Church-Government X A R T v" ^ cvJAaA \ aI A RELATION OF THE 'eformation, AND The lawfulnefs thereof examined by the Theses deliver d inthe Four former Parts. Printed at/O XFORD, 1687, 8 69 3 A i X .J ":, . . J .... , Q I of this Reformation. . I. CHAP. II. {5 7Vw Heads of this Difcourfe. [2 I. i^ // nor, in England, Henry' 'the Eighth, than Henry the Seventh ^ -Nor canany^erfon^ in maintaining the, C fourth's forefai^ Rights, be any more now a lifloydl Subjefi to his Prince in thefe, than he would have been inthofe y days.^ 'iiliit ( bz ) COR- - CORRIGENDA P. Jg* 2. lint 38. of Christians, p 3 /. 16. to Hea* then. p. 6* /. 15. 1. 1. 19. c. }. 8. /. 1. pag. 236. P- 35- { 37' Pag- S3* P- 3?- A I0 %; fc 4 1 * *& from denying, p. $3. /. aw pag. 34. />. 5(5, 7. 17. AdarU, p. 106. I. j. 340. />. l8o. / 18. Edward, the. />. 184. /. 5. . 194. p. 210. /.8. ,204. pmij /. 10. . 197. p. 215. /. 37. thatthono* 7.226./, 22, their words. . ( ) O F Church Government Part V. Concerning the Engltjh REFORMATION. CHAP. L Eight Proportion* , whereby the Uwftdmfs of thii Reformation U to h tryed. TO finifh thefe Difcourfes of Church Govern- $. r. ment , there remain yet behind fome Con- EigbtHiefts fiderations concerning the lawfulnefs and re- ? JT p0 { ed j 9 gularity of the Reformations made here in England, tty e t l e J aw . in the days of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, and p/ nf p of Queen Elizabeth, according to the Principles already ibis Rcf* eftablifhed. Of which Reformations that you may make matioa, the more exact judgment } 'tis fit to remind you, firft of thefe few Propofitions , which have been cleared , or A do J. 2 Concerning the Engtifb Reformation, do neceffarily follow from what hath been cleared in the former Difcourfes. And they are thefe $ S- 1. Thef. r. The Firfi, That, amongft other offices and authorities which the Clergy, Chrift's fubffcitutes, (by Clergy I mean the lawful Church- Authority) have received from him, as God's High-Prieft and Prophet, thefe are two prin- cipal ones. Firfi f "The power to determine Controver- sies in pure matters of Religion, and to judge and de- cide, ("where doubts arife) what is Gods Word and di- vine Truth j what are errors, in the Faith, or in the practice and performance f Gods Worfhip and Service (which errors in Practice always pre-fuppole fome' error in matter of Faith.) And Secondly ,.The power, to pro- mulgate, teach, preach, and make-known fuch matters, when decided by them, to Gods people, who are, for doctrine in Spiritual things, committed to their charge ; and to require their obedience and fubmiffion thereto , with power to execute the Ecclefiaftical Cenfures (which have reference to things not of this, but of the next, world) upon all fuch, asdifobey their Authority: elf as to the knowing of Spiritual Truths, a Subject, and Concerning the English Reformation. * and a Scholar of the Church j and becaufc he (6 earneft- ly claimeth a Supreme Power, and profefleth an Obli- gation from God over all perfons, in all Spiritual mat- ters, to bind them, upon Temporal punimments, to the obedience of the Church's (or Clergy's) Determi- nations and Decrees. But if he meaneth here, only where himfelf firft judgeth fuch their Decrees orthodox and'right, this power is, (in effect,) claimed, to bind all perfons, in all Spiritual matters, only to his own De- crees } whilft he pretends an Obligation both of himfelf and of his Subjects to the Churches. Yet fo it is indeed, that all Princes whatever, even the Heathen, have fuch an Obligation from God: Nor doth any Text of the New Teftament give Chriftian Princes more Authority over the Church, to reftrain any Liberties thereof, thaa it giveth to the Heathen Princes. For all the Texts^ which are urged thence , ordain obedience of Church men to the Pagan Princes that then Reigned, no left, than to others. And all Princes are obliged, with the Sword, which God hath given them, not only not t. perfecute, but to protect and defend, his true Religion and Service in their Dominions, whenfoever it oflereth it felf to them, and claimeth their Subjection and Pro- tection. SeeP/W. 2. 1,2, io, u,i2* Tho t;he Obliga- tion of fome Princes to this may be more than that of others, as he hath had more divine Truth revealed, and hath received more favors from God and his Church. See thefe things more largely handled before, in Suc- e(fion of Clergy ', &c And in Church Government, i Part. . 38. Neither doth that, which is ordinarily urged, viz. .3. That the Acts and Laws of the ancient Councills of the Church de Fatlo had always the Chriftian Emperors con- fent, (^tho indeed they always had not : not the Anti- arian Councills in Conftantins his time, and yet they were obliging in the eftablifhing the Nicene Decrees,) prove, that they were not of force without fuch confent : nor doth the Councills intreating the Emperors confent, when Chriftian, prove*, they did this, to legitimate the A a making Concerning the Engtifh Reformation. making or enjoyning of fuch laws (for fuch laws they had formerly both made, and impofed, when Emperors were their enemies ) but to ftrengthen the obfervance of them. Indeed the Prince , who beareth the Secular Swords his giving to the Ministers of Chrift his li- cence, to exercife their office, and their ecclefiaftical cenfures in his dominions, or in any part or province thereof, as, it implies the prohibiting of his officers or fiibjefts any way to difturb them, is to great pur- pofe, and therefore much to be defiled - 7 But it fheweth not, that it is in his juft power to deny them fuch li- cence. (I mean in general ; for I meddle not here with the Princes denying fome of them to do thefe things, whilffche admits others )\ or that his officers or fub- jects, without it, may lawfully difturb them in any part of their Spiritual Function. Touching thefe things this is the concefuon of Biftiop Andrews (Tort. Tort* p. %c6) foteftatit mere Sacerdotalts fimt Liturgi*, Condones i. e, doctndi muntu, & dubia legis explicandiy as he faith, ibid, p. 380] slaves ("to which he adds Cenfttra p. 380] Sa- tramenta {_& omnia , qu between Prince and Clergy, 'in Church matters] as that to particular perfons it ' cannot be clear, who is in the right % it will be re- ' quifite (faith he) for Chriftians, in a doubtful cafe, at < their utmoft perils, to adhere to the Guides of the ' Church againft their lawful Sovereigns, tho to no other 'efFeft, thanto/#*. e, as he faith before! to fuperadd a 'temporal Penalty upon contumacy, or fome other way * abett the cenfures of the Church. P. 243. he faith , ' That in thofe cafes, in which by the law of Chrift Bi- ' Ihops may, or in which they muft, ufe Excommunica- ' tion, no power can forbid them. For what power ' Chrift hath given them, no man can take away. And ' p. 244. That the Church may inflict her cenfures upon ' her delinquent children without asking leave*, that Chrift 'is Concerning tie Englifl? Reformation. & * is her nd here note, that what is faid of -other Clergy, may be faid likewifeof the Patri- arch, for any authority in fuch Princes Dominions which fe ftands pofleiled of by fuch Ecclefiaftical Canons , as cannot juftly be pretended to do any wrong to the civil Government. Touching which matter fee Church Gov, i, Par. . 38. &c.~} 4 j, Firft : The Prince cannot eject them. 1, Neither 1. without giving any caufe thereof} becaufe they hold not thefe their Offices from the Prince \ much lefsfrom him, OnJy during pleafure - but they receive them by So- lemn Ordination from their Predecdlbrs in thisMiniftery, the Ssbftitutes of the Lord Chriit; even this Offics among Concerning the English Reformation, r? among the reft, to overfee, inftru but before two or three Witmfjes. Now *4 2. Concerning the Englffi Reformation* 1 [Now he (faith the fame Author pag. 42.) that is ap- 1 pointed to hear Accufations, and to receive the tefti- ' monies of witnefles, is feated in a place of judgment * with Jurifdiction/] (See more of this in Snccef Clergy. 4.) and this they did, when the Temporal Gover- nors of thofe places licenced them not, yea perfecuted them. So Atbanafttu y ejected by Gonftamitu his.Emperor from the charge which the Church had committed to him of Alexandria^ and Paulw from ConftantinopU, were neverthelefs accounted ftill the true Bifhops of thofe Sees. Princes indeed may deprive the Clergy at pleafure or according as Covenants made, of what they bellow on them, Houfes, Lands, Priviledges, Jurifdictions, Lord- fliips Temporal ; but the Offices abovenamed they be- llow not. 2. Again, as. Princes may not depofethem, at pleafure \ fo neither, for any caule, which concerns things Spiritual, without the Clergy's confent. For it is neceflary, that a Judge, to be a competent one, have as well pot eft at em in canfam^ as in personam : and the Prince fas hath been mentioned in the firft ThefisJ hath no authority to judge fuch caufes meerly Spiritual. To this may be added j that neither Heathen nor Heretical Prince can juftly prohibit totally all that Clergy, whom the Church declares Orthodox, from entring into, or from preaching and otherwife officiating in Divine mat- ters within his Dominions. And if he put fuch to death fordifobeying this his Command, when as it is contrary to Gods, andChrifts, whofendeth them to all Nations, in effect he puts them to death for obeying Gods Com- mand, and they dye Martyrs. As alfo the Primitive Martyrs were put to death for not obeying the Emperors Laws concerning matters of their Religion. Second : As the Prince cannot thus eject or depofe ' Clergy ; fo neither can he introduce any into the place of thofe who are ejected or deceafed, without the con- currence of the Clergy. For fuch perfon mufl: be or- dained by the Clergy, before he can officiate } and mnfl have the confents or approbation of his Spiritual Supe- riors ., a Biihop of his Metropolitan j a Metropolitan, of Concerning the Engl/Jh Reformatio ft. t e of his Patriarch , and alfo of the major part of the Clergy of the Province which he belongs to / mean Clergy Epifcopal~} before he can be rightly ordained. See Cone. Nic. can. 4. and 6. And Cone. Nic. z. can. 3. Can m slpoft. 3 1. Cone. Gen. 8. nni can. 10. 12. 22. Cone. Lao die, can. 1 3 With the Conceflions of Dr. Field of the Church, p. 581, and p. 551. And of Bifhop Bramhal Vindic. p. 257. and others quoted in Char. Gov. 1 part. . p. And of Mafn de Mm ft* Jngl. 4. 1. 6. c. And of Mr. Thorn* dike Right of the Church, 5 c. p. 248, &c. Which Canons were purpofely made to exclude for ever out of the Clergy thofe, who are, in the common judgment of that Clergy, corrupt in manners, or factious in opini- ons. Tho Princes therefore, for the greater fecurity of their civil Government, and for- the recompence of the great Obligations which the Church hath to their Libe- rality and to their Secular power, may nominate and recommend a perfon to the Clergies Election ^ yet if theypropofe not any whom the Clergy thinks fit and ca- nonical j the Clergy may refufe fuch prefentment - and, in cafe of no new prefentation of a perfon worthy, may elect fome other to teach, officiate, &c, in any part of their Dominions : whom fuch Princes ought not to re- fufe, if he be no way prejudicial to the good of their civil Eftate. For the Prince can neither prohibite to Chrifti- ans, tho his Subjects, all Pallors ^ nor yet all fuch Pallors, as the Governors, whom Chrift hath fet over his people, only think worthy. See Mr. Thomdike, Right of the Chnr. 5 . c. And indeed all this is but neceilary for the propo- gating, of the Gofpel againft Infidelity, where the Prince is Heathen j and of the truth oftheGofpel, againft He- refy, where the Prince is, or at leaft may be, a Sectarifr, amongft all Nations without depending on any ones leave , and for the preferving of the Church uniform, entire, and incorrupt, in her Doctrine and Difcipline. "For if Temporal Governors could at their pleafure, or, as they thought meet, place and difplnce the Clergv, tho they cannot Irate all Divine matters by themfelves, yet may they make the Church's Synods ("which is ill one) to j ^ Concerning the Unglijh Reformation. to Hate them according to their minds, either by intro- ducing forae de novo who are for them ; (as Princes can never want thofe who conform to, or at Ieaft comply with, their judgment ; ) or by removing fome who op- * pofe them -, and fo making, the formerly le'fler, then, a major part in fuch AfTemblies. Thus Conftantim an A- rian, by unjuflly difplacing the Bifhops procured Arian- ifrae to be voted in feveral Eaftern Synods. U t. Meanwhile, let it here be granted } that, cm conceditttr regnum, rieceffario omnia, censentur concejfa, fine quihtu reg* num gubernari non potefi j and therefore that the civil power may )udge and ejett, and difauthorize Spiritual perfons for matters of Secular Judicature, as Treafon, and other moral and civil mifdemeanors damageable to the Common- wealth ; and fuch I fuppofe was the cafe of Abiathar. And if upon this it mould at any time hap- pen ; that the thus ejeded be numerous , and the new ones introduced by any connivance of the reft of the Clergy and by the importunities and threats of the Prince, fliould be alfo heterodox and factious ^ and by this means the prevailing part of a Provincial, or Na- tional, Church, corrupt j yet whilft Chrift hath pro- mifed to preferve the main body of his Church from fuch . corruption, we have fome remedy from the General, for the delinquencies of fuch a national Church : in that their Decrees are fub jetted to the Decrees of fuperior Coun-. eels, nor may theie decide any thing againfb thofe j the nextThefisj which in fuch cafe we muft repair to. $,$, Tbef.4. The Fourth Thefts : That * Provincial or National Synod may not lawfully make any definitions , in matters of Faith , or in reforming fome Error or Herefy , or other abuje in Gods Service , contrary to the Decrees of for- mer \uperiour Synods } or contrary to the judgment of the Church Vniverfal of the prefect age fheveed in her publicly Liturgies \ which judgment is equivalent to that of a General Council of the fame age. See this Propo^ fition amply proved in 2. Part. .27. and 44. and $1. &c. and in many ether places of the precedent Dif- courfes. x The Concerning the Englijh Reformation. t 7 The Fifth Tbefis : That, could a National Synod make .-o.7fc/.y; inch definitions, yet that a Synod warning part of the National Clergy , unjufily depofed or reftrained :, W confifling partly of perfons unjujhly introduced, partly */ thofe vsht have been firft threatned , with fines, im- prifonment, deprivation, in cafe of their non-conformity to the Prince's Injunctions in matters meerly Spiritual :, U not to be accounted a lawful National Synod , nor the Acts thereof free and valid \ efpecklly as to their eftabliftiingfuch Regal Injunctions. The Sixth Tljefis; That the judgment or confent of e fame Clergy-men or Bifhops of a Province, whether jbcfi'eiho' fitting by themfelves, or joyned with fomeof the Laity cannot be called the judgment and confent of the Clergy, or Church of that Province ( tho the Metropolitan be one of them) when thefe are only fome finallerpart of fuch Clergy. See Can. JpoB. 35. Cone. Antioch. 9. c. Neither, fince the Clergy is in its felfafubordinateand united body, can the Prince, when following the di- rections of fome few Clergy, whom he knows or fears to differ in their judgment from the main body thereof, be faid to be guided by his Clergy, but to go againft it. For if fome fmallcr part of the Clergy joyned with the Prince could by this outweigh the reft, what opinion can the Prince entertain fo extravagant, wherein he can- not draw fome Church-men to his fide ? Much lefs may an Act of Parliament be urged for an x Ilo - n .s. Act of the Clergy, becaufe the Lords Spiritual fit there- in \ or becaufe it commonly runs thus : \Be it Enabled by the Kings moil Excellent Majefly , and by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal^ unlefs it be firft fhewed, that the major part of the Bilhops of the Nation gave their confents therein. For fince, herein, the Clergy do vote together with the Laity, and fince it is enough, if the major part of the Parliament vote any thing, to pro- mulgate it as an Act of all the Members'thereof, and to ufe the form above-named*, fo long as the others Mem- bers have no Negative voice to what is palled by this major part :, It would hence follow, that it were an A& C nor the Na- tional Synod can fhew fome way more prejudicial to their particular Church , than the fame Conftitutions are to the reft of Ghriftian Churches See this Thefts proved in Chur. Gov. 2. Part. . 63: And 3. Part. 0. 1 3, n. 3. And .27. n. 2. . 1 j, Thefe Thefes being fet down whereby to judge of the Regularity of a Reformation \ let us now view the car* riage thereof here in England in the time of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, and Queen Elizabeth j and how far it hath deviated from them. Touching which Reformation, I would defire you to read together with sbefe E?.y Obfexvations what is related in defence there- of Concerning the Englifh Reformat idH. t$ of by, Dr. Hammond, Schifm, 7. c. Dr. Fern in Con- siderations touching the Reformed Church, 2. and 9. Chap. And Dr. Hey litis Treatife called the Reformation of the Church of England Juftifed 5 left I may have related fome things partially, or omitted fome things confiderable, in this matter. And here, confining my Difcourfe to Three Heads, $, , % after another manner, than his Predeceflbrs had exer- cifed it formerly: and, how far only at firft thev feeni to have allowed it. 1 fry after another manner than his Predecejfors had egercifed it formerly. Becaufe fome Su- premacy, namely this ; of aflembling a Synod of the Clergy, upon Temporal punifhments in cafe of Dlfobe- dience, by their V/rits (the ancient form of which fee in Dr. Heylin, p. 4 ) when any urgent occafions required : as likewife of enjoyning to all their Subjects, as well Clergy, as others, upon Temporal Penalties, the obfer- vance of the Decrees and Conftitutions of fuch Synods, or of any other former lawful Councils ( fuch as the Clergy fhall acknowledge to have been the Decrees there- of) thefe Supremacies (I fay) the Princes of this Land before Henry the Eighth, had and exercifed :, neither was any fuch Supremacy ufurped , or interrupted , by the Pope. Neither do the Roman Doctors deny fuch. an external coactive Jurifdiction of Princes in Spiritual Affairs; 1. as to bind their Clergy, upon Temporal 1, Mulcts , to meet together in Council , when the fame Princes fhall think it neceflary , theEccleiiafticks being their Subjects, as well as Chrifts Clergy, and on this account bound to obey them, as well as their Spiritual Governors on the other - 7 and there being often good caufe of their aflembling in order to the peace and wel- fare of the civil State committed to the Princes care, becaufe this dependeth much on the right Government of the Church committed to theirs. Provided only , that thefe AfTemblies be fo timed and difpofed by the G 2 Prince, 20 Concerning the Englijh Reformation. Prince,as that the authority which our Saviour hath com- mitted to the Church concerning the affembling of the fame perfons be no way difturbed thereby. For doubt- lefs, when both at the fame time cannot be done, their Service to the Church is to be preferred before that to 2. the State. 2. as to bind their Subjects, upon External and Temporal "Mulcts and Punifhments, to obferve the: Laws and Determinations of the Church. But, Firft that the Governors of the Church have alfo power , upon Ecclefiaftical. Cenfures, to afTemble a Synod of Clergy, when there feeras need, tho the Prince oppofe it, this indeed thole Doctors affirm. And fecondly whether, in cafe that a Prince ufe his coactive Jurifdiction in Spiri- tual matters againft the Definitions of .the Church, then the Pope hath not alfo virtuallyfome Temporal coactive po,\ er againft the Prince, namely j to diflblve the Prince's coactive power, or to authorize others to ufe a coactive power againft fuch a Prince, in order to the good of the. Church, this they bring in queftion-. But then, as this Iaft is affirmed by fome of the Roman Doctors , fo 2 t it is oppofed by others of them.] 2. We will confider what manner of Supremacy was afterward by little and little either challenged by the Prince *, or by the Clergy 3, er Parliament given unto him , m hU right. 3. And Thirdly how, according to this their conceived rights thofe Three Princes affed, CHAP. Concerning the Englifh Reformation, $,% CHAP. II. The Inducement of the Englijb Clergy to acknow* ledge a Regal Supremacy in Spirituals. I. Head. FO R the Firft. Henry the Eighth, whether becaufe '.' i 7 . fcrupulous in Confcience, occafioned by his Daugh- How t)e ter Maryh being offered in Marriage firft to the Emperor E H ltC ^ trm Charles the Fifth, and then to Francis King of France ; %$Za' l i (which thing neither Dr. Heylin , Dr. Hammond, nor Dr. Fern, have fufficiently weighed in their Re- lations of the Englifh Reformation ) to have humbly befought the Kings Highnefs, that the Conftitutions and Canons Provincial or Synodal which be thought to be pre- judicial to the Kings Prerogative Royal, or repugnant * to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm, or to be other- 'wife overmuch onerous to his Highnefs and his Sub- jects, may be committed to the judgment of hisHigh- c nefsand of Thirty Two Perfons, Sixteen of the Tem- * poralty, and Sixteen of the Clergy of the Realm, to 'be chofen and appointed by the Kings Majefty:, and c that fuch Canons as (hall be thought by the more -part of them "Worthy to be annulled, fit all be made of no value ; and fuch other of the C amm m [hall be approved to fiand with the Laws of God &C, Jhall sland in power. Conftitutions and Qanons Provincial and Synodal : not only fuch as were the fole Conftitutions and Canons of the Synods of this Nation, which the like Synods may lawfully correct*, but fuch as were alfo the Canons of fuperior Synods, which the Synods of this Nation could not lawfully annul so Concerning the Englijh Reformation. annul. This appears , both by the practice of their abrogating and reforming of feveraj Canons , that were fuch j (nay I think fuch were all that were re- formed : ) and aJfo by the Tenent, (See below . 28. Statute 25. Hen. 8. 21. c.) that all the Conftitu- tions made only by mans authority are by the King, being fupream in his Dominions, as he thinks fit, muta- Me. To fiand with the Laws of God: therefore any Ca- non, tho it were not againft the Kings Prerogative or X,aw of the Realm, yet if thought by thef Judges not to ftand with the Laws of God , might be annulled. Shall be thought by the more fart of them. Therefore an Ad of the Laity in thefe Spiritual matters, if obtaining the confent only of one Clergy-man , tho all the reft oppofe, nay if obtaining the confent of the King, tho all the Clergy-Commiflioners oppofe, ftands good, as being an Act of the major part. .. a? , In this Acft of the Clergy, if itbefnppofedaSynodi- cal requeft of the whole Clergy, and not only of fomc perfons thereof more addicted to the Kings Inclinations ; and if Canons and Conftitut ions here be not reftrained ;on]y to thofe that feem fome way to intrench upon the rights of Civil Power, or to fome Ecclefiaftical exter- nal Rites and Ceremonies : I fee not, but that the Clergy here gives away to the King and to the Laity, at lealt if affifted with one or two, or indeed without any, Clergy, their Synodical power to conclude and deter- mine matters of Faith, and to order the Government of the Church as they fhall think bell -, fince all the for- mer Canons ard Conftitutions Synodal are not about matters of External Rite and Ceremony ^ but fome , doubtlefs, concerning matters of Faith, and fuch Chrifti- an Practices, and Ecclefiaftical Government and Difcl- pline, as are prefcribed in the Holy Scriptures, and ne- ceflarily involve Faith \ of all which Canons the 32 are now made Judges, what ftands with Gcds Law, or what is contrary thereto : and the Reformatio legum Eccle- fafiicarum, drawn up partly in Henry the Eighths, partly in Edward the S'ath's time, by fuch Commiffioners (Re- printed Concerning the Engtijh Reformation. *f printed 1640^ is found to meddle not only with Ca- nons repugnant to Civil Government, or with Rites and Ceremonies ^ but with matters of, the Divine Offices,' ami Sacraments, Herefies, &c, as appears in the very Ti- tles of that Book. Now fuch Act of the Clergy mult' needs be moffc unjuit and unlawful, if the Firlt, or Se- cond, or Seventh Thefis above- recited Itand good But, whatever fenfe thefe words in the Preface of $. 16. the Act were, or may be, extended to, I do not think, that the Clergy at firft intended any fuch thing, as to make, the King or his Coramiflioners Judges of matters - of Faith or Divine Truths By which authority Princes- might (as they alfo did) change Religion in this King-' dome at their pleafure ; but imagined, that, as they obliged themfelves to do nothing without the Kings confent, fo neither, in thefe matters efpecially, Ihould the King do any thing without theirs : as may be ga- thered j Firft, by the Promife they obtained from the' I; King at their giving him the Title of Supream recited before* Secondly, by the Declaration of the Bifhops : 2 . againft the Pope, wherein they alledge againft him the $. Fox.p. Third Canon of the Second General Council Enacting, ut 971. com rover fix, ab Epifcepis Provinciarum, ttbi orthich Jurifdiction how far it is under* ftood to be extended , fee 1. Eliz. 1. c. where it is Enacted 3 that fuch Jurifdictions , Priviledges , and * Preheminencies Spiritual and Ecclefiaftical, as by any * Spiritual or Ecclefiaftical Power hath heretofore been 'or may lawfully be exercifed or ufed for the Vifitation 1 of Ecclefiaftical State and Perfons, and for Reformation * of all manner of Errors, Herefies, Schifms, &c, fhall for 'ever by authority of this prefent Parliament be united 4 and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm. And further fee the Act 37. Hen, 8. 17. which runs thus. * Whereas your moft Royal Majefty is juflly Stream 1 Head in Earth of the Churckvf England, and hath full au s thority to correct and punifli all mannner of Herefies, 1 Errors, Vices, and to exercife all other manner of Ju- * rifditftions commonly called EcclefiaHicd Jurifdiflion : 1 Neverthelefs the Bilhop of Rome and his Adherents have Concerning the Englifi Reformation. je have in their Councils and Synods Provincial eftabfi(h- *- ed divers Ordinances, that no Lay-man might exer- * cife any Jurifdiction Ecclefiaftical, or be any Judge ^inany Ecclefiaftical Courts which Ordinances or Con- 'ftitutions, ftanding in their effect, "did found to be 1 directly repugnant to your Majefties being Supream 'Head of the Church , and Prerogative Royal, your c Grace being a Lay- man. And whereas, albeit the * faid Decrees by a Statute 25. Hen. 8 be utterly abolifh- fc ed j yet, becaufe the contrary thereunto is not ufed 1 by the Arch- Rifhops, Bifhops, &c fwho have no man- ner of Jurifdiction Ecclefiaftical, but by, under, and ' from, your Royal Majefty) it giveth occafion to evil ' difpofed perfons little to regard and to think the pro- c ceedings and cenfures Ecclefiaftical made by your High- c nefs and your Vice-gerent, CornmijTaries, &c , to be 8 of little or none effect, whereby the people have not 1 fuch Reverence to your molt Godly Injunctions , as 'becomcth them^ In confideration , that your Majefty * is the only and undoubted Supream Head <^c, to whom * by Holy Scripture all power and authority is wholly 1 given , to hear and determine all manner of Caufes Ecclefiaftical, and to correct vice&c: May it there- 4 fore be Enacted, that all perfons as well Lay, as thofe c that are Married , being Doctors of the Civil Law, c who fhall be deputed to be any ChanceIIor,Commiflary, * &c^ may lawfully exercife all manner of jurifdiction ' commonly called Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction , any Con- c ftitution to the contrary notwithftanding. And fee Reformatio Legum Ecclefiafticarum tit* de Officio & Jwifd. omnium Judicum, Rex tarn in Epifcopos^ Clericos 7 &c, cjuam in Laicos^ pleniffimam jurifdiElionem tarn civilem, qttam Ecclefiafticam exercere potefl^ cum omnvs Jurifditlio & Ecclefiaftica & Sacularis ab eo tanquam ex uno & eodem fonte derivantur* Amongft which Jurifdictions I underftand alfo Ex- $ *? communication, Sufpenfion, and Deprivation ab officio ^ of which fee more below p. . 40. Not that I affirm the King did ever claim the right of exercifing, (himfelf,) E 2 this 3 6 Concerning tie Englijb Reformation* this power of the Keyset that he claimed this rightfwhicfr is contrary to the Firft Thefii) that no Clergy-man be- ing a Member of the Church of England mould exercife it in his Dominions in any Caufe, or on any Perfon, without the leave and appointment of him the Supream Head of this Church ; nor any forbear to exercife, where he the He#d commanded it : As, before the Reforma- tion, the inferiour Clergy might not exercife any Church Cenfure contrary to the commands of their law- ful Spiritual Superiors^ which Jurifdiftion of their for- mer Spiritual Superiors was now enftated on the King. On the King. Not as one fuhordinate to the Ecclefiaftical jurifdiftion herein : For fb a Lay-perfon in for 9 txteriori or contentiofoy as 'tis called (which Court the Church ufed before any Prince was Chriftian) may excommu- nicate fometimes, tho not ligare or folvere in foro inte~ viori or poenittntiali (yet for the exteriour alio, fee what Provision is made againfl this in 16. Caroli 1. Can. 13.^ But as one by God primarily inverted with the difpofal thereof ^ from whom the Ecclefiaftical Governors with- in his Dominions derive this authority, as you havefeen in the Preface of this Aft. $ 8, Again in vertue of this Jurildidion tranflated to the King, by another Aft of Parliament 25. Hen. %. 2.1. c. the Supreme Power of giving all manner of Licences, Dif- penfations , Faculties, Grants, ^-c, for all Laws and Confutations meerly Ecclefiaftical , and in all Caufes not being contrary to the Scriptures and Laws of God, is not only taken from the- Pope, but from the Clergy too, and is committed to the Secular Power, contrary to the Eighth Thefts. [The Statute faith thus. ' That, where- * as it ffondeth with Natural Equity and good Reafon, 1 that in all humane Laws, in all Caufes which are called * Spiritual induced into this Realm , your Royal Ma- *jefty, and your Lords Spiritual and Temporal and 4 Commons in Parliament [where yon fee the Parliaments Supremacy , as to admitting or abrogating Ecclefiaftical ConjlitHtionSf joyncd with the Kings^ have full power. -aacl authority, not only to difpenfe, but alfo to autho- rize Concerning the Englijh Reformation. |U * rize fome elect perfons to difpenfe with thofe and all ' other humane Laws of this your Realm, as the quality of * the perfons and matter mall require : as alfo the faid 'Laws to abrogate, admit, amplify, or diminifh. Be 'it therefore Ena&ed , That from henceforth every 1 fuch Licence, Difpenfation, &c f that in cafes of ne- 'ceffity may lawfully be granted without offending the c Holy Scripture and Laws of God, neceflary for your c Highnefs,. or for your Subjects , fliall be granted in. * manner following: that is to fay: the Arch-Bifiop of Canterbury /hall have Power to grant them to your Majefty^ ' &e. And if the forefaid Arch-Bifhop mall refine or * deny to grant any Licences , Difpenfations , &c \ 'that then upon Examination had, in your Court of Chan- cery, that fuch Licences may be granted without offending againflthe Scriptures^ your Highnefs mall command the * Arch-Bifhop to grant them &c under fuch Penalties 1 as fhali be expreffed in fuch Writ of Injunction. And 'it fhall be lawful to your Highnefs, for every fuch de- ' fault of the faid Arch-Bifhop ; to give Power by Com- 'miffion to fuch two Spiritual Prelates, or Perfons to 1 c be named by your Highnefs , as will grant fuch Li- 1 cences and Difpenfations. ] Here the Suprcam Power of difpenfing with Ecclefiaftical Conltitutions is afcribed to the King and Parliament , as recognized Supream Head of the Church-, and the Arch-Bifhop made his Delegate-, and, after the Arch-Bifhop, the King, or his Court of Chancery made the laft judge, what things in fuch Difpenfations offend againit Scripture, what not. By venue of the fame Jurifdiction tranflated to the ,. King by an Aft of Parliament 25. Hen. 8. 20. c. The neceflity of the Metropolitans being confirmed by the Pa~ march is tahen away -^ and the Clergy are bound, toad' mit and confecrate what perfon foever the King fliall prefent to any Bifhoprick upon Penalty of incurring a 'Premunire^ and the Confecration is to be performed by fuch, and fo many, as the King fliall appoint. A thing contrary to the Third Thefts, and the Canons cf former Superior Councils:, and ruining the Church, when- : >j>'< : |- 3$ Conctrning the Engtijh Reformat ion. when the Prince is Heretical. See the Statute. .30. Again; it is Enacted by the Statute above-mentioned 16. Hen. 8. i.e. That the King mould have full power, from time to time, tovifit,reprefs, reform, correct, and amend, all fuch Errors, Herefies, &c, as is fet down but now, .25. $, jx. Again j 25. Hen. 8. 19. c. It is Enacted by the fame authority } That all fuch Canons and Conftitutions Provincial or Synodal which be thought prejudicial &c 9 as I have fet it down before, .23. 4. 24. The like is Enacted 32. Hen. 8. 26. c. viz.. That all fuch Determinations, Decrees , Definitions, and Ordinances, ' as, according to Gods Word, and Chrifts Gofpel mould ' at any time hereafter be fet forth by the faid Arch- * Bifliop and Bifhops and Doctors in Divinity, now ap- pointed, or hereafter to be appointed by his Royal * Majefty ; or elfe by the whole Clergy of England\jithet hy the one, or by the other, therefore is the latter not held neceffary, but the former fufficient with the Confirmation of the Head~\ in and upon the matter of Chrifts Religion 'and the Chriffcian Faith &c by his Majefties advice and ' confirmation under the Great Seal, mall be by all his ' Grace's Subjects fully believed, obeyed, obferved and performed to all purpofes and intents upon the pains 'and penalties therein to be comprifed. f Where note that whereas under the Reformation private men are tyed only to obey and believe the Definitions of Coun- cils, when they are fet forth according to Gods Word; i. e, when private men think them to be fo : Yet here this Liberty was thought fit to be retrained} and private men tyed to believe thefe Definitions, when fet forth as according to Gods word -, i. e, when the fetters forth deem them to be fo. To obey a thing defined accord- ing to Gods Word, and to obey a thing defined as being according to Gods word, are Injunctions very different.] $. 33. Again, whereas the Act 24. Hen. 8. 12. c. fet down before, . 25. ordered appeals in Caufes Spiritual to be finally adjudged by the Arch-Bi(hop of the Province : It is Enacted by Parliament 25. Hen. 8. 19, c. Firft, That Concerning the Englijh Reformation. ?$ 'That no manner of Appeals mail be made out of the 'Realm to the Bifhop of -j f et down, was thought to be a deturning 4 of Religion from its right and ufual courfe. Now to reflect a little upon thefe feveral Ads fore-quoted. J( 1. Whereas it is fa id by Bifhop Bramhal (Schifm Guarded . 3- p. 262. the Title of which Section is, That Henry the Eighth made no new Law. See likewife his Vindic, It p. 86.; 1. 'That thefe Statutes of Henry the Eighth, e were only declarative of old Law, not enactive of new Law, proving it by the authority ofFitz-Herbert, and of 2i the Lord Cohe {Reports, Fifth Part.) And 2 ly (Schifm Guarded, p. 6 1, 62.) * That thefe Statutes do attribute c no Spiritual Jurifdiction to the King at all, fave only 4 an External Regiment by coaftive Power in Ecclefi- T e aftical Caufes mforo contentiofo. [For the Firfi of thefe, if you pleafe to compare the Claufes of the Statutes before rehearfed, with the former Statutes of this Land diligently collected by the Lord Cofe (Reports, Fifth Part) and with thofe alfo mentioned by Bifliop Bramh. Vindic. 4. c. p. 63. &c. You fhall find no men thing, if you take all and all the extent of King Henry % Statutes. You may find Appeals to the Pope (or other Forreign judge,J and Bulls or Excommunications or Legations from him (except that of the Bifhop of Canterbury who was Legatut vatm) to have been prohibited by former Laws } that- is, f w fotne particular 'Cafes, wherein the Prince conceived Himfelf or his Subjects to be injured thereby in his or their Temporal Rights, Profits, Securities , or alfo in fome Ecciefiaftical Inducements obtained formerly from the Pope, (See that Inducement granted to King Edw. the n. %. Concerning the Englijh' Reformation* 41 the Gonfeflbr. Vobis & pofieris^ ve sir is Reg i bus, &c. in Sf elm. Cone, A. 1066. Bifhop BramhaCs Vindic.^, 66.) This appears in that much urged Statute 16. Rich. 2. 5.C quoted in Vindic. p. 80. where, upon pain of a Premunire, all are prohibited to purchafe any Bulls or Sentences of Excommunication from Rome, But this is in certain Cafes only ('fee Vindic. p, 81.) Cafes in- deed Ecclefiaftical ; but fuch as were conceived contrary to the Temporal Rights of the King and his Subje&s ("which, all Ecclefiaftical matters CI hope) neither are, nor are pretended to be) viz.. thefe Cafes, Popes re- fufing the King^s or other Laity s Prefentment of a Perfon to the Benefices of the Church [[that is of fuch a Perfon whofe Orthodoxnefs and Canonicalnefs the Clergy cannot queftion.~| Again ; The Tranflation by the Pope of Englifh Bifhofs out of the Realm without the Kings ajjent, whereby f faith the Statute) the Kings Liege Sages ofhisCoun- 'cilfhould be without his afient, and againft his Will 'carried away and gotten out of his Realm, and the 'Subftance and Treaiure of the Realm fhall be carried 'away, and fo the ftealm deftitute as well of Counci?, ' as of Subftance furely thefe are Temporal Confiderations] ' and fo the Crown of England, which hath been fo free 'at all times that it hath been in no Earthly Subjection, ' but immediately fubjec't to God in all things \jiot abso- lutely as the Bifhop reprefents it V indie, p 80. but in all ' things] touching the Regality of the fame Crown,and to 'none other, fhouldbefubmitted to the Pope, &c. \jhe Regality ; (that is) in thofe Temporal things above named.] In thefe Cafes Bulls, &c, from the Bifhop of Rome were prohibited, as infringing the Civil Rights. And to 'this Statute in fuch cafe (it is faid there) the Lords 'Spiritual gave their confent: But meanwhile making ' Proteftations (faith the Statute) that it is not their ' mind to deny or affirm that the Bifhop of Rome may 'not excommunicate Bifhops, nor that he may make 'Tranflation of Prelates after the Law of Holy Church. And Richard the Second, notwithstanding this AJt, was far from the denying the Popes Supremacy in his Realms F as a 2 Concerning the English Reformation. as to many other refpefts , as appears by his zealous fupporting of Vrhan the Sixth in it. 2. Rich. 2. 7."! Again you may find perhaps Appeals, Bulls, &c, pro* hibited, in general, without the Kings confent firft ob- tained thereto 7 But this not out of an intention of fup- preffing all fuch Appeals, or Ecclefiaftical Laws orCen- fures whatfoever coming from the Pope or other Spiri- tual authority abroad, or out of an intention of deny- ing thefe in feveral Cafes to be rightfully belonging unto them : but only out of an intention to examine them firft, whether any thing were contained in them prejudicial "' to the Temporal and Civil Rights, and Emoluments and Priviledges of the Prince and of his Subjects, that the Mitre might not encroach upon the Crown j both which have their certain limits of Jurifdiction, and may do wrong one to the other. Such authority as this (then) in Church-matters you may find exercifed by for- mer Princes of England 7 or perhaps fome other power ufed by them againft the Church, and defended by the common Lawyers of thofe days, more than is juftifiable*. But, on the other fide, I think you will not find either afTumed by the Prince, or allowed to him by any Statutes before the times of Henry the Eighth, fuch Powers in Ecclefiaftical matters, as fome of thefe following. Name- ly 7 A Power to correct and reform all Errors and Herefies in Religion by fuch perfons, as the Prince fhall appoint to judge thereof, half of them being Laicks, repealing alfo the former courfe of t-ryal of them by the ordinary Church-Magiftrates, as you may fee below, , 39. A Tower to make and reverfe Ecclefiaftical Laws, alter the Church Liturgies , pubiick Forms of adminiftring the Sacraments, Ordinals, &c without the confent of the major part of the Clergy or any lawful Church Au- thority. A Power to hinder and prohibite the Clergy, that they may correct or reform any fuch Herefies, or may make or publifh any fuch Ecclefiaftical Decrees or Laws within the Kings Dominions without his con- fent thereto firft obtained. Withont his Confent, not to examine,, whether fuch their Conftitutions might be any way Contenting the Englijh Reformation. aj> way prejudicial to the State Temporal (for this were but meet and juft) but whether fuch be agreeable or repugnant to Gods Word, and dangerous to the Peoples SalvatioH and Spiritual State. A Tower thus in all Caufes Ecclefiaftical, Licences, Faculties, Difpenfations, to be the final Judge (by himfelf or by his Court of Chancery or by Tome other Deputies whom he pleafeth to choofe) to whom Appeal may be made concerning what is agreeable, or what repugnant to the Holy Scrip- ture. A Power to reftrain allForreign Appeals and Cen^ fures from. thence, not only in all Cafes mixt with the Interefts of the Temporal Government, but alio in all matters meerly Spiritual and of Ecclefiaftical Cogni- zance. A Power to prohibit or reverie any Ecclefiafti- cal Conftitutions of Councils Patriarchal or General , tho in things wherein Temporal Regalitiesor Preroga- tives, or the Temporal fafety and peace of the people is not concerned -, but, as I faid, upon pretence of their being conceived to contain fomething repugnant to Gods Law. A Power to hinder that no Ecclefiaftical Governors may call any Synod or Aflembly within his Dominions, nor exercife in foro externo any Ecclefiafti- cal Cenfures without his confent. A Power to command fuch perfons to be inducted and instituted in Ecclefiafti- cal Benefices and Dignities, whom the lawful Ecclefiafti- , cal Power refufeth as Unorthodox or Uncanonical. SwAtf /! Laftly, ACoattive Power 'in foro externo fo far extended, 61. rc It as that it leaves, for the Clergy (as independently be- Vindic. ^ longing to them,) only an Internal Power or Jurifdi&ion ^8. in the Court of Conscience : or an Habitual Power of Preaching, Adminiftring the Sacraments, exercifing the power of the Keys in foro confcientU, ordaining and de- grading Ecclefiafti cks ; but without any Liberty actually or lawfully, to exercife the fame in any Princes Domini- ons, if he denyeth it \ without any Power allowed to the Clergy to fummon Offenders in foro externo , and to punifh them with the Spiritual Sword, either for their convicted crimes, or for non-appearance, and this whether Secular princes either favour or oppofe : without f 2 *%?y 44 Concerning the Englijb Reformation. any Power to call or keep any pnblick Aflemblies for publick Worfhip, for decifion of Controverfies in Re- ligion, for making Church Laws, i. *, fuch as prejudice no Temporal Rights, and publishing and impofing the fame Determinations and Canons (upon Ecclefiaftical Cenfures) upon the Church's Subjects, in the feveral Dominions of Princes, whether they confent or refift. Without any Power of their electing and ordaining future Clergy in the feveral Dominions of Princes Chriftian as well as others \ whenever thefe Princes fhali propofe or aflent to the admiffionof no fuch pcrfons, as they (I mean the lawful Church Authority) fliall judge Ortho- dox and capable. Such Powers are not mentioned,at leafl clearly, by Bilhop Bramhal to belong to the Clergy, but feem to be fwallowed in the Coactive Power of the Prince. Such Powers were in the poifeffion of the Church independently on Princes for the firft Three Hundred Years. Such Powers being tranOated to the Secular Governors (when Chriftian) do arm them (when Ghrifti- ans Heretical) to change and overturn the Church in their Dominions "as they pleafc, whilft the Clergy ought not to contradict. Such Powers are faid to belong to the Prince, fince the Reformation (and indeed without thefe the Reformation could not well have been effected) and I think are given to them in the fore-quoted Statutes. If thefe Powers are faid not to belong to thefe Princes, let them name which of thefe are not. But LaftJy, fuch Powers cannot be fhewed to have been given, or been due, to our Kings by the former Laws, nnleis we will believe that the Laws of the Land then contradicted that Obe^i-i nce,which thofe Princes yielded to the Church j oxj&fif thofe Princes, even when moft fallen out with the Cbttfcfe] would voluntarily forego fo many of their rights. .jf. n. 3 . Thus much to the firft Defence ufed by Bifhop Btamh[ 2 That Henry the Eighth's Statutes were only declarative of the former Laws. For the fecond thing faid by him, That King Henry the Eighth by thefe, Statutes claimed only an External Coattive Power in Caufes Es- -Icfiaffical tn foro con tent iofo j if by External Coattivt Power Concerning the. Englifb Reformation, a* Power " he meaneth the exercifing of all thofe Power gy which I have but now named, with Coaction and the Material Sword, then the Secular Prince Teems to afTume and exercife fevcral of thofe Powers which are only the Churches rights. But if by Coattive Tower he meaneth only c the Kings calling of the Clergy together to'confultjof Church Affairs, and his affifting with the Secular Sword their Constitutions and Decrees, and making their Laws his own by Temporal Mul&s and Penalties, and compelling particular Clergy, as well as Laity, to do that which the Church declares to be their duty , compelling, I fay, with outward force, . for herein the Bifhop feemeth to' place the Kings Power iri Spiritual matters [See Schifm Guarded, p, 93. 'How ' can the Pope (faith he) pretend to any Coactive power * in England-, where^the Powerof < the Militia and all Co- 'aftive force is legally. inverted in the King ?. And p. 92. 'The Primitive, Fathers ,did afiemble Synods and make ' Canons, &c : But they had no - Coaftive Power to compel any man againft his Will ', the uttermoft they * could do was to feparate him from their Communion. 'And p>i 166, Who can fummon another mans Subjects ' to appear where they pleafe, and imprifon and punifli * them for not appearing without his leave ? Likewife p. i(58. and compare them with his former Saying, pr-92.3 If thus the Bilhop will have Secular Princes to have nothing to do in the making or hindringany Decrees or Laws of the Church-men in matters meerly Spiritual^ but oaly to have fuch a. fole dominion over' the Secular Sword, as that none can ufeit but he, or by his - leave,, in the execution df fuch Laws,; all is well : hot:tton the fermpr-quoted.Stattitesof fJtmy the Eighth fiiew much more Power challenged., than the Bifhop alloweth. This in Anfw r er. to the Bilhop> on Yi Secondly^ If it be further faid here touching that par- ^ ticular Statute of much concernment 26. Hen. 8. 1. c. :' ;5-^4 quoted before . 26, and . 25. [Namely 5 f That the 'King fhall have full power from time to time, to vifit, c refrefs, reform, all jnch Errors, and Herefias, as by any ' man nt" manner 46 Concerning the EngUfo Reformation, 'manner of Spiritual Authority &c lawfully may be re- Ste $. 2?. formed, &c."} If it be faid here ; that the King hath only this power therein afcribed to him, to redrefs and reform the Errors and Herefies, which are declared fuch by the Church, by former Councils, or by the Synods il of his Clergy ; but, that he hath no power given him to judge or declare, what is Error, orHerefy. i. Firfi thus then he hath not all the power given him, which by any manner of Spiritual Authority or Jurifdiction may be exercifed (as it follows in that Act) becaufe there is a Spiritual Authority alio, that may declare new Er- rors and Herefies, or that may reform fuch Errors, as 2. have not been by Synods formerly declared fuch ; and it feems this He hath not. Secondly, Thus the Claufe end- ing the Act [any Cnftomcy Forreign Laws, Prefcription,&c t notwithstanding] is utterly ufelefs j becaufe no Forreign Laws, or Prefcriptions deny this Authority to Kings, to reform Errors &c in their Dominions ; fo that they 3 . ftill confine themfelves to the precedent Judgments of the Church. Thirdly, In the Act fore-quoted 25. #nd expreffion, to have over-done their * work , not in that part which they denied to the Pope, ' but in that part which they attributed to the King. CI add, which part wrongly attributed to the King, by confluence they faultily denied, if not to the Pope, yet to fome other, whofe right it was: And then I ask what perfon or perfons this ihould be ?} CHAP. Concerning the Englifi Reformation, ti CHAP. IV. The Supremacy claimed by Kjng Edward the Sixth, NExt to come to the Times of Edward the Sixth. $. ,g. Here we find the Power and Priviledges of the ~ lntht Kings Supremacy nothing diminiflied: but all thole by times o/Ei* Act of Parliament confirmed to Edward the Sixth* which ward the were formerly conceded to Henry the Eighth. sixth > i. Firfi, Whereas there had been in former Ages x feveral Parliament Statutes made in Confirmation of the " *" Determinations of the Church, and concerning the Tryal of Hereticks by the Bifhops their Ordinaries |\As, that Act, 2. Hen. 4.15. ' That none fhall preach , hold, 4 teach, or inftruct contrary to the Catholick Faith, or 4 Determination of Holy Church \ and if any perfon fhall 'offend in this kind, that the Diocefan fhall judicially 4 proceed againft him j and that Act , 2. Hen. 5. 7- 'That, for fo much as the Cognizance of Herefy belong- 4 eth to the Judges of Holy Church, and not to theSecu- 4 lar Judges, fuch perfons indited mall be delivered to * the Ordinary of the Places to be acquitted or convicted 4 by the Laws of Holy Churchy ] we find thefe Statutes repealed by King and Parliament 1. Edw. 6. 12. c. And when-as they were again revived by Queen Mary 1, and 2. Maria 6. c. with this Preface : for the efchewing and avoid- ing of Herefies , which of late have much increafed within this Realm , for that the Ordinaries have want- ed authority to proceed againft- thofe that were in} e Bed therewith \ we find them again repealed , as foon as Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown. 1. EUz,. 1. c. the Tryal of Herefies and Hereticks by the Clergy accord- ing to the Determinations and Laws of Holy Church being admitted or excluded here, according as the Prince was Catholick or Reformed. G 2 Fur- 52 Concerning the Englifb Reform Ation. 6.40. Further ^ we find it affirmed in the Act i.Edw.6.2.c. 1 That all authority oijhrifdiclion Spiritual and Temporal 'is derived and deduced from the Kings Majefty, as Supreme Head of the Church and Realm of England. Confequently (in 1. Edw. 6. 