verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to labour vsed by him not in this place onely signifieth properly great and grieuous labour And therefore they are far wide that thinke Paul meant in thys place the bare preaching of Gods word and take this to be the ods betweene theyr Elders that some teach the people others gouern only and that for a while onely and therein supplying also and applying themselues to the Ministers of the word More proportionable to those times and proper to this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such Elders are to be vnderstood as were at that present among them as Titus and Timothy and Tithitus Marke Luke and such like Paul his legates and ioynte labourers which in deede feared no daunger refused no labour wherby they might aduance and diuulge the blessed doctrine of the sacred trueth Of Timothy Paul testifyeth in the last Chapter of the first to the Corinth when as he thus writeth If Timothy come vnto you see that hee be without fear among you for he worketh the worke of the Lord euen as I doe By which we may perceiue that Timothy was not without feare nor yet without daunger neyther that without cause A while after speaking of Stephanus and Aechaicus and Fortunatus who had giuen themselues to minister vnto the Saints he sayth And bee yee subiect vnto such and to all that helpe with vs and labour After which sort I also expound that place in the first to the Thessalonians the first chapter the twelfth verse VVe beseech you brethren that ye know them that labour among you and are ouer you in the Lord and admonishe you In all which places the Apostle vseth the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to labour by the which he vnderstandeth no ordinary vulgar or trifling exercise but an extraordinary vehement difficult and troblesome labour And therefore Paul his meaning is that how much greater trouble and more troblesome turmoyle the Elders vndertake in their office they are so much the more worthy to be graced with the greater Honors So that Paul in these wordes respecteth the singular care of some not the single preaching of all Writing to Timothy he defineth a Bishopricke to bee a worke of the which it followeth that the greater the Bishoprick is the greater is the labour the greater is the work If he which is ouer one onely Church shall finde himselfe somewhat to doe what shall we say of them vnto whome the care of many Churches is committed So was it with Titus and Timothy and diuerse other Bishops and Elders of that order The whole sum therefore of our assertion resolueth into thus much that among the Bishops or Elders in the Scripture which gouerned Churches vnder the Apostles there were diuerse degrees in deed by what names soeuer ye please to call them of the which some were ouer one Church only and that vnder the direction of an other and some againe ouer many Churches suppliant to none of the same order as it is wel knowen of Titus and Timothy and the rest I know there are many who in the secret preiudice of their foreseasoned opinions wil not sticke to say that Titus and Timothy and the rest of that forme were Euangelistes and inuested with an extraordinary kinde of a not immitable authority To whom I aunswere that I haue heard so in deede and read it to but without reason or proofe at al of any credit For where as Paul writeth to Timothy and chargeth him that he doe the worke of an Euangelist 2. Tim 4.5 1. Cor. 16.10 it doth no more conclude that Timothy was an Euangelist so properly called then that other place of Paul to the Corinthians He doth the work of God euen as I doth proue that he was an Apostle That that order is of God which appoynteth superior Elders Bishops And that but of man where all Pastors and Elders are alike Chap. XIIII WEe haue shewed before what was the extraordinary calling and the efficacy thereof which was to bee found in Titus and Timothy To the which I adde that all auncient and autentike writings held Titus and Timothy for Bishops vnto whome the Elders of inferiour orders were suppliant and subiect In whose footings our fathers insisting which next succeeded the Apostles reteyned in vse that forme of gouernement which they receyued of the Apostles Now a dayes there bee some of this beliefe that there were onely these two degrees of Ministers left vs by the Apostles namely Pastors and Doctors who cutting short that difference of Pastors which I haue noted and casting of that auncient decency of Church gouernement which I haue proued doe christen a new a forrayne and a forged kind of Presbitery and with much boldnes stand forth to auouch that this theyr newe deuise is diuine that other continuing a lawful discent frō the Apostles time is but humaine Wherefore here beloued it is time to looke about vs. For they easely auoyd all that wee haue already auowed of the Apostles Euangelists and Pastors when they aunswere that the gouernement Apostolique was but temporanie and momentary and determined with the Apostles and Euangelists themselues long since deceased so that now there is no more any one Apostle before another But that the trueth of this question may the better appeare we must now haue an especiall eye to all those giftes which were especially pregnant in the Apostles and Euangelists that thereby we may know what was proper to the Apostles and theyr times and what common to all Pastors vnto the worlds end To which end the first thing we are to reuise in the Apostles is that theyr extraordinary calling for they had it immediatly from God then also theyr generall Embassee and