twenty nine chapter of Magna Charta most fully and strongly confirmed 3. Caroli by the Kings Majesty in his answer to the Commons Petition of right in these wordes let right be done as is desired according to that twenty nine chapter of Magna Charta Now what saith that twenty nine Chapter of Magna Charta No freeman saith that chapter shal be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his freehold or liberties or free customes or be outlawed or exiled or any otherwise destroyed neither will we passe upon him nor condemne him saith the King but by the lawfull iudgement of his Peeres or by the law of the land That is under your Lordships the Courts correction whose office it is to interpret statutes unlesse that party be first convicted found culpable of the breach of some law of this land by a legall proceeding either at the common law or else in some other court and whosoever shall either condemne or punish any freeborne subject of this kingdome either for his obedience to the lawes of this land or for that which is no breach of any law of this land he doth violate that twenty nine chapter of Magna Charta and for that he stands excommunicate by a double excommunication the one deliver'd publikely here in Westminster Hall (f) Tempore Bonifacii Archie◠regnante tunc in Anglia H. 3. videlicet anno Dom. 1253. Id ibus Maii. inaula Westmon 15. Epis leguntur sententiam de qua hic sit mentio fulminasse Lyndew Prov. lib. 5. tit de sententia excom cap. cum malum Parag. Item excom verbis ab omnibus Daniell in the life of H. 3. 37. Henry 3. by Bonifacius then Archbishop of Cant. assisted with 14. other Bishops all in their pontificalls and tapers in their hands which after the excommunication denounced they threw upon the ground and as they lay there smoaking they cried so let all them that incurre this sentence be extinct and stincke in hell and all this was done in the presence of the Commons Nobles yea and of the King himselfe who at the same time with a loud voyce said as God me helpe I will as I am a man a Christian a Knight a King crowned and anointed inviolably observe all these things and the excommunication it selfe is set downe at the end of the statutes made 52. H. 3. in the booke of statutes at large put out by judge Rastall the other is extant in the same booke at the end of the statutes made 25. Edward 1. and uttered by Robert Winchelsee Arch-bishop of Canterbury in his time both against the violaters of this renowned law of Magna Charta often confirmed not onely by the following Kings the successours of Henry the third and Edward the first but also by the Pope him selfe as appeares out of the fift booke of Lyndewodes provinciall titulo de sententia excommunicationis cap. Cum Malum parag Item excommunicatj And besides the former confirmations and excommunications the authority of Magna Charta was made sacred and inviolable as it were 25. Edward 1. first by decreeing that that charter under the Kings seale should be sent unto all the Cathedrall Churches throughout the Realme there to remaine and to bee read before the people twice a yeare And secondly by enacting that that Charter should ever after be propugnated and vindicated by the sentence of excommunication to be denounced twice a yeare by all Archbishops and Bishops in their Cathedralls against all those that by word deede or counsell did doe contrary to the foresaid charter or that in any point did breake or undoe it and if the same Bishops or any of them should be remisse in the denuntiation of the said sentence that then the Archbishops of Cant. and Yorke for the time being should compell and distraine them to the execution of their duties in forme aforesaid as appeares by the 3. and 4. chap. 25. Ed. 1. And surely my Lord those two former solemne excommunications were those other continuall semiannuall excommunications might have beene hitherto and may hereafter bee rightly and justly denounced against the violaters of this 29. chap. of Magna Charta for this 29. chapter that no free man is to be punished but for the breach of some law is good Divinity accords excellently with the word of God The Apostle Rom. 4.15 telles us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the law causeth wrath that is punishment and how doth the Law cause wrath or punishment not simply singly of it selfe not observ'd but transgrest and therefore in the next words the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where there is no Law there is no transgression And as where there is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no law there there cannot bee any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any transgression of Law so where there is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no transgression of law there there cannot be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any fault or offence and where there is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no fault or offence there there ought not to be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any wrath or punishment Nay my Lord though there be a law yet if that law be not transgrest there cannot justly be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any wrath or punishment At most though there may bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proposita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denuntiata wrath proposed or denounced in the Law to terrifie all persons from sinne which is nothing but the binding power of the Law yet justly there cannot be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imposita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inflicta wrath imposed or inflicted by the Judge upon any person to punish him for sinne untill the Law be transgrest and sinne committed by that person And this the Apostle Rom. 5.12 doth most acutely divinely shew by imputing the punishment partly to the Law and partly to the transgression of the law to the Law as to a just rule inflicting punishment upon the transgression to the transgression as to a meritorious cause deserving that punishment according to the just rule of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By sin which is the transgression of the law Death the wrath punishment of the law entred into the world So then my Lord this is most certainely and most undoubtedly true wheresoever there is any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any wrath or punishment any fining or imprisonment any deprivation degradation excommunication or any other censure sentence mulct or punishment whatsoever rightly and justly inflicted There there must of necessity of necessity my Lord there there must be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some fault or offence Wheresoever there is any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any fault or offence there there must of necessity of necessity my Lord there there must be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some transgression of Law Wheresoever there is any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any transgression of Law there there must of
