of the People to War Moses and so successively the Supreme Governor had the power of the Trumpet for that purpose Nu. 10. 2. 9. and accordingly the Duty and Oath of Allegiance binds every Subject to come in to the defence of his Sovereign against what Power soever The danger of Poverty and ruine of Estate must give way to publick respects Nor must it be provided against but in a just way in the prosecution of which Life and Goods and every thing else must be committed to the Providence of God To the Second FOr the discerning of the justness of the Cause We must not look only at the Ends pretended which though never so fair and specious do not justifie a bad Cause or unlawful Means nor at the Wickedness or Evil carriage of Instruments imployed in the prosecution which doth not conclude the Cause to be bad and unjust But we must look at the means used for such Ends and then consider the Ends whether intended by those that do pretend them By these we shall see the Cause of the adverse Party to the King is unjust For First The means they use is War maintained against their Sovereign the End pretended is the defence of Religion Laws Liberties But War made by Subjects though really intending such an End is Unjust I. It has no Warrant in Scripture but is disallowed Prov. 30. 31. No rising up against a King 1 Sam. 8. 18. No remedy left them against the Oppressions of their King but crying to the Lord. The Prophets also which bitterly reproved the Idolatrous and unjust Kings of Israel and Judah never called upon the Elders of the People by Arms to secure the Worship of God or the just Government of the Kingdom In the 13th to the Romans and the 1 Ep. 2 Cap. of Peter the same Doctrine of Passive Obedience is taught and accordingly was the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christians II. Arms taken up by Subjects do invade the Power and Rights of the Sovereign For it takes from him the Sword which he is said to bear Rom. 13. 4. and so doth every Supreme Magistrate The Supreme Power being signified by bearing the Sword as the best Interpreters do affirm And as our Laws and the Oath of Supremacy do acknowlege our King the only Supreme Governor and to be vested with the Power of Arms. Now what saith the Scripture He that takes the Sword shall perish by the Sword that is He that takes and uses it without Warrant without and against his consent that bears the Sword that is Supreme Also War undertaken by Subjects invades the Rights of the Sovereign his Revenue Customs c. will not give to Caesar what is Caesar ' s. But the Scripture is very express in preserving Rights and Power entire even to the worst Princes Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's said our Saviour when Caesar was bad enough And St. Paul bids us Render them their Due Tribute Customs Honour when the Emperours were at the worst And our Laws determine Insurrection or Levying of War to be Treason not against a Religious and just Prince only but indefinitely against any Secondly Their Pretences are taken away if we consider That the continuance of the Established Religion and Government together with a just Reformation of all Abuses and Grievances has been offered promised protested for by his Majesty But the Religion and Government of Church and State as by Law Established will not content the adverse Party however they pretend to fight for Religion and Laws I mean those of the Party which are the main contrivers of the Enterprise and those also upon whose number the main strength of the Faction rests being of such Sects for the most part as are by the Law to abjure the Land because not to be held within the bounds of any setled Government There are no question many which follow them and do really intend the advancement of Religion going after them as many did after Absalom in the simplicity of their hearts expecting a speedier course of Justice and redress of Grievances which they suffered by some evil Officers under David 2 Sam. 15. 4. 11. But for the other to whom we owe this War and who will rule and dispose all if they do prevail their end intended and driven at is the abolishing of the Publick Service and Liturgy which is Established by Law the utter taking away of Episcopal Government which has always been And for their greater security they will have the Power which by Law is his Majesty's and because these are not granted Arms are taken up by Subjects to the invading of his Majesty's Rights and Power and for the maintaining of them the Right and Liberty of Subjects are destroyed To the Third HEnce will appear what is to be Answered to the Third Query That there is Precept and Example for Passive Obedience but none for taking Arms to divert apparent Innovations The Example commonly abused to this purpose is that of the Israelites preparing to go out to War against their Brethren the 〈◊〉 and Gadâ—es for raising an Altar Jos. 22. 13. But it is altogether impertinent for those Arms are taken up and that War prepared by those that had the Supreme Power To the Fourth THe right being discovered it would tend much to the ending of this War and the restoring of our peace if the King's Subjects would rise as one Man to maintain the Right Every particular Man is bound to do it upon the Summons of his Sovereign commanding his assistance The danger and loss of Estate in discharge of Duty is but an outward Consideration and to be left to the Providence of God as was said in the first Resolution To the other part of this fourth Query Answer That necessary maintenance is due to him that lawfully bears Arms For who goeth a Warfare any time as the Apostle saith at his own charges And if the Army cannot be maintained but by free Quarter it is Lawful to receive maintenance that way though at the cost of others whose private interests must give way to the publick Indeed the abuse of free Quarter may make a Souldier guilty of the Sins here mentioned but then it is by his own wilful Transgression To the Fifth HE must in the prosecution of his Military Duty so behave himself as to observe John Baptist's rule Do violence to no man that is unjust violence for he forbids not to use force against them of the adverse Party who are in Arms ready to offer force For sparing Friends and Kindred he must be guided by Christian prudence so to do it as thereby not to endanger any present design or at large to hinder the publick Service As for the King 's Person it cannot be every where so that he must not limit his Duty and Service to the immediate defence of it but know That to serve any where in the defence of his Majesty's just Cause is to defend Him To the Sixth
