may truly say of themselues Nowe then are wee ambassadours for Christe as though God did beseech you through vs wee pray you in Christ his stead that you be reconciled vnto God a 2. Cor. 5.20 He ought not 29 to be a minister that hath not this commission 29 yea and dooth not faithfully excecute the same whatsoeuer vngodly men babble tot he contrarye The reason whiche out of their darke and diuelish vnderstanding they haue framed for the confirmation of their errour which is that the Apostles indeede were commaunded to preach the gospell but our ministers are to do no more then read that which they preached shall be vouchsafed a large confutation when my former reasons wherof I haue inserted aboue of score to prooue that our readers bee no ministers are answered In the mean time I vse these arguments against this leprous error 30 First 30 the basest publique readers ought to haue more in them then b Eph. 4.6 deut 6.7 Psal 78 5â— parentes bothe vnder the lawe and the Gospell who though simple and vnlearned yet hadde the burthen of teaching others laid vppon them not by reading for it may be they could not do it and a sauage Caniball that coulde reade might well inough instruct others in that which coulde bee made knowen by reading And wil our curats reiect it 31 Secondly 31 reading is not that wholesome doctrine whereof the Apostle speaketh a 2. Tim. 4.3 which euery minister is bound to deliuer vnto the hearers prooued bicause there was neuer anye professing religion in any age who could not well abide the word red so that there were nothing gathered out of the same contrarie to their iudgements or affections wheras the apostle saith it should come to passe that men would not abide the wholsome doctrine spoken of in that place I disdaine to refell the obiection that the apostle should meane either the olde heretiques who denied some part of the word or the antichristian Papists who forbad the word to be read vnto the people in a vulgar toong Thirdly 32 all men in what age soeuer they liue haue as much need of teaching 32 as they who liued in the apostles time bicause all are borne citizens of the kingdome of darknes cannot be brought into the kingdome of Christ by any other instrument than the b Colos 1.13.23 worde preached And the roote of 33 corruption euen in the regenerate 33 bringeth foorth buds like it selfe which must bee cut off by the worde preached I doe not denie nay I know it is warranted that the worde shoulde be read in the congregations of Gods children c Acts 13.15.17 Nehem. 8.2 but that hee should be taken as a publike minister that hath no other gift that I detest that I abhorre because I knowe the Lorde accounteth it for no better than swines bloud the cutting off of a dogges head the blessing of an idoll or the killing of a man in his sight d Isay 66.3 Lastly the worde read is the 34 same vnto all 34 whereas the foode of eternall life must bee made milke vnto the weake and tender and strong meate vnto them which are capable thereof But woe is mee be the worde read as grosse as it may be my country men lamentable and wofull delusion thinke it inough for them to swallow that which containeth in it the food of the soule though in their stomacks it should turne into starke iron A few psalmes (35) 35 a few praiers with one chapter of the newe Testament in Welch for the olde neuer spake Welch in our daies though to my comfort I vnderstande it is all readie to be printed most pitifully euill read of the reader and not vnderstoode of one among tenne of the hearers is that meanes belike whereby the Lorde hath decreed to make cleare vnto all men in Wales what the fellowship is of the mysterie a Ephes 3.9 which from the beginning of the world hath bin had in God These be the onlie visions that our prophets haue tolde vs of for the most part Oh that the Prophet Ieremie or some man indued with his spirit were now liuing to raise vp that complaint of vs and our countrie which he tooke against
be busie in matters of state Miserable daies Into what times are we fallen That theeues and murtherers of soules the very paternes and patrons of all couetousnes proud and more then popelike tyrants the very defacers of Gods trueth vnlearned dolts blind guides vnseasonable and vnsauory salt drunkardes adulterers foxes and wolues mire and puddle to be briefe the very swinestie of all vncleannes and the very ignomie and reproche of the sacred ministery cannot be spoken against but this will be straightwayes made a matter against the state And therfore although all the miserie all the ignoraunce all the prophanenesse in lyfe and conuersation hath beene for the most part by meanes of our Bishops and our other blinde guides yet may not a man affirme so much with any safety least he be said to be a mutinous and factious fellowe and one that troubleth the state For mine owne part the prophet Malachi shall deale with you and let the reader consider whether his wordes ought not in a fearful sort to strike and astonishe you A sonne a Mal. 1.6 saith the Prophet honoureth his father and a seruaunt his maister if then I bee a father b Read Mala. 1. 