Sixteen New Queries, XIII – XVI
XIII.
Whether these severall actions and writs at Common Law (mentioned in the Register) will not lye against the Prelates? Namely; The write intituled Ad Iura Regia, for violating the Kings Lawes and prerogative Royall, by their owne extravagant Lawes, Articles, Decretalls, and Canons, to reduce them to the Kings Lawes, in Ad quod damnum, to inquire, what great dammages they have done to his Majesties Subjects soules, bodies, estats, and to informe his Majestie what Nusances they are: An Apostata capiendo: to imprison them, for their Apostatie, from the doctrines and faith of the Church of England, to the faith and Ceremonies of the Church of Rome, and casting off their spirituall cares and functions, to follow temporall affaires and manage offices like so many temporall Lords: An assisa de nocumento: for the great musances they have lately done to our Religion, Church, State, Ministers, and people? A writt of Association, to ranke Ministers and temporall Lords in aeligquipage with them, over whom they now so much Lord it, like Lords paramount over all other people. *Regist. par. 2. f. 36. Ras. Prohibition 5.An Attachment on a prohibition: That Lay-men shall not be cited before them to take any oath, or make any recognition, unlesse in matters of Testament and Marriage usuall in former ages, and necessary now: An Attachment against them for refusing to admit prohibitions in cases whereby Law they lie, and stopping the current of this write: An Audita Quarela, to heare the Ministers and peoples severall complaints against them: An Acquiet ando de Servitijs, to free the Ministers and people from their late imposed Ceremonies, services, & vassaladge: A Cautione admittenda, to make people more warie of them, and to procure absolutions for their vniust Censures: A Cercierari, to remoove them from their temporall offices and imployments, and have spirituall and temporall causes out of their unlawfull Consistories and visitations (kept in their owne name without Patent or Commission from his Majestie into the Kings owne temporall Courts: A Cessavit de cantaria & Servitijs, per biennium; for not preaching in their Diocoese to their people by two yeares space and more (the case of divers of them.) De Clerico admittendo, to inforce them to admite our suspended, silenced Ministers to preach againe freely, as in former times: De Clerico infra sacros ordines constituto non eligendo in officium; to hinder them from being chosen, and being thrust into temporall offices and affaires, incompitable with their functions: De Cognitionibus admittendis; to hinder them from medling with all causes and affaires of which they have no cognisance: A writt of Collution and deceipt; for their hypocrisie and jugling, both with God, his Majestie, and his Subjects, and for seeming holy, pious, just, religious, yea Fathers and Pillars of our Church, our faith, and being nothing lesse: An Action of the case; for vexing, excommunicating, suspending and silencing Ministers and others against Law, and without iust cause: An Action of accompt; to call them to an accompt for all their extortions and usurpations, both upon the King and Subject: An Action upon the Statutes against Ingrossers, Regraters, and Forestallers; for forestalling all good Bookes against their Papall Antichristian Hierarchie, Iurisdiction, extortion, injustice, and other Episcopall vertues, both at the Presse and Porth, and ingrossing them all into their owne Hucksters hands, of purpose to enhaunse the prises of them, and deprive the Kings good Subjects benefite of them. A writt of Conspiracie; for conspiring together against the Kings Ecclesiasticall Prerogative, and the Subjects Liberties, and to set up new Ceremonies, innovations and taxes: A Contra formam collationis; for mis-using their jurisdiction and office, and mis-imploying their temporallities and revenues (which should be spent in releeving the poore) upon their children, kindred, purchase of greater dignities and preferments, or maintenance of their owne pompe, pride, state, luxury, venery, and lust. A copia libelli deliberanda; to enioyne them to give coppies of Libells and Articles to his Majesties Subjects, beforethey force them to sweare or answer to them. A Curia claudenda; to cause them to shut up their Consistories, visitations, and Ecclesiasticall Courts, till they have a Patent from his Majestie to keepe them in his name and right alone, and grace to use them better, and to better purposes then hetherto they have done. A Quo warrento: to question them by what authority they keepe their Consistories, Visitations, and