stood in the Church of England at the time of the making this Homily and therefore he has put down the Proem of an Act of Parliament of the fifth and sixth years of Edward the 6th concerning Holy-days by which he would have the Lord's day to stand on no other ground but the Authority of the Church not as enjoyned by Christ or ordained by any of his Apostles Which Statute whosoever shall be pleased to peruse may easily see that this Proem he mentions relates only to Holy days and not to Sundays as you may observe from this passage viz. which holy Works as they may be called God's Service so the times especially appointed for the same are called Holy-days not for the matter or nature either of the time or day c. which title of Holy-days was never applied to Sundays either in a vulgar or legal acceptation And tho the Doctor fancied this Act was in force at the time when this Homily was made and therefore must by no means contradict so sacred an Authority as that of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled in Parliament because this Act tho repealed by Queen Mary he would have to be revived again the first year of Queen Elizabeth and so to stand in force at the time of making this Homily whereas whoever consults our Statute-Book will find that this Statute of King Edward the 6th was not revived nor in force till the first of King James when the Repeal of this Statute was again repealed tho certainly the reviving of that or any other Statute does not make their Proems which are often very carelesly drawn to be in every clause either good Law or Gospel But tho the Doctor in other things abhors the Temporal Powers having any thing to do in matters of Religion yet if it make for his Opinion then the Authority of a Parliament shall be as good as that of a Convocation But I have dwelt too long upon this Head which I could not well contract if I spoke any thing at all to justifie the Lord Primat's Judgment in this so material a Doctrine The next Point that the Doctor lays to the Lord Primat's charge as not according to the Church of England is a passage in a Letter to Dr. Bernard and by him published in the Book intituled The Judgment of the late Primat of Ireland c. viz. That he ever declared his Opinion to be that Episcopus Presbyter gradu tantum differunt non ordine and consequently that in places where Bishops cannot be had the Ordination by Presbyters standeth valid And however saith he I must needs think that the Churches in France who living under a Popish Power and cannot do what they would are more excusable in that defect than those of the Low-Countries that live under a Free-State yet for the testifying my communion with these Churches which I do love and honour as true members of the Church Universal I do profess that with like affection I should receive the blessed Sacrament at the hands of the Dutch Ministers if I were in Holland as I should do at the hands of the French Ministers if I were at Charenton Which Opinion as I cannot deny to have been my Lord Primat's since I find the same written almost verbatim with his own hand dated Nov. 26. 1655 in a private Note-Book not many months before his death with the addition of this clause at the beginning viz. Yet on the other side holding as I do That a Bishop hath Superiority in degree above Presbyters you may easily judg that the Ordination made by such Presbyters as have severed themselves from their Bishops cannot possibly by me be excused from being schismatical And concluding with another clause viz. for the agreement or disagreement in radical and fundamental Doctrines not the consonancy or dissonancy in the particular points of Ecclesiastical Government is with me and I hope with every man that mindeth Peace the rule of adhering to or receding from the Communion of any Church And that the Lord Primate was always of this Opinion I find by another Note of his own hand written in another Book many years before this in these words viz. The intrinsecal power of Ordaining proceedeth not from Jurisdiction but only from Order But a Presbyter hath the same Order in specie with a Bishop Ergo A Presbyter hath equally an intrinsecal power to give Orders and is equal to him in the power of Order the Bishop having no higher degree in respect of intension or extention of the character of Order tho he hath an higher degree i. e. a more eminent place in respect of Authority and Jurisdiction in Spiritual Regiment Again The Papists teach that the confirmation of the Baptized is proper to a Bishop as proceeding from the Episcopal Character as well as Ordination and yet in some cases may be communicated to a Presbyter and much more therefore in regard of the over-ruling Commands of invincible necessity although the right of Baptising was given by Christ's own Commission to the Apostles and their Successors and yet in case of Necessity allowed to Lay-men even so Ordination might be devolved to Presbyters in case of Necessity These passages perhaps may seem to some Men inconsistent with what the Lord Primate hath written in some of his printed Treatises and particularly that of the Original of Episcopacy wherein he proves from Rev. 2. 1. that the Stars there described in our blessed Saviour's right hand to be the Angels of the seven Churches 2. That these Angels were the several Bishops of those Churches and not the whole Colledg of Presbyters as Mr. Brightman would have it 3. Nor has he proved Archbishops less ancient each of these seven Churches being at that time a Metropolis which had several Bishops under it and 4 that these Bishops and Archbishops were ordained by the Apostles as constant permanent Officers in the Church and so in some sort Jure Divino that is in St. Hierom's sence were ordained by the Apostles for the better conferring of Orders and for preventing of Schisms which would otherwise arise among Presbyters if they had been all left equal and independent to each other And that this may very well consist with their being in some cases of Necessity not absolutely necessary in some Churches is proved by the Learned Mr. Mason in his defence of the Ordination of Ministers beyond the Seas where there are no Bishops in which he proves at large against the Papists that make this Objection from their own Schoolmen and Canonists and that tho a Bishop receives a Sacred Office Eminency in Degree and a larger Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction than a Presbyter yet that all these do not confer an absolute distinct Order and yet that Bishops are still Jure Divino that is by the Ordinance of God since they were ordained by the Apostles and whereunto they were directed by God's Holy Spirit and in that sence are the Ordinance of
