follow reason reason follow nature both immutably and nature euer the same and yet lawes concerning particulers shall change often But if any man thinke that Priuiledges and Dispensations either are to bee graunted often or when they are graunted vpon iust cause are contrarie to common right doubtlesse hee erreth in both for the first surelie we owe that reuerence to those that haue beene before vs that it is an iniurie to them and for our selues ridiculous to alter ouer easilie the lawes which antiquitie hath commended to vs. Yet if aduantage apparantlie and without question redound vnto that societie whose benefit is principally intended in those lawes wee haue as little cause to wish them perpetuall as otherwise to dispence or to breake them when there is not for in abrogating of ould or establishing of new the commoditie ought to be euident which must warrant vs to depart from that which long custome hath found to bee right for seeing to the obseruation of all lawes Custome hath not the least force to procure obedience whatsoeuer is depriued of this strength is seldome regarded with so much care so for the second either neuer to dispence or not then when the measure of the common good shal bee euidentlie proportioned to a priuate case is to make lawes for to want life and those which were in the first intendiment a benefit to all to make them a captious Tirannie to some and those neither of worst nor of least merit which as ouer easely to graunt in some Princes could not but bee iniurious to the publike state so in others ouer rigorously to denie hauing princelie wisedome to discerne a particuler worthinesse in a common right could but bee that vnwarranted seueritie which surely in the end would doe great hurt Seeing then all humane lawes are onely the conclusions of the law of nature such as reason hath fitted for the benefit of some societie either the church or the common wealth and that all these are and euer must be subiect to dispensation and priueledge from those that haue supreame authoritie and that as wee think limitation of Cures either for many or attendance vpon some one is meerlie a law positiue wee hope that what the vehemencie of some mens zeale accounteth a great offence reason and deuinitie will warrant to bee no sinne For seing as well in the Church as the common wealth honors and rewards are to bee giuen not by an Arithmeticall but a Geometricall proportion and that honour and maintenance for the Clergie being from the law of God Benefices and Cures are by the law positiue surelie it cannot well bee denied but that how much of either shall bee giuen to this or that particuler person must be in the Prince to dispose onely now because lawes haue alreadie set downe how much may or ought to be graunted to any one man and what Residence and attendance hee ought to performe there if more then this for the good of the Church by Priuiledge and Dispensation ouer and besides not Contrarie or against the common right be graunted to some one can wee think it vnwarrantable and to bee a fault Dispensations for Pluralites haue bene in all times and the necessitie and vtilitie of the Church are confessed by themselues to bee the onely iust causes to make them lawfull neither doth our Church require other allowance at their hands then that in these cases it would please them to think and to write that the dispensations which are giuen are not contrarie and repugnant to common right If any think or speake otherwise in cases dispensable it is their error for it is the voice of Equitie Iustice that a generall Law doth neuer derogate from a speciall Priuiledge and that a Priuiledge is not opposit vnto the principles of common right because it dispenseth with that which common right doth prohibit for in the one it is respected by way of generalitie in the other beset with limited and speciall circumstances so that in the eie of law and reason they seeme to bee the same though they bee not wherein because men often times as one noteth waigh things stripped of some particuler circumstances which add waight vnto them they waigh them vneuenlie and thereupon oftentimes pronounce that to bee to light which is not in truth if they had skill to waigh it Now seeing the absence of all Priuiledges Non Residencie and Pluralities is in the intendement of the law for the aduantage of the Church whether it be by parties aboade in the Vniuersitie to get more learning or attendance in the families of noble men in Princes Courts or Cathedrall Churches it ought not to seeme vnreasonable that some part of the reuenues of the Church is allotted to their vse who though yet in person they bring not that benefit to some particuler flock which in time they may yet the Church at their hands shall receiue no losse for if the whole riches of the Church were a stock of monie as some Deacons paraduenture desire it might bee it can bee in reason no greater fault to giue maintenance now from some parish to some one absent for a time and in that absence profitable to the Church then in their diuision to