Sacriledge arraigned and condemned by Saint Paul, Rom. II, 22 prosecuted by Isaac Basire ; published first in the year 1646 by special command of His Late Majesty of glorious memory.

Sacriledge ARRAIGNED By SAINT PAVL . ROM. 2.22 .

Thou , that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge ?

INTRODUCTION .

Sect. 1. IN the Primitive Church , there was a Godly Discipline , That in Lent , notorious Offendors were put to Open Penance ; that , by this Temporal Punishment , they might be reclaimed , and so escape God's Eternal Doom . This wholsome Course , our holy Mother the Church doth wish (a) (a) At the beginning of the Commination . might be reformed again ; till when , ( in some degree at least ) to comply with our Mother's Godly Intentions , it might prove very good Service to the Church , and to men's Souls too , if at such a time and occasion as this , we also would keep our Spiritual Lenten Assizes , ( as I may say ) If every one of us that is called up to this great Place and Duty , would , for his Task , lay hold of some such one notorious Offender , and Arraign him by Preaching down the sin , ( which to a guilty Conscience may prove a kind of Penance also . ) But if then every man's Conscience would joyn with the Preacher , to prosecute the Indictment , and pass sentence upon it , and accordingly submit it to due Execution : Ah , how soon might such a National Penitent course , rid this miserable Land of all those National Sins that have pull'd down these National Judgments , which now are Incumbent upon us , till we all , King , Priest , and People , sink under the heavy weight of them !

2. However , to contribute my service towards so good a Work , as the Removal of God's Judgments from this Nation , I have singled out one notorious Offendor , that deserves the open Penance as much as any ; 'T is Sacriledge , a raigning Sin , that seems to want nothing now but the Ceremony of Coronation , I mean , the Consent of the Crown : The want whereof ( under God's admirable prevention ) is , as yet , the onely Bar in Law , that hinders this Tyrant-Sin from becoming an absolute Conquerour over this whole Church and Nation , and then from triumphing over , and leading away Captive this Eldest Daughter of the Catholick Church . For , to omit at this time our other National sins , of all other sins , this sin of Sacriledge , hath proved the fatal Passing-Bell to whole Nations , whole Empires . Very Paynims , by the dim light of Nature , could see this truth : would you think that a Virgil , or an Horace , (b) (b) Horat. Carm. l. Ode 6. Ad Romanos , [ Britannos ] De moribus sui seculi corruptis . would impute their National Changes , Revolutions , and publick Calamities , as to sin in general , so to this very sin of Sacriledge in particular ? yet is this their own Observation . Take it in a Natural Sorites ; The sin of Sacriledge is in the Consequences of it , Delicta majorum immeritus lues Romane : donec templa refeceris Aedesque labentes Deorum , & Foeda nigro Simulachra fumo , Diis te minorem quod geris , imperas . Hinc omne principium huc refer exitum . Dî multa neglecti dederunt Hesperiae mala luctuosae . Virgil. 2. Aeneid . Excessere omnes adytis , arisque relictis , Dî quibus imperium steterat . — first a Decay , and then at last by degrees , an utter overthrow of the Service of God : The overthrow of God's Service , provokes God to a Departure : ( There needs no other Evocation from without : V. de la Cerda ibid. Plin. Histor. l. 28. c. 2. Macrob. Saturnal . l. 3. c. 9. The footsteps of all which Evocations , and Departures you have Ezek. 10.4.18 , 19. Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the House , &c. ) God's departure from a Nation , is alwaies the forerunner of final destruction : So did Joshua and Caleb conclude the period of the Canaanites , (c) (c) See Ainsw . on Num. 14.9 . & Num. 22.6 . Neptunus in Troade , apud Euripid. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Their shadow ( that is God ) is departed from them , and the Lord is with us , therefore they are bread for us , &c. It were easie to accumulate National Instances : witness the whole Jewish Church and Nation , translated by the (d) (d) 2 Chron. 36.4.17.21 . Chaldees into utter Captivity , for this very sin of Sacriledge expresly ; and particularly for the Sacrilegious prophanation of God's House , and of the Seventh or Sabbatical year ; and for the other Natural Branch thereof , the contempt of the Priest , the greater Sacriledge of the two , saith the (e) (e) Gravius contra personam quam contra locum , Aquin. 22ae q. 99. School : witness once more , the Great Babylonian Monarchy , for this very particular sin of Sacriledge , saith God himself , (f) (f) Dan. 5.23 . translated within less than the space of an hundred years , (g) (g) The Sacred Vessels were carried by Nebuchadnezzar , Anno Mundi 3360. and the Assyrian Monarchy expired , Anno 3430. according to some men's computation . from those very Chaldees to the Medes and Persians .

I pray God that in these sad Stories , I do not read out unto you your own Destiny : To avert it for our part , behold a direct Bill of Indictment preferred against that fatal sin of Sacriledge , by one of God's chief Apostles , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Thou that sayest a man should not commit Adultery , doest thou commit Adultery ? Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge ?

3. In this Indictment you have these two plain natural Parts , the Malefactor , and the Crime .

1. The Malefactor is described by his Religion , he is a Professor , yea , a Zelot , one that abhors Idols .

2. The Crime laid to his Charge is Sacriledge : Touching which we shall deliver , 1. Matter of Declaration . 2. Matter of Aggravation . 3. Matter of Probation . And by that time the Case is thus argued out ; we shall desire no more favour than shall be due to the fairness of our Evidence from clear Scripture , and sound Reason , the two Master-Pillars of a Just Cause , the onely ground of our good hope that the Sentence will go of our Clients side : for 't is Causa Dei , that is to be pleaded before you this day , and 't is God is the Client ; pardon the word , for so it is God , although , de Jure , the great Patron-Paramount of you , and of us all , that yet , as the matter is used now adays , is , de facto , turned Client , and makes you now his Judges , who one day must judge you all , high and low : Then , as at that day you look for Mercy at his hands , do him this Justice , I beseech you , give Audience without prejudice or partiality , with Reverence and Conscience , hearken to God's Charge , Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest then commit Sacriledge ?

CHAP. I.

Of the Sacrilegious Malefactor .

TO begin with the first , The Malefactor , he is described here , first in general , by his Titles of Religion , secondly , in particular , by his Titles of Office ; for to all these in the Context , the Text hath a plaine Reference .

Sect. 1. First , in general he is described , by his Titles of Religion , for 't is a Religious Malefactor ; he is a Professor , nay , a forward one , a Zelot , described first positively , Behold thou art called a Jew , ( verse 17. ) and restest in the Law , ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is the word , a full word ) thou so wholly reliest upon thy bare profession of the Law , as thou art utterly careless (h) (h) Aret. in loc. Securè legi indormiens , de reliquo nil solicitus . mean-while of the practice of , or obedience to the Law , ( as appears by the Text and Context , v. 23. ) Thou that gloriest in , or makest thy boast of God , ( you may please to save me the labour of application , change but the Names and you may have here a full Character of too too many men in our Generation ) Thou pretendest to know the will of God ( v. 18. ) thou approvest the things that are more excellent , or ( as the Margin reads it , (i) (i) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . and the Original bears it . ) Thou that presumest to take upon thee the Office of a Tryer , that canst try the things that differ , that canst try Religions , and in pretense chuse out the best : Here is a forward one indeed , and that not only thus , positively a Zelot of the Law in his own Religion , ( as he is tearmed , Acts 20.21 . ) But negatively too , a Zelot against the contrary Religion , one , that not only abstains from , but ( which may seem the very Quintessence of Repentance of , and conversion from a sin ) one that abhors Idolatry , that stops his Nose at the smell of an Idol , ( so the Greek ) (k) (k) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies an utmost stink , or the extremity of an ill savour . Vorst . q. d. propter foetotorem aversaris : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , execror , Budaeus : unde 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Apoc. 21.27 . Omnis generis atrocia peccata . that can startle or shake with horrour at but the very sight of an Idol , so the German renders it , (l) (l) Der du einen grewell hast , an den gotzen raubest heilige dinge ? a Zelot indeed , and yet behold this is the man Indicted here by the Apostle , as a Malefactor , Thou that abhorrest , &c. as if Saint Paul arguing ab absurdo , had said thus , How canst thou pretend to be indeed an Enemy to Idolatry , as long as thou art a friend to Sacriledge , a sin in the appurtenances of it , as directly destructive of the first whole Table , nay more , of both Tables , ( in the nature of Theft also ) and therefore full out as bad as Idolatry ?

2. But this is one of Satan's Deepest (m) (m) Rev. 2.24 . Depths : when the Devil can hold men no longer in an old sin , he is then wont thus to ring Changes , or to shift his Weapon , when he perceives men through Constitution , Education , or Profession , converted and averse from an old Error , he perswades them to some other new sinful course , full out as bad as the old ; causing them to mistake , such an * * The Devil's converts . Hypocritical Commutation of a new sin for and old , instead of a sound Conversion : as when men grow weary of Prodigality , he converts them to Covetousness ; instead of an old carnal Lust , he perswades them to entertain a new one , as spiritual Pride , or Singularity , or Envy , and in time , to exchange this too , for Schisme , or Sedition , or Rebellion ; To avoid Superstition , he perswades them to utter Prophaneness , the quite other extream , as (n) (n) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Basil . instead of Idolatry to give over themselves to Sacriledge : And as thus in the case of particular men's Conversions , so through God's just permission , yea , Judgment against National Hypocrisie , in the case of National changes too , or Reformation of Religion , Satan doth sometimes inlarge this his Depth , and as easily as single men , misleads into it whole Nations , whole Churches ; when they are grown weary of a stale Errour , he presents them with a fresh , full out as rank as the former , only sweetned over with some plausible pretence of Zeal , or of the Purity of Religion .

3. This was here the very Case of some of the preciser sort , in the Nation of the Jews , for the Parties here Indicted are not Heathen , or Barbarians , or Scythians , but Jews , ( which is a name (p) (p) Verse . 28 , 29. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly , &c. of profession ) Professors of the then supposed old true Religion : or if you will ( as (q) (q) So the French , and the Italian of Diodati . some ) enlarge it to the Roman Converts also , the Professors of the then Reformed Christian Religion : The observation will be still the same either way , That Zealous Professors may be deeply guilty of foul sins in general , of this foul sin of Sacriledge in particular .

4. But ex abundanti , to reconcile both these Expositions into one , why may not the Jews and Romans here be both one ? such as were those strangers of Rome , ( or stranger - Romans ) (r) (r) Acts 2.5 . expresly called Jews and Proselytes , some of the old Jewish Dispersions ( mentioned by St. (s) (s) Jam. 1.1 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . V. Orationem Agrippae in Josepho . James ) then converted by St. Peter's Preaching , and now confirmed by St. Paul's Epistle : for that those Roman Jews mentioned in the Acts , were but Sojourners at Jerusalem , and not Dwellers there , is plain from that Text well examined : so that those Roman Jews might by this time be returned Converts from Jerusalem to Rome , and be the men in part , to whom Saint Paul here directs this his Epistle : This is very probable , but whether they were or were not Jews unconverted , against whom St. Paul directs his Charge , it matters not . Dato , nedum concesso , that they were meer Jews , here lies the issue , Sacriledge is here made a plain parallel sin , and of the same nature with Adultery and Idolatry , Ergo , Sacriledge is a sin still under the Gospel , as much as Adultery or Idolatry , or else St. Paul says as good as nothing to his main drift and purpose in this whole Chapter , which is , to convince both Jew and Gentile of damnable hypocrisie , in doing as bad as others , whom yet they did condemn . Ergo , from the scope of the Text , it must needs follow in ordinary Logick , that as Adultery and Idolatry are breaches of the Moral Law , which Law concerns us Christians as much as it did the Jews ; even so is Sacriledge too a breach of the same Moral Law , and in some respects , as you shall hear it proved anon , a greater sin under the Gospel , than under the Law .

5. Then what ever the Malefactor be , the Crime is the same : so that for all their outward profession of being God's own People , neither the Law , nor Circumcision , neither God's Word , nor his Sacraments , nor all the External advantages of Religion ( otherwise excellent and glorious , if well used ) shall avail them any further , than to (t) (t) Verse 25.27 . aggravate their just condemnation : Their pretence of Detestation of Idolatry will not serve the turn , as long as they continue in Sacriledge : what ever they be , Jews , or Christians , Laity , or Clergy ; ( God's own express distinction , as old as Moses ) (u) (u) Exod. 19.13 . &c. Where the people are set down their bounds : 'T is S. Greg. Nazianz . observation , &c. God hath no respect of persons , for if you mark it , the Malefactor is here Indicted , not only by his Titles of Religion ; But , which is our second point of Examination , by his Titles of Office too , as he is a Doctor , or a Preacher ; so runs the style in the Context .

6. Behold , saith the Apostle , (x) (x) Verse 19.20 , 21. thou art confident that thou thy self art a guide of the blind , a light of them which are in darkness ( an illuminate Generation ) an Instructer of the Foolish , a teacher of Babes , which hast the form of Knowledge , and of the truth in the Law . Thou therefore which teachest another (y) (y) Bene docere & malè vivere , quid aliud est quàm se suâ voce damnare ? Prosper . teachest thou not thy self ? Thou that preachest a man should not steal , doest thou steal ? Thou that sayest a man should not commit Adultery , doest thou commit Adultery ? Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge ?

7. It seems they that should have been the Guardians , were the Robbers , yea , Ring-leaders in the spoyl of God's House , turned Bethel into Bethaven , the House of God into a Den of Thieves : Thieves indeed , who to buy the High-Priesthood it self (z) (z) Joseph : & Beza ex eo . not out of any love to the Office , ( for Sectaries and Hereticks , Pharises and Sadduces as they were , almost all of them , witness Annas the then High-Priest , a Sadducee himself , what cared they for the Office , so they had the Benecice ) they did not spare to sell the Offerings , corrade the Sacrifices , rob God's Exchequer , to pay the Roman-Chapman , by whom all sacred things were then exposed to sale .

I suppose you so apprehensive as not to expect an application of this , to our late Lay-Bishops , or Lay-Deans , in this one respect , still worse than the old Church-Thieves , that those did not abolish the Office , as keen as they were of the Benefice , but still had some care to preserve their Church in the old form , though very corrupt for the matter thereof .

8. The fair warning deducible from this History , may concern you all , that you may not be seduced by the smooth pretences , or false Principles of men , be their Titles never so specious , be they Doctors or Pastors , discontented Teachers , or popular Preachers ; say they be of the Tribe of Levi , or of the Family of Chorah : yea should any of our selves for our own particular advantage , go about to mince the matter , to perswade you that Sacriledge is no Sacriledge , believe us not : for , as one hath too truly observed it ; I know not how , nor by what Destiny , ( but by the Devils co-operation ) in the spoyl of God's Demesnes , usually all of all sorts , joyn heads and hands : these three Avaritia Magnatum , Ambitio Sacerdotum & Superbia Populorum , both of old and of late , go hand in hand about it , commonly the Avarice of the Grandees , is still the Beldam ; the ambition (a) (a) Num. 16. of some greedy male-contented , and perhaps undeserving Priests , is the Midwife ; and the Pride of the over-weening vulgar ( for (b) (b) Quum excellimur , & instamur adversus Clerum , tum sumus omnes sacerdotes , quia Sacerdotes nos Deo & Patri fecit : quum ad per aequationem Disciplinae Sacerdotalis provocamur deponibus Insulas , & Impares sumus . Tertul. de Monogamia , c. 12. every man , the simplest man would be his own Priest , his own Bishop : ) hath proved the unhappy Nurse to breed and bring forth all Church-Mischief . These three are never awanting , but always ready to help one another , and the Devil above all to rob God Almighty , which is the Crime charged here by the Apostle upon this Malefactor , and the second main part of our Discourse , to wit , the examination of the sin of Sacriledge , and that , as you may remember , the division three manner of ways , to wit , 1. By way of Declaration . 2. By way of Aggravation ; and 3. By way of Probation .

CHAP. II.

The Description of Sacriledge .

1. TOuching the matter of Declaration , we shall deliver it first by way of Description , secondly by way of Distribution , of the sin of Sacriledge according to its several kinds and degrees .

In the Description we may consider the sin of Sacriledge , as it is set down in the Text. 1. Absolutely , in its own nature . 2. Comparatively with those other parallel-sins expressed in the Text , and Context , to wit , Adultery , a most hainous sin against the second Table . Idolatry a most grievous Crime against the first Table .

We begin with the first , the Consideration of the sin of Sacriledge absolutely , and in its own nature . Not to trouble you with any (c) (c) Heins . ad loc. uncouth Exposition , but following the Father 's (d) (d) Deligendus est sensus è materiâ dicti : Regula Tertulliani , & Hilarii . Where the matter and the Context will bear it , we are to choose the most proper and literal sense . Aug. de Doctr. Christiana . sound Rule , in finding out the right sense of a Text : By Sacriledge here , is meant properly , the Abuse of (e) (e) Aquin. in loc. things sacred , or belonging to the service of God , whether the Abuse be committed by way of (f) (f) Violatione , vel surreptione . violation , through prophaneness , or usurpation , through fraud , or covetousness ( of which latter kind of real Sacriledge , you shall hear more anon , when we come to the matter of Aggravation : ) but whether by Prophanation , or Vsurpation , either way , 't is Sacriledge ; so saith Calvin upon the place , and so Contzen the Jesuite , ( witnesses enough we may have of all sorts , of all sides : ) That this is the full extent or value of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to commit Sacriledge , is plain from the constant Etymology thereof , in the general (g) (g) Phavorini , Lexicon , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So Hesych . Suidas . Budaeus . Roberti Steph. Thesaurus . The great Greek Concordance given by Sir Henry Savile , to the publick Library at Oxford . See there 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 2 Mac. 13.6 . and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 2 Mac. 4.42 . So Acts 19.37 . Sacrilegium est propriè rerum sacrarum furtum , Papias . Nay , so the Hebrew 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Old Testament , ( Gen. 49 27. ) from whence directly the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Greek of the New Testament is derived , being applied to things Sacred , is properly to spoyl , to pillage , or ( for the capacity of those who are better versed in the new way of Robbing ) to Plunder holy things ? so the German of Rackaw renders this Text , Raubest heilige dinge : Rauben and Plundern , in that Language being full Synonymes . Current of Authors , Ecclesiastical , or Classical , Greek or Latine ( for the word Sacrilegium : ) And now , God be-thanked , it is clear by the letter of this Text , that there is still such a thing as Sacriledge , and that Sacriledge is a sin under the Gospel , as much as under the Law , a sin of as hainous a nature , and of as heavy a Consequence , as either Adultery or Idolatry ; either of which , I hope , no Christian will deny to be sins under the Gospel , as well as under the Law . Here is a plain literal Text for both ; a fair Foundation to build the rest of our discourse upon . This for the Grammatical Exposition of the Text.

2. As for the particular occasion thereof : 1. Some are of opinion , that the Apostle might , by the Holy Ghost , foresee this Error , that some Zelots ( whether Jews or Romans , it matters not ) under pretence of hating Idols , might presume to rob the Idol's Temples : and from this take their Hint most Expositers ancient and modern , (h) (h) Chrysostom . Theoph. Calv. Estius ad loc. Greek and Latine , to paraphrase the Text thus ; Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou ( through sacrilegious Avarice ) steal away the things sacrificed to Idols ? From which general Exposition we may thus argue the Case : If the Apostle , and the holy Fathers did think the Robbing of an Idol , a false God , (i) (i) As no Casuist doubts of it that a Turk may be guilty of Perjury , and for it be punished by the True God , If he forswear himself , though he swear but by Mahomet a false Prophet . to be Sacriledge , ( and in Dionysius , and others , though but meer Heathen , the true God hath revenged it for such ) then à majori , it must needs be high Sacriledge to steal away that which belongs to the true God indeed , unless they will make h●m a tamer Deity in his own Right , than in the Right of an Idol .

3. But secondly , the Syriack Expositor is yet more literal , and renders these words thus , Doest thou commit Sacriledge directly by those ? doest thou spoyl the house of the Sanctuary ? ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) that is the word : (k) (k) And that God Almighty hath still under the Gospel his Domum Sanctuarii , as well as under the Law , needs no other Text , than that plain Evangelical one , ( Marc. 11.17 . out of Isa. 56.7 . ) My house shall be called of ( or to ) all Nations the house of Prayer . Where 1. Even under the Gospel God doth still claim a house to himself ? My house , by a plain right of appropriation . 2. That it must be so called , and so used too , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to , or of all Nations , which till the calling in of the Gentiles by the Gospel , could not be under the Law . either Exposition will serve the turn , That in the Apostle's judgment , 't is Sacriledge to take away that which belongs to God , and to turn it into a prophane or common use .

4. You may easily take an Estimate of the hainousness of the sin of Sacriledge in its own nature , by the worth of its opposite , the highest Vertue , the vertue of Religion , which Sacriledge (l) (l) Aquin. directly overthrows : and therefore vi contrariorum , Sacriledge must needs be the basest Vice . A Thief , any ordinary Thief is a Person infamous by the Law , (m) (m) I C. & Stat. concern . Ridesdale-men , &c. who yet robs but a man like himself ; how base a Thief is he then that robs God , that robs his own God ? for so God Indicts him expresly , (n) (n) Malach. 3.8 . and so both the Greek and the (o) (o) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Suid. Bud. Gotts-Dieb . In Classical Authors 't is an Epithet of highest aggravation , when a thing is called Sacrilegious , as Vipera & Sacrilega sunt convicia comica & apta in Ancillas & mulieres improbas , &c Chabot in 5. Epod. Horat. Bellum Sacrilegum Cic. 7. in Verr. Sacrilegi furores Martial . German , and the Saxon , your old Language term him , Gods Thief , that is his Brand. Nay , one degree worse yet , for Sacriledge is a Vice opposite to the vertue of Religion , not simply , or in any inferiour degree , but in its heroical degree of Excellency ; It particularly opposeth Devotion , which is Religion in its Zenith , in its height ; It being an holy promptitude to honour God with our substance , as well as with our service , one of the highest Expressions of our duty to our Maker , and of the homage we can perform to God Almighty , whilest we are upon Earth : which doth as near as may be at this distance fasten us ( to use the phrase of that Divine Heathen ) (p) (p) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Hierocl . Knit us together with God . unto God heart and hand , and all : Then sure the quite contrary disservice can be no Gnat , which very Pagans themselves out of meer common Notions , have ever strained at ; to say nothing of all Christendom besides . And as Sacriledge is thus hainous in its own nature , so it will appear more horrible still , being compared with the Parallel-sins it is matched withal in the Context : Noscitur ex socio , is an old Say ; And this is our second Point in order , to make up the full description of this sin , to wit , by way of Comparison .

5. The sins near of kin to Sacriledge , are here set down to be , 1. Adultery , and 2. Idolatry ; damnable sins both of them in whomsoever , in the Christian , as well as in the Jew : so that with as much Reason may any man affirm the sins of Adultery or of Idolatry , to concern onely the Jews , and not us Christians , because St. Paul seems here to speak to the Jews , as to say so of Sacriledge , or with as much reason may any man deny Adultery or Idolatry , to be sins now under the Gospel , as deny Sacriledge to be a sin still , for the ground in this Text is the same for both ; and therefore by a plain Argument , à pari at least , Sacriledge must needs be a sin of the same nature , that is as damnable in a Christian , as in a Jew , under the Gospel , as under the Law . As for the first Adultery , that can be no Peccadillo , no sin in jest , that in earnest was dyed in the blood of 25000 (q) (q) Num. 25.9 . all at once : and for which millions lie now frying in Hell . But yet , as hainous as Adultery is , 't is the observation of some learned Interpreters (r) (r) Mendoca . in 1 Reg. 2.17 . upon the Text ; that 1. Whereas God stayed patiently a twelve-month , before he did reprove King David for his Adultery : but for the sin of Sacriledge , God did arraign and condemn too King Uzziah , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . (s) (s) 2 Chron. 26.20 , 21. In the very act , as we say , which , Caeteris paribus , is more severe . 2. God did not deprive King David of his Royal Office for his Adultery , but for his Sacriledge , God degraded from the Throne King Uzziah . 3. God did set no personal , visible mark of his Justice upon King David himself for his Adultery ; but for his Sacriledge , God did fix the mark of his wrath upon King Uzziah's Forehead , as the most visible place , for a fair warning : and so God does still generally punish sacrilegious persons , even here upon Earth temporally , yea , visibly : One memorable Instance for the Aggravation of the sin of Sacriledge above Adultery , our Lord and Master hath left us upon Record : for when the great Bishop and Shepheard of our Souls came to visit his Metropolis Jerusalem , and found sacrilegious Chapmen trading there : Though our Lord had waved to give any Sentence or Judgment , (t) (t) Luc. 12.14 . John 8.11 . as in the case of Inheritance , so in the case of Adultery , yet he passeth sentence and judgment , and himself executeth present penalty , in the very Act , against the Sacrilegious Abusers of his House . His Whip of small Cords , as St. Hierom amplifies it , (u) (u) Matth. 21. wrought a greater Miracle than any in the whole Gospel : Quòd unus homo , & illo tempore contemptibilis , &c. potuerit ad unius flagolli verbera tantam ejicere multitudinem . Such was our supream Visitor's divine zeal and fiery indignation against Sacriledge , that he himself is both Accuser , Witness , Judge , and Executioner , which is very singular , and onely in the case of Sacriledge : And which is yet more , this penal Miracle is also redoubled ( as Pharaoh's Dream for certainty ) and acted twice over by our Lord , for the full confirmation and ratifying of the Penalty to all ensuing Ages and Generations : As both learned Grotius on John 11.14 . and judicious Mr. Mede very well observe : Christ made the Correction of Sacriledge both the Alpha and the Omega of his Episcopal Care . And yet let no prophane Esau (t) (t) Heb. 2.16 . wrest this Parallel to an Extenuation of that sin of Adultery , which , of all others , God hath threatned to reserve unto his own Judicatory ; because the close Adulterer presuming to do that work of darkness in the presence of the Immortal God , which he durst not do in the presence of a mortal man , highly defies the Omni-science and Omni-presence of God : Therefore in the matter of Vriah's Wife , God , who hath no respect of persons , threatens David , though a King , That because he did it secretly , God would punish him openly before all Israel , and before the Sun , ( 2 Sam. 12.2 . ) and the Apostle confirms the Commination , saying , That Whoremongers and Aulterers God will judge : (u) (u) Heb. 13.4 . And if so , where shall then the Church-Robber , or sacrilegious person appear ?

6. Secondly , as for the other Parallel-sin , the sin of Idolatry , to which Sacriledge is here compared . 'T is true , Idolatry is a hainous sin , whether in Pagan Impiety , or Popish Superstition , or simplicity ; for a (x) (x) Isa. 44.19 . rational Creature , to fall down to the stock of a Tree , is able to provoke the jealousie of a patient God , ( and jealousie is anger in the height of fury ) which therefore in the proportion of God's Justice , must needs presuppose a very high Offence : And so the Jewes conceived of it , acknowledging to this day ( at their solemn Feast of Expiation ) their Idolatry about the Calfe , (y) (y) Moses Gerundensis . and that an Ounce of it , is still an Ingredient to all their National punishments : and in this , the ancient Christian Church was even with the Jew for detestation of Idolatry ; witness against the Religious use of Images in Churches , that rigid Fact of Epiphanius , and the rigour of the Councel of Eliberis , as also the prudent wariness of the old Catholicks in their slow admission of them : for 't is very well known to the Learned , that Images were not received into the Church but t'other day in comparison , and that not without very great opposition neither ; all this ado about Images , was , as to avoid all appearance of evil , in those Pagan times and places especially , so to express their devout fear of slipping into that occasional Error , into which some Western Churches first , and , after the seducing example , some of the Eastern-Churches also are foully fallen at last by little and little : yet as bad as , by all this , Idolatty may appear , Sacriledge must needs be at least , full out as damnable a sin as Idolatry , If (y) Calvin may be Judge , (s) (s) Scitè Apostolus opponit Idololatriae Sacrilegium , tanquam rem ejusdem generis . Calv. ad loc . who therefore expresly observes on the Text , the fitness of the Apostle's Comparison , in parallelling Idolatry with Sacriledge , as being sins ejusdem generis , of the same kind ; and if of the same kind , then sure Sacriledge is still a sin as damnable now under the Gospel , as Idolatry it self .

7. And I would to God we had no cause to fear , that under the very same pretence of avoiding Idolatry and Superstition , some men have Reformed the Worship of God , the quite contrary way , and run so far towards the other two extreams of Sacriledge and Prophaneness , as that they may seem full out as liable to the Apostle's Indictment here , as any : Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge ?

A sin which in some respects , may prove somewhat worse than Idolatry , to wit , if considered in its Complication , with those other grievous Crimes , that of all other sins , do usually attend upon the sin of Sacriledge , as forerunners or followers : ( for Sacriledge is one of those sins , which they call * * As Calvin very well notes of the Sacriledge of Ananias , on Act. 5.1 . In hac ficta oblatione plura mala suberant . 1. Contemptus Dei quem suae pravitatis conscium non reveretur . 2. Sacrilega fraudatio , quia partem ex eo subducit quod sacrum esse Deo profitebatur . 3. Perversa vanitas & ambitio , quia , posthabito Dei judicio hominibus se venditat . 4. Infidelitas quia hanc viam , illicitam non aggressus esset , nisi Deo diffisus . 5. Pii , sanctique instituti corruptio . 6. Ipsa quoque hypocrisis magnum per se erat malum . 7. Accessit huc quoque obstinata mentiendi audacia . Behold , out of one single Root of Sacriledge , seven deadly sins , as so many cursed branches spreading out themselves over a Church of the Apostle's own Plantation . Diodati adds one sin more expressed in the 9th Verse , to wit , Tempting of God : Di tentare , c. di fare un prophano Saggio , se egli conoscerebbe , &c. That is to make a prophane Trial , or assay , whether God could know their fraud , or knowing it , would or could punish it . Peccata aggregata . ) For instance , Idolaters , as bad as they are , yet they will suffer Bishops , ( and so far the Papists are right ) but the late Patrons of Sacriledge in flat opposition to Christ and his Apostles , ever begin their work with the bloody Persecution of God's chief Servants , the Bisheps and Pastors of Christ's Flock , because they are , and ever were the men , down from the Apostle's days , intrusted by the Catholick Church , as Feoffees and Guardians of the sacred Patrimony : 'T is the Devil's stale Stratagem this , still to begin at the (z) (z) Matth. 26.31 . Shepheards , that the Sheep may the easier be scattered : The Devil in this , dealing with the Church , as Aelian reports , Anytus , one of the thirty Tyrants , to have done with Athens . The Persecutor intending usurpation upon the State of Athens , and finding good honest Socrates to stand in his way , as being able to confute his Conclusions , never left , till first by under-hand traducing , and then by open false Accusation , he , through the hands of the Hair-brained multitude , forced the good man to drink off the Cup of Hemlock : Thus Socrates once voted out of the way , Anytus soon after became the Head-Master of the Athenian Crew , State and all .

8. Add to all this , that some Idolaters may be Loyal , but as for Sacriledge , you may observe , that the most usual Medium to compass it , is Rebellion and Treason still : As Anytus dealt with Socrates , so they will deal still with the Prince , if he prove a Constantine to God , and his own Soul , and therefore refuse his consent , because it is not in his own power , for the King's (a) (a) Prov. 21.1 . heart is , and should he still in the hand of the Lord , as I may say , under God's own Lock and Key , but then , rather than miss of their sacrilegious ends , they will burst , or force open the Wards , the more need hath He then again of all good Subjects Prayers , Lord (b) (b) Psal. 51.12 . 't is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 SPIRITU PRINCIPIS fulcito , velut manibus . stablish him with thy free spirit .

For I know not how , but still these two , Sacriledge and Rebellion , do usually meet in eodem subjecto : witness Judas , as a sacrilegious Thief , so a base Traytor , set down therefore in the old Forms of the (c) (c) Quisquis autem hujus meae munificentiae Testamentum quovis deinceps tempore , aliquâ occasione , cujus libet etiam dignitatis , vel professionis , vel gradus pervertere vel in irritum deducere tentaverit , sciat se cum proditore Juda aeternâ confusione , edacibus ineffabilium tormentorum flammis periturum . K. Ina , Anno Dom. 725. Sir Henry Spelman . Concil. tom. 1. passim . Curses against Sacriledge , as the fittest precedent to curse by : and I would be very loath to have my part with Judas , where he is now , for all the Church-Lands in Christendom .

And so Charles Martell of France , another arrand Traytor against his Leige Lord , upon pretence of meer necessity to pay his Army for the Holy War against the Turk , did , under the Title of borrowing , seize upon the Church Revenues , with promise ( as some (d) (d) So they say , that above a hundred years ago , a King of this Land did pretend and promise too , to restore , &c. but once gone , aye gone , for that good work is to do yet , and who knows , but this is it we all smart for now ? The Parallels are strange for Time , Place , and Person ; but that we keep within the Rule , Parcere , Personis , &c. others ) of Restitution ; for lack of which Charles Martell is ( in good History ) branded with the Imputation of being the first Founder of Sacriledge in Christendom , and for it reported also by the † † Du Tillet , Fauchet , and other French Historians . Historians of those times , to be damned Body and Soul , more than in a bare Vision : Fides penes Authores esto .

But what need we cross over-Seas for examples of this kind ? since to our woe , he that runs may in Capitals , read this sad Truth in the Rubrick of this Island , where those that were deepest in the Sacriledge , were deepest in the Rebellion .

9. Let none therefore think that this Discourse doth nothing at all concern the men of our Generation : for no doubt it doth , full as much as it did those in St. Paul's days : for is not this the very Plea of our Zelots now adays , that to avoid Idolatry , they must needs do as they do , commit Sacriledge ? They abhor Popery forsooth , and the Church-lands , and Revenues , smell rank of that Weed , ( and yet this only in the Clergie's hands ) therefore they must be converted into their own Lay-hands , there to be sweetned , yea , sanctified , though their hands be full of blood : But as the Apostle , so may we justly bespeak these Religious men , Thou that abhorrest Popery , wilt thou commit Sacriledge ? a sin , for the Original of it , no less Popish than the other : for search and examine , who first began the sacrilegious Invention of Appropriations ; did not the Pope to gratifie the Monky ? so that one of your own (e) (e) Camden . Historians bears Record , that in this one Country alone of 9284 Parishes , the Pope hath Impropriated no less than 3845 , that is almost t 'one half , and you may well suppose ( for 't is true ) that the fattest Benefices might be the first that went to the Pot : yet these sound Protestants , thus directly treading in the Pope's sacrilegious steps , would make you , and all the blind World believe , they do it all this while , to avoid the Pope's Company : But indeed , to say truth , the Pope was in comparison , but a Novice in the gainful Trade of Sacriledge , Antichrist as he is , in their own opinion , he never , as these , had either the wit to think of , or the boldness then to strike at Root and Branch , from the higest Prelate , to the meanest Chorister .

But in this case , the Servant may not be greater than his Master , the Priest may not fare better than the King : for do not the self same men too , Rebel against the King , ( for mark it again , still Sacriledge and Rebellion are Twins ) still to prevent Popery ? Yea , and blame the King very much , if , when they themselves force him to it , he do presume to use a Sword of his own , if it chance to be found in a Popish hand , whilest themselves , good men are blameless , though , for Rebellion against their own Protestant-King , point blank to the Doctrine of Christ , * * Lex nova non se vindi ultore gladio Tertul. and the constant practice of the old Catholick Church , ( for the compass of almost a thousand years ) they , out of a zeal against Popery , for Rebellion (f) (f) Bucha nan . Junius . Brutus , compared with Bellarm. Suarez , &c. use all the chief Popish spiritual Swords ( I am able to make good the charge ) the Popish Arguments , I mean , Swords so much the more dangerous , than can be a Papist's material Sword ( whilest under Command ) because this can only wound the body , but that t'other Sword , a poysoned Weapon , may kill the Soul it self .

Those that know me , know I am no friend to Popery , I was bred and born in a Religion opposite unto it , I thank God for it , and in this Religion , as it is established , and professed in the Church of England , for which ( 25 years at home , and 15 years abroad ) I have both done , and suffered my share : I hope , and my trust in God is , that I shall live and die : I do hate real Popery , as much as any , I mean what Doctrine is by that Church Canonized as de fide , contrary to the old Catholick Faith , for the first five hundred years after Christ . But I must needs confess I cannot , without just indignation , think of the deep hypocrisie of the men of our Generation , that under the odious false imputation of Popery , spit at the face of all sound and venerable Antiquity , yea , and that under pretence of Zeal against Popery , maintain and do the same things that the hottest Papists do , and that in such points as of all others ( for destructiveness ) are the very Gunpowder , to blow up Church and State .

10. But you see , 't is just so as we told you , rather than two such old Acquaintances as Sacriledge and Rebellion should part , opposites in shew will shake hands indeed , and as the Zodiack ( that in some places seems further distant ) they 'l cross the line , and meet at both ends , when ( standing the Terms , as now they do ) Papists and we , that to some pore-blind Brains , may seem nearer , yet , like Parallel-lines , can never meet , but must still keep out Aequal-distance . And this discourse may suffice to make up the full Description of the sin of Sacriledge , according to the Apostle's own method , considering it first absolutely in its own Nature : next comparatively by way of parallel , with the sins of Adultery and Idolatry ; we might have added , and of Theft too , in the fore-going Verse ; all which sins of Theft , Adultery , and Idolatry , remaining sins under the Gospel , as much as under the Law , it must needs follow , Vi Inductionis , that this Text and Indictment in it , concerns us Christians , as much as it did the Jews ; Sacriledge and those other sins being res ejusdem generis , as Calvin hath plainly told you before ; sins of the same kind . Pass we now from the Description to the Distribution of the Sin of Sacriledge in its full extent , according to the several parts and degrees thereof .

CHAP. III.

The Distribution of Sacriledge .

1. ANd they are just as many as there be subjects capable of holiness inherent , or relative , all which at the most , the Schoole reduces to these five ; 1. Times . 2. Places . 3. Persons . 4. Actions . And 5. Things , which may be said to be holy , as being set apart , and belonging unto God in a more peculiar and appropriate manner , and therefore to be used cum discrimine , that is , with a choice and singular respect from other common things of the same kind : If otherwise used , then they are really prophaned : And that they may be so abused , 〈◊〉 facto , our owne woful Experience in all these particulars , saves me a labour , o●● Eyes and Ears are passionate Witnesses o● a suddain , stupendious , National Confusio● of all that is called Divine ; and but tha● this sad Truth will from us descend to o●● Posterity , sealed up with the constancy o● our sufferings for it , after Ages might mistrust our Report .

As the good old Father , so may we , ●o● truly cry out , Bone Deus in quae nos tempora reservasti ! We live to see generally (g) (g) Yet in the most cruel Wars of the most barbarous Nations , Gothes , &c. The Temples , and the Priests were by the Law of Nations , always held Sacred , and therefore secured from the general violence ; St. Augustine , l. 1. de civit Dei . See at large divers memorable examples of Religious Civility in this kind , in Grotius de Jure Belli , l. 3. cap. 6. Sect. 6. & 7. first , God's own Feasts unhallowed God's Houses demolished , God's Servants degraded , God's Service disgraced , God's Portion invaded : And to plain the Highway to this horrid Chaos , Sacred Majesty it self violated , ( for by all the Laws of Nations , Divine and Humane ; the Persons of Kings , as well as their Offices were ever held sacred . ) No doubt , all this through God's just anger against this Nation in general , because of their former unthankefulness for , and wilful Abuse of all those eminent Blessings , so in particular , because too too many of our side , have been and are still too grosly guilty of a manifold prophanation , and visible abuse of all those sacred Favours even among our selves , unto this day .

2. To point at , and if it may be , to cut of some of the heads of this Hydra , this ●any-headed Monster of sins . Sacriledge is a sin of a large extent : for , to instance in personal Sacriledge , as I may tearm it . First of all , every Christian , by solemn Dedication at his Baptisme , is or should be morally holy , suo gradu , not in Korah's (g) (g) Num. 6.3 . rebellious sense , holy all alike , in Grace , and Office , and all , hand over head : but in the Apostle's sober sense , secundùm mensuram , (h) (h) Rom. 12.3 . holy in all manner of (i) (i) 2 Pet. 3.11 . conversation , else (l) (l) Quaelibet species luxuriae secundùm quod violat aliquid pertinens ad cultum Dei , est Sacrilegium . Aquin. 22ae . q. 154. 10. o. Luxury is , and any wilful sin committed by a Christian , may be , in a large sense , tearmed Sacriledge : because every Christian , he or she , that in this or any other sin abuses his body , directly prophanes a Temple of the Holy Ghost , and , if any man (m) (m) 1 Cor. 3.17 . Ambr. ad virginem lapsam . defile the Temple of God , ( material , or moral ; nay , this of the two may , in some respects , appear the greater sin ) him will God destroy : look to it , Wantons , and Epicures , fear , and amend , for 't is no less than spiritual Sacriledge this , and a perfidious violation of your great Vow in Baptisme ; whereby you have really dedicated your selves Body and Soule unto God in the face of Holy Church , that may one day bear witness pro , or con , for , or against you , as you stand to , or fall away from your Vow , and by it condemn you at Dooms-day .

3. Thus every Christian is a sacred person , and ought thus far to reverence himself , as not , by committing acts contrary to , or unworthy of his Consecrated condition , to unhallow himself : Meer Pagans out of a natural self-respect to a reasonable Nature , and no more , could give this excellent Reason why men ought neither in company , nor alone , to commit any Turpitude , because of all others ( next to God ) every man ought to reverence himself , so the (n) (n) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Carm. 11. & 12. Pythag. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 possim 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Iscr . ad Demonic . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Xenoph. Paed. 1. Greek word bears it : ) And if so , then what strong obligation lies upon us Christians , (o) (o) 1 Thes. 4.4 . To possess our Vessels in holiness and honour , that have the addition of such a solemn positive Dedication ? Doubtless to abuse a Nature so many ways sacred , and so highly exalted , as is our Humane Nature by its intimate conjunction with the Divine Nature of Christ our Head , by its sacred unction with the Holy Ghost at our Baptisme , must needs be fearful Apostasie , and in a manner with Julian , to wash off again our Christendom : The onely consideration whereof how should it sublimate our minds , our manners , and raise up our Spirits to an holy Dedignation of all base Actions ? Should such a man as I flee ? said Noble (p) (p) Neh. 6.11 . Nehemiah ? So should every gallant Christian stand upon his spiritual Point of Honour and holily scorn to do acts undercoming so sacred a Person ; If not , he shall one day finde it to amount to more than a Metaphorical Sacriledge : This by the way , may concern every Christian in general .

4. But secondly in particular , every King what ever he be is holy too by vertue of his Vnction , yea , though he were a meer Heathen , yea , though he want the Ceremony ; yet , Cyrus mine Anointed , (q) (q) Isa. 45.1 . is God's own style : Jus Regnandi , that is , God's Power from above is , for the Reality , Vnction sufficient to make the King's Person sacred , and therefore the (r) (r) Cod. de Crim. Sacril . Civilians both Greek and Roman , do extend the Attaindor of Sacriledge even to them also that do but violate the Imperial Constitutions of the Prince .

— Ubi nunc lex Julia dormis ?