obedience unto the canons testantibus ad versarijs the person but meane poore but a Presbyter a minister an incumbent and that onely of a single benefice and never any waies contumacious this matter belongs not to the cognisance of the High commission but to the jurisdiction of the ordinary and then it hath beene all this while coram non judice and so the sentence and whole proceedings are utterly voyd And thus much concerning this first question which my refusall to preach the Archdeacons visitation Sermon if it be a breach of Canonicall obedience begets namely that the breaches of canons or of canonicall obedience to the canons according to the Lawes and customes of his land belong to the jurisdiction of the Ordinary and not to the cognisance of the High commission court or that for the breach of a canon or of canonicall obedience to the canons according to the Lawes and customes of this land men are not to be fetcht from the judgement jurisdiction of the Ordinary up to the High Commission court and there to be fin'd imprisond but are to be left to the judgement and jurisdicton of the ordinary and he to proceede against them according to the power of the Keies Now on the other side my Lord if this my refusall to preach the Archdeacons visitation sermon be no breach of canonicall obedience then it begets this question whether the high commissioners your Lordship this court the Barons of the Exchequer and the Lords of the counsell have power to punish me for that which is no fault no breach of any law And least the high commissioners this court the Barons of the Exchequer and the Lordes of the counsell should all thinke to escape by maintaining the affirmative that they have power to punish me for that which is no fault no breach of any law and peradventure in a desperate case they will not sticke to maintaine a desperate opinion especially seeing your Lordship hath shew'd and lead them all the way For termino trinitatis 1637. When your Lordship delivered your opinion in the especiall verdict betweene Allen and Nash your Lordship not onely affirmed the high commission sentence of deprivation and degradation against me but also maintained that your Lordship and this court were bound to affirme it whether it were true or false grounded upon a cause or upon no cause Therefore my Lord to stoppe up that gap to prevent that starting hole to overthrow that parodox and with one argument to confute those foure Honorable senates whereof the first and the last the high commissioners and the Lords of the counsell challenge as great authority as the King himselfe hath and all of you in this my case usurpe a greater for you all punish me for that which is no fault no breach of any law I must in the first place Thesis 1 shew that no Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreame hath any power prerogative or authority to punish any man within his jurisdiction except it be for some fault some offence some vice some error some evill some sinne some transgression of some law Thesis 2 And secondly I must shew that my refusall to preach the Arch-deacons Visitation Sermon my principall or especiall fault in the judgement of my adversaries is no fault no offence no vice no error no evill no sinne no transgression of any Law whatsoever and that therefore neither the high commissioners your Lordship this court the Barons of the Exchequer the Lords of the counsell nor any other Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreme hath any power prerogative or authority to punish me muchlesse to imprison me for it And for the first of these positions that no Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreame hath any power Thesis 1. Tractatio prerogative or authority to punish any man within his jurisdiction except it be for some fault some offence some vice some error some evill some sinne some transgression of some law this appeares out of the 13. chapter to the Rom. verse 3. where the Apostle speaking of that Magistrate to whom the sword is committed of that Magistrate to whom we pay tribute of that magistrate to whom we must submit not onely for wrath but for conscience sake of that Magistrate to whom every soule is to be subject that is of the soveraigne supreme Monarchicall Magistrate Gods immediate deputy and vicegerent he saith of that Magistrate the Magistrate is not a terror to good workes but to evill wilt thou then be without feare of the power doe well so shalt thou have praise of the same for he is the Minister of God for thy wealth But if thou do evill then feare for he beares not the sword in vaine for he is the Minister of God to take vengeance on him that doth evill Saint Paul then is cleere that no Magistrate whatsoever can justly punish any man except it be for some evill And Saint Peter testifies as much 1 Epist 2. chap. 13. and 14. verses Submit your selves saith he to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be unto the King as the supreame or unto governours as them that are sent of him sent of him for what purpose Even for the same purpose that he before is sent of God namely for the punishment of them that doe evill and for the praise of them tbat doe well So that by the expresse word of God no Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreame hath any power prerogative or authority to punish any man within his jurisdiction except it be for some fault some offence some vice some error some evill some sinne some transgression of some law And this much my Lord king Artashast saw by the very light of nature as appeares by the wordes of his Commission granted to Ezra and expressed Ezra 7. chap. 25. 26. verse And thou Ezra after the wisedome of thy God that is in thy hand set Magistrates and Iudges which may judge all the people beyond the river even all that know the law of thy God and teach-yee them that know it not And whosoever will not doe the law of thy God and the law of thy King let judgement be speedily executed upon him whether it be unto death or to banishment to confifcation of goods or to imprisonment In which wordes King Artashast just as Saint Peter and Saint Paul before did gives power unto Ezra to punish men not for well doing but for evill doing no for keeping but for breaking Gods lawes and the Kings not for obedience but for disobedience not for vertue but for vice Nay God himselfe chalengeth no greater prerogative then to reward the observers and to punish the transgressers of his law Cursed be he saith Moses that confirmeth not all the wordes of Gods law to doe them Deut. 27. or as the Apostle expresseth it Gal. 3. Cursed is every man that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them And if