2. c.) we find ordered* ' That no Election be made of any Biftop by the Dean and ' Chapter - 7 but that the King by iris Letters-Patents ' fhall confer the fame to any perfon whom he fhall think 'meet, and a Collation fo made ftand to the fame 1 effect, as tho a Conge '-e flirt had' been given &c. That ' all Procejfes Ecclefiaftical fhall be made in the name and ' with the ftile of the King, as in Writs at Common-Law, 'and the Tefle thereof fhall be in the name of theBifhop. ' Thefe likewife to befealedwith no other Sealbutthe * Kings, or fuch as mould be authorized by him. Con- cerning which Act, thus Dr. Heylin candidly (Hift. ef Reform, p. 5 1.) 'By the laft Branch thereof it is plain,thar 'the intent of the Contrivers was by degrees to weaken ' the Authority of the EpifcopaL Order by forcing them * from their hold of Divine Inftitution , and making 'them no other than the Kings Minifters only, his Ec- * ' cleflaftical Sheriffs to execute his Mandates. And of ' this Act fuch ufe was made (tho poflibly beyond the ' true intention of it) that the Bifhops of thofe times 'were not irr a capacity of conferring Orders, but as 'they were thereunto impowered by efpecial Licence. \Whcre he cjuoteth out of Sanders what is fet down below . 145O 'Which ( faith he) being looked on 'hy Queen Mary not only as a dangerous diminution ' or the Epifcopal Power, but as an odious innovation 'in the Church of Chrift : She caufed this Act to bere-> 'pealed, leaving the Bifhops to depend on their former ' [> e,Diww] Inftitution -, and to act in all things,which ' belonged to their Jurifdittion, in their own Names and 'under. their own Seals, as in former times. In which 1 Eflate they have continued, without any legal inter- 1 ruption,from that time to this. Thus He. Now logo on. Confequently we find (in 2. Edw. 6. i.c,^ the King i and Parliament authorizing Arch-Bifhops, Bifhops, &c. by Concerning the Englijh Reformation. 55 By vertue of their Aft , to take Informations concern- ing the not ufmg of the Form of Common-Prayer &C ^therein prefcribed } and to'punifh the fame by Excom- * munication &c* And in Stat. 5,6. Edw* 6. 1. c. it is Enacted likewife concerning the fame Common-Prayer Book Eftablifhed by Parliament. ' That all Arch-Biihops, 'Bifhops &c fhall have full power and authority by this c Aft to correct and puniih by Cenfures of the Church all 'perfons, who fhall offend againft this Act and Statute. Which Claufe, by vertue of this AB, and the like, im- plies, that the Bifhops might not excommunicate and ufe the Church Cenfures for that matter without the King and Parliament's Licence \ or ought to excommu- nicate in all matters, wherein the King and Parliament command it. Whereby we may underftand more clearly the meaning of that Ad fforementioned p. 44. .26,) x6. Hen. 8. 1. c. and that 1. Eliz.. 1. c. That the Spiri- tual Jurifdi&ion, there afcribed to the King or Queen, involves the Jurif diction of Excommunication , as well as others , not for the King toexercife this himfelf, but to appoint when and in what matters the Clergy within his Realm fhall execute, or not execute, it : fo that they derive the power of exercifing of this Ecclefiaftical Cen- fure in his Dominions alfo from the King ; contrary to the Second and Third The/is. And indeed if the Clergy may not make nor enjoyn any new or old Spiritual Laws, may not correct what they judge Herefies, Errors, Vices,- &c , without the Kings confent had thereto (See the Ads fet down before .31, 32, 335 &c) it is but reafon- able, that they mould not excommunicate his Subjects without his confent, for not obeying fuch Laws, or for being thought guilty of fuch Crimes. And this is the reafon, I fuppofe, of Dr. Heyhns Obfervation (Hifi: of Reform, p. 94.) ' That in thofe times the Wings of ' Epifcopal Authority were fo clipped, that it was fcarce 1 able to fly abroad :, the Sentence of Excommunication, 4 wherewith the Bilhops formerly kept in awe both Priefc 1 and People, not having been in ufe and practice from 4 thefoft of King Edward : and, of that Suit of Latimer to a Concerning the Englifh Reformation, to the King in his Sermon before him quoted ibid: ' That 'the Difcipline of Chrift in the Excommunication of 1 open Sinners might be reftorcd and brought into the ' Church of England. . iu Confequently in the Acl: of Parliament 3, and 4. Edw. 6. 1 1. c. We find the Kings Power in Spirituals delegated te Thirty Two Perfons, half Seculars, to be nominated by him fas was done in Henry the Eighth's days, in 35. Hen* 8. 16. c. 27. Hen. 8. 15. c. 25. 19. c.) who are authorized to reform the former Laws of the Church : and th^Ce reformed Laws only, eftablilhedby a major part of them, and publifhed by the Kings Proclamation, thence forward to jftafid in force. The Statute runs thus. ' Albeit the Kings Majefty ought molt jultly to ' have the Government of his Subje&s, and the Deter- 'minations of their Caufes as well Ecclefiaftical, as Tern- * poral j ^therefore yon fee the Statutes , concerning the Bijhops determining Ecclefiaftical Caufes, repealed in Statute I. Edw. 6. 12. c. above-mentioned^ yet the fame, as 1 concerning Ecclefiaftical Caufes , having not of long ' time been put in ure, nor exercifed by reafon of the ' ufurped Authority of the Bilhop of Rome, is not per ' feclly underftood nor known of his Subjects ^ and there- fore may it pleafehisHighnefs that it may be Enacted ' &c y that the Kings Majefty fhall , from henceforth ' during Three years, have full power to nominate and < affign by the advice of his Council Sixteen perfons of ' the Clergy ( whereof Four to be Bifhops) and Sixteen of the Temporalty ( whereof Four to be learned in the ' Common Laws of this Realm,) to perufe and examine ' the Ecclefiaftical Laws of long time here ufed, and to ' gather, order and compile fuch Laws Ecclefiaftical , 'as fhall be thought to his Majefty, his faid Council, ' and them, or the more part of them, convenient to ' be ufed, practiced or fet forth within this his Realm, ' in all Spiritual and Ecclefiaftical Courts and Conven- * tions. A nd that fuch Laws compiled by the faid Thirty 6 Two Perfons or the more number of them , and fet 'forth by the Kings Majefties Proclamations fhall, by vertue Concerning the EngUfh Reformation. $5 vertue of this prefent Act, be only taken and put in ure for the Kings Ecclefialtical Laws of this Realm, and * no other : Any Law, Statute, or Prefcription to the ' contrary hereof notwithstanding.] Again, we find, in the fame Act, Six Prelates, and x 41 . Six others, fuch as the King fhould nominate, delegated by the fame authority to make a new Form of Confe- cration of Bifhops and Priefrs \ and this, devifed by them, and fet forth under the Great Seal, to be ufed, and none other. The words are theie* Forafmuch as, that concord 4 and unity may be had within the Kings Majefties domini- ons \_fome it feems then devifmg to themselves new Forms of Confecraticn and Ordination out of diflike of the Sttperfiitions oftheolcT\ it is requisite to have one uniform manner 4 for making and confecrating of Bifhops and Priefts ^ 4 be it therefore Enacted, that fuch Form, as by Six Pre- * lates and Six other Men of this Realm Learned in Gods 4 Law, by the King to be appointed, or by the moll: * Number of them fhall be devifed for that purpofe, and 4 fet forth under the Great Seal, fhall by vertue of this 'prefent Act be lawfully ufed , and none other; any 'Law, Statute, or Prefcription, to the contrary hereof 4 notwithstanding* Here the King and Parliament aflume power, to abrogate the former common Rituals of the Church, and, by their Delegates, to conftitute, and by their fole Act, to authorize, new, without any con- fent and ratification given thereto by any Ecclefialtical Synod. And in this new Book of Ordination was inferted this Oath of the Kings Supremacy and renunciation of all Jurifdiction of the Bithop of Rome to be taken by every one entring into Holy Orders. c I from henceforth ihall 'utterly renounce and forfakethe Bifhopof Rome., and 4 his Authority, Power, and Jurifdiction. And I (hall * never confent nor agree that the Bifhop fhall practice * exercife or have any manner of Authority, Jurifdiclion 4 or Power within this Realm : but fhall refill: the fame 4 at all times to the uttermoft of my power. And 1 from 'henceforth will accept, repute, and take the Kings Ma- 4 jefty to be the only Supreme Head on Earth of the Church 5 6 Concerning the Engtijh Reforma'hn. c Church of England. And to my Wit and uttermoft ' of ray Power 1 will obferve and defend the whole Effects 'andContentsofalland lingular Acts and Statutes made 'and to be made within this Realm in derogation, ex- ' tirpation and extinguishing of the Bifhop of Rome and ' his Authority ; and all other Acts and Statutes made 1 or to be made in Confirmation and Corroboration of * the Kings Power of the Supreme Head in Earth of the 'Church of England, &c. Here is the Clergy tied to fwear, as to all Acts of the Civil Power already paft, fo indefinitely and beforehand to all alfo that are to come, which may derogate any thing from the Popes power, or add to the Kings, in Spiritual matters ; as if no bounds or limits at all were due thereto. $.43. A^ain ; in the Sixth Year of King Edward, the whole Synod of the Clergy, if we may credit the relation of see Fox p., Mr. Philpot , in the Convocation i. Maria did grant i is*. Authority to certain perfons to be appointed {not by them, but~] by the Kings Majefty to make Ecclefiaftical Laws : [where it Jeems to me fomewhat ftrange, that the Synod Jbonld novo de novo^n^ to the King what was before ajfumed as his Right,'] And accordingly, a Catechifme, bearing the name of the Synod, was fet forth by thofe perfons nominated by the King without the Synods reviling or knowing what was in it^ tho a Catechifme (faid Dr. Weflon the Prolocutor \. Maria) full of Here- pes. This Book being then produced in Convocation., and denied by the Synod to be any Act of theirs, Phil- 6 pot urged it was , becaufe the Synodal Authority flaith ' he) was committed to certain perfons to be appointed x by the Kings Majefty, to make fuch Spiritual Laws 'as they thought convenient and neceflary. Which Argumentation of Philpots feems to be approved by Dr. Fern in Con fid. upon the Reform. 2. chap. p. feet. Here then the Synod grants Authority in Spiritual matters, that they know not who fhall in their name eftablifh , that which they pleafe, without the Synods knowing cither what Laws fhall be made, or who fhall make them : -which is againft theFirftand Second 7 he/is , and is far from Concerning the Englifh Reformation. *j from adding any juft authority to the Ecclefiaftical Con- fiitutions of thofe tiraes^or to any Ads, which are thus on- Jy called Synodal, becaufe the Synod hath in general given away their Power to thofe who make them afterward, as themfelves think fit. Whereas to make an Act law- fully Synodical, the Confent of the Clergy muft be had ; not to nominate, in a Truft which Chrift hath only com- mitted to themfelves , in general another Law-giver -, 'viz.. the King or his Commiffioners ; (for (thus) King Edward will choofe Cranmer and Ridley j and Queen Mary will choofe Gardiner and Bonner to prefer ibe Laws for the Church i) but to know, approve, and ratify in particular every fuch Law, before it can be valid. Befides thefe Acts of Parliament and Synod, the man- . 44- ner of Supremacy then afcribed to the Prince yet fur- ther appears in the Imprifonment of Biftiop Bonner in the Firft year of King Edward, for making fuch an hypotheti- cal Submiffion, as this, to the Kings Injunctions and Ho- milies then by certain CommhTioners fent unto him : * I do receive thefe Injunctions and Homilies, with this see Fox p, < Protection, that I will obferve them, if they be not l *9 * contrary and repugnant to Cods Law, and the Statute and 'Ordinance of the Church-, the fault imputed here to' him, I fuppofe, being, that he refufed to obey any In-' junctions of the King, when repugnant to the Statute and Ordinance of the Church -, for which Fox calls this Proteftation Popijlu But the manner of this Supremacy appears yet more f 4 j, n. 1. fpecially in thefeveral Articles propofed to be fubferibed by Bilhop Gardiner, upon his refufing to execute or fub- mit to divers particular Injunctions of King Edward in Spiritual matters impofed upon the Clergy ; the Subfcription required of him was, To the Book of Ho- milies, affirmed to contain only godly and wholfome Doctrine,and fuch as ought by all to be embraced , To new Forms of Common-Prayer and Adminiftration of the Sacraments, and to the denyalof Real Pre fence ox of Tranfubftantiation ; if any thing in that Form may may be faid to oppofe either of thefe : To the new H Form 58 Concerning the Engl/fb Reformation. Form of Confecration of Bifhopsand Priefts^-To the dif- annulling and abolition of the former Chnrch Liturgy and Canon of the Mafs , and of the Litanies to Saints, and Rituals of the Church ; To the abolition of Sacred Images, and Sacred Relicks j Totheper- miflion of Marriage to the Clergy ^ To the acknow- ledging, that the Statute of the Six Articles was by Au- thority of Parliament juftly repealed and dif-annulled \ To the acknowledging, that the appointment of Holy- days and Falling-days (as Lent and Ember-days) and the difpen flog therewith, is in the Kings Majefty's Au- thority and Power y as Supreme Head of the Church of England : To the acknowledging, that Monaftick Vows were Superftitious ; and the Religious, upon the diflblution of their Monafteries, lawfully freed from them : as likewife, that the fupprefling and diflblution of Monafteries and Convents by the King was done juftly, and out of good reafbn and ground. For all which fee the Copy of the Second, and of the Laft, Articles fent to Bi fliop Gardiner, in Fox p. 1234, and 1235. In which Articles the Kings Supremacy is thus exprefled , in the Second of the Firft Articles fent to him : c That * his Majefty as Supreme Head of the Church o England * hath full Power and Authority to make and fct forth 'Laws, Injunctions, and Ordinances concerning Re- * jigion, and Orders in the faid Church for repre/Eng * of all Errors and Herefies, and other enormities and ,abufesj fo that the fame alteration be not contrary ' or repugnant to the Scripture and Law of God (as is ' faid in the Sixth of the Second Articles fent to this fcifhop.) [Now bow far this reprejfing and reforming of Errors, &C. claimed by the King, did extend, we may fee in thofe pints but now named. ~\ In the Fifth :- ' That all 'Subjects who difobey any his faid Majefties Laws, In- ' junctions, Ordinances [jn fuch matters'] already fet 'forth and publifhed, or hereafter to be fetf&rth and 'publiflied, ought worthily to be punifhed according ' to his Ecclefiaftical Law ufed within this his Realm. Again:, in the 7, 11, u 14. 16. of the Third Articles fent Concerning the Englijh Reformation. tg fent to the fame Bifhop : c That the former Liturgies of the Church, Mafs-Books &c , that the Canons for- * bidding Priefts Marriage &c y are juftly taken away * and abolifti'd . and the new Forms of Common -Prayer, and of Confecration of Bifhops and Priefts are juftly eftablifhcd by Authority of Parliament, and by the Statutes and Laws of this Realm , and therefore ought ' to be received and approved of all the faithful Mini- 4 fters of Gods word. Where note} That tho, in fome of thefe Articles, the .4?. r. t. Authority of Parliament is- mentioned j yet in none of thefe is any thing faidofthe confentof the Clergy as neceflary to make fuch Regal or Parliamentary In- junctions in Ecclefiaftical matters valid. From which may be collected } That when the Synodal content of the Clergy is any where elfe mentioned, as fometimes it is, (See the Letter of the King and Council to Bifhop Bonner^ Fox p. 1 186, and the Kings Meffage to the Re- bels of Cornvtql , Fox p. 1 189 : ) it is not to add any Authority to thole Injunctions thereby \ f which Injuncti- ons were impofed on the Clergy before any Synodal confent of the Clergy was either given or asked . ) but to prop?fe the judgment and example of the Clergy con- tenting, as a motive to render others, that Hand out, j conformable j as whofe judgment they ought to reve- rence, and whofe example they ought to follow , nor, as whofe Decree and Conftitution they ought to obey. And if you wonder, why the King and Parliament of thofe days never pleaded this laft (as you fhall nevefN find it pleaded by them); the reafon (I conjecture; was (befides that they were confcious of fome changes made by them of thefe Ecclefiaftical Judges, difplacing thofe who would not conform to their Inclinations - 7 which rendred them not fo authentical) becaufe they faw, that the Laws of this National Clergy could ftand innoforce^by vertue of their Office or any Commiffion from Chrift ; but that fo would alfo the Laws of the Church and her Synods, which were Superior to the Engliih Clergy , and which were contrary to the Laws H 2 of Co Concerning the Englifb Reformation* of this National Synod ; and fo would void and make them of none effect. And if the King by vertueof his Supremacy urged his, and his Subjects, freedome from the former Laws and Conftitutions of the Church Vniverfal , fo rauft he, from the prefent Laws of his own Church National: He, and his Subjects, being tied in no more Duty to the one, than to the other , nor in fo much. 5. 46. If you would know how Bifhop Gardiner behaved himfelf in this Tryal ; it was with great perplexity and diftraction : as neither knowing now, how, fafely, to recal and recant that Supremacy of the King in Spirituals, which he had formerly acknowledged and fworn to ? nor how, in that Duty which he owed to the Church, to obey thofe particular Injunctions, which the King impofed upon him by vertue of this Supremacy acknow- ledged by him ; and fo he incurred, for this latter, de- privation and imprifonment. And perhaps it may be thought a juft judgment from God, that he fiiould be thus enfnared and undone by that fenfeof Supremacy; See $. 7 ^ wmch ne had been, in Henry the Eighths days, both 3 * at home and abroad, as you have heard from Calvin, fo zealous an Abettor. 0. 47 . I will conclude thefe Evidences under Edward the Sixth, with what is faid in Antiquit, Brittannic. (p. 339. which quotes for it the Archives) touching the re- fentment of their loft Synodal Authority which fome of the Clergy fhewed in a Synod called by Arch-Bifhop Cranmer, in the Firft Year of King Edward's Reign, for the furthering of a Reformation, tho he could effect nothing therein. In which Synod the Clergy (now too late perceiving, that, not only the Pope , but them- felves, had loft their former Ecclefiaftical Power } and that the King and Parliament ordered Spiritual Affairs as they pleafed, without their confentsj requefted, that, at leaft, the reft of their Convocation might be joyned, with the Houfe of Commons } as the Bifhops were, with the Lords : that fo they might have a Vote alfo in pafling Church matters 5 but this requefc would not be granted them Concerning the English Reformation. 6% them. The Authors words are thefe, Animadvert terunt Pr&lati onmem vim authoritatemque Synodi non modo diminutam, fed penitus fraetam everfamque efie \ foftcjuam Clerus in verbo Sacerdotis Henrico Regi pro- mififfet, fine author it ate Regia y in Synodofe nihil decrtturos \ Cor indeed that the King might decree what be pleafed without the Authority of the Synod : for fuch a Su- premacy was either granted to, or aflumed by , the King.] Qua Eccleftafiicarum rerum pete fiat e abate at a, Populus in Parliamento capit de rebut divinij , inconfulto CJero, fancire ; turn abfentis cleri privilegia & immuni- tates fenfim detrahere j juracjue duriora, cjuibm Clerm in- vitm teneretur, confiituere. Hac difcrimina pati Clericis iniqutm atque grave vifum eft. Proinde petierunt, ut in Concilio inferiori Pralati Clerique procurators cum populo permixti de Republica & Ecclefia ma confulant &c. Thus that Author. And you may fee alfo the Petition it felf lately Printed out of a Manufcript of Arch-Bifhop Cran- mers by Mr. Stiilingfleet Jrenicum 2. Part 8. c. Where, feeking too late to recover their former Steerage in Ec- clefiaftical Affairs now tranfacted in the Court of Parlia- ment, the Lower Houfe of Convocation prefers thefe Requefts-, 'That, Whereas in a Stat. 25. Hen.%. the ' Clergy had promifed in Verbo Sacerdotii never from ' thenceforth to Enact &c any new Canons, Confiitutions 1 &c unlefs the Kings Aflent and Licence may to them 1 be had &c : therefore they defire that the Kings Ma- ' jetties Licence may be for them obtained, authorizing c them to attempt and commune of fuch matters, and therein freely to give their confent , which otherwife 4 they may riot do, upon pain and peril premifed. That either the Clergy of the Lower Houfe of the Conyo- 4 cation may be ad joyned and aflbciate with the Lower Houfe of 'Parliament \ or elfe, that all fuch Statutes, ' as fhall be made concerning matters of Religion, may ' not pal's , without the fight and aflent of the faid 4 Clergy } [or (as it runs in the Second Petition) the faid Clergy not being made privy thereunto, and their An- fwers and Rcafons not heard~\ That \_ fince the former were 61 Qwcerning the Englifh Reformation. k were amHlltd^ Ecclefiaftical Laws may be eftablifhed 'in the Realm by Thirty Two perfons, or To many ' as fhall pleafe the King to appoint , &c. That 'all judges Ecclefiaftical proceeding after thofe Laws 'maybe without danger and peril. That, whereas they ' were informed, that certain Prelates and other Learned -' Men were appointed to alter the Service in the Church ' &c j and did make certain Books &c : the faid Books 'may be feen and perufed by them, for a better expe- * dition of Divine Service &c. That fuch matters as 'concern Religion, which be difputable , may be 'reafoned and difputed amongft them in this Houfej 'whereby the Verity of fuch matters fhall the better ' appear &c. Thus laboured then the poor Clergy ta obtain a joint fhare at leaft with the Parliament and civil State, in tranfading the Affairs of the Church. And Dr. Heylin (in Reform, Jufiified . 4. p. 21.) grants thus much', 'That the Cenfures of the Church were 'grown weak, if not invalid , and confequently , by ' degrees, became neglected ; ever after that King Henry 1 the Eighth took the Headjhip on him, and exercifed * the fame by a Lay Vicar-General : and p. 20 , That * the Power and Reputation of the Clergy was under 'foot} and therefore the Authority of Parliament of 'more ufe, than afterward in times well ballanced and ' eftablifhed [^meaning thofe following times y wherein the Clergy were now changed and fajhioned to the inclinations of the Prince^ And, as for thefe days of King Edward ; what Authority concerning Spiritual matters not only the people, but the new Divines of Edward, acknow- ledged and enftated in the King and Parfiament, may appear from that Letter of Bifhop Hooper, when in Prifon, lent to the Synod called in the beginning of Queen Marx : P aj v j Epifcopis, Decanis &c j wherein he cites them before the ' High Court of Parliament, as the competent Judge in thofe Controverfies, i.e, for fo far as any man can be Judge. In this Letter, after having urged Deut. 17. 8. becaufe of the mention made there", of a Judge befides the Prieft -, Vos omnes (faith he) obteftor, ut canfam ham vel i >a Concerning the Engli/b Reformation. $ vel aliam quamcunque, ob religionem ortam inter nos & vos deferre dignemini ad fupremam Curiam Parliament \ ut ibi utraque pars coram facro & excelfo fenatu fefe religiofe & ammo Jubmijfo, judicio Cr author it ati Verbi Dei Jub- jiciat. Veftra ipforum caufa certe poftulat , ut paiam ea lites inter nos ccmponantur , idque coram competent i judice. Quid hoc eft igitur ? Quo jure contenditis ? Vultis Crnoftriy <* caufa nostra teftes, accufatx>res & judices effe ? Nos tantum legem & evangelium Dei in caufa religionis judic'em competent em agmfcimns. lllitu judicio ft et vel cadatnoftra caufa. Tantum iter urn atque iterum petimus, ut coram compe- tent'* judice detur nobis amicum Chriflianumque auditorium. Non vos fugity quomodo publicly palam, & in facie ac in prefentia omnium ftatuum hujus regni, infumma curia Par- lianienti, Veritas verbi Dei per fidos, doUos , & pios mi- niftros de veftra impia Miffa gloriofe viUoriam rcportavit* Qua, quocunque titulo, tempore, univerfalitate, fplenduit, ubi per Santlifftmum Regem Edvardum 6, advivum lapidem Lydium verbi Dei examinari, per proCeres, heroas, ac Uotlos hujns regni, erat mandatum, ftatim evanuit &C. Here that Bifhop profefleth, when any dooppofe a Synod in a Caufe of Religion , not the Synod, but the Parliament, the competent Judge therein \ and urgeth, if I rightly underftand him , the juft Authority thereof in King Edward's time for putting down the Mafs. Will he then itand to the Parliaments judgment } which as it was then affected, would have call him? It feemeth, Not j by that he faith {Tantum legem Dei in caufa re- ligionis judicem cpmpetentem agnofcinms. Wins judicio ftet vel cadat caufa noftra~\ By whofc mouth then mail the Scripture decide it , that Sentence may be executed accordingly on him, a Prifoner for this Controvert ? By t*he Clergy s ? No. By the "Parliament's ? No , for he makes fure to wve that in his Letter ? By the Scrip- ture thenits felf ? But this is urged,by both fides,to fpeak for them-, and faith not one word more after the Caufe heard by the Parliament, than it did before. So that, in nominating no other final Judge, the Bifhops Rcqucft here in nmime is \ that his Caufe may never be tvyed by any Judge. CHAR 64 Concerning the Englijb Reformation. CHAP. V. Kjng Edward'/ Supremacy difclaimed by gu. Mary. 4 8. A Fter King Edward's Death, in the beginning of The former J\ Queen Mary's Reign (aPrincefs otherwife princi- supremacy pled J all that had been done in the Two former Kings 2, j?m'? Rei S ns J b y Pnnce, by State, or by Clergy ; in fetting up a andby X n ? w Lay-Supremacy in Spirituals ; in restraining the Bijhops in former Power and Supremacy of the Church \ in in- ber days > novating the Forms , of Divine Service and Admini- and the fixation of the Sacraments, of Ordination, of Church prmjyn- Rites anc * Discipline, and Jurifdidion \ in difannulling acknwiedg feveral former Ecclefiaftical Canons and Constitutions, ed, and compofing new ones; All was now, by an equal Authority of Prince, Clergy, and State, reverfed, re- pealed, ejected : and Religion, ('only rendred much poorer) as for Temporals, put into the fame courfe, which it had in the twentieth Year of Henry the Eighth \ before a new Wife, or a new Title, was by him thought on. So that any new Reformation, to come afterward, muft begin to build clearly upon a new foundation ; not able to make any ufe of the Authority of the former Structure, being now, by the like Authority, defaced and thrown down* a . f < 49. This Reftitution of things , made in Queen Mary's days, will chiefly appear to you ; in the Statute i. Mar. 2. chap, where, the ancient Form of Divine Service chr, ufed in Henry the Eighths days, is reftored; as being the Service (faith the Act ) which we and our Fore-fathers And the fi- found in this Church of England, left unto us by the An- nul judg' thority of the CatholickChurch : and feveral Acts of Henry me ** e f c -thG Eighth, and Edward the Sixth, that abrogated fome muerVre- f rmer Ecclefiaftical Laws ere thofe timesaccurately written by any ; nor Mr. Fox not hwful- to ufe the fame diligence in numbring the Change of iy c jetted. Clergy under King Edward, as he doth that under Queen Mary; yet fomething may be conjectured from thofe general words of his, p. 1 1 80 , For the mo ft part the Bifoops were changed, and the dumb Prelate compelled to give place to others that would Preach. Secondly, That, 2. ifjhe Ejection of Bifliops in King Edward's time was not lawful , fo many of the Bifhops, as were then ejected, were, by Queen Mary, juftly reftored ; and thofe, who were introduced into their places, juftly excluded. Thirdly, That to prove the Ejection of thofe Bilhops 3. under King Edward lawful , it muft be done, both by a lawful Authority^ and for a lawful Caufe. Fourthly, 4.. But that, in both thefe refpects, their EjectioH, H the Principles formerly laid in this Difcourfe ftand good, appears not juft. For 1, Firfi, thefe Bifhops being queflioned about l ^. 1. matters Ecclefiaftical and Spiritual, their Judges were Neither for the Kings Privy Council, or his Commiflioners , part the Judge. Clergy, part Laity, as the King pleafed to nominate them ifcontrary to Third Thefs.) Amongft whom tho the Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury was one: yet he was fo, not for his Canonical Superiority in the Church; bun from the Authority he, jointly with the reft, received from the King, when the former Statutes, concerning See p or# ^. the Tryal of Heretichj by the Clergy, had been firft abro- i i57 , aid gated, (See before . 39.: ) whereas the Clergy only p no:. are the lawful Judges of thefe matters ; namely, to de- clare what is done contrary to the Laws of God, and of the Church -, and to depofe from the exercife of their Office ~o Concerning the Engl'flf Reformation. Office the perfons found faulty therein. See Ihefu Third. c 6 t Secondly, The Caufes Ecclefiaftical urged againft them, .^ r A r jfor which they were removed from their Bilhopricks, Kaufe. ' were thefe - 7 their non-acknowledgment of fuch a la?gc extended Power of the Kings Supremacy , as he then claimed and exercifed in Ecclefiaftical matters-, their non-conformity to the Kings Injunctions (confirmed, if you will, with the confent of the National Synod of the Clergy) in Spiritual matters. And amongft thefe efpeciaHy ; their not relinquilhing the ufage of the for- jner Church Liturgies, and Forms of Divine Service, and particularly the Canon of the Mafs, which had been a Service approved by the general Pfa&ice of the Church sveCIu -!i Catholick for near a 1000 Years ^ in which were now Gov. 4 .pjr. ^'d t0 be many Errors, for which it might not be law- $. 39. : fully ufed : their notufing, and conforming to, the nm Form of Common-Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, the new Form of Confecration and Ordi- nation of PrieftV, and many other clear Innovations againft the former, not only Ecclefiaftical Conftitu- tions, or External Rites and Ceremonies fwhichitwas affirmed, in one of the ^w_/?/owdifputed on in the firft Year of Queen Elizabeth, that every particular Church hath Authority to take away and change) but alfo Ec- clefiaftical Doctrines eftabliihed by Synods fuperiour to that of this Nation \ as hath been flic wed in the Fourth Part of Church Govern. A Catalogue of which Doctrines and Canons I have fet down before . 45, having ta- See Fox i. ^en them out of the Three Copiesof Articles propofed .1^34,115$. to the then Bifhop of Winchefier, to be fubferibed. Now fuch Canons, whether concerning matters of Doctrine, or of Ecclefiaftical Conftitution, -cannot be lawfully abrogated; neither by the King (SetThefis 1, 2. 7, 8 \ ) nor by the National Synods of this Church, (See T'hefis 4 8 : ) and therefore the Ejection of thofe Bifliops in Edward the Sixth's days, for not obeying the King, (I add, or the National Synod, had there been any fuch before their Ejection,") in breaking fuch Canons was fliyuft; and therefore they juftly by Queen Mary re- ftored. Concerning the Engli{h Reformation, 71 ftored, and the others that were found in their places, juftly difpoiTefled. Fifthly, As for the reft: of King Edward?$ Bifhops ; who, beiides thofe Bifhops that pofleffed thefe non-vacant f'JnbeB''. Sees, were ejected in Queen Marys days : their Ejection (h opi 'dcpri- (contrary to the other) will be juftifiable ; if done for vedhQu. a lawful Canfe, and by a lawful Judge. 1. First then -, Mzty'sdays the Caufes of their Ejection were thefe chiefly, 7 Jelled Firfli For their being Married (which many, if not J f/^', e \.. all, the Ejected were, Cranmer, Holgate the Arch-Bifhop Both as 19 ofTorkjj Cover dale, Scory, Barlow, hooper, Farrar, Har- the Cuufc, ley, Bird, Bujh \ and fome of them, after having taken Monaftick Vows, as Holgate, Coverdale, Barlow, as ap- pears in Fox and Godwin) contrary to the Canons of the Church both We/tern, and Eaftern (as to thofe that marry after having received Holy Orders) both Mo- dern and Ancient, even before the Council of Nice-, as is fhewed at large in the Difcourfe of Celibacy, . 18: and contrary to the Provincial Canons of the Church of England. (See Fox p. 1051, and 177, granting Celi- bacy of the Clergy to have been eftabli fried here for a Law by a National Synod in the time of Jnfelme Arch- Bifhop of Canterbury, about An. Dom. 1080 :) The Pen- alty of tranfgreffing which Canons was Depofition from their Office. See Cnc. Conflant, in Trullo Clefs ftrLt in this matter than the Weftern Church) Can. 6, Si cjuis pojt fin ordinationem conjugium contrahere aufitt f Her it, dtponatur. See the fame in Concil. Neocafar. before that or Nice, Qan. 1. Cone Filbert. 33.C Ajfrtcan.Can. 37. And fee the fame in the Canon of Jnfelme, that all Prtefts that keep Women Jhall be deprived of their Churches and all EcclefaHical Benefices. Secondly, For their not acknowledging any Supremacy ^ <9 7 . at all of the Roman Patriarch, more than of any other Forreign Bifhop, over the Clergy of England ; contrary to the former Canons of many lawful Superior Councils, as is fhewed in Church Gov. 1. Part . 53- &c, and alio contrary to the former Provincial ones of theEng- lifh Church. And for their placing fuch an Ecclefiafti- cal m 2 Concerning the Englifb Reformation. cal Supremacy in the Prince, astoufe all J'urifdiction, to reform Herefy , conlbitute or reverfe Ecclefiaftical Laws, in the manner before exprefled. Which Supre- macy in the Church, fince fome body in each Prince's Dominion, where Chriftians are, ever had here on Earth under Chrift } I fay, ever *, not only after that Princes became Chriftian, but before : Arch-Bifhop Cranmer , rather than that he would-acknowledge it at any time to have lain in the Church, faid that, before the firffc Chriftian Emperors time , it refided in the Heathen Princes ; and namely in Nero for one , affirming alfo the Grand Seignior now to be the Head of the Church in 7'urky *, as you may fee, in the Conference between Dr. Martin and him at hisTryal, in JFwp. 1704. Which Relation if any think falfe, let them fav, what other anfwer, upon the former Suppofitions there, can ra- tionally be returned. . 60. 3. 3. For their refufing to officiate or celebrate Divine Service, and adminifter the Sacraments , according to the former eftablifhed Church Liturgies received and ufed by the whole Catholick Church for near a icoq Years , or fo much as to be prefent at it : which Divine Service they accufed , not only of many fuperftitious Ceremonies ; but of many Errors alfo, and of flat Idola- try, in the Adoration of Bread in the Eucharift. See Fox his Preface to the Reign of Queen Mary p 1270*, and Bifhop Ridley^s Conferences with Latimer. Fox p. 1560, and 1562, 1 563, $.61. 4 . For their maintaining feveral Tenents, efpeciaUya- bout the Holy Encharisl, fuch as had been formerly de< Glared Herehes by the Definitions of lawful Superior Councils. As 1. Firfl the denying of any corporal Prefence of Chrift, either with the confecrated Elements j or with the worthy Receiver } whether by way of Tranfub- ftantiation, or Confubftantiation : urging, that becaufe 1 this Body was in Heaven, ergo, it could not be in the 1 Sacrament j and affirming only a Real Prefence (I give ' you the very words of Biftiop Ridley) if taken generally, and fo as it may fmgnify any manner of thing which belong- the 1. - fomenting the English Reformation. j? etktothe Body of Chrift. Hence Bifhop Ridley's expref- fing of the manner of Chrifl's Pr efence in the Eucharift are fuch as thefe : ' That the Confecrated Bread is 'the Body of Chrifi, in remembrance of him and of ' his death. That,befides a fignification of Chrifl's Body 'let forth by the Sacrament j the Grace alfo of Chrift ? s ? Body, /, e. the Food of Life and Immortality, is given 'to the faithful. That we recieve the vertue of the f very Flefh of Chrifi j the Life and Grace of his Body : 'The Grace and the Vertue of his very Nature. Spiri- c tual Flefli j but not that which was Crucified. That 'Chrifl's Body is in the Sacrament j becaufe there is in 'it the Spirit of Chrifi, /', e . the Power of the word of ' God , which feedeth and cleanfeth the Soul. That f,the Natural Body and Blood, even .that which was ' born of the Virgin Mary &c, is in the Sacrament, verx ' & realiter j and that the difference from the Roman ' Church is only in modo, in the way and manner-of Ee- 'ing: [how it that?'} for we (faith he) eonfefs it to 'be there Spiritually by Grace and Efficacy \ becaufe 'that whofoever rece-iveth worthily that Bread and ' Wine, receiveth effeclaoufly Chrifl's Body and Blood; ' z, e. he is made effectually Partaker of his Paflion. But ' otherwife , Chrifl's Body is in the Sacrament realiy, 1 no more, than the Holy Ghofl is in the Element of Wa- * ter in Baptilme - 7 (therefore the Queftion propofed thus. An Corpus Chrifi i, realiter adfit in Eucharift ia? In King Ettward's time was held Negatively. See Diffut. Oxon. 1 549, and King Edw. 28. Article.) Thus Ridley, who Ipake mofl clearly , and whofe Schollar in this Opinion Fox " M7l Cranmer was, he being formerly a Lutheran, and hold- ing a Corporal Prefence, See thefe words of Ridley , Fo */ , m; - Fox p. 1598. in his lafl Examination, and p. 1311,1312. in his flating of the firfl Queflion difputed on at Oxford : which was not about Tranfubflantiation , but nbou the Corporal Prefence of Chrifi, or the Real Prefence of Chrifl's Body in the Eucharifl , which thofe Bjfliops denied, as well as Tranfubflantiation. The very fame with wfcofe Doctrine, was that of Peter Martyr pub- K It fried 74. Concerning the Englifh Reformation. Difput.Ot. lifhed in King Edward's days , Mud idem corpus nos ha- on. i549 here in coma Domini, quod Chriftm obfulit in Cruce, quoad T-ol. 88. fubftantiam & veritatem nature fat eor, fed non eodem modo : quia (piritualiter, i, e. per fidem ipfi percipimm ', id vera fubftantiali & corporali prafentia pependit in cruce. Cum Chryfoftomo id ipfum nos (jn Euchariftia} habere corpm quod in Cruce fuit cblatum fatemur :' Scd non eft modus recipiendi per pr&fentiam corporalem; fed per pra/entiam fidei ,. qua poteft res abfentes fpiritnatiter prafentes faccrc. Secondly , The denying , that the Eucharift might be offered as a Sacrifice propitiatory f and afTerting that there was in the Eucharift no other Oblation of Guilt's Body, than the Oblation of our Thankfgivirig for Chrift's Body offered on the Crofs. To ufe Peter Martyrs words, PffpuL Ox Subftantia hoftianoftr'a eft gratiarutH atlio de Corpore Chrifti eu. 1549, tradito in Crucem ', & hac gr at i arum all tone, fide atque confeffione dixernnt Patres in Cma offerri corpus ChriHi. Which matters are contrary to the Doctrines, and De- finitions of former lawful Superior Councils , if/thofe Pofitions ftand good, which have been faid at large in the Difcourfe of the Eucharift. . 2$i/ &c ; ?.nd (Cone* Sacrif.) . &c ; and which have been laid down concerning Councils, in Ch. Gov. 4. Part : which former Pofitions it mull not be expected that I prove again, wherever I make ufe of them. j. ex. To juftify which Tenents not to be Herefies, thofe Bifhops were fain toappeal from Councils to Scripture, and ( not to deny fuch Councils to be General or Su- perior:, but) to deny the Authority of General or Su- perior Councils to be obliging, when contrary to the Holy Scriptures , /, e. to that fenfe wherein tbemfelves, contrary to the Expofition ofthe Church, interpreted the Holy Scriptures: as was foberly urged to Bifhop Ridley at his Tryal by the Biihop of Glocesler. Eos p. 1602. 'You (faith he) refilling the Determination of the Ca- *tholick Church, bring Scripture for the Piobation of l your AfTertionsj and we alfo bring Scriptures. You *enderitaod them in one fenfe-, we in another. How 4 will you know the truth, hereia ? If you Hand to your CWil . Concerning the Englifb Reformation. \? e own Interpretation, you are wife in your own conceit ; ' and V. z?7 concerning Hanging, Drawing, and Quartering any who mould turn Papift and be reconciled to the Pope and See of Rome, tho a meer Laick, tho one taking the Oath of AUegiancefas feveral reconciled do : ) The Words are If any (Ijall be willingly reconciled to the Tope or See o/Rorhe-, or JJ) all promife Obedience to any fuch pretended Authority \ that every fuch Perfon or Per Jons /hall be to all intents ad~ judged Traytors. Is not this putting to death for pre- tended Herefy? And to a Death worfethan Burning ? So in Proteftant States abroad, Servetm by that of Ge- neva, Valentinus Gentilis by that of Berne, were burnt for Hereticks, Calvin approving. This to fhew the Proteftant's judgment, concerning ^ $$, . the juftnefs and equity of the Law of burning Hereticks. But whether this Law in it felf be juft : and again if juffc, whether it may juftly be extended to all thofe iimple Peo- ple"put todeath in Queen Marys days ( fuch as St. rfuftine calls Hereticis crcdentes) becaufe they had fo much Ob- ftinacy, as not to recant thofe Errors, for which they faw their former Teachers Sacrifice their Life , efpe- cially when they were prejudiced by the moft common contrary Doclrine and Practice in the precedent times of Edward the Sixth , and had lived in fuch a condi- tion of life, as neither had means, nor leifure, nor ca- pacity, to examine the Church's Authority, Councils, or Fathers ^ ordinarily fuch perfons being only to be reduced fas they were perverted J by the contrary fafhion and courfe of the times, and by Example \ not by Argument, either from reafon, or from authority (and the fame, as I fay of thefe Laity, may perhaps alfo be laid effome illiterate Clergy: ) wheiher I fay this Law- f So Concerning the Engltflj Reformttwn. Law may juftly.be extended to fuch, and the higheft fuffering, death be inflicted (efpecially where the De- linquents fo numerous) rather than forae lower Cen- fures of Pecuniary Mulcts or Imprifonment j thefe things J I meddle not with, nor would be thought at all in this place to juftify. Tho fome amongft thofe unlearned Lay-people I confefs to have been extreamly Arrogant and obftinate, and zealous beyond knowledge j and, tho they had fufferedfor a good Caufe, yet fufTering for it on no good or reafonable ground : as neither them* felves being any way Learned, nor pretending the Au- thority of any Church ^ nor relying on any.prefent Teach- ers, but on the certainty of their own private judgment interpreting Scripture j as you may fee;, if you have ajnind, in the Difputations of Anne Askew (Fox p. 1 125.) Woodman the iron-maker, (Fox p. 1800.) Fortune the Smith, {Fcxip. .174-1 J Allen the Miller, {Fax p. 1796.) and other Mechanicks, with Bifhops, and other Learned Men, concerning the lawfulness of the Mafs , the Au- thority of the Church, the Number of the Sacraments^ the manner or poflibility of Chrift's Prefence in the Eucharisl y &c : themfelves afterward penning or caufing to be penned (you may judge with what Integrity,) the Re- lations, which we have of the faid Difputations. See more concerning the erro-neous zeal of fuch like Perfons in Fox Monuments later Edition Vol, 3. Fol. 242* 236.. 396. 886. ^ 6 7# This concerning the lawful Ejection of thofe Prote- Aul there- ftant Bifhops in the beginning of Queen Mary's Reign j f~9re othm which if lawful, fo alfowill be, the introduction of thofe v-cdf^il w ^ wele c ^^ en ' n tne * r r Ooms : tho this introduction StWpiuu was > ** whilfr. they Living ^ or *,*. without their, Te,y, 1. or the Metropolitan's, Confent. 1. Tho whilsl they Liv- ing - ? if fuch Election of them be, after that the other are juftly ejected : Of this none can doubt. Now moll of the Proteftant Bilhops were^ ejected, at the very be- gin ningof Queen Aforysdays, for being married; tho fome of them not fofppcdily fentencedfor Herefy. But fuppofe the Introduction of the other was whilft thev living, Concerning the Englifi Reformation. %\ living, and before their lawful Ejection : yet thefe Bi- fhops that are fo f unjultly, I grant,) introduced, if, after that the others are ejected, then their Superiors, having the power to elect into fuch place, do acknowledge and approve them, from thence forward begin to be legiti- mate \ i and enjoy a good Title. ( 2. Tho without their , or the Metropolitan's , Confent. $ g ? For if the Arch-Bifhop, without whofe confent the To a. 2. Canon permitteth not any Bifhop to be confecrated in his Province, be, upon jufl caufe, and efpecially upon fufpicion of Herefy, in any reftraint-, foas he cannot fafely be fuffered, either in refpect of the Church, or State, any longer to execute his offce, till cleared of fuch guilt : here his Office is rightly adminiltred , as in Sede vacante^ by fome other } whether it be, by fame Bifhop of the Province, his Ordinary Vice-gerent or Subfcitute in fuch Cafes ^ or by the Delegates of that Authority, which in the Church is Superior to the Arch- Bifhops-, or by the confent of the major part of the Bifhops of fuch Province. And fo Arch-Bifhop Cranmer being, at Queen Marys firfl Entrance, accufed, 1. of being Married fan Irregularity incurring Deposition *, and alfo confeffed :,) and 2. ofTreafon^ and 3, of He- refy, and for the Second of thefe being by the Queen's Council immediately imprifoned ^ and fhortly after condemned to dye, before the Confecration of any new Bifhop : his Office was now lawfully fupp'.yed by another (either by Cardinal Pool the Popes Legator by the Bifhop the next dignified Perfon after the Arch-Bifhop in the Province ; or by whomfoever the Queen fliould depute :) as for any exceptions, that the Arch-Bifhop could make againft it , fince he acknowledged her for the Supreme Head of the Englim Church. Or if, notwithstanding fuch his reftraint or condemnation , according to the Canon, no new Biihop could be made without the Arch- Bifhop's confent .- yt could Arch-Bifhop Cranmer juftly claim no fuch Authority from the Canon as indeed he- never did.,) 1. Becaufe he held the abrogation of fuch u -Canons to be in the Power of the Prince, as the Supreme L Hzzd 1 2 Concerning the Englift Reformation. Head of this Church g at leaft when aflifted with the Parliament, and major part of the Clergy: And fo then was this (arguing ad homines) abrogated by Queen Mary 2 ' appointing, allowing, thefe new Elections. 2. Becaufe he had contented to the Statutes made formerly. 25. Hen. 8, 20. c. and 1 Edw. 6. 2; where the Arch-Bifhop is neceffitated to confecrate fuch perfon, as the King, from whom all Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction is derived, lhall pre- sent : oi', he refufing, the King may appoint any other two Bifhops for him, to do it in his ftead; ergo^ fo might Queen Mary, according to thefe Statutes. Sufo Thus much, That Queen Marys Clergy were a law- ful Clergy , (which indeed, except for a few, and thofe not yet chofen or acting in the beginning of her Reign, cannot be called in queftion \ ) and That their reverting the former Conftitutions of Henry the Eighth, or Ed- ward the Sixth's Clergy , as to the Authority that did it, was a lawful Synodical Ad. But in the nextplace, fuppofe that the Queen had acted fingly without or a- gainft her Clergy (but with the Approbation of thofe Governors in the Church Catholick as are the lawful Superiors to this Clergy,) in re-eftablifhingthe former Profeffion of Religion ufed in Henry the Eighth's time, before the Reformation; yet, fo far as this Profeflion is evident to have been according to the Conftitutions of the Church, and of former Synods Superior to the Synods of this Nation, (which Conftitutions do there- fore Hand ftill in their juft force -j this Act of hers would ftiil be jaftifiable : becaufe Sovereigns have fuch a Su- premacy acknowledged by all due unto them, astoufe a Coactive Power incaufing the Execution, within their Dominions, of fuch Church Canons, as are- granted to be in force; without any. rnferiour further Licence or eonfent thereto. Nor is this doing any more, than if the King of England, now re-eftabiifhed in bis Throne, fhouid, without, or againft the Vote of the prefect Mini- ftery he; e^ reftore the Bifhops , and the Ecclefiaftical Laws again to their former office and vigour ; which thefe men never had any juft or fuperior Authority to difplace, o. abrogate, CHAP. Cementing the Englifh Reformation. - " - n .-**- ^ CHAP. VI. The former Supremacy re-affumedby gu. Elizabeth. IN thelaft place we come to the times of Queen Eliz.it- * ' beth j where we find, by the Authority of the Queen 3 \ 0*4 and her Parliament, all the repeals of the Statutes of Sufnmwy Henry the Eighth, and Edward the Sixth, in order to ejaimed &c the Regal Supremacy and Reformation, which Repeals 5'!e!' were made in Queen Maryh days, now again repealed Cexcept in Two, 26. Hen. 8. 1. c. and 35. /#. 8. 3 c. which give to Henry the Eighth the Title of Head of the Church of England j which was changed by the Queen into ' that of Governor, as better befitting a Woman. As for . Bifiiop BramhaCs Obfervation of Two other Statutes of Henry the Eighth, unreftored by Queen Eliz.. 28. Hen. 8: 10. C. An Afl (Taith he) of extinguishing the Autho- rity of the Biflidp of Rome out of this Realm', and 35. Hen. 8. 5. c. An Aft made for Corroboration of the former j if you pleafe to view them, and compare with them 1 Eliz.. i.e. you will find the caui'e to be, not the Queens pre- ferring and retaining here, any Authority of the Pope, which Henry renounced j but the Six Articles in the one, and the old Forms of Oaths in the other, thought fit by her to be laid afide.] and all the Power and Privileges whatfoever of Supremacy in Ecclefiafticals, that were conceded to Henry the Eighth, or Edward the Sixth, as tbxtasum^ fully transferred to Queen Elizabeth. For which feeP' e a Su - tbe Abl 1. EUz,. 1. c. (fee. the fame 8. Eliz. i.e.) run- ^Vf? mllgthus^ 'That all Jurilaictions , Pnviledges, Supe- y y p (tr // tf . ' riorities Spiritual and Ecclefiaftical, as by any Spiritual ment cot. ' or Ecclefiaftical Power hath heretofore been'exercifed, f erred, 01 'for the Vifitation of Ecclefiaftical State and Perfons, Sp*"*^* 4 and for Reformation, Orders, arid Correction of the Hcn ' rfcd '"fame, and of all manner of Errors, Herefies, Schifms, &c, 'mall for ever, by Authority of this Parliament, be L 2 ' united $4 C&nctrmng the Engtiflj Reformation* 'united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this * Realm. And that your Highnefs, your Heirs &c, fhall * have full Power and Authority, by vertue of this Ad, 4 to name and authorize fuch perfons, as your Majefty ' fhall think meet \withont any being obliged as Henry tJoe Eighth was , that half the number fhottld be of thi 1 Clergy] to exercife and execute under your Highnefs c aU manner of jurifdictions, Priviledges &c r and to 'vifit, reform, and amend all fuch Errors, Herefies, * Schifms &c, which by any manner Spiritual or Ec- ' clefiaitical Power may lawfully be reformed 7 and that * fuch perfons mall have full power by vertue of this Act c to execute all the Prcmifes ; any matter or caufe to * the contrary in any wife notwithftanding. Provided * always that no manner of Order, Act, or Determina- * tion, for any matter of Religion or caufe Ecclefiafti- * cal, made by the Authority of this prefent Parliament * fhall be adjudged fi.e, by thofe perfons] at any time * to be any Error, Herefy, Schifm &c, any Decree, Con- * flitution or Law, whatfoever the fame be, to the con- ' trary notwithstanding \_this c Provifo perhaps was put in, because all the Biflwps that were in the Parliament op- pofedthis Statute, See Cambden i. Eliz.] Provided \_again]. 