The Second Part OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION .

THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England .

The Second Part.

OF THE Progress made in it till the Settlement of it in the beginning OF Q. Elizabeth's Reign .

By GILBERT BVRNET , D. D.

LONDON , Printed by T. H. for Richard Chiswell , at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard , MDCLXXXI .

THE favourable reception which the former Part of this Work had , together with the new Materials that were sent me from Noble and Worthy Hands , have encouraged me to prosecute it , and to carry down the History of the Reformation of this Church till it was brought to a compleat settlement in the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign , which I now offer to the World .

The great zeal of this Age for what was done in that , about Religion , has made the History of it to be received and read with more than ordinary attention and care : and many have expressed their satisfaction in what was formerly published , by contributing several Papers of great consequence to what remained : and since I found no Part of the first Volume was more universally acceptable , than that wherein I was only a Transcriber , I mean the Collection of Records and Authentick Papers , which I had set down in confirmation of the more remarkable and doubtful parts of the History ; I continue the same method now . I shall repeat nothing here that was in my former Preface : But refer the Reader to such things as concern this History in general , and my encouragement in the undertaking and prosecution of it , to what is there premised to the whole Work : and therefore I shall now enlarge on such things as do more particularly relate to this Volume .

The Papers that were conveyed to me from several Hands are referred to , as the occasion to mention them occurs in the History , with such acknowledgements as I thought best became this way of writing , though far short of the merits of those who furnished me with them . But the Store-house from whence I drew the greatest part both of the History and Collection , is the often-celebrated Cotton Library , out of which , by the noble favour of its truly learned Owner , Sir John Cotton , I gathered all that was necessary for composing this Part , together with some few things which had escaped me in my former Search , and belong to the First Part : and those I have mixed in the Collection added to this Volume upon such occasions as I thought most pertinent . But among all the Remains of the last Age , that are with great industry and order laid up in that Treasury , none pleased me better , nor were of more use to me , than the Journal of King Edwards Reign , written all with his own Hand : with some other Papers of his , which I have put by themselves in the beginning of the Collection : Of these I shall say nothing here , having given a full account of them in the History of his Reign , to which I refer the Reader . I find most of our Writers have taken Parcels out of them , and Sir John Heyward has transcribed from them the greatest part of his Book ; therefore I thought this a thing of such consequence , that upon good advice I have published them all faithfully copied from the Originals .

But as others assisted me towards the perfecting this Part , so that learned Divine , and most exact Enquirer into Historical Learning , Mr. Fulman , Rector of Hamton-Meysey in Glocester-shire , did most signally oblige me , by a Collection of some mistakes I had made in the former Work . He had for many years applied his thoughts with a very searching care to the same Subject , and so was able to judge more critically of it , than other Readers . Some of those had escaped me , others had not come within my view , in some particulars my Vouchers were not good , and in others I had mistaken my Authors . These I publish at the end of this Volume , being neither ashamed to confess my faults , nor unwilling to acknowledge from what Hand I received better information . My design in writing is to discover Truth , and to deliver it down impartially to the next Age ; so I should think it both a mean and criminal piece of vanity to suppress this discovery of my Errors . And though the number and consequence of them had been greater than it is , I should rather have submitted to a much severer Penance , than have left the World in the mistakes , I had led them into : yet I was not a little pleased to find that they were neither many , nor of importance to the main Parts of the History : and were chiefly about Dates or small variations in the order of Time . I hope this Part has fewer faults since that worthy Person did pursue his former kindness so far , as to review it before-hand : and with great judgment to correct such errors as he found in it : Those I had formerly fallen into , made me more careful in examining even the smallest matters . Yet if after all my care , and the kind Censures of those who have revised this Work , there is any thing left that may require a further Retractation , I shall not decline to make it so soon as I see there is need of it , being , I hope , raised above the poor vanity of seeking my own reputation , by sacrificing Truth to it .

