Elders and Bishops so commonlie called therefore this whole matter seemeth inuolued in more darke and thicke mistes of obscuritie vnto such as are not expert in searching out hidden and vnknowen histories in the acts and monuments of the Apostles For by reason of the interchangeable communitie of names they think not that there is any difference or conceiue not what it is between those distinct persons which are called by names not distinct As for exemple this name Apostle would haue deceiued him fowly that should haue gone about to haue equaled all of this name with the twelue Apostles so stands the case also with the name of Bishops for that it is in danger to deceiue if it doe not daungerouslly deceiue those which indistinctly apply that one name to the two degrees of Elders Wherfore they must know that the same name is not alwaies of the same nature and many times one word is significant as well for the general as the particuler And this must we conceiue of this word Elder that in the capacity of his signification are indifferently intertained all degrees of Pastors so that the Apostles themselues may generally be called Elders when as properly the lowest degree of Pastors is best knowen and most fitly called by that name Besides all this there is in many wordes an Etimology or proper interpretation according to the which also it so falleth out that many times diuerse names haue the same vse by which meanes not onely Elders but Apostles also may be deriued into the same name of Bishops This may very easily bee exemplified in ciuill things and names where we may wel perceiue the like vse of no lesse titles as Dukes Earles Knights Lordes and Barons all which titles are giuen to many which differ much in honour and dignitie neither is it any new or insolent thing for one mightie King to haue many meaner Kinges vnder him of his name but not of his power The like wee may say of Dukes who haue also vnder them other Dukes of whome they receiue due fealtie and homage and some Earls also as the Count Palatine of Rhene Flanders are Lords also ouer other Earles What should I speake of Knights Lords Barons which vnder the same titles haue not the same tipe of honor or autority He would be laughed to scorne of very children for his labour that should inferre an equality of their callings from the qualitie of that they are called I but will some say there is not that reason of the Ecclesiasticke ministerie and the ciuill policy I also tell them that I doe not compare office with office but name with name that all the world may see how childish a reason it is for the community of names and titles to take away the diuersity of things persons Albeit there be some new writers of this age who hold opinion that the presidency of on ouer many elders is to be abolished as a thing that hath preuailed in the church of custom vpon the curtesie of mē only that against the groūded verity of gods sacred constitution yet for al that the vniuersal consent of alchurches in the world consorting with gods word shal further with me then the opinion male-content of the heretik Aerius or the misconceited iudgement of Hierome alone hauing lost himselfe in the ambiguity of doutful words not foūd out the antiquity of the first age of the church For this is manifest out of the word of God that in the time of Iohn the Apostle those 7. Cathedral Churches of Asia had their seuen Bishops and they imposed ouer them by a certaine diuine not any humaine ordinaunce For when as the holie Ghost there conceileth nothing in the which either the Angels themselues or they which were vnder there gouernement had offended he would neuer haue passed ouer without iust reprehension so insolent and ambitious an innouation for so it seemeth vnto some as then but newly subborned and boldly brought forth into the church of God and that confronting the flat ordinaunce of God himselfe No doubt those so famous and renowmed Churches had many Elders and happely a colledge of Elders and yet the defaults of those churches were not laid vppon the many Elders but hee calleth vpon the seuerall and principall Elder of euery particular church whose autority in the church gouernment vnlesse it had bene somewhat more then ordinarie they alone should neuer haue borne the blame of that function not well performed A certaine writer of this age goeth about to defend or at least to excuse this heresie or error if you had so rather of Aerius but his reasons with the which hee would doe it are so slanderous scandalous and reprochfull against the councels and against the fathers as of truth I am altogether ashamed of them Aerius like a good honest fellowe is excused the fathers poore soules or openly accused of no small faults ambition and tyranny who seeing he bringeth nothing woorth any