4 that fuch perfons authorized to reform &c, fhall not 4 in any wife have Authority to determine or adjudge. c any matter or caufe to be Herefy, Xjfxppofeby Herefy is quant lure avy Error contrary to what ought to be believed and praclifed in Divine matters'] but only, Such as here- 'tofore have been determined to be Herefy by the Au- thority of the Canonical Scriptures ^ or by the firfl * Four General Councils ; or by any other General Coun- cils, wherein the fame is declared Herefy by the exptefs 4 and plain words of the faid Canonical Scriptures 7 or 'Such, as hereafter fhall be judged, and determined to 1 be Herefy by the High Court of Parliament of this 4 Realm, with the affent of the Clergy in their Convo- * cation \Jure therefore nothing r whether by the Clergy or others, could be de novo declared or adjudged Herefy; nn- Uf- the High Court of parliament alfo adjudged it to befo.] In Concerning the Englifb Reformation. S5 . In the fame Statute concerning the Extent of fc the . 7I . Queen's Supremacy, it is cxpreily ordained ' That the ' Branches , Sentences , and words of the faid feveral ' Acts f i. e. made in Henry the Eighth's time touching Su- ( premacy2 and every one of them, fhall be deemed and j taken to extend to your Highnefs, as fully and largely , 'as ever the fame Acts did extend to the faid late King * Hen ry the Eighth, your Highnefles Father. The fame thing aifo appears in the Queen's Admonition, annexed to her Injunctions, to prevent any finifter Interpreta- tions of the Oath of Supremacy then irapofed : which faith : ' That the Queen's Majefty, informed that fome 'of her Subjects found fomefcruple in the Form. of this 'Oath &c, would that all her loving Subjects mould '.underftand ^ that nothing was, is, or mail be meant 'or intended by the fame Oath, to have any otherDuty ' or Allegiance required by that Oath, than. was acknow- ' ledged to be due to King Henry the Eighth, her Ma- * jelly's Father, or King Edward the Sixth her Ma jefty's 'Brother. [_lt proceeds, jhewing thofe fcruples that were madeby fome again f the Oath. ~\ And further her Majefty 'forbiddeth her Subjects to give credit to fuch perfons, & a t[ )df 'who notify to her Subjects, how by the words of the ^ z * z * ' faid Oath it may be collected, that the Kings or Queens ' of this Realm may challenge authority of Adiniftery of Di- vine Offices in the Church ; Wherein her Subjects.be much 'ntiufe'd. For her Majefty neither doth npr ever will *- challenge any other Authority , than that was chain ' lenged, and lately ufed by Ring Henry, and King Ed- ' ward ; which is and was of ancient time, due to' the ' Imperial Grown of this Realm ; that is, under God ' to have the Sovereignty and Rule over all manner ofY ' perfons born within tnefe her Realms, whether JLc- ' clefiaftical or Temporal, fo as no other Sovereign Power, ' [hall or ought to have any Superiority over them \hnt this Sovereignty and Rule, J fuppofe, mufi be under food to. extend to all the Particulars, which Queen Elizabeth 7 * Sta- tute but now recited allow eth to belong to it, and wherein Henry the Eighth, and Edward the Sixth ufed or were allowed g<$ Coftctrnifig the Ettglijb Reformation. alloyed it.] And if any Perfon, who hath conceived any- other fenfe of the Formofthefaid Oath, [i. e. that in it the Queen challenged Authority of Minifiery of Divine Offices in the Church'} (hall accept the lame Oath with .this interpretation, fenfe or meaning ij e. that fie had fuch Sovereignty as was challenged and lately ufed by her Father and Brother : ~\ Her Majefty is well pleafed to accept' 'every fuck Perfon in that behalf as her Obedient Subject. Thus the Admonition \ and the fame is faid in the Statute 5. EJix.. 1. c, referring to the Admonition, 'That none other Authority was by that Oath acknow- ledged in her Majefty , than that which was challenged ' and ufed by thofe Two Kings, See likewife 1 /*'*.. 1. c, the Repeal of the former way of the Tryalof Hereticks > that was revived according to the former Statutes by Queen Mary , leaving the Supremacy in Spirituals to Church-men. $-7*. Neither do the feveral things, that are noted by Dr. Wnere p ern (j n ffe X amen. of Champny 9. c. . \6- 20. J and cemtiqut otners > as qualifications and bounds of the Supremacy Ufiutions of Queen Elizabeth, feem to come home to their pur- of her sa- pofe fo far, -as to render it juftifiable. There are urged primacy ur. by them } i. The Stile fheufed, in calling her felfnot R d f h med C Suprea'm Head , but only Supream Governor. 2. The. xe * j " Words in the Admonition, viz. Her Majefty doth not. challenge any other Authority, than under God to have.the: Sovereignty and Rule over- all manner of Perfons ey'c : as 3 . the words are recited but now. 3, The words of the 37. -Article of the Church of England relating to thefe of the Admonition \ We give not to our Princes the mini- firing either of Gods Word or of the Sacraments ', the which thing the Injunclions lately fet forth by Elizabeth our Queen ?; :v do mofi plainly teftify, but that only Prerogative which we fee to have been given always to all Godly Princes in Holy Scriptures by God himfelf : that is, that they flwuld rule all Eftates and Degrees committed to their charge by God y whether they be Eccleftaftieal or Temporal \ and reftrain ^ With the Civil Sword theft 'ubborn and evil Doers. 4. The Qualification of the Authority of the Queen's Commiffi- oners Concerning the Englifh Reformation. %") oners to judge or. determine Herefiesj Provided always* that fuch perjons authorized &c, See the Words quoted before ., 70. But to thefe it is rationally replyed *, To the Firft, $.. y? . a*SL That, if the fame, and as much power be ftill fignified &e Replies by the Queen's Title now, as was before by the other*, ?'*i e * t * fa which hath been fhewed but now in the Statute, in the p fU Admonition &c : what matters the varying of words, that alters nothing in the fenfe? Neither is the Title of Head of the Church, fo it beunderltood fubordinate to Chriir, incompetent to fomeperfonor other, here qn earth. To the Second, That the words quoted out of the ^"J 4 ',j Admonition may indeed be taken in fuch a general fenfe, To that all fides will willingly fubfcribe to. For the Queen hath a. Sovereignty and Rule over all manner pcrfons born within her Realms fo *. e . in fuch manner] as no other Ferreign Sovereign Power hath : namely, in this manner , to puniih her Subjects whatfoever with the Temporal Sword, either for the Breach of the Church's Canons and Decrees, or for the Breach of her own Laws. Again -, That the words may be taken in fuch a fenfe, as that, tho they fignified no more (of which prefently) yet none can juftly fubfcribe them, fuppofing thofe things true concerning the Weftern Patriarch , and concerning Su- perior Councils, and concerning Church Conftitutions, which are laid down in the Firfl and Second Part of Church Government, and in the Fourth and Eighth Thefts : name- ly, if they be taken in this knih: That no Forreign Power hath any Fcclefiattical Superiority or Jurifdiilion in any manner whatfoever over the Church of England (without reflecting on this Controverfy at all ; namely, Whether the Sovereign Power here at home, for the judging and reforming of what is Error, Herefy, Superftition &c> and for the abrogating or eftablifhing the former Litur- gies of the Church, Canons of Superior, or alio Natio- nal Synods, doth lye in the Prince', or in fome others, viz. the Clergy of this Nation ; or alfo, in the Parlia- ment: or in all thefe jointly , fo that the Clergy can do #8 Concerning the Eng/ijb Reformation. do none of thcfe things without the Prince, or Parlia- ment \ nor Prince, without the major part of Clergy J But thefe Two Senfes of thefe words (of which the later is not juftifiable) are, both of them, too much retrained, in refpect of the intent of this Admonition, as may be gathered from the Precedents in the fame Admonition j where the Queen's Sovereignty is extended to all the Particulars , wherein Henry the Eighth , and Edward the Sixth ufed or were allowed it. And from the Sta- tute i. Eliz. i. but now recited , which furely this Ad- monition was not written to contradict or repeal. And from the ordinary practice of thefe Princes, which fhall be more (hewed anon ^ without which Practice fuch Re- formation could not have been effected \ and therefore this Practice mult be juftified. And from the Teftimony of the Proteftant Writers - 7 who vindicate and main- tain a Supremacy of a much larger extent, andanfwer- able to the Expreflions in the Acts of Parliament ; even to the Prince's not only ruling over all Perfons Eccle- fiaftical, but judging and determining in matters Eccle- lialtical, what therein is Diflbnant from, or Confonant to, Gods Word -, and then efhblifhing it in their Do- minions, tho contrary to former Church Canons, tho without or againfl the Vote of the major part of their own Clergy ; as fhall be fheWed below . 203 &c : which thing alfo is maintained to have been done by the Holy Kings of Jfrael. ^ 7*. To the Third the fame may be repeated, which is r ibeJbi: faid to the Second; and this part of the Article, tho annexed for an Explanation, is couched in fuch general Terms, as that it will be fubfcribed to by all fides : (Fr. a S. Clara Expof 39 Articles .illoweth it j and faith alfo : Hie Articultu a Gallis cjr Parliamento Parifienfi , falva communione Ecclefu y ufur-patur.) Neither doth it con- tain any thing but which may well confift with the con- tradictory of that Propofition , which follows there, vii. That the Bifiop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm, . To - Concerning the Englifh Reformation. 89 To the -Fourtlu i. That the Provifo made by the ^ 1(;rot t )t Queen and her Parliament feems only to limit the Per- v 3 mh. u fbns, whom the Queen fhall nominate for her Delegates ; that they fhall adjudge nothing Error or Herefy with- out theconfentof Parliament and Convocation (as like- wile they made another Provifo , that they mould ad- judge no Order of the Parliament in Ecclefiaftical mat- ters to be Error or Herefy. See the fame Statute \ ) but not to limit the Queen-, who holds the Supremacy of this Church, and fo thefe pretended Confequences there- of, as her own right, and not from Gift, but Recog- nition only, of the Parliament and Clergy; and, who, in the Statute, and, I think, in the Doctrine of our Di- vines, See below . 204. #c, is acknowledged to have Power to reform Error, Herefy, Schifm (which prc- fuppofeth judging what is lb) without any fuch Provifo of confentof Councils, or Parliament: as alfo the pious Kings of Judah. are urged to have done the like. Or if the Provifo limit the Prince alfo ; That then the Practice of the Reforming Princes will not be juftifiable, nor their Reformation \ who have corrected many Doctrines with- out confent of Councils (nay when lawful Superior Synods have decreed the contrary,) and without con- fent of Convocation ; and others without confent of Parliament. But Secondly^ The limitation here, whether 2. of thofe Perfons, or of the Prince, in adjudging Errors and Herefies in Divine matters, if the words be narrow- ly confidered , feems to be, in effect, none. For (as you may fee in the Provifo) if fuch thing hath been de- termined to be Herefy by the Authority of the Canoni- cal Scripture (i.e. feem to them to befo) they need look no further for confent of Councils , or Parliament, or Clergy : and no more need they to regard Councils, tho defining the contrary , if they have not defined fo by the exprefs and plain words of the faid Canonical Scrip- ture \ of which thing they are to judge. See before . 36. the Speech of the Lord Cromwel. Thirdly, Suppofe 3 there be a confent of the King and Clergy, without, or agninft Authority of Parliament . fuch thing cannot M be 90 Concerning the English Reform At ion. be adjudged Herefy ', according to this Provifo' r if it 4. be extended to the Prince. Fourthly, Suppofing that the Clergy and Parliament judge fomething to be Error or Herefy,which former Councils, Superior to this National Synod , have determined to be a Divine Truth : this Provifo's allowing the Prince to follow the confent of his Parliament and Clergy, upon pretence of the Coun- cils not defining according ,to cxprefs Scripture , will oifend againft the Fourth and Eighth Thefts. S. 7-. Thus much to fhew, that the fame Supremacy, that EitfucbSu W as acknowledged to King Henry and King Edward, TkT^'ef was aIf t0 Q! ieen t tz *abeth, by her Parliament. But 7^17 c$4- y ou raa Y bfervej that neither it Cin fuch a fenfe as fntted to by it was challenged) nor the Reformation, that was effect- tktcUigy. ed by it, were acknowledged, or consented to, by her Bilhops, or the Clergy: 1 mean that Clergy which was in being at the beginning of her Reign ; which hath been proved already, . 54. &c, to be a lawful Clergy, And, when thefe things touching Supremacy and Reformation were palled by the Parliament, all the Bifliops , that fate there, oppofed them ''See Cambden A. 2. Eliz,,) probably, becauie in thofe Two former Kings days they had by Experience learnt the Trefpafles which fuch a Supremacy made upon the proper Rights and lurifdicti- ons of the Clergy } and the Irreverence, and Liberti- nifme, and DiftracYion which the Innovation of the Li- turgies and other Religious Rites brought into the Church j befides the unlawfulnefs of a part reforming againft the whole. Thus at that time the Clergy be- haved themfelves. Neither, in lieu thereof, can the Concefiions to thefe or the like things by the former Clergy that was under Henry the Eighth, or Edward the Sixth, be here pleaded \ becaufe thefe were retraced again by the Clergy in Queen Mary's time : neither can the Conceffion of the Clergy of later times, in Queen Elizabeth's Reign, be urged \ becaufe this Clergy was nrit changed and moulded to the Queen's Religion ; the former being unlawfully eje&ed, as fball be (hewed here- after, CHAP. Concerning the Englifb Reformation, qt CHAP. VI I. The Actings of Henry the Eighth (upon fuch. Su- premacy acknowledged) in Ecclefiajlical Affairs,. I have fpoken hitherto from Sett. 26. concerning what $, 7 s, manner of Supremacy it was, that thefe Triftces affumed, Row accord or alfo the Clergy or Parliament recognized, as their ln ^ :o f Ktlt Sight. In the Third place I promifed to (hew you, how, S $!P according to this their conceited right, thefe Three Prin- X/e Three ces al~led in matters Ecclefiaftical Fri/tcei aft And firft to begin with Henry the Eighth. Fir ft, ^ ' Ecc!c r By vertue of fuch a Supremacy, he committed the for- f f/' T '^* mer Canons and Laws of the Church, calling them the V 79 . tpontificial Laws, to the Arbitrement of Thirty Two The Agings Perlbns nominated by him, half Laicks; to be abro- of Hn. $th gated, corrected, reformed, as they, with his Confir- in . E " le ^" mation, mould think meet. Nee eo contemns (faith the Z y " **' Prefacer to the Reformatio legum BcclefiafiicarumRe~ It tb C iibr9- printed 1640.) cordatpu Rex \_Henry the Eighth^ ut no- gn'mg of men, nudofque folum titulos a fe fuifque depelleret, nifi & fww E <> jnra decretaque omnia, quibm adhuc cbslringebatur c- c e '- a " x ' clefia [^Anglicana]] perfringeret; hue quoque animum adie- c0m plii,,g s cit, ut univerfam fecum remp. in plenam adfereret liberta- new Body tern. Quocirca turn ex ipfim, turn ex publico fenatm de- of tbsin. creto, deletti funt viri aliquot, ufu& doUr ink prcif ante?, numero 32, qui penitm abolendo Pontifcio juri (quodCz- nonicum vocamus) cum omni alia Decretorum 0- Decre- talium facultate, novas ipf leges, qua contr over ft arum & morum judicia regerent, Regis nomine & author it at e furro- garent. And thus faith the King himfelf, in his Epiflle to all Arch-Biftwps, Barons &c printed before the fame Book ; Abunde vobis dcelaratum haftenusfuit, quant -op ere, in hac noftra Brittannia, multis retro faults Epifcopi Ro- mani vis in'pifa religioni Chriftianx, vera doclrina propa- ganda adverfata eft. Poteftatem ham huic am divino mu- M 2 mrc % Concerning the Engl if b Reformation. tierc fublatam effe manifesl urn est : & ne quid fuperc{fet r quo von plane fraUam illim vim tffc con&aret \ leges omries, dccreta at que inftituta, qua ab>authore Epifcopo Romano profctla furit , prorfm abroganda cenfuimm. Quorum loco en vcb'u authoritate noflra edit as leges damus^ quas a vobis omnibus fufcipi, coli, & obfervari volumus, & fub noftra indignntionis pana mandamus. Thus the King. Where the meaning of the words, dccreta qua ab authore Epifcopo Romano profctla. funt, mult be extended to Decrees, not only Pontifical , but Synodal , wherein the Pope pre- sided ; for the Canon-Law is compiled of both thefe : and over both thefe did the Kings Supremacy claim Au- thority in his Dominion* ^ and over wbatfoever Q\k feemed to him cfhblifhed, not by Divine, but only hy Humane Authority. See before . 22. 25. 27: And alio the things changed by him were not the Decrees of Popes, but of Councils. 1 80. By vertue of fuch a Supremacy he put forth certam Injunctions A D. 1536. concerning matters of Faith, Intitled Articles devijed by the Kings hSighnefs,, to jlable Chriflian quiet nefs and unity amongft the People , (you may read them fet down at large in Mr. Fuller s Church History 5. I. p. 2i<5, for Mr. Fox his Epitome of them con- ceals many things.) It is true that thefe Articles ('as alfo the Six ^r/ic/wpubliftied afterward 15395 and the Neccffary Dolhine fet forth 1543.) do, for the matter of them (as they feem to me) difcede in nothing from the Doctrines of former Councils^ nor have nothing in them favouring the reformed Opinions \jfor they allow Invocation of Saint s y Prayer for the Dead, and Purgatory ; kneeling, and praying before, tho not to Images , the Cor- poral Prefence of Chrifi in the Sacrament \ Auricular C on* fefficn ; and do not deny Seven Sacraments, (as fome mifc relate them) becaufe they fpeak^cnly of Three ; which Seven Sacraments are all acknowledged and treated on in Neceflary Doctrine, &c-2 And it cannot be denyed ,, that the Clergy of King Henry alfo (whom he ufed, much more than his Succe/fors, King Edward, and Queen Eliz.abeth 7 in his Confutations concerning Religion) were, except in Concerning the Englijh Reformation. gj in the introducing of the Kings Supremacy, very op- pofite to the Reformation of other Doctrines or Cere- monies in the Church y as appears by the Mala dogmata, tranfcribed out of the Records by Mr. Fuller f$.l. p. 209.J to the Number of 67. (muchagreeing with the Modem Tenents of Puritans, Anabaptifis and Quakers ,) which Mala Dogmata being by the Lower Houfe of Con- # vocation at this time prefented to the Upper Houfe of Bifhops, to have them condemned, occasioned the pro- duction of thefe Injunctions. But yet notwithftanding all this, for the manner of the Edition of thefe In juncti- ons or Articles, it is to be noted ; that the King by vertue of his Supremacy commands them to be accept- ed by his Subjects, not as appearing to him the Ordi- nances or Definitions of the Church, but as judged by him agreeable to the Laws and Ordinances of God : and makes the Clergy therein only his Counsellor and Ad- vifer j not a Law-giver.. See befides the Title , his words in the Preface to thofe Injunctions : * Which de- 1 termination, debatement and agreement of the Clergy * f faith he) forafmuch as we think to have proceeded 'of a good, right, and true judgment, and to be agree- 4 able to the Laws and Ordinances of God &c ; we have * caufed the fame to be publifhed, requiring you to ac- * cept, repute, and take them accordingly [i, e. as a- greeable to Gods Laws and. Ordinances.^ So where in thefe Injunctions he commandeth the Obfervation of Holy*, days, he faith, ' We mull: keep Holy-days unto Goo\ c in Memory of Him, and his Saints, upon fuch days, 'as the Church hath ordained: except they be mitiga- 1 ted and moderated by the AfTent and C ommandment 4 of us, the Supream Head, to the Ordinaries - 7 and then 1 the Subjects ought to obey it \Juch command ] By vertue of fuch a Supremacy he afterward publinV j' Iff cd a Model of the Doctrine of the Chriftian Faith, and fo rt ha Moi of the lawful Rites and Ceremonies of the fame, for del of the- matter of Doctrine not much differing from the Injuncti- Pi &*i*t of oas mentioned before , which Book he Entitled ,, A [^ c J r/ ^~ Ncceffary Doctrine for all forts of P topic ', adding a Pre- j the si* face, a, tidts " q. Concerning the Englifh Reformation. face thereto, in his Royal name, to all his faithful and loving Subjects, That they might know (faith he) thebetter^ inthofe dangerovu times, what to believe in point of Dotlrine, and how to carry themfelves in -points of Prattice. Which Book, before the publifhing thereof, after it (faith Dr. Heylin, Reform. Chur. Engl. . 4. p. 23,) was brought 'into as much Perfection, asthefaid Arch-Bifhops, Bi- ' fhops and other Learned Men [appointed by the King t9 'this workJl would give it without the concurrence 'of the Royal Affcnt, was prefented once again to the * Kings consideration j who very carefully perufed and 'altered many things with his own hand, as appears by * the Book it felf extant in Sr. R. Cotton's Library : and * having fo altered, and corrected it in fome PafTages, re- ' turned it to the Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury CArch-Bi- ' mop Cranmer~\ who bellowed fome further pains upon * it ; that, being to come forth in the Kings Name, and ' by his Authority, there might be nothing in the fame, ' that might be juftly reprehended. For a Preparatory * to which Book, that fo it might come forth with the e Hen C & reater credit, the King caufed an Act to pafs in Par- ' ' liament, for the aboliihing of all Books and Writings c comprifing any matter of Chriftian Religion contrary 'to that Doctrine, which fince the Year 1540 is, or 'any time during the Kings life (hall be, fet forth by his * Highnefs. Thus Dr. Heylin. Which Definitions, De- 'crees, and Ordinances, fo fet forth by the King, all 'his Subjects were fully to believe, obey, and obierve. '32. Hen. 8. 26. c. See before . 32. And if any Spiri- * tual Perfon fhould preach or teach contrary to thofe 'Determinations, or any other that fhould be fo fet ' forth by his Majefty 5 fuch Offender the third time 'contrary to that Act of Parliament was to be deemed 'and adjudged an Heretick, and to fuffer pains of death ' by Burning. See before . 34. By which Act there- fore, amongft other things, the holding of the Pope's Supremacy, which is contrary to the Doctrine of that Book, is declared Herefy. And fee the like ordained by Parliament concerning the Six Articles in 31. Km* 8. 1 4. c 5 8. i.e. Concerning the Englifh Reformation. g< 14. c. where it is Enacted, c That every Perfon that * doth preach, teach, declare, argue againft any of the ' Six Articles, being thereof convicted, fhallbedeemed c and adjudged an Heretick. And thus Herefy, now belonging to the Kings Cog- $. 8 2 nizance, as the Church's Supream Head, became alfo, by reafon of the Parliaments co-Jegiilative Power joyned with the Kings-, a thing of the Parliaments Cognizance as well as the King's. Of their Cognizance , not only for the declaring and punifhing , but the adjudging of it. And their Vote herein was joyned at leaft with that of the Clergy, if not in Authority preferred before it j as appears by thefe, and thofe other PafTages in the Statute 25. Hen. 8 14. c. mentioned before . 34 j and in the two Provifos -of the Statute 1. EUz, 1. c. mentioned . 70. And fee the Reafon given by Dr. Heylin, why Parliaments, which in former Ages abftained from them, m this Age of Henry 'the Eighth began to intermeddle in ftating of matters of Religion ( namely this reafon, A new Supream in Scclefiaflical Affairs thenfet up) Engl. Reform. Jufrifed p. 41. Where he firft relateth, out of * Walfngham, how flong fince) WicklefjFj having many 1 Doctrines ftrange and new, which he defired to eftabliih * in the Church of England^ and feeing be could not au- c thorize them in a regular way, addrefled his Petition 1 to the Parliament \ laying this down for a Pofition, That the Parliament might lawfully examine and reform the T) if orders and Corruptions of the Churchy and upon a difcovery of the Errors and Corruptions of it , devefv her of all Tithes and Temporal Endowments , till /he were re- formed. But neither his Petition, nor Pofition (Taith he) found any welcome in that Parliament.- Zand then he goeth on thus \ 1 ' To fay truth j as long ns the Clergy c were in Power, and had Authority in Convocation * to do what they would, in matters which concerned ' Religion , thofe of the Parliament conceived it nei- * ther fafe nor fitting, to intermeddle in fuch bufineft ' ?.s concerned the Clergy ^ for fear of being queftioncd 4 for it at the Church's Barr {the Church being then con* ceived o Concerning the Engliflj Reformation. ceived to have the jufl Supremacy herein : ~] But when that * Power was leflened ^tho it were not loft) bytheSub- < million of the Clergy to King Henry the Eighth, and 'by the Aft of the {.Kings} Supremacy {in matters ' of Religion} which enfued upon it j then did the Par- 1 liament begin to intrench upon the Church's Rights , * to offer at, and entertain, fuch bufinelfes, as formerly 'were held peculiar to the Clergy only \ next to difpute * their Charters , and reverfe their Priviledges , and ' finally to impofe many hard Laws upon them. Thus he. Which Example, of the Parliaments meddling with Opinions and ftating of Herefy, thus begun under Henry the Eighth's Church Supremacy, hath made fome Par- liaments fince alfo Co aftive (with the affiftance of fome Perfons, fefefted by them out of the Clergy, of the fame Inclinations; in altering, modelling, eftablifhing, an Or- thodox Religion : and hath emboldened Mr. Prim flee Hey tin p. 27.) ' to affirm it an ancient, genuine, juft and 4 lawful Prerogation thereof, to eftabliih true Religion c in this Church {by which eft obliging if Mr. Prin means y not judging of Truth and Error in matter of Religion^ but only requiring Obedience to the Judgment of the Church j this is willingly granted to be an ettabliflring-, duly belonging to that Supream Court. } 4 8 , # I have dwelt the longeron the Inftances foremen tion- Whcre ec *> that you may fee , when a Prince ( together with conccr. the his particular Clergy, or rather whom out of them he complants fl^n choofe, without thefe being linked in a due fub- pm* ' fUits or dination to the whole) claimeth fuch a power of com- of his ''abufe P^g Models of Chriflian Faith ^ and declaring all of the su- thofe his Subjects Hereticks , who do not believe and pe.nacy. obey fuch his Determinations , what danger, what mu- tability Chriftian Religion incurrs, ki fuch a Nation , as often as this Supreme and Independent Head is not every way Orthodox. And fo it happened in the Acts of this new-fprung Supremacy of Henry ; that thofe, who much pleafed themfelves 'm it, whilft it run the courfe they would have it, in abating the former Power of the Clergy, in throwing down Monafteries, Religi- ous Concerning the Tinglifih Reformation. 97 ous Vows, Relicks, Images, &c\ yet afterward la* merited it as much, when neceflity of the Kings com- pliance with Forreign Princes, and the influence of new > evil Councilors (faith Fox p. 1056.) made the fame Supremacy produce a- contrary fort of Fruit \ which they could not foeafily digeft. I mean the Six Articles, here alfo pronouncing Herefy to the Oppofers, and pun- ifhing the feme- with .Fire and Faggot: and the Prohi\ri-\ tion and fuppreflion of many Godly Books, as Mr. Fox calls them ; but fulJ of Errors and Herefies, as theSu-' pream Head of this Church, and aljp as Arch-Bilhop Cranmer (whofe Declaration againfl: them fee in Fox] p. 1 1 36. ) then judged them ffome of the Contents of J which Godly Books, as they were then collected by Cran- mer, and other Prelates, you may fee in Fox ibid.) 3 and the Prohibiting all Women, Artificers, Husbandmen , &c, from reading the Scriptures -, of which more anon. Which Supremacy fo ill ufed, as he thought, forced . S4 from Mr. Fox that fad complaint, both, in particular, concerning the Kings impofing of the Six Articles p. 1037. 'That, altho they contained manifefl: Errors, 4 Herefies, and Abfurdities againft all Scripture and Learn- ' ing {whereby we may fee ', how thefe Supream Heads alf may deviate from the truth ; and how dangerous it is tv* commit the Reformation of nil Errors and Herefies int J their hands, who by this Power, inftead thereof, may tnioyn Errors, and Herefies ; and that even againfi all Scripture and Learning (as Henry the Eighth, tho a Scholar, is here fuppojed to have done ', ) and that even to pronouncing thofe Hereticks, that do notfstbmit tofuch Herefy. ,3 (he goes on) 1 Yet fuch was the miferable Ad ver fity of that time, and c pf the Power of Darknefs yet King Henry faid the c times were full of Lighf\ that the fimple Cauie of Truth 'was utterly forfaken of all friends. For every man 4 feeing the Kings mind {who was now the Legiflator in *- Spirituals^ fo fully addicted, upon politick refpe&s, 1 to have thefe Articles to pafs forward , few or none 1 in that Parliament would appear ; who either could j * perceive, that which was to be defended \ or durft NT c dc- $S Otftctr -ing the Englijb Reform at ion.. '.tjpwnd, that they underftood to pe true. And alfo* m general concerning that. Kings -managing his Supre- macy, p. 1036. ( from which Posterity might have learnt feme wifd.ome) c To many (faith he) who be yet alive, c and can teftify thefe things, it is not unknown ; How ' variable t the State of I Religion flood in thefe days:, 'How. hardly, and with what difficulty, it came forth; * .whit chances and changes it fuffered : even as the King 'was ruled, and gave ear, fometimes to one, fometimes 'to another ;. fo, one while it went forward, atano- 'ther Seafpn as nyach backward again ; and fometime 1 ciqaij] ja l$etedr ;aftid 'changed for a Sea-fon*, according as c . they could prevail who were' about the, King. So long. c as C>iieen- Atwe lived, the Gofpel had indifferent Succefs. XJ-itre- (then; the Sufrcam Head of the Church was di- rected by -a Woman } and managed the Affairs ef Religion accordingly,'] 'After that flie , by finite Inftigation 4 of ,fcine-! about, the -King, was made away , the courfe f of the ^pfpel began again to decline-, but that the c Lord ftirred up a in his Stile, the Lird Islirringitf thi zcifrivftifao]} of Wmfaftcr Gardiner; ' V\ and Concerning the Engkftj Reformation. go apdSatan raifng Crom wcl the Fejtiient Adverfaryof Trite Religion. And foraewhat like to Mr. 2cxH is that Saying of Old $. 8f . Latimer to Ridley, p. 1 562, to fhew the rniferable fluctu- ating 'of this Nation, after its having left the reft of che Body -of the, Church, andfet up a new Head for its felf, * I refer you ffaith he) jo your own Experience , to * think of our Country-Parliaments, and Convocations } Q how and what you have feen and heard. The more c part in my time did bring forth Six Articles , for then. 4 the King would fo have it, being feduced of certain- 'Afterward the more part did expel the fame Articles j ' our good Jofus QKing Edward'} willing to nave it fo. 4 The fame Articles now again (alas) [when the Lay * Supreme Head was removed"} another great (but worfej * part hath reftored. O what an Uncertainty is this I Now to proceed in our* Story. By vertue of fuch Supremacy King Henry took away s-%, 28. He freed and difmiffed the Religious therein from obferv- ing thofe Rules of Poverty and Obedience in a Mona- ftick Life, which they had before folemnly vowed : I fuppofe by vertue of that difpenfative Power ; which he rinding annexed to the Pope's, conceived that he in- herited by his, Supremacy. See Fox p. 1235. where 'tis faid, That the Perfons therein bound and profejfed to Obedience to a per f on, place, habit, &c, upon the diffoht- tion appointed by the Kings Majefty y s Authority, as Supream Head of the Church, are clearly releajcd &c. All which things are done by him contrary to the Definitions and Canons of the Church in former Councils, concerning their Interpretation of Sacriledge, and concerning the un- lawful alienation of things, and non- violation of perfons; once dedicated and coniecrated to God : And all which things were done by him without any Conceffion or Ap- probation (that I can find J even of the particular Clergy of this Nation:, and with the great grief 'of the People, faith Lord Herb. p. 277. (thofewho got nothing by this Plunder,) to fee the Monks and Nuns wandring abroad \ and the Churches and Chappels perverted to fecular and pro- fane Vfes. For thefe things fee the Relation of zealous Mr. Fox, $ 83. p 976. c Shortly after the overthrow of the Pope (faith 'hej confequently began by litleand litle to follow the c mine of Abbies and other Religious Houfes in England:, *in aright Order and Method, by Gods Divine Provi- * dence. For neither could the fall of Monaft erics have fol- ' lowed after, unlefs that the Suppreflion of the Pope had * gone before ; neither could any true Reformation of the ' Church have been attempted , unlefs the Subverfion * of thefe Superftitious Houfes had been joyned there- v with. j 2 Concerning the Englijh Reformation. 1 with. Whereupon the fame Year the King, having Tho'. ' Cromwcl of his Council, fent Dr. Lee to vilit the Abbies, ' Priories, and Nunneries in all England ; and to fet at 'liberty all fuch Religious Perfons, asdefired to be free 5 ' and all other that were under the Age of 24 Years : * providing withal, that fuch Monks, Canons, and Fryars, * as were difmifled , fhould have given them by the Abbot < or Prior , inftead of their habit , a Secular Priefts ' Gown , and Forty Shillings of Money , and likewile * the Nunns to have fuch Apparel, as Secular Women ' did then commonly ufe j and be fuffered to go where * they would. ZCromwel faying, Lord Herb. pag. 462. That this Expulfion of the Monks &C was no more than a restoring them to their first Jnfiitntion of being Lay and labouring Perfons j and that they might keep the aufterity ef life, in their feveral Orders, enjoyned them, in any con- dition.'} ' At which time alfo from the faid Abbies, and ' Monafteries were taken their chief Jewels and Relicks, And fee the words of the Statute 3 1. Hen, 8. 1 3. c, where c all and lingular Religious Perfons, of what Order, Rule c or Habit foever, are faid to be put at their liberties 'from the danger, fervitude and condition of their Re- ' ligion and Profeilion, whereunto they were profefled : * and have free liberty given them to purchale to them 'and their Heirs in'Fee-SimpIe, Fee-Taile &c, Mannors, * Lands , &c. in like manner , as tho they or any of * them had never been profefled , nor entred into any * fuch Religion. And for the ground of all this, viz. The Kings conceived lawful Church Supremacy to act fuch things, fee fome of the Forms of the Monks Re- flations tranferibed by Mr. Fuller Chur. Hi ft. 6.1 p. 321. which runs thus. Whereas your Highnefs being Su- pream Head, immediately after Chrifi, of his Church in this your Realm of England, and fo confequently general, and only , Reformator of all Religions Perfons there, have full Authority to correll or diffolve, at your Grace's Flea- ftre and Liberty, all Convents and Religious Companies abufmg the Rules of their Frofeffion &c therefore &c. Now Concerning the English Information. loj Now the whole carriage and pretence of the difTo- tf. g 9 . Jution of thefe Religious Places, if you defire to know ?& ?rtun- ihe Particulars, was this. The King tho having left to *&**/ him a very great Treafure by his Father Henry the Seventh, yet by his high Expences, and frequent'Engage- ments in Forreign Wars and the Interefts of Neighbor Princes, became very neceflitous , and for the continu- ance of the like Expences flood in need of an extraordi- nary recruit. Whereupon, as. fome think, he was firlt invited to this Act, by thofe 40 fmaller Mo naileries,, which he fawWolfey (wholikewife had much ufed in this Affair his diligent Servant Cromwel) had obtained by grant from the Pope, Clement the Seventh, to tranflate this Means of fome of thofe Houfes of Devotion, which in this Nation abounded, to the maintenance of two Coliedges built by him for the advancement of Learn- ing ^ of which Houfes there was more fcarcity. And he is faid to have been excited alfo thereto by Cromwel, Who was now, after Wolfeyh fall, the Kings Servant } one already experienced in this matter ; and who could belt inform concerning the Treafure attainable thereby : efpecially when the King, being now inverted with the Supremacy, could confer on himfelf the fame Difpen- v fation, for taking more , which the Pope had done on IVolfey, for a few. The King knew alfo, that he had the Laity and the Parliament ready to fecond him ; who were willing by any means to remove the burthen of furnifhing the Kings neceflities from themfelves , and to give up the Church's Patrimony to fave their own : and befides, who in thofe days looked , with no good Eye, on the Authority of the Clergy fagainft whom the Commons had formerly put up a Supplication to the lorel Hc * hr King) and the Wealth of the Monafticksj and who *** u * alfo might expect no fmall fhare iri this Booty. And fome reafon he had alfo to hope for the connivance of the Clergy, from the ancient difference, that is between Regulars and Seculars , and from thefe Religious Houfes being exempted frona the Jurifdidtion and Vifitation of Bifliops -j and from the accefs of Benefit, which they might 04 Concerning the Englifi Reformation, might hope from the others mine , to forne places of cure, that were meanly provided for. Add to this } that the number of them in this Nation was conceived to be exceffive, in proportion to a well compofed State, (fothe multiplying of them accidentally being their de- finition): and Laftly ; that thefe Religious Houfes were looked on as the chief Supporters of the Papal Su- premacy, and Oppofers of the Regal Authority in matters Ecclefiaftical : and in Innovations in Religion, their Vow of Obedience to their Superiors leaving them lefs flexible to change, and their Vow of Poverty and Single Life lefs obnoxious to thofe fears in declaring of their minds \ which others are fubject to, in refpeft of their Eftates and Polterity, or their expectation of Pre- ferments. $ 90. Swayed by thefe Motives yet the King invaded not all the Religious Houfes in the Land at once j but firft- be- gan to take Pofleffion of the fmaller Ones, fuch as were under 200/* annual Revenue , and this upon thefe Three i, Pretences (fee Statute 27. Hen. 8. 28. c.) 1. 'That ' the Perfons living therein were very vicious \ whereas (faith that Statute made for the alienation of thefe, before the Attachment of the reft thought on) in the great Solemn Monasteries of the Realm, Thanks be to God y 2f Religion is right well kgft and obfcrved t 2. c That thefe e fmall Societies were not fo capable of Reformation^ the 3. 'greater. 3. That the greater were not fufficiently re- ' plenifhed. Whereupon (Taith that Statute.) the Lords 'and Commons by a great deliberation finally be refolv- 1 ed } That it is andlhall be much more to the Pleafure < of Almighty God, and for the Honor of this Realm, 1 that the Pofleffions of thofe fmall Religious Houfes, 'not being fpent, fpoiled and wafted for the increafe of 1 maintenance of Sin, mould be ufed and converted to ' better ufes - 7 and the unthrifty Religious Perfons fo 'fpending the fame mould be compelled to reform their 1 lives. . 9X. But afterward , the Revenue of thefe by the King fold, fpent, or difpofed : of, the fweetnefs of fuch a con- fider- Qvffcerning the Englifh Reformation. l ^ iiderable wealth already tailed, the Kings great Ex- penses very craving, and his Courtiers and Favourites not. yet fatisfied j from fmaller beginnings he afcends higher; and the great Monafteries alfo begin now to be looked after. And now within three or four years they of the great Monafteries are fb overgrown with vice, that were fo right before j that complaints are made of them : and Vifitors, O-ow^/ being made Vifitor-to*- rd, are fent,both to difcover their crimes, and to reftrain, by certain Injunctions from the King, their former li- berty. Amongft whom many hainous faults (efpecially as for IncontinencyJ are found out: whilft the more notorious Offenders, fomewhat to excufe themfelves, impeached others - 9 and the Religious mutually recrimi- nated one another. Upon thefe Delinquencies now dis- covered in the great Houfes , as before in the leiler; together with many impoftures and fabrications of Miracles, to procure greater rcfort and gain to fuch. Houfes 5, Next, the more digninVd and powerful amongft the Religious are acquainted, what Penalties they have incurred, and have feen already inflicted on others } and that the King, as Supream Head of this Church, might alfo depofe their Societies, alienate and difpofeof their -Eftat.es, as he faw fit, to thofe who would ferve God better ; but that they might one way fooner obtain, both fecurity and pardon for their pall faults, andpro- vifion for their future livelihoods ; if they would rather preventively refign their Foundations and Pofleflions into the King's hands, then ftay to have them by his jult power taken from them: efpecially, fince the King on fuch condition would either totheprefent Incumbents give other Preferments , or allow confiderable Peaflons, equalling their former Income, to the unpreferred, for their lives. And thus ; many, if not all, of thefe greater Foundations having feen already the Idler feized on ; fome perfons having fair hopes of being well provided for, others of Impunity, others alfo defiring more li- berty , and weary of the fetters of a Cloiftered life, odious to the memory of posterity ; in them he feems R 4 C ^ 1 ^ many ways void of excufe. For 1. Fir ft ; For the King's pretences Neceffities, many of them feem to be faultily contracted, I% by (to fay no worfej needlefs expence j and becaufe 'this high-fpirited and valiant Prince would needs en- 'gage himfelf (as Lord Herb. p. 511. judicioufly ob- ' ferves) beyond what was requiiite :, and would be an * Actor for the molt part, where he needed only to have 6 been a Spectator. And methinks thefe things do not fute well together^ to pull down Religious Houfesfor meer neceffity ; and in fuch Expeditions to crofs the Herbert, p. Seas in a Ship trimmed with Sails of Cloth of Gold. 513. Secondly, For the Precedent of Cardinal Wolfcy; 1. ^ 54> 7 . There was nothing done in it, but what was juftifiable u ~ by the Ecclefiaftical Canons : it being lawful in fome Cafes, and on fome Conditions, for the Supreme Gover- nors amongft Church-men to alienate, or rather to tranf. fer from one pious ufe to another, thofe things which are given to them ^ or, being given to God, are in his right poflefled by them, as his Minifters. But hence will it not follow j that .any Lay, tho the Sovereign, O 2 Power, *o& Concerning the English Reformation. Power, who is not the Receiver or Pofleflbr of fuch a Gift, but rather the Doner ( for without the King's v Content the Church receives no fuch Gifts) can after- ward refume from God and the Church the difpofalof it. Here I may fay as St. 'Peter Atts 5. 4. Before it was To bellowed by him, was it not his own} But oncefo pafled away, and his Mort-main allowed to it ; it can- not then be recalled , upon any Secular Title* But 2. Secondly, 1 Suppofethe King Heir to all that Supremacy, which in thefe matters the Pope or other Ecclefiaftical Perfons have formerly exercifed \ yet this Power will not extend to that which the' King' aflumed. For the Pope pretends to no fuch Power, as to alienate the Church Revenues, for to fpend them himfelf^ or to difpofe of them in what manner, or to what Perfons, he pleafeth j but only for fome juft caufe, i. e, in a pru- dential arbitration, for an equal or greater Benefit thence accrewing. to the Church , or Chriftianity. Which alfo was obferved in his conceffion of thofe to Cardinal Wolfey, in a time when Religious abounded, more than Schollars; and by that Conceffion the Church Hill en- joys them. But whither Henry the Eighth's Abbey- lands went, and what ufes they have ferved, we all know 5 and this fome think, to the enriching of few, but mine of many , Noble Families in this Nation. See Dr. Heylins Hifi. of Reform, of Qu. Mary p. 45. and p. 67, 68. . , Thirdly, Neither were the Vices of thofe Religious ~ a fufficient ground of overthrowing their Societies and Foundations j becaufe the King might have punifhed, ejected, changed, the Perfons, without taking away the Houfes or Maintenance (as is frequently done in all So- cieties - 7 and, particularly, in Religious Houfes abroad) *n!efs we will fay, that the Englifh only are in fuch faults incurable. Neither can it be pleaded, That fuch Lands are given to pious ufes with fuch a tacit condition, That, when.abufed, they may be recalled^ fo long as thefe abufes are fome other way remediable : for elfe, what thing is there dedicated to Gods Service } which fome Polfeirors do not, at fome time r abufe ? But if it be faid* that. Conctrnlng the English Reformation. too that the abufe and fault lies chiefly in the very Initia- tion and Laws themfelves of fuch Foundations : Yet are thefe Laws alfo capable of being rectified and reformed, fo as God may be holily ferved in fuch a Monaftick life \ as the Protectants themfelves fay he was, in the Primi- tive times. But, if the Monaftick Laws here were fo corrupt ^ how come the very fame Laws abroad not to produce the fame fruit, in Nations faid to be more in- clined to fuch Vices ? How come thofe Houfes there, to this day to be not only tolerated, but reverenced ? Or how happened, under the fame Laws here, butthre2 or four Years before, in the great Monafteries, Religion^ Thanks be to God, to be right well kept and obferved ? Stat. 27. Hen. 8. 28. c. Butfuppofe the King had questioned the lawfulnefs of thefe Institutions , yet was he no com- petent Judge thereof-, it being a Theological Contro- verfy, and decided on the other fide by the lawful Judge thereof in feveral Superior Councils, as is ihewed in Dif. cohrje of Celibacy. But indeed that which leaves the King the more deftitute of any Apology in this kind is ; that, whereas the chief fault charged upon thefe cloiftered People was Incontinency , the King, whilft he took away thefe Orders, did juftify this Vow, at leaft of^r- fetual Chafiity, to be a Vow lawful, and by every one obfervabte} as you may fee in the fourth of the fix Fa- mous Articles: and ft ill did prohibit all fuch Perfons, as had taken- this Vow, when in Monafteries , From marrying afterward , when they were ejected , con- demning the Tranfgreflors hereof to fuffer death. The Words of that fourth Article are thefe , c That the * Vows of Chaftity or Widow-hood by man or woman * made to God advifedly [_ i. e. as Ifuppofe, deliberately \ ' or-yifyon will, with the approbation of our Spiritual Father^ 4 ought to be obferved by the Law of God , and that 4 i't exempteth them from other liberties of Chriftian 4 People, which without that \Vow~\ they might en- 'joy. The Penalty of which Article was, That if any^ 'after a Vow advifedly made, did marry } info doing *he fhould be adjudged as a Felon, and lofe both Life, '"and. no Concerning the Englijfj Reformation. ' and forfeit Goods without any benefit of Clergy. See Fox p. 1037. Now if any can make this Vow f>d- vifeMyl I fee not how we can fay, that the Monks do not fo - 9 unlefs you will fay, That any Breach of a Vow argues it not to have been formerly made with advice % but then, why are thefe Religious exprefly reftrained afterward from Marrying ? Stat. 31. Hen. 8. 6. c. where alfo \_advifedly~\ feems to be interpreted the vowing after One and Twenty Years old, uncompelled. As for the falfification of Miracles \ to difcover and publifh the Cheat, is fufficient to cure the prefent Fault, and to prevent the like: and when the Images were taken away, the Houfes needed not to be pulled down. ^ 9 ( y . And as unexcufable feems the King to be, in taking away Chaunteries &c, given for the relief of thefaith- ^ ful, deceafed with fomc Imperfections, by the Sacrifice of the Eucharift , and annual Alms, and Prayers offered to God for them ; whilft he allowed a benefit in thefe things,; and himfelf left the like Penfions; and ordered, that the fame things, of which he had deprived others deceafed, mould be done for himfelf , when deceafed ; as you may fee at large in his Will tranfcribed by Mr. F filler. And therefore, whereas Edward the Sixth had thefe things given him again by Parliament (becaufe Henry the Eighth dyed not long after the Donation) upon this reafon ; becaufethe Opinions of Furgatory, and Maffes fatisfatlory to be done for them that be departed, Were vain and fuperfiitions : Stat. I. Edw. 6. 14, C Yet fo it was, that other caufes and other grievances, than thefe, were glad to be invented, to make way for King Henry to lay hands on them. Stat. 37, Hen. 8. 4. c. ;. 97- 4. Fourthly, If it be faid, that the Religious themfelves "" voluntarily refigned thefe Pofleffions into the King's hands (See Stat. 31. Hen. 8. 13. c.) Yet was this Act of their's ( fuppofed never fo free from Compulfion) invalid : becaufe they could not give away for ever , what they had Title to only for term of Life ; neither yet could they alienate them for their lives from that ufe, to which they were dedicated ; without commit- ting Sacriledge. Fifthly, Concerning the Englifh Reformation. rrr Fifthly, Laftly , That which is faid, of an exceffive $. 98. 5. mmber of them in this Nation, if it be a juft Apology for taking away fome, the Supernumerary j yet will it be none, for taking away all the reft. And that which follows, concerning their averfenefi to the King's Refor- mations, is granted j and (hews indeed, that the derno- lifhing of them was to good purpofe for attaining the" Kings ends; but it fhews not, that the demoliming therefore of them is lawful \ unlefs, firft, fuch ends be juftifiable -, and fecondly, cannot otherwife be coinpafled. And thus much of the Kings deftroying Monafteries. By vertue of fuch a Supremacy, by which he was 6. 99 , conceived to hare Power to difpenfe with any, if only ft'* dif- humane, tho Ecclefiaftical, Conftitution (See Stat. 25. P**fi*P*M> Hen. 8. 2 1. recited before . 27,) He made Orders, and cLrlhcl-- gave Difpenfations in matters of Marriage ; againft the no js con. former Ecclefiaftical Canons. See Stat. %z. Hen. 8. 