Every Rebel then that dares lift up but a (s) (s) Eccles. 10.20 . thought against God's Anointed , violates a Person sacred , and adds to his Rebellion , Sacriledge , when either of these sins by it self is enough to damn a Soul , for , when all Rebels and Traytors ( with all their specious pretences ) shall be dead and rotten , still for all their Machavellian distinctions , the Thirteenth of the (t) (t) Verse 2. Romans will be Scripture , Whosoever resisteth the Power , resisteth the Ordinance of God , and they that resist shall RECEIVE TO THEMSELVES DAMNATION : Acquirent sibi , as the Vulgar reads it , shall purchase to themselves , That will prove the onely purchase in the upshot of all their Projects : nay , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as (u) (u) Bezae major . Not. in loc. renders it , not sibi ipsis damnationem acquirent , as are the ordinary versions , but ipsi sibi damnationem acquirent . Beza well observes it , they shall not only be damned simply so , in a passive sense , but they shall damn themselves in the active signification , become spiritual Felo's de se , in a spiritual sense , wilfully accessary to their own Damnation : whether by their wilful perjury , express or implicite in the breach of their Allegiance natural or positive , ( the dismal Prologue of all Rebellions ) or whether by their wilful Impenitency , the fatal Epilogue or Conclusion of all Rebels at their end , Rebellion of all other sins , being a sin of (x) (x) 1 Sam. 15.23 . This Text is absolutely the onely best reason of the usual Devillish obstinacy of Rebels : who are in this also Machiavel's true Disciples , who bids him that hath once presumed to draw out his Sword against his Superiour , fling away the Scabberd , and never think of putting up again . Witchcraft , either way will serve one day to convince Rebels , that they , of all others , would needs damn themselves , and therefore they , of all others , must needs be damned , a sad Criticisme this , the ground whereof in God's own heavy sentence , I pray God the Rebels may yet have the grace to lay to their hearts , that they may escape so great a Damnation , the express Doom of this second kind of Sacriledge against the sacred Person of the Prince .

5. Thirdly , every Priest in his degree , is by his Vocation a Person sacred too , and therefore in some sense , inviolable by the Law of Nations , as well as by the Law of God , or of Holy Church , whose ancient Canons were therefore so strict to preserve the respect due to the Priest , that if a man did but in disdain 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( that is the word in one of them ) look big or scornfully upon the Priest , he was for the affront severely punishable , as an Offender sacrilegious in this sense .

And for the same reason , because the Priest is a Person sacred ; therefore on the other side , as strict , and as great was the Primitive severity of the known Ecclesiastical Canons to regulate , and to (y) (y) Quid prodest si Canonicè eligantur , & non Canonicè vivant ? Bern. confine the Priest in his manner of Life and Conversation , as one that , all over , ought to carry and deport himself more holily than other ordinary Christians , for that which , in things sacred , is their use , in Persons sacred is their Conversation .

'T was figurative that under the Law , in the curious frame of God's Tabernacle ; The nearer things were unto God , in relation of service , the more precious they were to be both for * * Exod. 26. and 28. stuff and workmanship , Gold and imbroydered work : so much more under the Gospel , ought those Persons that belong to God be precious , for holy life and sacred conversation ? Every Priest therefore that instead of teaching the People knowledge , opens his lips wide to folly , or vanity , is linguâ Sacrilegus , pollutes his Priesthood , and if a Paire of holy (z) (z) Nugae in ore Sacerdotis sunt Blasphemiae . Hieron . In aliis vitia , in Sacerdotibus sunt Sacrilegia . Chrysol . de Ebrietate . Consecrâsti os tuum Evangelio , nugis igitur aperire illicitum , assuescere sacrilegium . Bern. Fathers may be his Judges , is guilty both at once , of Blasphemy and Sacriledge , a fearful sin this , more or less : ( for you all know , what became of the Sons of Eli , for their personal Sacriledge , in polluting their Priesthood ) since that Omne peccatum personae sacrae est Sacrilegium , materialiter at least , according to the Determination of the (a) (a) Aquin. 22ae . q. 99. 3. 3 m. School : because the Person is sacred .

6. And as thus many ways Sacriledge may be committed against Persons sacred , so against sacred Things , or Actions too , which are the Circumstances of God's service , wherein to abuse or not devoutly to use (b) (b) Psal. 119.8 . old Translation . God's Ceremonies , hath by the Ancients been tearmed Sacriledge , whose full Definition (c) (c) ●quin quo suprá . Aquinas extends to any Irreverence in Sacris : about which , under the Law , even those that did sin through Ignorance in the holy things of the Lord , were yet to (d) (d) Levit. 5.15 . offer for their Trespass ; and under the Gospel , the Christian Church was no less precise in all points of Reverence , witness their frequent 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so strictly injoyned , and reiterated in their sacred (e) (e) Chrysost. Liturg. &c. Liturgies , full of those holy * * And all this too without Popish superstition , for this was the Catholick practice long before the birth of Popery . low Congies , devout Kisses , and religious Venerations , every time they did put on , or off , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the holy Vestments , every time they did handle , or but touch , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the holy Utensils , the holy Table , Vessels , Books , &c. The Reading and observation of which primitive Devotions , I know not whether it would more ravish the godly Reader 's minde with admiration , or strike it with astonishment , at the comparison of those good old devout Primitive Christians , with our loose and prophane Generation : Ah , holy Fathers , should you now come down again , and be but once present with the most of our ordinary Congregations , I doubt much , whether you would own us for your Successors , or our people for Christians ! I pray God this Item may in us all , Priest and People , amend this kind of Sacriledge , and teach us all better manners in , and about the Service of our God . For indeed by such a respective usage , and sanctification of things Sacred , ( still terminativè , in a reflection to the Owner ) the Name of God himself , to whom they belong , is sanctified , 't is the thing we all daily pretend to in our Prayer , but seldom remember to make good in our practice , which made me acquaint you with but thus much of the contrary Example of Devout Antiquity , only in a glance .

There is also another kind of Sacriledge which may be committed about the sacred Revenues of the Church , namely , If those be abused , or Dilapidated by excess , luxury , * * Multi Canonici vivunt ut Domini , moriuntur ut servi . Baldus apud Tympium in speculo magno : signo 18. or a lavish vanity , under pretence of Hospitality ; a Christian , yea , Episcopal vertue indeed , if it be rightly applied , if wisely regulated after the Pattern of Primitive Antiquity : not as though a Clergy-man must give over his Studies , and either become a common Host to all Comers , what ever they be , or else forfeit the Reputation of Hospitality : But that Ecclesiastical Persons must have a primary regard to the true poor ; such as those are not , that wilfully make themselves poor , by being Unthrifts , riotous Spenders , idle Strumpets , vagabond Loiterers , Drolls , and Buffoons ; for such , Correction and Labour is the best Alms , Houses of Correction are fitter to entertain such Guests , than Clergy-mens Houses : To Relieve such , remaining such , is so far from true Charity , that it is rather a kind of Impiety , a sin of Participation , because by a preposterous Relief , it incourageth such disorderly Persons in their lewd or loose courses . But , on the contrary , 't is high Charity to entertain , or relieve such , as by the Law are termed Miserabiles personae , those that are true poor indeed : whether * * See in Speed's Chronicle , at the Reigne of K. Edw. 6 , about the end , a List of the Poor . 1. By Impotency , as the stranger , the fatherless , and the Widow , the poor Clergy-men's Widows in special , desolate Creatures , where no publick care is taken for them : † † The Memory of Dr. Warner late Lord Bishop of Rochester , is precious for his Piety , in settling by his last Will and Testament , for perpetuity , 400 li. per annum , for the maintenance of 20 poor Minister's Widows ( if they be Widows indeed , of S. Paul's Character , 1 Tim. v. 5. Trusting in God , and continuing in supplications and prayers ) with an house for each of them , and 50 li. per annum for a Chaplain . the aged , the blind , the lame , and the diseased , especially the incurable . Or 2ly , By casualty , through the hand of God , as overcharged , or decayed Housholders , ( whereof no small number now since the fatal Fire of the Metropolis of London ) Persons sick , or visited , Captives ( in whose Redemption the Clergy of this Land have not been wanting ) poor Scholars especially , are a very proper object of the Charity of Prelates and Church-men . * * The Munificence of that famous William Wickham Bishop of Winchester , in K. Edw. 3. time ( who both founded Winchester Colledge for Grammar-Scholars , and also New Colledge in Oxford , for Students there ) is fragrant to this day for his magnificent Provision for no less then an hundred Scholars maintained by it , ( now 300 years after ) to the eminent obligation of both Church and State , furnished still out of these noble Nurseries : T. de Walsingham Hypodigm . Neustriae . Had Church-men been Stipendiaries , or the People's Beadsmen ( as some would have them ) could they , out of their stinted Pittance , have raised such Monuments of Charity ? To Relieve any such is true Charity , to Entertain such ( especially where no publick Provision is made for them ) is right Christian Hospitality , so much practised of old by the Primitive Bishops , ( who then out of their far larger Revenues could far better do it , then the present Bishops ) and even at this day , in mine own experience , this Hospitality is practised also by the Eastern Bishops , according to their poor proportion , living for the most part under Persecution .

And God be thanked , this kind of Hospitality to the poor , is not so neglected by the godly Prelates of our Church , as to deserve the slander of some men in our Generation , who being troubled with that foul disease , Matth. 20.15 . called by our Lord 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the evil eye , do odiously insinuate , that our Prelates do spend their Estates in pompous worldly splendor ; or treasure up their Revenues in their own Purses , to inrich themselves , their Wives , Children , Kindred , and Servants : &c. * * A Seasonable Vindication , &c. by William Prynne , Esq 1660. 1 Tim. 5.8 . As if contrary to the Apostle's Rule to Bishop Timothy , our Bishops must be the onely men ( that must cast off all just care of providing honestly for their own Housholds , and ( at least so far ) to Deny the faith , and become worse than Infidels , unless they will incur the guilt of Real sacriledge : ( a heavy Censure , but the Charge is no less then so : ) As though ( bating Inheritance ) the Bishop's and Clergy-men's Estates were not by the Law of the Land , their Freeholds , as much their own , as any Lay-Lords or Gentlemen ; and consequently , as if Clergy-men in their Prudence and Piety , might not do with their own what seemeth them good : But because they will not let their left hand know what their right hand doth : They desire not , as some , with a Noverint universi , every time they do a good work , to blow a Trumpet to proclaim their works of Piety and Charity to all the World : Therefore the World must needs believe Clergy-men have no Charity , Clergy-men keep no Hospitality . And yet again on the contrary , if Prelates and Church-men do in imitation of their noble Predecesors , the ancient Bishops of † † William Wickham Bishop of Winton , in Edw. 3d's time , was so famous for Episcopal Hospitality , that upon his Monument in his Cathedral Church there , 't is part of his Epitaph ; Largus erat Dapifer , Probat hoc cum divite Pauper . England , keep decent Hospitality , as they are obliged according to their Degree , to satisfie the Bounty of Princes , and the Magnificence of their Donors , or the last Will and Testament of their godly Predecessors ( many of * * S. William , so called , was Nephew to Henry Bishop of Winchester , who was King Stephen's Brother : Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Duresme , King Stephen's Nephew ; William Courtney ( Son to Hugh Earl of Devonsh●re ) Archbishop of Canterbury , and many more such , Natalium splendore illustres , in Bishop Godwin's excellent Book , de Praesulibus Angliae ( which it would be an honour to the Church and Nation to continue , since for above threescore years , he wants a worthy Successor . ) them of Noble blood ) the lawful † † 'T is a vulgar Error confuted by History , That every bit of the Clergy's Revenues , and every parcel of their Church-lands is held in Frank-almoigne . ( To say nothing now of Tythes , which the Clergy must hold of God in Capite ) had no Clergy-men , trow we ( many of them as appears above , of so Noble , and some of them of Royal blood ) ever any temporal Estate of his own Patrimony , or Purchase ? though much of it may be consumed aforehand in their Education , and long Studies in the Schools , to make themselves able and sufficient for that high and sacred Office : For instance , first , Walter Gray Archbishop of York ( in H. 3d's time ) did purchase the Mannor of Bishopthorp neer York , and gave the same to his Church , specie-tenus ( for a very good reason ) but , re ipsâ , to his Archiepiscopal See , ( which to this day injoys it successively , as the Archbishop's Mansion-house . ) See Bishop Godwin , quo suprá . 2ly , Lawrence Boothe Archbishop of York also ( in Edw. 4th's time ) did purchase the Mannor of Battersey neer London , built the House there , and gave it to his See . Ibid. 3ly , Hugh Pudsey who built the House and Church of Darlington , and founded the Priory of Fenkelo near Durham . [ And now I mention Durham , I may not omit to commend to Posterity , the Magnificence of John Cosin , the present Lord Bishop of that See ( our venerable Dioecesan ) who , since the happy Restauration of the King and Prelates ) hath repaired , and notably adorned the Episcopal Castles both of Duresme , and of Bishops-Aukland , where he hath erected a goodly Chappel , ( Two other Chappels formerly belonging to that Castle , being by the late Sacrilegious Rebellion , blown up and destroyed . ) The same Bishop hath also founded two Hospitals , or Alms-houses , one at Duresme , and another at Auckland . ] Purchasers of some of the Lands , and Founders of the Houses of Bishops , Deans , and Chapters : then straightway our Prelates must incur the Imputation of Riot , and Excess , and be blasted with the Pride of pompous worldly splendor . Thus are our Bishops traduced on both sides : An hard Dilemma ! but easily dissolved , as long as our Christian Bishops have a godly Care , in the sight of God , as to satisfie their own Consciences , so to answer the Expectation of honest and sober men ; as long as their civil Hospitality to their good Neighbours ( as the Prelates are men , and great men ) doth not hinder , much less exclude their Sacred Hospitality towards the Poor , to which also , and that chiefly , Bishops are obliged , as by the Apostle's Rule ( Tit. 1.8 . ) to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , Lovers of Hospitality in general ; and , as the Original bears it , Lovers of strangers in special : So by the Canons of the Church , and their solemn Vow at their Consecration ? according to which our Prelates and Church-men doing their duty , they need not much care for the talk of the Vulgus , or fear the pretended charge of this kind of Real Sacriledge , namely , The abuse of the Revenues of the Church .

7. One kind of Sacriledge more the holy Fathers have observed out unto us , too too seasonable , nay necessary for you in these days to take notice of ; 't is Sacriledge committed against this Sacred Book of God , to wit , when the holy Senses , Words , and Phrases thereof , appropriated to the Expressions of Divine and Sacred Mysteries , are abused either in a prophane and scurrilous application of them ( the humour now a-la-mode with the Court , or Camp-Atheist , ) or in a sacrilegious Detortion of Holy Writ to the Patronage of Heresie , or Schisme , Rebellion , or Sedition , or Sacriledge , Errors in Life or Doctrine , or both .

8. This kind of Scripture Sacriledge is as old as Adam's fall , and the Devils own early Invention , or ever the word was written , he did snatch it ( with reverence be it spoken ) out of God's own mouth , (f) (f) Gen. 3.1 . yea , hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden ? &c. This was his first Temptation , before he used a second , thereby to perswade the Woman that either God never said so , or else that God never meant so : Thus the first founder of all Sacriledge began berimes to tempt our first Parents , by a verbal Sacriledge , to a real Sacriledge , ( for the first sin of mankind , for the particular species of the Fact , was Direct Sacriledge , in prophaning and usurping that which God had made holy : ) This you may call Original Sacriledge , as well as Original sin : The hereditary sin of Sacriledge we all smart for ever since , from Generation to Generation . To this first grand Sacriledge , the Devil did perswade Mankind by this other kind of Sacriledge , by stealing out the Sacred Letter of God's Word , and abusing it against God's own sense , to his own Devilish ends ; therefore you may do well to take special notice of it , as of a main cause of Apostasie in the end .

9. With the guilt of this kind of Sacriledge , were charged of old the Hereticks , termed therefore by the holy Fathers 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Cyril of Alexandria terms them ; or Literae Sacrilegi , as Arnobius translates them , Thieves of the Sacred Letter , The very Patriarchs of our new Scripturists ; that unstable and unlearned too (g) (g) 2 Pet. 3.16 . as they are , yet to this day go on still treading in their Fathers black steps , by wresting the holy Scriptures unto their own destruction . In this the Devil 's good Scholars , for you know the Devil (h) (h) Matth. 4. had his Scriptum est , even against the Son of God himself , and so have his Disciples still their Scriptum est too , for Rebellion , Sacriledge , any thing : stealing away the meaning of the Text , in a new way of Sacrilegious Appropriation thereof to their own Errors : And this they do by quoting it amiss , ( which is worth your notice for a warning ) one of these three by-ways : 1. Either foysting in their own false glosses , and blending these with God's own true word , to the attraction of the undiscerning hearer . 2. Or else by a plain omission of some of the most material words , which soon alter the true sense . 3. Or lastly , By a cunning concealment of some such main circumstances in the Context ( which is Clavis Textus , the Key that opens the passage into a Text ; ) which citcumstances well examined , would plainly contradict their Cause : Always they do it by perverting the Scope ( which is the Soul of the Text. )

10. I could abound with Instances in this kind both old and new , but that there is nothing more obvious in the old Records of the Fathers and Councels , and the late Pamphlets of our new Hereticks and Schismaticks , against all which to forewarn you , once for all , now if ever , take this Apostolical counsel , (i) (i) John 4.1 . Beloved , believe not every spirit , nor every Scripture neither , If once in the Devil's mouth , for thence it comes out with the Devil's breath , I mean , the Devil 's false sense , which to know from the true sense of God's word , you need no more , but by way of Antidote , to remember to make good use of the three premised good Cautions : 1. Ware their false glosses . 2. Turn over the Key , I mean , the Coherence of the Text. 3. Mark the scope , the soul of the Text , according to the Analogie of Faith , the Creed , or the Rule of a good life , the Decalogue : The which , if you cannot well find out Judicio discretionis , of your own selves , for that is all is allowed unto your lay-form , then for Judicium directionis , take God's own Counsel , Go , and (l) (l) Hag. 2.11 , 12. ask the Priests concerning the Law , they can best tell what is holy , what is unholy . Will you have God's promise and precept for it , implied both in one Text ? (m) (m) Malac. 2.7 . The Priests lips ( if any ) should keep knowledge , and the People should seek the Law at his Mouth , for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts . However this Rule may fail in this or that particular Priest , yet for the general , it holds in the publick Ordinance , animated by the publick spirit of the Church : especially if the doubt be about matters fundamental and necessary to salvation , about which God will never suffer an honest , and humble (n) (n) Joh. Parisiens . mind , seeking for the truth it self , unto God by Prayer , unto God's Church by obedience , to erre finally : Enough to discover this dangerous delusion unto you , and to free you from the Epidemical contagion in this kind of Scripture-Sacriledge : The last head of this Monster , that concludes our Distribution of the sin of Sacriledge , and our first main part of this Indictment , containing matter of Declaration .

CHAP. IV.

Of the Parties against whom the Sin of Sacriledge is committed : and first of the Priest as God's Usufructuary only .

FOllows now the second part in order , which contains Matter of Aggravation .

1. And it is deduced from the consideration of the Parties against whom the offence of Sacriledge is committed , and those ordine Analytico , shall be first the Clergy , ( who is God's Vsufructuary ) invested in God's Name , as an holy Corporation , in such a Right : And therefore secondly , God Almighty himself ( who is the direct Proprietary of all holy Portions . )

2. First , as for the Clergy , properly God's * * Lexicon . Juridic . Calvin . Ususfructus est jus alienis rebus utendi fruendi salvi rerum substantiâ , l. 1. ff. de usufr . Hot. v. eodem Calv. ad vocem , proprietas . Usufructuary and no more , to it belongeth onely the personal right , use , or profits for life , no longer , the real right or property being wholly ( as I may say ) resident in God the chief Lord , to whom they are dedicated , or due ; so that whatever Conclusions may be pretended to the contrary , from the several examples of absolute Alienation publick or private , through the iniquity of the Times or Persons , are all of them ( well examined ) but so many meer Inconsequences à facto ad Jus , concluding no more against God's usurped Property , then for instance , so many examples of popular ( and it may be for a while , ( as of late through God's permission , prosperous ) Rebellion , can justly prescribe for lawfulness of Title against oppressed Monarchy .

3. But yet , say the Clergy were indeed the very Proprietaries , so that the wrong done by Sacriledge did reach no further then the Clergy it self , yet were the offence hainous enough , seeing that of all other Estates of men the Persons and Possessions too of the Priests have always been Priviledged by all Nations , by your own Nation especially , ( till of late ) witness ( not to name particular (o) (o) As the Charter of the Church of Carlile , wherein King Henry the sixth , frees all the Members of that Church from all Taxes , Subsidies , and Services in , and towards the Wars against the Scots , their next Neighbours , though even then ready upon the Borders , to Invade this Kingdom : and all this , that the Clergy there might the better attend God's Service , and pray for the King , &c. Yet the Laiety of those Times might easily have objected , That since the Church of Carlile injoyed a considerable portion of the Lands , bordering upon the Enemy , they ought to bear a full proportion of the Burdens with the Laity : But the truth is , in those days your more godly Ancestors did put more trust , under God , in the Prayers of the Church , than in the Purses of the Church , and they prospered accordingly . Charters ) your own great Charter , (p) (p) Imprimis Concessimus Deo , & hac praesenti Chartâ nostrâ confirmavimus pro nobis & haeredibus nostris in perpetuum , quod Ecclesia Anglicana libera sit , & habeat omnia Jura sua Integra , & libertates suas Illaesas , &c. These be the words of King Henry the third , Anno 9o. Ch. 1. grounded upon an ancient Law found Inter leges , seu Institutiones Regis , H. 1. c. 1. whose Tenour is here inserted , and made a part of Magna Charta , in these words , Sanctam Dei Imprimis Ecclesiam liberam facio , ita quod nec vendam , nec ad firmam ponam , &c. Magna Charta , a fundamental Law , and one of the main Bulwarks of all your several Properties and Liberties , and for that Reason Confirmed no less then Two and thirty times by your several Parliaments ; and therefore beware , lest if you go on still to Undermine this National Foundation , only to oppress one main State of the Nation , the Clergy , you do not unawares , by such Sacrilegious Precedents , open a Gap into your own temporal Estates , or Lay-Inheritances in after-times , for God is just : Observe therefore how your Magna Charta begins , with an Imprimis : A Grant unto God that the Church of England shall be free , and have all its Rights entire , ( words of largest extent ) and all its Liberties inviolable : By vertue of which general words , the Church hath as good ground , even in Law , to demand and to defend her Ecclesiastical Rights and Liberties , as any of you for your Temporal Rights , or Intails whatsoever .

4. Sir Edward * * The second part of the Institutes , pag. 2. Coke's gloss upon it is well worth the notice : [ Concessimus Deo ; ] we have granted to God : when any thing , ( saith he ) is granted for God , it is deemed in Law to be granted to God , and WHATSOEVER IS GRANTED TO HIS CHURCH FOR HIS HONOUR , AND THE MAINTENANCE OF HIS RELIGION AND SERVICE , IS GRANTED TO AND FOR GOD : QUOD DATUM EST ECCLESIAE , DATUM EST DEO : Ergo , God himself is a Party in the Grant , and the Proprietary : Here is God's Title in Law , your own Law for it : except therefore men can produce the Counter-Title , that is , God's express consent for Alienation , it cannot be in the power of any man , or men , Lay , or Clergy , single or assembled , of no Civitas , or Societas , to take that from God , which is once given to God .

5. This and the like were the Forms of ancient Acts and Grants , saith your Glossator , and those ancient Acts and Grants must be construed and taken as the Law was holden at that time , when they were made ; not as the Law may be now . [ Quod Ecclesia Anglicana libera sit : ] That is , That all Ecclesiastical Persons within the Realm , their Possessions and Goods shall be freed from all unjust Exactions and Oppressions , &c. And purposely and materially the Charter saith Ecclesia , because Ecclesia non moritur , but moriuntur Ecclesiastici . [ So that this Law is not restrained to the Persons , or Possessions , of those Times only , but that fundamental Disposition must extend to succeeding Ages , as long as there remains an Ecclesia Anglicana , which ( except our Sins , and Sacriledge by name , Remove the Candlestick ) we may still hope , Revel. 11.5 . and will pray shall still remain a Church unto the end of the World . That eminent Lawyer goes on , Et habeat omnia sua Jura Integra : ] That is , that all Ecclesiastical Persons shall injoy all their lawful Jurisdictions , and other their Rights wholly , without any Diminution , or Subtraction whatsoever , and great were their Rights , when they had the third part of the Possessions of the Realm , as it is affirmed in a Parliament Roll ( Rot. Parliam . 4. Rich. 2. Num. 13. ) And true it is , saith he , that Ecclesiastical Persons have more and greater liberties than other of the Kings Subjects ; all which to set down , would take up a whole Volume of it self : He instances in some , as freedom from sundry temporal Burdens , from personal Services in the War , from Distresses , from sundry Writs , as from Levarî facias , and from Capias , &c. from some Appearances , &c. and expresly then from Pontagium , * * Pontagium : Pontage est un Parol mention en divers Statutes come en Westm. 2. c. 25. 1 H. 8. c. 9. 39 Eliz. c. 24. & signifie ascun foits le contribution collect pur le Reparation dun pont , ascun foits le tolle que est pay per Passengers a cea purpose , Tearms of Art , Pontagium , ] Tributum quod exolvitur ob transitum Pontis , vel ob Pontium restaurationem , Stat. West . cap. 26. Transmarinis Pontaticum dicitur : Indiculus Regalis inter formul . vett . Bignon . 45. Gallis pontage : & sic in legibus Penearnensium ut notat Bignon . H. Spelm. glossar . or Bridge-money , as they now tearm it , Contribution for Reparation of Bridges : ( a majori , from those other Servile-Taxes , such as Rogue-mony , and the like , now pressed upon some of the oppressed Clergy : ) Thus that great Lawyer , who was otherwise no great friend to the Church .

5. To say that those were times of Blindness and Popery , and that therefore whatever your Ancestors did , could be no better than Popish all over , hath as little of true Logick , as of Religion to God , or Charity to man , yea , to all Christendom besides , yea , to all Mankind , that by the Common Instinct of Nature , did ever Honour and Reverence , and Priviledge their Priests : By the same Argument we shall forfeit our Creed , nay , our whole Religion : Nay , by the same Argument , the Opposers must forfeit the Law too , which to some men in our Generation is of more value than the Gospel , that either Creed or Religion ; I mean , so much of their temporal Priviledges and Liberties , as was visibly extorted by meer force in times of Licentiousness and Rebellion , the far greater Popery of the two : ( yet they can take advantage of such times , as bad as they may be , they never examine nor dispute the times , in such a case . )

6. It may be it was in imitation of that your ancient Charter , that just so many honest (q) (q) As the Parliament held 3. of H. 5. c. 1. Parliaments since ( as it were , for an Omen of good speed in the rest of their proceedings towards the preservation of their own temporal Liberties ) usually begin them still with the Confirmation of the Rights and Liberties of the Church first of all .

7. This tender Respect of the People towards the Clergy , was not confined within this Island , or Christendom either , but was ( as it were by the Law of Nations ) observed all the World over , even amongst the worst men , Heathen men , ( a Turk even at this day shews respect to a Christian * * I know this by Experience , having lived three years of my voluntary Banishment amongst the 〈◊〉 : as at Aelepo in Syria , and in Mesopotamia , and at Constantinople , &c. And ( that I may not seem to arrogate this thing to my self ) This Respect of the Turks towards me , was not personal , but general to any Christian Priest ; for when in the year 1652. I was at Jerusalem , and ( without Superstition ) had an honest desire to enter into the Temple of Christ's Sepulchre ; whereas the Turks ( who receive the Tribute for that liberty ) take from every Lay-man 24 Dollers , or Pieces of Eight , ( about six pounds English ) They did demand from me but 12 Dollers , ( t 'one half onely ) because they understood that I was a Christian Priest : neither did the Pope's Vicar there ( to whom I had ingenuously declared my Communion with the Church of England ) oppose that Priviledge , or interpose himself to hinder it . Priest : ) even in the worst times of Famine and War , very Aegyptians in time of Famine , did exempt their (r) (r) Gen. 47.22.26 . Priests Lands from Sale , or so much as a Morgage , when they would not spare their own Lands : and very (s) (s) 1 Sam. 10.5.10 . Cretenses , narrat . Plutarchus quaest. gr. cum bellis intestinis colliderentur , omnem noxam abstinuisse à Sacerdotibus . Grot. de Jure belli . Philistines in time of War , even where they kept an hostile Garrison , would allow the Enemie's Prophets free pass and repass , without molestation : of which their Civility therefore the Holy Ghost is pleased to take express notice upon Record , and I wish our uncivil Generation may do so too , lest civil Paynims rise up in judgment against barbarous Christians , and condemn them for their misusage of their own Clergy , though the Party , of all the three Estates , so strongly fenced about by the double Hedge of the Law of God and Man : of the Law of Nature , of Nations , of the old Laws , (t) (t) If any man shall offer any injury to a Priest , let all take it as an injury done unto all , and help him to redress , &c. Canone 5o . Sub Edgaro Rege in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. v. Capitulare Caroli Magni lib. 6 cap. 285. w●ere the People do in their Petition to the Prince for the Clergy , express a most tender affection towards their Priests in times of War , or publick dangers , &c. Roman , Saxon , English , Gallican , all joyntly supporting the Clergy with all mannnr of favourable Exemptions , honourable Priviledges , ample Possessions of all kinds , predial as well as personal ; far beyond the necessity of a Modern Pension , ( the gallant Plot , in the end , of our new Founders ) for they had Estates even ad Pompam Ministerii , as the ancient Title of the old Church bears it ; even to an honourable Magnificency , or as (u) (u) De honoribus Sacerdotii , circâ fin . Philo tearms it expresly , even to a Royal Exchequer .

8. This truth of Fact is so clear in the Primitive Volumes of Church and State , the old Councels and Records , that it seems as it were ( to Phrase it with Lactantius ) written with Sun beams upon a Wall of Cristal . So that it were needless to prove it , but for the gross Ignorance , or wilful Impudence of some , who to make way for their Sacriledge ; do wrest , and urge the Examples of the (x) (x) Acts 20.34 . 1 Cor. 4.12 . Apostolical , Temporary , Occasional , and sometimes Arbitrary Poverty , to inforce a beggarly , or at the most a stipendiary Ministery , against all sense , or reason , as well as Religion , and point-blank to the Context : (y) (y) Acts 4.22 . would these Apostolical men be content to sell their Lands , and freely to lay down the prices of them at the Apostle's Feet ? ( for that story concerns the Laity to follow , more than the Clergy : ) If they say the Church was then unsetled , and Ambulatory , and so could not , during Persecution , carry their Lands up and down with them , but now in a setled Church and State the case is altered : In so saying they plead for us , and answer themselves .

9. For indeed this is an universal truth beyond all contradiction ; That since the beginning of the World , God never had a settled Church upon Earth , but therein more or less , proportionably to the Opulency of the Temporal State thereof , he would always have his Service and Servants honourably maintained .

10. Let no prejudicate person therefore think the Analogy of the Levitical Priesthood utterly Impertinent to the Evangelical Ministery ; for Scripture , the holy Fathers , Natural Equity it self would prove the contrary . Since Ubi par Ratio , par Lex , and we may not imagine our good God worse , or more niggardly to his Servants now under the Gospel , than under the Law , or more bountiful to the Ministery of the Letter ( in comparison ) than to the Ministery of the Spirit . 11 Cor. 3.6 .

11. One plain Text for all , (z) (z) 1 Cor. 9.13 , 14. may serve to convince any Impartial Spirit , Do ye not know ( saith St. Paul ) that they which Minister about holy things , Live of the things of the Temple ? And they which wait at the Altar , are partakers with the Altar . EVEN SO hath the Lord ordained , that they which Preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel . EVEN SO , infers more than a bare comparison , Even a good consequence of the Equity , ( saith Calvin on the place ) and that à majori saith Bucer on * * Bucer , on Gal. 6.6 . In veteri Testamento alebantur Ministri verbi ex Docimis & sacrificiis , & sic ex optimis bonis , QUANTO MAGIS Ministri Evangelii ex optimis aleudi sunt ? another place . Now the nature of Equity requires , ut aequalia aequalibus , Inaequalia inaequalibus reddantur : To give less to those that deserve more , were far from Equity , but that the Ministery under the Gospel , in sundry respects , is both far more painful , and also far more excellent than the Levitical Priesthood , is clear from (a) (a) 2 Tim. 4.2 . 2 Cor. 3.6 . to 12. Scripture , Reason , and Experience ; and therefore must needs deserve a Maintenance every way as ample , and as honourable at least , as the Legal Priesthood , which yet as may appear by God's own Book of Rates , was exceeding Opulent , yea , Magnificent both for the Maintenance and the Conveyance of it .

12. As for the Maintenance , besides the Natural standing Portion of Tythes of all , with how large an Addition doth God inrich the Priesthood ? Indowing it with all the first-born of all Cattle , the first-born of Men , after the Rate of five Sheckles ( that is five Half-Crowns ) a piece which may amount to much in that numerous Nation ; 11 Sam. 24.9 . That could at one Muster , reckon up thirteen hundred thousand Men at Arms. 3. The First-fruits of all . 4. Add to all this , their share in the Meat-Offerings , Sin-Offerings , Wave-Offerings , Thank-Offerings , besides their Vowes or Free-will Offerings . 5. Their Shew-bread . 6. Their three terms of solemn Appearance , for all the Males , with a strict charge that none do appear Empty-handed . 7. They had , over and above all this , a large Glebe , consisting of Eight and forty whole Cities , with large Suburbs of two thousand Cubits in measure every way round about , ( and each Cubit was a full Yard ) a great proportion of Land , for little Jury to afford unto one single Tribe , especially if we consider , ( for this also is very observable ) that the Tribe of Levi , though the thirteenth Tribe , yet was , for number of persons , in God's own Muster-Roll far from being the (b) (b) Num. 1.46 . All the Males of the twelve Tribes were six hundred thousand , three thousand five hundred and fifty : All the Males of the Tribe of Levi , were but two and twenty thousand , Num. 3.39 . Yet in the numbring of the twelve Tribes , the little Ones are not reckoned , but only the Males from twenty years old and upward : whereas in the Muster of Levi , the little Ones are reckoned from a Moneth old and upward , which makes the odds still greater and greater . thirteenth part , ( as some Ignorant that we say not , Impudent , Arithmeticians , do grosly mistake it ) scarce the sixtieth part .

13. And if survey were taken of the Clergy in the Church of England , and of their Families , I suppose , it would not come much short of that proportion of Persons , albeit much shorter in the proportion of Revenues , and yet the Levitical Priesthood was hereditary also , not so the Evangelical , which must still increase the odds very much : our Children and Widows find it so , too too oft , by sad experience .

14. Now it is plain , by Joshuah's (c) (c) Joshuah 16 , & 17.21 . Judah was seventy six thousand and five hundred in number , thrice as many as Levi ; except this Tribe , for any thing we read , Levi had half in half more than any Tribe else , and four times as much as some Tribes , and that by God's own wise appointment : [ and surely the Sages of our Generation ( that not only think , but cry cut still , the Clergy hath too much ) dare not presume themselves wiser than God himself . ] As for example , Num. 1.31 . Zebulun was seven and fifty thousand and four hundred ( almost thrice as many in number as Levi ) and yet had but twelve Cities , when Levi had eight and forty , four times as much , and , for ought we know , as good as theirs . Terrier , that all the several Tribes , but Judah , the Royal Tribe , were in proportion of Lands far inferiour to the Tribe of Levi : Thus in the Jewish Church , by God's own appointment the Priests Portion , was in respect of the Quantity , very liberal .

15. And in this , as in all other good Evidences of true Devotion , the Christian Church was nothing behind the Jewish Synagogue . The Apostolical Charter , for the maintenance of the Evangelical Ministery , is very large , (d) (d) Gal. 6.6 . Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things : This is a very general tearm , it may include Unmoveables , as well as Moveables , above , or under ground , Mines as well as Mannors : It may extend to Houses , Lands , any good thing ; for I hope , those that are so greedy of the Church-Lands , will not exclude them from the Number of good things : and here is as good as a Command about it , in the Ministers behalf .

16. In this sense the Primitive Church took it , as soon as it was settled ; witness , all Christendom over , the multiplied Canons and Laws , for the early and ample Dotations of Churches at their very first Dedication , honoured by Constantine , and his fellow Emperors , with large Bounties ; that I say nothing of those so many Magnificent Monuments of that old ( but now superannated ) Christian Devotion , allowing their Bishops those Rich Cathedratica , Cathedraticum est Tributum , quod Episcopus per Dioecesim ambulans , in honorem Ecclesiae suae , ab ecelesiis colligebat . Concilio autem , Bracarensi 2. circiter Annum Dom. 672. ( vel ut alii perhibent 610. ) Ca. 2. & Concil . Toletano 7. Ca. 4. circà An. 684. Statutum est ut 2. Solid , non excederet . ( A considerable Revenue in those old days . ) Hispanis hodie EL Cathedratico nuncupatur . H. spelm . glossar .

This Cathedraticum was paid to the Bishop by the Inferiour Clergy , in argumentum subjectionis & ob honorem Cathedrae : Hostiens . ●n Sum. de Censibus , Sect. ex quibus , ver. Ca●hedraticum autem . Item Duaren . de Sacris Ecclesiae Ministeriis , & Beneficiis l. 7. c. 5.

See much more of this Cathedraticum in a learned Treatise , Intituled , An Historical Discourse of Procurations , &c. by J.S. An. 1661. ( P. 78. & seq . ) These Cathedratica so oft mentioned in the old Councels were to support the Episcopal State ; some of their more eminent Sees , as that of Toledo in Spain , Aldenburgh in Sclavonia , (e) (e) Hemoldus Chronic. Sclavor . without reproach or envy , surpassing in Sacred Revenues the Exchequer of some Kingdoms . The old Christians , by these Donations , testifying to all the World , the high esteem they had of their God , and of his Service , and of his Servants , and of their own Souls , all which are involved in the contempt of the Priest .

17. By this discourse 't is plain enough that the Priests Portion was for the Matter very abundant . As for the Manner of conveyance it was Noble , not at all Stipendiary , temporary , or dependent : ( we all know by too sad experience , what some of that New kind of Clergy , as King James hath Sirnamed them , (f) (f) King James's Instruct . to Preachers . that New Body severed from the Ancient Clergy of England , as being neither Parson , Vicar , nor Curate , hath through popular supparasitation occasioned in this Church and State : ) But the old way of Church-Maintenance was never so , but every way Honorary , as for Magnificence , so for continuance too : It was for Perpetuity , with Independency from the People , issuing into the Priest's hands immediately from Gods hands to whom , as Philo excellently well observe it , The People directly brought all their Dues , ( the Priest needed not interrupt his sacred Office , to seek , or fetch them , much less to sue for them : ) They were to his hand solemnly brought to the Temple , as being God's own first , and from thence did the Priest as solemnly receive them ( such Ceremonies sometimes become Substances ; ) as it were from the Invisible hands of God himself immediately : for whom they hold , in chief , as their Ministers , so their Maintenance .

18. The excellent reason of this Honourable Ceremony , Philo renders to be this , (g) (g) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 &c. That none of the people might have the least pretence to upbraid the Priest , as if he were any way beholding unto the People for his subsistence , Ex Charitate , no , sed ex Justitia ( as the School speaks ) nay , ex Religione , not out of Courtesie , but Conscience , towards God : which makes the Alienation , or but Detention of those Sacred Tributes , to reach at God himself terminativè , because ( and that is a singular truth worth the proving , and the marking too , in the defence of this Cause ) The Clergy , to speak properly , is indeed but the Vsufructuary of all it injoyes , God , and none but God , is really the Proprietary , which is now our second Consideration that mainly aggravates the sin of Sacriledge , The Offence is immediately against God himself , * * Sacrilegium est quod propriè in Deum committitur . Hieron . in Text. Rom. 2.22 . as will plainly appear , first , by the Light of Nature : secondly , by the Light of Scripture ; these two ways of Revelation being sufficient Mediums to assure us both of God's Acceptance for our encouragement in the Case of Vowes , and of God's Vengeance too , for our warning , in case of Violations .

CHAP. V.

That the Sin of Sacriledge is an Offence against God himself , who is the Great Proprietary of the Revenues of the Clergy .

Sect. 1. TO begin with the first , the Light of Nature : those Jura nata , as the Heathen (g) (g) Jurae negans sibi nata , Horat. tearm them , those Natural Rights , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , inbred Principles : The Natural Dictates of right Reason suggest unto all Mankind ; 1. That there is a God . 2. That to this God is due all Soveraigne honour and service , in thought , word , and deed . 3. That therefore he cannot but be well pleased with our purpose and real intention thus to honour him , much more with our serious promise , or vow so to do , most of all with our faithful and effectual performance in so doing : All this is not Scripta , but nata Lex ; The summe whereof is , That God must be served in chief : For which Maxime of Nature , there is all the Reason in the World , for God is the Soveraigne Being in himself , and the Fountain of all Being to others .

2. Now this Service must be both personal , with the Powers and Faculties of our Souls , and the Members of our Bodies ; and real too , with our Goods , or Substance : * * Honour the Lord with thy substance , Prov. 3.9 . Religion to be compleat , requires the Contribution of all these . As for the latter of these especially , though we might in reason , take that for granted , which the Practice of the Church of God in all Ages , yea , the general Consent of all Mankind from the beginning of the World , beareth witness unto , to wit , that God Almighty ever hath had such a special Homage , and such proper Sacred Tributes duely paid him , and that * * Lirin . Vbique , and that semper , and that ab omnibus ; ( The genuine Marks of what is truly Catholick ) yet since 't is our hard hap to live in an Age that puts us to the Necessity of proving Principles : we will be at the cost to prove all , God willing . 1. That to our Substance , God himself is Intituled two manner of ways , not onely by his General Title of Creation , as he is Lord Paramount of the whole World , but by a more peculiar Title , and proper Right to some Parcels of the whole , and for the whole .

3. These two Titles , as they are distinct , ( for the first universal Right is in and from God himself . The second particular Right is our own Act of Donation , in acknowledgment of God's universal Right : ) So may these two Titles very well stand together , so far are they , as some cavil about it , from being incompatible , or excluding one the other , that the one is naturally founded upon the other , to wit , the special Title upon the universal ; for , because , Jure Creationis , God is Lord of all , therefore very fit it is , ( since that Title is perpetual under the Gospel , as well as before , and under the Law ) that , Jure Religionis too , we and all Mankind , should still acknowledge him to be such , and testifie this our acknowledgment , by a thankful Return of some part for the whole , as it were our Pepper-corn-Rent , In signum universalis Dominii ( as the Schools phrase it ) in token of our Homage to the great Land-Lord of Heaven and Earth , and for the support , with Honour and Credit , of his own publick Service .

4. And that Retribution God expects at our hands still proportionable to his bounty , and our ability ; be it more , be it less , in Moveables or Vnmoveables , in Rents or * * In some parts of Europe the Priest's Maintenance lieth wholly in Lands . Selden . in Lands : For instance , when God allowed his People but Tents for themselves , himself also was content to dwell in a Tent or a Tabernacle , but when he was pleased to allow them Houses of Cedars , then common sense made up the Argument (h) (h) 1 Chron. 17.1 . in David's Heart , and Mouth , and Hand , and all : It was no longer fit the Ark of the Lord should remain under Curtains : and thereupon ( unbidden ) devout David (i) (i) 1 Chron. 29.11 . O Lord , all that is in the Heaven and in the Earth is thine . ( 14. ) All things come of thee , and of thine own have we given thee : ( 16. ) O Lord our God , all this store that we have prepared to build thee an House for thy holy Name , cometh of thine hands , and is all thine own : ( 17. ) I know also my God , that thou triest the Heart , and hast pleasure in uprightness ( Uprightness is assurance enough of God's Acceptance : ) In the Uprightness of my Heart , I have willingly offered all these things , and now have I seen with Joy , thy People which are present here , to offer willingly unto thee . expresly upon the premised grounds of , 1. Homage . 2. In thankefulness . 3. For the service of his Maker , prepares that solemn Royal-Offering recorded in the Chronicles for our Imitation ; ( for David's fact in this particular , was no part of the Levitical Service : ) And so far was God from rejecting David's Offering , as a piece of Will-worship , because not expresly commanded , that contrarywise ( for our encouragement ) God directly commends (k) (k) Go and tell David my servant , thus saith the Lord , Thou shalt not build me an house , 1 Chron. 17.4 . Nevertheless whereas it was in thine heart , to build an house unto my Name , THOU DIDDEST WELL THAT IT WAS IN THINE HEART : 1 Kings 8.18 . And therefore I will build thee an house , 1 Chron. 17.10 . The purpose could not be unlawful so long as it was not expresly forbidden , for where no Law is there is no Transgression , Rom. 4.15 . As there was no command for it , so there was no command against it , and that is enough to clear the Offerer from Will-worship . David's devout purpose , even then , when , for some personal causes , he forbids the performance .

