THE ROMISH CHAINE BY EDMVND GVRNAY Parson of Harpley LONDON Printed by A. M. for Mathew Law and are to bee sold at his Shop neere Saint Austins Gate 1624. TO THE RIGHT Honourable the Lords Knights Burgesses and what other Suffragans in the high Court of Parliament HIS Maiestie Right Honorable if it please you to remember in his Epistle before the Remonstrance does greatly magnifie the third Estate of France for preferring an Article in their Parliament against their Kings obnoxiousnesse vnto Papall Deposition In the defence of whose iudgment therein his Pen hath flourished out such a Defence of Kings Rights as shall neuer wither vnto the end of the world Now howsoeuer the Parliaments of England were neuer inferiour vnto those of France for zeale and vigilancie toward the maintenance of their Kings Supremacie yet may it please you to suffer the words of exhortation to perseuer in such vigilancy and fidelitie toward the Lord and his immediate Deputie And as oft as you shall heare any of the night birds croaking for the Roman forraigner so often to double your industry toward the treading out those vermin and damming vp their puddles And it may be your Iudgment will take some incitation thereunto if you shall at some vacant time vouchsafe a perusall of this treatise the maine argument for the Romish Title consisting of diuers propositions linked together whereof not one is of force as now God-willing my leaue first taken of your Honours I shall apply my selfe to declare DEDICATED vnto Sir ROGER TOVVNSEND Knight-Baronet FOr Vertue sound Religion Linage Titles Moderation Chastity Manhood Bountie Industry and gouerning so large an estate in so greene and vncuppled yeares without peere THE ROMISH CHAINE AS farr forth as vniuersall Supremacy is supposed to descend vnto him which now possesseth the Roman Papacy by vertue of this Chayne-argument 1 The Church militant must alwaies haue some praticular person for the vniuersall Head thereof 2 The Apostle Saint Peter in his time was that particular person 3 Only the Successors of Peter must be the like in their times 4 Onely the Bishops of Rome were the Successors of Peter in their times 5 Only the Popes of Rome were the Successors of those Bishops in their times 6 Only hee which now possesseth the Roman Papacy is the Successor of those Popes Ergo Hee and only Hee which now possesseth the Romane Papacy is at this day vniuersal Head of the Church militant So farre forth wee propound vnto the world this answer following Concerning therefore the first linke of the chaine and so to the rest in order our protestation against it is this that neither does any Scripture imply nor strength of argument inforce nor any writer for the space of fiue thousand yeeres from the beginning of the world determine that the Church militant must allwayes haue some one particular person for the vniuersall Head thereof For first concerning Scriptures howsoeuer some particular text doe speake wonderous eminently of some particular persons as amongst others these following I will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance c. He shall iudge amongst the nations c. Kings shall be thy noursing fathers c. I will make thy name to be remembred c. Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him c. He shall build my City c. He will giue his Angels charge ouer thee c. Thou shalt tread vpon the Lyon and the Dragon c. and the like we answer that from the time that any Scripture was first giuen vntill the last period thereof and for fiue hundred yeeres after not to say a thousand these kinde of texts were neuer expounded but eyther of the Messias himselfe as the two first quoted or of his Spouse the Church as the third and fourth or of the condition of mankinde in generall as the fift and sixt or of euery godly man in particular as the two last but neuer of the pretended vniuersall Head Secondly concerning strength of argument that neither it can soe inforce we proue Because there cannot be imagined any benefit vse and benefit carrying all the moment in morall necessities which may redownd to the church by meanes of such vniuersall Head but such as may as well and farr better redownd there vnto by the meanes of speciall and seuerall heads according as the seuerall Continents languages and quarters of the earth by the Diuine prouidence are distributed For though their may seeme to ensue great hope of vniuersall Peace and Vnity whē all the strings of gouernment shall thus be setled in one onely hand yet such peace as is atteined onely by the extinguishment of plurall excellency will proue little better then Anarchy or Pedancy and such as ignorant persons yea the very brute beasts are capable of For they hauing all their wit confined vnto one onely head the head of their keeper doe by that meanes the more quietly