God bless you and whatever you undertake so I rest Your Lordship's most Affectionate Friend Ol. Grandisone Dublin 3 Feb. 1620. But before his going over and while Bishop Elect a Parliament was Convened at Westminster and began Feb. 1 st 1620. and I find this passage among some of his Memorandums of that time viz. I was appointed by the Lower House of Parliament to preach at St. Margarets Westminster Feb. 7. the Prebends claimed the priviledge of the Church and their exemption from Episcopal Jurisdiction for many hundred years and offered their own Service Whereupon the House being displeased appointed the place to be at the Temple I was chosen a second time And Secretary Calvert by the appointment of the House spake to the King that the choice of their Preacher might stand The King said It was very well done Feb. 13 th being Shrove-Tuesday I dined at Court and betwixt 4 and 5 I kiss'd the King's hand and had conference with him touching my Sermon He said I had charge of an unruly Flock to look unto the next Sunday He asked me how I thought it could stand with true Divinity that so many hundred should be tyed upon so short warning to receive the Communion upon a day all could not be in Charity after so late contentions in the House Many must needs come without Preparation and eat their own Condemnation That himself required all his whole Houshold to receive the Communion but not all the same day unless at Easter when the whole Lent was a time of Preparation He bad me to tell them I hoped they were all prepared but wished they might be better To exhort them to Unity and Concord To love God first and then their Prince and Country To look to the urgent necessities of the Times and the miserable state of Christendom with Bis dat qui citò dat Feb. 10 th The first Sunday in Lent I preached at St. Margarets to them And Feb. 27 th the House sent Sir James Perrot and Mr. Drake to give me thanks and to desire me to print the Sermon which was done accordingly the Text being upon the first of the Cor. 10. 17. For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread This Sermon was printed by the desire of the House and with one more preached before the King at Wansted Jan. 20. 1624. upon Eph. 4. 13. concerning the unity of the Catholick Faith were all the Sermons I can find to have been published by his allowance But the Lord Bishop Elect returning some time after into Ireland was there Consecrated by Dr. Hampton then Lord Primate assisted with some other of the Bishops and being thus advanced to the Episcopal Degree his Province and Imployment might be altered but not his mind nor humble temper of Spirit Neither did he cease to turn as many as he could from Darkness to Light from Sin and Satan to Christ by his Preaching Writing and Exemplary Life observing that which St. Augustine said of St. Ambrose Et eum quidem in populo verbum veritatis recte tractantem omni die Dominico audiebam Magis Magisque mihi confirmabat c. That he handled the Word of God unto the People every Lord's Day About this time some violent Papists of Quality happened to be censured in the Castle-Chamber at Dublin for refusing to take the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance upon this occasion the State ordered the Bishop of Meath on the day of the Sentence to make a Speech to them as well to inform their Consciences of the Lawfulness of it as of the great penalties they would undergo if they persisted to refuse it Which he performed in a Learned Discourse and highly approved of by His Majesty Which was as follows A Speech delivered in the Castle-Chamber at Dublin November 22 th 1622. At the Censuring of certain Officers concerning the Lawfulness of taking and danger of refusing the Oath of Supremacy WHat the danger of the Law is for refusing this Oath hath been sufficiently opened by my Lords the Judges and the quality and quantity of that offence hath been aggravated to the full by those that have spoken after them The part which is most proper for me to deal in is the information of the Conscience touching the truth and equity of the matters contained in the Oath which I also have made choice the rather to insist upon because both the form of the Oath it self requireth herein a full resolution of the Conscience as appeareth by those words in the very beginning thereof I do utterly testifie and declare in my Conscience c. and the persons that stand here to be censured for refusing the same have alledged nothing in their own defence but only the simple plea of Ignorance That this point therefore may be cleared and all needless scruples removed out of mens minds two main branches there be of this Oath which require special consideration The one positive acknowledging the Supremacy of the Government of these Realms in all Causes whatsoever to rest in the King's Highness only The other Negative renouncing all Jurisdictions and Authorities of any foreign Prince or Prelate within his Majesties Dominions For the better understanding of the former we are in the first place to call unto our remembrance that exhortation of St. Peter Submit your selves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be unto the King as having the preheminence or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well By this we are taught to respect the King not as the only Governour of his Dominions simply for we see there be other Governours placed under him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as him that excelleth and hath the preheminence over the rest that is to say according to the tenure of the Oath as him that is the only Supreme Governor of his Realms Upon which ground we may safely build this conclusion That whatsoever power is incident unto the King by virtue of his place must be acknowledged to be in him Supreme there being nothing so contrary to the nature of Soveraignty as to have another superiour power to over rule it Qui Rex est Regem maxime non habeat In the second place we are to consider That God for the better setling of piety and honesty among men and the repressing of prophaneness and other vices hath established two distinct powers upon Earth The one of the Keys committed to the Church the other of the Sword committed to the Civil Magistrate That of the Keys is ordained to work upon the inner man having immediate relation to the remitting or retaining of sins That of the Sword is appointed to work upon the outward man yielding protection to the obedient and inflicting external punishment on the rebellious and disobedient By the former the spiritual Officers of the Church