5. And except they will say , that we under the Gospel are less obliged to God than they were under the Law , then sure this example , as far as it is Moral , and not Typical , concerns us as much , nay more than it did them , or any , the Priviledges of our Christendom , as far surpassing the bare natural , or legal Advantages , as our Redemption excels our Creation .

6. Behold in the Root of this discourse , the very first Original of Tythes and Offerings , the two main branches to which the whole Portion of Religion , God's special Demesnes , and mans Devotions in this kind are reducible .

7. By the first of these , Tythes , God Almighty himself seems to have pointed out unto us , and to all Mankind , that for the general , he well approves of , and accepts too this very way of divine Homage , or Appropriation : witness , 1. His own Original Reservation of a Part , and for the Quota it self , of a tenth part , accordingly paid unto God in his Priest Melchizedech under the Law of Nature , ( an example if Typical , yet all over full of reference to the State under the Gospel , as some (l) (l) Heb. 7. See Sacriledge sacredly handled by Sir James Sempill . have at large made it good : ) for this was long before the Levitical Law , by above (m) (m) Gen. 14. Abraham paid Tythes to Melchizedeck , An. M. 2030. and the Law positive about Tythes and Offerings , ( Num. 18. ) was not enacted till the year 2454. 400 years : and about 150 years after Jacob , (n) (n) Gen. 28.22 . in his Vow pitcheth again upon the very same Quota , no doubt induced by the same Precedent , and upon the same grounds : which ( and 't is very strange , unless it were founded upon something more universal , yea , and perpetual too than the Jew 's Ceremonial Law ) was the Practice not onely then of an Abraham , or a Jacob men within the Pale of the Church , but long after this above 1300 years after , of a Roman (o) (o) Plutarchus in Camillo : Tuo ductu , Pythice Apollo , pergo ad delendam Urbem Veios tibique hinc Decimam partem praedae voveo : B. Brissonius , de formulis l. 1. p. 95. 96. Camillus , &c. meer Heathen themselves happen upon the self same Quota , witness those old Inscriptions in Brissonius , where just as Abraham to Melchizedeck , so the Pagan Votary devotes the Tenth of his spoyls of the Hetrurian City , unto his Apollo : just as the Israelite , so the Heathen agrees upon the matter of the Vow ; as well as upon the form to do it thus voluntarily , by way of Vow : which supervenient Tye , is so far from being superfluous , that it rather adds very much to our natural obligation , we being naturally so dull and backward to perform what the Law requires , and so fickle too , and frail to persevere in our duty : we had need of all these Moral bonds , to deterre us from the violation , and to * * Duplex vinculum fortiùs ligat . strengthen , and to stir us up unto Devotion .

8. Such holy Vows , Promises , or Pacts , are as the addition of a Seal to the hand in a Bond , and in practice usual with the Saints , who , ( to say nothing of the Christian's Vow in Baptism ) are therefore , for our example , recorded to have , ex abundanti , bound themselves with Vows and Oaths * * Gen. 28.20 . Job 31.1 . Psal. 119.106 . to the observance of that which otherwise they were morally obliged unto before their Vow by the Law of Nature , and by the express Law of God : Besides by the Law of Nature we are bound only to maintain God's service in genere , but by Vow we may bind our selves to it in specie , namely to maintain it in this , or that particular way .

Thus ( for the general part of it ) you see how God himself is intitled to our substance by the light of Nature , which of it self is (p) (p) Rom. 1.19 , 20 , 21.28 . enough without any further Revelation , to discover many things , and this truth amongst the rest .

9. As for the Divine light , the light of Revelation , the light of Scripture . No sooner do you read of a positive Law of God , but behold God's express Resumption of his own Right , both for the (q) (q) Num. 18.21 . Quota of Tythes , as also for those ample additions of Offerings Inventaried (r) (r) See above pag. 29. above , calling them all expresly (s) (s) Deut. 18.1 . Dei possessio , Selden ad Eadmer . p. 155. the Lord's Inheritance , and himself the Proprietary , yet sure God Almighty was then as much Lord of the whole World , as now , and no less now , then he was then .

How far in point of Analogy , and natural Equity this Title doth concern the Ministers under the Gospel , you have heard before , (t) (t) See above p. 28. 29. out of St. Paul's own mouth .

10. This second sort of Devotions , Offerings , I mean , become God's due ( under the Gospel , as well as under the Law , by a two-fold Act : 1. By a voluntary Dedication on the Offerers part , by whom as they are separated from all prophane and common use , so are they appropriated to a Divine and Sacred use , which act , ipso facto , alters the Property , and actually transfers the full Right from the Owner , the Donor , unto God the Creatour , that daigns to become the Donee , or Receiver from his Creature , and this Divine Condescension * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Nazian. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Hierocl . in carm. Pythag. holy men , yea , very Heathen have accounted no small favour , in that it renders us , in a manner , worthy to receive from him again . As for the Acceptance of all this , ( of which more hereafter ) 't is testified by a second Act on the Officer's part , the Priest , I mean , who by an Invocative sanctification or Benediction , usually called Consecration , as God's Vicegerent , allows of the Oblations , and receives them in God's Name and stead , for God's use and service .

This latter Act of Consecration , though it may seem but an Ecclesiastical Ceremony , yet is it as the publick Solemnity of Marriage , de benè esse , to legitimate the substance .

11. And thus , Times , Places , Persons , and Things of common become holy , relatively ; and so proper unto God that ever after God expresly calls all such holy things his , and by his Name , in the perpetual language of the (u) (u) Exod. 13. 1 King . 8.43 . Jerem. 7.10 . Matth. 21.13 . Scripture , to intimate that he claims as full , and as real a Propriety in those things , as he doth in Die Dominicâ , the (x) (x) Rev. 1.10 . On which day therefore Theodoric in his Edict make it Sacriledge to sue or convent a man before a Judge . Lord's Day , or in Domo Dominicâ , the Lord's House : for so of old in the Primitive Records of Christian Councils , were all sacred things termed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , no less , the Lord's things : Nay , so your own Law , and (y) (y) H. de Bract. de legibus & consuetudin . Angliae . Sir Edw. Coke above p. 46. Lawyers too , call them , Divinum Tenementum , God's own Tenure , ( and they say , your Law keeps as precisely close to the Letter as any . ) Till therefore it be proved either that they were things so relinquished , as none owned them before , or had never been in any one 's rightful possession , and so fell to those who first could seize on them , by the Rule , Quae nullius sunt , fiunt occupantis : or that God himself , the Proprietary , hath derelinquish'd his own Right , or demised it to another , it can neither revert to the Donor , nor be converted to any other prophane or common use , without high Sacriledge . Excellently well to our purpose doth * * Ecclesiae Anglicanae Suspiria , B. 4. ch. 26. Dr. Gauden , late Lord bishop of Worcester , Reason this Case thus ; God's mind must be known , that he is willing to be deprived either of that Service and Honour , he and his Son Jesus Christ had , or of those means for the Maintenance of it , which were Devoted to him : Nor can any Power ( that I know ) but onely God's Omnipotence , absolve the living , and Survivors from that Right which the Donors had , when yet living , and that Bond which from them , though dead , yet still lies on the Consciences of those Survivors , who for ever stand bound to discharge their trust , by observing , as sacred , the Will of the Dead , which , if once lawful , is not to be made void wilfully and presumptuously . If at any time , publick Necessities do drive men to some temporary dispensations and seisures , yet these must be so recompensed afterward in quiet times , as may keep them from being made , beyond inconveniences , intentional and eternal Injuries to God , and his Church , that it may be but a Borrowing , and not a Robbing of God and his Church , but must remain for ever the Lord 's proper Demesne , and as I may say , his Sacred Inclosure , fenced about therefore with the double Hedge of a solemn Consecration , and of a severe Commination too .

12. Both which are the Off-springs of one and the same original (z) (z) Mr. Mede's Diatrib . on Matth. 6.9 . Root , to wit , INCOMMUNICABLENESS , which derives a Shadow and Resemblance upon all those Things , Places , Times Persons , or Actions , which have God's Name stamped upon them , and renders them Incommunicable , exalting them into a State of Appropriateness and singularity , because Divine : so that still all this Respect and Reverence exhibited to all sacred things , terminates finally in God himself ; so far is outward Devotion ( if rightly pitched for the Object ) from becoming a Bridge unto Idolatry or Superstition , that to a Considerative Soul , it rather prompts the clean contrary , if we would but take the pains to understand , or to heed the right Reason of our Reverence towards sacred things , namely , their Relation unto God , which Derives unto all such , whether persons or things , though not an inherent , yet a relative Holiness .

CHAP. VI.

Of God's Heavy Curses against Sacrilegious , both Persons , and Nations .

Sect. 1 THis Divine respect is the more observable , because it is the fandamental ground of all those heavy Curses temporal and Eternal , ( without Repentance , unavoidable ) usually annexed , all the Christian World over , as a deadly Seal unto all Religious Donations : The black forms whereof you have yet extant in your own (a) (a) See above , pag. 23. See the form of those Imprecations set down in a Manuscript , compiled by the command of the great King Edgar , apud Joh. Selden . in Not. ad Eadmerum , p. 155 , 156. Where they are doom'd to the same damned end with the lapsed Angels , or Devils , with Cain , with Judas , &c. I once saw in the hands of a most Reverend Prelate , an old Manuscript of Alcuinus ( Tutor to Charles the Great ) containing an Extract of all the most rigorous Curses scattered all over the Imprecatory Psalms , ( such as the 69. 83. 139. &c. ) and other direful Passages in holy Scripture , ( as Levit. 26. Deuteron. 28 &c. ) and all , as I may say , compounded into one terrible Clap of Thunder , darted out against this very sin of Sacriledge , the Report whereof would make the hardest Ear to Tingle , ( Read but seriously so much as we have quoted of it : ) The Summe of them all was , A sad Denun●iation of an U●ter , Total , Final , Eternal Separation from God , and his Blessing , Body , Soul , and Estate , Posterity and all . Saxon Records , of your old Kings , Ina , and Edgar , &c ,

2. These Curses though uttered by particular men , ( who yet if Parents or Superiors have a power from , and under God , to ( ) ( ) See a learned Tract of this in Ludovici Cappelli Spicilegio , Diatrib . de voto Jepthae . Curse as well as to Bless ) yet were they ratified by the whole Church , as well as by this whole Nation , and therefore every way lawful , as well as powerful .

3. For although it might be once in the power of the King and Parliament , or Nation , by the Law of the Land , to disallow of those Curses , or of the Donations themselves , before they were uttered and confirmed ; as , by the Law of God , it was in the power of the Superiour , Father or Husband , to disallow the Vow of the Daughter or Wife , Numb. 30. antecedenter , before his Assent , yet , consequenter , ( as anon more at large , yet after they have once given way to them , or allowed of them , * * See in the Book of Statutes the Sentence of Curse , An. 51. Hen. tertii . then de Jure , and that by the express Law of God too , as well as by their own Act , 't is past their Power , or the Power of their Successors after them , to reverse or to repeal either the Curses , or the Donations , because God himself is then become a Party in the case , and his holy Name ingaged and interessed in both , which Specialty gives the Clergie's spiritual Estates one ground of Priviledge in Law , beyond and above all other Lay-fees , and affords the Reason why Church-Lands may not be equally disposeable , or alienable as by the Law of the Land other temporal Estates may be .

4. This is a Ruled Case in God's Court of Justice : One memorable Instance for all you have Recorded in the Ninth Chapter of the Book of Joshuah , and this it was , The * * Deuter. 7.1 . Joshua 9.3 . Gibeonites ( a part of the seven Devoted Pagan Nations ) by fraud obtain the Priviledge of Exemption , confirmed by a rash Oath of the Princes of the Congregation . About four hundred years after , King (c) (c) 1 Sam. 21. Saul , in his zeal too , ( saith the Text ) to please the humour of the People , sought to slay the Gibeonites : Hereupon God Almighty sends three whole years Famine , and God expresly renders the cause to be a breach of the Promise made unto the Gibeonites so many years before , and no way of Expiation , but by hanging up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul , seven of Saul's Sons , to satisfie for their Fathers violation . In this History , besides the remarkable Circumstanstances of the Divine Talio , both in the Place and Persons , and the hereditariness of the Curse : 'T is worth the observing , the several differences betwixt that Case and ours , as so many degrees of advantage in our behalf : As that , 1. Before the Oath , and but for the Oath , God's express (d) (d) Deut. 7.1.2 . Ob spreta septem Praecepta Noachi . Petr. Cunaeus de Repub. Hebr. lib. 2. c. 19. Command was to destroy these Gibeonites , as being within the compass of God's Interdictum . 2ly , The Oath was rash , for ( v. 14. ) the Princes would not so much as stay to ask counsel of the Lord . 3ly , It was extorted by fraud , and that upon a false ground too , that they came from a very far Country , whereas they dwelt hard by . 4ly , There seemed a kind of publick necessity to repeal such a rash Oath , for ( v. 19. ) because of it all the Congregation murmured against the Princes : yet for all that , the Princes dare not , to please , or appease the People , venture to displease God : But ( v. 19. ) All the Princes said unto all the Congregation , we have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel , now therefore we may not touch them . Sure they will not say , that this example also is but Levitical , or Oaths but Ceremonial , ( unless they will shake hands with the Anabaptists , and other Fanaticks . )

5. It needs no further Application , for if in the case of a Promise made to meer Heathen , to cursed Heathen , God was so strict a Revenger of the Violation , then à majori , betwixt Christian and Christian , yea , between God and Man , ( venture who dare : ) Eurip. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , though man cannot , God can , (e) (e) Lev. 25.21 . Command as the Blessing , so the Curse to take effect : for it will appear soon or late that it was God's own Curse , and therefore impossible it should be either causeless , or powerless .

6. Causeless it is not , but most just in the Nature , in the Motives , in the end thereof .

First , in the Nature of it , for what can be more just , then to separate those Persons from God , ( the nature of the Curse ) who made no Conscience of separating those holy things from God , which belong unto God by the Donor's godly will ?

Secondly , in the Ends and Motives , the Curses were just also , for why might not those good men have in them , an Eye to the glory of (f) (f) Sanctus , i. e. honoratus sit Deus eo ipso , quod punit Sacrilegos , scilicet de divino honore tantúm sacrilegi de trahunt , ut necesse sit per eorum punitionem resarciri honorem pristinum . Caiet . in Levit. 10.3 . God , ( their Protestations are so , and Charity bids believe the best ) and to the good of his Church , namely , that God's Justice might appear in the punishment of Sacrilegious Usurpers or Violators : and so the Church might be edified , and all men warned by their Exemplary punishment ?

7. And as those Curses were not causeless , so neither were they powerless , how ever the Irreligious Scoffers of these latter days may blaspheme God , and slight them , and all God's ways of Justice , or Mercy either : Yet , by the general woful experience of so many Men , Families , yea Nations , as have ventured upon them , it will appear they were more than bare Bug-bear-words , even Fatal Predictions of God's real and visible Judgments , which without Repentance and Restitution , the Offenders could never claw off : for indeed the more immediate the offence is against God himself , the sorer and the closer the Curse sticks to the Offender : (g) (g) 1 Sam. 2.25 . if one man sin against another , the Judge shall judge him , but if a man sin against the Lord , who shall intreat for him ? for finiti ad infinitum nulla proportio .

8. Enough to make it appear that the Curse rightly applied is more than a meer humane Curse , that it is , for Authority , Divine , and therefore indeed rather an Approbation , or but applicative Declaration in particular , of God's own Curse already denounced in the general against all sacrilegious Offenders , than a new Curse of their own , being Copied , as I may say , into their several Books of particular Donations out of the Original in God's own Book , wherein you may read those Curses written on both sides , I mean in the New , as well as in the Old Testament .

9. Take one or two proofs of each : The first Curse we read of in this kind , is as old as Moses , (h) (h) Deut. 33.11 . whom we may observe in the very Act of blessing the Tribe of Levy , suddenly to shift his foot from Mount Gerizzim , to Mount Ebal , where he fals a cursing all those that shall attempt to hinder Levi in his substance ; or to impeach him in the Work of his hands , saying , Bless , O Lord , the Substance of Levi , and accept the Work of his hands ; but smite through the LOYNES of them that rise against Levi , and of them that hate him , that they rise not again : A full and fatal Curse this , wherein you may clearly observe :

10. First of all that in the Enumeration of all the other Tribes , there is no mention of Enemies to any but to these two , (i) (i) Verse 7. Be thou an help to Judah from his Enemies . to the Royal Tribe of Judah , and to the sacred Tribe of Levi : It seems Moses and Aaron , the King and the Priest must still be (k) (k) Lam. 3.6 . Fellow Patients , ( pardon the word ) for so God himself joyns them in the Lamentation , and so the Devil and his Agents too match them in the Persecution also ; It was against Moses and against Aaron , that seditious * * Num. 16.3 . Corah and his Company gathered themselves together , not against Moses alone , nor against Aaron alone , but against both at once : He very well knew what belonged to his King-craft , that said it , (l) (l) King James in the Confer . at H. C. NO BISHOP , NO KING : for the self same in effect was the Oracle of another wise Emperour , above a thousand years afore King James spake it , (m) (m) Maxima quidem in omnibus sunt Dona Dei superna collata Clementia , SACERDOTIUM ET IMPERIUM , & illud quidem Divinis Ministrans , hoc autem humanis praesidens . Inter haec duo Consonantia omne quicquid est utile humano confert generi , &c. Authent . Coll. 1. Tit. 6. Novel. 6. in praef. ad Epiphan. Archiep. & Patriarch . Constantinop . It seems those ancient Sages did conceive , That the Influence of good Success upon a Nation , Prince , and People , mainly depends upon the good Correspondence and bappy conjunction of all the Estates with the Priesthood : A Maxime very memorable , as full of Policy as of Religion , and in experience , as full of Truth , as of both those : That Harmony being indeed the onely ordinary way to maintain Correspondence with God himself , namely , to correspond with God's Priest , because God's immediate Agent in spiritualibus , in all matters 'twixt God and man . Did this Nation ever thrive , since it began to strive with the Priest ? Hosee iv . 4. Justinian I mean : These two the King and the Priest , as they were of old Twins of Oyl , as the Rabbins style them , so are they still Twins of Destiny too , they stand or fall together : Therefore , and it were but in Policy , in point of Mutual Interest , they had need support and assist each other against the common Enemy .

11. But although Judah and Levi , the King and the Priest have both their Enemies , yet doth not Moses curse the Enemies of Judah , neither so directly , nor so vehemently as he doth the Enemies of Levi , as if they were more , or more full of Animosity against the Tribe of Levi , than against any other Tribe whatsoever . That we may all prepare , my Brethren , for Nil novum sub sole , whether it be for Aaron's Rod , the Priest's Power , or for the flourishing of that Rod , the Priest's Portion , it seems 't is an old Grudge , the mad World hath still to the (n) (n) Laici semper sunt Infesti Clericis , Covarruvias . Clergy ; 'T is strange , that of (o) (o) 1. Thrice for water , Exod. 15.24 . and 17.2 . Num. 20.2 . 2. Twice for the way , Num. 11.1 . ( Sol Jarchi : ) and 21.4 . 3. Once for bread , Exod. 16.2 . 4. Once for flesh , Num. 11.4 . 5. Once at the News , Num. 14.2 . 6. Twice at the Priest especially , Num. 16.11.41 . ten several popular Mutinies in that stiff-necked Jewish Nation , ( upon six several occasions ) of the Persecution , the Priest had more than his share twice over , far above his Tenth of that , to be sure , that none will grudge him .

12. Secondly , Sacriledge ( whether personal or real , 't is no matter , either way 't is the sin cursed here ) must needs be an hainous Offence that moves meek (p) (p) Num. 12.3 . The man Moses was very meek , above all the men which were upon the face of the earth . Moses , that Mirrour of Lenity upon God's own Record ; 1. To fall a Cursing : 2ly , To extend his Curse through the very Loyns of the Enemies of Levi , that is , as it were , to Intail the Curse upon their Posterity . 3ly , To aggravate this Curse with the Doom of a final Destruction , praying unto God , that such of all others may never rise again .

13. And , as if the Curse upon Sacriledge were always so fatal and final , so runs King Darius his Curse also annexed to his Charter of Donation to the Temple , (q) (q) Esdr. 6.12 & 1 Esdr. 6.33 The God that hath caused his Name to dwell there , destroy , ( utterly destroy ) all Kings and People that shall put to their hands to alter , and to destroy the house of God : Here is utter destruction again , and that to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 To all Kings , saith our Translation , To all Kingdoms , saith the Vulgar : No respect of persons , for Magnitude , or Multitude , all is one with God : To whom in point of Revenge , The Nations are but as a drop of a Bucket , Isa. 40.15.17 . and are counted as the small dust of the Ballance : behold , he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing , ( Hear this Isle of Great Britain ) All Nations before him are as nothing , and they are counted to him less than nothing , and vanity .

14. Goe to prophane World , and mock on , think as slightly of the Priest's Curse as you usually do of his Blessing ; ( To which most prophanely the Vulgar use to turn their Backs ; though they should know that Judas for departing before all was done , met the Devil at the Door , John 13.27 . ) Yet know you must at last , that God is not mocked : Though the Priest over-awed by the general Vogue , should not dare to complain against the Incroachments upon his Person , Office , Provision , or Priviledges , but is forced as the Prudent man ( Amos v. 13. ) to keep silence in such a time , because it is an evil time : Yet our God shall come , and shall not keep silence ; And then there shall go before him a consuming fire , and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him , ( Psalm 50.3 . ) Will you hear God himself speak this out unto you in Thunder and Lightning ? Then behold in (r) (r) Malachy iii. 7. ad fin . Malachy , God himself draws up the full Indictment , and himself also pronounces the heavy Sentence upon it , against all sacrilegious Pretenders , or Purchasers .

1. God begins with an Emphatical Interrogation , Will a man rob God ? ( intimating the Unnaturalness of this sin : ) will a man , any man , Jew or Christian , or Heathen : ( were not this a sin against the Law of Nature , God would not have used such a general term as this , that includes all Mankind ; for were this a sin onely against the Law Levitical , it would have concerned none but the Jew . )

2ly , Will a man rob , or kick against his own God ? so rhe (s) (s) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Septuagint do render it , Will a man Supplant , or cast his own God under feet , as it were ? To intimate what an Oracle of your (t) (t) LE DECAY DES REVENUES DE HOMES DE SAINT ESGLISE EN LE FINE SERRA SUBVERSION DEL SERVICE DE DIEU , ET DE SON RELIGION : Sir Edw. Coke , L'evesque de Winchester's Case : where he gives an irrefragable Reason by way of instance , in the two most grievous Persecutions , the one under Diocletian , who yet did onely by his cruelty , occidere Presbyteros , so that notwithstanding Religion did flourish : The other under Julian the Apostate , who by his Sacriledge and subtilty did Occidere Presbyterium : and this was the far more grievous Persecution of the two , because in a little time , there did insue such neglect of God's Service , and such gross Ignorance of God's true Religion , as greatly decayed the Christian Profession . The Reason is plain , For God cannot be served without Men , nor Men be maintained without Means . Law , sadly presageth , that Sacriledge if not prevented or remedied , will be the downfal in the end of God's Church , and of God's whole Worship and Service : A Sacrilegious , or but slovenly Religion ends commonly so in down-right Atheisme .

† † Dr. Gauden above . Consequently all the Parts of the State it self Noble and Ignoble , will in the end , be enfeebled , abased , and mortified , when the Ministers of the Church of Christ are obstructed , or exhausted : They being as the Arteries of the Body Politick in any Nation , State , or Kingdom , which is Christian , as they who , Ex officio , are to derive and carry from the Head , which is Jesus Christ , the vital , and best ( that is the Religious ) Spirits to all the Parts of the Body .

3ly , Will a man rob God ? his own God ? this still aggravates the Offence , and the imputation thereof appears so odious to the guilty Jews , that they straight-ways seem to deny it , even then when God directly charges them with it , yet ye have robbed me ? They would plead not guilty , saying , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 wherein have we robbed thee ?

4ly , All along you may please to apply all this , and to observe the Impudeney of this sin , and how of all other sins 't is hard to convince of , much more to convert a Church-Robber from his Sacriledge , he is so intrenched in it , with so many Shifts and Evasions , Distinctions , and Extenuations , why , and wherein , to out-face if possible , even the Charge of God himself : Yes , saith God , ye have robbed me , and if you will know wherein , In Tythes and Offerings : well , and fully the learned Italian * * Nelle Decime : c. Ritenendo a voi quello che à di questi miei diritti , è del fornimento del mio servigio , è del sostentamento dè miei Ministri , &c. Diodati on this place , Ye have robbed me , in Detaining those my Rights , which should support my Service , and maintain my Servants : In as much as you have done it to one of those that belongs to me , you have done it to me , ( so Saint (u) (u) Si enim per alios visitatur in Carcere , & aegrotus suscipitur , & esuriens sitiensque cibum accipit atque potatur , cur non in Ministris suis ipse Decimas accipiat , & si non dentur , parte suâ ipse privetur ? — Subtrahendo Decimas & Primitias non dico Sacerdotibus meis & Levitis , sed mihi — fraudastis me parte meâ , &c. Hieron . in 3. Malach. Hierom on this very place , alluding to God's irrevocable Sentence at * * Mat. 25. Dooms-day : ) This will be as true in malam , as in bonam partem : For even as God interprets our ordinary Acts of Charity , as done to himself , because done to his Servants at large : so on the contrary , and that à majori too , will God take those Acts of Irreligious Injustice , or Sacriledge against his immediate Servants , as committed against himself : whether he be Jew or Christian that commits it , whether the Fact be committed under the Law , or under the Gospel , the Sentence you see , is one and the same for both .

In which Sentence by the way , may be worth the observing the full value of the word GIVING , I was an hungred , and you GAVE me Meat , I was thirsty , and you GAVE me Drink , &c. where giving in its native sense and full signification , is a word of Relation , that naturally implieth Receiving , as its Correlatum : And this must needs exclude Rejection ; so that here Men's Devotion , and God's Acceptance kiss each other . For else , unless God did accept those Pious works , he could not properly have said , you gave me , but you (x) (x) Isa. 66.3 . He that offereth an oblation , is as if he offered Swins blood . offered me , as in some other places wherein he rejects the Offering : This in a glance by occasion of Saint Hierom's parallel of that place of Saint Matthew , with this of Malachy .

5. I , but haply those Jews might plead hereditary Prescription , for what they did now detain from the Priests , they came honestly to it , by Descent from their Ancestors ; yet all that is nothing , for God Non-suits that Plea also , ( v. 7. ) Even from the days of your Fathers , you are gone away from mine Ordinances ; to wit , by continuing in your Father's Sacrilegious steps ; ( so Saint (y) (y) In quo reverti Jubentur , in eo recesserant , &c. Hieron . quo suprá . Hierom expounds it still ) so far is Age then , or Continuance in sin or injury , from acquiring a just Title , either by the Law of Man , * * Quod initio vitiosum est , non potest fractu temporis convalescere : Paulus lib. 8. ad Sabinum . ff. de divers . R. J. L. quod Initio , 29. ( alias 30. Sic enim Digesto Novo tit. 17. l. 50. ) Ratio Regulae est , quia sicut Tempus non est modus Inducendae , vel tollendae obligationis , ( L. obligationum Sect. Placet . De Action . & obligation . ) Ita solum Tempus actum ab initio invalidum confirmare non potest . Hujus Regulae ( saith a good Civilian , and my old Acquaintance ) Exemplum in contractibus extat in Sect. 1. Instit. de Inutil●b . stipulat . Si rem SACRAM , vel publicam stipuler , non valet stipulatio , licet postea efficiatur profana , aut privata , & in hominum Commercium perveniat . Everard . Bronchorst . in hanc legem , p. 80. If this be Law , if Jus , and aequum , then let all men judge , whether they Decree righteous Decrees , who f●rst rob God of his Demesnes , and then vote it a Lay-fee , as if such a Vote were Operative to command a second Transubstantiation of Natures . The truth is , but for Club-law : The Church hath all the just Law and Equity in the World of her side . or by the Law of God , that it rather aggravates the Offence by turning it through Custom into a state of final Impenitency : Else Belshazzar might have had as good a Plea for his Sacriledge , as some in our days , that he for his part came lawfully by the Sacred Vessels , for he had them by Inheritance from his Grandfather : Where notwithstanding ( 't is very observable ) it did not reach * * De malè quaesitis non gaudet tertius haeres . the third Generation , but in a moment translated away with it , an Empire that had lasted above a thousand years .

This we note the rather , once for all , to warn all men never to think the better of an Error , or of a sin , as of the sin of Sacriledge or Rebellion , because hereditary : for God Alto Judicio , may suffer a sin in a kind of Lineal succession , to descend from the Father to the Child , yea , to seem as it were intailed upon a Family , upon a whole Nation for a while , till at last when he sees his time , Tarditatem supplicii gravitate compensat : and by his National , final Curse , cuts off for ever the Intail , and the Intailers too , Root and Branch indeed : For thus the Son is still under the Curse , and justly punishable , though not for the first Sacrilegious Act committed by his Father , yet for the impenitent continuance of that Sacrilegious Act of his Fathers ; which brings us to the consideration of the next particular , namely , God's Curse .

For sixthly , the Indictment being both repeated , and proved , God proceeds to Sentence , saying , Ye are cursed with a Curse , Verse 9. because ye have robbed me , even this whole Nation : Where observe , that as the Sin , so the Curse is for the extent National , for the kind very equal , for they did by Sacriledge famish the Priests of God , and the God of the Priests did famish them by Scarcity , for ordinarily Punishment is the Anagram of Sin : So God's Justice commonly runs in a Talio , observes as it were , an exact Geometrical proportion , rendring par pari , ( as S. Hierom again ) If men will walk contrary unto him , (a) (a) Levit. xxvi . 27 , 28. he will also walk contrary unto them , and inlarge his Plagues seven times more for their sins : The whole Nation was deep in the Sacriledge , the meaner sort following herein , the bad examples of the great ones , which with the baser ignoble multitude , usually goes for Law , and so the whole Nation undergoes the Judgment too , a miserable National Famine , so extream , that ( some record ) they were fain to sell their own Children to buy bread abroad : Their own Heaven at home being become Iron , Levit. xxvi . 19. and their own Earth brass , ( for Offenso Creatore , omnis offenditur Creatura ) our own Destiny in the end of another National War , except we repent ; for , whether this fundamental sin of Sacriledge , be not become as National here among us , as possibly it might be amongst the Jews , judge ye : If a sin should be once decreed lawful by the Representative Body of a Nation , that is , with Authority , if it be practised generally by the Diffusive Body of a Nation with Impunity , either of these two ways is enough to denominate a sin National , à Majori then , where both these do concur . This I press , that by the present National punishment , we may apprehend the vastness of our sin to have been no less than so , National also ; and that the Plaister may be as broad as the Sore , so must be the Repentance and Reformation too by way of Restitution , National also , that 's the next .

For behold and admire Clementiam Domini , Hieron . ibid. ( saith the Father ) that thus patiently bears with whole Generations of sin in Father and Child , and yet still invites them to repentance , Return unto me , V. 7. and I will return unto you , saith the Lord of Hosts : Nay , as if he would meet them more than half-way , he points out unto them the onely way , they may not think of Peace , or of Plenty again , or of a Pardon , If they come still empty or close-handed , no , that is not the way God marks out here , but the quite contrary way , V. 10. Bring in all the Tythes into the Store-house , and prove me now herewith , if I will not open you the Windows of Heaven , and pour you out a blessing , that there shall not be room enough to receive it .

15. From whence you may first of all observe for your own direction , that the onely National Remedy left us is National Restitution : so far , if you intend to prosper , must you be from venturing to add new Sacriledge to the old ( as some would have you ) that all your care must be rather , to contrive how to make Restitution for what is past . 'T is a duty will still lie heavy upon you , and the whole Nation else , 'till you resolve to discharge it ; take it in the words of one of your own wise men , (b) (b) Sir Francis Bacon in his Consider. &c. and a Lawyer also , who observing very well how Church-Lands pass in valuation between man and man at a lower rate than other Temporalties , thinks therefore ( with all reverence be it repeated ) that all PARLIAMENTS since the 27 , and 31 of H. the VIII . ) STAND OBNOXIOUS ( they are his own words ) AND OBLIGED TO GOD IN CONSCIENCE , to do somewhat for the Church , to reduce the Patrimony thereof ; And adds , That since they have debarred Christ's Wife of a great part of her DOWRY , it were reason they made her a competent JOYNTVRE .

16. Touching the matter , out of which to make the Restitution , as it concerns mainly the Consciences and Estates of the Usurpers , ( for Caveat emptor , and the old Rule will be for ever true , Aug. Non remittetur peccatum , donec restituatur ablatum , at least (c) (c) 2 Cor. 8.11 . according to what a man hath : ) If this seem durus Sermo , then think , that for lack of Restitution , Ite Maledicti , will sound far harsher : So it were a gallant opportunity to the charity of publick Spirits , whom God hath blessed with abundance both of Grace and Wealth , to redeem the Lord's Inheritance : Less than half an Age of Peace and Plenty might do it ; and who knows but such a Project as this in the Heart of this Nation , might through God's acceptance , purchase again that well-grounded Peace , which all the other fair and foul means we have already used , have missed of as yet ? As for the Medium how to effect that Resumption or Redemption , that in all modesty , we must wholly leave to the Justice and Authority of the Higher Powers , whose Immortal Glory it would be once for all , to have freed this Church and State from the Plague of Sacriledge for ever .

Secondly , In that this Prophet here , and others (d) (d) Nehem. 10.35.37 . else-where , make mention of the Priest's Storehouses , their Magazines , or as S. Hierom calls them , (e) (e) Inferte in horrea , i. e. in Thesauros Templi . Hieron . their Treasuries : It is from hence evident , it was never God's meaning , that his Priests should live basely , or poorly from hand to mouth , ( as they say . )

Thirdly , In that God to this duty of Restitution , promiseth so many Blessings of all kinds , Blessings privative , Deliverance from Incumbent Judgments , from the Devourer , &c. ( verse 11. ) Blessings positive , plenty and credit again , at home and abroad , ( verse 10.12 . ) Since , I say , all these Blessings are assured upon the observation of this one Precept of all others : ( as if in it God had summed up his whole Law : ) We may thence infer two things .

1. That he that makes no Conscience of the sin of Sacriledge , will make Conscience of no sin at all . The Jews have a Proverb , That * * Drus . Idolatra totam Legem abnegat , Sacriledge therefore being in St. Paul's judgment , of the same size and latitude with Idolatry , it must needs renounce the whole Law , Rom. 2.22 . not onely in St. James's general sense , Jam. 2.10 . but more particularly , because all the Second Table depends upon the first , and all the Commandments upon the formost .

Secondly , When ever we miss of God ' Blessings , as now , let us then remember the Cause , why all this evil is come upon us , and amend it : * *

See the Exhortation appointed for the Fast against the Plague of Pestilence , An. 1665.

Deutr. 28.21 .

The publick voyce of the Church tells us plainly , That because the Portion of God is invaded , his Altars robbed of Tythes and Offerings , and holy things of all sorts prophanely and sacrilegiously devoured ; Therefore God in his just Judgment , will cause the Pestilence to cleave unto us , until he hath consumed us from the Land : Have we felt it already , and yet will not we believe it ? nor use the Remedy , Repentance and Restitution ?

Men may toil and moil , as they say , plot and project , and purchase too , and yet all this while put all their gains into the Prophet's bag with holes , (f) (f) Hag. 1.6 . If God do but blow upon it : When all is done , 't is the (g) (g) Prov. 0.22 . blessing of the Lord that maketh rich : Decima & ditesces , saith the Rabbin from this Text , & contrá . Let the Modern Projectors then build their Babels never so high , if they be reared upon the Ruines of Sion , they will finde at last that Foundation , Fabrick and all , will down all at once , and sink both the Founder and his Posterity into worse than their first nothing .

Finally , for a close of this large Sermon of the Prophet Malachy against Sacriledge , let us observe the Success , ( for it may be , I am preaching mine own Destiny ) so far were some from relenting , much less restoring , that they were rather hardned at it , and scoffed at both the Prophet , and his God too , so God complains directly , (h) (h) Verse 13 , 14 , 15. Your words have been stout against me , saith the Lord .

And yet on the other side , to the comfort of the Preacher , and the Honour of his God , some became of a better mind , took the Matter into their serious Consideration , They feared God , saith the Text , ( verse 16. ) and God himself takes special notice of it , Registers up their mutual good motions in his great Book of Remembrance , against the great day of Reckoning and Reward , ( verse 17. ) on which day , at furthest , shall clearly appear saith God , ( verse 18. ) The wide difference betwixt the righteous and the wicked , between him that serves God , and him that serves him not : And thus endeth the Prophet's Sermon against Sacriledge , and ( for the most of it ) the Fathers Descant upon it , who there expresly inlarges the Application of all this , ( both in respect of the Minister's Maintenance , and the Vsurpers Offence too ) unto all Nations under the New Testament . And this also the Father urges fully , in a direct and express Opposition to Marcion , Valentinus , and the rest , Qui vetus non recipiunt Testamentum , saith the Father there , that , as the men of our Generation , ( especially if the case be concerning Rebellion , or Sacriledge , or any such Cross-Theam ) they 'l at one dash , recuse the whole Old Testament , ( as if one and the same good God were not the Author of both Testaments , New and Old , but some evil Spirit had been the Author of the Old ) point-blank to the sound (i) (i) The old Testament is not contrary to the New , Article 7. Doctrine of this Church , their own Mother : from which , in this , as in so many good things else , whilest they Apostatise , you see they become ex Asse , the Heirs and Successors of the old Hereticks .

17. But to leave them and all others without Excuse , and that you , and all men may clearly see we want not in the New Testament also , as full , and as memorable a Text against Sacriledge , as any we have yet produced besides our own Text ; what will they say to the Famous History of Ananias and Sapphira ?

18. For , that they were guilty of Sacriledge 't is plain , not onely by the verdict of the Holy Fathers , both Greek and Latine , as (k) (k) In locum . St. Chrysostom , (l) (l) Serm. 9. St. Ambrose , (m) (m) De verbis Apostoli . St. Austin ; and to name no other Writers , by a full Jury of Protestants upon the place , amongst the rest , Calvin , (n) (n) Erat Sacrilega fraudatio , quia partem ex eo subducit , quod Sacrum esse Deo profitebatur . Calv. ad locum , and more largely above pag. 21. See the rest in Marlorati Ecclesiasticâ Expos. ad locum Beza , whose Testimony (o) (o) See at large Beza on Acts 5.2 . amounts to these five Concessions ; 1. That there may still be a Consecration of things under the Gospel . 2. That this Consecration may be of Lands . 3. That this Consecration because it was offered Ecclesiae , to the Church , therefore it was construed to be offered Domino too , to the Lord , as Irenaeus by and by , in Vsus Dominicos , so that the Lord is still a Party in this Cause . 4. That this Consecration is done Spiritus sancti impulsu , and so (p) (p) Per mentire allo spirito Santo : c. In quanto quella CONSECRATIONE potera essere Stata un movimento desso , à cui egli non havea sinceramente ubbidito . Diodati in v. 3. c. 5. Diodati too upon the place , by the good motion of the Holy Ghost , ( so far are this kind of Devotions from being unlawful , or unacceptable ) which good Motion because they had not sincerely obeyed , therefore , saith that Italian Doctor , they did abuse the Holy Ghost . 5. and lastly , They all agree , that to alienate this from a Consecrated use , is Sacriledge . Sure these Reverend men of Geneva , when they writ thus , must needs believe that there was still such a thing as Consecration , or Sacriledge under the Gospel . And just so Peter Martyr , Brentius , Aretius , and they all directly conclude , 't was Sacriledge .

19. And should we want all these , the Context would prove it self ; for clearly there , the Materiale , or circà quod , of Ananias's sin , was a thing Devoted to God , the Author of Holiness , to be a help or means to propagate holiness , and therefore the thing was holy : and as for the Formale , the sacrilegious Detention , that is clearer still by S. Peter's Charge , and by the express Text , Thou hast kept back part of the price ( v. 4. ) and in so doing , Thou hast cheated God himself , ( so your Margent , verse 3. ) But all this will appear most evident in the more particular Examination of the whole History , out of which we will draw so many Deductions or Conclusions , which well weighed , will amount to so many Declarations , and Confirmations too from the New Testament , of all that which we have formerly delivered out of the Old Testament .

20. First then , Super totâ materiâ , we may from the Premisses fairly deduce still under the Gospel , the Continuance or Lawfulness of such Consecrations , or voluntary Devotions , witness God's Acceptance of them at the hands of those good men mentioned in the foregoing (q) (q) Acts 4.34 . to the end . Chapter , and God's visible Vengeance , on the Violators in this Chapter : To run over these in order .

21. Touching the Continuance of Consecrations in the New Testament , 't is plain the old Primitive Christians understood the Apostle's practice , Praxis Sanctorum , Interpres Praeceptorum . and this History no otherwise , which made them even therefore , as careful ever after , to honour God with their (r) (r) Prov. 3.9 . Substance , as ever were the Jews before them : They did not , under pretence of confining their Religion within the Spirit , renounce with Judaisme , all manner of real , or corporal Offerings ; They were wise men (s) (s) Matt. 2.11 . who not content with bare falling down and worshipping , ( and yet many a zealous Professor's Modern Religion extends not so far now adays ) would also Offer their Gold , Frankincense , and Myrrhe , such as they had : and this their Religion they , and the whole Catholick Church for above fifteen hundred years , hath transmitted uncontrolled , unquestioned down to our own Sacrilegious Age , the great Climacterical of all Ancient Devotion .

22. And now , for an upstart Generation , to strive against such an Universal Stream , as the godly Judgment and Practice too of the whole Church , what can it be , but ( in the (t) (t) Aug. Extremae Insaniae , &c. Fathers Judgment ) Extream Madness indeed .

23. Apostolical (u) (u) Non genus Oblationum reprobatum est , Oblationes enim & illîc , ( scil. in V. T. Oblationes autem & bîc , &c. ( scil. in N. T. ) — Species tantùm immutata est , quippe cùm jam non à servis , sed à liberis offeratur . l. 4. c. 34. Edit. Colon. & vet. Cod. S. Irenaeus ( who was St. John's Scholar , but once removed , and therefore far more likely to give us the right ground , and meaning of the Apostle's Godly Practice , than these men of yesterday ) assures us at large in a whole Chapter , that , As there were Oblations under the old Testament , so there were still Oblations under the New . 2ly . That those Oblations the Lord did teach , Dominus docuit. . 3ly , That this was not a thing of private or particular observance , but Catholick or Universal , a Service which the whole World was to perform : Dominus docuit offerri in universo mundo . 4ly , That it was grateful and acceptable to God , Purum reputatum est apud Deum & acceptum : what can be more plaine ? I , but was not this meant onely of the spiritual Oblations of Prayers and Praises ? Expresly no. For , 5ly , For the matter first , they must be Primitiae Creaturarum , the first Fruits , or the best of God's Creatures . And 2ly , For the ends , they must be in Usus Dominicos , ( a large word ) for the Lord's uses , as towards the Sacrament , or for the Maintenance of God's Ministers ; and therefore Irenaeus expresly instanceth there in Tythes , arguing directly à Majori , that we may not give Minora , but must be more liberal under the Gospel , because Majorem spem habentes , because we have greater hopes of greater rewards .

6ly , They must be offered to God as the Maker of all , not for any need , or Indigency he hath , but for the need our selves have to offer unto God , saith the Father , namely , that we may not be unfaithful , but thankeful , and acceptable , and capable too of his Rewards , according to that of S. Matth. 25. I was hungry , and you fed me : Thus that Apostolical Father excellently all over .

