to produce the same Registers when they were so hardly pressed by their Adversaries These are but empty pretenses there was no pressing to produce Registers nor any thing objected that did deserve the production of a Register That which was objected against our Orders in those dayes was about the Form of Ordination published by Edward the sixth and the Legality of our Ordination in the time of Queen Elisabeth the Nagge 's head Consecration was never objected in those dayes Besides Registers are Publick enough themselves and need no production and yet our Registers were produced produced by the Parliament 8 Elisab who cited them as authentick Records produced and published to the world in Print that was another production They adde Or that so many Catholicks should have been so foolish to invent or maintein the Story of the Nagge 's head in such a time when if it had been false they might have been convinced by a thousand Witnesses Feare them not they were wiser then to publish such a notorious Fable in those dayes they might perchance whisper it in Corners among themselves but the boldest of them durst not maintain it or object it in print for feare of shame and disgrace It was folly to give any eare to it but is was knavery to invent it and to doe it after such a bungling manner whosoever was the Inventer was knavery and Folly complicated together If the Fathers write any more upon this subject I desire them to bring us no more hearesay testimonies of their owne party whatsoever esteeme they may have themselves of their judgment and prudence and impartiality It is not the manner of Polemick writers to urge the authority of their owne Doctors to an Adversary or allege the moderne practise of their present Church We have our owne Church and our owne Doctors as well as they If we would pinne our faith to the sleeues of their Writers and submit to their judgments and beleeve all their reportes and let all things be as they would have it we needed not to have any more controversy with them but we might well raise a worse controversy in our selves with our owne consciences CHA. XI Of our formes of Episcopall and priestly ordination of Zuinglianisme of Arch Bishop Lavvd of ceremonies Our assurance of our Orders WE have done with the Nagge 's head for the present That which followeth next doth better become Schollers as having more shew of truth and reality in it They object that in all the Catholick Ritualls not onely of the west but of the East there is not one forme of consecrating Bishops that hath not the word Bishops in it or some other words expressing the particular authority and power of a Bishop distinctly But in our Consecration there is not one word to expresse the difference and power of Episcopacy For these vvordes receive the holy Ghost are indifferent to priesthood and Episcopacy and used in both Ordinations I answer that the forme of Episcopall Ordination used at the same time when hands are imposed is the same both in their forme and ours Receive the holy Ghost And if these words be considered singly in a divided sense from the rest of the Office there is nothing either in our forme or theirs which doth distinctly and reciprocally expresse Episcopall power and Authority But if these words be considered coniointly in a compounded sense there is enough to expresse Episcopall power and authority distinctly and as much in our forme as theirs First two Bishops present the Bishop elect to the Arch-Bishop of the Province with these words most Reverend Father in Christ we present to you this godly and learned man to be Consecrated Bishop There is one expression Then the Arch-Bishop causeth the Kings Letters Patents to be produced and read which require the Arch Bishop to consecrate him a Bishop There is a second expression Thirdly the new Bishop takes his oath of canonicall obedience I A B elected Bishop of the Church and See of C. do professe and promise all reverence and due obedience to the Arch Bishop and Metropoliticall Church of D. and his Successours So God help me c. This is a third Expression Next the Arch Bishop exhorts the whole Assembly to solemne praier for this person thus elected and presented before they admit him to that office that is the Office of a Bishop whereunto they hope he is called by the holy Ghost after the example of Christ before he did chuse his Apostles and the church of Antioch before they laid hands upon Paul and Barnabas This is a fourth expression Then followeth the Litany wherein there is this expresse petition for the person to be ordeined Bishop we beseech thee to give thy blessing and grace to this our brother elected Bishop that he may discharge that office whereunto he is called diligently to the Edification of thy Church To which all the congregation answer Heare us O Lord we beseech thee Here is a fifth expression Then followeth this praier wherewith the Litany is concluded Allmighty God the giver of all good things which by thy holy Spirit hast constituted diverse orders of Ministers in thy Church vouchsafe we beseech the to looke graciously upon this thy servant now called to the Office of a Bishop This is a sixth expression Next the Arch-Bishop telleth him he must examine him before he admit him to that administratiō whereunto he is called and maketh a solemne praier for him that God who hath constituted some Prophets some Apostles c. to the Edification of his Church would grant to this his servant the grace to use the authority committed to him to edification not destruction to distribute food in due season to the family of Christ as becommeth a faithfull and prudent Steward This authority can be no other then Episcopall authority nor this Stewardship any other thing then Episcopacy This is a sevēth expressiō Then followeth imposition of hands by the Arch-Bishop and all the Bishops present with these words Receive the holy Ghost c and lastly the tradition of the Bible into his hands exhorting him to behave himself towards the flock of Christ as a Pastour not devouring but feeding the flock All this implieth Episcopall authority They may except against Christs owne forme of ordeining his Apostles if they will and against the forme used by their owne Church but if they be sufficient formes our forme is sufficient This was the same forme which was used in Edward the sixths time and we have seen how Cardinall Pole and Paul the fourth confirmed all without exception that were ordeined according to this forme so they would reunite themselves to the Roman Catholick Church They bring the very same objection against our Priestly Ordination The forme or words whereby men are made Priests must expresse authority and power to consecrate or make present Christs body and blood whether with or without transubstantiation is not the present controversy with Protestants Thus far we
