by breaking the Custom and being drawn by the Deceit of Roxolana to Marry her by a Priest The Reasons why the Grand Seigniors Marry not themselves by a Priest or in a Temple or by a Magistrate or with any other Publick Solemnity but only make Use of Private Natural Marriage are 1. It prevents the great Charge of a Dower or Jointure which Turkish Emperors are bound to give their Queens who are Married by a Priest for as Withers Relates amongst the Grand Seigniors Seraglio of Women Marriage made by the first birth of a Child and not by words of a Priest she is esteemed Empress who brings him the first Son and they were formerly Married before the Mufti or Arch-Priest which was only to give one another their Assent before him and he to make an Hodget or Note in Writing of it and of the Dower the Emperor was to give her which except as to the Dower was no other than as our Certificate of the Bishop touching which Selymus being Uxorious and having given in his Marriage Five Hundred Thousand Chequins a Year to his Queen made a Law no Successor if they Married should give less than he had done to their Queens whereupon the Emperors succeeding forebore and it grew out of fashion to Marry by the Priest to save their Dower and other excessive Expences incident to Publick Marriages of Princes and had thereby likewise their Queens far more obsequious than before they thereby depending wholly on the Love of their Husbands to give them what they pleased according to their merit 2. By not Marrying by a Priest he is clear from all Burden of Allyances of his Sultana Poor or Rich. 3. The Grand Seignior thereby regained into his own hands the Patria Potestas belonging to every Father of being Judg who were his own Children which had been by his Superstitious Predecessors unwarily Alien'd to his Arch-Mufti or Arch-Bishop for by giving him Power by his Hodget or Certificate to declare the Marriage there followed as incident thereto the Arch-Bishop's Legitimation of his Children and Declaration of his Heir Apparent and Successor Then further the Mahometan Law allowing Plurality if Married by the Priest they could not be Married altogether but one after another or if they were a Child of a Woman Married after might come sooner which Priority of Marriage by the Mother would have destroyed the Custom of Primogeniture of the Son first born of any Wife whether the beloved or hated or first Married or after Married so 4. he kept the Right of Primogeniture and Peace in his own Family which if he having an Elder Son by a first Wife not Married by a Priest should have a Younger Son by a Second Wife Married by a Priest this pretence might cause Murder or Civil Wars between his Elder and Younger Sons one standing on his Right of Primogeniture and the other on the Hodget or Certificate of the Arch-Bishop of Prior Marriage of the Later Mother by the Priest as happen'd in the Example of Solyman the Magnificent and Roxolana Turk Hist 758. where it appears that Solyman the Magnificent begot of his first Empress a Circassian Bond-woman not Married by a Priest Mustapha his Eldest Son who proved a Prince of great Excellency and most dearly beloved by the Army and People after Solyman according to their Custom of Plurality of Wives grows wanton and begets four Sons more of Roxolana another of his Bond-women namely Mahomet Selymus Bajazet and Tzithanger and one Daughter called Chameria Married to Rustan the Great Basha Roxolana being her self a great Beauty and having so fair an Issue and a Potent Son in Law to assist her and no obstacle but the Primogeniture of Mustapha to make her own Son the Heir apparent of the Greatest Empire in the World discover'd her self to be more adorned with Gold and Pearls than Vertue yet counterfeits Religion to bring her Designs to pass but first take the Epigram by Knolles subscribed to her Picture Fronti nulla fides nulla est fiducia formae Pectore dum savo dira venena Latent Philtra viro Miscet fallax miserumque coegit Sanguine natorum Commaculare manus No Trust there is to Face or Beauty when The Breast of Poison'd Serpents is the Den. Her wretched Husband her Love-Cups untrue Made in his own Sons blood his hands imbrue This Woman to begin her intended Tragedy under colour of Good-will and Love had procured Mustapha the Young Prince and his Mother to be sent as she pretended for their greater Honour and Estate with a Princely Train and Revenue to Caramâ—nia to Govern that Great Countrey and having thus cunningly Rid the Court of the two Competitors both of her Love and the Empire rested not so but began straight way to plot in her malicious head the Destruction of him to whom all others wished Happiness and though she had removed him far absent in his Person yet the continually encreasing Fame of his Valour Vertues and Perfections seem'd to be still before her Eyes and in her Ears the great and only disturbance of her Desires and Clouds which kept the Sun from shining on them and doubting of any sufficient Assistants or Instruments amongst the Military Forces in regard all the Soldiers were at the Devotion of the Prince and not of Rustan her Son in Law whom they hated though she had got him to be Chief Commission-Officer over them she therefore fixes the other part of her hopes on the Priest and Resolves to try what could be supplied by the Gown which was defective in the Sword and to prepare the way the better she on a sudden Counterfeits her self to be very Religious and having grown by the favour of Solyman exceeding Rich pretended as if it had been on a devout Zeal for the health of her Soul after the manner of their Turkish Superstition to build an Abby with an Hospital and a Church which so Godly a purpose she imparted to the Mufti or Chief Mahometan Priest demanding of him if such works of Charity were not acceptable to God and available to her Souls health to which the Mufti answer'd That those Works were no doubt gratious in the sight of God but nothing at all meritorious for her Souls health being a Bond-woman yet very profitable for the Soul of the Great Emperour Solyman unto whom as unto her Lord both she and all that she had appertained at which answer of the great Priest she seemed to be exceedingly troubled and thereupon became wonderful pensive and Melancholick her Chearful Countenance was Replete with Sadness and her fair Eyes flowed with Tears her Mirth was Mourning and her Joy Heaviness which thing Solyman perceiving and sorry to see his Love upon Conceit so to languish sent her word to be of good chear and to comfort her self promising in short time to take such a Course as should ease her of all her Griefs of which she had made some discovery to him which he did solemnly Manumising
him on the ground most Rich Garments to be trampled on by the proad Palfrey and when he hath passed over a parcel still fetching those who are left behind and throwing them again before lest the feet of his Holy Horse should touch the Earth whose Master commands the Heaven Some have thought by these Ceremonies the Horse is more honour'd than the Emperour the Lap than the Horse the Sacrament than God and the Bishop than all The Latine Pope hath had a Crotchet to wear the Cross on his Pantofle when he admits to the Honour of kissing his Toe yet none doubts but he aims more at the Honour of his Toe though a crabbed one than of the Cross To the Emperour who pâ—rformed this Servile Homage saying in Extenuation of his Dishonour Non tibi sed Petro the Pope replied Et mihi Petro. Not only the Babylonian Priests of Bell but of all Nations in the World who could obtrude on the People the Ceremonies of Sacrifie have under pretence of feeding the Noses or the Mouths of their Gods fed their own Bellies and not their Gods But the Doctrine of the Omnipresence destroys all these Ceremonies of Sacrifices Incense Burnt-offerings Images Hostes Masses High-Altars Temples and Oblations by Priests for if God is present in the House and at the Table of the owner were it possible he could be hungry or desire Meat and Drink he could as many great Princes have done from their meanest subject more conveniently take a Meal from a Thousand Tables wheresoever he likes best than the Priest to gather it for him in his Alms-basket at the Temple and there to eat it himself and say to the Priest as is said Psal 50.12 If I were hungry I would not tell thee for the World is mine and the fulness thereof Will I eat the flesh of Bulls or drink the blood of Goats Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy Vows unto the most High And call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Were God likewise tolerated to be worshipped as Christ commands Omnipresentially in Spirit and Truth Forms of Prayer Compulsive are Ceremonies but not Directive then could there be no compulsion to the Ceremonies of Forms of Prayer Forms of Vestments Forms of Songs Forms of Musick for Forms of Prayer and other Forms of Worship in things indifferent if made compulsive by Penalty became Ceremonies and destructive to the Worship of God in Spirit and Truth and compulsive they cannot be made unless the Ceremony of the place of Worship be made compulsive But if they are only Directive and without Penalties as the Form of the Lords Prayer left by Christ who made it not Penal to miss a word or syllable or a letter in the Use of the same then are they no Ceremonies nor Ceremonial Laws but Favours and Adminicles to help and direct and not to punish the Weak who need them if Popes and Bishops therefore should not smother the knowledg of Gods Omnipresence then must they allow that God is present in the heart of every one who Prays as well as in every other place and being there as Job saith 42.2 I know thou canst do every thing and that no thought can be withholden from