thing besides that we haue before touched out of Hierome I will not vouchsafe his cauils the confuting How much more christian-like modestly hath that most famous man and thrise reuerend father Zanchius neuer sufficiently renowmed for his rare learning and religion how much more like a good christian hath he written in his Confession what hee thought concerning the controuersie These are his wordes My faith is grounded chiefly and simply vpon the word of God and then somewhat also vpon the common consent of the whole Catholike Church if so bee it repugne not the sacred writ For I doe beleeue that what things were concluded and receiued of the holie Fathers assembled in the name of the Lord by a common consent of all without anie contradiction to the holie scriptures that those things also althogh not of like authoritie with the scripture are of the holy Ghost Hence it commeth that whatsoeuer things are of this sort I nor will nor dare with a safe conscience disallow them But what one thing is more certaine out of histories out of Councels out of the writings of all the Fathers then that those orders of Ministers of the which we haue spoken were receyued and established in the Church by the common consent of the whole Christian common-wealth And who am I that what the whole Church hath allowed I alone should disallowe Neither yet haue all the learned men of our time dared to disallow them for that indeed they knew that both these things were lawfull in the Church also that they all were ordeined and performed of a godly religion and to good ends for the good of the elect Besides that reason was I should haue regard of those Churches also the which although they haue imbraced the Gospell yet they retaine their Bishops both in deed and name And what shall wee say of the Churches of the Protestants also where they want not their Bishops and Arch-bishops in deed whom hauing cast their good Greeke names
and it hath ben handled at large also yet all little enough Such is the female misconceit of the lasciuious malecontent and the male miscontent of the learned ignoraunt of this age euer learning and neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth Notwithstanding seeing in the iudgement of the most wise and best learned this Germane Booke seemed for sound iudgement inferiour to none and for graue discourse equall to any it was therfore thought by them an action no lesse commodious to the people then commendable to the Author that he who in the causes of present controuersie hath propounded his iudgement vnto all shoulde haue his iudgement expounded vnto vs. The which although it hath beene curstly censured by a certaine suspicious and suspected Criticke emulous of his betters credite who in his professed lectures hath vsed the remembraunce of his name in disdaine with Sarauia nescio quis Yet his best auditors there and others his betters elsewhere haue found this difference betweene Sarauia and him that besides his great learning and no lesse experience of the which this great Censor neuer had the one neuer will haue the other Sarauia hath made knowen to him and the whole world by this his resolute definitiue who he is whereas the other in one whole tearme hath so behaued himselfe in the same cause that albeit wee all know who he is yet we could neuer tell where to finde him So hoppeth he betweene the stone and the Altar that as a man distract betweene feare and flattery he maketh vp his doubtfull resolution with this harmelesse confession Sentio quod sentio quod nescio I know what I know what I doe not know I but now we see the aduerse part partly by theyr lawlesse outrage and partly by theyr lawfull restraint to be nowe as impotent in their faction as they are odious in their opinion to be at this time as vnable as they were at all times vnworthy to preuaile and then what neede we any longer striue when the ennemy can no longer stand I aunswer that their increase was seene long since to be at the full and their credite appeareth euen now to be in the Waine For the which as we are to giue God thankes who in taking Iustice vpon some of them hath taken pitty vpon the whole Church so likewise are we to pray for the rest that in good time we may see eyther theyr speedy amendement or their present preferment For it is time O Lord that thou haue mercy vppon Sion yea the time is come Notwithstanding in the meane time wee haue entertained this profered aide not so much to inuade the seditious brethren or to bring home the resolued recreant as to strengthen the godly Subiect and to bring forward the well affected Protestant With the which if any man finde himselfe agreeued let him shew for it but so that Sarauia may vnderstand what he saith For my part if I haue conceiued him right the fruite is yours if I haue