accorde to the truth of the presence of Christs body and blood So they leave us this latitude for the manner of his presence Abate us Transubstantiation and those things which are consequents of their determination of the manner of presence and we have no difference with them in this particular They who are ordeined Priests ought to have power to consecrate the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ that is to make them present after such manner as they were present ar the first institution whether it be done by enunciation of the words of Christ as it is observed in the westerne Church or by praier as it is practised in the Easterne Church or whether these two be both the same thing in effect that is that the formes of the Sacraments be mysticall praiers and implicite invocations Our Church for more abundant caution useth both formes as well in the Consecration of the Sacrament as in the ordination of Priests In the holy Eucharist our consecration is a repetition of that which was done by Christ and now done by him that consecrateth in the person of Christ otherwise the Priest could not say this is my body And likewise in Episcopall Consecration Homo imponit manus deus largitur gratiam Sacerdos imponit supplicem dexâ—eram Deus benedicit potente dexâ—era Man imposeth hands God conferreth grace The Bishop imposeth his suppliant right hand God blesseth with his Almighty right hand In both consecrations Christ himself is the chiefe consecrater still Then if power of consecratioÌ„ be nothing els but power to do that which Christ did and ordeined to be done our Priests want not power to consecrate They adde in all formes of Ordeining Priests that ever were used in the Easterne or Westerne Church is expresly set downe the word Priest or some other words expressing the proper function and authority of Priesthood c. The Grecians using the word Priest or Bishop in their formes do sufficiently expresse the respective power of every Order But our Reformers did not put into the forme of ordeining Priests any words expressing authority to make Christs body present I answer that if by formes of ordeining Priests they understaÌ„d that essentiall forme of words which is used at the same instant of time whilest hands are imposed I denie that in all formes of Priestly ordination the word Priest is set downe either expresly or aequivalently It is set downe expresly in the Easterne Church it is not set downe expresly in the Westerne Church Both the Easterne and Westerne formes are lawfull but the Westerne commeth nearer to the institution of Christ. But if by formes of Ordeining they understand Ordinalls or Ritualls or the intire forme of ordeining both our Church and their Church have not onely aequivalent expressions of Priestly power but even the expresse word Priest it self which is sufficient both to direct and to expresse the intention of the Consecrater Vnder that name the Arch Deacon preseÌ„teth them Right Reverend Father in Christ I present unto you these persons here present to be admitted to the Order ef Priesthood Vnder that name the Bishop admitteth them well beloved brethren these are they whom we purpose by the grace of God this day to admit cooptare into the holy office of Priesthood Vnder this name the whole assembly praieth for them Almighty God vouchsafe we beseech thee to looke graciously upon these thy servants which this day are called to the office of Priesthood It were to be wished that writers of Controversies would make more use of their owne eyes and trust lesse other mens citations Secondly I answer that it is not necessary that the essentiall formes of Sacraments should be alwaies so very expresse and determinate that the words are not capable of extension to any other matter if they be as determinate and expresse as the example and prescription of Christ it is sufficient The forme of baptisme is I baptise the in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Not I baptise the to Regeneration or for Remission of sins There are many other kinds of baptismes or washings besides this Sacramentall baptisme yet this forme is as large as the institution of Christ. And these generall words are efficacious both to regeneration and remission of sinnes as well as if regeneration and remission of sins had bene expresly mentioned In this forme of baptisme there is enough antecedent to direct and regulate both the actions and intentions of the Minister So there is likewise in our forme of Ordination Thirdly I answer that in our very essentiall forme of Priestly Ordination Priestly power and authority is sufficiently expressed we need not seeke for a needle in a bottle of hay The words of our Ordinall are cleare enough First Receive the Holy Ghost That is the grace of the holy Ghost to exercise and dicharge the Office of Priesthood to which thou hast been now presented to which thou hast been now accepted and for which we have praied to God that in it thou maiest disscharge thy duty faithfully and acceptably Secondly in these words whose sins thou doest remit they are remitted that is