of Christ are inabled to govern well to speak and exhort and rebuke with all Authority to loose such as are Penitent to commit others unto the Lord's Prison until their amendment or to bind them over unto the Judgment of the Great Day if they shall persist in their wilfulness and obstinacy By the other Princes have an imperious power assigned by God unto them for the defence of such as do well and executing revenge and wrath upon such as do evil whether by death or banishment or confiscation of goods or imprisonment according to the quality of the offence When St. Peter that had the Keys committed unto him made bold to draw the Sword he was commanded to put it up as a weapon that he had no authority to meddle withal And on the other side when Uzziah the King would venture upon the execution of the Priest's Office it was said unto him It pertaineth not unto thee Uzziah to burn incense unto the Lord but to the Priests the Sons of Aaron that are Consecrated to burn incense Let this therefore be our second Conclusion That the power of the Sword and of the Keys are two distinct Ordinances of God and that the Prince hath no more Authority to enter upon the execution of any part of the Priest's Function than the Priest hath to intrude upon any part of the Office of the Prince In the third place we are to observe That the power of the Civil Sword the supreme managing whereof belongeth to the King alone is not to be restrained unto Temporal Causes only but is by Gods Ordinance to be extended likewise unto all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things and Causes That as the spiritual Rulers of the Church do exercise their kind of Government in bringing men unto obedience not of the duties of the first Table alone which concerneth Piety and the Religious Service which man is bound to perform unto his Creator but also of the second which respecteth moral honesty and the Offices that man doth owe unto man so the Civil Magistrate is to use his Authority also in redressing the abuses committed against the first Table as well as against the second that is to say as well in punishing of an Heretick or an Idolater or a Blasphemer as of a Thief or a Murtherer or a Traytor and in providing by all good means that such as live under his Government may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and honesty And howsoever by this means we make both Prince and Priest to be in their several places Custodes utriusque Tabulae Keepers of both God's Tables yet do we not hereby any way confound both of their Offices together For though the matter wherein their Government is exercised may be the same yet is the form and manner of governing therein always different the one reaching to the outward man only the other to the inward the one binding or loosing the Soul the other laying hold on the Body and the things belonging thereunto the one having special reference to the Judgment of the World to come the other respecting the present retaining or losing of some of the comforts of this life That there is such a Civil Government as this in Causes Spiritual or Ecclesiastical no man of judgment can deny For must not Heresie for example be acknowledged to be a cause meerly Spiritual or Ecclesiastical And yet by what power is an Heretick put to death The Officers of the Church have no Authority to take away the life of any man it must be done therefore per brachium saeculare and consequently it must be yielded without contradiction that the temporal Magistrate doth exercise therein a part of his Civil Government in punishing a Crime that is of its own nature Spiritual or Ecclesiastical But here it will be said the words of the Oath being general That the King is the only Supreme Governor of this Realm and of all other his Highness's Dominions and Countries How may it appear that the power of the Civil Sword only is meant by that Government and that the power of the Keys is not comprehended therein I answer First That where a Civil Magistrate is affirmed to be the Governor of his own Dominions and Countries by common intendment this must needs be understood of a Civil Government and may in no reason be extended to that which is meerly of another kind Secondly I say That where an ambiguity is conceived to be in any part of an Oath it ought to be taken according to the understanding of him for whose satisfaction the Oath was ministred Now in this case it hath been sufficiently declared by publick Authority That no other thing is meant by the Government here mentioned but that of the Civil Sword only For in the Book of Articles agreed upon by the Arch-Bishops and Bishops and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London Anno 1562. thus we read Where we attribute to the Queen's Majesty the chief Government by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended we give not to our Princes the ministring either of God's Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the Injuctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testifie but that only Prerogative which we see to have been given always to all Godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself that is That they should rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers If it be here objected that the Authority of the Convocation is not a sufficient ground for the exposition of that which was enacted in Parliament I answer That these Articles stand confirmed not only by the Royal assent of the Prince for the establishing of whose Supremacy the Oath was framed but also by a special Act of Parliament which is to be found among the Statutes in the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth chap. 12. Seeing therefore the makers of the Law have full Authority to expound the Law and they have sufficiently manifested That by the supreme Government given to the Prince they understand that kind of Government only which is exercised with the Civil Sword I conclude that nothing can be more plain than this That without all scruple of Conscience the King's Majesty may be acknowledged in this sense to be the only Supreme Governor of all his Highness's Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical things or causes as Temporal And so have I cleared the first main branch of the Oath I come now unto the Second which is propounded Negatively That no foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Preheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm The foreigner that challengeth this Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Jurisdiction over us
