Zanchius reporteth of Archbishops and Bishops into new and worse Latine names of superintendentes and generall superintendentes Erneste the Duke of Brunswick presently after the assembly of Augusta procured Vrbanus Regius to go home with him ecclesiarum in toto Ducatu Episcoparum ipsius gubernationi permisit and coÌ„mitted vnto his gouernment the Bishopricke or superintendencie of all the Churches within his Dukedome One Sydonius being thrust as it seemeth from the Bishopricke of Mersenburge as cleauing wholly to Popery was afterwardes vppon his leauing of the Pope and vpon promise made to maintaine the reformation of religion made in his absence restored to his bishopricke And after him succeeded as I take it in that bishopricke George the Prince Anhalt before mentioned being chosen thereunto as hee saith himselfe vniuerso capitali consensu by the consent of the whole chapter He had been brought vp in learning and was at the time of the saide election a Priest or Cannon in the Cathedrall Church of Mersenburge Of whom being bishop Henricus Stenius saith règebat ecclesias in Mersenburgensi diocaesi hee ruled the Churches in the dioces of Mersenburge And againe praesuit ecclesijs vniuersae ditionis Mysorum he gouerned the Churches of all the dominion of Mysya Agreeable aswell to these examples as to the saying of Zanchius before specified is that which Ia Haerbrandus a verie learned man and in his time Diuinitie reader of Tubinge writeth in his common places Debent gradus esse c. There ought to be degrees amongest Ministers c. as with vs in the Duchy of Wirtenberge there are subdeacons Deacons Pastors special superintendentes and ouer them generall superintendentes And in another place the same Haerbrand shewing his iudgement generally Saluberrimum esset c. It were a most profitable order for the welfare of the Church if euery particular prouince had her Bishoppes and the Bishops their Archbishop And Iacobus Andreas hee is muche of the same opinion as certaine Ministers of Heidelberge doe reporte vz where hee saith that it is a difficult matter to defend the peaceable estate of Churches except there be some chiefe ruler and Byshop amongest them to whome rerum summa deferatur the full ordering of matters may be referred To this purpose in like sorte Osiander writeth euen as though he had spoken of the Church of England Although in the Primitiue church when she flourished with myracles there were diuers degrees and orders of Ministers some Apostles some Prophets some Euangelistes and some Pastors and Doctors yet as now the state of the Church is the Ministers may be deuided into three orders or degrees vz Deacons Pastors and Superintendentes c. To the Pastors particular Churches are committed Nec dubitatur c. and it is not doubted but that euery one of them may rule the Church committed vnto him sine collegae concilio without the Councell of any fellow Those pastors we call superintendents who are so set ouer other pastors that they may visite the state of their Churches and punish both the Pastors and the people if any thing be done amisse or if any thing fall out that they cannot correct then they referre it vnto a higher court consisting of deuines and politick men who by the ciuile Magistrates authoritie or approbation doe amend such defects c. Hemingius also affirmeth that there are dispares dignitatis gradus in the ministery that partly by the law of Cod partly by the approbation of the Church that as Christ ascending into heauen gaue gifts vnto men Apostles Prophets Euangelists doctors and pastors so he gaue to the Church authoritie for edification that the Church by vertue of that power ordained ministers for her profite that the purer churches following the Apostles times ordained some Patriarchs some Bishops c. some Pastors and some Catechists c. That the reformed Churches haue their Bishops doctors Pastors and vnder them chaplains we call them curâ—tes as I thinke That the Churches in Denmarke doe acknowledge degrees of dignitie amongst Ministers that they iudge it meet that other Ministers should obey their Bishops in althings which tend to the edification of the church according to the word of God the profitable gouernment of the Church and that they iudge Bb s. to haue authoritie ouer other Ministers of the church ius non despoticum sed patrium Ieremia Hombergus a worthy man in the Churches of God about Styria Carinthia and Carniola but now remoued thence through the persecution which the Iesuits haue kindled in those parts affirmeth in his commoÌ„ places of diuinitie reuiewed allowed at Ratisbone with very direct termes that God himselfe hath appointed degrees of ministers in the church euen amongest those which haue a mediate calling vt concordia inter ministros coÌ„seruetur c. that concord amongst ministers might be preserued the workes of their ministery performed more easily and more decently And after he hath specified the common duties both of Bishops and ministers he setteth down those which he thinketh are peculiar to Bishops and to bee executed by them vz excommunication ordination and confirmation And with him agreeth the Diuinitie reader at Lauinge Phill. Haylbronner writing vpon the first Epistle of S. Paul to Timothy Where he sheweth that the Apostle appointed Timothy to be Bishop of Ephesus that accordingly there are and ought to be degrees and orders of ministers of the Church hauing described the common duties likewise of all ministers generally he saith thus Episcopus c. Besides the said common offices to Bishops was commended the publicke ouersight and gouernment so as it belonged to them to appoint fit ministers for the churches neere them also to heare the accusations and complaints which are made against the Pastors of theyr churches and to decide them c. Sic enim Paulus scribit Timotheo Ephesorum Episcopo for so Paul writeth to the Bishop of Ephesus lay thy hands rashly vppon no man and against a Priest admit not an accusation c. Of the same iudgement in like sort is Egidius Hunius the diuinitie professor at Marpurge in his commentarie vpon S. Pauls Epistle to Titus He affirmeth that the Apostle appointed Titus the generall superintendent for the gouernement ouer the Churches of that large and noble Iland of Crete that his dutie was to ordaine Pastors in euery parish and likewise to make Bishops that the Bishop or superintendent hath his dioces the Pastor his parishe or church as Paule commaunded Titus to place priestes in euery parish That thereby it appeareth God doth require that there should bee orders and degrees amongest Ministers vt alij praesint alij subsint that some may rule and some obey that this order is not newly deuised but receaued in the church from the Apostles times and that God himselfe made a distinction betweene Ministers and appointed degrees according to that hee gaue some Apostles