make out proces, private Articles, impose new oathes, Ceremonies, and Iurisdictions in their owne names upon his Majesties Subjects. De custode Amovendo & alio admittendo; to remoove them from their Bishopprickes, and put better and other kinde of men in their places. An Ejectione custodiaelig, for suspending and ejecting Ministers from their Churches and Cures: An Errore corrigendo; to cause them to amend their manifold errors, both in life, doctrine, practise and proceedings. An essendo quietum de Theolonia; to exempt Ministers and people from their intollerable exactions, extortions, and new imposed Fees and Contributions, both in their visitations and Consistories. An Excommunicato deliberando: To cause them to absolve and free all those Ministers and people they have most unjustly excommunicated. An Executione judicij; To gett some judgements in Starre-chamber and other his Majesties temporall Courts executed against them, and their most unjust proceedings. Ex gravi querela; To heare the grievous complaints, both of Ministers and people, against their tyranny, Lordlynes, pride, oppression, impietie, and other vices, their Altars, Crucifixes, Popish Ceremonies, Ex officio, and visitations Oathes, Articles, proceedings and late dangerous Innovations. A writt of false judgement; For their wrong late unjust Censures, Excommunications, Suspencions, Sentences, and determinations, both in their Consistories, Visitations, and high Commission, and resolving their Episcopall Lordlynes and Iurisdiction to be Iure Divino; contrary to the expresse Acts of 25. H. 8. c. 19. 21. 26. H. 8. c. 1. 31. H. 8. c. 9. 10. 37. H. 8. c. 17. 1. Ed. 6. c. 2. 1. Eliz. c. 1. 8. Eliz. c. 1. and other Statutes, as 1. and 2. Phil. and Mary c. 8. resolving the contrary. De fine Adnullando; To anull their severall fines illegally imposed upon his Majesties Subjects in their High Commissions, and lately in their Consistories and Visitations, where they have gotten a tricke to fine Church-wardens and others, contrary to Law, as is resolved Fitzh Nat. Brevium fol. 50. P. 51. K. 52. ff. 53. A. 14. H. 4. 88. A. 20. E. 4. 10. B. 22. E. 4. 20. 12. H. 7. 22. 23. Artic. cliri. c. 4. Cooke 4. Report to 6. 22. Ass. 70. A fieri facies Episcopa; To cause them diligently to preach, and follow their spirituall Ministeriall functions. An habeas corpora & homine Replegianda; To free the Subjects wrongfully imprisoned by them and their Pursevants. An habere facias seseinam & possessionem; To restore good silenced, deprived, and suspended Ministers againe, to the seisine and possession of their livings and lectures, and the exercise of their Ministry. An habere facias visum; To cause them to shew men their Articles in their Courts and high Commissions, before they put them to answer, or take an oath. An Idemptitate nominis; To restore Ministers to their ancient stile and titles of Bishops, which they have ingrossed to themselves, though the Scripture gives onelyonly to Ministers and Presbyters, Acts 20. 17. 28. Phil. 1. 1. 1. Timot. 3. 1. 2. 3. Tit. 1. 5. 7. 1. Pet. 5. 1. 2. 3. and knoweth no other Bishops, but them alone of Divine institution. De intrusione in hereditatem; To shew by what Divine title they have intruded themselves into the Church, Christs owne inheritance, into temporall Offices, imployments, and State affaires, and into those great Lordships and honors they now possesse. Ad Inquirendo de damnis; To inquire what great hurt and damages they have done to their severall Diocoese, his Majesties Prerogative, his peoples Liberties and estates, the Ministers and Preachers of Gods word, our Religion and to the whole state of England. An Inquirendo de vasto; To inquire of the great waste and havocke they have made of late amongst the Ministers and Preachers of Gods word, and the purity of his Ordinances, and thereupon to render treble dammages A Leproso amovendo; To remoove these Leopards out of our Church, before they have so farr infected it with the leven and leprosy of Rome, that she become incurable, and to remoove them farr from his Majesties Court, no place for Lepers. A libertate; To free both Ministers and people from their late encrochments, visitations, Articles, Oathes, Altars, Bowings, Ceremonies, and unjust Censures, and proceedings. A libertatibus allocandis; To enforce them to allow and no wayes to encroach upon the Subjects Liberties. A mandamus; To commaund them to give over Lording and Loyetering, and sett themselves to frequent and diligent preaching. A melius inquirendo; To inquire better of their pretended Ius Divinum, their oppressions, exorbitances, lives, proceedings, and