giue that allowance which seldome they bestow for so good desert Yet whatsoeuer vnder pretence of Priuiledge is practised by any for to wrong the Church in a true construction is neither defended by vs at this time nor fit to bee suffered in admitting as I think it is not often meane persons to haue the benefit either of Non Residencie or Pluralities which were in the first intendement onely for men of better degree of more worth and of some speciall imployment in some other kind for the singuler benefit and aduantage of the Church of Christ. Which as wee cannot excuse if it bee graunted with ouer much facilitie to all those whom either idlenesse shal make absent or couetousnesse make them desire Pluralities so wee are not as yet of their opinion who think all dispensation and priuiledge in this kinde to bee against law or if not yet both the law and the priuiledge to be against truth Wee desire them without offence who vrge so strictly the lawes of our land for both these to consider this which is not altogether impertinent to this cause that if a strict law were made for a citie that were beeseeged that no man vpon any occasion might open the gates of the same citie whereby the keeping of them shut was intended to be for the good and safetie of the whole citie now if afterward some of the armie be without the gates who vnlesse they be receiued in neither they nor the citie can remaine in safetie shall wee think the verie meaning of
house that the Rafters the Beames the maine timber might with the violence of tempests more speedily perish The third end was to make knowne vnto men by an externall worship that holinesse which in hart they professed vnto him that man hauing two parts and he the Author of both it might not be his fault to be defectiue in either of them Yet as wholy to depend vpon outward Ceremonies is but Hypocrisie so altogether to neglect them vnder pretence to worshippe him in spirit is but to sinne with more libertie vnpunished and vncontrouled Lastly the comlinesse of order and the preseruation of humane Societie are not the contemptiblest ends for the vse of Ceremonies For seeing order is the ornament of all Societies and seeing the Church of all Societies is most excellent it must needes follow that those things which Ciuilie done doe adorne others vnciuilly neglected or continued doe disgrace the Church And I am sorrie that in the earnest contention for Church gouernment men are so backeward in the allowance of Church Ceremonies seeing wise men of found iudgment haue made them a part of the Church discipline Yet Ceremonies are not all of like nature some being absolutely necessarie and common to all others not so necessary and to some it is fitte that for all men in the furtherance of Gods worshippe there should bee a sanctification of persons times and places which if either they were not done at all or done without Ceremonie the corruption of mans nature would easily esteeme them to be vnholy For although God be to be worshipped at all times and that as Christ saith the Kingdome of Heauen commeth not by obseruation either of time or place yet because whole Churches must assemble which cannot be done without these nor these rightly be thus seuered without Ceremonies all antiquitie hath allowed the distinction of these and the vse of sober and moderate Ceremonies in the separation of them that being rightly to be tearmed Religious which for the holines we leaue to imploy vnto common vses And howsoeuer it may be not altogether vnfit at least it ought not to be offensiue that Churches though all reformed are in this different for so in the obseruation of Easter the East and the Weast were diuers Africa and Italie Rome and Millaine in which our Rule must be with humilitie and loue to be all things to all yet it is many waies conuenient to haue an vnitie if it were possible of Ceremonies for the whole Church First that all may abstaine from that worshippe which is Heathenish Secondly not to inuent a peculiar worship of our owne a thing neither safe to be done nor easily without better directions to be left vndone Thirdly to remoue offence for weakenesse not able to discerne that the meanes often are diuers where the end is but one from the differing in Ceremonies haue thought a contrarietie and difference to be in Religion it selfe Lastly to let vs know that God will be worshipped externally and with order this being the best witnesse and nourishing of that worshipp which is within And doublesse the Ceremoniall worship in generall is from the lawe of nature although some specials doe proceede from the lawe positiue so that both respecting the vse which is manifolde the practise both before the lawe vnder the law and since for the Church of God vpon earth did neuer want Ceremonies it must needes seeme strange that the peeuishnesse of some few and they none of the greatest vnderstanding should preuaile so far that things of more necessarie vse as the word of Sacraments should be amongst the people distasted only for the obseruation of some few Ceremonies