their owne lives and the dictates of their writings the Summe whereof is to make a mixed Religion conversation of Christians which is partly holy in an external forme of godlinesse without the power thereof partly in admitting allowing approving applauding countenancing and dispensing by Episcopall authority of a heathenish kinde of life and that especially in most Sacred times as the Lords day which though dedicated wholly to the worship and service of God yet the rule of the Sanctification hereof which is the 4th Commaundement and the example of Christs and his Apostles these novellers do altogether reject as abolished instead thereof advance their new Traditions which is to allow one part of the Day for God and the rest to mans carnall Lusts Sin the world the Devil as our Homily Saith So as the due observation and Sanctification of the Lords day being a platforme and patterne of a Christian Conversation a Christian being that in his whole life in a proportion which he is on the Lords day and this platforme being defaced and broken by our Anti-Sabbatarians it followeth that together with their impions crying downe of the 4th CoÌ„maundement and so accordingly the due Sanctification of the Lords day intire without mixture of heathenish Sports and Pastimes they deface and destroy the very face beauty power of all religion so do set up a new Forme of it never allowed of as by a Law in the world before And herein doe our Apostates out strip the very Pontificians themselves who did never yet mak a Law nor take upon them to allow any other rule of Christian life than the Scriptures although they have with our innovators denyed the Scripture to be the onely and absolute rule of faith independent upon any humain power For even Bellarmine exclameth against and disclameth that dissolute profanation of Sacred dayes in practise among the Papists in their vaine Sports and Pastimes for which cause the very Turkes do scorne saith he the Christian Religion Saying O what a God have the Christians what a famous Law giver who â—ither commandeth or permitteth these things Now if the Turkes should upbrayd us in England and cast vs in the teeth with our Lord Lawgiver Iesus Christ as if he eyther commaunded or allowed Sports Pastimes upon the Lords day our answere must be that our great Lawgiver Christ doth not any way tolerate much lesse commaund any Sports or Pastimes on his Sacred day as wherewith both God is dishonoured his day profaned but out Lord-Prelates are they who doe usurpe unto themselves a Lawlesse power to dispense with that part of the Lords-day as they please wherein men may runne riot and keep their Bacchanals and their Floralia without controwle such as Christ and his word forbids to be done on any day Much more might be spoken of the Late Changes but this suffice for the present But what speakewe of Changes Our Changes doe plead that they bring in no changes but revive those things which ancient Canons have allowed and prescribed as standing up at Gloria Patri and at the reading of the Gospell bowing at the nameing of Iesus and to the High Altar remooving the Communion Table to stand Altarwise at the East-end of the Chancell praying with the face towards the East where the Altar standeth placing of Images in Churches erecting of Crucifixes over the Altars commanding of long Martins instead of Preaching and the like To this we answere that we in this Land are not to be ruled by the Popes Canons or the Canon Law but by the Law of God of the King Although I once heard a Papall Canon was alledged in opposition to a Parliamentary Statute in K. Edw. 6. his raigne alledged by the adverse Advocates it passed for Currant none gain-saying it But as for those Rites Ceremonies to be used in our Church they are by an Act of Parliament prefixed to the CommunioÌ„ booke restrained to those only which are expressed in the same booke and if any by private authority shall presume to introduce into practise any other besides these he is to suffer imprisonment for a time and if he persist perpetuall imprisonment and losse of all his spirituall promotions during his life But besides all this these men have one speciall Sancturary to fly unto that is their Cathedrall Churches where they may lay hold upon the hornes of their Altars These be their old high places not remooved These as they are commonly used bee the ancient dennes of these old Foxes to which they flie being this pursued of whom the Scripture saith Take us the Foxes the little Foxes that spoile the Vines These bee those nests and nurceries of Superstition and Idolatry wherein the old Beldame of Rome hath nuzzled up her brood of Popelings and so preserved her usum Sarum in life to this very day And now these are be come impregnable bulworkers to patronize our