24. And that in point of obligatory Imitation , that Apostolical Practice concerns us now adays as much as it did them ; Take Calvin's (x) (x) Plusquam serrea nobis viscera esse oportet , quòd non aliter hujus historiae lectione afficimur ▪ Illi simpliciter & bona fide suum proferebant , nos mille excogitamus obliquas Artes , quibus omnia hinc inde fraudulenter ad nos trahamus . ILLI AD PEDES APOSTOLORUM OFFEREBANT , NOS SACRILEGA AUDACIA QUOD DEO OBLATUM ERAT PRAEDARI NON VEREMUR : Vendebant olim suas possessiones , nunc Insatiabilis regnat emendi Cupiditas , &c. Quare haec in pudorem , & dedecus nostrum Scripta sunt . — Testatum hac historiâ voluit Deus quantopere illi probitas Sancta , puraque Ecclesiae suae Politia probetur . Calvin . in Act. 4.35 . & cap. 5.1 . own words ( passionate enough ) as neer as I can translate them ; Sure our Bowels are made of Steel ( saith he ) that we are no more affected with the Reading of this History , Those good old Christians honestly , and bona fide , did offer what was their own ; we contrariwise study out a thousand crooked ways , by fraud to snatch of all sides what is none of our own : THEY THEN WILLINGLY OFFERED AT THE APOSTLE'S FEET , AND WE NOW IN A SACRILEGIOUS AUDACIOUSNESS ARE NOT AFFRAID OF PLUNDERING THAT WHICH WAS OFFERED UNTO GOD. Of old , they sold their own Possessions ; but now quite contrary , there reigns an Unsatiable desire of buying and heaping up , &c. wherefore these things are written to our shame and disgrace . This from Calvin's Mouth is somewhat plain and home : So as we were fain to name Calvin for it in our own Defence , else we might , by some of our Modern hard Judges have been impeached of Popery or Malignancy at least , even for this one very strain of plainness . But his Conclusion is no better , God saith he , in this History would , as it were , leave upon Record , how much he is pleased with the sincere Honesty and Godly Polity of his Church . Thus far Calvin : full enough , to prove the lawful Continuance of such Consecrations in the New Testament .

25. In the second place , we may observe the Alteration of the property after Consecration , first in that the Object of the Deceit and Injury is here set down to be God the Holy Ghost : ( For his must needs be the Right directly , whose the Injury is : ) now the Apostle says not here thou hast cheated me , or the Church , or the poor Saints , though all these were concerned in it too , as God's Assignes , but God was the Principal , and therefore the Apostle says directly , Thou hast deceived the Holy Ghost : so the Greek may bear it ; and some (y) (y) Phavorinus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Scapul . Lexicographers do allow it , and Beza seconds it , saying , That they had to do with God himself , whose Title it was Consecrationis Obligamento , as Tertullian terms it , and the 4th verse puts it out of all doubt , saying , Whilest it remained was it not thine own , and after it was sold was it not in thine own power ? As if the Apostle had said , as sure as before Consecration you might have called it your own ; so sure after Consecration , it is no more your own , the Property is altered : whose is it then , or whose should it be , but his whom thou hast Cheated , so Diodati again , (z) (z) Ma dopo la Consecratione , non era tua , tu non V'havevi pīu ragione alcuna : era di Dio , è percio tu hai commesso Sacrilegio : Diodati , in c. 5. 4. After Consecration thou hast no right in the world to it , it is now God's own , and even therefore thou hast committed Sacriledge : So he ; where you may see in plain terms again , Consecration , and God's Title , and Sacriledge ; all these avouched . And so much the late (a) (a) Annotat. London 1645. on Acts 5.3 . Assembly-men gloss upon the Text ( on these words , To lye to the Holy Ghost , or to deceive : ) This is their Comment. When they had DEDICATED the possession TO GOD , for the relief of his Servants , the fraud and falshood concerned his INTEREST , &c. Here you have first , Their Vote for Dedicating Possessions to God under the Gospel . 2ly , That such an Act gives God an Interest in things Dedicated : Do not you therefore dream that the Presbyterian Party will allow your Lay-Sacriledge , for you shall hear the quite contrary from themselves by and by , when their Testimony comes in . 3ly , Here you may plainly observe God's own Ratification , as I may say , of the Churche's Act in all such matters , both for the Acceptance of the Devotion , and the Censure and Curse also for the Detention , or violation . And that the Apostles , the Church Representative , were God's Vicegerents for both , as Calvin expresly observes upon the place , that Deus illis vices suas mandaverat ; and he gives the ground of their Commission to be this , because though they were homines , they were but men , yet they were not privati homines , private men , but publick persons , and so God's Assignes for the whole matter .

26. For the first Act , the Acceptance of the Devotions , it may admit of a twofold Consideration , in a twofold Respect ; 1. Of the persons that may Vow . 2ly , Of the matter of the Vow .

Concerning the first , 'T is a ruled Case , (b) (b) Num. 30.5.8 . That none have power to Vow irrevocably , but such as are sui Juris , if any under age , or Covert Baron , or Command , do make Vowes , the Superiour in the Church , or in the State , or in the Family , within his several Sphere , private or publick , as God's Vicegerent , hath power under God , to * * Exod. 36.6 . restrain , or to reverse , to disallow the Vowes when he hears them : bur if the Superiour hold his peace at the hearing of them , and disallows not the Vowes of his Inferiour , then says God , (c) (c) Num. 30.11.14 . he confirms them , ipso facto , and cannot afterwards make them void , having passed away his right : If he do , after he hath heard them , any ways make them void , he shall bear the Iniquity of them all ; If bare silence imply such a Consent , and so bind the Superiour to make good the Vowes of the Inferiour , how much more then , ( as in the clear case betwixt the Parliament and the People in their Devotions to the Church ) will it bind , when the Superiour hath given his express consent , yea passed it away by his own Act : This as a second Instance , added unto that mentioned above concerning the Gibeonites fortifies still more and more the Clergie's Title , and renders it past Revocation .

27. Secondly , Touching the Matter of the Vow , because (e) (e) Rom. 14.23 . whatsoever is not of faith is sin ; Therefore it is very fit in case of Doubting , to ask the (f) (f) Hag. 2.11 . Priests concerning the Law : But where the Case is clear , and out of all doubt , and the Vow both for Person and Matter lawful , and onely of private concernment ; In such a case we may not lay a snare upon men's Consciences , there seems no necessity of any Vicegerent or Substitute at all , but God the Principal , being Omnipresent to every man's heart , the matter may safely be concluded betwixt God and a man's self ; Actu interno , or V●to cordis : To vow with the heart is sufficient , and we may quiet our mind in this Assurance , that God is willing to accept all such our Just and prudent Vowes , without any more ado . This is clear in so many Vowes recorded in Holy Writ , for our Imitation and Confirmation too , such as was (g) (g) Gen. 28.20 . Judg. 11.30 . 1 Sam. 1.11.13 . Jacob's Vow , and Jephtha's Vow , and devout Hannah's Vow , which was not so much as expressed , Actu ullo externo oris , and yet have they all the express Seal of God's Acceptance , in his gracious grant of the Condition of their several Vowes : Though we read not in any of them of any Deputy , or Vicegerent at all .

28. But Thirdly , if the Matter of the Vow be of more publick concernment , and other circumstances so require , then behold God's Vicegerents at hand , God's Apostles I mean , to whom God himself hath given both the (h) (h) Mat. 16.19 . Keys , that of Knowledge , and this of Authority , therewith to open and to shut , to bind and to loose men's Consciences , as in the case of Absolution , so in the case of Resolution too , that if any , may judge both of the Power and of the Matter of the Vow , and determine the Conscience of the Votary either way , according to God's Word , whether the Vow will be acceptable , that is lawful , yea or no ; and if it be lawful , they may Accept it in God's Name and stead .

29. And this Office being none of the extraordinary Apostolical Prerogatives , ( such as some reckon these to have been their 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Infallibility , their power of Miracles , and their Oecumenical Jurisdiction : ) is not therefore Incommunicable , or Intransitive , but as successive , and permanent , and pertinent to their Successors in ordinary the Bishops and Pastors of God's Flock , ( who , as well as the Priests under the Law , or the Apostles under the Gospel , are God's visible Vicegerents unto the end of the World , (i) (i) Heb. 5.1 . in all things pertaining unto God ) as to accept the Peoples Offerings in God's Name and stead , so to present (k) (k) The Clause in the Prayer for the Church Militant [ to accept our Alms and Oblations . them unto God , as well as to pray to God for the People , or to bless the People in God's Name .

30. And as to Bless , so to Curse in God's Name also ( for Ejusdem est ligare cujus est solvere : ) and this is in that History , the Apostle's second Act , to assure us and all the World of the Continuance of God's own heavy Curse , and Exemplary Vengeance too , even under the New Testament , in case of Fraud or Sacriledge : And this Ecclesiastical Censure , doth here consist of two express parts , a Spiritual and Eternal Excommunication , as I may say , (l) (l) See Ghostwyke's Anatomy of Ananias and Sapphira's Sacriledge , chap. 6. from all the means , yea from the Life of Grace it self , the sorest , severest , extreamest Vengeance that can be inflicted on a man in this World , forsaking and forsaken of God . Secondly , a Corporal , and that too a sudden and utter Deprivation of the Life of Nature also , both of them making up that fearful , total Extermination , which the Jews term (m) (m) Drus . qu. l. 1. qu. 9. Sammatha , or Sammathizatio , of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that signifies desolare , & ad stuporem vastare , & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 tu : as much to say , as let such a Curse fall upon thee , as is Ultima Execratio , or God's utmost Malediction : Saint Paul from another Root ( Maran atha ) seems to allude to this very Curse , 1 Cor. 16.22 . ) Cursing them ad magnum diem , as the old Councels phrase it , till Dooms-day , and a day after . A Curse so terrible , that in the Book of (n) (n) Eum Ananiae & Sapphirae † una stix porrigi ne † ejulantem crucians complectatur . Selden ad Eadmerum quo suprà , p. 156. Curses formerly quoted against Sacriledge , Ananias and Sapphira , a●e become the Proverbial , as I may say , the Standard to Curse by .

31. Surely such a Curse , so terrible ( take in all the circumstances ) we read not of in all the Old Testament , as if God hereby would intimate as the hainousness of the sin of Sacriledge above all sins in general , so the aggravation of it in particular , as it being a greater sin now under the Gospel , than under the Law , both respectu Personae , and also respectu Status : because as our Oblations to all Acts of Devotion , are more , so is our knowledge , and our hope likewise , ( this is (o) (o) Allus . ad Decimas . Hilariter & libenter danda ea , non quae sunt minora , utpote majorem Spem habentes , Iren. l. iv . c. 34. Irenaeus his Argument ; ) far greater now than it was then .

32. And because this Fact of Ananias was the first Notorious Act of Sacriledge , that ever was committed under the Gospel ; therefore least any after them should presume upon their Impunity , as they gave ill example to their Generation , and to Posterity to boot , ( 't is P. Martyr's note ) themselves became a sad example to both ; They were confounded Body and Soul .

33. And that too with a suddain Destruction , in an Instant , the usual Destiny of Sacriledge : witness * * Dan. v. 30. 2 King . xi . 16. Belshazzar , Athaliah , and so many more slain , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as we say , In the very Act of Sacriledge .

34. This is an History brim-full of horrour , in all the grievous circumstances of it : To see a Man and his Wife , Children of the Church , Auditors of the Apostles , Professors of Christ's true Religion outwardly , conformable to the Apostolical Discipline , Benefactors to the Church , no apparent professed Enemies or Atheists , no Persecutors or Apostates , or notorious evil livers , ( for any thing we read of them . ) Ah! I tremble to think it , that such persons , so qualified , should yet be liable to so Execrable an end , as ( say * * Gostwick's Anatomy of Ananias Sacril . ch. 6. some ) in a moment to be damned Body and Soul , ( dying without repentance ) should , as they were man and wife in the sin upon Earth , be still man and wife in the Torment of Hell , and all this damnable rigour , for grudging a few Pence , or Pounds at the most , to God and Holy Church . But (p) (p) Deut. xxix . 29. Secret things belong unto the Lord our God : and God's judgments are past finding out : Rom. xi . 33. Our best course therefore is , to adore them with admiration ! To lay them to heart with fear and trembling , and to acknowledge with all humility , that God seeth not as man seeth , however Sacriledge may be extenuated in the World 's deceitful Scales , yet in the Just Ballance of the Sanctuary , you see the heavy doom of it , weighs down to the bottom of Hell .

35. And now although this latter part of the Censure , the Corporal part , was miraculous , and so extraordinary , yet let none harden himself in Sacriledge , upon the presumption that St. Peter and his fellows , that could kill with a breath , are now dead and gone : As long as the Lord liveth , and Ecclesia nunquam moritur , in your own sense , and in our sense , I am sure , the Church lives too , and the Spiritual Ordinance of God , and of his Church the heavy Censure of Excommunication , is permanent in the Church unto the World's end , and is , and ever will be , ( clave non errante ) still as quick , and powerful to plague , and to destroy no less now , than in those days , if not always with visible external Judgments ( from which we are not yet free ) yet with far worse , with invisible inward Judgments , as Blindness of Mind , not to see our Disease nor Danger , our Duty nor Remedy ; and Hardness of heart , not to repent , and return , and restore : for this Impenitent State may still provoke God to punish one sin with another ( in his just Permission ) a Judgment which is of all others the most grievous , the very next step to Hell it self , and therefore not inferiour for the matter , ( though not so visible for the manner ) to that dreadful Curse which befel Ananias and Sapphira , in whose fatal Example God did purposely express such a Terrible Severity to countenance the just Censures of the Church , and to bring into credit Church-Authority , a maine Nerve or Sinew , in Christ's Body Mystical ; the Mortification whereof in this latter Age , hath occasioned the Gangrene of the whole Body of this Christian Church and State : for we may not flatter now , but now or never , must strike at the Root of all our Mischiefs , and tell you a sad truth , that of all our swarms of Heresies and Schismes , of all our Divisions and Distractions , of all our Seditions and Rebellions too , of all our Sacriledges and Prophanenesses : of all these cursed branches the Mother Root hath been the Contempt of the Church , for these four Buttresses , or Master-pillars of the Church , The Churches Apostolical Truth , Holy Peace , Just Power , and Due Patrimony , stand or fall together , and like * * Plutarch . Scylurus his Arrows , whilest kept tied in the bundle , do render that Church and State impregnable , invincible , but one of them once sundered from the other , break but any one , and you may easily knap all the rest in sunder : This is the sad story of all our former National miseries , and till the Restitution of this Church Right also ; and that cum effectu , Excommunication , ( so dreaded in other Churches , the Greek especially ) being now become with the many in England , but a meer 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Bug-bear , unless that Brachium Seculare do corroborate it , by some coercive way , as shall seem to their wisdom most suitable unto the symptoms and dispositions of this Nation , yet very much out of joynt : Till then , we may in vain hope for a Respit , but never obtain the effectual Remedy , much less the real Recovery of this Church and Nation .

36. And to bring in all this , here is a fair Hint given us by the Holy Ghost , from this very Text and History of Ananias , wherein you may for an Epilogue from Calvin , observe yet this one Item more , That one main Aggravation , and always a deadly Ingredient of this sin of Sacriledge , was and is the Contempt of a general Godly Practice of the whole Christian Church , whose bare Custom in those honest and simple Apostolical days , St. Paul thought an Argument strong enough to confute any Irregular Schismatick , saying , upon occasion of a Church-Difference , (q) (q) 1 Cor. 11.16 . If any man seem to be contentious , we have no such Custom , neither the Churches of God . Of such force in those days of Discipline was the general Practice of the Church : How much more forcible then would have been the Precept of the Church , not only , or chiefly of the Church Diffusive , the whole Body at large , ( for that in the matter of Exercise or Execution , was never , could never be Subjectum capax , of that Power or Jurisdiction ) but , principally of the Church Representative , the Apostles and Ministers , who as you have heard , and Calvin very well observes still upon the place ; Though they were but men , yet they were no meer private men , because God's Vicegerents , in which sense , the Contempt of the Church is , by a plain consequence , a Contempt of Christ himself , who according to his gracious (r) (r) Matth. 28.20 . Promise , for a Farewel to his Apostles , hath ingaged himself by his Spirit of Power and Counsel , to be present with , and in his Church unto the end of the world . In reference to which Divine Promise , That Primitive Catholick Ceremony , of placing the Sacred Book of the Gospel on a Throne , in the midst of the Councels sitting , was till of late , Solemn , and full of Divine Mysterie , namely , among the rest , to intimate that in regard of Christ's Spiritual , and Invisible , but undoubted Presence , in the midst of his * * Reputare debuerat , ubi duo aut tres congregati sunt in Christi nomine , illic eum adesse Praesidem , nec secùs in eo coetu se gerere , quàm si Deum oculis cerneret . Calv. in Act. v. 4. Church , all men ought to behave themselves in , and toward the Church with as much Obedience , as if there they saw with their Eyes , Christ himself visibly present .

37. To draw up all our several Observations upon this Apostolical History , into a narrow compass ; By this time you see , That the Contempt of the Godly Precept , or but General Practice of the Church , ( such as ever was this of Consecrations , or Dedications ) is , first of all , Injurious to Jesus Christ himself , the invisible Guide , and perpetual President of the Church . 2ly , Derogatory to Venerable Antiquity , and to all those that have gone before us in this devout way of well-doing . 3ly , Scandalous , yea , ( in its contagious Nature , and bad Example ) pernitious too , to the present Age , and unto Posterity to boot . 4ly , Dangerous , yea , without timely Repentance , Damnable unto the Contemners , what ever they be .

38. And now after all this said and proved too , yea , ex abundanti , sealed also both ways with God's own actual Curse or Benediction , as it were his visible Image and Superscription , yet still to ask the question , whether we shall Render this Sacred Tribute (s) (s) Matth. 22.20 , 21. unto our Maker , or no ? still for all this , to pretend a fear of God's Refusal of our Devotions , or to say we want still a particular Revelation of Gods Acceptance , or to quarrel about the Authority of the Vicegerent , to assure us of all these ( The Sacrilegious Cavils of some in our days . ) What were all this , but plainly to declare we have no more mind to this Religious Errand , than he in the (t) (t) Prov. xxvi . 13. Proverbs , when instead of running , he tells you of a Lion in the way , a Lion in the streets .

39. For , as touching the main of all these , Assurance of Acceptance , since that is now adays called in question , I beseech you , have we not as much Revelation for God's Acceptance of this , as for any other good work , as for our Prayers , or for our Alms , or for any ? To affirm the contrary , were it not besides the sin of Infidelity , a Tang of Deep Hypocrisie , yea the very Cut-throat of all good works of Mercy or Piety whatsoever , private as well as publick ? would not this Doctrine also bid very fair for Enthusiasme ?

40. Say we had no more but some one of (u) (u) 1 Cor. 15. ult. God's general Promises , would not that serve ? Nay , may not the Nature of the work it self be instead of all Revelations , if it have all the four Essential usually requisite Conditions of a good work : I mean if it be done , 1. Upon God's Warrant , or according to his Word , (x) (x) As under the old Testament . Prov. iij. 19. So under the New , Gal. vi . 5. See above p. 65. 2ly , If the general intent in it , be to please and serve God . (y) (y) Rom. 14.6 . He that eateth not , eateth not to the Lord , &c. 3ly , If the work be done in love to God , for no self-respects , or by-ends of our own , but chiefly , ( as the Church praiseth him ) propter magnam gloriam suam , for his own Glory , because we know that God is (z) (z) To do good , and to distribute forget not , for with such Sacrifices God is well pleased , Heb. xiii . 16. honoured by this our Acknowledgment . 4ly , and lastly , If that our Devotion be offered in (a) (a) Luk. vii . 47. Faith , out of a perswasion of God's love to us in Christ , and of his general (b) (b) Ephes. 1.6 . Acceptance both of our Persons and Performances through Christ : Upon such grounds as these , S. Paul doubts not , but bids the Devout (c) (c) Phil. iv . 18. Philippians , be confident that their Offerings sent unto him , their Apostle , were an Odour of a sweet smell , a Sacrifice ACCEPTABLE , and well-sing unto God .

41. This general Discourse you may extend to all the particulars in this kind , except they will say , ( for they will , and may say any thing ) that God will indeed Accept the good works done to any Disciples at large , to the meanest , but to the Seventy , or to the Twelve , his own Servants in Ordinary , his Disciples in chief : In whose behalf yet ( that they may see we have God's Revelation , yea , Assurance of Acceptance , yea , special Promise of Reward also : all these as particularly set down in the Clergie's behalf as may be ) in the very first rank of that noted ancient (d) (d) Grot. in Matth. 10.40 , 41 , 42. Tres discipulorum gradus , supremus prophetarum , secundus Justorum , infimus parvulorum : ex Textu , & ex Clem. Alexandr . & Origen . Gradation of Disciples , God placeth his Prophets foremost of all , saying , He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet : That is , as we use to say , in the quality of a Prophet , shall receive a Prophet's reward : and if you will know what kind of Prophets he there means , they were his Apostles , the then MINISTERS , pro tempore , of whom , in the Verse immediately before , he had expresly said , He that receiveth you , receiveth me : and of whom also , in the very next Verse , he says , and in a manner swears it too , that if the Offering should amount to no more but a Cup of cold water , yet it should not go rewardless . As once the (e) (e) Tertullian . Father upon another occasion , so may I say , Happy we , my Brethren , for whose sakes Christ swears , but then , Unhappy they all that will not believe Christ , no not when he swears on our behalf .

42. And now , will any sober man , Heathen , or Christian , expect a surer , or more express Revelation of God's Acceptance , than his own Promise of actual Reward , sealed too with such a Solemn Asseveration , ( verily , verily , I say unto you , &c. ) to put us out of all doubt , as if Christ had here in this place directly foreseen these latter days of Indevotion and Infidelity ?

43. And again , are we here assured , that God both doth Accept , and will Reward the meanest transitory Oblation , a Meals-meat , as we say , bestowed on his Ministers , and shall we raise a doubt whether he will accept these Devotions , which are more Permanent , which are intended and dedicated for Perpetuity ? Sure God Almighty , now under the Gospel , as well as under the Law , will have Persons , and Places too , as well as Times , consecrated to his Honour and Service , and those not Planetary neither , nor mutable every third year , but fixed and setled too for perpetuity , as we have already in part demonstrated , and these Rational men cannot deny with Reason : with what reason then can they deny the Lawfulness , yea Necessity of such sacred permanent Portions , to maintain those Sacred Persons and Places , for Perpetuity ?

44. And can they , with all their Serpentine subtlety find out a better Expedient for such a kind of standing Provision , than standing Revenues , or Lands ? Here in the Apostle's Deed we read of Lands sold , and the Prices , the Lands-worth given ; Sure had the unsetled condition of those tumultuary Times borne it , we might , ( as soon as in after times ) have read of Lands directly given ( for Lands , or Lands-worth , is it not all one ? ) that would have saved the labour of a Sale : however , there was in it an express Consecration of Lands , for so Beza very well notes upon the place , that Praedium Domino consecraverant .

45. And the Lawfulness of it must needs stand with all the reason in the World : for , shall it be lawful to give Lands to maintain a Bridge , or a High-way for perpetuity , ( To which against the ancient Law , * * See above , pag. 48. the Clergie are now angariated ) and shall it be unlawful to give the like to maintain a Church-man , or a Church ? Shall Lay Donations made to secular men ex mero motu , or ex Intuitu Charitatis , be valid , and those be decreed invalid that are made to a Clergy-man ex intuitu Religionis ? we may justly be afraid of offending , in doing such Monsters of men , the honour to confute them with so much reason , that deserve no other Confutation then that of the (f) (f) Isa. 5.20 . Prophet , Wo be to them that call evil good , and good evil : that call good works sins , and sins good works : For unless such men were strangely possest with a Spirit of Atheisme , would they reason the matter thus ? Or use such Arguments as in the Consequence , must needs blaspheme God ? for what ( with God's Reverence and their reproach be it spoken ) would they make God worse than an Infidel , * * 1 Tim. 5.8 . in purposely providing worst of all other sorts of men , for those of his own Houshold ? Belike , all other men , Lawyers , Physicians , and all may have a command , or at least a permission lawfully to possess Lands , onely the Divine may not ? But Ubi scriptum est ? quomodo legis ? where is the Clergy excluded ? had such kind of Law , or Reason , been in force of old , then how could the Bishops have conquered by fair purchase much of their own , and of the Churches Lands ? Turn over the Records , and see , and you may yet read their munificent Erections , and ample Endowments too , not only of most of the Colledges , but also of so many (g) (g) See the L. Bishop Godwin's Catalogue of the Bishops , and in it , for instance , the magnificent Foundations of Hugo de Puteaco , or Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Duresme , K. Stephen's Nephew , &c. An. 1153. Sir H. Spelm. Concil . Cathedrals in England , besides all their other large Religious Donations : This we must needs note , that the simple people may not proudly as well as ignorantly , think that the Clergie's Lands are all of the Laitie's bestowings , but could the Clergy have done all those great matters without Lands , trow wee ?

46. And if the Clergy may as lawfully , nay in some of the premised respects , may more deservedly , and more irrevocably too , than any of the other Estates , possess their Lands , then sure , by the Rule of Proportion , the Deprivation , or taking away of the Church Lands , must needs be an Injury far more hainous in the sight of God and Man , than to take away the Lands of Barons , of Knights , or Lawyers , or Physicians , or any : So far were such an Act from being either no Sacriledge , or no sin at all , that 't is a wonder any man , that pretends to reason , should affirm any such thing Impunè , especially in a Christian Common-wealth , ( for even in Plato's Common-wealth , (h) (h) Plato 10. de Legib. we know such a man hath his doom . )

47. But more strange it is ( if in these African days any thing may seem strange ; ) that any should dare to offer unto Masters of Reason no better Arguments , for such a high attempt against God and Man , and all the just Laws of both , than such as very Boys are hissed for in the School , or worse , a Pedantical Etymology , or so ; Forsooth , the word Theft was more properly of things moveable belike , because things moveable are more portative than Lands or Houses , and so that kind of Theft was more easie , and so more likely , and so usually more in the notice , and care , and censure of the Law to provide against , therefore to take away a Penny from a rich man , is a sin indeed , and a sin of Theft too , but under-hand by false witness , or close forgery , or a packt Jury , or with an high hand , by oppression and open violence , to rob an Orphan , or a Widow , or a School , or an Hospital , or all these , of all their Lands , that is no sin at all , much less all at once to take away for ever from a whole National Church , all their Lands and whole Livelihoods , ( as lately . )

48. Good God , how ill art thou requited for endowing such men with Reason , that abuse it thus ! Sure such a Spirit of Delusion in the Patrons of Sacriledge , must needs be a just judgment of God , because they will not receive the Truth , therefore God gives them over to such a Reprobate mind in the Active sense , that is to a (i) (i) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. e. In mentem Judicii expertem , sensu activo . Beza in Rom. 1.28 . mind unable to prove or tast Truth from Falshood , Reason from Caption , Consequence from Inconsequence : God gives them over to such a senseless stupefied judgment , thus to reason themselves , and others , not only out of all Religion , and common Honesty , but even out of all common sense and reason too : so dangerous it is once to go astray in Judgment or Practice from the Common Road of the Catholick Church .

49. For , not to Grammaticate it about the exact value of the word Furtum , or Sacrilegium , ( wherein yet out of Lexicons , or Vocabularies , they may possibly be convinced of falshood : ) For (k) (k) Isidor . Orig. l. 5. c. 26. Sacrilegium est Sacri violatio , vel ejusdem usurpatio , committitur quandoque ratione rei , quum res sacrata usurpatur : quandoque ratione loci , ut quum Ecclesia violatur , &c. v. Lexicon Martinii more at large . Manifestum Furtum est , ut ait Massurius , quod deprehenditur dum fit . Quod autem sit Oblatum , quod Conceptum , & pleráque alia ad eam rem , ex egregiis veterum moribus accepta , qui legere volet , inveniet Sabini Librum , cui titulus est , de Furtis , in quo id quoque Scriptum est , non tantum rerum Moventium , quae efferri occulté & surripi possunt , sed Fundi quoque & Aedium fieri Furtum : Condemnatum quoque Furti Colonum , qui Fundo quem conduxerat , vendito , possessione ejus Dominum intervertisset , &c. A. Gellii Noct. Attic. lib. XI . Cap. 18. Sabinus the Lawyer , in A. Gellius , expresly extends the word Furtum , or Theft , to things moveable , to Houses or Lands , and instanceth in a Farmer condemned of Theft , for selling away his Farm ground , to the prejudice of his Earthly Landlord : ( The more it concerns us of the Clergy , as much as lies in us , not to be Accessary by our Silence , much less Consent to the Alienation of those Lands , whose right of property in Solidum , belongs unto our Heavenly Landlord . ) Which weighty Consideration of our Conscience and Duty to God and his Church , may not only justifie but magnifie to God and the World , the Care and the Courage , the Cost and the Pains of those valiant Priests ( as the Scripture Epithets them in another case , 11 Chron. xxvi . 17. ) that do by due course of Justice , vindicate and recover the Churche's Patrimony from those late Sacrilegious Invasions , that by a monstrous kind of Transubstantiation had turned Lease-holds for years , into Freeholds of Inheritance , and Tenants into Landlords ( Thanks be to a good God , a good King , and a good Parliament that by an happy Restauration hath broken the Damme , which formerly obstructed the course of Justice , that now ( according to God's Command , Amos v. 24. ) Judgment may run down as waters , and Righteousness as a mighty stream . )

50. But to return to our Grammar-Boys : Posito , that the word Furtum were properly no more but so , Contrectatio rei alienae Mobilis , ( l. furtum de obligat , quae ex delicto : ) That 's only for the word , but what is all this to the matter ? Will it therefore follow , that Robbing Nabo●h of his * * 1 King . xxi . Vineyard , was well done of Ahab , and no sin at all against the eighth Commandement , Thou shalt not steal ? Because Naboth's Vineyard was no res Mobilis ? By as good Reason may they affirm Incest or Sodomy , or Bestiality ; or any villany , to be no sin , or at least no sin of Lust against the seventh Commandement , because not properly Adulterium , according to the Grammaticality of the word .

51. It is a Sin , and Theft , and Sacriledge , and all these , to steal but a Chalice . ( Thanks yet for granting so much ) or to take away a Church-Book , ( for these and no better are their own Instances ) and shall it be no sin at all to take away those Lands , that should maintain the Service or Servants that must serve God with all these ? what is this , if it be not to strain at a Gnat , and swallow a Camel ? Ridiculous Pharisaisme , as well as Devilish hypocrisie !

52. To commit Sacriledge is a Crime which alone is damnable per se , but to teach men so to do , that is the Superlative of all wickedness ; Sure , such men do scarce believe there is an Hell ; or a Kingdom of Heaven ; or if they believe it , and yet break the greatest , yea all Gods Commandements in one , do not they fear God ? when he swears , that whosoever shall break one of but the least of these his Commandements , and shall teach men so , he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven : which ( as (l) (l) Grot. in Matth. v. 18 , 19. Grotius well observes ) is not meant of the Place of Heaven , for such men , except they repent , shall never come there , but of the Time when the Kingdom of Heaven shall be fulfilled at the end of the World , in the great Oecumenical Parliament of Heaven and Earth , after the general Resurrection , they shall be nothing esteemed of there in that World , however they may be cried up here , for wise men among the Fools of this World .

53. Whom yet to teach more wit at least , since they have no more grace : Behold , ad hominem , one Argument more for those kind of men , whom neither Scripture nor Reason can do good upon , 't is Experience , the Mistriss of Fools , and yet full out as good , and as great a Dame , as Mistriss Necessity , is this Mistriss Experience , especially if the Experience be Universal , such as the Experience of all Ages , in all Places , of all Persons , single and multiplied too ; I mean , not only of so many several men , but of whole Families , yea of whole Nations .

54. For did you ever read , or hear of any that did Rob God , and indeed thrive of the Bargain in the end ? Then what mean all those fatal Examples of God's heavy Curse upon so many as have ventured 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Plato phrases it , to shave this Lion ? whose dismal ends recorded in all History , as well sacred as prophane represent them , as it were , hanged up in Chains , for a terrible warning unto all Posterity , like so many black Monuments of God's deadly Curse Personal , Domestical , National , all these .

1. That the Curse will be Personal , besides the Achans , the Shishak's , the Belshazzars , &c. of the Old Testament , and the Ananiasses of the New : most memorable is that fatal Curse that found out all those Persons that medled with the Temple , after it was repaired by Darius ( whose Consecration and Curse too , were both of them valid , though he but a Heathen : ) It was a Curse in the Form of it , of the largest extent , upon whomsoever they should but * * Plaut. Manum admoliri Sacro , as the phrase is , or but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( so (m) (m) 1 Esdr. 6.33 . Esdras ) not only upon those that shall actually destroy or alter God's Possessions : but also upon all that shall but go about to stretch forth their hand , ( Jeroboam (n) (n) 1 King . 13.5 . did no more but so , stretch forth his hand against one single Prophet , and yet , for it , did his hand wither in the very Act : ) that is , that shall Intend , or Plot , or indeavour the Alienation , ( so a good Interpreter (o) (o) Joh. Wolph . l. 2. Comment. in Esram . on the place ) or if he do not do it himself , if he do but help others by Counsel , or Consent , or Countenance ; as that Curse of Darius , so this very Text of S. Paul will reach him home what ever he be , for it comprehends all manner of Accessaries , Preparatories , Contrivances , and therefore the Spanish Translation renders it by as large a word as any is in the Spanish Tongue , El que abominas los Ydolos , hazez Sacrilegio ? Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge ?

The word Hazer , which is used for committing , being in that Language 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , multisignificant , as to deal about any way , to cause any way , or to follow others evil example , also to bear , or bring forth , a full word that fits the men of our Generation , for now adays every Addle Brain is turned Church Projector , and is with child , yea Teeming with his own Sacrilegious Bastard-Brat , or false Conception , how to rob God most colourably : but God sees Hearts as we see Faces , and ha●h store of Curses of all sizes , able to adaequate this sin in all its Dimensions ; Zachary (p) (p) Zach. v. 2.3 . tells you of one single flying Rowl of such Curses , twenty Cubits long , ten Cubits broad , expresly sent after the Thief to apprehend him where ever it find him at home or abroad . It were enough to verifie all this , if we had no more but that one memorable Instance of Darius his Curse , that , at the long run , overtook all those Antiochusses , and Nicanors , and H●liodorusses , Maccab. and Crassusses , &c. that durst venture upon it .

55. And indeed ( for this Sea of Examples hath no bottome ) the time would fail me to tell you out of Ecclesiastical and Secular History , of the fatal ends of a Sacrilegious Julian , Blond . both Uncle and Nephew , of a Leo of Constantinople , of an Isaacius Angelus , and of so many more in the Empire of the East , of a Theodebert and his Partners ( out of Aimoinus ) in the West : That I say nothing of your own old Rufus , and his fatal Posterity , nor of your late Allens , and your Wolseys , and your Cromwells , and of your — I had almost spoken it out , but that , as your own several Chronicles (q) (q) Stow. ad An. 1536. and Godwin Lord Bishop of Hereford , ad An. 1540. save me that labour , so I remember , that Lex in sermone tenenda , especially when it concerns Princes that are dead and gone : ( what ever Saul was , yet because once the Lord 's Anointed , therefore David's Epitaph of (r) (r) 11 Sam. 1. &c. Saul is a gallant piece . ) But assuredly as the Apostle speaks (s) (s) 1 Cor. x. 11. All these things happened unto them for ensamples , and they are written for our Admonition , that all men , high and low , one with another , may dread to meddle ( of all other sins ) with the sin of Sacriledge , at least because of the Curse , which is not only so , Personal and no more , but commonly Domestical also ; dilating it self from the Sacrilegious person to his whole Sacrilegious Family , root and branch , because all of them are usually Accessaries more or less : nay , it becomes Epidemical , as in the Sin , so in the Judgment , it spreads it self from Persons to Families , and from Families to whole Nations , if they legitimate the sin : 1. Cor. v. 6.7 . Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? Purge out therefore the old leaven , that ye may be a new lump . 'T is Apostolical Counsel , worth the taking in time by all , whether Persons , Families , or Nations , be they otherwise never so wise ; For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God fulfils all his Works , as I may say , by a kind of exact Geometry , Wisd. xi . 20. In Pondere , Numero , & Mensura , Commensurating his Judgments to the sins : Amos vi . 11. He can smite the Great House with Breaches , and the little House with Clefts , and proportion National Sins with National Judgments . Dr. Gauden above . Some are so Superstitious ( saith a Reverend Author upon this Argument ) as to imagine that Bishop's , and all Church-lands , or Revenues , properly such , ( as pertaining to the support of that Order , Government , Authority , Ministery , Charity and Hospitality , which ought to be in Clergie-men , are like Irishwood to Spiders and venemous Beasts , prone to burst them , so that vix gaudet tertius hares ; nay , though they possess them , yet they do not enjoy them , for nothing temporal can be enjoyed without a serene mind , an unspotted Fame , and an unscrupulous Conscience ; which cannot be the Lot of Sacrilegious persons .

56. We need not remember you that not Ananias alone , but Ananias and Sapphira together were Man and Wife in the Curse : For Zachary is plain for it , the flying Rowl of God's Curse will with all its Dimensions finde passage into the house of the Thief ; nay more , it shall remain there in the midst of his house , saith the Lord , and (t) (t) Zach. v. 4 at last Consume it , with the Timber thereof , and the Stones thenceof : This for God's Curse upon his Material house . As for the Moral house , his Sacrilegious Posterity : Can any of you point out but any one notorious Church-Pirate , whose Family is absolutely free from its share in that sad Hereditary Curse , which ( though upon another occasion ) was pronounced against the house of Joab , so as (u) (u) 11 Sam. iij. 29. there never fails from the house of GOD'S THIEF , one that hath either an Issue , it may be of Blood , ( it may be by Duel , or by Murder ) or else an Issue of Uncleanness , as God is wont to punish the sin of Sacriledge , with giving such men over to some other Hereditary sin , ( the sorest Scourge next Hell ) or one that is a Leper , that hath some Hereditary Disease ; or one that leaneth on a Staff , that is , a Cripple , or a mishapen , deformed thing , marked like Cain , as it were , with Gods own immediate hand : or that falleth on the Sword , that comes to an untimely End , or dies an unnatural Death ; or lastly , one that lacketh Bread , that lives or dies a Beggar : This for the Curse of God upon the Sacrilegious Person 's Moral house , as much as upon his Material house .

57. You of this Island , need not Saile over for Instances in all these severall kinds of (x) (x) Virum magnum , & summâ familiarum Anglicarum , historiaeque antîquae notitiâ praeditum citare testem possumus , quem coràm aliquot viris Intelligentibus & Nobilibus , Religione Protestantibus , ipsum etiam professione Protestantem narrantem audivimus , quo tempore Rex Henricus viij . opima illa Coenobiorum latifundia , ducentis Sexaginta & amplius nobilibus viris , vel gratis , vel permutatione factâ distribuisset , etiam Thomam Norfolciae Ducem , viginti Clientibus suis , qui ei diu fideliter , liberaliterque serviissent , reditum perpetuum quadringentarum librarum Sterlingarum ex aequo repartivisse : ex horum viginti nobilium stirpe superesse adhuc haeredes singulorum , in ipsis haereditatibus quas à Duce , patribusque suis acceperunt florentes : Ex toto autem eorum numero , qui Coenobiorum opibus fuerunt ditati , non superesse Sexaginta familias , quae in bonis perseverant avitis , omnes reliquas familias penitùs eis rebus , quas sic à R. Henrico possederant hodie excidisse : Idque sibi ita notum dixit vir ille Nobilissimus , ut si opus foret , singulos illos posset enumerare — Adeò verissimum est quod vir Ingeniosissimus Bosenus in politicis dixit , Reditus Ecclesiae & Monasteriorum esse velut Aquilarum Plumas , quae , sialiarum avium plumis misceantur easdem velut Igne contractas destruunt , usuique prorsùs Ineptas reddunt . — Ita si Deo dicata misceantur Laicalibus feudis . & ad temporales applicentur causas , adeò non apportant ipsis quicq●am Incrementi , ut etiam temporales Reditus , quibus augendis addebantur non minuant tantùm , verùm & ad nihilum perducant . V. Apostolatum Benedictinorum in Anglia per Clem. Reyner , &c. Tract . 1. Sect. 6. p. 227. Infausta laicis bonorum Coenobialium possessio . God's Curse upon both the Houses ; He that runs may read them in the Capitals of so many Ruinated Families among your selves , who ( if I misapprehend not my Author ) can within the compass of one single County , point out the bare Names , ( for that is almost all is left of them , with much ado ) of above 200. quondam Noble Families , amongst whom King Henry the Eighth did distribute the Abbey-lands by way of Sale , or Exchange , all of them , as we may say , disinherited at this day ; whereas within the same County , of twenty other Families , whose Ancestors were of the Retinue of Thomas Duke of Norfolk , and therefore rewarded by him with the Annuity of 400 li. a year equally divided amongst them , there is not one of those , but to this day , he injoys his Father's well-gotten Goods by way of Inheritance , with improvement , whilest those other Sacrilegious Estates , as if full of Quick-silver , could never yet settle , since the first Usurpation , but in less than three Generations , have changed and ruined too their several Owners over and over : as if that fearful Curse of God denounced by the Prophet (y) (y) Ezek 21 , 27. Ezekiel , against the great City Jerusalem , for their breach of the Oath of Allegiance , and further Rebellion ( to the King of Babylon , though a Pagan King , though an Usurper ) were for ever entailed also of all other Estates , upon the Sacrilegious Family , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 I WILL OVERTVRN , OVERTVRN , OVERTVRN IT , AND IT SHALL BE NO MORE , VNTIL HE COME WHOSE RIGHT IT IS , AND I WILL GIVE IT HIM : A sad Item this , for a treble Curse upon all Sacrilegious Rebels .

58. By this you see experimentally , how God's Curse upon Sacriledge is not only Personal , but diffusive too , over the whole Family , yea Nation that 's tainted therewith .

59. Not to accumulate any more Instances out of that confounded heap of National Examples , ( Pagan and Christian ) who knows ( we have reason to ask the question ) whether the Continuance here of the old National Sacriledge , and the palpable Contrivance of some to add New Sacriledge to the Old , be not the Principal sad Ingredient in this National Cup of God's wrath , which ( do what we can ) must , you see , go round all over , as that deadly Cup of God*s fury , put into the hand of the Prophet (z) (z) Jer , xxv . 27 Jeremy , by way of Embleme , with a command to cause every one , even the holy City , and all , to drink it off ; and a sad Commination too , you shall drink , saith the Lord of Hosts , and be drunken , ( and so we were God knows Drunken indeed , A DEMENTATED NATION , Dead drunk with God's Poculum stuporis , * * Psal. lx . 3. God's Deadly Cup , till we did stagger , and too too many fell down with it , yea tumble one upon another , ) and ye shall spew , and fall , and rise no more , ( Lord have mercy upon us , ) and wherefore all this ? because of the Sword which I will send among you ; That is , the deadly Cup , the Sword , wherewith we are cursed , even this whole NATION ( remember ye (a) (a) Mai. iij. 8. &c. See above . Malachy ) because we have ROBBED GOD. We have , if you mark all , too too just cause to suspect , that this is not one of the least of all our National Trangressions , the Divine Majesty doth almost Vocally admonish us of , in this his so long , so bloudy a Visitation . We were lately robbed of our Estates , of our Peace , of our Truth , of our Religion , of all , because we have robbed God : For this is that Retaliation mentioned by (b) (b) Ex. xxi . 24. Moses , An Eye for an Eye , and a Tooth for a Tooth : So Gods Punishments are still the Anagrams of our sins : In the Analo●y of his Judgments , we may visily read our sins in kind ; it was so of old , (c) (c) See and compare the Histories in Dan. viij . 12. with the ii , iij , & iv Chap. of the Book of Maccab. and also 11 Maccab xiij . 6.8 . and whether the National overthrow of God's true Religion , and Primitive service in this whole Land , were not a sad Memento to us all , of our gross abuse of the very same by National Sacriledge and prophaneness ; I leave it to judge , unto those Consciences that are not yet utterly past feeling .