goe in and out vnto ther pasture But as it is not good for man to bee alone so neyther is it good for the Church to be so all-one as that one parson Cow-heard-like may rule in all alone for that beside peace and vnity there is requisite also difference and variety vnto the perfection of Christian Society the very light of nature teaching vs that too much vnity dissolues a city as vnisons drowne harmony and makes it degenerate into a family much more such a degree of vnity as shall reduce all Cityes as it were into one family vnder one pater patriae So farr therefore may it be that this vniuersall Supremacy should produce any desirable peace and vnity as that more lykely an vniuersall dullnesse and Lethargy would insue thereof and that as well in the pretended head himselfe as in the body For what condition of life can bee imagined more tedious vncouth and vncomfortable then that which this vniuersall head must continually abide in when there shall not be found vpon earth any peere or consort or helper for him like himselfe whereas the very Deitie which notwithstanding so infinitly excells for Simplicity and vnity does entertaine plurality and Society witnesse the Trinity as also the Kings vpon earth are not without their brother-kings some elder and some younger to consort with-all Yea besides this desolation and solitude what incumbrancy and seruitude will ensue therevpon For first concerning the head himselfe how intollerable his burthen must neede be who can imagine For if that renowned Moses was so tyred with the leading of only one people and they of his owne language into the earthly Canaan how must he looke to be tyred vexed and perplexed which shall haue the leading of all people nations and languages into the heauenly Canaan he being composed of flesh and bloud noe doubt as much as Moses was and as much subiect vnto mortalitie casualty necessity infirmity and Sinne yea incomparably coming short of Moses vnlesse it be in his
owne particular conceit for all kind of graces and diuine assistance It being expreslly said that The Lord knew Moses face to face that his like was neuer knowne that he was the friend of God that after sixe score yeeres his eye was neuer dim nor his naturall force abated Moses also hauing his brother Aaron to share with him in the maine businesse and the rulers ouer thousands hundreds and fifties to saue him the labour of inferiour causes The Lord also most miraculusly both raining dayly vnto the people a bread from heauen and preseruing their clothing from waxing ould therein sauing him the care for their temporal necessaryes yet not withstanding so groned Moses vnder his burthen as that somtime he brake forth into this wish that God would rather kill him then continue him in such misery And as for the bondage which the Body of the Church must likewise vndergoe by meanes of this vniuersall Supreame who can vtter it For the members of the Church being dispersed ouer the face of the whole earth some of them must of necessity be as farre in situation from their head as the very Antipodes and so by that meanes shall haue no principles of Faith no determinations of controuersies and in efect no executions of Iustice but such as must bee appealeable ane suspendable from vntill a person dwelling in the furthest parts of the world be made acquainted therewith and shal haue ratified the same Yea yet further how scandalous must these courses needes be in the eyes of Iewes and those which are without and what a stumbling block in their way for when the Iew shall read in his and our Prophets that vnder the new couenant men shall so abound with knowledge as that they shall not need in comparison to goe to their next neighbour for it it shall bee so written in their hearts will hee euer be brought to beleeue that the Gospell which the Christians imbrace can be that new couenant or that our Christ can bee that Messias vnder whome knowledge is vniuersally confined at least for certainty and infallibilitie vnto the breast of only one particular person Or can he iustly be argued of obstinacie if hee resolues rather still to continue vnder Moses Law which neuer inioyned him to goe farther then the bounds of Canaan which for quantitie exceeded not ours of England for any kinde of knowledges sentences resolutions appeales or determinations whatsoeuer And as for the Infidells which are wholy without can it bee marueiled if they likewise resolue rather still to worship the Sunne and Moone in the Firmament which once a day doe supervise them then this onely Sonne of God if He hath but one immediate vessell of his grace for all his followers to draw at and that vnder the locke and key of only one particular person and he confined vnto one particular Angle of the earth yea what course can be imagined more apt to inforce and