Re-builders of Babell in all their innovations Innovations Say they Wee bring in no innovations no new rites but what hath beene in use ever since the Reformation and that in the most eminent Places even the Mother Churches of the Land Now all that wee goe about is to reduce inferiot churches to an unity and conformity to their Mother Churches So as thus bringing all to unity wee shall take off that reproach which the adversaries cast upon us in this kinde and which wee shall then retort upon themselues for their diffentions betweene their Regulars and Seculars Thus doe our Master-builders plead and so by their cunning insinnuations under a pretence of Piety and peace of unity and uniformity preaching peace peace when nothing but warre is in their heart hand as Psal. 55. 21. and 59. 7. doe so farre prevaile that before wee bee aware they will by this meanes pretrily reduce us to a perfect peace and unity with old Mother Rome againe For these Mother Churches to which all Danghter Churches must conforme are they not the naturall daughters of Rome Doe they not from top to toe exactly resemble her Her pompous Service her Altars Palls Copes Crucifixes Images superstitious gestures and Postures all instruments of musicke as at the dedication of the King of Babylons Image Long Babylonish Service so bellowed and warbled out as the heareers are but little the wiser Are not these high Places also the receptacles and nurceries of a number of idle bellies to say no worse Doe not the fat Prebends So cramme their Residenciaries that the while their starveling Flocks in the countrey doe famish for want of spirituall Food But as Erasnius said of Luther how his fault was that he meddled with the Popes Miter and the Monkes bellies But this I note by the way to show how all those that are maintained by Cathedralls are ingaged to helpe forward those Innovations that are now on foot because they make much for the supporting of their Papall Pompe But let us a
it is said Rebels doe not only leave the Sabbath-day of the Lord unsanctified the Temple and Church of the Lord unresorted unto but also doe by their workes of wickednesse most horribly profane and pollute the Sabbath day Serving Satan and by doing of his worke making it the Divels day instead of the Lords day And surely if this liberty of youth bee not all the sooner restrained the whole Land may rue it one day And therefore if the Prelates had any regard either to the honour of God and of his Word or to the setled peace of the Kingdome as they have but little as appeareth too palpably by their practises in disturbing and disordering of all they would have been so faire from procuring the republishing and from pressing and oppressing Ministers about the said booke as they would rather have become humble suiters to his Majesty to have set forth some severe Edict for the better Sanctification of the Lords day that so the people might be kept in better obedience both to God and to his Majestey Forasmuch also as the giving libertie of such sports whereby it is manifestly profained is without all example in any age of the world and their so pressing of it with that cursed and tyranicall tigor both without and against all Law and all example and that also in the Kings name is very dangerous to breed in peoples mindes such as are not so well acquainted with His Majesties either noble and Christian disposition or His many solemne Protestations to keepe Religion safe and sound I know not what strange Scruples on feares causing them to stagger in their good opinion of His Majestie when indeed the whole burden of the blame is to be laid upon the Prelates as either the chiefe procures of these things or the not hindereâ— of them The last instance wheâ—â—in the Prelates doe indanger a division betweene the King and his good Subjects whom the Lord preserue in a perpetual bond of unity is their most impetuous and violent obtruding of new â—ites and Ceremonies which they haue begun through some whole Diocesse and exacting a new conformity in all Ministers there unto This is another snare wherewith they may catch more Ministers either to outt them of their Ministery and living or else to captivate them for ever as vassalls for whatsoever base uses their good Masters will put them unto And herein they haue made a faire progresse already as for example in two whole Counties Norfolke and Suffolke where in a very short space they haue made the fowlest havocke of good Ministers and their flocks now left desolate and exposed to the Wolues as sheepe without their sheepheard as our eyes have never seene For there are already Threescore Ministers in that one Diocesse suspended and betweene three and Fowrescore more have time given them now till Christ-tide by which time either they must bid their