thee And it is said Psal 7.9 The Righteous God trieth the Hearts and Reins And Psal 94.11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man And if so they need neither carry nor send their Prayers to a Pope Bishop or Priest to offer them to God in a Temple or at the Altar but he may present them to God himself and in a way more pleasing to him on his own Altar of a broken heart which way of Worship in the heart would utterly destroy their great Office they usurp of being Masters of the External Ceremonies of Divine Worship which brings them in infinite Riches and likewise an Idolatrous Worship and Honour to Exalt themselves above all that is called God 6. If Prayers might be made to God in the heart of man or as Christ directs in the Closet as Omnipresent then would the Priest lose his great gains of the Post-Office to Heaven for sending Prayers though not by Letter or Writing yet which is as good by word of Mouth or better if the Letters should chance to be lost or Spies for Intelligence break them open by the way When Prayers are brought to the Priest to be sent so high and so far for the Petitioner he will send them by some Angel who is the swifter or some Saint who is the slower and surer to carry them the first Stage then He delivers the Message to our Lady of Loretto if she be not below at her Chappel to carry them another Stage and to deliver them to her Son who is to make the next deliverance of them to God which way of Posting Prayers so far is very costly and dangerous and many times Petitioners get no Returns as long as they live unless when intercepted by the Prince of the Air and he grants their wicked Petitions with a Vengeance all which cost and mischief had been prevented if the Petitioner in person had as Christ bids him offer'd his Prayer to God in person in his Closet 7. The Priests could not put God into a Wafer or piece of Bread and set him on an Altar or carry him about in a Box they could not lock him up in a Temple and carry the Keys at their Giâ—dle by which they would lose excessive gains 8. There would be no more Pilgrimages to Mecha or Jerusalem Rome Loretto Compostella and a multitude of other Places which would lose them vast gains 9. They would lose the gains of Praying to Saints and Angels for they who believe God only to be Omnipresent and the Vbi's of Saints and Angels to be unknown and uncertain when and whether in Temples or no would rather pray to God only than such as they knew not where or when to find and might therefore be mocked as Elijah 1 Kings 18.27 mocked Baals Prophets and said Cry aloud for he is a God either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a Journey or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked 10. They would lose the gains of all Sanctuaries Asylums and Horns of the Altar for if God is every where why should Malefactors have more privilege there than every where whereby neither Cain by Land nor Jonah by Sea could flie the Presence of the Lord and the same is no Protection but a Punishment to the Wicked 11. There would be no more buying or hireing places of Burial in Chancels Churches Church-yards or other Consecrated ground by such as believed God Omnipresent whereby a great Revenue would likewise be lost to Popish Ecclesiasticks All which recited matters and the foremention'd Mediator Confessor Penance and Pardon Offices and divers others conduce infinitely to the gain of Papal and Episcopal Priests and the Pride and Power of the Kingdom
the Servandes of the House or other famous Witnesse and sall execute their Offices and Charge and thereafter sall offer the Copie of the saidis Letters or Precept to ony of the Servands quhilk gif they refuse to do that they affix the samin upon the Èœett or Dure of the Persones Summoun'd and siklike gif they get na entress they first knockand at the Dure Sex Knockes they sall execute their Office before famous Witnesse at the said House and dwelling place and affix the Copie upon the Èœett or Dure thereof as said is quhilk sall be leiful and sufficient Summounding and delivering of the Copie and the Party and Officiar sall not be halden to give ony usher Copie bot at their awin pleasure And every Officiar in his Indorsation sall make mention of his awin Execution in manner fore said and the Partie at quhais instance the Letter or Precept is direct sall pay to the Officiar Executour the Expenses of the Copie affixed as said is and sall be taxed and given again to him the giving of the Decreet or Sentence gif he happenis to obteine And gif the Officiar heis foundin culpable in the Execution of his Office he sall be put in our Soveraine Lordis Prison and punished in his Person and Gudes at the Kingis Grace Will. Coke 4. part 99. saith The Common Pleas may in many cases proceed against their own Officers by Bill without Writ and why may not all the Subjects have the same Right as well as the Officers of the Common Pleas In London before the Mayor and Aldermen Debt and Personal Actions are determined by Bill without Writ City-Law 3. And so are Assises of Nusance ib. 4. and why may they not by Copy of the Bill be commenced better than by Writ over all the Kingdom The mischiefs of Original Writs from the Chancery Besides the Delays of Original Writs and Process by remoteness of Courts whither they are to be sent for and by the multiplications of Aliases and Pluries and the manifold dangers when gotten and executed to be again overthrown and nullified by Abatements for a multitude of frivolous Causes and Formalities and likewise for so many sorts of Variances as before mention'd of all which the Declaration might have been free if no Writ had preceded 1. It is excepted against Writs that Declarations are not amendable and it costs many times so much in amending the Misprision of Clerks in their Writs that the Plaintiff if he is not so poor as not to be able were better abate his own Writs and Declaration himself and pay Costs and buy Twenty new Writs than get one of the old amended 2. Writs Original are altogether useless except to get Money for nothing 3. They are saleable contrary to Magna Charta Nulli vendemus Justitiam and the Civil Law for Lege Julia tenetur repetundarum qui accepit aliquid ob Judicem delegatum dandum mutandum vel ob non dandum c. And what doth a Writ of Right a Justicies or any Original do besides but assign a Delegat Judg to hear the Cause in the Kings-Bench or Common-Pleas or Lords-Court or County-Court Then 't is contrary to Equity the Plaintiff should be compell'd to buy a Writ which is not only useless but pernicious to his Declaration and puts it in ten times more danger to be overthrown than if he might as he ought be permitted to use it without a Writ and the Plaintiff being to deliver a Copy of his Declaration Expensis Actoris to the Defendant 't is no reason he should be at any expence to pay Clerks for Writs impertinent 4. As to the Writ in Chancery of Subpaena Mischiefs of the Chancery Writ of Subpaena which is to be distinguished from the Writs to the Common Law Courts it is contrary to Magna Charta Nulli negabimus Justitiam for if a Poor man Sue a Noble-man there a Chancellour will deny a Poor man his terrible Writ which he uses to grant under a Hundred Pound Penalty in Terrorem Pauperum and he shall get no more of him if he do that at a greater price than the Writ would have cost but a poor begging Letter to the Noble-man to send his Answer to the Complaint against his Oppression which is no other than to bring into England the old Slavery of Rome whereby no Slaves were permitted to Sue their Lords before the Pretor or any other Judg were their Tyranny over them never so great and unjust What a wretched dishonour is it to Publick Justice which heretofore was blind to the Person that she turns now blind to the Cause and who heretofore carried the Sword in her hand Parcere Subjectis debellare superbus to have now lost her Sword and got a Crutch to become only a blind Beggar when she is to approach the Gates of Nobles neither is there any Law of God or man in England to justifie a Chancellour that he shall presume to use a different process of Concumacy against the Commons Chancellour hath no Power to Imprison Commons any more than Lords which he dares not use against the Lords for if it be not lawful for him to Issue Attachments or Commissions of Rebellion against the Lords or to imprison them then is it not lawful for him to Issue Attachments or Commissions of Rebellion against the Commons for both are equally Interested in Magna Charta and the Petition of Right not to be imprison'd without the lawful Judgment of their Peers and they being both Allies and Confederates by the said Acts to maintain the Commons Liberty The Liberty of the Commons is the Out-work which preserves the Liberty of the Lords if the Commons be Invaded though for the present such Invasion touch not the Lords yet when it hath destroyed the Liberty of the Commons the Lords will not be able to defend theirs when their Allies are lost The Liberty of the Commons is the Outwork which preserves the Liberty of the Lords the Liberty of the People is the Outwork which preserves the Liberty of the Parliament the Liberty of the Subjects is the Outwork which preserves the Safety of the King and as Solomon saith Prov. 20.28 Mercy and Truth preserve the King and if contrariorum contraria est ratio Cruelty and Fictions of Writs of Subpoena's in Chancery Latitats in Kings-Bench and Capiases without Summons in Common-Pleas wherewith they abuse the Kings name in false imprisonments of his Subjects without Crime or Cause destroys the prisonments of his Subjects without Crime or Cause destroys the Safety of the King himself and in a Case between the Duke of Lenox and the Lord Clifton M. 10. Jac. Though a Lord was not to be Committed for Contempt in a Poor mans Case yet in this Case between two Lords Chancellour Egerton said If Noble-men will commit Contempts they are to be Committed Now that the Imperial Power which hath been usurped by Chancellors to imprison the