deliuered him not right the fault is mine Sure I am the Author meant you well and my Authors And so doe I. The Translator TO THE MOST REuerend father in Christ John by the prouidence of God Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of al England and Metrapolitane To the renovvmed and most honored Heroicke Sir Christopher Hatton Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Chauncellour of England As also to the noble and right honorable Sir William Cecill Baron of Burghley Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and high Treasurer of England of her Maiesties most Honorable priuy Counsell my very good Lordes true felicity THe auncient receiued custome of dedicating books to men of name and authority is growne and grounded vppon many reasons great waighty all which it shal be needelesse for me to reuise in this place But for my part there are chiefly three causes mouing me to consecrat this my small trauell to you the most Honorable and honored of me my good Lordes First that thereby I might testifye vnto you the duety and deuotion of a loyall and gratefull minde towards you that find my selfe seuerally and singularly bound vnto you all and euery one of you For first one of you vppon my repaire into England disdained not to entertaine me a stranger with no straunge countenance and straunge courtesie The other also dained to accept me vnworthy into his owne family And the other of his especiall fauour brought to passe that by her Maiesties priuiledge and preferment I might be made of a forreiner a freeman of an alien a Cittizen And seeing I haue receiued all these fauours without any deede or desert of mine God thou knowest mine vnworthines I were but too ingrate and vnkinde if I should bury in darke and deepe silence your so rare and religious demerites But whereas I haue no other thing to render or repay vnto your Honors but a mine of thanks and a thankfull minde that mind wil I alwaies beare and that duety in minde so that I will not cease to worship the sacred memory of your religious loue towardes me Another cause is the very nature of the argumente I vndertake the which I could not well prosecute without some particular mention of the Church of England In the which seeing I haue now my part and portion of a pastoral prouince and praised be the Lord my lotte is fallen vnto me in a faire ground might I not seeme vnmindfull of my good neglecting my duty if when I vndertake the cause of those Churches which are alien and outlandish I should ouerslip the state of mine own Church now gremiall to me and mere English But when mine hearts desire and praier to God is that I may some waies benefite my countreymen if I forget thee O Ierusalem And yet if I should forget my duety herein the meere alliance and relation of the matters them selues is such and so great as that by ordinary course of necessary consequence I must be inforced to inferre and praefer the mention thereof in my bookes But because I am but new made of Flemish sterling that is of Outlandish English it may be happely that they which are home-bred will thinke I deale not wel with them to deale with them and that I meddle too farre when I come so neare For which cause I thought it necessarye for mee to commend and commit my selfe vnto your Honorable patrocinie that this stranger book might freely passe vnder your safe conduct Neither shall it grieue me much though it be vniustly cast by most voices if it may iustly passe your accoumpt neither shall it hurt me much though the inraged multitude in disordered throngs cast stones at mee only if your Honors vouchsafe to giue me the white stone But the last cause is for that I am in some doubt how this discourse will be taken of them for whose sakes especially it was vndertaken For it is to be feared that they
laboreth to bring the prelats of the Church into contempt for by that meanes he thinketh to imbecil the doctrine of fayth and to bring that into suspect that so at the last he might if possible he could bring an vtter ruine and a ruined ouerture to the whole state of the Church To which purpose whosoeuer they be that make themselues the Diuell his stipendaries vnder what colour so euer they doe it they discerue but badly not onely of the whole Church but also of the common wealth That which a rebell is in the state the same is a scismaticke in the Church How iust cause the aduerse part here in England hath to bring theyr Bishops into the obloquy and enuy of the people it smally cōcerneth me I set not as arbiter between both parts But this I say that the same things which betideth the Bishops here in England doth vsually befall all the best of the Ministery in Holland also who are in no lesse enuy with the people there then our Bishops are here How malapartly and the sacrifice