the power and honour of the Clergie are inseparablie derived from the supreame Soveraigne then in being and not communicable to any other state so the particular powers and regalities by which they are more especially conveyed are inseparably and incommunicably appropriated to his royall person As for instance the power of the state of the Clergie is originally derived from his Ecclesiasticall supremacie the honours from his lawes and royall prerogatiue All Kings I confesse haue not Ecclesiasticall government and that because many giue up their right some know it not as many of our Kings for many yeares were bereaved of it in whole or in some principall parts by giving and granting to the Pope an inch in breadth with them and he taking an ell in height aboue them But when the first defender of the faith Henry the eighth was weary of the weight of that intollerable vsurpation especially when he perceived that the Popes ambition soared vpon the wings and winde of the spirituall supremacie to a temporall superioritie The King like Iulius Caesar that he might fully recover into his power the temporalitie potestatem Pontificiam Iacob origi◠§. 9. cum Caesaria potentia coniunxit hee resumed the Ecclesiasticall power finding that it was impossible in the course of the moderne policie of the Popes to bee supreame agent in temporall affaires while they were the highest in spirituall government especially since these powers cannot rest really divided in a Monarchie though they bee really distinct in a Monarch being a mixt person So that the statutes in the vicesimo quintò of Henry the eighth and primo of Elizabeth which determinately set downe this power of supremacy are not lawes inductory of a new but declaratorie of the ancient authoritie of our Prince with the solemne signification of their reas-sumption And our sacred Soveraigne doth not alone take this power for his right but many other Potentates in Christendome that haue not so much reason As the Kings of France Spaine Thesaurus Polit Apoteles 50. Guiceiardino hist lib. 4. Denmarke Poland Hungarie and Sicily which three last states haue more nearer dependance upon the Pope then any in Europe for Sicily hath beene held of him as a spirituall feud as Poland and Hungarie were both in one Popes dayes Benedict the seaventh converted from Paganisme Herbert histor Poloniae lib. 2. cap. 7. and one would thinke and so it seemes wholly at the Popes disposall especially in spirituall affaires Yet in Sicily the Kings of Spaine doe not onely claime supremacie of over-seeing but also superintendencie in doing in Ecclesiasticall employments Baron Anal. Anno 1209. and the Kings of Poland whose power is moderated by the limits and conditions of an election Thuanus hist lib. 56. Archiepiscopos Episcopos coenobiarchas dicunt suoque arbitrio eligunt and the Kings of Hungarie doe vse the same power and with as much reason in a Canonists opinion as we doe for though they cannot de iure yet Reges Angliae Hungariae conferunt beneficia privilegi◠Papae Guymer Comment prag sanct tit de Innatis The Kings of France haue alwayes beene at defiance with the Pope for this power renewing continually pragmaticall sanctions in defence of it especially in the time of Charles the seaventh therefore called Carolina sanctio Duarenus pro libertate Eccles Gallicanae §. 4. which was of that force by vertue of that approbation of the free Councell of Basile that it curbed and casheered the Popes power causing them to impeach it by appealing from it almost in all causes which Pius the second perceiving sollicited Lewis the eleventh the sonne of Charles to abolish and repeale that sanction Concordat Galliae Leonina Constit being enacted in a seditious schismaticall conventicle which he well approved for a generall Councell when hee was a private Aeneus Sylvius Secretarie to Fredericke the third The King for the present called it in but his wisdome presently found the mischiefe and rewarded Cardinall Balve very well for vrging him to it as the Popes Legat Prot◠gis ad cil 〈◊〉 apud histor Phili lib. 9 Conc◠Guic◠hist 〈◊〉 Rex Cardinalem Balvam in carcerem detrusit ob detrimentum consilio suo emergens and with so much displeasure that Philip de Comynes saith Cardinalis Balvensis carcerem horrendum excogitavit in quem inclusus primùm erat quatuordecem annos detentus non obstante Pontifice Romano The Kings of France were ever after stout in the defence of that sanction till Francis the first in his interview with Leo the tenth did remit the force of it in the Concordata Galliae which made his serious Secretarie Budaeus say Palladium Galliae proditum esse Budae lib. 5 The Kings of Spaine in Casteile haue some limited spirituall power by a late priviledge of Adrian the sixth granted to Charles the fifth but when they see their time Mar◠della they take so much as shall serue their turne as Philip the second seised vpon the temporalls of the Archbishoprick of Tolledo the Bishop Caranza being apprehended for suspicion of new heresie and when Sixtus Quintus sent to him to vndertake a warre against England and told him that he would remit to him all the revenewes that arose of that Bishopricke sede vacante prudentissimus princeps respondet se nil de suo Pontifici largiri Thu◠lib. 7 though at home his power is but what hee pleases to take yet in other of his territories it is lawfully as large as another Princes as in Burgundy and Belgia he hath the same right the King of France once had as Charles the fifth made a statute of Mortmanie Nullis personis Ecclesiasticis vel locis sacris licet vllam rem immohilem Thes lit 4 absque principis licentia acceptare vel habere And Philip the second his sonne publishing the Councell of Trent in the Low-Countries did not let it passe in all points with the full strength of an Ecclesiasticall law but restrained it with an expresse clause of speciall privision that it should in no wise prejudice or diminish any priviledge the King enjoyed touching possessary judgements or Ecclesiasticall livings or concerning nomination therevnto Boter Heroic quast lib. 1. But I will not now enquire whether our Prince hath such a supreame power iure positivo Pontificio I am sure it is iure divino Apostolico and supposing such a power I will for more distinct proceeding consider the severall streames and strings of this Ecclesiasticall power and how they flow and are fastned to the head and top of Soveraigntie paralleling them in the severall parts and points of this honour discovering how they are annexed to these powers and how they arise are raised and stand by his Maiesties lawes and Regall prerogatiue § 5 All power Ecclesiasticall is either power of order or of jurisdiction Durandus de origine jure Civ conclus 2. and both these
capacities of government in him the one spirituall the other temporall by both these hee hath supremacie and this supremacie is chiefly exercised in the calling presedencie and dissolving of the great assembly of the three States which high Court is not competently correspondent to both those powers in the King vnlesse the Parliament consist collectiue of spirituall and temporall persons which it hath anciently if the Booke De modo tenendi Parliamenti be authenticall for hee makes the vpper House consist of three States the Kings Majestie the Lords spirituall and temporall and lower of the Knights Ridleys view of Ecclesiasticall Lawes Procurators for the Clergie and the Burgesses which both answer the Kings mixt supremacie So that as he is supremus Iustitiarius totius Angliae in relation to the temporalitie so he is supremus or as Constantine truely entitled himselfe in the Councell of Nice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eusebius in vita lib. 3. in respect of the spiritualty But to returne to my present promise and purpose which was to shew how the actes of supremacie haue their effects in the Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction derived to the Clergie And I am now to shew what effect the power of promulgation of lawes hath which is in consenting confirming and publishing the Ecclesiasticall Lawes which are agreed vpon in Convocation not excluding the advice of the Parliament because the State Ecclesiasticall is not an independant societie but a member of the whole hence it is that they are called the Kings Ecclesiasticall Lawes by which the Clergie is ruled in spirituall causes according to which they exercise their jurisdiction in foro exteriori contentioso hence it is that for this last age the Ecclesiasticall Lawes of this Realme haue so well agreed with the Civill because they passe not without the assent of the supreame governour And it were much to be desired that Christian Princes would not onely permit lawes to be made and giue force to them by their authority but also that they would vouchsafe their personall presence to be Presidents in all assemblies for that end for then they would proceed and conclude to better purpose As Isidorus Pelusiota writes to the Emperour Theodosius the younger to be resident and president in the Councell of Ephesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is that if hee would be pleased to take so much time as to be present there he did not feare that any thing that should passe could be faultie but if he leaue it all to be done by turbulent suffrages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isiodoru◠lus lib. 311. Who can free that Synod from scornfull scoffings his counsell was safe and seasonable because the cause of feare was very probable and eminent For in a Councell where there is a Monarchicall authority a supreame power in one there will be more dispatch in deliberations more expedition in executions than where multitudes of equals sit alone for they will be many of them over-wise and most over-wilfull to agree in one poynt when as every singular person will broach his particular project and propose it as a publick law with resolution to be a recusant to all their lawes if they will not be Protestants to his and so it comes to passe too often that they are forced to yeeld to one another