38. c. ehmingMar where it is faid, 'By this Aft we p e. the King and rtagesfafc. ' 'Parliament] do declare all perfons to be lawful, that ^ J J ' be not prohibited by Gods Law, to marry. Of which 'Licence (Taith Fuller Chnr. Hift. 5. 1. p. 236.) the King 'himfelf had thefirft fruits,in marrying Katherine Howard, 'Cofen-German to Anne Bullen his fecond Wife. And you may find, in the Preface of the fame Aft, this urged alfo as. a motive of calling -off the Pope's ufurped Power in fuch matters, 'That King Henry was otherwife by ' Learning; taught, than his PredecefTors in times part ' long time have been. For King Henry was defigned 'by his Father for a Church-man: and during the life %/ 'of his Elder Brother, was educated in Learning, and 'not unftudiedin School Divinity. Lord Herbert's Htfl. 1 p. 2. Therefore in the firft Articles of Religion, which 'he put forth 1536, which were devifedbythe King ' himfelf, and fo recommended to the Convocation 'houfe by Cromwel ("part of which Houfe, faith Lord 'Herb, p, 405, leaned to the Lutheran Doctrine and * Rites,) he took pains to perufe and moderate their Ar- 'guments on either fide, adding Animadverflons with 'his own hand, as may be feenin the Records. And * }IY< Ii2 Concerning the Engliflj Reformation. 1 in the fccond Articles of Religion, called a Necejjary 4 Dottrine for all forts of People, publifhed 1 543. he care- * fully perufed them (faith Dr- Heylin p. 23.) and al- * tere'd many things with his own hand, as appears by ^ ' the Book ilill extant in Sr. R. Cottons Library. And in the Anfwer, which he writ himfelf to the York: fare Rebels offended with the State of Religion, he hath this Claufe } That he marvelled much,that ignorant Teopie would go about to take upon them to tnftrutt him (who had been noted fomething Learned) what the Faith jhould be. With- out which confeioufnefs and efreem of his own Learning and Abilities, it is probable he would have been a more Her. Mi7- dutiful Son of the Church } and never have owned fuch a Supremacy in dating Theological Controverfies, with fuch feveie punifhments to all that thwarted his Doctrines: Whereby he feemed to ad the Part , tho he alTumed hot the Title of the Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury ; to which place his Father is faid to have defigned him.j By ver- tue of the fame Supremacy he made Orders, and gave Difpenfations in matters of Fafts -, of Holy-days 5 of Election and Confecration of Bifhops -, as you may fee in Fox > in the King's Injunctions and" Proclamations p 960. 999V 1 104. and beforein . 36. and . 68. f. too.* s >' vertue of fuch a Supremacy, concerning feveral other Ceremonies, as he calls them, the King fpeaketh F0X/U03J. in this wife, in his Injunctions put forth 1539. 'Com- * manding that the Holy Bread and Holy Water, Pro- 'ceffion, kneeling, and creeping on Good Fryday to ths < Crofs, and Eafter-day fetting up Lights to the Corpus 'Chrifti, bearing of Candles on Candlemas-day, Purifi- 1 cation of Women delivered of Child, offering of Chry- 1 fomes, keeping of the four OfTering-days -, paying their 1 Tithes , and fuch like Ceremonies be obferved and ' kept ; till it mail pleafe the King to change or abro- * gate any of them. [Where note, that as Colledges (Tee before , 87.) fo here Tithes alfo are conceived to be in the difpofal of this Supream Head of the Engliflj Church."} 6 loi. B y vertue or ~ f uc h Supremacy he, without any con- Y. fent of the Clergy, by his Vice-gerent Cromwel, firft, - . order- Concerning the Engiifb Reformation. uj ordered *, 'That Englifh Bibles mould be provided and ' put in every Church - 7 and that the Parfon of the Parifh (fay the Injunctions 1536. and 1538. fet forth byCrom. ' wet) mall difcourage no man from the reading or hear.- ing of the faid Bible :, but fhall exprefly provoke, ftir 'and exhort every Perfon to read the fame, admonifh- * ing them neverthejefs to avoid alj contention and al- ' tercation therein, and to ufe an .honeft fobriety in the 'inquifition of the true fenfe of the fame -, and to refer < the explication of the obfcure places to men of higher * judgment in Scripture. Which Publication of the Scriptures, in the beginning of hisreceffion from Rome, perhaps he was the more inclined to j for two things, wherein he pleaded much their evidence in his juftifica- tion, The one ; That it was unlawful for him to have his See Fqx k Brothers Wife. The Other :, That the Pope could not, by tooo. them, claim any JurifdiUion -over England: He juftly v therefore relinquishing the one , becaufe it was there prohibited -, and difacknowledging the other, becaufe not there ^commanded. Alfo in this Tranflation ("as thofe words 1. Pit. 2. 13: were then, and till theend of King Edward's days, rendred /7icta, 4t Cmfi^vrt, * fitbmit your felves unto the King.) He was declared the chief Head of the Church of England. But thefe words were changed afterward, when Queen Elizabeth had refufed fuch Title, into King as having the Prcheminence, and King at Supreme. But upon what ground foever it was, that he made the Holy Scriptures common to the Vulgar for a time ; ' afterward, when by three or four. Years experience he had feen, that fo many DivilTons came thereby , the unlearned and unftable, now, as in St. Peter's time, 2. Pet 3. 16. wrefiing thefe holy wri- tings, hard in fome things to be widerfiood, to their own deftruttion (when the People had now ceafed to depend on the authoritative Expofition of their Spiritual Su- periors-, efpecially when they had alfo feen the King and his Vicar Crom wel, Lay-men, to judge of the Judg- ments of the Clergy, and to reform their former Er- rors*,) after this experience, 1 fav, by Authority of P the H4 Concerning the Englifh Reform At Ion, the fame Supremacy. 2. He commands again the Scrip* turesto befhutup and withdrawn from them, prohibi- ting, upon the Penalty of a Months Imprifonment tetter quoties, that any Woman, Husbandman, Artificer, Yeo* man, Serving-man , Apprentice, or Journy-man , La- bourer &c % mould read them to themfelves, or to others, privately, or openly } See Stat. 34,.. 35. Hen. 8. 1. c* 'Becaufe, faiththe Preface of that Statute, his High- 'nefs perceived, that a great multitude of his Subjects, ' moil cfpecially of the lower fort, had fo abufed the ' Scriptures, that they had thereby grown and increafed in divers naughty and erroneous Opinions, and, by c occafion thereof, fallen into great divifions and diflen- 1 fions among themfelves. And if you fay , that the Opinions, the King calls here erroneous, were the Pro- tectant Doctrines, difcovered by the vulgar from the new light of the Scriptures } Firft you may fee the very Opini- ons, as the Bifhops collected them, in Fox p. 1 1 36. &c " unownableby anyfqber Chriftian. Secondly, We, who have had fad experience what monftrous opinions the vulgar, by u wrefting thofe,facred Writings, have taken np in our days, may rationally allow the fame inci- dent to former times. Of the fame thing I find that King much complaining, in his Preface alfo to Necejfary BoUrine^ in this manner. c Like as in the time of dark- * nefs and ignorance Zf be calls the ages of the Church 'preceding his own} finding our People feduced from the 1 Truth by Hypoci ify and Superftition, we by the help 'of God and his Word have travelled to purge and * cleanfe our Realm from the Enormities of the fame ; * wherein, by opening Gods Truth with publifhing of * the Scriptures, our labours have not been void and 1 fruftrate : So now we perceive , that in the time of 'knowledge f/o he calls his own times} the Devil hath 'attempted to return again, into the Houfe purged and ' cleanfed, accompanied with feven worfc Spirits ; and ; Hypoctify and Superftition being excluded, we find '. entered into fome of our Peoples hearts aninclina- 'tion to {milter underftanding of Scripture, prefump- ' tion* Concerning the Englifb Reformatio*, n* < tion, arrogancy, carnal liberty and contention; we 4 be therefore conftrained &c. And afterward, Itmuft 4 be agreed (Taith he) that, for the inftru&ipn qf thofe 4 whofe Office it is to teach, the reading and ftudying 'of Holy Scripture is neceffary, but, for the other 'part ordained to be taught, itoughttobe deemed cer- * tainly, that the reading of the Scripture is not fo ne- * cefTary for thofe Folks, that of duty they be bound to 'read it; but, as the Prince and Policy of the Realm * /hall think convenient, fo to be tolerated, or taken 'from it. Confonant whereunto, the politick Law of * our Realm hath now reftrained it, &c. {Where 1 note that he puts the jftft power of this toleration or reftrainttk the States^ not in the Church-men 's y Power. "J See the like complaint made by him in his laffc Speech in Parliament, 1545, Lord Herb. p. 536. 'I am very forry to know 4 and hear, how irreverently that moft precious Jewel 'the Word of God is difputed and jangled in every c Ale-houle and Tavern , contrary to the true mean- ing and doctrine of the fame, I am fure that vertuous * and godly living was never lefs ufed, nor God never * lefs reverenced or honoured. Thus King Henry. l And this-, to (hew you, how and when this vulgar Theology firft began ; and how much then, fo early, it was re- fenteefby the Magiftrate. By vertue of fuch a Supremacy thefe things that $. lo u Kin g did ; fome of them againft the Canons not of Popes, but of the Church Catholick, and of Superior Councils : and as fbme of them with, (for he ufed the confent of his Convocation more than his Succeffor j fo others of them without, the confent of his Clergy ; c whom (faith 'Lord Herb. p. 439.) he every day more and more ' devefted of their former Authority. And, for the beginnings of his Reformation, Arch-Bifhop Parker in his Antiquit. Brittan. p. 325. faith, that Cromwellm, cum Cranmero Archiepifcopo y tanqnam in pnppi fed'tt, clavum* que EccleftdL Anglicans tenuit. Nam Pra2latorum/^j. Now hear the Stile of his Vicegerent Cromwel^ (upon whom , a Secular Perlbn too and unlearned , that the King fliould derive his whole Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction and Authority, you may read, in Lord Herb. Hi(l. p. 402, what a -wonderment it caufed amongft many,, as *a thing in no other time or perlbn to be parallelled ; 'neither in the much pleaded Patterns of the Kings of ' Jjrael , nor in the former practice of Popes.) This Vicegerent thus prefaceth to the Injunctions that were publifhed 1536. 'I Tho. Cromwel &c Vicegerent to our 'Sovereign Lord the King for and concerning all his 'Jurifdiction Ecclefiaftical within this Realm, to the 4 Glory of Almighty God, to the Kings Highnefs's Ho- *nor, the publick Weale of this Realm, and increafe * of Vertue in the fame , have appointed and affigned * thefe Injunctions enfuing to be kept and oblerved of 6 . the Dean, Parfons, Vicars &c, under the pains here- after limited and appointed. And the like Expreflions much whaf are oblerved in the lnjunttions fet forth in Ff.xp.i3oo - 1 53^j * By the Authority and Commiflion of the molt 'excellent Prince Henry r in Earth Supreme Head under ChriH Concerning the Engtifb Reformation. iij * Chrift: of the Church of England, I Tho. Cromwel Vice- gerent &c, do, for the difcharge of the King's Ma jetty, * give and exhibit thefe Injunctions following to be kept 'and fulfilled &c. Firft, that ye fiiall truly obferve c all and lingular the Kings Highnefs's Injunctions given 4 ' unto you heretofore in my name by his Grace's Autho- c rity &c. This is enough to fhew where the legidative Power for Spiritual matters refted in Henry the Eighth's days. After which Injunctions this is Mr. Fox's Epi- phonema. 'By thefe Articles and Injunctions (faith he) ' thus coming forth one after another for the necefTary * Inftruction of the People [butfurely Mr, Fox had here forgot the Contents of the Kings firft Articles (which I mentioned before . 80.) much contrary to the Reformed Doftrines, conformable to the Romijh^ it may appear, how well the King defer ved then the Title of his Supreme Government given unto him over the Church of Eng- land \jbut to moderate Mr % Fox his Acclamations here; let me put him in mind, at another time, in his etteem, how ill he deferred it , remembring his words fet down before . 84.3 ' By the which Title and Authority he did more 'good for the redreffing and advancing of CnrilPs Church ' and Religion here in England in thofe three years -, than * the Pope, the great Vicar of Chrift, with all his Bi- ' fhops and Prelates had done in the fpace of three hun- * dred years before. CHAP. li.S Qonceming the Englifb Reformatio*, chap, v 1 1 1: The Aftings of Edward the Sixth it* Eccle* fiaftkal Affairs. f. 1 04. HP HE Breach upon the Church's former Authority, 2. the a&- 1 Doctrines, and Practices, being thus made by Henry ingi of k. the Eighth, No marvel if by his Succeflbrs it was much Edward in enlarged. Next then to look into the actions of Ed~ callffil's. ward the sixth with relation to Church affairs. This " Prince, being not yet ten years old when he came to the Crown, was chiefly directed and fleered by Arch- Bifhop Cranmer^ and by his Uncle the Duke of Somerjct> who was made Protector of his Perfon and Realm, not by the will of Henry the Eighth, who dreaded to truft any one perfon with this Charge , but by the major part of thofe fixteen perfons, to whom in common he com- mitted the government of his Son and Kingdome. Of which Duke Mr. Fox faith p. 1180 and 1248, *That * he bare great favour to Gods word \ and that he brought * with him, to the State of that his Dignity , his an- * cient love and zeal of the Gofpel and of Religion he * means y reformed. ~\ The proof whereof (faith he p. 1183. c 1184O was fufficiently feen in his conftant ftanding ' to Gods truth, and zealous defence thereof againft the c Bifhops of Chichefier, Norwich^ Liacolne, London, and * others moe, in the confultation \_about compojing a new 'form of adminisiring the Sacrament^ had at Windfor ( in the firft year of the King's Reign. 4 io< n 1. So mc ^' ne d was the Protector \ and fo inclined were many of the Council \ and fome of thofe, who were otherwife , yet openly complyed with the prevailing party for fecular ends ; and, amongft thefe, even Dudley the great Duke of Northumberland, the chief Agent in the later times of Edward ^ who confefled fo much at his death : he then exhorting the people , See Stow An. 1 553- Concerning the "Englifh Reformation. 119 1555. Foxy. 1280. and Goodwin p. 278. ' That they 'fhould embrace the Religion of their Forefathers, re- c je an< ^ thefe contrary to the determinations and de- ingcmmif. cjees of former obliging Councils. Set them forth, fome- fioicrs thro times with the fole authority of this Council} fome- a'dt\ah tunQS alfo with that of his Parliament, without anypr*-- titrefaa* c *dent confutation with, or confent of, I fay not fome ryfifi-ty&c Particular Biihojw, or Divines (molt, of them known- to 'Concerning the Englijb Reformation. 12? to be of the fame inclinations with the Council, as chiefly Cranmer and Ridley^ to whom I may add Lati- mer, Hooper, Rogers, Ccverdale,) but of any Ecclefiafti- cal -Synod of his Clergy (the Ad of which only hath force in fuch matters J and ufually without the prece- dent -confent of other Bifhops very confiderable for their learning or place} as Gardiner Bifhop of Winch eft cr^ Bonner Bifhop of London ; Tonftal Bifliop of Durham-, and one of the chofen Governors of the Kingdome^ Heath Bifhop of Worcefler, and others. Andheimpofed the fame Injunctions fo kt forth upon the Bifliops alfo and the reft of the Clergy 5 to be fubmitted to by them, as being the Orders of their Supream Head in Spiritu- als, upon penalty of fufpenlian, imprifonment^ depri- vation. Of which aftings of the King and State, before we ^ ^ defcend to particulars, hear what Mr. Fox faith in great applaufe of them, p. 1180 , where after having told us, That the Protector had reftored the holy Scrip- tures to the Mother- Tongue, had extinguished and a- bolifhed MafTes , and the Six Articles } * After fofter 'beginnings (faith he) by little and little greater things 'followed in the Reformation of the Churches ; fuch * as before were in banifhment for the danger of the truth, ' were again received in their Country [_to fupply voided * places \ ~\ and to be fhort ("faith he) a new face of things 1 began now to appear, as it were on a Stage, new Play- ' ers coming in [what needed this^ if the old consented to ' the Kings Mandates ? } the old being thrufl out. ^there- fore the confent of Clergy , fo much urged in the later end of this Kings Reign, will he that of the new."} For the ' mofl: part the Bifhops of Churches and Diocefles were 'changed. Such as had been dumb Prelates before, ' were compelled to give place to other then, that would '.preach and take pains. Befides - 7 others alfo out of ' Forreign Countries [which argues fcarcity at home of thofe Clergy, who would fecond the Kings Reformation'} men 'of learning and notable knowledge were fent for and -''received j among whom was Peter Martyr , Martin Q z Bncer t 124 Concerning the Englifh Reformation. Bucer, and Paului Phagim {he might have added to them ^ Bernaidinus Ochinus Cbut that this man would do him no credit,) wh, we read in Goodwin, . 281. was jacked away again with Peter Martyr in the beginning of Queen Mary'j Reign ; and three of thefe, Martyr, Bucer, and Ochinus, were Fryars, forfaking the Cloifter, and marry- ing Wives; after folemn Vows to the contrary. ~\ Of whom '(laith he) the firfl taught at Oxford; the other two 'profefled at Cambridge, \_fure this was fo appointed, not becaufe the Vniverfties here at that time were not heldfo learned, but becaufe not accounted fo orthodox ; 06 appeared fjortly after in the beginnings of Queen Mary, notwithfland- ing Martyrs and Bucers Lettures there.~\ He addeth ; 1 And that with no fmall commendation of the whole 'Univerfity C an d I put in, not without oppofition of many learned men there , difputing ex animo before the Kings Vifners again]} them and their Tenents ; as you may fee in the folemn difputations had in Cambridge, Fox p. 1250. &c. Where I would recommend to your reading, when at leifure, the rational arguings, and Apologies for the Church's ^otlrines, of Dr. Glyn, and Mr. Langdale, and others, Members of the Vniverfity of Cambridge, again/} this re- forming party, and again]} the interlocutions of Bijhop Rid- ley one of the Vifttors. Jls for the Oxford Oppositions , Fcx.u tri e King finding much reluctance and oppofition to them in many alfo of this Miniftery licenced by their Ordinaries, or rather in the Ordinaries alfo themfelves, He, Concerning the Englifb Reformation. 127 He, in the beginning : of the fecond year of his Reign, by his Proclamation February the Sixth, inhibited any 'to preach, except he were licenced under the Seal,, c either of the Lord Protector, or of Cranmer , Arch- ' Biihop of Canterbury. About this "time he reftrained likewife the Bilhops themfelves , thought too actively bufy in feveral places of their Dioceffes, [how doth this agree with Mr. Fox his dumb Pr elates ? See before . 107.]] to preach Only in their own Cathedrals j a thing (faith Winchefter writing to the Protector) the like whereof hath not been known in any time. Some feven Months Fj *M **** after, neither finding thole licenced by the Protector and Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury conformable to the Do- ctrines prefcribed, ' By a Proclamation put forth Sept. '23, he inhibited the whole Clergy thro the Kingdome,. c as well ffaith the Proclamation) the faid Preachers before licenfed, as all others, whofoever they be, to ' preach in open audience, in the Pulpit or otherwife :: [the reafon there given} beeaufe thofe licenced had a- ' bufed the faid authority of Preaching ; and had be- 'haved themfelves irreverently and without good or- * der in the faid preaching ; contrary to fuch good in- ' frructions as were given unto them: [the time ofji- 4 lence there prefcribed} beeaufe that his Majefty minded ' to fee very fhortly one uniform order throughout this 'his Realm, and to put an end to all Controverfies in ' Religion ; for which caufe at that time certain Bifhops-- 'and notable learned men by his Highnefs's command < were congregated , therefore he inhibited them, until ' the faid order (hall be fet forth [which Jhonldjhew them $ ' * what Doctrine they were to -preachy compofed by fomefuch e 4 fiJ? Bijhops and other Learned, as were eletted to this by the Prot e ftant Prince} See the Proclamation in Fuller p. 388. Lib. 7. Divines co*- And thus much of thefirft beginnings and manner of drning K Xing Edward the Sixth's Reformation. In defence of J^J." Fro ~ which I find thefe things faid byDr, Fern, (Confider. mxitmof- of Reform. 2. c. 9. ehr.*) Dr. Hammond, {Schifm 7, C. Relight. 14. .) and others. 1. That thefe In junctions (and the 1. l&c) of the King ;.nd Council were not fet forth; <* but *, by 128 Concerning the Englijh Reformation. by the advice and confent of the Metropolitan, the Arch* Bifliop of Canterbury (to the authority of which Metro- politans much is to be attributed. See Can. 4poft, 34. & and ConciL Nican. 4. c.) and of /3 other Bifhops and y learned men firft confulted with. 2. That y thefe In- junctions were not fet forth, as a Body of Doctrine j which was an Ad of the Synod held in the fifth year of King Edward's Reign: but were Provisional only, for J* the publick exercife of Religion and Worfhip -, which was necefTary to be provided for in prefent. Dr. Fern p. K 74' 75- 3? C That they extended only to fome evi- dent points, the abolifhingof Image-worjlup, the refto- ring of the Liturgy in a known Tongue, and Communion < in both kinds, and the abolifhing of Romifi Majfes -, ( in which things was the main of King Edward's Refor- mation, p. 71 ; ) ( and that in them the King reftored only what was eftablifhed and ufed in the ancient Church. vfa. Divine Service in a known tongue -, Communion } i in both kinds , without I mage- worfhip, p. 76. 4. That the Kings Injunctions were generally received and put in practice by the Biihops in their feveral Diocefles ; as is avouched exprefly in the charge given in againft Gardiner Bifliop of Winchester , p. 77. Fox p. 12 19: where it is faid ; ' That they were of all men of all forts c obediently received and reverently obferved and exe- c cuted , fave only of the Bifhop of Winchefter. AC leaft , that the Kings Injunctions were contented and fubmitted to by the much major part of Biihops-, the Bifhops imprifoned or ejected being a much fmaller num.- k ber compared w 7 ith the reft. Dr. Hammond, p. 147. k And then, that it can make no real difference, whether the Reformation begin from a vote of Bifhops in Synod, and fo proceeding to the Prince be by him received and eftablifhed } or take beginning from the Piety of the Prince, moved by advice of faithful Bifhops, and lb proceeding to the whole body of the Clergy be by them generally received, and put in practice, accord- ing to the command of the Sovereign authority. Dr. ft Fern, p. So, 79. 5. p That, at leaft in the fifth year of Concerning the Eng/ijh Reformation. 129 xtfl&xng- Edward^ it raufl be granted, that an EccJefl- afiicai Synod acknowledged the truth and lawfulnefs of the former Injunctions, conftituting the fame things in rabodyof forty two Articles of Religion: which Arti- cles were ihortly after publifhed by the Kings authority with this Title prefixed. Artie uli de quibus in Symdo London.* An. 1552. ad tellendam opinionum difenfionem 9 & tonfenfnm vers, religionis firmandum, inter Epifcopos C? J alios eruditos vires convener at ^ Regia anthoritate edirt. In the thirty fixth of which Articles is alfo ratified ths fecond corrected Form of. Common- Prayer, and the new Form of Ordination in thefe words: Liber, qui nuper- rime anthoritate Regis & Parliaments Ecclefu Anglkanx tradipw r/?,< continent :modum & for mam orandi, <& Sa*- cr amenta adminifirandi in cclepa Anglicana j fmilitcr & libellm eadem anthoritate editw de Ordinatione Mini- ftrorum Ecclefia?, quoad dotlrina veritatem pit funt, &c. At que idea ah. omnibus Ecclefa Anglicans fidelibus mem- briif & maxime a Minisiris verbi , cum omnipromftitU" dine animorum& gratiamm aUione accipiendi, approbandi^ & fofteritati cummendandi fmt . k And alfo for the firft K Hew Form of Common-Prayer, and Adminiftration of the Sacraments, it mull be granted, that, in the fecond year, and fecond Parliament of the Kings Reign, the whole body of the Clergy in Convocation gave their approbation and confent thereto: as appears both, by the Kings me'flage to the Rebels of Cornwal \ where it is faid , * That what-ever was contained in the new * Common-Prayer-Book &c was by Parliament efta- 'bliihed, by the whole Clergy agreed, by the Bifhcps * of the Realm devifed , Fox p. n 89 : and by the Let-' 1 ter of the King and his Council to Bifhop Bonner 5 where it is faid yet more fully , 'That, after great and 4 ferious debating and long conference of the Bifhops 1 and other grave and well learned men in the holy Scrip- 1 tures, one uniform Order of Common-Prayer and Ad- * miniftration of Sacraments hath been and is molt God- * ly fet forth, net only by the full aflent of the Nobility ' and Commons of the late Parliament , but alfo by the R c Ukc 130 Concerning the Englijh jRjforwatiov. ' like allent of the Bifhopsin the fame Parliament, and c of all other the learned men of this our Realm, in their * Synods and Convocations Provincial. Fox p. 1 186. And fee much- what the fame faid in the Anfwer to the 6.1 ' Lady Marfs Letter. Foxy. 1212. 6. v That, fuch con- fent andfuch Conftitutions of the Clergy of this Realm being not to be denied, at leaftit will follow: that the Reformation,- as touching the Common-Prayer-Book, from the fecond yearof his Reign, and, as touching the other. Articlesof Religion, from the fifth , was regular and canonical ,. as-being the aft of the Clergy. <*. it 1.- Thus have I here put you together the ordinary de- ihe Reply fence (excepting the ultimum refttgium; That Princes iberet . m ^ reform in mattersof Religion and of Faith, with- out and againft the major part of their Clergy , of which' hereafter) which is made for the regularity of Edward the Sixth's Reformation. To which now condder with me, what, it feemeth, may reafonably be replyed : tho feme things cannot be fo fully cleared, till 1 have given you the reft of the Narration of this Kings Proceedings ;.. Xs$lyto a. 10 which therefore I rnufl: refer you for them. To a. then 1 anfwer, That the Arch-Bifhop acted not, in the fetting forth of thefe Injunctions, as the Metropolitan j but as one of the Sixteen Councillors whom Henry the Eighth nominated for the Government of his Son ^ and in the fame manner as he would have acted had he been Bifhop of Afafh or Bangor. Neither are the Injunctions grounded at all 'upon the Metropolitan's aflent, but on the Kings Supremacy \ nor do they make any mention of him or his authority,, but only of. the Council in ge- neral, and of their advice ^ as you may fee in what is before related . 108. Neither were thofe Canons, being of humane conftitution only, conceived, either by King, Council, or this Arch-Bifhop , to be of any force under this Regal Supremacy. Butfecondly, Sup- pofe them in force, and thefe Injunctions publifhed by the Metropolitan's authority \ yet is not fuch authority made valid in fuch things, when fingle, without the con- currence of his Bifliops, by any fuch Canon, For the - very Concerning the Englifo Reformation, tji very fame Canon that faith, Nihil prater Metropolitan* ! ThaCithei few things here mentioned arenot To u the only confiderabte things that palled in King Edwardh Reformation, as will bs fczn by and by ; and as is mani- fcfc Conctrning the- Eagfifb Reformation, rjj fefl in Queen Elizabeth's and the modern Reformation, which our Writers contend fcarce in any thing to differ from King Edward's.. But, if it be meant, that thofe matters were the main of his Reformation in the begin- ning of his Reign, the Doctrines of the Homilies then alfo impofed contradict this j and the Articles to Win. chefrer: before . 108. But now to come to what is faid of the points here mentioned. To (. . That firft, where a pretention is, that the . n6. tw things by the King enjoyned are things evident, and e- To ~ ftabJilhed in the ancient Church , the Clergy alfo ought to be Judge of this (eipeeiaily when the contrary was faid in King Henrys days J whether evident , whether primitive: becaufe to judge whether. primitive requires much learning - 7 and is indeed the chief means, by which Controverfies are decided} namely this, the examining how former Church hath interpreted the Scripurres ; which Scriptures all fides draw to their own fenfe. . Bat fecondly it is denyed, that 2$ the ^Reformation .117. 2* made in the publick Service was eilabliihed in the ancient Church \ and affirmed, that the Reformation proceeded alfo further in thele points , than is here mentioned. Thus much is granted {to remove here that ambiguity and deceit which lies in ilniverfals \): That Images, ^ and To the veneration or worfhip of thorn, werelvety .ie-Idome (if at all) ufed in the Chriftian Church for fome of the firft Centuries. That the publick Communion i was, then, mod commonly, if not always, adminiftred in. both kinds unto the people. That the Divine Ser- vice, which then, as now, was celebrated ufually in the Latine, or Greek, Tongue, was much better, in thofe days, than now, understood of the common people. Likewife it is. granted , That the havingttbe Liturgy, or Divine Service, or the Holy Scriprures, in a known tongue is not prohibited}, nor the ufing of Inrages en- joyned cj nor. the Pr'-eilsoadminiftring: and the Peoples : receivingn-he Communion inboth kinds,; rf' tie Supreme * Church.. Governors fo think fit, declared unlawful , by any Canon of any. Council. . " ' . . But *34 Concerning the Englifb Reformation. \. us. But the Reformation of King Edward in thefe things went further. For it tranflated not (imply the former Divine Service into a known Tongue (a thing which might eafily have been done, for Mr. Fox hiraielf hath done fo much, fee p. 1272 in the beginning of Queen Mary's Reign, to expofe it to laughter and lay open its Errors and Superftitions \ ) but changed and altered it (of which is made no mention in ) talcing away the Laftiy, It held the veneration of Images or Saints Reliques unlawful: contrary to the definition of a former General Council, the fecond Niceney which Council alfo juftifies it by Antiquity. Now King Ed- ward's Reformation proceeeding thus far, you fee, in- terefts itfelfnotonly in nutter of Practice, but Doctrine. And indeed there could be no fuch neccflity pretended of reforming the publick Service in fuch a manner, had they not judged the former frame thereof to be ground- ed on fome erroneous opinions. But, had the Refor- mation only tranfla ted the former Church Liturgies and Scriptures into a known Tongue -, adminiftred Com- munion in both kinds; thought fit not toufe Images; changed fomething of practice only without any de- * ceffion from the Church's Doctrines .- 'tis probable, the Church-Governors would have been facile to li- cence thefe, where they could be fecure of no breach in greater, matters. To . That the words urged out of the charge $. IT9 , sgainft Winchefier prove not the Clergy's reception of, To- ; r fubmifllon to, all the Kings Injunctions touching the Where Reformation -, but only to the firffc Injunctions.. That concerning whether they be extended to the firft, or to all, they muft ^fjj/ be underftood in fome- fuch fenfe, as this; That at that and clnfent time, when this charge againft Winchefier was drawn, totbeKiiv there were as yet none other known to the Council that Rffoma. did by open V rote si at ion and Letters fas it follows in that h0lti " charge) Jhexv a wilful difobedience thereto &CY Or elfe the verity of them will not confilbwith the ftorv of thofe times ;. which often fignify a great oppofitior^nd averfe- nefs, ^6 Concerning the Englifij Reformation. nefs, in many of the Clergy befides Wixchcfter, to the Kings proceedings in the alteration of Religion-, fo far as that many Were filenced, fufpended, impriioned,' ejected out of their Spiritual Preferments tor this cauit. 1*0, For evidencing which-, fee firfl: in Fox p. 1192. Bi- fhop.Bomirh protection concerning thefe firft Injuncti- ons and Homilies, when they were tendered unto him by theCommiffioners ; which proteftation. was fo for from being interpreted an obedient reception or reverent observance of them \ that for it he was lent to the Fleet. And what was' done by Gardiner and Bonner, leading Bifhops , that it was done alfo by many others, I pray you review Mr. Fox's words before recited . 107. That for the mofl pari the BijJiops of Churches and Dioceses were changed {[which you may compare with what is laid before (. 107.) of the many new Bifhops made by King Edward.] That Learned Men were fentfor out of forrei^n Countries ; furely not becaufe the Leaders of the Uni- verfities were not fo well ftudied (fee their Difputations) but becaufe not lb conformable to the new preicriptions. That of the old 'Bufrops 1 fome were committed, to one ward, fome to another: where he names Bonner, Gardiner, Ton- fial; but might have mentioned alfo Heath, Day, Vefy, that we know of. And to the fame purpofe much-what fpeaketh Godwin p. 223. A, D. 1548} who after ha- ving commended Day and- Tonflal for very learned Pre lates, faith, That the drift of the puntfhmcnts of fuch 'men, when in Henrys time they were accounted the 'chief Lights of our Church, he conceives to have been, ' that the reft of that Order might by their Example 4 be admonifned, without dilfimulation, either to reOgn 'their Bifhopricks toothers that were thought [by the *prefent times'] more worthy, or be induced [by this * terror] to conform themfelves to the prefent Refor- mation of the Church, according to the prefcript of ' the Laws in that behalf lately enacted fi. e, by Parlia* *ment.~] Thus he. But that the imprifonment of thefe or of fome other Clergy, as alfo that the diflent of many others to tilings iRJuncticws, who were not as yet.im- prifoncd Concerning the Englifh Reformation, Ij7 prifoned for it, preceded the confirmation of thefe In- junctions by any Act of Parliament or Convocation, appears from the very Act it feif. 2. Edw. 6, 1. c. Where the Parliament defires of the King, * That all perfons 'that have offended in the Prcmifes \j. e, in refnfmg the Form of Common-Prayer, or at leafi of the Mafs, in*' Fox p. 1184 fofed by the King before this Att~\ other, than fuch per- 'fon or perfons as now be and remain (faith the Act)' ' in the ward of the Tower of London, or in the Fleet, 'may be pardoned thereof. Some Clergy therefore were imprifbned for this caufe before this Act : and more alfo had ofrended in this matter,, than thofe who were imprifbned ; whofe pardon here was begged by the Par- liament. Which reluctance of the Clergy may be~feen alfo in f u*. what Mr. Fox relateth p. 1 184-, who, after he hath firft told 11s, how a new Form of Communion was agreed on by certain learned men appointed by the King (which Form, you muft know, was not allowed, or feen, by the firft Parliament of King Edward \ which Parliament ap- pointed Communion in both kinds indeed ; but this might have been obferved without altering or adding one Syllable to the Msfs) and enjoined by the Council to be duly executed both by the Bifhops and their fubordmate Clergy, thus complains , * Neverthelefs ' (faith he ) as at no time any thing can be fo well done 'of the godly, but that the wicked will find fome means ' to deface the fame : fo likewife at this prefent, thro ' the perverfe obftinacy and dhTembling frowardnefs ' of many inferiour Priefts and Miniiters of Cathedral ' and other Churches of this Realm, there did arife a 'marvellous Schifm and variety of faihions incelebra- * ting the Common Service, and adminiftration of ' the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of 1 the Church. For fome zealouily allowing the Kings ' proceedings , did gladly follow the order thereof-, 'and others, though notfo willingly admitting them, 'did yet dilTemblingly and patchingly ufe fome part of * tbem : but many carelefly contemning all would ftill S exer- 1 3S Concerning the Englijh Reformation. 4 ' ' exercife their old wonted Popery [}. e, in other lan- guage, would ftill retain the former fotemn Church Service.] Thm He. Now this variety of fafhions on- ly mentioned by Fox if you defire more particularly ro know j we find a more punctual relation thereof in Parfons 3. Converf. of England, 2. Part, 12. Chapter. ! What a Babylonical cpnfufion (faith hej in the two firft * years of the Kings Reign enfued upon thefe innova- c tions in all Churches, is wonderful to recount. For 1 fome Priefts faid the Latine Mafs , fome the Englifh ' Communion -, fome both ; fome neither ; fome half 1 of the one, half of the other. This was very ordinary, 1 to fay the Introitm & Confiteor in Englifh -, and then 4 the Collects, and fome other parts iri Latine : after * that again, the Epiftles and Gofpels in Englifh, and 1 then the Canon of the Mafs in Latine *, and laftly the * Benediction and laft Gofpel in Englifh, But that which 1 was of more importance and impiety ; fome did con- 1 fecrate Bread and Wine, others did not : but would 1 tell the people before-hand, That they would not con- ' fecrate, but reftore them their Bread and Wine back * again, as they received it from them-, only adding ''to it the Church's benediction. And thofe, that did * confecrate, did confecrate in divers forms ; fome aloud, fome in fccret , fome in one form of words, fome in * another. And, after Confecration, fome held up the 4 Hoft to be adored after the old fafhion, and fome did * not ; and, of thofe that were prefent, fome did kneel 4 down and adore, others did fhut their eyes , others 4 turn away their faces, others run out of the Church c crying Idolatry. Hitherto Parfons. View alfo Dr. Hey- 1 Uns Hi ft. of Reform, p. 63.74. concerning this matter. Whereby we fee how averfe and unfatisficd divers of the Clergy were with the Kings alterations. . $. us. And this not only before his new Liturgy is faid to be confirmed by Act of Parliament and Convocation ; but after alfo. For afterward we find the King and his Council, in their Letter to the Bifhopof London, Fox p. 1 1 3 6. complaining . < That it was no fmall occa- 'fioa Concerning the Enghjb Reformation, I j 9 fion of forrow unto them to underftand by the com- * plaints of many that the faid Book, fo much travelled * for, remaineth in many places of the Realm , either * not known at all, or not ufed -, or if ufed, very fel- ' dome ; and that in fuch a light and irreverent fort, ' that &c. The fault whereof \Jay they to the Bijhop~J 4 we muft of reafon impute to pou, and others of your * vocation. And thus Fox in the fame Page. ' What * zealous care was in this young King concerning Re- * formation by thefe Injunctions it may right well ap- * pear. Whereby we have to note not fo much the care- 'ful diligence of the King and his learned Council, as ' the lingring flacknefs and drawing back on the other * fide of divers, but efpecially of Bilhops, and old Po- * pifll Curates \he meaneth the Clergy, fuch as had not been changed by King Edward ; J by whofe cloaked * contempt, wilful winking, and ftubborn difobedience 4 the Book of Common Prayer was, long after the pub- Mifhing thereof, either not known at all; or elfevery ' irreverently ufed throughout many places of the Realm. And the fame thing may be collected from the many Ri- fings in feveral Counties, that were in King Edward's days, chiefly for matter of Religion. Firft in Somerfet- Shire and Lincoln-hire \ then in Effex , Kent , Suffolk^ Norfolk^, Cornwall and Devon-ihire ; and afterward alfo in 2VJhire. Which Rifings of the Laity in fuch num- bers for their former way of Religion would not have been, had not their Clergy juftified it unto them. To thefe give me leave to add yet further the tefti- < inony of Bifhop RidUy, one who knew well the pulfe of thofe times, in his Treatife, lamenting the State of England, apud Fox p. 16 16. ' Even of the greateft Ma- ' giftrates (faith he) fome fpurned privily ; and would 'not fpare to fpeakevilof thofe Preachers, who went 'about molt wholibmely to cure their fore backs. As for the common fort of other inferiour Magistrates, 'as Judges &c, it may be truly faid of them, as of the 'molt patt of the Clergy, Parfons, Prebendaries, Arch- deacons, Deans, yea and I may fay of Bifhops alfo \ I S 2 fear 140 Concerning the Englifh Reformation. 1 fear mc, for the mod part (altho I doubt not , but f God had, and hath ever whom he in every ftate know- ' eth to be his) but for the raoft part, I lay, they were ' never perfwaded in their hearts, but from the teeth 1 forward, and for the Kings fake, in the truth of Gods * word \j. e. in the Proteftant tenents 5 ] and yet all 'thefe did difTemble C** meaneth many, for of all it is 'not true. See before . 107-] and bear a Copy of a * countenance, as if they had been found within. Hither- to Bifiop Ridley. Where note \ that fome outward compliance, at the firft:, of thofe Bifhops , who made an open oppofition afterward , might be upon a fair pretence , becaufe the firft A&s of the Reformation might be not fo unfupportable, as the later : for the Reformation winded and infinuated it felf into the com- mon practice by certain gentle degrees ; the greateft blow to the former doctrine and difcipline of the Church being given in the later times of this Kings Reign, when it was now by fome fuccefs grown more bold and con- fident. But however ip be ^ fuch compliance, ufed for a while, but afterward renounced, does avail nothing the Proteftant caufe : ilnce the later judgment in fuch mat- ters is to be taken , efpecially where it is no way cor- rupted by, but proceedeth againft, fecular advantages* Again ; the perpetual outward compliance of fome o- ther Bifhops contrarily affected, fince there preceded before it penalties, and fears,and the feeing of the prime Bifhops to be imprifoned and ejected for ftanding out, is far from an authentical confent, and unjuftly reckoned as fuch. For tho none can know mens hearts but by their outward appearance j yet where mens votes are asked after penalties, imprifonments of others, threats &c, which are foftrong motives of diflimulation: now all that conform in thefe, are to be prefumed compilers 5 and none free voters . ^124; This teftimony. of Bifhop Ridley's I will fecond with Mr. Fuller s Chnr. Hifl. 7. 1. p. 414. 'We find (faith 'he) the Bifhops {ofthattime^ divided into three forts, * Zealous Proteftants, Cranmer., Ridley, Hooper, Farrer, p> 1 1* Concerning the Englifb Reformation, 14 1 ' Sec {but thefe named were made Bi flops, or conjecrated (as Ridley J in King Edward'/ time, all fave Cranmer") : 'Zealous Papifts, Bonner, Gardiner, Tonfial [he might have named fo many of the refi as were then e jetted for their Religion \ Voicy, Heath, Day] : Papifts in their hearts, * but outwardly conforming to the Kings [EccleJiajlical'J ' Laws , as Heath then Bifhopof Worcester [.yet Heath was ejeEled~\ and many other Bifhops \_amongs~i whom, elfewhere he numbreth, Sampfon Bijloop of Coventry and 8 - ' Lichfield, {of whom Godwin in Catalogue of Bifhops faith $ ' That he began to mew himfelF a Papift in the 'iecond year of King Edward, and was put out of the Prefldentfhip of Wales.) Capon Bifiop of Salisbury , Thirlby Bijhop of Norwich, Buddy Bijhop of Bangor -, add Parfew Bifiop of Afaph, Kitchin Bijhop of LandafF, Aldrich Bijhop of Carlile, Goodrich Bijhop of Ely, Cham- bers Bijhop of Peterborough , King Bijhop of Oxford ; who all returned to the profeffion of the old Religion in Queen Mary's days. ' Some of thefe forenamed flinging up a 1 good part of their lands to keep their ground, and com. 'plying with the Kings commands fo coldly and with 'fuch reluctancy, as laid them open to the fpoil, tho 'not to the lofs, of their Bifhopricks, as Dr.Heylin re- lates it in Hijl. of Reform, p. ioo.] ' And here it is wor- ' thy of enquiry (faith Fuller) why this later fort, which 'focomplyed under King Edward, mould be fo ltubborn 'and obftinate under Queen Elizabeth: whereof I can * give but this reafbn afligned ; that growing old and ( 'near their graves they grew more confeientious and * faithful to their own ( tho erroneous ) Principles. Thm he* I add \ to the open maintaining of which Princi- ples, their long experience, having feen the arbitrary and floating flat e of Religion under a Jecular Supremacy, in their old age excited them. Laftly, for the inferior Clergy, tho many of them , doubtlefs were changed in King Edward's days : yet fo- many of them then remained ftill of the old Religion, either in heart, or alfo in profeffion, that a Synod be- ing called within five or fix days after Queen Marys Cora* 142 Concerning the Engliflj Reformation. Coronation , before any new moulding of this Eccle- fiaftical body, all of them, except fix, voted againft King Edwards Reformation : See before . 51. To which may be added the zeal and forwardnefs of the Clergy and People at the fame time preventing the Queen's Edicts, in erecting again the Altars, and ufing the Mafs and Latine Service &c, (of which fee HeyUn Hifi. Q Mary, p. 24J All which could not have hap- pened fo fbon after King Edward's death , if during his life they had all fo really and unanimoufly received and obferved it. Which Reformation alfo the Lady Mary, in her Letter to the Council, who blamed her for in- conformity to the Kings laws, intimates ; that it was not done without partiality, nor confented unto with- out compulfion. See Fox p. 12 12. ' I have offended no * Jaw (faith ihe) unlefs it be a late law of your own ma- * Jring, for the altering matters of Religion : which is * not worthy to have the name of a Law -, both for &c 7 * and for the partiality ufed in the fame. But I am well 'allured, that the King his Fathers Laws were all al- * lowed and contented to, without compulfion, by the c whole Realm, both Spiritual and Temporal &c. Thus the Lady Mary, An. Dom. 1549. which calls to my re- * , - y membrance what Mr. Fox faith in commendation of the * s Protector : That, in the first confultation about Religion had at Windlbr^ he, in the zealots defence of Gods truth, eppofed the Bifiops. I have here on purpofe thrown to- gether thus many teftimonies , to give you a fuller view of the Clergy's temper in the time of thofe innovations *, and to manifeft the more , how neither the Prelates (except thofe new ones, whom King Edward advanced) , nor the inferiour Clergy, neither at firft, nor at laft, were fo conforming to the Kings proceedings, as is pre- tended out of the charge againft Winchefler , That the Injunctions were by all of all forts obediently received &C. 1*6. i. To 9. Firft , That whereas there was many Acts To 0. of Reformation from time to time fet forth by King Edward ; we do not find, that the major* part of the Ckrgy/, in any Convocation or Synod before the fifth year Concerning the English Reformation. I43 year of the Kings Reign, is pretended to have confented to any of them, fave one ; namely the new Form of C ommon-Prayer and Adminiftration of the Sacraments, in the fecond year of the King : and that confent was a]fo had after this Book was, firft, palled and made a Law by Act of Parliament ; as may be gathered: 1. 1. Both by the Act, which mentions only the compofing *~ of this Book by Bifhops and other Learned men (which were in ail fourteen, whereof feven Bifhops^ two of ,. which were C ran mer and Ridley) but not any concur- s ^j .??", rence or authority of a Synod. ('But, had the decree of Synod preceded the Act of Parliament ; this, which was more, would rather have been mentioned, than the other , which was lefs. ) and which Act alio by vertue of it felf, fee before .40. not of any Synodical Act, confers authority on the Clergy to excommunicate the Oppofers of this Common-Prayer-Book. 2. And 2. by the manner of fending to the Clergy the fecond re- formed Common- Prayer- Book in the fifth year of King Edward; which was authoritate Regis & Parliaments; as you may fee in the 36 of the 42 Articles, Liber qui mt- perrime authoritate Regis & Parliament* Ecclefia* Angli- cans traditus eft, fimiliter & libellm eadem authoritate editus de Ordinatione Miniftrorum quoad dottrina veri- tatempifunt &c. Which ftile differs much from either of thefe, A Rege & Parliamento Ecclefta Anglicans tra- ditut ; *". e, that it might be eftablifhed by the Church's authority ; or ; Ab Ecclefia Anglicana Regi & Parlia. memo propofitus, i. e, that,being eftablifhed by the Church, it might be enjoyned alfo, under temporal punifhments, by the State Laws. Neither do the words following in that Article (Tee them recited before no.j Ex- prefs any authoritative ratification, but only a fingls teftimony of their judgment concerning thole Forms , or fay any thing which any other perfon, void of au- thority, may not ufe. Now of this confent of the Con- vocations-, Art. 1549. to the Act of Parliament, and to the draught of the fourteen Compofers of the firft" Common- Prayer-Book^ a chief motive, Cbefides fear of punifh- 144 Concerning the Engliflj Reformation, punifhment in difobeying the King and Parliaments In- junctions or Laws,,) was, as I conceive, this ^ becaufe this new Form contained in it only the omiffion of feme former practices of the Church fas likewife the later Common-Prayer-Book more omifilons) but no decla- ration againft any former Church-practice or Doctrine ; Sett 7 f wWG ^ I fliall fay more by and by. And had King ' Edward's Reformation been content to have ftaid here, 'it had been much more tolerable (thothefe omiflions I excufe not, as faultlefs,. or not offending againft former Church-Canons : ) But his Reformation proceeded much further, to the condemning alfb of the Church's tenents and practice ; which cannot be fliewed to have been ratified by the firft Clergy of King Edward till the fifth year of his Government - of which I mall fpeak here- after. But, as for any other confent of the major part of the Bifhops or Clergy, proved to be yielded to the Kings other Injunctions, from the paucity of the num- ber of thofe who were imprifoned, or ejected, in com- parifon of the reft ; the argument is not good. Firft, Becaufe many more might diffent, and refufe obedience thereto, then were ejected or imprifoned or queftioned for it. Might ? Nay did diflent ; for the Parliament beggeth their pardon; fee before . 120 : and it is ac- counted a prudent policy of State, where very many are guilty, only to punifh fome of the chief for Example fake. Secondly , And again many more might be ejected, or queftioned for this, than are by name mentioned in Fox or others : and were fo ; if you confider the tefti- monies before cited. Thirdly, But fuppofe only a few tff the Clergy imprifoned or ejected \ yet as, where all. the reft unanimoufly accord, this reftraint of a few chan- geth not the Church-afFairs : fo when fuch a body is di- vided, and all the reft arenotof one mind-; this with- drawing of a few, efpecially if thefe be the prime Lead- ers, and the introducing of fo many new voters, who are of a contrary perfwafion, into their rooms, (fuppofe, taking away fix old Bifhops, and putting fix new ones in their places) may render that, which was before a major Concerning the Englifb Reformation. 