60. And if so , then to march on still , yea to give fire in the very face of God himself , as it were , to charge on still in despight of God's destroying Angel in our way , were worse than Scythian Barbarousness , even desperate Brutishness below (d) (d) Num. 22.27 . Balam's Ass , that could stop , nay , stoop down at but the sight of that Sword , that hath been so deeply sheathed into our very Bowels , yea , drunk with our own best blood ; spent and spilt in that Sacrilegious War .

61. For we can never find out a fitter Title for that late Unnatural War , than that of the (e) (e) Cic. in Virrem . Orator , Bellum Sacrilegum , ( the Superlative of aggravation ) a Sacrilegious War , in all the Dimensions of Sacriledge , a Sin you see , as of a hainous nature , so of as heavy a consequence : The Demonstration whereof was the second main part of our Pleading , The matter of Aggravation . May we now , Christian Reader , in God's behalf , crave but the Favour of thy Religious patience , whilest we pass thorow the third and last part , which contains the Matter of Probation , and then we have done .

CHAP. VII .

The Confutation of the fair Colours of Religion , brought in to varnish over the foul Sin of Sacriledge .

1. IT consists of these two principal School-heads , to wit , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; The first contains matter of Confutation , or Non-sute of the Adversaries Plea : The second concludes with matter of Confirmation of our own cause .

2. Touching the first , the matter of Confutation , the Adversaries Plea for Sacriledge is a Compound of Pretences , drawn chiefly from the two main Heads , or Common Places of Religion , and Policy . For the first of these , The pretence of Religion , 't is not unusual with the Devil , to transform himself into an Angel of Light , in both Religions : for in the case of Alienation , the Papist pretends Plenitudinem potestatis , Canonical Dispensation , &c. and the like .

3. But seriously and in reason ( to go upon their own Principles ) will a man think that in this particular , the High Priest of the West , can de Jure , pretend to a higher Power under the Gospel , than was allowed under the Law , to the High-Priest of the East ? But however in some kind of vows , ( as the vow (f) (f) Lev. 27.11.13.27 , 28 , &c. Ludovic . Capel . Diatribe de voto Jephta . called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 votum simplex ) the votary might be allowed the liberty of Redemption , in case the thing were not fit for Oblation , ( for else if it were fit , it might not at all be changed : ) and the High-Priest might have the power of dispensation , as it were , in the estimation of it , yea , and commutation too , but still with the Addition of a fifth : yet , in that other kinde of Compound-vows , called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 conceived by way of Anathema with Malediction , such as are generally all our Dedications , Compounded of two distinct Acts , the one of Consecration in their use and end , the other of Execration in their Nature and Effect . In this kinde of Devotions therefore , neither were the Votary , nor the High-Priest himself allowed any the least Liberty , either of Estimation , or Redemption , or Commutation , or Dispensation any wayes : but the thing so devoted , was concluded under the Law of an Irrevocable Devotion .

4. What was thus given to the Church , was of old said to be consigned in Manus Mortuas , the Law , by this Style , may have supposed that the Clergy had no more power to alienate them de Jure , than a dead man can de facto : otherwise , they should be no longer manus mortuae , but manus mortiferae , no longer dead hands , but deadly , and as subject to Gods deadly Curse too , as any Lay-mans , nay more , the quality of the person augments the gradation , and doubles the Sacriledge . This on the Popes , or the Ordinaries part .

5. On the Votaries part , the sin and danger is parallel ; for as the Pope cannot lawfully grant me such a Dispensation , so neither may I lawfully take it : for , say the Pope could dispense with my promise made to the Church , ( that 's the most he could do ) how can he dispense with my promise made to God himself ? being but Gods Assignee , or witness , he can no more free me , really , from my Obligation to God , than a Witness to a Bond can free a Debtor from the payment of the Debt . 'T is the Creditor alone that can dispense with the Debt , not all the Witnesses in the World without him : that I am bound by my Vow , I know it from clear Scripture : That I am loosed from my Vow , let any make it appear unto me from as clear evidence , or else I may not trust to Mans dispensation against Gods right . Thus much to the Papist , a far off ; and God grant we may never have any more to do with him but so , afar off indeed , God in Mercy , prevent the Prophecy , which by their ingratitude to God , and this Church , some men deserve , and provoke , Ne veniant Romani , Amen .

6. But now to lay the Axe to the root of the Tree ; the Puritan ( in point of Religion ) pretends Zeal . 1. Against Idolatry , and is for utter Abolition . 2. Against an Idle Ministry , and is , ( at least pretends to be ) only for Commutation .

7. Touching the first , the Zealot against Idolatry : admit , what we deny , and they can never prove , that the Church Revenues , as they now stand by Law established , are still abused indeed to Idolatry or Superstition , must we therefore utterly down with them all Root and Branch ? Can the Church Lands be worse abused , than the Censers of Corah ? or will you make your Ancestors , the pious Founders , worse than Dathan and Abiram , and their Rebellious Company ?

And yet behold ( after the severe personal Execution of the Abusers ) God expresly gives order , what ? That those Censers because abused , should therefore be presently beaten into Kettles , or Brass pots for the use of the Kitchin ? No , but quite contrary , Ta●● the Censers of those sinners against their own souls , saith the Lord , g g Numb. 16.37 , 38. and let , them ma●e them broad plates for a covering of the Altar ? whatever Mans Ordinance may be to the Contrary , Gods infallible Ordinance is directly , they must be kept still , In genere Sa●●o , for the use of the Sanctuary : And this command God fortifies with a Reason of perpet●al Consequence , as forcible now as then , For , saith he , they offered them unto the Lord , therefore they are hallowed : Behold Gods express Acceptance of the Act , even then when he rejects both the Actors , and their Intentions .

8. Can we expect a clearer Precedent , than is this full Determination of God Almighty upon the Case ? for what , in the substance of that whole History , can they say was Typical or Levitical ?

Sure the Equity , yea Religion of that Divine sentence , the old Law-makers , the wise Founders both of the Civil and Satute-Law , were sensible of . For Jure Institutorum , saith h h Instit. l. 2. Tit. 1. § 8. Schneidwin for one ) Things once given to Religious uses , which cannot now upon some emergent occasions be still so imployed , ( as to maintain Masses for the Dead , or so , &c. ) yet they may not revert to the Donor , or to his Heir , nor be imployed to prophane or common uses , his Reason is , because Quod semel Deo dicatum est amplius ad prophanos usus transferri non debet , sed talia oblata & relicta ad alium pium usum converti debent . I well know , ad hominem , of how little authority this Law is like to be , or indeed , all the good Laws of God and man , if cross to the humour of the men I am now dealing withal . The ground therefore why I quote this Law , and other such like Laws is for the Reason of those Laws , because , Semel Deo dicatum , &c. What was once given to God , must be Gods for ever . And this Reason is expresly grounded upon i i Num 16.38 . See above , page 126. Scripture too .

9. And therefore the Wisdome and Religion both of your better Ancestors , had a special respect unto it , as may appear by two notable Acts of Parliament : the first k k Among the Statutes at large in the publick Library at Oxon. Sta●utum de Terris Templariorum . Coke l. 11. fol. 25. passed almost 400 years ago , in the 17th , of Edward the Second , at the Dissolution of the Templars , which was become Ordo impietatis , and therefore voted down , not by a Private Close-Committee of one single City , or Nation either , but by a general Act of all Christendom . But then what became of all their Lands ? you shall finde in that EXCELLENT Statute , that for their part your godly Ancestors , made a Conscience of turning those Lands into Lay-fees , and therefore did then , and there , upon sundry Reasons of Religion and Honesty both , in that Statute excellently well delivered , to the praise of the Piety and Christian Wisdom of that Age , restore all those Lands to the Church by Act of Parliament . Some of those reasons may be worth your notice , because they may concern you now at least as much as them : The first is , because however those Lands were now abused , yet originally they were giuen to the Augmentation of the Honour of God . 2. For the good of Vniversal Holy Church . Therefore 3. Those honest Common-wealths-men thought themselves bound in Conscience for the Health of their own Souls to preserve them still to godly uses : That so 4. The godly and worthy will of the Givers might be observed in genere , though it could not then in specie .

10. And this fourth Reason is in that one Statute repeated twice for failing : May their good Example be a warning to you all , that it may not rise upon in judgment against you , as against all the rest of this Generation . For the good will of the Dead , the Pious Founders of Holy Places and Portions , is another Sacred thing , and therefore ungodly to alter and to frustrate it , was alwaies amongst all good men held a hainous Crime , as being 1. Impious to the Dead . 2. Injurious to your godly Ancestors : and 3. To your own Posterity It will prove no better than fatal Sacriledge .

Therefore the Determination of that wise Assembly was this , That neither our Lord the King , nor any other chief Lords of the Eees , nor any Persons whatsoever should by Escheat , or by any other means have or enjoy any of those Lands , but they should be still converted , and charitably disposed of to godly uses ; and therefore they were given to the Prior of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , as it were , in eodem genere , though changed in specie . And yet those Templars , to whose Lands your Ancestors shewed so much Religious respect , were no Church-men neither , but Souldiers : How much greater then ought your Care and Conscience to be , for the preserving of those Lands which belong to the Church directly ?

11. The second Act of Parliament you may have amongst your private Statutes , 2. of H. 5. upon the Dissolution of Priors Aliens : The Reason expressed in the Preamble , was ad Intentionem , quod divina Servitia in locis praedictis possent plus debitè fieri per gentes Anglicanas , &c. so that still divina Servitia , was their main care : Therefore 't is observable , that upon the same premised grounds , immediately at the dissolution of those Priors Aliens , the King kept them not in his own hands , but gave them to other religious uses : as for instance , To the Monastery of Shene , ( which he Founded ) to the Dean and Canons of St. Stephen , &c.

12. Say again , that those were Times of Ignorance and Blindness , and that therefore in those times the Impulsive Cause might be meerly Superstitious in the particulars , yet for all that , the final Cause was right still in the general , namely , to honour God , to maintain his Service , &c. as may be seen in all their Evidences and Donations , which ever bear this Clause , Deo & Ecclesiae ; To God and the Church , before there be any mention of any Saint , or other supposed Superstitious use . Now in all Reason , although the Impulsive Cause may cease , yet the Final Cause ceaseth not , nor the good effect flowing from it .

So that far safer it were to minde that , in a reverend respect unto , and imitation of those wise men your godly Ancestors , who took hold of the general Intent of the Pious Founders , however after abused by the particular Successors .

13. And that you may once for all , know directly what that general intent was , Take it in the very words of the old Form of Dedication , yet extant in the Capitular of l l Scimus res Ecclesiae Deo esse Sacratas , qua propter si quis eas ab Ecclesiis aufert proculdubio Sacrilegium comittit . Caecus . enim est qui ista non videt . Quisquis ergo nostrûm suas res Ecclesiae tradit , Domino Deo illas offert , atque dedicat , suisque Sanctis & non alteri dicendo talia & agendo Ita , Facit enim Scripturam de ipsis rebus quas Deo dare desiderat , & ipsam Scripturam coram Altari , aut suprà tenet in manu , dicens ejusdem loci Sacerdotibus atque Custodibus , Offero Deo atque dedico omnes res , quae in hac Chartula tenentur insertae [ pro remissione peccatorum meorum , ac parentum & filiorum ] aut pro quocunque illas Deo deliberare voluerit ad Serviendum ex his Deo in Sacrificiis , Missarumque Solemniis , Orationibus , Luminariis , Pauperum , ac Clericorum Alimoniis , & caeteris divinis cultibus , atque illius Ecclesiae Utilitatibus , Si quis autem eas inde , quod fieri nullatenus credo , abstulerit , sub poena Sacrilegii ex hoc Domino Deo , cui eas offero atque dedico , districtissimas reddat rationes . Ponit etiam in ea alias Conjurationes , quas Enumerare longum est . — Absit ut rerum Ecclesiarum cupiditate , vel oblatione Sacrilegi , aut Anathema Efficiamur , aut talibus Laqueis unquam devinciamur : quoniam scimus Anathematos homines , vel Sacrilegos , non solùm infames , & à Consortio fidelium alienos esse , sed etiam à Regno Dei extorres fieri , non dubitamus . Ut ergo omnis suspicio à nobis auferatur , profitemur omnes stipulas dextris manibus tenentes easque propriis è manibus ejicientes , coram Deo & Angelis suis , ac vobis cunctisque Sacerdotibus , nec talia facere , nec facere volentibus consentire , sed magis Deo auxiliante resistere : — nec cum iis cibum Sumere , nec ad Ecclesiam , vel ad Palatium , aut in itinere pergere , nec nostros Caballos , vel reliqua pecora nostra cum eorum peccoribus , aut ad pastum ire , aut simul habitare , vel manere — ne pro eorum Iniquitatibus unâ cum eis , nos & nostri , quod absit , pereamus ; Scimus enim quia perit Justus pro impio , &c. Ut ergo haec omnia à vobis , & à nobis , sive à successoribus vestris , & nostris futuris temporibus absque ulla dissimulatione conserventur , Inter vestra Capitula inserere Jubete , Capitul , Caroli Magni Wormatiae , lib. 6. cap. 285. Charls the Great , ( a man equally as far from Idolatry as he was from Sacriledge ; witness against it that severe passage of his in his book of * * Lib. 3. cap. 17. de Imag. Images . ) In the Preamble of that Form , the whole generality of the people , doth first of all acknowledge , that whatsoever is given to the Church , is consecrated to God . 2. That whosoever takes away such things from the Church , doth undoubtedly commit Sacriledge : and that he must needs be stark blind that doth not see all this to be so indeed : This is therefore a far greater blindness in any now adays , to doubt either of Consecrations , or of Sacriledge , or of the Effect of the Curses , &c. than was that blindness they impute unto their devout Ancestors .

14. Then follows the Form ; and here first of all , The Founder or Donor layes upon the Altar the Schedule , which contains an Inventory of all his Gifts , or holds it over it in his hand , saying to the Priests and Guardians of that place , I do offer unto God , and dedicate all those things that are contained in this Paper : And these their Donations they do seal up with many a heavy Curse , and second it with the significant Ceremonies of those times , as by scattering of Straw to and fro , the old Rite of Excommunication in allusion to the Destiny of the ungodly , Psalm 1.4 . who are compared to the Chaffe , which the winde driveth to and fro and the like : and those Curses they do lay upon themselves , and upon all those that shall go about to alter or alienate , or but consent to the Alienation , vowing that they will be so far from that , that they will , by Gods help , resist all such to the utmost of their power , and renounce their company man and beast : Their reason is , lest being partakers of their sin , they should for company perish with them for ever .

15. But that which is most observable in the Form , is that after the Repetition of their own particular Intentions , ( some of them it may be Superstitious , and some others right enough , the Corn may easily be winnowed from the Chaffe ) then they sum up all in these general terms , thus , That they Offer it all , for whatsoever shall be pleasing unto God , towards the maintenance of his Divine Service , for the sustentation of the Clergy , and all other things that may be honourable to God , and profitable to Holy Church : Which express general words , with charitable Judges , may well bear the sense of an Implicite Renounciation of all contrary Idolatry or Superstition , or abuse in the particulars , which in them , living then under no better light , may be presumed to be repented of , among their sins of Ignorance . And this with the Premises may serve in Confutation of the first pretence of Zeal against Idolatry for utter Abolition .

16. Follows now the second Religious pretence of Zeal against an Idle Ministry , which pleads for , ( at least pretends to no more but ) Commutation only . For so , this Church-Patrimony which now maintains but an idle Company of Apostolical Bishops and Pastors , shall be far better imployed to maintain a powerful preaching Ministry , forsooth , that shall restore the Purity of the Gospel . This is the Plea .

To which , by the way , ( to say no worse ) 1. Is not this against all Reason and Equity , that the Adversary should take upon him to be both Party and Judg , both of the Charge and of the Change too .

17. But to the Change it self , either they intend to Change for the better , or for the worse ; if they say for the better , then first the Amelioration must be made appear to be clearly such , that in it at the least , finis legis , shall be kept , and Gods Service will be better supported . 2. To do it by way of Addition to it , was once m m Levit. 27.10.33 . Gods own express Direction upon the Case , not by way of Alteration , or down-right Commutation ; God in his Wisdom so ordained it , as suspecting men might change for the worse , even then when they pretend to change for the better , lest therefore a gap might thereby be opened to mens Frailty , or Fraudulency , God would not suffer a man to change at all , no not a good for a bad , but rather to double his offering , if he would needs be changing . 3. They may not only pretend , but intend too to change for the better , and yet through Gods just Judgment upon Changelings , it may prove the worse for the Constitution of this Common-wealth , or other emergent causes ; and if they be not sure to change for the better , as 't is very much to be feared they cannot , then we had as good keep us as we are .

10. But say , Pretences were become very Truths , and that they wiser men then all the whole Catholick Church besides , down from Christs dayes , and upwards too , might haply change for the betrer indeed : yet in a very wise n n Le leggi nuove , anchorche in qualche parte fussero migliori , mancano di quel Rispetto , e di quella Forza , che L'antichita , e la consuetudine sogliono apportare a tutte le cose e cosi a poco a poco , debilitando si ipiu veri fondamenti del governo , conviene facilmente cadere , urtato dall' Ambitione de pochi potenti , O dalla Licenzà del popolo , il quale , perduta una volta la Riverenza verso le leggi , suole spesso insurgere contrà di loro , con nuove e perverse Usanze ; come auv enne in Roma , &c. Mario Favorito dal Popolo contro le leggi , &c. Paruta della vita Politica libro . Terzo . Italian States-man , I finde an old Rule of State , ( consonant to the Rules of Religion too ) which before we change , would be vary seriously pondered .

And this is it : Vpon CHANGES , especially of Government , follow NEW LAWS which though in part , possibly better than the Old , yet will want much of that respect and force or Authority , which custom and Antiquity are wont to procure unto all things and thus by little and little , the very FOUNDATION of Government will undermine it self : so as in time all the whole FRAME OF STATE ( we may say the same of the Church ) will insensibly down to the ground , being justled out by the ambition of a few great ones , or by the licentiousness of the many , the People , who having once forgotten the reverence they owed unto the old Laws , will soon make Insurrection against all manner of Laws whatsoever : The truth of all this is clear , in the Case betwixt the State of Rome , and Marius the Peoples Favourite against the old Laws , &c. Thus far the Italian States-man .

19. And this Forraign VVisdom upon this very Case too , was as I may say , naturalized here by a Royal p p See the Proclamation for the Uniformity of Common prayer before the Book of Common Prayer . Act , for the Authorizing an Vniformity of the Book of Common-Prayer , &c. Established by Act of Parliament , wherein to prevent the Temptation to , and Imputation of FICKLENESS , that GREAT SCANDAL OF STATE , the Royal Admonition runs thus , We do admonish all men , that hereafter they shall not expect , nor attempt any further ALTERATION in the Common and Publick Form of Gods Service , from this , which is now established , for that neither will we give way to any to presume , that our own Judgment having determined in a matter of this weight , shall be swayed to alteration by the frivolous suggestions of any light Spirit : neither are we ignorant of the Inconveniences that do arise in GOVERNMENT , by admitting INNOVATION in things once setled by mature deliberation : And how necessary it is to use Constancy in the upholding of publick Determinations of State , for that such is the unquietness and unstedfastness of some dispositions , affecting every year new forms of things , as if they should be followed in their unconstancy , would make all Actions of States ridiculous and contemptible : whereas the stedfast maintaining of things by good advice established , is the weal of all Common-wealths . Behold a Fort-Royal , strong enough against all such Changes , if but well manned , and maintained ,

20. And indeed the Platform of it was borrowed from the wisest mortal King that ever was , Solomon it is , who gives us all fair warning , saying , q q Prov. 24.21 , 22 , 23. My Son , fear thou the Lord and the King , and meddle not with them that are given to change : The Precept is backed with an ominous Prophecy , For their Calamity shall rise suddenly , and who knoweth the ruine of them both , ( both Changers and Medlers : These things also belong unto the wise : as wise as some men may think themselves , were they as wise as Achitophel , they may need ; and they should take this wise counsel betimes , lest they prove Achitophels at their latter end .

21. But if Solomon had not given us this fair warning , we may know those mens good meaning in the Change , by their Intentions and Endeavors too , ad ultimum Potentiae , expressed in the Bill for Abolition offered at Uxbridge : r r A full Relation of the passages concerning the Treaty at Uxbrige , &c. p. 160. Exchange is no Robbery , was once your Proverb , but our late sad Experience of those Reformers good Intentions in the change , may have taught us more wit , then still to believe words : As once the Orator , so may we now justly cry out , Quid verba audio cùm facta videam ? let their Actions speak , and they 'l speak loud , and tell you what goodly Change they mean to make . Behold , Testimonia rerum , & loquentia signa : In two late flourishing Kingdoms at once , as in a two leaved broad Glass , you may clearly see , that , under pretence of Commutation , they have at last , compassed their great Project of utter Confusion , in the utter abolition of the chief Offices , and Sacrilegious Conversion of the Church Lands , and Revenues , to their own proper Lay Vses : Except it may be Offam Cerbero , here and there a bone cast , to stop the mouths of such as otherwise would bark out against their crying sin of Sacriledge . For as an s s Non alio censendi Elogio sunt , quos Templorum & Sacerdotiorum Opulentia ad fidei dogmata novanda illexit , qui suos Pseudopastorculos aliqua divitiarum particulâ asperserunt totum ut ipsi devorarent Impetuè . Contzen ad Rom. cap. 2.22 : Author upon our Text saith too truly ; They deserve no other Epithet , whom Covetousness hath allured to Innovate all in Church and Religion , and all out of a hope thereby to inrich themselves with the rich spoils of the old Church and Religion , under pretence of sprinkling their false petty Shepherds with a few drops , that so themselves without controul , may swallow up all . Of some of our Reformers , Pudet haec , & dici potuisse , & non potuisse refelli .

22. But in such a case , should they , or we all hold our peace , very Heathens would open their mouth , and plead Gods Cause for us against them : would you think a t t 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Plato de legib. lib. 10 principio , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , De Sacrilegio . Plato , by the meer light of nature could charge such a kinde of Sacriledge with flat Atheism ? Whosoever ( saith he , speaking there expresly of Sacriledge ) wrongs the Gods any of those waies , he must of necessity be guilty of one of these three crimes , either he absolutely thinks there is no God at all : or secondly , that if there be a God , that he is a God careless of what is done here below : or thirdly , That this God is nothing so just or so terrible to offenders at the world is made believe , but either corrupt , one that will be bribed in his own Cause , or a very tame facile God ( with all profound reverence , be this but repeated to the Conversion or Confusion of the Authors of such Atheistical Opinions and practices : ) a flexible God , whom you may offend at pleasure , and re-appease as you please with a few good words , for many bad deeds . God deliver us from such a Childish ridiculous Religion , nay , from such damnable Atheism , in thought , word , or deed : for as the x x Vel Deos non esse , &c. — vel illos praeter aequum & bonum Muneribus & precibus conciliari : Illa enim absurda Deo attribuere , est negare Deum : Joh. Serran . in Platon . Glossator of this Text in Plato well comments by such carriage towards God , in attributing such absurdities unto God , what is any one , the least , of all these three wayes , but utterly to raze down the Foundation of all Religion , and even then , when in words we profess a GOD , in WORKS to deny HIM , as the y y Tit. 1. ult. Apostle argues the Case ?

23. And as for t' other part of the pretence , the powerfulness of their Ministry and the Purity of their Gospel , &c. will you take our Lords Advice ? Then judge of the Tree by his Fruit , for z z Mat. 7.16 . by their Fruits ye shall know them , saith the great Shepheard and Bishop of our Souls ; and there he speaks directly of Teachers too , and bids us judge of the Doctrine by the Fruits it brings forth , be they good or bad ; and who sees not that since those powerful Preachers came up , ( we speak of the generality of them ) we had more Christian Blood shed , we had more Spirits of Error , conjured up within the Circle of this one Island , ( to the credit of the Cause be it spoken ) and within the compass of one Triennium , the span of one three years of Schism and Rebellion , than was raised in the whole Christian world besides ( all circumstances considered ) in thrice three hundred years .

And now having confuted their holy pretences drawn from colours of Religion , we pass on to examine their State-Wisdom , consisting of four points of Policy , as it were the four Elements that make up the whole compound of their Plea for Sacriledge .

CHAP. VIII .

A full CONFUTATION of three Reasons of State , or Pretences of Policy , for the Practice of Sacriledge : namely , 1. Justice upon Delinquents . 2. Publick Peace . 3. State-Necessity .

1. THe first is a pretence of Justice upon a Delinquent Party . The second a pretence of Peace to the whole Kingdom . The third , a pretence of State-necessity . The fourth , a pretence of power Legislative to dispose of the Church Revenues , as they see cause . These be the Ragioni di stato of our English Machiavels .

To all which first in general , Super totâ Materiâ , we may well preface with the honest Observation ( you may call it an Oracle ) of that Noble Venetian Knight , Paulo Paruta , In questo corrotto seculo con certo vauo nome di RAGION DI STATO , si vanno spesso perturbando , e confondendo tutte le cose humane e divine : That is , In this Corrupt Age , N. B. under pretence of a certain vain thing , called REASON OF STATE , men too too oft go on so far , till have troubled , yea confounded all humane and divine matters : Thus he . But e're we encounter them , we had need to pray , from such States-men , and from such reasons of State , as will make true Religion but a stalking Horse to false Policy : Good Lord deliver us . Once you may be sure of this , that one day you shall not be Judged by your vain Reason of State , but by your True Religion to God , and Real Reverence to Holy Church under God .

2. To the particulars : One doth well define Sacriledge a coloured Theft , under pretence of Law : To begin therefore with the first Pretence , 'T is the Pretence of Justice upon a Delinquent Party , accused of two Crimes . 1. Of old Collusion and fraud at the first original Purchase of those Church Revenues . 2. Of another great new Crime , since , called Malignancy , which is in plain English , a compound of Religion to God , Duty to the Church , Loyalty to the King , This is that terrible Chimaera , Malignancy ; the fear whereof , far more than the fear of God , or of the King , hath already Conquered , and now possesseth the Hearts of the People , the Heads of some Peers , and the Tail of the Priests .

3. To prove the first the Collusion , they 'l tell you that of old the Priests took advantage of the simplicity of the times and of the men , when both were at the worst : and men ●awned upon , or frighted , upon their death-bed were fraudulently perswaded to do they knew not well what : and clearly to prove all this , they produce strong evidences , such as , for instance , the merry Case of Naples , &c. and the like . This is the Plea , coloured with the odious imputation of Covin , Covetousness , and Ambition in the Priest , Blindeness , and Superstition in the People .

4. I am confident men are too rational , to expect we should confute this seriously : But yet how do they evidence the Collusion ? for first , a wise man would think it hard for a third Person , to tell what passes betwixt a Penitent and his Confessor ; especially the Penitent dying upon it . But 2. Admit there had been fraud indeed in some one odde case or other , ( for to affirm this universally of all Church-Donations , were both very untrue , very Immodest , that we say not impudent and very uncharitable ) although the particular intent might be bad in the deceiver , yet at least for the general of it , the Intent might be good , and Religion in the party deceived , viz. To further the Service of God , and the salvation of his Soul , as we have * * See above page proved before . 3. Why may not we in such a case , for Gods Interest , and the Right of the Church , say as you say in your own Law , for the Right of your Client , or the Interest of the Common-wealth , BETTER A MISCHIEF , THEN AN INCONVENIENCE : Better suffer some such one private injury , than open a publick gap to Sacriledge : as it was better for the Princes of b b Joshua 9. See above page Israel , though circumvented by fraud on the Gibeonites part , yet to keep promise with the Deceiver , than to open a gap unto Perjury , and the penalty attending upon perjury . But Ex abundanti in one respect more , the ground of both those cases may be one and the same , namely , because , * * Semel Sacrata vero numini , per veram Ecclesiam , prophanari rursus , aut in fiscum redigi non possunt . Wesebec . paratit. c l. 1. T. xi . § 4. Semel Deo dicatum , what is once given to God , must be Gods for ever : For was not this the very case of the Gibeonites , where , besides the Interposition of an Oath , à parte antè , there was also the addition of a Dedication , à parte post ; they were given to God , and even therefore afterwards c c Ezra 2.43 . those Gibeonites were called Nethinims , from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 which signifies to give , because they were given for the service of the Temple , To be hewers of wood , d d Josh. 9.27 . and drawers of water for the Congregation , and for the Altar of the Lord . 'T is true , their Office was for the matter , but vile and base , as may appear by that proverbial speech among the Jews , f f Deut. 29.11 . From the hewer of thy wood , unto the drawer of thy water : yet bebold so many hundred years after , how severe an avenger God was of the injury done , though by a King unto his Nethinims : and if God be so tender over his water-bearers , will he not much more avenge the blood of his High-Priests ? This by the way , upon occasion of the parallel of the Gibeonites fraud with the supposed deceit of the old Priests in the obtention of those Testamentary Donations .

5. But fifthly and lastly , admit the charge of Collusion be false , and the case not so indeed , ( as for the general , the contrary is most apparent ; ) then under pretence of Justice , what an extream Injustice is this , Invito donatore , Who being dead , yet liveth , in his last Will and Testament : for if an Apostle may be Judge upon the Case , a Testament is of force after men are dead , ( Heb. ix . 17. ) Invito donatore , I say , and Invito possessore too , and both bona fidei , in despight of God and man , feloniously , to take away the Churches Right , yea , Gods own Inheritance ? g g Deut. xviii . 1 , 2. Inter pares , so to do , were high Injustice , though but a violation of a civil contract , or stipulation ; how much more heinous then must the usurpation be against our Superiour , yea , against the Supream Lord , the God of Heaven and Earth , whose Right , by all Laws is absolute , Irrespective , Independent . This is the very Argument of King Withred , in his h h Scimus & veraciter extat , ut si quid s●mel acceperit homo de manu alterius in propriam potestatem , nullatenus sine Ira & ultione illud dimiserit impunitus . Ideò horrendum est hominibus expoliare Deum vivum , & scindere Tunicam ejus , & haereditatem ejus , quotquot ex aliquo concessum ei fuerat de terrenis substantiis . S. H. Spelman in Concilio Magno Becanqueldensi , sub Withredo Rege Cantii , A. C. 694. Council of Becanceld , almost a thousand years ago . And thus much in answer to the Imputation of Collusion , and the first pretence of Justice against it .

6. As for the second point of Delinquency , the charge of Malignancy : God forbid but offenders indeed , such as have really violated the known Laws of God or man , should have condigne punishment , and Imprimis Church-men . So the Trial be Legal , and the Triers ( according to your own Law ) k k Magna Charta , 9 H. 3. S. 29. Juries ought to be persons considerable and knowing , they anciently used to be twelve Knights . So sayes Sir Edward Coke in his Comment upon Littleton's Tenures , citing Mr. Lambert — The meaning of Legalis Homo , to qualifie him of a Jury , is not , nor formerly was , meant to be only a man of 40 s. per annum , but to be at least in some good measure , In Legibus peritus , as some are of opinion , and so as it were a kinde of assistant to the Judge . This is the observation of a wise man , Nomine & re . Sir Robert Wiseman in his learned Book of the Law of Laws . Edit. 1664. Notes touching the alteration of some Law● , p. 116 , 117. homines legales & pares , and therefore not parties , or enemies , against such Jurors the Law will allow of a principal challenge : Lastly , so they be tried not ad placitum , but by the old standing Rule , The known Law of England ; which , to define out of that known Author , ( Doctor and Student , Chap. 4. ) must be grounded , 1. On the Law of Reason . 2. On the Law of God . 3. On the general Customs of the Realm . 4. On the Principles , or Maxims of the Law . 5. On particular Customs . 6. On the Statutes , or Acts of Parliament . All which above , have put in their Plea for the Church .

But secondly , if bare Accusation may serve the turn , who can be Innocent ? especially , if by the Faction or Malice of a prevailing party , stilo Novo , he be called an Offender , who is most Faithful to God , most Dutiful to the Church , and most Loyal to the King . The pretended crime hath been published , and really punished also , any time these seven and twenty years , and 't is to prove yet .

Thirdly , If some of the Clergy were guilty , yet sure not all ; all are not such , and by what Law of God or Man , must the Righteous suffer meerly for the wicked . The l l Ipsa Communitas non potest Excommunicari . Aquin. Suppl . 22 , 5●0 . School determines it unlawful to Excommunicate an whole University , or Corporation , because of the possible mixture of some good with the bad , how much less to Excommunicate a whole Community to all Generations , and can it then be lawful hand over head , to deprive a whole Tribe , Gods own Tribe , with their Wives and Children , and all for ever and aye , without hope of redress , or recovery .

Fourthly . Say all this whole present Generation of Clergy-men were really guilty of all the Crimes laid to their charge , and guilty every man of them , what is this to future Succession , out of all doubt innocent as yet ? Personal Delinquency may forfeit the Personal Right of the present Incumbent , the Offender ; but it cannot forfeit anothers Right : By the Laws of other Nations , ( and as I am assured by your m m The Law is clear , if a Clergy-man commit Treason or any other capital offence , he forfeits not the Right of his Church , but only the present profit during his own life , or Incumbency . See Stamford's Pleas of the Crown , 187. own Law too ) the forfeiture can extend no farther than the Title : Now whatsoever a Clergy-man possesseth , is all in Jure Ecclesiae , and Jure Dei : is all in the Right of the Church , and in the Right of God .

7. As for the first , Jus Ecclesiae , the Personal Delinquency of a Clergy-man can no more forfeit , or impeach that , than the Guardians personal offence can prejudice his Ward under age : for in this sense you say , the Church is alwayes under age , alwayes a Minor in the World : God's , the Kings , and the States Ward : God , the Supream Guardian of the Church can and will defend his Ward , let the under-Guardians look to it , as they will answer the Supream . 'T is both the comparison and conclusion too of your own n n Ecclesia semper est infrà aetatem , & fungitur semper vice minoris , nec est juri consonum quòd infrá aetatem existentes per negligentiam custodum suorum , exharedationem patiantur seu ab actione repellantur . Sir Edw. Coke , super Magna Charta , page 3. Lawyers upon the case , grounded upon divers Records ▪ best known to your own selves .

8. And as thus in respect of the Church , no Clergy-man can forfeit the Lands and Revenues which he enjoyeth only in Jure Ecclesiae : So fifthly and lastly , much less in respect of God : for a Tenant for Life or Years , can but forfeit his own Lease , for his own time ; he cannot forfeit the right or property of his Tenement , that belongs to his Land-lord : How then can any mans fault forfeit Gods Right ? for we have proved it before by Gods Law , and ( as we are given to understand it from some of your own sages ) by your own Law too , that of all Church Revenues God is really the Proprietary , the Clergy but the Vsufractuary . This is enough to tear off from the painted face of Sacriledge this first Vizard , the Pretence of Justice upon Delinquents .

9. From the premises may clearly appear , how impertinent , and unjust some men are , who maliciously mis-apply against our Prelates and Church men . Some vehement declamations , and disputes of John Wickliffe in the 17th . of his 45. Articles , and John Huss 43. Arguments against the Temporalties of the Church : without any due or just Consideration , either 1. of the Time when , or 2. Place where , or 3. the Parties against whom , or 4. the Matter about which , or 5. the manner how far , either John Wickliffe , or John Huss delivered those Positions : Any one of which single Circumstances soberly , and ingenuously pondered , doth quite alter the Case .

For 1. As for the Time , it was when the Clergy so superabounded in their Revenues , that a Law seemed necessary to interpose , and restrain the Oblations , by Mortmain , p p Stat. of Mortmain , 7. of Edw. 1. When the people brought much more then enough , as in Moses Case , Exod. xxxvi . 5. when the people were so liberal of their Oblations , and Donations unto the Clergy , That , to phrase it with S. Luke , chap. vi . 38. in an higher sense , they seemed as it were , pressed down , shaken together , and running over into their bosoms . But now the case is altered , there is no great fear , in this our Age , that the people will over-do in this kinde . The notable Subtractions from the Bishopricks , and Deans , and Chapters in the last Age , the multiplied Prescriptions through Covin , or Cowardise , the Conversion of Lease-holds into Free-holds , by incroachments , the Decayes of Church-Rents , the easie Pines of the Church-men ( in comparison of Lay-Land-lords ) the Aggravations by servile Taxes , never heard of before , now of late laid upon the Clergy , such as Bridge-money , Roague-money , and the like . These ( and much more could be said ) may sufficiently secure the State from the Clergies Exceedings : therefore , Distingue Tempora , is a wise rule to silence the Objectors .

2. As for the place , John Huss , ( Arg. 32. ) fixed his Assertions in the Kingdom of Bohemia ; whereof he affirms the Clergy had a fourth , or third part ; from which proportion the Clergy of England ( though very thankful to God and the King for what they have ) are very far , perhaps upon honest computation , not the thirtieth part , all Reprises duly deducted .

3. The Parties , against whom John Wickliffe , and John Huss positions were directed , were the Popish Prelates , Abbots , &c. Shavelings , as John Huss , Arg. 42. out of Hildegardis Prophecy tearms them , ( i. e. ) Monks . The whole scope of both John Wickliffe , and John Huss Positions is against such Clergy-men , who did both usurp , and also plead Exemption of the Clergy from the Kings Authority , N. B. as over their Persons , so over their Possessions : Whereas the Clergy of England have better learned Christ since , ( Rom. xiii . 1. ) They know , and acknowledge , that Omnis Anima , Every soul must be subject to the higher Powers . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to St. Chrysostoms Loyal Gloss upon the place , Though he were an Apostle , though he be a Bishop , yet must he be subject to the Higher Powers : and therefore our Prelates and Church-men , do not only profess , but also swear due Subjection and Allegiance to the King , as Supream in both Respects as over their Persons , so in all Causes , and therefore over their Possessions : Bp. Andrews , Tortura Torti . Bp. Morton's Causa Regia , &c. Our Prelates do not only practice due subjection in both these , but also to their Power , Protect the Kings Supremacy , with their Pens and Learned Writings against all Opposers on the right hand and on the left , against all , whether Anabaptists or Papists ; so that to confound our Prelates and Church-men , with those Prelates and Church-men in John Wickliffe's and John Huss times , is a malicious Plot. Certainly , here , if any where , Comparisons are odious : To argue thus , from the left to the Right , what is it but Crassa ignoratio Elenchi : a fallacy exploded in the very Schools .

4. The matter about which both John Wickliffe and John Huss frame their Arguments , is the Clergy offending habitualiter , that is , as ( Wickliffe explains it ) which continue in the custom of sin , and will not amend ; and John Huss ( Argument 2. ) instances in Rebellion against the King , and ( Arg. 24. ) Treason , as in the case of Bishop Judas Iscariot ( as he terms him ) Heresie , as Pope Leo ; Rapos and other such grievous Crimes ( enumerated also by the Author , in the title of his Appendix to John Wickliffe's Articles , &c. with which hainous Matters , Impudence it self cannot charge our Prelates and other Canonical Church-men , who , when tried in the fiery furnace of the late Rebellious , and Sacrilegious Persecution , ( absit verbo invidia ) proved generally the most loyal , and most constant Subjects of all , so as neither Sequestration , nor Deprivation , nor Banishment , nor Torment , nor Death it self could prevail upon them , to make them renounce their due Allegiance to the King : Therefore to tell the King , that to take away their Temporalties is neither Sacriledge nor Injustice , is such a bad office , such an high offence against the Kings Justice , as would deserve some Exemplary Correction , to deter others from the like presumption against my Lord the King , whose Royal Generosity ( so Hereditary to him , from his unparallel'd Father q q

No Prince in the whole world did ever both in word and deed more abhor the Sin of Sacriledge than the late godly King Charles the First : Witness those Divine Lines in his Portraicture , especially Sect. 14. Vpon the Covenant . No man ( saith that King ) can be more forward than my self to carry on all due Reformations with mature Judgment , and a good Conscience , in what things I shall ( after impartial advice ) be by Gods word , and right Reason , convinced to be amiss , I have offered more than ever the fullest , freest , and wisest Parliaments did desire .

But the sequel of some mens actions makes it evident , that the main Reformation intended is the abasing of Episcopacy into Presbytery , and the Robbing the Church of its Lands , and Revenues : for no men have been more injuriously used , as to their Loyal Rights , than the Bishops , and Church-men . These as the fattest Deer must be destroyed ; the other Rascal-herd of Schisms , Heresies , &c. being lean , may enjoy the benefit of a Toleration . Thus Naboth's Vineyard made him the only blasphemer of his City , and fit to dye . Still I see while the breath of Religion fills the Sails , Profit is the Compass , by which factious men steer their course in all seditious Commotions . — Whereupon the King protests his detestation of such sacrilegious Reformation , in these words : " I have alwayes had such a perfect abhorrence of it in my soul , that I never found the least Inclination to such sacrilegious Reformings : yet no man hath a greater d●sire to have Bishops and all Church-men so reformed , that they may best deserve , and use not only what the pious munificence of my Predecessors hath given to God , and the Church , but all other additions of Christian Bounty . Thus that incomparable Prince .

of Glorious Memory ) doth scorn such unworthy Counsel , and Councellors as would perswade the King , against his gracious Genius , to do an Act whereby that Estate , I mean , the Clergy , which suffered most for the King , should now also suffer again by the King .

5. As for the manner , how far both John Wickliffe and John Huss extend , or limit their Assertions : 'T is to be observed , first , that as they both still pre-suppose , as a ground of just deprivation . 1. The notorious abuse of those Revenues , or Temporalties of the Clergy . 2. The Clergies Contumacy , or continuance therein , and all this not pretended , but proved : so secondly , do they expresly limit those , who have Authority to deprive such offenders , when , and how , and how far they may proceed , and enter their Protestation against all Arbitrary Deprivation : for so runs the Preamble before John Huss Arguments : N. B. I do profess , saith he , That it is not my intent , like as it is not the meaning of the Vniversity ( he means Prague ) to perswade , That Princes , or secular Lords should take away the goods from the Clergy , when they would , or how they would , and convert them to what use they list . Certainly John Huss , ( thus protesting ) would never have been of Councel to turn the Church-Lands into Lay-fees ; and therefore to make his or John Wickliffe's case a parallel with this , and to detort their Arguments , as An Ancient plea in justification of the late taking away , and sales of Cathedral Lands , &c. ( which Act was not passed by the King , God be thanked , but by a Parliament sitting against the King ) is a prevarication as bold , as it is strange : tending mainly to vilifie the just owners , and to gratifie some unwary Purchasers , ( to say no worse of them , in reverence to the Law ) who , before their hasty bargain , might have minded the Rule of the Law , Caveat Emptor .

10. And now that by way of Ratiocination , we have sufficiently confuted those pretended Arguments , wrested from the sayings of John Wickliffe , and John Huss , for the matter of Right , it will be very pertinent for the matter of Fact , to make some Reflections upon the History of those times , by way of inquiry , what might be the motive , which set on John Wickliffe to broach that controversie against the Temporalties of the Prelates and Church-men of his time . Somewhat therefore must be observed . 1. Concerning John Wickliffe's Person , and profession . 2. Somewhat concerning his Positions , as they relate to this matter of the Temporalties of Prelates and Church-men , the point in question . And 3. Somewhat also of his chief Patron who set him on to maintain those Positions , and , as it were , did license and authorize both the Author , and his Opinions .

First then , concerning John Wickliffes Person and profession , the History tells us , he was a Secular Priest , Graduate , and Professor in Oxford about the year 1375. and that , for want of a just Title , he was by Simon Sudbury , Arch-Bishop of Canterbury , deprived r r Daniels Hist. of England in Edw. the 3. Fullers Eccles. Hist . B. 4. Cent. 14. of the Headship of Canterbury-Colledge ( now incorporated into Christs Church . ) This Deprivation bred Discontent ( saith your Daniel ) The humor that commonly breeds opposition , and many times hurries discontented men into Schism ( as that Historian wisely observes , and experience both of old , and of late , abundantly confirms . ) This Censure therefore did sharpen Wickliffe's Pen , Contrà Religiosos possessionates ( as Walsingham phrases it ) against Church-men , who had Temporal Possessions . Hereupon Wickliffe vexed with opposition , Fuller . which makes men reel into violence ( as his own zealous Advocate would excuse him in this ) transported with a Polemical heat , when chafed with Disputation , became active in his Sermons , and acts in the Schools , where that 17. Article ( so much pressed on by the Churches Adversary ) was first coined . Here Wickliffe did mainly inveigh against Church-men endowed with Temporalties , especially the Monks ( then not free from scandal , and no doubt , worthy to be taxed , when found Delinquents . ) Moreover Wickliffe stayed not there , but , becoming popular , did 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , drew Disciples after him of the populace , to be taken notice of , and discerned by a new livery , long Russet Coats , and going barefooted , and professing Poverty , with that kinde of Novelty , the more to catch the people , who rather believe then judge : Thus much concerning John Wickliffe's Person and Profession .