Those to whose censure I submitted this whole History in both its Parts , were chiefly three great Divines , whose Lives are such Examples , their Sermons such Instructions , their Writings such unanswerable Vindications of our Church , and their whole deportment so sutable to their profession , that as I reckon my being admitted into some measure of friendship with them , among the chief Blessings of my Life , so I know nothing can more effectually recommend this Work than to say that it passed with their hearty approbation , after they had examined it with that care , which their great zeal for the Cause concerned in it , and their goodness to the Author , and freedom with him obliged them to use . They are so well known , that without naming them , those of this Age will easily guess who they are ; and they will be so well known to Posterity , by their excellent Writings , that the naming them is so high an advantage to my Book , that I much doubt whether it is decent for me to do it . One of them , Dr. Lloyd , is now , while I am writing , by His Majesties favour , promoted to the Bishoprick of St. Asaph : a Dignity to which how deservedly soever his great Learning , Piety , and Merit , has advanced him , yet I particularly know how far he was from any aspirings to it . It was he I described in my former Preface , that engaged me first to this design , and for that reason he has been more than ordinary careful to examine it , with that exactness that is peculiar to him . The other two are the Reverend , Learned , and Judicious Deans , of Canterbury and St. Pauls , Dr. Tillotson , and Dr. Stillingfleet , too well known to receive any addition from the Characters I can give of them .

Others gave me Supplies of another sort , to enable me to go through with an undertaking that put me to no small expence . I am not ashamed to acknowledge , that the straitness of my condition , made this uneasie to me , being destitute of all publick provision : but I should be much ashamed of my ingratitude , if I did not celebrate their bounty who have taken such care of me , as not to leave this addition of charge , on one who lives not without difficulties . I must again repeat my Thanks , for the generous kindness , protection , and liberal Supplies of Sir Harbotle Grimstone , Master of the Rolls , this being the sixth year of my subsistance under him , to whom I must ever acknowledge that I am more beholding than to all Men living . The noble Mr. Boyle , as he employs both his Time and Wealth , for the good of Mankind , ( for which he considers himself as chiefly born , and which he has promoted not only in his own excellent Writings , that have made him so famous over all the World , but in many other designs that have been chiefly carried on at his cost , ) so hath he renewed his kindness to me in largesses sutable to so great a Mind . Others were also pleased to joyn their help . The Right Honourable the Lord Finch , now Lord High Chancellor of England , whose great Parts , and greater Vertues , are so conspicuous , that it were a high Presumption in me to say any thing in his commendation , being in nothing more eminent than in his zeal for , and care of this Church , thought it might be of some importance to have its History well digested , and therefore as he bore a large share of my expence , so he took it more particularly under his care , and under all the Burdens of that high Employment which he now bears , yet found time for reading it in Manuscript , of which he must have robbed himself , since he never denies it to those who have a Right to it on any publick account ; and hath added such Remarks and Corrections as are no small part of any finishing it may be judged to have . The Lord Russel , the Inheritor of that Zeal for true Religion , and the other Vertues that have from the first beginnings of the Reformation , in a continued Entail , adorned that Noble Family of Bedford , beyond most others of the Kingdom , did espouse the Interests of the Protestant Religion in this particular , as he has done on all other more publick occasions : and by a most liberal Supply encouraged me to prosecute this Vndertaking . That Worthy Counsellor , whose celebrated Integrity and clear Judgment have raised him so high in his Profession , Anthony Keck Esquire , did also concur in easing me of the charge that Searching , Copying , and gathering Materials put me to : And having received as much from these my Noble Benefactors , as did enable me to carry on my Design , I did excuse my self at other Persons Hands , who very generously offered to supply me in the expence which this Work brought with it . That was done in a most extraordinary manner , by the Right Honourable the Earl of Halifax , whom , if I reckon among the greatest Persons this Age has produced , I am sure all that know him will allow , that I speak modestly of him : He indeed offered me the yearly continuance of a Bounty , that would not only have defrayed all this expence , but have been an entire and honourable subsistance to me ; and though my necessities were not so pressing as to perswade me to accept it ; yet so unusual a generosity doth certainly merit the highest acknowledgements I can make for it .