commission without restraint or limitation Thirdly that in all things which concerned theyr function they had a neuer-errant director the spirite of trueth who suggested vnto them whatsoeuer they before had heard of the Lord or should otherwise be requisite for them to know And the last thing is theyr power Apostolique Of these the first three were necessary for laying the ground-worke of Churches vppon the which others should build the which vnlesse they had been semented as it were with the more sure ioynts and strongest sinewes of Gods spirite what soeuer should haue ben raysed reared thereuppon by others must needs haue reeled and ruined together with the same As for the gift of miracles I stand not vpon that seeing that was bestowed vpon many other of the faithfull also as it pleased God Of all these gifts they could communicate nothing vnto theyr successors besides the Ministery of the Gospell The which seeing it was inherent in the power Apostolique they surrendered that also to theyr subsecutors and that because it is a thing necessary not only for the increase but also for the continuance of Churches For without the word preached the Sacraments administred and the Church gouerned there can no Church well continue Wherefore as
which no man can iustly accuse me as if I sought any especiall commoditie for my selfe or desired any other thing then that which is commodious and necessary for the Church I thought it my duty to speake plainely what I thinke of the goods and possessions of the Church Neither is it enough for mee that I am heere well prouided for my selfe I wish the like vnto my brethren And although I may iustlie complain my self to be iniuriouslie forsaken of you whom I ought to haue found the chief Patrons of mine innocency yet notwithstāding my loue and my Zeale both towards the Church and also vnto you-wards is not therefore either altered or alienated And how then shuld I be lesse carefull for yours your Churches good then when my selfe was in the same ship with you VVherefore seeing we haue now sufficientlie wincked at this errour as well of the people as the Magistrate which if it be suffered will bring to the Church either a deadly ruine or a desperate mischiefe we may no longer dissemble the matter the Church it selfe must be taught hir duetie towards hir Ministerie It is a perilous pernitious thing to bequeath an euill president vnto our posteritie who shall take all for reformation whatsoeuer they receaued in the name of Reformation for what cause so euer it was done Men as you know for the most part vse rather to regard the deed then to respect the cause what is doone euerie man can tell but for what cause it was doone there are few which can conceiue or well consider I must needes confesse I haue proceeded some-what farther into this matter then my purpose was when I came first hither For that I see heere in England by the euill presidents of other Countries most men are carried away with the same errors Some streine their consciences so farre and open their mouthes so wide that like dronken men they stretch and yawne after the Church-liuings and doe euen gourmandize them already in their hopes mercilesse and bottomeles conceits And some againe while they grutch the Pastors their fields and enuie the Euangelique Bishops the riches of Romish Prelates as if it were not lawefull for vs to succeed them and not exceed them would seme to eat their hearts in garlike as they say while they eat and spit their owne gall in malice A strange opinion they hold that the place power and authoritie it hath pleased her Maiestie and the rest of the states the Bishops should reteine in this kingdome is a grant vtterly auerse vnto the reformation of religion VVherefore now what honour is due in a Christian Common-wealth to the Ministers of the Church and how forforth the same may extend is to be examined more at large But it is to be feared least some will be scarcely well pleased especially such as be ignorant of the auncient Church gouernment with this my treatise of the diuers degrees of the Ministers of the Gospell and the rather for that I haue noted in their newe-come reformation two things not to be liked of namely that the autentique order of Bishops is abrogated and a nouell kinde of Presbyters intruded The which I haue the rather noted for that the common sort of people are of opinion that not the least part of reformation consisteth in the dilapidation of Church-goods in the extirpation of Prouinciall Bishops and in the creation of Demi-laicall and mongrell Presbyters The which opinion of the people I doe therefore reprehend not that I dissallow that certaine graue seniours and godlie men should consort with the Pastors that is the true Presbyters of the Church but that they may know as they shall be taught not to mistake them for those Elders of the which in the Actes of the Apostles and in Paules Epistles there is often mention and is it not needful also to point at an error betimes least it beeing by time confirmed should not afterwardes be easilie corrected If any man shall thinke my selfe in the error or that I haue gone further then he liketh well of let him teach me that which is better I will presently alter my iudgement and giue ouer the bucklers vnto him that can do best The which I speake not as if I doubted or were not thorowlie resolued that those things of the which I affirme in this book were not assumed out of gods book For I do verely beleeue that I haue not swarued frō that rule which God hath giuen me to follow But yet if any man presume he can