and no Certificate of Bishops hath power to take that right from them 7. Here the wantonness of Widows is forbidden who are for new Husbands as soon as the old is put in his Grave whereby who are Fathers of their Children is made uncertain 8. Here is no false Fathering of Children on those who are within four Seas 9. Here is no punishing Men twice for one offence once by the Temporal Court and then by the Spiritual Court or contrary punishments by contrary Courts one by the Contentious Court and another by the Penitential Court 10. Here is no Auricular Confession of their Wives or Daughters by Priests in Temples or Chambers and defiling thereby of their Families 11. Here is no punishing of Women for bringing forth Children nor the Murders of so many Infants caused thereby as by the Papist Laws is continually done Yet I conclude though the Law of the Turk is far better than that of the Pope and shall rise in Judgment against such as plant his Canons in their Courts in defiance of the Law of God and Nature I think neither a fit Rule to judge Marriage Legitimation or Succession by CHAP. V. Marriage Filiation Aliment and Succession not to be judged by Ecclesiastical Laws THE Question is Whether Marriage Legitimation and Succession ought to be judged by Ecclesiastical Laws No English Lawyer can mention my Lord Coke without great honour but how he came so biass'd as to endeavour to set up Papal and Episcopal Laws under the name of Regal appears not Object 1 It is objected by Coke lib. 5.1 part 40. in Cawdryes Case That the Kingdom of England is an absolute Monarchy and if the King cannot Authorize by his Commission or Writ Ecclesiastical Judges to determin and judg those great and important Causes of Matrimony Divorce and general Bastardy by Certificate of the Bishop who is the Ecclesiastical Witness and Judg both of Fact and Law and by the Canon Laws which by use and custom are now our Ecclesiastical Laws Then he is disabled to be supreme Governour of this Realm in all Spiritual things or Causes as well as Temporal according to the Oath of Supremacy due to him And that he could not then cause Justice to be administred to his Subjects in these so great and important causes of Matrimony Divorce and general Bastardy on which depends the strength of mens Descents and Inheritances This I conceive though not in the same words yet in sence and substance to be the weight of my Lord Coke's Argument whereby he would make use of Marriage as one means amongst his many other to set up an Ecclesiastical Law and Judg over the Temporal Freeholds and Inheritances and other Birth-rights of the Subjects To which is answer'd First As to the words Absolute and Supream I suppose he intended no such absolute Monarchy or Supremacy as is not under the Law of God though it be not so express'd in the form of the Oath of Supremacy For though Regum timendorum in proprios greges Ecclesiastical Laws not needful to the King's Supremacy but hurtful Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis then I think he doth not intend it to be above the Law of the Land seeing the King himself by his Oath is pleased to oblige himself to his People to govern according to that Law where it is not contrary to the Law of God Then as to the pretended want of Power of doing Justice concerning causes of Free-hold and Inheritance depending on marriage except by Ecclesiastical Laws and Judges that is very strange for how was Justice done in the times of Primitive Christianity for many Hundred Years after Christ when neither Bishops or any other Ecclesiastical Judges ever pretended Jurisdiction todetermin Temporal Right or Propriety but left the same to be judged by the Imperial Laws How was Justice done in the time of Henry the Second when the Jurisdiction of all Matrimonial causes remained in the Temporal Courts Richard the First his Son being the first as Matthew Paris writes whom the Clergy got by his publick Edict to give the Jurisdiction of Power and Gifts by reason of Marriage and of all Matrimonial causes to the Bishops Courts and the same Richard likewise gave them Jurisdiction of all breach of Faith Promises and Oaths whereby if much of the Power so rashly granted had not been by him so speedily resumed they had hookt to themselves the whole Jurisdiction from the King's Courts of all Contracts and Conveyances Bonds and Obligations as well as Marriages concerning Temporal Goods and Inheritances And why cannot general as well as special Bastardy be tryed at Common Law And how likewise are all Rights depending on all Marriages made during the late Civil Wars by pretence of any Ordinance of Parliament made by 12. Car. 2. cap. 33. to be tryed by a Jury and the Common Law and not by Certificate of the Bishop or any Ecclesiastical Judg to the advancement and not prejudice of Justice and a far greater expedition and advantage to the same would it be if by the like Act the Jurisdiction of all Marriages and Legitimations as it was in the time of Henry the Second were again restored to the Common-Law-Courts So likewise anciently Bastardy alledged in an Action of Trespass was triable by Jury but now usurped by Bishops as well in personal as real Actions 4. Edw. 4.35 Object 2 Coke lib. 5.1 part in the same case of Cawdry it is further alledged Circumspectè agatis gives no Jurisdiction of Marriage to Bishops That the Statutes of Circumspectè agatis made 13. Eliz. 1. of Articuli Cleri made 9. E. 2. Anno Domini 1315. of 15. E. 3. Cap. 6. of 31. E. 3. Cap. 11. give Jurisdiction of marriage to Bishops To which is answer'd That in the Statute of Circumspectè agatis there is not a word mention'd of marriage but only by it Jurisdiction is given to the Bishops of Fornication and Adultery which is not Marriage but rather Anti-marriage for Marriage is an Ordinance of God Fornication and Adultery are Ordinances of the Devil and whereas before the Jurisdiction of Fornication and Adultery as acknowledged by Coke lib. 5.1 part 488. was in Leets under the name of Letherwit or more properly Lecherwit yet had Leets never Jurisdiction of Marriage or Divorce neither consequently could Bishops have it from them As for Articuli Cleri and the other Statutes there is not a word in them concerning Marriage nor so much as of Fornication and Adultery the Jurisdiction therefore pretended was never given by any Statute Linwood likewise expounds the words of the Statute of Circumspectè agatis which gives Bishops Jurisdiction of all deadly Sins as Fornication and Adultery and the like Non intelligas de omni peccato mortali sed de tali cujus punitio spectat merè ad forum Ecclesiasticum nam si de ratione cujuslibet peccati mortalis cognosceret Ecclesia sic periret temporalis gladii Jurisdictio
of Laws but that he might get the more into his Snares and so have thereby the more plentiful incomes and fines for Dispensations and Condemnations And this take for the up-shot of this Dance for as the old Comedies used to end in Weddings so all the enterprises of the Pope ended in money Study of Ecclesiastical Laws corrupts Protestants Divers Weights and Measures Ad aliud Tribunal aliud Exmen alias Leges Circuit Subornation Perjury Interfering of Courts 4. The study of the Popish Canons corrupts the choicest Protestant Wits in their Education with Popish principles in which rest the whole hopes of the gains of their profession 5. They introduce divers Weights and divers Measures of justice in the same people 6. They compel the Subjects ad aliud Tribunal then Caesars Judgment Seat ad aliud examen then per legem Terrae ad aliud judicium then legale judicium parium 7. They cause endless Circuits of Action Delays and Costs Subornation and Perjury of Witnesses and grind the people between two Mill-stones of interfering Jurisdictions as appears in the Statute following The Recital of the Statute 9 H. 6.11 following concerning the contention of the Heirs of Edmund Earl of Kent in Parliament relating to a Marriage without a Priest and Temple ITem Whereas by a supplication delivered in this present Parliament by the Commons of the same it was declared by Margaret Dutchess of Clarence Joan Dutchess of York Sisters and amongst others Heirs to Edmund Earl of Kent Richard Duke of York Richard Earl of Salisbury and Alice his Wife Ralph Earl of Westmorland John Lord of Typtost and of Powis and Joyce his Wife and Henry Gray Cousins and other of the Heirs of the said Edmund late Earl as in the same supplication is supposed That is to say the said Duke Son to Ann Daughter of Eleanor another of the Sisters of the said Edmund the said Alice Daughter to Eleanor another Sister of the said Edmund the said Ralph Son to Elizabeth another Sister of the said Edmund the said Joyce Daughter to the said Eleanor Mother of Ann and the said Henry Gray Son to Joan Daughter of the same Eleanor That whereas Eleanor Wife to James Lord Audley pretending calling and affirming her self Daughter and Heir to the said Edmund late Earl of Kent and begotten and born in Marriage pretensed had betwixt him and Constance late Wife of Thomas Lord Dispenser whereby the said supplication is supposed That the said Eleanor Wife to the said James is Bastard and never was any Marriage made had nor solemnized betwixt the said Edmund and Constance but the said Edmund by the Ordinance Will and Agreement of King Henry the Fourth Grand-Father to our Lord the King that now is after great notable and long Ambassage had and sent to the Duke of Millain for a Marriage to be had betwixt the said Edmund and