disperse contagion Heresie Apostacie through the whol body of the Church when the poluting or peruerting of only one particular person shall be the corrupting and infecting of the vniuersall head thereof yea finally what temptations or prouocations more forcible toward the erecting of a second Babell when all the world shall bee brought to obey onely one man and consequently to learne onely one Language perhaps the Latine which God himselfe hath branded for the maine cause of attempting the building of the first Babell These kind of dangers difficulties scandalls bondages abasements considered and put in the ballance against all imaginable conueniences or benefits which may redound vnto the Church by meanes of this vniuersall Head if they shall ouerpoyze we may thervpon cōclude that no strength of argument can inforce the accepting thereof Finally whereas we thirdly protested that no writer of what kinde soeuer for the first fiue thousand yeeres ab initio mundi did euer maintaine the necessitie of this vniuersall Head wee take that to be sufficiently proued vntill instance be made to the contrary and that no kind of authour of reckoning whatsoeuer did at any time so determine this alone may bee proofe sufficient For that all the possible knowledge which writers can haue being either from Scripture or from argument that which comes by reuelatiō being Scripture it self if as we haue proued neither of these two originall lights acknowledg it what good writer can affirme it much lesse maintaine it for a principle of the faith especially considering how all the principles of the faith are so euident as partly both these lights acknowledge them witnesse the decalogue and partly one of these lights namely Scripture does so abundantly acknowledge them as that euer since the Apostles time they haue beene agreed vpon witnes the Articles of faith How then shall those passe for tolerable writers which will avouch not onely for a truth but also for a principle that which neither of these lights giue any lustre vnto yea and for such a principle as rather should giue light vnto all other principles then neede to borow light of any whatsoeuer For it erecting a Head for euery soule vpon paine of damnation to looke vp vnto and depend vpon what lesse degree of light can be requisite vnto it then that which may make it cleere enough euen for runners to read it and the most weake sighted to find it euen as readily as sucklings find the pappe whereas on the contrary it is not only destitute of such immediate instinctiue and noone shine light but also is as vtterly voyd and vncapable of light as darknesse it selfe Iudge then reader of what validity the first linke of the chayne is which if it cannot hould the conclusion must of necessary fall to the ground this being the condition of Soriticall and Chaine arguments that if but one of the propositions faile the conclusion cannot follow So as were this first proposition granted them yet could it also be nothing for their purpose vnlesse euery one following be made good especially the next which is this The Apostle Peter in his time was this vniuersall Head Against which position our demonstration shall be this The Kings and Gouernors which liued in the time of Peter had more authoritie ouer their Christians which liued in their dominions then Peter had Peter therefore was not vniuersally the Christians Head That those Kings and Gouernors had such authority more then Peter had wee proue because they stood more deepely charged from God to improoue those Christians vnto the glory of God then Peter did For the only end why God giues authoritie vnto men ouer one another being this that Mankinde may bee the more fully improued vnto his glory hee by that meanes hauing the honour not onely of particular persons but also of Societies Families Cities Countreys and Kingdomes it must of necessitie follow that such as are more deepely charged to improoue a companie vnto Gods glory must also haue the
hereof being this for that the vertues of a Subiect are habitually in his Prince and so more properly his Princes then his owne as the vertues of the Wife are more her Husbands then her owne the Woman being made for the Man and being the glory of the Man and so a dignitie and reputation vnto the man When therefore it is vrged for the preheminence of the spirituall men by Spirituall men whether we meane euery member of Christ or only the Ministers of Christ it is not materiall that in Scripture they bee vsually tearmed the Shepheards and Pastors of the Church the Lights of the World c. we answer that our question is not concerning the excellency but concerning the dependancie of their gifts wee maintayning that the pastorall skill is subordinate vnto that power which layes out the Pastures and assigneth the Foulds and keepes