not onely by Priestly absolution but by preaching by baptising by administring the holy Eucharist which is a meanes to applie the alsufficient sacrifice of Christ for the remission of Sinnes He who authoriseth a man to accomplish a worke doth authorise him to use all meanes which tend to the accomplishment thereof That which is objected that Laymen have power to remit sinnes by Baptisme but no power to consecrate signifieth nothing as to this point For first their owne Doctors do acknowledge that a Lay man can not baptise solemnely nor in the presence of a Priest or a Deacon nor in their absence except onely in case of necessity Saint Austin gives the reason because no man may invade another mans office Lay men may and are bound to instruct others in case of necessity yet the office of preaching and instructing others is Conferred by Ordination The ordinary office of remitting sinnes both by baptisme and by the holy Eucharist doth belong to Bishops and under theÌ„ to Priests Thirdly this Priestly power to consecrate is conteined in these words Be thou a faithfull dispenser of the word of God and Sacraments And afterwards when the Bishop delivers the holy Bible into the hands of those who are ordeined Priests Have thou authority to preach the word of God and Administer the Sacraments We do not deny but Deacons have been admitted to distribute and Minister the Sacraments by the Command or permission of Priests or as Subservient unto them but there is as much difference between a subservieÌ„t distributioÌ„ of the Sacrament and the Dispensing or Administring of it as there is betweene the Office of a Porter who distributeth the almes at the gate and the Office of the Steward who is the proper dispenser of it Looke to it Gentlemen If your owne Ordination
to the upper house a certeine booke proving that the Protestant Bishops had no succession or consecration and therefore were no Bishops and by consequence had no right to sitte in Parliament Hereupon Doctor Morton pretended Bishop of Durrham who is yet alive made a speech against this booke in his owne and all the Bishops behalfe then present He endeavoured to prove succession from the last Catholick Bishops who said he by imposition of hands ordeined the first Protestant Bishops at the Nagge 's head in Cheap syde as vvas Notorious to all the vvorld Therefore the afore said booke ought to be looked upon as a groundless libell This vvas told to many by one of the ancientest Peeres of England praesent in Parliament vvhen Morton made his speech And thesame he is ready to depose upon his oath Nay he cannot believe that any vvill be so impudent as to denie a thing so notorious vvhereof there are as many vvitnesses living as there are Lords and Bishops that vvere that day in the upper house of Parliament Here are three passages One concerning a booke presented to the upper house against the successioÌ„ of English Bishops by some presbiterian Lords The second concerning the pretended refutation of this booke by the Bishop of Duresme The third the proofe of both these allegations by the Testimony of an Ancient Peere of England First for the booke It is most true there was a booke written about that time by a single Lord against Episcopacy and dedicated to the members of both houses of Parliament No wonder How often have the Parliaments in the reignes of Queene Elisabeth and King Iames bene troubled with such Requests and Representations It is no strange thing that a weake eie should be offended with the light of the sun We may justly ascribe the reviving of the Aerian heresy in these later daies to the Dispensations of the Courte of Rome who licensed ordinary Priests to ordeine and confirme and do the most essentiall offices of Bishops So their Scholes do teach us A Preest may be the exâ—raordinary Minister of Priesthood and inferiour orders by the delegation of the Pope Againe The Pope may conferre the power of confirmation upon a simple Priest By such exorbitant practises as these they chalked ouâ— the way to â—nnovators And yet they are not able to produce one president of such a dispensation throughout the primitive times A good Christian ought to regarde more what the whole Christian world in all ages hath practised then what a few conceited persons in this last age have fancied Among all the Easterne Southern and Northerne Christians who make innumerable multitudes there neither is nor ever was one formed Church that wanted Bishops Yet these are as farre from submitting to the exorbitant power of the Roman Bishop as we Among all the westerne Churches and their Colonies there never was one formed Church for 1500. yeares that wanted Bishops If there be any persons so farre possessed with prejudice that they chuse rather to follow the private dictates of their owne phrensy then the perpetuall and universall practise of the Catholick Church enter not into their secrets o my soule Thus farre we agree but in all the rest of the circumstances though they be not much materiall the Fathers do pittifully mistake themselves and vary much from the Testimony of their witness and much more from the truth First the Authour of this booke was no presbyterian Lord much less a company or caball of Presbiterian Lords in the plurall but my Lord Brookes one that had as little favour for Presbytery as for Episcopacy Secondly the booke was not praesented to the upper house It might be brought into the house privately yet not be praesented to the house publickly If it had bene publickly praesented the Clerkes of the Parliament or some of them must needes have known of it and made an Act of it but they know no such thing The Lords Spirituall and Temporall could not all have Forgotten it but they remember no such thing as by their respective certificates praesently shall appeare Thirdly as the Authour is mistaken and praesentation mistaken So the subject likewise is mistaken Sit liber Iudex let the booke speake for it self Thus an able freind