actions Is there question either concerning the Regiment of the Church in general or about Conformity between one Church and another or of Ceremonies Offices Powers Jurisdictions in our own Church Of all these things they judge by that rule which they frame to themselves with some shew of probability and what seemeth in that sort convenient the same they think themselves bound to practice the same by all means they labor mightily to uphold whatsoever any Law of Man to the contrary hath determined they weigh it not Thus by following the Law of Private Reason where the Law of Publick should take place they breed disturbance For the better inuring therefore of Mens mindes with the true distinction of Laws and of their several force according to the different kinde and quality of our actions it shall not peradventure be amiss to shew in some one example how they all take place To seek no further let but that be considered then which there is not any thing more familiar unto us our food What things are food and what are not we judge naturally by sense neither need we any other Law to be our Directer in that behalf then the self-same which is common unto us with Beasts But when we come to consider of food as of a benefit which God of his bounteous goodness hath provided for all things living the Law of Reason doth here require the duty of Thankfulness at our hands towards him at whose hands we have it And lest Appetite in the use of Food should lead us beyond that which is meet we ow in this case obedience to that Law of Reason which teacheth mediocrity in meats and drinks The same things Divine Law teacheth also as at large we have shewed it doth all parts of Moral duty whereunto we all of necessity stand bound in regard of the life to come But of certain lendes of food the Jews sometime had and we our selves likewise have a Mystical Religious and Supernatural use they of their Paschal Lamb and Oblations we of our Bread and Wine in the Eucharist Which use none but Divine Law could institute Now as we live in Civil Society the State of the Commonwealth wherein we live both may and doth require certain Laws concerning food which Laws saving onely that we are Members of the Commonwealth where they are of force we should not need to respect as Rules of Action whereas now in their place and kinde they must be respected and obeyed Yea the self-same matter is also a subject wherein sometime Ecclesiastical Laws have place so that unless we will be Authors of Confusion in the Church our private discretion which otherwise might guide us a contrary way must here submit it self to be that way guided which the Publick Judgment of the Church hath thought better In which case that of Zonaras concerning Fasts may be remembred Fastings are good but let good things be done in good and convenient manner He that transgresseth in his Fasting the Orders of the holy Fathers the Positive Laws of the Church of Christ must be plainly told that good things do lose the grace of their goodness when in good sort they are not performed And as here Mens private fancies must give place to the higher Judgment of that Church which is in Authority a Mother over them So the very Actions of whole Churches have in regard of Commerce and Fellowship with other Churches been subject to Laws concerning food the contrary unto which Laws had else been thought more convenient for them to observe as by that order of Abstinence from Strangled and Blood may appear an order grounded upon that Fellowship which the Churches of the Gentiles had with the Jews Thus we see how even one and the self-same thing is under divers considerations conveyed through many Laws and that to measure by any one kinde of Law all the Actions of Men were to confound the admirable Order wherein God hath disposed all Laws each as in nature so in degree distinct from other Wherefore that here we may briefly end Of Law there can be no less acknowledge then that her Seat is the Bosom of God her Voice the Harmony of the World All things in Heaven and Earth do her homage the very least as feeling her care and the greatest as not exempted from her Power Both Angels and Men and Creatures of what condition soever though each in different sort and manner yet all with uniform consent admiring her as the Mother of their Peace and Joy OF THE LAWS OF Ecclesiastical Polity Book II. Concerning their First Position who urge Reformation in the Church of England Namely That Scripture is the only rule of all things which in this life may be done be men The Matter contained in this Second Book 1. AN Answer to their first Proof brought out of Scripture Prov. 2. 9. 2. To their second 1 Cor. 10. 31. 3. To their third 1 Tim. 4. 5. 4. To their fourth Rom. 14. 23. 5. To their proofs out of Fathers who dispute negatively from the Authority of Holy Scripture 6. To their proof by the Scriptures custom of disputing from Divine Authority negatively 7. An Examination of their Opinion concerning the force of Arguments taken from humane Authority for the ordering of mens actions and perswasions 8. A Declaration what the truth is in this matter AS that which in the Title hath been proposed for the matter whereof we treat is only the Ecclesiastical Law whereby we are governed So neither is it my purpose to maintain any other thing then that which therein Truth and Reason shall approve For concerning the dealings of men who administer Government and unto whom the Execution of that Law belongeth they have their Judge who sitteth in Heaven and before whose Tribunal Seat they are accountable for whatsoever abuse or corruption which being worthily misliked in this Church the want either of Care or of Conscience in them hath bred We are no Patrons of those things therefore the best defence whereof is speedy redress and amendment That which is of God we defend to the uttermost of that ability which he hath given that which is otherwise let it wither even in the root from whence it hath sprung Wherefore all these abuses being severed and set apart which use from the corruption of men and not from the Laws themselves Come we to those things which in the very whole entire form of our Church-Polity have been as we perswade our selves injuriously blamed by them who indeavour to overthrow the same and instead thereof to establish a much worse onely through a strong misconceit they have that the same is grounded on Divine Authority Now whether it be that through an earnest longing desire to see things brought to a peaceable end I do but imagine the matters whereof we contend to be fewer then indeed they are or else for that in truth they are fewer when they come to be discust by Reason then