they examine both the fact and be skilfull also what the law of the land is in such a case Must he bring his learned councel to their Aldermens barre to proue his cause reasonable but what should I moue such a trifling question Well pardon me for it and to make you an amends you shall heare Cartvvrights opinion of these matters It is this vz. that euery fault that tendeth either to the hurt of a mans neighbor or to the hinderance of the glory of God is to be examined and dealt in by the orders of the church This brings before their consistorie of elders all matters of right all pleas reall and personall and all pleas of the crowne as I imagine Snecanus also saith Quoduis peccatum c. Euery sinne is here to be vnderstood both against our neigbor against God howsoeuer it be cōmitted by force or by fraud by vvords or by deeds purposely or ignorantly manifestly or secretly But yet the Demonstrator goeth further Hitherto we haue heard nothing to purpose but only of sinnes committed But he will not abate you an inch of all the sins which the scholemen do call sinnes of omission VVhatsoeuer is enioined saith he as a dutie to be done by euery christian if he leaue it vndone he is to be compelled by the gouernors of the church to do it It is also of a maruellous reach that the admonitioner speaketh of when he affirmeth that by this their discipline euery man may be kept vvithin the limits of his vocatiō Peraduenture it wil be a harder matter then they looke for to be able to discerne of the limits of euery mans calling But if they will needs take so much vpon them because they haue once said it then if any man be he prince or subiect exceed the limits of his calling where their elderships are established it tendeth surely to their condemnation that may reforme him and doe it not But it may be that some wil say we haue heard of Knox of Danaeus of the Demōstrator of the admonitioners of Snecanus of Cartvvright and we know not whom but what sayth Beza of this matter we would be glad to heare him I cannot blame you for you shall be sure that he wil come in with one trick or other beyond his fellowes You haue heard al the sinnes almost that are reckoned vp already as falling within the bounds of the elderships iurisdiction But if we shall beleeue Beza and speake indeed properly as he would haue vs no sinnes as they are sinnes do belong to the elderships to be dealt in but as they are scandala that is as they offend the godly consciences of Gods children For example I heare a man blaspheme God or breake any other cōmandement of the first table or I heare or see him cōmit some sinne against the second table vz against his neighbor as against my self by doing me some iniurie either in word or deed either in my goods or in my name now in this there are offred me 2 kinds of iniuries the first the cheefest is the greefe of conscience that I cōceiue in respect that such a mā hath brokē Gods law therby not only woūded my hart but giuen an ill exāple which may peraduenture corrupt others The second iniurie is by his hurting me in my goods or fame Now forsooth in this second respect I may go to the ciuile magistrat but may not come to the eldership by any degrees but only in the first respect vz. because my neighbor in hurting of me hath violated the law of god so woūded my cōscience Neither must I complaine to the eldership with any mind either to haue him punished or to haue my iniuries recōpensed but only to bring him to repētance to seeke the good of his soule By this deuise you may perceaue that although he seeme in words to dissent frō the rest that haue writtē more bluntly yet in effect he agreeth with thē or rather hath increased their pretēded iurisdiction For by this means they may not only take vpon thē to enter into euery action but they would bind euery particular man whosoeuer to become an informer to their court Besides wheras he sayth that in the said second respect we may go to the ciuile magistrat it is but a mist that he casteth before mens eies For be it in a matter of words that I pretēd my selfe to be greeued and so complaine to their eldership Beza al the rest do hold that the partie cannot passe their fingers vntill he haue submitted and reconciled himselfe vnto me And in such a matter who will desire more For if he looke for damages in monie he will be held cruell And then what is left for the ciuile magistrat Againe my neighbour pretending that I haue done him iniurie either in his lands goods or fame chargeth me with the particulars which being indeed false he saith are true wherupon my conscience being wounded that he should sin so horribly against God first by lying then by iustifying his lie I cōplaine to the consistorie The matter is heard I am cleared And except he submit himselfe both to aske God and mee forgiuenesse the censures of the church proceed against him and so that way also he is debarred from the benefite of temporall law in so much as he can haue no colour to begin sute againe for that wherein hee hath acknowledged me to haue bene by him wrongfully charged What is here then left for the ciuile state to deale in Furthermore in a matter of iniurie done vnto me in my lands or goods I pretend to that court that such a man hath wounded my conscience in breaking Gods commandemēt by such his iniurie offered vnto me well it may be the partie will denie it and then my proofes must be produced If I iustifie my complaint the offender must likewise in this case submit himselfe vnto me and acknowledge the iniurie If hee will not so do the censures proceed and so he is debarred as it is sayd before if hee do then on the other side I must of necessitie forgiue him the offence which greeued my conscience or else I also do come within their compasse Well I do therefore forgiue him and shall I neuerthelesse prosecute him in forme of law for the iniurie done to me Hereunto maister Beza sayth thus Vix potest condonâsse iniuriam dici qui de priuata iniuria fratrem non contentus primùm arguisse deinde adhibitis testibus admonuisse ad magistratus vsque tribunal illum reluctantē persequitur He cā scarsely be sayd to haue forgiuen an iniurie vvho not contenting himselfe to haue first reproued his brother for his priuat iniurie and to haue admonished him before vvitnesses doth notwithstanding dravv him against his vvill to the magistrats seat of iustice But be it as he confesseth afterward that in such a case a man may go to the law to omit that
were before They abrogate the crosse of Christ. They put on an outside of grauitie and good conscience they make a marchandize of the worde and an open port-sale of the Gospell They that sometimes to our seeminge sought Reformation and the kingdome of Christ Iesus are now become of all others the most pernitious ennemies thereof dayly studyinge for newe cauills and shiftes to hide theyr wretchednes They suppose themselues to bee those seruaunts of Christ that are persecuted These disguised hypocrits these rauening wolues which come to vs in sheeps cloathing vnder glorious and swelling titles of Pastors Teachers and Ministers of the gospell men of great learninge of verye holy life and of great sinceritie seekers and sighers for reformation and such as abhorre and crye out against the Bishops and theyr proceedinges c. These pharisies these Sectaries are they which misleade the people in theyr crooked and by pathes of death and will neyther leade them nor suffer them to enter into the peaceable and straight wayes of the Lorde but keepe them alwayes learning and neuer bring them to the sight or acknowledging of the trueth These Prophets by theyr preachments and long pharisaicall prayers doe soder the people in theyr sinne and wearie God with theyr abhominable prayers and hypocritishe fastes counterfeyting a great sorrowe and heauines for theyr sinnes afflicting theyr soules for a peece of a daye bowinge downe the heade as a bulrushe Wee finde not onelye the markes of false Prophets which are recorded in the Scriptures vppon them but euen Sathans vttermost deceits and effectuall delusions amongst them suborninge and transforminge them as if they were Ministers of righteousnes taking vnto them the names and titles of Christs Ministers preachers of the gospell seekers of reformation c. whereby hee deceaueth the world These things I haue repeated not because I delight