good Conscience farewell or else their precious Ministery and necessary meanes Neither I thinke can it be shewed that in all Queene Maries time there was so great havocke made in so short a time of the faithfull Ministers of God in any part of yea or in the whole Land And now doe those Counties and Countries groane under this intolerable burthen remedilesse if God and the King doe not relieve them And our neigbours house being thus on fire doth it not concerne us all to looke to it For they say that this shall be a precedent for all England But upon what ground is all this What authority doe they shew for these outrages The King That is answered before by his solemne Protestations to the contrary But they plead the Act of Parliament for Vniformity before the Communion Booke wherein is reserved a power to the Queene with advise of her Commissioners or of the Metropolitan to ordayne and publish such further Ceremonies or Rites as may bee most for the advancement of Gods glory the edifying of his Church and the due reverence of Christs holy Mysteries and Sacraments Hereupon they ground all their Innovations But for this First obserue that this clause of the Act is limmited to Queene Elizabeth and not extended to her Successors of the Crowne they are still expressed Secondly admit it was intended to the Successors yet it is with that qualification as may bee most for the advancement of Gods glory the edefying of his Church and the due reverence of Christs holy Misteries and Sacraments Well To bring our new Rites to this Rule First doe they make to the Advancement of Gods glory What Superstitious Idolatrous worship of wooden Aultars What a complementall Crouch to Iesus when they Crucifie Christ What to bow before a Crucifix Againe for the edifying of his Church What by the Preaching and not praying in the Pulpit before and after his Sermon What by the expounding of the Catechisme What by reading a second Service at the Altar where the people cannot heare it And for due reverence to Christs Sacraments What by possessing the people with an opinion of a Popish reall presence What by offering Christ in sacrifice upon a Wooden Altar By a Priest of mans making What by drawing the people to a new adoration by bringing them up close to the new Altar But they will say all makes for them And who shall bee judges but themselves who are the Church Therefore Lastly I answer for all that no humane rationall creature can bring the least shadow of colour that this Act did giue the Queene or her succssors any power to set up Popery againe This is out of all question But now our New Reformers are tooth and nayle for setting up Popery againe witnesse their hoysing up Altars in most places as also of Images Crucifixes with adorations putting downe of the meanes of knowledge as Preaching and bringing in of Ignorance also preaching for sundry points of Popery as Auricular Confession praying to Saints yea printing of such Sermons prayer for the dead and many other All which while they set up with a high hand and so as if the King gaue them authority so to doe of which all his Solemne protestations I say doe sufficiently resolve us the contrary they must needs mightily shake and unsettle the peace of the State by these their dangerous and desperate attempts and sill the peoples minds with musings what the issue will bee and how the King will digest these things at the Prealates hands which tend to the most dangerous dividing and renting of the Kingdome asunder The next instance is their arrogating of their Episcopall title and office of Superiority from Christ and his Apostles This they did lately in the High Commission Court and that upon occasion of Doctor Bastwicks cause then before them Where hee was accused and severely censured for writting a Booke intituled Flagellum Potificis Episcoporum Latialium in which booke bee whipped that usurped authority of the Roman Hierarchy through whose sides by reason of their
may not they dare not obey your wicked Commaunds which are repugnant to the Lawes both of God and man Certainly hell inlargeth herselfe for you and your damnation sleepeth not if you speedily repent not Shall honest Christians and good Subjects be as rebells factious and I wott not what because they will not obey your factious rebellion against God I say will not This seemes a sore word and you lye at catch If a Minister say he will not Why I pray you Is this so hainous a word What say you then to the 3. Children when the King himselfe in person threatened them with his fiery fornace O Nebuchadnezzar we are not carefull to answere thee in this matter If it be so Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery fornace and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King But if not be it knowne unto