and yet these neither many nor the fancies of priuate men as if the obedience of inferiours with humilitie in this case were like the sinne of the sonnes of Elie for which men abhorred the offerings of the Lord. All men confesse that the Ceremonies of the Iewes prefiguring are to be remoued but not those in the Church which established by Authoritie serue onely for order and the better worship Yet all men of sound iudgment must needs graunt that for their vertue they are all inferior to the word and the Sacraments for their number they ought to be so limited that with their vnseasonable multitude they ouerwhelme not that worshippe which with their order and comlinesse they ought to further For as husbandmen are content the Branches of the Vine so long to growe and spread vntill thereby they procure the grapes to become fewer so in the Church the admission and retaining of Ceremonies are so farre lawfull vntill by their error and defect either in substance or number religion and deuotion become colder And if the opinion of them who hold the Church may ordaine Ceremonies for instructions ornament and order had extended it selfe likewise to account them a bond of diuine worshipp so farre as positiue lawes may serue to increase deuotion their assertion doubtlesse had beene much sounder and the people had excercised religion with greater holinesse and more peace but in this we haue dealt as in our religious seruice where few things can be rightly ordered that are carried with a doubtfull and headlong course The originall of this euill is as a wise man noteth That wee haue numbred the opinions of others but not weighed them a sweete error seruing but to make vs to loue that wherein at length wee must needs perish But if any man thinke as surely it is the opinion of some that those Ceremonies ordained by Christ or his Apostles are fit inought to be retained in the Church but the rest as being made without warrant haue no warrant to remaine still we answere that of all which Christiā Churches how much soeuer corrupted doe or shal vse there is by vs noe defence vndertaken for them yet wee doubt not that euery particular Church may our Church hath lawfully ordained some Ceremonies which ought religiously to be obserued more also if the church so thought fit not hereby to iustifie any to make him righteous but for ends that are spiritual and many waies behouefull to Gods worship First for ornamēt a thing which I wōder in al other cases should be accounted a vertue in religion only should be esteemed a vice Herein whilst we haue shūned iustly the glorious vanity of superstitious worship we haue familiarly fallen to despise the persons the place the times and almost that dutie which we would honor and all onely through the neglect of some due Ceremonies Secondly to stirr vp deuotiō a thing apt inough through our vanities to become small vnlesse some externall helps may be added for to make it greater Neither can the accesse of Coremonie in the consecration of new times or new places be otherwise vnderstood than the faithfull acknowledgment of special new extraordinary fauours that we haue receiued Neither ought the memorie of the resurrection
lawes and ordinations commaund to bee done by vs wherein to refuse what hath beene the practice of former times onelie because it was proportionable to that age is ouer well to esteeme of our selues and rather to hazard an opinion of singularitie then to bee thought wise Besids if Iacobs vowe at such time as hee tooke his Iorney towards Haran was that if God will bee with mee and will keepe me in this voyage which I am to goe and will giue me bread to eate and clothes to put on so that I may returne to my fathers house in safetie then shall the Lord bee my God and this Stone which I haue set vp as a Piller the same shall bee Gods house and of all thou shalt giue mee I will giue vnto thee the tithe be a rule not onely of prescription but an example of warrant what ought and is fit to bee done by vs in the like case Doubtlesse wee are no sooner to think of Gods protection and his blessing of our increase but withall to think of the furtherance of his worship and that not the least effectuall to this end is our iust and liberall paying of our tithes Wherein if vowes be but a more speciall obligation of our dutie in those things which religion generallie doth require at our hands it must needs seeme equall and iust both for others who are free in the like case for to vow the like and for those who alreadie by lawes stand boud to the same duties to performe them sincerelie and with much truth Now this which nature taught vnto the heathen themselues making tenne that portion which they paid for deuine tribute the law after by Moses imposing equally vpon all euen by this meanes the poorest among them yeelded equallie the same proportion as the greatest did in affection peraduenture much more It was to them an vndoubted assurance that in Gods sight from whom all good is expected concerning acceptation and protection they were all one and that this thus