ordained without him what need was there of this charge to be laid on Timothy Be there then what Elders soever their hands without a Timothy will not serve his without theirs might To his own if at any time he joyned theirs what else do all Bishops of England This concerning Timothy We come next to Titus and his charge from St. Paul Titus 1. ◠to set in order the things that were left yet undone in the large Isle of Crete or as is now called Candia A populous Island and stored with no lesse than an hundred Cities whence it had the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to ordain Elders or Presbyters in every of those Cities as he had been appointed by the Apostle Lo the whole Diocese of Crete is committed to his oversight Not some one parish in it And what must he do Two things are injoined him To ordain Ministers and to correct disorders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To correct as Beza turnes it not amisse or as Erasmus pergas corrigere with an intimation of his former service that way where that the extent of the work may be noted Eccles 1.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew comprehends both things amisse and things wanting So as the businesse of Titus was as of a good Bishop both to rectifie and reform those things which were offensive and by new orders made to supply those matters which were yet defective As for the Ordination it was not of some one Presbyter that wanted to make up the number but it was universall throughout that whole Island 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per civitates or as we in every City even through the whole hundred and not one Presbyter in each but as the occasion might be many in every one The Diocese was large the Clergie numerous §. 6. Some elusions of these Scriptures met with and answered THe elusion of some not mean Opponents have devised that these acts were injoined to Titus as by way of Societie and partnership with the Presbytery so as that he should join with them in these duties of correction and Ordination is so palpable and quite against the hair that I cannot think the authours of it can beleeve themselves Had the Apostle so meant he could as easilie have expressed it and have directed his charge to more Titus alone is singled out now if it were in the power of every Presbyter to doe those things without him what needed this weight to have been laid on his shoulders alone And if the charge were that he must urge and procure it to be done By what authoritie And if he had authority either without or above them it is that we strive for And now I beseech you what doth any Bishop of England challenge more as Essentiall to his place than power of Ordination and power of correction of disorders Titus 1.11 Secondly It is also the charge given to Titus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stop the mouthes of those false teachers who broach doctrines they ought not for filthy lucres sake and to passe sharpe censures upon them what can do this but Episcopall authority Tit. 3 10 Thirdly Again it is the charge upon Titus A man that is an Heretick after the first and second admonition reject So then it is to Titus it belongs to proceed against erroneous teachers to judge of heresie to give formall admonitions to the heretick to cast him out of the Church upon his Obstinacy Can any man suppose it to be for a meer Presbyter to make such a judiciall processe against hereticks or to eject them out of the Church would not they have return'd it upon him with scorne and derision Or what is spirituall Iurisdiction if power to do this be not To summe up all therefore it is no other than our present Episcopall power that by the blessed Apostle is committed to Timothy and Titus and that with so cleare Evidence that for my part I do not more fully beleeve there were such men than they had such power and these warrants to execute it It is a poor shift of some That Timothy and Titus were Evangelists and therefore persons extraordinary and not in this behalfe capable of succession For what ever they were in their personall qualifications yet here they stood for Bishops and received as Church-governors these charges which were to be ordinary and perpetuall to all that should succeed in Ecclesiasticall administration As for the title How will it appeare they were Evangelists For Titus there is no colour For Timothy it is true St. Paul charges him to do the worke of an Evangelist What of that That might imply as well that he was not indeed in that particular office which yet Saint Paul would have him supply howsoever Scot. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 1. c. 5. and no doubt he did so So he did the worke of the Lord as St Paul did and yet not an Apostle He that jeeres this answer might know that the implication of the word is as large for both who knowes not the promiscuous use of these termes As well may they say he was a Doctor because he is bidden to teach and yet these Offices are challenged for distinct Or a Deacon because he is charged with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What is it to do the work of an Evangelist but to preach the Evangelium pacis the Gospel of peace which he might he must do as a Bishop and what propriety is there of these injoined workes to an Evangelist as he was an Evangelist What can they shew it was his office to ordain or to censure nay rather how should those works which are constant and ordinarie and so consequentlie derivable to all successions to the end of the world be imposed upon a meer extraordinarie agent neither is there any opposition at all in these terms they might be Evangelists whiles they were in their journey attending on the Apostles and preaching abroad they might be and were Bishops when they were setled upon the charge of some Territorie or province But saith our Tileno-mastix Four yeers after Saint Paul had given this charge of Episcopacie to Timothy there was an equalitie of Presbyters at Ephesus they were all convented and no news of Timothy as their Bishop poorly when the Sun shines what use is there of the Stars when Saint Paul was present Act. 20. his greater light extinguishes the lesse what need any mention of Timothy Or why may not I take upon me to affirme a more likely that Saint Paul who had associated Timothy with him in six severall Epistles would also call him as his Assessor in this his last Exhortation to his Presbyters Neither can wee be flouted out of that Construction of the late learned Bishops Barlow and Buckeride of In quo vos spiritus sanctus constituit Episcopos that these Elders were indeed Bishops such as whereof Timothy was one such as