teach the contrary out of the word and make not the word contrarie I am more ready to attend and be taught then to teach and had rather bee ouercome then ouercome condition that that onely truth may preuaile which in truth ought to preuaile In the meane while as I haue alwaies borne and beare with such as dissent in opinion from me so long as they holde intire the Lorde Iesus so likewise in the same charity may they beare with me if I dissent from them I hartelie wish and intreat earnestly If it shall please God by the counsel of christian Princes that there may be a generall and a free councell celebrated that as it becommeth me I refuse not to bee iudge of my iudgement but if otherwise neither I can bee perswaded by others nor perswade others let vs expect with one accord the iudgement of Almightie God when euery one shal render according to the moitie of his talent a reason of his Ministerie For me to contend with my brethren after a bitter manner it is no part of my meaning If in any place my stile shall seeme more sharpe beleeue me I will not fable with you the greatnes of the mischiefe not any priuat griefe hath set an edge on it And to speake reason what reason haue I to be violent or virulent in this question Seeing whatsoeuer is helde amisse I impute it to the error and ignorance of art not to the malice or euill meaning of men The horrible sacrilege of men is not so manifest to the world as the execrable authors thereof are vnknown vnto me and it greueth me not that they are vnknowen Of whome then should I exclaime Against whome should I declaime But whereas certaine vngodly men are craftely crept in amongst vs who make a shewe of religion and would seem to fauor the Gospell and that not so much of any deuotion towards God as in detestation of all godlines I am constrained many times more earnestly to inueigh against the subtiltie and impietie of such let them be of what estate they may be if they be of that condition For neither are our owne colours cleare of such staines against whome can there bee anie worme-wood too bitter This I note that if at any time I name the Hollonders I note not the whole nation God forbid but onely those that degenerate from the naturall integrity of their owne nation But are not they so much the more worthy
there anye thing in the Fathers for some especiall cause moouing vs misliked of vs By and by we haue this theoreme at our fingers end We must remember they were but men and because men may easilie erre we muster whatsoeuer we mis-conceiue of them among the errors of that age In the meane while wee neuer remember our selues that we also are but men and therfore may erre with them yea we are such men neither are we exempt from the common infirmitie of men who may then er when we thinke amisse of them and in that verie thing may wee erre for the which we condemne them This is once that against the constant and consonant conclusions of the ancient church we ought not to attempt or admit anie innouation without a plaine commission from Gods holie writ and this also I dare boldly say that whosoeuer taketh away al authoritie from the Fathers he leaueth none for himselfe Indeed it must bee confessed that the Fathers were men and that they had their wrinckles yet can it not be denied that to haue our Fathers to bee our Patrons in the principal points of faith and externe pollicy of our church things controuerted betweene the Popelings and vs is a matter of no small moment and of especiall account And albeit the vniforme consent of Gods children from the Apostles times vnto this day may not be compared with the eternall word of God Notwithstanding of right it may come in and stand for the second place The custome of gods people receiued of all Churches thorow out the whole world is in maner of a lawe sacred and inuiolable Neither is there any likelihood that there could euer haue beene an vniuersall consort of all Churches and ages without either the authoritie of gods word or the tradition of the Apostles Notwithstanding for as much as no consent no custome no auncient prescription can or ought to preuaile in the Church of Christ against the word of God Therefore those reasons are to be weighed and those Scriptures to bee examined which mooued the Fathers to intertaine and continue that Church gouernment which our newe reformers will in no case agree vpon that we may certainelie know whose is the error theirs or ours The time hath bene when no good men disallowed of Bishops and Archbishops but now in despite of the Popes tyranny his complices it is come to this passe that their very names are called into question and that of diuerse men for diuerse causes Some because they are as they suppose the deuises of Antichrist or his fore-runners thinke them vnworthie thee Church and worthie to be cast ouer-boorde Others yet more modest in some reuerence of antiquitie thinke they may be borne with all for a time although in the mean time they allow not of them vntill such time as commodiouslie the names may bee antiquate with the thinges themselues In the meane while for that they know neither can they be ignorant to what singular effect the Church of God hath bin gouerned by graue and godlye Bishops they haue not the face to condemne them openly yet because they see certaine reformed Churches of this age to be gouerned without Bishops It is enugh they haue not the power any longer to tollerat the more auncient gouernment O the regiment of Pastors and Elders passing all antiquitie our soules haue longed for thee and we haue a desire vnto thee for that thou alone