hath placed you Bishops to Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased by his own blood Finally that Commandment which unto the same Timothy is by the same Apostle even in the same form and manner afterwards again urged I charge thee in the sight of God and the Lord Iesus Christ which will judge the quick and dead at his appearance and in his Kingdom Preach the Word of God When Timothy was instituted in that Office then was the credit and trust of this duty committed unto his faithful care The Doctrine of the Gospel was then given him As the precious Talent or Treasure of Iesus Christ then received he for performance of this duty The special Gift of the Holy Ghost To keep this Commandment immaculate and blameless Was to teach the Gospel of Christ without mixture of corrupt and unsound Doctrine such as a number even in those times intermingled with the Mysteries of Christian Belief Till the appearance of Christ to keep it so doth not import the time wherein it should be kept but rather the time whereunto the final reward for keeping it was reserved according to that of St. Paul concerning himself I have kept the Faith for the residue there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall in that day render unto me If they that labor in this Harvest should respect but the present fruit of their painful Travel a poor encouragement it were unto them to continue therein all the days of their life But their reward is great in Heaven the Crown of Righteousness which shall be given them in that day is honorable The fruit of their industry then shall they reap with full contentment and satisfaction but not till then Wherein the greatness of their reward is abundantly sufficient to countervail the tediousness of their expectation Wherefore till then they that are in labor must rest in hope O Timothy keep that which is committed unto thy charge that great Commandment which thou hast received keep till the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. In which sense although we judge the Apostles words to have been uttered yet hereunto we do not require them to yield that think any other construction more sound If therefore it be rejected and theirs esteemed more probable which hold That the last words do import perpetual observation of the Apostles Commandment imposed necessarily for ever upon the Militant Church of Christ Let them withal consider That then his Commandment cannot so largely be taken to comprehend whatsoever the Apostle did command Timothy For themselves do not all binde the Church unto some things whereof Timothy received charge as namely unto that Precept concerning the choice of Widows So as they cannot hereby maintain that all things positively commanded concerning the affairs of the Church were commanded for perpetuity And we do not deny that certain things were commanded to be though positive yet perpetual in the Church They should not therefore urge against us places that seem to forbid change but rather such as set down some measure of alteration which measure if we have exceeded then might they therewith charge us justly Whereas now they themselves both granting and also using liberty to change cannot in reason dispute absolutely against all change Christ delivered no inconvenient or unmeet Laws Sundry of ours they hold inconvenient Therefore such Laws they cannot possibly hold to be Christs Being not his they must of necessity grant them added unto his Yet certain of those very Laws so added they themselves do not judge unlawful as they plainly confess both in matter of Prescript Attire and of Rites appertaining to Burial Their own Protestations are that they plead against the inconvenience not the unlawfulness of Popish Apparel and against the inconvenience not the unlawfulness of Ceremonies in Burial Therefore they hold it a thing not unlawful to add to the Laws of Jesus Christ and so consequently they yield That no Law of Christ forbiddeth Addition unto Church Laws The Judgment of Calvin being alledged against them to whom of all men they attribute most whereas his words be plain That for Ceremonies and External Discipline the Church hath power to make Laws The answer which hereunto they make is That indefinitely the speech is true and that so it was meant by him namely That some things belonging unto External Discipline and Ceremonies are in the Power and Arbitrement of the Church but neither was it meant neither is it true generally That all External Discipline and all Ceremonies are left to the Order of the Church in as much as the Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord are Ceremonies which yet the Church may not therefore abrogate Again Excommunication is a part of External Discipline which might also be cast away if all External Discipline were Arbitrary and in the choice of the Church By which their answer it doth appear that touching the names of Ceremony and External Discipline they gladly would have us so understood as if we did herein contain