But I now turn to that which ought to be the chief Subject of this Preface to remove the prejudices , by which weak and unwary Persons have been prepossessed in their Judgments concerning the Reformation , during that Period of it that falls within this Volume . I know the Duty of an Historian leads him to write as one that is of neither Party , and I have endeavoured to follow it as carefully as I could , neither concealing the faults of the one Party , nor denying the just Praises that were due to any of the other side ; and have delivered things as I found them , making them neither better nor worse than indeed they were : But now that I am not yet entred into that Province , and am here writing my own Thoughts , and not relating the Actions of other Men , I hope it will be judged no indecent thing to clear the Readers mind of those Impressions , which may either have already biassed him too much , or may upon a slight reading of what follows , arise in his thoughts : unless he were prepared and armed with some necessary Reflections , which every one that may possibly read this History , has not had the leisure , or other opportunities , to make to such a degree as were needful .

It is certainly an unjust way of proceeding , in any that is to be a Judge , to let himself be secretly possessed , with such Impressions of Persons and Things , as may biass his thoughts : for where the Scales are not well adjusted , the Weight cannot be truly reckoned . So that it is an indirect Method to load Mens Minds with Prejudices , and not to let them in to the trial of Truth , till their Inclinations are first swayed such a way . I deny not but in matters of Religion most commonly Men receive such Notions , before they can well examine them , as do much determine them in the Enquiries they make afterwards , when their understandings grow up to a fuller ripeness : but those Pre-occupations , if rightly infused , are rather such as give them general Notions of what is good and honest in the abstracted Idea's , than concerning matters of Fact : for every wise and pious Man must avoid all such Methods of Instruction , as are founded on Falshood and Craft : and he that will breed a Man to love Truth , must form in him such a liking of it , that he may clearly see he would bribe him into no Opinion or Party by false or indirect Arts : But since Men are generally so apt to let some easie Notions enter into their Minds , which will pre-engage their Affections , and for most part those who set themselves to gain Proselites , do begin with such Arts , it will not be amiss to give the Reader such an account of these , as may prepare him against them , that so he may with a clearer mind consider what is now to be delivered to him , concerning the Reformation of Religion among us .

I shall begin with that which is most commonly urged ; that the whole Church being one Body , the Changes that were made in Religion , did break that Vnity , and dissolve the Bond by which the Catholick Church is to be knit together , and that therefore the first Reformers began , and we still continue a Schisme in the Church .

In answer to this , it is to be considered that the Bishops and Pastors of the Church are obliged to instruct their People in the true Faith of Christ , according to the Scriptures : The nature of their Function , being a Sacred Trust , binds them to this ; they were also at their Consecration engaged to it , by a formal Sponsion , according to the Questions and Answers that are in the Roman Pontifical to this day . Pastors owe it as a Debt to their People to teach them according to the Scriptures : They owe a Charity to their Brethren , and are to live with them in the terms of Brotherly Love , and Friendly Correspondence ; but if that cannot be had on easier terms , than the concealing necessary Truths , and the delivering gross errors to those committed to their charge , it is certain that they ought not to purchase it at so dear a rate . When the Pastors of this Church saw it over-run with errors and corruptions , they were obliged by the duty they owed to God and to their People , to discover them ; and to undeceive their misled Flocks . It is of great importance to maintain Peace and Vnity , but if a Party in the Church does set up some Doctrines and Practises , that do much endanger the Salvation of Souls , and makes advantages by these , so that there is no hope left to gain them by rational and softer Methods , then as St. Peter was to be withstood to his Face , in a lesser matter , much more are those , who pretend no higher than to be his Successors , to be withstood , when the things are of great moment and consequence . When Heresies sprung up in the Primitive Church , we find the neighbouring Bishops condemned them without staying for the concurrence of other Churches ; as in the Case of Samosatenus , Arius , and Pelagius : and even when the greatest part of the Church was become Semi-Arian , and many great Councils , chiefly that at Ariminum , consisting of above 800 Bishops , as some say , had through ignorance and fear complied , the Orthodox Bishops did not forbear to instruct those committed to their care according to the true Faith . A general concurrence is a thing much to be laboured for ; but when it cannot be had , every Bishop must then do his duty so as to be answerable to the chief Bishop of Souls .