in such outragious deprauations of any that professe christianitie nay I do vtterly mislike them And it argueth of what season those vessels are froÌ„ whence they proceed But I did collect them together for this principall purpose that therein we might magnifie the iudgemeÌ„ts of God when we see apparantly with our owne eyes the execution of that his most inuiolable sentence with what measure ye meate with the same shal meÌ„ measure to you againe For although the former sorte of men in seeking of the Geneua Discipline doe set out themselues as you haue hearde for the Saincts of God as I trust some of them are and for men especially sanctified yet haue manye of them brought foorth most vnsanctified fruites cruell speaches proude things scurrilous gybes many cursings much bitternes and a huge masse of most slaunderous calumniatioÌ„s to the discrediting of those things which either they knew not or will not know them and of those persons whom they were bounde in conscience to haue reuerenced and honoured And now euen in the same manner they are repaied againe into their own bosomes as you haue heard by men of their own trayning vp and such as haue admired them vt discant non maledicere that they may learne to rayle no more CHAP. XXXIII Of the prayse and disprayse of this pretended regiment IT is founde to bee the onely bonde of peace the bane of heresie the punisher of sinne and mayntayner of righteousenes It is pure perfect full of all goodnes for the peace wealth and honor of Gods people is ordayned for the ioy and happines of all nations It is the right stuffe and golde for building the Church of Gods It is tearmed the venerable doctrine of discipline the most beautifull order of ecclesiasticall regiment The substantiaell forme of Christs gouernment Christs kingdome Gods gouernment This would make the Church a chast Spouse hauing a wonderfull brightnes as the morning fayre as the moone pure as the sunne and terrible as an armie with banners This gouerenment is the scepter whereby alone Christ Iesus ruleth amongst men The Churches of God in Denmarke Saxonie Zurich c. wanting this gouernement are to bee accounted maymed and vnperfect The establishing of the presbyteries is the full placing of Christ in his kingdome It is the blade of a shaken sworde in the hande of the Cherubins to keepe the waye of the tree of life It is called by the Apostle the grounde and piller of trueth I denye not but the true gouernment of the church by the Eldershippe may haue the most of those titles truely attributed vnto it wherewith the visible church vnder the new testament is adorned God hath ordayned the ciuile magistrate for the ecclesiasticall state therefore is the supreme kingdome of God in this world It is the chiefe throne of all excellencie wherein God him selfe doth sit The politicall Empyre is but a subalterne regiment et quasi inferius quoddaÌ„ subsellium as it were an vnder Court that determineth and decideth iniuries strifes and contentions c. idque ad ecclesiasticae oeconomiae praescriptum and by the commaundement of the ecclesiasticall gouernement Those Ministers that preferre the ciuile magistrate before the Ecclesiasticall they flatter him for profit and theyr bellies sake and do shamefuâ—ly to the daunger of theyr owne soules deceiue him The Ecclesiasticall discipline est inspectatrix et custos the ouerseer and keeper of the ciuile regiment that the magistrate doe not commaund his subiects any thing eyther contrarye to Gods worde or against nature and honest manners It is true that was begonne to bee affirmed vz. that the spirituall iurisdiction doth in price and dignitie so farre ouerweigh the politicall as the soule excelleth the bodye The spirirituall and ecclesiasticall gouernement by Pastors Doctors and Elders is as much superiour and more worthy then the politicke regiment as heauenlye benefittes doe excell earthly commodities Presbyterium est interpres Dei the presbyterie is Gods interpreter The Eldership may bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is bodilie an Angell The Presbytery is erected vp pro Christi tribunali for Christs tribunall seate Hee that will reade of the further commendation of this manner of Church-gouernement let him peruse some parts of Trauerses defence of the Ecclesiasticall discipline One thing I maie not omit for the which he extolleth some reformed Churches as hee tearmeth them where the Elderships doe most florish aboue the Skies insomuch as hee saith the examples of it might make an Infidell and vnbeleiuer fall downe on his face and confesse that vndoubtedlye God is amongst them and in the middest of those churches I dare saie you are desirous to know what rare excellent and celestiall thing that shold bee which is sufficient to woorke such a wonder You haue heard howe Rennichere hath exalted their Elderships or new papacie aboue all kings and kingdomes and now you shall see a singular proofe of it To keepe you in suspence
great hatred and malice Insomuch as writing to his friendes he complayneth in this manner We haue too many of a hard and vntamed necke who vpon euery occasion do endeuour to shake off the yoake that by their tumultes they mighte abolish the lawfull order of the Church There are in that nomber both olde men and young men The youth especially is here most desperate And to Viretus Nisi dominus c. except the Lorde doe rebuke the sea and the windes I see there are greate stormes toward vs which they mooue who ought rather to appease them I dare not call you hether for many causes The chiefest is for that I am afrayd how at the length we must giue place vnto them who will neuer end vntill they haue ouerthrowne all Likewise to the same Viretus Many are such children that they are affrayde at the ridiculous shaking of a head c. Si desistam totum consistorium ruat necesse est if I desist there is no remedy but downe falleth the consistorie Great tumults were vp amongst them in the cittie and therefore he altered his former mind touching his not calling of Viretus and requesteth him most earnestly as beeing more gratious then himselfe to come and helpe to appease them You cannot possibly doe a thing sayth he that shall be more gratefull vnto me then if you shal make a good ende of these quarrells me ad Garamantas relegato though I be bannished into the farthest partes of the worlde And in another epistle Eo prorupit improbitas vt retineri qualemcunque ecclesiae statum diutius posse meo praesertim ministerio vix sperem Impiety hath gotten such a head that I canne scarsely thinke there can anye tollerable state of the Church continue here especially by my ministery These dissentions proceeding thus on for a time at the last they came to this issue vt maior Senatus receptum et bactemus seruatum ecclesiae ordinem repente conuelleret Nos restitimus that the greater Senate did sodainely ouerthrowe the order of the Church which had beene receiued and kept But we withstood them An argument of very good subiection Much trouble would surely haue come of it but that vpon a sermon preached by Maister Caluin and after vppon a motion made by him and the rest of the ministers to the Senate order was taken that for the quieting of all partes the said sentence of the greater Senate should be suspended vntill the state of Geneua had taken the aduise of foure Heluetian citties their neighbours and friendes touching the pointes in question vz. about the authoritye of their Consistorie to suspend men from the communnion as they sawe cause which is the verye scepter of that pretended Syon When this course was taken marke I pray you