Works of Joseph Hall, Book 3

Works of Joseph Hall · Book 3

p. 771THE HONOVR OF THE MARIED CLERGIE maintained, &c. The third Booke.

SECT. I.

THE Mariage of Eccleſiaſtiques, which had the common allowance of the firſt Times, had in ſome parts but the conniuence of the ſubſequent, and the prohibition of the laſt. Thoſe Churches that were not parties to the faction of Rome, could not but be much moued with ſo peremptorie a Decree of a famous Councell, reducing them, in this point, to the exactneſſe of Apoſtolique inſtitution, and profeſsing to rectifie that Romane deuiation; No maruell therefore, if not long after, there enſued a colliſion of oppoſite parts, and much ſcuffling betwixt the abettors of Antichriſtian ſeruitude,Refut. p. 241. and Euangelicall libertie; whom this Hedge-creeper dare terme incontinent Grecians, Schiſmatikes, Heretikes; his Pen is no ſlander: The multitude of his Synods, wherein was ſuch reiteration of the ſame Law, ſhewes the oppoſition which it ſtill found in the Church, and the preuailing vſe of the contrary practice.

The Epiſtle of Pope Gregory the Third, to the Clergie of Bauaria, Refut. p. 243.which giues that diſiunct charge, Of either liuing chaſtely, or marying a Wife whom they may not diuorce, is no where (forſooth) extant, becauſe he finds it not in his Binius, or Baronius; as if no water had gone beſide their Mill; and here I am threatned with the Cornelian Law for forgerie; no leſſe crime: To auoid the perill whereof, let my far ſeene Detector turne to the Bauarian Annals of**Auent. Boyorum Annot. l. 3. Auentine, in the third Booke, there he ſhall finde it; An Epiſtle ſent to Viuilus, and the other Clergie of Bauaria, by the hands of Martinian, George, Dorotheus, a Biſhop, Prieſt, Deacon, with this expreſſe diſiunction, Aut caſtè vinat, aut vxorem ducat, &c. That which he brings from the ſucceſſor of this Gregory, Refut. p. 244.Zacharias, ſhewes what his Pope wiſhed, when he had gotten better footing in Germany, but the ſucceſſe makes for vsus; for B. Boniface either neuer durſt, or at leaſt neuer did vrge theſe Rules to his Germans. So, I hope, his mouth is ſtopt for my forged Teſtimonie of his Gregory, which could not in his conceit be other, becauſe he neuer ſaw it p. 772peepe forth before this in other mens bookes. Ywis nothing euer lookt forth of the Preſſe, that eſcaped that bookiſh eye: witneſſe the next paſſage, which if his Superiors could hauehave had the leiſure to hauehave viewed, they had bluſhed at their Champion. This charge of Gregory (I ſaid) was according to that rule of Clerkes cited from Iſidore,Refut. p. 245. and renued in the Councell of Mentz; but by our iuggling Aduerſaries clipped in the recitall: Here the man cryes out, as before of forgery, ſo now of ignorance, telling his Readers, that I hauehave onelyonly taken this vponupon truſt from another mans note-booke. Reader, by this iudge of the ſpirit of my Detractor. It is true; Iſidore wrote no Booke of this title: But in the ſecond Booke of his Eccleſiaſticall Offices, hee makes the title of his ſecond Chapter, De Regulis Clericorum; Of the Rules of Clerkes. From this Chapter, I cite a confeſſed paſſage, and am thus cenſured; whereas the Councell of Mentz cites it by this very ſtile, Sicut in Regulâ Clericorum dictum eſt, As it is ſaid in the Rule of Clerkes. Is it ſimplicitie that he knowes not this title of Iſidore? or maliciouſneſſe, that he conceales it? One of them is vnauoidable. It is cleere then, to his ſhame (if he hauehave any) that the teſtimonie is aright cited; and is it leſſe cleere that it is maymed, and cut off by the hams in their Moguntine Councell?Conc. Mogunt. 1. Compare the places, the fraud ſhall be manifeſt. That Councell in the tenth Chapter profeſſes to tranſcribe (verbatim) the words of Iſidore in the forecited Tract; and vvhere Iſidore ſaith, Caſtimoniam inniolati corporis perpetuò conſeruare ſtudeant, aut certè vnius matrimonii vinculo foederentur; Let them liue chaſt or marry but one: Their good Clerkes hauehave vtterly left out the latter clauſe, and make Iſidore charge his Clerkes with perpetuall continencie; Let them liue chaſt. He that denies this, let him deny that there is a Sunne in the Heauen, or light in that Sunne; what need I ſay more? Let the bookes ſpeake.

Here my Refuter doth ſo ſhuffle and cut, that any man may ſee hee ſpeakes againſt his owne heart; for (to omit his ſtrained miſſe-interpretation of Iſidore, ſince we now contend not of the ſenſe, but of the citation) how poorely doth hee ſalue vp the credit of his Moguntine Fathers,Refut. p. 246. & 249. whiles hee ſaith Iſidore ſpake in generall, the Fathers in that Councell more ſtrictly; when hee that hath but one halfe of an eye may ſee, that both ſpeake in one latitude of the ſame perſons? Thoſe Fathers giuing the ſame title to that Chapter, and profeſſing to follow the Letters and Syllables of Iſidore; both name onelyonly Clericos in that rule without diſtinction. Away then with this graceleſſe facing of wilfull frauds in your faithleſſe Secretaries, which hauehave alſo fetcht two Canons out of Carthage to Wormes, and learne to be aſhamed of your groſſe falſifications, and iniurious expurgations; elſe doubtleſſe the World will be aſhamed of you.

SECT. II.

Refut. p. 252. to 28….I Did but name Huldericus his Epiſtle in mine, as a witneſſe, not as the foundation of my cauſe; my Refuter ſpends but one and thirty whole Pages vponupon him: how elſe ſhould he hauehave made a Volume? In all this what ſayes he? Little in many vvords; and the ſame words thrice ouer for fayling.

And firſt, he wonders at my extreame prodigality of credit, and ſeredneſſe of conſcience, in citing an Epiſtle ſo conuicted by Bellarmine, Baronius, Eckius, Faber, Fitz-Simons the Ieſuite, and others. Why doth hee not wonder that the Moone will keep her pace in the skie, whiles ſo many Dogs barke at her below? When theſe Proctors of Rome hauehave ſaid their worſt, there is more true authority in the very face of this Letter, and better Arguments in the body of it, then in an hundred Decretal Epiſtles which he adoreth. Let the World wonder rather at his ſhameleſneſſe, who relating the occaſion of this fable (as he termes it) faines it to be only a Lutheran fiction to couer their inceſtuous mariages, whereas their owne Cardinall Aeneas Syluius, almoſt two hundred yeares agoe mentions it, and reports the argument of it; whereas it is yet extant (as Illiricus) in the Libraries of Germany; whereas Hedio found an ancient copy of it in Holland; and our Iohn Bale; Archbiſhop Parket, B. Iewell, Io. Foxe, had a copie of it remarkable p. 773for reuerend Antiquity, in aged Parchment here in England; which, I hope to hauehave the meanes to produce. Whereas, laſtly, the very ſtile importeth age. As well may hee queſtion all the Records of their Vatican, all report of Hiſtories, all Hiſtories of Times: He that would doubt whether ſuch an Epiſtle were written, may as well doubt whether Pope Zachary wrote to B. Boniface in Germany a direction when to eat bacon: may doubt whether Paul the fift wrote to his Engliſh Catholikes to perſwade them not to ſwear they would be good ſubiects: may doubt whether Spider catcher, corner-creeper C.E. Pſeudo. Catholike Prieſt, wrote a ſcurrilous Letter of aboue two quire of paper, in a twelue-yeares anſwer to three leaues of I. H. It is not more ſure that there is a Rome, or that Gregory and Nicolas ſate there, then that ſuch an Epiſtle was written thither aboue ſeuen hundred yeres agoe. It was extant of old, before euer thoſe Lutheran quarrels were hatched. Let him therefore goe fiſh for Frogs in the Pond of his Gregory, whiles he deriues thence the vaine pleas of improbability. If there were differences in relating the circumſtances of that ſtory (as I know none) muſt it needs therevpon be falſe? Which of their Hiſtories is not lyable to variety of report? To beginne with the firſt: The ſucceſſion of Linus, and Cletus, and Clemens, is diuerſly reported; is there no truth in it? To end with the laſt: The title of Paul the fift to the chaire of Peter in the lawfulneſſe of his election, is diuerſly reported; hath hee therefore no true claime to his ſeat? But who euer placed Gregories pond in Sicily? This is one of the fittens of his Fitz-Simons. If other authors hauehave mentioned this narration, then all the ſtrength of this Hiſtory lyeth not on Hulderick; If none beſides him, his words vary not; Theſe are but tricks to out-face truth.

