Gâ—spels and Epistles In a word all the dayes dedicate to Christs severall acts are all humane inventions some later some more ancient Iewish formes wherwith that people was brought up under the pedagogie of the law a rudimentarie kind of instruction not beseeming the Christian Church nor answerable to the cleare light of the Gospell The Iewes anniversarie dayes were abolished not onely for their peculiar service or signification of things to come but altogether howbeit memorials of by-past benefits Christ and his Apostles did institure no day for remembrance of a particular benefit no not the weekly sabboth let be an anniversary day For the weekly Lords day was not appointed for remembrance of the particular benefit of Christs resurrection but for the whole worship of God If the Lords day were referred directly and expressely to the commemoration of the resurrection then should it be the proper and peculiar service of the Sabboth then should we not have at all a day determinate in the new â—estament and institute to worship God for himselfe and all his workes in generall There was then no memoriall dayes appoynted in the new testament but a morall day for the worship of God The sacrament as often as it is celebrate it is a memoriall of his passion When the word is preached Christ is crucified before our eyes But dayes of particular commemorations of some speciall actions with solemnitie and cessation from worke we have none nor was it the intention of Christ or his Apostles If there be no warrant to dedicate anniversarie dayes to Christ farre lesse to the virgin Mary and the rest of the Saints and of Angels Their holy dayes of Saints are called the Saints dayes as well as Christs dayes are called his And they have their collects gospels epistles as well as Christ hath his and what reason have they to have some anniversarie remembrances of so many Saints of the new testament and never one for any of the old Can they give any reason of this difference but a â—opish one And among these of the Christian Church why is Timothy and Titus and many â—oe not remembred as the rest are Is the 〈◊〉 purification of our Lady upon the candleâ—masse day a matter of such moment that it is to be honoured with some speciall day and actions of greater importance are not so to be celebrate This night the Maior of London kneeleth downe at S. Edwins tombe in Pâ—ules Church and sayth a Pâ—ter noster as Barroâ— reporteth If I should insist upon every particular day and rip up their collects gospells pisâ—les hymnes and songs I should be too proâ—ixe For we should fall upon many fooleries and impertinent application of the word of God In the collect from Christmas to New-yeares day they are appointed to say that Christ was borne upon this day when as it beâ—oved him to be borne onely upon one day 〈◊〉 it is grounded upon an erroneous conceit of Zacharies high priesthood that he was born â—n the 25. day of December In the collect upon Innocents day it is sayd that the infants whom Herod murthered were Gods witnesses Athanasius creed is to honour the high dayes 〈◊〉 not the common creed and is appointed to be read onely upon certaine holy dayes it must not grace other dayes Venite may not serve at Easter as it doth all the yeare before and after follow Domine labia mea They have no reason for these and other like superstitious vanities but such as Durandus or any other papist can give them out of their reasonlessâ— Rationalls What holynesse they place in their holy dayes may be seene in that they haue a stricter rest enjoyned upon them not they urge for the sabbath whereas the Lord required a stricter rest upon the Sabbath then upon other dayes appointed by himself Then againe their principall feasts haue Eaves and devout fastes going before Thirdly they say they will not change them to let us see that they may be changed but retaine the same dayes which the papists observe and which they say were consecrate and made more holie then other dayies be the actions which were wrought on these dayes as the manger and crosse of tree was with the truth of Christs body Even howbeit this reteyning without change doeth nourish in the people both a superstitious and popish conceit of the holynes of the day and the erroneous conceits that Christ was borne on such a day Iohn Baptist on such a day that Zacharie was high priest etc. To let passe other popish opinions of worship and merite The most part observe it with masking dancing gluttonie games enterludes For the which superstitious and erroneous conceits and incorrigible abuses they ought to be abolished suppose in themselves they had bene never so indifferent Besides their Eaves they have their ordinary fridaies Ember weeks and lent fast And if they say that abstinence from flesh onely is coÌ„manded for some politicall respects I would demand wherefore is the minister or Curate enjoyned after sermon homilie or exhortation to declare unto the people whether there be any holy dayes or fasting daies the week following Are not the people commanbed likewise to repaire to the Church to pray and to heare divine service Their lent beginneth as the popish doeth upon Ashwednesday with a terrible coÌ„mination where are pronounced many bitter curses and the people answer ratifie every one of them with their own mouth saying Amen The priest before he utter the curses after the lettanie is sayd goeth to the pulpit to imitate