Luce Sister to the said Duke of Millain did take to Wife and openly and solemnly Married the said Luce at London The said Constance then living and being there present not claiming the said Edmund to be her Husband nor any other Dower of his Lands after his decease which Marriage betwixt the said Edmund and Luce so had and solemnized continued without any interruption of the said Constance or of any other during the life of the said Edmund as divers Lords and other credible and notable persons of the said Realm do well remember And how after the decease of the said Edmund the said Luce was endowed of his Lands as his Lawful Wife continuing thereof her Estate peaceably all her life Nevertheless the said Eleanor the Wife of James upon great subtilty and process imagined Privy-labour and other means and coloured ways to the intent that she ought to be certified Mulier by some Ordinary in case that Bastardy should be alledged in her person hath brought as it is said in examination before certain Iudges in the Spiritual-Court not informed nor having knowledge of the said Subtilty Imagined Process Privy-labour and coloured ways certain suborned proofs and persons of her Assent and Covin deposing for her That the said Eleanor the Wife of James was begotten within Marriage had and solemnized betwixt the said Edmund and Constance The said Dutchess the Duke of York and Earl of Salisbury and Alice Earl of Westmerland John Lord of Typtost Joyce and Henry nor any of them thereof warned nor knowing untill long time after the deposition so made whereof the said suppliants do fear them to be grieved and impeached of their Inheritance had by the said Edmund by another subtilty and labour in the Temporal Law to be practised and wrought by the said Lord Audley and Eleanor his Wife As if they will commence any Action against any persons of their own assent and covin or otherwise will cause such persons of such assent and covin to pursue an Action against them as is supposed they intend to do in which action by the covin and assent aforesaid Bastardy ought to be alledged in the person of the said Eleanor Wife of James and thereupon by the assent and covin an Issue is to be taken and a Writ to be sent to some Ordinary where it please them not advertised of the said subtilty assent and covin to certifie if the said Eleanor the Wife of James be Mulier or not before which ordinary the same Eleanor Wife of James will alledge and prove her self Mulier by the said depositions of the said suborned Witnesses And then the party reputed as adversary against the Lord of Audley and Eleanor his Wife in the said action taken or to be taken by assent and covin aforesaid will alledge no proof nor matter nor make any defence before the Ordinary against the same Lord Audley and Eleanor his Wife but suffer the matter before the said Ordinary to proceed according to the meaning of the said Lord Audley and Eleanor his Wife So that it is very likely that the same Ordinary will certifie the said Eleanor the Wife of James Mulier which Certificate so had and made ought by the Law of England to disherit the said Dutchess Duke of York Earl of Salisbury Earl of Westmerland John Lord of Typtost Joyce and Henry and their Issue forever of the whole Inheritance aforesaid Whereupon the premises tenderly considered and to Eschew such subtil disherisons as well in the said Case as in other Cases like in time to come By the Advice and Assent of all the Lords Spiritual and also at the special Request of the said Commons in this present Parliament assembled It is Ordained and Established by Authority of this Parliament That if the said Eleanor the Wife of James be certified Mulier in any Court before this time that no manner of Certificate heretofore made for the said Eleanor Wife of James shall in anywise put to prejudice indamage nor conclude any person or persons but him or his Heirs that was party to the Plea And that from
and those Laws which follow them they will on Divorce under the name of Alimony give the Woman more then the Interest of her Portion amounts to which incourages all Women to seek Divorces whereas the form of Divorce amongst the Romans was Res tuas tibi habeto and she was not to have more then she brought with her and the same is the Law of the Jews and all other Nations except such as live under Popish Ecclesiastical Laws And the injustice of our Ecclesiastical Laws to the contrary is not one of the least causes why Divorce and Separations are of late grown so frequent because Women know they shall gain by the Divorce and rob their Husbands of more then ever they brought them Of the Law of Divorcing after Procreation of a Child for precontract or pre copulation without pre procreation Of the Law prohibiting liberty of private Marriage without publick Witnesses Of the Law giving the Jurisdiction of the secret causes of Divorce between Parents and secret uncleanness of Children in their Parents Houses to publick Tribunals Of the Law compelling persons married though mortal Enemies to Co-habitation Of the Law of Divorce à Mensa Thoro. Of the Canon compelling the parties on Divorce for Adultery to give Bonds and Sureties not to marry again during each others life Of the custom of Protestants marrying with Papists Edward the Fourth was as is alledged first verbally contracted to Eleanor Daughter to john Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury married after to Sir Thomas Butler Baron of Sudley after this verbal contract he married Elizabeth the Widow of Sir John Gray she lived his Wife Eighteen Years and Eleven Months and he had issue by her Three Sons and Seven Daughters Elizabeth his eldest Daughter was first promised in marriage to Charles Dauphin of France but married after to King Henry the Seventh Edward the Fourth being dead leaving his two Sons young in the custody of his Brother Richard the Third they were after murdered by him to make his own way to the Crown but first in preparation thereto Dr. Shaw in a Sermon by him Preached at Paul's-Cross took for his Text Spuria vitulamina non agent altas radices And to make short work they were after by Act of Parliament Proclaimed Bastards and not inheritable to the Crown on no other Allegation made but the pre-contracts before mention'd with Eleanor Butler as is recorded in the Parliament Roll. Husband divorces the Wife for cause of precopulation committed by himself Buchanan rerum Scoticarum lib. 11.652 relates That Earl Bothwel aspiring to obtain the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots compelled his Wife to accuse him of pre-copulation with another Woman before he married his Wife Gordonia Bothuelii uxor cogitur in duplici foro litem de Divortio intendere apud judices Regios accusat uxor maritum adulterii quae una justa apud eos erat divortii causa apud judices Papanos lege vetitos tamen ab Archiepiscopo fani Andreae ad hanc litem cognoscendam litem dare accusatur idem ante Matrimonium cùm propinqua uxoris stupri consuetudinem habuisse nulla in Divortio faciendo nec in testibus nec in judicibus fit mora intra enim decimum diem lis suscepta disceptata dijudicata est After he saith one thing thought necessary was ut consuetae servarentur Ceremoniae ut videlicet publice in conventu civium tribus diebus Dominicis nuptiae futurae inter Jacobum Heburnum Mariam Stuartam denuntiarentur ut si quis quid vitii ant impedimenti sciret quo minus legitimè coirent rem ad Ecclesiam deferrent And after he saith Cùm de nuptiis in Ecclesia denunciandis ageretur lector cujus id munus erat constanter recusare collecti Diaconi seniores cùm reluctari non auderent jubent Ecclesiastem nuptias futuras de more edicere is quidem hactenus paruit ut se vitium quidem scire profiteretur ac paratum seu Reginae seu Bothuelio cum vellent judicare is cum in arcem accersitus venisset Regina eum ad Bothuelium remisit qui quanquam nec blanditiis nec minis Ecclesiastem de proposito deduceret nec rem disputationi committere auderet tamen nuptias apparat unus Orcadum Episcopus est inventus qui gratiam aulicam veritati praeferret caeteris reclamantibus causasque proferentibus cur Legitimae non essent nuptiae cum eo qui duas uxores ad huc vivas haberet tertiam ipse suum nuper fassus adulterium demisisset ita indignantibus omnibus bonis vulgo etiam execrante propinquis per literas improbantibus inchoatus publicis Ceremoniis simulatis etiam factas detestantibus tamen Matrimonium celebratur Which fore-mention'd pre-contract alledged against Edward the Fourth was no more just cause to Illegitimate his Children then it was to Murder them nor was his pre-copulation with another Woman confess'd by Earl Bothwel any more just cause to Divorce his Wife then it was to aspire to the Kingdom 32 H. 8. cap. 38. takes notice of the great mischiefs insuing by dissolving by pre-contract Marriage consummate by bodily knowledge and fruit of Children or Child which Statute follows in these words WHereas heretofore the usurped power of the Bishop of Rome 32 H. 8. cap. 38. Of precontract hath always entangled and troubled the meér Iurisdiction and regal power of this Realm of England and also unquieted much the Subjects of the same by his usurped power in them as by making that unlawful which by God's Word is Lawful both in Marriage and other things as hereafter shall appear more at length and till now of late in our Soveraign Lord's time which is otherwise by learning taught than his predecessors in time past long time have beén hath so continued the same whereof yet some sparks be left which hereafter might kindle a greater fire and so remaining his power not to seem utterly extinct Therefore it is thought most convenient to the King's Highness his Lords Spiritual and Temporal with the Commons of this Realm assembled in this present Parliament that two things especially for this time be with diligence provided for whereby many inconvemences have ensued and many more mought ensue and follow As where heretofore divers and many Persons after long continuance together in Matrimony without any allegation of either of the parties or any other at their Marriage why the same Matrimony should not be good just and lawful and after the same Matrimony Solemuized and Consummate by carnal knowledge and also sometimes fruit of Children ensued of the same Marriage upon pretence of former Contract made and not Consummate by carnal Copulation for proof whereof two Witnesses by that Law were only required beén divorced and separate contrary to God's Law and so the true Matrimony both so Solemnized in the face of the Church and Consummate with bodily knowledge and confirmed also with fruit of Children had betweén