art grounded vppon the Lord Iesus his institution and thou if any art wholy purified of all tyranny and ambition O but by your leaue good brethren the shadowe you imbrace is no substance neither is the plot you conceaue a priueledged place Are you so far in loue with your liuelesse Pigmalion the worke of your owne hands I know who is not hee hath reason for his why not For neither is your newe draught of straunge gouernement sufficientlye prooued by the word of God neither is it yet or can at any time bee confirmed by the example of our Elders And how should it if we should iudge aright of it seeing it was partly vnknowen vnto them as a thing insolent and not heard of and partlie condemned of them as a thing Heriticall and not approoued of Wherefore to speake the plaine truth without flatterie or partialitie I thinke of this new forme of Church gouernment as some thinke of our Bishops regiment Namely that it is but a deuise of mans conceit and there to be tollerated where a better cannot bee obtained And contrariwise that which is disallowed of some as deuised by man seemeth vnto me to bee the verie ordinance of God and the onely true gouernment of the Church as that which hath his institution from God not only in the old but in the new Testament But because it is defiled with the manifolde abuses of men that which were to be layd vppon the person is imputed to the function as if forsooth no such miscariage might befall this their nouell kinde of gouernement The Romish Antichrist with his Bishops Archbishops Patriarches and Metropolitanes hath so troubled and intangled the Church of Christ that tyranny it selfe is thought to bee masked vnder those honest and honorable titles It is most true He that is once stong of a Serpent suspecteth euery stone and once bitten of a dog is affraid of euery cur Some therefore that they might apply some remedy to this maladie haue reuersed those names and yet retained the same things and for Bishops haue anoynted Superintendents and for Archbishops generall or prouinciall Superintendents as if the controuersie were not for the thing it selfe but for names sake But wise as we are seeing the signification of wordes is variable and voluntarie when we agree in truth what neede these garboyles about termes If the formes of gouernment which are signified by those termes are contained in gods worde Is there anie reason or sense that in disgrace of those names these formes should not be retained of vs If any man obiect that in the gouernment of Bishops there are many corruptions I make no question of that So wee might cauill with the gouernment of the ciuill Magistrate hath it not his corruptions Haue they not their infirmities Yet was there neuer anye that had his fiue wits who thought that a sufficient reason to remooue those from their place that are president in the state Wherefore our question is not how the Bishops haue abused their authoritye but whether the Lorde hath so forbidden this their Primacy that there may bee nor Pastor ouer Pastor nor Bishop ouer Bishop in the outward pollicie of the Church As for the rest if any will accuse the Bishops or their Consistories either of neglect dutie or corrupt dealing no man will be their hinderance why they may not prosecute that and persecute them before the chiefe Magistrate I take not vppon mee the apologie of anie Bishop I am not so worthie they are not so weake as that they need my Patrocinie
their owne titles In the which notwithstanding we find their posteritie very sparing and that for iust cause namely for that obsequious reuerence and religious regard they had of the Apostles lately deceased the chiefe instruments and ornaments of Gods Church That the doctrine of the Apostles acknowledgeth no annuarie Elders to Rule onely in the Church and not to Teach Chap. XI OVt of that place of S. Paul not well vnderstood it is in the fift chap. of the first to the Corinthians there are many now adayes which haue deuised a fond and new-found distinction clean contrary to the Apostles meaning Alâs for them hee thought nothing lesse then of anie temporall Elders to play the bugs in the Church like speciall bailyes for a spurt and be gone whereas in the whole schoole of the Apostles you shall not finde the worst Elder that is not placed in one of the two foresaid formes Generally in all Elders the Apostle requireth thus much That they be apt to teach And 1. Tim. 3.2 Tit. 1.9 that they may be able to exhort with wholesome doctrine and improue them which say against it If in this nouell kind we looke for parts agreable to these sure I am we shall neuer finde that dumbe Elders of a yeeres grouth mute to instruct made to commaund in the Church are any where comprised in this forme As for that gouernment the Apostle numbreth among the giftes of Gods spirit it is to bee vnderstood indeed of a singular and supereminent gift For no doubt the right art of gouernment is a rare and a religious thing the which albeit there are scarse anie that will not boldly arrogate vnto himselfe yet is it truly to be found but in a few Wherefore as I rather iudge this so exquisite a gift of gouernement is to be reserued vnto the more excellent order of Elders as namely the Apostles and Euangelists and others the principall Ministers of that time as were Titus and Timothie and such other which gouerned many Churches with power Apostolike And therefore me thinkes that they of all other are farre wide who thinke so rare and singular a gift of Gods spirite ought to be impropriate to so base an order of Elders mute and momentarie which gouerne