145 major and the more prevalent, now a lefler and a weaker, part j and confequently, if they be unjuftly withdrawn, will render the Aft of this major part invalid. Secondiy,Thatfubmittance of Convocation to the new i: . tv < Form of Common-Prayer &c. may not be reckoned for a lawful Synodical Act j becaufe of the violence ufed formerly npon the Clergy, inforcing, as other Ecclefi- aftical Injunctions of the King, fb alfo, the new Form of Communion, before it was propofed to any Parlia- ment or Convocation ^ for proof of which I refer you to the former teftimonies \ that I may fpare the ttdium of repeating them. But what the inclinations of the old Clergy were (for I fpeak not of the new induced by little and little into their places by King Edward) if the hand of violence and threats of a new law-giving civil-power had been removed from them (touching which fee their fad complaint before . 47 ) may be gathered, 1. both From what they did immediately before King Edward's days in their eftablifhing by Con- vocation the Stx Articles } and the Necejfary Dottrine; 3 1 - H - n - 8 * And 2. From what they did in King Edward's days ; I4 * * in the very beginning of which Arch-Bifliop Crmmer called a Synod of them, wherein he endeavoured to have effected a Reformation, but could not : See Antiquit.- Brittan. p. 339* And you fee by the Teftimonies fore- cited, how many fuffered for oppofing the Kings Injuncti- ons, and particularly this new Form of Common-Prayer ; and how many more of the old Clergy are faid to have oppofed them in every place, where they might hope for impunity \ (infomuch as that this Book in many places was not fb much as heard of:) and how a major part even of the Bifhops are by Proteftants confefied in their conformity only to have ufed an outward com- pliance and diflimulation. Laftly 3- From what they, fo many as remained of them, did immediately after King Edward s time, fo foon as this Yoke of fear was re- moved in the entrance of Queen Mary, at which time they threw-off their former vizards \ and plainly renoun- ced not only the reft of the Reformation, the fruity T btft 146 Concerning the Englifb Reformation. but alfo the Regal Supremacy (i. e, quoad talia) the root. Nor could fear, when the Sovereign power re- changed, ever make them (taught by long experience) to take up again their former difguife : amongft whom the major part of thofe feven Bifhops chofen tocompofe the new Common-Prayer-Book, who furvived to Queen Mary's days, namely Day, Ihirlby, and Goodrich (Skyp Bifhop of Hereford, and /^fc^Bifnop of Lincolne being dead before) deferted this new Form, and returned a- gain to the Mais. And it is probable, that fome of thofe Bifhops, who by Queen Mary were ejected for Marriage (fome of them even after a Monaftick profeffion) con- formed themfelves Hkewife to the old Religion : becaufe tho they lived here at home infoinquifitiveand fevere times, we find not, that they were reftrained,, or pro- ceeded againft as Hereticks. Such were Kolgatc, Bird, Bupj, &c. $. 128. Now - 7 fince fuch were the inclinations of all or moff: of King Edward's firft Clergy , and to be fwayed only from the profeffion thereof by fear . no marvel, if his Council went about reforming (at the firft) by vertue of the new Supremacy, before the calling of any Synod ; fave that wherein Arch-Bifhop Cranmer was fruftrated of his intentions. And Dr. Fern, Exam. Champ. 2 . c. . 8, makes this Apology for fuch proceeding. ' That 4 Reformation of Gods worfhip may be warrantably 'done without a foregoing Synoctica] vote; where there 'is juft and apparent caufeof fearing more danger from ' the perfons, which are to be convocated, and the times 4 wherein they are to aflemble. To which purpofe * f faith he) founds that known complaint of Naz,ianzen 7 That he faw no good end of Councils [fpoken by reafon of the prevailing fattion of the Arrians in his time"] We can- 'not fay the Sovereign Prince is bound iiv the way of 'prudence always to receive his directions from a vote *in a Synod-, efpecially where there is juft caufeof fear XJftypfe, that he means Fear, that the Synod mil go con- trary to what the Prime thinks to be right : ~\ but he may 6 .have greater reafon to ask advice from perfons free from ' f the Concerning the Englijh Reformation. itf < the exceptions of fa&ious interefb \ to which the 'moll of them that mould meet are apparently obnoxi- * ous. And (faith he) how far this was confiderable * in the beginning of King Edward's Reign i. e, tiff the King had otherwife moulded the Members of the Synod*} ' or whether fuch fear made them forbear to put it ac 5 firft to a Synodical Vote , I cannot fay. Tims Dr. Fern 4 And much- what in the fame manner doth Dr. Heylin, $. u 9 . Ecclef. Vindic. 2. Par, 5. . p. 82. difcourfe of King Edward's Reformation (to (hew you, that our modern Writers are not without fome apprehenfion of the neg- lect of the Church authority in it.) * Which reviving ' (faith he J of the ancient Forms of Gods worfhip rather c than the introduction of a new, as the King {EdwardJ 'did here in England by his own authority, the body ' of the Clergy not confulted in it ; fo, poffibly, there * might be good reafon, why thofe, who had the con- * duct of the Kings Affairs, thought it not fafe to put * the managing of the bufinefs to a Convocation , {and then having jhewed that fuch change of Religion would be both againft the refutation and profit of the Clergy, he goes wr.jj So that as well in point of reputation, as of profit, * befides the love which many of them had to their for- ' mer Mumpfimns, it was molt probable ^ that fuch an * hard piece of Reformation would not eafily down, had 9 it been put into the power of a Convocation , efpeci- ' ally under a Prince in nonage, and a State unfettled. Thm he* As for that which afterward he faith : Thfo this was faffed by the Bijhops, when it pajjed in Parliament \ the Bifhops making the moil confiderable part of the Houfe of Peers, It is anfwered by what hath been faid before . 11. n. 2. And what he faith, That allwat confirmed by the Clergy on the Poft-fatb in the Convocation of 1552; mall be anfwered by and by . See like wife what the fame Dr. faith on the fame fubject in 1. Par. 6. . p. 365 where, after doubting, whether feveral particulars of Kiug Edward's Reformation were done of the Kings meer motion, or by advice of his Council, or by Confuta- tion with his Bifhops j (For (faith he) there is little left T 2 -upon sqZ Concerning the Englijb Reformatio*. upon record of the Convocation of that time, more than ths Articles of the year i 5 $2) He fpeaks alfo of Queen Eliza* bet lis Reformation done after the fame fort , * Thus ' alfo (faith he) in Queen Elizabeth's time, before the *new Bifhops were well, fetled, and the Queen aflured i of the affection of her Clergy j me went that way to c work in the Reformation, which her two Predeceflbrs c \Hemy and Edward ~\ had done before her, in the well * ordering of the Churchy (he publilhed her Injunctions &c. But when the times were better fetled, and the 'firft difficulties of her Reign palled over \ ihe left 1 Church-work to the difpofing of Church-men : who ' by their place and calling, were molt proper for it ; c and they being met in Convocation did make Canons c &c. And thus if a Prince, according to the Seel which himfelf and his Council favours, may take the liberty, with coactive power, to reform at the firft againft his Clergy : he, within a fhort time no doubt,, may fecure- ly leave the Church-xvorkjo Church-men (as the Dr. faith,) and juftify his Reformation by his Clergy, that is, ei- ther changed firft \ or terrified. $. 130. To. x. Thefe two I grant differ little. * The Cler- ic x. gy's firft motioning to the King, * or, The King's firft motioning to the Clergy, a Reformation of fomething in Doctrine or Manners \. fo that the Clergy, uncom- pelled or forced by the King, eftabliih it, before it be .enjoyned, or impofed on, any, to be obferved. But this following differs from the former toto coelo : viz.. When the King, directed by fome particular Bifhops,. ("whom he thinks good to advife with,) propofeth to the Clergy a Reformation in Doctrine, not to be confulted an by them and their judgment to be exhibited to him ; (upon theafTcnt or deny al of a major part of whom, as having in thefe things the legiflative power, fuch Re- formation may be eftablifhed or laid afidej but to be obeyed and fubmitted-to by the Clergy y as the King having the legiflative power iq thefe things by his Ec- clefiaftical Supremacy ; to be obeyed and fiibmitted to b.y them, upon penalties of fufpenfion, imprifonment^ depri- Concerning the English Reformation. 149 deprivation, &c. and when upon this in the ifTue (after fome of the Clergy punifhedj the reft do conform to the Kings commands. Now which of thefe two were the proceedings of King Edward - I refer the matter to the Story of thofe times, and the teftimonies above produced. Firft, And note here, i That tho the whole Clergy $. IJl4 fhould have fubmitted to fuch a Reformation \ yet can- 1. not it be faid to be their authentick Act at all j or to- be done, but fuffered , by them : as long as anothers command and force comes in ; efpecially, where an after departure of a many of them mews us, that their former compliance was feigned. 2. That tho the fub- 2 i mittance of the' whole Clergy to fuch a Reformation had been ex ammo and voluntary j yet this rendereth not the former Impofition or Injunction of the King lawful or obligatory . the lawfulnefs or unlawfulnefs of which cannot depend on an after cafual event. For I ask : Suppofe the Clergy generally had oppofed them, were thefe Injunctions juftly impofed upon them by the King or not ? If not } Then neither were they juftly impofed, tho the Clergy had confented - becaufe im- pofed before they confented, whofe confent is heldne- eeflary, that they may be juftly impofed, But, if juftly impofed ; then why is the Clergy's confent or reception- of fuch Injunctions at all urged here to juftify them ? Suppofe a Prince mould firft decide fome Theological Controverfy - and then require fubmiffion thereto, juft on the fame fide affirmatively or negatively, as a Synod ol the Clergy would have done both thefe ; yet thus,, he taketh their office not rightly -, tho he managetrr it notamifs. And fuch Act will not be allowable v becaufe. to the juftifying of an action two things are requifite : That the thing be right which is done \ That the perfon have lawful authority to do it. 3. That the King or State never fought-for, or pre- & r 3 z tended the Synods confent , as authoritative to make 3. the Kings or their Ecclefiaflical Injunctions lawful or obligatory : but required the duty .of their obedience. 60 l$o Concerning the Englijh Reformation. to thefe Ads of the Kings Supremacy 7 which Supre- macy was confirmed both by the Clergy's Recognition and Oath. Which thing is fuflkiently mani felted j in that many of the Kings Ecclefiaftical Injunctions were fet forth, and did exact the Clergy's obedience to them, before any Synods confent given or asked 7 and when it was yet uncertain, whether a major part would ap- prove, or condemn them. But, if you deiire further evidence thereof, I refer you to the matter delivered before, In . 40, 41. &c 7 where you may fee the Par- liament Acts eftablifhing fuch Laws, without pretend- ing or involving any Synodal authority 7 nay giving authority by vertueof fuch Act to the Clergy to execute fuch Laws 7 and In . 45 j where you may fee, why it was necefTary, according to their principles, that they mould do fo 7 and In . 45 7 where you may fee, the obedience thought due in thefe matters to the regal Supre- macy , and the edicts ifluing from it, required to be fub- fcribed by Winchefter : and In . 47 7 where you may fee the defcription of the exauctorated State of the Clergy jn thofe times 7 and In . 103 7 where you may fee the ufual ftile of Henry the Eighth (whofe Supremacy was no way remitted by his Son) 7 and In. 107. &c and, 0. 1 13. the practice of Edward the Sixth 7 which yet will be further declared in the following inftauces of his Supremacy. W hen therefore the confent of Synod or Convocation is urged, to the people or to fome fingle perfon, by the King, or his Council 7 it is not urged, as an authority (fee the reafon 45.) which thefe, as fubject to their decrees, ought to obey 5 but as an example, which thefe, as lefs knowing, ought to follow. But if the bare mentioning fometimes of the Clergy's confent argues this then thought neceflary to the eftab- lifhing of fuch decrees , then would the mentioning of the confent of Parliament argue as much, which is urged together with that of the Clergy 7 andfo no Ecclefiafti- cal Acts of the King and Clergy would be obligatory, unlefs confirmed by Parliament. But this will deftroy she authority of the 42 Articles made in the fifth year of Concerning the Englijh Reformation. ijt of King Edward -, ratified by no Parliament. To h the Anfwer is prepared out of what hath been <* t:;. already faid to 0. That, before there had been any To h, foKe ufed upon the CJergy , a Reformation was en- deavoured in a Synod by Arch-Bifhop Cranmer; but repelled. That the vote of a Convocation, after fuch violences firfl ufed, after Clergy reftrained or changed, is not to be reckoned free. That the major part only outwardly complyed for fear, as is confefled by Pro- teftants '-, and feen both in their former decrees under King Henry \ and in their fuddain recidivation (1 mean the Clergy not introduced by King Edward) under Queen Mary. That this confent of Convocation can only be urged for the Common-Prayer-Book \ but not for other parts of the Reformation : which new Form of Com- mon Prayer omitted rather than gain-faid the former Church-tenents and practice ; and thefe omiffions not fo many in the former Book of King Edward, as in the latter. That this confent of Convocation is not urged i in the places cited as neceflary to make the King and Parliaments Church-Conftitutions valid j but as exem- plary, to make others more conformable to them. That the Bifhops that framed this new Form of publick Ser- vice, were but feven : whereof thofe who furvived till > : Queen Mary's time, except Cranmer and Ridley ^ returned' I to the Mafs. To p. Fiiffc, Whether there was indeed any fuch .$. i J+ Synodal Acl, as is here pretended in the times of King To p*. i Edward , {hall be examined hereafter. But Secondly, l Suppofing, for the prefent, that there was fo , 1 anfwer, I '(betides that which is faid in the Reply to k and 9 ap- j pliable to this ^ ) That by this time the Clergy was much f changed , according to Mr. Fox's defcription made ; thereof before $. 107 j a many new Bifhops introduced f by King Edward , feveral old ones difplaced ; fo that i now, after the State's five years reforming, Church-work, J ( to ufe Dr. Hcylins Phrafe") might more fcctirely be committed to Church-men: Yet that many nlfo then,, for fear of the times ; either abfentcd thcmfelvcs from? this- 152 Concerning the Englijb Information* this Synod ; or in the Synod were guilty of much diffi- mulation ; as appears by their contrary votes foon after in the beginning of Queen Mary. See before .51. 0. i 3 f. To r. I aniwer, That if fuch Synodal Ads were "to v. of the right Clergy, and their Acts voluntary and unforced; the Reformation here in England from the time of fuch Synods , was, as to this authority , re- gular and canonical ; till reverfed by the like autho- rity. But then this Reformation, as it is fuppofed to be made by the Clergy , is void upon another ac- count; viz.. as being contrary to the former defi- nitions of lawful fuperiour Councils ; as may be feen in thefeveral decrees of thofe Councils (fet down in Chur. Govern. 4. Part J compared with thefe 42 Arti- cles, and the Homilies approved by them* CHAP. IX. Continuation of the fame , defending to Par- ticulars : And of his firfi Change of the Publick Liturgy. 1,1. More HAving thus defcribed in general the way of King Edward's Reformation, and exercifing his Su- pariicutiriy premacy , and partly examined the Apologies made for it : we will now proceed to nominate to you the feveral particulars of his Reformation , which is ufually covered under the name of alteration only of fome Rites and Ceremonies ; as if the Doctrines of the Church fuffer- ed no change under him. in fending B 7 ver tue of fuch Supremacy then were fent thofe certain do- Articles to the imprifoned Bifhop of Winchefier, to be &rinai At- fubferibed ; containing feveral points of Doctrine , or ^ubferib d pra< ^ ce inv lving Doctrine ; (fome of which have been by the si- name d before i. 45.) frofojed to his Subfcriftion, not as (hop of ml tatters pafled by any former Synod ; but (faith the .carter. twen- Concerning the Englifh Reformation. , 153 twentieth Article) as yubtiflied and fet forth by the Kings JMajefty's authority^ by the advice of his Highneffc ? s Cotm- cil f for many great and godly considerations. Fox p . 1235. Which Articles the Bifliop is required there to fub- fcribe, publilh and preachy npon the pain of incurring fuch Penalties, for not doing the fame, as may by his Majefty's laws be inflicted upon him. By vertueof fuch Supremacy the Six Articles ( which $. I37 . contained matter of Dodrine and Faith , and that in u repeating things of no fmalJ moment; and which, being determi- ^ e , Slx i T ", ned , and the obfervance of them enjoined as well by ^' S2? / a Synod, as a Parliament, juflly ftand in force , till a ^ ea .B.ume. revocation of them by another Synod of like authority) sut. 51. were repealed in the beginning of King Edward's Reign Hen.8.i 4 .c. without any fuch Synod; fee Stat. 1- Edw. 12. c. and ?0X Ms 6 the Members of the Church of England freed from any further obedience to them. By which it now became free for any, tho having formerly made contrary vows, . to Marry, to omit facerdotal Confeffion, to preach a- gainft the Real Prefence, and the Sacrifice of the Mafs ; contrary to the decrees of former Councils, and this National Synod. By vertue of fuch Supremacy this King (I mean al- . x $; ways the Council in the Kings name, and by his autho- iafeiyng rity) not only juftified the power ufed by his Father ^ ?< > B * over the pofleffions of Monafteries and Religious Houfes ; ff^Ls but declared alfo Monaftick Vows to be unlawful, fu- lands, and perftitious and unobliging. Therefore the firfl Arti- denying the cle drawn up for Winchester's Subfcription was this, l**fni*efs That the late King Henry the Eighth juflly and of good Ly u * reafon had caufed to be fuppreiTed and defaced all Mo- H ' c naileries, Religious Houfes, &c. and, That the fame 'being fo diffolved, the perfons therein bound and pro- * fefled to obedience to a perfon, place, habit, and other c fuperflitious Rites and Ceremonies, are,uponthatoi- 4 der appointed by the Kings Majefty's authority, as 4 Supreme Head of the Church, clearly releafed and ac- 4 quitted of thofe Vows and Profeffions, and at their full 4 liberty, as tho thofe unwitty and fuperflitious vows 11 'had i $4 Concerning the English Reformation, 'had never been made. Thus the Article. And hence it was, that fome, formerly Monafticks, in King Ed- ward's days married Wives ^ but this Doctrine his" Su- premacy did deliver, contrary to the Doctrine which his Father's Supremacy publifhed : See before . 95. This King alfo continued his Fathers practice, in feiz- ing upon that pioufly devoted means, which his Fathers fuddain death, after the conceffion of them by Parliament, had left undevoured : I mean Chaunteries , Free-Chap- pels , Colledges , Hofpitals, &c. See Stat. 1. Edxv. 6 14. c. But this he did upon another pretence than his JFather ; by reafon that his Doctrine herein varied from his Fathers : His pretence being, the nnlawfttlnefs of of- fering the Sacrifice of the Encharisi y or giving alms, for the defrnfi , but his Fathers pretence, who in his D o- drine juftified thefe, being quite another - 7 as you may fee before, . 92. And therefore the fecond Act of Stat. 3". Parliament in his, and in his Fathers time, that agree H.n.3. 40 alike in the donation of thefe Revenues, yet vary in their j 1 ' Edw - 6 ' prefaces and motives. 1 % C 'u9- ^ ut m l ^ ls ^ e went ^ e y n< ^ n * s Father ^ that He begaft the taking of Bifhops lands alfo: Sacriledge, now after the gain thereof was grown fweet , keeping no bounds. After therefore that learned and vertuous Prelate Ton- fial fleft by his Father one of his Governors) ejected, He (1 mean his Council and Courtiers j for happy was that King of his Child-hood, that it preferved him un- blameable for thefe things.) felzed upon that rich and tempting Bifhoprick of Dnrham. Of which thus Bifhop Godwin, ' The removing of thefe obftacles \jhe ejetled f Bijhops'] made way for the invafion of their Widow- * Sees. For as foon as Tonflal was exauctorated, that * rich B'fhoprjck of Burefme by Act of Parliament was * wracked . the chief Revenues and Cnftomes of it be- ing incorporated to the Crown j and the reft fo gucl * dedj that at this dayitfcarce poflefleth the third part *of its ancient Revenues. The hungry Courtier find- c ing how good a thing the Church was, had now for *fome years become acquainted with it, out of zealous 'intent Concerning the Englifh Reformation. je? * intent to prey. Neither could the horridnefs of her * facred Skeleton as yet fd work on him, as to divert 1 his refolations, and compaffionately to leave the Church * to ber religious poverty. Befide, the infancy of the * King, in this uncertain ebb and flow of Religion, made '* her opportune to all kind of Sacriledge. So that (faith * he) we are to thank the Almighty Guardian of the * Church , that thefe Locufls have not quite devoured * the maintenance of the labourers in this Englifh Vine- * yard. Thus he concerning that Bi(ljopric^ who, had he lived in thefe days, might have fcen the multiplied generation of thofe Locufts devour his own. Befides Dvrcfme, (for any thing I can findj the Bifhoprick of Rochefter after 1551 (when Scory was removed thence) and that of Weftminfter after 1550 (when fhirlbyvias removed thence) were enjoyed by the Crown, until Queen MaryH days^ befides that of Worcefter given in Commendam to Hooper^ to exercife the Jurifdidion and Epifcopality thereof, with fome fhort allowance for his pains, faith Dr. Heylin, Hift, of Reform, under Edw. 6* p. 10 1. In which Author alfo fee the fpoyl committed in thofe days upon the Bifhopricks of Bath and Wells p, 54 } of Coventry and Lichfield j of Landajf, of Lin- colne , and others p. 100, 101. 129. and elfewhere. Sure, foul things were done in this kind in thofe inno- vating times \ becaufe I find even fome of King Edward's favourite-Bifhops highly to diflike them. For Bifhop Ridley in his Treatife, lamenting the State of England ApudFox?, 'relates how he and Cranmer were both in high difp'ea- 161^ * fure with the great ones'} for repugning , ( as they c might well) againft the late fpoy I of the Church-goods, taken away only by commandment of the higher pow- 1 ers, without any law or order of Juftice ; and with- 4 out requeft or confent of them to whom they did be- c long. And Calvin in a Letter to Arch-Bifhop Cranmer written about An. Dom. 1551. giving a reafon why the Englifh Church was fo ill ftored with good Pallors hath thcle words, Vnum apertnm objlaculnni cjje intclligo, quod fredt expofiu fnnt Ecclefa reditm. So early you lee, even U 2 to i^o Concerning the English Reformation. .- together with the firft dawning of the Reformation^ began that Sacrikdge to be committed on fome Bifho- pricks ^ which our days have feen accomplifhed on the reft: Lay menders of Religion ordinarily terminating in thefe two things , the advancing of their carnal Li- berty, and temporal Eftates. 6. 140. ' B Y vert " e of fuch Supremacy, He'caufed to be re- 1* defacing moved out of Churches, and to be defaced and deftroy- ifiMgcs. 'cd, all Images of Saints. Concerning wiiich Reforma- tion his Council writes to the Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury in this flile, c We have thought good to fignify unto 'you, that his HighnefTe's pleafure with the advice and ' confent of us the Lord Protector and the reft of the ' Council is , that immediately upon the light hereof 1 you fhall give order, that all the Images remaining in 'any Church within your Diocefs be taken away ; and 'alfo by your Letters fhall fignify unto the reft of the ' Bifhops within your Province this his Highnefle "s plea- 'fure &c. Fox p. 1183, See likewife Stat. 3. and 4. Edw. 6. 10. c. This he did when as the fecond Niccne Council not only had allowed , but recommended the ufe of them. But he proceeded alfo further than this - 7 and declared the worfhiping and veneration of any fuch Images or Relicks to be repugnant to Gods word, and unlawful, fuperftitious , idolatrous. See the 22 of the 42 Articles^ and Article to Whichever 115 and the Doftrineof his Homilies. (.'4 1 - By vertue of fuch Supremacy, He impofed (Jn. Dom. 1547) a Book of Homilies, not approved by any Synod i before, .nor after till 1552, if then-, in which Book were ftated feveral Controverfies of Divinity. See Ar- ticle 11 of the 42 referring to thefe Homilies for the ftating of Juftification ex folk fide, the King forbidding the Clergy to preach any Do&rine repugnant to the fame Homilies, under pain of being filenced , or otherwife $. 141. punifhed. See before, . 108. Winchefier Articles 15. Iriajayning f 0X p. 1235. *T' n f r th' Bv vertue of fuch Supremacy, He IaM a command ci'mmwtin B P on tne Clergy to adminifter the Communion to the hboihKinds. people Concerning the English Reformation. 157 people in both kinds, contrary to the Injunction of the Sm.z.Ed. Council of Conftame ; and without any preceding con- 6.x.c.ce / i~ fultation of a National Synod ; and notwithstanding " l - Ccn - the former late decree concerning the non-neceflity there- r ^' : ' ' 3 * of by the fame National Synod in Henry the Eighth's 'see before, days, in the fecond of the Six Articles. $. us. By vertue of fuch Supremacy, He caufed to be re- . i 4 *. moved and fupprefled the former Church Liturgies and in fappref- Rituals for the publick Prayers, for the celebration of !**& the far* the Communion and other Sacraments, for the Ordi- ?f,/?* r ^ nations of the Clergy. See Fox p. 121 1, '"The King wdinah? '(Taith hej with the body and ftate of tbe Privy Coun- and other ' cil then being, directed out his Letters of requeft and Rituals. 'flrait commandment to the Bifhops in their Diccefs * to caufe and warn all Parfons, Curates, &c. to bring ' in and deliver up all Amiphoners, Mi fiats, Grailes, Vro- c cejfionals, Manuals, Legends, Vies-, Ordinals, ~<&c\ and ' all other Books of Service, tHeliaving whereof might ' be any let to the Service now fet forth in Englilh *, ' charging alfo and commanding all fuch as fhould be 'found difobedient in this behalf to be committed unto 'ward. Saying in the Articles fent to Wine h eft er , Fo ^ ' That the Mafs was full of abufes, and had very few %i ' " 3 " ' things of Chrift's inftitution, befides the Epiftle, Gof- ' pel, and the Lord's Prayer, and the words of the Lord's 'Supper: that the reft for the more part were invented ' and devifed by Bifhops of Rome , and by other men ' of the fame fort i. e. by Ecclefiaftical Conftitution\ 'and therefore were juftly taken away by the Statutes ' and Laws of this Realm \_this being the perfwafion ofthofe times, That the King as Supreme might change , as to him feemed good, any thing eftablijl)ed only by humane- (thoit were Church-) authority.^ And fee Stat. 3, 4. Edw. 6. 1 o. c. ' Whereas the King hath of late fet 1 forth and eftablifhed an uniform Order of Common- ' Prayer &c ; and whereas in the former Service-Books * are things corrupt, untrue, vain, and fuperftitious : ' Be it enacted by the King, the Lords Spiritual and 'Temporal, and the Commons in this prefent Parlia- ment ijS Concerning the English Reformation. 'ment aflemBled, that all Mijjals, Ordinals, &c. here- * tofore ufed for Service of the Church flial) be utterly 'abolifhed, extinguifhed, &c. $ But you mult obferve that all was not done at once, or Aid. Wf(t- at the firft, but by certain fteps and degrees. For Exam- ting up J nen> pie. The Form of adminiftring the Communion fuflered Forksofce* three Alterations or Reformations one after another ^ icbrating the later ftill departing further from the ancient Form *\l mm '"~ ufed in the Church than the former. Firft the King aflembled certain Bifhops and others at Winder in the firft year of his Reign (fuch ashepleafed toappointj to compile a new Form of celebrating the Communion according to the Rule ('faith Fox p. 1184) of the Scrip- tures of God, and firfi ufage of the Primitive Church. Yet the Bifhops at this time fo ordered and moderated the matter ( which perhaps may be thereaibn of thole words See Heyln in i^-v fee before . 125. That the Protetlor at Windfor Hisl.of 2v. * n the zealous defence of Gods truth oppojed the Bifhops) Edw.f. f 7 . that the whole office of the Mais mould proceed as for- merly in the Latine, even to the very end of the Canon, and the receiving of the Sacrament by the Prieft him- felf. Which done the Prieft is appointed to begin the exhortation in Englifh. \We he come together at this time Dearly Beloved c^c.^as it is in the prefent Englifh Liturgy. After which follows alfo the dill wafion of great offenders impenitent from receiving, the General Confeflion and Absolution, the Prayer {We prefume not &c.~} and fo the adminiftration of the Eucharift to the people in both kinds. The words of the Rubrick in that firft Order of the Communion reprinted at London 61 are thefe, 'The time of the Communion \_of the people^ fhall be ' immediately after that the Prieft fhall have received 4 the Sacrament, without the varying of any other Rite 'or Ceremony in the Mafs (until other order fhall be ' provided.,) But as heretofore ufually the Prieft hath c done with the Sacrament of the Body, to prepare ble/s 'and confecrate fo much as will ferve the people, foit ' fhall yet continue ftill after the fame manner and form ; ' favethat, he (hall blefs and confecrate the biggeft Cha- c lice Concerning the Englifh Reformation. 159 'lice or fome fair- and convenient Cup or Cups full of 4 Wine with fome water put unto it, and that day, not 'drink it up all himfelf} but taking one only fup or ' draught leave the reft upon the Altar covered , and ' thus exhort the people, Dearly beloved &c. Thus the ' Rubric!^ ' And this Form (as Mr. Fox goes on) ex- * hibitcd unto the King was by his Majefty's Council ' particularly fent to every Bilhop of the Realm , re- ' quhing and commanding them, by their Letters on ' the Kings Majefty's behalf, that they mould forthwith ' have diligent refpect to the due execution thereof &c t ' In which Letter the motive urged by the Council why 'this 'new Form was drawn up and impofed, is \ That 'the Statute of the former Parliament, ordering jthat ' the Sacrament mould be diftributed unto the people ' in both kinds, might be well executed, in fuch fort ' as is agreeable with the word of God O if for the di- firibution of the Sacrament in both hinds there was any need of altering or fuper -adding any thing to the Mafs } when as^ with that fame Form of the Mafs it was in the publich^Com- tnunions, for many Centuries^ onlyfo diftributed } and when as that fame Form of the Mafs ii urged by Proteflants, as , contrary to communicating the people only in one hind \ but the true caufe of altering it Jfhalljhew you by and by~] Now this new Form was thus impofed by the King and his Council, before allowed by any Synod of the Clergy, I or Ad of Parliament j which were procured afterward in the fecond Parliament of King Edward. Meanwhile fuch alterations in King Edward's time about the Do- ctrine and the Adminiftration of this Sacrament as they were uncanonical, fo they were, in this refped, alfo very hurtful} in that they occafioned (in the ignorant cfpeciallv ) much profanenefs and irreverence toward the Bleffed Sacrament in thofe days j as you may partly alio gather from an Aft (i.Edw.6. i.c.J madeagainft fuch irreverent fpeaking ngainft it. For whereas the Sacrament was, according to ancient cuftome, delivered to each Communicant in a fmall round Wafer, hence they gave it the name of Round-Robin. And becaufc the pans 160 Concerning the Engliflj Reformation. parts thereof, that were referved to be carried to the fick, were hanged up over the Altar in a Pix or Box 5 they named it Jack.inaBox; and inftead of the Sacra- ment of the Altar, called it the Sacrament of the Halter. (See Heylins Hift. of Reform, 49.63.; Such profanenefs followed the remedy of what they called Superftition. $.14?. 2. Secondly, Having likewife condemned , amongft 0- of ordha. ther fuperftitious Books , the former Church-form of U see < 4 r d Nation and Confecration of Bifhops and Priefts, Edw.tf.ioi". tne King caufed a new Form to be prefcribed, upon this ' pretence in the Act of Parliament , ' That fo concord * and unity might be had, within his Majefty's domini- 1 ons, 4 in thefe Ordinations. [But could not this have been done without innovation, by Britlly confining all to the Stat. 3, 4. u f e of the former Church- form 5 or, if thefe were variom t Edw.6.n.c. to fome one of them? ~} Now for the compiling of this new Form the Parliament orders, That fuch, as by fix See before , Prelates, and fix others to be appointed by the King, J*4 J or by the major part of them, mould be devifed for that purpofe and fet forth under the great Seal, fhould by ver- tue of their Act Cwithout obtaining or requiring any rati- fication thereof from any Synod)be lawfully ufed,and none other, any law or prefcription to the contrary thereof notwithstanding. In which new Form, amongft other things, which were in the former, now call out, this is one, ( to the great contradiction of all Antiquity) The Bifhops conferring on the ordained Presbyters po- teflatem offerendi facrificium proprie dittum & vere pro- pitiatorium flee in what fenfe underfbood and explained by the Church in Dijceurfe of theEucharift,- .2$i.&c) Deo, Miffafque celebrandi tarn frovivisquam pro defunlis t ' Quod omnem fuperat imfietatem, faith Mafon de Minift. p. 242. 17. c. And this is another : The Oath of Sub- miffion of the Ordained or Confecrated to the Supre- macy of the Patriarch : inftead of which is prefcribed another Oath, to the Supremacy of the Temporal Prince. From which Regal Supremacy alfo we find Cranmer f after fifteen years governing the Province of Canter- bury) receiving, at the coming in of a new Sovereign, a new Concerning the English Reformation. l6 T aew Licence of ordaining Bifhops and Priefts therein durante Beneplacito Regit. [The Form, as Sanders p. i^p, hath (et it down, runs thus, Quandoquldem omnts jarif- dicendi author itas atque etiam jurifdittio. omnimoda^ tam ilia qua ecclefiaftica dicifur, qyam /ocularis , a Regia po- teftate velut a fnpremo capita manat . &C Jid ordinal dum igitur quofcHnqu\intr4\ < X)iac.cfim tuam Cantuarien- fem Cr ad omnes etiam facros Cr Presbyter atm or dints pro- tnovendum, per pr&fentcs ad noHrum beneplacitum ditratu. ros y tibi damns potefiatem.'} And fome fuch thing is in- timated by Mr. Prin (unbifhop'mg of Timothy p. 8oJ i I mufl: inform our Bimopsj (feith he), for their Learn- ing, that all the BiihOps -in, King^ Edward the Sixch T 'time had fpecial claufesin their Letters Patents author 'rizing them to ordain Minifters and DeaeOns; as Bi-' * Ihop Poynet's, Scory\ Coverdale\ Patents (5. Edw.6. 'parj.j.) teft\fy, at large (and there is no wonder in this, if you recall to mind Arch-Bilhop Cranmer% An- fwers to the Queries made concerning thefe matters re- cited before . 105. n. 3.): Which Patents, if thef imply fuch a Supremacy Ecclefiaftical in the Prince, as that he may, if he pleafe, prohibit any Ecclefiaftical perfon at all from ordaining Minifters in his dominions, are contrary to the fkft Thefts above. . 2. But yet this new ^Ordinal was not fo well purified from former Superflitions, but that fome who were prefented to 'SeeinVo* Bifhopricjcs were Humbled therewith} and the Kings 't^f 6 '*^ difpenfation was obtained, in order to the confecrating Enfofwu of Bilhop Hooper, for his not obferving of fome things wick'i ut- therein *, and particularly for his not taking the new urs-. Oath, either that of obedienceto -the Arch-Bifhop , or that of the Kings Supremacy ; which perhaps he, late- ly feafoned abroad with Calvin s Doctrine , could not $ Ce \ fs fo ea% digeft. ' _ Thirdly, Not long after the production of the new . lit 6. *t Form in adminiftring the Communion, in the fecond of commt* year of his Reign he caufed it to-be -reviewed j and alfb.. *'*}'' then to ^ drawn up a new 'Form of Common Prayer for Matting and Evenfong , and the Adminiftration of X the ifo Concerning the Rngtiflj Reformnfidn. the other Sacraments of the Church fif I may ufe trie- phrafecof the Aft, 2. Edw. 6. i.e.): which Form com- pqfed. by feven Bifhops r and feven other learned men of the Clergy chofen by the King ( yet one of them Day BiJjiop of Ghiccftfrj after it was done, refufed to fifb- fcribe it ^ who:was afterward alfo turned out of his Biftiopricic. See Htylin 7 v Hift\ of' Reform, p. 65. quoting the Regifter of Petworth) was ' authorized by Aft of Parliament, and at the fame time confented to (as it feems by what is urged above , 1 10/by a Convocation of the Clergy: of which fee what is laid . 126. And t-hej pretence of making this new Form, in the Preface of .that Aft, is this,, ' That, whereas of long time-there 'had been- in the Realm divers Forms of Common 6 Prayer; the ufeof Samm, of Tork^-, of Bangor and Lin- v 6olne' r ad befides the fame, now of late much more '.divers and fundry Forms and Faftrions .have been ufed ' &.c : to flay Innovation and Rites concerning the Prer 4 miles \ his Highnefs, being pleafed to bear with the 'frailty and weaknefs of his fubjefts in that behalf> hath 'appointed the Arch-Bilhop of Canterbury &c. having 'as well refpeft to the moft pure Ghriftian Religion- 1 taught by the Scripture, as to theufagesinthe Primi- 'live Gli u ecu, --to draw ani make one convenient-' and- 'meet order, rite and fafhion of Common-Prayer' and 4 Adminiftration to be had and ufed in his Majefty's : 4 Realms. Thus the A&-. But to remedy thefe inno- vations or diverfities of Forms, how : eafy had it b^zn to eftabliih anyone of the ancient Forms ? Orat leaft reafonable, to retain in the new draught thdfe things wherein all the former Church-Services agreed ? And not themfelves to innovate, for the hindering of inno- vations ? But the faft difcovers the intention. t M7; For in this new draught was ejefted and left out the Qitofvbich Sacrifice oftheMafs, or the oblation to God of the Holy ?**s tjtSed Eucharift, as propitiatory or impetratory of any bene- fa l^tbt ^. CS ' t0 the livin >. or to the dead; contrary tothebe- M*fil. lief of former Church and Councils , as is mentioned before . 118. And for this reafon were She Altars Concerning the English Reformation. i6j inCh^c,hfseoinmatidedtobe9hapgedinto Tables^ that die eating might be thought on, but not jhe offering, Wh enas j fifaycjc , had : preached, before tlie; Jiwg K c That 'ip> long as Altars' remained, both the ignorant people^ 6 and the ignorant and evil-perfwaded Pried: would, al- 1 ways dream of Sacrifice : and befic>es, the t great m<*n c about the .Court; ffaith' X>v.Heylin, Hifi, cf^fom^. .'95.) had promifed theinfelyes no,fmaIj hope-s^f profit 4 by the difTurni'/hing thefe Altars of the hangings, Palls, * Plate, and other rich Utenfiis. The leaving of one 4 Chalice to every Church with a Cloth or covering 2$. For the exclufion of this Sacrifice, you may find in f u* the new Communion (Tee Communion, Fol. 128.) ail thofe Wh.:re expreflions in the former Liturgy, that fignify it, dill- ^' J"X gently cancelled (forbidding alfo the elevation of the tewtins in. Hofl; after Confecration ; ) as thefe following, In the tbzfirftCom Canon before Communicating ; Te fupplices rogamm ac wi'Prayet pctimm,Mti accept a habeas & benedicas hac dona, h propitio ac fereno vultu relficere digneris, & accepta habere ftcuti ac- cepts, habere dignatus es munera pueri tui jufti Abel, & <\facrificiuw Patriarchs noflri Abr:>ha2 , & quod tibi obtu- (Jit jummm \ facer do* turn- Melchifedecl^ fantlum fdcrifici- tyn, immaculatam hbfbiam-. Jube h the new Form makes- an oblation to God, not- of the consented-' Gifts or Sacrament-, (at leaft exprefly) but of our thanks, and of our own per- fans and fervice. But' this ' Oblation, in imitation of the former^ it' brings in' immediately after the Confecra- tion., and before Communicating, whilft the confe- crated Elements yet remain upon the Table. This new , Form I thought good totranferibe ; becaufe perhaps you may not have the Book. c Wherefore (O Lord and 4 heavenly Father J according to the inflritution of thy c dearly beloved Son, we do celebrate and make here * before thy Divine Majefty, with thefe thy holy Gifts, 1 the. Memorial, which thy Son hath willed us to make, . 'having in remembrance his blefled Paflion &c. [where, whether. fome of t he C om ffc rs -(who W* r ' of different per* fwafons fee before, .127,128.) retaining the former in- tentions under an only-varied expreffion might not extend thefe ambiguous words to an offering of the holy miseries to Cod the Father, as- a commemorative Sacrifice of that of his Son 1 upon the Crofs, I cannot fay : but thus it goes on^ 4 Rendring unto thee molt hearty thanks fortheinnu- 1 merable benefits procured unto us by the fame. En- tirely defiling thy Fatherly goodnefs mercifully/* ac- Concerning the English Reformation. tfr^ rept this our Sacrifice of praife and tha-nigivmg. Moft 'humbly befeechingthee to grant, that by the merits and * death of thy Son Jefus Chrift , We and all thy whole * Church may obtain remiffion of our fins, and all other * benefits of his Pailion. And here we offer and prefent "unto 1 thee (O Lord) our felves , our iouls and bodies ' to be a reafonable, holy, and lively Sacrifice unto Thee : c humbly befeeching thee, that whofoever fliall be par- ' takers of this Holy Communion, may worthily receive 'the moit precious body and blood of thy Son Jefus Chrift, and be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly 4 benediction \jhe ancienter Form, lit quotquot ex hac altaris participatione Sacro-fanctum Filii tui corpus &: fanguinem fumpferimus, omni benedictione &c replea- mur , feems to be thus changed, becaufe ChrifPs body and blood were held byfome only to be prefent to, and received by, the worthy- Communicant, and not to the Symbols \\ ' And ' altho we be unworthy &c, to offer unto thee any Sacri- ' fice ; yet we befeech thee to accept this our bound en * duty and fervice, and command thefe our Prayers and - Supplications put inftead of pants fantlus & calix fa- Hutu$ by the miniftery of thy Holy Angels to be brought 'up into thy holy Tabernacle [formerly Altare] be- * fore the fight of thy DivineMajefty &c. Thus were things mended in the firfl Form of King ^ x . , Edward. But in the latter Common-Prayer- Book , a concert- which came out a new-reformed three years after, there hg the fur* is no oblation at all made, nor no petition put up* be- tberakera* tween the Confecration, and the receiving of the Holy ^JclJ- Myfteries: but the one immediately follows the other. mon .p r ky e r The Collect' of humble 'accejs \We do not pre fume to < come Botk'm re- &cQ and the Lord's Prayer with its Preface \_Divina lath* tube inflitutione formati audemus dicer e ; ~\ and the Memorial '? m Sac '"-' or Prayer of Oblation-, which are- put, according to "wh^-i, the manner of the Mafs, after the confecration of the Edw. s.i.cl holy Myfteries, and before the receiving of them-, in the firft Form , are all removed in the fecond and the firft placed before the Elements begin to be confecrated \ and the other two placed after the holy Myfteries arc re-. t66 Concerning the Englifo Reform At ion. removed from the Altar or Tabje, and are distributed to the Communicants ', and in the Prayer of Oblation, the firfl part thereof {We do celebrate and make the Me- morial &c,3 is omitted. The reafonof which altera- tion feems to be, That fo the new Service_ might ftiil appear more remote, from making any oblation . to Qmd of the confecrated Myfteries remaining on the Tabje ; or from making any requeft to God in the vertoe of the Body and Blood of our Saviour there prefent. <<. no. But, again, in the lad Engliih Liturgy prepared for ^concern- Scotland, the fober moderation of thofe, who governed "& tbe rc o " f the Church at this time, thought fit to reduce things, 'fometlingi as far, as without offence they might, to the fir ft Form toucbingthis of King Edward: reftoring all thefe Prayers to their matter /^ former place again , and re-inferting the Memorial in the new co- ^g F ren t of the Prayer of Oblation. Moreover, -in Took ? ymt f he Pra Y er for tlie State of the Catholic^ Church , add- redforScot. ln 8> thefe Words f We commend especially unto thy merci- land to the ful goodnefs the Congregation here ajfembled to celebrate the firf} Form of Commemoration of the moFl preciom death andjacrifice if A- Edward. t yy 5^ an ^ 0Hr Saviour Jefut Chrifi ^ before which Prayer alfo they order an oblation to be of the Bread and JVVine, prepared for the Sacrament, upon the Lord's Table. All which they fpem to have done , as regretting the miftaken zeal of their Fore-fathers , mif-Ied by Calvin and other forreign Reformers } but not finding as yet a feafon for a more compleat reduction of the Reforma- tion to the former univerfal practice of the Church of God. C. i?t. Of all which things thus complains the contrary .Much com- Party,, who looked upon their alterations with a zea- p lamed of j ous e y e? . j n Laudenfium Autocatacrifs p. 109. 'Asfor 1a3 < that wicked Sacrifice of the Mafs, which the Canon cacrifis. putsat the back of the Confecration, the Engliih fi. e. the later Reformation of Common? rayerBook^ under King- 'Edward] baniflieth it all utterly out of their Book, 'But the faction, to fhew their zeal in their reforming J. '"the Errors of the Engliih Church their Mother, 1. puts 4 down here in oUrBook \tht Bookjentto Scotland,] at 'the Concerning the English Reformation, t6f < tfce'back of the Confeeration, their 'Memento and Prayer < of Oblation. 2. That Prayer of Thanfgiving {begin- 2. * hing O Lord &C. we thy humble fer wants entirely defire~\ 1 which the Englifh fets after the Communion, (in a place 'where it cannot be poflibly abufed , as it is in the 'Mafs, for a propitiatory Sacrifice of Chrift's body and 'blood,) they tranfpofe and fet it juft in the old place ' where it ftood in the order of Sarum at the back of the 'Confeeration, and before the Communion. 3. The 3C 1 claufe of the Miflal which for its favour of a Corporal * prefence the Englifh put out of this Prayer \imay wor- ' thily receive the mofi previous body and blood of thy Son Chrift Jejm~\ they have here reftored. 4. That we may 4? plainly, underftand, that this Prayer is fo tranfplanted, 'and fupplied for. this very end, that it may lerve, as * it did of old in the Miflal , for a Prayer of Obla- ' tion of that unbloody Sacrifice by the Prieft for tbe f fins of the world , behold the firft eight lines of it, ' which of old it had in the Miflal, but which in trheRe- * formation \jhe fecond Reformation ttnder Edward3 were 'fcraped out, are plainly reftored} wherein weprofefs- 'to make, and, over again, to make, before God's "Di* 'vine Majefty, a Memorial as Chrift hath commanded. ' Which making not only thePapifts, but Beylin, fpeak- c ing from Canterbury, expounds, far other wife, than '"either Andrews, Hooker, Mount ague, or the grofleft of the- 'Englifh Divines, for a true, proper, corporal, vifible, un- ' bloody , facrificing of Chrift j for which \_facrificing~] t 'firft the Apoftles, and then all Minifters, are as truly 4 Priefts, tho Evangelical and after the order of Mel- l -chifedech } as ever the Sons of Aaron were under the' ' Law \ and the Com muni on-Table, as true and proper 'an Altar, as ever was the Brafen Altar of Mofesyou 1 may fee Dr.HeyWn' swords in Antid. p. 6. 2.3 5. After 5, s the Confeeration and Oblation they put to the Lord's ' Prayer with the Miffals Preface, Audemns dicer e. Where 'the Papifts tell us, that the Prieft having offered up,. * in an unbloody Sacrifice, the body of Chrift, for the Reconciling of us to the Father, becomes bold to fay ' with- i^8 Concerning tie Englijh Reformat/on. 'with a loud voice, Pater no ft er. The Englifh, toba- 'nifh fuch absurdities, put away that naughty Preface, ' and removed the Prayer it felf from that place : But 'our men, to fhew their Orthodoxy, repone the Prayer ' in. the own old place j and fet before it the old Preface, i c 6. The firit Englifh Prayer [We do not prefume &c] b 'which ftood before the Confecration (where the pal-- ' (ages of eating Chrift's Body, and drinking ChrifPs Blood ' could not poffibly be detorted to a corporal prefence) c yet now in our Book mufl change the place, and be 'brought to its old Stance , after the Confecration and 'Oblation, immediately before the Communion, as ' a Prayer of humble accefs. Thus Autocatacrifis found- ed the Trumpet, not without a fad ftorm falling after- ward upon the heads of the Englifh Clergy. x f - x All ufe of the Eucharift, as a Sacrifice, being thus And the a- dif-a vowed by King Edward's Reformation, and no icbratioi of benefit acknowledged of this high Service, fave to the tbe Each*- Communicants in their receiving it, and in thePriefts [fd^whcl dlftrioutin g f lt to the people^ in the next place the note other Prieft was prohibited the celebration thereof, whenfo- to comfoi- ever there were no other Communicants befides him- nkxte with felf, [Tho this communicating of the Prieft alone is no de- toe Prieft. ftgnedy but a tajual, thing, as hath been faid ; and can only be charged upsn the peoples neglett and fault : who ha- ving the fame need thereof , and benefit thereby , as the Prieft , might, being many, at leaft by turns, accompany him See before , in the dayly breaking of that celeftial Bread (if it were fo $ ii' 8, hainoHs a thing for him to feed thereon alone') rather than that this the moft honorable part of the divine Service fhould be difcontinued in the Church ; contrary to the former uni- verfal pratlice of Christianity, and alfo the late judgment, under Henry the Eighth, of the Englifli Clergy.