Seas alas so many Flames can quench The Romish Tyrant on Tarpeia smil'd To see the Brittish Priests thus both beguil'd When they have sent each other unto Hell Saith he by mutual wounds hark what I tell Lest they want Fire should in the Pit profound I will them both alive burn above ground Behold the Jest the peeping Mouse and Frog With Bulrush fighting are on Hill and Bog Like Kite mean while hid in a Cloudy Day With soft mov'd Wings I 'le soar about my Prey So I at length the Croaking Frog shall gull And Mouse ridiculous in pieces pull I shall proceed next to the Form and whole Nature of Excommunication and the further manifold mischiefs it brings to all Protestant-Churches which shews Bishops who use it are neither sit Judges of Marriage nor of any thing else The Form of the Jewish Excommunication By Decree of the Cities and Command of the Saints We Anathematize and Adjure Exterminate Excommunicate Curse and Execrate by the Will of God and the Church by the Book of this Law by the Six Hundred and Thirteen Precepts written in the same by the Anathema wherein Joshua Anathematized Jericho by the Curse wherewith Elisha Cursed the Children and by the Curse wherewith he Cursed Gehazi his Boy and by the Excommunication wherewith Baruch Excommunicated Merath and by the Excommunication which the men of the great Synagogue use and by the Excommunication which Rabbi Jehuda the Son of Rabbi Jehezkiel used in this matter and by all the Anathemata's Imprecations Burnings Excommunications and Exterminations which have been from the time of our Master Moses and since by the name of Acetheriel Jah Lord of Hosts by the name of Michael the Great Prince by the name of Mittraton whose name is as the name of his Master by the name Sandalipon who Binds the Bindings by his Lord by the name of the name of Forty-Two Letters by the name of him who appeared to Moses in the Bush by the name by which Moses divided the Red-Sea by the name of Four Letters by the Writing which is Writon the Tables by the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel sitting on the Cherubin by the name of the Sphaeres and Circles and the Holy living Creatures and Ministring Angels by the name of all the Angels which Minister to the Supreme God let every Israelite and Israelitess wittingly or willing violating any of the things denounced to be observed be Cursed to the God of Israel sitting on the Cherubims let him be Accursed by the Name Glorious and Bright which the High-Priest expresseth in the Day of Expiations let him be Cursed by Heaven and Earth let him be Accursed by the Omnipotent God let him be Accursed of Michael the Great Prince let him be Accursed of Mittraton whose name is as the name of his Master let him be Accursed as Acetheriel Jah Lord of Hosts let him be Accursed of the Seraphim and the Orbes and Holy living Creatures and Angels who Minister before the Supreme God in Holiness and Cleanness If he was born in the Month Nisan which the Angel called Vriel as Prince of the Rank under which he is Governs let him be Accursed of him and all his Rank and if he was born in the Month Jier which the Angel called Trephaniel as Prince of the Rank under which he is Governs let him be Accursed of him and all his Rank and if he is born under the Month Sivan c. this Cursing runs through every Month one after another in the same words Then follows Let him be Accursed of the Seven Angels set over the Seven Days of the Week and of all their Ranks and helping Powers let him be Accursed of the Four Angels set over the Four Quarters of the Year and of all their Ranks and helping Powers let him be Accursed of the Seven Palaces let him be Accursed of the Princes of the Law in the name of the Crown and in the name of the Seal let him be Accursed of the Great God strong and bright let their be Confusion of his Seed let him fall with a swift Ruin let the God the God of the Spirits of all Flesh destroy and cast him away let the God the God of the Spirits of all Flesh subdue him let the God the God of the Spirits of all Flesh overthrow him let the God the God of the Spirits of all Flesh keep him down let the Wrath of the Lord and a violent Whirlwind fall on the head of the Wicked let the Angel of Destruction fall upon him let him be Accursed in all things to which he sets himself let his Soul depart in Terror let him die of the Quinsey let not his Breath go out nor return with the Consumption Fever Burning Drought let him be smitten with the Sword with pining away with the Jaundice nor before his Destruction be freed from them let his Sword enter into his heart and let his Bow be broken let him be as Dust before the Wind and let the Angel of the Lord scatter him let his way be Darkness and Slipperiness and the Angel of the Lord persecute him let unlooked-for Desolation come upon him and let the Net which he hath hid take him let them Expell him from the Light into Darkness and from the habitual World they shall Banish him Tribulation and Straights shall terrifie him his Eyes shall see his own Destruction and he shall drink the Wrath of the Almighty let him put on Cursings as a Garment let him devour the strength of his Skin also God shall scatter him for ever and shall root him out of his Tabernacle The Lord will not rest to forgive him but the Wrath of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoak against that man and all the Curses which are written in the Book of this Law shall lie upon him for Evil out of all the Tribes of Israel according to all the Curses of the Covenant which are written in the Law But you who adhere to the Lord your God bless you this Day he who blessed Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses and Aaron David and Solomon and the Prophets of Israel and those who amongst the Nations are Holy bless this Holy Congregation and all other Holy Congregations Except only He who shâ—ll break this Curse God of his mercy keep them and make them safe and take them out of all trouble and misery and Prolong their Days and their Years and send his Blessing and a prosperous Wind to the Work of their Hands and let Him Revenge them speedily with all other Israelites and so let his Will and Decree be Amen Seld. de Jur. Nat. Gent. Juxt Discip Ebr. lib. 4. Cap. 7.527 The Form of the Greek Excommunication against Thieves If they Restore not to him that which is his own and possess him peaceably of it but suffer him to remain Injured and Damnified Let him be Separate from the Lord God Creator and be Accursed and Unpardoned and undissolvable after
Authority from them and that they were chosen and called by their several Congregations or what is all one Cities or Parishes and not by the Emperor or Prince till Constantine to corrupt them under pretence of prevention of Schisms and Heresies which he thereby encreased took away the free Election of the People of their Pastors which they had always before enjoyed to make them Pensioners and the Christians Mercenaries to Fight all their Quarrels Right or Wrong That Presbyters were only Parochial and not Provincial is not doubted That Bishops were all one with Presbyters and therefore were Parochial and not Provincial A Bishop and a Presbyter all one is proved first by the Authority of Jerome who saith ad Tit. Cap. 1. That a Bishop and Presbyter was all one And that it may not depend solely on humane Authority this is proved by the words of Paul to the Philippians Chap. 1. 1. Paul and Timotheus the Servants of Jesus Christ to all the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Grace be unto you and Peace Now Philippi is one of the Cities of Macedonia and in one City there could not be many Bishops unless they were Parochial and not Diocesan or Provincial and the same the Presbyters were Acts 20.17 It is said Paul from Miletum sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church and verse 27. he saith to them For I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole Counsel of God Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Bishops to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood For I know this that after my Departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the Flock Here appears that the same Persons whom Paul first verse 17. calls Elders Presbyters of Ephesus he after in the same Chapter verse 27. calls Bishops or Overseers And 1 Pet. 5.1 The Elders which are among you I Exhort who am also an Elder and a Witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the Glory which shall be revealed Feed the Flock of God taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind Neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being Examples to the Flock From which Scripture appears 1. That the great Apostle Peter himself from whom the Bishop of Rome pretends his Succession to Imperial Supremacy Bishops ought not to be Lords calls himself no more than an Elder or Presbyter and that he had other Co-presbyters with him 2. That these Presbyters who are now call'd Bishops ought not to be Lord Bishops for the words are they are not to be Lords of Gods Heritage In one Chapter of Mahomets it is forbidden to all Persons of what Quality soever to call themselves in any sort Lords except the great Caliph or great Bishop the Successor of Mahomet who at the first was the only Lordly Monarch and Lord of all giving unto Kings and Princes their Principalities and Kingdoms during pleasure untill that the Ottoman Princes the Cundes and the Kings of the higher part of Asia and Africk by little and little Exempted themselves out of their Power by Reason of the Division between them and the Anti-Caliphs Bod. 203. 