Maister Caluins pollicy He knew as in effect he saith that none of the magistrates of anye of those fower citties woulde write any aunswere to the cittizens letters of Geneua but by the aduise of their ministers Wherevpon whilest the Syndickes with their councells were conferring about their letters to be sent to the foresaid citties how and what they should write yea peraduenture who should endite them Maister Caluin presently speedeth a messenger one Budaeus with his priuate letter vnto his priuate friendes as to Maister Bullinger c. and with other letters also to the rest of the said Ministers ioyntly of purpose to prepare and pre-occupate their mindes beforehand against their magistrates should write thither Now I am come to the very panting or short breathing of the Consistoriall pretended Discipline whether it shoulde liue or die at Geneua The daunger it lay in was exceeding great but maister Caluin applied all his skill and medicines for the recouerie of it Few Phisitions will take such paines for their patientes In his said letters hee omitteth no point of his oratorie faculty The aduersaries of his discipline he painteth out in their collours as that their Senate was possessed with a lamen table blindnesse that they had dealt contumeliously with poore straungers that they had vsed Farellus very hardly that diuerse of them were such as shamed not to defend Seruetus the hereticke and that they were Sathans Ministers that stirred vp these strifes He indeuoureth to moue all commiseration towardes himselfe and his associates in respect of their paines and daungers vndertaken in the behalfe of that Church as that for seuen yeares together they had been impugned by all those that sought to liue riotously from vnder the yoake that for the space of foure yeares nothing had been pretermitted by the wicked whereby they might by little and little ouerthrowe the state of that Church and that for the last two yeares their condition was no better then if they had liued amongest the professed enemies of the Gospell He ascribeth very much vnto the ministers to whome he writ which was an especiall meanes to procure their good fauours As when he saith now the matter is come to this point that all our ecclesiasticall orders shall be quashed nisi istinc afferatur remedium except there come a remedie from you Againe you must so deale as if the state of our Church were in your handes Againe nunc extremus actus agitur now the last act is vpon the stage and the enemies of the Gospell are beginning alreadie to triumph against Christ his doctrine his ministers and all his members Againe so perswade your selues that if Sathan be not now bridled by you habenas ei laxatum iri he will get the libertie of his bit hereafter at pleasure And againe I beseech you brethren by the name of Christ to thinke that it is no common matter that is committed vnto you but that the consultation to be had is of the state or very being of our Church He touched furthermore all other points which hee was sure would be especially regarded by them being themselues ministers in that he saith that if their aduersaries get the victorie the whole authoritie of the ministerie is not onely gone in Geneua but that it will be subiect to euery base rake-bels reproches Which if it should happen he telleth them that he was resolued to depart thence Vnto all these artificiall points thus insisted vppon by him he addeth another of no lesse importance to drawe the said ministers mindes vnto the bent of his bowe For notwithstanding hee ascribeth so much vnto them as before hath been shewed yet he qualifieth all in such sorte as that they might suspect that except they did concurre with his desire he would hardly for his part yeald to anie thing that might crosse him He writeth vnto them very moderately of his cōsistoriall platforme He saith he is not ignoraunt how diuerse learned men do not thinke that forme of Discipline that hee writeth for to be necessary but yet hee addeth what his owne opinion is of it and that he trusteth no man of iudgement
raigne aboue his people About the same time Goodman Whittingham Gilby and some others returned from Geneua into England What violēt and seditious doctrine they brought home with them at the least they three that are mentioned I leaue to some other oportunity But for the Geneuian discipline all their desires were in that point insatiable They had seene how Caluin and Beza did raign at Geneua and thought scorne thereuppon to be subiect vnto any It seemed vnto them a notable matter If euery one of them might by and by haue obtained an absolute autority where they should haue beene placed Comming from Geneua they thought they should haue beene admired But finding themselues therein deceaued and that their Geneuian motions were little regarded it wrought in them a very great discontentment and made them so wilfull that nothing would please them which was not practised in Geneua So as thereby great contentions were presently stirred vp by thē Their first assault was made against the Communion Book with the orders ceremonies that are therein prescribed In the which quarrels perceiuing themselues in many respectes as I take it to be ouermatched what was their refuge but forsooth they must complaine to maister Beza Which complaint receaued he writte his Letter in their behalfe vnto Doctor Grindall 1566. then Bishop of London I wish a man would read the Epistles of Leo sometimes Bishop of Rome and conferre them with this of Bezaes to consider whether tooke more vppon him Leo where he might commaund or Beza where there was no reason he should at all haue intermedled But let him goe on He findeth faults with the manner of apparell appointed for our Ministers with the Crosse in Baptisme with kneeling at the holy Communion with all ceremonies that carrie with them any signification and withall the ancient Fathers applying himselfe altogether to strengthen and incourage his factious old acquaintance in their froward and peruerse obstinacie And because his course taken therein should not bee vnknowen with the same minde that he writte this letter now you see hee hath printed it The yeare after 1567. when the sayd malecontents perceiued that notwithstanding Bezaes letter there was no place giuen vnto their giddie fancies but that euery daye they were withstood more and more and that with such sufficient reasons as for mine owne part I thinke that all the Bezaes in Christendome will neuer be able sufficiently to confute they beganne to stagger and knew not what they should do They could finde no directions in the scriptures how they might behaue themselues and therfore they were constrayned to fly againe to Beza Obserue well I pray you what he himselfe writeth hereof Saepe multumque c. Being oft and greatly desired of my deerest beloued Brethren of the Churches of England that in their miserable state Consilium illis aliquod suggereremus in quo acquiescere ipsorum conscientiae possent I would giue them some councell whereupon their consciences might rest diuerse men houlding diuers opinions c. A long time I differred for diuers waighty reasons so to do and I professe that most willingly I would yet haue beene silent but that I thinke I should greatlye offende if I should still reiect their so many petitions and most pitifull mournings Wee in England may thinke wee haue had great iewels of these disturbers and that for all their pretences of great learning and grauitie they were indeed of a very shallow iudgement that could finde nothing to stay their consciences vppon but what should bee sent to them