or else no law should passe Hence is that multiplicitie vncertainty confusion contrariety of lawes in some diseased States than which nothing discovers a State to be more desperately declining though they are good in their particulars for they shew the multiplication of ill manners which per accidens begot them and they are likely to make them worse because they being appointed to amend them are disappointed and disabled by their owne crosse contrarieties As in a naturall body over-growne and over-flowne with ill humours If a Philosopher that considers onely a body neither sick nor well giues that which is good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hippocrates calls it and when he hath done an Emperick come that considers it as sick but he knowes not of what nor the temper of the constitution but boldly and blindly giues one medicine to all for all diseases and at last the judicious Physitian come and consider it as it is and know what to doe hee must first vndoe all the other haue done before hee dare administer that which should first haue beene taken and by this time the body is either past cure or desperate conclusions must be tried to recover it Therefore happy is our State Ecclesiasticall in whose Convocation our supream Soveraign is President so that the Lawes passing with his royall consent are certaine and easie to be obeyed by reason of their rarenesse and paucitie which makes them pertinent distinct and free from confusion And therefore I doe not a little marveile at learned Baronius Baronius Annal Anno. 528. that since hee doth not deny Iustinianus the Emperour the power of making Ecclesiasticall Lawes he should so scrupulously and busily inquire what should moue him to meddle with the making of them when as I doe not doubt but the Clergie then might request him to it This last act of supremacie is to receiue appeales and giue determinate decisions and this hath its effect and is exercised in the Ecclesiasticall Courts And they doe not exercise any power that is not derived from this supremacie either immediately or mediately So that as the lawes they execute are the Kings Ecclesiasticall Lawes so these Courts are the Kings and all the processes and courses approved by his Majesties Lawes Therefore now there is no ground for a praemunire in them though the words of the Statute runne to Rome or else-where for by else-where seemes to be meant the Romish power Babylonem◠Gallicam vt Petrarch epist 123. or Court which was not then at Rome because the Popes seat was then at Avignion in France and not our Bishops consistorie For I beleeue that Statute was made to free them as well from the forraine vsurpation as any other of the King Courts as the pragmaticall sanction of France doth which was of the nature and in imitation of it about the same time by Charles the seventh brother-in-law to Edward the third But however it was then meant I am sure it cannot extend to them now vnlesse wee will deny the Kings supremacie over all causes and persons Ecclesiasticall and then they are not the Kings Courts but if we grant the Kings supremacie wee must deny that any of his Courts can incurre a praemunire A prohibition I grant may lawfully lye there because it is safe for the whole State that every jurisdiction should haue its bounds and keep or be kept in them But yet I will not say so in generall but we must admit them with distinction of prohibitions one of Law another of Fact Now that prohibition which is of Law according to the expresse words of the Statute which are commonly large enough
is the prohibition that is lawfull as for a prohibition of fact which is by a sophisticall suggestion sucked and squeezed out of the copie of the libell without judgment of the Kings Courts vpon it in my opinion is not right and is many times the cause of wrong either in vnjustice or delayes yea and in abusing of the Statute with the Kings Courts For the prohibition of law the most I conceiue it inferres is to make all the proceedings voide Coram non Iudice But if I might know what degree and quality of offence it is for a Court temporall to hold plea of a meere Ecclesiasticall cause I should more easily apprehend the scandalous nature of the ground of a prohibition which it may be is the same with a writ of errour in the temporall Court since that a consultation doth not ensue vpon that but after a prohibition grounded vpon a suggestion So then all the proceedings of these Courts haue their power from this last act of supremacie as well in primatiue processes of inquisition as in punitiue processes of execution As this authentick authoritie is most seene in the proceedings ex officio which are not onely nor alwayes by oath as many are mistaken These are by immediate commission where an Ecclesiasticall cause is criminall and prosecuted as criminall And so also the vtmost punitiue processe Ecclesiasticall which is a writ de Excommunicato capiendo is evidently derived from the Kings power and issueth immediately from his favour to the Church that it may be more easily obeyed Iohan. de Paris de Potestate Reg. Concl. 1. and is divers and variable in sundry governments and executed by temporall power being nothing of the nature of the spirituall excommunication but an accession concessâ permissione ex devotione Principum as Iohannes de Parisiis saith against Boniface the eight As for the judgements of Bishops consistories as they are derived from the power and law of Christ the great Bishop so they are like the judges of them who are rather arbiters amicabiles compositores as Panormitane then Iudges ruling by the austerity of authority so that poore defendants may flie to them as to their altars who are Ministers of the altar and in this sense that which Architas speakes is most true Arist Rhet. lib. 3. c. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idem esse arbitrum Aram. And though they haue no forcing power but from the King and no power of any force against the King yet the greatest and best Kings haue yeelded to them in their advice not as Prelates but as they are Fathers in God as Alexander the great said to his father King Philip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 farre vnlike the Bishops of Rome who will rule the highest Princes and yet professe themselues servants of servants which makes mee call to minde the observation of the wisest King Salomon Proverb 30. that one of the chiefest instruments whereby the earth is shaken is a servant that rules over Princes And as they vsurpe rule so they vsurpe the sword of temporall Princes and carry it in the spirituall scabbard and drawing it doe more hurt in their passion then they can help by their priviledge when as they found it soberly and orderly put up by St Peter when Christ was at his elbow to heale the greatest wound that hee could make Thus is it somewhat plaine how Ecclesiasticall power is derived from the King as hee is supreame head in lawfull and full authority over all causes and persons which double power in my conceit the custome of the ancient Persians at the death of their Monarch doth fully and fitly expresse for the lawes are silent Brisso◠Regn◠lib. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their holy eternall fire which every one worshiped in his private house as his houshold god was put out when the Emperour died § 4 The next thing which I promised to declare was how the honour of the state Ecclesiasticall is annexed to the power by the Kings lawes and royall prorogatiue The honour of the Clergy is contained in revenewes and priviledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A◠lib. 1. which are vnited to their powers of order and jurisdiction which powers although we should grant that simply considered in themselues they are not distinguished jure divino yet I am sure none will deny that they are distinct quoad extensionem permissione approbatione divinâ as Iohannes de Parisiis doth distinguish the power given the Apostles into six parts in respect of so many severall acts of execution the fift of which is potestas dispositionis ministrorum secundum quosdam quoad determinationem jurisdictionis Ecclesiasticae ut vitetur confusio Ioh. de cap. 1 And as they are thus distinct according to the execution and stand so confirmed by the positiue lawes of the land so they haue distinct portions and priviledges according to the same lawes yet after a different manner especially in respect of the portion For the power of order which hath maintenance of diverse kindes as tithes oblations Gleabland and mortuaries holds them all according to the lawes of this land as due to the Clergie for executing the power of order but by different acts of these lawes as Mortuaries are permitted and Gleablands granted Tithes and Oblations confirmed and all constrained to be paid Now tithes that are onely confirmed by the Kings positiue lawes are supposed to bee due by some other law of higher nature then the Kings which is not any forraine law Bellar. de Cler. lib. 1. cap. 10. as Ius Ecclesiasticum as Bellarmine calls the Cannon law it must bee then by law divine or immediately arising from supernaturall and morall considerations which law we grant to be positiue yet not meerely humaine Hooker Eccles Polit. l. 1. §. 15. nor changeable in respect to us and they must necessarily runne into many grosse errours that take onely such lawes for positiue as are invented by men and thence conclude them mutable And therefore I presume that the learned Selden doth so vnderstand the positiue law by which hee holds tithes to be due not in opposition to divine and morall but as specially diverse from it as it partly appeares in the whole drift of his history where I doe not beleeue that any can finde that hee ever delivers his judgement denying them to bee jure divino so that in my apprehension and I hope not against his intention he may doe the Church much good in his relating what wrongs the Clergy in all ages haue sustained For his history is onely de facto what hath beene done hee giues not his judgement de iure what ought to haue beene done which if he had he would assuredly haue pronounced for them and this I am forced to beleeue when I consider his exact generall knowledge and the reverent respect he beares to