So that instead of being led away by so slight a prejudice , we must turn our Enquiries to this , Whether there were really such abuses in the Church , as did require a Reformation ? and whether there was any reason to hope for a more general concurrence in it ? In the following History the Reader will see what corruptions were found to be both in the Doctrine and Worship of this Church : from whence he may infer what need there was of Reformation . And it is very plain , that they had no reason to expect the concurrence of other Churches ; for the Council of Trent had already made a great progress , and it was very visible , that as the Court of Rome governed all things there , so they were resolved to admit of no effectual Reformation , of any considerable matters ; but to establish by a more formal decision , those errors and abuses that had given so much scandal to the Christian World for so many Ages .

This being the true state of the Case , it is certain , that if there were really great corruptions , either in Belief or Manners in this Church , then the Bishops were bound to reform them : since the backwardness of others in their duty , could not excuse them from doing theirs , when they were clearly convinced of it . So that the Reader is to shake off this prejudice , and only to examine whether there was really such need of a Reformation ? since if that be true , it is certain the Bishops of this as well as of other Churches , were bound to set about it ; and the faultiness of some could be no excuse to the rest .

The second Prejudice is , That the Reformation was begun and carried on , not by the major part of the Bishops and Clergy ; but by a few selected Bishops and Divines , who being supported by the Name of the Kings Authority , did frame things as they pleased ; and by their Interest at Court got them to be Enacted in Parliament : and after they had removed such Bishops as opposed them , then they procured the Convocation to consent to what was done : So that upon the matter , the Reformation was the Work of Cranmer , with a few more of his Party , and not of this Church , which never agreed wholly to it , till the Bishops were so modelled as to be compliant to the designs of the Court. In short , the resolution of this , is to be taken from a common Case ; when the major part of a Church is according to the Conscience of the Supream Civil Magistrate in an Error , and the lesser part is in the right . The Case is not hard , if well understood : for in the whole Scripture there is no promise made to the major part of the Pastors of the Church ; and there being no Divine Promise made about it , it is certain that the Nature of Man is such , that Truth separated from Interest hath few Votaries : but when it is opposite to it , it must have a very small Party . So that most of those things which needed Reformation , being such as added much to the Wealth and Power of the Clergy , it had been a wonder indeed , if the greater part had not opposed it . In th●t Case , as the smaller part were not to depart from their Sentiments , because opposed in them by a more numerous Party that was too deeply concerned in the matter : so it was both natural for them , and very reasonable , to take Sanctuary in the Authority and Protection of the Prince and the Law . That Princes have an Authority in things Sacred , was so universally agreed to in King Henry's Reign , and was made out upon such clear Evidence of Reason and Precedents , both in the Jewish State , and in the Roman Empire , when it turned Christian , that this ground was already gained . It is the first Law in Justinians Code , made by Theodosius when he came to the Empire , That all should every were , under severe pains , follow that Faith which was received by Damasus Bishop of Rome , and Peter of Alexandria . And why might not the King and Laws of England give the like Authority to the Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York .

When the Empire , and especially the Eastern part of it , had been , during the Reign of Constantius , and Valens succeeding him after a short Interval , so overspread with Arianisme , it is scarce to be imagined how it could have been reformed in any other manner : for they durst not at first trust it to the discretion of a Synod ; and yet the Question then on foot was not so link'd with Interest , being a Speculative Point of Divinity , as those about which the Contests were in the beginnings of the Reformation .