off the Wolues which being the proper offices of Kings and Gouernors they are to be reputed as in writers both Diuine Humane they be ordinarily tearmed the principall Shepheards Though truly and properly the Lord only is the Shepheard in respect of whom all Kings Gouernors and Pastors whatsoeuer are but as sheepe before Him though of his grace and for his purposes He will haue them amongst men reputed as Shepheards some of them to bee as his Pages and some only as Bell-weathers whereof these haue power to leade the flocks so far as they haue eares to heare and list to follow the tingling of their Bell and the Pages to leade and driue them whether they haue list or noe So likewise when Spirituall men are called Lights though the Scripture expounds them to bee but Candlesticks of such Lights yet may they bee inferiour vnto those which follow their light as much as the Lantherne-bearer is inferiour vnto his following Master or as the vnderstanding is inferiour to the Will whereunto though it be a guide yet is it also a Subiect the Will hauing power to in force both obiects and principles vppon it As therefore the Moone and not the Sunne is said to rule the Night though all the light wherewith the Moone rules shee receiues of the Sunne So hee which possesseth the Throne must be esteemed the ruler of the people and not hee which is possessor of the Light though it must bee confessed that all good rule is by the direction of the light And as the Sunne beeing beneath the Moone and vnder the Earth can doe nothing in the time of the night but so farre foorth as it can cast his beames into the lappe and capacitie of the Moone which by vertue of her conspicuous eminency hath onely the power to disperse light vnto all that are vnder it so the Spirituall man during his being as it were vnder the earth in an earthen vessell and in a priuate condition can doe nothing with authority but in the vertue and power of him that sits in the Throne the maine reason heereof being this for that the rude and ignorant for whose only ordering and gouernment Authority is imparted vnto men can incomparably better deserne who is a possessour of the Throne then who is a possessor of the Spirit and so by that meanes more certainely know whom they are to obey For as in Wedlocke had the Lord ordained that the holier or the wiser of the two should be the Head there must needs insue continuall discord and vncertainty in the Family who should bee the Head the woman often times being seeming at least the holier wiser c. whereas hee expresly determining that the man shall be Head which with the least turne of the eye is discerned so all controuersie is ended and the weakest of the Family easily resolued who in case of difference about things indifferent ought to be obeyed So in greater societies had the Lord ordained that the most holy or the most spirituall should bee head there must needs haue insued the like vncertainty and discord who hee should be hee that is holy or spirituall to day being apt to be otherwise at least in appearance to morrow and such as be most vnholy being as apt to carry an appearance of the holiest whereas he expresly setting it downe that hee which weares the Crowne or sits in the Throne or beares the the Sword should be Head all such strife is soone at at end the weakest that is being able with ease to discerne who such persons bee For though oftentimes Vsurpers may get posession of the Crowne or the Sword yet is that nothing so hard to discerne as who is a false Professor of the Spirit Time place person discent records and titles which carnall men can iudge of and lay together being of sufficient force to detect who is an Vsurper all which though they bee but circumstances yet are they such as a man can haue no better for the discerning his owne father whom notwithstanding he stands charged in conscience to obey Better therefore that authority bee tyed to the Crown then to the Spirit and that not only in regard of mans necessities but also more especially for the effecting the Lords owne purposes who by this meanes can correct or scourge a whole Nation and yet smite onely one particular person namely by suffering their Prince or Head to becom a Tyrant or a Babe whereupon as himselfe hath taught vs a woe must befall the whole Land whereas were the Crowne continually kept and possessed by the Spirit such a kind of Rod should finde no place For as concerning those which thinke there is no necessity for this consequence because in case a Babe or a Tyrant supplies the Throne the whole Nation neede not be obnoxious vnto any smart thereby for that it is thought lawfull yea necessarie to cut off such Babes and Tyrants We answer that such opinion is not only most impious and presumptuous against God but also most preposterous monstrous vniust and