2. chap. where is mine honour if a maister where is my feare saith Iehouah of hostes vnto you O ye Bishops of VVales that despise his name If you say wherein haue we dispised him it wil be answered that you offer the blind the lame and the maimed vnto the holie ministery and say it is no euill and so dispise the Lords name bicause you say the Lords ministery is not to be regarded For seeing you your selues knowe and all VVales knoweth that you haue admitted vnto this sacred function rogues and vacabounds gadding about the countrey vnder the names of schollers spend-thrifts and seruing men that made the ministerie their last refuge seeing you permit such to bee in the ministerye as are knowen adulterers knowen drunkardes theeues roisters most abhominable swearers euen the men of whome Iob speaketh c Iob. 30.1.8 who are more vile then the earth doe you not say that the Lords seruice is not to be regarded if you any longer either tollerate others or continue your selues to bee theeuishe non-residents and so sterue the soules of poore innocents do you regard the Lords honour and the saluation of his people Is the law of truth sound in your mouthes Do ye conuert any from iniquitie It should be so indeed a Mala. 1.7 For your lips should preserue knowledge and the ignorant should seeke the law at your mouthes for you ought to bee the messengers of Iehouah b Mala. 2.9 of hosts But may this testimony bee giuen of you I feare me no Nay rather bicause all the world seeeth that iudgement vppon you which the prophet denounced against the prelats of his daies namely that you are vile and contemptible in the sight of the people for what is more contemptible among the best and basest of our people then to be a Priest yea a priestly Lord-Bishop I can iudge no otherwise of you but that you haue not kepte the waies of Iehouah gone out of the way caused many to fall by the law c Deut. 33.10 mala 2.6 and corrupted the couenant of Leuy And will you still continue in these transgressions God forbidde Be awakened nowe at the length considering where vnto you are called Vndergo that calling no longer which you are not able to discharge I speake vnto you all euen vnto you that will be accounted Lord-Bishops though it bee to the Lordes d Luke 22 25. 1. pet 5.3 mar 10.43.43 ier 5.31 dishonour Let the cursse of damned soules cleaue no longer vnto you For it perceth deeply You are one day to giue a reckoning for your mercilesse dealing with pore soules Let not the wicked Papists haue anye more cause to vpbraid the ignorāce of our people as they haue done in that pamphlet which they threwe abroad the last year to seduce our simple people The confutation wherof if legendarie fables wherewyth that skroul is fraught the translation of some part of R.P. his resolution of Didachus Stella Dionysius Carthus deserueth a confutation I shall publish when the Lord shall giue oportunitie If their brutish slaunders will not mooue you let the wordes of Paule stirre you forward whereby from heauen in most Patheticall and earnest sort he speaketh vnto euerie one of you seuerally in the person of Timothie a 2. Tim. 4.1.2 (41) 41 I adiure or charge thee therefore sayth he before God and before the Lord Iesus Christ preach the woord be instant in season and out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine Obey this charge or doubtles most irksom shal be your dānation Is it not a shame that Ieremie may crye b Iere. 27.1 that our lande is defiled by such as you are yea in my house haue I found their wickednes saith Iehouah Are not we the inhabitaunts of Wales as odious in the sight of our God as the inhabitants of Gommorrah seeing he c Iere. 8.14 seeth filthines in you our prophets and euerie of you from the greatest to the lowest is giuen to couetousnesse and dealeth falselye d Iere. 23.14 And what with your loitring idlenesse insufficiencie and euil life e Iud. 11. you strengthen the hands of the wicked that none can returne from his wickednes Wo be vnto you all for you haue followed the waye of Caine and are cast away by the deceit of Baalams wages Woe bee vnto you that account it pleasure to liue delitiously for a season vppon the price of soules you shal receue the wages of vnrighteousnes f 2. Pet 2.13 weping and gnashing of teeth in the pit of hell g 1. Pet. 2.15 What comfort is it for you to forsake the right way for a little worldly promotion seeing the blacknes of euerlasting destruction is reserued for you What maye hir Maiestie and the H. I. L. of hir counsell thinke you to be but the curssed shepheards that scatter their flockes seeing you haue not turned your people from their euill waies h Ierem. 