depend vpon the power of supremacie For though these powers of order and jurisdiction be immediately derived from Christ the misticall head of the Church in respect of their institution commission internall qualification and deputation to persons to performe them yet they are mediately derived from our Prince the ministeriall head of our particular Church in relation to their execution For the power of order cannot bee lawfully exercised in these dominions without the licence and permission from the power of jurisdiction which power is originally derived from the Kings dominion 1. Eliz. cap. 1. over Ecclesiasticall causes and persons So that it is plaine in generall that they are dependant on his Crowne and supremacie To omit the jurisdiction in foro conscientiae that depends vpon the power of order I will for a more particular view of this dependent derivation consider the severall proper acts and workes of this Ecclesiasticall supremacie which as I conceiue may be reduced to these foure The first worke is reformation of the Church in Doctrine manners and ceremonies The second is convocations of Councels and Synods for the reformation The third is promulgation of the lawes and edicts proceeding either from his Highnes pleasure in publick declarations or the Canons constitutions decreed or confirmed in his Councels The 4th is in receiving of appeales giving definite determinate decisions restitutions and deprivations belonging to causes persons Ecclesiasticall Now all these acts haue their effects in the power of jurisdiction for the reforming power of it is ordinarily perpetually derived to Archbishops B. de iure to Arch-deacons and Deanes de consuetudine to be executed by them in their Provinciall Trienniall and Annuall visitations but it is principally restrained to the correction of manners This power is extraordinarily ad tempus granted to the Church representatiue in Convocation It is not turned into a running regencie rolling round to every particular Presbyter though it be not an ordinarie standing court the calling of which is the second worke of supremacie To this Convocation thus called there is given power and licence to deliberate of to order and doe all such things as shall concerne the setled continuance of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England obtaining his Majesties royall consent in the proceeding and determinations as it is plaine in his Highnesse declaration And the lawes they make take their first force from the worke of his promulgation But before I proceed any farther I must of necessity take a little time though to some it may seeme an impertinent parenthesis rejoycingly to consider the gratious countenance our pious Prince so freely shewes to this discountenanced disabled house of Convocation Little did any thinke no not that able absolute States-man the last Lord-Chancellour though wished it that his Majestie could haue beene so fully and faithfully informed of the ancient power and priviledges of it as to thinke of restoring them seeing not onely in the opinion of the people but also in the practice of the lower house of Parliament it hath beene long dismembred from that high Court and lost all the power and priviledges as escheated to the same insomuch that it is questioned by some whether ever it was a member of the Parliament or no. But it seemes his Majestie did soone apprehend it to be an essentiall part of it and vpon a short search discovered that though heretofore it was a member whose nerues were wrested distorted distracted and racked from its naturall head by extention to a forraine yet there was no dissolutio continui as the Physitians speake from the head and therefore not from the collaterall members and seeing it was but a discontented discontinuance that did cause it to be suspected and suspended it being now againe contracted and knit most firmely to the head is vnited as closely to the members may safely exercise and enjoy all the power and priviledges that did of right belong vnto it with the Parliament for though it was no reason that it should haue the priviledges of the Parliament when it was distracted from it and assembled without it by vertue of the Popes Legates writ and so the power and purpose of it was forraine and justly came within the compasse of a Praemunire for the Clergie then was no true member of the common-wealth and so the Convocation cut off from the Parliament yet when as it is now assembled with it by the same writ of the King and the Parliament is not compleate without it being one of the three Orders and that State which makes it haue competent power in matters Ecclesiasticall that it is not a meere temporall Court and that in the judgement of those that had least reason so to esteeme it for wee finde 1. Philip. Mariae c. 8. 1 Phil. Mar. c. 8. That the Legate of Iulius the third tooke great care to haue Statutes repealed made against the Popes supremacie wherein hee granted them to be authentically made and consequently that they had Ecclesiasticall power to enact them otherwise by reason of nullitie they had been cancelled and abrogated in themselues And Antonius de Florebellis an Italian Prelate in his Panegyrick de restituta religione in Anglia saith it is done honorifico vniversi Anglorum consilii decreto in which speech Florebeâ— rat ad Marian he supposed their power to decree it which he would not haue done if hee had held it to be a meere temporall Court and he must necessarily haue so accounted it if hee did not reckon the vpper and lower Convocation Houses as members of it exercising equall power with equivalent priviledges As it was plaine in a particular example in that Parliament Fox Act pag. 16 for when Arch-deacon Philpot was questioned for some words that passed from him in the Convocation House hee pleaded that hee was priviledged to speake them since the Convocation was a member of the Parliament and this plea was not refused but neglected For they were not ignorant what was enacted by Henry the sixth to wit that all the Clergie 8 Hen. which be called to the Convocation by the Kings writ shall fully vse and enjoy all such liberties as the great men and Commons of the Realme haue that are called to the Parliament And as they had some priviledge so it is plaine by a Statute vicesimo quarto of Henry the eight 24. Heâ— though now abrogated that they had once as much power in their receiving appeales from inferiour Courts Ecclesiasticall when it was a Praemunire to appeale to Rome or else-where The words of the Statute printed in the yeare 1550 are The partie grieved may appeale to the spirituall Prelates Abbots Priors and Proctors convocate by the Kings writ in Convocation So that the restitution of the Convocation was a worthy consideration in his Majestie seeing it is as neerly and deerely annexed to his supremacie as the Parliament is for his Majestie having two
because they hold not tythes due iure divino and that because they desire still to hold them by the law of the land And that they may more colourably continue it they hold no such sinne as Symonie that the presented may make a symonaicall contract whereby they are confirmed and corroborated in their sacrilegious vsurpations But I will not dispute the poynt whether there be any such sinne as Symonie in relation to a private presentation without respect to orders taken with it But I am sure none will deny but where is a symonaicall contract there is perjurie in the Instituted As for sacriledge I grant it is not easie for men that are guilty of it to be convinced that it is a sinne For sinnes of omission cannot so quickly and sharply touch the conscienee because they are the breach of an affirmatiue law which doth not so strongly check the vice as informe to the dutie especially when pleasure or profit haue bribed the judgement For I feare some hold stolne tythes the sweetest part of their inheritance as it is said by the Epicures Zetzes Chil. 7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who doting vpon voluptuous sweet delicates called hony the tenth part of the Ambrosia and perhaps that sect set vp the trade of Bee-mongers in Athens as Synesius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synesiuâ— 136. So I am afraid the tickling sweetnesse of tythes is the cause why the smart and sowrnesse of sacriledge is not felt nor tasted And therefore in my opinion Thom. 〈◊〉 q. 155. Thomas Aquinas doth well to make sacriledge speciem luxuriae so that it may be a sinne and yet they never be convinced of it I am sure not onely the ancient Fathers of the most pure primitiue Church but even the godly Emperours did esteeme it a sinne and that in a high degree that when they granted generall pardons at Easter and other solemne timâ—s they excepted sacrilegious persons As Theodosius the great Theod. tit de Indulg Crim. ob diem Paschae quem intimo corde celebramus quos reatus astringit carcer inclusit solvimus attamen sacrilegus maximè à communione istius munieris separetur So also Gratian and Valentinian Religio anniversariae observationis hortatur vt omnes periculo carceris à metu poenarum eximi iubeamus verùm eos excipimus quos scelera graviora compulerunt Theod. eodem tit vt qui sunt sacrilegi sepulchri violatores So in many of the Novels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vpon Easter day set all persons free 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Harmenopulus Promp Iur. Civ l. 6. tit 5. but if any be guilty of sacriledge set him be kept still in hold So that you see it was reckoned inter extraordinaria crimina in those dayes and so it would be thought with vs if profit did not blinde the judgement in the payer of tythes and indiscreet covetousnesse leade many Clergy-men to make no distinction betwixt free and friendly compositions with a bountifull Patron and sacriledge In my poore judgement the Canon Law is but just Quicunque c. 6. q. de Iur. Patronatus in decreeing that Si patronus Laicus ad inopiam fuerit redactus hee must haue some competent sustenance from the incumbent especially if he haue not beene sacrilegious and so by Gods judgement brought to it And I doe conceiue that this may be notwithstanding they doe not charge any parsonage with annuitie rents which is prohibited by the statute of Elizab. 