the levites who pronunced curses upon mount Ebal and never but once he saith Brethren in the primitive Church there was a godly discipline that at the beginning of lent such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open pennance and punished in this world that their soules might be saved in the day of the Lord and that others admonished by their exaÌ„ple might be the more afraid to offend In stead wherof untill the same discipline may be restored again which thing is much to be wished etc. it is thought good that at this time should be read the generall sentences of Gods cursings against impenitent sinners Yee see that corporall and afflictiue penance is commended for good discipl for the disci of the prim church for the discipl of lent and espetially on ashweonesday that it is wished to be restored again I beleeve theÌ„ It is displing ashes shriving and such other gear that they would haue In the last collect upon the first day of lent or ashwednesday the priest or Curate sayth Be favourable to thy people which turne unto the in weeping fasting and prayer Is this to fast for ciuil respects onely for the main tenance of sea faring men and preservation of cattell The Priests and Clerks kneeling say the Psalme miserere mei Deus The prayers and special exhortations tend to begin their repentance that day The week before Easter hath a prescript service
of God howbeit he doth it in effect and so doth the Archbishop For simonie non-residencie pluralitie of benefices readmission after the irregularitie of apostasie observation of superstitious dayes and times not eating of flesh in Lent and forbidden dayes which are here expressed are repugnant to the law of God Therefore he may take the like libereie in usurie perjurie incest mariage within degrees of the Leviticall law and the rest of the cases and causes which were reserved to the Pope of old It is not without reason then that the authours of the Admonition call this Court a filthy quagmire and poysoned plash of all abbominations seeing the filth of all these abominations are washed here and the guiltie person commeth forth after the Archbishops dispensation as white as snow leaving his filth behind in that Court Beside the Prerogative Court the Court of Arches the Court of Audience the Court of Faculties the Archbishop hath yet another Court called the Court of Peculiars which dealeth in certaine Parishes exempt from the Bishops iurisâ—iction in some Diocesse and are peculiarlie belonging to the Archbishop of Canterburie Hee hath also inferiour Courts such as other Bishops have You see then Canterburie is a petie Pope or according to Bancrofts reckoning a vice-pope made up of the old spoyles of comprovinciall Bishops and Synods and also with the new spoyls of the Pope beeing armed beside with the Kings delegate temporall power in the High Commission and so greater in his intensive power then ever he was in time of Poperie And when the union shall be accomplished shal be greater in his extensive power also with his Courts over-ruling our Nation and shall be vice-pope of this little World O if faithfull Patriots would forsee and prevent this The least of their Ceremonies will prepare a way to this mischiefe CHAP. 4. Of the Dignitie and Power of English Bishops IN the former chapâ—er we did onely give not grant superiorite of Bishops over Pastors which being supposed we medled onely with the vnlawfull power and dignitie of Archbishops but the truth is that the superioritie of Bishops over Pastors is unlawfull also By divine Law one Pastor is not superiour in degree above another no more then one Apostle or Euangelist above another Apostle or Euangelist The name of Bishops was not appropriate to any eminent rank of Pastors but was common to all as may be seene Act. 20. Philip. 1. 1. Timoth. 3. Tit. 1. 1. Pet. 5. And that their office was also common may be sene in the same places from whence Hierome in his Epistle to Evagrius doth conclude that a Bishop and Presbyter was all one And in his Commentarie on the Epistle to Titus cap. 1. that communi Presbyterorum consilio Ecclesiae gubernabaÌ„tur the Churches were governed by the joynt advice of Presbyters Our Opposites say that government was onely private in the inner court the court of Conscience not publicke in the externall court or Consistorie It was so in the time of Poperie when the Priests were excluded from the externall governement of the Church which Bishops did vendicate to themselves and their Courts the poore Priest having no further power then to receive privately auricular confession ponder the weight of secret faults and accordingly to enjoyne pennance But Hierome speaketh not of a severall but of a common councell and joynt care of many assembled together For this private government in the inner Court of conscience was not onely then but continueth to this day wherby every Pastor may deal with the consciences of any of his own flock But Hierome speaketh of a government which was altered after the Apostles times and different from the Episcopall government which followed When the Churches were thus governed in common by joynt advice of Presbyters they had not a perpetuall President or as we use to speake a constant Moderator who had this preeminence during life set over them to moderate the common Meetings but they choosed their Presidents and changed them as they thought fit No Pastor could claime this