It is not to be imagined how any Changes in Religion can be made by Sovereign Princes , unless an Authority be lodged with them of giving the Sanction of a Law , to the sounder , though the lesser part of a Church : for as Princes and Law-givers are not tied to an implicite obedience to Clergy-men , but are left to the freedom of their own discerning , so they must have a Power to choose what side to be of where things are much enquired into . The Jurisdiction of Synods or Councils , is founded either on the Rules of Expediency and Brotherly Correspondence , or on the force of Civil Laws : for when the Christian Belief had not the support of Law , every Bishop taught his own Flock the best he could , and gave his Neighbours such an account of his Faith , at , or soon after his Consecration , as satisfied them , and so maintained the Vnity of the Church . The formality of Synods grew up in the Church , from the division of the Roman Empire , and the Dignity of the several Cities ; which is a thing so well known , and so plainly acknowledged by the Writers of all sides , that it were a needless imposing on the Readers patience , to spend time to prove it . Such as would understand it more perfectly , will find it in De Marca the late Arch-bishop of Paris's Books de Concordia Imperii & Sacerdotii , and in Blondells Works , De la Primaute de l'Eglise . None can imagine there is a Divine Authority in that which sprang from such a beginning . The major part of Synods cannot be supposed to be in matters of Faith , so assisted from Heaven , that the lesser part must necessarily acquiesce in their Decrees , or that the Civil Powers must always measure their Laws , by their Votes : especially where Interest does visibly turn the Scales . And this may satisfie any reasonable Man as to this prejudice ; that if Arch-bishop Cranmer and Holgate , the two Primates and Metropolitanes of this Church , were in the right , in the things that they procured to be reformed , though the greater part of the Bishops being biassed by base ends , and generally both superstitious and little conversant in the true Theological Learning , did oppose them , and they were thereby forced to order matters so , that at first they were prepared by some selected Bishops and Divines , and afterwards Enacted by King and Parliament , this is no just exception to what was so managed . And such a Reformation can no more be blasted by being called a Parliament-Religion , than the Reformations made by the Kings of Israel without or against the Majority of the Priests , could be blemish'd by being call'd the Kings Religion .

A third Prejudice is , that the Persons who governed the Affairs at Court , were weak or ill Men : that the King being under Age , things were carried by those who had him in their Power . And for the two great Ministers of that Reign , or rather the Administrators of it , the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland , as their violent and untimely deaths , may seem to be effects of the indignation of Heaven , for what they did ; so they were both eminently faulty in their Administration , and are supposed to have sought too much their own ends . This seems to cast a blemish on their Actions , and to give some reason to suspect the things were not good which had such Instruments to advance them .

But this Prejudice , compounded of many Particulars , when taken to pieces , will appear of no force to blast the credit of what they did . By our Law , the King never dies , and is never young nor old , so that the Authority of the King is the same , whether administred by himself or by his Governours , when he is under Age : nor are we to judge of Men by the events that befall them . These are the deepest Secrets of Divine Providence , into which it is impossible for Men of limited understandings to penetrate : and if we make Judgments of Persons and Things by accidents , we shall very often most certainly conclude falsely . Solomon made the Observation , which the Series of Humane Affairs ever since hath fully justified , That there are Just Men to whom it happens according to the Work of the Wicked ; and Wicked Men to whom it happens according to the Work of the Righteous : and the enquiring into these seemingly unequal steps of Gods Governing the World , is a vanity . As for the Duke of Northumberland , the Reformation is not at all concerned in him , for if we believe what he said , when there was the least reason to suspect him , on the Scaffold , he was all the while a Papist in his Heart . And so no wonder if such a Man , striking in for his own ambitious ends , with that which was popular , even against the perswasions of his Conscience , did very ill things . The Duke of Somerset was indeed more sincere , and though he was not without his faults , ( which we may safely acknowledge , since the Man of Infallibility is not pretended to be without sin ) yet these were not such heinous transgressions , but rather such as humane infirmity exposes most Men to , when they are raised to an high condition . He was too vain , too much addicted to his own Notions , and being a Man of no extraordinary Parts , he was too much at the disposal of those , who by flatteries and submissions insinuated themselves into him ; and he made too great hast to raise a vast Estate to be altogether innocent : but I never find him charged with any personal disorders , nor was he ever guilty of falshood , of perverting Justice , of Cruelty , or of Oppression . He was so much against the last of these , that he lost the affections of the Nobility for being so careful of the Commons , and covering them from the oppression of their Landlords . The Business of his Brother , though it has a very ill appearance , and is made to look worse by the lame account our Books give of it , seems to have been forced on him : for the Admiral was a Man of most incurable ambition , and so inclined to raise disturbance , that after so many relapses and such frequent Reconciliations , he still breaking out into new disorders , it became almost necessary to put him out of a capacity of doing more mischief . But if we compare the Duke of Somerset with the great Ministers even in the best Courts ; we shall find him better than most of them : and if some few have carried their Prosperity better , many more even of those who are otherwise recorded for extraordinary Persons , have been guilty of far greater faults . He who is but a little acquainted with History , or with the Courts of Princes , must needs know so much of this Argument , that he will easily cure himself of any ill effects which this Prejudice may have on him .