from M. Beza It was a fond part for them to write so vnto him and a very insolent parte for him to take so much vpon him but in that hee hath published so much to the world in print their childishnes his owne pride I may terme it but I want a word to expresse my conceit Hereby it should seeme that if Beza had taken such a course as might well haue beseemed him it lay greatly in his power to haue very much quieted all those present troubles But that minde was farre from him and yet it would haue tended a great deale more to his owne credit For he giueth his sayd deerest beloued Brethren very vnwise vnlearned and vngodly councell although euer since that time according to their promise they haue very grauely builded their consciences vpon it And it was this in effect that if they could not enioy their ministerie without giuing their consents to the manner of making of our Ministers by the Bishops without the voyces of such a Presbiterie as he and his Schollers do dreame of without giuing their consents to the vse of the Cap and Surplise and to the manner of excommunication in the Church of England c. They should then giue place manifestae violentiae to manifest violence and liue as priuate men Let any man that list read ouer that Epistle also and then iudge indifferently by what light aduise this peeuish opposition hath beene continued amongst vs. After some time spent in these brables then they bethought them to fall more directly in hand with the Geneuian Discipline To this purpose certaine persons assembled themselues priuately together in London as I haue beene enformed namely Gilbye Sampson Leuer Field Wilcox and I wot not who besides And then it was agreed-vpon as it seemeth that an admonition which the now L. Archbishop of Canterburie did afterwards confute should be compiled and offred vnto the Parliament approching Anno. 1572. Against which time it was also prouided that Beza should write his letterr to a great man in this Land for and in the behalfe of the chiefe contents therof vz. for the admitting in England of the sayd Allobrogicall Discipline Which office you may be sure he performed very willingly Vnderstanding sayth he of an assembly of the Estate of England wherein there would bee dealing with matters of Religion I could not chose but write vnto you of that matter And so he proceedeth shewing that all men doe allow of our doctrine but not of our Discipline That except where there is pure doctrine there be also pure discipline meaning his own Geneuian Darling the Churches are litle the better and that therefore her Maiestie and her faythfull Councellors should procure the setting vp of this pure Discipline notwithstanding any difficulties whatsoeuer that might hinder it The same yeare also 1572. hee writ to the Queenes Maiestie an Epistle dedicatory before his annotations vpon the new Testament In the which although he doth confesse that her Highnes hath restored to this Lande the true worship of God yet he insinuateth that wee want a full instauration of Ecclesiasticall Discipline that our Temples are not fully repurged that some high places remayne as yet not abolished and wisheth that those wantes and blemishes might be supplyed and reformed meaning as I thinke hee would confesse if he were deposed that her Maiestie should conforme the present Apostolicall and most
Booke of Discipline were corrected altered and amended and there they did not onely perfect the said Booke but also did then and there as the examinate remembred voluntarily agree amongest thēselues that so many as would should subscribe to the saide Booke of Discipline after that time Well then at the last I trust we haue found out what they are agreede vppon and what they will stand vnto You see there hath beene much plotting amongest them and it is time a man would thinke that after such stirres meetinges conferences and Synods made in that behalfe they should be resolued at the last of the things they desire But now I come to my wonder before mentioned for so I esteeme of it Cartwright and the chiefest of those that haue beene lately in prison in one of their foresaide examinations in the Starre-chamber doe plainely auouch it vppon their oathes and so I belieue them that there are some thinges in theyr saide draught of Discipline wherein as yet they were neuer resolued What Is neither Geneua Fraunce nor Scotland able to satisfie them Haue they sought vnto them for theyr opinions and doe they disdaine to make them any aunswere Or else thinke they scorne to aske councell of any men but had rather then they woulde so much discredite themselues dwell still in their doubts Surely I would be very glad to know what doubts these were wherein as yet they were neuer resolued I haue desired diuerse to haue told me of them but they would not Notwithstanding I will tell you what I gesse they were not at randon as they say but vppon some good probability I met by chaunce with a paper of no mean mans among them wherein as I take it some of them at the least are expressed and they are these following Whether there ought to be Doctors in euery Church Whether the Doctors may administer the sacraments Whether there ought to be women Deacons in euery reformed Church Whether the Presbitery be not described too generally obscurely and very imperfectly Whether suspension may be proued by the worde of God Whether suspension can be proued to be a censure of the Church Whether the Elders ought not to be perpetuall as the Pastors are Whether men must stand to the sentence of the greater part of the Consistorie Whether mariages and spousals and things concerning them doe belong to the ministers Whether there should be sureties in Baptisme Whether there ought to be no abstaining from or noting of such a one as for disobedience to the Consistories admonition is in the way of excommunication Vnto these quaerees I could adde some other if I list What if Beza himselfe beginne to doubt as concerning his Discipline or at the least beginne to finde some defectes in it What if he desire to be caput Episcoporum the head of all Bishops within his prouince what if hee would haue the presidentship of euery Synode to be a continuall office But hereof afterwardes in the chapter In the meane while I could wishe with all my heart that those who are wise would throughly consider howe this Church of England and the state of the whole Realme her Maiestie the high Court of Parliament the present forme of our Ecclesiasticall gouernement with the lawes and orders thereunto appertaining and generally all her highnesse dutifull and louing subiects haue been vsed by these so distracted so presumptuous and so notorious rash-pates in that after so many admonitions supplications petitions deprauations inuections humble motions draughts platformes demonstrations and what not which haue bred alreadie a million of great inconueniences and mischiefes Now being pressed vpon their othes they are constrained to acknowledge that as yet they are not resolued in all pointes what they woulde haue If the state had been as rashe in their grauntes as they haue been shamelesse in their demaunds peraduenture the Realme and Church of England by this time might haue been in some such like case as if sondry reportes be true there be some in the world It may be heere obiected peraduenture that supposing the testimony alleadged for the doubtes mentioned were sufficient yet they are but about matters of small importance whereas in points of substance they doe all concurre and are agreed together Whether the doubts which I shewed vnto you be of any importance or not