About this time whilst his late Majesty was kept Prisoner at year 1648 Carisbrook Castle in the Isle of Wight the Lord Primate was highly concerned at the disloyal actions of the two Houses towards their Lawful Prince to express which he preached at Lincolns-Inn on this Text Isa. 8. 12 13. Say ye not a Confederacy to all them to whom this people shall say a Confederacy neither fear you their fear nor be afraid Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread Wherein he sufficiently expressed his dislike of those Covenants and Consederacies which they had now entred into contrary to that Oath they had taken already and that we should not fear man more than God when we were to do our Duty to our Prince or Country Not long after which the Presbyterians finding the Independant party too strong for them had no way left to secure themselves but by recalling their Votes of Non-Addresses and to Vote a Treaty with his Majesty in the Isle of Wight And because the differences concerning Church-Government were not the least of those that were to be setled and concluded at this Treaty and for which it was necessary for his Majesty to consult with some of his Bishops and Divines the Lord Primate was sent for by the King among divers others to attend him for that purpose when he came thither he found one of the greatest points then in debate was about the Government of the Church The Parliament Commissioners insisting peremptorily for the abolishing and taking away Arch-Bishops Bishops c. out of the Churches of England and Ireland His Majesty thought he could not with a good Conscience consent to that demand viz. totally to abolish or take away Episcopal Government but his Majesty then declared that he no otherwise aimed at the keeping up the present Hierarchy in the Church than what was most agreeable to the Episcopal Government in the Primitive and purest Times But his Majesty since the Parliament insisted so obstinately on it was at last forced to consent to the suspension of Episcopacy for three years but would by no means agree to take away Bishops absolutely But now to stop the present career of the Presbyterian Discipline the Lord Primate proposed an expedient which he called Episcopal and Presbyterial Government conjoyned and which he not long after he came thither delivered into his Majesty's hands who having perused it liked it well saying it was the only Expedient to reconcile the present differences for his Majesty in his last Message to the Parliament had before condescended to the reducing of Episcopal Government into a much narrower compass viz. Not only to the Apostolical Institution but much farther than the Lord Primate proposed or desired even to the taking away of Arch-Bishops Deans Chapters c. Together with all that additional Power and Jurisdiction which his Majesty's Predecessors had bestowed upon that Function Which Message being read in the House was by them notwithstanding voted unsatisfactory So that the Presbyterian Party was so absolutely bent to abolish the very Order of Bishops that no proposals of his Majesty's though never so moderate would content them till at last when they had wrangled so long till they saw the King's person seized by the Army and that the power was like to be taken out of their hands they then grew wiser and would have agreed to his Proposals when it was too late and so the Presbyterian Party saw themselves within a few days after forcibly excluded and turned out of doors by that very Army which they themselves had raised and hired to fight against their Prince which as it was the cause of his Majesty's destruction so it proved their own ruine But since some of the Church of England have been pleased to judge very hardly of this Proposal made by the Arch-Bishop as if it too much debased the Episcopal Order and levelled it with that of Presbyters To vindicate the Lord Primate from which imputation I desire them to consider these particulars first the time when this Expedient was proposed viz. When his Majesty had already consented to the suspension of Episcopal Government for three years absolutely as also for setling Presbytery in the room of it for that time and for quite taking away Arch-Bishops Deans and Chapters c. as hath been already said whereas the Lord Primate's Expedient proposes none of these but supposes the Arch-Bishops or Primates ought to be continued appointing them to be the moderators of the Provincial Synods of Suffragans and Pastors And though it is true he mentions Bishops as to be only Presidents of the Diocesan Synod yet he no where denies them a Negative Voice in that Assembly and though he mentions at the beginning of this Expedient that the Bishops were wont in the Primitive times to do nothing of moment without the advice of a Synod of their Clergy as he proves from divers quotations out of the Fathers and Ancient Councils yet he does not assert this practice as a thing of Divine or unalterable right but only as the custom and practice of the Church in those Times which being only prudential may be altered one way or other according as the peace and order of the Church or the exigency of Affairs may require and though in Sect. 11. of this Expedient he proposes the making of as many Suffragans in each Diocess as there are Rural Deanries in the same and who should assemble a Synod of all the Rectors or Ministers of their Precinct yet their power was only to be according to the Statute of the 26th of Henry the Eighth whereby they are expresly forbid to act in any matters but by the Authority of and in Subordination to their Diocesan Bishop nor does the Lord Primate here extend their power farther than to be moderators of this lesser Synod where matters of Discipline and Excommunication only were to be determined still reserving the power of Ordination to the Diocesan this being no where given from him in this Expedient neither was this power of Excommunication left absolutely to this lesser Synod without an Appeal to the Diocesan Synod of the Suffragans and the rest of the Pastors wherein the Bishop was to preside only I shall say thus much That it was not the Lord Primate's design or intention in the least to rob the Bishops of any of those just Rights which are essentially necessary to their Order and Constitution and without abasing Episcopacy into Presbytery or stripping the Church of its Lands and Revenues both which the Lord Primate always abhorred for he was of his Majesty's mind in his excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Presbytery is never so considerable or effectual as when it is joyned to and Crowned with Episcopacy And that the King himself was then convinced that this was the best Expedient for the setling of the differences of the Church at that time You may