they onely who breake Gods law be cursed then all those who keep his law must needs be blessed and this much Moses expresly telleth the Israelites Deut. 11. Behold saith he I set before you this day a Blessing and a Curse the Blessing if ye obey the commandements of the Lord your God The Curse if ye will not obey the commandements of the Lord your God And if God the supreme Magistrate of all the world and the creator of all men and Magistrates will not punish any man except it be for some breach of his law how can any of his deputy Magistrates without pride or presumtion arrogate more or chalenge any power prerogative or authority to punish any man for that which is no fault no offence no vice no error no evill no sinne no transgression of any law whatsoever And here now my Lord behold the conformity both of our Kings and of the lawes of our Kingdom unto the word of God in this particuler our (d) King Iames confesseth so much in his speech to the Lords commons at whitehall on Wednesday 21 Martii 1609. p. 12. pag. 13. hee saith all Kings that are not tirants or periured wil be glad to bound them selves within the Jimites of their lawes they that perswad them the contrary are vipers pests both against them and the Common Wealth Kings chalenge no more our lawes made by their owne appointment confirmed by their owne authority which by oath they are bound to maintaine and which his (e) K. Charles in his declaration to all his loving subiects published by the advice of his privy councell 1641. pag. 20. saith wee doubt not it will bee the most acceptable declaration a King can make to his subiects that for our part we are resolved not only duely to observe the lawes Our selfe but to mainetaine them against what opposition soever though with the hazard of our being Majesty professeth he will maintaine against whatsoever opposition with the hazard of his owne being gives them no more This appeares out of the first of the first of Eliz. an act to restore unto the crowne the ancient jurisdiction over the state Ecclesiasticall which Sir Edward Coke in Cawdreys case calls an act onely declaratory and assertory of the ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne not collatory or introductory of any new right And what jurisdiction doth that act restore or more properly declare to be restored to the Crowne Namely all such spirituall and Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction as by any manner spirituall or Ecclesiasticall power or authority hath heretofore beene or may lawfully be exercised for the Uisitation of the state Ecclesiasticall and for the reformation of all manner errors heresies schismes abuses faults offences contempts enormities In which wordes my Lord there are three things expressed incident to the ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne First it is Soveraigne and supreame over and above all excluding and abrogating all forreigne including but not abrogating all domesticke jurisdiction Secondly it is such a jurisdiction as may lawfully be exercised it is not then an unlawfull but a lawfull jurisdiction And Thirdly it is for the reformation of all errors heresies schismes abuses faults offences contempts enormities It is no power then to punish men for truthes for conformity to the doctrine and discipline established for vertues for obedience to the Ecclesiasticall lawes of this land no but for errors heresies schismes abuses faults offences contempts enormities And this my Lord doth likewise appeare by the end of that ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne expressed in that statute which is that all thinges in the Ecclesiasticall courts by vertue of that ancient Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction of the Crowne may be done to the pleasure of Almighty God to the increase of vertue and to the maintenance of the peace and unity of this realme Now my Lord if the end of that ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne be for the maintenance of the peace and unity of this realme then that ancient iurisdiction of the Crowne cannot punish men for peace and unity but for discord and dissention not for obeying the lawes of this land which is a principall meanes to maintaine the peace and unity of this realme but for violating the lawes of the land which is a forcible meanes to breed discord and dissention Againe if the end of that ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne be for the increase of vertue then that ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne cannot punish men for their vertues but for their vices for otherwise that would be a meanes to decrease vertue and to increase vice And thirdly seeing the end of that ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne is that thereby all thinges in the Ecclesiasticall courts should be done to the pleasure of Almighty God and the pleasure of Almighty God as I have before shew'd out of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is that the Magistrate shall not be a terror to good workes but to evill Therefore the ancient jurisdiction of the Crowne cannot punish men for well doing but for evill doing not for keeping but for breaking Gods lawes and the Kings not for obedience but for disobedience not for vertue but for vice And this much my Lord is evident by all lawes for all lawes doe consist of a direction and a punishment and they inflict the punishment onely upon the transgressers not upon the observers of the direction of the law and this the Apostle sheweth in his 1. Epist to Tim. chap. 1. ver 8. We know the law is good if a man use it lawfully howe 's that why thus knowing this saith the Apostle that the law is not given to the righteous but to the lawlesse and disobedient what is not the law given to the righteous yet in respect of the direction not in respect of the punishment for because he observeth the direction of the law he is freed from the punishment of the law but to the lawlesse and disobedient the law is given in respect both of the direction and punishment and because they observe not the direction of the law they and they onely are liable to the punishment of the law and thereupon if any judge shall impose the punishment of the law upon any that doth not violate the direction of the law he crosses and confounds the very law it selfe and incurres that foule fault committed by Aâ—aniae the high Priest and excepted against by Saint Paul Acts. 23. Thou sittest to judge me after the law and contrary to the law commandest thou me to be smitten And therefore my Lord seeing the nature property and purpose of all lawes is to secure the observers and to lay the punishment of the law onely upon the violaters of the direction of the law It is needlesse to alleage any more particuler lawes to prove that which is the scope and intent of all lawes Yet I cannot pretermit one and I will alleage but one law of the land more to this purpose and that 's the