A fourth Prejudice is raised from the great Invasions which were then made upon the Church-Lands , and things dedicated to Pious Vses ; which is a thing hated by Men of all Religions , and branded with the odious Names of Sacriledge , and robbing of God ; so that the Spoils of Religious Houses and Churches , seem to have been the secret Motives that at first drew in , and still engage so many to the Reformation . This has more weight in it than the former , and therefore deserves to be more fully considered .

The Light of Nature teaches , that those who are dedicated to the Service of God , and for instructing the People , ought to be so well provided for , that they may be delivered from the distractions of Secular Cares , and secured from the contempt which follows Poverty ; and be furnished with such means as may both enable them to know that well wherein they are to instruct others , and to gain such an Interest in the affections of those among whom they labour , as modest Hospitality and liberal Alms-giving may procure . In this all Nations and Religions have so generally agreed , that it may be well called a Law of Nations , if not of Nature . Had Church-men been contented with this measure , it is very probable things had never run to the other Extream so much as they have done . But as the Pope got to himself a great Principality , so the rest of his Clergy defigned to imitate him in that , as much as was possible : they spared no pains , nor thought they any Methods too bad , that could set forward these Projects . The belief of Purgatory , and the redeeming of Souls out of it by Masses , with many other publick Cheats imposed on the World , had brought the Wealth of this and other Nations into their Hands . Vpon the discovery of this imposture , it was but a reasonable and just proceeding of the Government to re-assume those Lands , and dispose otherwise of them , which had been for most part fraudulently drawn from the former Ages : for indeed the best part of the Soil of England , being in such ill Hands , it was the Interest of the whole Kingdom to have it put to better uses . So that the Abbies being generally raised and endowed by the efficacy of those false Opinions , which were infused into the People , I can see no just exception against the dissolution of them , with the Chantries , and other Foundations of like superstition ; and the fault was not in taking them away , but in not applying a greater part of them to uses truly Religious .

But most of these Monasteries had been enriched by that , which was indeed the Spoil of the Church : for in many Places the Tithes which belonged to the Secular Clergy were taken from them , and by the Authority of Papal Bulls were given to the Monasteries . This was the Original of the greatest mischief that came on this Church at the Reformation : The Abbots having possessed themselves of the Tithes , and having left to those who served the Cure either some small Donative or Stipend , and at best the small Tithes or Viccarage , those who purchased the Abbey-Lands from the Crown in the former Reign , had them with no other charge reserved for the Incumbents , but that small Pittance that the Abbots had formerly given them : and this is now a much less allowance , than the Curates had in the times of Popery : for though they have now the same Right by their Incumbency that they then had , yet in the time of Superstition , the Fees of Obits , Exequies , Soul Masses , and such other Perquisites did furnish them so plentifully , that considering their obligation to remain unmarried , they lived well , though their certain maintenance was but small : but these things falling off by the Reformation , which likewise leaves the Clergy at liberty in the matter of Marriage , this has occasioned much ignorance and scandal among the Clergy . I shall not enter into the debate about the Divine Right of Tithes , this I am sure of , a decent maintenance of the Clergy is of natural Right , and that it is not better looked to , is a publick reproach to the whole Nation ; when in all other Religions and Nations , those who serve at the Altar live by it . The ancient Allowances for the Curates in Market Towns , being generally so small , because the Number and Wealth of the People made the Perquisites so considerable , has made those Places to be too often but ill supplied : and what way this makes for the seducers of all hands , when the Minister is of so mean a condition , and hath so incompetent a Maintenance that he can scarce secure himself from extream want , and great contempt , I leave it to every Man to judge .