likewise see by what he writes in the same Chap. in these words viz. Not that I am against the managing of this Presidency and Authority in one man by the joynt Counsel and Consent of many Presbyters I have offered to restore that as a fit means to avoid those Errors Corruptions and Partialities which are incident to any one man And so likewise in the Chapter about the Reformation of the Times he has this passage I was willing to grant or restore to Presbytery what with reason or discretion it can pretend to in a Conjuncture with Episcopacy but for that wholly to invade the Power and by the Sword to Arrogate and quite Abrogate the Authority of that Ancient Order I think neither just as to Episcopacy nor safe for Presbytery nor yet any way convenient for this Church or State And that the most Pious and Learned Dr. Hammond was about the same time of the Lord Primate's judgment in this matter may appear by this passage in the Preface to his Treatise of the Power of the Keys That a moderate Episcopacy with a standing assistant Presbytery as it will certainly satisfie the desires of those whose pretentions are regular and moderate craving nothing more and in some things less than the Laws of the Land so that it will appear to be that which all parties can best Tolerate and which next himself both Presbyterian Independant and Erastian will make no question to choose and prefer before any of the other Pretenders And though it may be true that divers of the more sober of the Presbyterian party have seemed to have approved of these terms of Reconciliation yet it has been only since the ill success their Discipline hath met with both in England and Scotland that has made them more moderate in their demands for it is very well known that when these Terms were first proposed the Ring-leaders of the Party utterly cryed them down as a great Enemy to Presbytery Since this Expedient would have yet left Episcopacy in a better condition than it is at this day in any of the Lutheran Churches but they were not then for Divisum Imperium would have all or nothing and they had their desires So that it is no wonder if the Lord Primate in this endeavour of Reconciliation met with the common fate of Arbitrators to please neither party But thô the Church is now restored beyond our expectation as well as merits to all its just Rights and Priviledges without the least diminution Yet certainly no good Subject or Son of the Church either of the Clergy or Laity at that time when this Expedient was proposed but would have been very well contented to have yielded farther than this to have preserved his late Majesty's life and to have prevented those Schisms and Confusions which for so many years harrassed these poor Nations But if our King and Church are both now restored it is what then no man could fore-see it is the Lord 's doing and is marvellous in our Eyes but I have dwelt so long upon this subject that I forgot to relate a passage though not of so great moment as the Affair we last mentioned yet as it happened in order of time before it so was it too considerable to be passed over viz. the Sermon which the Lord Primate now preached before the King at Newport in the Isle of Wight presently after his coming thither on the 19th of Novemb. being his Majesty's Birth-day which because it then was the occasion of a great deal of discourse I shall give you the heads of it being there present at that Sermon which afterward was published though very imperfectly by some that took Notes the Text was Gen. 49. 3. Ruben thou art my first-born my Might and the beginning of my Strength the excellency of Dignity and the excellency of Power These remarkable passages he had in this Sermon among others in Explication viz. The Regal power which comes by Descent is described by a double Excellency The Excellency of Dignity and the Excellency of Power By Dignity we understand all outward Glory by Power all Dominion And these are the two branches of Majesty The Greeks express it in the abstract And so in respect of Dignity The Supreme Magistrate is called Glory and in respect of Sovereignty he is called Lord Both these are joyned in the Epistle of Jude ver 8. There are a wicked sort there described that despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities and make no Conscience to Blaspheme the Footsteps of the Lord 's Anointed And what is their Censure ver 13. To whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever We used to say That those that have God's Tokens upon them are past hopes of life here you may plainly see God's Tokens upon these men they are reserved to everlasting Damnation After he had shewen in many instances of the outward Splendor and Pomp which peculiarly belong to Majesty and are lawful and requisite to maintain the Dignity of a Prince c. then he proceeded to shew the Eminency of Power belonging thereunto For a King to have great State and to have no Power he were then but a poor weak King There is a subordination of Power in all Governments which because it cannot go in Infinitum it must needs rest some where and that is in the King Let every Soul be subject to the higher power whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the Ordinance of God And the Apostle 1 Pet. 2. 13. To the King as Supreme If any Professors of Religion do Rebel against the King this is a scandal to Religion and 't is the fault of the Professors and not of the Profession for the Church of England doth teach the contrary But when men shall not only practise but teach Rebellion this amounts to a very high Crime indeed The King as St. Peter saith hath the Excellency of Power as sent by God But what need I say any more we all swear that the King is the Only Supreme Governor in his Dominions A man would think that that word Only might be spared since nothing can be above a Supreme but it is put there by way of Eminency I read in Josephus That Herod having offended Cleopatra she besought Antony to call him to account for it But Antony refused so to do for then said he He will be no King And after he had enlarged somewhat on these points he added this In the word of a King there is power saith the Preacher It was wont to be so and by the word of God it ought to be so I might enlarge upon this but some Ears will not endure sound Doctrine The King you see must be acknowledged to be Supreme and no Superior to the King on Earth far be it from me to flatter any man I thank God I fear no flesh but do deliver the Truth This day is the Birth-day of our Sovereign Lord. Birth-days of Kings have been usually Celebrated