bestowed was not lost but that the remainder was sanctified by this meanes and that God receiuing a part vndertaketh to blesse all And doubtlesse if we were as vertuously inclined either to depend vpon God for new blessings or humbly to giue thanks for those we haue alreadie receiued as sometimes the Iewes were wee must needs account our tithes a hedge and a wall to the rest wee possesse besides For these being truely brought into the storehouse that there may be meate in my house proue if I will not saith God open vnto you the windowes of heauen and powre downe vpon you an vnmeasurable blessing So that although the Church bee now free from the law of Moyses yet because nature hath taught men to honour God withall that they possesse and the scripture hath left vs an example of that particuler proportion which for Morall considerations hath ben thought fittest by him that could best iudge and seeing the Church hath entred into the like obligation long since it must needs bee a question altogether supersluous to dispute whether tithes bee a matter of diuine right For doubtlesse that which lawfully whilst it was ours wee might retaine now being once by our own consent for that which our fathers did the law accounteth to bee our act alienated from our selues wee can no more warrantablie retaine backe then Ananias the price of those possesions whereof voluntarilie hee made sale for the Apostles vse for they no sooner by alienation passe from vs but the propertie being altered God for euer after doth account them and recken them to bee his owne Whose tribute either to diminish or to wash and to clip that coyne whervpon God hath placed his owne marke must in the end proue heauie and shal be punished as the robbing of God himselfe And therefore least any man should challenge a proprietie by any interest in these things the lawes doe account them the possessions of none The vertuous consideration whereof made those princes memorable and famous which tooke vpon them inuiolablie to defend the Churches right whereas the bold prophanation in others puld downe the wals of their kingdome and their hands were ouer weake to rule those scepters committed to them because before they were vnhallowed and poluted by presumptuouslie aduenturing for to robbe the Church Wherein the resistance of some inferiours in this case were of a little merit if nature had not taught all men to abhor Sacriledge For this alone ouerturneth Kingdomes when souldiers are made rich by the churches spoiles And these for the most part as a wise man noteth suffer both the miserie of beggers and the infamie of robbers seeing then the indowment of our church for the continuall supplye and reward of the Clergie aryseth from some lands but principally from Tythes and these well and conueniently alotted by former Kings to giue maintenance both to Colledges which may breed deuines as to Cathedrall Churches where deuines after their paines may well rest both places beeing the rich storehouses of learned men seruiceable to the Church for many vses it cannot bee but an intention of ouermuch enuie and violence to seeke inconsideratlie an alteration and impouerishing of these honourable allowances for these places by which in the end all feruent studie of deuinitie in the best dispositions must needs perish so that if men had as much freedome to alter and diminish the liuing of the Church as of other persons yet no man can think it safe nor possible for a Ministrie to continue learned in that kingdome long when other professions grow rich and the reueneues of the Church faile Tithes then beeing a dutie wherevnto all men are now bound both by law of nature deuine positiue and a vertuous voluntarie obligation to the Church wee can see no great reason in the refusers of them why they shoud either altogether bee kept back or else bee alienated to other ends For where the law of nature requireth a sufficient maintenance for the Minister the law positiue being a determination of the former alloweth the tenth to bee the best proportion wheerein if this bee remembred that the maintenance bee sufficient we doubt not but the prince may determine the tenth or the fift or any other number to bee the measure Yet surelie stronger reasons and of more equalitie in all ages haue beene found for the tenth then for any other number besides that tenne being the perfection of all number and this dutie as it were a quit rent to him that is the author of all perfection as it is or hath beene moderatlie conuenient to maintaine those whom hee imployeth in that businesse so most fitly it is answereable to his owne perfection And if the bond of allowance arise from the benefit which wee receiue at their hands whom Gods ordination for our good imployeth in that kind it must needs follow that the tenth vnder the law being the proportion which the Clergie had there is small