thee O King that WEE WILL NOT serve thy Gods nor worship thy golden Image which thou hast set up See WEE WILL NOT. The Scripture sets this downe thus in Commendation for them and for imitation to us in like cases Well the second use is for instruction concerning the duty of a Christian in this point and the rather in regard of the snares which Satan layeth to intrap soules this way in these dayes by the new Iesuiticall doctrine of blind obedience As therefore the Apostle Iohn saith Beloved believe not every spirit but try the Spirits Whither they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world So I may say here Many false Prophets are now abroad being possessed with the spirit of the Beast which so magnifie the power of man and his authority in commaunding that ipso facto all must yeeld obedience thereunto without further adoe Now this spirit is knowne by opposition to God and his word It setteth man above God above his word and therefore we must beware of it We must therefore So obey God in the first place by guiding our selves in all things according to his word as no commaund of man prevaile with us to crosse that It is for beasts without reason to yeeld a blind obedience to their Masters but men are of another stampe who have not only reason but religion to be the rule of their actions The last use is for Consolation to all those that follow this rule For howsoever obedience to God and the not obeying of mans unjust commaunds fares ill in the world oftentimes and never more then in these dayes of ours wherein though wicked Imposers are not able to give any other reason of their impious commaunds but Volumus and Iubemus Sic volo sic jubeo stat pro ratione voluntas so as if present obedience be not yeelded they cry out Rebells they suspend excommunicate sequester undoe threatening moreover halter and hatchet as was noted before yet a faithfull honest godly Minister or Christian being constant to his God and to his Word as Daniel and the three Children were shall find it more happy and comfortable to keep his Christ and a good conscience though with the losse of all these outward things then to hold them with the losse of his conscience and confidence in his Lord and Master Christ. Yea and herein have wee cause to comfort our selues and to blesse the name of our God who hath not left himselfe without witnesse but hath raysed up many zealous and couragious Champions of his truth I meane faithfull Ministers of his word who choose rather to loose all they have than to submit and prostitute themselves to the wicked unjust and base commands of usurping Antichristian Mushromes Surely this is an infallible signe to perswade me that God will not desert his cause seeing hee thus stands by his Servants making them more then Conquerers through him that loveth them Yea their very not yeelding in this battell is a present victory For as the Holy Ghost saith They overcame by the blood of the Lambe and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their liues unto the death Therefore rejoyce yee heavens and yee that dwell in them Woe to the inhabitants of the earth And surely this shall be the certaine issue of that maine battell that is now a fighting betweene the Beast and Christ betweene the Dragon the Lambe For though the Kings of the earth have one minde and give their power and strength unto the Beast So as all these make warre with the Lambe yet the Lambe shall overcome them for hee is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and they that are with him are Called and Chosen and faithfull Yea even those ten hornes euen all those Kings that take part with the Beast these shall hate the whoore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burne her with fire So as Antichrist with all his traine and confederates for all their malice power pollicies and machinations that Babilonian Tower with all their strong walls mounting up to heaven must all downe to the ground and then it shall not repent those that have been faithfull unto death who shall receive a Crowne of life Come wee now to the last point in the exhortation which is the connexion of these two the feare of the Lord and of the King Whence we learne That the feare of the Lord and of the King their order duely observed ought not to bee separated No more then the two Tables of the Decalogue For God must so be honoured as we doe also in the second place honour our Superiours And our Superiours must so be honoured as in the first place wee honour God as was said before Separated they must not bee For they are like the two pillars in the Porch of Salomons Temple the one Strength the other Stability which beare up the most beautifull Fabricke of the Church and State well compacted together and established in the true feare of God