3 Eliz. c. 2. Thus it is plaine that the revenues and maintenance of the Clergie are possessed by the Kings Lawes and may be demanded as due by them § 5. The other part of the honour of the Clergie annexed to the power of order is in priviledges immunities by which this power is exercised with more ease delight and respect and as it were with the whole man without distraction Now all the priviledges the Church doth enjoy or desire arise and are raised by the Kings lawes and royall prerogatiue As that ancient-often-confirmed Magna Charta doth fully confirme all former priviledges of the Clergie Magâ— ta cap And that was then favour enough for then they had priviledges to a surfeiting surplussage but now the Clergie stands in more need of them and they humbly expect them onely from the favour of their Prince who hath a plenitude of power to grant more and larger priviledges than ever they will desire For all priviledges are granted in relation to some Law and the power of an absolute Prince is aboue all Lawes as Dion Chrysostome told just Trajane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cujac vat liâ— or as the same Counsellour to the same Emperour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Cujacius explaines and limits to coactiue correctiue Lawes which Dion saith began in Augustus dayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion none of the ancient Romans were freed from lawes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is from the necessity of obeying And I doe beleeue that the Scriptures seeing that they say more for the right of Kings than any booke in the world doe if not fully set downe this power yet permit it with approbation in some cases especially for the publick good of the Church which I am sure is a farre more conscionable and commendable course than to accommodate religion to serue the turne of the State as that judicious Amiratus vpon Tacitus Bisogna accommodar la ragione di stato alla religione nan la religione alla ragione di stato Our King then being a most absolute Monarch hath this prerogatiue and from that wee haue and hold our priviledges not from that written prerogatiue abstracted out of Fitzherberts Abridgement by Sr William Stanford whereby the Kings Exchequer hath many priviledges and peculiar processes as the Civilians call them privilegia fisci fiscus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habet Cujaciâ— serv l. 2 But from an vnwritten vnrestrained right of dominion whereby he hath plenarie power not onely to make legall propositions of validitie or voyde in their first institution or to interpret them either by declaring them to bee corrected in some poyntes and cases especially if hee correct them by a more particular expresse pressing law as hee may correct the law of nature by the law of nations the law of nations by the law of armes the law of armes by the law of particular Leagues and all by the power of dominion or restraine them in respect of some persons or publick societies but he may dispence also with them since some penall statutes are made with relation to his power of pardon after the act therefore it is not so much to exempt them from being obnoxious to the punishment by pre-interpreting that it was not intended to extend to such persons for so the priviledge is not against law but besides it or aboue it Yea there are statutes dispensatorie as
that of the pluralitie and non recidencie which the Archbishop of Canterbury limits by his approbation Eccl. Anglicanae Canon 41. And priviledges must necessarily bee where there are multitudes of statutes which be so strict in point of injunction as if the makers of them had not considered that politique lawes must be made with respect to morall possibilitie as what men may doe and yet the punishment of their transgression is not expressed but left to the pleasure or displeasure of the King But these are not the priviledges that the Kings royall prerogatiue doth grant as immunities and impunities for then the lawes should bee onely punitine if there were onely vse of protections and pardons but as lawes are also remuneratiue so Princes haue power to reward after a priviledging manner and chiefly in our Kingdome where it seemes to be on purpose omitted by the written lawes and left to the Kings pleasure and power especially concerning Ecclesiasticall persons who haue most neede of them and may now as freely enjoy them as any other persons For though heretofore it was prejudiciall to our Kings to grant priviledges to all Ecclesiasticall persons when they were so encreased in multitudes and overgrowne in magnitude for the whole Kingdome and the Popes would confirme them as irrevocable yet now they are but few in number and small in power and the King may call them in when hee pleases This want of these priviledges hath beene the cause of much evill in the Church and the more they are impeached by those that professe themselues the maintainers of the Kings peace lawes and royall prerogatiue the more will the state Ecclesiasticall runne to ruine And they are much infringed in our Vniversities which I am forced to complaine of with feare lest that fall out which happened to the Vniversitie of Prague which was vtterly ruined by Charles the fift taking the priviledges away at Don Leâ—is desire Whereas Francis the first of France fearing and favouring the Vniversitie of Paris restored all the priviledges which Lewis the eleventh had taken away vpon a just ground of sedition Dino hist 〈◊〉 which hath made it to reviue and flourish ever since But there are some politiques that hold it a needlesse thing to bee any way indulgent to silly Schollers Cujaâ— sent 1. tit as Cujacius saith out of Galen that they expressed weake men vnder the title of scholastici they make meere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iohn a noakes of them but the fault is in themselues according to the French Proverbe Qui se fait brebis le lâ—up la mange For though the Clergie bee weake of it selfe and tempt the contemners of it to over-top and over-turne it Yet since we haue a pious prudent Prince that is royally ready vpon the first appeale to protect and relieue his poore Clergie we are not to be pittied if we neglect to implore his supreame assistance And thus it is something evident how the honour of the Clergie annexed to the power of order is granted and sustained by the Kings lawes and royall prerogatiue I must now in briefe shew the like of the honour annexed to the power of jurisdiction § 6 The power of jurisdiction which I doe here intend is not that deligated power which is in Bishops Vicars or Officialls nor that power Archdeacons and Deanes enjoy either by custome or priviledge but that ordinary power which is in Bishops To this power of jurisdiction there is honour annexed by the lawes of this land and the Kings royall prerogatiue which I divide as before into revenewes ordinary and priviledges the revenewes are their temporalls and part of the perquisits called the Census Cathedraticus the first of which are given and granted by the Kings royall bounty confirmed by the lawes the other are set downe and approved by the same lawes Bishops temporalls are annexed to their sees by the Kings gift Stanford praerogat cap. 1. and are as it were their Gleab but are indeed their Baronies which they hold of the King in capite and performe services for them and therefore they are as it were wards to the King during the vacancie quae ratione Baroniae as Linwood ad Episcopum spectare possunt Linwood de immunitatib Ecclesiae Duarenus de beneficijs l. 3. c. 11. Dominus Rex custodiam habet as Duarenus sayes of the Kings of France Princeps quà m diu vacat Episcopalis sedes feudorum lege praediorum omnium administrationem suscipit But these temporalls are not to be restored till consecration and so seeme to be annexed to the power of order in Bishops Augustinus de Ancona de potest P. P. quaest 22. Art 9. for their consecration according to the scholasticall Canonists is but perfectio characteris which they at first received when they tooke the order of Priesthood and so seeme not properly annexed to the power of jurisdiction for before consecration vpon election and confirmation they may exercise the power of jurisdiction though not of order Episcopus electus confirmatus potest exercere quae sunt jurisdictionis Panormitan in Decret Ver. Cons §. 6. non quae sunt ordinis Episcopalis ante consecrationem as Othobone vpon Linwood suspendere potest à beneficio non ab officio Linwooâ— de constiâ— Glanvil cap. 10. quia ab officio suspendere est à potestate ordinis ordinaria But Iustice Glanvil seemes to intimate that they were restored when they were but Lords elect because electi ante consecrationem homagia sua facere solent but whether it were de jure or de gratia as the learned in the Common law distinguish I leaue to them to determine and thinke it great happinesse for the Bishops and the great honour of our moderne Kings that they are so fully restored at all since they haue as much power and may pretend as much reason to seise the temporalls into their hands as well as others But our Royall Soveraignes pious Father 1. Iacob set a good example to his Majestie to follow for in the first yeare of his raigne hee enacted a statute to prevent all diminution of Episcopall revenewes though it were to alienate them to the vse of his Crowne yea though it were but in exchange for impropriations a course which was too common in Queene Elizabeths dayes insteed whereof our Kings haue out of royall indulgence given some licences for Mortmaines If this redresse had come before they had beene too much impaired Bishops would not haue desired so many Commendams nor Rectors of Parishes made vse of the statute of pluralitie To their revenewes in these temporalls there are many honourable priviledges annexed as they are Barones So that Bishops haue the priviledges of Barons in the Parliament and that vpon good ground since they hold of the King and performe the services belonging to them Mathew Hen. 2. as Mathew Paris Episcopi de rege tenent in capite Baronias faciunt