prioritie of order and direction of the common Meetings as belonging to him of office The Apostles did no where institute this same small difference of Pastors that some during life should be moderators of the rest let be that majoritie of rule and superiority in power which Bishops doe claime The Pastors who were at Alexandria the first we read to have set up a constant Moderator to whom also they did appropriate the name of Bishop This was the beginning of that great mischiefe which followed This was the Cockatrice egge out of the which Antichrist himselfe was hatched For this perpetuall Presidencie and prioritie of order did degenerate in superiority of power and majoritie of rule and the Bishops growing to some grandeur they behoved to have an Archbishop and at last a Pope So that if a Bishop had not beene a Pope had not been and if there had not been a Pope the great Antichrist had not been Boni-gratis supposed to be the author of the Treatise de aetatibus Ecclesiae wondereth that the Popes Monarchie should arise from so small a beginning But the Apostle telleth us that that iniquitie was a Mysterie and that this Mysterie was working under ground even in his time For even the Apostolicall times wanted not a proud Diotrephes loving preeminence A little seed will bring forth a great Tree If the Discipline had not beene corrupted as well as doctrine the great Antichrist could not have risen All the errours and heresies in doctrine and matters of faith which have entered in the Church could not have brought him in unlesse errour and corruption in the government had entred in also for unlesse this had been he could pretend no claime at all to governe and rule I come therefore to our English bishops Let a man travell through Italie where the Pope is or Spaine where the Spanish Inquisition is he shall finde no difference betwixt the power of an Italian Spanish or English bishop The English bishop is the same now for power and greatnesse that hee was an hundred years since in the time of poperie There are foure things chiefly to bee considered in him First the derivation of his power 2. the sole exercise of his authority 3. the deputation of this his authoritie 4. his extensive power As for the first they are not bishops as we have sayd iure divino by divine institution or right nor cannot bee Neither are they Bishops by humane law that is the constitutions of the ancient Church which imprudently and unhappily set up the first bishops erring in taking up right the nature of Church government and the qualities of the Antichrist who was to be revealed but in the full time For they are not of that kinde of Bishops which ruled together with the Presbyterie or Ecclesiasticall Senate but they are bishops by the Municipall law of the land onely in the judgement of the lawes For all their
fruits and crop of the ground as of corne or fruits of trees Personall are such as are payed by reason of the person himselfe out of the gain that he maketh of this trading handicraft hunting warfaring c. The Mixt is added by sâ—me as a third kinde but others reduce them according to their diversitie to one of the first two and such are the birth of bestiall wooll milke whether they be fed at home or be at pasture in the field Tithes of whatsoever kinde are but temporall goods not spirituall howbeit they be annexed to spirituall things and be appoynâ—ed to uphold and maintaine divine service and spirituall functions Tithes were of old recovered in the Kings Court not in Ecclesiasticall as is averred in a treatise alledged by the author of the Apologie of proceedings in Courts Ecclesiasticall We think that the Kings Courts be put out of iuâ—â—sdiction for tythes by a custome of the Realme and not by the immediat power of the law of God And againe That suits for tithes shall be taken in the spirituall court is onely grounded upon a favour that the Kings of this realme and the whole realme have in times past borne to the Clergie That the kings Courts of his Bench and common pleas and also other inferior courts were put out of jurisdiction for tythes suits for tithes were granted to spirituall Courts was a favour it is true granted to the Clergie inabling them with power within themselves to recover tithes destinate to their maintenance but wee must not look so much to the commoditie wee may reape by the grants of Princes as whether Church consistories should medle with such controversies concerning things temporall This man owe me a cole that man a stiâ—k the third two stone of butter the fourth such a number of Saffron heads the fift so many sallow Trees such and such suits were verie pertinent for a Presbyterie to sit upon for the Presbyterie is the true and right Consistorie Now change this Consistorie as ye please and make the Bishop alone to be the Church consistorie it is all one For the causes themselves being temporall the qualitie of the person doth not alter the nature of the cause In the Assertion for true and Christian policie it is said That by a statute 32. Hen 8. c. 44. it is enacted That the Parsons and Curates of five Parish Chuâ—â—hes whereunto the Town of Royston did extend it selfe and every of them and the successors of every of them shall have their remedie by authoritâ— of that Act to sue demand aske and recover in the Kings Court of Chancerie the tithes of corne hay wooll lambe and Calfe subtracted or devyed to be payed by any