a great deal more then we do The fault which we finde with them is That they over-much abridge the Church of her power in these things Whereupon they recharge us as if in these things we gave the Church a liberty which hath no limits or bounds as if all things which the name of Discipline containeth were at the Churches free choice So that we might either have Church Governors and Government or want them either retain or reject Church Censures as we lift They wonder at us as at men which think it so indifferent what the Church doth in Matter of Ceremonies that it may be feared lest we judge the very Sacraments themselves to be held at the Churches pleasure No the name of Ceremonies we do not use in so large a meaning as to bring Sacraments within the compass and reach thereof although things belonging unto the outward form and seemly Administration of them are contained in that name even as we use it For the name of Ceremonies we use as they themselves do when they speak after this sort The Doctrine and Discipline of the Church as the weightiest things ought especially to be looked unto but the Ceremonies also as Mint and Cummin ought not to be neglected Besides in the Matter of External Discipline or Regiment it self we do not deny but there are some things whereto the Church is bound till the Worlds end So as the question is onely how far the bounds of the Churches Liberty do reach We hold that the power which the Church hath lawfully to make Laws and Orders for it self doth extend unto sundry things of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and such other Matters whereto their opinion is That the Churches Authority and Power doth not reach Whereas therefore in Disputing against us about this point they take their compass a great deal wider then the truth of things can afford producing
ought not to cause the Churches to dissent out with another But yet it maketh most to the avoiding of Dissention that there be amongst them an Unity not onely in Doctrine but also in Ceremonies And therefore our Form of Service is to be amended not onely for that it cometh too near that of the Papists but also because it is so different from that of the Reformed Churches Being asked to what Churches ours should conform it self and why other Reformed Churches should not as well frame themselves to ours Their answer is That if there be any Ceremonies which we have better then others they ought to frame themselves to us If they have better then we then we ought to frame ourselves to them If the Ceremonies be alike commodious tha latter Churches should conform themselves to the first as the younger Daughter to the Elder For as St. Paul in the Members where all other things are equal noteth it for a mark of honor above the rest that one is called before another to the Gospel so is it for the same cause amongst the Churches And in this respect he pincheth the Corinths that not being the first which received the Gospel yet they would have their several manners from other Churches Moreover where the Ceremonies are alike commodious the fewer ought to conform themselves unto the moe For as much therefore as all the Churches so far as they know which plead after this manner of our Confession in Doctrine agree in the Abrogation of divers things which we retain Our Church ought either to shew that they have done evil or else she is found to be in fault that doth not conform her self in that which she cannot deny to be well abrogated In this Axiom that Preservation of Peace and Unity amongst Christian Churches should be by all good means procured we joyn most willingly and gladly with them Neither deny we but that to the avoiding of Dissention it availeth much that there be amongst them an Unity as well in Ceremonies as in Doctrine The onely doubt is about the manner of their Unity How far Churches are bound to be Uniform in their Ceremonies and what way they ought to take for that purpose Touching the one the Rule which they have set down is That in Ceremonies indifferent all Churches ought to be one of them unto another as like as possibly they may be Which possibly we cannot otherwise conster then that it doth require them to be even as like as they may be without breaking any Positive Ordinance of God For the Ceremonies whereof we speak being Matter of Positive Law they are indifferent if God have neither himself commanded nor forbidden them but left them unto the Churches discretion so that if as great Uniformity be required as is possible in these things seeing that the Law of God forbiddeth not any one of them it followeth that from the greatest unto the least they must be in every Christian Church the same except meer impossibility of so having it be the hindrance To us this Opinion seemeth over-extream and violent We rather incline to think it a just and reasonable cause for any Church the State whereof is free and independent if in these things it differ from other Churches onely for that it doth not judge it so fit and expedient to be framed therein by the pattern of their example as to be otherwise framed then they That of Gregory unto Leander is a charitable Speech and a peaceable In una side nil officit Ecclesiae sancta consuetudo diversa Where the Faith of the Holy Church is one a difference in Customs of the Church doth no harm That of St. Augustine to Cassulanus is somewhat particular and toucheth what kinde of Ceremonies they are wherein one Church may vary from the example of another without hurt Let the Faith of the whole Church how wide soever it hath spred it self be always one although the Unity of Belief be famous for variety of certain Ordinances whereby that which is rightly believed suffereth no kinde of let or impediment Calvin goeth further As concerning Rites in particular let the sentence of Augustine take place which leaveth