^ ' It was ' ordered therefore, that all thofe, called private 1 Mafles ' fhould be fuppreffed : add that on the Litany-days, ' Wednefdays and Frydays, and all other fole'mn days 'of worfhip, when there was nonedifpofed tocommu- ' nicate with the Prieft , he, after the Litany ended, *ihould put upon him a plain Albe or Surplice, with a ' Cope, Concerning the Englijh Reformatio** 169 e, foms> not., ally of them} had -a reasonable caufe sceihiPrc- ^to the contrary. The piher^ this {for iayi-ng their c ? tbe - ffice da y 1 y' as frtiwftj 'That all Priefts and Deacons to*(/ rajie ' 'fhall, be bound to fay dayly the Morning and Evening 4 Prayer yet how fbort this in refpett of the office they qnit- ie4\2 either openly, in v the Parim Church or Chappef, , 4 if atfbonie and not being otherwife reafonably letted; ' *.or privately y^cegt. they be Jet by Preaching, ftudy- Mrjg of Diyiaity , i* fome other urgent caufe. But here CoMtynivg the Eaglifb Reform&foa. "%j\ here alfo the two exceptive Glaufes annext {.Except they have a reafonable caitfe totht 'contt '*Yy ', iff t6e*former ; and Except they be 'let by V reaching,:* jiudykg of Divinity orfome. other urgent cauj >,in the latter,*] have rendered thefe Injunctions, as to the general, without vigour and effect, or practice in this: Church-' Whifch I tlie Prudence 6i thofe. who contrived the^Scdtch Liturgy-well obferving thought fit thus to qualify -the latter inception if "Of seabepr* *whkhCaufe, (fay they) if it be frequently .pretended, fat totht 1 they are to make the Bifhop of the Diocefs, or the ScGtcb Lim * Arch-Bifhop of the Province the Judge and Allower.j] tltx ^ Befides the Sacrifice of the Mafs thus removed out ^ r < 4 , of the fecond new Form of the Communion ; the Invo- And id- eation and Suffrages of the Saints were alfo expunged mjo'n of out of the publick Litanies . When-as, even in the fail sxhts ex- Englifh Litany put out under King Edward, after O Holy W,l* Blejfed and Glorious Trinity &c. have mercy upon Hi 7 lt n \ es " followed thus , Holy- Virgin Mary, Mother of God our Saviour Jefm Chrifl Pray form. All holy Angels and Arch- Angels , and all holy orders of blejfed Spirits pray for m t All holy Patriarchs and Prophets, Apojlles, Martyrs, Con- fefforsy and Virgins, and all the bleffed timpany of Heaven^ Pray for nt. Likewife in the Parliament-Act, 3,'4- Edw* -6. 'id. c. it is commanded.* That in the Primers the fentences 6f Invocation or Prayer to Saints be blotted and clearly put em of the Tame. And this contrary to the former univerlal practice of the Catholick Church. See Chur. Govern. 4. Par. 98. . Befides- this, in the fame- new Form is remitted the ^ x ^ neceflity of Sacerdotal Confeflion, and the performing a id the n e - bf fuch penitence and humiliation as the Prieft -{hall C -Py "ft * judge meet-, and the receiving of his absolution and re- %%'lf Co * conciliation for thofe who are confeious to themfelvcs 1 /ajci. ' of mortal fins, or grievous crimes , before they may prefume to approach to Gods Altar, and to the holy Communion ot Ghriffis' v body and -blood (contrary to the former decrees of fuperior Councils, and practice of the Church Cathoiick: ) Iriftead whereof it isonfy here ordered, ' That if any be an open and notorious Y ?, ' evil 17* onctrnlng tbt Englifb RefortBatfoni 'evil liver, (To that the Congregationi>y him is offend- 'edj or have done any wrong to his Neighbors, the * Curate fhall not admit him to the Communion before c his giving fatisfaction of his repentance to the Con*- 'gregation, and at leaft declaring his full purpofe to < * recompence the party wronged: And, before the r.ti. iij. Communion, a general exhortation made, * That if any 'be a blafphemer, , adulterer, or be in malice, or envy, ' or any other grievous crime, he mould not come to 'that holy Table, except he be truly forry therefore,, 'and earneftly-minded to leave the fame vices, and do ' truft himfelf to be reconciled to Almighty God, and 'in charity with all the world. This is faid indeed in F*i. 114. the fecond Exhortation, 'If there be any whofe Con- 'fcience is troubled, or grieved in any thing, lacking 'comfort or coucfeJ, let" him come to me, or to fome other difcreet and learned P-rieft taught in the Law of 'God t and confefs and open his -fin and grief fecretly ; 'that he. may receive fuch ghoflly counfel, advice, and ' comfort, that his confcience may be relieved \ . and ' that, of us, as of the Minifters of God and of the Church, he may receive comfort and abfolution, to 'the fatisfa&ion of his mind,., and avoiding of all fcruple ' and doubtfulnefs^ But the words- following [[viz. Re* pairing fuch, as fhall be fatisfed with a general Confeffion y not to be offended with them that do ufe, to their further fatisfying, the auricular and /rcrt/ -Confeffion to the Prie& r nor thofe alfo which thinks needful or convenient , for. the quietnefs of their confidences , particularly to open, their fim to the Pricft , to be of ended with them that are fatisfied with their humble confeffion to God, and I the general confeffion to the Church.^ I fay thefe words (which are omitted in the fecond reformed Com* mon-Prayer-Book, I fuppofe, as fpeaking too favour- ably of theufeof Auricular Confeffion) do argue, that thenceforth no neceffity of Sacerdotal Confeffion was impofed upon any , for any crime. Likewife in the . Vifitation of the Sichjxt is faid j Here fhall the fck^perfon make a fecial cmfefiofy if hi feel his confcience troubled With, Concerning the Englijh Reformation, 17 j with any weighty matter : which is alio retained in the fecond Form of Common-Prayer. But here fuch Con- feffion is commanded only hypothetically j not , if he have committed, but if his Confcience be troubled with, any weighty matter, which he hath committed. Which unfortunate \_If-^ as experience hath fhewed, quickly ruined the practice of Sacerdotal Confeffion. C And indeed (with your leave to digrefs a little J when & 15^.. grievous fins are committed, this Uf-,2 might well have been fpared. For k. every one, that hath committed fuch fin, as is fuppofed tohaveputhimout of the State- of Grace, and out of his Baptifmal Regeneration (for. which only the Church requires Sacerdotal Confeffion) either hath, or ought to have (and probably would have,- if the Clergy taught him fo) his Confcience troubled; . till he hath obtained a new reconciliation to God, by thole whom God hath appointed to do this office for him ; 2. But if his private repentance, when this is don proportionably to his offence, is fufficient for his recon- ciliation ; yet what grievous (Inner, after much repen^ tance, ought not flill to be troubled concerning the un~ worthines of it, till he bath confulted, in fuch an ha- zard, his fpiritual Father much more knowing therein than himfelf ? And then if all fuch ought to be troubled ; all ought to confefs. Indeed lefs trouble of mind is many times a fign of Jels penitence ; and, of fuch high offend* ers 7 thofe have moft need of the Prieft's cure, who- are leafl troubled. And thofe who are leaft troubled, ought to be fo much the more troubled, that they are fo little troubled : and ought to go to the Prieft and confefs fuch fin, that he may excite them to greater trouble and for- row for it, and may put them to fome pain in fearch- ing their wound to the bottome, that fo it may be more capable of cure. And on the other fide; thofe, who in, and after long penitence, and even from all their life, are much troubled for fuch their crimes, are likely to be the beft penitents ; and confequently to have leaft need of Sacerdotal Confeffion for the examining of their repentance : which examination, and not confolation, I imagine*. 174 Concerning the Englijh Reformation. imagine, is the chief end and defign of the Reformed'* prefcribing fuch Confefllon to thofe, who are troubled. 3. But then add to this \ that when once fuch Sacerdotal Confefllon for great finners is commanded by the Church (si e. by a lawful fuperior Council) to be obferved, as neceflary, jure divino> or by divine Inftitution, Now, it comes to pafs, that tho fuch Confefllon were fuppofed not neceflary to be obferved or prattifed from any fuch divine inftitution 5 yet, after decreed by fuch a Coun- cil, fas who have authority to impofe it alfo upon feve- ral other motives j from which they think it the molt beneficial and the fecureft courfe for fuch finners fo to do ;) it becomes neceflary to be practifed and obferved as the Church's conftitution, even by thofe, who think it not neceflary jure divino. 4. But yet further } were not fuch Church-conftitution in this refpeft obliging , yet when as a thing is fo far difputable and doubtful, whether jure divino, as that fuch a judgment, as this of a fuperiour Council, hath declared, it fo \ and when- as on the otherfide we our felves grant thus much, that fuch thing, if not neceflary, is very beneficial, and may upon this title be lawfully enjoyned by the Church's Superiors : realbn will di&ate here, that it is the moft prudent way, both for the Subjects of a particular Church to obferve it , and for the Superiors of fuch Church to enjoyn it, upon pain of incurring their cenfures, to, be obferved. But now to return to our bufinefs.] . ; CHAP. Concerning the Englijb Reformation. rjf CHAP. X. Of the Second Change of. the Publick Liturgy in his time. THus much concerning the Reformation made in the $. Ir7 . firft new Form of the Publick Service under King n letting, Edward , (to fay nothing here of the firft. additions to forth a f e - the Mafs made at Windfor) much more temperate, and cond Vor,n lefs varying from the former Service than the prefent % l .tiCn is v as ordinarily things do not on aTuddain move from w &/cfe t y e one extreme to another. In which Book alfo it is to firft was in be noted \ that many of the alterations, which were mwytbhgs> made, were only omiflions} As ot the Sacrifice of the fa* re Mafs } of Invocation of Saints } of Auricular Confeffion j of Elevation of the Eucharift (Adoration being not-pro- hibited ) &c. without tying any to profeffing his faith to be contrary tofuch things as were omitted : which I impute to the warinefs and moderation of fome of the Compofers, who retained a different perfwafion from the reft. See before, . 127. And again , that in it were many former ufages of the Church ftill retained : which gave great offence to the forreign Reformers \ and to other Preci fans here, who had been nurfed abroad under their Difcipline. Amongft which ufages retained may be numbred thefe. At the Communion, in the Prayer for the eslate of the Church Catholic^Z folemn Com- memoration of the Saints^ and other faithful departed, F"*-**- (which was thought fit by the late Compofers of the Scotch Liturgy to be reftored again in part into the fame Prayer , where is made a diftinft and different Com- memoration of other faithful deceafed , and of the Saints deceafedj Prayer for the dead , and that in the fame manner, as formerly : See Burial of the dead^ Fol. 28. Cas fuppoling fome of them in a ftate purgative or bet- terable by fuch Prayers. See before, . 147.) Exorcifme C / com- t-]6 Concerning the English Reformation. U command thee, unclean Spirit, that thou depart &C. FoE Pol 4. 2 -l and mm n f ln f ants in Ba P tifme - Sanctifying, or Beneditlion of the Water in the Font before it be Foi. 8. ufed in Baptifme , (refumed by the Scotch Liturgy.,) Extream Vnttion alfo ftill retained. Consecrating only To much Bread and Wine, as (hall fuffice for the perfons f 1 < appointed to receive the Holy Communion. And ming- ling Water with the Wine. Reservation of the Sacrament yr ... after publick Communion to be carried home to the fit. zz. fick ^ there be any that day to be communicated (which refervation were it made for fome longer time I fee not how this difference can alter the lawfulnefs thereof.) The quotidian Celebration of the Eucharift in all Ca- ToL zi. thedral and Collegiate Churrches as yet practiced, tho not enjoined. See Ruhr, Foi. 123. The Altars ftill left in the fame Pofition and with the fame furniture, as formerly. The Communion-bread made in the fame Figure as formerly, only to be fomewhat thicker and without any print upon them. The fame Holy Veftments, Albes , Copes, ftill retained. The Oblation made after Confecration, before receiving , fpoken of before. And chiefly, the retaining ftill, in the Consecration and other paflages of the Communion, all thofe former expreffi- ons of the Mafs, which imply, whether by Tranf- or Con-fubftantiation, a corporal prefence. For fuch pre- fence was not a thing declared againft, till the Fifth year of King Edw.mj4rt.28. {and then declared againft upon this Philofophical reafon : became ejufdem hominis corpus in multis locis fimul efle non poteft. But this part a* gainft real or corporal Pretence, with its reafon, was after- ward thought fit to be cafi out* of this Article, when they Were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth'/ Synod 1562.] The Obligation of Henry the Eighth's Six Articles being void- ed, all perfons in this point were then left, as it were, to their own opinion: amongft whom, as fome were Zuinglians, fb a major part feem to have been in the former days of King Edward either of the Roman, or Lutheran , perfwafion. Neither is there any mention concerning the manner of Chrifts Prffetice in the Eucharift in Concerning the Englijb Reformation. 177 In the Articles propofed to Winchefter, or in any other of the Kings Injunctions : and therefore Bonner and Gardiner (when forced to preach in publickj to the great offence of fome of their Auditors, made this the chief fubjecl: of their Sermons , and many, in the pub- Jick Deputations had in Oxford and Cambridge about this matter, freely and ex animo maintained fuch cor- poral Prefence. See before, .107. And Cranmer hi m- ielf alfo for a long time was a Lutheran in his opinion, till at laft he was otherwife perfwaded by Ridley. Fox p. 11 15. and p. 1703. Neither was there fuch agreement between Ridley and Peter Martyr at firft . but that the one in the Oxford Difputations held a change after Con- . fecration in the fubftance of the Bread and Wine , which the other denyed in Cambridge. Fox p. 1255. Thus ftood things fomewhat moderated in the firft L i ? s. Form: againlt which therefore were made many com- it-whicbf*. plaints. Calvin writ to the Protetlor foon after it was c 1 d J*i 6k fet forth; where he incites him to a new Reformation "nl* rcml- thereof : and after having found fault with Prayer/or vc d mmy the Dead he goes on, Sunt & alia non perinde dam- thing mirth nanda fortajfe, fed tamen ejufmodi, ttt excufari nonpoffmt. l av e^S c ^ e Ilia omnia abfeindi femel praftiterit , ttt nihil in Ecclefia L... * ]0>i Dei ufnrpetur y quod non & ipfius verbo conformefit, & ad Ecclefia adificationem pertineat ^ ita vero tolerandi funt jnjirmiy ut ad meliora promoveantur. After this, about 1551. Epislle y p, 135. he writ thus to Arch-Bifhop Cranmer. Sic corretla funt externa fuperflitiones, ut re- Jidui maneant innumeri furculi , qui affidne pulkdent. Imo ex corrupt elis Papatus audio reliftam effe congeriem , qua non obfeuret modo\ fed propemodum obruat pur urn <& genui- num Dei cultum. Writ likewife to Bucer, then a Teacher of the reformed Religion in Cambridge, that he fhould foliate this matter^ telling him that he was cenfured for too much moderation, and might thus free himfelf from fuch an afperfion. Epittle, p. 107. Dominum Proteftorem, ut volebas, conatus fum hortari, utflagitabat frafens rerum flatus : tuum quoque erit modu omnibus in> Jla*e, frafertim verbo ; ut ritvu % qui fuperfilicnii aliqkid Z redo- mtr. 178 Concerning the English Reformat ten. redolent , tollantur e medio. Hoc tibi nominatim commendo? at te invidia liberet, qua. te falfo gravari apud multos non ignores j nam mediis confiliis te vel amhorem vel approba- torem femper infer ibiint. Scio hanc quornndam animisfttf- picionem altius infixam efie^ qttam Ht earn reveller e facile ft y ttianfi nihil omittas. Bitcer thus excited by Calvin, and alio requefted by Cranmer, having the Book tranflated intoLatine, An. 1 55 1. writes a cenfure thereof} where- in he defireth the alteration or omiffionofmany things (even to the difallowing of the ufe of the Surplice, and of fuch other veltments, as are there appointed % of faying of the fecond Service at the Akar , of the Pref- bytet's taking the bread in his hand, and the ufingof the fign of the Crofs in the Confecration , befides greater matters, of praying for the dead &c.) Yet, of feveral of thofe things , which he would have to be changed, he confefled, both that they were ancient, and might in fome manner be iriculpably ufed , but yet thought it , better that they mould be removed : u becaufe not ap- pointed in Scripture by word or example : * ; becaufe * they might be, or alfo had been, abufed to fuperftition : i becaufe the Church mould partake as little as might be of the fame ufages with Anti-Chrift. Bucer Cenfur. in Ordinat. Ecclef. Angl. p. 458, 467. &c. . 159. Upon fuch exceptions taken, at the Liturgy, asvoetl from abroad, as alfo by fome of the prcciferfortat home f faith, Dr. Heylin, Reform, juftif p: 31. and Hi fir. of Reform. p. 107.) and becaufe there had rifen divers doubts for the fafhion and manner of the miniftration of thefaid Service, rather by the curiofty of the Minifter and mi- fiakers, than of any other worthy caafe (faith the Act of Parliament it felf, 5,6. Edw. 6. 1. c which ftiews what a good opinion they had of the former Book) It was committed to be new corrected, but by what per- fons we know not. The Ad, without any fuch En. (gomium of thefe Reviewers, as of the firft Compofers, faith only, - That the King caafed it to be faithfnlly and godly pcrufed, explained and made fully per feci. Perhaps it Concerning the Englifb Reformation. ijf ft was correded ( which is one of Dr. Hcylin's conje- ctures : See before, . 42.) by thofe who were appoint- ed by the King about this time to compofe a Form of Ordination j which Form the Ad joined with this new Service-Book. But it could not be done by the fame perfbns, that compofed the former, at leaft not by all of them i becaufe -Day before this was ejeded out of his Bilhoprick ; and two more Shyp and Holbeck,, as I think, before this deceafed ; and Harley and Taylor were chofen their Succeflbrs. The thing matters not much. Thus correded it was prelented to the Parliament, and it only by them authorized to be ufed. Which fecond Form fbefides cafting out feveral other t $^ things that were retained in the former; as the Comme- Among the moration of Saints, and Prayer for the dead ; many Rites >?# Prayer in the Adminiftration of Baptifme ; the liberty of ex- f or ]*-' dead tream Vnftion -, the Oblation and Prayers in the Com- gxtrSonf munion -, which were made immediately after Qonfe- thttfeemU oration, fpoken-of before, . 148, 149.) above all feems toiler the to have taken a vigilant fpecial care for the altering and seaiorcor m removing out of the former Form all thofe paifeges, t ff '* 1 Prc : which might argue any real or corporal Prefence ofthe^^j^ Body and Blood of Chrift ('whether it be by Tranf- or Con-fubftantiation, or any other way J with the Sym- bols. Whereas therefore, in the Prayer of Cnfecration, thefe words are in the Miffo! , Quam cblationem tu Dens in omnibus qu&fumus benediclatn accept abilemque facer e dig- neris, ut nobis Corpus & Sanguis fat dileclijfimi Filii tui Domini Noftri Jcftt ChrifU ; and fo in the firft Form of Kipg Edward thefe words , Hear us Merciful Father, we befeech thee : and with thy Holy Spirit and word vouch- fafe to bl >J< efs and fane >J< tify thefe thy gifts, and crea- tures of Bread and Wine, that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy moil dearly beloved Son (Boththe Midal and that Form ordering the perfon confecrating at this time to take both the Bread and the Cup into his hands) : Inftead of this, the fecond Form is thus changed , ' Hear 4 us, O Merciful Father,, we befeech thee, and grant, ,*that we, receiving thefe thy Creatures of Bread and Z 2 * Wine, tSo Concerning the Englifb Rzformxtiea. c Wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jefus Chrift"* 4 holy Inftitution , in remembrance of his Death and ' Paffion, may be partakers of his moft blefled Body and * Blood (omitting alfo the Priefts touching or handling the Pattin or Chalice : ) which is done according to Bucers directions in his Cenfura p. 468. Whereby feems to be avoided the acknowledging of any Prefence of Ghrift's Body and Blood with the Symbols*, of which alfo Bucer faith , p. 476. Antichriftianum eft affirmars quicquam his dementis adeffe Chrifti extra ufum pr Where < pointed to receive the Holy Communion } except fome fhall Conurnvg be referved for .the Communion of -the Sick: The fe- tbereduclu cond omits any iuch caution , ordering, only, jhaf the %l n U^% Curate have the remains tn his own ufe. i n this Pre But the new- Liturgy compofed for Scotland , well fence made difcerning ,what thefe alterations aimed at, reducethaH the n < things to the former way, reftores thofe words in the ^ tHr PJ' )f Conlecration [ with thy holy fiirit and word.&Q.* that ^Edl.ft 3 They [Form, 182 Concerning tin EnglijJi Reformation.. They may be unto its the Body &c] ordering (again) the Presbyter, that officiates, to take the Pattin a^d Chalice in his hands-, and leaving out alfo the caution of non-ele- vation, which was inferted in the firft Book of King Edward : removes the words added in the delivering of the Myfteries Takf. and eat this &c] and inftead thereof adds after the former words the people's refponfe Amen] according to the cuftome of Antiquity ("See Dionyf. Alexand. apud Eufeb. Hifior. 7. 1. 8. C, Leo Serm. 6. de jejuni 7. menfis. Augufk. ad Orojium quasi, 49,) fpoken as a Confeflion of their Faith, that they acknow- ledged that which they received to be Corpus Domini. Laftly requires him that officiates , that he consecrate Bread and Wine with the leafl, to the end there may be little left ', and that what is left be not carried out of the i Church, but reverently eaten and drunk by fuch of the Communicants only, as the Presbyter, that celebrates, (hall take unto him. 6 \6i. All this could: not pafs the Obfervation of the Scotch- Mucbcom* man, who' in the Laudenfium Autocatacrifis,^. 107. thus plained of cenfures it, * In the next Prayer, faith he, [i. e. that ti Lwdcn-<- fConfecration2 are put in the words of the Mafs,where- f.uvn Auto- 1 by G d i s befought by his omnipotent Spirit fo to fanSti- fy the Oblations of Bread and Wine,- that they may become to us Chrifl's Body and Blood. ; From thefe words all Pa- ' pills ufe to draw the truth cf their Tranf-fubftantia- 'tion-, wherefore the Englifh Reformers |j- e. the latter] 'fcraped them out of their Books , but our men put * them fairly in. And good reafon have they fo to do. * For long ago they profeHed, that, about the Prefence * of Chrifl's Body and Blood in the Sacrament after Con- sideration, they are fully agreed with Lutherans and * Papifts ; except only about the formality and mode of * Prefence [here quoting Mountag. Appeal, p. 289.] They c make an expref3 Rubrick for the Prieft's taking the Patin, and the Chalice in his hand\ in the time of Con- secration. Which taking, not being either for his own * participation, or the diftribution toothers, why Ilia II c we not underltand the end of it to be, that which the 'Mafs Concerning the English Rtferw&thn. 183 ? Mafs there enjoyns, their Elevation and Adoration ? ' The Elevation being long ago practiced by fome of our 'Bifiiops^ and Adoration, when the'Patin and Chalice 1 are taken in the Prieft's hands , avowed by Heylirfs * Anfw. to Burt. p. 137. The Englifh indeed, in giving 1 the Elements to the people, retain the Mafs-words - 7 c but to prevent any mifchief, that could arife in the Autocat - '? 1 people's mind from their found of -a Corporal Prefence, lu ' *they put in at thediftribution of both the Elements, * two Golden Sentences : of the hearts eating by Faith j ' of the Souts drinking in remembrance. But our men, * being nothing affraid for the people's belief of a Cor- 'poral Prefence, have pulled out of their hands, and * fcrapedout of our Book, both thefe Antidotes. And ' the Mafs-words thus quit of the Englifh Antidotes ' muft not ftajid in our Book fimply : but that the people 'may take extraordinary notice of thefe Phrafes, there 'are two Rubricks fetupto their backs, obliging every 'Communicant with their ownmouth to fay their Amen 'to them. The Englifh permit the Curate to carry * home the relicks of the Bread and Wine, for his private c ufe : but fuch Profanity by our Book is difcharged. ' The Confecrate Elements are enjoyned to be eaten 'in the Holy place, by the Prieft alone, and fome of * the Communicants that day: yea, for preventing of all dangers, a cautelisput in, thatfo few Elements? 1 as may, be confecrate. And our Book will have the Ele- ments after the Confecration covered with a Qorporal &c. Thus the firft Form, both when firft eftablifhed in . t 6^ King Edward?* , and when revived in King Charles's time, found many Adverfaries. But did the new one efcape any better? No. For when all thefe oflenfive things in the fecond draught were amended according to feveral precifer fancies , yet neither fb did the fecond content all palats, for the humour of Innovation know- eth no bounds. Soon after it was framed, as the chief body of the Clergy under Queen Mary deferted both it, and the former , and returned to the old Church-Ser- vice 1 fo the EngUfh Protectants, that were then diP perfed ,i.$4 Concerning the Engltjb Reformation. perfed abroad at Franck ford in Germany ', fell into great,* diileniions about it : as iome for, fo many againit, it. See a fuller relation in Heylirfs Hisl. of Reform, in Queen Mary p. 59. &c. And Calvin hearing the noife thereof, as he had formerly ufed his Pen to the Proteclor &c, againit the firifc Book - 7 fo now doth he to the Englifh -Cjlvin Ep. in Franckford,aga\nR, the fecond *, faying , In Anglican* .? **J Liturgia qualem defcribitis [i t e. the new one, which fome of them then ufed at Franckford~\ multas video fw iffe tolerabiles ineptias. Sic ergo a talibus rudiment^ in- cipere licmty at dottos tamen & graves Chrifii miniftros ultra . tniti & aliquid limatius ac purius quhath power * to difpenfe with it. But here note, that only abftinenct A a from i$6 Concerning the Englijb Reformation. frdm flejb is enjoyned on thofe days by this Statute ; not Filing : nor is Failing enjoyned by any other Statute that 1 can find fave only on Holy-day 'Eves, by a Sta- J\' f " b 6 > tute made two or three years after. Neither is there ^ ,c * any obligation for the obfervation of either falling or abftinence on thefe days, by any exprefs Canon of this Church reformed (when as now the former Church-Laws concerning this were by the Kings Supremacy nulled in this Aft; J but only, by Act of Parliament ^ and the end of fuch abftinence, in the Parliament, All %. Eliz.* 5, c. profefled to be only upon a TolitickjconftderatiWy the increafe of Fifhermen and Mariners , &c. ' And * not for any Superftition (faith that Act) to be main- * tained in the choice of meats ; or, as if fuch forbear- ing of flefh were of any neceflity for the faving of the ' Soul of man*, or, that it is the Service of God, other* ' wife, than as other Politick Laws are and be. Tho King Edward in the fore-cited Statute, I confefs, men- tions partly another end: iiz becaufe that due and godly abftinence is a me dm. to venue ^ and to fubdue mem bodies to their Soul and Spirit \ And Tdoubt not, that many devout perfons in this Church holding themfelves bounden to the former Ecclefiaftical Conflitutions, not- withftanding the Kings abrogation , have ftill obferved this duty in obedience thereto. See likewife 5, 6. Edw. 6. 3. c, the fame Regal authority appointing the Holy- days. And thefe things are done m Parliament, without ifhe leafl mentioning or referring to any Siynod. tf. i*f. Likewife by vertue of fuch Supremacy, the King with sta f . i, 3. tonfent of Parliament ordained , 'That all Laws pofr- Edwtf.ai.c. u of Religion, containing feveral matters of Faith, which tb J Editl0 ! t are there ftated contrary to the definitions of former fij^jg" fuperiour Councils. Which Articles are faid indeed i,gi l Jf- to have been firft decreed and agreed on by a Synod ferm from of the Clergy held at London ; the Title prefixed to tbc f* mtr them being this, Articuli, de quibtts in Synodo London. ( ?"/ An. Dom. 1552* *d tollendam opinionum dijfenfionem & confenfum vera religionis firmandum inter Epifcopos & alios truditos viros convener at, regia anthoritate in Uicem edtti. But this I cannot thus eafily concede, notwithftanding Where this Title. Thus far indeed I grant -, that they feem whether to be compiled or confented to by fome members of that th , eie Ariu Synod, whom the King after the Synod had appointed ? \nZ fthe Synod leaving this bufinefs to him) to draw up ^sjW. fuch Ecclefiaftical Laws : and fo I grant that de illisconve- nerat inter Epifcopos & alios eruditos viros qui erant pars Miqna Synodi London. But that thefe Articles were , A a 2 pub- 2$$ donurnitig the Exgtifi Reformation, . ^mWilh^dv^ft&blifticd, of failed by that Synod, I think there is good reafon to deny, from thefe. relations which follow. $..i*7. Where I will firft tranfcribe you, what Mr. Fuller^ Hift. Ecclef, 7. 1. p. 420. who had perufed the Records concerning it,, faith of this Synod or Convocation. . As 'for the Records of this Convocation (faith he) they * are but .one' degree , above blanks, fcarce affording the 'names of the fCierks; affembled therein (for which fee 'alfo Heylin\$ Hift. of Reform. KingEdw*\>. \t.i.) In- c deed they had no CommifTion from the King to meddle 'with Churcf^buflnefs , and no Convocation can hear 'complaints in Religion, nor fpeak in redrefs thereof, 'till a Coinmiffion be- granted unto it from Regal au- * thority,. Now .the true reafon,. why the King would 'not entruft thediffufive body of the Convocation with *a power. t6 meddle with matters of Religion , was a *juft jealoniy, which he had, of the ilkaffecYion of the 'major part thereof - 7 :who, under a fair rind of Pro- * reliant Profeffion, had the rotten core of Roman Su- 'perititiDn. It was therefore conceived fafer for the 'King to rely on the ability and fidelity of fome felect ' confidents cordial to the caufe of Religion , than to 'adventure the fame to be difcufled and decided by a 'fufpecled Convocation. However this barren Convo- ' cationis entitled the Parent of thofe Articles of Re- ligion, 42 in -number, which are printed with. this 'Preface^ Articnli t .de quibus &c. as is recited before. 'With thefe Articles was bound a Carechifme, younger 'in age, as bearing date of the next year, but of the .'fame extract, relating to .this Convocation as Author * thereof. Indeed it was firft compiled, as appears in h the Kings Patent prefixed,by a fingle Divine (charafter- *ed pious and learned:) but afterwards perufed and 'allowed, by the Bifhops. and other learned men (under- 'ftandit the Convocation;) and by Royal authority 'commended to all Subjects, commanded to all School- 1 Mafters -to teach their Scholars, y e t very few in the * Convocation ever, faw h 3 much left explicitly con- * fented , Concerning the Englifb Reformatio;}, 189 * tented thereunto. But thefe had formerly, it feems, ' paflcd over their.power to the feleel: Divines appointed 1 by the King. In which fenfe they may be faid to have 'done itthemfelves by their Delegates, to whom they 'had deputed their authority. A cafe not fo clear, ''but that it occaliojied a Cavil, at the next Convoca- ' tion in the firft of Queen Mary : When the Papifts 0- e. all 'the Conpfir/ttion fave fix perfons~\ therein aflem- * bled renounced the legality of anyfuch former Tran- 'factions. Thus Mr. Fuller, one interefled in this mat- ter on the other fide. Next, if you would know the queftioning of thisCa- $. ie%> techifme (to which as well,as the Articles, was pretend- ed the name of the Synod ) and the anfwer returned thereto-, In the Relation made thereof in Fox p. 1282. thus fpeaks the Prolocutor Dr. Wefion to the Convoca- tion concerning it : ' For that (Taith hej there is a Book c of late ,'fet forth , called the Catechifme , bearing the 5jaame of this Honorable Synod Q. e. the Uft which JateQ, 'and yet put forth without their confents, as I have 'learned, being a Book very peftiferous and full of He- f redes ; and like wife a Book, of Common Prayer , very 'abominable: I have thought it.therefore beib, firft to .''.begin with the Articles of the Catechifme, concern- Xiftg the Sawament of the Jit or ^ to confirm the natural 'Pre fence of Ghrilt in the fame, andalfo Tranfubftan- .' tiation. \_for which conference the next Fryday being ap- printed^ Then (faith the relation) the Prolocutor ex- 1 hibited two Bills unto the Houfe 5 (The one, for Qthe aforementioned Article of the Catechifme] the natural frefence of Chrift in the Sacrament of the Altar } the other concerning the Catechifme } that it was not by that Houfe* s agreement ^formerly;] fet forth , and that they did not C for the prefent] agree thereunto) requiring all them ' to fubferibe to the fame ; as he himfelf had done.Where- *cunto the whole Houfe. did immediately afTent^ except fix. Jo. Philpot Zone of the fix 'Renegers~\ ftood up and fpake firft concerning the Catechifme , ' That he thought, * they were deceived in the Title of the Catechifme, 4 ia I$o Concerning the Englijh Reformat ion. 'in that it beareth the Title of the Synod of Londonhft * before this \ altho many of them , which then were * prefect, were never made privy thereof in fettingit 'forth: for that this houfe had granted the authority \ to make Ecclefiaftical Laws unto certain perfons to be * appointed by the Kings Majefty -, and whatfoever Ec- ' clefiaftical Laws they or the molt part of them did fet 3,4.Edw.tf. 'forth, according to a Statute in that behalf provided, **> c. t it might well be faid to be done in the Synod of Lon- 1 don ; altho fuch as be of the Houfe now had no notice * thereof before the promulgation. And that in this ' point he thought the fetter-forth thereof nothing ' to have flandered the Houfe, as they by their Subfcrip- I tion went about to perfwade the world ; fince they - f (faith he) had our Synodal authority committed unto them to make fuch Spiritual Laws , as they thought 4 convenient and neceflary. This concerning the que* ftioning of this Catechifme and Articles in the beginning of Queen Mary's days ; and the Anfwer returned thereto. But to clear the matter a little further ; We find in the fame Fox p. 1704, after this, Arch-bifhop Cranmer, in his tryal before the Cbmmiffidners at Oxford, ( Brooks Bifhop of Gloucefter andotheis) charged amongft other things with being the Author of this Catechifme and Arti- cles, and with compelling men agarnft their wills tofnb~ fcribe them ; the former of which he there confeffeth ; but denyeth the latter. The words in Fox are, 7^ In- terrog. Item. ' That the faid Tho, Cranmer did fly and ' recufe the authority of the Church -, did hold and foI ' low the Herefy concerning the Sacrament of the Altar, 'and alfo did compile and caufed to be fet abroad divers ' Books. Anfwer. Whereunto when the names of the ' Books were recited to him he denyed not fuch Books, 'which he was the true Author of. As touching the ' Treatife of Peter Martyr upon the Sacrament, he denyed 'that he ever faw it before it was abroad ; yet did ap- ' prove and well like of the fame. As for the Catechifme, ' the Book of Articles , with the other Book againlt 6 Winchefter he granted the fame to be his doings. 8 th /- terrog. Concerning the Englifb -Reformation* 191 t terrog. * Item, That he compelled many againft their 'wills to fublcrtbe to the fame Articles. Jnfxver. He 1 'exhorted (he faid) fuch as were willing to fubferibe : f but againft their wills-he compelled none. Having given you thefe three relations, now to reflect , 16$, a little on them. Firft, if you well confider the words in the Title of the Articles , de quibut inter Epifcopos & alios erudito's viros &c. they feem not the ordinary ex- - preffion of a Synodal Aft which runs more generally ; as thus \jde quibus convenit- inter Arehiepijcopos, EpiJcopas r & Clerum miverfum'} or the like. Next, you may ob- serve", that tho the Prolocutor in the Synod i Maria queftioneth, and Philpot anfwereth concerning the Ca- techifme, why it mould be published in the name of the Synod j yet they both fpeak , not of the Catechifme taken by it felf ; but only of the Articles which were firft printed at the end of this Catechifme, and bound up with it*, which the Prolocutor therefore calls the Articles of the Catechifme, and propofeth the matter of the 22th of thefe Articles for difputation -, and fo alfo calleth them the Catechifme) became the firft title of this Book is Catechifmm brevis &c. Now that they mult fpeak of the Articles is plain j becaufethe Catechifme as taken by it felf is not at all entitled to the Synod , but only the Articles at the end thereof. The Title of theCatechifme is only this Catechifmm brevis Christians difciplina fummam ccntinens omnibus Ludimagiftris autho- ritate regia commendatus. Neither do thofe words in Philpot's Anfwer \_that the houfehad committed their Sy* nodal authority to certain perfons to be appointed by the King to. make fuch Ecclefafiieal Laws as they thought convenient &crj agree at all to this Catechifme -, but to the Ar- ticles only. For this Catechifme was made before by a private perfon (that is, by the Arch-bi(hop, if we may believe his own confeffion related above) and after- ward approved only by fome Bifhops and other erudm viri, as the King faith in the Preface thereof. Cum bre- vis & explicata Catechifmi ratio apio quodam & erudito viro ftnferipta nobis ad cognofemdnm offerntnr, ejus diti- gmttm 192 Concerning the Englijb Reformation. gtnttm inquifitionem quibufdam epifcopU 0- aliU\ eruditis cemmifimw , quorum judicium magnam^ apud nos author i~ tat cm habet '; & quia conveniens cum fcripturis &C. vifaeft, placuit non folum eum in affettum- lucemque proferre , fed etiam propter perfpicuitatem omnibm ludorum magi/Iris ad. docmdum prcponere &c. Neither is this Gatechifme ab~ ftracted from the Articles any fuch peftiferous Book, or fo fulj of Herefies, as the Prolocutor complains of - 7 be- ing compofed in general terms for School-boys - 7 and tiot dating, fcarce touching, any controversy. Add to this, that, tho the Gatechifme was not made by the Synod, yet if the 42 Articles that were then printed and bound with the Catechifme, were framed by it;- neither had the Prolocutor any reafon to have fallen upon and gotten hands againft: the Catechifme, as being falfly afcribed to that Reverend Affembly, (when as, that, which was far more oppofite to that which he accounted the Orthodox Religion, (namely thefe Articles) were known to be pafTed by them ; ) Neither would Philpot have concealed this matter - 9 fince this known Act of the Synod compofing thefe Articles would have juftified that Act of the Delegates compofing the Gatechifme ; for the Doctrine of the Gatechifme is contained in the Ar- ticles. But> if by this Catechifme both the Prolocutor and Philpot meant the Articles at the end thereof, (as it cannot be otherwife) then Philpot hath revealed to us all the truth concerning the compofing or ratifying of them; and why, in the impreffion, they were afcribed to the Synod : Namely becaufe the Synod had given authority to thofe the King fhould nominate, to make Ecclefiaftical Laws ; and fo by thofe perfons f being Epif- copi & alii.eruditi viri) were thefe Articles compiled or confirmed - 7 the Synod it feems leaving both this mat- ter, and the election of the perfons for doing of it to the Kings care, without refer ving any review tjiereaf to themfelves, contrary to the Firft, Second and Sixth Thefes. But Mr. Philpot difcovers the. motive, which this Synod (if he meant this, and not fome former Synod) might have to do this,when he mentions a former . Aft Concerning the "English Reform ttion. 19 j 'Ad: of Parliament , 3, \.Edw. 6. u. c. enftating the King in this power -, which Act was made two years be- fore the Seflion of this Synod : but then this isfomewhat ftrange , that what was acknowledged (formerly) as the Kings right , is (now) made by Mr. Philpot tho CJergy-'s conceflion to him. Thus then werethefe Ar- ticles made, not by , but after , the Synod : and this * is the reafon, why tho the production of fuch a Body of Articles would have been by much the folemneft Act of a Synod, that was done in King Edward's days j yet both the Records and the Hiftorians, Fox, Godwin, An- tiqmtates Britanicm , and thofe others, that Thave fees, are filent therein* And the Arch-bimop , to whom it would have been an excellent defence, to have fnewed them, tho of his compiling, yet to have been confirmed and generally fubfcribed by fuch a full Synod ; yet he alfo pleads no fuch thing. And hence we may learn the rea- fon of that which Dr. Heylin obferveth p. 25. 'That 4 tho a Parliament was held at this very time, aHd that '* this Parliament had pafled feveral Acts, which con- 'cemed Church-matters, as, an Act for Uniformity of 6 Divine Service, and* for the Confirmation of the Book^of < Ordination 5,6. Edw. 6. i.e. An Act declaring, which ' days fliall only be kept for Holy-days, and which for Fail- l ing-days. 3. c. An Act againfl finking, or drawing c any weapon in the Churchy or Church-yard. 4.C. <\n ' Act for the legitimating of the Marriages of Priesls. c 12. c. : Yet neither in this Parliament (faith he) nor * in that which followed, is there fo much as the ieaffc Syllable which reflected! this way, or medleth any 1 thing at all with the Book of Articles. Thm Dr. Heylin. Which Obfervation, as to him it affords an Argument, that Religion reformed in thefe Articles therefore can be called no Parliament-Religion^ fo to me, that it was alfo no Symdal.Religion : becaui'e we fee the Parliaments in King Edward's time corroborating or rather prevent- ing the Synod in all other Transitions about the Refor- mation. See before, .47. Neither can it be fai dim- proper to the Parliament to enjoyn obedience, to thefe, B b as 194 Concerning the Bnglijh Reformation. as well as it had done to other Church- or Synod-decreed * , 70 If it be urged here, what Pkilpot urged of the Cate- chifme, that thefe Articles are Synodical, becaufe the Synod conceded to the King the eledion of fuch perfons, who fhould frame and publifh thefe Articles , without any communicating them firft to the Synod: See the Anfwer returned to this before, . 42. C.H A P. XI. The Actings of Queen Elizabeth in Ecde~- fiajlical Affairs: And of the unlawful Ejection of the Catholicks. $. 171. fJJAving thus from . 1^4. viewed the courfe of the y-Tnr Aft. JLJl Reformation under King Edward ? now I pafs to lags of . that under Queen Elizabeth, one much interefledto re- Yg'^'i" new an PP ontion to the Pope y. in as much as his pro- mtters nouncm g K * n Henry's Marriage with Anne Sullen her All the h Mother lawful, invalidated her Title to the Crown. met delnes Upon which Mary the Queen of Scats a Catholick, newly f the rtcr- married to the Daitlphin of France , and animated by gy h K,ig the Pope, did alfo afTumeunto her felf the Stile and Title Henry and of Queen of England (as Cofin and next Heir to Queen heulrtiix- Mary deceared) quartering the Arms thereof upon all M by" the ner p * ate and Efcutcbeons. Only let me firft mind you C'ergyi!^. this concerning Queen Maries Reign that Iyeth be- Ifary'sd.iys tween ; That whatever the Reformation had built upon any Synodal vote under Henry the Eighth, or Edward the Sixth, was now revoked and demolifhed under Queen Mary, by the like Synods of a legal Clergy -, as is fhewed before . 52. The Supremacy in Ecclefiaftical matters was re-acknowledged by this National Synod, now, not due to the Civil, but to the Ecclefiaftical, Chief Go^ vernor, the Bifhop of Rome, the Patriarch of the Weft: yet not challenged by him info high a degree, as thefe Prjnxes ufedit. The Six Artirtes, cftablifhcd by Synod ia. Concerning the Englijb Reformttim. i^j ia Henry the Eighth's days, as alfo the ancient Church Liturgy, ancient Form of Ordination , ancient way of Tryal ofHeretickjy ancient Canons &c, were now by the like Synodal power again reftorcd, and re-inforced. See before, . 48. So that the Reformation under Queen Elizabeth was to begin upon anew foundation, without grounding any plea upon any Synodal Act or confent of the Clergy made in King Henry or King Edwards days - 7 either concerning the new Supremacy, or the new Li- turgy, or the new 42 Articles of Religion, &c: fince all thefe were by the fame Synodal anthority in Queen Mary's days difclaimed. Here feemeth no evafion: If we accept the decrees of later Synods, rather than of former 7 then Queen Marys Synods will >void King Henry's and King Edward's: But if of former Synods, rather than of later ^ then the Synods of Henry the Eighth, and of former times for the Six Articles &c. will void King Edward's, and Queen Elizabeth's too. And here firft , concerning the courfe which Queen 0. V7* Elizabeth took in repairing the Reformation defaced by Queen Mary, Dr. Heylin fpeaks thus of it in general. Reform* Juflifed , p. 37. 'In Queen Elizabeth's time * Cfaith he) before the new Bifhops were well fetled , 'and the Queen allured of the affections of her Clergy, < She went that way to work in her Reformation, which not only her two Predeceflbrs, but all the godly Kings and Princes in the Jewifli State, and many of the Chri- stian Emperors in the Primitive times, had donebe- 'fere her ^ in the well ordering of the Church and Pco- * pie committed to their care and government by God, ' And to that end fhe publifhed her Injunctions An. Dom t ' 1559. AjBook of Orders 1561. Another of Advertife- c ments 1562. all tending unto the Reformation'.; with ' the advice and counfel of the Metropolitan [him, that was firfi ordained fo by her appointment^ and fome other ' godly Prelates, who were then about her : by whom ' they were agreed on, and fubferibed unto, before they ' were prefented to her. But when the times were better 'fetled, and the firft difficulties of her Reign palled over^ Bb 2 c flrc 196 Qoneeming the EngHjh Reformation* 'ihe left Church work to the difpofingof Church-men> 4 who by their place and calling . were moll proper for ' it : and they being met in Gonvocation, and thereto 4 authorized, as the Laws required, did make . and pub- 4 Jifh feveral Books of Canons &c. Thus the Dotlor. The brief of which is , That Queen Elizabeth did the Chttrch- vpark^ at fir ft her felf without any Synodal authority of the Chzrch-men fas not being allured of their . affection]) till foe had fetled new Church-men according to her mind '; and then fie did Church-work, by Church-men. $. i7* This teltimony premlfed concerning her proceedings &r calling \ n general. Now to mention fome particulars which Vhhh^dt are f tnc m ft note * In trie beginning of her Reiga eUretb a- the Queen together with a Parliament called alfo a gahfi the Synod :, in which Bonner Bifhop of London, in the va- ktfvma- caney of the Arch-Bifhoprick of Canterbury, was Pre* tw.. fldent y and Dr. Harpfield was Prolocutor for the infe- riour Clergy. But this Synod continuedin the former refolutions. made under Queen Mary; and remained in- flexible to the Queens inclinations, and the Reformation : nay, declared againfl: it. The full relation of which Synod I will give you out of Mr. Fullers Hiftory 9. h p. 54. (who copyed it out of Lib. Synod, 1559J be- caufe tho fomewhat long, yet it is very remarkable. s The Convocation at this time (faith he) was very fmall 4 and filent. For as it is obferved in nature, when one * twin is of an unufual ftrength and bignefs, the other 4 born with him is weak and dwindleth away : So here, ' this Parliament being very active in matters of Religi- ' on, the Convocation, younger brother thereunto , was 4 little employed, Iefs regarded. Yet in it, in the lower *Houfe of Convocation were pafled' over certain AnU 4 cles of Religion j which they tendred to the Bifhops> s that they might prefent them to the Parliament. The a Bifhops likewife by their Prefident Bifliop Ronner pre- 4 fented them to the Lord Keeper. Likewife in the tenth Sellion oi this Convocation an account was given in bv both the Vniverfities'm an Inftrument under the hand of a publick Notary ; -whercin^bey, both, did concur to. 'the i Concerning the EnglijbRffsrmatwn. iq-j 1 the truth of the forefaid Articles the M only excepted. 'The Articles together with their Preface are thefe, > j_. f which (fa-'^V hej we here both tranfcribe and tranflate * (copied hy me out of the Original^ coniidering, they ' &c the lafl in this kind, than ever were represented 'in England by a legal Corporation in defence of the 1 Popifh Religion. Reverendi in Chrifto Patres ac Demini Colendijfimi. x ^ Quoniam, fama publico, referente y ad noftram nuper notitiam pervenk , mult a religion^ chriftiana dogmata publico & unanimi gentium chriftianarum_ confenfu,, habienm recepta & probata^ at que ab Apoftolis ad nos ufqne concorditeyper manus deduffa^ prafertim Articulos infra fcriptos, in dubi- urn vocari : Hinc eft , quod nos Cantuarienfis Provincial inferior fecundarim Clems in uno ( Deo fie dijponente, ac Se- ren. Doming noflra Regina, Decani & Capituli Cant, man- dator Brevi Parliamenti^ ac monitisne ecciefaflica folita declarata id exigent e) convenientes^ partium noftrarum effe exis~iimavimus i turn nos~ira y turn eorum, quorum cur a nobis committitur, jaluti^ omnibus quibtts poterimm modis projpi- cere. Quocirca majorum noftrorum exempli* commotio qui in fimiiia fapktempora incidernnt, fidem y quam in Articulis infra fcriptis veram effe credimut, & ex animo profit emur^ i ad Dei laudem cfr honorem, efftciique, & aliarum wflr&: cur a commiffarum animarum exonerationem, py&fentibta duxi* mus publice ajferendam y affrmantes^ & fwut Dem nos in: diejudicii adjuvet, afferentes. i. Quod in Sacramento Altaris, virtute Chrifti verba fuo a Sacerdote debit e prolato ajfiftentis, pr iftafnperioribffS erdinibns fignificare velitis. Qua in re officiumcharitatis ac pietatis (ut arbitramur) pr&fta- bitis , & faluti gregis veftri, ut par eft , pro(picietis , & Veflrat ipfi animas liberabitis. , A Thefe were the last words and testament as it were of the ancient Clergy now expiring \ feeing their defini- tive authority affumed by the Laity, and, upon this, a flood of innovations coming upon them. Which Pro- reflation of theirs remaineth upon record to all genera- tions, to mew, that, in the Reformation, the Laity deferted their former Guides, and Spiritual Fathers the Clergv, in Henry the Eighth's, and Queen Afary'sdays, all conftant to the ancient Church-doftrines (having on- ly Supremacy for King Henrfs time \ ) and alfo in King Edward's days, the major part of this Clergy, tho ex- ternally guilty of fome diffimulation, yet inwardly re- taining the fame judgment, as may be feen by what is ac- knowledged above . 122. &c. and 127. $. I77 . This Declaration of the Clergy and Univerfities was ended Concerning the Englifh Reformation. rqq ended in the Queens propofal of a Difputation in Weft- A vifiuu. winfter Church, between ibme of the B>i(hops and others nonbeiweei of Queen Mary's Clergy, and fbme of the reformed Di- tbe tiQnps vines lately returned home from beyond Sea. Of which T d th , e u ' Difputation the Lord Keeper Bacon, bneoftheProte- JJJjJJr Dl ' ftant Religion, was appointed the Moderator. The three Queftions which were propofed by the reforming party to the Biffeops to be the fubject of the Conference were thefe. I. It is againft the word of God, and the \. Cuftome of the. ancient Church to ufe a tongue unknown to the Fonp.1914. people in Common-Grayer, and the administration of the Sacraments. 