The Epiſtle, in ſpight of contradiction, is ſo ancient; and what care wee then for names? Whether it were Saint Vdalricke, or Hulderick, or Voluſianus, wee labour not much. Let it bee the taske of idle Criticks to diſpute who was Hecuba's mother, and what was her age; No leſſe vaine is my Refuter, that ſpends many waſt words about his Saint Vdalricke, in ſhewing the difference of time, betwixt him, and Pope Nicolas; the one dying, Anno 869. the other being borne, 890. and prouing out of his obſcure Sorboniſt Monchiacenus, that there were fiue Biſhops of Auſpurge, betwixt the times of the one, and the other: whereby a ſimple Reader might eaſily bee deluded, and drawne to thinke, there is nothing but impoſſibily and vntruth in our report: whereas there is nothing in all this peremptory and colourable flouriſh of his, but meere cogging or miſpriſion: For both Illyricus apart, and the Centuriſts, and Chemnitius (all Germanes that ſhould be beſt acquainted with the ſtate of their owne) hauehave long ſince told him, that his Saint Vdalricke was not the man, whom they held the Author of this Epiſtle, but, Hulderick, another, not much different in name, but differing in time, aboue ſeuenty yeares; Ne nominis aequiuocatio lectorem turbet, Chem. hiſt. de Caeli…ot….and leſt the equinocation of the name (ſaith Chemnitius) ſhould trouble the Reader; There is another Vdalricke of Auguſta, whom Auentine writes to hauehave dyed Anno 973. But this Hulderick, Aeneas Syluius writes to hauehave dyed, Anno 900, and in the yeare of his age 83. Thus he: from the authority of two their famouſeſt Hiſtorians: from whoſe account Onuphrius differs not much: But (that my Refuter may hereafter ſaue the labour of ſcanning their diſcordant Computations) whether it were either, or neither of them, it is not worth to vsus one hayre of his crowne: ſince with our faithfull and learned Foxe, wee rather from the authority of ancient Engliſh Copies,Act. & Mon. p. 1055. aſcribe it to Voluſianus, whoſe ſecond Epiſtle alſo in the ſame ſtile, to the ſame purpoſe, is extant from the ſame Records, not inferiour to the former: What matters it for the name, when it appeares that the Epiſtle it ſelfe is truly anclent, ponderous, reuerend, Theologicall, conuictiue: and ſuch as the beſt Romanes heads cannot after ſeuen hundred yeares ſhape a iuſt anſwer vntounto? Euen in ſome Canonicall Bookes, though there bee difference in the names of the Pen-men, there is full aſſent to their diuine authority: And why is it not ſo in humane? Thus then we hauehave eaſily blowne away theſe light bubbles of Diſcourſe, which our Aduerſary hath raiſed out of the Nut-ſhell of his computation; from the Age, Perſon, Writings, of his p. 774Saint Vdalricke; and returne his impuram neſcio cujus nebulonis Epiſtolam; with his ferrei oris, and plumbei cordis, backe whence it came; to the Writer cited by my Aduerſary, not named: But by better due to the next hand; whereto I am no whit beholding for leauing it vn-engliſhed: In that C. E. ſpared not mee but himſelfe: who is neſcio quis, but he that leapeth into the Preſſe without a name? Who Nebulo, rather then he that masketh and marcheth ſub nebulâ, hoping to paſſe in the conflict for a doughtie Knight or Champion Sconoſcinto, not daring to lift vp his Beuer? Who writes impuram Epiſtolam, but he that hath ſcribbled a Voluminous Epiſtle, to cry down pure and Honourable Mariage, for the inhauncing of impure Celibate? not that, in Theſi, Celibate is impure, but in Hypotheſi, theirs, forced and hypocriticall.

SECT. III.

AS for the difference that he finds in our number of Pope Nicolas, whether firſt, or ſecond, or third, we may thanke his Gratian; whoſe faſhion it is (as likewiſe Sigeberts) to name the Popes without the note of their number; wee are ſure it was not Nicolas Nemo▪ which wrote to Odo, Biſhop of Vienna, reprouing him for giuing leaue to Aluericus a Deacon to marry: thereupon ſending his contrary Decree to the Germane Churches; which it ſeemes, (or the like impoſition) gaue occaſion to this noble Epiſtle.

But can there be any Game amongſt our Engliſh Popiſh Pamphleters, where the Fox is not in chaſe? Where is the ſhame of this Romane Prieſt, whiles he ſo manifeſtly belyes our holy, reuerend, worthy Maſter Foxe, whom this Scoganly Pen dare ſay playes the Gooſe in the inconſtancy of his Relation of this Nicholas, firſt reporting him the firſt, then the ſecond; when it is moſt manifeſt in the during Monuments of that induſtrious and excellent Author, that he ſtil inſiſts vponupon Nicholas the ſecond; reiecting by many Arguments, the opinion of them which hauehave referred it to the firſt? Such truth there is in ſhorne crownes.

Iohn Huſſe was a Gooſe by name, and now Iohn Foxe is a Gooſe by reproch; Two ſuch Geeſe are more worth then all the fawning Curres of the Romane Capitoll.

And how much more wit then fidelity is there in my Detector, whiles he would proue that Pope Gregory had then no pond; becauſe there is now no ponds at Rome? As if Rome were now in any thing as it was; as if twelue hundred yeares had made no alteration;Nunc ſeges eſt vbi Troia fuit. As if the ſtreets of Troy were not now Champaine; As if his Lipſius could now find Rome in Rome: As if laſtly, that man were vncapable of a large pond, whoſe Sea is vniuerſall.

As for the number of childrens heads, I ſay no more for it then hee can againſt it; this Hiſtorie ſhall be more worth to vsus then his deniall; But this I dare ſay, that I know perſons both of credit and honour,Vid. qu… ſupra. l. 1. S. 12. Hiſtor. Rodulphi Bourn, &c. that ſaw betwixt fifty and threeſcore, caſt vp out of the little Mote of an Abbey where I now liue: Let who liſt caſt vp the proportion.