it free unto all Churches to receive their own Custom Yea sometime it profiteth and is expedient that there be difference lest men should think that Religion is tyed to outward Ceremonies Always provided that there be not any emulation nor that Churches delighted with novelty affect to have that which others have not They which grant it true That the diversity of Ceremonies in this kinde ought not to cause dissension in Churches must either acknowledge that they grant in effect nothing by these words or if any thing be granted there must as much be yielded unto as we affirm against their former strict Assertion For if Churches be urged by way of duty to take such Ceremonies as they like not of How can dissension be avoided Will they say that there ought to be no dissension because such as are urged ought to like of that whereunto they are urged If they say this they say just nothing For how should any Church like to be urged of duty by such as have no authority or power over it unto those things which being indifferent it is not of duty bound unto them Is it their meaning that there ought to be no dissension because that which Churches are not bound unto no man ought by way of duty to urge upon them And if any man do he standeth in the sight both of God and Men most justly blameable as a needless Disturber of the Peace of Gods Church and an Author of Dissension In saying this they both condemn their own practice when they press the Church of England with so strict a bond of duty in these things and they overthrow the ground of their practice which is That there ought to be in all kinde of Ceremonies Uniformity unless impossibility hinder it For Proof whereof it is not enough to alledge what St. Paul did about the Matter of Collections or what Noblemen do in the Liveries of their Servants or what the Council of Nice did for Standing in time of Prayer on certain days Because though St. Paul did will them of the Church of Corinth every man to lay up somewhat by him upon the Sunday and to reserve it in store till himself did come thither to send it unto the Church of Ierusalem for relief of the Poor there signifying withal that he had taken the like order with the Churches of Galatia yet the reason which he yieldeth of this order taken both in the one place and the other sheweth the least part of his meaning to have been that whereunto his words are writhed Concerning Collection for the Saints he meaneth them of Ierusalem as I have given order to the Church of Galatia so likewise do ye saith the Apostle that is In every first day of the week let each of
whether wilfully to break and despise the wholesome laws of the Church herein be a thing which offendeth God whether truly it may not be said that penitent both weaping and fasting are means to blot out sin means whereby through Gods unspeakable and undeserved mercy we obtain or procure to our selves pardon which attainment unto any gracious benefit by him bestowed the phrase of Antiquity useth to express by the name of Merit but if either Saint Augustine or Saint Ambrose have taught any wrong opinion seeing they which reprove them are not altogether free from Error I hope they will think it no error in us so to censure mens smaller faults that their vertues be not thereby generally prejudiced And if in Churches abroad where we are not subject to Power or Jurisdiction discretion should teach us for Peace and Quietness sake to frame our selves to other mens example Is it meet that at home where our freedom is less our boldness should be more Is it our duty to oppugn in the Churches whereof we are Ministers the Rites and Customs which in Foreign Churches Piety and Modesty did teach us as strangers not to oppugn but to keep without shew of contradiction or dislike Why oppose they the name of a Minister in this case unto the state of a private man Doth their order exempt them from obedience to Laws That which their Office and place requireth is to shew themselves patterns of reverend subjection not Authors and Masters of contempt towards Ordinances the strength whereof when they seek to weaken they do but in truth discover to the World their own imbecillities which a great deal wiselier they might conceal But the practice of the Church of Christ we shall by so much the better both understand and love if to that which hitherto hath been spoken there be somewhat added for more particular declaration how Hereticks have partly abused Fasts and partly bent themselves against the lawful use thereof in the Church of God Whereas therefore Ignatius hath said If any keep Sundays or Saturdays Fasts one onely Saturday in the year excepted that man is no better then a murtherer of Christ the cause of such his earnestness at that time was the impiety of certain Hereticks which thought that this World being corruptible could not be made but a very evil Author And therefore as the Jews did by the Festival Solemnity of their Sabbath rejoyce in the God that created the World as in the Author of all Goodness so those Hereticks in hatred of the Maker of the World sorrowed wept and fasted on that day as being the birth-day of all evil And as Christian men of sound belief did solemnize the Sunday in joyful memory of Christs Resurrection so likewise at the self-same time such Hereticks as denied his Resurrection did the contrary to them which held it When the one sort rejoyced the other fasted Against those Hereticks which have urged perpetual abstinence from certain Meats as being in their very nature unclean the Church hath still bent herself as an enemy Saint Paul giving charge to take heed of them which under any such opinion should utterly forbid the use of Meats or Drinks The Apostles themselves forbad some as the order taken at Ierusalem declareth But the cause of their so doing we all know Again when Tertullian