necessity of necessity my Lord there there must be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some law transgrest If there be no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no law transgrest then it is impossible it is impossible my Lord that there can be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any transgression of Law If there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no transgression of law then it is impossible it is impossible my L. that there can be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any fault or offence If there be no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no fault or offence then it is impossible 't is impossible my Lord that there can be any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any wrath or punishment any fining or imprisonment any deprivation degradation excommunication or any other censure sentence mulct or punishment whatsoever rightly and justly inflicted Nay further my Lord this law must be a knowne law for by the law is the knowledge of sinne saith the Apostle Rom. 3.20 and by what law is the knowledge of sinne surely by a knowne law not by an unknowne law for seeing sinne is the transgression of the law he that will know sin which is the transgression of the Law must know it by the law transgrest and therefore he must first know that law which is transgrest and this the Apostle doth expressely and pregnantly shew Rom. 7.7 What shall we say saith the Apostle is the Law sinne God forbid nay I know not sinne but by the Law for I had not knowne lust to be a sinne unlesse the law had said thou shalt not lust So that first we know the Law and then by vertue of the law we know sinne which is the transgression of the Law And here my Lord I must againe repeate the Apostles question What shall we say saith the Apostle is the Law sinne God forbid yea God forbid it in deede my Lord for if the law be sinne then the lawyers cujuscunque generis eo nomine are sinners and the greater Lawyers the greater sinners and Judges the greatest of Lawyers the greatest of sinners and how shall wee avoid or confute this consequence my Lord which to toucheth all our copyholds Why just as the Apostle doth the former The Apostle proves the law to bee no sinne because the law discovers forbids condemnes and punisheth sinne And if the Lawyers doe so then the Lawyers cujuscunque generis eo nomine are no sinners but the ornaments both of Church and common wealth and Gods Ministers and Deputies to reforme and preserve both But if in steed of discovering sinne they conceale sinne in stead of forbidding sinne they command sinne in stead of condemning sinne they justifie sinne and in stead of punishing sinne they patronize protect and preferre sinne then Lawyers cujuscunque generis eo nomine are sinners and the greater lawyers the greater sinners and judges the greatest of Lawyers the greatest of sinners for as the law doth first discover sinne and then condemne and punish it so must Judges first discover a particular sinne a particular transgression of law and particular law transgrest and then condemne and punish it Otherwise they are not judges according unto law but sinners against law and their very act and worke of judging in respect of the anomy obliquity and irregularity of it is not judging according unto law but sinning against the law Nay my Lord not onely Judges but every man is to shew unto his brother his particular sinne his particular transgression of law and the perticular law transgrest even by Gods owne expresse command Levit. 19.17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but thou shalt plainely reprove him and not suffer sinne upon him and if every man must plainely reprove his brother and not suffer sin upon him then every man must plainely shew his brother his particular sinne and if every man must plainely shew his brother his particular sinne then seeing sin is the transgression of the Law every man must plainely shew his brother his particular transgression of law and if every man must plainely shew his brother the particuler transgression of law then every man must plainely shew his brother the particular law transgrest And if every man must doe this in love as a brother then ever Judge must doe it both in love as a brother and in Justice as a Judge and therefore no Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreame can justly inflict any wrath or punishment upon any man whomsoever unlesse he first discover in him and to him to him and in him some particuler fault some particuler offence some particuler vice some particuler error some particuler evill some particuler sinne some particuler transgression of Law And by this my Lord it appeares that the two finall sentences of the High Commission Court against mee are both voide first that of the deprivation and degradation because in twelve sheets as it it stands upon record in this Court it mentions no one particular fault but onely generalls namely grievous and enormous crimes excesses delicts contumacies contempts incorrigibilities therfore my Honored Lord Cheife justice under favour your LP. was much mistaken when your Lordship delivering your opinion in the speciall verdict between Alllen Nash did paralell my case and Caudreys case in the principall point The principall point in Caudreys case (g) And that the said Caudrey before time of the said trespasse supposed was deprived of his said benefice before the said Commissioners as well for that he had preached against the said booke of common prayer as also for that he refused to celebrate Divine Service according to the said booke shewed particulerly wherin Caudreys case Fol. 3. was not whether the sentence found against Caudrey did charge Caudrey with any particuler crime within any branch of the Commission found for that 's evident granted on both sides in Caudreys case is the principall point in my case the negative thereof is as evident in my case as the affirmative thereof was in Caudrys case and that negative makes the principall point and question in my case to be this whether the matter be coram non iudice or not seeing the sentence found against mee doth not charge me with any particuler crime within any branch of the Commission found but onely with generalls namely grievous enormous crimes mentioned in the articles and those Articles not found so that in very deede there is nothing at all found against me according to this rule of the common law de non apparentibus et non existentibus cadem est ratio idem iudâ—cium But the principall point and question in Caudreys case was whether the High Commissioners had persued the forme of their commission or not in depriving Caudrey upon his first conviction who by the Statute the 2 of the 1. Eliz. was to be deprived upon his second conviction which is no point or question in my case And if your Lordship will paralell these two cases in the