After the refuſall of this worthy Epiſtle, according to his faſhion he tries to diſgrace it with vsus; telling vsus, that therin the Biſhop of Rome is ſtiled Supreme Head & Gouernour of the whole Church. If it were thus, ſo much more powerfull is the Teſtimony againſt them, by how much more the witneſſe was theirs. There muſt needs be much cauſe, when he that ſo humbly ouer-titles the perſon, reſiſts the Doctrine ſo vehemently. But the truth is, that the Epiſtle ſtiles Pope Nicolas no otherwiſe in the ſuperſcription, then Sanctae Eccleſiae Romanae prouiſorem: Ouer-ſeer of the holy Romane Church. And in the body of the letter, Summae ſedis Pontificem; Biſhop of the chiefe See; to whom the examination of the common affaires of the Church doth appertain; which is far other, then in the now Romane ſenſe, the Supreme Head of the Church. Secondly, he tels vsus that this Epiſtle both grants and allowes a Vow of Continency:He excepts none, but a profeſſor of Continence. Nullum excipit niſi profeſſorem continentiae; wherin we are no other then friends, we yeeld no leſſe; where there is good euidence of the gift and calling of God. But whiles our Voluſian grants the profeſſor of continency bound, and pleads the Clergy to be free, how plainly doth he ſhew vsus that p. 775there vvas no ſuch Vow, then required of, no ſuch made by the Clergie.

But what needs the man to be ſo furiouſly angry with the good old Epiſtler,Pag. 272. for ſaying, that the Apoſtles charge (Let eueryevery one hauehave his own Wife) is generall to all; reaching to the Clergy as well as the Laity? excepting none but thoſe which hauehave the gift of Continency. What Logick, (the want whereof he ſomtimes cauſleſly obiecteth of me) euer taught him that foreign, vnuſquiſ que was any other then vniuerſall?EueryEvery one. Or vvhat other ſenſe can be put vponupon the words of the Apoſtle? Could I as truly vpbraid Sir Refuter with reading the Logick Leſſon, as he doth me with the Rhetorick, ſurely I ſhould not now be put to paines to teach this Nouice, that foreign (vnuſquiſque) is a terme of collectiue vniuerſalitie, and muſt be extended to all, where kinde is excepted tacitely, ex natura rei, as this caſe muſt needs be acknowledged to be; fore-prizing none but ſuch as hauehave the gift of Continencie; which S. Paul toucheth vponupon in that Chapter.

Iudge then, Reader, whether the Catholike Biſhop that wrote this, or the Miſ-Catholike Maſſe-Prieſt that reproues it, be more worthy of Bedleem.

SECT. IIII.

LAſtly yet, as if in the looſe he would ſhake hands and be friends with him,Refut. p. 273. whom he had ſo long defied; he thus cloſes vp: Then if Priests hauehave this gift, and hauehave prefixed this courſe to themſelues in the Lord, they ſhall not need to marry. And this is the caſe of all Clergy-men who vow Chaſtitie. Thus he. Beleeue him, Readers, if ye can: All the Romiſh Clergie, all Votaries hauehave the gift of Continency; Witneſſe our foreſaid Voluſianus in the ſame Period; Multos eiuſdem conſilii aſſentatores hominibus non Deo pro falsâ ſpecie continentiae placere volentes, grauiora vides committere, patrum ſcilicet vxores ſubagitare, maſculorum ac pecudum amplexus non abhorrere. I wil not Engliſh it for ſhame: Would God the World did not too well find ſtill theſe proofes of Romiſh Chaſtitie.

Nunc etiam Romae quidlibet audet Amor.

But as one that thinkes no man can be his friend, except alſo he be our enemy;Propert. Refut. p. 274. like a true Make-bate, he will tell vsus a tale in our eare, that ſhall ſet a perpetuall iarre betwixt vsus and our Hulderick. Iwis, ſayes my Refuter, your Vdalricke is not the man you take him for; For thus he there writes to the Pope, Wherefore, O reuerend Father, it ſhall bee your part to cauſe and ouer-ſee, that whoſoeuer either with hand or mouth hath made a Vow of Continency (as all Clergy men in holy Orders hauehave) and afterwards would forſake the ſame, ſhould be either compelled to keep his Vow, or elſe by lawfull authority ſhould be depoſed from his order. So he. But we are not ſo light of beliefe to loſe a friend thus eaſily. Know then, Reader, that the**(As all Clergy men in holy Orders hauehave.) Parentheſis (which is the harſheſt piece of this clauſe) is foiſted into the Text, and forged by this Cauiller; the quite contrary whereof is affirmed in the former Period of our Vldaricke, where thus he writes: Non parùm quippe, &c. From this holy diſcretion thou haſt not a little ſwerued, when as thou wouldeſt hauehave thoſe Clergy men, whom thou oughtest onelyonly to aduiſe to Abſtinence from Mariage, compelled vntounto it by a certaine imperious violence; For is not this iuſtly in the iudgement of all wiſe men to bee accounted violence, when as against the Euangelicall Institution, and the charge of the Holy Ghost, any man is conſtrained to the execution of priuate Decrees? The Lord in the old Law appointed Mariage to his Prieſt which hee is neuer read afterwards to hauehave forbidden; So he. Let my Refuter then reconcile this falſe Parentheſis with the true Text, (which he can neuer doe, ſince it directly croſſeth the whole ſcope of Huldericks Epiſtle) and then he ſhall ſee vsus eaſily reconcile Huldericks propoſition with ours.

But, not ſo long to delay my Readers ſatisfaction; the truth is; The Author pleades for an indifferent immunitie of Clergie men from the neceſſitie of this Vow, elſe the Epiſtle were contradictory to it ſelfe: for if he ſuppoſe that all the Clergy had vowed, and all that had vowed ſhould be compelled to keepe their Vow, how could he plead that the Clergy ſhould not be compelled to Continence? The drift of Vldaricke or Voluſian, then, is, that it may be equally lawfull, equally free for Prieſts either to vow, p. 776or not to vow continency; which granted, if any one hauing liberty not to hauehave vowed,Praefixit hoc ſibi in Domino, ibid. or obſerued it, ſhall notwithſtanding prefixe this courſe to himſelfe in the Lord, out of a long-ſetled experience and aſſurance of this calling and gift of God, and now, when he hath thus ingaged himſelfe to the expectation of the Church, voluerit apoſtare, ſhall be froward wantonly to abandon this vow, willingly neglecting all good meanes for the continued obſeruation thereof, ſuch a one ſhall be liable either to compulſion, or depoſition; As now, if any one of ours ſhould in the midſt of freedome bind himſelfe by a voluntary vow, it were pity and ſhame that he ſhould play faſt and looſe at pleaſure with impunity.

What Wooll then is here worthy of this cry? Or wherein hath our Author offended vsus? whiles we neither make this vow, nor can therefore euer breake it, nor euer allowed the breakers of ſo made vowes, guiltleſſe?

Refut. p. 276.One quarrell yet he cannot remit to Maſter Foxe and me; that for this fore-named Hulderick, we cite Aeneas Siluius in his Germania; a booke that neuer was.

This great helluo librorum hath wearied all Libraries, and conſulted with his Tritemius and Poſſeuine; neither of them mention any ſuch worke of Aeneas Siluius; whereas, if he had but taken the booke next the doore, Geſner: Bibliotheca, hee had found (if at leaſt he could hauehave ſeene the Wood for Trees) Siluius his Germania; which (for fayling) he might hauehave heard of in a double Edition; The one larger, the other more contracted.There in extant the ſame Authors Germania wherein are contained the grieuances of the German nation, and a confutation of the ſame, with a reply. The firſt, Geſner expreſſes thus, Extat eiuſdem Germania, quâ continentur grauamina nationis Germanicae, & confutatio eorundem, cum replicâ. The latter is, Aeneae Syluii Germania excerpta, &c. The Germania of Aeneas Syluius gathered out of that book, wherein the grieuances of the Germane nation obiected to the See of Rome, by Martine Mere a Lawyer of Mentz, are refelled.