whereof Saint Peter acknowledges himself a Compresbyter for if it be alleaged as it is That this is against our owne Principles who allow but one Bâ—shop in one City and these were many let me put the Objector in minde that though these Bishops were called together by Saint Paul from Miletum to Ephesus yet they were not all said to be Elders of Ephesus but from thence monition went speediliest out to all places to call them and so we hear saint Paul say Ye all amongst whom I have gone preaching the Kingdome of God which plainly argues they were not confined to the compasse of one City or Territory but Over seers of severall and far-dispersed charges As Saint Paul therfore to his Timothy so Saint Luke here uses the terms promiscuouslâ— one being as yet in common use for both though the offices were sensibly distinguished And now what shall we say to this Tell me ye that look upon these Papers with censorious eyes tell me is all this think you no other than a formall presidence of an assembly without any power or command Is this to do but as a Consull in a Senate to propound Cases to gather Votes to declare the judgement of the Presbytery or Synod or as Zanchy resembles it ut Rector in Academia as a Rector in one of their Academies or rather as Saint Ierome whom you challenge for your Patron in this point hath it tanquam imperator in exercitu â—â—â—â—on Epist 〈◊〉 Evangâ—â—â— as a Generall in an Army who hath power both to Marshall all the troops and to command the Captains and Colonels and to execute Marshall law upon Officers If you have a mind to suffer your eies to be willingly blinded with such improbable suggestions falling from those whom you think you have otherwise reason to honour hugg still your own palpable errour not without our pity though without the power of redresse but if you care for truth and desire in the presence of God to imbrace it for truthes own sake without respect of persons aske your own hearts whether these charges and services laid by the elect Vessell upon his Timothy and Titus be any other than really Episcopall and such as manifestly carry in them both Superiority and Iurisdiction §. 7. The testimony of St. Iohn in his Revelation pressed NEither can all the shifts in the world elude that pregnant Vision and charge of the blessed Apostle St. Iohn in whose longer lasting time the government of the Church was fully setled in this threefold imparity of the Orders and degrees who having had the speciall supervision of the whole Asian Church was by the Spirit of God commanded to direct his 7 Epistles to the Bishops of those seven famous Churches by the name of so many Angels To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus To the Angel of the Church in Smyrna c. For what can be more plain than that in every of these Chur hes as for instance that of Ephesus there were many Presbyters yet but one Angel If that one were not in place above the rest and higher by the head than they how comes he to be noted in the throng Why was not the direction to al the Angels of the Church of Ephesus Divina voce laudatur sub Angeli nomine pâ—aepositus Ecclesiae Aug. Epi. 162. All were Angels in respect of their Ministery one was the Angel in respect of his fixed superioritâ— There were thousands of Starres in this firmament of the Asian Churches there were but seaven of the first magnitude who can indure such an invasion that one is mentioned many are meant as if they had said Non populum aggrâ—dit sed principem claâ—â— utique Episcopum Mâ—rlâ—rat To one that is to more To one Angel that is to more Angels than one To what purpose is it to insist upon any proprâ—ety of speech if we may take such liberty of Construction As if when the Prophet came to Iehu with a message and expresly said To thee O Captain he should have turn'd it off to the rest and have said To me that is Not to me alone but to all my felllows with me But to put this matter out of doubt it is particularly known who some of those Angels were Holy Polycarpus was knowne to be the Angel of the Church of Smyrna whom Ignatius the blessed Martyr mentions as by his Episcopacy greater than his Clergie Timothy had been not long before Bishop of Ephesus yea of the Asians now Onesimus was whose Metropolis Ephesus was Wherein Ignatius acknowledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a very great multitude of Christians so large that in the Emperour Leo's time Iura Graec. p. 88. 90. it had 36. Bishopricks under it And so was Sardis having under it 24. And shall we think that these great Dioceses were as some obscure Parishes wherein were no variety of eminent persons so as the Angel that is noted here must needs be of a large Iurisdiction and great Authority But if any man shall imagine these things spoken to the Angel as to him under that title in the name of all the rest let him know that this cannot be for that the charges and challenges there made are personall and such as could not be communicated to all for who can say that all those of the Church of Ephesus were patient and laborious Revel 2.2 that none of them fainted that they all lost their first love that all hated the work of the Nicholaitans who can say that all those of the Church of Smyrna were either poore or rich That none in the Church of Pergamus denyed the fath Besides here is a manifest distinction betwixt the Pastor or Bishop and those of his charge and they are described by the severalties of their estates As when he had acknowledged the Graces of Polycarpus the Angel of Smyrna Revel 2.10 and incouraged that blessed Martyr by way of premonition to some of his Church Behold some of you the devill shall cast into prison and ye shall be tryed and endure Tribulation ten dayes and then addressing to him Be thou faithfull to the death c. And in his fourth Epistle Revel 2.24 distinguishing the Angel or Bishop of Thyatyra from the rest of his charge But unto you saith saith he and the rest of Thyatyra as many as have not this doctrine and the depth of Satan as they speake I will put none other burden upon them but that which ye have hold fast till I come So that this conceit is no lesse wild than that other which followes it of my old acquaintance Brightman who makes not only these Angels the types of those Churches but those Churches of Asia the Types and Histories of all the Christian Churches which should be to the end of the world Thus the Bells say what some Hearers thinke So cleer is this truth that the Opposites have been forced to yield Priority here intimated but a Priority of Order onely not
is laid by Christ and whose fabricke is raised by the Apostles is of divine institution Page 28 § 8 The second ground The practice and recommendation of the Apostles is sufficient warrant for an Apostolicall Institution Page 30 § 9 The third ground That the formes ordained for the Churches Administration by the Apostles were for universal and perpetuall use Page 32 § 10 The fourth ground That the universall practice of the Church immediately succeeding the Apostolike times is a sure Commentary upon the practice of the Apostles and our best direction Page 35 § 11 The two famous rules of Tertullian and S. Augustine to this purpose asserted Page 39 § 12 The fifth ground That the Primitive Saints and Fathers neither would nor durst set up another forme of government different from that they received of the Apostles Page 50 § 13 The sixth ground That if the next successors would have innovated the forme of government yet they could not in so short space have diffused it through the whole Christian world Page 56 § 14 The seventh ground That the ancientest Histories of the Church and writings of the first Fathers are rather to be believed in the report of the Primitive state of the Church than the latest Authors Page 59 § 15 The eight ground That those whom the ancient Church of God and all the holy Fathers of the Church since have condemned for Hereticks are no fit guids for us to follow in that their judgement of the government for which they were so condemned Page 64 § 16 The ninth ground That the accession of honourable Titles and Compatible priviledges makes no difference in the substance of a lawfull and holy calling Page 66 § 17 The tenth ground That those Scriptures whereon a new and different forme of government is raised had need to be more evident and unquestionable than those which are alledged for the former that is rejected Page 69 § 18 The eleventh ground That if Christ had left this pretended order of government it