underhand juglings, and to certify them into the Starre-chamber, or some other Court of Record. An Action upon the Statute of Monopolies; For engrossing all temporall and Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction, the sale of Letters of order, lycenses to marry, preach, keepe schoole, &c. (all grosse Symony into their owne hands.) A ne admittas; To prohibite them to admit any Altars, Images, Crucifixes, Taxers, new Articles, Ceremonies, Doctrines, or innovations into our Church. A ne injuste vexes; To restraine them from all unjust vexations, suspentions, excommunications, and proceedings against Ministers and others. A writt of nusans; To remoove their late nusances, Altars, Crucifixes, new Oathes, Articles, Innovations, Rayles, Ceremonies, Arminian and Popish Doctrines, out of our Church. A non distringas ad respondendum, sive breve Regis: To force them to summon all their visitations by the Kings writt, as they ought, 25. H. 8. c. 19. And to make out all proces, Citations, Commission of Administration, Probat of wills &c. in the Kings name and sti…e alone, and under his Seale, according to 1. Ed. 6. c. 2. 1. Eliz. c. 1. A non molestando; to hinder them from molesting good Ministers, Preachers, people, and other his Majesties Subjects without just cause. A moderata misericordia; to moderate their illegall and excessive fines, and teach these holy Fathers more mercy: A writt of false imprisonment; for pursevanting and imprisoning men against Law, which they have no power at all to doe: A writt de odia & atia; to examine their malicious unjust accusations, imprisonments, and proceedings of and against his Majesties Subjects. A parco fracto; for breaking the pales and hedges, both of the Lawes of God and the Realme, and ruling onelyonly by their meere lusts and wills. A perambulatione facienda: to bound out the true limites of their Ecclesiasticall and Episcopall Iurisdiction, Courts, and power, and to cause them to give those prisoners they have a long time shut vp: and the common Law and course of Prohibitions, which they have pent up of late, to walke freely abroad. A ponendo in Ballyam; to enforce them to dischardge and bayle those they have unjustly imprisoned. A praeligcipe in capite; to render to God and the King those their severall rights, Iurisdictions, and prerogatives, they have a long time unjustly detayned from them as their owne. A Prohibition: to hinder all their Innovations, Oathes, Visitations, Articles, extravagant proceedings, fines, imprisonments, extortions, excommunications, suspentions, encroachments on the Common Law and the like. A Pro rata portione; to give them onelyonly that power and authority, and such competent maintenance as Gods Lawes allowes them, and no more. A Quale jus: to examine their Divine title of their Bishopprickes, what right it is? A Quare impedit; to force them to shew good cause, why they hinder Ministers from preaching to their people, and prohibit those to heare Sermons abroad, who have none at home. A Quare incumbravit; to shew cause why they have lately incombred our Churches, Ministers, people, with so many innovations, Alterations, Injunctions, Articles, Oathes, Fees, Taxes, Rayles, Ceremonies, Erronious, and licentious Bookes, and false doctrines, and to censure them severely for doeing it. A Quare non admisit: to shew cause why they permit not Ministers to preach on Lords dayes afternoone, on lecture dayes, and other occasions, or so osten as heretofore, and why they resuse to admit those into the ministry, or to livings, who will not subscribe to their new Innovations, and those Articles they secretly tender to them under hand. A Quod permittat: To permit the Lords table to stand quietly in the midst of the Church or Chauncell, without being rayled in and remooved Altar-wise against the wall, and to suffer Ministers to preach, and people to heare and receive the Sacrament, in such manner as they have formerly used. A Querela coram Rege, & consilio discusiendo & terminando; to bring all these Quaeligres and the complaints of the Subjects against the Bishops, and their Officers, before the King and his Counsell, to be there heard and determined by them. A Quo Iure: To examine by what Law they have turned Communion Tables into Altars, set up Crucifixes, silenced our Ministers, put downe Lectures, and preaching, made and printed new Oathes, Articles and Injunctions in their owne names &c. and by what Law, and in what Court they may be punished for them. A Restitutione abstracti ab Ecclesia: To restore our silenced Ministers and Preachers to their Chruches. A salva conductus; to suffer his