This is as high a contempt of Religion and the Gospel as any can be , and is one of those things for which this Nation has much to answer to God ; that now in one hundred and twenty years time , so little has been done by publick Authority for the redress of such a crying oppression . Some private Persons have done great things this way , but the publick has yet done nothing sutable to the occasion : Though their Neighbour Nation of Scotland , has set them a very good Example , where , by the great zeal and care of King James , and the late blessed King , Acts and Orders of Parliament have been made , for examining the whole state of the Clergy , and for supplying all poor Livings so plentifully , that in Glebe and Tithes all Benefices are now raised to at least fifty Pounds Sterling yearly . What greater scorn can be put on Religion , than to provide so scantly for those that are trusted with the care of Souls , that some hundreds of Parishes in England pay not Ten Pounds a year to their Pastors , and perhaps some thousands not Fifty ? This is to be numbred among those crying sins that are bringing down vengeance on us , since by this many Souls are left to perish , because it is not possible to provide them with faithful and able Shepherds . I shall not examine all the particular Reasons that have obstructed the redress of this mischief , but those concerned in it may soon find some of them out in themselves . And here I acknowledge a great and just prejudice lies against our Reformation , which no man can fully answer . But how faulty soever we may be in this Particular , they of the Church of Rome have little reason to object it to us , since the first and true occasion of it was of their own doing . Our fault is , that at the dissolution of the Monasteries , restitution was not made to the Parish Priests of what the Popes had sacrilegiously taken from them . And now that we are upon the utter extirpation of Popery , let us not retain this Relique of it . And I pray God to inspire and direct His Majesty and His two Houses of Parliament effectually to remove this just and , for ought I know , only great scandal of our English Reformation .

A fifth Prejudice , which seems to give ill impressions of our Reformation , is , that the Clergy have now no interest in the Consciences of the People , nor any inspection into their manners ; but they are without yoke or restraint . All the Ancient Canons for the publick Pennance of scandalous offenders are laid aside , and our Clergy are so little admitted to know or direct the Lives and Manners of their Flocks , that many will scarce bear a reproof patiently from them : Our Ecclesiastical Courts are not in the Hands of the Bishops and their Clergy , but put over to the Civilians , where too often Fees are more strictly look'd after , than the correction of Manners . I hope there is not cause for so great a Cry , but so it is , these Courts are much complained of ; and publick vice and scandal is but little enquired after , or punished : Excommunication is become a kind of Secular Sentence , and is hardly now considered as a Spiritual Censure , being judged and given out by Lay-men , and often upon Grounds which , to speak moderately , do not merit so severe and dreadful a Sentence . There are besides this a great many other Abuses , brought in in the worst Times , and now purged out of some of the Churches of the Roman Communion , which yet continue , and are too much in use among us , such as Pluralities , Non-residencies , and other things of that nature : so that it may be said , that some of the manifest corruptions of Popery , where they are recommended by the advantages that accompany them , are not yet throughly purged out , notwithstanding all the noise we have made about Reformation in matters much more disputable , and of far less consequence .