would have ere this time been agreed upon what that forme is and how to be managed Page 71 § 19 The twelfth ground That if this which is challenged be the Kingdome of Christ then those Churches which want any essentiall part of it are mainly defective and that there is scarce any at all entire Page 72 § 20 The thirteenth ground That true Christian policie requires not any thing absurd or impossible to be done Page 74 § 21 The fourteenth ground That new pretences of truths never before heard of especially in maine points carry just cause of suspicion Page 76 § 22 The fifteenth ground That to depart from the judgement and practice of the universall Church of Christ ever since the Apostles times and to betake our selves to a new invention cannot but be beside the danger extremely scandalous Page 78 The Second Part. § 1 THe Termes and state of the Question setled and agreed upon Page 1 § 2 Church government begun by our Saviour in a manifest imparity Page 11 § 3 The execution of this Apostolicall power after our Saviours ascent into Heaven Page 16 § 4 The derivation of this power and majoritie from the Apostles to the succeeding Bishops Page 19 § 5 The cleare testimonies of Scripture for this majoitie especially those out of the Epistles to Timothy and Titus urged Page 26 § 6 Some elusions of these Scriptures met with and answered Page 35 § 7 The testimonie of S. John in his Revelation pressed Pag. 41 § 8 The estate and order of Episcopacie deduced from the Apostles to the Primitive Bishops Page 49 § 9 The testimony and assent of Bucer and some famous French Divines Page 54 § 10 The superiority and jurisdiction of Bishops proved by the testimonie of the first Fathers and Apostolicall men and first of Clemens the partner of the Apostles Page 59 § 11 The pregnant and full testimonies of the holy Saint and Martyr Ignatius urged Page 65 § 12 The testimonie of the ancient Canons called the Apostles Page 79 § 13 The state and historie of the next age Page 84 § 14 Proofes of the confessed superiority of Bishops from severall forceable arguments out of antiquitie Page 88 § 15 Power of Ordination only in Bishops Page 90 § 16 Power of jurisdiction appropriated to Bishops from the first Page 95 § 17 Exceptions against our Episcopacie answered and particularly of the dissimilitude of our Bishops to the Primitive in their Pompe and perpetuity Page 99 § 18 The practice of the whole Christian Church in all times and places is for this government by Bishops Page 110 § 19 Of the suppression of contrary Records and of the sole opposition of the heretick Aerius Page 117 § 20 The vindication of those Fathers which are pretended to second Aerius his opinion Page 120 § 21 The practice of the Waldenses and Albigenses in allowance of Episcopall government Page 125 § 22 The government by Bishops both universall and unalterable Page 129 The Third Part. § 1 THe appellation of Lay-Elders and the state of the Question concerning them Page 1 § 2 No Lay-Elder ever mentioned or heard of in the times of the Gospell in all the world till this present age the texts of Scripture particularized in pretence of the contrary Page 7 § 3 Lay-eldership a meere stranger to all antiquitie which acknowledgeth no Presbyters but Divines Page 15 § 4 S. Ambrose's testimonie urged commonly for Lay-Elders answered Page 19 § 5 The utter disagreement and irresolution of the pretenders to the new Discipline concerning the particular state of their desired government Page 24 § 6 The imperfections and defects which must needs be yeelded to follow upon the discipline pretended and the necessary inconveniences that must attend it in a kingdome otherwise setled Page 30 § 7 The knowne newnesse of this invention and the quality of the late authors of it Page 36 § 8 A recapitulation of the severall heads and a vehement exhortation to all Readers and first to our Northerne brethren Page 42 § 9 An exhortatorie conclusion to our brethren at home Page 53 EPISCOPACIE BY DIVINE RIGHT §. 1. An expostulatorie entrance into the Question GOod God! what is this that I have lived to heare That a Bishop in a Christian Assembly should renounce his Episcopall function and crie mercy for his now-abandoned calling Brother that was who ever you be I must have leave a while to contest seriously with you the act was yours the concernment the whole Churches You could not think so foule a deed could escape unquestioned The world never heard of such a Penance you cannot blame us if we receive it both with wonder and expostulation and tell you it had beene much better to have been unborn than to live to give so hainous a scandal to Gods Church and so deep a wound to his holy truth and Ordinance If Tweed that runs betweene us were an Ocean it could not either drown or wash off
to give for her nest Two things are answered hereto by Parker and his Clients The one That the rule of S. Augustine availes us nothing since that the Originall of Episcopacie is designed as from Decree by S. Hierome as from Councels by S. Ambrose but what that decree was or could be besides Apostolicall or what those Councels were hee were wise that could tell He and all his abettors I am sure cannot But of this in the Sequell The other after some mis-applied testimonies of our owne Authors who drive onely at matter of faith that hee can make instance in diverse things which were both universally and perpetually received no Councell decreeing them and yet farre from an Apostolike Ordination Sibrandus Lubbertus helpes him to his first instance borrowed from S. Augustine a fixed day for the celebration of Easter And what of that How holds his argument in this For that this or that day should be universally set and perpetually kept for that solemne Feast who that ever heard of the state of the Primitive time can affirme Since those famous quarrels and contrary pretences of their severall derivations of right from the two prime Apostles are still in every mans eye but that an Easter was agreed to be solemnly kept by the Primitive Church universally Euseb l. 5. hist c. 24. Quanquam enim in ipso die differeâ—tia erat in hoc tamen omnes Eâ—â—lâ—siae conspirâ◠unt Diem Paschatis observandum aliquem esse Ibid. Polit. Eccles those very Contentions betwixt Polycarpus and Annicetus do sufficiently declare and Parker himselfe confesseth Thus it was kept and withall decreed by no Councell yet not saith he by any Apostolicall institution How doth that appeare Nihil illi de festis c. They .i. the Apostles never delivered ought concerning Feast-dayes nor yet of Easter Why but this is the very question Parker denies it and must we take his word for proofe whereas we have the Apostles direct 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us keep the feast And afterwards there is a plaine deduction of it from and through the times succeeding as is fully and excellently set forth by our incomparably-learned the late Bishop of Winchester to whose accurate discourse of this subject B. Andrewes Serm. of the Resur Ser. 13. I may well referre my reader His second instance is the Apostles Creed which our Authors justly place within the first three hundred yeares after Christ used and received by the whole Church and not enacted by any Councels yet not in respect of the forme of it delivered by the Apostles A doughty argument and fit for the great Controller of times and Antagonist of government we speak of the matter of the Creed he talkes of the forme of it we of things he of words and just so Tilenus his friend instances in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 found in Ignatius But do