See now, Reader, whether my Refuter can bluſh. In the one of theſe, which (after deniall) he confeſſeth to hauehave ſeene, he finds ſomewhat that likes him not. Syluius ſpeaking of Auſpurge, Sanctus Vdalricus huic praeſidet (ſaith he) qui Papam arguit de Concubinis; In ſua Germ. Illyr. Catal. Teſt. lib. 19. Aeneas.Vdalrick is the Saint of that City, who reproued the Pope concerning Concubines. The bone lyes before him, let him picke out the marrow as he can; which becauſe he finds hard to breake, he caſts it from him in a chafe, and tels vsus for the laſt refuge; Hee hath ſeene a printed Copy, and two manuſcripts without theſe words. In verbo Sacerdotis. And ſo iuſt hauehave wee found him of his word, all this while, that hee were hard-hearted that would not beleeue him.

SECT. V.

Refut. 280.BVt ſtill I am taken tardy in my time, or rather doe ouer-take. I reckon this Libertie to hauehave continued in Germany after Huldericke, for ſome two hundred yeares; Whereas betwixt Saint Vdalricke and Gregorie the ſeuenth, were but a hundred and twelue yeares.

But ſtill his Saint deceiues him, and (if I ſhould hauehave erred) his owne Chronologers ſhould hauehave deceiued me. For his Onuphrius in his Eccleſiaſticall Chronicle, makes our Hulderick Biſhop of Auſpurge in the beginning of Pope Nicolas, An. 859. And his Sigebert, and other Chroniclers caſt Gregory the ſeuenth his oppoſition to Prieſts mariage, vponupon the yeare 1074. Where now is my error? Where is my ouer-reaching? Count it, Reader, and ſee whether I cannot make my word good, and giuegive him fifteen yeares in to the bargaine: and now iudge whether of vsus may ſay, Non ſat commodè diuiſa ſunt temporibus tibi, Daue, haec; and whether of vsus it is, from whom nothing commeth, ſauouring of any learning or truth: and if thou thinkſt it fit, bluſh for him.

Refut. p. 281.The like (I feare) willing error vponupon the ſame ground is the miſ-calculation of the times of Leo the ninth, and Nicholas the ſecond, betwixt whoſe times, and Vdalrick, he makes but fifty yeares; abating one other halfe of the hundred, to expoſe mee to the laughter of his credulous Clients, which may now ſay, Loe the man which in a reckoning of 200 yeares did out-laſh but 150. When as both their Sigebert and Hermannus p. 777Contractus, (and who not?) make Leo the ninth, Pope, An. 1049, and Nicholas the ſecond, ſome ten yeares after him; The very elder whereof, if we reckon to Huldericke, An. 856, will be in no leſſe then 190 yeares diſtance. The man wanted either counters, or wit, or honeſty; Truth I am ſure he wants.

SECT. VI.

ANtichriſt, which was conceiued in the Primitiue times, ſaw the light in Boniface the third, and was growne to his ſtature and foreign in Gregory the ſeuenth.Refut. p. 283. So as I might well ſay, that the body of Antichriſtianiſme, together with the prohibition of mariage, began to be compleat in that Hildebrand. The times accord better then our Papiſts would hauehave them. After a thouſand yeares Satan was looſed: at that very time did this Hildebrand (otherwiſe Gregory) by the inſtigation of the Deuill (as himſelfe confeſſed at his death (witneſſe Cardinall Benno and Sigebert) trouble the Church; belike with the violent obtruſion of this doctrine of Deuils (prohibition of mariage) and inſolent detruſion of imperiall authority. It is then but a Sardonian laughter that my Refuter takes vp at our complete Antichriſt; whoſe ſupparaſitation may one day coſt him teares and gnaſhing.

But (good God!) what Saints hath the Romane Church? Hildebrand is one of their Calender; the Legend of whoſe Holineſſe ſhall anon make any man ſaue C. E. aſhamed.

Since it will be no better; Perge mentiri; Refut. p. 284.I am now charged with a faire contradiction, whiles I am accuſed to ſay, That the liberty of Prieſts mariages was vniuerſall for a thouſand yeares, and yet had before granted, that in Steuen the ſecond his time (which was two hundred and forty yeares before) the Weſterne Clergy was reſtrained. In all which hee perſwades his friends that I would faine lye groſſely, if my memory would let mee. Reader, doe but review my words. Theſe they are: After him (that is, Hulderick) ſo ſtrongly did he plead and ſo happily, that for two hundred yeares more, this freedome ſtill bleſſed thoſe parts. I ſpeake of Germany, he of Italy: I ſpeake of thoſe parts, he of all. Is not this a Logicall and faithfull refutation? Yet more, this bold and falſe hand dares write, that Leo the ninth, and Nicholas the ſecond,Refut. p. 285. neuer medled with the prohibition of theſe mariages; OnelyOnly the one made a decree againſt Harlots, the other againſt Concubines: neither of which (he hopes) we will apply to our ſelues. We are ſo vſed to theſe impudent aſſertions, that now we ceaſe to wonder at them. Let him tell me what was that Epiſtle which Leo the ninth wrote to Peter the Hermite?He deteſts the incontinencie of Clerkes, and writes to hauehave it puniſhed. Append. Epiſt. Leon. 9. …in…i…s. Whole very title is Incontinentiam Clericorum deteſtatur, & puniendam deſcribit. The Epiſtle is bitter, like my Libellers. And leſt he ſhould ſay we guiltily take to our ſelues the imputation of Incontinency, it is bent againſt quadrimodam carnalis contagionis pollutionem: a foure-fold pollution of Clergy-men: Whereof one he will not ſure deny to be mariage.

Let him tell me what was done vnderunder Leo in the Councel of Mentz (about the yere 1049) of which, Adam Bremenſis (who was there preſent) writes, Simoniaca haereſis & nefanda Sacerdotum coniugia holographa Synodi manu perpetuò damnata eſt. That is,aaAd…. Bren…. l. 3. c. 51. …in. not. in Synod. Mogunt Refut. p. 286. The hereſie of Symony, and the wicked mariages of Prieſts, by the conſent of the Synod was condemned. Is this nothing done by his Leo, the Leo rugiens of that time.

As for his Nicholas the ſecond; good man, he did nothing neither: OnelyOnly hee ſtayned women as honeſt as himſelfe, with the name of Concubines, and men more holy then himſelfe, with the name of Nicolaitans, (whom he muſt needs louelove for the names ſake) and an eſtate of life, as holy as his owne, with the name of Filthy copulation. Let his Popes ſhamefull decrees, and his ſhameleſſe lyes, goe both together for company whence they came.

p. 778SECT. VII.