and of the King Here then are condemned sundry dividers in this kind As first the Anabaptist who deny lawfull Magistracy They pretend to feare God but they refuse to honour the King with their obedience And therefore they doe not truly feare God Secondly heere are condemned the Papists who divide and separate the feare of the Lord from the feare of the King And that two wayes 1. In that they allow by their good will no honour feare or obedience to Kings from their Subjects unlesse they will kisse the Popes toe that is acknowledge the Popes Supremacy as well in Temporalties as in Spiritualties For the Pope challengeth a power over all Kings and Princes comparing himselfe to the Sunne and the Imperor and so Kings Princes to the Moone which is 47 times lesse then the Sunne and must borrow their light and lustre from the Pope as from the Sunne As Cupers one of their Canonists saith The Pope conferring the Empire upon Caesar doth
the Scriptures as if it ordained any thing to the contrary but to the writing or tradition of the Scripture which among the Corinthians was in the vulgar tongue Here al that heare may hisse But what saith he to the 28. Article which condemneth Transubstantiation Surely his Reconciliation heere is at a stand For hee is forced to Say that Negare Transubstantiationem divinâ— c. To deny divine Transubstantiation in this fearefull Mystery is against the verity of Faith as it is defined in the Councels of Lateran Trent It is well then Herein in the point of Transubstantiation no Reconciliation betweene us and Trent Then what hope hath he to reduce us to Rome or to re-erect his Masse in England yes he hath one hope What is that By calling here a nationall Synod Of whom Not of those whom he calls Calvinists and Puritans who are of the Orthodox party For he sayth Deponentes secundum pristinam conversationeÌ„ verterem homineÌ„ nempe Calvinisticum qui corrumpitur c. Putting off as touching the former conversation the old man to wit the Calvinisticall which is corrupted And in his Paraphrase on the 37. Article utinam denuo c. Now I would to God that by publick authority the matter for the dignity of it Puritanis non â—ntermixtis the Puritans not intermedling or intermixt might out of an affection of revnion be throughly scanned For I know the Puritans abhorre this For they fly all communion with us and abominate us as the body of Satan and Antichrist as Cassander said of some Christians This doth Franciscus apply to the Puritans whom he would have vtterly excluded from a Synod assembled to revnite Rome and England And can ye blame him Did not the Trent-Conventicle in truth though they pretended the contrarie exclude Protestants from them And did not the Protestants being invited as warily refuse to come and that by the example of Iohn Hâ—ss when they might answere the Popes counterfet invitatioÌ„ as the Fox did the sick-Lyon refusing to visit him in his deÌ„ne Quia me vestigia terrent c. No no quoth Renâ—ld for full well I see All foot-sleps towards you none towards me Now who are those Puritans he excepts against as not to be admitted to the Synod Perhaps he may find some few Puritan tantum non in Episcopatu Bishops that are for doctrine Orthodox So also many Doctors and Divines that are Orthodox these must have noe place in his Synod And why Good reason For how els will he reconcile Romes night and our English twilight together in one League if the meridian light come betwene Or how shall Romes cold and livelesse religion have fellowship with ouâ— Lukewarme Neuters and moderate men if true Christian zeale come betwene and make an interruption Away therefore with Puritans and Calvinists out of their Synod Who then Onely peaceable and indifferent men as Ely Chichester and all other well affected to Rome and above all the Arch-Prelates as to whose definitive sentence all other Divines must vaile Bonnet captivate their judgements and therein rest themselues For these or one of them with his mighty traine is able to sweepe downe the third part of the starres of heauen But this by the way for Franciscus And to this agreeth the common cry among the Factionists and Factors for Rome that wee and they differ not in Fundamentalls Yea a great Prelate in the High Commission Court said openly at the Censure of Dr. Bastwick That wee and the Church of Rome differ not in FundameÌ„talibus but onely circa Fundamentalia Though the distinction bee absurd it being all one according to the Apostle to erre in fide circa fidem For circa fidem concerning or about faith men may make ship-wracke Yet this hee spake in defence of a little Pamphlet of one Chowne which he dedicated to his Lordship wherein hee affirmeth That the Church of Rome and wee differ not in Fundamentalibus and that the Church is one over the World