these men suppose S. Augustine meant to send us to seek for all common expressions of language to the Apostles Let them tell us Is there any thing in the substance of that Creed which we cannot fetch from the Apostles Are not all the severall clauses as he cites them from S. Augustine per divinas Scripturas sparsae indè collectae in unum redactae scattered here and there in the Scriptures penned by the Apostles gathered up and reduced into this summe As for the syntaxe of words and sentences who of us ever said they were or needed to be fathered upon those great Legates of the Sonne of God Our Cause is no whit the poorer if we grant there were some universall termes derived by Tradition to the following ages whereof the Originall Authors are not knowne This will not come within the compasse of his quiddam vox est praetereà nihil His third instance is in the Observation of Lent for which indeed there is so great plea of Antiquity that himselfe cannot deny it to be acknowledged even by old Ignatius a man contemporary to some of the Apostles and as overcome by the evidence of all Histories grants it to be apparent that the whole Church constantly ever observed some kinde of Fast before their Easter no lesse than Theophilus Alexandrinus Polit. Eccles ubi suprà Lex abstinendi the Law of fasting in Lent hath beene alwayes observed in the Church and what need we more And yet saith Parker for all that Lent was not delivered by Apostolike authority Et in eo lapsi sunt Patres therein the Fathers are mistaken Magisterially spoken and we must believe him rather than S. Hierome who plainely tels us it is secundùm Traditionem Apostolorum according to the Tradition of the Apostles The specialties indeed of this fast admitted of old very great variety in the season in the number of dayes in the limitation subject and manner of abstinence as Socrates hath well expressed Socrat. l. 5. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but for a quoddam jejunium some kinde of fast I see no reason why the man that can be so liberall as to grant it alwayes observed by the universall Church should be so strait-laced as to deny it derivable from the Tradition of the holy Apostles and when he can as well prove it not Apostolike as we can prove it universall we shall give him the Bucklers To what purpose do I trace him in the rest the ancient rites of the Eucharist and of Baptisme urged out of Baronius of gestures in prayer of the observation of solemne Feasts and Embers let one word serve for all it will be an harder work for him to prove their universality and perpetuity than to disprove their originall let it be made good that the whole Church of Christ alwayes received them we shall not be niggardly in yeelding them this honour of their pedigree deducible from an Apostolicall recommendation In the meane time every not ungracious sonne of this spirituall Mother will learne to kisse the footsteps of the universall Church of Christ as knowing the deare and infallible respects betwixt him and this blessed Spouse of his as to whom he hath ingaged his everlasting presence and assistance Behold I am with you alwayes to the end of the world and will resolve to spit in the face of those seducers who go about to alienate their affections from her and to draw them into the causlesse suspicions of her chast fidelity to her Lord and Saviour To shut up this point therefore if we can show that the universall practice of the Church immediately after the Apostles and ever since hath been to governe by Bishops superiour to Presbyters in their order and jurisdiction our Cause is won §. 12. The fifth ground That the Primitive Saints and Fathers neither would nor durst set up another forme of government different from that they received from the Apostles FIftly we may not entertaine so irreverent an opinion of the Saints and Fathers of the Primitive Church That they who
and that in the Character of it it much resembles that to the Hebrews This noble monument that you may not doubt how it came so late to our hands was by Cyrill the late worthy Patriarch of Constantinople sent out of his Library of Alexandria whence he removed to our gracious Soveraign of Great Brittain for a precious Present as that which was by the hand of S. Tecla her self transcribed and placed at the end of the old and new Testament fairely by her written in the same Character A Present worth too much Gold And if any man do yet misdoubt his eyes may informe him by the view of it in so well his Majesties Library where it is kept and out of a desire of more publique good was lately set forth by the learned searcher of Antiquities Mr. Patrick Yong the worthy Keeper of his Majesties Library But if any man shall hope to elude this Testimony by taking advantage of the only mention of Presbyters and Deacons in the foregoing passages let him know this was onely according to the occasion of the writing of that Epistle and withall let him consider who wrote it Even Clement Bishop of Rome whether the first as some of the ancient or the third as others after Saint Peter a difference not hard to be reconciled and therefore how little danger there is of his favouring a parity in that sacred Administration §. 11. The pregnant and full testimonies of the holy Saint and Martyr Ignatius urged AFter him what better and more convincing authority can we appeal unto than that of holy Ignatius the famous Martyr of Christ whose memory is justly precious to the whole Church of God to this very present age that Miracle of Martyrs who called his fetters Christ's chains of Spirituall pearls who when he was to be throwne to the wilde beasts for the profession of Christ could boast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Hier. Catalog Script Eccles that he should set to the world as the Sunne that he might rise to God and when he heard the Lyons rooring I am said he Christ's Wheat Oh let me be ground with the teeth of wilde beasts that may be found pure bread for my God make much of these wilde beasts that they may become my Sepulcher that nothing my be left of my body c. I had rather dye for Christ then raigne over the whole world This blessded Saint in all those confessedly-genuine Epistles which he wrote Seaven in number still so beats upon this point as if religion depended upon it Reverence and Obedience to their Bishops This man lived in the dayes of the Apostles conversed with them and in likely-hood saw Christ in the flesh being martyred in the Eleventh yeere of Trajan according to Baronius and therefore throughly acquainted with the state of Gods Church in the Apostles time and his own and should in this name be more to us then a thousand witnesses Eevery word of his is worthy to carry our hearts along with him Heare then what he saith in his Epistle ad Trallianos Be subject to your Bishop Ignat. Epist ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to the Lord for he watcheth for your soules And streight Necessary it is that whatsoever ye doe ye should doe nothing without your Bishop But be ye subject also to your Priests as to the Apostles of Christ See what a distance here is whereas other of the Fathers compare the Bishops to the Apostles Presbyters to the 70 disciples this man advanceth his patterne higher requiring obedience to Bishops as to Christ to Presbyters as to the Apostles And what proportion is there betwixt the respects we owe to God and to man And a while after yet higher The Bishop saith he Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. bears the resemblance of God the Father of all things The Priests are as the bench of his Apostles c. And lest any man should construe these words to sound onely of a generality of reverent respects without yeelding of any power of command Soone after he speaks home for what other saith he is a Bishop then he that is superiour to all principality and power Pag. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and as far as a mans power may reach made an Imitator of the Christ of God And what is the Presbytery or Priest-hood but an holy company the the Counsellors and Assessors of the Bishop and what the Deacons but the Imitators of the Angelicall powers which give him pure and unblameable attendance What say ye now to this ye Patrons of Paritie in Church-government How do yee think your opinion consorts with this blessed Saint the holy partner of the Apostles Here ye have the three distinct Orders of Bishops Priests or Presbyters and Deacons Here you have a cleare and constant Superiority of Bishops above Priests with no lesse difference then betweene a Prince and his Councell-bord above Deacons no lesse then betweene a Prince and his attendants And this delivered according to the received judgement and practise of the Primitive Church The testimony is too pregnant to be eluded And yet wel-fare a friend in a corner Nico Vedelius because he sees the witnesse so cleare that he cannot be shifted off charge him with corruption and subordination pretending that sure these words are foysted in he knows not how into the Text we are yet beholding to him for asserting the truth and legitimation of these seven Epistles of our Martyr which Coke and Parker and Antitilenus being netled with their unavoydable evidences durst cry downe for bastardy whom I leave to be throughly Schooled by Chamier Rivitus Crit Secr. Vedel Apol. exercit Videlius By whom out of all antiquity they are sufficiently vindicated to the shame of the injurious accusers It is out of my way to follow this Chase but herein Videlius playes his part that those passages which he finds in these confessedly Authentique Epistles most convictive for our purpose He would faine challenge to be corrupted And why so Surely saith he these words of Principality and power ascribed to Bishops doe not savour of that golden age of the Apostles wherein Ignatius lived when Episcopacy was not Imperium potestas a rule and power but a service rather And why not both As if excellency of dignity could not consist with humility of Officiousnesse What else doth our Saviour imply in his charge he that is greatest amongst you let him be your servant their glory like as their Saviours Kingdome was not of this world Spirituall greatnesse may well agree with outward lowlinesse 1 Cor. 2.3 4. 1 Thess 1.5 St. Paul matcheth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weakenesse and power and even whiles he was Tent-making could speak of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And why should this phrase be here seized upon suspition rather then in other passages of holy Ignatius where
it is plainely attributed to Bishops as in that to the men of Smyrna as we shall see in the sequel And why might not hee digest this Phrase which he so commonly met with in antiquity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Act. c. 1. Citat in Append Notarum Criticarum Nic. Vedel Amonst the rest it is remarkable that the very same sentence that hee cites for his defence out of Chrysostome cuts his throat then their praefecture speaking of the Apostle's Bishop was not an honour but a provident care for those whom they ruled over Lo here was a praefecture first and then here are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which implyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rule not alluding to the abuses of his owne time as Vedelius poorely but to the Apostles in whom honour did well agree with care was there ever man that denyed Apostle-ship to be an honour much lesse holy Chrysostome The Fathers meaning plainly is that the Apostles did not stand so much upon their own honour as the care of their charge as what good Bishop doth otherwise In the meane time here is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rule implyed in that Testimony which is brought to impugne it for Ignatius his passage is as undoubted as his Epistle and the Bishops power is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely which Vedelius could yeeld but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And what need Vedelius to stand upon this terme when Chamier himselfe so fully yeelds it Cham. de Occumen Pontif. l. 13. c. 19. ex Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revera Episcopatus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and singuli Episcopi in suis Ecclesiis sunt principes The Martyr for a close shuts up with a Fare-well in the Lord Jesus and be subject to your Bishop c. In the second Epistle to the Magnesians for I love to follow the trace of that blessed Saint I exhort you Ignat. ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. pag. 54. saith he that your care and study be to do all things in a godly Concord your Bishop being president in the place of God your Priests in the place of the Senate of the Apostles c. And not long after As the Lord saith he did nothing without his Father who said I can do nothing of my selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so neither may any of you do ought without your Bishop Whether it be Priest or Deacon or Laick Neither let any thing seeme meet for you to doe without his judgement for whatsoever is so done is wicked and an act of meere enmity to God What will our refractaries say to this who affect to make head against their Bishops yea not onely suffer him to do nothing without them but suffer him to do nothing at all yea suffer him not to be Oh God! if thy blessed Martyr Ignatius now lived and saw these insolencies how would he thinke himselfe falne amongst more fierce beasts than those which were prepared for him Ignat ad Philadelph p. 91. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. In his third Epistle to the Phyladelphians So many saith he as are Christs are for the Bishop and those that decline from him and take part with the accurst they shall be cut off together And not long after in the same Epistle in Christ saith he there is neither bond nor free Let the Princes or chiefe governours obey Caesar Let the souldiers obey their chiefe governours Let the Deacons and the rest of the Clergie with all the people souldiers governours and Caesar himselfe obey their Bishop Let the Bishop obey Christ as Christ obeyed his Father and thus shall Vnity be conserved in all things Thus he Now comes in Nic Videlius and seconding Scultetus cries out of manifest interpolation I wish I had leisure in this place to follow him home he is out of my way yet I must step aside to him a little And what and where then is this so open fraud in foysting in this clause of Ignatius Caesar was then no Christian In vaine should the true Ignatius have charged Caesar to obey the Bishop weakly objected for as Maestraeus answers him well The Martyr tels us what should be done not what was It is true that the greatest Monarchs of the world even those whose vassals we confesse our selves in temporall respects yet in Spirituall reguards ought to submit their soules to our government or rather to Gods in us But Ignatius admonisheth Christians not heathen of their duty Weake still His amonition is universall though directed to Philadelphians and those men which were now Ethnicks might prove Christians The rules must not vary with the persons But it would have been scandalous especially in those times to exhort an Heathen Emperour to submit himself to a Christian still alike what scandall more in this than in the rest of the doctrine of the Gospell which in the mouthes of all faithfull Preachers requires Princes to yield their necks to the yoke of Christ Why more then Go tell that Foxe And the Non licet of the Baptist to Herod why more than the bold speeches of the Martyred Saints to their heathen persecutors Why more than of that Christian Bishop to Julian of Chrysostomus to Eudoxia why more than the high language of Valentinian and Trajan to Valens and hundreds other of this kinde Socrat. lib. ◠cap. 16. Theod. lib. 5. cap. 31. 