so that from hence was vnderstoode by the name of a Benefice A pastorall cure of soules ouer the people of some parish whereas formerly it signified some standing Ecclesiasticall reuenue taken out of the treasure of God and alotted to a spirituall person to the end hee may vse the same and inioy it as his owne for tearme of life vnlesse his default cause depriuation And wee know that the Clergie for manie yeeres after Christ had no other Benefices but onely their Canonicall portions or monethlie Diuidends allowed vnto them according to their seuerall degrees and qualities out of the common stock of such guifts oblations and Tythes as the feruor of christian pietie did then yeeld In the Apostles time Churches were onelie in the cities in regard whereof those that liued in villages beeing without instruction were called Pagans which after by the example of others both intertaining and giuing allowance for the maintenance of the same truth those to whom principall care was committed in this kind appointed meaner men of lesse learning and lower qualitie to vndertake the instruction of those places who were desirous and willing to yeelde after the example of others oblations and tithes for maintenance of those that were placed ouer them Now to say that either seuerall parishes thus distinguished might by no permission bee allotted to the care and instruction of one man or that it were not lawfull for any reason how beneficiall soeuer to Gods Church to bee absent from that particuler care committed to him were in the former to denie all better trust and reward to men of more worth and greater abilities and desert and in the latter to bee ouer Tirannous in considering and allowing the cause of absence and peraduenture in a true construction ouer rigorouslie seuere in both But seing all men know which wee doubt but our aduersaries in this cause will conffesse that this limitation of particuler parishes was meerlie positiue and the inuentions of men thought and found better for the better performance of the Clergies dutie it cannot bee the absolute transgression of a deuine ordination in that sence as if either to haue moe parishes then one or from one to be absent at somtime were a direct vnexcusable breach of the morall law For the duties commanded not to bee done in them are by no meanes not for a moment euer allowed to be done at all which thraldome if in seueritie they bring vpon Gods church let them take heede what dangers they fall into themselues that by this meanes the church receiue not a greater harme whilst peraduenture in this case their remedie is worse then the disease is Now to allow absence vpon reason without appointing those causes and such as must iudge which are reasonable were to make all men to think that they had reason that were willing neither is there any great force from the nature of Relatiues if that were all why one may not as well haue diuers parishes as one parish haue diuers Pastors And howsoeuer wee hold not the reason good that beecause Tymothie Titus had manie congregations committed to their charge therefore others may yet the reason in their opinion from this example ought not to want strength who think a Bishop and a Minister is all one In this first distribution for the best discharge of their calling and the greatest benefit to the church of Christ if some vnder the Bishops aboue their bretheren which had moe and more distant parishes then any in our church all termed by one name though some were Suffraganes to Bishops it ought not to seeme a matter of vnreasonable fauour and vnlawfull to commit seuerall churches to the instruction and gouernment of some men whose learning discretion care is more eminent and that these may whilst their labours are vsed for the benefit of Christs flock lawfully bee absent and haue inferiour men of the Clergie for a tyme to supply and to execute their roomes so that doubtlesse a zeale in these reprouers did carrie them to far when alledging those extrauagant reasons against Pluralities they yeeld them to tend to couetousnesse that one man had the stipend of many that they make non Residents that it maintaines Ambition that it is the occasion of a gadding and roaguing ministerie no small cause why others want and lastly a taking away of that recompence which belongs to others these reasons in their opinion of some force howsoeuer they haue alreadie bene profoundly answered with much iudgement yet beecause they still please themselues in the rehearsall of them we can bee content both with patience to giue them hearing and withall to hope for this fauour at their hands that they will yeeld thus much to vs that many things may occasionally bee the accidentall procurers of much euill which are originally no causes nor iustly can suffer a reproofe as vnlawfull things Neither are these onely the occasions of the euills which they lay vpon them seeing either all or most are commonly to bee found amongst thē who notwithstāding would seeme to be furthest from this sin But seeing whatsoeuer in our Church is practised in either of these two Pluralities or non Residencie is not the corruption of some priuate man but the approbation and allowance of the Court of Parliament wherein what soeuer is established all