had men do rail and raue in their publicke writing 〈◊〉 the deare seruants of Christ and that by name their shameful and shameles libels doe testifie at large Of which wrongs seeing I my selfe whiles I conuersed with them bate not the least share yet bear no wonder to any if for my part I like the better of Bishops For I am not ignorant of this that this is but the ordinary condition of al Gods seruantes and that Satan of old and long since hath by all possible and pestilent meanes endeuored to make the presidents of Christ his Church odious and infamous among men that so their credit especially being either altogether crackt or very sore crased himselfe might with more facility and lesse iealosie set abroach and cast abroad all manner hideous and hellish Heresies In so much that I am perswaded if Moyses himselfe if Peter if Paul were resident among vs and were in that honour and esteeme which were fit and well-beseeming their so honorable a calling they could not possible escape the cankred chaps of these foule-mouthed Hell houndes But so long as the seruantes of Christ are in authority in the Church it is not much that the instruments of Satan can atchieue but are they once brought vnder the hatch alas what is it that the seditious dare not attēpt This matter need no great proof it hath too much Wherefore of that degree of Honor which the Prelats of Religion ought to inioy in an established christian common wealth the very vilenes of this age doth inforce me to speak more at large For if base men cannot abide that Religion should be in any Honor and villanous minds endeuor their worst that the credit thereof may be none at all or worse then it is I thinke it no great wonder but that religious men as they would seeme should attempt the same euen they which ought to be patrones and preseruers of the Church dignities it is a thing odious preposterous and too bad absurd Doe they not yell in vaine and cry out against abuses to no purpose whose end is not so much to mittigate the abuse of thinges as to abolishe the whole vse If the gouernours of the Church haue not so beautified theyr Ministery with that integrity of manners and innocency of life which reason the reuerence of Religion doth require I defend them not but that according to the lawes they may be seuerely punished and theyr betters surrogat into theyr places Neyther are they exempt from the iurisdiction of the chiefe Magistrates whereby they may not censure vppon them theyr liues and theyr goods as vppon other cittizens No question it greatly concerneth both Prince and people that good men be placed ouer the Church and euil men remoued theyr places So that whatsoeuer crimes are here or else where obiected and proued against the Prelates of Religion they are staynes to the chiefe Magistrate which tollerateth such Ministers in the Church or aduanceth such like to be Church officers There is not the like reason of the Romish cleargy For they haue theyr peculiar Magistrates nor liue they vnder the common law of other Cittizens neyther yet are they accounted any part of them any longer then may stand with their owne commodity There the ciuill Magistrate chalengeth no right to conuert nor any power to amend what so euer they committe But notwithstanding if the Magistrate thinke best to winke at these publique slaunders I wil complain my selfe no further onely if the slanderers wil so moderate themselues as that they onely finde fault with the fault not with the state and whiles they rate abuses the honor of the calling may be left intemerat Let it be no mans slaunder that he is a Bishop or a Minister But of the two-folde order of Elders according to the Lorde his institution and the Apostolique tradition and the perpetuall vse of the Church so much as the state of the argument doth require these thinges I haue sayd may suffice Now it remayneth that wee say some thing also concerning Doctors Of Doctors Chap. XXVI WHen the Apostle in the fourth to the Ephesians nameth Pastors and Doctors a man cannot certainely gather from the manner of his speech whether hee would haue thē diuerse in office or but one and the same and that because a Pastor is necessarily a Doctor or teacher but not so conuersiuely Wherefore the thing it selfe must help vs out For not euery one whome the Lord hath endewed with learning and with a sound gift of teaching hath presently withal receiued the authority of a Pastor The knowledge and science of sacred Scripture may be giuen to any man Kings Nobles Knights may be learned who notwithstanding are not fitte to be ouer any Churches And albeit the administration of the Sacraments and gouernance of the Church are so combined with the office of teaching that he cannot be a Pastor which is not a teacher notwithstanding that followeth not in good