2. Every Church hath authority to appoint, 2. take away and change Ceremonies and Ecclefaftical Rites, fo the fame be to edification. 3. It cannot be proved by the o word of God, that there is in the Majs offered up a Sacrifice propitiatory for the quicksand dead. Of which queftions to pafs by the firft (there being nothing either in the former Convocation- Articles, or in any decree of former Chyrch, againft the lawfulnefs of having the Divine Ser- vice in a known tongue-, which is all that the Refor- mation defires in this matter ; and which could be no occafion of difference among Christians, were all other Controverfies of Doctrine well compofed. ) In the fe- eond Queftion, it feemstome fomewhat ftrange -, that, whereas the Convocation fpeaks chiefly of the autho- rity of defining points de fide; and contends, that the authority of defining fuch points belongs not to the Laity, or to any Civil Power, but only ad Taftores-,, and whereas alfo the main of the Reformation confifts in altering fuch Doctrines belonging to Faith, and not in altering fome Rites and Ceremonies: yet the quefti- on here ftretcheth no further than to Rites and Ceremo- nies ; and then fpeaks of thefe as alterable, not by the Laity, or a Civil Power, but by a particular Church ; i. e. as I fuppofe , by the Clergy thereof. And then leaves us in the dark .alfo ; whether this particular Church be put here as contradiftinct only to other particular Churches, on which it is independent , and hath this power granted to it by all: or be put as contradiftinft to 200 Concerning the Engtifh Reformation. to the Church Vniverfal, or to Superior Councils", on wkich furciy it hath Tome dependance. Again; in the laft queftion , it feems as ftrange ; that, v/htreas the Convocation in their Preface founds this Article toge- ther with the reft on Primitive and Apoftolical Tra- dition, as well as on Scripture: Publics chrifiianarum gentium confenfit &C. at que ab ApoftOlis ad nos ufque &c. And whereas the reformed, in the firft queftion, (where feeraed fome advantage) add the cuftome of an- cient Church to the teftimony of the Scriptures ; and Foxp.i^ia. in their Preface promife adherence to the Doctrines and Practice of the CathoJick Church (unlefs there be fome evafion in the limitation there ufed, where they fay , by QatholickjChurch they mean that Church which ought t be [ought in the holy Scriptures, and which is governed and ltd by the Spirit of thrift : ) Yet here they ufe that reftraining CJaufe \jt cannot by the word of God be proved Q the judgment of the ancient Church, the authoritative expounder of the word of God, being indeed in this matter very clear againftthem. See Difcourfe of Eucha- rift, -92. i il t &c. j, 8 . If you would know, what end this Difputation had, it is thus fet down in Cambden, Hisi. Eliz...Ai. Bom. 1559. ' That all came to nothing : for that, after a few c words palled to and fro in writing, they could not 1 agree about the manner of difputing. The Proteftants 'triumphing, as if they had gotten the victory; and ' the Papifts complaining, that they were hardly dealt 'withal, in that they were not forewarned of the que- 'ftions above a day or two before: and that Lord * Keeper Bacon (a *man little verfed in matters of Di- * vinity, and a bitter enemy of the Papifts) fate as Judge, c Whereas he was only appointed as Moderator, or keeper c of Order. But the very truth is ; that they weigh- ting the matter more ferioufly durft not, without cbn- 4 iulting the Bifhop of Rome, call in queftion fo great 'matters, and not controverted in the Church of Rome-, 'exclaiming every where : When jhall there be any certain- ty touching Faith ? Disputations concerning Religion do always Concerning tJjt Englijb Reformation. *o* always bend that way at the Scepters incline : and fuch like. * And fo hot were the Bifliops of Lincolne and WincheHer y 1 that they thought meet, that the Queen and the Au- * thors of this failing away from the Church of Rome 'mould be ftricken with the cenfure of Excommunica- ' tion. But the wifer fort reiblved, that this cenfure * was rather to be left to the Biihop of Rome ; left they, * being Subjects, fhould feem to fhake off their obedience 4 to their Prince, and take up the banner of Rebellion. Thus Cambden. Now the contention about the manner of difputing, which Cambden omits, was, what fide Jhould jpeak, laft j which the Bifhops , becaufe of their dignity, defired to do, after having obferved : that ^oipA^i^, their caufe fujfered by the other fide fpeaking laft cum ap- plaufu populi, the verity on their fides being thus not fo well marked. But this the Queens Council would not yield to them, the firfl agreement being pretended con- trary, and fo that conference ceafed. After this Difputation followed the fuppreffing 1 , ofi 7 ^ n . T . the Mafs \ of the Topes Supremacy j of the Six famous Toe Regit Articles reftored to their vigor by the Clergy in Queen Sui J e f a 2 Mary's days : the re-eftablifhing of the Regal Supre- a "^ j macy^ in all tnofe fpiritual Jurifdi&ions, which had for- ^ ) the merly by any fpiritual power been lawfully ufed over Reft/msno* the Ecclefiaftical State inthefe Dominions. To which nown-efta- Supremacy alfo were reftored the tenths and firft fruits bl '(h^ b y given back by Queen Mary, and fupon pretence, that \ d ^?[,il the Crown could not be fupported with fuch honor as wa t. it ought to be , if reftitution were not made of fuch Rents and Profits as were of late difmembred from it) all thofe Lands again were refumed by this Queen, which were returned to the Church or Religious Orders by Queen Mary, Befides which, becaufe there were many Impropriations and Tithes, by difiblution of Religious Houfes, invelted in the Crown, the Queen kept feve- ral Bifhopricks void, till fhe had taken into her hands what Caftles, Mannors and Tenements fhe thought good j returning unto the Bifliops as much annual rent of Im- propriations and Tithes 7 (but this an extended inftead C c of 2.0 a Concerning the. Englifb Reformation. of the other old, rent. ) Bijhoprickj being thus kept void 'alfo in following times one after another y uponfeveral occa- ftons (faith Dr. Heylin) till the heft flowers in the whole Garden of the Church had been culled out of it. See his Hiflory of Queen Elizabeth^ p. 120,121. 156* and be- fore in Edw.6. p. 18. &c. &i7*n.. Again: Now alfo followed the re-eftablifhing of King Edwara*$ later Form of Common-Prayer , but altered firft in forae things by eight Learned men, all of the reformed party,, and non-Bifhops, to whom the reviewing thereof was committed by the Queen. 'In ' which review (faith Dr. Heylin, Hift. of Reform. Qu. ' Elizabeth, p. 111.) there was great care taken for * expunging all fuch paflages as might give any fcandal 'or offence to the Popifh party, or be urged by them 'in excufe for their not coming to Church. Therefore *out of the Litany was expunged the Petition to be de- livered from the -tyranny and all the deteflable enormities of the Bijhopof Rome. And whereas in King Edwards fecond Liturgy the Sacrament was given only under this Form : Take and eat this in remembrance &C (fee before, . 160.) The Form alfo of King Edward's firft Liturgy was joined to it , The Body of our Lord &c. Take and eat - 7 left (faith that Author) under colour 'of rejecting a Carnal, they might bethought alio to 'deny fuch a Real, Prefence, as was defended in the 4 writings of the ancient Fathers. Likewife the Ru- * brick about Adoration mentioned before ibid, was alfo * expunged upon the fame ground. And to come up 'elofer (faith he) to thofe of the Church of Rome, it * was ordered by the Queens Injunctions ; that the Sa- 4 cramental Bread fhould be made round in the fafhion *of the wafers ufedin the time of Queen Mary\ that * the Lords Table fhould be placed where the Altar flood *(as alfo the Altar in the Queens own Chappel was fur- * nilhed with rich Plate, two fair gilt Candleftieks with * Tapers in them, and amaffy Crucifix of Silver in the *midfl: thereof ibid. p. 124.) that the accuftomed reve- 4 rence fhould be made at the name of J*fns - 7 Muflck re- tained Concerning the Englifh Reformation. > 202 Gained in the Church, Feftivah obferved &c. Thus Dr. Heylin. And fome fuch thing Jikewife was ob- ferved, if you will give me -leave to digrefs a little, by the Synod afterward in her days 1562 in their review- ing King Edwards Articles of Religion, both concern- ing Real Pre fence \ (For whereas in King Edward's Ar- ticle of the Lords Supper we find thefe words [Since as the Holy Scriptures teftify, Chrift hath been taken up into Heaven, and there is to abide till the end of the world ;' It becometh not any of the faithful to believe or profefs, that there it a Real or Corporal Frefence (as theyphrafe it) of the Body and Blood of Chrift in the Holy Eucharifl"} the alteration under Queen Elizabeth calls thefe words out :) and concerning Church- Authority and Church-Ceremo- nies. For whereas many of the Englifh Pro teftant Clergy (that were difperfed in Queen Mary's days) being taken with the Geneva-yfay, were, when they returned, great Oppofers of the Rites and Ceremonies ufed in the Church of England, and of Church-authority in general; there- fore to King Edward's twenty firft Article was this new Claule now added, The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies, and authority in Controverfies of Faith. For Queen Elizabeth is faid to have been a zealous Pa- tronefs of Real Prefence. Infomuch as when one of her Divines (fee Heylin's Wft* of Queen Eliz,. p. 1 24J had preached a Sermon in defence of the Real Prefence on Good-Fryday 1565. fhe openly gave him thanks for his pains and piety. And in Queen Mary's days fhe at fome time complyed fo far as to refort to the Mafs, fee ibid. p. 98. And her Verfesof theEucharift, inan- fwer to a Prieft defiring her judgment therein, arev/eti known ; 9 Twas God the Word that fpake it y He toek^the Bread and brakp it *, And what the Word did make it? That 1 believe , and take it. She was alfb a rigid Vindicator of the Church-Cere- Cc z ^monies, 0O4 Cenctrning tit Engl/Jb Reformation.. monies, and great Oppofer of the Puritans (fee before . 162, and Dr. Hey litfs Hifi. p. 144. err.) feveral of whom, tho (in fuch a fcarcity of Divines) fhe pre- ferred in the beginning of her Reign, as Sampfon to be Dean of Cbrift Church, Whittington to be Dean of Dur ham, Cartwright Lady Margaret's Profeflbr in Cam- bridge &c: Yet were they afterward no way. counte- nanced by her, * And when Alexander Nowel Dean of ' Pauls had fpoken lefs reverently in a Sermon preached 'before her of the fign of the Crofs , fhe called aloud ' unto him from her Clofet Window, commanding him 'to retire from that ungodly digrefllon, and to return ' unto his Text. (Heyl. Hisl. p. 124J But notwithftand- ing a certain moderation ufed in this Queens days fin comparifon of thofe lafl violent times of King Edward, agitated and fpurred on Hill further by Calvin from abroad, and by Peter Martyr and others here at home) and that tho fome reforming Ads pafled by King Ed- ward and repealed by Queen Mary were not thought fit now to be revived fas particularly that 1; Edw.6.2. mentioned before - 40 : ) Yet fo it was that all the see i.Elz. chief Ac~ts that King Edward's Pailiaments or Clergy 1,c " 2 ' had made concerning the Reformation were now re- vived i and all, that Queen A&r/s, or Henry the Eighth's Tlave in the matter of Supremacy) Parliaments or Cler- ' gy had done againft it, was repealed. $.179 n.3. But this, tho done in fpiritual matters^ was done by B.itm by the fole authority of the Queen and her Parliament,. toe Clergy. ^ t j,p Ut obtaining any Synod to reverfe the contrary dccr*es of the former Synods under thofe two Princes: nay further, whilft. all the Bifhpps, that fite then in Parliament, openly oppofed thefe Innovations. CprMm Hi ft. Eliz.. p q. By her own fole authority the Queen likewife publiflied certain In jundions to the "Clergy. And now the Regal Supremacy being thus reitored only by the Cjvil power, an Oath of Supremacy. was alfo drawn up and impofed on all. EccleGafticaLperfons upon penalty of the Refufer's loflng all their Ecclefiaftica! pro- aiotion,, benefice and .office, i,EUz>. 1. c. And fo this" Oath. Concerning the Engli(h Reformation. 20 5 Oath being unanimoufly refufed by all- the Bifhopsthat then fate, fave only theBifh'opof Landaf, '[Ifayrf/f , that then fate : For, byjeaibn of'acontagious ficknefs * that then reigned, within lefs than the fpace of a twelve- 1 month (faith Dr. Heylin, Hiji. of Reform. Qu. Mary y e p. 8 i .) aim oft one half of the Englifh Biihopsj had made void their Sees (three ' Bfjhoprickj having been void from 1 5 57 } three Bifiopf dying fame few Week* before the Qiteen^ three not long after , 'one on the fame day) which, with the 'death of fo many of thePriefts alio in feveral places, ' did much facilitate the way ('faith he) to that Refor- '.mation that foon after followed Q they were all eject- e4 out of their Bifhopricks i, and with them , of the chief of the'Clergy, fifteen Prefidents of Colledges, twelve Deans, twelve Afdi-Deacohs , fix Abbots, fifty Pre- 'Camb./uz. bendaries , loft their Spiritual Preferments. Mean- * while, many others (faith Dr. Heylin Hip. of Qu, Eliz. *p. 115.) who were cordially affected to theintereftof *the Church of Rome , difpenfing with themfelves in' 'outward conformities ^ upon a hope of fuch revolu- tions in-Church-'affairs as had hapned:formerly ; . Here, that we may examine the lawfulnefs of the $ 180, ejection of thefe Prelates for refufing fuch Oath ,: upon ^tufting, which depends the lawfulnefs or unlawfulnefs of the Alls %J% or ,/ e l of thoClergy fucceeding them, I will firft fet you down the r u f tn g the form of the Oatli which was this : * 1 do teftifyand de* oath of her *clare in my confidence, that the Queen's Highriefs is supremacy. 1 the only Supreme Governor of this Realm, a3 well I^aSs c in all Spiritual or Ecclefiaftical things or caufes as r # * Temporal: and that no Forreign Prince, Perfon, Pre- Mate, State, ought to have any jurifdiction , Power, Superiority, Preheminence, Ecclefiaftical Or Spiritual * within this Reafrm: and therefore I do utterly renounce ail forreign Jurifdictions, Powers, Superiorities .- and do promifcthat from 1 henceforth I mall affiflr and de- fend to my. power all Jurifdictions , Priviledges and ^Authorities' granted or belonging to the Queens High- 'nefs, or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown W.tmY Realm. Ink ao6 Concerning the Englifb Reformation. <>. i8r. This atn J you fee, confifts of two parts : a Supra- concerning macy attributed and proiefTed to the I rime \ and aSu- Kcgd Su- premacy denyed and renounced to any Forreign power. primicy. And that I may fpeak more diftinftly in this matter. How far it ^ s tQ t ^ e faQ. Q f t h e f ej t-^ys muc h is freely conceded : extend. t0 That the Givil Magiftrate hath a Supremacy in Spiri- tual and Eccjefiaftical Affairs - 7 and that fuch as none other hath } namely this : An external coaftive power or jurifdiction committed to him by God, to enjoyn to his Subjects the obfervance of the Laws of the Church} and or the Laws of God, as they are declared to him to be fuch by the Church : and to reftrainand punifh the ; tranfgreflbrs of them , whether Clergy or Laity, within his Dominions, with the Civil Sword , which God hath, put only "into his hands. So that no Canons of the Church can be by the Ecclefiafticks or others, executed or enforced on the Subject as Laws, viz.. with external Coaftion, pecuniary or corporal mulcts or funifh- ments &c. before the Secular Prince is pleafed to admit fuch Canons and enroll them amongft his Laws, or to concede fuch coaftive power to his Clergy. How far alfo the Kings Supremacy may extend over all Ecclefi- aftical perfons concerning the Jnveftiture and prefenta- tion of them (fo long as their canonical fufficiency is not denyed by the Clergy) to fuch Temporal Church- Pofleflions, as. either Princes, or others by their permifli- on, have conferred on the Church (about which hath been in ancient times great Controverfy between feve- f ral Kings of England and the Pope) 1 meddle^ot to de- termine. Let this, for the prefent, be granted as much as any Prince hath claimed. It is likewife conceded : that in thofe words of the Oath [_only Supreme Governor in Spiritual things'} there is not any thing that exprefly extends the Regal Supremacy any further ^ which may be the only fuprerae power in Eeclefiafricals in one re- flect, and not in another. Nor no more is there in the thirty feventh Article of the Church of England % which expounds the Kings Supremacy thus \\fmm he:is to rule Allefiates and degrees committed to hk charge by God, whe- ther flctteerniftg the English- Reformation. 207 thtr they be Ecclefiaftical or Temporal, and to retrain with the Civil Sword the ft Morn and evil- doers, n] All which he may do ; and yet be tyed in all things to obey the Church her Laws, and to leave to her the fole judg- ' ment, who are thefe evil-doers , as to the breaking of Gods Laws, or who stubborn and heretical perfbns. And fuch Regal Supremacy will well confift with another ; either with a domeftick Supremacy of his own Clergy, in judging Controversies and promulgating Laws in meerly Spirituals ; or alio with a forreign Supremacy and Jurifdidion, of a Patriarch overall the Bifhopsof his Patriarchy in what Prince's Dominions foever; or of a General Council over all Provincial or National Churches. I f therefore only fuch a Regal Supremacy, as this,, were intended in the Oath, it cannot be juftly refufed. viz.. If the Oath mould run thus, Jdottslify that the King u the Supreme &C. a* well in all Spiritual or Ecclefiaftical Caitfes as Temporal that is, (as this Supremacy is expounded in Article thirty feventh) to rule with the Civil Sword all eft ate s and degrees commuted to his charge by God, whether they be Ecclefiaftical or Tem- poral, and to retrain with the Civil Sword theftubborn and evil-doer s.~} And if this word fuch 2 be inferted in the words following: And J do teftify that no forreign Prince, Prelate &C. ought to have any Cfuch] jurifdittiott &C And rgo 1 do utterly renounce all [TucrQ forreign Jurijdittion &c. You will fay, what is gained to the King by an Oath fo limited ? If his, that no Forreign or Domeftick Power within his Dominions may, upon any pretence of Religion or other whatfoever, either . take up himfelf, 6r licence any others to take up the v Civil Sword againft the King ; or make any refiftance to him therewith in order to any perfon, or caufe, what- foever. Which thing fufficiently fecures his govern- ment, and the peace of his Kingdorae, 2. Again-: as to the fecond part of the Oath, thus 4. n much fhall be freely conceded: That there is fome Su- 2. premacy, in or dine ad Spiritually to which no Forreign State or Prelate may lay claim. As, befides that which is i.t 2oS Xonuming the Englifo T^efwmation. Is named already to belong only to the Civil -Magiftrate, itlhall here be granted ; (as being the opinion of feveral Catholicks,) That no General Council hath any autho- rity to make any Ecclefiaftical Law, which any way entrencheth upon any Civil Right : Nor any forreign Prelate hath authority to ufe a Temporal power over Princes, (when judged heretical,) to kill or depofc them, or abfolve their Subjeds from their Allegiance. Were therefore thefe words of the Oath underftood only offuch a Forreign power, which oppofeth the fecurity of the Qtteens Civil Government^ as Dr. Hammond urgeth. Schifm, 7. C. . 17. Or } which layeth intolerable burthens and txaBions upon the Subjcffs of the Land \j. e as to tempo- ral matters3 and which draws after it Pojitions and Do- ttrines, to the unfujferable prejudice of the Prince s Grown and Dignity } to the exemption of all Ecclefiaftical perfons (fuch as makes them but half Sub j efts,) to the depofng of Kings , and- d&ffofwg of thein. Kingdomes } as Dr. F by the laws and an- nexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm, the taker of this Oath is bound toaffift and defend. (The like 10 which fee alfo in the 1. and 2. Canon Eccleftasl. 1603.) Akho the former Clergy, under Henry the Eighth, had never annexed thefe Supremacies to the Crown; See be- fore . 253 or j if -they had, had again, under Queen Mary}. *t!: Concerning the Engfifh Reformation. Si'i Mtry, reverfed it. Neither is it enough for our men, for the fetling of fuch Supremacies upon the Crown, to prove, that they belong not to the Pope, as long as they H ' m - ScIli( '' may belong to the National Clergy, and to Councils. c ' The qualifications of fuch Regal Supremacy, which Dr. Fern, Examin. Champ. 9. c. 16. 20. hath pro- duced as mitigating it , fee replyed to before . 72. And fee himfelf, fif I miftakehimnot) alfo defending fuch Regal Supremacy* as is here affirmed to be claimed in the places quoted below, .205: and not only him, but many other learned Proteftant Divines. And there- fore well might thofe Bilhops underftand the regal Su- premacy in the Oath, in the fame latitude, as thefe ftill do allow and maintain it. But lee Mr. Tkorndike (Juft Weights, 20 c) freely acknowledging what we have , faid here,and dcfiring therefore the abrogating of this,and the ena&ingof a new, Oath. *It is manifeft (faith * hej that not only the unlimited power of the Pope, *but all authority of a General Council of the Weftern * Churches ('whereof the Pope is and ought to be the * chief Member) may jufbly feem to be difclaimed, by * other words of the fame Oath , and that, whereas the Pope ufurpednot only upon the Crown, but upon 'the Clergy of this Kingdome ^ all thofe Ufurpations * X_ai well upon Clergy as Xing'} are, by the Ad of refump- 1 tion under Hen* 8. invefted in the Crown. So that, * when the Oath declares to maintain all Rights and Pre- * eminences annexed to the Crown, you may underftand < that maintenance which a Subjedt owes his Sovereign againft thofe that pretend to force his : ZjuiT\ claim is not lawful. But fuch was required of thefe muy w.n Bilhops, as appears j u by the exprefs words of the reiuired of Oath - 7 and * by the giving of all fuch Jurifdidion tboje b:- Spiritual and EccleGailical, as by any Spiritual or Eccle- J ; ' fiaftical Concerning the Englifb Reformation. 6tj flaftical power |j.e. Forreignor fiomtftickj] had thither* to been lawfully ufed over the Ecclefiaitical State of this Realm, to the Queen, at the fame. time, that this Oath was made \ See before . 70* And. 3- by the practice of thefe times fuitable. Neither j here, are thofe Pleas' good: that cm ikay .?: . take away m jttft authority from \iim r :w\sit hath emrcifm an unjufo ( for. will: Secular Princes sdtmt this iluft concerning themfekes? ) Or thd^'aaj ftnaU part of tbi Church Catholic^, if decliaing to joyn with the whOfey w not obliged to the ConftitntUns of the whole \ Ofy'Xdt Inter ages to the Cw/ftitmiotynfi ihe'.fcYMer* X>X^Wdi no p articular Church istytd\tokb&Cbtiftitmons of Super hr- Councils paft or f rjrc&nt iiim*ttit tf- ^Church XJovtrnkem or Difcipline, . fo*r. only in jirattersi of &aith i ' Or^tliat se Church the Church of England hathnbt giiDen her ewfent tofuchfor- G r.par. 1. ner Conftitutions concernkig' luch ^Churcli-Gottrnment, $ 3 8 < 4 as well as other Churches: AlLwhkh h$n been difCuflfed "' *' Vau ~ inthtir places. How if thefe' Bi&ops Were, thus, ufi-p'^^ *' juftly ieje&ed. for refufing to 'take && tmtewml Oafcfr { n. 1] it follows, that the Bifhops. fueceeding them wefeVin- Sx.cierg. " Juftly introduced^ and', confequently r their Synodal $ Adts illegal android, 't To prevent which inference, I fifld ; this pleaded by {. 187. Dr. Fern, Examn. Champ. 2. C. p. 84V That, hadribne T ^'/ <*- of t'hefe Bifho^sb&n; removed , yet the (Queens -Re- *yf$"n fbrming-Bifoops in Synod would have made a major j^ r J J r * part. 'For (faith; be; a there were fix Bifhops re- ot be deft. 'maining rf K**g Edward'i 3 and befldes, there ed on any 1 were many Bifhopricks actually void at Queen Marys 'ter groud * death:, which Bifhopricks being fupptyefd tty QH*Wj S t t u r J' 1 ' ^ Elizabeth] there was nofcaf, that the Popifh Bilftbps t '(iaJ bl ^( who. were very fuddenly reduced to Nine by death (hops a ma* c or by quitting the Land J fhould make the major jorpart,. * part , had the bufinefs of Reformation been put at * c firft to a Synodical Vote. Thus Be. To which it is added by others : That no new Bifhops had been elect- g ed into the vacant Bifhopricks,yet if fo many only of tfrefe C^ueen Mary\ Bifhops fhould have been difplaced , as came tt$ Concerning the Englijb Reform At ion. came into the Bifhopricks of KingEdwards former Pro- teftant Bifhops unjuftly caft out} the fix remaining Bi- fhops of King Edward, with Landaff' joy Bed to them, would have out-numbred the remainder of Queen Mary\ Bifhops. & ,88. But to thefe'tiseafllyreplyed. To ft; That i. Firft Reply to it hath been fhewed already, That fome of thefe fix * Bifhops could not lawfully now aft, becaufe juftly re- ! moved from their Bifhopricks in Queen Mary's days ; See before, f tne Suffragan Bifhops, more by and by. Secondly, $.f4.&c. That; Queen Elizabeth could not juftly and legally fup- * ply the then vacant Bifhopricks with anyperlons, but fuch. as the major part of her prefent Clergy (which furely were Catholicks^ and would" have admitted no other) did firft approve of, confecrat, and confirm. Of which fee what is faid before in the Thircl The/is^ and in the Church-Canons there-cited. To which I will add the teftimony of Mr. Thorndikc, Right of the Churchy 5. c. p. 248. &c. * The fourth Canon (faith ' he) of the Council of Nice requrreth, that all Biihops 'be ordained by a Council of the Bifhops of thePro^ vince Zfi fieri pot eft. 2 Which Council becaufe it can- *not always be had} therefore it is provided \jherc~\ that two or three may do the work, the reft confent- i ing and authorizing the proceeding. And this is that, c which the ordinance, of the Apoftles hath provided, 'to keep the vifible Communion of the whole Church * in unity. But when, among the Bifhops of any Pro- * vince, part confent to Ordination, part not : the unity 'of the Church cannot be preferved ; unlefs the con- * fent of the whole follow the confent of the greater part. And therefore it feemeth, that there can no 'valid ordination be made, where the greater number 1 of the Bifhops of the Province diflent. Which is con- * firmed by the Ordination of Novatiantu for Bifhopof * Rome. Which, tho done by three Bifhops, yet was the * Foundation of that great Schifme ; becaufe Cornelia * was ordained on the other fide by Sixteen. Ihm Mr. f Thorndike* T Concerning the Englifh Reformation, 2 17 To 0. 1. Firft, that thofe may be lawful Bifhopj, $. 18'?. who come into the placesof other Biihops whilft living, To $. if the other be juftly ejected, as King Edwards Biihops * were. Secondly, That of the fifteen Catholick Biihops 2. there were only four that came into the place of any Su b( f 9it > Proteftant Bilhop living when he was firft elefted there- *" 54 * to, namely Heath, Bourne, Cbriftopherfon , and Turber- vile, into the place of Holgate, Barlow, Scory, and Co- 'uerdale. (For all of the reit, Bonner, Pate, White, Gold- well, Watfon, Toole, Scot, Bayne,Oglethorp, Thirlby,Ton- flal fucceeded either Catholick Biihops, or Proteftant Biihops deceafed : ) And thofe four Proteftant Biihops were all married perfons, and fo excluded byfthe Canon ; and three of them, Holgate, Barlow, Cover dale, married Monks, But of the fifteen Catholick Bifhops there were only two that came into the place of any Proteftant Bilhop, when living: which Proteftant Bilhop had not firft entred into the place of a Catholick Bilhop, when living. For Coverdale and Scory Protectants came into the Catholicks Day's and Voices Bifhopricksln King Ed* wards time whillt they living. The truth of thefe things you may fee in Godwins Catalogue of Bishop. CHAP. XII. The Canonical Defects of KJng Edward Y, and Queen Elizabeth 1 * new Bijhops. NO W inftead of thefe Catholick Bifhops expelled, . , 5 .- being all that then fate, fave only Anthony Bilhop Concauf of Landaf ( whom Cambden calls the Calamity of his 'ha M*&\ Sic, and who I think can be much challenged by no fide ; f^L^' in Henry the Eighth's time, in Edward the Sixth's, in ^^ rj . Queen Marx's, in Queen Elizabeth's , frill acquiefcing mdnh% for his Religion on the Princes direction) the Queen ftice k\h, had onely fix others fur vivingfince King Edward's time, Edward'; out of whom to raife her new Ecclefiaftical Hierarchy ; dAp ' Scory Bifhop of Chicefier, Coverdale of Excefler, Barlow E e of 218 Concerning the Englifb Reformation. of Batby two Suffragan Bifhops of Bedford and Thetford and one Bale Bifhop of Ojfery in Ireland : amongft whom was no Metropolitan \ and of whom but one was con- feu ated in Henry the Eighth's days , the other five in King Edward s> whofe times were full of uncanonical Proceedings, and liable to feveral exceptions. Again two of which Bifhops, Scory, and Cover dale in King Ed- ward's time came ( as .is laid ) : into Bifhopricks not void, fefides that on another account they, as alfo Barlow , were lawfully ejected in Queen Mary's days, as being marryed perfons \ two of them Barlow and Covey dale doing this,contrary to the Canons,both as Priefts and as Religious. The later of whom alfo,going beyond- Sea in Q. Marys days, there turned Tnritan as they. are called ; and in the troubles of Frankford was one of theOp- pofers of the Common-Prayer-Book of England : and See E'faop af tc r his return, at the Confecration of Arch-Bifhop Par- Bnmliai'j fer, refufed to wear an Epifcopal habit as is found Confccrac. u pon Record ^ nor would refume his Bifhopriek of Ex- e f f"j- after, but to his dying day lived a private Preacher iSiSed* m London \ William AHen in the fecond year of Queen Hoii'iifkcad Elizabeth being made Bifhop of Excefter in his Mead* p. i?o?. As for the Suffragan Bifhops, as they were (in away z.6. Hen. 8. zn< \ manner differing from former times,) firft fet up I4 ', c "l by King Henry, fo were they put cjpwn again byQu. % ]~' ' ' Mary -, and quite laid afide under Queen Elizabeth. o. 19% This for the reformed Bifhops that are laid to remain Coicertiig from King Edward's days : now touching the new ones *'*f ,u r ^% wno were made by Queen Elizabeth ^ I think not fit /kw V- t0 trouble my Reader here with an exaft difcuffion ef d uncd 11 the validity of their Orders, by reafon of defects either .*V Elzi- in the Ordainers or the Ordained, fince fuch a difcourfe, bah'. d-iy;. f or t h e molt part Scholaftick , difputing of the Cha- racier, Matter, Form, Intention, &c\ effentially requi- red for the conferring of this Sacrament, may better come out in a Treatife a part, then interrupt this Hi- itcrical Narration : Concerning thefe new Bifhops and Prieftsthen,I will briefly only obferve two or three things, whereof the fuit fhall be the judgment andefteemtbe Ca- Concerning the Englijb Reformation. 21 a Catholick Church has made of thefe and the like Orders, the fecond, that tho thefe Orders be fuppofed valid, yet were they certainly unlawful and againft the Canons \ - and moreover unprofitable yea noxious to thofe who conferred and received them. As to the firft, the new Ordination grew fo far fuf-. laa."""!* pected, as deficient, to Queen Mary, that in her Articles lent to the Bifhops this is one. 'That touching fuch 'perfbns as were heretofore promoted to any Orders, Fox M*9?- 4 after the new fort and fafhion of Orders j confidering ' they were not ordered in very deed , the Bifhopof the 'Diocefs, finding otherwife fuffkiency and ability in 'thofe men, may fupply that thing which wanted in 'them before, and then according to his difcretion ' admit them to minifter. Bifhop Bramhal indeed urg- c , eth this following paflage out of Cardinal Tool's Dif- of p*!.' penfation , to prove, that King Edwards new Form Sxnt /- of Ordination was judged valid in Qneen Mary's days fbops jitSi'u- by Cardinal Pool-, by the Pope conhrming his Acts *, ^ ed > 3' and by ail the Clergy and Parliament of England. Ac P ' S 6 C *' 2 ' omnes Ecclejiaslicas facalares , ctn quorumvis Ordinum }^. xXt g, e . Regular es, perfonas, qua aliquas impetrationes , difpenfa- tiones, concejfiones, gratias, & indulta, tarn Ordines, quant Beneficia Ecclefiajtica, cen alias Spiritttales material pra* tenfa\fupr emit ate authoritatis EcclefiaBica Anglicans, licet nuiliter Qfr defatlo obtinuerint, & ad cor reverja [jperfonas] ecclefa mitati re&ituta fuerint, in fuis Ordinibm & Be-' neficik per nos ipfos, ceu a nobis ad id deputatos, miferi- corditer recipiemm, prout mult a recepta fuerunt, fecumque ftiper his opportune in Domino difftenfabimpti. From which words of the Cardinal the Bilhop argueth} 'That, 'If King Edward's Clergy wanted feme efTential pare c of their refpective Ordinations, which was required ' by the Inltitution of Chrift ; then, it was not in the ' power of all the Popes and Legates, that ever were in * the world, to confirm their refpective Orders, or dif- 4 pen!e with them to execute their functions in the 'Church. Thus the Bijhop. But if you look narrowly into the words of the Inftrument, you may obferve, that E e 2 tbc 2^0 Concerning the Englifh Reformatiom the Cardinal very cautioufly here Firfi faith not, dip penfamta or recipimns in the prefent, as he doth in every one of his other difpenfings throughout the whole In- Itrument, tho in matters uncanonical, difpenfamw, re* Uxamtu, retnitumMt covcedimus, &c* in the prefent Tenfe, but here diffenfabimu*, in the future. And Secondly faith not finglely dijpenfabimus \ but recipiemm per nos ipfej 7 feudeputatos'. which reception per nos, feu deputatos, was not neceflary for a difpenfation with a matter only un- canonical. And Thirdly faith not recipiemm (imply, but with a front mulu. perfona receptee fuerunf, referring to the manner of the reception, which had been ufed for- merly in this Queen's days \ which we find kt down in the Queen's thirteenth Article . viz.. That fuch new crdaincd repairing to the Bifhop y and be finding them other* wife fufficien* fnould fupply that which was wanting to them in rejpetl of their Orders, as they being before not or- dered in very deed. And this is the Reafon, why the Cardinal could not apply in this Inftrumenta prefent recipimm or difpenfamm for thefe Or dines ^ as he doth for other things - 7 tho here he ingageth to make good to every one fuch orders, as they then bare the title of. This is a fence of which the Cardinals words are very capable, and feem alfo to favour ^ and which accords well with the Hiftories of thofe times : whereas that, which the Bi- ihop puts upon them, makes them to contradid the pub- lick actions and proceedings both before and after the palling of this aft. For that the Cardinal, when Arch- Bi- fnopof Canterbury, and the Roman Bifhops held not the Orders received by the new Form fufficiently valid quoad Char after em ; as it may be gathered from Queen Mary's thirteenth Article forecited,and firit confidered,no doubt, by her Bifnops: fo it is clear from the Bifhop of Glow cefler, the Popes Legate his degrading Ridley onely from Fox p. his Presbyterfhip,and not his Epifcopacy: For, faith heJVe 04- do not acknowledge you for a Bifyop. Which had he under.- Hood quoad Excercitium, and not alfo quoad CharaBerem ; then neither fo ought he to have acknowledged him for, ' or degraded him as, a Presbyter j he being, quoad excer- cit'mm 9 Concerning the Englifk. Reformation. 22 1 citium , no more the one then the other. Now the reafon why he acknowledged him no Biffrap- quoad Cha- ratlerem, was, I conceive, upon fuppofititifr that Ridley was not ordained by the old Form 5 .becaufe much of- fence! being taken at that old Form, -we may conjecture by the reafon given in the Preface of the Statute recited before . 42. that alfo before the new fct-iprm eftab- lifhed , . there were 1 in Ordinations fbme vary ings from the old. The fame; you may fee in Fox ^concerning Hooker made Prieft by the old Form 4 Biflwpby the new : and therefore degraded in Queen Mary's days only as a Prieft. Again Mr* Bradford made Prieft by the new Form: and therefore, in his condemnation not degra- ded at all,, but treated as a meer Laick, In thefe days likewife Bifhop Bonner writ a Book calfd ^pro- fitable and necejfary Dottrine-, &c, wherein he contend- See p a s eth, that the new devifed Ordination of Minifters was chra ' e*- unfufficient and void : becaufe no authority at all was cbirid.p.^ given them to offer in the Mafs the Body and Blood"- of our Saviour Chrift^.but both the Ordainevand Or- dained defpifed and impugned not onely the Oblation or Sacrifice of the Mafs, but alio the Real Prefenceof the Body and Blood of Chrift in the Sacrament of the Altar. Laftly 'tis ^probable, that Mafon and others, tfci^t.ef&fw. whom this, difpenfation could not be unknown, and was 6 - 2S Arc fo ferviceable for this Controverfy, would not have left it unmentioned , could they have made any fuch con- ftr uction thereof as Bifhop Brambal doth. _ 7. In general, thofe who are truly ordained,yet,if in 2, an Heretical or Schifmatical Church, their true Orders, as to the exercife of them, are unlawful \ and fb, unlefs a Church be firft cleared from Herefy and Schifme, thefe Orders are not rightly employed in it. And thofe alfb, who receive the Sacraments from their Miniftery, do (tho truly, yet ) fruitlefly receive them. I mean fb many, as by their obftinacy or ignorance culpable are >; guilty of the fame Herefy or Schifme : becaufe thefe do not receive with theSacramentgratiamfanttificatio- fiis ot char it at em, oi jm ad regnnm cdornm, thro fuch their $22 Concerning the Engl/Jh Reformation. their fin^ without which Charity any other fruition of the Sacrament is nothing worth. [Of which thus St. Auftine, De Baptif. 7. 1. 51. C againft the Donatifts concerning their Priefts giving, and others receiving the Sacrament. of Baptifme from them. Habent Cpo- teftatem dandi- baptifmum ] quamquam inutiliter babe' ant, ; & accipitttr ah. eis etiam,cum inutile efl accipientibu4\: qucdlvt fiat utile^ab harefi velfchifmate recedendum eft. 54.C. Infiuttuofe atquef Bifljops} ls propagated in England at and 'fince the Reformation, were not made by confent of 'the greater .part of Bifhops of each . Province ; but 'againft their mind, tho they made no contrary Qr- 'dinations. And by the fame means it is manifeft, that all thofe Ecclefiaftical Laws, by which the Reforma- ' tion was eftablifhed in England \j. e. by thefe new Bi* 'flaps'^ Were not mac fc ty a content capable to oblige 'the Church} if we fet-afide the Secular power , 'that gave force unto that which was done {.bytheBi- ' flops} contrary to that rule, wherein the unity of the 'Church confifteth. But in other parts , theRefor- 'mation was fo far from being done by Bifhops and 'Presbyters, or any confent, which was able tocon- ' elude the Church by the Conftitution of the Church ; v'Jhattbejv?ery, Order of Bifhops is laid afijde and forgot, ' if no't.worfe, i.e. detefted^ among them. Upon which < precedent it founds plaufibly with the greateft part Vamong us v that,- -the unity of tlK whole being \jhm~} 'difTorved by the Reformation D- ft h the Reformers . * either being agdinSl Bifhops, or being Bi flops made againsi ' the confent of the former Bifhops .< ~\ the unity of the Re- formation cannot be preferved, but by diflblving the * Order of i ifhops among us. The likeiie faith before, ' p. 248. If the Clergy of that time i. e. in the begin- ' ning of Queen Elizabeths Reformation"} had been fup- * ported in that power, which, by the premifes {_fet * -down and juftified in his Bookf] is challenged on behalf ' of the Clergy, this Reformation could not have been ' brought to pafs, 3. Becaufe to prevent all divifion ^ and 524 (Zwcermng the Epgtijl > 'Reformation. and faftion, as like wife ta appoint a certain place and bounds for the exercife of his Jurifdi&ion, no Bifhop, by the Church-Canon , can be made without the con- fentof his Superior, the Metropolitan; nor Metropoli- ses Chur. tan without the confent of the Patriarch: who is to Gov. i./w. orc j a j n or confirm the Metropolitans under his Patri- arch-Hup; either by impofitionof hands himfelf, or by appointing his Ordainers , (at which time his BuU for authorizing the Ordainers was ufed to be read) and by Miflion of the Pall: See Cone. Mc. 4.: c. Can. Apofb. 34. Council Chalced. 27, c. and 16. Ad. $ Ge- neral Council, 10. c. confeiTed by Proteftants : by Dr. Field, 5,1. 31.C. p, 518. and 37, c. p. 55.1. Without the Patriarch's affent none of the Metropolitan's fubjetl unto them might be ordained! What they bring proves nothings that we ever doubted of. ' For We know the Bifhop of Komt had the right of Confirming the Metropolitans within the Precincts of his own Patriarcb-fhip. * By Bifhop Bramhal 7 Vindic* 9. c. p, 2qj. What power the Metropolitan had over [the Bifh'ops of his own Province, the fame had a Pn* triarch over the Metropolitans, &c Wherein then confift* ed Patriarchal Authority ? In ordaining their Metropo- litans, or confirming them, in impofng of hands, or giving the Pall, &e. And indeed What defence can the Church have from" frequent Schifme, if two or three, oraifew Bimops,.difTen'ting from the whole, may not only make other perfons of the like inclinations Bifhops togovern the people with them ;"but alfo may make new Metro- politans to prefide over themfelves ? But Arch-Biihop Parker was thus ordained by two Bifhops of the fame Province, without and againft the confent, of the Pa- triarch ; and of the Arch-Bifhops Vice-gerent, ftdeva- cante y the Bifhop of London ; and of the other Metro- poittan, the Arcb-Bifhop oitork. Neither did he re- ceive any Spiritual Jurifdi&ion at all from any Eccle- fiaftical Superior; but meerly that which the Queen. (a Lay-perfon) by the-fe men, her Delegates in this im- ployment , did undertake according to the warrant of the Statute i.Bli'z, 1. contrary to theFirftand Third Thefs- Concerning the Engltjh Reformation. 2 2< Thefts above) to confer upon him. Which Delegates of tier's were none of them at that time poffefTed of any Dioceft, ( Barhw and Scory being then only Bifhops Eled of Chicefier, and Hereford; and Cover dale never admitted or eleded to any*, and Hotkins a Suffragan,) nor, had they had Diocefles, could have had any larger jurifdidion fave only within thefe ; at leaft, being fingle Bifhops,could have no Metropolitical Jurifdidion ; which yet they conferred on Parker, not on their own furely, but on the Queens fcore. And then, might not fhe at pleafure take away and ftrip Parker again of all that JuFifdidion, which he held only on her gift ? 4. Of See above their four Bifhops, that undertook to ordain Parker, tbeFirftand three, Bar low, Cover dale and Scory, were upon fever al Cr}lrd Thtl * accounts juftly before deprived of their Bifhopricks *, s , 4 ' and as for the fourth, Hoskins the Suffragan, thefe had d. 58.189! their office formerly taken away, and never after re- ^0. ftored. Neither, their authority Handing good, is one see before* or two Bifhops a competent number for Ordination. $ l 9' 5. The Form of the Ordination of thefe new Bifhops, 5. as it was made in Edward the Sixth's time ; fo it was revoked by Synod in Queen Marys days , and by no Synod afterward reftored , before their Ordination. Revoked alfo by an Act of Parliament in Queen Mary\ i.Mar. uu days, and not by any Ad reftored, till long after the Or- dination of Queen Elizabeths firlt Bifhops, viz. in 8. Eliz,. 1. Upon Bonner $ urging hereupon, that the Queens, Were no legal, Biffjops. And for fuch confiderations as thefe, it feerns, it was, ^ t that the Queen in her Mandate to Coverdaie, Scory, &t. \vhcrt for the Ordination of her new Arch Bifhop Parker, &c, cvnumng was glad, out of her Spiritual Supremacy, and Univer- thc $2"* fal jurifdidion, ( which the Parliament had either given, % P " U V or recognized to belong to her ; and had enaded alfo, atticds her That Her Majefty might affign, name and authorize any per- difpenftng fan being natural born Subjells to her Highnefs to exercife all Witi} the manner of Spiritual Jurifdidion, of which Jurifdidion ^Yr'ff- E >~ one Adis that of Ordaining.] See i- Eliz,. 1.) to di- ?% Ipcnfe, and give them leave to difpeufe to themfelves, their ordi- F f with tf. 225 Concerning the E*g.li(b ReformttWr with all former Ghurch-Liws, which ;i ould be tranfgreft? in the dotting, confccrating, and in veiling of this Bifhop- The . words in her Letters Patents to them are thele, Mandates, quatenns vos eundemjn Archiepifcepum & pa- ilorcm ecclefiapradtft* confrmare& confer aye &C. velitis. Supplentes nihilominus. Snprema authpritate nofira regia, fi quid in vobis ant veftriw aliqao^ condit*ontiftatu t ahtfa- ciihate veftris , ad pramiffa perficienda deft eorum , qua per leges ecclefiafticai in hac parte rcquimntur ant neceffa* ria funt, temporis ratione & rerum nec.e.ffitate idpoflttlante. CWhich Difpenfatioflfome would reitrain only tothefe Ordaincrs their ufing of the new Ordinal before it was . licenfed again by a new Parliament after the repeal Jww2*/ there f b y Parliament in Queen Marys day. But this ?rJtcQa>it w <*s a fcrup'e Itartcd afterwardby Biihop Bonner -, and aifhafi+c. not now dreamt on. Nor did the new Ordinal want t. 94' fufficient Lay-licence, having the Queens - ? nor bad the Parliaiment been defective in re-licerrfing it (for which lee thid. Bifhop Bramh. p. 96 :.) ncr -are thofe words in the-Difpenlation - Si quid in vobis conditioner fiat* &C , rerum necejfitate id pofiulante , applicable to it.]}; 1 And rliefe are the words in the Inftruffient of ,Arch- 4 Bifnop Parkers Confirmation Nos &c T praditlam cletttonem Mattliaa'Packet^ Archieprifcopumlkz, SupreaiJ author it ate regia nobis in bat parte covtymffa cvxfirw amm. Supplentes ex fuprema autboritate regia. nobis ^dtlegatJi + quictjuid in nobis ant aliquo noftrum &C. And, notwith- standing this regal Dilpenfation, yet afterward, l Di- * vers queftions fjo give you. it in the words of the Statute 8. Eiz. i. c.] by overmuch boldnefs of fpeech and * talk, amongft many common fort of people being un- ' learned, growing upon the making and coniecrating c of Arch-Bifhops and Bilhops within this Realm, whe- ther the fame were and be duly and orderly done ac- cording to the Law or not? [_givt me leave here to fitppofe that thefe fcrnpnlo-m> people meant aetording to the Ecclefaflical Law - y for wh*it--doth -the ohferving of the Civil Lave concern them in[ the ordaining of their Spiritual ^ Governors t^ vs&ich is much tending to the flander of alt Concerning the Englifi Reformation, 227 5 all the State of the Clergy, being one of the greateft * States of this Realm ; It is anfwtred to them in the fame Statute thm, ' That the Queens Majefty in her Letters * Patents <2r, had not only ufed fuch words, as were 'accuftoraed to be ufed by King Henry and Edward, but 1 alfo had rjuf, itf thofe Letters, divers other general * wOftltey^ wWeby ' her Highnefs by her Supreme power 4 and authority had difpenfed with* all caufes, or doubts, 'of any imperfections or difabijity , that could beob- * jetted againft the fame. So that to all thofe that will 'well conilder of the fupreme and abfolute authority * of the Queens Highnefs [i.e. in Ecclefiafticals'] which See ** be - 'me had ufed and put inure in the making and confe- f orti $' 7 * c crating of the faid Arch-Bifhops and Bilhops, it isevi- ' dent, that no caufe of fcruple, ambiguity, or doubt, 'can be juftly objected againft the faid Confecrations, &c. Ihut the Aft. And this is propofed forthefatif- faction of thofe, whole xhief fblicitude was concerning the tranfgreffing the Laws: of the Church, in thefe Church matters. ' And the Anfwer feems in effect this, That tho thefe Bifhofs were ordained contrary to the Laws of the Church, yet they were ordained according to the Laws of the Land : and that this was fufficient to warrant the Ordination , becaufe thefe Laws of the Land had given authority to the Queen to difpenfe with any re- pugnant Laws of the Church. Thus much of Queen Elizabeth's changeof her Clergy. $. i 9 -* And here I think meet to profecute no further this Sub- ject-, this reformed Clergy being fuch perfons, as would act according to the pleafure of a reformed Prince , and therefore it is not ftrange, if the Prince acted no more againft, but by, them -, and began now a-new to ufe the Synod more, than the Senate, in the tranfattiOn of Spiritual Affairs. F f 2 CHAP. 228 Concerning the Engtifh Reformation* . . CHAP. XIII. The Opinion of federal Prote&ant Divines con- cerning a Reformation in Religion made againfi a Major Part of the Clergy. <<. 195. /^\Nly, before I conclude this Difcourfe, let me fhew T)c o?imo 1 \J you, after all the reft j that, as it hath been affirnr- * ^a"* 1 ec * ^ re ' tiiat t ^ ie Re f rmat i n wa s not erFeded by the Divines cler SY * this Nation, but by the Princes and theh: toucb'ngtbe Council againfl the inclinations of the much major part Uwf.iUefs thereof: So fome of the ableft of the reformed Divines, sfthe Prin, tno they contend, that our Princes did not fo , Yet, hgifReU.** if they doubted mucn whether they mould be able gia.iUmat t(> make, this good, do referve this as a fecure retreat ten of do- for themfelves ; that a Prince, when there is a. necejftty Urine a- that requires it, of which neceffity the Prince is to judge, gunfi the or i n Ca j- S extraordinary, of which cafes the Prince is l of i biscUr- to J ud e > ma y lawfully reform Religion, both in matters ly-ivebe.i to of Doctrine and Difcipline, contrary to the major p art bimfeemetb of the Clergy (thefe Learned Men defending the Secular #7 powers herein by the example of the good Kings of \)it! qm ' Jf rae l-) Upon which alfo they make no fcruple-to joyn Communion with thofe Tranfmarine Proteftants, whom all grant to have reformed againft all their Spiritual Su- periors: Nay alfo, in the beginning of this work, fuch Reformers were fent for from abroad to affift them here againfl the contrary current of the Clergy of this Land. And indeed it feemeth but neceflary that they ihould patronize this Tenent , becaufe if they fhould once maintain, That no Reformation is valid, which is done againH the major part of the National Clergy ', by the fame reafonthey muftaflert, that the Reformation of no National Clergy is valid, which is done againfl a major-part of the Patriarchy or of the Church, or Council y to which this National Clergy will be found to owe obedience,. The Comzrning the Englifh Reformation. 