23.22 Ieremy prooueth you to be such Therefore wo be to the shepheards of Wales saith Iehouah which feede themselues should not the shepheards feed their flocks you eat the far and cloath you with the wooll a Ezech. 34.23 but you feede not the flocke The sentence pronounced by the Lord against you b Ezech. 34.10 shal be execured with out doubt in the time thereof if you continue still in your vngodlye course Take this from mee also that vnlesse you forsake your idlenes those personages and those chaires of pestilence wherein you sit I mean your Bishops seas will spue you out And the Lorde I hope will make them so abhominable and reprochfull that all men fearing God will be afraid hereafter to enter into those seas of Dauids Asaph Bangor and Landaff
yet I protest that I would as to my comfort I doe ioyne my selfe in the publike hearing of the worde receiuing of the sacraments praying fasting giuing of almes and other holy exercises which these congregations as the assemblies of Gods people amongst whō publike saluation is to be had and with these ministers as the messengers of Iesus Christ whose commission from him to make known vnto me the way of saluation I dare not deny for my soule because there is some want in the seale I mean the outward calling My reasons are these Where I am obscure the booke may giue light The conclusion for breuities sake I haue omitted in the most The Prosyllogisme or second proof of any doutfull action where it is omitted is afterwarde concluded in the syllogisme which serueth for a proofe of all my reasons where any of them might be thought to be weake Euery one that hath the * life of a minister good or bad or that is a minister in deede is ordained of God for the gathering a Rom. 12.3 1. Cor. 4.11.28 Ephes 4.12 together of the saintes For ther is no other minister spoken of in the word No bare reader is ordained of God for this end Therefore no bare reader is a minister in deede or hath the life of a minister good or bad The faithfull prechers in the Church of England haue and do shewe by the good euidence of their teachinge whereby soules are gathered vnto the church and fed therein that they were ordained of God for this ende Therefore the seperation from them and their assemblies is an vngodly wicked and scismatical rent from the visible body of the churche An vngodly wicked and scismaticall rent I call it vpon good deliberation aduice Because that seperation from the companye where publike saluation is had and professed which is made in such sort as if the sayde company had not the means of saluation sounding in it or worshipped God after a false maner is wicked and scismaticall Such is the rent of these men For as they themselues do anouch they are seperated from vs because in all our meetings the corruptions are so great that we serue the true God after a false maner hold not the foundation and so haue no meanes to be saued among vs. For the men thēselues I hope the Lorde will recall them and I am perswaded the most of them haue fallen into this snare of meare and simple ignorance And woe woe woe vnlesse they repent will be vnto them that in smiting and keeping backe the carefull and harmlesse sheapheardes haue beene the cause of this lamentable dispersion straying of the poore sheep For the course whiche they take in seekinge good things it is to be auoyded as a course very likely to shake them from eternall life that continue in it I know what I say For where is there now any more meanes left for them to be saued without their repentaunce we hauing the onely ordinarie meanes of saluation among vs as before is prooued wheras they seperate themselues from vs as from those who serue the true God after a false maner and plainly shew that they would haue no saluation rather then that whereof wee are by the mercies of God pertakers through the ministery of the worde in our assemblies They cannot deny I desire thē to grant no more then the reasons folowing the former proue in this point but that saluation is to be had by the ministery of our preachers And they also know that there is but one ordinary way to be saued which being accounted but in one assembly to be the way of seruing God after a false manner the passage of saluation is shut vp euery where vnto them that are thus seduced for any thing that I know to be reuealed Shall I because the churche-gouernement is not as yet established a Tit. 1.5 in Creta or is iniuriously kept out and some great corruptions tollerated in steade thereof therefore affirme that those congregations of the Cretians where the word