together with such as were his followers began to Montanize and pretending to perfect the severity of Christian Discipline brought in sundry unaccustomed days of Fasting continued their Fasts a great deal longer and made them more rigorous then the use of the Church had been the mindes of men being somewhat moved at so great and so sudden novelty the cause was presently inquired into After notice taken how the Montanists held these Additions to be Supplements of the Gospel whereunto the Spirit of Prophesie did now mean to put as it were the last hand and was therefore newly descended upon Montanus whose orders all Christian men were no less to obey then the Laws of the Apostles themselves this Abstinence the Church abhorred likewise and that justly Whereupon Tertullian proclaiming even open War of the Church maintained Montanism wrote a Book in defence of the new Fast and intituled the same A Treatise of Fasting against the opinion of the Carnal sort In which Treatise nevertheless because so much is sound and good as doth either generally concern the use or in particular declare the Custom of the Churches Fasting in those times men are not to reject whatsoever is alledged out of that Book for confirmation of the Truth His error discloseth it self in those places where he defendeth Fasts to be duties necessary for the whole Church of Christ to observe as commanded by the Holy Ghost and that with the same authority from whence all other Apostolical Ordinances came both being the Laws of God himself without any other distinction or difference saving onely that he which before had declared his will by Paul and Peter did now farther reveal the same by Montanus also Against us ye pretend saith Tertullian that the Publick Orders which Christianity is bound to keep were delivered at the first and that no new thing is to be added thereunto Stand if you can upon this point for behold I challenge you for Fasting more then at Easter your selves But in fine ye answer That these things are to be done as established by the voluntary appointment of men and not by vertue or force of any Divine Commandment Well then he addeth Ye have removed your first footing and gone beyond that which was delivered by doing more then was at the first imposed upon you You say you must do that which your own judgments have allowed We require your obedience to that which God himself doth institute Is it not strange that men to their own will should yield that which to Gods Commandment they will not grant Shall the pleasure of men prevail more with you then the power of God himself These places of Tertullian for Fasting have worthily been put to silence And as worthily Aerius condemned for opposition against Fasting The one endeavored to bring in such Fasts as the Church ought not to receive the other to overthrow such as already it had received and did observe The one was plausible unto many by seeming to hate carnal loosness and riotous excess much more then the rest of the World did the other drew hearers by pretending the maintenance of Christian Liberty The one thought his cause very strongly upheld by making invective declamations with a pale and a withered countenance against the Church by filling the ears of his starved hearers with speech suitable to such mens humors and by telling them no doubt to their marvellous contentment and liking Our new Prophesies are refused they are despised It is because Montanus doth Preach some other God or dissolve the Gospel of Iesus Christ or overthrow any Canon of Faith and Hope No our crime is We teach
much prudence and tenderness so happily begun and prosecuted with more zeal then the establishment of Your own Throne The still crazy Church of England together with this Book its great and impregnable Shield do further need and humbly implore Your Majesties Royal Protection under God Nor can Your Majesty by any generous instance and perseverance most worthy of a Christian King more express that pious and grateful sense which God and all good Men expect from Your Majesty as some retribution for his many miraculous mercies to Your Self then in a wise speedy and happy setling of our Religious peace with the least grievance and most satisfaction to all Your good Subjects Sacred Order and Uniformity being the centre and circumference of our Civil Tranquillity Sedition naturally rising out of Schism and Rebellion out of Faction The onely cure and antidote against both are good Laws and Canons first wisely made with all Christian Moderation and Seasonable Charity next duly executed with Iustice and Impartiality which sober Severity is indeed the greatest Charity to the Publique Whose Verity Vnity Sanctity and Solemnity in Religious Concernments being once duly established must not be shaken or sacrificed to any private varieties and extravagancies Where the internals of Doctrines Morality Mysteries and Evangelical Duties being as they are in the Church of England sound and sacred the externals of decent Forms Circumstances Rites and Ceremonies being subordinate and servient to the main cannot be either evil or unsafe neither offensive to God nor good Christians For the attaining of which blessed ends of Piety and Peace that the sacred Sun and Shield of the Divine Grace and Power directing and protecting may ever shine upon Your Majesties Person and Family Counsels and Power is the humble Prayer of Your Sacred Majesties most Loyal Subject and devoted Servant IOH. EXON TO THE READER I Think it necessary to inform my Reader that Doctor Gauden the late Bishop of Worcester hath also lately wrote and publisht the Life of Master Hooker and though this be not writ by design to oppose what he hath truly written yet I am put upon a neccessity to say That in it there be many Material Mistakes and more Omissions I conceive some of his Mistakes did