principall point your Lordship must either shew that the sentence found againg Caudrey did not charge Caudrey with any particuler crime within any branch of the Commission found but onely with generalls as in my case Or else that the sentence found against me doth charge me not onely with generalls but also with some particuler crime within some branch of the Commission found as in Caudreys case And unlesse your Lordship can doe one of these two your Lordship may sooner bring together Hercules his two pillers or the two poles then paralell our two cases in the principall point And untill then this sentence containing onely generalls shall according to Gods word the word of truth stand charg'd and branded with injustice and uncharitablenesse and in respect of the anomy obliquity and enormity of it shall be taken by all men of sound judgement to bee as indeede it is not a sentence according unto law but a sinne and a foule sinne against law or rather to use the words of that erronious sentence in a true sence a grievous and enormous crime contrary to the Law and therefore voide And both the High Commissioners in giving of it and your Lordship and this Court in affirming of it have shewed your selves not Judges according unto law but sinners against Law and I out of love to all your persons our of duty unto God and out of obedience unto his word am bound to tell you so much expressely by the former text Levit. 19 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but thou shalt plainely reprove him and not suffer sinne upon him And secondly my Lord this High commission first finall sentence of the five hundred pounds fine and two yeares imprisonment against me is for the same reason likewise voide because though it mention a particular namely my refusall to preach the Archdeacons Uisitation Sermon yet that particular that refusall to preach that Uisitation Sermon is no fault no offence no vice no errour no evill no sinne no transgression of any law whatsoever but a vertue and an eminent vertue even the vertue of canonicall obedience unto the 36. 49. and 52. Canons to his Majesties Letters Patents Royall prerogative and supreame Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction as shall now fully and amply appeare out of my second position And thus much concerning my first position that no Magistrate whatsoever no not the Supreame hath any power prerogative or authority to punish any man within his jurisdiction except it bee for some fault some offence some vice some error some evill Thesis 2 proâ—atio some sinne some transgression of some law I now proceede to my second position that my refusall to preach the Archdeacon of Cant. Doctor Kingsleys visitation Sermon my principall or especiall fault in the judgement of my adversaries is no fault nor offence no vice no errour no evill no sinne no transgression of any law whatsoever and that therefore neither the High Commissioners your Lordship this court the Barons of Exchequer the Lords of the Counsell nor any other Magistrate whatsoever no not the supreme hath any power Prerogative or authority to punish me much lesse to imprison me for it And that I may begin and goe on in this position with that upon which I did much insist in the former certaine it is my Lord that here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is wrath and punishment here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad octo here is wrath in the highest degree here is wrath as grievous as the fire is hot here is wrath incomparable implacable inexplicable wrath unparalel'd wrath superlative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Greg. Nissen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in another case speakes The evill the mischeife is beyond expression beyond consolation The two finall sentences of the Honorable Court of High Commission against me may not unfitly be compared to that winde in the first of Iob for as that winde strooke upon the foure corners of Iobs eldest sonnes house and so did utterly ruinate it so have these two finall sentences strooke upon the foure quarters of my estate and utterly ruinated me in all if they stand good first they have strooke me in my goods by a fine of five hundred pounds estreated into the Exchequer and partly paid and partly stall'd Secondly they have strooke me in my liberty by foure times imprisonment and nine full yeares and three quarters continuance therein Thirdly they have strooke me in my benefice by deprivation Fourthly they have strooke me in my Ministeriall function by degradation nay my Lord they have strooke me one stroke more above and beyond all the former they have drawne out the spirituall sword of excommunication against mee and therewith as much as in them lies they have strooke me out of this orthodox Church cut me off from the communion of Saints delivered me up to Satan and adjudged my soule for the salvation whereof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shed his most precious blood to the eternall torments of hell fire so that if ever there were then here is wrath incomparable implacable inexplicable wrath unparalel'd wrath superlative Now my Lord if herein the defendants have proceeded according to the rule of Justice which placeth and observeth a proportion and correspondency betweene fault and the punishment according to this rule of Gods word Deut. 25.2 Secundum mensuraÌ„ dilicti erit plagarum modus then it must needes be that this greivoâ—s enormous punishment must argue some greivous enormous crime some crying sinne like that of Cain in murdering his brother Abell whose blood calles to God for vengeance out of the dumbe and dead Element of the earth nay it must argue some ascending some soaring some mounting sinne flying up into the presence of God and laying hands as it were upon the Almighty and violently haling pulling him downe to execute vengeance unpon the offender like the sinnes of the Sodomites and what is it Why it is my refusall to Preach the the Archdeacon of Canterbury Doctor Kingsleys visitation Sermon Parturiunt montes nasceturridiculusmus And now my Lord to examine this their sentence and proceeding to law and justice If this wrath this incomparable wrath and punishment or any peere or particle thereof be rightly and justly inflicted upon me for my refusall to preach the Archdeacons Uisitation Sermon Then according to the former rule delivered in the former position this my refusall to preach the Uisitation Sermon must of necessity be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some fault or offence If this my refusall to Preach the Uisitation Sermon be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some fault or offence then it must of necessity be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the transgression of some law If it bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the transgression of some law then there must of necessity be some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some law transgrest that bindes me to Preach that Uisitation Sermon My Lord the High Commissioners by