men in the eie and construction of the law are thought and deemed to haue consented we cannot but thinke it vnreasonable and vnreuerend for these men to disanull or make question of an Act of their owne making and withall wee hope it both hath and shall appeare to the world that as it is not lawfull without dispensation to haue or to doe either so that authoritie to dispence in both is most agreeable to reason and Gods truth For seeing the disposition and limitation of priuate parishes extendeth no further but to be the wise Positiue inuention and ordination of those who formerlie haue gouerned in Gods Church and that all humane lawes are dispensable by supreame authoritie a dispensation being but the relaxation of a common right made vpon knowledge of the cause by him that hath right to dispence wee hope that likewise these may and that the lawes forbidding non Residencie Pluralities are in force still notwithstanding by Priuiledge some particulers are and are fit to bee exempted from the common right Doubtlesse neuer meere human law was either made with that wisedome or was in execution of so necessarie vse but that sometimes it was fitter to receiue Dispensation then to stand in force for seeing the best lawes of men are but the euidences of Humane reason which wee finde by experience groweth from a weakenesse to bee more strong and from imperfection to bee more absolute wee cannot in reason without inthralling our selues in too great a bondage deny Abrogation and Dispensation to humane lawes which are not to bee like those of the Medes and Persians that might not be changed For though reason from whence lawes of this kind haue their originall be but that voice of nature which neuer changeth concerning generals yet lawes shall
the law is that the gates should not bee opened to receiue them which is the very end of that law which forbad it to bee done and the law of nature it cannot but bee a seueritie in those that denie it which must needes in the other be excusable furthering that end for which the law was made In all lawes as in all actioÌ„s the end is the mark and this commonly is the publick good of that societie for which the law is made now if the same publick end wherat the church aymeth in prohibiting either Pluralities or non Residencie may be procured best by graunting dispensation for both these to some particuler men wee hold the law in forbidding intendeth so much and therefore in this case to dispense is not to breake the law of common right but rightly to apply it to his proper and peculiar vse wherein captiously to cleaue ouer strictly to the letter of it is rather to vnderstand lawes by the words then the intents of them which practise if wee shall vse in those lawes which had the best author and doubtlesse was able to set them best downe wee shall Iewishly keepe a Sabboth in abstayning from all things by the vertue of that law which commandeth thou shalt doe no manner of work fall into the heresie of some who held it vnlawfull vpon any occasion to sweare beecause our sauiour sayd thou shalt not sweare at all and yet in both whilst wee cleaue vnto the letter vtterly dissent from that which the law requireth Now so farre as lawes are Positiue and meerely humane it is in the power of their makers to dispense with them by vertue whereof whatsoeuer is done is not contrarie to the precept because for the doing hee hath the superiors warrant which if wee allow not in Gods lawes many things must bee sinne which doubtlesse were none Heerein if these men can proue that that which man dispenseth withall God doth not we will be content to heare them and must needes graunt that they haue not the authoritie of the superiour and that such Dispensations are without warrant But wee are and shall bee euer readie by the grace of him vpon whose mercie wee relie in all that wee doe to iustifie and maintaine the religious practise of our late Soueraigne in this against those who are willing vnthankfully vnnaturallie and irreligiouslie to depraue and traduce her most vertuous blessed happy gouernment For seeing that Dispensations are some meerely of grace wherein the Prince may lawfully respect one aboue another as in Legitimations Pardoning of heynous faults and such like in which for the dispensed or the dispenser ther is no other necessitie either in the court of man or the court of conscience sauing onely grace because it is to be thought the people and the lawes of euery countrie in these and other such matters haue yeelded this power vnto their Soueraigne Princes euen where they cannot by prerogatiue as with vs challenge so much right wee doubt not but their assertion is to manacle the Kings hands and to binde them in these chaines of their owne making who teach the world that Lawes must haue that force that all Dispensations are vnlawfull and transgressions of them Now touching other dispensations which are called of iustice they are conuersant either about the law of God and nature or about the positiue law of man in the first there is no dispensation from man yet