discreet wise and stout enough si res exigat he will be frugi and provident for the Colledg and for converse of a sweet and amiable disposition and well experienced In a word he is homo perpaucorum hominum si quid judico I pray the God of Heaven to bless his coming to you to the good of your Colledg and the Church of Ireland I suppose your Lordship will desire to hear somewhat of our Cambridg-Affairs though I doubt not but you hear by some Cambridg Men which come over to you I suppose you have heard of a Lecture for reading of History intended to be given us by the Lord Brook Who as you know first intended to have had Mr. Vossius of Leyden afterward his Stipend being augmented by the States he resolved of Dr. Dorislaw of Leyden also He before his coming hither took his Degree of Doctor of the Civil Law at Leyden was sent down to Cambridg by my Lord Brook with his Majesty's Letters to the Vice-Chancellor and the Head signifying my Lord Brook's intent and also willing us to appoint him a place and time for his Reading which accordingly was done He read some two or three Lectures beginning with Cornehâ—s Tacitus where his Author mentioning the conversion of the State of Rome from Government by Kings to the Government by Consuls by the suggestion of Junius Bruâ—us he took occasion to discourse of the Power of the People under the Kings and afterward When he touched upon the Excesses of Tarquintus Superâ—us his infringing of the Liberties of the People which they enjoyed under former Kings and so among many other things descended to the vindicating of the Netherlanders for retaining their Liberties against the violences of Spain In conclusion he was conceived of by some to speak too much for the defence of the Liberties of the People though he spake with great moderation and with an exception of such Monarchies as ours where the People had surrendered their Right to the King as that in truth there could be no just exception taken against him yet the Master of Peter-house complained to the Vice-Chancellor Master of Christ's-Colledg and complaint also was made above and it came to â—is Majesty's ear which we having intelligence of Dr. Dorislaw denied to come and clear himself before the Heads and carried himself so ingeâ—â—ously that he gave satisfaction to an whereupon 〈…〉 were 〈◊〉 to his Patron to the Bishop of Durham and others to signify â—â— much But he going to his Patron first he suppressed the Letters 〈…〉 he would 〈…〉 before any excuse should be made After word came from the Bishop of Winchester then Durham in the Majesty's Name to prohibit the History-Reader to read But after that both his Majesty and the Bishop and all others above and here were satisfied but then his Patron kept off and doth to this day and will allow his Reader the Stipend for his time but we fear we shall lose the Lecture I see a Letter which his Patron writ to him to Malden to will him to be gone into his Country but he would assure him of his Stipend The Doctor kept with me while he was in Town He married an English Woman about Malden in Essex where now he is He is a fair-conditioned Man and a good Scholar I had a Letter from Mr. Vossius before Christmass with a Book of the Latin Historians which he lately set forth and dedicated to my Lord the Duke of Buckingham He sent also a Book to his Majesty and the Court-Bishops I writ back unto him and sent him my Lord of Sarum his Commentary on the Colossians willing him to revise his Pelagian History especially about the Points of Original Sin and the Efficacy of Grace As touching my self in my Readings I have suspended my Reading upon the Real Pretence though I had almost finished it And have read this Year and half at least upon that Point which I chiefly insist upon in my Sermon in Latin to shew that the Grace of Conversion giveth not only posse convertere but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 velle I have been long in vindicating the third Argument used by the Contra-Remonstrants in Colloq Hagiensi taken from the places where we are said to be mortui in peccatis wherein the Remonstrants do discover the grounds of their Assertions more than elsewhere Dr. Jackson hath lately set forth a Book of the Attributes of God wherein in the Preface to the Earl of Pembroke he doth profess himself an Arminian ascribing to the opposites of Arminius as I conceive that God's Decrees before the Creation take away all possibilities of contrary Events after the Creation True it is that God's eternal Decree of any Event as that I should write at this moment cannot consist with my actual not writing at this time But none say it taketh from me all possibility of writing at this time unless it be sensu composito This conceit as I conceive maketh him elsewhere to impugn all Divine Predefinitions as prejudicious to Man's Liberty and Freedom which is a most silly conceit I do conceive all that which he disputeth in his Book against Negative Reprobation as not sorting with the antecedent Will of God for the Salvation of all to be against the seventeenth Article of Religion which plainly averâ—eth a gratuitous predestination of some and not of all Therefore from thence is inferred a not-election of others to that Grace which is that which properly is stiled Reprobation As for our University none do patronage these Points either in 〈…〉 or Pulpit though because Preferments at Court are conferred upon such as incline that way causeth some to look that way I suppose your Lordship hath seen my Lord of 〈…〉 Reading 〈…〉 the Colossions which should have been exhibited 〈…〉 his Majesty when he was here about the beginning of Lent But my Lord of Winchester hindred that intention though herein he 〈◊〉 the University For we having received a Favour from his Majesty to enjoy the priviledg of our Charter for printing all kind of Books against the London Printers thought to shew to his Majesty a Specimen of our Printing both for good Letter and good Paper of both which his Majesty had 〈…〉 in printing the Bibles at London Thus with remembrance of my best Service to your good Lordship with my best Wishes and Prayers for the continuance of your Lordship's Health and Prosperity here for the good of God's Church and your happiness hereafter I commend you to the gracious protection of the highest Majesty resting Your Graces in all Service Samuel Ward Cambridg May 16. 1628. Mr. Whalley and Mr. Mead are both in good health for which Friends I am beholden to your Lordship tho you take Mr. Bedell from me Dr. Chaderton also is in health LETTER CXXVIII A Letter from Sir Henry Spelman to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Pleaseth it your Grace I Cannot express with what humble gladness I received your Letters