Majesties Subjects to goe peaceably and safely about their busines, and Ministers without danger of their Pursevants and Catch-poles. A Securitate pacis; to bind them to the peace and good behaviour, that they may no longer disturbe the peace, both of our Church, State, and people. A supersedeas; to stay all their Innovations, and proceedings in their Consistories and visitations, till they have a Patent and Commission under the Kings great Seale, to keepe them in his name and right alone. A writt of trespase against them, and their Pursevants, for rifling and breaking vp mens Howses, Clossets, Trunckes, Chests, and carrying away their Bookes and Papers violently, against Law and Iustice, as if they were Felons and Traytors. An Action upon the Statute of vagarant Rogues and Vagabonds; for wandering abroad from their owne callings Ecclesiasticall, Imployments, and Diocoeligse, into temporall carnall worldly State affaires, and following the Court like a company of flattering fawning Beggers, hunting after greater preferments and revenues, and being seldome resident at their Cures. A writt of ventre inspiciendo; To inquire after and inspect, how many great Bellyes their Lordships with their Officers, and servants have impregnated of late yeares, and to take the full measure of their Lordships pampered bellyes, which they onelyonly feed and take care of; which must needs be monstrous great, when as their very tayles are so vaste, as to require an whole Cathedrall Church to make a seat for them; Pauls it self, being litle enough to make a Lord Prelates Chayre; and two or three sheires scarce able to make up one Diocoeligse, or Parish bigge enough for his oversight. A vi laica removenda; To remoove all lay force and violence out of the Church, and take away the temporall power of fining, imprisoning, pursevating, breaking open mens houses, &c. from their Lordships, with all other lay power and Iurisdiction now crept into the Church. And A fieri facias; For their Lordships to shew cause, why they with their oppressing Arch-Deacons, Commissaries, Registers, and other Officers, should not forthwith be indicted and convicted in a Premunire (and that Ex officio by his Majesties Atourney generall and his Iudges) or deepely fined in Starre-chamber, for all their severall misdemeners specified in the premises.
XIV.
Whether those bloudy Prelates, who out of their desperate malice to our Saviour (to evacuate the use of this his last Supper, instituted purposely by himself to shew forth his death till he come, 1. Cor. 11. 25. 26. Coll. 3. 1. (which now these Crucifixes must doe as if this Sacrament were not sufficient to doe it, no not when it is administred, unlesse there be a Crucifixe then standing on or over the Altar) and to reduce us backe againe to Rome) now crucify him dayly in their new erected Crosses and Crucifixes, both in Cathedralls, private Chapples, and elsewhere, and that in the direct opposition to the 35. Article of our Church, and the Homilie of the perill of Idolatry; which they have prescribed ost times too; (expresly prohibiting the very making and setting up of Crucifixes, and other Images in Churches, or Chappells, as unlawfull and Idolatrous: Yea to his Majesties Declarations prohibiting all Innovations and backesliding unto Popery in the least degree:) To be guilty of perjury to God, and disobedience to his Majestie in the highest degree, and to be deprived of their Bishopprickes for it, by the Statute of 13. Eliz. c. 12. confirming the sayd Articles of Religion and Homilies? And whether their Cathedralls, Chappells and Churches, wherein they have sett up such Crosses to crucify their Saviour owne (whose holy, paynefull, dayly, preaching life, they have never before their eyes; and therefore represent his death in these dumbe Pictures, because they are growne so lazy, that they seldome or never preach it) be not ipso facto forfeited to the King by the Statute of 13. E. 1. c. 33. against setting up of Crosses and Crucifixes, and their very Bishopprickes too; which they better deserve to loose for this their open insolent erecting of Crucifixes, Altars, Tapers, and other Romish superstitions to usher in Popery, then any Godly Ministers to be deprived of their livings for not wearing of a Surpluse, or not bowing at the Name of Iesus, or not kneeling at the Sacrament, or not yeelding to any other late Innovations, for which their Lordships against all Law and conscience have deprived, and suspended so many of their Godly Brethren, more worthy a Bishoppricke, and farr more innoxious, pious, obedient to his Majesties and Gods Lawes, then themselves?