certifieth me I have got my Lord Brookes booke which he wrote against the Bishops with much labour and perused it with no less Patience And there is not in it the least shadow of any Argument that the Bishops ought not to sitte in Parliament because they had no succession or consecration What did my Lord Brookes regard succession or Consecration or holy orders who had a Coachman to be his preacher The less Canonicall the ordination had bene the more he would have applauded it Time and place and forme and all were agreeable to that Christian liberty which he dreamed of it was not wante of consecration but consecration it self which he excepted against as all men knew who knew him And in this quarrell he lost his life after a most remarkable and allmost miraculous manner at the siege of Lichfield Church upon St. Ceaddas anniversary day who was the founder of that Church and Bishop of it I know the Fathers will be troubled much that this which they have published to the view of the world concerning the Bishop of Durrham as a truth so evident which no man can have the impudence to denie should be denied yea denied positively and throughout denied not onely by the Bishop of Durrham himself but by all the Lords spirituall and Temporall that can be met with Denied by some Lords of their owne communion who understand them selves as well as any among them though their names are not subscribed to the certificate Denied by the Clerkes of the Parliament whose office it is to keepe a diary of all the speeches made in the house of the Peeres For Proofe hereof First I produce the Protestation of the Bishop of Duresme him self attested by witnesses in the Praesence of a publick Notary Take it in his owne words VVhereas I am most injuriously and slanderously traduced by a nameles Authour calling himself N. N. in a booke said to be printed at Rouen 1657. intituled a treatise of the nature of Catholick faith and haeresy as if upon the praesenting of a certein booke to the upper house in the beginning of the late Parliament prouing as he saith the protestant Bishops had no succession nor consecration and therefore were no Bishops and by consequence ought not to sit in Parliament I should make a speech against the said booke in my owne and all the Bishops behalfs endevouring to prove succession from the last Catholick Bishops as he there stiles them who by imposition of hands ordeined the first protestant Bishops at the nagges head in cheapsyde as was notorious to all the world c. I do hereby in the praesence of Almighty God solemnely protest and declare to all the world that what this Authour there affirmes
scandall for Catholicks They were too modest They might easily have prevailed with him or have had him commanded to joine in their consecration in a Church after a legall manner He who did not stick at renouncing the Pope and swearing an oath of Supremacy to his Prince would not have stucke at a legall Ordination upon the just command of his Prince But to desire him to do it in a taverne in a clandestine manner without the authority of the greate seale before their election was confirmed was to desire him out of Curtesy to run into a Premunire that is to forfeit his Bishoprick of Landaffe his estate his liberty Is it become a more notorious scandall to Catholicks to ordeine in a Church then in a taverne in the judgment of these fathers There may be scandall taken at the former but notorious scandall is given by the later Here Bishop Bonner steppeth upon the stage and had well neare prevented the whole pageant by sending his Chaplein to the Bishop of Landaffe to forbid him under paine of excommunication to exercise any such power of giving Orders in his diocesse where with the old man being terrified and other wise moved in conscience refused to proceed Bishop Bonner was allwaies very fierce which way soever he went If Acworth say true he escaped once very narrowly in Rome either burning or boiling in scalding leade for being so violent before the Assembly of Cardinalls against the Pope on the behalf of Henry the eight if he had not secured himself by flight Afterwards he made such bonefires of protestants and rendered himself so odious that his prison was his onely safeguard from being torne in pieces by the People But that was dum stetit Iliam ingens Gloria Teucrorum whilest he had his Prince to be his second Now he was deprived and had no more to doe with the Bishoprick of London then with the Bishoprick of Constantinople he had the habituall power of the Keies but he had no flock to exercise it upon If he had continued Bishop of London still what hath the Bishop of London to do with the Bishop of Landaffe Par in parem non habet potestatem Thirdly Bowes Church which is neare the Nagges-head wherein the Ecclesiasticall parte of this story so farre as it hath any truth in it was really acted that is the Confirmation of Arch Bishop Parkers election though it be in the City of London as many Churches more is not in the Diocesse of London but a Peculiar under the Iurisdiction of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Lastly the Fathers say that when Parker and the rest see that he had refused they reviled the poore old man calling him doating foole and some of them saying This old foole thinketh that we can not be Bishops unlesse we be greased The contrary is evident by the Recordes of the confirmation that Arch Bishop Parker was not present in person So this whole narration is composed of untruthes and mistakes and incongruities and contradictions But that which discovereth the falsity of it apparently to all the world is this that the Bishop of Landaff lived and died a protestant Bishop in the reigne of Queene Elisabeth as he had bene formerly in the reigne of King Edward for proofe whereof I produce two of their owne Authours The one is Sanders But the Bishops who had bene created out of the Church in those most wicked times who had now repented from their