Secondly , Concerning Wickliffe's Positions , whereof the occasion , you see , was Deprivation . Fuller adds also his Ambition , because he did miss of the Bishoprick of Worcester , which he aimed at . ( The old quarrel in Church History of some male-contented Priests against their Bishops ) we purposely wave to charge Wickliffe with those Centuries of Articles exhibited against him by Thomas Waldensis , Harpsfield , and others , who might be excepted against for partiality : we will therefore confine our discourse chiefly to two of your own Historians , Daniel , and Fuller , afore-cited . Wickliffe's Positions ( placed by Walsingham at the year 1377. ) Daniel delivers thus . Wickliffe maintained , That neither the King , nor Temporal Lords could give any thing to Church-men in perpetuity : which certainly was an error as full of Injustice , as of untruth : as being opposite to the whole current of Holy Scriptures , both in the Old , and New Testament , contrary to so many Councels , Fathers , Laws of all sorts , Canon , Civil , and to the Laws of the Land , and to the practice of the whole Catholick Church in all Ages , as well as to right Reason , the ground of both Precept and Practice for it ( as is at large demonstrated throughout this whole Treatise especially , Chap. 11. ) Secondly , he maintained , saith the same Historian , That Temporal Lords , in their necessity , might lawfully take away the Goods of Religious Persons . This , if true , ( as he is charged by Historians ) is as contrary to Justice , as to right Reason , to deprive men , whether they be Delinquents or no : But this Doctrine , as it was popular , so it proved very pleasing to great men , Walsingham and Daniel . especially , who commonly imbrace Sects , either for Ambition to get , or for Jealousie not to lose , or for Hatred to revenge ( as your own Historian judiciously observes it ) which fell out to be John of Gaunts Case , and brings us to the third consideration of John Wickliffes namesake , and chief Patron , John of Gaunt , the Duke of Lancaster , fallen out with that eminent Prelate . Godwin , de praesul bus Angliae , Gulielmus Wickham . William Wickham , Bishop of Winchester , Ob causam mihi non ignotam ( saith another good Author ) for a cause not unknown to me , which haply will not be so expedient to record . Episcopum implacabili odio prosequebatur , did thereupon prosecute the Bishop with implacable hatred , and did instigate King Edward the Third ( then decayed through Age ) both to take away all this Bishops Temporalties , and also to except him out of the general Pardon . This quarrel was aggravated by another accident , when John Wickliffe , being cited , came to appear before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury , ( aforenamed ) at a Synod in St. Pauls Church : there John of Gaunt blew up the Coals ( saith Fuller ) and both by Word and Deed , animated Wickliffe , bidding him not to fear the Bishops saying , They were all unlearned in respect of him . Whereupon there happened a fierce contest between Courtney , Bishop of London , and John of Gaunt , threatning the Bishop , that he would bring down the pride , not of that Bishop alone , but of all the Prelates in England : Like another Haman , Esther iii. 6. who scorned to be revenged only on the person of Mordecai ; and therefore did plot the destruction of the whole Nation : Though for this , John of Gaunt was like to have proved another Haman also in the Destiny , had not the courage , as well as the Prudence of that noble Bishop restrained the zealous Londoners , Walsingham and Daniel , quo suprà . who did then so love their Bishop , that , but for him , they had burned John of Gaunts house , the Savoy , and made an end of him also , had he not fled : This is the very truth of Wickliffe's story , concerning which , as we will not affirm , that all the errors imputed to him by the aforesaid Waldensis and Harpsfield , were Wickliffe's Opinions : Christian Charity forbids us to believe that of him : Jer. xv . 19. Because taking forth the precious from the vile , his positions against the Popes Supremacy , Purgatory , superstitious Pilgrimages , and the like , were good Corn , and so far God might make good use of John Wickliffe . But on the contrary , Christian Prudence forbids us to allow of Wickliffe's Chaffe , for the good Corn mixt with it , or to say , hand over head , that all his Doctrines were Gospel , ( as his over-forward Advocate seems to Christen them . Fuller . ) We have learned a better Rule of Judgment from a better Doctor , the Apostle of the Gentiles , Let no man glory in men , ( 1 Cor. iii. 21 ) And again , from another Apostle , ( Jude 16 , ) not to have mens persons in admiration , because of advantage . To shut up this Period concerning Wickliffe's Positions in the words of his own Advocate , Fuller . John Wickliffe was but a man , and so subject to error , as much as other men ; especially all the premises considered , to wit , 1. Wickliffe's Deprivation as the cause antecedent . 2. John of Gau●ts Instigation , as the cause evident of Wickliffe's distemper , against the Prelates and Church-men of his time : Foelix qui potuit Rerum Cognoscere Causas . And thus much may suffice , both in point of Reason , for the matter of Right , and also in point of History , for the Matter of Fact to non-suit every way that unseasonable s s A seasonable Vindication of the Supream Authority and Jurisdiction of Christian Kings , Lords , and Parliaments , as well over the Poss ssions , as persons of Delinquent Prelates , and Church men , &c. b● V●illiam Pry●ne , Esquire . 1660. Book ( that we say no worse of it ) intituled , An ancient Plea in Justification of the late taking away , and sales of Cathedral Lands , &c. and let this close up our full confutation of that first Politick Pretence for Sacriledge ; namely , Justice upon Delinquents .

11. Followeth now the second Politick Pretence , which is as specious as the first . 'T is the Pretence of Peace to the whole Kingdom : A precious blessing indeed , well worth the praying , yea the paying for , is the Blessing of Peace : If it be consistent with true Honour , with Moral Honesty , with Christian Piety , if compatible with the Peace of God , and with the Peace of a good Conscience ; else without these , it were no Peace , ( call it what you will ) but a meer Conspiracy against God , which Christians , of all men , ought not to venture upon , no not to save a World : Except Peace come hand in hand with Honesty , Justice , and Truth , if it be purchased with the counterfeit Coin of Baseness , Falshood , and Wrong , with Robbery , yea , Sacriledge , it can prove no other but an Imaginary Peace , a very Mock-Peace , such a Peace , as more then once we have already been gulled withal , ( and still , Si populus vult decipi , decipiatur ) a Peace in Jest , but the very Preparative of a bloody War in earnest : or rather indeed and in truth , a very sorry , base , sneaking temporary shift , that in the end , through Gods just Judgment , may prove but the Exchange of one Civil War for another , and in the Conclusion of all , the Malum Omen of a Forraign , for a Civil War to boot ( the late case you know . )

12. A strange way of Cure this ! For can any endowed with any spark of Right Reason ( for this time , bate Religion ) imagine to Purge a Land already sick to Death , with the Surfeit of the old Sacriledge , by Repletion , by a new kinde of Sacriledge , and worse ? as if the Iniquity of t t Josh xxii . 27. Peor were too little for us , from which we are not cleansed until this day ? If Sacriledge began the War on their part , ( who , as falsly , as odiously , termed it the Church-War ) can they hope to end it by Sacriledge , otherwise then in the Peoples slavery for the oppression of the Priest ? ( the event you know , proved no better then so ) can we ever hope to recover our Peace , or if recovered , to retain that long , which is so ill gotten ? they say that those sick folks that are recovered by the help of such as they call White Witches , fall again into the same , or worse disease : It needs no application : Martial . Hic rogo non furor est ne moriare mori ?

Is this a likely way to save the Church by destroying it ? Is it not time now or never , to deal plainly and faithfully with you ? for say , do we thrive of the Sacriledge committed in Scotland , attempted in England ? In such a case to hold our Peace , what were it but cruel Vncharitableness towards your own Souls ; damnable Vnfaithfulness towards our God , our Church , our King , and the whole Nation .

13. Think not therefore within your selves , that whensoever we thus speak , we are but Pleading our own private Cause all this while : for ( once for all ) to satisfie you all about it , the Cause is as Important , and as Publick as any Cause in the World ; and therefore , saith Calvin , The Preacher may , nay , ought to be the freer with you all . And the unworthy Advocate that now pleads this u u Nemo mirari debet si toties Apostolus verbi Auditores ad Officium praestandum Exhortari voluit . In quo fuit liberior , quia non ageb●t causam suam Privatam , sed communi Ecclesiae Utilitati consulebat . Aretius & Calvin , in Gal. 6.6 . in baec verba , Communicet qui Catechizatur Sermone , ei qui se Catechizat in omnibus bonis . Publick Cause , before you all , dares in the name of all his Brethren , clear their Priestly Magnanimity , and avouch their Christian Confidence in Gods all-sufficient Providence , assured , ( as the Holy Father St. Chrysostome being once threatned , as we are , Psal. xxiv . 1. with a Sacrilegious Deprivation ) that still , Domini Terra & plenitudo ejus : For our parts , doing our duty , we have all manner of Cause to be secure , that God will never want an Ark for his Noahs , for his Preachers of Righteousness , nor a Zoar for his Lots , nor a Goshen for his true Israelites . We know the worst of it : If God disperse us , he hath ingaged his Power , and his Truth both , that x x Ezek. xi . 16. He will be a little sanctuary unto us in all places , where we shall be scattered : * * This truth the unworthy Author hath to the praise of God , found by fifteen years experience , having so long subsisted abroad , without any supply out of England , and yet with honour , credit , and competency , yea , sometimes plenty , even to the relief of his dear Relations in England , so long defrauded and oppressed by the predominant Rebellious party . But Psal: cxv . 1. Non nobis Domine , &c. Not unto us , O Lord , not unto us , but unto thy Name give the praise . or if that were not , if no room on Earth , yet y y John xiiii . 2. in my Fathers house there are many Mansions ; room enough there for all Gods persecuted Servants , but no room at all there for the z z 1 Cor vi . 9 , 10. Persecutor , for the Thief , the Sacrilegious Thief especially , so far is such an one from the hope of an Eternal Mansion above in Heaven , that he shall not so much as to the third Generation enjoy a settled room here on earth : for as you have heard , of all other sins , Sacriledge can turn whole Families , yea , except prevented , will turn this whole Kingdom and Nation into a perpetual Floating Island , till at last it be quite swallowed up in a Red Sea of her own blood , or worse , ( Deus avertat omen . )

You have seen it already overflow all the Banks , and shall we with Pharaoh , wilfully march on still into it , and pursue till we utterly perish in it ? Know ye not , that in such a case the Righteous Judge of all the Earth hath his a a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Pindar . Magazines and varieties of Plagues , besides the Plague of Civil War , or Pestilence , or Famine ? Yes God hath a thousand invisible wayes unknown unto us , and all the World , as to recover , so to ruine an Empire : and when wicked men shall cry , Peace , peace , even then to fulfil upon them his infallible Prophecy . b b 1 Thess. v. 3. Even then to send upon them all swift destruction , as the Throes upon a woman in Travel , so that they shall not escape it . 'T is Gods own comparison , to note the sudden , the painful , the unavoidable destruction of such FALSE PEACE-MAKERS .

14. Say then , were it wisdom for an overhasty desire of the shadow of Peace to lose the substance : for a little base Carnal Ease , Christened over with the name of Peace , for that 's it most of your vulgar sort of men , or mindes , calls Peace ; for such men are most men , that desire Peace , any Peace , not Peace in the right way , to wit , in order to the Glory of God , the Honour of the Church , of the King , and Nation , and the publick good , but only to satisfie again their own private Lusts : and no doubt , this very Corruption visible in Gods sight , maybe a great Remora to our Peace , which , even in mercy , God may still keep away from us , till he see us fitter for it , and make us more thankful for it , when recovered .

Will you for a moment , to retire per fas nefas , from the edge of Mans material Sword , rush your selves for ever and ever directly upon the sharp point of Gods spiritual Sword , the heavy Curse of God Almighty upon you and yours ? If you dare go on , for all this plain , this fair warning , even therefore God may retard , yea utterly reverse that Peace , you so eagerly press for , so as you shall run your selves quite out of breath , in your own wayes , pursuing after Peace , and never overtake it ; yet however alto consilio , God may dispose of us , if we should lose all , we may preserve , and carry away within our own Bosom , this comfort worth all , That by this plain dealing , Liberavimus animas nostras .

15. But we have cause to hope better things of you ( of the chief of you at least ) and therefore we rather pray for you , that God will be pleased to bless you , and ( if the Decree be not yet gone forth ) all the men of this Generation , from leaving upon Record , as a National stain of poor spiritedness , that base Character of Cowardise , whose nature it is through impatiency , to shift off a present evil , though with the unavoidable danger of a far greater , yea of a final Misery to come in the end : For , as the wise man defines it , this ( base , carnal ) fear is nothing else , but the betraying of the succours which reason offereth ( Wisd. xvii . 12. )

16. Once , be pleased to take this as a sound Maxime of State , as well as of Religion , which a great Master of Reason , a wise man of c c Dieu se courrouce quand nous ne luy voulons pas permettre de disposer de son Eglise comme il voult , ains le voulons prevenir par nostre sagesse : — par injustes moyons & par un Zele Impatient . — Il pourtoit donc bien advenir , que si nous changeons de train Dieu en changera aussy Et comme les moyens par lesquels nous avons pensê avancer nostre Religion l'ont reculee : Ainsy Dieu par les mesmes moyens per lesquels nous craignons estre en Empeschement a nostre Religion l'auancera . Car les grandes oeuvres de Dieu sont to●siours co●tre l'attente des honmes — C'est á Dieu de le faire & non pat a nous . Dieu ne benit iam●is les Action● de ceux qui le veulent prevenir par Impatiente . Examen Pacifique de la Doctrine des Huguenots . Epistre au lecteur . France ) hath delivered touching the Determination of the Civil Wars in France ; ( Wars for Religion too : ) God is very angry , saith he , when men will not permit him to dispose of his own Church his own way , but devise to prevent him by their own worldly wisdoms , ( by unjust means , and by an impatient zeal ) once for all , God never blesses those mens courses , which think to anticipate his Counsels , but rather gives over such Infidels to unjustifiable practices for their impatiency : Thus he .

15. Then , a Gods name , stay Gods good leasure a little while longer , Repent , Reform , Restore every one , all at once , and then put your Life in your hands , God can work great matters by small means , contrary to means , without means : If not , yet with the d d Dan. iii. 18. three children in the fiery furnace , let us put on the Resolution of men , never to be so base as to serve the Vulgar's Gods , or fall down and worship the mad Peoples golden Im●ge , or trudge after the Calves of Rebellious Jeroboam : Rather then such a Peace , rather than so , far better suffer Christianly , and dye gallantly , then do , of l●ve basely . O do not buy a short , base Peace in show , at the rate of a sin indeed , of such a sin as Sacriledge : Make no more haste than good speed , and you shall soon or late finde by comfortable Experience , that God is faithful , who therefore , ( as long as you continue in well-doing ) e e 1 Cor. 10.13 . will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able , but will with the temptation also make a way to escape , that you may be able to bear it .

Say we should be at the last cast , yet who dares say that God cannot help us ? or who is of Gods Privy-Councel to know he will not help us ? Is it not usual with God , when the Enemies are at the highest , and confident all their own , then to step in , and to interpose , and in an instant to quell their rage , with a Hucusque , f f Job 38.11 . Hither shall thy proud waves come , and no further :

18. Behold , ( what our selves with all our own Inventions , could never yet hit on : ) God can yet Command a SVRE , AND AN HONEST PEACE , thus many wayes . 1. Either by Constraint of the Enemies unto Peace , contrary to their nature , Amen : So he turned g g Gen. 33.10 . Esaus heart towards Jacob. Or 2. By Diversion , finding the Enemies work enough elsewhere , so by the h h 1 Sam. 23.27 , 28. Philistines , he diverted Saul from pursuing after David . Or 3. By Division , among themselves at last , so he sent an evil Spirit between i i Judg. 9.23 . Judg. 7.22 . Abimelech and the men of Shechem , and made them to destroy one another . Or 4. By the self destruction of the Ring-leaders of them , as k k 2 Sam. 17. Achitophel hang'd himself . Or 5. By arming the Creatures , ( winde and weather , and waters ) l l Exod. 15.9 . against them , or pleading the Kings Cause with raging Pestilence , or cruel Famine . Or 6. By infatuating their Councels , and making the m m Isa. 19.11 . Princes of Zoan fools to their own Ruine . Or 7. By panick fears , by a Rumour , a meer Imagination , as the n n 2 Kings 3.23 . Moabites were overthrown by occasion of a colour of Blood , caused on the waters by the reflection of the Sun . Or 8. and Lastly , Should all these wayes fail , God can yet command Peace a thousand other wayes , by o o Jer. 31.22 . Creating a new thing in the Earth , as the Prophet phrases it : for of all other Blessings God expresly doth challenge the Blessing of Peace to be his own proper work , saying , p p Isa. 57.19 . 'T is I the Lord that CREATE the fruit of the Lips , PEACE , PEACE , to him that is far off , and to him that is near : If you do really intend to have a sure Peace indeed , then to God you should turn , not from God : By good , honest , and just wayes , you should apply your selves to God every one of you ; for 't is God , and none but God can create Peace , as he did this world , out of nothing in sight , or out of a Chaos , ( such as this our present Confusion ) worse then nothing . Though Miracles in ordinary , be now ceased , yet still in extraordinary cases , God can work Marvails , so we for our part , and in the Clergies own behalf too , say still in our q q Almighty and Everlasting God , which alone workest GREAT MARVAILS , &c. The Collect for the Clergy . daily Prayers .

19. There being therefore yet so many wayes to Peace , why should any short spirited soul , out of despair , or doubting , rush headlong into the way of Sinners ? That ( if we keep our selves from the accursed thing ) one of these wayes God will send us an honest Peace at last , we have great Cause to hope , considering not only the justness of our Cause , which God is concerned in to uphold : but also on the contrary , as the base Treachery , so the Unparalell'd Immodesty , yea , Inhumane Pride of our Enemies , in their hard hearted Rejection of all those so frequent Royal Offers of Grace and Peace ; accumulated as by the Royal Father now of Glorious Memory , so in imitation , by the King , his Son , and Lawful Successor , as in his Kingdoms , so in this Vertue of Clemency ( The Crown of the Kings Crown ) provided it be not abused , Jude 4. as the Grace of God , which ungodly men turn into wantonness . The obstinate refusal of all which Royal Acts of Grace , as it is a sad Symptome , of the Sons of Belial , so to all wise and Religious men , it is a shrewd Crisis , that seems to portend no less then their fatal end at hand : and if so , then what an unspeakable comfort , and glorious will this be to all honest men , that they have had , and held out the Grace of Perseverance , thus long to hold out patiently , and all this while to keep their hearts and hands pure , as well from Sacriledge as from Rebellion ; either of which hereafter may be such a r r 1 Sam. 25.30 , 31. grief of minde and offence of Heart , unto the Sacrilegious Apostates as will soure , yea quite take away all the sweetness of Peace when it comes , and send them full of shame , and sorrow , mourning and pining to their Graves : I pray God all may so believe these Truths , that it may be unto you , even as you will .

20. If so you do , I have a Commission from God , to assure you , however the world goes ; yet s s Say ye to the righteous , that it shall be well with him : for they shall eat the fruit of their doing● , but woe unto the wicked , it shall be il● with him , for the Reward of his hands shall be given him , Isa. 3.10 , 11. that it shall be well with you , and that , if God see it good for you , one of those many wayes , this Course of Patience , ( with perseverance ) will in Gods good time , and that with the inward Peace of Conscience too , without Sin , or Sacriledge , really procure that outward Peace indeed , which it may be you miss all this while , even because Peace is made but the Pretence to perswade unto a necessity of Sacriledge , the third Politick Pretence now to be examined .

21. 'T is the Pretence of State Necessity , in answer to which , first of all , use would be made of a sound Rule , by way of Distinction , delivered by one of the Holy Fathers , t t Bern. Ep. 7. ad Adam . monach. That some things there are purè bona , such as Faith , Hope , and Charity ; so purely good , as that they are alwayes obligatory , so as upon no case of N●cessity whatsoever to be forbidden or forborn . But on the contrary , some other things there are , purè mala , the Father instanceth expresly in Adultery and Sacriledge , as being sins of the same Nature , and things so purely evil , as that upon no Case of Necessity whatsoever to be commanded , or committed . The Reason is clear , because in such a case , betwixt the two extreams , of the Necessity , and the Sin , God still leaves us a fair Medium , namely , to MAKE OF NECESSITY VERTUE , by suffering gallantly , patiently , and Christianly , that Necessity , what ever it be : This is then upon the Case , Gods revealed will , which we ought quietly to submit unto , and to attend , till God himself point us out a lawful way of Deliverance , or of Escape ; else violently , through impatiency , to Rescue our selves out of our Makers hands , were , as I may say , to break the Goal , which a very u u Senec. Heathen would condemn as a most Capital offence , base in the Commission , dangerous in the Consequence , for we can never escape this Goalers hands .

22. In such a case of Necessity therefore , 'till God himself help us out of it , we must suffer , but we may not sin to help our selves , for we x x Rom. 3.8 . may not do evil , though but the least evil , that good may come thereof , though even the greatest good , to save a World : should we presume upon it , then were our own damnation as just indeed , as theirs whom we preach against .

23. For sin is an action of such a Nature , as that Non cadit sub Electionem , it can never become the object of our Election ; be the the Straits of Necessity never so great : this is the plain Determination of the School , as well of Aristotle , as of Christ .

24. For else , once open the gap of Necessity unto sin or vice , and Uno dato absurdo , upon the same ground that now may necessitate us to commit Sacriledge , we may be necessitated to Rebel against our King , and then what will become of our Allegiance ? or such a case may come again ( we play too fair for it by our wilful divisions ) as that we may be necessitated to receive the Popes Mass again , and then what will become of our Religion ? or to receive the Turks Alcoran , and then what will become of our Christendome ? To avoid all which dangerous Absurdities , we must constantly stand to this sound Principle , that there never was , there never can be any Necessity to sin . So that pretend what necessity you will , in this sence , Nemo laeditur nisi à seipso .

25. Therefore in the greatest Straits or Exigences of Church or State , this must be the Rule of all whom it may concern , to put on and to keep the Christian Resolution to suffer , not to Act. Resolve to pass no Act , what ever come of it ; for the Act once past , the sin is Naturalized , and by your own Law , it may then Inherit , nay it must then Inherit , the Curse of God , I mean , upon the Principals , and upon all the Accessaries too , But till then , till you pass Acts of your own , all is yet safe : you may suffer indeed , so did Christ suffer , innocently ; but then you shall not sin , but in both be conformable to Christ himself ; for thus when a man cannot mend the matter , 't is not then his Crime , though it may be his Cross , which shall one day be his Crown , if he be faithful unto Death . Thus much , in thesi , touching the Case of Necessity in general .

26. Now in hypothesi , to examine our own case of Necessity in particular : first of all , notice would be taken , what Devil hath brought the Publick Faith , and us all to this Pinacle of State , to this Precipice of Necessity ; and rather then rashly to yield to the Tempter , or to his Temptation , and cast our selves down headlong , we should ( as our Saviour in the like case ) answer the Devil with a peremptory Scriptum est , Justificabis , y y Deut. xxv . 1. Justum & condemnabis Impium , It is written , thou shalt justifie the Righteous , and condemn the wicked : If therefore Schism and Sedition , Rebellion and Sacriledge be the great Malignants indeed , that have brought us all into these National Distresses , and Publick Debts ; what Justice or Equity , or Reason that Religion and Loyalty , or that the Church should pay for it ? will you have a Royal Determination upon this very case of State-Necessity ? Then hark how our late gracious King , being dead , yet speaketh . * * The Kings Portraicture , Sect. 14. Upon the Covenant . No NECESSITY saith that glorious Martyr ) shall ever , I hope , drive me , or mine , to invade or sell the Priests Lands , which both Pharaohs Divinity , and Josephs true Piety abhorred to do : So unjust , I think it both in the eye of Reason and Religion , to deprive the most Sacred employment of all due incouragements , and like that other hard-hearted Pharaoh , to with-draw the straw , and increase the Task : So pursuing the oppressed Church , as some have done , to the Red Sea of a Civil War , where nothing but a Miracle can save either it or him , who esteems it his greatest Title to be called , and his chiefest glory to be the Defender of the Church , both in its true Faith , and its just Fruitions ; equally abhorring Sacriledge , and Apostacy .

I had rather live , as my Predecessor Henry 3. sometime did , on the Churches Alms , than violently to take the bread out of Bishops , and Ministers mouths . Thus far that great Princes determination upon the case of a State-Necessity : In which case , ( were it really such ) to steer a course so contrary to the Judgment of such a Pilot , what could it portend but a just shipwrack both of Church and State . For if those who should be the Guardians of the Church should betray the Church to the Rape of Sacrilegious Usurpers , would not such a base yieldance incourage Sheba , to blow up his Trumpet of Rebellion once every Triennial ? Do we not see experimentally , that such another Bargain did once again , provoke some to a second Invasion , because they sped so well at the first ? Where Poverty may extenuate the Crime of theft , certainly there Plenty cannot but aggravate it , ( as in Nathans parable of the Ewe-Lamb , King David himself doth pass his Sentence , 2 Sam. xii . 5. ) 'T is again * * If the Poverty of Scotland might , yet the Plenty of England cannot excuse the envy , and Rapine of the Churches Rights and Revenues . — There are ways enough to repair the Breaches of the State , without the Ruines of the Church : as I would be a Restorer of the one , so I would not be an oppressor of the other Under the pretence of Publick Debts . The occasions contracting them were bad enough , but such a discharging of them would be much worse : I pray God neither I nor mine may be accessary to either . K. Charles the I. in the same place above . our Royal Martyrs Argument against this Sacriledge , under pretence of a State-necessity , to discharge publick Debts .

27. But secondly , say that all the three Estates of the Kingdom , Clergy and all have contributed their equal share , to that Mass of publick sin and guilt , that hath drawn down upon us , all these publick necessities and miseries , yet again , I ask , what Necessity or Conscience , or but Reason imaginable that Gods special Demesne alone must pay for all , must be alienated , sold , or morgaged , or as good as utterly annihilated to clear general or common ingagements ? Why should Bishops Lands , or the Revenues of Deans and Chapters make the National Expiation of a National Offence , more than the Lands of Barons , or of Knights , or of Lawyers , or of Physicians , or of Tradesmen , or of any . ( An solus in Adamo peccavit Clerus ? ) There is far less Reason for the one , and ( as anon you sha●l see ) more Scripture for the other .

28. For say , are not the possessions of the Clergy , as Publick as any ? or is it not a Rule ( or somewhat like it ) in your z z Sir Edward Coke , Super Mag. Charta . own Law , that Jura Ecclesiae Publicis aequiparantur ? or will you have England alone , to walk quite Antipode unto the Religious steps of all Christendom besides , that ( as hath a a See above , page 50. and below , p. 165. been above clearly evidenced unto you ) in all common Calamities , would rather , of all others , alwayes exempt their Clergy . No doubt ( as one of your great b b LE LEY ADGRAND POLICIE EN CEO , Car , &c. Sir Edw. Coke , en L'evesque de Winchester . Clerks well observes it of your own good old Law ) out of a wise Conjunction of the Temporal with the Spiritual Policy , as to preserve Religion , so by their good usage of their Clergy , to procure their Prayers , ( Gods own Ordinance to preserve both Princes , and Provinces ) c c That which the PRIESTS have need of , let it be given them day by day , without fail , THAT THEY MAY OFFER SACRIFICES OF SWEET SAVOURS UNTO GOD , AND PRAY FOR THE LIFE OF THE KING , AND OF HIS SONS , Ezra . 6.9 , 10. and by them to derive the influence of the Divine Blessing upon all the other secular Estates .

29. Nay , in a case of such base Notorious partiality , the Jews , even in their worst Estate , may rise up in judgment against this Generation : For , 't is recorded , as highly commendable of the Jews in their greatest Hard-heartedness , Madness , and Sedition , during that horrible siege , straitness , and famine of Jerusalem , under Titus Vespasian , That yet , * * Vsserii Annal. Chronol. as long as they had any Priests , they were not awanting to furnish still the Temple , The PRIESTS , and the Altar of God with that ( Juge Sacrificium ) That daily Sacrifice of the Lamb , morning and evening , which God had once required ( Exod. xxx . 38 , 39. ) till the great Sacrifice of the Messias had finished all by his own Oblation of himself once offered ( Heb. x. 11 , 12. ) which their blindness , and unbelief would not understand : But yet , even in those times of utmost extremity very Jews durst not pretend necessity against duty . Nay , beyond all this yet , Pagan Aegypt it self , would out of the bottom of the Red Sea , rise up in judgment against Baptized England , if so Sacrilegious . ( 'T is the Applicative note of David Pareus , and of the late Assembly-men to boot , upon d d

Rex demensum praebebat Sacerdotibus , ne agros suos vendere Inopiâ ●digerentur . Laudabilis Piétas Regis , etsi enim isti erant falsorum Deorum Cultores ostendit tamen JUS NATURAE ET GENTIVM , postulare haec duo : 1. Ut publicis Dei Ministris ex publico salaria honesta tribuantur , quod ex Jure Divino Veteri & Novo , &c. 1 Cor. ix . 13 , 14. — 2. Ut iidem , Immunitatibus ab oneribus & gravaminibus Publicis beneficio piorum Regum donentur , atque fruantur , ut Officio vacent , &c. — Sed proh dolor , quantum hic peccatur , pauci sunt bodie Rege● & Josephi tam in Ecclesiam Benefici — Sacerdotes : ] ita . LXX . & Onkeli , Josephi , Philonis , omniumque Interpretum testatur consensus . David Pareus in Genesis x. vii . 22 , 26.

This example condemnes the Irreligion of many Christians who shew little Reverence or respect , if not much uncharitableness or contempt towards the Ministers of the Gospel , against whom the men of Aegypt in the day of Judgment shall rise up and condemn them , as Matth. xii . 41 , 42. Annotations , &c. London , 1645. in Genesis , &c.

By these Notes of theirs you may see , once for all , that in these mens judgment , those examples out of the Old Testament are , in point of Equity , pertinent enough to the Ministry under the New Testament .

the Place . ) For in a time of as publick , as general , as tedious , and as extream a necessity as ever did lie upon a Nation ( seven years unparalell'd Famine ) and that also from the immediate hand of God expresly , so as to put bread in their Mouths , all other men else were fain to sell their Cattel , their Lands and all , and themselves too in the end : yet all this while , saith the express Text , and that twice for failing to inforce the Observation : Only the Land of the Priests Joseph bought not , for the Priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh , and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them ; therefore they sold not their Lands .

30. In which Record , you may first of all observe , that the Aegyptian Priests had Lands , for their standing maintenance ; and yet were these but Idolatrous Priests , the Priests of a false God : and can you be Christians and think the Priests of the true God worthy of less , or of a worse kinde of Maintenance then were the Priests of Aegypt ? Secondly , special care was taken , for all the straits of publick and general necessity , that whatever became of the Lay-mens Lands , yet the Priests Lands should be preserved from Sale , or Alienation , belike because the Priests standing maintenance once gone , the Priests themselves could not subsist long after it , and then the God of both Priest and People , would be unserved ; therefore as the Current of Interpreters notes upon the place , N. B. there all the other Lands were morgaged , only or chiefly the Priests Lands were free : Thus amongst Aegyptians ; and must it go quite contrary amongst you Christians , must all your Estates pass scot-free , and only your Clergy become the sole Sacrifice ?

31. Must those men , that for ought we know , have by their Loyal constancy in well doing and suffering , been the Instruments under God , to preserve us a Remnant , and unto this day , to keep this handful of people in their Religion and Allegiance : Must these men , I say , for this their good service unto God and the King , become the whole Nations only Victime ? Would not such a National Injustice , nay impiety , provoke God Almighty , the God of the Priests , to burst open all the Sluces of Christendom , and , without Hyperbole , to let in upon you all that whole Deluge of Turks or Scythians , your other sins call for , to revenge Gods quarrel upon the whole Land , by overflowing such an unworthy Nation for ever , rather than such a National Injustice should go away unpunished even in this world ? Ah , remember the fate of the seven Famous Churches of Asia , and fear , and amend .

32. Thirdly , and lastly . In that Aegyptian History , 't is most observable , that it was principally by Pharaoh's Royal Care , that the Priests Lands were kept unsold , for the Priests had a Portion assigned them of Pharaoh , saith the Text , and would they allow a Christian King less Power or Authority to provide for Christs Ministers , than was allowed to the Egyptian King ? or would they make My Lord the King , worse than the Egyptian Tyrant , worse than t'other Pharaoh , the worst Pharaoh , to sell and betray his own Priests , to whose special defence and protection , the King in his Religious respect to the Laws of God and Man , knows , and , in Royal Duty , thinks himself bound by so many multiplied Tyes , as it were so many Divine Chains , in all his Capacities , Moral , Political , and Spiritual : as the King is a Man , as the King is a Magistrate , as the King is a Christian .

CHAP. IX .

Of the Kings Solemn Oath at his Coronation , which obliges the King as well in Point of Honour , as he is a man ; as in Point of Justice , as he is a Magistrate : and likewise in Point of Conscience , as he is a Christian , constantly to grant , preserve , and defend the Rights of the Church .

1. FOR first ; If you consider the King but as a Man , in his meer Moral Capacity , were it not an unnatural act to betray his best Friends ? those that , to phrase it in e e 1 Kings ii . 26. King Solomons words , have really been afflicted in all wherein the King hath been afflicted ? ( And yet this Salomon spake of such a Priest , Abiathar ; who , though Loyal in Absalom's Rebellion , ( 2 Sam. xv . 24. ) yet ( as here , too many of our Tribe ) proved an errand Traitor , in Adonijah's second Rebellion ( 1 Kings i. 7. ) But our constancy , God be thanked , makes our case the better : For , should the King deal worse with his Innocent , with his Loyal Priests ? Nay , could the King save the whole Kingdome from ruine , by giving but his Consent to take away the Life , or but Livelihood of but one Innocent man , ( that we say not a Bishop , or a Priest ) we may safely say , by the rules of bare Moral Honesty , the King might not do it , in Point of Honour , as the King is a man .

2. But secondly , consider the King in his Political Capacity , , as a Magistrate , and of all other Estates or Corporations whatsoever , by your own rules , the King is bound in Conscience and Law both , to defend and provide for the Church , as his perpetual Ward in Law : since as you say your selves , and your own f f Sir Edward Coke upon Magna Charta , page 3. See the several Records ( to this purpose ) quoted by him there . Records say no less , Ecclesia semper est infrà aetatem , & in Custodia Domini Regis , qui tenetur Jura & haereditates suas manu tenere & defendere , in point of Justice , as he is a Magistrate , that we say nothing of the INTEREST OF STATE , for no State in the whole Realm is more beneficial unto the Princes Exchequer , then the Clergy , ( if it be kept flourishing ) not only because they are deepest in Subsidies , but because from the Clergy , and so from no other Estate in the Land , the King hath a considerable continual standing Revenue of Tenths , besides First-fruits , &c. so that the King will be a loser by the bargain when all is done , and * * Ezra vi . 22. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the King ? and we hold our Peace ?

3. But to wave that Temporal respect , Thirdly , and lastly , how much more is the King ingag'd to the Defence of the Church , ( besides his Royal Title of DEFENDER OF THE FAITH , which is preserved in , and by the Church ) in point of Conscience , or Spiritual Interest , if you consider the King in his Spiritual Capacity , as a Christian man , for that relation trebbles the Kings Obligation to all the premised Acts of Justice and Honesty .

4. Especially if , in the fourth place you adde to all these Bonds the Solemn Supervention of his Royal Oath , Personally taken by the King at his Coronation , and to declare his Majesties sincere and plain dealing , and his Real Intention to keep his said Oath ; His Majesty hath therefore graciously been pleased himself thus to publish it .

5. In that Oath the King Swears in a manner , thrice for the Clergy particularly , and so for no other Estate of the Realm besides , to intimate that as your Law † † 8 Esiz c. 1. In the Preamble . styles The Clergy a High State , and one of the greatest States of this Realm ; so it deserves a special care , and high regard proportionable . Therefore as in the first Paragraph g g

At the Kings Coronation , the Sermon being done , the Arch-Bishop administreth these Questions to the King , and the King Answers them severally .

§. 1. Episcopus . Sir , will you grant , and keep , and by Your Oath confirm to the People of England , the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of England , Your Lawful and Religious Predecessors , and namely THE LAWS , CUSTOMS , AND FRANCHISES GRANTED TO THE CLERGY by the glorious King Saint Edward Your Predecessor , according to the Laws of God , the true profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom , and agreeable to the Prerogative of the Kings thereof , and the ancient Customs of this Realm .

Rex . I grant and promise to keep them .

§. 2. Episcopus . Sir , will You keep Peace , and Godly agreement entirely , ( according to Your Power ) both to God , the Holy Church , the Clergy , and the People ?

Rex . I will keep it .

§. 3. Episcopus . Sir , will You ( to your Power ) cause Law , Justice , and Discretion , in Mercy and Truth , to be executed in all Your Judgments ?

Rex . I will .

§. 4. Episcopus . Sir , will you grant to hold and keep the Laws and rightful Customs , which the Commonalty of this Your Kingdom have ; and will You defend and uphold them to the Honour of God , so much as in you lieth ?

Rex . I grant and promise so to do .

Then one of the Bishops reads this Admonition to the King , before the people with a loud voice .

§. 5. Our Lord the King , we beseech You to pardon , and to grant , and to preserve unto us , and to the Churches committed to our charge , ALL CANONICAL PRIVILEDGES , and due Law and Justice , and that you will protect and defend us as every good King ought TO BE PROTECTOR AND DEFENDER OF THE BISHOPS , and the Churches under their Government .

The King Answereth .

With a willing and devout heart I promise and grant my Pardon , and that I will preserve and maintain to you , and the Churches committed to your Charge , all Canonical Priviledges , and due Law and Justice , and that I will be your Protector and Defender to my Power , by the assistance of God , as every good King in his Kingdom , in right ought to Protect and defend the Bishops and the Churches under their Government .

Then the King ariseth , and it led to the Communion Table , where he makes a Solemn Oath in sight of all the people , to observe the Premisses ; and laying his hand upon the Book , saith :

The Oath .

The things that I have here Promised , I shall perform and keep , so help me God , and the Contents of this Book .

This Oath is to be found in the Records of the Exchequer , and is published in his Majesties Answer to a Remonstrance , &c. of the 26. of May , 1642.

The same Oath , for matter , you may read in an old Manuscript Book , containing the Form of Coronation , &c. in the Publick Library at Oxon.

of that Oath the King Swears in general , to do Justice and Right , with Mercy and Truth unto all the whole body of the People , and the Clergy joyntly ; so afterwards more particularly ( in the second and fifth Paragraphs ) the King Swears in special for the Clergy and that He will be the Protector , and Defender of the Bishops in their Priviledges , that is , not only or their Persons , but of their Possessions also , that is of their Persons in such a Condition , so qualified , in sensu composito , with such Rights and Liberties : and those Rights must needs pre-suppose their Essence and Office too : and that as it was then in being , according to the Law , when the King took that Oath . This may be one Golden Nail more to fasten the Clergies Title , and to Rivet it more and more into your own Law .

6. For by this Juratory Obligation of the Kings special Promissory Oath unto God for the Clergy in particular , some of your own good Lawyers teach us to say , That the Clergies ( supposed ) tacite Consent in a general Act is not remissory at all of the Kings Conscience from this particular Clause of his Oath , without the Clergies particular Consent first obtained , and clearly expressed by a particular Body Representative of their own , ( of the Clergy , quatenus Clergy ( and not involved with the general Body of the People : Their Act to free the Kings Conscience , must in Reason and Equity be proportionable , and adaequate to the Kings Act , or Bond , that is , full out as particular .

7. For else this bundle of Absurdities would follow that the Clergy obtains no more by the Kings Special Oath in their particular behalf , then if the King had Sworn only in general ; which is as much to say , that in this little short draught , Oaths ( that should be spared ) are multiplied without Necessity , or so much as Signification , or that they must pass for meer Tautologies .

8. If therefore the case be so , that the King after such a solemn particular Oath , may not consent to the Bishop's Deprivation , &c. without Injustice , nay Impiety , then sure I am , that no man ought to counsel the King so to do : for that Subject , whoever he be , that will go about to perswade the King to so impious an Act , perswades the King to do that which were most palpable Injury to his fellow Subjects , and most damnable wickedness against the Soul of the King himself : for whom contrariwise every Loyal Subject is bound in Conscience to pray , that rather then His Royal Soul should be so loose , it may for ever be h h 1 Sam. xxv . 29. bound in the bundle of Life , with the Lord his God , but that the souls of His , and the Churches Enemies , may for ever and ever be slung out , as out of the middle of a sling . This must be their Destiny at last , for Malum consilium consultori pessimum : you never knew it prove otherwise in the end . We say no more , but conceive this enough to confute one necessity with a greater , the pretended Necessity of State , with the real Necessity of Conscience so many wayes ingaged in this publick Cause of God , and the Church : which Church ( as it rationally , and clearly appears from the premises ) the King is obliged to defend , in point of Conscience , as the King is a Christian .

CHAP. X.

The Confutation of the fourth Politick Pretence of a Legislative Power .

FOllows now the Fourth and last Politick Pretence of a Legislative Power , to dispose of the Clergies Revenues ( and consequently , of all mens Estates ) as they see Cause .

1. This pretended Plea of a Legislative Power is mainly pressed by the chief Advocates both for Sacriledge and Rebellion , ( for those Diabolical twins are still bred , and born , and grow up together ) and the same is also made the very Basis , and Foundation of all the late Sacrilegious Vsurpations by that notorious i i No Sacriledge , nor Sin to alien , or purchase the Lands of Bishops , &c. by Cornelius Burges , D. D. This Sacrilegious Book , in those Rebellious times had the licentiousness of a second Edition , Anno 1659. Doctor of Sacriledge CORNELIVS BURGES , who , not content to * * Matth. v. 19. break one of the greatest Commandements of God , by practising Sacriledge in his own person , ( Usurping , for many years , both the Mannor , and Demesnes of the Bishoprick of Wells , from the just owner , that Learned , and Venerable , and most ancient Bishop , Dr. William Pierce ) but had also the impudence to teach men so , by Preaching and Printing the lawfulness of Sacriledge , which , at first , was but only intended , or pretended by his Rebellious Complices , but ( as it was , ex signis , & causis , in a manner , foretold by us three years before the event , in the first Edition of this very Book ) it was afterwards acted in earnest k k This Torrent brake out first against the Prelates , the Lords Spiritual , whom having once burried out of the way , it soon overtook also the Lords Temporal , and never stopt till at last it swallowed up ▪ the King himself : Therefore , principiis obsta , is good counsel , and very seasonable . and also legitimated by that Sacrilegious Act of their pretended Parliament , and , which is worst of all , aggravated by immediate Sacriledge against God himself , blasphemously making God the principal Author of their Sin ; and with a complication of Blasphemies , making the late Gracious King ( now a Glorious Martyr ) the Instrumental Cause of it : for he ( worse than cursed Cham ) having begun his Libel with down-right railing at the Bishops and Pastors of Gods Flock ( to whom this ungrateful wight owed his Ordination ) over whose unjust persecution , and illegal Abolition , ( drawing out his arrow from the Popish or Mahometan Bow . that is , arguing from their Cross against their Cause ) he there doth most barbarously insult , telling the world of the sad Providence on the Cathedral Prelacy of England , * * C. B. ch. 1. ( though since , another happy providence hath most visibly confuted him by a gracious and almost miraculous Restauration both of King , and Bishop : ) then he dares affirm expresly , that it was God who did put it into the hearts of the late Long Parliament , by an Ordinance of both Houses , dated Octob. 9. 1646. ( after the King , ( saith that Shimei ) had deserted his Parliament , Corn. Burges , chap. 1. raised his Standard against them , whereby he put both them and the whole Kingdom out of his Protection , and none but those two Houses of Parliament remained to take care of the Publick Interest in a Legal Way ) wholly to abolish the Name , Title , Style , Dignity , and Offices of all Arch-Bishops , and Bishops , within the Kingdom of England , Dominion of Wales , and to vest and settle their Lands and Possessions in Trustees , to the use of the Commonwealth , &c. and soon after he proceeds farther , avowing , that on the 13. of April , 1649. the Commons of England ( being then the only persons remaining ) [ having then , after the Bishops , thrusted also the Temporal Lords out of doors ] in Parliament Assembled were necessitated ( forsooth ) to sell the Lands of Deans and Chapters , whom he rails at , with a full mouth , as at the former ) and so to enact an utter abolition of these also ( reserved for the last to satisfie the Bulimia of those cruel and unsatiable Polyplemus's , and so to make good their so long designed extirpation of both Root and Branch . ) It were a Crime of Participation to be patient or silent in this cause , which is Causa Dei , Religionis , Ecclesiae , Regis , all these at once , and Sacriledge in special being expresly excepted in the Act of Oblivion : We must therefore be mindeful to proceed against it . This pretended Legislative Power of that illegal Assembly , and their Sacrilegious Act , Matth. vii . 26. is the sandy Foundation , upon which this foolish Builder ( like a down-right Sophister wilfully declining the Question of Right ) doth build his house of Sacriledge .