I leaue it to your consideration Indeede if a man may say the truth without their offence there is nothing which they holde concerning this Allobrogicall deuise wherein we do withstand them that is of any good importance of substance But for any agreement or resolution in any of the partes of their platforme whether of substance almost or not of substance you shall not finde it I assure you amongst them as in the processe following it wil appeare And I am of opinion that they will disagree euery day more and more vntil by triall of their former rashnesse they shalbe contented to embrace the present forme of Ecclesiasticall gouernement in England and from the bottome of their heartes thanke almightie God for it CHAP. V. With what distraction vncertaintie diuersitie of iudgementes pretence is made that the Geneua Discipline is of very great antiquitie AS I haue said in the second chapter if my life lay vppon it I could not finde that there was euer in the world anie such platforme of Discipline as is now vrged by the patrones and defenders of it before maister Caluin deuised it and with much trouble set it vp at the last in Geneua I know it is said nowe a dayes that it is of a farre greater antiquitie And if I were not otherwise by reading setled I might peraduenture be ouercarried that way with their pretences The Herroldes at armes they say can do verie much in a mans pedigree Though peraduenture his Gentilitie be not of fiftie yeares standing yet if neede require William Conquerours time is nothing they will fetch it from Adam You shall haue the first finder out Bathes in England so gentilized And euen suche a like course is taken for the Geneua Discipline She must needes be a Lady of an auncient stocke And therefore her feed Herroldes do take great paines in her behalfe Such chopping and changing such clayming and disclaiming of kinreds such coating intercoating quartering of her armes with this great personage in that countrey and with another as great in this countrey you shall rarely finde I am verely perswaded in all the auncient recordes and rules of Herrauldry To leape ouer a thousand and fiue hundred yeares at the first skippe ouer almost two thousand yeares at the next and in a manner to Noahs Arke at the third is but a small matter with them There was neuer poore gentlewomans credite more sought to be set foorth with the smoakie images of her worm-aten auncestors then hers is The Geneua platforme to be reckoned so late a deuise as that maister Caluin should be the first author of it they cannot abide it
their giftes and qualities shoulde bee chosen to such and such offices there ought euer especiall care to be had that none destitute of them as neer as might be should be admitted vnto them And if I haue been deceaued herein I maruaile howe it commeth to passe that many men vnfit for their giftes being vpon diuerse occasions more necessarie then can happen for the choyse of their Elders admitted into the ministery such wants haue not been so plentifully supplied and they sodainly become new men But the rule holdeth of likelihood only for their Elders Ah hee meaneth I suppose that God will take off the spirite that is in him and the rest of their Pastors and doctors and put it vppon them as he did from Moses for the 70. Numb 2. and this you may beleeue when you heare them all prophesie Surely for ought I can see they haue not any suche aboundant store of the giftes of Gods spirite that they can spare much to bee taken from them except they shall be left wholly destitute But it were good wee sent into Scotland and some other Countries to learne more certainly of this straunge metamorphosis before we be too light of credite For as I take it we may not looke for such extraordinary matters nowe And besides I feare if their Elders should receiue any portion of that spirite which is in some reformers it will be of that which offred himselfe to be a lying spirite in the mouthes of certaine Prophets and then it were better for vs they neuer prophesied CHAP. XIII Of their vncertaintie whether their Elders be ecclesiasticall men or lay men THere hath been an auncient distinction betwixt the Priests and the people the one sorte being tearmed the Cleargie and the other the laitie Which notwithstanding Beza misliketh Veteres patres cleri nomen ad collegium Ecclesiasticorum ministrorum transtulerunt The auncient fathers did transferre the name of Cleargie vnto the Colledge of Ecclesiasticall Ministers c. but they ought not to haue done so If they had been as wise as Beza is it is like they would not The pretence of this reproofe which is made by diuerse is saide to bee in respect of Gods people for that they are thereby iniuried And haue they deuised a way how to recompence them Surely they haue But it is as meane a one as euer you knew For they deuide all Christians into Church-Ministers or officers and into Idiots Christ saide not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Idiotes that is vnto all the people whose sinnes yee remitte c. Sed ecclesiastica authoritate praeditis but to suche as are endewed with Ecclesiasticall authoritie sayth Beza Againe touching the same wordes Sunt iudicialia haec verba Ideoque ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est nullo publico munere in Ecclesia fungentes quos postea laicos vocarunt minimè pertinentia They are iudiciall phrases And therefore doe not appertayne vnto Idiots that is to those that haue no publicke office in the church whoÌ„ afterward they called Lay-men Laicis postea hos vocarunt quibus oppositi sunt Ecclesiastici After they called them Lay-men to whom the Ecclesiasticall were opposite And because hereof great abuse did growe they will now renew the former distinction So now as many as are neyther pastors Doctors Elders nor Deacons be they Kings Councellors Lawyers or whatsoeuer they must satisfie themselues with the names of Idiots And if you will knowe the verye nature of the worde Idiota mayster Beza will also tell you Idiots are quasi priuati as it were priuate men But more fully in another place By the name of Idiots propriè significantur plaebeij viles c. Iam veró quia eiusmodi homines sere indocti sunt rerum imperiti idcirco factum est vt Idiotae dicaÌ„tur qui minimè ingeniesi sunt aut intelligentes Plebeiall and base persons are properly signyfied Now therefore because such men are for the most part vnlearned and ignorant it is come to passe that they who are not ingenious or men of vnderstanding are called Idiots Wise men and Idiots And did S. Paule make this diuision well I feare that they themselues will proue the Idiots But in the meane time the state of the Lande that hath no place in your regiment is beholden vnto them for marshalling them so discreetly Besides this distribution they allow also of another wherein all the sayd Idiots are termed ciuile men and their wise gouernours ecclesiasticall persons A name as strange almost for Artizans and men of trade such as before are mentioned as the former of Bishops and Archbishops And yet it must needes bee so For sayth Cartwright For so much as they were Church officers and â—uer the people in matters pertayning to God such as watched ouer the soules of men though they were no pastors to preach the word yet they were no laymen as they terme theÌ„ but ecclesiasticall persons Which if anye man will deny let him denye also that two and two makes foure For sayth the Counterpoyson Whosoeuer is called with due examination and triall with the consent of those to whom it appertayneth and are with fasting and prayers or with prayers onely and