3◠But which is grossest of all he makes the end of all the Conservation of unity in the Church And what saith he are heathens within the Church Or is there any Union betwixt Christ and Infidels As if Ignatius had written only for a day as if these men must needs live and die Heathens The Cavills must be more probable that must cast a Martyr or rob us of his holy instruction Yet again therefore hear what our St. Ignatius sayes in the same Epistle Pag. 102. Edit Vede 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is hard saith he to reject the preaching of the Apostles The Priests are good and so are the Deacons or Ministers of the word but the chief Priest is better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is trusted with the Holy of Holies who only is intrusted with the secrets of God Here Vedelius startles and not he only but Chamier too contends the Chief Priest not to be meant of the Bishop but of Christ but the place easily quits it self Ignatius plainly compares these holy Offices with themselves not with Christ How absurd had it been to make a comparison betwixt the goodnesse of Priests and Deacons and the goodnesse of Christ as if there had been any possibility of proportion as if any doubt could have risen this way This meliority therefore or betternesse above the Priests and Deacons is ascribed to the Bishop by the name of the high Priest in allusion to the Jewish Priviledges of the great Pontife who only might enter the holy of
holyes Our Martyr goes on In his Epistle to those of Smyrna he is Ignat ad Smyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Pag 16 11 if it be possible more punctuall Follow your Bishop saith he as Christ did his Father and the Colledge of Priests as his Apostles reverence your Deacons as ministring according to the command of God Let no man without the Bishop do any of those things which appertains to the Church Let that Eucharist be held right and unquestionable which is done by the Bishop or by such an one as he shall allow Where the Bishop shall appear there let the multitude assemble as where Christ is there all the heavenly hoast stands by him c. It is not lawfull without the Bishop to baptize nor to offer c. And soon after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Honour God as the Author and Lord of all things and your Bishop as the chief Priest bearing the image of God of God I say as chief and of Christ as Priest c. Neither is there any thing greater in the Church than the Bishop who is consecrated to God for the salvation of the world neither is there any among the Princes like to the King who procures peace and equity to his subjects c. And anone Let all your things be done in decent order in Christ Let your Laicks be subject to the Deacons Pag. 48. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â— the Deacons to the Priests or Presbyters the Presbyters to the Bishop the Bishop to Christ as he to his Father Could he speak plainer Lo saith Vedelius and our Scotus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this savours not of the age of Ignatius in whose time no such distinction as of the Clergie and Laity was on foot Weakly suggested Had they but read our Clement Clem. ad Corinth in his fore-recited Epistle to the Corinthians they had soon eaten this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he to the Priests their proper place is assigned The Laickes have their services 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Lay-man is bound to lay Ordinances But I may not so far hinder my way as to make excursions to meet with Cavills if any man be disposed to accept I am ready to give him full satisfaction in a meet season 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his Epistle to Polycarpus he requires that no man should so much as marry without the Bishops consent and soon after Pag. 208. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let all things saith he be done to the honour of God give regard to your Bishop as God to you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. My soul for theirs who obey their Bishop Presbyters and Deacons In his Epistle to the Ephesians magnifying their Bishop Onesimus he charges them to give all respects to him and addes Ye ought to look upon your Bishop as upon God himself since he waits upon the Lord and serves him And towards the end Following the holy Ghost for your guide obeying your Bishop and the company of Presbyters with an intire heart c. What shall we think of all this was not St. Ignatius see'd to speak on the Bishops side Or how would these words have sounded in the late Assemblies of Glasco and Edinborough Are we more holy than he Is the truth the same it was or is the alteration on our part All these have been large and full Testimonies of the acknowledged superiority of Bishops and of the high respects that are and were ever due to these prime governours of the Church But if any man think these came not yet home to the point let him cast his eye back upon the first Epistle ad Trallianos and mark well what he saith where having reckoned up the three so oft mentioned Orders of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons he addes Without these Pag. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. there is no elect Church without these no holy Congregation no assembly of Saints And I perswade my self that you also are of the same minde Lo here words which no Vedelius can carp at as interpolated imposing such a necessity of the being of these three severall Orders in Gods Church that it cannot be right without them I see and pity his shuffling Append. Notaâ—rum Crit. but would be glad to see a satisfactory answer from any hands Epist ad P Molin In the mean time I wish with learned Bishop Andrews those Churches where they are missing that happinesse which now to our grief and I hope theirs they are forced to want I have dwelt long with blessed Ignatius where could I be better That one Author is in stead of many why should I not boldly say if besides the divine Scriptures there were no other testimony but this one Saints it were abundantly enough to carry this Cause and I must wonder at any man who confessing Ignatius to have been so holy a Bishop so faithfull a Martyr so true a Saint can stick at a Truth so often so confidently so zealously recommended by him to the world For me let my soul go with his let his faith be mine and let me rather trust one Ignatius than ten thousand Cartwrights Parkers Ameses or any other their ignorant and Male-contented followers Tell me now my dear brethren tell me in good eanest Do you not think this Ignatius a likely man to build up the kingdome of Antichrist were not these shoulders fit for the supportation of that man of sin Away with these absurd and wicked fancies and if this charge of his were holy and Apostolicall wherein he requires us to honour our Bishops as the Lord himself whom they serve and represent what doom do you suppose would he have passed upon those who as such abhorre them and eject them as Devills I cannot without horrour think of either the act or the issue §. 