person or persons Are the tythes of other Parishes more spirituall then these of Royston But admitting such pleas to be pertinent for a spirituall Court they should not be turned over to a Civilian the Bishops Officiall And what favour is granted to Church men by Princes when a Doctor of the Law shall determine in these pleas 2. Oblations due of custome either every quarter of the yeare or in baptismes or at blessing of mariages or at Churching of women or at burials 3 Mortuaries 4 Indemnities 5 Procuâ—aâ—ions 6 expences laid forth for the repairing of Ecclesiastical buildings decayed by the negligence of the Predecessour 7. Synodalls 8. wages and feel due for causes judiciall as to the Iudge the Advocate the Proctor the Clarke Or for causes out of judgement as to the Curate or Sexten A procuration is the furnishing of necessarie expenses for the Archbishop Bishop Archdeacon or any other having power to visit in respect of their visitations For howbeit the Bishops have great temporalities and possessions Ecclesiasticall that doth not content them but they must be sustained besides in their travelling They say they must have great riches because they have a great burthen and must not discharge their charge still in one place but through the whole Diocie And yet when they have gotten more then may suffice reasonable men they will not travell without a new pension and their expenses borne For no man is bound say they to goe on warfare on his owne cost And so with a new trick they got procurations annexed to their visitations as proper stipends due to visitors At the first the visitor and his retinue had their sustentation in victuals for the day which he visited the particular Church Afterward the procuration was rated to some value of money answerable respectively to the dignity of an Archbishop or Archdeacon for their retinue was prescribed in the Canons and Constitutions The Archdeacon was appointed to have onely to have 4. persons on horsebaâ—ke and one Sumner What think ye then shal be the retinue of the Bishop or Archbishop if this be moderate in the Archdeacon Farther whereas they ought not to have procurations except they visit every particular Church They will visit 30. or 40. churches in one day at one place and yet receive the diet in money of 30. or 40. churches or dayes They make commodity of their visitations otherwise also as ye have heard Synodals are another pension due to the Bishop by every Church in the Diocie for convocating Synods And yet their Synods are not worthy the name of Synods for the Diocesan Bishop is onely Lord and Iudge the rest are to bee judged rather then to partake in common with his power A Mortuarie is the second beast that the deceased person hath within the parish if hee have three or above the best being excepted and reserved to the iust owner If the three be of one kind or of divers the parish Priest must have the second and wherefore I pray you for recompensation of the personall tithes or offerings withholden while he lived yea howbeit ignorantly and unwittingly sayth Lindwood and to what end pro salute animae suae sayth Simon Langham Bishop of Canterburie in his Provinciall constitution For the safetie of the soule consisteth in remission of the sinn sayth Lindwood in his glosse upon that constitution which is not remitted sayth hee unlesse that which is withholden be restored These are the Mortuaries as yee see which are demandable in their spirituall courts Oblations should be free from compulsion and superstition not offered immediatly to God upon the Altar as sometimes they doe nor exacted under the colour of maintenance of the ministerie whereto the tithes are already bestowed to that use The rich parson yea the Bishop himselfe claimeth a right to these oblations as well as the poorest Priest To compell men to offer by the censures of their Courts is against the nature of a free offering The fees demandable in their Courts as due to the Iudge the Register the Advocates the Proctors are unreasonable Large fees are payd for the Iudges sentence for the Register and the proctors pains above the rate set down by their Canons as the defender of the last petition doth affirme
whole Parish To the minister himselfe either in reading some Psalmes each day of every month or of the rest of the Bible partly out of the Canonicall Scripture partly out of the Apocrypha bookes and that within the yeare The reading of Psalmes and other parts of Scripture is not preaching but the word read is like a loafe unbroken or not divided in peeces and morsels And therefore it is not a right set forme of service to prescribe all the Psalmes to bee read within the space of a month or so many lessons of the Scripture within a year to take up the time which should be spent in preaching Lesse Scripture read and withall explained and opened up to the use of the hearers is more profitable And if the other prejudge this howbeit the matter be good for it is the good word of God so much as is canonicall yet the forme is naught and in this case unlawfull Then as for the reading of the Psalmes they make daily prayers of them when as they bee not all prayers or else the matter of these which are praâ—ers doth not agree to the present time and state of the Church but are read hand over head The Apocrypha bookes should not receive that honour as to be read publickly in the Church as canonicall Scripture is Because they