with imposition of handes separated or put a part to that office they are ecclesiasticall persons and not Lay-men as they terme them But Beza as I take it is plaine in this poynt and to our men verie opposite For sayth hee in proofe of his Elders Certè nisi c. Surely except some men chosen out of the body of the whole assemblie should sit in that companye by whom the whole Church is gouerned The generall name of the church would scarsly agree to that company with which name notwithstanding it is adorned because through that meanes men being chosen out of all the partes of the whole Church they might represent the whole church By which wordes his meaning eyther must needes be that for the better representation of the whole church there must be Lay-men as wee call them aswell of the Eldership as Ministers or that their Elders ought to bee chosen out of the companie of men of euery trade and vocation which cannot in any wise agree to the practise of Geneua where men of the state and Councellors are onely chosen Now if vppon their choyse as being Idiots before they are become wise So of Lay-men they are presentlie made Ecclesiasticall persons then the representation of both the estates is drowned by which meanes theyr Eldershippe might loose the name of the Church or at the least scarsely continew it Heere commeth also further into my minde another opinion of Bezaes fitte for this place which in my iudgement doth mightely thwart not himselfe onely but all his abettors for erecting vp of their Eldershippe He sayth when Christ vsed these words Tell the church c. Math. 18. In discipulorum persona legitimum ecclesiae nomine consensum
Except Maister Bezaes collection prooue to bee authenticall and then their number will bee greate You haue hearde that wee must haue the forme of the Iewes Sanedrim or Counsell in euerie Parish And in that sayth Beza there were twentie foure Ecclesiasticall Iudges By which account abating the Pastor and the Doctor there ought to bee two and twentie Elders in euerie parish You shall heare Bezaos wordes and how heegathereth that there was such a number There is mention made in the Apoca. of a throne vppon the which Christ sitteth and of the foure and twenty Seates about it whereupon foure twentie Elders sate who were cloathed in white rayment and had on their heades Crownes of golde Now sayth Beza concerning the said number mentioned of ecclesiasticall Iudges 24. numero fuisse c That they were in number 24. that is to saie two of euery Tribe it seemeth it may be gathered out of the Apocalyps where certum est it is certaine that those heauenly visions were framed or accommotated to the forme of the Israeliticall Church Where by the way it would be obserued what a glorious church-regemēt we are in time to looke for Our Elderships must be framed after the fashion of the Elderships which were amongst the Iewes And if we doubt of the state and forme of the Iewes elderships we must haue recourse to the Apocalips where the glorie of Christ his Saints in the kingdome of heauen is set forth And agreeablie to those heauenly thrones we must set vp thrones for our 24. Elders in euery parish For this Beza is certaine of that the heauenlye visions in the Apocalyps were agreable to the forme of the ecclesiasticall regiment in Israell But as touching the number of his elders he is not as yet for any thing I perceaue so throughly resolued And therefore we are at libertie till wee heare to the contrary from him to place moe or fewer in euery parish as we list At Geneua they haue but 12. Elders And they either haue or had once in Edenburgh as many Likewise euery parish must haue certaine Deacons They had once in Edenburgh as I remēber 16. Deacons And concerning widdowes if they will vrge vs with the examples of the Apostles times and withall in like manner presse vs with their own expositiōs then there must be a College of widdowes in euery parish So the grounds of Geneua diuinitie tell vs so doth Beza likewise if I vnderstand them And all these how many i◠euer it shall please our reformers to impose vpon euery parish pastor or pastors Doctor Elders Deacons widdowes must all of thē be found by the same parish For the ministers of the worde there was neuer doubt made amongst thē but that they ought to haue their maintenaunce of the parish and so likewise must the poore widdows But as touching the rest there hath been made some questiō It was a good deuise of Beza that princes noblemē might be elders so was it of our learned Discourser that the worshipfull gentlemē of euery parish might be chosē Deacons The rby indeed the parishes might saue charges For if they be able to liue of themselues then they must not burden the parish in Cartwrightes opinion but serue vpon their own charges The Elders at Geneua being all of them states-men I meane such as be of their Senates men conueniently able to liue of thēselues haue no allowance for any thing that I can find But where the Elders are poore men so as their attending vpon their offices might greatly hinder them then M. Cartwright hath decided the question affirmeth by S. Paules Rule as he saith that they ought to bee plentifully maintained by the Church How far this word plentifully will be extended I know not But a man may gesse The humble motioner would haue the Pastor and Teacher in euerye parish to haue allowed vnto thē two hundred pounds yearly in chiefer places more and in none lesse then two hundred markes By which rate I imagine that their Elders being so great men by their office and the gouernors of the parish cannot well be alowed vnder fortie pound a peece yearely The deacons that carrie the purse if they be not well looked vnto will bee their owne caruers but surely their stipend will be for euerie one of them aboue fortie markes As for the Widdowes they cannot well liue to attende the sicke and wash the Saincts feete with lesse then twentie nobles a yeare how many of them so euer they are All which summes being cast together will prooue a rancke charge to be imposed vpon euery parish But yet this is not all For how shall the pastors doctors wiues and children liue when their husbands and parents are deade This is also foreseene Prouision must be made not only for the ministers sustentatiō during their liues but also for their wiues and children after them For we iudge it a thing most contrarious to reason godlines equitie that the widow and children of him who in his life time did faithfully serue the church of God should after his death bee left comfortles of all prouision In what sort these widdows are to bee relieued I finde not anye particulars of it But they maie not bee of the number of the Church officers except they be threescore yeares of age or haue some priuileges by their late husbands for those roomes And as touching the childrē of ministers this order is required for thē that the men childrē may haue the liberties of the cities adiacent where their fathers labored freely graunted thē that they be sustained at learning if they be foūd apt therto and fayling thereof that they bee put to some handicraft or exercise in some vertuous industrye and likewise for the women children that they be vertuously brought vp honestly doted when they come to maturity of yeares at the discretion of the Church c. Not at the peoples discretiō who must bear the charge but as it shall please their Elderships to taxe them Furthermore and besides the officers and charges mentioned it is also ordered by the new Booke of our Englishe Discipline that there ought to be in euery parishe a Colledge or certaine number of young Diuines such as are meet for the exercises to Diuinity and especially to expound the Scriptures whereby they may bee trained vp by preaching And all these must be likewise maintained diuitum liberalitate by the liberality of the richer Here you see is charge vppon charge But indeede it were a notable matter to haue a Colledge of young Prophets in euerie parishe In the Vniuersities there are Schooles for reading of Lectures and for disputatiōs but as our platformers tell vs these their parish Schooles of Diuinitie are chiefly for preaching They must preach priuatly amongst themselues by course and hauing an auncienter Diuine with them I suppose it will fall to the Pastors lotte they are