Refut. p. 287.YEt ſtill the further we goe, the worſe. My Refuter ſurpaſſes himſelfe in the prizes that he playes for his Pope Gregory the ſeuenth, who firſt (hee ſaith) did not ruine this liberty of mariages: Let Vincentius, and Radulphus de Diceto and Sigebert ſpeake for vsus both;bbChron. Sigebert. Anno 1074. Polydor. Virg. Exemple poſt homines natos importuniſsimo. Ex qua re tam graue oritur ſcandalum, vt nullius haereſis tempore ſancta Eccleſia grauiore ſchiſmate ſciſſa ſit. Sigeb. ibid. Refut. p. 288. Vxoratos Sacerdotes à diuino, &c. Hee remoued maried Prieſts from their function, and forbade the people to heare their Maſſes; a new example, and as many thought inconſiderately preiudiciall, againſt the iudgement of the holy Fathers, &c. But hee fully preuailed not (ſaith my Refuter,) What thanke is that to him? hee did his beſt, and kindled thoſe coales that could neuer be quenched. Hee ledde the way to his Vrban the ſecond, and Paſchal the ſecond. They followed him, and preuailed; The broyles were his, if not the victory. Gratum opus ſcortatoribus (faith Auentine.) Auentine (ſaith my Refuter) a late Goſpelling brother. For vsus, we are glad of the fraternity of ſo worthy an Author, whom Beatus Rhenanus gratulates to his Germany, and calsccMoſt learned Auentine. Eruditiſsimum Auentinum, andddExcelling in the knowledge of all varietie of learning. Variarum cognitione diſciplinarum praeſtantem; and Eraſmus, eeA man of vnweariable paines, and deepe reading.Hominem ſtudio indefatigabili, ac recondita lectionis. Laſtly, whom his iuſt Epitaph ſtiles,ffA moſt diligent and accurate ſearcher of antiquities. Refut. p. 289. Rerum antiquarum indagatorem ſagaciſsimum: But the truth is; no man by his Hiſtorie can tell his Religion: The Canons of Auguſta praiſe him for the light hee giues to the inſtitutions of their Monaſteries; And when he ſpeakes of the Shrines of Berg, Valentia, and Halle, I am ſure he mentions them with too Popiſh deuotion; & when of Io. Huſſe and Ierome of Prage, he taxes them with crimen irreligioſitatis; Yet this man (borne Anno 1466.) when he but ſpeakes a famous truth of Hildebrand, and the German Clergie, he is become a late Goſpelling brother. Still let vsus hauehave Brethren that care more for their honeſty, then their faction.

Neither yet (to giuegive the Deuill his due) doe wee thinke ſo ill of thoſe enemies of maried chaſtitie, that they did purpoſely enact Lawes of vnmaried looſeneſſe: but that all abominable filthineſſe did follow vponupon the reſtraint of lawfull remedies, who ſees not?ggPorro continentiam paucis tenentibus, aliquibus eam modò cauſa queſl… ac iactantia ſimulantibus, multis incontinentiam periurio aut m…ltiplicum adulterio cumulantibus, &c. Sigeb. An. 1074. Refut. p. 291. Sigebert himſelfe (their owne Monk) freely acknowledges it. Iohn Haywood our old Epigrammatiſt told Queene Mary, her Clergie was ſawcy; if they had not Wiues, they would hauehave Lemans. Where there is not the gift of holy continency, how could it be otherwiſe? Where the water is dammed vp, and yet the ſtreame runnes full, how can it chooſe but riſe ouer the bankes? There is purity therefore out of Wedlocke, but not out of Continence. And what needed my Detector to trauell ſo farre as England, for an example of incontinency in a King Henry, or any wife of his, whether falſely or truely obiected, vvhen he might hauehave looked neere the centre of their Church, and hauehave found his owne Pope Iohn (in the very time now queſtioned for this prohibition)hhIo. autem Papa ſe cum vxore iniuſdam oblect…s, à Diabolo in tempore percutitur, Sigeb An. 963. The brand of LoueLove. Brand of Hell. Refut. p. 293. killed by the Deuill in the act of adultery vvith another mans wife? This end of the Wallet hangs behind him.

SECT. VIII.

HIldebrand (as I learned of Auentine) is as much as Titio Amoris. But how little he differed in name or nature from Hellebrand, Titio infernalis (as Chemnitius cals him) his Hiſtory ſhewes too well. And is it poſſible that any man ſhould riſe vp after ſo many hundred yeares, to Canonize Saint Hildebrand, euen in that for which hee condemned himſelfe? My Reader muſt know the man a little from the witneſſe of his owne Conclaue, his Cardinall Benno, Arch-prieſt of the Romane Church, then liuing: Others, beſides, tell of his beginnings in wicked Necromancie, and murderous vnderminings, and tyrannicall ſwaying of the Keyes, ere he had them: Benno tels how hee got them, how he vſed them gotten: Hee got them by fraud, money, violence; vſed them with tyranny. There was a knot, & a ſucceſſion of Necromancers in thoſe dayes. Gerbertus, which was Sylueſter the ſecond, was the Maſter of the Schoole: His chiefe p. 779Schollers in the Black Art, were Theophylactus (afterwards changed into Pope Benedict) and Laurentius, and Gratianus. Theſe were the Tutors of Hildebrands yonger times, of whom he learned both magicke and Policy. It is a world to ſee what worke theſe Magicians made (like the ill ſpirits they raiſed) in Church and Commonwealth; oppoſing Emperors, ſetting vp what Popes they pleaſed, poiſoning whom they diſliked: at laſt it came to Hildebrands turne to take the Chaire:iiBenno Cardi…. vita Hildebr. To which purpoſe he ſeparated firſt the Biſhops from the Cardinals auerſe from him: when he had done, he compelled them by terrour and force to ſweare vntounto his part; which done, he was elected in ſpight of the Canons, onelyonly by Lay-perſons, by Souldiers; he expelled the Cardinals, raſhly excommunicated the Emperour, of his owne head, without any Canonicall accuſation, without ſubſcription of any Cardinall; hyred a bloody Villaine to murder the Emperor; conſulted with the Oracle of his breaden God, which becauſe it anſwered not, he caſt it into the fire; he exerciſed moſt horrible cruelties vponupon many, hanging vp men at his pleaſure vnconuicted; in a word, quantis haereſibus mundum corruperit, &c? ſaith Benno in his concluſion, His hereſies, his periuries, can ſcarce be deſcribed by many Pens; Clamat tamen altiùs, &c. But the Chriſtian blood ſhed by his inſtigation and command, (ſaith hee) cryes yet lowder to God; yea, the blood of the Church, which the ſword of his tongue in a miſerable prodition hath ſhed, cryes out against him; for which things, the Church did moſt iuſtly depart from all communion with him. Thus Benno; who yet (to make amendskkSo our Rogerus Ceſtrenſ. l. 7. Papa Hildebrandu… laborans in extre…is, voca… adſe Car…in…l… quem plus dilexrat, & confeſſus eſt ſe ſuſcitaſſe odium & ſchiſma inter Imperatorem, & alios Chriſtianos, vnde diſſoluit vincula bannorum, & obiit. Refut. p. 295. vſus que ad 306. tells vsus, that Hildebrand vponupon his death-bed repented of theſe lewd courſes, and ſent to the Emperor and the Church to cry them mercy: confeſſing (as Sigebert reports) that hee had by the ſwaſion of the Deuill raiſed theſe wicked tumults.

Yet this is the man whom Bellarmine will iuſtifie by ſeuen and twenty Authors, and C.E. can adde two more to the heape; yea, in thoſe very things for which he condemned himſelfe.

Reader, if one of his euill ſpirits ſhould hauehave ſtept into Peters chaire, doe yee thinke he could hauehave wanted Proctors? But how good an account we were like to hauehave of ſeuen and twenty Authors (if it would require the coſt to examine them) appeares, in thatllLamb. Schefnab. Hiſt. rerum German. Lambertus Schafnaburgenſis (which is cited for the man that magnifies the miracles of this Gregory) ſayes not one ſuch word of him; but ſpeakes indeed the like of one Anno Archbiſhop of Coleine, who liued and dyed in the time of Gregory: As for Gregories miracles, Benno the Cardinall tels vsus what they were; that he raiſed Deuils familiarly; that he ſhaked ſparkes of fire out of his ſleeue by his Magicke. A tricke that well beſeemed an Hellebrand, who ſet all the world on fire by his wicked impetuoſity. We will not enuy Rome this Saint, let them enioy him, let them celebrate him, and cry downe Henry the Emperor, and all that oppoſed him. Still may ſuch as theſe bee the Tutelar gods of that holy Citie; For vsus, it is comfort enough to vsus, that our mariages had ſuch a perſecutor.