whereby he would conclude our Church to be one the same with that of Rome And to this purpose is that of Dr. White in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Lords Grace of Canterbury before his discourse of the Sabbath in these words But from this which is delivered I shall intreaâ—e your Grace and all other impartiall and intelligent Readers to consider the vncharitable construction of Romish adversaries who from the rising up of some Schismaticall Spirits amongst us conclude that the maine body of our Church is Schismaticall And pag. 5. ibid. Now Schismaticall heere must needs be in relation to the Church of Rome as from which Romish adversaries object wee are Schismaticall which Dr. White cleareth and calls it an vncharitable construction of Romish adversaries So as heere is a change of our very Church and a bringing of us back to a reconciliation union with the Church of Rome as from which wee have made no such Schisme as they uncharitably charge us withall And thus will come in an universall change in all our Doctrines As in the Commencement at Cambridge not long agoe was openly maintained justification by Workes And Shelfords booke will proove justification by Charity And that the Pope is not Antichrist contrary to the resolved Doctrines of our Church in our Homilies and elsewhere As Homily against wilfull rebellion part 6. The Pope is the Babilonicall Beast of Rome c. Also the Second part of the Sermon for Whit-sunday The Pope the Devill and all the Kingdome of Antichrist And in a Prayer for private Families in the Communion-Booke by publike authority Confound Satan and Antichrist c. And Shelfords Second Treatise is to beate downe true Preaching and Pulpits for hee saith hee cannot finde a Pulpit in all the Scripture How Did the old Priest never read the 8. of Nehemiah appointed to bee read for the 27. of May wherein hee might find both a Pulpit vers 4. and Preaching vers 8 I omit many more passages in that Authour of the like nature all contrary to the expresse Doctrines of our Church according to the Scriptures And yet this Booke was licenced by the Vicechancellor of Cambridge that then was Dr. Beale and published at the very Commencement whereat my selfe then was that so it might poysonall England Adde wee hereunto another Booke intitled the Female glory By Anthony Stafford printed by authority 1635. Wherein hee mightily deifies the Virgin Mary calling her The grand white immaculate Abbesse of the Snowie Nunneries of those votaries to whom hee speakes before whom hee would have them to kneele presenting the All-saving babe in her armes with due veneration Loe heere a change of our God into a Goddesse And there hee commends the Sacred Arethmitick in praying on their beades And pag. 153. hee commends Candlem as day for the Lights burning and Masse-singing taken from the Heathen guise and converted into Christian. And That which was performed
precedent and proofe And for this very cause were there no more Preaching was never more necessary in this City than at this time which doth so swarme with multitudes of poore who without some present competent reliefe must needs perish so would heape upon this City yet greater Sins which is ready to sinck under the heavie burthens both of Sins and Plagues I might note againe as an 8. reason that great extraordinary increase the very first weeke of the Fast together with most hideous stormes fearfull and foule weather immoderate raine ever since it began God testifying by his reviving and renewing of the Plague by the sad and black countenance of the skies and those many great losses both by Sea Land that he abhorres such a Fast as of which his very judgemēts Speak Call you this a Fast Yea also a 9. reason because according to the Prelates practise this Fast is made a meere mock Fast wherein God is mocked to the face For doe the Prelates propose this as the principall end of their Fast to breake off their violent and tyrannicall proceedings against Gods Ministers and so against the State of Religion I feare it And so long let us never look for any good issue of this Fast but rather further judgements to be powred upon the Land For these reasons I say I could wish with all my heart to be an humble Petitioner to the King who I am perswaded would speedily hearken to such a request and would certainly answere that it was never his mynd that Preaching should be in this Fast prohibited The king prohibit Preaching Noe noe we all see who they be that prohibit Preaching even those that labour tooth and nayle to Suppresse Preaching and lay snares to intrap all painfull Preachers as the pressing of the booke for Sports for instance they being not content that the booke be read by the Curate but the Incumbent himselfe must read it or els abide extremity