220 The firft teftimonv of thofe I fhal) produce for this $. I97 . aiTertion, is that of Dr. Field. He, after thele fpecious The Oninhtf Conceflions, 'We do not make our Princes with their fDr.V'aMm 'Civil States fupreme in thepower of commanding in 'matters concerning God and his Faith and Religion f^ clmr ' ' without feeking the direction of their Clergy. Again: 5, ' fyC ' ' We do not attribute to our Princes with their Civil ' Eftates power newly .to adjudge any thing to be He- 4 refy, without the concurrence of the State of their c Clergy ; but only to judge in thofe matters of Faith, 'that are refolved on, according to former refolutions. [ Where the Dr. feems to leave the Prince no liberty to judge or eftablijh any thing in matters of Faith according to his own opinion : but, in matters formerly determined confincth him to the judgment of former Councils \ in matters not formerly determined, to the judgment of his Clergy [_i. e. the major part thereof:^ Yet, after fuch fpecious Con- ceflions, I fay, he proceedeth, as it were to protect the Reformation , on this manner. ' Touching errors of \ Faith or aberrations in the performance of God's Wor- 4 fhipand Service, there is no queition, but that Bifhops ' and Pallors of the Church, to whom it appertained 'to teach the truth, are the ordinary and fitteft Judges : ' and that ordinarily and regularly Princes are to leave ' the judgment thereof unto them. But becaufe they may 'fail [they \ i e. the Fifljops and Vaflors of the Church, and not onely fingle perfons, but Synods of them \ elfe fngleperfons failing may eafily be reduced by Synods, and a minor by the major part, and fo long the Prince judges with his Clergy not againft them \ and the Judgment of fuch things being made by this major part is ft ill ordinary and regular. Nei - ther needs the Prince to remove the matter fromthefe, to other, Judges'} either thro negligence , ignorance, of 'malice, Princes having charge over Gods people -, and ' being to fee, that they ferve and wor/hip him aright,. ' are to judge and condemn them {the forefaid Clergyj, ' that fall into grofs errors contrary to the common fenle * of Chriftians , or, into any other Herefies formerly 'condemned \J conceive he mcaneth, condemned by for- mer ?o Concerning tfa Englifb Reformation. 1 ttter Councils.'] And tho there be no genera! failing [7 * the Clergy : 3 yet if they fee violent and partial courfes 'taken, they may interpofe themfelves to ltay them, 'and caufe a due proceeding-, or remove the matter * from one fort of Judges to another [1 fuppofe 'he mean- eth, either from the whole- Clergy to Secular Judges j or from that part of the Clergy tho more which he- dijlihes^ to jome others of the Clergy tho fewer whom he approves : for to remove the matter from fewer to more is regular and ordi- nary. But here he ffeakj what the Prince may do extra- ordinarily.] Thus Dr. Field. fc. 198. Who (not to urge Bifhop Andrews his obfcrvation Tan. Tort, againft him : Ad extraordinariam potefiatem confugere P' 37 * non folet quis, nifi cui deplorata res eft.) here feems to fix the Prince, as one that cannot fail thro negligence, ignorance or malice to others, or at leaft cannot fail fo foon, as the whole body of the Clergy may fwhat not fail in ignorance of Divine matters fooner than they ? ) As one that hath a charge over Gods people , and is to fec^ that they worfiip God aright : as if the Clergy had not fuch charge much more than he \ or, as if he could judge what was right in Gods Worfhip, better than they. Again: he reprefents this body, or the major part of this Clergy as thofe that may fall into gr of s errors contrary to the common Jenfe of Christians ' and into Herefies con- demned^ he meaneth, by former Clergy. But why may not thofe former Clergy be fuppofed by the Prince to have erred fometimes contrary to the common lenfe of Chriftians, as well as the* prefent Clergy ? And if the prefent Clergy may err againft common fenfe in Spiri- tual matters-, why may not the Secular Prince fooner ? And why fliould not they difcern former condemned Herefies, better than he? Or if in all thefe things the Prince be liable to mi/takes, to feds, and fides, and par- tialities, as much as they: why are not they made his Judges in thefe Spiritual matters, who cannot be denyed to be his Spiritual Fathers in refpect of his Chriftianity ; rather than he theirs? But however this Dr. plainly faith : that there may be fome cafes, wherein, concern- ing Conctming the English, ' R (formation. 231. ing errors in Faith, or aberrations in the performance of Gods Worfliip, the Prince rna;y judge and condemn the whole Clergy j or may remove the matter from their, to a Secular, judgment, or to fuch other Eccle- fiaftical Judges , as he (hall choofe \ who hardly can ever want fome amongft the Clergy futing with his defires. . In the next place hear the judgment of Mr. Mafon de (.199. Mnift. Angl. He, after having thus cxpoftulated with f Mr - his Adverfary f Qttis enim nostrum unquam affirmavit JJ^Sk^a Pnncipes in caufts fidei & religionis fupremos efe cognitores ^ -j.-il 0[ j*dices< Be hac a Cardinal e Beltarmino & aliis Von- tificiis ecclefia Anglican^ Wat a injuria fie dim conqiteftus eft doUiffimm Whittakerus Jffirmat Jefuita hunc ju- dicem non effe Principem ahquem facularem, Refpondeo : Hoc quoqnenos dicimm'] Thus ftates this matter to Phi- lodoxHSj, p. 272. P aft or urn esl dubia Legis explicare r Regum vero veritatem cognitam [fibij promulgare & fub- ditis ciijufcunqttc fint ordinis j i. e. whether Clergy or Laity] imperare. {But here 1 cannot but ask oneque- ftion : May not the Clergy then veritatem cognitam, quan- docunque rex contra nititur, promulgare fubditis [uis, in i /li- tis regno , quorum animarum curamgerunt ? Now to go on] Regis enim eft (faith he pag.,273. ) ex pr>/> Andrews-, who after he had declared thus in Tm.Tert. Andrew* p. 3 g . #,* wo y? Pr vcftrum illud (quod ad primatum' pontificium proprie pertinere dicitis) docendi munus , vr/ 2fofo<* legis explicandi, non affumit : Yet in his Refp.ad Apolog . cap. 14. p. 332. to Bettarmine urging Dent. 17. &c. That the fupreme decipve judgment in divine matters belongeth to the Priejls, thinketh fit to anfwer thus ', Rex adibit Sacerdotes' 7 ubi tamen hoc ftcerit ' , cumin DtMfs- Sce tb: like ro nomio dicere jubeantur facerdotes & docerejuxta legem p. -70. e *i h& t exemplar fmm Rex (quod ftbi defcripft, ut fe- cum habeat) ut fciat an ex e* refpondeant. E Malachi& fcicty eos a quibm requirere jubetur legem, inter dum rece- des e de via, & fcandilizjtre plurimos in lege : quare reenrret denuo ad exemplar fuum. A Chrifto autem difcet , Ut Phar i- faeos e cathedra docentes audirejta a Pharifseorum fermento r i, e. do6lrinaaliqua,cavere.-?afcuapetet' r necfibi Vaftor erit, fed ftbi tamen gufiabit : &, ft amarttm pabulum & noxium, gufiabit, ut Chrifim acetum : quod, cumguFlajjet r mhiit biberc. Where the Prince is allowed both to try and reject the Clergy's doctrines ; when, upon tailing,, he finds the doctrine to be pabulum amarum & mxium r and the Clergy, recedere de via ; <& non docere juxtA legem Dei, And then, fince the Prince doth not tall and try only for himfelf, as private perfons do, but for all his Subjects alfb ; confequently it will belong to him, veritatem cognitam promuUare, & fubditis fuis cu- jufcuncjue funt ordwis imperare againft the Priefts, when recedentes e vik\ Wherein the Bifhop's, concurs with Mafon\ Doctrine, Again: Cap. 1. to Bellarmim urging St, AmSrof. a placeof S. Ambrofe he replies thus -, Verum laudat Am- i>. 2./..I".' brofium , qui negat in caufis ecclefiaslicis Imperatorem Xfi(U idoneum cognitorem [i.e. judicenQ Qnem ? Valentini- anuni juniorem y imberbem, ntc dum baptizjttum, tot urn ex matrif arbitrio pendentem , qua ipfa 'hpinptaviu. Sed- efto. Quid hoc ad rem ? Non de cognitione caufarum hie agitur, ad quam non tamfortajfe jemper idoneus Rex {qui fape tmmatura at ate, [ape infans , Jtpe Marti magis ad' diUm, quam Mercuric ) Agitur de authoritate, qua ido- moj. CeMtrning the Englifb Reformatrm* it\% neos cognitores det. Where the Bilhop i. firftfeemeth very i. loth to yield Princes incaufis ecclefiafkicis non effe i donees cognitores; llfing a non tarn fortajfe femper ; and catching at Valentiniari % bciDgjwnr 9 imberbis, nee dum haptiiLatM, exmatris arbitrio pendens, &C. When as S. Ambrose giveth his reafon plainly, for that the Emperour was Laicuj. (But upon this word the Bi&op thought not fit to touch) Qiutndo andifti (Clementiffime Imperator ) ( faith St. ' Ambrose) in can/a fidei laicosde Efifcoto judicare? What ? not, quttndo Epifcopus recedit de via, qnando non docet juxta legem , then fhallj not the Prince recurrere ad ex. emplarfuttm &c ? i. The Bifhop in allowing, at lair, 2. this authority to the Prince \_ut det idoneos cognitores"} I think will be found to allow, what he would fain wave. For what meaneth he by dare idoneos cognitores ? The authority to call a Council or Synod of the Clergj', thofe Judges whom our Lord Chrift hath given us for thefe matters ; to be changed or altered by no other Lord whatever -, whofe final judgment in thefe matters the Prince himfelf is to ftand-to and follow ? But this can- See 3 Thef* not be his meaning} becaufe after their teaching and -5>*. judgment, the Prince is to recurrere ad exemplar juum : a fermento e cathedra docentium cavere : not only fibi , but jubditis fuis guftare , whether their Pabulum be duke & Jalutare, or amarum & noxium ; and accordingly to re- commend, or prohibite it to his people. Or meaneth he, that, amongft this Clergy that are not all of one judgment (for example, fome reformers, afmaller part; Tome anti-reformers, a greater ^ ) the Prince may autho- rize thofe of them, whom he judgeth the more orthodox, to be the cognitores in caufis ecclefiafticis? But thus, a- mongft thefe Cognitores differing, for the Prince to chufe and decide which party of them fhall decide fuch con- troverfies, is all one in effect, as for himfelf to decide fuch controverfies ^ He allowing fuch and not another to be teacher, fromfirfl: a judging and an approving of, his Doctrine. I muft confefs I find ellewhere a timoroufnefs, as to . 20s. me feemeth, in Bilhop Andrews, tho fpeaking much on Gg 2 this t$6 Concerning the Englijh "Reformation y \ this Subjed, tofpeakout plainly concerning this tranche of Supremacy y Whether the Prince may reform anything in matters of Faith againft the major pact of Church-Go- v yernors or againft Synods-. Yet is this the chief point of Supremacy which fuftaineth the Englilh Reforma- tion. Amongft all the parts of the Regal Primacy , which he reckoneth up p. 373. and again p. 380,381. * againft. Tortus, this is not, that I can difcern at all, di- . redly fpoken to. He faith indeed p. 380. RcgijusnuU lum effe vel fidei novos artiatlos, velculttts divini qovas for- mulas procudendi. But here novos may be oppofed either to the former decrees of the Synods and Councils of the Church j or only to the Scriptures , and he may mean the later.. Again, p. 365. to Tortus faying; Regi ex officio incumber e, ut qui in dotjrina funt abufus & corrupt telas toilat 5 Jed pofi ecclefia declarationem : he anfwers ; Nos vero citra 'declarationem omnem, ubi repurgata funt corruvtela per Reges f docemus. Where you may - obferve this frill left in doubt : Whether Rex contra declarationem &c. may dofuch things - r and yet, ifthe King be bound to confult the Church firft infuch matters, according to Mai. 2. 8, his reforming will ftill be either fecundum -, or contra ^ and not citra only. Neither is it credible, Imt that both fJezekjah and Jeftah &c. confulted with the Priefts in their Reformation. Again, p 3.69. he faith : Aut\mitate Rex propria refecare pot eft fuperftitio- nes qiias faeerdotes ipfi tolerant j but he faith not \ quas facerdotes ipfi docent nen effe fuperslitienes. Again, p. 364. he fpeaks thus of a thing done. In Ifraele pracipua in re. religionis partes penes Reg em extiterunt , vel uno hoc argu- mento , quod per Jacra hifloria feriem tot am mutato novh regis animo mat at a femper efi fades religionis . Nee Pon- tifices unquam vtl praftare poteram, utferet mutatio in me- lius-, vel ne fieret in pejus, impedire* And p. 368. Pajfim per faftos Jacros quod in religionefit, aregefieri diferte dici- tftr, Regis f aft urn ejfe : Pontifcis hand unquam , nifi ex Regis mandato. But I hope he will not hence infer j that fumma religionis is not penes Pontific$t 9 if the Prince apo- ftatizeth from the true Religion - % or that the Church Gover- Concerning the Englifb Reformation, 2$f Go/ernors may do nothing contra Regis mandatum nor may oppole him and teach the people contrary to his Reformations 5 where they judge that he reformeth not aright ( what did the Church-Governors for the firft 300 years?) Efpecially fince p. 377. (which I defire you much to mark) he alloweth fuch Ecclefiaftical Pri- macy as the good Kings of Jfrael ufed, not to all, but only to Chriftian, Princes } and to Chriftian Princes, not all, but only thofe not heretical; and I fuppofe he would fay alfo, not fchifmatical (for if the Prince were heretical or fchifmatical he wellfaw the mifchief of fuch a power j ib he faith there. Interim ant em [it vel infde- lis Princeps] ft vel bareticus \ Oretur fro co, nan minus ftam pro Nebuchadonozar \ nemo vita ejus infidietur, non- magi s quam Ahafueri. Fidem penes f em et habear.t Chrifiani fubditi coram Deo, ceteris in rebus pi el at em colant. Non ergo id agitur, ut eccleftaperjecuteres ecclefta gubernatores habeantnr &c. And fomethinef'towaid this faith Mr. Ma$on,*de Minifi. 3.1. 5. c. if I rightly underftand him, Regibus, qui vel nm funt chriftiani y vel Ji chriftiani, now t amen orthodox i ; vel ft crthodoxi, non tamenfantti, prima- tns competit quidem, fed fecundum quid: i.e. quoad au* thoritatem, non quoad reclitm & plenum ufum authoritatis 5 quoad ojficium, non quoad illuftrem executionem officii [none fuch therefore may execute any Ecclefiaftical Primate- ftiip, unlefs the Author leek for fome refuge in the Epi- thets rettus, plenus, & illuftris.2 And the fame faith Bi- fhop Bilfon. * When the Magiftrate doth not regard,, * but rather afflict the Church, 'as in times of infidelity 4 and herefy; who mall then aflemble the Paftorsof any Province to determine matters of doubt or danger ? [To which queftion he anfwers~] The Metropolitan. Now if no Prince heretical, tho Chriftian, hath any. Primacy in Ecclefiaftical Affairs , before we yield fuch Primacy to a Prince, we mull know, whether he be not hereti- cal } and who can fo rightly judge of this, as the Church or Clergy? And then, "'will not the Church (and is it not right to,) judge him fuch, when he oppofeth her prefent or former definitions in matters of Faith? See Church- 23S Concerning the Englijh ReformAtfon. Church Govern. 3. Part, . 42* And what juft Supre- macy, then, for matter of Doctrine, is left here to the Prince, but an authorizing by his coadtive power the Church's decrees ? Which Regal Supremacy all fides allow. But, as I faid, this is contrary to what Bilhop jindrews faith elfe where *, that the Princes Supremacy may oppofe the Clergy, when they do (*. e. when he thinks they do) recederc de via, & non doccrejuxtalt" gem Dei &C. . The fourth Author I {hall produce is Mr. Thorndikfi of Mr. who writing very rationally and refolutely in vindica- Thorndkc. tion of the Church's authority, as ufing his Pen againft modern Sedtarifts, yet takes care alfo to lave the Phe- nomena of the Reformation. He therefore, in his Right of the Church, 5, c. p. 248. after he had with much free- dome fhewed , That the Succeffion of the Clergy in fuch a Government as that the vilible Communion of the see before, whole Church might be perpetually kept in unity, was 5$. 188. a L aw ordained by the Apoftles: and That the Refor- mation made in England had plainly violated this Law, in that the new Bifhops that were introduced were made without and againft the confent of the former Cfomeof his words are cited before . 200. ) takeththis courfe to iblve this difficulty, and to preferve the Englifh Re- formation, notwithstanding this, from being, unlawful or fchifmatical. c To come then ( faith he ) to the c great difficulty propofed: it is to be acknowledged, * that the power of the Chnrch, in the perfonsof them 4 to whom it is derived by continual Succeffion , is a 1 Law ordained by the Apoftles, for the unity of the * Church &c. But withal it is to be acknowledged , 4 that there are abundance of other Laws given the 'Church by our Lord and his Apoftles, whether they * concern matters of Faith ; or matter of Works, &e. * which proceeding from the fame , if not a greater, ' power, than the Succeffion of the Church, are to be * retained all, and every one of them with the fame re- * ligion and confeience [_as the fuccejjion of the Qhurch.^ * Again, I have fhewed indeed, that the fecular power 'is Comer ning the Englifb RcformAtiw. 239 c is bound to protect the Ecclefiaftical, in their deter- 4 mining all things which are not {otherw*fe~} deter- ' mined by our Lord and his Apoftles , and to give force * and erTecl to the ads of the fame. But in matters al- c ready determined by our Lord and his Apoftles , as 4 Laws given to the Church , if by injury of time the * practice become contrary to the Law \ the Sovereign 4 power, being bound to protect Chriflianity, is bound 4 to employ it felf in giving ftrength, firft, to that which 4 is ordained by our Lord and his Apoftles. By confe- 'quence, ifthofe, with whom the power of the Church * is trufted, fliall hinder the reftoring of fuch Laws^ the 'Sovereign power may and ought, by way of penalty 4 to fuch perfons, to fupprefs their power ; that fo it 4 may be committed to fuch as are willing to fubmit to 4 the fuperior Ordinance of our Lord and his Apoftles. Here Mr. Thorndike holds, that the Secular power may reft ore any law , which Chrift or his Ape filet have or- dained, not only againft a major part, but all, the Clergy, and Governors of the Church : and may, for a penalty of their oppoflng it, fupprefi their power and commit it to ethers, thothey alfobe eftablifhed by another Law Apo- ftolical. Which was the thing I undertook to fhew you. But to fay fomething to this difcoupfe of his. What p t t0 reafonable man is there hearing thi^, that will notpre- fently ask : Who fhatt fudged whether that be indeed a Law ordained by our Lord or his Apoftles, which the Prince would introduce or reftore,and the fncceffion of the Clergy doth eppofe ? Which Clergy fure will never confefs fuch to be a law of our Lord, but always will profefs the con- trary : nay will fay, that the fucceffion of the Clergy fhall keep, teach,and maintain, our Lord's laws to the end of the world ? This quettion he asketh not \ helblveth not } as writing againft the Presbyterians, who will not ask it him. But what can he fay ? Shall the Clergy judge? They deny it to be the Lord's law, what he, againft their confent, would reftore. Shall the Prince judge? But this is moft unreafonable, that the judg- ment of a Laick (hail be preferred before the whole fuc- ceiEofi $4 Cexcerning the Ertglifo Reformat!**. ceffion of the Clergy in Spiritual nutters. And what mifchief will come hereupon, if he judge amifs ? And here let me fet before him his own rules : Right ofChur, 4. c. p. 235. Such a difference filling ojc Cfaith he, ' 'i.e. between the fecular power and the BtjhjpsJ fo that 'to particular perfons it cmnot be clear, who is in tha 4 right as how can it be clear to particular , perfons, which is not to their guides inthofe l rnatters' 7 and which is not to other 'particular perfons , who alfo think, the contrary clear ?~\ 'it will be requisite for Christians, in a doubtful cafe, 'at their utmoft perils, to adhere to the guides of the 'Church, againft their lawful Sovereigns. But, if this his anfwer, that the Prince may jupprefs the Apostolical power of the Clergy, when this goeth againft other our Lords or the Apostles Lzws, be uifatisfying to the great diffi- culty he propofeth, I know not what other can poflibly be returned to that his objeftion. And I wonder that this confiderative man, who holds riot the Pope to be Anti-Chrift, or the Hierarchy of the Church to be the followers of Anti-Chrift , mould make fuch a fuppo- iition as this : that the Apojtolical Succeffion of the Clergy Jhould oppofe our Lord s or the Apoftles laws, fofar, as that We [hall depend on the Laity to refiore them, and to protect Christianity against their Guides. * The fifth is Dr. Heylin., Whofe teftimonies juftify* of iihir i n S King Edward and Queen EUz.r. of Deftor Fern, who fpeaketh fomewhat more particularly in this Fem. matter. 'He, firft, affirmeth indeed in behalf of the Ex**, cba. i Clergy,thatthe Bifhops and chief Pallors of the Church r.j 9- y. t aj-g t h e immediate, proper and ordinary, Judges in de- ' fining and declaring what the LawsofChrift be for 'Doctrine and Difcipline. And, That they have a co- * crcive power in a Spiritual reftraint of thofe thafrob- * ftinately gain-fay r as far as the power of the Keys, * put into their hands by Chrift, for Spiritual binding 'and loofing, will reach. And that this power is coer+ * cive or binding upon all fuch as are willing to be Chri- c ftian and continue in the Society of the Church Ufay pofe therefore upon Chriflian Princes atfo, if obfiinately gain-faying'} And 20. . Hequoteth, 1. Eliz,. 1. 'That the judging of Herefyis restrained, for Heretics paft, * to the Declaration of the firft General Councils, and 4 for fuch as fhall arife, to thealTent of the Clergy in 'their Convocation. And . 15. he faith: It isamk 'ftake to think, that the Prince by his fupreme power i in Spiritual things is made fupreme Judge of Faith, 4 and decider of all Controverfies thereunto belonging, *and may ordain what, he thinks fit in matters of Rs- * ligion.. v. 19c Concerning the English Reformation. 24 f ligion. Again, Ibid, he affirmeth ^ thst the Prince's 'giving publick eftablifhment [to the dotlrine defined by ' the Clergy and evidenced to him"} is not in order, to our * believing (as the Romanifts ufe fondly to reproach us, . 'in faying our belief follows the State \) but to our 'fccure and free profeflion and exercife of Religion. 'For Kings and Princes are not Minifters by whom we 'believe, as Parlors of the Church are. 1. Cor. 3.9. 'And 21. That we muft attend to the evidence of 4 truth given in or propounded by the Paftors of the 'Church, who have commiffionto doit in order to our 'believing; and muft yield obedience to the eftablifh- 'ment of the Sovereign, either by doing and conform- ing thereunto r or by iuffering for not doing accord - ' ing thereunto, And . 2 5. That it is the office of the c Paftors of the Church to evidence what is truth and' 'conformable to Scripture, and that in order both to 'our and to the Prince's believing. Again . 2i# he 'affirmeth, that the immediate and ordinary judgment' 'of matters of Religion belongs to Bifhops and Paftors 'of the Church in order to our believing: but that a 'fecondary judgment is neceflary in the Sovereign ; for 'his cftablifhing by Laws that which is evidenced to* 'him upon the judgment and advice of the Paftors of 'the Church [or (as . 23.) for his being fatisfied, that what u propounded as Faith and Worfirip is according to the - law of Chrift, before he ufe or apply his authority to the pub" , lick, eilablijhment of it : ] and this upon a double reafon. {the fir ft of which is~\ In refpect of his duty to God, ' whofe Laws and Worfhip he is bound to eftablifh-by ' his own Laws within his dominions, and is accounta- ble for it, if he do it amifs ; as the Kings of JfrMilknA' c Judah were. But then he faith- thefe things (further) in behalf of , i09 ; the Supremacy of the Prince , which feem to reduce the Clergy's power into a very narrow compafs, and to render itunelfedive toward the Subjects of the Church, unlefs thro the toacting of the Prince. He faith then. I. That Princes are not bound to follow the diretlions of the Jt Clergy, 246 Concerning the Eng/ifb Reformation. Clergy any farther than they are evidenced to them. See 9. C. % 11. ' Princes are not meer Executioners of thede- ' terminations and decrees of the Church Paitors, nor ' bound blindJy or peremptorily to receive and eftablifh, * as matter of Faith and Religion, whatfoever they de- ' fine and propound for fuch. But they are to do their * work fo, as it may by the demonftration of truth be z, 'evidenced to the Sovereign Power. 2. That Princes are not bound to take the directions of the whole Clergy f or of a Synod, where they fear the Synod will not go aright, 2. c. 8. . * Reformation of Gods Worfhip (faith he) 'may be warrantably done without a foregoing Synodic *calvote (p. 73.) efpecially when there is juftcaufeof ' fear that the molt of them that mould meet are ap- * parently obnoxious to factious interefts : And (p. 72.) 4 If the Prince by the law of. God Hands bound to eftablifh * within his dominions whatibever is evidenced to him, ':by faithful Biftiops and Learned men of the Church, *tobethelawofGhrift, fhallhe not perform his known ' duty, till the vote of a major part of a Synod give him 4 leave to do it ? \_And here J fuppofe Dr. Fern will grants that the Prince is bound alfo to eftablifh Chrift's Law {in which he is accountable if he do amifs 9 c. . 21.) when- ever it fbould happen to be evidenced to him by any other, tho none of, or contrary to, the Clergy \ provided, that he first confult and hear the reasons of fome at leasl of his Clergy. "2 3. 3. That Princes may prohibit the decrees even of General Councils, when they are evidenced to them non docere legem Chrifti 9. c. 28. . ' General Councils being the great- * eft and higheft means of direction, which Kings can 'have in matters of Religion, but ftill with the Jimi- ' tation quatenm docent legem Chrifii [_of which J fuppofe the Prince muft judge~] it being poffible, that the major ' partfhould be fwayed by factious or worldly interefts ; ' therefore Kings and Emperors (faith hej may have 'caufe given them, upon evidence of things unduly 'carried, to ufe their fupreme power for forbidding of 'their decrees: as was done by Theodofm againft the ' fecond Council of Bphefm, and by the Kings of Prance ' againft Concerning the Englifh Reformation. 247 c againft the Conventicle of Trent, forbidding the de * crees of it to be receded for theipace of fourty years. 4 l * 9. c. 21. . He approveth * The conceflion of the 4, * Clergy under Henry the Eighth, in binding themfelves c by promife in Convocation in verbo Sacerdotis, not to * enact or promulge or execute any new Canons or Con- 1 fbitutions without the Kings aflent. \Which affent, were it required only for fecuring the Prince, that nothing be atled in fitch Synods prejudicial to his civil rights, 'tis wil- lingly allowed ; but it is extended further, for the Prince's prohibiting any other decrees whatever, when not evidenced to him to be made juxta legem Chrifti ; againfl which if any thing be done in his dominions, he remaineth account- able to God, as you have feen before, fj Now, to relied on what Dr. Pern hath faid. He $ no. feemeth 1. firft to grant that the Clergy can publickly * eftablifh nothing againft or without the Prince's confent. So that whatever they cannot evidence to the Prince, that fo he may concur to the publifhing thereof ; they are hindred from promulgating or evidencing it to the people: So that they are in fuch a manner the ordinary Judges and Definers of Controverfies &c -, as that their definitions, if not evidenced to, may be fupprefTed by, the Prince, nor ought to come abroad to their flocks. And how confiftsthis with what he faith 9. c. .21. * That, in order to our believing, we mult attend to the * evidence of truth given in or propounded \_lfuppofe he * meaneth, to 'tu\ by the Pallors of the Church ? Again ; how confifts this with the Clergy's coercive power (9, c. 19. .) upon the Prince, ifChriftian, when obftinately gain-faying them ? Unlefs his gain- faying can never be called obftinate ? Will not this follow from hence, that the Clergy might not promulgate Ami- Arrianifme in the Empire, until they had evidenced it (i. e. by his approbation thereof ) to Conftantiut the then Emperor ? 2. When he faith, That a Prince is not bound to take the 2 direBions of the whole Clergy, or of a Synod, but only of fome faithful Bifhops, &c. when he hath juft caufe to fear faction in fuch Synods-, he feems in this only to keep ^48 C,cnctrning the Englijb Reformation, -keep a gap open for juftifying the paft Reformation, and, in effect, to affirm, that the Prince may go therein againft his Clergy. For fincethe Clergy is a fubordi- jiate and regularly-united body, he that taketh directi- ons only fromfomeof them, whom he knows or doubts and fears to be different in their judgment from the main body, taketh directions not from the Clergy, but from thofe that are againft them, as hath been laid down in the fixth The/if. I mean againft them, that are the Judges in Spiritual matters, and the Definers of things in Con- troverfy, and Judges of Herefy , what hath been, or ought to be, condemned, as fuch. Without whom therefore the Prince cannot certainly know, what is, or is not, fuch. As for that which is faid, that the eftab- lifliments of the Prince are not in order to our believityr - 7 if Dr. Fern meaneth, that the Prince doth not propofe, what is evidenced to him to be the law of Chrift, to his Subje&s, with a requiring of them that they fhould be- lieve, that it is the law of Chrift 9 the contrary is clear atleaft in the practicals enjoyned, all which neceflarily involve Faith SeeCW, Gover. z. Part, 34. . 3. Part, i2 . But if he meaneth, that the Subjects- cannot jultly be neceffitated to believe, what the Prince eftab- lifheth : fo neither are they, what the Clergy eftablifh- eth, in his opinion j who I think alloweth to all men judicium difcretivum in refpeft of any Church.authority. <% % ..3. The Prince thus eftablifhing* Church-matters , not upon the Clergy's authority, but upon evidence } he feems equally to oblige the Prince to eftablifh them, by whomfoever evidenced to him, or by his own fearch discovered : for what mattereth it to the evidence, who bringeth it ? And then how is the Prince's judgment faid to be fecondary inrefpeftto the Clergy ? Indeed, if the Prince could always be certain in his evidence, fo as not to miftake , to think fomething evidenced to him, when indeed it is not, and not to think other things fufficiently evidenced, when they are : fo, there were lefs hazard, in leaving Church-matters thus to his dif- pofal, But fince things are much otherwifej and evi- dencing Concerning the Englifh Reform At ion. 24.9 denting truths to any one, by reafon of different un- derftandings, education, paffions and intereft, is a thing very cafual ; fo that, what is eafily evidenceabie to ano- ther, may happen not to be fo to the Sovereign power \ when not patient enough to be informed ; mif-Jed and prepoflefied by a faction ; not fo capable as fome others, by defect of nature or learning; facile to be per fwaded by the laft Speaker, e^r . what an uncertain and muta- ble condition would Church-affairs be put in (as we lee they have been here in England fince the times of Henry the Eighthj when all the influence of the authoricy of the Clergy upon the people is call upon this evidence- ingfirftof their matters to theprefent Sovereign Power. Concerning Theodofmi's Act urged by Dr Fern, the f. m. Story in brief is this. Thefecond Ephefine Council was General in its Reprefentation, but not in the free votes of the Reprefentatives, nor in the acceptation thereof by all or the major part of Catholick Churches. In it, panels imprndentibtu (about fome Ninety in ailj obvian- tibusfacramento vera divinitatis & humanitatis Jefu Chrifti by neceflary confequence (which was eftablifhed in the Council of Nice fuperior to this in number, and uni- verfally accepted^ Ex lis, qui convenerant, rejettis aliis f amongft which the Legates of theBifhopof Rome and Weilern Churches) aliis fitbfcribert coattis a militibm um fuflibns & gladiis, reclitfis in ecclcfia ufque advef- See co%$, peram. Upon fuch realbns theBifhopof Rome, and the C!i a !ced. Synod of the Occidental Churches with him, not accept-^* l - ing the decrees of this Council fupplicated the Em- see Leo* peror, not to confirm, but cafTate , the Acts thereof, ?*(? *3- and defender e contra hartticos inconcuffum ecclefiaftatum, ^ I^cj*. fending him the Canons of the Council of Nice. Now thus a Prince both may and ought to caflate the Acts of an illegal Council, (fuch as you fee this is but now defcribed to be) when a major Ecclefiaftical power, I mean the greater part of the Church Catholick, de- clareth it to him to be factious, and oppofing the truth and definitions of former General Councils univcrfally -accepted. Neither doth the Prince herein exercife any 1 i Supre- 2*0 Concerning the English Reformationi Supremacy, but that which all allow y namely the de- fending and protecting of the Church's judgments; But therefore a Prince may not oppofe the Ads of a Council when himfelf, or a few others, againft the main body of the Church, judge it to have been factious , or to have oppofed,. or not to have fufficiently evidenced , the truth. The former was the cafe of Theodoftu : The later, of the Reformers. Of which fheodoftu, how religi- ous an obfervcr he was of the Church's decrees ^ and how free from- challenging any fuch Supremacy, as to alter or eftablifh any thing againft them , fee his cau- tious meflage to the firfl Ephefme Council when he fent emeu. Candidiantu to prefide therein. Ea lege ("faith he) fa^.Tjx.i. Candidianum Comitem ad facram veftram Synodum ahire jujfimm, utj cum quaftionibtu & contr over fits qua circa fidei dogmata ihcid nt nihil qiiicquam commune habeat. Nefas efi enim qui S. Epifcopomm Catalogo afcriptut non eft, ilium ccclefiafticis negotiis & confultaiionibtu Jefe immifcere. From which all that I would gain is this \ That Iheodofim was of opinion, that no Lay-perfon whatfoever might fo far intereft himfelf in Religious and Epifcopal Controver- ts (not, as to make himfelf Arbitrator of the Con- ciliary proceedings to fee that the votes thereof be free from Secular violence, and all things therein regu- larly carried, &c. for this is his duty who beareth that Sword, which, keepeth men molt in awe $ but ) as to make himfelf Arbitrator of the Councils Definitions \ ro examine, whether they are made fee nudum, or contra^ legem Chrifli , and to prohibit them , when not evi- denced to him by the Council to be fo j becaufe he is Oiftos utriufque Tabula: for in thefe things it is his duty to, iubmit to whatever is the judgment ofthofe, who arc appointed by Chriftto interpret to Princes his Law. A Prince therefore may void the Ads of a Council freely, on this account , becaufe fuch Council is unduly carried, and its decrees not accepted by the Catholick Church,. and fo becaufe its dodrinesare not thedodrinesof the Church : but never on this account - ? becaufe fuch Coun- cil fiath made forne definition to himfceming contrary to; Concerning the Englifb Reformation, 251 to the Lawof Chrift} or hath not evidenced, to him, their definition to have been according to it. So that a lawful Regal Supremacy, in confirming any definitions of the Clergy made in Spiritual matters, oraitteth that claufe of limitation, which is every where put in by Dr. Fern^when evidenced to it to be the law of ChrisT\ or \when the law of Chrifi is not evidenced to be contrary to their defini- tions~]whkh is indeed the chief Pillar of the Reformation : and changeth it into this limitation [when evidenced to it to be the Law or Judgment or Sentence of th'e Church."} The inftance in the King of France his forbidding the decrees of the Council of Trent hath been largely fpoken ^ to in Chur. Gover. 4. Part, 64. . 7. n. 1 No decrees of that Council concerning matters of Faith or Dottrine were oppofed by the French King, but only fome decrees concerning Reformation, * His oppofition of it further, than he can pretend it to have fome way encroached on his civil rights, is, not juftifiable - and, by his own Clergy, as well as the reft of the world, difallowed. Laftly, the inftance in the good Kings of Judah, in- * culcated fo frequently by all thefe Writers, is copioufly fpoken-to in Succejfion of Clergy , . 38. 68. 1. As lt the Kings of Judah had a charge of conferving the true Religion by their coaftive power, with temporal punifh- ments on offenders } and were juftly blamed for their defects herein : So had the Priefts , by their coercive power, with their Spiritual cenfures ; and were as juftly blameable, as the Prince, in any neglect thereof, --2.lt 2 * cannot be fhewed in holy writ, that the Princes of Judah ought not and did not both, in their Reformations of Religion, ask counfel of the Priefts, and exaftly follow their advice and decrees } except in fuch matters of duty, as were not controverted at all, nor contradict- ed by the Prieft. Now where no doubt is made by any party, there needs no confutation } and the Prince may tell the Prieft of his unquestioned duty, without asking his leave. 3. It cannot be fhewed, that the Princes of Judah ever reformed any thing againft the judgment of the whole body, or of the major part of the Priefts. I Ii 2 meaa 2 $3 Concerning the Englijh Reformat torn mean thofe Priefts, who continued in their former pro-~ feflion of the Law of Mofes, and did flot profefledly relinquifh it, and openly apoftatize to Idolatry .* with whom being extra ecelefiam , the Prince had nothing; 4. to do. 4 Itcannot be fhewed there, that the Priefts. might not lawfully have reformed Religion, without, or againlt, the Prince ; nor that they did not at fome times endeavour it with inflicting their Spiritual cenfnres 9 tho fucceflefs herein, whilft oppofed by the Temporal power. We are to take heed of negative arguments- a- from Scripture [_fucha thing is not j aid there, therefore it was not\ but rather ought to infer {jht contrary to th& j ? is not \aid there , therefore it might be."}. 5 The Kings, part in the Reformation being acted with Temporal power, therefore was fuccefsful and went thro with the bufinefs : and having the chief, or only, fuccefs, there- fore is moft fpoken of, efpecially, in thofe Books, which were written for Hiftorics of the Kings Ac>. And in- deed when have not Princes Cby reafon of this their. Secular powerj had the greateft reputation for altering of Religion , even where the Cergy have been moft- active ? See the doctrine of Bilhop Branhd and Dr. Hammond in this point of Supremacy fet down already in Chur. Gover. 1. Part, . 39. &c. And of Bilhofx Bramhai in Cathol.Thef. Head. 9. 17* ^- *4* Thus much concerning the Engiifh Reformations un- r JLf L s u [ d er the three Princes, Henry the Eighth, Edward the pwj/17, of Sixth, and Queen Elizabeth; what manner of Ecclefi-. ibefe prin- aftical Supremacy was conceded to, or recognized in, . ces trai- them ^ what, exercifed by them. Where it. is evident, ''ZTtbl tnat t ^ 10 ^^ Ponces pretended only to translate upon 'letgtd by themfelvcs the Supremacy formerly ufed by thePatri- t'vi pan- a r ch (not forgetting to feize on moft of the profits *xcks... thereof:; Yet theirs was far from being reftrained> within the fame bounds, as the Patriarch's was. For,. whether we review the pretended innovations- intro- duced into the Church Catholick, before, or thofe in- troduced fince the Council of Trent, by the Patriarch's concurrence, . We cannot fay of them , that He, with- . out,, Concerning the Englifh Reformation. 255 out, or affifted only with fome few of, the Clergy inv pofed them upon the world by his fingle authority, with- 1 out, or contrary to, the votes, of the major part of the Clergy, as King Edward and Queen Elizabeth did : Who had they called a Synod of their Clergy, and then behaved themfelves in it, as Conftantihe in the Council of Nice, i.e. left all in pure Spiritual matters to their, difpofal; judge what would have been the iflue. But itfeems, by the proceedings forementioned in this Dif- courfe, that the Secular Supremacy took it to be the Prince's right to eftablifh in their dominions, with, or without, the major part of the Clergy ( which, they were inftrucled, might fall away from the truth, a tenent the Patriarch owns not) what they apprehended to be the Law of Chrift, upon evidence of Scripture (i. e. to- them fo feeming) by whomfoever manifcfted unto them: From which apprehenfions , in fingle , and unftudied^ perfons , very mutable , and having no fuch fixednefs, as the body ofthe Church hath (being tyed by fo many fubordinations to feveral degrees of Superiors, ) newer and newer Reformations for ever do flow and multiply without end, as we fee at this day- And fo it is alfo, that thefe Aclsof Supremacy coming from the hands of the Temporal power, whatever way they incline, have much more itrengtb and validity, in cafe of oppofition, than thofe coming from the Spiritual} this Sword not wounding, to fenfe, fo deep, as the others and there- fore is fuch a Supremacy, where Prince's judgments are - liable to miftakes, much the more dangerous. All which ill-confequences the Proteftant Princes of $. m.- Germany ('who, being in fome refpefts fubordinate to swdfro- another, could notfo well fettle this Supremacy on them- ^f^l'J ftlvesj in the dawning ofthe Reformation did well fore- fnpniJcy fee; and were as loth to acknowledge the Emperor d:nt) ?,;*.. Supreme, as the Pope: Nor would they ever allow of * this Title afTumed by Henry the Eighth \ outofajea- Joufy, that Charles the Fifth fhould claim the fame. And ' for this reafon, it is thought that, no Accord was made, thomuch attempted, between them and this King. See Lord? 554 Concerning the English Reformation. Lord Herbert's Hifi. p 378, and 44.8. ' The Proteftanrs ' of Germany ffaith he) would not allow the King's ' Supremacy, left they mould infer an inverting of the 'fame authority in the Emperor, whofe abfoiute power ' they Teemed to fear, more, than that of the Popehim- 'felf. And this fufpicion alienated fecretly the mind of ' our King : who faw, that, if he embraced their Refor- 'mation, they would abridge his power [i. e. regu- late or alter the point of his Supremacy.~\ . t\6. The fame reluclance againft fuch Regal Supremacy was in Calvin and other Reformers, as 1 have fhewed see before , before j and hath remained ftill in the reformed Presby- 0- & terian Clergy of Scotland, and in thofe Setts called Pu- ritanical in England, and elfewhere (which is faid to have rendred both Queen Elizabeth and King James much more averfe from the Presbyterian Government and Difciplinc : J who difcharging the authority of the Pope, of Councils , fuch as the Church hath had, of Bilhops; yet have endeavoured to referve the Supre- macy, as touching all Ecclefiaftical affairs to the Officers of their particular Churches : as the power of calling and conflititting their Affemblies at time and place as they think fit ; the making of Ecclefiaftical Confutations and Ceremonies ; the correcting and ordering all things pertain- ing to the Congregation, tho without the Kings confent, and againft his will ; unlefs he be pleafed to be included in the number of the Church Officers, there to enjoy afingle vote} requiring the Civil Magiftrate tobefub- ject to this their power. To which purpofe are thofe Scotch- Di- Portions of theirs , ' As the Minifters , and others of fdpiintiiA. 'the Ecclefiaftical State are fubjedto the judgment and * c * ' punifhment of the Magiftrate in external things, if ' they offend ; fo ought the Magiftrates to be fubject to 'the Kirk^ Spiritually, and in Ecclefiaftical Government. ' And to fubmit themfelves to the Difcipline of the Kirk^, 1 if they tranfgrefs in matter of Confcience and Religion. 'All men as well Magiftrates as Inferiors, ought to be Scot, Dlfc. ' fubject to the judgment of the National Aflemblies of 2.. 1. iz. c, ( this Country in Ecclefiaftical caufes, without any recla- ' mation Concerning the Englifb Reformation. 255 * mation of appellation to any Judge Civil, or Eccle- c fiaftical, within the Realm. Sec Dr. Htyliris Reform. Juft, p. 88, and Rogers on Art. 37. p. 216. and 21,8. and the two Books of the Scottifi Difcipline. To which may be added thofe paflages of the Englifh Presbyterians in their Confeffion of Faith, An. Dom. 1647. cv?/>. 30, and 31. which fay, 'That the Lord Jefus.as King c and Head of his Church, hath therein appointed a Go- ' vernment in the hand of Church-officers, diftindt from 6 the Civil Magiftrate. And, that, if the; Magiftrates c be open enemies to the Church, the Minifters of Chrift * of themfelves by vertue of their office may meet to- c gether in fuch Afiemblies, And there may Minifte- c rially determine Controverfies of Faith , fet down ruIeV *for the better ordering of the publick worm ip of God c and Government of his Church; receive complaints, ' and authoritatively determine the fame. Which de- 'crees and determinations, if confonant to the word,, 'are to be received [and therefore may be divulged"] with c reverence and fubmiffion, for the power whereby they * are made, as {this povaer^ being an Ordinance of God. All this (they affirm J the Church.officers may do of themfelves, by vertue of their office, if the Magiftrate be an open enemy to the Church. And all this they did, King Charles's Supremacy giving no confent thereto, but oppofing it. And then for the meaning of open ene- my , I have reafon to fuppofe, they will pronounce a Popiflj, an Arrian, any heretical, Prince fuch, as well ( tho perhaps not every way fo much) as an Heathen. Laftly, The fame reluctance alfo was in thofe Bifhops ^, z\r who firft conceded fuch Supremacy to Henry the Eighth. Who, as at the fieft they fwailowed the Oath of it, not without fome (training: fo afterward, when, by long experience they had feenfuch Church-laws ifTuing from it, ss they thought very grievous and dammageable to the Church, and found uncontrollable by their power, they very ftoutly, to the lofs of their Bifiiopricks, made refinance to the fame Oath, in Queen Elizabeths days : and. alio in Qeeen Mary's days, upon ibme refpiring,, took. 2<6 Concerning the Engli(b Reformation. took care to rcverfe as well the Supremacy of Henry the Eighth, as the ln'juntiiom of Edward the Sixth. And thofe Bifhops only, who came to their Bifhopricks and Church-Government by the high-hand of fuch Supre- macy, have fince maintained it. CHAP. XIV. The CONCLVSION. $. 2i3. TTAving thus brought this whole Difcourfe of Church conclufo* JLJL Government to an end, I pray you confider a Htle oftbuwhoie with me, how matters ftand with the Reformation ge- cburGw ^^Ny in application thereto, <5. r *iT" l * F * r ^ ll feemeth clear : That in Controverfles of Where Religion ( which Chrifl: hath foretold lhall arife) and concerning in contefts concerning the true fenfe of his word, he hath the benefit not ] e f t h\ s people under the Gofpel without fome vifible bopcTL J ud S e thereof, befide the words of the Gofpel-, fince from a ft. he did not leave his people under the Law without fuch turcfrccGe- Judge, befide the words of the Law, See what hath rural Com- been laid of this in Sncceff. of Clergy, . 6, &c. And, in C f l /l th f ^ uc ^ Controverfies concerning the meaning of the Scrip- JreZcoi. tur es, for any party to fly only to the fame Scriptures troverfie:, to judge this matter between them and their adverfaries, is, as if Titius and SemproritHt, fuing one another at the Law, would have no other judge in the matter, but Jufliniari's Code or Pandetts , about the meaning of which they are already in the debate. 2. But, ifitfeem reafonable, that , in fuch Controversy concerning the underftanding of Scripture, there mould be fome other Judge befides Scripture j fecondly it is out ofqueftion, that the Church Catholick , which hath fuch ample promifes from our Saviour, mould be this Judge fooner, than any particular perfon or Church therein : and, if the Church Catholick, then a legal General Council thereof - 7 tince this is the higlieft and ultimate way, where- by Concerning ihe Engiijh Reformation, 257 by the Church Catholick is capable of declaring her judg- ment j as hath been [hewed in the 2. Part, .22. &e* 3. Hence therefore 3/y are the Reformed forced, as it were, in their debates of Religion to refer their matters to, and not to decline, the decifive judgment of a fu- ture Jegal and free General Council. 4. But this feem- eth by confequenee to oblige them fomewhat further^ and that in this their appeal to, and acquiefcence in, a future General Council, they cannot reafonably refufe the judgment of i'uch Councils fore-pair, as have been legally General. 5. And again 5/y that, to denominate any former Councils to have been fuch , they cannot rationaliy jequire any fuller conditions, than have been fet down in 2,\Part, .4. unlefs they will make either no Councils at all ; or not all thofe, which themfelves allow, to'havcbeen General. And 6ly if they will thus ftand to the judgment of former legal General Councils -, then it feemsthey ought alfo to ftand to the doctrines, which are cleared to them to be held and taught by the Church C^ftolick of that age, wherein they reformed: fince wc may prefume, that had a Council thereof been, collected in the fame times j they would in it have tefti- fied the fame doctrines, which the Catholick Church then held. But thus the Reformation will be caft ; fince I think it is fufficiently cleared in 2. Part, . 30. &c. that the doctrines they oppofed, at leaft tor the moffc of them, were not only the Tenents of the Roman or other Churches adhering to it, but of the whole Church Catholick of that time i a thing which is of great weight, and ought diligently to be examined. And, 7//, if they will fubmit to a General Council ; 1 do not fee how, in the abfence of a General, their duty doth not bind them to fubmit alfo to a Patriarchal, Council ; as being, tho inferior to General, yet fuperior to any Provincial, or National, one, within the fame Patria;chy. And, if fubmit to fuch; I fee not why they mould reject the judgment of the Council of Trent, as to the Proteftant Controversies free and unforced : there needing to be 'tifed no illegal or indirect proceedings herein ; becaufe K k the 2.58 > ' Concerning the Engtijh Reformatfon. the Fathers, in condemning thefc, did unanimoufly agree as hath been fhewed at large in Par. 4... 70. by S*avc*&< teftimony in particular to thele points. n^ But, notwithstanding the fair inclinations the Reform- ed (\ mean fome of their writers, defiringthat nothing here may be charged on any further, than proved by fome teftimonies in the other places of this difcourfe, which are here referred toj may feem to have to a final decifion of differences^ and the happy iflue to their taufe they feem to hope-for from the fentenceof fuch a future Council, general and free, could it once be pro- cured: Yet there are not a few things, which well con- fidered do dtfeover their diffidence in any fuch tryal 7 . and no fuch fubmiffion in them to fuch Council, could it be aflembled, as is necefTary to the ending of conten- tions. As namely thefe following. 1. That, for the Councils which have been held already in the Church, they have fo limited the obligation to their authority, and clogged it with fuch conditions f which you may be pleafed to review, in 2. Par. . 36, 37. &c) that, in refpect of thefe, they have referved to themfelves liberty to yield, or withdraw, their obedience, as they fee fit. From which we may gather, that, if they fee need thereof, they will in like -manner limit the future, and fo render it as unobliging to them, as former have been. 2, That they have been 'fo fcrupulous about the t(mverfaUty i iegala3iiigs,