more partiall for their Prince than the Prelates of any other kingdome as appeares by their readinesse to examine this Legate and also by an epistle Decretall of Alexander the third to the Bishop of London Lib 4. tâ—â—t 17. câ—p 7. qui filij legitimi Sarisburiensis de nugis curial lib. 7. cap. 24 who then was Gilbert Foliot a man much commended by Mathew Paris and Iohn Sarisburiensis in that epistle hee curries favour with him in a cause which hee knew was of Ecclesiasticall cognizance and was so judged here in the Kings court as appeares out of Glanvill then Lord chiefe Iustice I think in the very particular case Glanvill lib. 7. cap. 15. Ad Regem Angliae pertinet de possessionibus iudicare Iohannes de Parisijs contra Bonifacium octavum cap. 12. But he feared seeing the Bishop could doe so much with the King and would doe so much for his King least hee should finde some way to entitle it to the Crowne and hee had good reason to feare since the Bishop had so often in the Kings behalfe opposed Thomas Becket and him These may bee some reasons why the Popes sent so many epistles into England and I am the more confirmed in them because I finde they were for the greatest part written by the most Pragmaticall Popes who busied and bestirred themselves most in setting up orders and new fresh Fryes and fraternities of Fryers and in pulling downe the powers both of our Kings and Bishops to wit from those seaven Popes who were the thirds and I thinke the worst of their names I am sure of their predecessors As for the most part they were written from Alex. 3. Lucius tertius Vrbanus tertius Clemens tertius Coelestinus tertius Innocens tertius and Honorius tertius these men did and undid very much because they were active and lived long If then this forme of Clergie was thus prejudiciall to our state before it was opposed and incensed by the statute of Proviso and Premunire and cast off by the Kings just re-assuming their power which shewes that all their right was nothing but our soveraignes wrong surely now wee are not to expect so much favour from them and therefore as the State then thought it necessarie and right to casheere it and brought their purpose fully to passe so it is now more necessary and just to keepe it out since it is infinitely increased in tyranny since that unhappy unadvised ill advised conventicle at Trent § 4. Those nations shall have the best use of that forme who propound a civill state as large as their Ecclesiasticall and to whom he hath first sought too for assistance and withall are able to overrule it For after Iustinianus the last of the true Roman Emperours and Gregory the last of the good Popes that See claue to Phocas who named the Pope Vniversall Bishop that hee might proclaime him Catholique Emperour But when in the next Centurie the Easterne Emperours were infested with Saracens warre began to pull downe images as some cause of the warres which the Pope endeavoured to set up againe then by the second Councell of Nice whether because they did him wrong in disobedience or rather because they could doe him no good the Greeke Pope Zachary fell off to the French before the next Centurie And then Pipin used him to confirme not to conferre his new atchived Kingdome for in those dayes they gave no such power neither did Pope Zachary claime it for hee deposed not Childericke but consented to the deposing which was by the Peeres of France neither did he set up Pipin in his roome but they that deposed the other onely sent to Rome to have Zacharies advise in it Bulla 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it might passe more plausibly in the world by the consent of so grave an Oracle as it hath alway beene good wisedome to winde in the conscience of one who is esteemed an upright Iudge for the countenance of an unusuall cause humorously undertaken by the first Author especially there being then a faction amongst the Bishops of France Baroâ— nal 〈◊〉 so that this inquirie of his judgement in point of fact did non submit to any claime of right And Gotefridus Viterbrensis affirmes and Baronius confesses Francos non Zachariae paruisse decreto Baroâ— nal 〈◊〉 sed acquievisse consilio and there is great difference betwixt an absolute injunction and a politique advise which is onely an answere out of discretion and left to discretion implies no obligation of necessitie But this is without question Pipin being ambitious of the Kingdome and desirous to cover and colour it with religious ends used the Pope to countenance and compasse his designe who would not withstand him being ingaged to him for protection and by bounty or which is likelier hee durst not being too much in his power But howsoever it was he clave fast unto the French for that Century especially to Charles the great the repairer of the Westerne Empire from whom the Caroline succession continued till Otho the third But then the French Kings being distracted by warres at home Augustinus de Aâ—cona de potest Papae quaest 37. Art 5. could no more assist them Gregory the fift an Almaine transferred it to the Almaines chose those seaven Electors but they agreed not well together after the Almaine Pope was dead and Italians succeeded they presently began to quarrell with the Emperour and to send challenges of right into Italy knowing that the Emperour was not able to doe much for them in giving them as the French had done and perceiving hee was more unable to hold from them that which they would have Segebertus â—hron passim so that the Emperours were continually imbroiled by them being not able to rule them decreasing as fast as they rose Then the opposition betwixt many particular Popes and Emperours as betwixt Gregory the seaventh and Henry the fourth and Alexander the third with Fredericke Barbarossa was very strong But after it grew to such a height that they were setled into factions of separations as the Ecclesiastiques and Imperialists especially in Italy Nabrigensis hist Anglicana lib. 4. cap. 13. which the Italians quickly perceiving because earnestly desiring the Emperours power over them to be looser began to make use of the Papall present opposition to procure their full liberty Abbas Vnspergensis chron passim and therefore these factions were most strong there Yet that grand faction distinguished by many formalities was principally maintained under the names of the Guelfs and Gibellins which swallowed up all the private and pettie familie factions of Italie As the Vrsini in Rome were Guelfes Mat hist Ann the Collonensi Gibellins the Vberti in Florence were Gibellins the Bondelmonti Guelfes and so it was in Naples Venice Millaine which strife continued hot till Boniface the eight who perceiving how much his predecessors had gained upon the Emperour and saw but little more
for him to get began to practise the like domineering humour upon the other Potentates of Christendome sending his letters of claime to the Kings of France England Scotland Denmarke Poland Hungarie But being opposed by Philip le Beau King of France hee did flie backe to the Emperour for succour who then was Albertus the first Emperour of the house of Austria for though his father was Emperour yet hee was not of the house of Austria neither of the old Marquesses nor late Dukes but Earle of Hansburg who had conquered the Dukedome of Austria for his sonne This Boniface the Spaniard first began the faction betwixt the Kingdome of France and the house of Austria by giving the Kingdome of France to Albertus These two better agreed then any because the Pope had taken off the Emperour from seeking his owne right in Italie by imploying him as his champion to enlarge his dominion in other Kingdomes and partly because the Emperour had good hope to continue the Empire in his familie as it hath neere foure hundred yeares From which time the Emperours and Popes disagreements were not so frequent but onely when some French favourers were Popes and they sate at Avinion as Clement the fifth with Henry the seaventh and during the times of the Councels of Constance and Basill But by reason of the schismes in the Roman See they did one another neither much good nor harme vntill the time of Alexander the sixth a Spaniard who was exactly ambitious a great lover of his countrie and one that did much for it Anonymus Hisp in vita Alex. For hee joyned with Ferdinand the first Catholick King helping him to subdue Spaine and therefore first brought in the Inquisition Contra los Iudios y mores que le aviantornado Christianos which Caranza Arch-bishop of Toledo saith Ferdinand conceived himselfe bound in conscience to vse by vertue of an oath taken with an imprecation by one of his predecessours in the fourth Councell of Toledo Baronius Annal An. 637. which Baronius so much commends This Pope also bestowed vpon him the then discovered Indies with many other favours and for his sake and in opposition to the French hee was as fast a friend to the House of Austria as his deepe dissimulation would suffer him Philip. Cominoeus lib. 8. and the rather because they had lately matched with the House of Burgundie which much weakned the French force and strengthned their factions Thuanus hist. lib. 4. But then most when Philip the heire of the House of Austria and Burgundie incorporated himselfe with Spaine So that I will conclude these things considered that this forme is onely safe and convenient for those kingdomes that propose conquests and can rule it as the protectors of it § 5. So then seeing this Clergie is not for vs I will consider of the other which for distinct proceeding we may call Democraticall When the three Prime Potentates of Christendome were Charles the fifth Henry the eighth Francis the first such as deserved and desired to haue