of god is taught by men of fit gifts are assemblies where the true god is worshipped after a false manner and yet notwithstanding thinke I may be saued by the worde preached at Philippi continuing still in the same error Whereas they that deliuer the worde at Creta are men endued with as rare gifts from the Lorde for the worke of the ministery as vpright in life and haue called as many to saluation as they had done who are at Philippi I doubt hereof Naye if I seperate my selfe from the assemblies in Creta to go to Philippi it shall not be because I deny them to be meetings of Gods people among whome he ruleth by the scepter of the worde or because I account them prophane synagogs but because I see them too slacke in growing to that perfection whereunto they desire to bee brought so that my departing shall not be a separation but a going forwarde And while I addresse my selfe to goe forwarde I will be sure not to cut of my selfe from the publike meetinges where the worde preached is inioyned A strong maner of reformation for men to cutte them-selues off from the true Churche to the ende they may haue a perfect outward gouernment The practize of these silly men might seeme to be more tollerable if they had ioyned themselues with any Churche vnder heauen Nay I would see what church dareth receiue them as long as they holde these congregations for Idolatrous synagogs where that ordinance of God is by which men are brought out of the kingdome of darknes vnto the kingdome of Christ Euery one of the syllogismes noted with this marke * inferre the former conclusion against their practize I wishe their conuersion from my heart and will be readie to performe any christian duetie as a brother towards them that the Lord hath enabled me Euery minister (2) 2 indeed * of that ordinaunce a Ephes 4.13 which is to continue in the church for the worke of the ministerie to the worlds end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Noe bare reader is a minister of this ordinance For this ordinance is the woord preached Ergo no bare reader is a minister indeed (3) 3 Euery minister is able * to make the elect to be members of b Ephes 4.13 Christ No bare reader is such an instrument Ergo (4) 4 Euerie minister * is a meanes by the worde of the grace of God to giue the elect an inheritaunce among them that are c Act. 20.32 sanctified None of our readers is such a meanes ergo (5) 5 Euerie minister indeede is able to feed the * elect with the food of knowledge and d Iere. 3.15 vnderstanding None of our bare readers are able to do this ergo (6) 6 Euerie * minister at the least in regard of gifts is according vnto the Lords owne e Ierem. 3.15 heart that is his ordinance reuciled concerning his
if it so continue And if you make not the same known vnto her Maiestie labor not to amend it the Lord make Queene Elizabeth and her crowne free from the blood of her destroyed people and I pray God my Ll. their souls be not required at your hands and the Earle of Pembrokes when you and hee shall not be able to answere for them But it may be you will ay that the worke is so difficult that it cannot possiblie be performed Doe what lieth in you and then the Lorde is aunswered The farther you wade herein the easier will be the passage Because it is a worke of difficultie therfore must you needes hinder the same by law as you do in tollerating these abuses Because the whol work is difficult therefore shall it not be begon Because it is a hard matter to plant the ordinaunce of God therefore must the breach thereof be in force and maintained Because in Canaan the sons of a Nom. 13.14 Anak and towns walled vp to heauen mountains of pietended excuses haue bin seene therefore must you needes suffer the people brought by her Maiestie out of Egypt to remaine still in the wildernes on this side lordan euen vnder those men the dumbe ministers nonresidents L. Bb. I mean who are fit for nothing but to be captaines b Nom. 14.4 whensoeuer opportunitie shall serue to bring them again into Egypt Because our land by reason of our continuaunce in sinne and that we haue not had skilfull workemen among vs doth not nowe bring forth religion and godlines in the measure it shoulde therefore must you needs be sure that prophanenes and Atheism shal be sowne and the breach of Gods law flowrishe there in the persons of these men Therfore the iust Lord will be iust in c Read Ezek. 2◠Zeph. 3.3 the middest of you whensoeuer he reckoneth for these things because you are so far from doing what you may in the planting of godlines that you suffer impietie against his maiestie to bear sway and that by law autoritie Concerning the hardnes of the worke this I make knoen vnto you that if you wil be ruled by the canon of the word you shal be abl with eas the good liking of your people to do so much therin as you shal deliuer your owne liues from the heauie wrath of God But if that rule shall not take place anye farther then it may stand with the countenance of L. bish and other corruptions of the Ecclesiasticall state for as concerning the ciuill gouernment the Lorde knoweth howe farre I am from dealing with it I see not what you can say vnto the Lorde when he hath made you and your people an astonishmēt and an hissing vnto all the nations vnder heauen but a Nehem. 