ridiculous before men First most impious it is because it is the common Ordinance of God that wee should obey and honour Princes yea that wee should honour our particular Fathers much more the Fathers of the whole Country so farre must wee bee from abasing them especially in case of their imbecillity How impious then must they needs be which will handle their Princes no better then caityfes and most desperate members Secondly most presumptuous it is both for that it puts him by whom the Lord will haue raigne namely that Babe or that Tyrant for the purpose aforesaid and also for that it does interpose a Iudgement seate betwixt the Lord and him whom the Lord will haue his most immediate his very next his owne Annointed And as for the monstrousnesse of it it appeares in this both for that it supposeth a power in the Body aboue the Head namely that power which must cut the Head off in the roome of which head in case another head should grow vp yet must it still bee vnder that power
diuers of the rest also had new names giuen thē as Leui being new-named Matthew Saul Paul Iames and Iohn Boanerges which name being by interpretation the sonnes of thunder may farre better resemble persons of Authoritie then Peters new name of Cephas or Petros for that a Stone as those names signifie is more fit to make a Subiect then a Head if names should bee regarded 7. Now as for our Sauiours tearming Peter a Rock and promising to build His Church vpon him we answer that neither doth that Text giue Peter any higher preheminence for that the rest of the Apostles were styled by higher termes then so euen no lesse then absolute and seuerall foundations of the Church the wall of new Ierusalem being said Reuel 21.14 to haue twelue foundations and in them the names of the twelue Apostles Another Text also Ephes 2.20 making not onely the rest of the Apostles but also the Prophets as deepe in the foundation as he when it saith that the Church was founded vpon the Prophets and Apostles in which Text also it being further added that Iesus Christ is the Head Corner Stone If Peter should so be esteemed a Rock as to bee the Rocke alone hee should so not onely surmount his fellowes contrary to those Texts but also our Sauiour himselfe 8. Nor againe does our Sauiours giuing Peter the Keyes of heauen any whit aduance Peter aboue the rest of the Apostles vnto whom these heauenly Keyes whether the keyes of knowledge the keyes of binding and loosing the keyes of remitting and retayning or the Keyes of Dauid if there be any odds or difference amongst these keyes were as expressely giuen For first as touching the keyes of Knowledge those we find euen the Scribes and Pharisees and common Lawyers not to bee destitute of and as for the keyes of remitting and retaining sinne those also our Sauiour does plurally giue when hee sayeth Whose sinnes yee remit they are remitted c. though to speake truely and properly neither Peter nor any mortall man euer had power to remit sinne but onely as the Priests in the Old Law had power to cleanse Leprosie which was only by pronouncing according vnto the Leuiticall Rules who were cleane and who not the cognizance of Leprosie being confined onely vnto them and none in the Congregation beeing reputable for cleane after presumptions to the contrary but onely whom they so pronounced Thirdly the keyes of binding and loosing if they must differ from the former are likewise found giuen to the rest when our Sauiour saith Whatsoeuer yee binde on earth shall bee bound in heauen where the Relatiue yee is thought to extend in the iudgement of good Expositors not onely to the rest of the Apostles but also in case there spoken of to euery member of Christ Finally concerning the keyes of David which our Sauiour in his glory professing himselfe to be the keeper of may seeme to haue the preheminence wee finde long before Peters time to haue been committed vnto the Prophet Ieremie vnder the name of Eliachim in these words I will lay the key of Dauid vpon his shoulders hee shall shut and none shall open hee shall open and none shall shut Wherein then consists the peculiaritie of Peters Keyes For though when our Sauiour promised him them hee tearmed them the Keyes of Heauen yet for as much as the Keyes of binding loosing opening shutting remitting c. doe concerne no other gates then the gates of Heauen such nominall explications annexed vnto Peters Keyes can giue no reall Specialty vnto them Especially considering how the Key of Faith which euery beleeuer must haue as well as Peter is also the Key of Heauen yea and such a Key as without it none of the other Keyes can and yet it without all the rest is able to open Heauen Gates alone Though truly and properly we must alwaies remember that he only is able to open the heauens which hath made the heauens His precious