This whole Objection , when all acknowledged , as the greatest part of it cannot be denied , amounts indeed to this , that our Reformation is not yet arrived at that full perfection , that is to be desired . The want of publick Pennance , and Penitentiary Canons , is indeed a very great defect : our Church does not deny it , but acknowledges it in the Preface to the Office of Commination . It was one of the greatest Glories of the Primitive Church , that they were so governed , that none of their number could sin openly without publick Censure , and a long separation from the Holy Communion ; which they judged was defiled by a promiscuous admitting of all Persons to it . Had they consulted the Arts of Policy , they would not have held in Converts by so strict a way of proceeding , lest their discontent might have driven them away ; at a time when to be a Christian was attended with so many discouragements , that it might seem dangerous by so severe a Discipline , to frighten the World out of their Communion . But the Pastors of that time , resolved to follow the Rules delivered them by the Apostles , and trusted God with the success , which answered and exceeded all their expectations : for nothing convinced the World more of the truth of that Religion , than to see those trusted with the care of Souls , watch so effectually over their Manners , that for some sins , which in these loose Ages in which we live , pass but for common effects of humane frailty , Men were made to abstain from the Communion for many years , and did cheerfully submit to such Rules as might be truly medicinal for curing those Diseases in their Minds .

But alas ! the Church-men of the latter Ages being once vested with this Authority , to which the World submitted , as long as it saw the good effects of it , did soon learn to abuse it ; and to bring the People to a blind subjection to them . It was one of the chief Arts by which the Papacy swelled to its height : for Confessors in stead of bringing their Penitents to open Penance , set up other things in the room of it ; pretending they could commute it , and in the Name of God accept of one thing for another : and they accepted of a Penitents going , either to the Holy War , or which was more Holy of the two , to one of the Popes Wars against Hereticks , or deposed Princes ; and gave full Pardons to those who thus engaged in their designs . Afterwards ( when the Pope had no great occasion to kill Men , or the People no great mind to be killed in his Service ) they accepted of Money , as an Alms to God : and so all publick Penance was laid down , and Murder or Merchandise was set up in its room . This being the state of things at the Keformation , it is no wonder if the People could not be easily brought to submit to publick Pennance ; which had been for some Ages entirely laid aside : and there was reason why they should not be forward to come under the Yoke of their Priests , lest they should have raised upon that Foundation , such a Tyrannical Dominion over them , as others had formerly exercised . This made some Reformed Churches beyond Sea bring in the Laity with them , into their Courts ; which if they had done meerly as a good Expedient , for removing the jealousie which the World then had of Ecclesiastical Tyranny , there was no great Objection to have been made to it ; but they made the thing liable to very great exception , when they pretended a Divine Institution for those Lay-Elders . Here in England , it is plain the Nation would not bear such Authority to be lodged with the Clergy at first ; but it will appear in the following Work , that a Platform was made of an Ecclesiastical Discipline , though the Bishops had no hope of reducing it into practise , till the King should come to be of Age , and pass a Law for the authorizing of it : but he dying before this was effected , it was not prosecuted with that zeal that the thing required in Queen Elizabeths time : and then those who in their Exile were taken with the Models beyond Seas , contending more to get it put in the method of other Churches , than to have it set up in any other Form , that contention begat such heat , that it took Men off from this and many other excellent designs : and whereas the Presbyters were found to have had anciently a share in the Government of the Churches , as the Bishops Council and Assistants , some of them that were of hot tempers demanding more than their share , they were by the immoderate use of the Counterpoise kept out of any part of Ecclesiastical Discipline ; and all went into those Courts commonly called the Spiritual Courts ; without making distinction between those Causes of Testaments , Marriages , and such other sutes , that require some learning in the Civil and Canon Law , and the other Causes of the Censures of the Clergy and Laity , which are of a more Spiritual Nature , and ought indeed to be tried only by the Bishops and Clergy ; for they are no small part of the Care of Souls , which is incumbent on them : and by them only Excommunications ought to be made , as being a Suspension from the Sacred Rights of Christians , of which none can be the competent Judges , but those to whom the charge of Souls is committed . The worst that can be said of all these Abuses , is , that they are Reliques of Popery , and we owe it to the unhappy Contests among our selves , that a due correction has not been yet given to them .