3. That they ought not to have Temporal Baronies for they are not to take charge of Souls for filthy Lucre but of ready mind 4. That they ought neither to Counterfeit a Nolo Episcopare when they take Baronies nor to Refuse the Charge of Souls when they have none for the words are not by constraint but willingly Cranmer That Bishops were Presbyters and chosen by the Parish And it is likewise acknowledged by that Pious Protestant Martyr Arch-Bishop Cranmer though he were a Provincial and chosen by the King himself yet That amongst the Primitive Christians the Bishops were chosen by the Congregations and were all one with Presbyters From all which Premises these Sequels follow 1. That if a Bishop were chosen by his City or Parish he came not in Jure Divino but by human Election and was only a Servant and not a Lord of the City or Parish 2. That he had no Sign of Mission from God unless he had a Gift of Miracles 3. That he could not Excommunicate any of his own Parish for the Inferior cannot Excommunicate the Superior and Electors are Superiors to Persons Elected and the Host is Superior in his own House to the Guest and he who gives the Pension to the Pensioner Bishops cannot Excommunicate 4. That a Bishop Elected by the People cannot on Excommunication deliver any Person to Satan without the Gift of Miracles as a Sign of Mission for Nemo potest plus Juris ad alium Transferre quà m ipse habet the Electors themselves had no Power to deliver to Satan therefore Bishops Elected by them cannot without Miracle 5. Though he hath the Power of Miracles to deliver the Body to Satan he cannot deliver the Soul nor can he have any Sign of Mission to do the same for that is a Prerogative inseparable from the Person of God to send the Soul to Heaven or Hell and Inter insignia imperii which cannot be Delegated 6. That as a Bishop cannot Excommunicate a Citizen or Parishioner who Elected him so he can much less Excommunicate a King or Interdict a Kingdom who if he had any Jurisdiction at all can be no greater than within the Petty Bounds of his City or Parish and cannot extend to Empires or Kingdoms 7. That he can give no Consecration or Ordination to a Bishop or Priest for where the Office ought to go by Election of the People it cannot go by Ordination of the Bishop and where it goes by human Election it cannot go by Consecration and after the Gift of Miracles ceased both the Election by Missioners from God and Consecration and Ordination likewise ceased Subjects free from Superstition the safety of the Prince 8. That 't is a great Safety to Princes to have their Subjects well Educated and Instructed against the Superstition and Popery of Consecration Ordination and Excommunication of Bishops and Priests for by this only means we see the Grand Seignior though he Tolerates a multitude of Sects and Religions in his Empire yet he is endanger'd by none because all Mahumetan Priests are chosen by the Parish and though they are in great Reverence of the People yet they have neither Consecration nor Ordination but continue as perfect Lay-men as our Ordinary Clerks of our Parishes and much less have they Power of Excommunication or Absolution but Preach That those that Fight Valiantly and Die in the Field for their Prince and Prophet go to Paradise and who slie Cowardly go to Hell whereby none of his People are Educated in the Superstition of Pontifical Excommunication and therefore fear it not but deride it And for the Greck
his Presentation and Exacts so great a Sum for it as brings him in Debt as long as he Lives which makes him rather Prey on the Flock then Pray for it and to be in perpetual Contention rather than Peace 3. Admit the Parish should happen to be all Poor and the Patron by Depopulation Impropriation Inclosure of Commons and other Oppression Gets all and Pays all yet it is just the Parish should Elect their Minister and not he for Christ sends it as Glad Tidings to John Matth. 11.5 The Poor have the Gospel Preached to them and saith nothing of the Rich Christ pronounceth all his Blessings on the Poor Luke 6.20 Blessed be ye Poor for yours is the Kingdom of God Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled Blessed are ye that weep now for ye shall laugh And James 2.5 Hath not God chosen the Poor of this World Rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised them that love him Dan. 4.27 Wherefore O King let my Counsel be acceptable unto thee and break off thy sins by Righteousness and thine Iniquities by shewing Mercy to the Poor Prov. 29.14 The King that faithfully Judgeth the Poor his Throne shall be Established for ever 2 Cor. 9.9 He hath given to the Poor his Righteousness remaineth for ever And Matth. 19.21 Give to the Poor and thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven But Christ never pronounceth to the Rich any thing but great Dangers and Woes Matth. 19.23 Then said Jesus unto his Disciples Verily I say unto you that a Rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven And again I say unto you It is easier for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle than for a Rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God Luke 6.24 Woe unto you that are Rich for ye have received your Consolation Woe unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Woe unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep Isa 5.8 Woe unto them that join House to House and Field to Field And James 5.1 Go to now ye Rich men Weep and Howl for your Miseries that shall come upon you Your Riches are corrupted and your Garments moth-eaten Your Gold and Silver is cankred and the rust of them shall be against you and shall eat your Flesh as it were Fire Now if the Rich should chose the Chaplain for the Poor he would be apt to Preach contrary to Christ totally in favour of the Rich and not reprove but animate them in their oppressions of the Poor which is too notorious in the Chaplains both of Ecclesiastical and Lay-Patrons wherefore if Patrons have more than their single Votes in Election of the Minister the poor Parishioners may expect such Law as is mention'd James 2.6 Do not Rich men oppress you and draw you before the Judgment-Seats But they shall never have such Gospel as Christ Preach'd and appointed to be Preached to the Poor nor such Law as he denounced against the Rich. 4. The Chaplain in his Prayer before Sermon tells God so many Lies to his Face in commendation of his Patron that surely it must be a meer Mockery of him for he calls him his Grace his Excellency Right Honourable Right Worshipful Pious Virtuous and his Very Good Lord and Patron when sometimes he is a Person of the most Vile Unworthy Sordid and Wicked Conditions on the Earth 5. He gives him more Magnificent Appellations than to God himself for though he ingeminate many times in his Prayer Good Lord and Good Lord yet he never calls God my Very Good Lord but reserves that Superlative Title for his Patron the meanest degree of which greatest Divine Attribute of Good Christ himself to be an Example of Humility refused Luke 18.19 Why callest thou me Good there is none Good but one that is God 6. If the Patron is so Very Good Pious and Virtuous as the Chaplain makes him he were more proper to ascend the Pulpit and pray for his Chaplain who many times proves none of the best either in Doctrine or Manners but was only one who came first and gave most for the Place he hath 7. He is rather an Herald hired to proclaim every Sunday in the Year his Patron 's empty Titles than a Messenger of God to Preach on his Divine Attributes 8. By these Parasitical Prayers the Patron is puft up in such Pride and Folly that he grows like the profane Lord mention'd by Cambden who said He never needed to Pray for himself he had so many Priests to Pray for him and the Patron and Patroness are so fop'd with overmuch Flattery that they seldom grow wise again as long as they live to discover those Faults wherein the Priest leads them and himself blinded to Destruction and unto the Woe pronounced to them Isa 5.20 That call Evil Good and Good Evil that put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness that put Bitter for Sweet and Sweet for Bitter 9. As is before mention'd amongst the Primitive Christians the Election of the Minister was always by the Parochial Congregations till Anti-Christ who began to work very early deprived them of this liberty of Elections by Endowments and Patronages the Patrons of which by this Imposing such Patriarchs Bishops or Presbyters as they hired and corrupted for their Turn and depriving the Cities and Congregations of the Free Election of their Pastor destroyed the Purity of Primitive Christianity The loss of Election of their own Ministers destroyed the Primitive Christians 10. The restoring again the Election of their own Minister to Parochial Congregations and liberty of secret Suffrages would First destroy all Popery for Popery cannot be without Patronages and the Pope as the Apex of his Supremacy claims to be Supreme Patron of all Catholick Churches Secondly This would prevent all Imposing of Church-Papists to be Ministers to Protestant-Parishes Thirdly This would prevent all kind of Symony either to the Bishop for Ordination or Patron for Presentation which is impossible to be otherwise prevented and such Parochial Election is therefore better both for the Minister and the Parish No Patronages in the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Seignior may in this rise in Judgment against Christians who allows no Patronages to Parochial Cures in his Dominions but gives Liberty to every Parish to choose their own Priest to whom he himself pays some small Salarie out of the Publick Treasury Liberty of Conscience given Papists secures Liberty of Conscience to Protestants The Test of Oaths and Sacrament falls only on the Protestant and not on the Papist he hath Offices in Trustee's names Liberty and Propriety given Papists secure the Liberty and Propriety of Protestants The Compulsion of Papists to Confession of Faith or any External Form or Ceremonies of Worship against their Conscience by Penalties cannot be done without bringing the Conscience of the Protestant into the same danger with the Conscience of the Papist for if