conuersion that euery one who hath receyued the power to teach should forthwith be an Elder or Bishop of the Church these thinges are distinct each from other From among those which are apt to teach Elders and Bishops are chosen and of old the Priesthood was neuer without power to interpret but yet the gift of prophecie and the ability to interpret did not make a Priest The Priest was of duety an interpreter of the law and a Doctor a Prophet but yet euery doctor of the law or prophet was not a priest An Apostle in deed was both Prophet and Doctor and Pastor but euery Prophet or Doctor was not an Apostle or Pastor Seeing therefore that Doctors are distinguished from Pastors the knowledge of the mysteries of God with the faculty to expound them is the gift of the holy spirit whosoeuer excell in that gift and can as wel by writing as word of mouth edify the Church they are
their towns and teritories Or had they any lesse authority ouer these their townes and Citties then had the other Tribes ouer their Citties and fields which fel vnto them by lot The Gospell beeing receaued by publique authority the Lord hath no where forbidden the Ministers of the Gospell to possesse fields and farmes after the same manner neither hath hee inhibited that anie such realties should bee giuen them to possesse But is it possible there should bee any so base and bad minded towards religion that he could once wish the Ministers thereof to be of worse estate in a christian society then were of olde the Priestes and Leuites in the Common-wealth of Israell It is well knowen that Ministers hauing to conuerse in a ciuill societie had neede also of those helpes which are requisite in a ciuill society may reconcile them into fauor and maintaine them in authority with the common people as wisedome and wealth especiallie Seeing that whosoeuer hee bee that neglecteth either of these can by no meanes liue and liue well in a ciuill societie The wise man in his Ecclesiastes the seuenth chapter hath verie well noted the practise of this For wisedome is good saith he with an inheritaunce and the excellencie of them which see the Sunne because that man shall rest in the shadowe of wisedome and the shadow of siluer And indeed vppon these two pillers doth rest the chiefe strength and stay of a ciuill life There is one kind of life which is publique and in the common prospect of men and hath necessarilie to doe with men of all sortes and there is an other kinde of priuate and priuie life vnder an heathen Magistrate full of danger so that there hee is to deale as wel with Magistrates as with priuate men heere he may well deale with none at all I say in this case there is no comparison to be made of these two kinds betweene themselues that without distinction wee should make the like condition of the Ministers life in all places and subiect vnto the like conditions Chap. XV. Of those Lands which are held in fee and haue annexed with them anie ciuill authoritie and iurisdiction AND that which maketh all the doubt for those Landes which are helde in fee by the Church is this that manie times they haue annexed with them some Ciuill iurisdiction and Knights seruice The which thing is forbidden the Pastors of the Church by the lawes of the Church vnto whome also the power of the sword seemeth to bee forbidden by the Lord himselfe The ancient Canons which are accounted the Apostles allow not a Bishoppe to be busied in the seruice of warre or anie ciuill function The sixt Canon standeth thus A Bishop Priest or Deacon shall not take vppon him anie worldlie cares neither shall hee defile himselfe with such Cyprian also in an Epistle vnto the Priestes of Furnam writeth against one Victor for that he made one Geminus Faustinus ouer-seer of his last wil and forbiddeth them that there should bee anye oblation made amongst them for his death His wordes are these The Bishoppes our predecessours religiouslie considering and prouidentlie fore-casting of thinges enacted that no brother departing this life should appoint anie Clearke to be his guardian or supra-visor and if anie so did there should bee no offering for him neither should anie Sacrifice be celebrated for his departure Neither indeed doth he deserue to bee once named in the praier of the Priestes at the Altar of God who sought by all meanes possible to with-draw the Priests Ministers from the Altar of God These decrees of the reuerend Fathers are confirmed by that example of the Apostles who sequestred themselues from the ouer-sight of the poore which notwithstanding is a godlie and a religious action and resigned that charge vnto other godlie men least themselues should bee with-drawen from the ministerie of the woorde which thing chiefly was imposed vpon them by the Lord. Moreouer for so much as pertaineth