bear to your Person and to the eminence of your place in the Church have moved us to make choice of your Lordship to preach here before this State on the Day whereon we purpose to perform those Ceremonies of Thankfulness due from us which we have thought fit to make known unto you purposing shortly to let you know the day when we desire your presence Yet if you shall find by your late Sickness any indisposition in your Body or danger to your Health to perform this Charge which we know would otherwise be very acceptable to you we do not in such case so strictly require your presence with us but that we do freely leave it to your own choice to come or stay as you shall find the disposition of your Body to enable you Only we desire to understand from you whether we shall then expect you or not to the end we may make choice of another if you may not come And so we bid your Lordship very heartily farewel From his Majesty's Castle of Dublin Junii 18. 1630. Your Lordship 's very loving Friends R. Cork Ad. Loftus Canc. In imitation of the like sent us out of England we have caused the inclosed to be imprinted here LETTER CLXVI A Letter from the Right Reverend William Laud Bishop of London to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Salutem in Christo. My very good Lord I Hope your Grace will pardon me that in all this time I have not written unto you For though I thank God I have recovered my Health in a measure beyond expectation yet I have been so overlaid with Business that I have not been able to give you any account or at least not such as I desired Your Lordship's first Letters for I owe you an answer to two bear date April the 5th and your later June the 4th 1630. The Main of both Letters is concerning Sir John Bathe And though in your last Letters you be confident that Sir John's Grant is not past the Seals as he hath avouched it is yet I must acquaint your Grace that you are mistaken therein for it appeared at the last sitting of the Committee that the Seal was put to his Grant at the beginning of April last Of which Doctrine you may make this Use what close conveyance and carriage there may be when the Church is to be spoiled I understand by Mr. Hamilton that the Lord Chancellor of Ireland is in Holy Orders and that being Deacon he holds an Arch-Deaconry yet of good value Surely my Lord if this be so there is somewhat in it that I will not express by Letter but were I his Superior in Ordinary I know what I would do and that I have plainly expressed both to his Majesty and the Lords Committees But my Lord for the Business I have stuck so close unto it both with his Majesty and with the Lords especially the Lord Treasurer who hath been and is very noble to the Church that I hope Sir John Bathe will see his Error and pitch upon some other Reward for his Services and surrender this Patent though seal'd that we may go on with the King 's Royal and Pious Grant to the Church Things being thus far onward once more there are two things which stick with the Lords 1. One is They like not the placing of these Impropriations upon any Incorporations Dublin or other To this I answered That neither did I like it and that it must be alter'd because it is against Law So it is resolved that we shall hereafter take not only that but all other material Passages of the Grant into consideration and therefore I think neither your old nor your new Letter will stand Some thought it fittest that these Impropriations should be left to the King to give To this I replied That that course would by the Suit of the Clergy and their Journeys over take off a great part of the Benefit intended them And to leave them in the Power of the Lord Deputy that might be but to enrich his Secretaries and expose the Church to that which I will not speak 2. The other Difficulty is That this Grant to the Church is too much against the King's Profit in these difficult Times because in the Lay-way the King's Rent may be improved which according to this Grant cannot be This Blow I looked not for but answered upon the sudden That I thought the Church of Ireland would be glad to take the King's Grant though it were with some improvement upon such Impropriations as might well bear it This I did partly to bear off the shock for the time and partly to gain opportunity to write to you who understand that Business better And I pray you by your next Letters give me all the help you can towards this Business One thing more and then I have done with Sir John Bathe Upon occasion of his Speech That the Clergy had a third part of that Kingdom I represented to the Lords the Paper which you sent me concerning the State of the County of Louth It was a miserable spectacle to them all yet at the last some Doubt arose whether those Values there expressed were the Rate in the King's Books or the uttermost value to the Incumbent To this I was not able to make a resolute Answer yet I feared they were Rates to the utmost value Hereupon the Lords required of me to write unto you to desire you to send me word with all the speed you can what value that Note of yours contain'd of which I pray fail not Your Grace is pleased in another Passage to desire me not to be too strict to my Rule in chusing Deans only to be Bishops My Lord it is true Deans are or should be the likeliest Men to be fitted for Bishopricks but they and no other was never any Rule of mine to my remembrance My Rule was and is and to that I shall ever be strict not to suffer any Bishop to hold any Deanery in Commendam if it lie in my power to hinder it For that which concerns the Bishop of Clonfert and Killmacduagh I have read the inclosed Papers you sent and see cause more than enough to pity but the way for remedy will be full of difficulty And for Killâ—anora there will be time enough to think upon Annexation For the Colledg and their Chauntry-Lands c. when they come for their Patent they shall not need to doubt all the lawful assistance that I can give them And now my Lord for as my Business stands 't is time to make an end I must needs thank you that you make it a matter of Joy to hear of my late Honour in being chosen Chancellor of Oxford My Lord I speak really it was beyond my deserts and contrary to my desires but since it hath pleased God by their Love to lay it upon me I must undergo the Burden as I may My honourable Predecessor enriched his Name by the Greek Manuscripts