That the Churches did hereupon ring of him for Antichriſt, Auentine is my Author:Refut. p. 306. vſus que ad 309. Pro concione, &c. in their Sermons (ſaith he) they did curſe Hildebrand, they cryed out on him as a man tranſported with hatred and ambition, Antichriſtum eſſe praedicant,Antichriſti negotium agitat. They declared him to be Antichriſt; They ſaid that vnderunder the colourable title of Chriſt, he did the ſeruice of Antichriſt; That he ſits in Babylon in the Temple of God, and is aduanced aboue all that is called God. So he. And little better is that which hismmLamb. Schefnab. lib. de Rebus German. Schafnaburgenſis (ſo much extolled by C. E.) recordeth: Aduerſus hoc decretum infremuit tot a factio Clericorum, &c. Againſt this Decree (ſaith hee) all the whole faction of Clergy-men fretted and mutined; accuſing him as an Heretike, and a man of peruerſe opinion, who forgetting the word of Chriſt, which ſaid All men cannot receiue this, did by a violent exaction compell men to liue in the faſhion of Angels.

To which if I ſhould adde the ſentence of the Synod of Wormes, and that of Brixia, my Reader would eaſily ſee, that it is not the applauſe of ſome deuoted Pen, that can free him from theſe foule imputations of deſerued infamie.

That vntruth then cleared, another belike hangs vponupon the ſcore; My Refuter charges me with falſhood, in ſaying,Refut. p. 307. That Gregory the ſeuenth was depoſed by the French and p. 780German Biſhops. Only the Germans (hee ſaith) were Actors in that Tragedy. But if not at Wormes, yet let him tell me what was done at Brixia, and by whom: Quamobrem Italiae, Germaniae, Galliae Pontifices, &c. Wherfore (ſaith Auentinus) the Biſhops of Italy, Germany, and France, the ſeuenth of the Kalends of Iuly, met at Brixia in Bauaria, and ſentenced Hildebrand to hauehave ſpoken and done againſt Chriſtian piety, &c. and condemned him of hereſie, impiety, Refut. p. 310, 311ſacriledge, &c. And that my Refuter may find himſelfe anſwered at once to the laſt of his Cauils, wherein hee pleads that this depoſition was not ſo much as pretended for the inhibition of theſe mariages, but for other cauſes, let him ſee the Copy of the iudgement paſſed againſt him in the ſaid councell; wherein, after the accuſation of his Simoniacal climing into the Chaire (the vice which he pretended moſt to perſecute in others) his forceable poſſeſsion, The vertues of C.E's Saint.his hereſie, his machinations againſt the Emperour, his peruerting of the Lawes both of God and Men, his falſe doctrines, ſacriledges, periuries, lyes, murders, by him ſuborned & commended, his tyranny, his ſetting of diſcord betwixt Brethren, Friends, Couſins; It followes; Inter coniuges diuortia facit; ſuauis homo ſacerdotes qui vxores habent legitimos ſacrificos eſſe pernegat; interim tamen ſcortatores, adulteros, inceſtuoſos aris ad mouet, &c. He cauſes diuorces betwixt Man and Wife; The fine man denies thoſe Prieſts, which hauehave lawfull Wiues, to be Prieſts at all; in the meane time hee admits to the Altar whore-mongers, adulterers, inceſtuous perſons, &c. Nos ergo. We therefore by the authority of Almighty God, pronounce him depoſed from his Popedome. Thus Auentine ſpecifies the Decree; which alone without Commentary, without inforcement, anſwers all the friuolous exceptions of my wordy Aduerſary. So as now, to returne his Epilogue, he hath ſent backe my ten pretended lyes,Refut. p. 316. with the vnreaſonable and inuerted vſury of well-neere an hundred. Pauperis eſt numerare.

SECT. IX.

FRom foraine parts, I returne at laſt to our owne; ſo I feare hath C. E. done long ſince; lurking ſomewhere in England for no good. Theſe Fugitiues louelove not home more, then their home hath cauſe to hate them. His cauils of the wondrous contradiction betwixt my Margin and my Text,Refut. p. 317. are too childiſh to bee honored with an anſwer. My Text was; The bickerings of our Engliſh Clergy with their Dunſtans, about this time are memorable. My Margin cites Henry of Huntingdon, affirming Anſelme to be the firſt that forbad mariage: Betwixt theſe two, ſaith my Refuter, was an hundred yeares difference. I grant it: But (had my words been thus) if my Detector were not diſpoſed to ſeeke a knot in a Ruſh, he had eaſily noted that in a generall ſuruay of all Ages, the phraſe (About that time) admits much latitude, and will eaſily ſtretch without any ſtraine to one whole Century of yeares. Had the Quotation been as he pleadeth, this anſwer were ſufficient. But my words need no ſuch reconciliation; I ſtand to the cenſure, and diſclaime the mercy of any Reader: For that citation of Anſelme hath plaine reference to the following words Our Hiſtories teſtifie how late, how repiningly our Clergie ſtooped vnderunder this yoke: it is for this that my Margin points to Henry Huntingdon, and Fabian, reporting Anſelme the firſt man that prohibited theſe mariages. What contradiction now can his acuteneſſe detect in theſe two? The Engliſh Clergie had bickerings with their Dunſtans; and ſtooped late and repiningly to this yoke vnderunder Anſelme. See, Reader, and admire the equall Truth and Logicke of a Catholique Prieſt, and iudge how well he beſtoweth his Pages.

SECT. X.

Refut. p. 318.IT is true, Dunſtan was the man who firſt with his other**Oſwal and Ethelwold. two Couſins and partners in canonization, oppoſed any appendance of the maried Clergy; He wrought it with good King Edgar, by dreames, and viſions, and miracles. Hee, who when the Deuill came to tempt him to luſt,aaGul. Malmesb. Jt. Legend, &c. caught him by the noſe with an hot paire of Tongs, and p. 781made him rore out for mercy, ſuppoſed that eueryevery Clergy man had the ſame Irons in the fire, and therefore blew Coales to that good King, of the diſlike of theſe Clericall mariages; and with the ſame breath inkindled the zeale of Monkerie. The Church wherein I am now intereſſed, and wherein I doe (by the prouidence of God, and the bounty of my gracious Maſter) ſucceed their Saint Oſwalds Priors, yeelds me ſufficient records hereof; which becauſe they are both worthy of publike light, and giuegive no ſmal light to the buſineſſe in hand, I hauehave thought good here to inſert.

**The names of the Founders of the Church of Wo…ceſter. In the time of King Ethelred was Worceſter made an Epiſcopall See; Roſel was the firſt Biſhop. The 17 was Saint Oſw…ld; in whoſe time King Edgar gaue, &c. And by the meditation of Saint Oſwald was this Cathedrali Church tranſlated from mar…e… Clerkes vntounto Monkes.Nomina Fundatorum Eccleſia Wigornienſis, Tempore Ethelredi Regis, &c. — conſtituta eſt ſedes Epiſcopalis Wigorn: Boſel Epiſcopus primus — Septimuſdecimus, Sanctus Oſwaldus, tempore cuius Edgarus Rex dedit — Mediante verò Beato Oſwaldo, à Clericis in Monachos tranſlata est ſedes Pontificalis honoris.

Then followes the Charter of King Edgar founding the Monkes with this Title, Carta Regis Eadgari, de Oſwaldeſlaw.