all the soveraigne power that could of right belong vnto them and yet were contrariwise vsurped vpon and deprived of all their eminent supremacie in those things that most concerned them perceiving some beginning to question the Pope a course of relieving themselues they began to vrge a Councell for reformation not onely in doctrine and manners but also in point of Ecclesiasticall government But it was so long vrged by them to no purpose that Henry the eigth advisedly wrote to the other That seeing the Pope had so long put it off Histo Trid. and now intended to hold it within his owne territories it were the best course for every one to reforme his owne Kingdome and he did so with the advise consent and desire of the Church and Statâ— representatiue No sooner was a reformation in any degree setled but presently it was excepted against by some that favoured the Church of Geneva as not fully reformed because not agreeing with their new neat platforme that was vrged vpoÌ„ vs as the only Apostolical government of the Church But I marvell how such an exact government should be so suddenly framed or else which is more strange that they could so conceale their happy invention as that Francis the first a King of France that searched into his government as much as any should not know of it For I am very much deceived if hee had not beene much mistaken knowing of this project to desire the Councell might be held at Geneva being it was Diametrically opposite to the Romane But our State had no reason to receiue it Hist Trid. For though it was necessary not onely in reason of State but also out of conscience that after we perceived the indisposition of the Romane Clergie to reforme themselues which they seem to hold impossible For though every Cardinall takes an oath in the vacancie yet it cannot binde him when he is Pope wee should then performe our duty especially seeing it stood with the publick good Yet neither of these considerations did engage vs to accept of such a forme of Clergie as seemed to runne a cleane contrary course seeing we propounded not an innovation but a reformatioa that being as dangerous as this was necessary it could not here be entertained without an vniversall innovation Now all stirring changes are dangerous especially when the body of the common-wealth is full of diseased discontented humours Because all alteration sets the humours a working and one humour being a-foote stirs vp all the rest either alluring by sympathie or provoking by antipathy and when they are once a-foote it is to be feared that they will not onely disburthen the body of malignant oppressing cruâ—â—ties but weaken it in the most principall parts causing it to receiue a disposition to the like distemper vpon every small distaste But it is most dangerous to innovate in that part of a common-wealth that is most essentially actiue and hath beene lately recovered especially if the matter proposed doe minister any cause of relapse Both which seem too true in this new discipline which gaue an occasion to the Clergie to revolt in the denying the supremacie which they lately acknowledged And being a forraine French devise might seeme to come within the compasse of a praemunire for intrusion as well as that of the Church of Rome for vsurpation But this was only propounded not brought in and that by men who were by some beleeved to be faithfull to our State And it may be they had no dangerous aime in it yet it would haue beene very dangerous for our kingdome since it did necessarily induce an alteration in the profession and practise of the lawes which by reason of their long vse are as it were naturalized into the manners and disposition of our nation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Rhetor. l. 2. cap 11. It must necessarily haue conferred ruines vpon our schooles of learning and hospitals
King in Europe hath had for this 400 yeares to vphold his Clergie and conferre favours and honours vpon it our present supreame head of our Civill state hath all that right and more reason to bee as royally indulgent to our present state Ecclesiasticall as none can deny but as he that hath chiefty of power over the whole body of the Common-wealth may rightly and justly favour bestow rewards priviledges and power vpon any publique societie or private person in the same so none will affirme that all that haue supreame power haue the same equalitie of right to endow with priviledges or inrich with rewards because that all doe grant that all Kings haue not Dominion in the same equall altitude and latitude and so cannot so highly advance in priviledges least they surmount their petty prerogatiue nor so largely giue them power and revenewes lest their extention shorten their owne And the grounds of this inequalitie are diverse in handling of which I will neither follow Machivell nor Iunius Brutus because I finde them to runne into two extreames the one granting it to all out of the loosenesse of a wanton wit the other denying it to all being carried by the stream of innumerous particular authorities that because as the other wanted conscience so he wanted experience or rather because Machivell lived when all Princes in Italie claimed and vsurped equall and full power and so writ what they did not what they should doe and Brutus might endeavour to diminish the power of all because he would not haue the French King haue so much which he might thinke too much for the present if hee considered it with the times before Lewis the eleventh wherein as the Peeres and Parliaments had too much so the Kings had too little so that their difference of Dominion is not according to that fullnesse Princes can make it when they are once in possession of a Kingdome nor according to that diminution wherewith disloyall subjects impaire it when they threaten and raise a rebellion but it is according to the severall meanes whereby they attaine or obtaine their Kingdome Now all supreame Dominion in a Monarchie is attained by conquest or succession or obtained by election Kings that come to it by the right of conquest may haue as much power as they will take they make their owne Charters those that come to it by succession haue as much power as their ancestours accepting of such lawes as they finde those that haue it by bequest Cujacius observ lib. 7. cap. 7. and are adopted heires for adoption is good by last will and testament haue the same right that a naturall successour hath if the adoption stand good Hottoman illustr quaest 1. As the Kingdome of France was giuen to Edward the third by Charles the sixt but those that are called to it onely by election their power is restrained and curbed with cautionary conditions and stands limited by them Now if all these haue great power in their supreame government by any one of these rights to attaine a Kingdome surely hee that hath it by all these rights conjoyned hath more power then any hath that is intituled to it but by one Brissonius de Regno Persico lib. 1. especially by election But our present gratious Soveraigne hath it by lineall succession from an absolute Conquerour which was confirmed to his father of pious memory by the Nuncupatiue will of his sacred predecessor Anno Iacobi A just recogniâ—on of an vndoubted succession who then adopted him and all was made sure vnto him by the electiue assent of the supreame Nobility without any crosse-course conditions as falls out when the souldiers or people elect And as it is plaine that hee holds by all these so I doe conceiue I could make it appeare that most Kings in Christendome hold primarily and principally but by one of these and that of least power But that I am loath to touch the ticklish and tender titles of forraine Potentates neither will I speake any thing of them as their states now stand but onely in a word shew what anciently they were for in my poore judgement their government may bee as good and lawfull if they haue had the power and opportunity to cast off and free themselues from these bridles and curbes of government for not the most limited power but the best rectified is safest both for Prince and people § 3 To shew then how it was with them heretofore and to begin with the Empire after it was translated to the Almaine Long hath that Empire continued by the election of the high Chamber of the Septem-viri the seaven selected Electors of Germany and some of the best Emperours haue so well liked it that they haue not onely beene willing to take the promissarie oath containing divers strict conditions but haue also granted them new free Charters and large prerogatiues as Charles the 4. in his Bulla aurea and so held so loose and light a hand over them that one of the Electors the Bishop of Ments in the Councell at Franckford said the government was Aristocraticall which might bee well taken if he meant it with reference to the Councell Clap Arca lib. 5 Comâ— 10. 〈◊〉 Graâ— cia l. manâ— Guic hist Iereâ— The Kingdome of France seemes not to haue beene anciently so absolute and vnrestrained as now it is for the twelue Peeres of France qui sunt ut in Germania principes electores had not onely royall priviledges and did not owe simple subjection but respectiue homage and had a regall authority in their severall Provinces and the command of the chiefe forces but also had the power if not to elect their King as Nauclerus saith and as it seemes true because they haue deposed them yet to determine when there is no great doubt who shall succeed and their setting alwayes vpon an heire male which is the course of electiue state shewes it to bee somewhat electiue for the restraining of it to the heire male did not primarily proceed from the Salique law because many of their Kings haue beene Lorraines Hottoman apollogia Catholica §. 6. which Dukes the French Civilians say doe not obserue nor are vnder the Salique law but if it bee not electiue it seemes not to be so cleare a succession because it is a masculine feud entayled vpon the heire male yea the predominant extravigant power of the Parisian Parliament seemes to intimate that the ancient state was not so free and absolute a Monarchie for they called in the Kings edicts sent forth the contrary and no appeale lay from their sentence Contra illud tantum supplicare licet a petition of right onely was permitted Gymerus Comment in prag sanct tit de autoritate Conciliorum so that this state which is most absolute of all others seeemes to haue been anciently not so free and uncontroleable in its government as a free Monarchie ought to be The next is the Kingdome