and less Damage to himself and Subjects have prevented those Intestine Dissensions by not taking from them that Liberty of Conscience as to Faith and Form of Worship which he was compell'd at last to give them it being certain that the Bordering Turk by the Imprudence of divers of the Emperors in being blinded by the Romish Bishops and their own to violate the Liberty of Conscience of those Frontier Countries and thereby dividing and disuniting them against the Common Enemy he hath thereof taken great advantages to the great danger of the Emperors themselves the Empire and the rest of Christendom And how unfortunate were Episcopal Councils in our own Countrey in this point of Compulsion of the Conscience to their Faith Forms and Ceremonies tending to Episcopal and not the Regal Interest and how they thereby exposed his late Majesty a Valiant Wise and Pious King and his Three Kingdoms to an unnecessary War and the miserable loss ensued thereby is yet in Bleeding Memory What Wars have been in France by Compulsion of Conscience by Force and destroying it by Perfidious Treacheries of Episcopal Councils is likewise sadly known so that in all the Kingdoms of Christendom Bishops by this Compulsion to their Faith Forms and Ceremonies have one time or other raised Civil Wars and Dissensions dangerous or destructive to Princes and People and shared thereby the Spoils of both or what was a greater Prey got by our own made Sale of all the Estates of the Revenues of the Bishopricks fallen Twenty Years before they ever made a Sermon in their Church or Served at their Altar so though the Wars were by themselves occasion'd and kindled and were an universal loss to the People yet they lost nothing and gain'd all That Compulsion against Conscience causeth Wars doth likewise agree the Learned and Pious Doctor More who saith Denial of Liberty of Conscience brings upon Nations and Families Wars Bloodshed Subversion of Families Deposing Stabbing Poisoning of Princes perpetual Hatred and Enmity amongst men and all the Works and Actions of the Kindom of Darkness whereas if it were universally acknowledged that Liberty of Religion were the Right of Mankind all these mischiefs would be prevented the Prince could not pretend any Quarrel against the People nor the People against the Prince or against one another except for Civil Rights which are more plain and intelligible That Compulsion to Faith or Forms of Worship hath had the same Destructive Effects against the Eastern Emperors likewise which it hath had against the Western appears by the Example of Michael Palaeologus Emperor of Greece who fearing an Invasion from the Turks and other Foreigners from the East endeavour'd to strengthen himself from the Pope and by him with the Emperor and other Christian Kings from the West and by his Ambassadors to that end treated with Gregory the Tenth then Pope of Rome to Unite and Conform the Greek Church to the Latine and to acknowledg the Popes Supremacy over the Greeks and Liberty of Appeal from them to the Court of Rome which the Emperor offer'd and the Pope gladly accepted of but the People generally abhor'd these Proceedings of the Emperor and were so Tumultuous that the Emperor was fain to leave off the care of the Foreign Dangers to look to these greater at home and told the People to quiet them that this Alteration was made not out of any good liking he had to it but in respect of the dangerous Estate of things in that juncture of Time it behoved Prudence to admit the less Evil to avoid the greater for if by not granting the Latine Church what they would have they would take advantage of the Wars they had with their other Enemies and fall on them at the same time whereby they would attain more by force from them than would satisfie them by Treaty and not only by War become Lords of their Religion and Ceremonies but of all at once their Wives Children Estates and Lives at the will of the Conqueror therefore he required them to yield to necessity and not to compell him to use more Severe Remedies and not finding them pliable some he Imprison'd some Banish'd some Confiscated some pull'd out their Eyes some Tortur'd some Dismembred on which some outwardly Conformed but not in their hearts but the greater part fled some to Thrace some to Achaia some to Peloponesus and other Countries and the Emperor trusting to Foreign Forces whom he joined and this and his other Cruel Practices in denying his Subjects Liberty of Conscience seeing they were put to Fight only to confirm their own Slavery so discouraged the Greek Army that the Turks overthrew them and their Emperor and won the day by which they got their first Footing in Europe Whereby appears That as Compulsion to the Faith and Ceremonies of the Bishop of Rome and denial of Liberty of Conscience to the first Arrian Christians was the cause of the great Conquests of Mahomet who gave them Toleration in Asia which they could not have of the Roman Emperors so this denial of Liberty of Conscience by this Greek Emperor and his Compulsion of his Subjects to the Ceremonies of the Bishop of Rome was the first opening an Entrance to the Turk into Europe and after the losing of the Grecian Empire to him whence so many Fatal Miseries have ensued to Christendom By the Interruption of the Press I am compell'd to break off this Book abruptly
Pernitiosa not to preserve Children but to destroy them and not only those of Subjects but of their Prince though not captived in War yet exiled by War No Digression to father on Bishops the Fictions and Preposterations of Common Law as well as Spiritual Judges by which it was impossible to use the Episcopal Ceremonies of Common Prayer-Books in Marriage or without danger of his Life to Marry otherwise than by the Moral Law of God And let it not seem here a Digression that I am enforced to Father on Romish Bishops not only all the pernitious Fictions and Preposterations in Judicial Proceedings of Spiritual but likewise of Temporal Courts and to make it part of the Exception against them That they are not fit Judges of Marriage Filiation Aliment and Succession 1. Because Romish Bishops as is already shewn were the Formers of all the Common Law Writs in the Register and Forms of Judicial Proceedings in the Book of Entries and the Compile of the Common Laws was trusted to Britton a Bishop as well as the Forms of the Citations Libells Litiscontestations Compurgations Excommunications and Provincial Laws and Canons were to other Bishops and the Bishops have been the chief Judges in the Common Law Courts of Westminster and Chancellors in the Chancery and have rid the Circuit with the Earls in the Countries and after them with the Sheriffs which Earls and other Lay-Judges in time of Popery were only Assessors or Executioners of the Sentence of the Bishop and he only the pretended infallible Oracle both of Law and Gospel to Judg how he pleased 2. Because what is a good exception against a Common Law Judg is a good exception against a Spiritual Judg and what Fiction is a good exception against Succession by the Verdict of the Jury is a good exception against Succession by the Certificate of a Bishop 3. Because by a kind of Conspiracy between the Spiritual and Common Law Courts in time of Popery their Preposterations Fictions and Formalities are so complex'd and intangled one with another that 't is impossible to divide them or carry on a perfect Discourse of one without the other or of Preposteration without Fiction and Formality the one being commonly cause of the other 4. It is necessary to prevent any Excuse the Spiritual Judg may pretend if he should say The Common Law Judg is suffer'd to Summon and Arrest before Copy to Copy before Oath of Calumny and to use Hundreds of Fictions and Falsities in his Judicial Proceedings and why should not the Spiritual Judg be allowed as well as he but where they are both censured they can neither recriminate And how guilty they both are of nursing that viperous brood of the old Serpent who have eaten through the Bowels of Justice may appear by the particulars following The Subpoena in Chancery is a Writ or Summons formed by the Bishops themselves when Chancellors wherein notwithstanding the Holy Catholick Fathers formed as many Lies as Lines 1. It begins as West hath it Proceeding in Chancery p. 183. Jacobus Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor Fictions and Falsities fomented in all Forms of Judicial Proceedings Subpana's full of Fictions c. A. C. salutem Quibusdam certis de causis coram nobis in Cancel ' nostra propositis This is not true for though