9.39 surelie thou art iust in all that is come vpon vs for we would not be ruled by thy word Well the word teacheth and requireth 2. things and no more of you in this worke In both it requireth your obedience if you would be directed by it First it requireth that Wales may be redressed by proclaiming that commission giuen by our Sauiour Christ vnto his Apostles in euery corner thereof Math. 28.19 both the parts of the commission it requireth to be kept inuiolable as well that of go preach baptize as the other of teach them to obserue whotsoeuer I haue commanded you Secondly while you stay the Lords leasure to raise vp fit men for this worke in euery congregation it requireth that the people where preachers cannot be placed at the first may haue some stay that inconueniences bee auoyded For the Lord will not haue religion so vndiscreetly established as that incōueniences as much as may be be not wisely preuented In effecting hereof two things are to be looked vnto both of them greatly furthering the worke First the blessing of God is to be laboured for by humbling your selues and your people with Daniel before the Lord Dan. 9.1.3 in fasting and prayer and then you shall see he will be with your endeuours Secondly you must enioyne euery man according vnto his place to haue a hande in this worke and encourage the gentlemen and people that shal be found forward by gracing and countenancing them for their forwardnes in religion and shewing that the more forward they bee the more credit they are like to purchase with your Hh. And you must not suffer an vncircumcised mouth to bring a Nomb. 14.36 a slander vppon that good lande whereunto the Lorde offereth to bring you and your people if you would obey much lesse to lift vp a b Nom. 14.10 ston against Caleb or Ioshuah that withstande the furie of a who I wicked hoast in the Lords defence For otherwise if you suffer all to sit still and looke vppon our desolations the most to liue on the sweetnes of our ruines and discountenance all that labour therein you can looke for nothing else shortly but this lamentable complaint and it is a great work of God that we haue not hard the same long ago of euery professor in this land Whither shal c Deut. 1.18 we go our brethren and their harde entertainment hane discouraged our hearts would ro d Nom. 14.2.4 God that we had died in the land of Egypt would to God wee were dead were it not better for vs to turne into Egypt come let vs make a captain and returne thither The land in deed is a good land whereunto when our soueueraigne brought vs out of Egypt wee entended to make our iourney but alasse we are neuer able to stand against the pouertie losses imprisonment discountenance by our superionrs that our brethren haue sustained which haue set their faces towards this land neuer able to swalow vp the slanders and bitter names of Puritanes precisians traitors sedicious libellers that we see raised against those that would bring vs thither And therfore my Ll. in vain shal you vse other means leaue this vnattemted The redresse of Wales consisteth of two partes both must bee speedily set vppon by your Hh. or else certainly the iudgements of God wil finde you out First you must abolish out of the Churche whatsoeuer you finde to be a breach of Gods ordinance as I haue proued dumb ministers nonresidents 1. bish to be or els your reformation will be little better then that of the a 2. King 17.33 Samaritans who feared Iehouah but worshipped their owne gods Secondly you must place as many godly learned as can be found to call the people and see them prouided for If the complaint be made for want of sufficient men and sufficient stale for their liuings for the men take al those whom the lord hath made fit for this work hee can require no more at your handes vntill hee raise more which if he neuer doe your good endeuors and encouragements vnto students others not being wanting to bring this to passe