not long and teach not at all Sure I am that the Apostolike Churches and the sequel of many yeares after neuer interteined anie such kinde of aldermen for Church officers And had not the Apostles and Euangelistes and their associates sole preheminence ouer the Elders of particular Churches in the absolute authority of Church gouernment True it is I find certaine Sages and Seniours who did vsually sit in counsell with the Priests of the olde synagogue who were not Priestes but I reade not of anie in the Church of counsell with the Pastors but the Pastors And in verie deed in the Apostles daies and many ages after there were not in Esse any Christian Magistrats which could consult with the Elders of the Church in matters concerning the Church As for those Elders and Seniors whom we read to haue beene ioyned with the Priests in councell and commission they were the ordinary Magistrates of Israel which lawfully could not be sequestred or secluded from the coūsels and constitutions of the Priestes no more then at this day the Christian Magistrate is to bee restrained from the Sinods and assemblies of the Church For albeit there bee two kindes of gouernement one of the Cittie an other of the Church yet are they both deriued from one and the same author The which also although they bee executed after a diuers manner and that the one proceed of God as he is the creator and moderator of all things and the other of one and the same GOD as hee is the restorer and redeemer of mankind and each of them haue their seuerall ende also yet notwithstanding seeing the same societie is both Church Cittie and the authority of them both is drawen from the same head so likewise are they driuen to one end and come all to the same passe And of this it commeth to passe that they both haue many thinges in common which cannot easily be propounded without a common assembly nor concluded without a generall assent The Minister hath authoritie from the Lord our Sauiour to gouerne the Church the Magistrate from the same Lord our creator hath the like soueraigntie to rule the Cittie The which two diuers and distinct estates so often as they doe friendly consort together in one vnisone direct all their counsels to the same end I say so long the Cittie must needs thriue and the Church cannot doe amisse As for anie other Elders in the Church besides these of the which I haue now spoken and you heard I would to God some man would shew me which be they if there be any such Doubtlesse it passeth my cunning to finde any such Church-bugs or Burgesses in the word of God Doe you not knowe that the offices of the Church are gifts of the spirit and as it were talents of the Lord laid out to loane among men of the which there must one day an account be rendred to the Lorde I tell you it is not at the pleasure of anie seruant in the house of Christ rashly to exonerate himselfe of anie office he hath vnder-taken He that once putteth his hand to the plough and afterwards looketh backe is not fitte for the kingdome of God For my part I could neuer yet read that there was at anie time in the Church anie office temporarie if it were ordinarie I admit that Deacons may afterwards be made Ministers but that cannot be accounted a defection from the office which is the perfection of the same neither is that offfice forsaken when in the same order a higher is vnder-taken they fall not from that they were but rise to that they were not This custome Tertullian sometimes reprehended in his booke De praescriptionibus contra haereticos in these wordes Their giuing of orders is rash light and inconstant sometimes they praefer yonglinges sometimes wordlinges and sometimes recreant reuolters that they may bind them with their titles whom they cannot hold with the truth A man can neuer gaine more or with more ease then in the raunges of recreantes where the onely beeing there is to deserue pay Therefore one is to day a Bishop to morrow another to day a Deacon to morrow a Parson to day a Priest to morrowe a lay man for they giue to lay men also Church offices The place of Ambrose expounded Chap. XII THat which is alleadged out of Ambrose to confirme that kinde of Elder-shippe which some reformed Churches in this our age haue receiued is nothing at all to this question For Ambrose there speaketh of Elders in age not in office Such indeed the Bishops and Elders in times past tooke in counsel with them as did also of old the auncient Synagogue And yet Ambrose bringeth them not into any equipage
their Bishops doe ground that their errour vpon an other by the which they are perswaded that it is a thing insolent and absurd for Bishops to bee taken for peeres of the lande But herein they seeme to bewray themselues in like passion with the sons of Iacob when they enuyed their owne brother for that he was made more honourable then themselues who ought rather to haue thought themselues honored in their brother It is vtterly against the nature of a well ordered common-wealth that the order of religion should not bee accounted among the chiefe states of the lande the which honour seeing it cannot bee giuen to all that are in the same order it is wisely and worthily prouided by the chiefe Magistrate that the whole order should be honored in a few of them The which thing seeing it is agreeable to the lawe of God and the custome of the auncient people of God the practise of al Nations vnder the Sun may it not seem a woÌ„der greater then their errour that any learned men should be found in any wildernes of the world so ouergrown with mosse the melancholie of their distempered