here and in other Nations anciently Princes sat in their Courts of Judicature in Person 't is not so now neither are any Causes proposed coram nobis before the King in Person unless as some presume they will attribute the incomprehensible Attribute of Omnipresence to Humanity neither is it sufficient to reply that he is present there by his Delegate for a Delegate is only where the Prince is absent or will not himself receive the Complaint which is signified by the words of Absalom 2 Sam. 15.3 See thy matters are good and right for there is no man deputed of the King to hear thee Intimating if there had been a Judg Deputed he needed not fear the Kings presence to have his matters so severely weighed as if he had Judged in Person And we see to avoid the Fiction of Human Omnipresence in an Action of Debt returnable in the Common Pleas where the King sat not in Person but Judged by Delegates the Sheriff is commanded Sum ' per bonos Sum ' praedictum A quod sit coram Justitiariis nostris apud Westmonasterium and if it had been Coram Nobis it would have been a Fiction but that which makes the Certis de Causis coram nobis in Cancel ' nostra propositis not only a Fiction but a gross Falsity is that the Complainant hath taken out his Subpoena before he hath any Bill presented either to the King in Person or the Chancellor or the meanest Clerk in the Court It goes on and say Tibi praecipimus firmiter injungentes quod omnibus aliis praetermissis excusatione quacunque cessante Yet ought the Defendant to be admitted to offer a lawful cause of Excuse or Essoin Next it says In propria persona tua yet may the Defendant be admitted to appear by Attorney Next Sis coram nobis in dicta Canc ' nostra à die Paschae proxim ' futu◠' in unum Mensem Yet to appear Quarto die post the Return-day is sufficient then ubicunque tunc fuerit ad respond ' super his quae objicientur an Objection cannot be unless there is some allegation first put in by the Defendant any more than an Answer can before some Bill put in by the Plaintiff here is therefore a double Falsity and the Poor Countrey man is fool'd to ride up an Hundred Miles when he never put in a Bill himself to be objected against nor when he with much labour is got to Town weary quarto die post is there any Bill put in against him by the Complainant for him to Answer Then it is further said Et ad faciend ' ulterius recipiend ' quod Curia nostra consideraverit in hac parte yet had neither Party Plaintiff or Defendant a Bill or Answer in Court how can it then be said In hac parte where there is no Party Et hoc Sub poena Centum librarum nullatenus omittatis This is likewise a Menacing Fiction the Chancellor having no Power to impose any Fine or Forfeiture on any Subject of a Farthing Et habeas ibi hoc breve Teste meipso apud Westmonasterium when the King is a Hundred Miles off Westminster 12 die Febr. Anno Regui Domini c. George c. But if the Defendant is a Noble-man then no Subpoena is awarded but a Letter by the Lord Chancellor or Lord-Keeper thus A Note of the Fictions of the Episcopal Form of the Letter in Chancery usually sent to a Noble-man instead of a Subpoena to Answer The Superscription is which first comes to be read and is directed thus To my very good Lord I. L. D. These This
Title of very good if it had been put in Latine might have been more Complementally express'd Optimo had it not been a Danger lest Maximo would have been added whether the Title of very good given to man is always as great a Fiction as the Titles of Sanctus Clemens and Pius given to Popes may be always doubtful in regard Christ himself in Humility refused the Attribute of Good which is a degree under very good Luke 18.19 And Jesus said unto him Why callest thou me good None is good but One that is God but this Title very good is sometimes certain and not doubtful to be a Fiction when it is attributed to the Leudest Person known the Letter begins After my very hearty commendations to your Lordship This when there is a Mortal Feud between the Chancellor and the Lord must be a Fiction Whereas there hath been of late a Bill of Complaint exhibited into the Court of Chancery against you by H. O. Gent. I have thought good to give you notice thereof rather by these my private Letters than by awarding his Majesties Ordinary Process This if no Bill is come in is as great a Fiction and Falsity in a Private Letter as in a Subpoena and it were far fairer dealing with any Noble-man as well as a Poor man if J. O. first took his Oath of Calumny to his Bill and then made him according to the Precept of Christ an Oblatio Libelli and sent him a Copy of his Bill by his own Letter before he troubled him with a Chancellors Subpoena or Letter and made Use of them only on Probation and declaratory Sentence of Contumacy first obtained and after that obtained far fairer dealing it were with J. O. or any Poor man to grant the same Process of Contumacy that a Noble-man shall have against a Poor man and not put him to the extraordinary cost and incertainty of a Chancellors Private Letter to a Noble-man seeing by Law he ought not to receive any Private Letter from him and such Noble-man ought to be punished by the Civil Law de Ambitu and by the Common Law for Maintenance if he send any and this Justice would prevent Fictions both of Poor and Rich and bring forth Righteousness and Truth The Letter goes on and says Wherefore these are to pray your Lordships to give order for the taking out of the Copy of a Bill and for the putting in of your Answer thereunto according to the usual course in such Cases accustom'd at or before Octab. Hill next ensuing By this Prayer here is a Fiction that the old Episcopal Chancellor had an Imperial Authority over the Commons and only Precarious over the Nobles and was a Fiction if he derived his Authority from the King of the weakness of the Royal Power and of a Dishonour to it as if it was not able to do Justice to the Commons against the Nobles as well as to the Nobles against the Commons if a Sheriff at Common Law should Execute his Praecipe quod reddat and his Praecipe quod faciat whereby he is will'd by the King to command those against whom those Writs are directed by writing his humble Letters when he perceives they concerned Noble-men to pray their Lordships to do what he was appointed to command the Law makes him liable to high punishment and why a Chancellor should not be liable to the same who commits the same offence and having the Kings Process to command in his hand will not or dares not administer Equity by the same equal Process to his Majesties Subjects both Poor and Rich appears no reason or rather an higher Quanto Major qui peccat habetur by how much greater the Power of a Chancellor is extending to a Kingdom than of a Sheriff confined to a single Countrey The next in the Letter is Nothing deubting but that your Lordship will have the care and regard which appertaineth but another man may doubt whether he spake Truth or Fiction He concludes well if not in Hypocrisie I leave your Lordship to the most Merciful keeping of the Almighty from Saint A. the 9th of May 1654. Your very loving Friend J. P. Prolixity caused by Fiction The Bill in Chancery for want of the Oath of Calumny is known to be commonly a Pack of Lies from beginning to the end which is full of infinite Mischiefs and destructive to all Justice and makes it of such immense Prolixity for Lies may be infinite but Truths are few and short that it compels the Answer to be longer than it self for every Lie must be Answer'd as well as the Truth and by reason of such Prolixity neither the Chancellor as he ought to do will take the pains to read nor the Councel to be instructed in either but the Truth like a Grain of Mustard-feed thrown into an heap of Tares is lost and impossible to be found and Sentences and Decrees pass'd both Interloquutory and Final without the least Merit of the Cause Started Stated or Debated The Process of the Chancery is almost as mischievous a Fiction as the Outlawry at Common Law which is the Commission of Rebellion that on non-appearance the most Loyal Subject that is may be Feigned Proclaimed and Imprisoned as a Rebel so the Chancellor needs nothing but a Fiction to elude Magna Charta and the Petition of Right and an Hundred Acts of Parliament more if they were made to that purpose to which the Fiction is point blank contrary and destructive and as inconsistent with all the Fundamental Laws of Liberty and Propriety as Darkness with Light yet is there no necessity of it at all for where it is not necessary to take the Defendants Oath but the Plaintiff can prove his Bill by Witnesses full Justice may be done either by Missio in Possessionem where the Action is Real or where it is to stop Suits by the English Injunction or Scotch Suspension and where the Defendants Oath is necessary either for Discovery or Probation on proof made of the Bill and of the Countumacy and Sentence Declaratory a Capias may be awarded against the Defendant as after a Judgment pass'd Fictions of Latitats If we go to the Common Law Process that is as bad infected with Fictions as the Court of Conscience The Latitat is a meer Lie first it supposeth a Bill of Middlesex to precede where there is no such matter then the Defendant is slander'd Latitare discurrere when he lives as openly as any of his Neighbours and never stirs from his home the suggested Latitations are therefore Lies Then it saith De placito Transgr ' Ac etiam for if the Ac etiam be true of Debt then it is false as to Trespass for there can be no Joindure in Action of Debt and Trespass in the same Writ and so the Kings-Bench ought to have no Jurisdiction of Debt notwithstanding this Fiction except on a Writ of Error which is upon the matter confess'd by Coke himself