witchcraft and transgression is wickednesse and idolatrie In which wordes my Lord as God require that his word be taken first for a law secondly for an universall law or a law in all thinges and thirdly for a law of that authority that if he command any man to kill a man yea a King the cheife of men and Gods immediate deputy he must doe it and if he doe it not hee sinnes greatly which was Sauls case here So doe the defenders of this arbitrary obedience strive in these three thinges to be similes altissimo to be very Gods First they wil have their bare word to be taken for a law secondly for an universall law or law in all thinges and thirdly for a law of that authority that if they bid kill a man it must be done by them that are under their jurisdiction And this appeares my Lord by a plea or argument stiled the arraignement of the whole society of the Jesuites in France made in the Court of Parliament in Paris the twelfth and thirteenth of Iuly 1594. by Master Anthony Arnould Counsellour for the Vniversity of Paris against the Iesuites wherein he shewes that the Jesuites fourth vow is to obey their generall ubique in omnibus every where and in all thinges and he further addes that the wordes of their fourth vow are that they must acknowledge Jesus Christ present as it were in their generall and that if Jesus Christ should command them to goe and (s) There are above 3000. persons that know that Commoâ— let Preaching at Christmas last in Saint Bartholomewes Church tooke for his theme the third chap. of the booke of Iudges where it is reported that Ehud slew the King of Moab and scaped away and after he had discoursed at large upon the death of the King and exalted and placed amongst the Angels this Tyger this Devill incarnate Iames Clement he fell into a great exclamation we have neede of an Ehud we have neede of an Ehud were he a Frier were he a Souldier were he a Lackey were he a sheapherd it made no matter needes we must have an Ehud one blow would settle us fully in the state of our affaires as we most desire The Arraignement of the whole society of the Iesuites fol. 12. kill they must doe so And to this purpose Ignatius Loyola in his Epist de virtute obedientiae sect 18. gives his Disciples the Jesuites this one generall rule of obedience (t) Statuere debetis vobiscum quicquid superior praecipit ipsius Dei praeceptum esse voluntatem atque ut ad credenda quae Catholica fides propo-nit toto animo assensuque vestro statim incumbitis sic ad ea facienda quaecunque superior dixerit caeco quodam impetu voluntatis parendi cupidae sive ulla prorsus disquisitione feri mini Sic egisse credendus est Abraham filium Issaac immolare iussus Mysteria Patrum Iesuitarum pag. 62. Statuere debetis vobiscum quicquid superior praecipit ipsius Dei praeceptum esse voluntatem c. You must resolve with your selves that whatsoever the superiour commands is the very praecept and will of God himselfe and as you betake your selves with a full mind and assent to beleeve those thinges which the Catholicke faith proposeth so be ye carried with a blind zeale and an obedient will to doe all thinges which the superiour shall say without making any question or disquisition at all for so Abraham is thought to have done being commanded to offer his sonne Isaac in the twentieth section of his former Epist Ignatius Loyola adds (u) Quae de obedientia diximus aeque privatis erga proximos superiores atque rectoribus praepositisque localibus erga Provinciales Provincialibus ergo gralem grali denique erga illum quem ipsi praefecit Deus nempe suum in terâ—is vicarum observanda sunt Ibidem Pag. â—1 Quae de obedientia diximus c. Those thinges which we have said concerning obedience are equally to be observed by private men towards their next superiours by inferiour governours and Rulers of severall places to their provincialls by provincialls to their generall and by the generall to him whom God hath set over him namely to Gods Vicar on earth Here then my Lord we have now the full extent of this religious irreligious blind detestable damnable devillish obedience in two respects in respect of the persons to whom it is due and in respect of the nature of the thing it selfe In respect of the persons to whom it is due it is to be given by every inferiour to every Ecclesiasticall superiour In respect of the nature of the thing it selfe it is a generall and universall obedience to all their commands whatsoever And if we looke a little more perticularly and narrowly into it wee shall find that they extend it sometimes to thinges fond frivolous sometimes to thinges ridiculous and absurd and sometimes to thinges wicked and ungodly First to thinges fond and frivolous an instance hereof we have in Anselmus Arch-bishop of Cant. who after he was bishop of that See wrote to Pope Vrban to appoint him some man according to whose commands he might frame his whole life and Pope Vrban appointed him Edmerus and as Malmesburien in his first booke de gestis pontificum Anglorum in the life of Anselmus saith the Arch-bishop did so much esteeme the command of Edmerus that being in bed he would not so much as rise nay he would not so much as turne himselfe a latere ad latus from one side to the other sine praecepto Edmeri unlesse Edmerus first commanded him and herein the Arch-bishop shewed himselfe a true patterne a lively portraiture of blind obedience For Caeca obedientia est ut quis sit tanquam corpus exanime quod requiescit ubi quis reposuerit sine motu This is blind obedience that a man be like a dead body which rests where it is laid without motion untill it be stirred as my late Lord of Ely Bishop White in his explanation of the Orthodox faith and way cap. 3. parag 13. shewes Secondly they extend it to thinges ridiculous and absurd Ethelwold the Abbot of Abington having set workemen to repaire the Abbey charged one of his Monkes called Elstan to see their diet well prepared for them Thereupon the Monke betakes him into the Kitchin makes it cleane trimmes up the vessels and prepares meat for the workmens dinner a little before dinner the Abbot comes into the kitchin and finding the Monke busie in preparing meate for the workemens dinner askes him what his meaning was The Monke answers that he was yeilding obedience to his command the Abbot replied that he gave him no such command he commanded him only to over-see others not to doe those thinges in his owne person yet he told him that he had done well to let his obedience outstrippe his command but added withall that his obedience was not yet perfect if he would