hearts of their Schisme being not contented wiih this common dispensation and confirmation did each of them particularly crave pardon of their former grievous fault from the See Apostolick and Confirmation in their Bishopricks excepting the Bishop of Landaffe who omitting it rather out of negligence then malice did onely relapse into Schisme in the reigne of Queene Elisabeth as we interprete it by the just judgement of god He acknowledgeth that he became a Protestant againe that is in their language relapsed into Schisme The other is cited by Doctor Harding We had onely one foole among us we see whose livery the foole was who now I know not by what entisements is become yours being unworthy the name of a Lord and a Bishop whose learning is very little and his credit by this action much lost Thus writeth Doctor Harding of the Bishop of Landaffe about the fifth yeare of Queene Elisabeth at which time he was living and continued protestant Bishop of Landaff A second objection against the truth of that which hath bene said of the competent Number of our Protestant Bishops to make a canonicall Ordination is an exception against all the seven Bishops named in the letters Patents that they were no true Bishops because all of them were ordeined in a time of Schisme and two of them in King Edwards time according to a new forme of Ordination and consequently they could not ordeine That Ordination which was instituted by Edward the sixth was judged invalide by the Catholicks and so declared by publick judgment in Queene Maries reigne in so much as leases made by King Edwards Bishops though confirmed by Deane and Chapiter were not esteemed available because they were not saith the sentence consecrated nor Bishops To the First part of this objection that our consecraters were ordeined themselves by Schismaticks or in a time of Schisme I answer three waies First this argument is a meere begging of the quaestion The case in briefe is this If those branches of Papall power which we cast out of England by our Lawes at the Reformation were â—laine usurpations then our Reformation 〈◊〉 but a reinfanchisement of our selves and â—he Schisme lieth at their dore then they may question the validity of their owne Ordination upon this ground not ours But we are ready to mainteine to all the world â—hat all those branches of Papall power which we cast out by our lawes at the Reâ—ormation were grosse usurpations â—irst introduced into England above eleâ—en hundred yeares after Christ. So this â—art of the Objection concerneth them 〈◊〉 us â—econdly these Fathers know wel enough â—â—d can not but acknowledg that according to the principles of the Catholick Church and their owne practise the Ordination not onely of Schismaticks but oâ— hereticks if it have no essentiall defect iâ—â—valide and the persons so Ordeined oughâ— not to be reordeined but onely reconciled Many Orthodox Christians had their holy orders from hereticall Arrians If Craâ—mer and Latimer and Barlow and Hodgkins were no true Bishops because theâ— were ordeined in a time of Schisme then Gardinar and Bonner and Tuâ—â—stall and Thurleby c. were no true Biâ—shops for they were ordeined in a timâ— of Schisme likewise then Cardinall Polâ— and Bishop Watson and Christophers and all rest of their Bishops were no truâ— Bishops who were ordeined by these 〈◊〉 to put out one of our eies like the envioâ— man in the fable they would put out 〈◊〉 their owne Thirdly I answer that it was not we 〈◊〉 made
and certifie their Election to the King under the common seale of the Chapiter Upon the returne of this Certificate the King granteth out a Commission under the great seale of England to the Arch Bishop or in the vacancy of the Arch Bishoprick to so many Bishops to examine the Election and if they find it fairely made to confirme it and after Confirmation to proceed to the Consecration of the person elected according to the forme prescribed by the Church of England This Commission or Mandate must passe both through the Signet office and Chancery and be attested by the Clerkes of both those offices and signed by the Lord Chanceller and Lord privy seale and be inrolled So as it is morally impossible there should be any forgery in it Vpon the receite of this Mandate the Bishops who are authorised by the King do meete first at Bowes Church in London where with the assistence of the Chiefe Ecclesiasticall Judges of the Realme the Deane of the Arches the Iudges of the Prerogative and Audience with their Registers to Actuate what is done they do solemnely in forme of law confirme the election Which being done and it being late before it be done the Commissioners and Iudges were and are sometimes invited to the Nagge 's head to a dinner as being very neare Bowes Church and in those daies the onely place of note This meeting led Mr. Neale a man altogether unacquainted with such formes into this fooles Paradise first to suspect and upon suspicion to conclude that they were about an Ordination there and lastly to broach his brainsick conceites in corners and finding them to be greedily swallowed by such as wished them true to assert his owne drowsy suspicion for a reall truth But the mischief is that Doctor Parker who was to be consecrated was not present in person but by his Proxie After the Confirmation is done commonly about three or foure daies but as it happened in Arch Bishop Parkers case nine daies the Commissioners proceed to the Consecration for the most part out of their respect to the Archbishop in the Chappell at Lambeth with Sermon Sacrament and all solemnity requisite according to the forme prescribed by the Church of England in the presence of publick Notaries or sworne Officers who reduce every thing that is done with all the circumstances into Acts and enter them into the Register of the See of Canterbury Where they are carefully kept by the principall Officer in a publicke office as Recordes where every one who desireth may view them