blood being the only true Key indeed and his Word reuealing so much being the handle of that Key and the faith of man beeing the hand which by meanes of that handle His Word does turne that Key his bloud vpon the maine boult sinne which only hath shut Heauen gates against the Sonnes of Men. 9. Finally concerning Peters agencye and imployment in the Church affaires more then others we answer that the principall Agents and Speakers are not alwaies of necessity the principall persons Aduocates and pleaders exceeding Iudges and Presidents in such Offices the High Priest Aaron being as a mouth vnto Moses though Moses was as God vnto him and the men of Lystra esteeming Paul to be therefore inferiour vnto Barnabas as much as Mercurie was vnto Iupiter because Paul was the chiefe speaker Secondly though wee find Peter in the Acts of the Apostles to take vp the occasions of Speech very often and abundantly yet may we obserue diuerse tokens of more eminency in others especially in Paul Iohn and both the Iameses the one of these being graced with no meaner tearme then the Lords brother the other being named of Paul and before Peter amongst those which were accounted pillars mention also being made of him with more authoritie then of any the rest as when Iames did but say Act. 15.19 my sentence is c. presently without more ado the Text addeth v. 22. It seemed good vnto the Apostles to send c. Iames also being only named when Paul was dispensed withal for his cōdescēding vnto the Iewish rites And as cōcerning Iohn we find first that he is vsually called the Disciple whom Iesus loued that our Sauiour permitted him to leane on his breast at his last Supper made him the Son of his owne Mother as a gardian vnto her gaue him the grace to write his Gospell in the diuinest manner with answerable Canonicall Epistles as also made him the immediate pen-man of his special Epistles to the seauen Churches finally reuealed vnto him the future estate of the whol Church vnto the end of the world And as touching Paul these peculiar excellencies we find concerning him First that his calling was by the Lords immediate voice frō heauen was seperated by the appointmēt of the holy Ghost was reckoned amonst the Prophets of his time abounded in vnwritten reuelations as Iohn did in the written foretold the immediate blindnes of Elimas which was answerable vnto Peters like prediction of the death of Ananias Tooke the care of all the Churches Labored more thē they all would not build on anothers foundation had the largest Prouince namly ouer al the Gētiles wrot most canonicall Epistles most magnified his Office stood most vpon his Authority affirming that who so despised his Doctrine despised God commending his owne example and citing his owne authority behold I Paul I say vnto you c. and finally rebuking Peter to the face Whereas cōcerning Peter as he is
not any where noted for spirituall excellency and infallibilitie more then others so on the contrary he is more expresly touched for infirmities and failes then any Witnesse both his ouerweaning of his owne strength and boasting that hee would neuer forsake his Master when before the next morning hee denyed him and forsware him Witnesse his ignorance of the maine intent of our Sauiours comming in disswading him from suffering whereupon he was called Satan Witnesse his ignorance of the Catholike extention of the Gospell in refusing to admit the Gentiles thereunto And witnesse finally his timorousnesse in vsing Christian libertie for feare of angring the Iewes with other fayles For though wee reuerence the memory of Saint Peter as a choise vessell of Gods Grace yet when wee see him so aduanced aboue his fellows that only for the exalting his pretended Successours so incōparably aboue their fellows no man can iustly bee offended if we note that Peter was left-handed no lesse then his Fellowes But for a finall answer thus we conclude that neither Peter nor Paul nor Iames nor Iohn did sway the affaires of the Primatiue Church but iointly the Twelue together For both the choosing the new Apostle the ordaining the seauen Deacons the deciding controuersies the disposing Prouinces the sending Barnabas to Antioch Peter Iohn into Samaria the taking account of Peters going to the Gentiles notwithstāding his Diuine warrant therfore were all the ioynt Acts of the whole Twelue The decrees finally going forth in no other name but in the name of the Twelue So as cōcerning any soueraintie supremacye primacy or superexcellency of necessity to be granted in the person of Peter we may finally conclude that neither did our Sauiour ordaine it nor the Apostles acknowledg it or inuest him with it as there was no cause why they should his cōmon infirmities considered nor did Peter himselfe take it vpon him but rather exceeded them all in