cure saw men walke like trees Marke 8. For I can never think that eye whose so ever it be quick-sighted nor fit to be oculus Episcopi which cannot discern examination from preaching and Ordination and Institution from Visitation And so my Lord for a farwell to the Principals I leave it to your Lordship and the Court to consider whether the Commissioners were not invited by the presumption of their own strength and of my weaknesse to use the foresaid arguments which upon examination make quite against them Or whether they were not at that time like men in danger of drowning who being taught by nature to do their best to save themselves and yet being deprived of the right use of their sences do divers times seeke helpe and lay hold on things that hurt them and keepe them under water and thereby drown themselves the sooner And thus much concerning the principalls The accessories and the Defendants three Arguments I now proceed to the accessories And here my Lord seeing the Defendants have falsified the Law in the principals your Lordship and the Court are not to give credit unto them concerning the accessories seeing in the principalls they have called my obedienc to the Word of God to the Articles Statutes Canons to his Maiesties Letters Patents royall Prerogative and oath of Supreamacie which are all extant to the view of the world a breach of Canonicall obedience a principall or especiall fault a grievous and enormous crime they are not according to their own Law to be credited concerning any fact they charge me within the accessories for qui semel est malus semper praesumitur malus in eodem genere mali and qui semel veritatis verecundiae limites transilierit cum oportet esse gnaniter impudentem nec ei deinceps nisi paenitenti culpani confitenti veniam expetenti est in aliqua credendum But my Lord though according to these axioms the defendants are not to be credited in any of the accessories because they have falsified the Law in the principalls Yet I labour not to impeach their credit in all but in one only circumstance which runs through the three first accessories which is grosly and palpably false and contrary to the Records of their own Court. For whereas in the first accessorie they charge me that I came unsent for or uncall'd for to Master Arch-deacon aforesaid he being in his Visitation among the Clergie and sitting there to heare Causes and in the second accessorie that I did then and there charge the said Arch-deacon of falshood and iâ—justice and in the third accessorie that I did at the same time and place lay down an hundred pounds in gold upon the table and offered to lay wagers with him the said Arch-deacon that he had done me wrong or the like in effect I confesse I did these three but not at the same time and place not whil'st Master Arch-deacon sate in his Visitation to heare Causes but afterwards as will appear by these three circumstances The Visitation is alwaies kept in Saint Margarets Church in Canterburie this was in the parlour of the Checker Inne in Cant. The Visitation is alwaies begun continued and ended in the forenoone before dinner this was in the after-nooneafter dinner At the Visitation are present both Clergie and Laity the Ministers and the Churchwardens here were present the Clergie only and the Defendants themselves in their Plea mention only the Clergie the Arch-deacon say they being in his Visitation among the Clergie not amongst the Laity And it is evident by the Records of their own Court and by the testimony of their own witnesses Dr. Say and Henry Ienkins that these things were said and done in the Checker Inne in Canterburie after dinner and not in Saint Margarets Church at the Visitation And it appeares likewise by the submission enjoyned me for by their own Order that submission was to be uttered before the Clergie in the dining roome before dinner and not in Saint Margarets Church at the Visitation And beside I here make oath in truth in justice and in judgement that these three accessories were said and done not in Saint Margarets Church at the Visitation but in the parlour of the Checker Inne in Canterburie where I never yet knew any Visitation kept by Master Arch-deacon acces ∣ sorie The first And now my Lord this one circumstance being confuted what fault was it for me to come to Master Arch-deacon in the Checker Inne uncall'd for or unsent for might not I in the parlour of the Checker Inne after dinner come uncall'd or unsent for to Master Arch-deacon with whom I din'd as well as come to your Lordship and to these my honored Judges at the side-Barre in this Hall nay in this very Court uncall'd or unsent for I am sure your Persons and places are more eminent and your imployments more and weightier and yet I and some others as meane as I have come unto you and gone from you in both these places without offence accessorie The second Or did I offend in charging the said Archdeacon with falshood wrong and injustice nothing at all For I have before shewed how under the name of Canonicall obedience he would have brought in arbitrary and blinde obedience and the worst part or kind therof not that only which is uncanonicall pretercanonicall or ultracanonicall but that also which is anticanonicall or contracanonicall A thing repugnant to the Word of God to the doctrine and discipline of this orthodox Church to the Prerogative royall of the Crown and to the freedome and liberty of every free-born Subject Is not this falshood wrong and injustice I have before shewed how he hath advanced his apocryphall uncanonicall anticanonical antidiplomatical antiprerogative antisuprematicall postscript private letter and message above the Canons of this Church his Majesties Letters Patents and royall Prerogative above a royall Prerogative invested in the Crowne by God himselfe acknowledged by Article by Statute by Canon nay above a royall Prerogative which he and I by the oath of supremacy are both bound to the utmost of our power to defend and maintain and yer he hath violated it and would have made me have violated it as he hath made many others Is not this falshood wrong and injustice Yea but though it be yet peradventure I might not tell him so much Yes my Lord I was bound to tell him of it by the Word of God by the Canon Law by the law of Nature and by the oath of Supremacy The Word of God Levit 19.17 saith Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but thou shalt plainly reprove him and not suffer sin upon him So did I. The rule of the Canon Law set down by Felinus de rescriptis cap. si quando is this Subditi debent resistere pralato legem ignoranti instruendo eum multo magis legem violanti maxime vero legem conculcanti So did I. The law of Nature bindes