XV.
Whether the Prelates, for disguising themselves with strangevestments, disguises vizors, and playe like apparell, as Rochetts, Copes, Stoles, Abbies, and other massing trincketts to difference themselves from all other men, and daunceing, cringing and playeing the Mummers, with divers new antique gestures, piping Organs and Minstrelsy, before their new erected Altars, hopping, limping and dauncing before them like the ancient Pagan Priests about their Idolatrous Altars, or like Mummers about a cobloase, and putting on a meere vizor of piety & gravity on their faces, when as they have neither of them nor any other true Christian graces in their hearts; and under these disguises doeing greater hurt and mischiefes, both in Church and State, be not finable, and to be imprisoned for the space of three monethes without buyle or mayneprise; for every time they shall be thus masked and disguised, by the expres words of 3. H. 8. c. 9. intituled: An Act against Mummers and Delinquents within that Law: And whether the best use these Lord Bishops, thus disguised in their Pontificallibus, can be put unto, be not to make Skarrecrowes in some Cornefeild or other, or to stand in the Church-porch to keepe out Dogges, from their holy consecrated Temples, which would be so affrighted with their mumming vestments and disguises, that they never durst come neare the Corne or Church, for feare of these terrible Lordly Bugbears and Skarrecrowes.
XVI.
Whether by the Statutes of 25. Ed. 1. c. 4. and 34. Ed. 1. c. 5. every Arch-Bishop and Bishop of England, ought not personally to read the Statutes of Magna Carta, and of the Forest, with King Edward the first his Confirmations of them, in their severall Cathedrall Churches twice every yeare, and upon the reading thereof, openly to denounce, excommunicated, banned, and accursed, all those that willingly doe or procure to be done any thing contrary to the tenour, force and effect of them, or either of them, by word, deed, or counsell: Whether they ought to be destrayned, suspended and excommunicated for not doeing of it, with farr greater justice and reason, then themselves suspend and silence Ministers, for not reading their Lordships Declaration for Sports on the Lords day (coulored over with his Majesties Name, to dishonor his Highnes, and excuse themselves) these two Statutes enjoyning them, the one in expresse termes, and inflicting these Penalties on them for neglecting it, but no Law, Precept or Canon prescribing Ministers the other, nor yet that Booke it self? Whether their Lordships both by word, deed and counsell infringing Magna Carta, these Statutes sundry wayes, especially by their imprisoning, fining, excommunicating, suspending and depriving men against Law, and by their new invented Taxes, and Talleges, to pill and poll the Subjects, and in procuring Iudges and others by menaces, flatery, or ill counsell, to deny Prohibitions, and habeas corpore, to doe many things against the tenour and effect of these good Lawes, now miserably every-where trampled vnderunder feet, be not ipso sacto excommunicated by divers ancient excommunications, fulminated against such desperate infringers and transgressors of those Acts in a most direfull manner by their Predecessors, and by the tenour of these Statutes themselves, and so altogether Irreguler, and to be shut out of all Churches, his Majesties Court and Chapple, all Christian mens societie, and sequestred both from their Office and Benefice, till they have done publicke penance, and given sufficient satisfaction to the whole Realme of England, for their enormious dayly multiplyed crimes, under which both Church and Kingdome groane and languish at this present.
FINIS.
End of the text · William Prynne, Sixteen New Queries (1637)