from time to time and have a copy of them if he please And it is to be noted that at any Consecration especially of an Arch-Bishop great numbers of principall Courtiers and Citisens are present so as it is no more possible to counâ—erfeite such a Consecration then to walke â—nvisible upon the Exchange at noone day After the Consecration is done the perâ—on Consecrated is not presently admitted to his Bishoprick First the Arch Bishop maketh his certificate of the Consecration with all the circumstances of it under his Arch-Episcopall seale Thereupon the King taketh the new Bishops oath of fealty â—nd commands that he be put into the Actuall possessioÌ„ of his Bishoprick Then he is â—nthroned and at his Inthronisation his Orâ—ination is publickly read Then he injoieth â—is Spiritualties Then issueth a Writ out â—f the Exchequer to the Sherif to restore â—im to the Temporalties of his Bishoprick This custome is so ancient so certein so generall that no Englishman can speakâ— against it Here we see evidently how al things 〈◊〉 pursue one another and what a necessary and essentiall connexion there is betweeâ— them So as the stealing of an Electioâ— or the stealing of a Consecration can geâ— no man a Bishoprick as Mr. Neale dreamed He that would advantage himselâ— that way must falsifie all the Recordâ— both Ecclesiasticall and Civill He muâ—â— falsifie the Recordes of the Chancery 〈◊〉 the Signet office of the Exchequer 〈◊〉 the Registries of the Bishop of the Deâ—â—ne and Chapiter He must counterfeit thâ— hands and seales of the King of the Archâ— Bishop of the Lord Chanceller the Loâ—â— Privy seale of the Clerkes and publicâ— Notaries which is not imaginable 〈◊〉 Mr. Neale who first devised this drowâ— dreame or somebody for him had 〈◊〉 more experience of our English lawes 〈◊〉 Customes he would have feined a moâ—â— probable tale or have held his peace foâ— ever Answer me They who are calumniate to have had their Consecration at the Nâ—â—ges head did they meane to conceale it 〈◊〉 have it kept secret Then what good could it do them De non existentibus non apparentibus eadem est ratio If it were concealed it was all one aâ— if it had never bene Or did they meane to have it published Such an Ordination had bene so farre from helping them to obteine a Bishoprick that it had rendred them uncapable of a Bishoprick for ever And moreover subjected both the Consecraters and the Consecrated to deprivation and degradation and a Premunire or forfeiture of their lands goods and liberties and all that were present at it to excommunication Rome is a fitte place wherein to publish such Ludibrious fables as this where they can perswade the people that the Protestants are stupid creatures who have lost their Reâ—igion their reason and scarcely reteine their humaine shapes It is too bold an attempt to obtrude such counterfeit wareâ—â—n England CHAP IIII. The sixth and seventh reasons that all the Records of England are diametrally opposite to their Relation and do establith our Relation HItherto we have beene taking in the out workes Now I come directly to assault this Castle in the aire That which hath bene said already is sufficient to perswade any man who is not brimme full of prejudice and partiality The other five reasons which follow next have power to compell all men and command their assenâ—â— My sixth reason is taken from the diametrall oppositioÌ„ which is betweene this fabulous relation of the Nagge 's head Ordinatioâ— and all the Recordes of England both Ecclesiasticall and civill First for the time The Romanists say that this Ordination was before the ninth of September Ann. 2559 〈◊〉 it is apparent by all the Recordes of the Chancery all the distinct Letters Patenâ—â— or Commissions for their Respective Confirmations and Consecrations whereupoâ— they were consecrated did issue out loâ—â— after namely Arch Bishop Parkers Letteâ—â— Patents which were the first upon the sixth day of December following Next thâ— Commissions for Grindall Cox and Sands Then for Bullingham Iewel and Davis Then for Bentham and Barkley and in the yeare following for Horn Alley Scambler and Pilkinton He that hath a mind to see the Copies of these Commissions may find them Recorded Verbatim both in the Rolles of the Arch Bishops Register and in the Rolles of the Chancery To what end were all these Letters Patents to authorise so many ConfirmatioÌ„s and Consecrations if
to the contrary in any wise not withstanding That the booke of Ordination was a part of this booke and printed in this booke in King Edwards daies besides the expresse testimony of the Statute in the eighth of Queene Elisabeth we have the authority of the Canons of the Church of England which call it singularly the booke of Common Praier and of Ordering Bishops Priests and Deacons It is our forme of praier upon that occasion as much as our forme of baptising or administring the holy Eucharist or our forme of confirming or marryng or visiting the sick Secondly it is also a part of our forme of Administration of the Sacraments We denie not Ordination to be a Sacrament though it be not one of those two Sacraments which are generally necessary to salvation Thirdly although it were supposed that Ordination were no Sacrament nor the booke of Ordination a part of the booke of Common praier yet no man can denie that it is a part of our Ecclesiasticall rites and ceremonies and under that notion sufficiently authorised Lastly Ejus est legem imerpretari cujus est condere They who have legislative power to make a law have legislative power to expound a law Queene Elisabeth and her Parliament made the law Queene Elisabeth and her Parliament expounded the law by the same authority that made it declaring that under the booke of Common Praier the forme of Ordination was comprehended and ought to be understood And so ended the grand cavill of Bishop Bonner and Doctor Sapleton and the rest of the illegality of our Ordination shewing nothing but this how