brains as once to oppose themselues in any ciuill societie against the same But let vs heare yet with what reasons they are moued so farre beyond all reason Those proud titles say they of dominion are the inuentions of Antichrist and our Sauiour answered his Apostles contending about the primacie That the kings of nations rule ouer them and they which exercise authoritie vpon them are called gratious Lords but it shall not bee so with you And in the 23. of Mathew You shall call no man your father vpon earth for there is one your father which is in heauen bee not called Doctors for one is your Doctor euen Christ Whatsoeuer els is alleadged is of smal worth these words of our Sauiour beeing honestly interteined the rest will willingly yeelde themselues First therfore I affirme that the titles of dominion were inuented before Antichrist himselfe was hatched hee beeing the author thereof who is the author of dominion Neyther is there any thing arrogant in the titles but in the impotent and vsurped aspirement of such which oft times reiecting their commendable titles affect the contrary and cal themselues seruants of seruants which thinke themselues Lordes of Lords name themselues with the lesse and the least which will bee accounted the greater the greatest that if for nothing els yet for that they are so named But the Lorde his meaning was not to abolish the vse of these titles Lord Doctor and Father but to teach vs onely by these his precepts to beware of two dangerous perrils The first is the vaine swelling or swelling veine with the which Hypocrites are commoÌ„ly puft vp by reaso of these titles the other is the preposterous confidence which the simple people coÌ„monly haue in their elected Doctors or Fathers vppon which aduauntage the popular professors distract the name of Christ so that some hold of Paul some of Apâ—llo and some of Cephas and euery man best fancieth the Doctor himself hath chosen when as no man ought to build vpon any Doctors wordes but on his alone which cannot erre the Lord Christ Neyther was it the Lord his intent to inhibit vs that we should not call those by their names vnto whom the Lord hath giuen the names of Doctors Fathers in the Church or that children should not cal them Fathers vpon earth that begot them into the world or that Disciples should not cal them Doctors in the Cittie that instructed them in the Vniuersity or that Christian seruants should not cal them Lords Maisters which haue intertained them into their families No doubt Onesimus both might ought to call and recognise Philemon for his Maister And did not Paul also a most perfect imitater of Christ cal himself the Doctor of the Gentiles And why may not we also cal him as well a Doctor as an Apostle In the first to the Corinthians chap. 4. he calleth himselfe theyr Father Although saith hee you haue ten thousand instructers in Christ yet haue you not many Fathers for I haue begotten you through the Gospell The like we reade in many other places by the which we are giuen to vnderstand that not the condition but the ambition onely of those names was forbidden with the singling out of some especiall Doctor or Teacher by the which wee will shew our selues to be singular For that indeed that knowledge of the truth which we would seem to experience in some especiall men is onely to be expected in that Doctor alone who with the Spirit is able to lead vs into all truth But now what shall we say of the name title of Lordes First I say it is no where written Be ye not called Lordes And againe I say that although it were written it could beare no other sence or haue any other interpretation then those other titles which before are noted That dominion ouer the Lordes heritage is forbidden by the Lord there is no man that doubteth and did the word Lord alwaies implie a Dominion it were some thing they saide But we haue heard of the diuers significations of these words As for that the Lord said vnto his Apostles It shal not be so with you what sober maÌ„ wil interprete him as if he had said Ye shall not be called Lords If the Kinges and Princes of the common-wealth will haue you to sit in the assemblies of great men and wil heare your iudgement concerning the state of the Church and will consult together with you concerning the affaires of the common-wealth and in regarde of my name and in reuerence of your calling wil haue you reputed among the peers of the land take heede beware of that and suffer not your selues to bee called Lordes this is a proud title and that is a foule matter From hence no doubt did arise that odious hypocrisie in the Church of Rome which vnder the basenes of mean titles exerciseth the sharpnes of no meane tyrannie and vnder the name of Seruant of seruantes vsurpeth dominion ouer Maisters and Seruants And hence it is also that his champions do glory in this to be called Friers Minorites the lesse or the least as if forsooth there were nor pride nor tyranny lurking vnder these their lubarly names or as if the name of Lord onely were to bee attended with pride and tyrannie Wherefore the meaning of our Sauiour in those words was not to forbid his disciples those ordinary tearms of honour which are giuen them by the fauor of the Prince and consent of the people only his intent was to teach theÌ„ that the Gospel was no prince-like Ministery or royal seigniory By the which it neither is nor can be concluded that Princes may by no means vse the assistaÌ„ce of Ministers nor grace the learned Pastors with certaine principall degrees of honor Hath Christ by any law diminished the Princes