proceed from a Belief in Master Thomas Fuller who had too hastily published what be hath since most ingenuously retracted And for the Bishops Omissions I suppose his more weighty Business and Want of Time made him pass over many things without that due Examination which my better Leisure my Diligence and my accidental Advantages have made known unto me And now for my self I can say I hope or rather know there are no Material Mistakes in what I here present to you that shall become my Reader Little things that I have received by Tradition to which there may be too much and too little Faith given I will not at this distance of Time undertake to justifie for though I have used great Diligence and compared Relations and Circumstances and probable Results and Expressions yet I shall not impose my Belief upon my Reader I shall rather leave him at liberty But if there shall appear any Material Ommission I desire every Lover of truth and the Memory of Master Hooker that it may be made known unto me And to incline him to it I here promise to acknowledge and rectifie any such Mistake in a second Impression which the Printer says he hopes for and by this means my weak but faithful Endeavours may become a better Monument and in some degree more worthy the Memory of this Venerable Man I confess that when I consider the great Learning and Vertue of Master Hooker and what satisfaction and Advantages many Eminent Scholars and Admirers of him have had by his Labours I do not a little wonder that in Sixty years no man did undertake to tell Posterity of the Excellencies of his Life and Learning and the Accidents of both and sometimes wonder more at my self that I have been perswaded to it and indeed I do not easily pronounce my own Pardon nor expect that my Reader shall unless my Introduction shall prove my Apology to which I refer him The Copy of a Letter writ to Mr. Walton by Dr. King Lord Bishop of Chichester Honest ISAAC THough a Familiarity of Forty years continuance and the constant experience of your Love even in the worst times be sufficient to indear our Friendship yet I must confess my affection much improved not onely by evidences of private respect to those very many that know and love you but by your new demonstration of a Publick Spirit testified in a diligent true and useful Collection of so many Material Passages as you have now afforded me in the Life of Venerable Mr. Hooker Of which since desired by such a Friend as yourself I shall not deny to give the Testimony of what I know concerning him and his learned Books but shall first here take a fair occasion to tell you that you have been happy in chusing to write the Lives of three such Persons as Posterity hath just cause to honour which they will do the more for the true Relation of them by your happy Pen of all which I shall give you my unfeigned Censure I shall begin with my most dear and incomparable Friend Dr. Donne late Dean of St. Pauls Church who not only trusted me as his Executor but three days before his death delivered into my hands those excellent Sermons of his which are now made publick professing before Dr. Winniff Dr. Montford and I think your self then present at his bed-side that it was by my restless importunity that he had prepared them for the Press together with which as his best Legacy he gave me all his Sermon-Notes and his other Papers containing an Extract of near Fifteen hundred Authors How these were got out of my hands you who were the Messenger for them and how lost both to me and your self is not now seasonable to complain but since they did miscarry I am glad that the general Demonstration of his Worth was so fairly preserved and represented to the World by your Pen in the History of his Life indeed so well that beside others the best Critick of our later time Mr. Iohn Hales of Eaton Colledge affirm'd to me He had not seen a Life written with more advantage to the Subject or more reputation to the Writer than that of Dr. Donnes After the performance of this task for Dr. Donne you undertook the like office for our Friend Sir Henry Wolton betwixt which two there was a Friendship begun in Oxford continued in their various Travels and more confirm'd in the religious Friendship of Age and doubtless this excellent Person had writ the Life of Dr. Donne if Death had not prevented him by which means his and your Pre-collections for that Work fell to the happy manage of your Pen A Work which you would have declin'd if imperious perswasions had not
wisely considered that the Body is of far more worth than the Rayment Whereupon for fear of dangerous inconveniences it hath been thought good to adde That sometimes Authority must and may with good conscience be obeyed even where Commandment is not given upon good ground That the duty of Preaching is one of the absolute Commandements of God and therefore ought not to be forsaken for the bare inconveniency of a thing which in the own nature is indifferent That one of the foulest spots is the Surplice is the offence which is giveth in occasioning the weak to fall and the wicked to be confirmed in their wickedness yet hereby there is no unlawfulness proved but only an inconveniency that such things should be established howbeit no such Inconveniency neither as may not be born with That when God doth flatly command us to abstain from things is their own Nature indifferent if they offend our weak Brethren his meaning is not we should obey his Commandement herein unless we may do it and not leave undone that which the Lord hath absolutely commanded Always provided That whosoever will enjoy the benefit of this Dispensation to wear a scandalous Badge of Idolatry rather than forsake his Pastoral charge do as occasion serveth teach nevertheless still the incommodity of the thing it self admonish the weak Brethren that they be not