containe sundry false and frivolous things and suppose not yet they are not the trompets which are set apart and sanctified by God to bee blowne by his priests in his temple The church of the Iewes read no other scripture but Canonical Moses and the Prophets and the Psalmes and the Christian Church in the purer times onley the monuments of the Prophets and Apostles The Councell of Laodicea decreed the same also The reading of them in the Church hath made the people beleeve that they are portions of the old and new testament Sundry of the Prelates take texts out of the Apocrypha sayth the authour of the petition to the Queen Divers chapters of the Apocrypha are appointed to be read for extraordinarie lessons upon Feast daies and some parts of the canonicall Scripture are omitted The directories which direct in such things as belong to the whole Parish are anent observing feast dayes and daies of abstinence from flesh They have a number of feasts and fasting daies more then the Iewes had appointed to them The holy dayes observed by them besides the weekely Sabboths are these following the dayes of the Feasts of the Circumcision of the Epiphâ—â—ie of the Purification of the blessed Virgin of S. Matthias the Apostle of the annuntiation of the virgine of Saint Mark the Euangelist of Saint Philip and Iacob the Apostles of Christs Ascension of the nativitie of Iohn Baptist of S. Peter the Apostle of Iames the Apostle of Bartholomew the Apostle of S. Matthew the Apostle of S. Michael the Arch-Angel of S. Luke the Euangelist of S. Simon and Iude the Apostles of all Saints of Saint Andrew the Apostle of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Christs Nativitie of S. Steven the Martyr of S. Iohn the Euangelist of the holy Innocents Munday and Tuesday in Easter weeke and Munday and Tuesday in Whitson weeke This is their number and order as it is set downe in the beginning of their service booke They keep the same order in the observation of them that the Popish church observeth with the same distance of time from other upon the same dayes Gospels Epistles Collects and proper lessons the same howbeit some time fewer with the like observation of rest And howbeit S. George be left out in this reckoning yet is his day honoured This Saint saith Barrow hath no small entertainment with his solemne procession and that by no small estates but even the greatest of the land with Cornets Trumpets Harbe Shackebuts Psâ—lteries Duâ—â—imer and all instruments of musicke c This Saint beside his noble ordour of Knighthood hath also his peculiar Chaplaine Palatine of the order who it to weare a gold ring on his thomb The holy dayes are dedicate to the Trinite to Christ alone to Saints to Angels As for the day dedicated to the honour of the Trinitie Bellarmine doth confesse that it is recent that it was not observed at Rome in the dayes of Pope Alexander the third It was celebrated in some particular Provinces but not received into Rome till the time of Pope Iohn the 22. It was thought needlesse seeing the Trinitie was remembred either one way or other in the daily service but especially upon the Lords day for the Preface of the Trinitie day was of old sung upon the Lords day and the Creed wherein the Trinitie is remembred was not omitted If there should be a holy day for every great mysterie of our religion then must we have many more holy daies then we have yet had If a particular day for the Trinitie entred but of late in the Church for the respects foresaid then what mysterie of Religion is remembred frequently on the Lords day in hymne prayer confession creed or sermon needeth not a speciall day and a set service with bodily rest for that mysterie You see then that the feast which was rejected a long time by the Popes themselves the English doe retaine As for the feastgoelonging to the life death of Christ the most â—enoumed most ancient is Easter and yet it was not observed by the Apostles The hote contentions about it whether it should be observed upon the day of the full Moone or the Sabboth after declareth that they did not institute it for they could have easily decided that question whether shall we be conforme to the Iewes in observing the same day with them or not yea the Apostle 1. Cor. 5. 8. speaking of the celebration of our Easter tyeth us not to a certaine number of dayes as the Iewes were who after the eating of the Lambe might not have any levened bread in their house for seven daies but sayth ours is all the yeare long to be observed ye through our whole life with other kind of unleavned bread both by particular Churches persons No where doth he refer us to anniversary Easter The Christian Pentecost was not observed by the Apostles howsoever sometime some of theÌ„ went up to Ierusalem at the Iewish Pentecost to confirme or â—ucrifie the Iewes as long as the Temple stood If the Apostles theÌ„selves upon whom the gifts of the H. Spirit were powred that day did not observ it themselves who were the receivers of the benefit what warrant haue we to observe it If neither Easter nor Pentecost were Apostolical institutions far lesse the Ascension day and the Nativitie The feast of Circumcision Bellar. saith is very recent it is to be observed that they have a service day or holy time for Christs circumcis but not for his Baptism for upon the Eâ—iph day they make mention of the 3 wisem the star but nothing of Chr. Baptism in their