( Subrue fulturam , patitur structura Ruinam . )

To batter which , we could say more both ad Hominem , and also ad Rem : but that , as for the Man , we purposely blunt our Pen , because , we hear , he is dead and gone , and so past his Accounts here ; and , for a terror to all surviving Usurpers ( except he did Repent , and Restore also ) he hath already received his sentence according to his works : God knows where he is now , and there we leave him . But , as to the matter it self , That pretended Legislative Power , of his counterfeit Parliament , is sufficiently abolished ( mark the Divine Talio of Abolition for Abolition ) by the Legal Power of that Loyal Parliament * * 13 Car. 2. cap. 1. for Repeal of the Parliament , begun 3. Nov. 1640. See Sir Robert Wiseman's notes touching the Long Parliament . that had declared all such Orders and Ordinances made by that disloyal Parliament , to be null and void ; and further determined , That there is no Legislative Power in either , or both Houses of Parliament without the King ? This being the main Fundamental Law of this Realm , might suffice for a full Confutation of what ever hath been said in his whole Book , by that infamous Patron of Sacriledge . But admitting an impossibility , that such an unlawful Assembly had been a lawful Parliament , yet can that prove it therefore to be infallible , but that it may do wrong ? may not one be Tyrannus Exercitio , though not Titulo , if his Decrees or Ordinances fall upon indebitam materiam : what else can such a manner of proceeding be , to enact a total deprivation of a whole community of men ( many of them innocent , as hath been shewed above in the case of pretended Delinquency ) and afterwards to argue à facto ad jus † † It is the complaint of a wise man of the Law , that the meaning of that Axiome , Ex facto jus oritur , hath been extreamly rack'd : Sir Robert Wiseman 's Note touching the alteration of some Laws . our Sophisters chief Medium all over : This way of arguing must needs prove of a monstrous , of a dangerous consequence : for say a man should thus Syllogize .

Whatsoever the two Houses , or but one of the Houses of Parliament do enact or ordain is lawful ( that must be his Major . )

But the two Houses ; or at least one of them , hath abolished , and also deprived all Bishops , Deans , and Chapters : ( this Minor proved too true . )

Ergo , That Abolition and Deprivation was lawful , and consequently , No Sacriledge , nor Sin ( the presumptuous Title of the Book of this Church-Pyrate . ) Now , should the sharp point of this two-edged Argument ( which we have felt sufficiently through , and through ) be retorted , and turned upon the breast of either of those two Estates of the Kingdom , what would then become of the Lords Temporal , or of the Commons themselves , trow we ? for if they grant the Major , they cannot avoid the Conclusion , and so they may be turned out of all , by the Votes of a Predominant Party , and then farewel the Property of the Subject : Beware of such Precedents , you that are wise ; for 't is an old say , Cras tibi , hodie mihi . Enough for the Demolition of such an absurd Power that is attended by such palpable injustice : But yet , ex abundanti , upon this occasion of C. B.'s Book , for a fuller Conviction , and if possible , Conversion ( of which though we have but small hope , yet is it both our wish , and our main design in this troublesome work ) it will be worth the pains , soberly to examine the full extent of all humane Legislative Power , granting the Hypothesis that the Power is lawful .

In prosecution whereof , first of all let this our Protestation be entered , That we intend not to question the Justice of the Law , or to examine the Power or the Wisdom of the Law-makers , or to meddle at all with the Constitution of the State , or to discuss this point further then in a direct , and necessary Reference to the Vniversal Law , the Law of Nature , the Law of Nations , and the Law of God ; to which all particular Laws , ( if they be Laws indeed , and not Lawless Libertinism , or barbarous Tyranny ) must needs vail , and yield their due Subordination . If not , then , by all mens leave , the Divine may , nay must , without any busie-bodiness at all in States-matters , taking the Law interminis , according to the common sense it bears , or should bear , carry it , l l TO THE LAW , AND TO THE TESTIMONY ; If they speak not according to this word , it is because there is no light in them , Isa. viii . 20. Ad Legem , & ad Testimonium , and there wisely , warily , and impartially weigh the matter of the Law , in the Ballance of the Sanctuary , or in the Scales of clear Scripture , and sound Reason , at whose Bar both all the Laws , and all the Law-Makers too , must one day be tryed at last , in Ultimo districtu : And if upon Aequilibration , as we may say , the Humane Law shall prove light , then that men may not stumble at it , and fall , and perish , by obeying any unjust Law of man , contrary to the just Law of God , 't is then the proper work and direct Profession of the Divine , ( as he will answer Soul for Soul ) to take forth the m m Jer. xv . 19. Precious from the vile , and as becomes him , who is to the people as Gods mouth , to n n Ezek. iii. 17 , 18. warn other mens Consciences from it , and so free his own . For thus , though the Law of the Land be matter of Policy , yet the Peace of Conscience about the lawfulness , or unlawfulness of that Law , immediately belongs to Divinity , the Senior-Law of all , from which as we may say , all mens Junior-Laws , if just , must be derived ; Divinity being indeed no other than the Original Law of God : which may suffice once for all , to pre-occupate an ignorant , or malicious , and yet a very ordinary Objection of some , that whilst themselves take upon them at every turn to Confront Divinity with Colours of Law , yet blame the Divine very much , if , se defendendo , he dare offer to prefer Gods Law to mans Law , in case those two Laws should justle , as if the Divine in doing but his own proper duty , were ipso facto , a medlar in another mans Calling .

2. Thus much premised , the justness of such a pretended Legislative Power will be soon tryed , if but compared . 1. With some Undeniable Principles it destroyes . 2. With some Right Conditions of a just power , which it should have , and doth want . 3. With some gross Absurdities it involves .

3. First then , such a Legislative Power at pleasure , as they call it , to vote men , Innocent men , out of their whole Estates , and Livelihoods , ( their Lives may be next ) is too absolute to be communicable to any Creature , and doth trench upon Gods own Prerogative , whose will is therefore a Law , and Idea Justitiae ( as they say in the Schools ) so that whatever is just with God , is just à priori , because 't is Gods will , but contrariwise with man , this or that must be Mans will , only à posteriori , because it is just . And the Reason of all this , is founded upon a common Principle undeniable , because God , and God alone is Essentially Just , so as Gods Justice is his very Essence : 'T is not , it cannot be so with any man , or men , single , or collective , whose justice at the most is but an Accident separable , that may abesse , as soon as adesse , go and come , as men may be well or ill affected : so that 't is as vain a Point of Popery as any , for meer Creatures to challenge an Absoluteness or Infallibility in the Distribution of Justice , as to pretend it in the Determination of Truth . This is a Divine Priviledge , reserved to the Creator , and beyond the Sphere of any Creature . By these two plain Principles , such a Legislative Power , ad placitum , is quite gone ; so far from being lawful , that it is made the very o o Prov. i. 11 : Character of Sinners in grain to challenge a power , to deprive the Innocent without cause : and therefore an Act , whose Authors are accursed upon Gods own Record , and p p Deut. xxvii . 25. to which Curse all Gods people are commanded to say , Amen .

4. Secondly , as such a Legislative Power is utterly incompatible with those prima Principia , so with those other Right Conditions required to the good Constitution of a just Law : whose very q q Ratio est anima legis . Soul is or should be Right Reason : without which any humane Law is dead , nay deadly as well to those that enact it , as to those whose unhappiness it is to live , or to suffer under such an Vnreasonable Law , or Law-makers : so Essential is Reason to Law , that therefore the Law is generally defined by it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : r r Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 1. who there calls it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a good opinion , &c. Lex est recta Ratio : But how point blank to all right Reason such an Act of Deprivation would be , we have at large demonstrated before : This for the Form of the Law , as we may say .

5. As for the Matter , the Law should be an t t 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Clem. ibid. Suarez . de legib. l. 1. c. 1. § 1. ex Aquin. 1. 2. q. 90. Art. 1 : Vnbended Rule equally fit and able to render to every one their Right , and to redress their wrongs ; so that an Injurious Law , though ( if not directly contrary to Gods Law ) de facto , it must and doth binde the Inferiour unto Obedience , quoad effectum civilem : yet de Jure , it is no Law at all , because not just . So that in such Cases , it is no Presumption at all to say , the Law cannot do this , or the Law cannot do that ; If the thing be unlawful , because as the Law is , u u DD. in L. Impossibilium 185. ff. de R. J. Calv. Lexi c. Jurid . impossibile . S●hneid . in Instit lib. 3. de verbor . obligat . tit. 17. Sect. sub ▪ c●nd . num. 4. Impossibile est quod de Jure non licet : as it is impossible by Nature , for a man upon earth to touch the Skie with his Finger : ( Thus the Doctors compare the two Impossibilities , natural and moral ) so whatsoever is contrà bonos mores , is as impossible , de Jure , quia id demùm possumus quod honestè possumus : x x Lex est Honestum legitimae potestatis Decretum , ad tuendam Reip. Pac. Wesemb . paratit . Digest . l. 11. Tit. 3. de legibus . Since therefore such a Law of Deprivation , were unto so considerable a Party in the Commonwealth , as the Clergy is in Law , such an extream injury we may safely say , and that without any just offence to God or Man , that the Law cannot do such an act . Nay , so far is such a Restraint from being any real disparagement to Princes , or Parliaments , to the Law-makers themselves , that if rightly apprehended , it rather doth greatly redound to their Honour , because it doth in a degree assimilate them unto God himself , of whom the Apostle saith to his praise , that * * Tit. i. ult. 2 Tim. ii . 13. God cannot lye , that God cannot deny himself , and the like .

6. But thirdly , all this will be yet plainer , and I hope past all just Exception , yea , or but Contradiction , when we have impartially considered the poysoned Cluster of gross Absurdities growing upon it .

7. As first , The utter destruction of the property of the Subject , the great Diana so much cried up , at the beginning , by those very men , that did Vote it down in the end . Sure , one would think that the people , if they were but once again in their right minde , would not thank such Doctors , nor such Doctrines neither , as directly take away the property of the Subject ( for it will follow by the Rule , à quatenus ad omne : ) Yet some Servile Lay men stick not to acknowledge their own Lay-Estates , as liable as ours , to this v●st Law . It may be they do it only out of an intent , or colour , to open a gap into Sacriledge , and then out of a hope to make up that gap again , if they can .

8. But secondly , as such an Act of absolute deprivation , were the very Al renunciation of all manner of Justice Universal , Commutative , Distributive , all at once : So in the fatal consequences of it , it would prove the Vtter subversion too of all the other known Laws , and Fundamental Constitutions of this Kingdom , yea of the very Law of Nations . For what Nation once well settled , did ever yet claim a power de Jure , ( for in this case to quote Matters of Fact ( their usual , I may yet say , their chief argument ) were but Petitio Principii ) to deprive a man Innocent , or Untried , and Uncondemned ( Lay , or Clergy ) of those Rights , which by the standing y y Magna Charta , See above , page 45. Laws of that Land , he is , at least , as legally Vested in , for matter of Title , as any Baron , or Knight , or any other Subject whatsoever ? what were this , but datâ portâ , to introduce a meer Arbitrary Government ? and indeed , by such a notorious Precedent , ( if once past in rem Judicatam ) had you but eyes to see it , to open a wide gap into your own Lay Estates , till they had reduced you all also , to a tame politick Parity . So true you will then finde to your own woe , that old Maxime of Reason , Uno absurdo dato mille Sequuntur : Beware of your Levellers .

9. For deceive not your selves any longer , John xv . 20. the Servant is not greater then his Master ; if they dare fall upon God Almighty himself , whom we have proved before to be the great Proprietary of those Church Revenues , whom think you , will these doughty men spare in the end ? Did ever , or can ever ( we speak still de Jure ) any Earthly or Humane Power , take away that from God and his Church , which is theirs , which God did justly receive from those that had just power to give ? yet these stout men say , they can do it , and also they are ready to justifie it , if not by the Word ( for here you see they are gone ) yet by the Sword ( Mahomets Argument , far from Christ his Rule . ) If you will try it once more , Da illis posse , & velle videbis .

10. Time was , when your more just Ancestors were so far from challenging such a Legislative Power above God Almighty , that in open z z At a Parliament held 25. of Edw. 1. Parliament , they utterly disclaim it , and they ground their Disclaim too upon Scripturè , saying That Lay men , ( and there they speak of themselves as a Parliament ) have no Authority to dispose of the goods of the Church , but ( as the Holy Scriptures do testifie ) they are committed only to the Priests to be disposed of . Thus they : but the case is altered now , our great Masters ( though meer Lay-men ) may dispose not only of Church Goods , but of Church Lands too , nay of Church men , nay of the whole Church it self , as if per omnes Casus , the Church were no more indeed , but as all other Lay Incorporations , a meer Civil Corporation all over , that had in them nothing Spirituale , immediately held of God himself : however in all other Secular , yea and Ecclesiastical matters too , for Order as , well for Conscience sake , the Church , as all other Lay Corporations in the Common-wealth , must and doth notwithstanding all this , acknowledge it self still subject to the Sovereign Jurisdiction , and ARCHITECKTONICK Power-Paramount of the Prince under God .

11. By this time , all may perceive that this fourth and last Pretence , by such a vast Legislative Power , ad Placitum , to claim a kinde of Omnipotency ( which is high Sacriledge indeed ) to dispose of mens Estates , and to deprive men , nay whole Successions of men , how innocent soever , of their whole Livelihoods , is so far of it self from deserving an Answer , that upon due Examination , it rather becomes an Aggravation of the Injustice , when men will thus a a Psal , xciv . 20. frame mischief by a Law , without , nay , against all manner of just Precedent for it in all Christendom , yea in all the whole world besides . The worst we wish them is , that they would speedily lay their hand upon their Consciences , and before their tearm be quite expired , seriously Comment on that sad Text of the Prophet , b b Isa. x. 1 , 2 , 3. Woe unto them that Decree Unrighteous Decrees , and that write grievousness which they have prescribed : To turn aside the needy from Judgment , and to take away the Right from the poor of my People , that Widows may be their Prey , and that they may rob the Fatherless : ( for if they should go on , at that rate , as they did once begin , some Clergy-men ( a good many ) may leave behinde them their Wives Widows , and their Children Fatherless , and both of them poor enough , God knows ! )

But then , ( mark the end of such men ) what will you do in the day of Visitation , saith the Lord , and in the Desolation which shall come from far ? to whom will ye then flee for help , and where will ye leave your glory ? and there we leave them also .

May all those who finde or feel themselves concerned in this Arraignment of Sacriledge lay to heart this sad Item , for an upshot of a full Answer to all their pretences : And thus much for Matter of Confutation sufficient again to Non-sute the Adversaries whole Plea : This is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or first main part in the Matter of Probation .

CHAP. XI .

That the Sin of Sacriledge is a great SNARE , and also condemned , as by the Divine , so the Canon , Civil , Saxon , Common , and Statute-Laws .

FOllows now the second and last part of all , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Matter of Confirmation of our own Cause .

1. Upon which we shall be the briefer , because as occasion was offered , and Necessity required , we have already by a kinde of Prolepsis , prevented the greatest part of it in the preceding passages , all along , as we were delivering Matters of Declaration , and of Aggravation .

2. But yet the better to distribute the Remainder of our Evidence , be pleased to take notice that of our Clients side ( which you must remember is God himself ) we have yet so much Clear Scripture , so much strong Reason , so much Law of all sorts founded on both the former , and so much Testimony of all Parties beyond Exception , such a Cloud of Witnesses of all ranks , from all quarters , as may leave them past all Excuse , and joyntly rise up in Judgment against them , that after all these fair Evidences brought forth against this Camel ( the sin of Sacriledge ) will yet resolve to Implead , or to Impeach God , and the Church in their Rights and Liberties .

3. As for the first kinde of proof by Scripture , one notable Text more against Sacriledge , we may not omit to acquaint you with , and thus it runs , c c Prov. xx . 25. It is a snare for a man to devour that which is Holy , and after Vows to make Enquiry : In which words you have both the Nature of the sin , and the Danger of it .

4. The Nature of it consists of two Acts , 1. To devour that which is Holy : That 's the matter of Fact as it were : and then 2. After Vows to make Enquiry , that 's the Plea , or the pretended Matter of Right .

5. Touching the first , the Matter of Fact : The Act is to devour , the Object , is that which is Holy . As for the Act , 't is expressed in the d d From 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 à 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 The same word which is used , Psal. cxxiv . 3. They had swallowed us up quick , &c. Original by such a Metaphorical word , as is borrowed from Ravenous Beasts that will not admit of so much Deliberation in Eating , as to choose , or to chew their meat , but for very greediness do swallow it up all raw , yea , quick , and whole too , as they light on it : ( A fit Embleme , by the way , of our late ROOT AND BRANCH-MEN . )

6. 2ly . As for the Object , Translations vary , ( only about the word , for they all agree upon the matter : ) 1. Some as ours read it , to devour that which is Holy : That is , saith Cajetan on the place , to appropriate Holy Things , such as the Holy Tythes and Offerings , and other Sacred Tributes due to Gods Priests , ( and Cajetan is counted one of the best of them , ad Literam ; ) 2. Some , as the Original , ( by an usual Hebraisme , putting the Abstract for the Concrete ) reads it to devour Holiness it self , to note again , as 1. The decay of holiness it self upon the Decay of holy means : so 2. That those who make no Conscience of violating holy things , they may pretend what they will , but really they make no Conscience indeed of holiness it self , but miscere Sacra profanis , is all one with them . 3. Some as the Vulgar reads it altogether in Concreto , it is a snare to devour Sanctos , that is , saith an Interpreter on the place , * * Salazar . To deprive of their Livelihoods good and godly men ( the Act in hand ) and sure , of all such men , the holy men of God : for so of old in all Reverence , the Primitive e e Nos Sanctos vocant , & Dei servos● &c. Aug. Christian People did esteem , and as usually call the Priests of God , by this Religious Title , of the Saints of God , not , as now , hand over head , the prophane , or at least ignorant People , call Gods Priests , their Ministers : when no where in all the whole Bible , are they so called by their great Master , God himself , the servants of men , in that general sence : And if * * 2 Cor. iv . 5. but once in all the Bible , they do , ( in a special , and voluntary case of Condescension , as St. Paul for Preaching gratis to the Corinthians ) call themselves your Servants : yet , mark well what follows , 't is for Jesus sake they do it : But else all over , Gods Ministers are styled Mens Guides , Mens Rulers , and other such like terms of Superiority , and then Gods Ambassadors , Gods Ministers , or Gods Saints , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because they are , or should be so , and so accounted of by you . This in a glance only : and thus much for the Fact , and the two main Species of Sacriledge both Personal , and Real .

7. Secondly , The Plea , or the pretended Matter of Right , is after Vows to make Enquiry : That is as the same f f Retractare , revocare , refellere , &c. Salazar . interpreter glosses it aright , first to commit Sacriledge , and then to study and finde out Reasons and Colours to defend it , The Black Art of too many in our Generation : and who knows , but they may have learned this good Lesson also of the Popes themselves , who first would Impropriate , that is , devour that which is holy : and then what themselves had thus wrongfully done de facto , they made their Friers ( the receivers of the Sacriledge ) use all their wits to maintain it de jure ? As to name no more , your Countrey-man Alexander Hales did , who was the first that ever directly maintained that Tythes were de Jure Ecclesiastico , not Divino , which Popish conceit hath yet since by divers of your own g g D. Ridley , D. Carleton , D. Downh●m . Sir James Sempel , &c. and so many more as yet unanswered , &c. Champions been learnedly confuted .

8. But secondly , some of the Hebrews read it thus , It is a snare for a man to Consecrate , and after vows to change for the worse : If so , then let our Changelings look to it , any of these wayes they will light on a Snare .

Thirdly , and lastly , the h h 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . LXX . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Laqueus est homini qui devovit Sanctuario , & postea tangit eum anima ipsius . Targum . Septuagint out of the Chaldee , are yet more strict , and read the Text thus , It is a snare for a man to consecrate a thing rashly , and afterwards to repent it . From whence observe . 1. That if Vota temerè nuncupata , Rash Vows be obligatory , and must stand , then à majori , out of all doubt , Deliberate Consecrations . 2. If it be a Snare for a man after Consecration to grudge , or but to Repent it , then à majori again , what a Snare must it needs be utterly to reverse it , and to resume it ? and if but to resume , à majori , still to rob ? And thus for the Nature of the sin , 't is hainous enough .

9. Secondly , as for the Danger , it is expressed here by the Metaphor of a Snare , or of a Trap , that is , Destruction , as several Translations read it : and that Snare , a double Snare too , as Cajetan well observes it , for first by his vow he is caught to one side in the Snare of Gods Law , for that bids him i i Psal. lxxvi . 11. Deut. xxii . 21 , 24. Vow , and pay , because though vovere voluntatis , yet reddere necessitatis , else the Law will be a perpetual Snare to attach the Votary , till he pay it . Take one notable Instance of this in the old Patriarch k k Gen. xxviii . 20 , 22. Jacob , who , in his extremity , fleeing from his Brother Esau , vowed to build an Altar unto God at Bethel : but it seems afterwards he did for the space of thirty years , either altogether forget , or at least foreslow the payment of his Vow : All this while he is no sooner quit of one mischief , as it were one Snare , but he lights on another : such as Esau's Ambushment , ( Gen. xxxiii . ) The Deflourement of his Daughter Dinah . ( Gen. xxxiiii . ) The furious Massacre committed by his Sons upon the Sichemites , to the provocation of all the Nations round about him : till God at last , in mercy , plainly puts him in minde of his Vow , saying , * * Gen. xxxv . 1. Arise go up to Bethel , and make there an Altar unto God that appeared unto thee , &c. And then did he pay his Vow , and so slipt his foot out of the snare : And as thus he that vows , is caught in the Snare of the Law , till he pay it , So 2. If he do not pay it , he is trapped on the other side with the Snare of his own Sin of Sacriledge ; so that till he repent , and reform , and restore also , turn which way he will , he will light on a snare , or fall headlong into Jeremy's Labyrinth , † † Jer. xlviii . 43 , 44. Fear , and the Pit , and the Snare will be upon him , so as when he fleeth from the fear , he shall fall into the Pit , and when he getteth up out of the Pit , he shall be taken in the Snare .

10. Now , if you will further know what that Snare is , it is no other but that which before the Prophet Malachy did directly call Gods Curse : of which enough l l See above , page before , and therefore no more of it at this Time . 'T is such a Noli tangere , in the Nature of it , witness Jeremies Metaphor , m m Jer. ii . 3. Israel is as an hallowed thing unto the Lord , and as the first fruits of his Increase , all that devour him shall offend , evil shall come upon them : They shall be sure to light on a Snare : And get the Bird once in the Snare , and you need no Fortune-teller to tell you her destiny : so is the Case , so is the Fate of every Sacrilegious Person , Family , Nation , it needs no other Clog . And you of this Nation may well suspect such a Clog hangs about you , for your n n Exod xiv . 25. Chariot Wheels , have , for some years last past , driven very heavily , To any Nation then this one sin will be ILLAQUEATION sufficient , because of all others it hath in it as much of the Devils Power and Policy , as any .

12. And that , in short , is the strong Reason of the hainousness of this sin , because 't is a sin so Fundamental and Radical of almost all other sins , that where it is entertained , it presently fills the Heart with the Devil and all his works : So doth God charge Sacrilegious o o Acts v. 3. Ananias at his Arraignment , why hath Satan filled thy heart ? Pride , and Envy , Fraud , and Oppression , Avarice , and Ambition , are all but the hand-maids , that wait , in ordinary , on this great Beldam-sin of Sacriledge : This for the Original Cause of Sacriledge .

13. As for the Fruits of such a Cursed Stock , no wise man can expect they should be blessed : It being ( as you have heard at large ) a sin Destructive of all Religion and Policy , of Church and State , Introductive of all Irreligion , Atheism , and Anarchy : The very new Gun-Powder-Plot , or White-Powder-Mine , under holy pretences , and therefore without noise , to blow up Priest , Priesthood , and all that is called Holy : Balaams , or Julian's Plot was but a Puny to this : Would I turn Traytor in grain against God and man , I would only counsel Sacriledge : That will do it , that will speed any Church or Nation to sudden , and total , and final Destruction . Reason enough therefore , to adde no more , why all good Christians should abhor this sin for ever .

14. And therefore in the third place , you may take notice , that in all Nations , all wise Law givers in conformity to Gods Law , have been careful , yea severe , as by wholesome Laws to prevent , so by rigorous , and generally Capital , Execution to punish the crime of Sacriledge as heavily as any : this is clear in the Records of all the Laws , Canon , Civil , Saxon , French .

15. For by the Canon Law , whosoever takes away , or alienates to other persons or uses , goods or things ( Chattels your Lawyers call them ) nay , Facultates at large is the word p p Sacrilegi judicantur qui ECCLESIAE FACULTATES alienant . Tit. Omnes ECCLESIAE RAPTORES , Alque FACULTATUM suarum ALIENATORES Sacrilegos esse Judicamus : & non solùm eos , sed omnes consentientes eis , ●uia non solum qui faciunt , rei Judicantur , sed etiam qui consentiunt facientibus : PAR ENIM Poe●a & AGENTES ET CONSENTIENTES COMPREHENDIT . Decret. part. 2. c. 17. l. 4. c. 5. both in the Title and in the Body of the Law , all manner of Church-wealth or Estate , ( that must needs comprehend all Moveables and Immoveables ) or whosoever shall consent to any such Alienation , shall be all alike guilty of Sacriledge : and as the Canonists phrase it , shall incur ipso facto crimen laesae Majestatis divinae , which by comparison with the other crime of High-Treason against the King on Earth , ( whatever Sacrilegious Thieves , or Rebellious Subjects may think of it ) must needs be by proportion , a Crime of the highest degree : and so 't is punished with the highest spiritual extremity that Law can inflict , the heavy sentence of Excommunication , and to note farther the hainousness of the offence , as Ivo , Burchardus , Gratian and the rest agree , the Canonists allot unto it seven years Penance , where so many dayes might suffice for other ordinary sins : but because q q Aquin. 22. q. 99. 4. saith Aquinas , as heavy as the just sentence of Excommunication may seem to a right Christian , yet it is by the Sacrilegious offender , commonly no more regarded then a bug-bear word ; therefore pro qualitate delicti , it is by the Secular Power punished sometimes with pecuniary Censure , ( heavier to the offender that commonly fears more the loss of his Money , then the loss of his soul ) sometimes with outright Decapitation .

16. Or , as by the Civil Law , r r Sacrilegii poena de Jure communi regulariter est Capitalis , ita ut pr● qualitate personae & conditione rei Sacrilegi aliquando damnentur ad Bestias , aliquando ad Ignem , aliquando ad Furcam . l. Sac●ilegii 6. ff. ad L. Jul. peculatus ; & in §. Item . l. Julia peculatus 9. Wesembec paratit . ff. l. xlix . Tit. 13. ad l. Jul. peculatus , & de Sacrilegis . Infrà de publ . Iud. Jure Saxonieo rotâ concutiendos esse Sacrilegos statuitur Art . 13. l. 2. Schneid . ad lib. 4. Instit. Tit. 2. de vi bonorum raptorum . proportionably to the quality of the Offender , and condition of the Offence , they were condemned sometimes to the Wilde Beasts , or to the Fire , to the Gallows , or as now , Jure Saxonico , to the wheel : and of old by your own r r Leges Aluredi Regis cap. 1. l. 6. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Saxon Law to Mutilation at least , or cutting off the Sacrilegious hand . In France I remember I have seen Sacriledge punished with Hanging and Burning ( both at once ) according to the Civil Law .

17. As for your own Common-Law , I have heard some of your great Clerks say , that it is somewhat defective about the Case of Sacriledge , as taking no Cognisance of it , nor affording any Action for it under that Notion , but yet that in such cases it allows no Clergy to the Thief , * *

See above , Chap. IV. Sect 3. & seq. Magna Charta . Item , Ch. VII . Sect. 9. & seq. & Statutes . Anno 28. H. 8. c. 1. & 32. H. 8. Persons guilty of Robbing Churches , Chappels , or other Holy Places , shall not be admitted to the Benefit of their Clergy , ( such as be admitted to Holy Orders , i. e. of the Order of Subdeacon , or above , only excepted : and this Statute to be in force for ever . [ It seems by this Statute , that in the eye of the Law , Clergy-mens persons are privilegiate , even in Delinquency ; not that their sin is less , but rather , as we said above , greater then the sin of the Laity : But that the favour of the Law is greater to Clergy-men , in regard of their Office . ]

One degree more of aggravation we may observe from the Act of Indemnity , ( An. 12. Car. II. cap XI . ) where , out of the General Pardon , Sacriledge is excepted expresly , no less then Rapes , and other monstrous Sins against Nature : as if the Law-●iver would hereby intimate , that Sacriledge is a sin parallel to those crimes , for hainousness .

grounding the sentence on that common principle , received almost in all Laws , to wit , That frustrà Legis auxilium invocat , qui in Legem committit : And this singularity addes one grain of aggravation to the hainousness of this sin , even in the ballance of your own Law .

CHAP. XII .

A Cloud of Domestical , and also a Triumvirate of Forreign Witnesses . 1. Luther for Germany . 2. Calvin for France . And 3. Knox for Scotland , all of them expresly deposing against the Sin of Sacriledge .

1. AND now as your free Merchants use to give somewhat into the Bargain , for an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , for good Measure , or down-weight , so for a close of this our Pleading , take ex alundanti , so many Testimonies of all sorts of men , in their generations , that you may not think this our Action against Sacriledge geazon , or uncouth , or meerly litig●ous on our part .

2. Amongst those so many Testes veritatis , we forbear to accumulate the Holy Fathers , of whose Declamations against this sin , we have given you sundry hansels already , and could afford you many more full Pieces , but that , ad hominem , ( the more shame ) some more Modern Witnesses will be far more Authentical .

3. And yet amongst these too , we will not so much as repeat the so many several complaints of your own Gild●sses of old , nor of late , of your Gilpins , Ridleys , Latimers , Tindals , Jewels , Hookers , Andrewsses , and of so many more , nor their several sad Considerations , Prophecies , and humble Petitions , put as it were up in their Sermons and Epistles yet extant , and directed to their several Kings and Queens , even then when this Serpent was but a Scorpion in the Egge : what then would all those s s Bern. Gilpin . in a Serm. at Greenwich , An. 1552. before Edw. 6. B. Ridley in his Letter to Mr. Cheek , July 23. 1551. from Fulham , among the Letters of the Martyrs , by Miles Coverdail , p. 683. Lond. 1564. Latimers Serm. of Covetousness ▪ Grindals Manuscript Letter to Q. Elizabeth , 1580. Jewel's Sermons on Hag. 1. v. 2 , 3 , 4. and on Psal. 69.9 . Hooker B. 5. of Eccles. Polit. B. Andrews did much finde fault , and reprove three sins too common , and raigning in this latter age . 1. One was Usury , &c. 2. Another was Simony , &c. The third and greatest was Sacriledge , which he did abhor as one principal Cause among many , of the Forreign and Civil Wars in Christendom and Invasion of the Turks : wherein even the Reformed , and otherwise the true Professors and Servants of Christ , because they took GODS PORTION , & turned away it to publick prophane uses , or to private advancements , d●d suffer just Chastisement and Correction at Gods hand : And at home it had been observed , and he wished some man would take the pains to collect how many Families that were raised by the Spoils of the Church , were now vanished , and the place thereof knows them no more : See the Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Lord Bishop Andrews , by the then Lord Bishop of R chester , Anno 1626. ( forty years ago . ) good men have said think you , had they been so unhappy as to live to our Sacrilegious dayes , to see this sin grown to the stature of a full Dragon indeed ?

4. But lest these , being but Domestici testes , should seem partial in their own cause ; therefore we intend to cite none but the Masters of the Reformation abroad ; whom you shall hear crying aloud against the Sacriledge of the Reformers , in their several times and places , charging them with deep Hypocrisie , damnable Avarice , and what not ? and that under pretence of Reformation , they did but intend , nay practice Robbery in the Usurpation of those Church Revenues that were Dedicated to God , for the maintenance of his Ministers : of such free , and full strains their Writings are top full .

5. And yet to prove all this , we will only single out one eminent Triumvirat of such witnesses as we are confident even with these men we are pleading against , will be most free from all exception : They be Luther , Calvin , and Knox , as it were so many Delegates for Germany , France , and Scotland , the Three great Foreign Stages of the Reformation :

6. According to their Seniority , the first main Witness we produce in the behalf of our Cause , is Luther , who ( preaching on that ample Text of S. Paul to the Galathians , t t Quoties lego Pauli Adhortationes , &c. [ This Testimony being prolixe , we will only extract the most Emphatical points in it , and refer the Reader to the Author at large . ] — Summa , homines videntur degenerare in Bestias . — Satan horrendissimum malum hoc vehementer urget per Impios Magistratus in Civitatib & Nobiles in Rure qui BONA ECCLESIARUM ex quibus Ministri debebant vivere , rapiunt , &c. — Tangit autem acu mores Nostratium , qui securissimè nostrum Ministerium contemnunt — Praecipuè Nobiles qui pastores suos sibi tanquam viles Servos obnoxios faciunt : & nisi haberemus tam pium & am●ntem veritat●s Principem ; Jam dudum ex his terris èxturbassent nos . Exclamant , ( quando pastores postulant — aut queruntur — ) Sacerdotes avarisunt , Insatiabiles — Tyranni & subsannatores Dei , videri tamen volunt Evangelici . — Puniet Deus acerrimum odium vestrum in Ministro● . — Ferox Nobilitas , Cives & Rustici , cum periculum mo●●is Instabit , sentient Comminationem quam rident : Deus enim non irride●ur . — Sint illa PAPAE BONA per meram Imposturam coacervata . tamen Deus Spolians Aegyptios , hoc est , Papistas suis Bonis , tranfert ea in locis nostris in pium usum . Non quando Nobiles rapiunt , & transferunt in abusum , sed quando ij qui gloriam Dei annunciant inde aluntur . Sciamus igitur nos bonâ Conscientià posse fru● BONIS ECCLESIASTICIS . See at large Luther himself , on Galat. 6.6 . Let him that is taught in the word , communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things : ( you may call this the Ministers Magna Charta indeed , irrevocable by any humane Authority , or Municipal Laws whatsoever : ) for I hope none of our Religion will presume herein to shake hands wth the Pope to pretend a Power to dispense Contrà Apostolum . Luthers Gloss upon St. Paul doth so fit our Meridian in almost all the particulars , as if it had been penned but yesterday here in England , not a hundred years ago , nor so far as Germany , St. Basil somewhere argues , that the Holy Ghost was no doubt very God , because he was present at the same time with Habakkuk in the Field , Jeremy in the Dungeon , Daniel in the Den : witness the Concordance of their Prophecies , ( I stand not now upon the truth of the Chronology ; ) but only I do observe , that sure there is somewhat more then ordinary of Gods publick Spirit in this publick Cause of the Church , seeing that all these men of several Nations , at that distance of times and places , yet still consort in a Harmony : however their Descant do vary , their Ground is one and the same ; and all of them joyntly , constant unisones against this particular kinde of Sacriledge , namely , the Converting of the Lands and Possessions , &c. formerly given to Superstitious , or Popish Uses unto Lay-Uses ; and that also ( which is worth the observing ) after those Superstitious Officers , and Offices , ( Mass-Priests , and Popish Monks , &c. ) had , by lawful Authority , ( not so here the Bishops and Deans ) been abolished . But now * * It is to me a wonder , how those Declaimers against such alienations of Cathedral Lands , can with any forehead produce such eminent Protestant Authors , as bearing witness for them against this practice , after the Offices be all at an end : Cornelius Burges in the Preface to his Sacrilegious Book , where like another Goliah , ( 1 Sam. xvii . 10 ) he bids defiance to all Fathers , Canonists , Schoolmen , Protestants , though never so eminent , if they dare cross his way to his Mammon of Iniquity by Cornelius Burges his leave , let the Witnesses be heard ) to cite them , with their reasons , will be enough to confute him . To begin with Luther , if you please but tacitly , all along , to apply him to Cornelius Burges his Case , † † A Case concerning the Buying of Bishps Lands , with the Lawfulness thereof [ presented to his Parliament , Anno 1650. as a Prodromus to his Book for Sacriledge ] you will save your selves , and me some labour .

7. First then , Luther begins his Sermon with Astonishment , and blushes to think that so great an Apostle as Saint Paul should be forced to use so many words , nay , so many full Sermons to perswade the People to maintain Gods Ministers : so as to spend about it , two whole Chapters to the Corinthians , in an earnest kinde of Beggary : I would be very loath ( saith Luther to his Audience , ) to diffame my Wittemberg , as St. Paul doth his Corinth : But this is the ill fortune of the Gospel , that so far are most men from giving any thing for it , or to it , that all men will rather use all the base tricks they can to circumvent , to snatch , to steal away the means that should maintain the Ministers of it . The short and the long is this , men are degenerated into Beasts . ( This is Luther right . )

8. So that hence from , we may learn ( I speak in Luthers very words all this while : ) how n●cessary this Doctrine of Saint Paul , touching the Maintainance of Gods Ministers is to be Preached unto the People : for the * * It seems the German and British Devils are near of Kin. Devil hath but two high-ways to destroy Religion ; The one is by the Errors of Hereticks , and the Terrors of Tyrants , or Persecutors : But the other way is by starving , or depriving Gods Ministers , thereby forcing them to desert their Ministry , upon the Failer whereof , in time , the miserable People , for want of Gods Words , are turned into so many brute Beasts .

9. This horrible Mischief , the better to bring about , the Devil stirs up the Impious Magistrate in the City , and some ungodly ones of the Nobility and Gentry in the Countrey , violently to take away , and to convert to their own impious use , those Church Revenues , which are the maintainance of Gods Ministers : whereby it will soon come to pass , that none ( that 's worldly wise ) will put his Children to the Divinity-School , of all others , but rather apply them all to the other more gainful Trades and Sciences . ( That you may the better heed this , Luther goes over it again , discovering the Devils deep drift in this mystery of Iniquity , saying ) This is the Devils own Master-Plot to banish Christs Religion out of our Land , without either the visible violence of the Tyrants , or the under hand work of the Hereticks .

10. Ah! then , how much more likely is the Apostacy , and miserable must needs be that poor peoples Case , in whose Land all these three may seem to have conspired in a joynt Concurrence to the Destruction of that Church and Nation ? Heresie , Tyranny , and Robbery , all these at once ; Lord have mercy upon us ! ) But Luther goes on sadly still , and you must hear him out , for you must give Witnesses leave to speak out , and to tell out their own Tale , their own way too .

11. Will you know the Calamities attending upon such horrible Ingratitude ? Then behold , because an ungracious Nation thinks much to part with their Carnal things , for our Spiritual things ; therefore saith he , by a just Judgment of God they shall forfeit , and utterly lose both their own Carnal things , and our Spiritual things too .

12. And indeed I am verily perswaded , that these Churches of Galatia , and of Corinth , &c. were for no other cause thus infested , and troubled with so many false Apostles , but because they did so notoriously neglect their own true Doctors : For most just it is with God , that those that deny him their Pence , when He affords them all their own good things , and offers them eternal life to boot , should be given over to such frenzy , as freely to bestow whole pounds on the Devil and his Apostles : ( and then you may say , penny wise , and pound foolish indeed ! ) Then commenting further on the next words following , Be not deceived , God is not mocked : The Apostle , saith he , is so earnest in urging this Text for the liberal Maintenance of Gods Ministers , that he is fain to back his Exhortation with Increpation , down-right chiding , yea to fortifie both these with a severe Commination , saying , Be not deceived , God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth , that shall he also reap .

13. And even here , as we say , he hits the nail on the head , and meets full in the face , with the good manners of the men of our Generation , that most securely contemn our Ministry — Chiefly the great ones , that keep their Chaplains at such distance , as if they were not their Pastors , but their basest Slaves : So that were it not for Gods mercy that hath blessed us with a Prince so pious , and such a fast Friend to Religion , some of them had long ago made us weary of this Land . ( Do not imagine , 't is I speak this , for these are still Luther's own words all of them . )

14. Such are they that when the Preacher offers to defend , or to demand but his own , or but fairly to complain of his wrongs , they cry out straight , These Parsons are ever Covetous , and insatiable men ; they never have enough , and the like ; yet for all that , saith Luther , we must not give over pleading Gods Cause , when the Scripture it self pleads it thus for us : But these hard Lessons men must be taught , and told oft , though they Scoffe at us for our labour .

15. Yet these latterdayes-scoffers of God himself ( in his Servants ) would seem as good Gospellers as any of the best : But for all that know ye , saith he , that however God , for awhile , delayes his Vengeance , yet in his due time , he will finde you out , and plague your Dogged hatred against Gods Ministers .

16. Methinks , some are tyred already with reading thus much against the hair : will Luther never have done ? but the main is behinde yet : for now Luther may seem to thunder and lighten indeed , saying : That for all this Patience of God , yet the time will come , when the proudest of the Gentry , the Covetousest of the City , and the rudest Clowns in the Countrey , shall all at the very approach of Death , [ finde the Curses of God to be no Bug-bear words ] they shall then at furthest , finde , [ yea feel too ] the Truth of this Curse of God upon them , that in the end God will not be mocked indeed , but that as they have sown , so now they must go reap for ever .

17. And lest any should misconceive that Luther speaks only this at large of the Ministers Maintainance in genere : and so not to our particular purpose : therefore for a Conclusion , take notice , that Luther speaks there expresly of BONA PAPAE , as there he calls them , of such Popish Church Revenues , as some miscal the Lands of your Bishops , Deans , and Chapters : ( Luther himself would have said no less of the Abby-Lands : for were not these also inter Bona Papae ? ) which Luther is so far from condemning to Lay-uses , because of the abuses , that he rather earnestly warns all Ministers to take special notice , That those Church Revenues are their own Maintainance , and therefore they should not suffer themselves to be deprived of them by the Laity upon scruples of Conscience , because they were Popish , or so ; for say , they were gotten , and heaped up together by MEER IMPOSTURES , yet , saith he , since God hath been pleased , ( all these are his own words still ) to spoil the Egyptians , ( I mean the Papists ) and to give them unto us , why should not we enjoy our own ? Can they be converted to a more pious use , than to maintain the Ministers of God ? or will any affirm that use to be better , which they are put unto , by the Nobility and Gentry , that Rob us of them ? Then he concludes all , saying , Let us therefore once for all know , that with a very good Conscience we both may take , and keep too those Church Revenues to our selves . And thus far our first ample Witness , Luther for Germany .