of Spaine which hath of old beene so disquieted with the continuall incursions and invasions of the Moores and Saracens from the South and Gothes from the North that it hath scarce time to settle as water tossed But when it did pitch vpon the forme of a Monarchie it was electiue as appeares out of the Councell of Tolledo Conâ—il Toletan 5. cap. 3. Si quis ad Regiae Majestatis pervenire fastigia ambit absque electione nobilitatis Anathema sit yea and in their latter dayes their forme of inauguration doth import and imply the same for thus it runnes Nos qui vale mos tanto comme vos y podemos mas quae vos vos elegemos Hieronymus de Blanca de Hist â—egamine Rey con estas y estas conditiones intra vos y nos yea and the Justice of Aragon hath had as much power as ever the Parliament of Paris as in plaine not onely in their vnlimited immunities but also the power they vsed against the Kings edicts as may bee seene in their writs called los manifestados y iure firmos from which power Idem Thua though the Inquisition haue freed the Kings since Fardinando yet I doe not conceiue how that state should bee more free then before because it is vnder the power of a tyrannicall Inquisition So that the Kings of Spaine had done more providently in preventing their prevailing greatnesse if wee consider their domestique freedome in government though their advancement may advantage them to bring forraine states vnder their servitude But it was hard to hinder them from at least so much power as they were able to take from the other so that Tullie had no great reason to aske Atticus and that in Greeke as a secret Ad A 9. ep not to bee vnderstood of any that should intercept his letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 few doubt it and this may bee most vnquestionable with Spaine witnesse Naples and Millaine These Inqiusitors are like Ephori in the Spartaine republique whose Kings are observed to haue the most restrained power Thuâ— for the chiefe of these Inquisitors hath a great power over the King in his owne Court Inquisitor generalis qui Aulam Regiam sequitur Thes lit cum adjunctis conciliarijs Ecclesiastici ordinis potestatem contra ipsum Regem vsurpari potest so that by all this it is plaine that the Spanish Monarchie hath not long beene a free Monarchie at home But that which makes most to proue these states not absolute is because an appeale will lie from any of them to the Optimates and orders of their Kingdomes for extrema provocatio is one principle inter summa iura imperii Clap Arcâ— lib. In imperio tamen Germanico vt testantur pragmatici ad sacram supernam Cameram provocatur apud Gallos ad octo curias matores apud Hispanos ad quatuor curias even as a generall Councell is aboue the Pope being electiue As for the other states of European Monarchies without all question they are at this present electiue as Poland which made their King Miecislaus send Lampartus Bishop of Cracovia to Pope Benedict the seaventh vt Regem se Polonorum posteros suos esse iuberet Herbert histor Poloniae lib. 1. sed ea res propter iustas causas ad aliquod tempus dilata fuit yea it was never obtained but it still continues electiue Moderata est principis Poloniae potestas Thuaenus hist lib. 50â— quia non naturae legibus in paternum regnum succedit sed communibus suffragiis senatorii equestris ordinis publica exclamatione nobilitatis eligitur Hungary also is electiue although the Spaniard hath intailed it upon the match with the Infanta which will easily bee cut off and suffer a recovery into the former freedome In Hungaria liberam habent electionem Cominaeus lib. 10. Coment inde ab eius morte proceri Budae conveniunt I might shew the like of Denmarke but no more of that I know not how this may be taken but I hope well because in this I deliver onely what is licenced intelligence even as Honorius and Theodosius did interdict ne alicuius regni arcana scrutarentur Guiccardino Hypomneses Polit 106. but it was with this Proviso Legatus tamen reversus omnia narrare debet § 4 These instances are sufficient to proue that our present Prince hath most vnresistible power and so most vnrestrained right to favour and freely bestow immunities priviledges and revenewes vpon any single society or singular person within his Dominions Now the next thing to bee prooved is that as hee hath more right to shew favour to what state hee will so hee hath more reason then they all to favour his Clergie most This government of our King is not more free in it selfe then it is freely and willingly sustained which shewes that it is the ancient equall and as it were the most naturall government of this Iland and therefore the power is most right because naturallized by custome when as in other Kingdomes yea in many pettie particular states that little power they haue improoved by force they keepe and exercise by the same meanes Hence it is that they dare onely trust forrainers to be their guards as the French haue the Scots and Suitzers the Dukes of Florence the low Dutch which choyse doth either proceed from tyranny in the Kings or perfidiousnes in the nation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as for instance Arist R 1. cap. the first Dukes of Florence were esteemed no lesse for it was libell-wise written over the doore of Cosmus De Medices the first Duke where he was sicke and tooke physick qui Medicè vivit miserè vivit which they vnderstood of the Medicean tyrannie both in respect of his feares and their wrongs in his oppression And in this age there were some that would haue brought an Italian guard into France and Scotland but it was when they aspired to vsurpe them both Thuanâ— lib. 23. Guisiani Italorum custodias quòd assuetis negotiis suis non satis fiderent adhibent sui potiùs quà m regni aut regis munimento when as our Kings haue found out by long experience that to be true which Dion Chrysostome told Trajane the Emperour Dion Ch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that they regard no guard but the loue of the subject But to returne It is no small encouragement to me before I argue it in any point and a strong argument for me that a sacred Soveraigne hath and doth proue it true in his most royall and religious practice For I doe not beleeue that there hath beene any Emperour Monarch or Potentate since Charles the first and the great that did ever so truly and constantly favour and carefully protect a poore Clergie as hee hath done But let vs consider what great reason of this favour there is wherein I will not search vainly into
support it selfe being thus abandoned all lawes did free them from duty and dependance Baron nal 4 But to make these generall grants the stronger they pretend particular grants from our owne Kings as from Ina King of the West Saxons that was indeed religious and from King Iohn that was impious as well sans foye as his title was sans terre as the King of France Math 1216. Philip the second said Iohannes nunquam fuit verus Rex neither of these binde our State for â—he Peter-pence contributed to Rome by Ina are called in the lawes of Conatus Larga Regis benignitas and in the abstract which is the best of the confessours and conquerours decrees Regis Eleemosynae which imports not due nor duty but charity and the Popes to be his beads-man not the King to be his homager There were many manifest nullities in King Iohns grant for he had no right to hold the Kingdome and if he had held it by right yet he could not grant any thing in prejudice of the whole State without the consent Regni vniversitatis as Mathew Paris tearmeth the Parliament and a third mullitie is in the force of the grant where whatsoever is passed in the body of the grant is resumed by this proviso in the conclusion Math. ibidem Salvis nobis haeredibus nostris Iustitiis liberalitatibus regalibus nostris which being luckily inserted salues all and makes it absolutely voyd But the maine grant which Baronius relies vpon is a donation from Ethelulphus King of the West Saxons which seemes very lawfull if it were as he saith salubri consilio Episcoporum Principum Baron Annal. Anno. 854. but yet that deed if wee free it from being forged was voyd if you doe but consider amongst many other things the incompetencie and incapacitie of the person to whom the deed was made Now Baronius is peremptory that it was made to the immediate successour of Leo the fourth which according to all the truest writers of the Popes liues was Iohn the eight which they conclude was a woman fu vna donna natio de Inghilterra che vacata là sede Apostolica Petro de Mexia della silva cap 9. per la morte di Leon quarto fu eletta per sonno Pontifice di Roma as Petro de Mexia and Boccacio de las mugeres illustres the King might perhaps haue done much for his country woman if he had knowne it but shee was not capable to receiue such a deed to her vse and therefore the Iurists haue reason to make this question Hottoman quaest illust 17. Vtrum acta Iohannis octavi in papatu rata esse debent And if what shee did was voyd what was done for her iâ— not firme being it was given supposing shee was capable So it is plaine that this engine is not able to vphold this claime being so loose and hanging together in the joynts like sick mens dreames shewing their inconsiderate inconstant humours their proofes being as weake as their imagination is strong all standing vpon slender supposals particular interest making partiall But they haue another ground for a presumption of their right because some poore oppressed Princes haue desired to hold their kingdomes from them as some vsurpers sought to obtaine dominions by their gift who depose Kings that they may dispose of their