subiection as both his long iourney into Samaria when the Twelue sent Iohn him his giuing account of his actions when they were though vniustly excepted against his suffring a publike rebuke at the hands of one which was none of the Twelue may testifie as also his so expresse teaching submissiō whether vnto Kings as the Supremes or vnto gouernors c. admonishing those of his owne sort not to carry themselues as Lords ouer Gods heritage neuer in his Epistles intitling himselfe otherwise thē a Seruant of Iesus Christ or an elder or an Apostle at the most Whereas had hee taken himselfe to bee in that Supereminencie as should make him Head of the Church yea such an Head as should be the originall vnto a succession of Heads vnto the end of the world not only without arrogance hee might haue inserted it into his style but also without wrong to posterity he could not haue omitted so to doe euen by the same discretion wherewith S. Paul does more often tearme himselfe an Apostle then any of the Twelue vsed to doe because else his Apostleship might haue beene doubted of so there being doubt at least of Peters being such an head had it not farre more concerned him euery where at least once in his life to haue prefixed his title yea when there was a strife amongst the Apostles who shold bee the chiefe was it not then hie time for Peter to aduance himselfe or had our Sauiour euer meant any such principality vnto Peter and that of such perpetuall necessity would hee haue omitted so faire an occasion to stablish a matter of that moment which both with a word he might haue done and also when the time was either then or neuer in a manner to bee done his departure and death being so instant yea would hee so on the contrary haue generally forbidden them the vse of any Authority when he told them that though the Kings of the Nations did exercise authority yet with them it should not be so For as for those which expound those words with you it shall not be so to restraine the Disciples only from ruling so tyrannically or so vniustly as the heathen they therein make our Sauiours words to bee nothing to the Disciples question for they might haue answered againe that there strife was not who should rule tyrannically or vniustly but only who should bee chiefe whereas some one or diuers of them might be cheefe and yet not only no Tyrants but not so much as lawfull Gouernours But to conclude for as much as wee can finde no necessity for the acknowledging such Supereminencie of Peters Spirituall gifts nor were that granted any step to Authoritie thereupon nor that the Kings and Gouerners in Peters time did loose there Soueraignty ouer their Christian Subiects it cannot therefore be that Peter was vniuersally the Head of all Christians in his time and so the second Linke of the maine Chaine proues of no force The next is this Only the Successors of Peter must be these vniuersall Heads in their times whereunto wee answer first that the Founder of the Church Iesus Christ did neuer ordaine that any Principality gifts or capacities whatsoeuer should bee conueyed to any of his members by succession Secondly that hee neuer disabled or excepted against any Line Tribe Nation Language or Continent whatsoeuer from taking as high place in his Church as his Church afforded Thirdly when his will was in the time of the Old Law to haue the Priesthood goe by Succession He did both specifie the Line wherein it should passe namely the Line of Aaron confirming also the same by the miraculous budding of Aarons Rod and also expresly set downe all the rites and ceremonies which should be stricty obserued at euery seuerall consecration yea the very garments wherwith euery Successor at his annointing should be inuested were determined Since therefore in the new Law no such Line or Tribe is mentioned no rites appointed no garments or manner of consecration inioyned it must be a forcible argument to conclude that in the new Law no such Succession was euer intended for that the new Law being made not vnto one People but vnto all people not for a time but for euer had much more needed specifications of persons places ceremonies and circumstances then that which was but for one particular People and in continuall expectation to vanish away Fourthly when in processe of time the Church shall attaine vnto such an amplitude as shall reach vnto all the corners of the Earth If none must then be head therof but the Successour of Peter it must follow that Peters Successour shall bee intollerably surcharged For either he must haue more gifts then Peter had or no more if more then is he more then Peters Successour But if no more there is no equitie nor proportion in it that he whose charge is a thousand fold greater then Peters yet shall haue no greater measure of gifts to discharge it then Peter had