12. The testimony of the Ancient Canons called the Apostles YEt perhaps if Ignatius went alone he might herein incurre some suspicion now all antiquity is with him never any ancient Author said otherwise We will begin with those Canons which are instyled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the holy and most venerable Apostles Surely if not theirs yet of some Apostolicall men near to their times worthy even for their age and authority to be reverenced of all Christians as the most credible witnesses of the state of those Primitive times In them besides the note of professed distance betwixt the Bishops and Presbyters proclaimed in every Chapter there are those which do imply a power and Iurisdiction as Can 15. Can. 15. If any Presbyter or Deacon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or any of the number of Clerks leaving his division or Parish shall go to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and without the leave or allowance of his own Bishop abide in another Parish or charge we forbid him further to Minister especially if when his own Bishop calls him back he
to give some colour and God knowes but a colour of a lay-Presbytery Let the Elders that rule well 1 Tim. 5.17 saith St. Paul to Timothy be counted worthy of all honour especially they who labour in the word and doctrine A place which hath been so throughly sifted by all who have medled with this ill-raised controversie as that no humane wit can devise to add one scruple of a notion towards a farther discussion of it I dare confidently say there is scarce any one sentence of Scripture which hath undergone a more busie and curious agitation The issue is this that never any expositor for the space of fifteene hundred yeeres after Christ tooke these aeresbyters for any other then Priests or Ministers Of eleven or twelve severall expositions of the words each one is more faire and probable than this which is newly devised and obtruded upon the Church That the text is so farre from favouring these lay-Presbyters that we need no other argument against them For where was it ever heard of or how can it be that meere Laicks should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishops and Pastors have had that stile as in Scripture so in following antiquity that passage of Clemens Alexandrinus cited by Eusebius concerning Saint Iohn that he at Ephesus committed the charge of his young man to an old Bishop whom he cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 besides that of Iustin Martyr already cited and others shew it plainly And if as some our appellation of Priest come from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it well may how can a lay-man be so Or if from Prebstre as the more think let us have Lay-priests if Lay-presbyters And what better Commentary can we have of Saint Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than himselfe gives of himselfe in his exhortation to the Elders or Pastors at Ephesus who interprets it by carefull attending to themselves and their flocks which even their owne authours are wont to appropriate to Pastors And what can that double honour be which the Apostle claimes for these Elders or Presbyters but respect and due maintenance To whom is this due but to those that serve at the Altar As for Lay-presbyters was it ever required that they should be maintained by the Church And what can those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be but those Priests which diligently and painfully toile in Gods harvest in the Word and Doctrine all the Elders therefore there intended are exercised in the Word and Doctrine but there are some that doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labour more abundantly than the rest these must be respected and incouraged accordingly Neither is there any reason in the world to induce an indifferent man to think that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should imiplie a severall and distinct office but rather a more intense and serious labour in the same office as might be showne in a thousand instances Whereas therefore this is the onely Scripture that in some fore-prised eares seemes to sound towards a Lay-presbytery I must needs professe for my part if there were no other text in all the Booke of God more pregnant for their disproofe I should thinke this alone a very sufficient warrant for their disclamation And I doe verily perswade my selfe that those men who upon such weake yea such no-grounds have taken upon them being meer Laicks to manage these holy affaires of God have an hard answer to make one day before the Tribunall of Almighty God for this their presumptuous usurpation Now then since this one litigious and unproving text is the onely place in the whole New Testament that can beare any pretence for the lay-Presbytery for as for their Dic Ecclesiae and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are so improbable and have been so oft and throughly charmed that they are not worth either urging or answer and on the contrary so many manifest and pregnant testimonies of Scriptures have been and may be produced within the Presbyters or Elders of the Church are by the Spirit of God onely meant for the spirituall guides of his people I hope every ingenuous Christian will easily resolve how much safer it is for him to follow the cleare light of many evident Scriptures than the doubtfull glimmering of one mistaken text §. 3. Lay-Eldership a meere stranger to antiquity which acknowledgeth no Presbyters but Divines ANd as the Scriptures of God never meant to give countenance to a lay-Presbytery so neither did subsequent antiquity I speak it upon good assurance there was never any clause in any Father Councell History that did so much as intimate any such office in the Church of God or the man that weilded it The fautors of it would gladly snatch at every sentence in old records where they meet with the name of a Presbyter as if there the bels chimed to their thought But certainely for fifteene hundred yeares no man ever dreamed of such a device If he did let us know the man I am sure our Apostolicall Clemens makes a contradistinction of Laicks and Presbyters Clem. Epâ—st ad Corinth supra Ignat. Ep. ad Magn. Do nothing without your Bishop â—eithâ—r Presbyter nor Deacon nor Laick And Ignatius the holy Martyr yet more punctually goes in these degrees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This difference is so familiar with that Saint as that we scarce misse it in any of his Epistles in so much as Vedelius himselfe finding in the Epistle of this Martyr to the Ephesians Ignat. Epist ad Ephes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translates it memorabile sacerdotum vestrorum collegium a Colledge of Presbyters such the Bishops of those first times had as we have still the Deane and Chapter to consult withall upon any occasion but those Presbyters were no other than professed Divines Neither were ever otherwise construed If we looke a little lower who can but turne over any two leaves of the first Tome of the Councels and not fall upon some passage that may settle his assurance this way Those ancient Canons which carry the name of the Apostles are exceedingly frequent in the distinction They speake of the Bishops or Presbyters offering on the Altar of God which no Lay-man might do They make an act against a Bishops or Presbyters rejection of his wife Can. Apost c. 3.4.5 under pretence of Religion which in a Lay-man was never questioned c 6 7. They forbid a Bishop Presbyter or Deacon to meddle with any secular cares or imploiments A Laick person had no reason to be so restrained shortlie for we might here easilie wearie our Reader the ninth of their Canons is punctuall which playnly reckons up the Bishop Can. â— Presbyter Deacon as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Priestly list and in the foureteenth if any Presbyter or Deacon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or whosoever else of the Clergie Dionysius the mis-named Areopagite hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Bishops and Presbyters and the holy Martyr