in their printed Supplication against all the new Iulianistes and Atheists mentioned CHAP. XXII They take from Christian Princes and ascribe to their pretended regiment the supreme and immediate authority vnder Christ in causes Ecclesiasticall IN the beginning of the reformation of Religion in Germany the learned men there opposing themselues verie mightely against the Popes vsurped iurisdiction did verie learnedly and soundlie shew and proue to their aduersaries the soueraigne authority of Christian Kinges and Princes in causes Ecclesiasticall within their owne dominions and countries Which authoritie vppon the banishment of the Pope as well there as after also in England was both there and here vnited by diuerse laws vnto the interest of their Crowns and to the lawfull right of ciuile regiment This doctrine since that time hath beene so very throughly maintained by sundrie notable men as Brentius against Asoto Bishop Horne against Fecknam Bishop Iuell against Harding and many other learned men against such other Papistes as haue taken vppon them to impugne it that I am perswaded had it not beene that newe aduersaries did rise opposed themselues in the matter the Papists before this time had beene vtterlie subdued For either vppon the attempt in Geneua for the erecting of the Consistorian gouernment which cannot endure any superior authority ouer it in causes Ecclesiasticall when Caluin and Viretus were banished the Citty or else vppon their restitution and after they had preuailed in their said attempt the Ministers there whether in reuenge of their banishment or least their Magistrats should at any time to come giue eare to the aforesaide Doctrine I will not saye but vppon some such occasion they did presentlie thrust themselues into this question that with such spitefull railing and bitternes as though they had conspired with the Pope and his Proctors against al other reformed churches that reiecting their pretended Discipline or new Papacie indeed had submitted themselues vnto the said lawfull authority of Christian Princes in causes Ecclesiasticall And hereof it came to speake the trueth plainelie that Caluin could not abide that King Henrye the eight should bee tearmed the head or supreme gouernour in Earth of the Churches of God within his Dominions And writing to one Myconius how certaine men in Geneua perswaded the Magistrates there Ne potestate quam illis Deus contulisset se abdicaerent that they woulde not depriue themselues of that authoritie which God had giuen them he tearmeth them according to the Consistorian language prophane spirites and mad men whom saith he if we speaking of himselfe and his fellowes shall ioine together to encounter and with a valiant and inuincible zeale fight for that holy authority vz. CoÌ„sistorian c the Lord with the breath of his mouth will destroy The saide Myconius in like sorte reporteth to Caluin from Basill how some in those borders did write to the like purpose in the behalfe of Christian Magistrates alledging the examples of Moises Dauid and other godlye Kinges which saith hee in effect is to make them Popes and then addeth quid si laici huiusmodi argumentis fuerint persuasi what if lay men shall be perswaded by such argumentes Indeede that will cutte the throate of all your soueraigntie But of all others that haue opposed themselues to Christian Princes in this matter besides Martin-Marre-Prelate and some such like companions amongest vs Viretus for rayling scoffing and biting passeth and excelleth Those that stand in defence of the Magistrates authoritie he resembleth to white Diuels and saith They are false Christians though they couer themselues with the cloake of the Gospell and the reformation of the same And againe The Ministers that haue forsaken the Romish Church in seeking to get the Magistrates and peoples fauour against the Pope Priestes and Monkes haue so despised the state of Priestood and Ministery of the Church and so magnified the state of the Magistrate that they now feele the fruict thereof he meaneth that the goods of the Church are thereby gone and wasted Further saith he they thought it a goodby reformation in the Churche to abolishe all the Canons and decrees with the good Statutes which the auncient Fathers and Doctors hadde ordayned to maintaine good Discipline in the Church They haue put all into the Magistrates handes and haue made them maisters of the Church which he tearmeth to be nothing else but the changing of the Popedome the taking away of both swordes from the Pope and giuing them to Princes the euerthrowing of a spirituall Pope and setting vppe a temporall Pope which vnder another colour will all come to one end Nay hee taketh vppon him to prooue that these Temporall Popes as hee tearmeth them are more to bee feared if they take roote and will be worse theâ— the Spirituall Popes and that so the olde Popishe â—yr 〈◊〉 is not taken awaie but onely changed and disguised And his reasons are First that the olde Pope had not the Temporall sworde in his own hand to punishe with death but was fayne to praye aide of the secular power which the neâ—e Pope's need not to doe Secondly that the olde Popes had some regarde in their dealinges of Councelles Synodes and aunciente Canons c. but the newe Popes will doe what they list without any Ecclesiasticall order bee it right or wronge Thirdlye because it chaunceth ofte that these newâ— Popes haue neither learning nor knowledge and yet these shall bee they that shall commaund Ministers and Preachers what they list on paine of their sworde and ministerie and shall appoint them lawes touching their estate and ministery and likewise to the whole Church Giue him also the hearing a little further I praie you Who so vseth such meanes to reforme the fault of the Pope doth not reforme the Church but deforme is more then it was before c. This I dare say that I see already in some places that vnder title of reformation by the Gospell some christian Princes haue in ten or twentie yeares vsurped more tyranny ouer the Churches in their Dominions then euer the Pope and his adherentes did in sixe hundred yeares And lastly If there be any Magistrates in these daies which vnder the title of authority and power that God hath giuen them c. will make the Ministers of the Church subiect vnto them as the Pope hath made them subiect to him and his c. the same doe verily set vp a newe Pope changing onely his coate and maske And thus far Viretus in his thirde Dialogue of white Diuels which was not written I feare by the instinct of anie good spirite nor without some euill direction translated into English of purpose to seede the seditious fier that our turbulent Copper-smiths following this Dâ—sciplinarie tract haue kindled alreadie amongest vs. I haue omitted his earnestnes in the behalfe of his own and Caluins Discipline that the authority thus denied to Princes might be yeelded to them and