and pray unto God so to strengthen them that they may not be offended thereat So that whereas before they which had Authority to institute Rites and Ceremonies were denyed to have power to institute this it is now confest that this they may also lawfully but not so conveniently appoint they did well before and as they ought who had it in utter detestation and hatred as a thing abominable they now do well which think it may be both born and used with a very good Conscience before he which by wearing it were sure to win thousands unto Christ ought not to do it if there were but one which might be offended now though it be with the offence of thousands yet it may be done rather than that should be given over whereby notwithstanding we are not certain we shall gain one the Examples of Ezechias and of Paul the Charge which was given to the Jews by Esay the strict Apostolical prohibition of things indifferent whensoever they may be scandalous were before so forcible Laws against our Ecclesiastical Attire as neither Church nor Common-wealth could possibly make void which now one of far less authority than either hath found how to frustrate by dispensing with the breach of inferiour Commandments to the end that the greater may be kept But it booteth them not thus to soder up a broken Cause whereof their first and last discourses will fall asunder do what they can Let them ingenuously confess that their Invectives were too bitter their Arguments too weak the matter not so dangerous as they did imagin If those alleged testimonies of Scripture did indeed concern the matter to such effect as was pretended that which they should inferr were unlawfulness because they were cited as Prohibitions of that thing which indeed they concern If they prove not our attire unlawful because in truth they concern it not it followeth that they prove not any thing against it and consequently not so much as uncomeliness or incoveniency Unless therefore they be able throughly to resolve themselves that there is no one Sentence in all the Scriptures of God which doth controul the wearing of it in such manner and to such purpose as the Church of England alloweth unless they can fully rest and settle their mindes in this most sound perswasion that they are not to make themselves the only competent Judges of decency in these cases and to despise the solemn judgement of the whole Church preferring before it their own conceit grounded only upon uncertain suspicions and fears whereof if there were at the first some probable cause when things were but raw and tender yet now very tract of time hath it self worn that out also unless I say thus resolved in minde they hold their Pastoral Charge with the comfort of a good Conscience no way grudging at that which they do or doing that which they think themselves bound of duty to reprove how should it possibly help or further them in their course to take such occasions as they say are requisite to be taken and in pensive manner to tell their Audience Brethren our hearts desire is that we might enjoy the full liberty of the Gospel as in other reformed Churches they do elsewhere upon whom the heavy hand of Authority hath imposed no grievous burthen But such is the misery of these our days that so great happiness we cannot look to attain unto Were it so that the equity of the Law of Moses could prevail or the zeal of Ezechias be found in the hearts of those Guides and Governours under whom we live or the voyce of God's own Prophets be duly heard or the Examples of the Apostles of Christ be followed yea or their Precepts be answered with full and perfect obedience these abominable Raggs polluted Garments marks and Sacraments of Idolatry which Power as you see constraineth us to wear and Conscience to abhor had long ere this day been removed both out of sight and out of memory But as now things stand behold to what narrow streights we are driven On the one side we fear the words of our Saviour Christ Woe be to them by whom scandal and offence cometh on the other side at the Apostles speech we cannot but quake and tremble If I preach not the Gospel woe be unto me Being thus hardly beset we see not any other remedy but to hazzard your Souls the one way that we may the other way endeavour to save them Touching the the offence of the Weak therefore we must adventure it If they perish they perish Our Pastoral charge is God's most absolute Commandment Rather than that shall be taken from us we are resolved to take this filth and to put it on although we judge it to be so unfit and inconvenient that as oft as ever we pray or preach so arrayed before you we do as much as in us lyeth to cast away your Souls that are weak-minded and to bring you unto endless perdition But we beseech you Brethren have a care of your own safety take heed to your steps that ye be not taken in those snares which we lay before you And our Prayer in your behalf to Almighty God is that the poyson which we offer you may never have the power to do you harm Advice and counsel is best sought for at their hands which either have no part at all in the Cause whereof they instruct or else are so farr ingaged that themselves are to bear the greatest adventure in the success of their own Counsels The one of which two Considerations maketh men the less respective and the other the more