as Suspension from his Ministry Excommunicatiō out of the Church Sequestration from his living and Ecclesiasticall meanes the great crying Sinne of this Land at this day But I will add no more So as the Ninivites shall rise in judgement against this generation for they upon occasion of Ionas preaching proclaimed a Fast and reformed their lives and their violent dealing but these men under pretence of a Fast as Iezebel did to devoure Naboths vinyard would devoure Christs Vinyard while they Suppresse the Preaching of the Word whereby men should be convinced of their Sinnes and converted from them and bring forth good fruits of the Vine and thereby harden their necks against the Lord and strengthen their hands in violence to fill up their sinnes allway The sixt Innovation is about the meanes of the knowledge of God and of the Mistery of our Salvation That may be verified of many Prelates in these dayes which Christ charged the Pharisees with all Woe be unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for yee shut vp the Kingdome of heaven against men for yee neither goe in your selues neither suffer yee them that were entring to goe in Matth. 23. 13. Which in Luke 11. 52. is expressed thus Ye take away the Key of Knowledge And doe not our Prelates thus when they hush and silence all Lectures in whole Diocesse When they suppresse and cut short Preaching all they can When they lay snares to muzzle Gods Ministers that they may not Preach When they disgrace and traduce Preaching calling it in scorne Sermonizing When they forbid Ministers to use any prayer before their Sermons but that bare and barren forme of words in the Canon wrapping all up in the Lords Prayer When they must use no Prayer at all after the Sermon but come downe and read a second or third Service at the Altar where in great Churches halfe the people cannot heare a word When they must not preach at all in the Afternoone upon the Lords dayes When they must onely Catechise for halfe an hower and that not by expounding the Principles of Religion which may well be called the Key of Knowledge which they take away but onely by the bare questions answeres in the booke teach the children like Parats so as they can never come to give a reason of their fayth with understanding When in a great City or in the Vniversities they limit all Sermons to one hower so as the heares cannot injoy the benefit of more then one Sermon a day Yea what devises have they not put in practise to put the light of Gods word vnder a bushell if not rather altogether to quench it if it were in their power What invectives are in Shelfords ad Treatise against Preaching and the peoples knowledge How doth he find fault with the Peoples desire of Sermons And pag. 47. he Sayth Our Soli Sermonists and Solifidians so they may have a Sermon or two on the Lords dayes c. And pag. 91. he allowes of Preaching with a restriction and limitation as being not fit for every Minister but for extraordinary excellent men called by God and the Church to reforme Errours abuses or to promulge to the world new Lawes Canons And againe least this should be too great a burthen to these his extraordinary men he qualifies the matter by restraining their preaching to certaine extraordinary times in the yeare pag. 94. as Easter Whit-Suntide Christmas day and to extraordinary places too as Cathedralls and for this cause pag. 93. he would have many Ministers vnfurnished of their licences especially those that preach twice every Lords day and those that are permitted to preach to be restrained to certaine times and seasons as once a Moneth at most And he gives the reason of all because the Church is now settled and therefore doth not need preaching as once it did in its infancy So he Thus they labour tooth and nayle to cry downe Preaching For saith he p. 94. Reading is the ordinary preaching ordained by God himselfe And this is that maine marke which they al shoot at to mould up all in the Lumpe of the Communion Booke and make that the Summe and Scope the very Circle of al Religion Knowledge The Seventh innovation is in the rule of faith for whereas the sole and complete rule of faith is the Holy Scripture as 2. Tim. 3. Our new Doctors cry up the dictates of the Church to wit of the Prelates to be our only guides in Divinity as in Reeves Cōmunion booke Catechisme expounded pag. 20. and 206. where all Ministers must submit to the judgement of the Prelates in all matters pertaining to religion and all Prelates must submit to the Arch-Prelate as having a Papal infalibility of spirit whereby as by a Divine Oracle all questions in Religion are finally determined And here I cannot forget a speech of the chiefest Prelate of England in the High Commission who at the censure of Doctor Bastwicke for oppugning the