kingdomes But this is nothing and they stand not vpon it but when they haue nothing else to say I doe not by this goe about to deny that our Kings haue beene bountifull Benefactors to the Roman Clergie but this onely I stand vpon that they haue no reason to continue so still since they were never lawfully bound to it Neither doe I deny that any Prince should conferre favours vpon some forraine Ecclesiasticall State with this caution that he be not prejudiced by the kindnes may haue so good vse of their thankefulnesse As suppose any Prince should be called into Germany or Italy Dies nuâ— transit 〈◊〉 aliquod pâ— fecerit sâ— vt Aeraâ— non eveâ— vt de Seâ— Lampr. or any other kingdom by an oppressed State Ecclesiasticall that Prince may doe royally to invest them into their former spirituall possessions and yet never impoverish or inslaue his owne kingdome to them and also binde them to him for protection Thus did Pipine Charles the great Lodovicus pius they releeved the Roman Clergie and bestowed very much vpon them in large territories but they gaue them nothing in France but onely what they recovered for them in Italy it is then evident Guicc li hist Itaâ— that our King hath no reason to bestow honour or power revenues or priviledges vpon any forraine State Ecclesiasticall and it is as plaine that he hath the greatest reason of any Prince in Christendome to bestow them all vpon his owne domestick Clergie § 6. The Nobility and the Clergie are the prime pillars of a Monarchie and the Communaltie is the ground whereon they stand And this they well know that intend the ruine of it for they will be sure to strike at these two props knowing that then it will fall and the ground and foundation remaine to them to erect a-new as Ball a Masse-Priest Chaplain to Wat Tyler advised his chieftane to destroy all the Clergie and Nobility so Garnet did the Traytors in the powder-plot as the Earle of Northampton well observeth and therefore Philip the second of Spaine who was seldome in an errour about the vpholding or inlarging a Monarchie advises his sonne Philip the third to stick fast to the Clergie los Clerigos amigo as I haue beene but yet so as you disregard not the Nobility otherwise they will hate you and envie them and ruine all Now if the Kings of Spaine haue reason so highly to favour their Clergie as to feare least their kindnesse to them should kindle indignation in the Nobility surely our Prince hath more reason so highly to succour his Clergie as that it may not be the object of the contempt of the vulgar For the Clergie of Spaine and all the Romish faction are not simply subject to them but deny Civill obedience alwayes to their Prince where Canonicall obedience commands the contrary or priviledges aboue it when as our Clergie are as true subjects as any State renounce all obedience to any other Potentate So that this hearty adherence to his Majestie is one reason yea they bestow all their labours in Gods service onely in dominions expect favour from none but his highnesse and they are more beneficiall to their King than any Clergie in Christendome to his natiue Prince or any State in this kingdome to the Crowne For though the revenues of other Clergies as of Spaine be infinitely aboue ours Nicholaus Olâ—evâ—â— de regno Hispaniae as one of their Historians Opes Ecclesiasticorum paenè aequales sunt secularium vnà cum Regis Yet they are not so constantly beneficiall to the King but to the
Pope and if the King get any good sum or subsidie out of them it is either la cruzada or tenths called el excusado granted to him by the Popes indulgence or if he cannot procure a Bull of facultie he must get all they giue by striving and force as Cardinall de Ossat in his letter to Henry 4. Ossatns epist 274. of France speakes of Philip the thirds sacriledge Rex Hispaniae omnem argenteam supellectilem Ecclesiarum Ecclesiasticorum sacrilega manu vsurpare tentat when as our Clergie which haue not the tyth of the tenth part of that meanes is not only now and then profitable in small matters And if Francis 1. beleeved that for a great kindnes from Pope Leo the tenth in their conference at the interview to haue the tenths of Ecclesiasticall livings in France for one yeare Guicc hist lib. 12. as Guicciardine in a judicious sleighting of the favour Promes se il Pontifice al re dargli faculta di riscuotere per vn anno la decima delle cheise del Reame de Francia that the King tooke the proposall into consideration and communicated it to his Councell who thought it a great benefit if he might haue them non secundum antiquum valorem beneficiorum Concord◠liae tit d libus but as they are improved surely a farre greater benefit it is to haue the tenth every yeare Subsides most yeares and first fruites the first yeare and that not according to the present value which is much fallen from the ancient revenewes but according to the Popes bookes in most when as Ecclesiasticall preferments are abated halfe in halfe So that as all other states are more charged so their revenewes are improved accordingly but the meanes of the Clergie is much impaired and yet their charges increased in many things in all things keepe the old rate so that notwithstanding the poverty as S Nicholas Bacon at the Councell table we haue no reason to exact or expect any subsidie from the spiritualtie who are so exhausted yet it is constantly the most beneficiall state of this Realme to the Crowne both in ordinary and extraordinary revenewes In these two considerations amongst many wee see they deserue much and there is one thing that makes it more safe for our King to bestow greater honour and priviledges vpon them then any other Prince which is because he hath not the reason to suspect them of ambitions aspiring to a Monarchie since they haue cast off their Church Monarchies as the Romans never suspected any of a tyrannicall vsurpation after they had by one consent cast out the Kings so that though the Pope seeme to favour the Clergy vpon good reason yet our King hath as much and this reason more then the Pope hath for he hath not onely all the power of jurisdiction the Pope had over them 1. Eliz. but also the revenewes also the Pope had from them and yet is without feare and danger of being rebelled against by them or dis-throned But in one thing it is more capable of a royall Potentates bounty and protection then any forraine Clergie is in respect of its owne Civill supreame head or any state in our owne Kingdome is of our King and that is that it is so poore and obvious to injuries that it will make the ordinary bounty of a Prince magnificent and make his power long and delight to protect such an innocent state being neither able to resist nor strong to endure and suffer wrongs thus from the power of Dominion passeth the influence of protection THE THIRD CONCLVSION That all the rights and respects that the state Ecclesiasticall enjoyes or desires are originally derived from their relation and dependance on the Civill HE that hath publique power and an opportunitie to doe a great good turne for endearing a private friend that depends vpon him will haue much adoe to forbeare to doe it though the weale publique suffer some detriment by it Yet if his friend doe so much tender the publique good that he will not desire any thing to the prejudice of it surely then the publique person out of his engagements and respects to the publique good will leaue off his present purpose and pleasure his favorite in some things that may doe him good and the Common-wealth no harme Even so our supreame Regent of great Brittaine hath great and transcendent power and never wants an opportunitie to doe good bestow favours vpon the well deserving state of the Clergie and it were impossible for him to hold his royall bountifull hand if this Clergie should not in all its petitions consider the publique good apprehending it selfe as a member of the Civill state And hence it is that though the King hath more power then I beleeue was ever tried or can be defined to doe his Clergie good yet they haue not any thing conferred vpon them which is not according to the lawes customes and liberties of this Common-wealth All that the state Ecclesiasticall enjoyes belongs to it as to a principall member of the body politique and is derived to it from the supreame Civill head on which it doth depend and in whom it is vnited to the Civill state It is no debasing or derogation to a spiritualitie to bee thus subject to the Dominion of a sacred Soveraigne for though servitude according to the Civilians proceed not from the law of nature but of Nations or at lest from nature corrupted as the Schooles yet orderly subjection and superioritie proceed from the instinct of pure nature for in Heaven there is order amongst the blessed Angels and in the state of innocency there was superiority not onely betwixt man and all other creatures but also betwixt man and woman and had they lived in Paradise till there had beene father and sonne there should haue beene Patria potestas or else the fifth Commandement is not morall and when there had beene many families there must necessarily haue beene Regiae potestas or else the best and most happy life must haue beene without the greatest happinesse of life which is order Now the superiority of our Prince over his Clergie is not an enslaving tyranny but a sweet and a lawfull Soveraigntie which government as it is due so it is our duty to obey it for government and obedience are relatiues of equall extent And as it is no disparagement to the state Ecclesiasticall to bee subject to our supreame Magistrate so it is great benefit to the Clergie and a satisfaction to the Laytie that all the rights and respects that they enjoy or desire are deriued from that Prince whom both so willingly obey § 2 All that the state Ecclesiasticall doth enjoy or claime may bee reduced to these two heads of power and of honour and they deriue these from one sole supreame governour who is fully qualified by his personall eminent authority to transferre and conferre these rights and respects to them and vpon them for as these two