of the canons may require or else arbitrary (m) Neque probamus caecum illud obedientiae genus nuper a Iesuitis excogitatum nempe ut secundum prouerbium sint caeci caecorum duces quo volunt simpliciter absolute atque adeo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inferiores pendere a superioribus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut verbis utar Theodoreti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verum ut iniquit Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chamier that is such as the superiour shall require by his Dictats whatsoever it be This the Papists call religious obedience because they make it a part a principall part of their religion to become the servants yea the slaves of men contrary to Gods word 1 Cor. 7.23 Ye are bought with a price bee ye not the servants of men and we rightly call it blinde obedience because they that yeeld unto it have as it were their eyes thrust out and must like blinde men be wholy led by others But it is properly called arbitrary obedience that is obedience according to the will and pleasure of the superiour And as it appeares in the constitutions of the society of Jesus part 6. chap. 1. parag 1. this arbitrary obedience consists in things (n) Obedientiam omnes plurimum observare in ea excellere studeant nec solum in rebus obligatoriis sed etiam in aliis licet nihil aliud quam signum voluntatis superioris sine ullo expresso praecepto videre tur Constit societatis Iesu parte 6. c. 1. parag 1. obligatory and in things not obligatory and in respect of this latter in respect of things not obligatory this arbitrary obedience may bee subdivided into obedience uncanonicall pretercanonicall or ultra canonicall that is besides or beyond the canons and into obedience anticanonicall or contracanonicall that is against or contrary to the canons And this (o) Obedientia quod ad executionem attinet tunc praestatur cum res iussa completur quod ad voluntatem cum ille qui obedit id psum vult quod qui iubet quod ad intellectum cum id ipsum sentit quod ille quod iubetur bene iuberi existimat estimperfecta ea obedientia in qua praeter executionem non est haec eiusdem voluntatis sententiae inter eum qui obedit Conseusio Ibidem in delarationibus arbitrary obedience as appeares out of the place last cited is either perfect in respect of execution will and understanding or else imperfect perfect obedience in respect of execution is when the thing commanded is fully done In respect of the will when he that obeyes doth will the same thing that he who commands doth In respect of understanding when there is the same opinion in both and hee that obeys thinkes as he that commands doth and though the thing commanded be fully done yet if there be not a full consent and conformity of will and opinion both in him that commandes and in him that obeys the obedience is imperfect And in the same place my Lord they give us (p) Et sibi quisque persua deat quod qui sub obedientia vivunt se ferri ac regi a divina providentia per superiores suos sinere debent perinde ac si cadaver essent quod quoquo versus ferri quacunque ratione tractarise sinit vel similiter atque senis baculus qui ubicunque quacunque in re velit eo uti quieum manu tenet ei inservit Ibidem in constitutionibus two emblems of this arbitrary obedience whereof the one is a dead body which suffers it selfe to bee carried whethersoever and to be handled howsoever the living will and the other is a staffe in a mans hand which is wholy at his service that hath it and to be used howsoever whensoever and in whatsoever he that hath it pleaseth Indeede my Lord in the same place they interpose (q) Sancta obedientia tum in executione tum involuntate tum in intellectu sit in nobis semper omni ex parte perfecta cum magna celeritate spirituali gaudio perseverantia quic quid nobis iniunctum fuerit obeundo omnia iusta esse nobis persuadendo omnem sententiam ac iudicium nostrum contrarium caeca quadam obedientia abnegando id quidem in omnibus ubi definiri non possit quemedmodum dictum est aliquod peccati genus intercedere a plausible condition which if it were sincere and truly observ'd would in a great measure rectifie and iustifie their arbitrary obedience and that 's this that it is not to bee performed if the thing commanded appeare to be a sin but this my Lord is only a Jesuiticall and jugling trick to glose the matter and to gull the world for this condition is contrary to the two former embles of Arbitrary obedience for can a dead body or a staffe discerne what is sinfull or whether they be lawfully or unlawfully used It is contrary to the name and nature of blind obedience whereby as they there say wee must renounce and deny our owne opinion and contrary judgement It is contrary to the third condition of perfect obedience which requires that there bee a full conformity of minde and opinion both in him that commands and in him that obeyes And lastly it is contrary to the practise of the Jesuites who require and performe obedience not onely in things that are and appeare sinfull but also in things that are and appeare grossely palpably and transcendently wicked as I shall presently shew And they doe derive this arbitrary obedience and the two parts and kinds thereof uncanonicall and an anticanonicall from the words of (r) Greg. the seventh produceth Samuell to prove that it is Idolatry and Infidelity to disobey the Pope He that will not obey this most wholesome precept of ours forbidding Priests their wives under colour of fornication incurreth the sinne of Idolatry as Samuell witnesseth not to obey is the sinne of witchcraft and not to be content is the wickednesse of Idolatry Distinct 81. Si qui sunt What said Samuell more of God than the Pope here applieth to himselfe Bishop Bilson in his true difference betweene Christian subiection and uncristian rebellion second part pag. 231. 1 King 20.32.33.42 Ipse prorex sive papa etiam solus sine concilio quaecunque ad reipub Statum pertinent decernit eique non secus ac regi ipsi Christo omnes dicto audientes esse oportet Gasper scioppius in his Ecclus. cap. 55. Samuell unto King Saul rebuking him for sparing Agag and the best of the cattell contrary to the conmmandment of the Lord under pretence to offer sacrifice to the Lord. 1 Sam. 15. 22. Hath the Lord saith Samuell as great pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as when the voyce of the Lord is obeyed Behold to obey is better then Sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fatt of rammes for rebellion is as the sinne of