vnto Knights seruice or anie other ciuill function the foure-score and second of the Canons which are called the Apostles decreeth thus The Byshoppe Priest or Deacon that giueth himselfe vnto war-fare and will occupie himselfe both in the Romaine regiment and also in the Ecclesiasticall gouernement let him be diuested Giue vnto Caesar those thinges which are Caesars and vnto God those thinges which are Gods The councell of Chalcidon in the seuenth Canon the fifteenth action hath laid a cursse also vppon those that dare presume to doe these things The wordes of the Canon are these VVee doe decree that those which are once ordained in the Cleargie as also all Monks shall neither come vnto anie militarie seruice or to anie secular promotion But they which dare do these things and do not with repentance returne to that of the which they made their first choyce for Gods cause they are accursed To these Canons wee maye adde the conditions of the fees themselues the which are such as by them all manner free-tenure is taken away from the Cleargie and companie of Moonks For a fee is defined by the Lawyers to bee a Militarie seruice but seeing the lawes of the Church doe forbid Church-men and Moonkes to exercise anie Militarie seruice they cannot by any right either receiue or retaine the benefite of the seruice Chap. XVI That Bishops and other Pastors of the Church are not forbidden to be Lords of fees sometimes to vndertake secular and ciuill charges TO the former obiections I first aunswere according to that I haue already proued as well by the lawes of the first christians as by the testimony of the ancient fathers that the Church long before Constantine his time had both fields and farmes the commons and commodities pertaining to the same But is there now any other reason why Ecclesiasticall persons may not also hold the same in fee if they be giuen in fee as well as did of old these Priests and Leuits those Townes and Cittyes which they receiued of theyr brethren As for those Canons before cited I aunswere and affirme that we allow nor Elder nor Bishop to be detained or withdrawen with secular cares from theyr spiritual function any further then may be beneficial to the Church and common wealth or may satisfie the necessity of our christian neighbour That the charge of domestique secular affaires is here forbidden by any Canō that a man should neglect his own family vnto whom he is bound by the right of alyaunce or affinity nor godly charity nor christian faith will suffer vs so to thinke But that the charge of a Lordship or Mayrolty or such like that a Bishop should be Consul in the field Maior of a Towne Clarke of the market Chamberlaine to the King or Factor for the state and such like we hold them to bee forbidden by that sixt Canon and we vtterly renounce the same To the fourescore and second Canon I aunswer and affirme that seruice of war is forbidden by
or an especiall benefite with the Latines so that a Fendotarye with them is the same that a free Tenant is with vs who holdeth by fealty and homage onely But a Fee is defined among the Lawyers diuers waies First that it is a military seruice imposed and vndertaken vppon this condition that the tenant for the benefite receiued performe his seruice in warre and therein shewe his fealty and fidelity to his patrone and his benefactor By which we may vnderstand what was the original of tenures in Fee Notwihstanding for as much as there are some fees which are not military neyther stand vppon knights seruice this may serue for a more generall definition that a Fee is a benefite or a priuiledge giuen vnto some man vppon this condition that he which receyueth the benefite shall in lieu thereof performe some duty or seruice as a testimony of his thankefulnes But here there are three things of necessity to be obserued the Persons the Things and the Right The Persons are the Lord and the Vasall that I may so speake with the Feudist betweene whom the seruice is contracted The which for the most part in deede is military or knights seruice I say for the most part because of the Ecclesiastike or church seruice But the Thing is the matter substance of the benefite receiued as fields fermes iurisdictions immunities courts or whatsoeuer else is held in Fee But last of all the Right accrueth from these both For the Fee in respect of the Lord is a benefite giuen to the Vasall vpon that condition that he should recognise the autor therof in some kind of seruice but in respect of the Vasall the Fee is the right of vsing and manuring another mans thing vpon that condition that some seruice of duety and testimony of his fealty be due for the sayd thing But now is there any of these three more crosse of contrary to the calling and condition of Ministers then of other Christians