government sadly complaining of Antichrist and that the light of life hath lien hid under the mask of Popery until this day of love and now he coms to erect his Seniores sanctae intelligentiae Elders of the holy understanding and his other rabble Beware therefore I advise you how you take up this challenge but upon better grounds disgrace not Gods Truth with the odious name of Antichristianisme honour not Antichrist with the claime and title of an holy Truth Confesse the device new and make your best of it But if any man will pretend this governmet hath beene in the world before though no footsteps remaine of it in any history or record he may as well tell me there hath beene of old a passage from the Teneriffe to the Moone though never any but a Gonzaga discovered it §. 8. A Recapitulation of the severall heads and a vehement exhortation to all Readers and first to our Northerne brethren NOw then I beseech and adjure you my deare brethren by that love you professe to beare to the Truth of God by that tender respect you beare to the peace of his Sion by your zeale to the Gospell of Christ by your maine care of your happy account one day before the Tribunall of the most righteous Iudge of the quick and dead lay every of these things seriously together and lay all to heart And if you finde that the government of Episcopacie established in the Church is the very same which upon the foundation of Christs Institution was erected by his inspired Apostles and ever since continued unto this day without interruption without alteration If you finde that not in this part of the Western Church alone into which the Church of Rome had diffused her errours but in all the Christian world farre and wide in Churches of as large extent as the Roman ever was and never in any submission to her no other forme of government was ever dreamed of from the beginning If you finde that all the Saints of God ever since the holy Martyrs and Confessors the Fathers and Doctors both of the Primitive and ensuing Church have not onely admitted but honoured and magnified this onely government as Apostolicall If all Synods and Councels that have been in the Church of God since the Apostles time have received and acknowledged none but this alone If you finde that no one man from the dayes of the Apostles till this age ever opened his mouth against it save onely one who was for this cause amongst others branded and discarded for an heretick If you finde that the ancient Episcopacie even from Mark Bishop of Alexandria Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and Titus of Câ—ete were altogether in substance the same with ours in the same altitude of fixed superiority in the same latitude of spirituall jurisdiction if you finde the Laicke Presbytery an utter stranger to the Scriptures of God a thing altogether unheard of in the ancient times yea in all the following ages of the Church If you finde that Invention full of indeterminable uncertainties If you finde the practice of it necessarily obnoxious to unavoydable imperfections and to grosse absurdities and impossibilities Lastly if you finde the device so new that the first authours and abettors of it are easily traced to their very forme as those that lived in the dayes of thousands yet living If you finde all these as you cannot choose but finde them and many weighty considerations moe being so clearly laid before you I beseech you suffer not your selves to be led by the nose with an vnjust prejudice or an over-weening opinion of some persons whom you thinke you have cause to honour but without all respects to flesh and blood weigh the cause it self impartially in the ballance of Gods Sanctuary and judge of it accordingly Vpon my soul except the holy Scripture Apostolicall acts the practice of the ancient Church of God the judgement of all sacred Synods of all the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church all grounds of faith reason policie may faile us we are safe and our cause victorious Why then O why will you suffer your selves to be thus impetuously carried away with the false suggestions of some mis-zealous teachers who have as I charitably judge of some of them whatsoever grounds the rest might have over run the truth in a detestation of error and have utterly lost peace in an inconsiderate chace of a fained perfection For you my Northerne brethren for such you shall be when you have done your worst if there were any foul personal faults found in any of our Church-governours as there never wanted aspersions where an extermination is intended alas why should not your wisdome charity have taught you to distinguish betwixt the calling the crime were the person vicious yet the function is holy why should God his cause be stricken because man hath offended yet to this day no offence proved Your Church hath been anciently famous for an holy and memorable Prelacie and though it did more lately fall upon the division of Dioeceses D. Henr. Spelman ex Hectore Boetio Anno 840. so as every Bishop did in every place as opportunity offered executo Episcopall offices which kinde of Administration continued in your Church till the times of Malcolme the third yet this government over the whole Clergie was no lesse acknowledged than their sanctimony after the setling of those your Episcopall Sees it is worth your note and our wonder which your Hector Boetius writes Sacer Pontificatus Sancti Andreae tanta reverentia c. The Bishoprick of St. Andrewes was with so great reverence and innocence of life from the first institution of it in a long line of Episcopall succession continued to the very time wherein we wrote this That six and thirty and more of the Bishops of that See were accounted for Saints Good Lord How are either the times altered or we There may be differences of carriage and those that are Oxthodoxe in judgement may be faulty in demeanour But I grieve and feare to speak it There is now so little danger of a Calender that no holinesse of life could excuse the best Bishop from being ejected like an evill spirit out of the bosome of that Church Deus omen c. In the name of God what is it what can it be that is thus stood upon Is it the very name of Episcopacie which like that of Tarquin in Rome is condemned to a perpetuall disuse What hath the innocent word offended Your own Church after the Reformation could well be contented to admit of Superintendents and what difference is here as Zanchius well but that good Greek is turn'd into ill Latin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Superintendens Their power by your owne allowance and enacting is the same with your Bishops Their Dioeceses accordingly divided their residence fixed viz. The Superintendent of Orkney his Dioecesse shall be the Isles of Orkney Catnesse and Strathnever his Residence