is his will that if there shall be a Church within his Dominions he will maiâ— and deform the same M. M. pag 1â— He that was as faithful as Moses left as clear instruction set the Government of the Church But Christ was as faithful as Moses Eâ—gâ— Demensir of Discip. cap. 1. b John 17. Either God hath left a Prescript Form of Government now or else he is less careful under the New Testament then under the Old Demonst. of Dist. cap. 1. c Ecclesiast Dist. lib. 1. Rom. 11. 17. Ephes. 2. 12 1â— Deut. 4. 5. Vers. 12 13 14. Deut. 5. 22. Vers. 27. Vers. 28 29 30 31. * T. C. lib. 1. p. 35. Whereas you say That they the Jews had nothing but was determined by the Law and we have many things undetermined and left to the Order of the Church I will offer for one that you shall bring that we have lest â—o the Order of the Church to shew you they that had twenty which were undecided of by the express Word of God T. C. In the Table to his Second Book T. C. lib. 1. p. 446. If he will needs separate the Worship of God from the External Polity yet as the Lord set forth the one so he left nothing undescribed in the other Levit. 24 31. Numb 15. 3â— Numb 9. Numb 27. Gen. 18. 18. Gen. 48. 16. T. C. lib. 2. p. 440. 1 Tim 6. 14. Job 18. 37. Job 21. 1â— Acts 22. 18. 2 Tim 4. 1. 1 Tim. 5. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 4. 24. 2 Tim. 4. 7. T. C. lib 3. p. 241. My Reasons do never conclude the unlawfulness of these Ceremonies of Burial but the inconvenience and inexpedience of them And in the Table Of the inconvenience nor of the unlawfulness of Popish Apparel and Ceremonies in Burial T. C. lib. 1. pag. 32. Upon the indefinite speaking of Mr. Calvin saying Ceremonies and External Disciple without adding all or some you go about subtilly to make men believe That Mr. Calvin had placed the whâ—le External Discipline in the Power and Arbitrement of the Church For it all External Discipline were Arbitrary and in the choice of the Church Excommunication also Which is a part of it might be cast away which I think you will not say And in the very next words before Where you will give to understand that Ceremonies and External Discipline are not prescribed particularly by the Word of God and therefore lest to the Order of the Church You must understand that all External Discipline is not lest to the Orders of the Church being particularly prescribed in the Scriptures no more then all Ceremonies are less to the Order of the Church as the Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. T. C. lib. 3. p. 171. T C. lib. 1. p. 27. We deny not but certain things are lest to the Order of the Church because they are of the Nature of those which are varied by times places persons and other circumstances and so could not at once be set â—â—wn and established forever â—saâ— â—â— 14. Col. 2. â—2 August Epist. â—â— Iosh. 12. Jude 11. 4â— Jâ—â—â—â— 3â— Ioh. 12. 4â— * Nisi Reip. suae statu in omnem constitu 〈…〉 Magistratus ordinarie singulorum mâ—nera potesâ—â—tem que de cripse â—it quae judi cioâ—um ferâ—q ratio habendaâ— quomodo civium finiendae â—ieris â—â—a solum minus Ecclesiae Christianae provi lit quam Moses olim Judaicae sed quà m à Lycurgo Solone Numa Civitatiâ— suis prospectum siâ— â—ib de Ecclesiast Discip. The Defence of godly Ministers against Dr. Bridges 133. Luk. 6. 39. Matth. 4. 14. Rom. 11. 13. Now great use Ceremonies have in the Church Matth. 23. 23. The Doctrine and Discipline of the Church as the weighiust things ought especially to be looked unto but the Ceremonies also as Mint and Cummin ought not to be neglected T.C. l p. 1â—1 Gen. 24. 2. Ruth 4. 7. Exod. 21. 6. a Dionys. p. 121. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Liv. lib. â— Maru ad digitor usque involutaÌ„ rem divinam facere significantes fidem inâ—andam sedemque ejâ—s etiam indexivis sucratam esse c Eccles. disc fol. 51. Fol. 32. The first thing they blame in the kinde of our Ceremonies is that we have not in them ancient Apostolical simplicity but a greater pomp and stateliness Lib. Eccles. disc T. C. l. 3. p. 181. Tâ—m 7. de hapt â—atra Donatist lib. â— aâ— 23. T. C. l. 1. p. 31. If this judgement of S. Augustine be a good judgement â—â— found than there he some things commanded of God which are not in the scripture and therfore there is no sufficient Doctrine contained in Scripture whereby we may be saved For all the Commandements of God and of the Apostles are needful for our salvation Vide Ep â—â—a 〈…〉 7. 2. 2 Chron. 2. 5. Our Orders and Ceremonies blamed in that so many of them are the same whiâ—h the Church of Rome useth Eccles. Discipl sol 12. T. C. lib. 1. p. 131. T. C. l. 1. p. 20. C.l.1 p 25. T. C. lib. 1 p. 13â— T. C. l. 1. p. 30. T. C. l. 1. p 131. T. C. l. 1 p. 132. Tom. 2. Graca â—3 Con. Africa cap. 27. Lib. de Idolat He seemeth to mean the feast of Easter day celebrated in the memory of our Saviours resurrection and for that cause earned the Lords day Lib. de Anima a T. C. l. 3 p. 178. b T. C. l. 3. p. 179. T. C. l. 3. p. 180. That whereas they who blame us in this behalf when reason evicteth that all such Ceremonies are not to be abolished make answer that when they condemn Popish Ceremonies their meaning is of Ceremonies unprofitable or Ceremonies instead whereof as good or better may be devised they cannot hereby get out of the bryars but contradict and gainsay themselves in asmuch as their usual manner is to prove that Ceremonies uncommanded in the Church of God and yet used in the Church of Rome are for this very cause unprofitable to us and not so good as others in their place would be T. C. l. 3. p. 171. What an open untruth is it that this is one of our principles not to be lawful to use the same Ceremonies which the Papists did when as I have both before declared the contrary and even here have expresly added that they are not to be used when as good or better may be established Eccles. discip sol 100. T. C. l. 3. p. 176. As for your often repeating that the Ceremonies in question are godly comely and decent It is your old wont of demanding the thing in question and an undoubted Argument of your extream poverty T. C. l. 3. p. 176. T. C. l. 3. p. 177. And that this complaint of ours is just in that we are thus constrained to be like unto the Papists in any their Ceremonies and that this cause only ought to move them to whom that belongeh to do