ALtitonantis Dei largifluâ Clementiâ, qui est Rex Regum & Dominus Dominantium. Ego Eadgarus Anglorum Baſileus omnium Regum inſularum Oceani quae Britanniam circumiacent, cunctarum que Nationum quae infra cam includuntur, Imperator & Dominus, gratias ago ipſi Deo Omnipotenti Regi meo, qui meum Imperiū ſic amplificauit, & exaltauit ſuper Regnum Patrum meorum. —

Quapropter & ego Chriſti gloriam & laudem in regno meo exaltare, & eius ſeruitium amplificare deuotus diſpoſui, & per meos fideles fautores Danſtanum, videlicet, Archiepiſcopum, & Athelwoldum, ac Oſwaldum Epiſcopos, quos mihi Patres ſpirituales, & confiliarios elegi, magna ex parte ſecundum quod diſpoſui perfeci. —

Et ipſis ſupradictis meis cooperatoribus ſtrenuè annitentibus, jam XL. & VII. Monaſteria cum Monachis & Sanctimonialibus conſtitui; & ſi Chriſtus vitam mihi tam diu conceſſerit, vſus que an quinquageſsimum remiſsionis numerum meae deuotae Deo munificentiae oblationem protendere decreui. Vnde nunc in praeſenti Monaſterium, quod praedictus reuerendus Epiſcopus Oſwaldus in ſede Epiſcopali Wereceaſtre, in honorem Sanctae Dei genetricis Mariae amplificauit, & eliminatis Clericorum neniis, & ſpurcis laſciuiis, religioſis Dei ſeruis Monachis, meo conſenſu & fauore ſuffultus locauit, Ego ipſis Monaſticae religionis viris Regali authoritate confirmo, & conſilio, & aſtipulatione Principum & Optimatum meorum corroboro, & conſigno, ita vt jam amplius non ſit fas, ne que ius Clericis reclamandi quicquam inde, quippe qui magis elegerunt cum ſui ordinis periculo, & Eccleſiaſtici beneficii diſpendi ſuis vxoribus adhaerere, quàm Deo caſtè & canonicè ſeruire. Et ideo cuncta quae illi de Eccleſia poſſederant, cum ipſa Eccleſiâ, ſiue Eccleſiaſtica, ſiue Secularia, tam mobilia, quam immobilia, ipſis Dei ſeruis Monachis ab hac die perpetualiter Regiae munificentia iure deinceps poſsidenda trado, & conſigno, ita firmiter, vt nulli Principum, nec etiam vlli Epiſcopo ſuccedenti fas ſit, aut licitum quicquam inde ſubtrahere, aut peruadere, aut ab eorum poteſtate ſurripere, & in Clericorum ius iterum traducere, quamdiu fides Chriſtiana in Anglia perdurauerit. Sed & dimidum Centuriatum, &c.

In the end dated thus, Facta ſunt haec Anno Dominicae Natiuitatis, D.CCCC.LXIIII. Indictione VIII. Regni Eadgari Anglorū Regis, 6. in Regia vrbe quae ab incolis Glouceaſtre nominatur, in Natale Domini. In Engliſh thus.

BY the bountifull mercy of Almighty God, which is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, I Edgar King of England; and of all the Kings of the Ilands of the Ocean lying about Brittaine, and of all the Nations that are included within it, Emperour and Lord; doe giuegive thankes to Almighty God my King, which hath inlarged my Empire, and exalted it aboue the Kingdome of my Fathers. —

Wherefore I alſo hauing deuoted my ſelfe to exalt the glory and praiſe of Chriſt in my Kingdome, and to inlarge his ſeruice, hauehave intended; and by my faithfull Well-willers, Dunſtan Archbiſhop, Athelwold and Oſwald Biſhops, (whom I hauehave choſen for my ſpirituall Fathers, and Counſellors) I hauehave for the greateſt part already performed what I entended, &c. —

And by the diligent indeuours of my fore-ſaid Helpers, I hauehave now conſtituted p. 782and made ſeuen and forty Monaſteries with Monkes and Nunnes; and if Chriſt ſhall giuegive me to liue ſo long, I hauehave decreed to draw forth the Oblation of this my deuout Munificence vntounto God, to the full number of fifty, which is the number of my remiſſion.**So as it appeares, this number was ſet to King Edgar by Dunſtan for his penance Wherevpon, now for the preſent, I doe by my Royall Authoritie confirme to perſons of Monaſticall Religion, and by the conſent and aſtipulation of my Princes and Peeres, doe eſtabliſh and conſigne to them, that Monaſterie which the foreſaid reuerend Biſhop Oſwald (to the honour of the Bleſſed Mother of God) hath amplified in the Epiſcopall See of Wereceaſtre, and expelling the wanton and filthy laſciuiouſneſſe of Clerkes, hath, by my conſent and fauour, beſtowed it vponupon the religious ſeruants of God, the Monkes; ſo as from henceforth it ſhall not be lawfull for the ſaid Clerkes, to challenge any thing therein, as thoſe which hauehave rather choſen (with the danger of their Order, and the loſſe of their Eccleſiaſticall**That is, their Prebend. Benefice) to ſticke vntounto their wiues, then chaſtely and canonically to ſerue God. And therefore all that euer they poſſeſſed of the ſaid Church, whether Eccleſiaſticall or Secular, moueable, or vnmoueable, together with the Church it ſelfe, I doe from this day forward for euer, giuegive and conſigne to the ſaid Monkes, to bee poſſeſſed of them in the right of my Royall Munificence; ſo firmely, that it ſhall not be lawfull for any Prince or any Biſhop ſucceeding to ſubtract ought from them, or to withdraw any of the Premiſſes from their power, and to deliuer it backe againe to the right and poſſeſſion of Clerkes, ſo long as the Chriſtian Faith ſhall remaine in England, &c. —

Facta ſunt haec, &c. Theſe things were done in the yeare of Chriſts Natiuitie, D.CCCC.LXIIII. Indiction VIII. In the ſixt yeare of the Raigne of Edgar King of England; in the Royall Citie, which by the Inhabitants is named Glouceaſtre, in the Feaſt of the Natiuitie of our Lord, &c. —

That Dunſtan did this, none euer doubted; but withall it is conſiderable, who himſelfe was; an Abbot; and therefore partiall to the Cloyſters; and who put him into this Commiſsion; Pope Iohn the thirteenth: a Monſter of men, yea, of Popes; one who (as was articled againſt him in a generall Councell) had committed Inceſt with two of his owne Siſters, who called to the Deuill for his helpe at Dice; who defloured Virgins, who lay with Stephana his Fathers Concubine; who dranke to the Deuill, beſides many other horrible crimination; A man fit to ſet a Saint on worke againſt lawfull Mariages. And thirdly, what the ſtate of the Times were; vvherein libertie was degenerate into ſtrange licentiouſneſſe; Euen change of Wiues (if wee may beleeue Hiſtories) was then to wonder; For the correcting whereof, the Reformers (according to the Philoſophers aduice) laboured towards the other extreame; as thoſe which to ſtraighten a ſticke, bow it as much the contrarie way: And laſtly, how farre this act and endeuour extended: For Dunſtan ſought not to thruſt maried men out of the Clergie, but to thruſt**Expulit malos Praesbyteres, introduxit pe…res Monaches. Polyd. From the greater Churches. maried Clergie-men out of the Cathedrall Churches, vvhichwhich required a quotidian attendance, which is euident both by the ſentence of Dunſtan (Aut Canonicè viuendum, aut ab Eccleſia excundum) either that they muſt liue Canonically, or get out of the Church; that is, ex Eccleſiis maioribus, as Hiſtorians relate it; And by the ſentence of the Rood for Dunstan; Mutaretis non benè; How much difference there was in theſe two, appeares in the Decree of Biſhop Lanfranc, Anſelm's Predeceſſor, which tolerating maried Seculars, driues directly againſt maried Canons. Little needed my Refuter then (but that hee muſt hauehave ſomething to ſay) to fall vponupon our right Reuerend and Learned Biſhop of Hereford (whoſe worthy labours hauehave iuſtly indeared him to all Poſterity) for that true compariſon he makes betwixt theſe three Saints of theirs,Refut. p. 321. and Anſelme: They by action, hee by Synodicall Decree perſecuted the Clergie; They bent their indeuours againſt Cathedrall Clerkes, he againſt Prieſts; Their proiect was particular, his vniuerſall.