interpretations are allowed to show that the generallitie of the words do not indeede extend to some speciall cases and that of those thinges which strong and manifest arguments teach vs that God himselfe would not haue included in the generalitie of his law Interpretation Declaration and Limitation may bee made and this by the lawyers is called one kinde of dispensation of iustice whereby the bond of the law is not released but the law is interpreted in such case not to haue force according to the true meaÌ„ing of it Now in the other dispensations of Iustice which are bestowed about the positiue lawes of man we must obserue two things first that the law remaining yet the reason in some particuler case doth cease which ought by the prince or the inferiour Iudge in dispensing to bee so declared the second is when the law is grounded vpon diuers reasons whereof some ceasing and some continuing the law is notwithstanding in force vnlesse a dispensation of Iustice bee graunted to vs. There are also besides these dispensations mixt partlie of grace and partlie of Iustice because that he graunteth it it is grace fauour yet it is Iustice because he granteth it to none but vpon iust cause so that when a King dispenseth with any positiue law of man the law teacheth vs to intend and presume both that there is a cause why hee should so doe and that the same cause is iust and sufficient and doubtlesse hee that receiueth such dispensation sinneth not against the law nor his own conscience because hee is by the same authoritie deliuered from the bond of that law by the which hee stood bound So that if the Church ought to honour learned personages not onely in word but indeed as in prouiding more liberallie to help and releeue them by the Church reueneues then for others not so learned because learning doth not onelie profit the owner but the Vniuersall Church and that causes of absence from their seuerall Cures may bee such as shal be beneficiall to the Church and iust as for recouerie of Health if called by his Superiours authoritie if for repulsing of greeuous Iniuries if sent vpon ambassage or to giue attendance if his help bee required for pacifiing of Scismes in other places if his paines bee necessarie for the confirming of the doctrine of the Church either by speaking or writing if his presence be necessarie for consultation about Church matters at some Sinode particuler prouinciall Nationall or generall if some other parts of the Church were in more need and whollie destitute of a Pastor or for any other such cause allowed by those whom the lawes haue trusted with the examination of these things shall wee that are inferiours out of enuie towards other mens respect and grace the due merit of their worthinesse whereof wee are far short make the world beleeue that the great Sinne of Non Residencie hath three goodlie vndersetters which are also broad figge leaues to couer the nakednesse of these learned men whereby many are vpholden in their sinne first rewardes of learning secondlie the power of the state to order the liuing of the Church thirdlie that so they preach they are not to bâ—e charged although they Preach not in their owne parish and make this onelie the originall of the ignorance of the whole land whom to reproue say they was to bee accounted a conuentickler a Puritan an enemie to the state could any thing in the eares of wisemen haue
as much as may bee to mitigate the euils that when the best things are not possible the best may bee made of those that are Wisedome will rather tollerate some euill in A forme of gouernment that is tryed Than in a Gouernment vntryed to stand to the hazard of a farre greater It is the honour of all Kings that which is the Title of the Princes of this Land to bee as they are called Defendours of the Faith and this not onely in regard of Enemies abroad but in respect of those also which desire alteration at home oftentimes A hope of ease giueth men that iustly suffer occasion to complaine whose discontentments how lamentably soeuer diplayed are not alwaies the euidences of true griefe nor euer the argumentes of a iust wrong For doubtlesse let a Church bee as well gouerned as euer was any eyther in or before the Apostles time Let Moses and Aaron both labour to make it Excellent Let Dauid and all his Counsellours aduise for the good of it yet she shal neuer want those within the bosome of her who eyther wearie with that which is auncient or in loue with some newe deuise of their owne are readie to depraue that Gouernment which they ought for to reuerence as being the Orders of that Societie wherevnto in all dutie they doo owe obedience There will euer bee some Corah Dathan and Abiram to tell Moses and Aaron that they take too much vpon them Such is the frailtie of humane nature and so great our vnwillingnesse to liue in subiection to the gouernment of other men That wee will rather hazard an opposition to God himselfe than haue our Zeale to bee guided by the limits of any Lawes doubtlesse those that are thus proud may iustly suspect that GOD