Let what I haue written be examined yea by mine aduersaries them selues if I haue anye and it shall appeare that I haue made a conscience how I haue dealt with my superiours especially those concerning whome it is said you are gods least I should seeme to leaue behinde mee the least print of a minde in anye sorte tending to diffame them or their gouernment As I haue beene carefull herof so let the Lord yea and no otherwise which I speake as far as my corruptions do permit graunt this cause and my selfe also if it be his wil fauour in your eies Indeede in regarde of the cause I commandatory wise vnto your Hh. but in regard of my selfe I come in feare and trembling as vnto the lords vice-gerents entreating most humbly that the dignitie of so worthy a cause be thought off nothing the more dishonorably because it is brought in my hands And I protest in respect of my sinnes that the Lord may iustly denie it the fauor it deserueth in your eies bicause I am a dealer therein But this should be no cause why your Hh. should giue it a repulse For in the eies and ears of al the world I make it known that it is the cause of the liuing god wherein I deale and that if it had beene possible for me to haue written more humbly dutifully I had done it Or if I had seene any way that might haue bene likelier to preuail with my superiors then this course I take the Lord to record vnto my soul that I would not haue vsed this And I would to GOD I could tell how to make the cause plaucible So far I am from setting down any thing that might carrie with it any shew of occasion to hinder and disgrace the same Well I haue done my endeuour the successe I expect at the lords hands vnto whom I commend the cause and the saluation of that pore people The sworde of iustice reached vnto you by the Lord himselfe to take punishment of him only that is an a Rom 13.4 euil doer I fear not because I haue not offended If it should be drawn against me for this action the president wold be such as they who ment hereafter to prophesie vnto your Hh. might be aduisedly counselled b Micha 2.6 not to prophisie the Lord as a token of your iust destruction to ensue would say they shal not prophesie nor take shame If I haue spoken any vntruth beare witnesse thereof if a truth I dare by the lords assistance stand to it and demand what he is that wil presume to obiect and throw himselfe vnto the vengeance of God by punishing me an innocent The Lord may for my other sinnes bring mine head vnto the graue with bloud but in this cause what haue I offended and therfore vndoubted woe will betide him that shall molest me for this worke Howsoeuer it be thus I haue performed a dutye towardes the Lorde and his church my countrey and your Hh. which I would doe if it were to be done againe though I were sure to endanger my life for it And be it known that I am not afraid of earth in this cause And if I perish I perishe my comfort is that I know whether to go and in that day wherin the secreats of all hearts shabe manifested the sinceritie of my cause also shall appeare It is enough for mee that howsoeuer I be miserable in regard of my sins yet vnto Christ I both liue and die and purpose by his grace if my life should be prloonged to liue herafter not vnto my self but vnto him to his church otherwise then hithertoo I haue doone The Lorde is able to raise vp those that are of purer hands and lippes then I am to speake and write in the cause of his honor in Wales the Lord make them whosoeuer they shal be neuer to be wanting vnto so good a cause the which because it may be the Lordes pleasure I shall leaue them behinde me in the worlde I earnestly and vehemently commende vnto them as by this my will and testament And haue you pore Wales in remembraunce good my Lordes by establishing the word preached there that the blessing of many a saued soule therein may follow her maiestie and your Hh. ouertake you light vpon you and sticke vnto you for euer The eternall God giue hir Maiestye and your Hh. the honour of building hys church in Wales multiply the daies of hir peace ouer vs blesse hir and you so in this life that in the life to come the inheritance of the kingdom of heauen may be hir and your portion so be it good Lord. Were my dutifull heart towards your Hh. throughly knowen then I doubt not but I should bee better knowen vnto you then by my name IOHN PENRI TO THE READER Master D. SOMES booke was published this day I haue read it The man I reuerence from my heart as a godly and learned man The reasons he vseth against me in the questions of the reading ministrie and communicating with them I had aunswered as you may see in this booke before he had written They are faultie either because they desire that for graunted which is the question or make those things of like nature wherein there is a great dissimilitude as the arguments drawen from the magistracie and the Leuiticall Priesthood I haue answered thē The cause the reuerence I owe vnto the man though the reasons he vseth deserue not to be twise read ouer will enforce me to answere him at large There be certaine faults escaped in the print beare with them