18. In the second place , the next Witness we produce in the behalf of our Cause , will be far more brief , and yet very pithy too : and 't is Calvin for France , who even there were u u Ecclesiae facultates in alienos usus convertere sacrilegium esse dicunt , Assentior . Si nihil hic apud nos peccari dixero , Mentiar — non Excuso , Principes nostros accusant quòd Patrimonium Christi , & Ecclesiae Deo consecratum rapuerint , & in profanos usus dilapident : — Quod in eos tantùm usus non impendantur Ecclesia reditus quibus sunt dedicati , mihi displicere profiteor . Mecum etiam id gemunt omnes boni : — ECCLESIAE BONA ex Sacerdotum & Monach rum Erepta manibus ad se receperunt Principes nostri . — Fateor grave Judicium pronuntiari adversùs eos , qui Ecclesiam spoliaverunt , ut sibi raperent quod illius erat , quia veros Ministros fraudant suo victu . — Jam ante Triennium testati sunt nostri principes , moram se nullam in Restitutione facturos , modo in eundem se ordinem cogi patiantur , &c. Habet igitur tua Majestas , Invictissime Caesar , principes suá promissione obstrictos , &c. Extat etiam in manibus hominum Libellus , ut ad Doctrinae consensionem ea res non debeat esse impedimento . Calvin , Tractatu de Necessitate Reformandae Ecclesiae , in vol. Opuscul . Ex professo , he does his utmost in writing unto the Emperor , Charles the Fifth , and to the rest of the Princes then assembled at Spira , to excuse at large the Sacriledge objected to the Reformers , yet even then , I say , is he forced to let fall thus many Truths at once .

19. First , he truly States the Objection thus , They say that to convert the Church Revenues unto other uses is Sacriledge , I grant it . 2. That at the Reformation those Church Revenues were not so well disposed of , I should lye if I should deny it : And again , it cannot be free from blame : and again , I cannot excuse it : Though the pretence was then as now , and so is his Plea , that part of it was employed in Stipends to the Maintenance of the Ministers : yet for all that , he ingenuously confesses , and complains too , that those Church Revenues , ( which he there calls expresly the Patrimony of Christ , and the Patrimony of the Church , consecrated to God ) were not employed only to those uses to which they were dedicated , ( I speak all this while in Calvins own words : ) and that they are not so imployed is my grief , and all good men lament this case with me . If you now make a question what Church Revenues he means , he tells you plainly , he means no other but those Church means that by the Princes of the Reformation , were taken away from THE POPISH PRIESTS AND FRIARS , so that he must needs make THE FRIARS Means part of the Churches Patrimony . Nay Calvin goes farther , to denounce Gods grievous Judgment against all those that had thus robbed the Church to inrich themselves : and last of all , for a conclusion of all , he seems to point out no other Remedy for it , but * *

For this kinde of pious Restitution of the Church-Lands , and other Sacred Revenues , formerly usurped , we need not go beyond Seas to seek Precedents : This Island ( so famous for ancient Christianity ) affords us memorable Examples : To cite but one for all : Willelmus Rex Anglorum Reddidit Ecclesiae omnes fère terras antiquis & modernis temporibus à jure ipsius Ecclesiae ablatas , quarum terrarum Nomina haec sunt . In Cantia Raculf . Sandwic . Rateburch . Widecun . Monasterium de Limminge cum terris & Consuetudinibus ad ipsum Monasterium pertinentibus . Saltwude cum Burgo heche ad saltwude pertinente , Langport Niwendene . Rokinge , Detlinge . Prestentune non longè à fluvio Medeweie sitam . Sunderhersté . Iarbeche : Orpentun . Amesford . Denintun . Stocke . Quatuor Praebendas de Mwentune & praeter haec omnia multas alias modicas terras tam in insulis quam extrà insulas in Cantia sitas . Stocke verò & Denentum Lanfrancus Archiep's Reddidit Ecclesiae Sancti Andreae , quia de jure ipsius Ecclicae Antiquitùs fuerunt . In sutrege Murtelac Lundoniae Monasterium Sanctae Mariae cum terris & Domibus quas Livingus Presbiter , & uxor illius Lundonice habuerunt . In Middlesexum . Hergam . in Buckingham-scire Risbergam healtun . In Oxenaford-scire Niwentun . In Suchfolke Frakenham : hanc Villam Lanfrancus Archep's Reddidit Ecclesiae Sancti Andreae , quia antiquitûs ad ipsam Ecclesiam pertinebat . In East Sexum scistede . Stanbgrigge . haec omnia Reddidit pro Deo & pro salute animae suae , gratis & sine ullo Precio .

This Record is to be seen in the Rare Library of that late Famous Antiquary , Sir Robert Cotton , in a Manuscript Entitled , Canones Burcardi & Lanfranci Constitutiones , Fol. 165. B. In which Notable evidence are very observable 1. The Royal Example of Restitution to the Church . 2. The godly Concurrence of Lanfrancus the Arch-Bishop . 3. That this Restitution tends to God , Pro Deo , & pro salute , Animae suae . 4. That this was done gratis & sine ullo precio : It was neither by way of Commutation on the Restorers part , nor by way of Redemption on the Churche's part . 5. ( But this only obiter ) we may also hereby take notice of the Marriage of Priests in those ancient dayes , 600 years ago : for Arch-Bishop Lanfranc was promoted to the Sea of Canterbury , Anno 1070.

That such Restitutions were procured by Arch-Bishop Lanfranc may further appear : Nam maneria 25. per Od●nem Epùm Baiocensem , fratrem Regis uterinum erepta , Ecclica Restituenda Curavit . Mannerium de R●dburne per injuriam ereptum illius Operâ redditum est . Godwin de Praesulibus in Lanfranc .

Restitution , which he therefore mentions twice for failing , Telling the Emperor , that some three years before , the Princes had made a Promise to restore them all without delay , ( but upon Condition , namely , Provided the Friars , and the Priests , and the Bishops too , who did also abuse Church-means , to maintain Vice and Luxury , would part with them also : Conditions unlikely enough , and therefore to this day that Restitution is yet to make : ) In conclusion , Calvin seems as it were , to put up for it , his Petition to the Emperor himself , saying , Caesar , you have the Princes bound by their own promise , to restore , as if he would say , you may sue out their Bond. Calvin addes moreover , that there was a Book written on purpose touching the Restitution , to give satisfaction about it ; so that this particular should be no hinderance to Consent in Doctrine . Thus far Calvin for France .

20. And so in the third and last place , Knox for Scotland , In the first Book of Discipline , Anno 1560. he and all his fellow Ministers are very vehement in pressing the Lords of the Privy Council to Restitution of all the Church Revenues ; their words are to this effect , We dare not flatter your Lordships , but for fear of the loss of your souls and ours , we desire to have all the Church Lands of the Friars , and all other Mortifications restored back again unto the Church .

21. And in particular , Knox himself , about the year 1572. in which year he died , x x Knox his History . in a general Epistle of his , from Edinborough , where he was Minister , unto the General Assembly then sitting at Striveling , he there exhorts them all to joyn in Preaching against the sin of Sacriledge , in words to this purpose , Brethren , we have had a fight against the Hereticks , and God hath blessed us , we have now a strong fight against the Sacrilegious ; and therefore be you couragious , and God will give us an happy end . This Doctrine from Knox , you may the rather take notice of , and believe too , because it seems it was his DEATH-BED DOCTRINE .

22. We omit to dilate farther , in quoting their whole express Sermons , such as was that of Mr. John Cragge , Preached at Lyth , Anno 1571. directly against the Sin of Sacriledge : by all which , you may clearly see , that all those Reformers were as earnest as any of us can be , in inveighing against but the beginning of that Sacriledge , against whose progress , nay , almost conquest , some Left hearted men , now adayes , think it strange that we dare open our Mouths .

23. But what need I trouble you with any more single Testimonies , If whole Assemblies as it were Agmine facto , marching in a full Body against it , have charged this sin through and through : For behold , as Leah said at the Birth of Gad , a Troop cometh . Genes. xxx . 11. To name no more , The whole Assembly at St. Andrews , ( we are in Scotland still ) which did ( Anno 1582. ) expresly injoyn a General Fast throughout the Realm , for appeasing Gods wrath upon the Land directly again for the crying sin of Sacriledge . And surely we of this Kingdom have much more cause to arraign our selves for this sin now , then they had then : So that ( even before I knew this example ) such a thing has been often times in my thoughts and wishes , with humble submission to Authority .

Behold instances enough of all sorts , as to Justifie our Charge to the full , so to finish our matter of Probation , and indeed our whole Pleading against the Sin of Sacriledge arraigned here by Saint Paul in these words .

THOU THAT ABHORREST IDOLS , DOEST THOU COMMIT SACRILEDGE ?

THE RECAPITULATION OF ALL.

1. AND now to contract this whole Mass of Matter , and to binde up all our evidence into one plain Syllogism , ( the most convincing way of Argumentation : )

WHATEVER is of the same nature with Idolatry and Adultery , that must needs be a Sin now under the Gospel , as much as under the Law .

BVT Sacriledge is of the same Nature with Idolatry and Adultery .

ERGO , SACRILEDGE IS A SIN NOW UNDER THE GOSPEL , AS MUCH AS UNDER THE LAW .

Quod erat Demonstrandum .

The MAJOR is extra controversiam being founded upon a Maxime of Reason , for Eorundem eadem est ratio .

The MINOR is expressed in the words of the Text , and grounded besides upon the clear Scope of the Apostle in the whole Context , which is all along by Induction , at least à pari , if not a Majori , to convince both Jew and Gentile of gross Hypocrisie , for y y Therefore thou art Inexcusable , O man , whosoever thou art , that Judgest : for wherein thou judgest another , thou condemnest thy self , for thou that judgest , doest the same things . — And thinkest thou , O man , that judgest them which do such things , and doest the same , that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God ? Rom. 2.1.3 . and so , ver. 21.22 . committing those very sins of Idolatry , or Adultery , ( or as bad as those ) which they did condemn in others . And if both the Major and the Minor also be true , none but made men will deny the CONCLUSION . This evidence in the behalf of Gods Cause , is both so strong , and so clear , That the professed Adversaries of it are forced to confess it : For the chief of them , that Doctor of Sacriledge ( cited , and confuted above in the X Chapt. ) in that very Book , which he wrote , ex professo , in defence of Sacriledge , spends an whole Chapter , * * C.B. Chap. 3 , to prove it : the Title whereof is , That there is , or may be Sacriledge committed now under the Gospel .

Albeit the same Author , playing still the Prevaricator , ( his best part ) in the very next Chapter before , goes about to undermine this very Text , Thou that abhorrest Idols , doest thou commit Sacriledge : as if meant only of the Idolothytes , the meats sacrificed to Idols , ( which Cavil , à male divisis , &c. hath been already confuted above , Chap. II. p. 14 , 15 , ) whereas , by the Current of Interpreters , z z As 1. The Syriack renders it , Dost thou spoil the Holy House ? 2. The Aethiopick , Doest thou rob the House of God ? 3. The Arabick , Doest thou steal the Vessels of the Temple ? 4. Bucerus upon the place , Fieri potest , &c. It may be St. Paul here , by Sacriledge , did not mean the stealing of the money dedicated to Idols , but the Rapine , which the Jews did commit about their Sacred Things , partly by Selling , and Buying the Priesthood ; partly by intercepting the Sacred Offerings , and the Money dedicated by the people to Religious Uses . — For which cause our Lord did cast out of the Temple those , that bought and sold therein . These things the Jews most impuden ly had long before begun to practise ; as also Jesephus himself doth witness . Thus Bucerus . 5. Ad verbum , Templum ▪ Despolias ? Doest thou plunder , or rob the Temple ? 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Contemptus divinae Majestati● , per synecdochen speciei . Pisc . in loc. To the same pu pose P. Martyr , and others . the sense is much more inlarged , and this Text expounded directly of Robbing the true God , by intercepting , and interverting Religious Oblations , and setting the same to sale . ( The good work which C. B. in that Book undertakes to maintain , thereby to justifie his own Sacrilegious Purchase . ) But if it be Sacriledge ( as himself there doth confess ) to sell , or purchase such transient oblations . Then certainly , by his leave , with very good Logick , any man indued with right Reason , must needs conclude , That by the Rule of Proportion , it is much more , and much greater Sacriledge to sell , or to purchase the Permanent Oblations , the Houses and Lands dedicated for the maintenance of the Service , and Servants of the true Gods : whose Acceptance of such Oblations , and consequently Gods Propriety in them , we have clearly made out above ( Chap. vi . p. 64. and elsewhere . ) But this is , and ever will be , the true Character of our Modern Pharisees , like the true off-spring of the Old Pharisees , ( Matth. xxiii . 24. ) To strain at a gnat , and swallow a Camel . To leave them therefore , and by Application to turn unto you .

By this time we may hope that you and all good men , not blinded with Schismatical Prejudice , or bewitched with Sacrilegious Avarice , will be really convinced of the CONCLUSION . As for us , That which was our Task to make good , we have done , God be thanked , this Text is clearly our own : a Divine , and Direct Bar against the Sin of Sacriledge .

2. And now after all this , let the Fanatical Libertines of our Times , in their Atheism , or Ignorance , say still , that Sacriledge is but a Fancy : with as good reason , they may ( and rather then miss of the prey , ( the Church-Lands ) haply they would , if they durst ) say as much of Adultery , that it is but a Fancy neither , or of Idolatry , or of Theft , or of any sin , that it is no more but so , a Fancy also : for some are grown now such proficients in the Schools of Atheism , that they dare affirm Vertues , and Vices to be but Opinions : But we hope you have better learned Christ , You see clearly , that in the natural , and full propriety of the word , Sacriledge is here by Saint Paul expresly matched with all those Crimes : As for the gain-sayers , either they must admit all the premised absurdities , or else ( which is far better ) let them in aserious Reflection upon their own folly , and vain imaginations , and a day of reckoning for them all , speedily Repent , and Recant these their own wilde Fancies ; lest if they go on in their earthly , sensual , devilish Wisdom , ( these are an Apostles a a Jam. 3.15 . own Epithets of such Wits ( for so they would be called ) through Gods just judgment , b b Rom. 1.21 . they become utterly vain in their own Imaginations , and their foolish heart be for ever darkened : And let them take heed , lest by their wilful impenitency , and hardness of heart , they provoke a just God to pass upon them that terrible and final Sentence , c c 2 Thess. ii . 10 , 11 , 12. That because they would not receive the love of the Truth , that they might be saved , therefore God will send them strong delusion , that they shall believe a lye , that they all may be DAMNED .

3. As for you , whom God hath blessed with more of that true impartial wisdom which is from above , let no man , or men , deceive you with vain words : Since you have heard this truth so abundantly vouched , from such undeniable Principles of all kinds from the Law of Nature , from the Law of Moses , which is the Law of God , ( his Moral Law ) confirmed by the Law of Christ ; for no Text in all the whole Bible more plain against Sacriledge , then this we have now treated of .

4. Since this Solemn Devotion of Religiou● Consecrations , whereby good Christians do binde themselves heart and hand , and all back again unto God , ( which is the very Nature of Religion ) d d Religio à Religando : Lact. hath been unquestionably transmitted to us , down from Christ his dayes , by the Practice Apostolical and Primitive , by whole Juries of several Nations , and indeed by the general Verdict of the Church Catholick throughout all Ages , all over Christendom : and sure in such an Universal sense , Vox populi , vox Dei , one would think .

5. Since by all Municipal Laws , Civil and Statute Law , your own Common Law , it so clearly appears , that the Churches Claim is no Imaginary Title , but as Real as all these Laws can make it . Since by them the Church is lawfully possessed of all her Demesnes Praedial , as well as Personal , unmoveables as well as moveables , Houses and Lands , as well as Tythes , or Rents ; of Cathedral Lands , as well as Glebe Lands : which although now , and here usually , stylo novo , restrained more strictly to Lands belonging to Parochial Churches , and thence , by too nice a distinction , maliciously e e Cornel. Burges chap. 1. and 4. of his Book for Sacriledge , to make way for his Usurpation of the Cathedral Lands , doth enter a Caution , That he doth not extend his Plea to Parochial Glebes , or appropriations of them ; which Glebes , saith he , cannot be taken , ( though by his pretended Parliament , these were also taken most unjustly ) from able and fai●hful Ministers , by any humane Authority , without bordering at least , upon Sacriledge : Thus he determines it , without offering any the least solid proof for the Jus Divinum , or for the exemption of Parochial Glebes , from sale , which may not be retorted in the behalf of Cathedral Lands : as where he affirms ( Chap. 4. ) That the Glebes were given by men of Quality , and Piety , for the good of the Souls of the living , so far as the Founders of those Churches were able to judge : Why may not the same be said of Cathedral Lands ? ( He that reads the forms of Donations , formerly cited , will easily confute him : ) And whereas , he there restrains our Ministery only to the Office ( as he describes i● ) of truly and faithfully preaching Christ to the people of those places where such Lands were given . This assertion is both a gross petitio principii , a begging of the Question , and also a Schismatical plot , with tke pretence of preaching , to justle out the publick Prayers of the Church : as if the Solemn Office of the daily publick Prayers , duly and daily celebrated in our Cathedrals ( including also Parish-Churches ) were not worth the naming : which Office is by all sorts of Christians , East , and West , ( all but the Puritans ) constantly practised , and which indeed ( where , through decay of the Primitive Devotion , the daily use of the Eucharist is neglected ) is the only Juge Sacrificium left to the Christians , instead of the Jews m rning and evening Lamb : ( Ex. xxix . 39. ) The daily Sacrifice of Prayers and Praises intimated by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews , chap. xiii . 15. ( and so understood by the Ancients ) which daily publick Office of Prayers , and Praises , as it is profitable not to one single Parish only ( as the Office of Preaching ) but , in a diffusive Charity , to the whole Catholick Church ; and therefore for the good of the Souls of the Living : so is it not at all ( as he maliciously would insinuate ) exclusive of the other Holy Office of Preaching , that is , Soberly , and soundly Expounding the Holy Word of God , and that also according to the Ancients ( whose streams may run clearer , as they were nearer the fountain ) and Applying the Divine Word to the right Information of the Christian Faith , and the wholesome Instruction of a Godly Life : which to do aright , is to Preach indeed , an Office frequently practised also in our Cathedral Churches . wrested to the exclusion of Cathedral Lands , thereby the more plausibly to expose them to sale , or purchase , without fear of Sacriledge : yet the f f Gleba : ) pro solo , & dote Ecclesiae . Passim in Jure Canonico . Provinciale Angliae , lib 3. Tu de Eccles. aedificand . §. 1. Ibi Lindewod . Gleba , id est , Terra in qua consistit Dos Ecclesiae . Theod. Cod. pro quovis saepè agro . Sic constit . Neap. l iii Tit. 3. servi Gleba . H. Spelman . Glossar . Learned know , that in the true notion thereof , Glebes were anciently , and generally taken for any Church Lands whatsoever : and that also all those premised Revenues of the Church , were not then stinted to the base , narrow bounds of a bare Necessity , as to the hire of a Labourer only , or as some ignorantly tearm it , to the Pittance of a fitting , and that also arbitrary , maintenance at the most , ( those that by this word , mean only just as much as needs , and no more , would in their own case , scarce be content with a Just Retortion : ) But 't is plain to the contrary , that the Church hath by all those good Laws , been endowed even to an Ample , redundant , honourable maintenance , suitable to the eminent Condition of the Immediate Servants of the most High God ; which to diminish , or to defraud , hath alwayes been accounted , and accordingly abhorred as most hainous Sacriledge by the whole Catholick Church , for above a thousand years , ( one only odde man excepted Aerias in Epiphanius , held even therefore by all for an errand Heretick . ) Since all these Truths are attested by whole Troops of Witnesses out of all places , France , Scotland , Germany , &c. at all times , of all sorts , of all sides .

5. Since that of all this Ecclesiastical Estate , the Clergy is really but the Usufructuary , God himself , to whom by the express Letter of all those Laws , and of your own Law likewise , the Donations are entitled , being therefore the direct Proprietary : and God cannot be mocked .

6. Since this whole Church Patrimony in general , is fenced round about with so many ( not Bruta fulmina , or bare bug-bearwords , as the Atheistical Scoffers of these latter-dayes nick-name them ) but with so many Divine Comminations , and most Just Curses , thundered out at first by the mouth of Gods own Moses's , Ezras's , Solomon's , Malachie's , under the old , and executed by his Peter's , his Apostle's , under the New Testament , only in due Conformity repeated after them , * * See this at large in the Codix Donationum Piarum , A. Auberto miraeo ; ( besides so many clear Precedents of your own , cited above , ch. vi . ) in all the Solemn Religious Donations , not out of any private Interest , but out of a publick respect , and devout zeal to Gods Glory , &c.

7. Since this your own National Churches Patrimony in particular is , Ex abundanti , fortified with the double Rampart of so many Oaths , no private Oaths , but Royal Oaths : First in general , then in particular , for the special Defence and protection of the Clergy . ( If it were possible for these violent men to perswade a Christian King to such wilful Perjury , could either King or People expect to prosper after so many Perjuries and Injuries of all sides ? )

8. Since ( only in general let it be observed without any further particular Application of Gods Judgments ) the Usurpation of this Sacred Patrimony , hath alwayes proved thus Fatal to the greatest of men , to whole Families , to whole Nations and Empires , as indeed being wholly destructive of all Justice and Hon●sty , Law and Reason , and of Religion also , though masked under the Pretences of all these : Tending really to the Eradication ( 't is their own truculent Metaphor , Root and Branch ) of the whole Order of the Priesthood , in destroying the Fountains of it , ( the Devils great Master-Plot ) and consequently ending at last in the utter Change and subversion of all Government in Church and State : the very Down-fall of the whole Frame of both States Ecclesiastical and Civil : For flatter not your selves , but mark it who will , even in this sense St. Pauls Maxime may pass for an Oracle of State , as well as of Religion , g g Heb. 7.12 . WHERE THE PRIESTHOOD IS ONCE CHANGED , THERE MUST ALSO OF NECESSITY FOLLOW A CHANGE OF THE LAW : The very h h 'T is that famous Macenas , ( in Dion Cassius Histor. Rom. Lib. Lii . ) who , bating only his Heathen style , gives unto Augustus the Emperour this excellent counsel concerning his Office : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That is , If thou desirest indeed to become Immortal , [ then ] do thou thy self , at all times and in all places , Worship God , according to the Religion of thy Country , and also compel others to the same Worship : as for Innovators about it , those thou must both hate , and punish also , not only out of respect to the Gods , whom whosoever contemns , will certainly little regard any thing else , but because they that , in opposition , will introduce new Gods , will also entice , or seduce many to alter the Laws : From whence will arise Conspiracies , Meetings , and Conventicles , which are things inconsistent with Monarchy . Thou must not therefore TOLERATE any , either Atheist , or Conjurer . [ Those two indeed are here well-matched together . ] Thus it is plain from the Mouth , even of an Heathen , That 't is necessary for Kings and Princes to be Religious , even for this solid Reason of State : Machiavel himself ( at least in sh●w ) goes so far in his Princeps : To prescribe Religion , even in Policy , which Hypoc●isie proves the Excellency and Necessity of Religion to preserve Policy . Heathen could see this great Truth afar off .

9. Since therefore such an Act were directly Introductive of a Discipline ( to say the least of it ) utterly Vnsuitable , yea Incompatible with the Altitude of this Royal Meridian , that we say not utterly contradictory to the Platform of the Holy Ghost , and to the express Truth of God in his Word , which shall be found true when of all others , these wilful Innovators shall be found Lyars , who dare thus immodestly Controul the general Wisdom , and constant Practice of all the Churches of Christ , Oriental , and Occidental , all over , for above fifteen hundred years .

10. Since this dangerous Mine of Sacriledge , if not countermined ( which is our labour at this time ) if it be once sprung up , would prove destructive not only to the Church , but à majori , to all Schools of good learning . ( The fruitful Seminaries of both Church and Commonwealth ) and so consequently would be Introductive of all Barbarisme and Blindeness . For you cannot be ignorant , that this fatal Plot of Sacriledge did both of old , and also of late , play at all : was there not a time , ( 't is but an Age since ) when it came to catch , Henry VIII . who catch can ? then the Vniversity-Lands were even attempted , and in danger : Had not some gallant States-men * * Sir John Mason then Chancellor of Oxford . protected those Incour●gements of Learning and Vertue , the two Master-Pillars of Church and State : For all would be Fish that came to the Net , on the turning of the tide , and Alteration of Religion . How easie was it then for Covetousness to quarrel the Colledge-Lands into Superstition ? Sacriledge then stood ready to knock at their Gates , but the good Porter kept the door close . And again of late , did not the Sacrilegious Sects press sore upon the Universities , offering violence , ready to break the door . Had not as I may say , the Universities Provincial Angels † † Dan. xi . 13 , 21. Gen. xix . 9. protected them , and smitten those Sons of Belial ( like the men of Sodom ) who came to commit a Rape upon them , with blindness that they could not finde the Door ? for there wanted nothing but opportunity , and may they still want it : But this we may be sure of , there wants not , even at this day , whole Herds of brutish Schismaticks , and furious Fanaticks , that still cry down all manner of learning , as superfluous , nay , as a base Badge of Antichrist . Do you believe those wilde Beasts , if they had full power to their mad will , would count it Sacriledge to pull down the Colledges , or favour the Vniversities more then the Churches , which when they reigned , and raged , they ( by the Spirit ) turned into Stables ? who knows but what hath been , may be , except God , and the King prevent it ?

11. Since to compass this Audacious Project , you may observe that the Arguments they produce , are as groundless as their Pretences are false , drawn from Religion , from Policy ; their Religious Pretences● , 1. Of Zeal , for Purity of Religion . 2. For a Powerful Ministry . Their Politick Pretences , 1. Of Justice upon Delinquents . 2. The Publick Peace . 3. State-Necessity . 4. Legislative Power ; which duly examined , have proved , as you have seen , either black Calumnies , or else false Colours , which once brought to the light of Truth , and Reason , do signifie just nothing : for it , we dare appeal to meer rational men , that we say not Christians : Nay , I am verily perswaded , that some of them in their own Consciences cannot but sometimes Doubt at least , that their Distinctions and Extenuations may then want Christs Approbation , when Christ himself shall charge them with Sacriledge and Rebellion at the day of Judgment : and then what will become of the miserable Authors ? Since one day all of you , single , or Assembled , high and low , rich and poor , one with another must be Judged . not by your RAGION DI STATO , but by your RIGHT RELIGION TO GOD , TRUE ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING , AND DUTIFUL OBEDIENCE TO HOLY CHURCH TOO , UNDER GOD.

12. Since when these Projectors perceive the Impotency of their Arguments , yet still to bring about their Injurious Ends , their Practices are so violent , their Machinations so Mahumetan , so bloody , ( for the Devil was a Murderer from the beginning , John viii . 44. and therefore will still be doing his own work , his own way ) nothing else but a Train of Multiplied Conspiracies and Rebellions against both Church and King , so lately overflowing all over three whole Christian Kingdoms , with such a Deluge of Sin , Schisme , and Christian Blood , as a Turk would blush at to see or suffer to be thus wilfully spilt among his own Mahumetans : you may justly , and that also i i Matth. vii . 20. infallibly know them by their fruits , by the baseness of their Course , judge of the goodness of their Cause , fortified with nothing else but a new Usurped Power , under-propt by a multiplication of Seditious and Schismatical Covenants , for Form , and Matter , Authority , and Ends , all of them in a●l these , point-blank to all the several National Covenants mentioned in Holy Scriptures . ( Believe us not , but search and try it your k k There are but SIX NATIONAL COVENANTS mentioned in all the whole Bible , and all of them , 1. Both given and taken by the Kings Authority , never a Covenant of them all imposed without , much less against Sovereign Authority . 2. They were meerly Religious Covenants , not Politick , no STATE-COVENANTS . 3. If as in Esra's Case , King Artaxerxes , expresly moved by Evil Councellors , such as Bishlam , Tabeel and his fellow● , did forbid the going on with it , or with the publick Reformation , then they accordingly left of all , till God sent them another better King , till a Darius gives them leave to go on with it again ; yet were those Kings , to whom the People of God shewed so much Respect and Duty , but meer Heathen , nay , humanitûs loquendo , Usurpers also . But had it been , as is pretended , the Nations Duty to Reform Religion without , nay against the Kings leave , then they ought to have suffered the utmost , rather then to have sinned by the S●rcease of such a Necessary duty This is all clear Scripture , read it , and believe it accordingly : the several places are extant in Josh. 24.25 . 2 Kings 11.4 . 2 Chron. 15.12 . and 29.10 . and 34.30 . and Ezra 10 , 3. and 4.23 , 24. selves : ) Sealed with so many Execrable Counter Oaths , Positive , Ngative , inforced upon all men within their Line of Communication , as I may call it , ( This is LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE indeed , when no man may buy or sell , except he have THE MARK OF THE BEAST , Rev. 13 . 1● . one or other , in his right hand , or in his forehead . ) Sure as it argues , that Building must needs be very weak , or else very rotten , that needs so many more then ordinary Props to keep it from falling : So likewise it declares plainly , that Scelus Pavidum est , it is a Malignant sign this , that they sore suspect the Honesty or Strength , in the end , of their own Cause ; which makes them for very fear , use so many sinister means , to harden their miserable Complices in a brazen obstinacy , against God , against the King , against the Church , and against all those other good things that belong unto their Peace , that so , as much as in them lies , they may save the Devil himself the labour , and Cauterize the Consciences of their poor deluded Proselytes : for what is all this , if it be not to Seal men under utter Impenitency against all possible Touches of Remorse , lest any of those whom they have so inveigled , or ingaged , or indeed directly compelled into their Inhumane Conjuration , perceiving ( by the Event ) God Almighties sore displeasure at these hellish Confusions , and being at the last , it may be touched in Conscience with the horrors of so many National Mischiefs in Church and State , so much Christian Blood streaming of all sides of them , in all Quarters , and crying aloud for Gods Vengeance upon themselves , and the whole Land , might , ( as in Conscience they are bound , under pain of Damnation , notwithstanding all their Unjust Oaths , which being ill taken , are m m In malis promissis réscinde fidem , in turpi voto , m●ta Decretum . Isidor . hispal● Illicitum praestare tenetur nemo ▪ Herods keeping of his Oath , and cutting off John Baptists head , was far worse than the taking it , Mark 6.26 . far worse kept ) give over at last their Damnable Rebellion , and so by their Repentance , never to be repented of , hazard the further Prosecution , and utterly prevent the Perfection of the Devils great Master-Plot , in some respects far beyond the horror of the Gun-Powder-Plot it self , or any Plot , new or old .

13. And yet since for all these Furious Attempts of men and Devils against this one poor Church : as if the Church of Britain were indeed , as of old it was called n n BRITANNIA PRIMOGENITA ECCLESIAE . Sabellicus Ennead . 7. Lib. 5. The Eldest Daughter of the whole Catholick Church , you may see the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it , but as yet , it subsists , like Moses burning Bush , thus long preserved from utter Consumption in the very midst of all that great fire of Persecution : you may visibly perceive Gods Admirable Prevention , Gods especial hand of Restraint over the late King of Glorious Memory ; who , although tempted by all the Devils Methods , by all the Arts of Fraud , or Force , yet could never be so much as inclined to yield his Royal Consent , or but Countenance , or Connivance any wayes , towards the Demolition of this Church : Because , as he told the Parricides , first and last , he could neither in Conscience , nor Honour , do such an Act : Therefore that Great Prince did rather chuse , Christianly to dye a Glorious Martyr , then ignominiously to live , a Perjured Prince , by wilfully betraying the Churches Rights , and the Peoples Laws , and Liberties : for that nothing but * * Cornel Burges , No Sacriledge , &c. ch. 2. black malice can cast the Odium of that Rebellious War , or of the Kings Death , upon the Churches Cause only , is evident both by the Kings own Protestations in his Declarations , and , † † Numb . ii . upon the 19. Propositions , &c. especially by that incomparable ( we might say inspired ) Book of his Royal Portraicture , and by the Rebel 's own Proceedings ; all which abundantly testifie , that the King dyed for the Liberties of the People , as well as for the Rights of the Church : To defend both which Church and People , ( according to his Royal Oath at his Coronation ) the King did use his Sword , as long as he could ; and when he could do it no longer , that way ( the Sword of God being by a Prodigious Rebellion , wrested out of his Sacred hand ) he did seal it with his Blood : An act of Heroical Magnanimity , that hath no Parallel but that of the King of Kings , who came not to destroy , Luke xix . 10. but to save ; and therefore gave his Life for his Sheep : a Precedent worthy the Admiration of all Christian Princes , John x. 15. if not of their Imitation !

14. But to return to Gods Providence over this Church , what can such a miraculous Restraint of the Father , and no less Miraculous Restauration of the Son , Stupente orbe , to the Admiration , yea astonishment , of all the world ( Pagan and Christian ) what can all these Marvails , all these mysterious Wheels of the Divine Providence over this Church signifie , but that as yet God hath , and ( if our Sins and National Ingratitude do not reverse it ) God will have still , I trust , a special hand of Providence , for the preservation of this Church . Considering how the destruction thereof , was so long since Plotted , so notoriously Proclaimed , so violently , yea so sanguinarily Prosecuted , and yet , that still for all that , the Divine Counsel hath from time to time put off as yet the Period of it : under God , ( in whose only hand is , and ought to be , the Kings Heart , as the rivers of water , Prov. xxi . 1. to turn it whithersoever he will : We are all bound to thank the King , both the Father , and the Son , for that Royal Faithfulness and Christian Constancy , that yet , in chief , upholds this persecuted Church : And , under God and the King , thank a Loyal Parliament also . We had need to pray to God , earnestly to confirm the King , that he may conserve the Church ; for 't is no less then the Kings own Conscience , the Assault of Sacriledge aims at to storm , and then to Conquer , that so the Rebels may once again , Reign without him : God in mercy to this Church , and Nation , avert still that final Judgment to the Rebels Conversion , or Confusion . Amen .

15. In this good hope ( all the Premises duly and sadly considered ) let us all arm our selves with Christian Patience , and Gallant Resolution , praying for Perseverance : and if Sinners puft up with their late seeming advantages , and Penal prosperity , because God , in his unsearchable wayes , to our Trial , but to their greater Dementation and Obduration , did of late curse them with good successes : If by the Representation of these Favours in shew , should , ( as 't is too much to be feared , and therefore may wisely be presumed , they are plotting still to strike at the King himself , * * Camb. Q. Eliz. through the Churches sides . ) If they should intice you to joyn with them , p p Prov. 1.10 , 19. to swallow up Gods own precious substance , to fill your houses with the Church spoils , to cast in your lot among them : bearing you in hand that you shall be all made by it , you shall all have one purse with them : q q Psal. 62.10 . O trust not in wrong and robbery . Take the wise mans good Counsel , for all their goodly pretences of Religion or Policy , Consent you not , but rather refrain your foot from their Path , for their feet run to evil , and make haste to shed blood : Nay , in the upshot , you shall see , yea , themselves and all their partners shall find , it and feel it , that they do but all this while lay wait for their own blood , lurking privily for their own lives , posting away insensibly to their own destruction in the end ; like Shimei , 1 Kings xi 44. digging their own Graves , ( as so many of them have done lately ) by their Relapses , even after a general Pardon .

16. If all this cannot move you , as it comes from us ? Then to draw all towards an end , for a sad Farewel-Truth , Imagine , ( what is but too true in the Moral ) that you now see THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND it self , YOUR own Dear MOTHER groveling here at your feet , all discheveled , and discomposed ( as she lately was ) all over rent and torn with so many Fractions and Factions , with so many Thorns , and Bryars of dangerous Sects , and scandalous Schisms , all over yet stained and gore with the mutual Blood of her own Unnatural Children , that like a brood of cursed Vipers did dilacerate their own Mothers Womb ) ( a most ruful Spectacle to a right Christian Spirit ! ) In this sad habit and posture , the late ruful Dress of your Mother-Church : Think you hear still your miserable Parent , thus feelingly bespeaking you all for a last warning : Ah my Sons , Ah the Sons of my Vows , let me now , if ever , once for all , beseech you all , by this Womb that bare you all , and brought you forth unto Christ : by those breasts that gave you suck , even by Gods holy Word , and Sacraments : by those Arms that have so long enclosed you all , That Holy Doctrine , and Godly Discipline , that hath , as yet , kept you safe from the Fangs of so many Heresies and Schisms , that have over-spread almost all the Churches of Christ , over all Christendom ; by all these , and by more then all these , by your hope and share in all the mercies of God , in all the merits and sufferings of Christ my Dear Husband , the Saviour of your souls : Eph. iv . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. By all the Seven Unities of the Holy Ghost , one Body , one Spirit , one Hope of your Calling , one Lord , one Faith , one Baptisme , one God and Father of all , who is above all , and through all , and in you all : By the Holy , Blessed , and Glorious Trinity , three Persons and one God : Ah , my Sons , I adjure you by all these most Holy Tyes , and Interests , Reverence my gray hairs : Do not by one ( for ever fatal ) Bargain , sell away for nothing , Isa. ix . 5. but Garments rolled in Blood , all that Sacred Truth , all that Solemn Devotion , Ancient Dignity , and Religious Decency , all that Beauty of Holiness , all that Christian Glory , which I , through so great Opposition of whole Legions of Hereticks , and Schismaticks , through so much Persecution by the old and new Tyrants , through so many Martyrdomes , have been laying up for your these full sixteen r r That 't is so long since Christian Religion ( as it here now stands by Law Established , both for Matter of Doctrine , and for Form of Government also ) was first planted here in Britain there need● no witness more authentical then old Gildas de Excidio Britanniae , who there expresly affirms that he knows it so to be true : placing the age of it Summo Tibe●ii Caesaris tempore , about the xxxv . year of Christ ( as Baronius reckons it . ) For Tiberius dyed in the 37. year of our Lord : So Eusebius Pamphili in Chronico , hundred years : Betray not now at last your Old Mother to the scorn , and spoil of Sacrilegious , and seditious men , ( your own Consciences know they were at their best estate , no better then FORTUNATE REBELS , ) that will lay yours , and the whole Nations , and all your Mothers Honour in the dust . Is this all your thanks to me for my Religious care , and holy cost in your gracious Education ? Is this all the Respect you shew to the Memory of your pious ANCESTORS ? Is this all the Regard you have of the eternal welfare of your tender POSTERITY ? will you now in a manner , Unchristen your selves and them all ? will you wilfully venture your selves , and your Successors upon the sharp Swords-point of so many Ancient Execrations , Authentick Curses , not causless , nor powerless , ( as Sacrilegious Purchasers blinded with their great god , Mammon , may prophanely fancy , but ) Curses deserved , curses effectual also , just Imprecations , zealously denounced against all unjust Violators of the Wills and Testaments of the Religious Donors ? Ah rather turn again , my Sons , and save the blazing Candlestick , that is even now upon going out , from Utter Removal ; Except you will leave all your Successors after you for ever in utter darkness ; Vindicate the Ancient glory of your slaunder-beaten s s Tollite hoc Ingens Scandalum toti Orbi Christiano objectum : Eluite illam maculam aspersam Professioni purloris Evangelii , adversari illam arcano quodam odio Regnis & Potestalibus : V. D. Deodati Genevens . Responsum ad Conventum Ecclesiasticum Londini . Religion , never till now guilty of such Doctrines of Devils : Redeem the Credit of your Justly Defamed-Nation , for the dire Parracides of a Rebellious party yet reaking with the Sacred Blood of your own King , the Holy Blood of your own Patriarch : Oh shew your selves once more Christians indeed , and Right Englishmen , like true Patriots , rescue your turmoyled Country from Ingruent Captivity , for else in the ordinary course of Gods Judgements , that must be the next : To foretel which fatal , and final destiny , needs no new Spirit of Prophecy , the great Prophet , so long before pointed at by Moses t t Deut. xviii . 18. hath told it you long ago , u u Mat. xii . 25. Regnum divisum desolabitur , a Kingdom divided against it self ( as yours is now , so many wayes , both in Church and State ) must needs come to Desolation : open your eyes therefore , and behold , if yet you can , the usual , and infallible prognostick of it DEMENTATION . Quos vult perdere Jupiter hos DEMENTAT .

17. If you wish to see once more , within this once so fortunate Island , Christs Religion in its purity , the Church your Mother at Unity , the King your Father in his Beauty , the People your Brethren in their Duty ; O do not you , any of you whom it may concerns . ( through Impatiency , or Unbelief ) do that one Act that at once may undo all these , and your selves eternally .

18. If you be wise , u u Acts 5.38 , 39 Refrain from these men , for they are the men of God , lest you be found , in the end really , to fight even against God : Refrain from those means , they are the Demesnes of God : 'T is a clear case , 't will be no sin to let them alone ; but it may be a sin , nay it must be a sin , sure enough , to meddle with them : for they are the Means hallowed to maintain his Service , and his Servants , and indeed to preserve your own souls in Christs true Religion . But if in despight of Father and Mother , King , and Church , and God , and all , you should go on desperately , and touch either the men , or the means , know that it will prove an Achan , an accursed thing unto you , and to the whole Nation , and make you fall worse and worse before your Enemies , till you fall quite down never to rise up again according to the Curse of Moses , ( Deut. xxxiii . 11. ) how will you answer one day ( for you must one day answer for all these ) the Dead , and the Living , the Church and the State , the present and future age , God and your own Consciences ? For to all your other National Sins ( and those not a few , new and old , and those no Moats , or Gnats ) can you adde a greater sin than this , to fill up the full measure of your sins ? What , will ye in earnest put God Almighty to it ? will you try Masteries with your God , who shall carry it ? Did ever any ( Person , or Nation ) contend with God , and prosper ( saith Holy Job ? ) will you thus requite God , to take away his own , Job ix . 34. who hath hitherto so freely given you all that you can call your own ? yea , who hath made you all , yea who hath with his own precious Blood bought you all , yea , as you regard , or dis-regard his Cause , even this Cause , the Cause of his Service and Servants , who ( except such of you as are concerned , speedily prevent it , by Repentance , and Restitution also , to some Satisfaction ) hath absolute Power , indeed , Eternally to destroy you all Body and Soul .

19. From such Total , Final , and Eternal Destruction that God Almighty may deliver this ( so lately desolate ) Church , King , and Kingdom , may we all now at last , turn our fierce Disputes , of all sides , into fervent Devotions each for other : for * * Nunc nil nisi vota supersunt ; Praesidiis omnibus terrestribus cessantibus , divina sunt aggredienda ▪ quae nunquam incassum cessere . Haec ratio efficere posset , quod à bello Civili , utcunqueres cadat , neutiquam sperari possit , ut voluntariâ animorum flexione plenè sarciatur vulnus , & redintegretur amor . D. Deodat quo suprà . when all Humane Helps fail , this is a Divine Ordinance never misses : but may soon effect , what from Civil , or rather Rebellious War , could never be hoped for , that by a voluntary Inclination of Hearts , the National wounds may be closed up again , and that National Love and Peace , and Prosperity , which was once , as the Envy , and Terror , so the chief Glory , and Honour of this Noble Nation , may be fully recovered at last . To that happy end , let us all humbly beseech God , the God of Peace , that of his infinite mercy , he will open the eyes of the People of England , * * Luke 19.42 . that now , in this their day , they may yet see those things that belong to their Peace , that he will turn the Hearts of our Enemies , and keep all Ours from every evil work , especially from this evil work , this Damnable Sin of Sacriledge , from Robbing God , our own God , of his own Inheritance , that so in the end none of us all , and ( if it be possible ) none of all our , even deadliest , Enemies , may forfeit his part with us , in the Inheritance of Gods Heavenly Kingdom , who , for us all , both Priest and People , hath purchased it by his own Precious Blood , through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour , To whom therefore with the Father , and the Holy Ghost , be ascribed all Praise , Power , Majesty , and Dominion , from this time forth and for evermore . Amen .

Matth. xxii .. 21.

Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars , and unto God , the things that are Gods .

FINIS .