hath not placed them as workmen in the reformation of the External gouernment of that Kingdome whose foundation was first laid with so much humilitie This if the first authors of these troubles had well considered they would not in a matter of so great Consequent haue allotted the power and authoritie of alteration vnto the violent and vnlimited passions of the rude multitude a thing in it selfe as without warrant so incredible almost to haue proceeded from men that were furnished but with common sence Could any thing sound more pleasing to the lowest and worst parts of a Kingdome Could any thing moue sooner to rebellion than to tell them that Reformation of Religion belongeth to the Communaltie that the Communaltie may lawfully require of their King to haue true Preachers and if he be negligent they iustly may themselues prouide them maintaine them defend them against all that persecute them and may detaine the profit of the Church-liuings from the other sorte If these strange opinions which must needes sound harshly in the eares of all Kinges had not dispersed themselues like a poyson into the veynes of this Kingdome the Authors might haue slept in silence and their hallowed treasons haue remained vntouched But seeing those who were sollicitours abroad are now so neere that they be daungerous perswaders at home it is a consideration not of small importance as well to looke at the Authors and the meanes with what pretences soeuer they are ouershadowed as at the thing it selfe neither much needfull nor verie safe And howsoeuer in humane reason we haue now lesse cause than euer to feare the daunger of this euill yet seeing no harme in a religious Kingdome with a vertuous Prince findeth as little resistance as that which is couered with the name of Zeale all men haue cause both to pray aduise and assist that the misteries of this euill the iust punishment for the contempt of his truth light not vpō vs in our dayes nor in the dayes of our Children that shall succeede after There is not any fancie grounded vpon so little truth that hath so speedely growne to that greatnes as the discipline of Geneua hath It is like in our Kingdome yet fit inough peraduenture for them vnto the Gourd that shadowed Ionas but of a small continuance and yet some great Prophets are content to rest vnder the shadowe of it wee shall easily forgett the Author of greater benefits vnlesse some Worme in mercie be sent for to eate it downe at the first in the Auncient Disputations against the Papists and Anabaptistes both in Fraunce and Geneua there could bee found but two essentiall notes of the Church The true preaching of the word and the right administration of the Sacraments but when some of ours were returned from Geneua they were not affraied to tell vs a strange opinion to be publisht by learned wise men That Maister Beza helde the Geneua Discipline the third note of the Church and of as much necessitie as the Sacramentes or the worde it selfe which thing if it were as soundly proued as it seemes it is constantly beleeued by them all men had reason to acknowledge them the Authors of much good and to aduenture themselues farre in the defence of it Out of this stronge opinion haue proceeded these vnreuerend speeches against our Land Englande with an Impudent forehead hath said I will not come neere the Holy one wee are neuer the better for her Maiesties reformation seeing the Walls of Sion lye euen with the Ground Rome is come into our gates Antichrist reigneth amongst vs Infinite are the speeches collected out of their owne writings by others in this kinde and yet for all this they would seeme both to flatter the Prince if so worthie a Prince could bee flattered and highly to commend her happie gouernment so many waies profitable both to the Church and the Common-wealth but whilst we charge them with Innouation a thing whereunto wise Gouernors must haue good regard One commeth forth with great boldnesse yet one of the weakest that hath laboured in this cause and saith wee craue no alteration in Religion but only that the things which are standing as they doe may be brought to the order of the Apostles vse and to the Canon of Gods holy word in those circumstāces which remain yet vnreformed Do you speake cōsideratly in this plea were all things that are desired by you and others vsed in the Apostles time Are they all warranted by the Canon of Gods word Doubtlesse if you had perused with any indifferency all the learned discourses of those that haue laboured in this you should easily haue found that most things demaunded and so much desired are new and that wee are not now absolutely tied to all these things that were in vse in the Apostles time It shall not be amisse howsoeuer it hath beene alreadie most learnedly performed by others to let them Vnderstand that the orders of the Church haue beene at times diuers Whereof some haue beene added some ceased and that wee are not absolutely tied to imitate the times that haue beene before in euerie particular the Church as it is Militant heere on earth liueth