But that it may the more plainely appeare what is the nature of the whole matter and what therein is repugnant to the state of a Minister we will more diligently examine the particulars of these pretended Fees Chap. XVIII A distinction of Fees THis title of Fees is many waies deuided but that which maketh for the presēt purpose is this Of Fees som are meere Ciuill some are Military The ciuill Fee is againe sub-deuided into an Ecclesiasticall or Church Fee or a temporall or Lay Fee In the nature of Ecclesiasticall or Church Fees are our Parsonages our Bishoprickes Archbishoprickes Abbies and such like which are giuen to hold in free tenure by the Princes Scepter In the manner and nature of Ciuill Laye Fees are those secular dignities and ciuil offices of the common wealth as Lieutenancies Mairolties Consulships and such like of the which we doe not purpose in this place to make any particular discourse It sufficeth for this time that we haue noted howe all Fees are not giuen for military dueties neyther doe all hold vppon Knights seruice Moreouer this also is most manifest that the lawes of Fees haue often times altered and the nature with the lawes so that ther is nothing more variable then that title And that the whole matter dependeth vppon certaine customes and the vncertaine pleasures of the Lords who vppon any condition or without any condition if it please them may freely giue the things they haue to be held and vsed In deed the first occasion of Fees was Knights seruice that the Prince might alwayes haue a sufficient host Captains competent for the defence of the common wealth So that Fees no doubt in the beginning were no other thing but stipēds for war not hereditary but temporary not vnlike to Princes annual pensions at this day And then no question neyther young children nor youthes vnder the age of fourteen were capiable of those Fees nor generally any whosoeuer was not apt able for seruice of war yet we see afterwards how they were made Hereditary also so that in many places they now differ litle or nothing from ordinary inheritance Whereby we may see that those lawes conditions of Fees which determine that a Clerke is no hable person to hold in Fee are to be vnderstood no otherwise thē of knights Fee In the which notwitstanding if it seeme good to the Lord of the Fee to alter the law thereof as he iustly may by his absolute authority he may also graunt the same Fee vppon any condition vnto the Church in generall or to anye of the cleargy in particular In the meane while those Lawes which serue to restrain cleargy men from these Fees do in like manner by the same reason exclude women and children and young men and old men and all men that are not fit for military seruice Who when as at this day they are notwithstanding admitted what reason that Clergy men alone should be excepted For they also may performe by an other man or supply with another duety that duety of Chieualry if it be a duty as wel as womē boies wherfore seeing that at this day the Pastors and Prelats of the church doe liue vnder the same Magistrat the same lawes neither do challenge vnto themselues any peculiar immunity from the burdens of the common wealth any otherwise then other Cittizens surely to depriue them of the like benefits or to depose them from the like priuiledges with other cittizens is an action no lesse odious to al then iniurious to thē But as of old for good cause it seemed necessary to them which had the chiefe place in the common wealth to giue lands and Lordships in Fee to their Nobles and noble warriours for military attendance and the peaceable continuance of the common wealth so also did they take it no lesse necessary and as great reason for them to giue vnto Pastors and Bishops in the like name and nature of Fees both towns and towres and parkes woods and pooles and fishings and fermes and fields and tenths and tithes for the sacred ministery of Gods Church and the reuerend administration of things sacred thereby to aduance the honor and support the worthines of that most honorable heauenly calling As for those things which the Bishops and other Ecclesiastical persons in England doe hold in Fee they are for the most part of that nature as that they require no military seruice for they are giuen in Franke almoigne as they terme it and yet notwitstanding all ancient Bishopricks haue frely graunted many Fees and such like tenures vnto theyr Tenants in fee to hold in Knights seruice Who by this means doe performe vnto the kings of England as well military as other necessary seruices in the Bishops behalfe by the which the Bishops are enlarged and set free from them Chap. XIX An aunswere to the obiection That ciuil iurisdiction outward pompe and honors which are annexed with these fees doe not agree with the