apt a drowning cause is to catch hold of every reed That the Supplentes or this dispensative clause had Relation to this cavill which as it did breake out afterwards into an open controversy so it was then whispered in corners is very evident by one clause in the Statute that for the avoiding of all questions and ambiguities that might he objected against the lawfull Confirmations investing and Consecrations of any Arch-Bishops Bishops c. the Queene in her Letters Patents had not onely used such words as had bene accustomed to be used by King Henry and King Edward but also diverse other generall wordes whereby her Highness by her Supreme power and authority hath dispensed with all causes and doubts of any imperfection or disability that could be objected The end of this clause and that Statute was the same And this was the onely question or ambiguity which was moved Yet although the case was so evident and was so judged by the Parliament that the forme of Consecration was comprehended under the name and notion of the booke of Common praier c yet in the indictment against Bishop Bonner I do commend the discretion of our Iudges and much more the moderation of the Parliament Criminall lawes should be written with a beame of the sun without all ambiguity Lastly before I leave this third consideration I desire the Reader to observe three things with me First that this dispensative neither hath nor can be construed to have any reference to any Consecration that was already past or that was acted by Bishop Scory alone as that silly Consecration at the Nagge 's head is supposed to have been Secondly that this dispensative clause doth not extend at all to the institution of Christ or any essentiall of Ordination nor to the Canons of the universall Church but onely to the Statutes and Ecclesiasticall lawes of England Si quid desit aut deerit eorum quae per Statuta hujus Regni nostri aut per leges Ecclesiasticas requiruntur Thirdly that the Commissioners authorised by these Letters PareÌ„ts to coÌ„firme and consecrate Arch Bishop Parker did make use of this Supplentes or dispensative power in the Confirmation of the Election which is a politicall Act as by the words of the Confirmation in the next paragraph shall appeare but not in the Consecration which is a purely spirituall act and belongeth meerely to the Key of Order Fourthly we say that by virtue of these Letters Patents of December the sixth foure of the Commissioners therein named did meete in Bowes Church upon the ninth day of the same moneth and then and there with the advise of the chiefe Ecclesiasticall Lawiers of the Kingdome the Deane of the Arches the Iudges of the Prerogative and Audience did solemnely confirme the election This is proved by the Recorde of the Confirmation or definitive sentence it self in these words In Dei nomine Amen Nos Willelmus quondam Bathonienfis VVellensis Episcopus nunc Cicestrensis Electus Iohannes Scory quondam Cicestrensis Episcopus nunc Electus Herefordensis Milo Coverdale quondam Exoniensis Episcopus Iohannes Bedford Episcopus Suffraganeus Mediantibus literis Commissionalibus Illustrissimae Reginae fidei Defensatricis c. Commissionarij cum hac clausula videlicet unae cum Iohanne Theâ—fordensi Suffraganeo Iohanne Bale Ossoriensi Episcopo Et etiam cum hac clausula Quatenus vos aut ad minus quatuor vestrum Nec non hac adjectione Supplentes nihil ominus c. specialiter legitime Deputati c. Idcirco nos Commissionarii Regii antedicti de cum assensic Iurisperitorum cum quibus in hac parte communicavimus praedictam ElectioneÌ„ Suprema Authoritate dictae Dominae nostrae Reginae nobis in hac parte Commissa Confirmamus SuppleÌ„tes ex Suprema Authoritate Regia ex mero principis motu certa Scientia nobis delegata quicquid in hac electione fuerit defectum Tum in his quae juxta mandatum nobis creditum a nobis factum processum est aut in nobis aut aliquo nostrum conditione Statu facultate ad haec perficienda deest aut deerit Tum etiam eorum quae per statuta hujus Regni Angliae aut per leges Ecelesiasticas in hac parte requisita sunt aut necessaria prout temporis ratio rerum praesentium necessitas id postulant per hanc nostram sententiam definitivam sive hoc nostrum finale decretum c. I cite this the more largely that our Adversaries may see what use was made of the dispensation whieh they cavill so much against But in the Consecration which is an act of the Key of order they made no use at all of it This is likewise clearly proved by the Queenes mandate for the restitution of Arch Bishop Parker to his Temporalties wherein there is this clause Cui quidem electioni personae sic Electae Regium assensum nostrum adhibuimus favorem ipsiusque fidelitatem nobis debitam pro dicto Archi-Episcopatu recepimus Fifthly we say that eight daies after the Confirmation that is to say the 17. of December Anno 1559 the same Commissioners did proceed to the Consecration of Arch Bishop Parker in the Archi-Episcopall Chappell at Lambeth according to the forme prescribed by the Church of England with solemne Praiers and Sermon and the holy Eucharist at which
be valide Ours is as valide and more pure They make the cause of these defects in our forme of Ordination to be because Zuinglianisme and Puritanisme did prevaile in the English Church in those daies They beleâ—ved not the reall presence therefore they put no word in their forme expressing power to consecrate They held Episcopacy and Priesthood to be one and the same thing Therefore they put not in one word expressing the Episcopall Function This is called leaping over the stile before a man comes at it To devise reasons of that which never was First prove our defects if you can And then find out aâ— many reasons of them as you list But to say the truth the cause and the effect are well coupled together The cause that is the Zuinglianisme of our predecessours never had any reall existence in the nature of things but onely in these meÌ„s imaginations So the defects of our Ordinalls are not reall but imaginary Herein the Fathers adventured to farre to tell us that we have nothing in our formes of Ordeining to expresse either the Priestly or Episcopall functioÌ„ when every child that is able to reade can tell them that we have the expresse words of Bishops and Priests in our Formes over and over againe And mainteine to all the the world that the three Orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons have been ever from the beginning in the Church of Christ. This they say is the true reason why Parker and his Collegues were contented with the Nagge 's head Consecration that is to say one brainsick whimsey is the reason of another and why others recurred to extraordinary vocation in Queene Elisabeths time Say what others name one genuine son of the Church of England if you can Doctor Whitakers and Doctor Fulke who are the onely two men mentioned by you are both professedly against you Doctor Whitakers saith we do not condemne all the Order of Bishops as he falsely slanders us but onely the false Bishops of the Church of Rome And Doctor Fulke for Order and seemely goverment among the Clergy there was allwaies one Principall to whom the name of Bishop or Superintendent hath been applied which roome Titus exercised in Crete Timothy in Ephesus others in other Places Adding that the Ordination or Consecration by imposition of hands was alwaies principally committed to him The Fathers proceed If Mr. Lawd had found successe in his first attempts it is very credible he would in time have reformed the Forme of the English Ordination That pious and learned Prelate wanted not other degrees in Church and Schooles which they omit He was a great lover of peace but too judicious to dance after their pipe too much versed in Antiquity to admit their new matter and forme or to attempt to correct the Magnificat for satisfaction of their humours But whence had they this credible Relation We are very confident they have neither Authour nor ground for it but their owne imagination And if it be so what excuse they have for it in their Case Divinity they know best but in ours we could not excuse it from down right calumny They have such an eye at our order and uniformity that they can not let our long Cloakes and Surplesses alone We never had any such animosities among us about our Cloakes as some of their Religious Orders have had about their gownes both for the colour of them whether they should be black or white or gray or the naturall Colour of the sheep And for the fashion them whether they should belong or short c in so much as two Popes successively could not determine it If Mr. Mason did commend the wisedome of the English Church for paring away superfluous Ceremonies in Ordination he did well Ceremonies are advancements of Order decency modesty and gravity in the service of God Expressions of those heavenly desires and dispositions which we ought to bring along with us to Gods house Adjuments of attention and devotion Furtherances of Edification visible instructers helps of Memory excercises of faith the shell that preserves the Kernell of Religion from contempt the leaves that defend the blossomes and the fruite but if they grow over thick and ranke they hinder the fruite from comming to maturity and then the Gardiner pluckes them of There is great difference between the hearty expressions of a faithfull Friend and the mimicall gestures of a fawning flatterer betweeÌ„ the unaffected comelenesse of a grave Matrone and the phantasticall paintings and patchings and powderings of a garish Curtesan When Ceremonies become burthensome by excessive superfluity or unlawfull Ceremonies are obtruded or the Substance of divine worship is placed in Circumstances or the service of God is more respected for humane ornaments then for the Divine Ordinance it is high time to pare away excesses and reduce things to the ancient meane These Fathers are quite out where they make it lawfull at some times to adde but never to pare away yet we have pared away nothing which is either prescribed or practised by the true Catholick Church If our Ancestors have pared away any such things out of any mistake which we do not beleeve let it be made appeare evidently to us and we are more ready to welcome it againe at the foredore then our Ancestours were to cast it out at the backdore Errare possumus haeretici esse nolumus To conclude as an impetuous wind doth not blow downe those trees which are well radicated but causeth them to spread their rootes more firmely in the earth so these concussions of our Adversaries do confirme us in the undoubted assurance of the truth and validity and legality of our holy Orders We have no more reason to doubt of the truth of our Orders because of the different judgment of an handfull of our partiall countrymen and some few forreine Doctors misinformed by them then they themselves have to doubt of the truth of their Orders who were ordeined by Formosus because two Popes Stephen and Sergius one after another out of passion and prejudice declared them to be voide and invalide But supposing that which we can never grant without betraying both our selves and the truth that there were some remote probabilities that might occasion suspicion in some persons prepossessed with prejudice of the legality of our Orders yet for any man upon such pretended uncerteinties to leave the communion of that Church wherein he was baptised which gave him his Christian being and to Apostate to them where he shall meet with much greater grounds of feare both of Schisme and Idolatry were to ploÌ„ge himself in a certein crime for feare of an uncertein danger Here the Fathers make a briefe repetition of whatsoever they have said before in this discourse either out of distrust of the Readers memory or confidence of their owne atchievements of the Nagge 's head and Mr. Neale and the Protestant writers and Bishop Bancroft and Bishop Morton and the