That a peremptory ſentence paſſed generally againſt the Mariage of Eccleſiaſtiques in a publike Synod vnderunder Dunſtan, Refut. p. 319.he refers vsus to Binius, which at randome talkes of Concilium Anglicanum; without all particulars of place, or perſons; and refers vsus to Surius; as if he had bidden vsus aske his Fellow if he lye: Why did hee not ſend vsus to p. 783Father Parſons, or his Gabriel Gifford? Sure, it vvas in ſome obſcure hole of the …eake, or ſome blind Dormitorie of a Couent; neither can wee ſay of it with the Apoſtle, Theſe things were not done in a Corner; The Canons, whereto the fore alledged Chatter, and the ſentence of Dunſtan hauehave reference, were no other then Romiſh, vvhichwhich theſe Monkiſh Prelates had perſwaded King Edgar to receiue, and in part to vrge vponupon his maried Prebendaries. The ſucceſſe of his Synode at Reading, or Wincheſter he knowes well enough: And is he aſhamed of the miraculous ſentence of his Holy-Rood (which Iornalenſis reports) who there openly ſpake for the Monks againſt the Clergie? Abſit vt hoc fiat; that he paſſes ouer to that of Calne, where the falling of an ouer-charged floore, cruſhed the Mariage of Clergy-men.Refut. p. 321. Idle Monkes who for their owne turne ſet ſuch a ſuperſtitious gloſſe vponupon that accident, which (as**H. Hunt. l. 5. Henry Huntingdon more probably interprets it) was Signum excelſi Dei, quod proditione & interfectione Regis ſui ab amore Dei caſuri eſſent, & à diuerſis gentibus digna contritione centerendi: A ſigne from the High God, that by their Treaſon and Murder of their King (who vvas ſlaine in the yeare after) they ſhould fall from the fauour of God, and bee worthily cruſhed by other Nations. Thus he. Such was the euent; For the conſtruction of it,Gul. Malmeſ. the Reader may chuſe, whether he will beleeue an Archdeacon of Huntingdon, or a Monke of Malmesbury. Ywis theſe rotten ioyſts are foundation enough whereon to build the prohibition of our mariages.

SECT. XI.

VNderUnder theſe late Romiſh Saints, Dunſtan and Anſelme, I might ſafely ſay,Refut. p. 332. our Engliſh Clergie found the firſt machinations againſt their mariage, and at laſt ſtooped perforce to this yoake of conſtrained continency. Neither doth my wit or my Logicke faile me in this collection. If theſe were the men that made the firſt oppoſition to the mariage of Clergy men in England, then it formerly obtained here, without contradiction. The bare word of my Refuter, is a hot ſhot to batter this neceſſarie illation; and to aſſure the Reader that the forced Celibate of the Engliſh Clergie is of greater Antiquitie then theſe his Saints; To which he addes (in an ignorant begging of the queſtion) A thing ſo filthy; after a ſolemne vow to God, to take a Wife, as it neuer appeared without the brand of infamy. As if our Predeceſſors in the Engliſh Clergy had been euer charged with a vow; As if the ſolemnitie of this vow had neuer had beginning? Chimericall fancies fit for a ſhorne head.qqD. Martins arg. is, Prieſts crownes ſignifie their Vow; No other proofe can be brought worth talking o…, but from the Barbers ſhop. Antiquit. Brit. Def. of Pr Marr. p. 282. When as his Maſter Harding could not produce ſo much as a probabilitie of any vow anciently required, or vndertaken; whether by beck, or Dieu-gard. When as the ancient Saxon Pontificall makes not the leaſt mention of any ſuch profeſſion; yea, when Girardus (who vvas the ſecond Biſhop of Yorke after the conqueſt) writes flatly to Anſelme concerning his owne Canons, Profeſsiones verò mihi penitus abnegant Canonici, &c. My Canons (ſaith he) vtterly deny to giuegive me profeſsion of continencie, which without this profeſsion hauehave been diſorderly aduanced to holy Orders; Cùm verò ad ordines aliquos in vito, dura ſeruice renituntur, ne in ordinando caſtitatem profiteantur, And when I doe inuite any to take Orders, they doe reſiſt me very ſtubbornly, that they will make no profeſsion of chaſtitie in their Ordination. Thus he. Shewing vsus plainly that the Clergie in thoſe times challenged no other then the libertie of their Predeceſſors. But well may he face vsus down in this more obſcure (though certaine) truth, when he dares to ſay that Greece it ſelfe neuer tolerated this eſtate in their Clergie, till by b…d life it fell to Schiſme, and from Schiſme to open Hereſie; whiles their owne Canon Law (beſides all Hiſtories) giuegive him the lye; and whatrrLatinorum nemo vel veterùm, vel recentiorum, inter Graecorum errores, aut haereſe…, aut ſchiſmata, hanc coniugalis vſus retentionem ſupp…tauit, non Hugo Eterianus, non Tho. Aquinas, non Guido Carmelita, ad 26. licet hic numerauerit, non …ues qui vel obiter, vel peculiariter de iis egerit. Eſpenſ. l. 1. c. 4. Eſpencaeus hath ingenuouſly ſpoken concerning this point, we hauehave formerly ſhewed.ttApud Win…on & Monachos▪ loco Clericor…m primus in…ituit. De Edgaro Rogerus Ceſtrenſ. lib. 6. If he did not preſume vponupon Readers that neuer ſaw Bookes, he durſt not be thus impudent.

This argument therefore ſhall euer ſtand good, and ſhall ſcornefully trample vponupon all his vaine cauils; Ethelwold vvas the firſt, which by the command of King Edgar expelled maried Prieſts, out of ^ſ the old erection of Wincheſter; Anno 963. p. 784Dunſtan and Oſwald together with him were the men, who (two yeeres after) firſt expelled maried Clergie-men out of the greater houſes of Merceland; As 1177, in the dayes of King Henry the Second, the ſecular Prebendaries of Waltham, were firſt turned out, to giuegive way to their irregulars; therefore vntill theſe times, theſe places were interruptedly poſſeſſed by maried Clergie-men. If now he ſhall except; that this poſſeſsion of theirs was not of long continuance, but vponupon vſurpation; whereby the maried Incumbents had iniuriouſly incroached vponupon the right of Monkes; Our Monkes of Worceſter ſhall herein fully conuince him; who write vnderunder their Oſwaldus Archiepiſcopus; Oſwald Archbiſhop of Yorke.Per me fundatus fuit ex clericis monachatus, That is, By mee were Monkes firſt founded out of Clerkes; Which was alſo the faſhion of all other erections of this nature; ſo as it is manifeſt, that originally theſe Churches were founded in maried Clergie-men; afterwards wrongfully tranſlated, from them to Monkes; And if the firſt poſſeſſors had beenettA Clericis in Monachos tranſlata eſt ſenes Pontif. hon. vid. ſupr. Monkes, how could Monkes hauehave beene there firſt founded by Oſwald, when as Ethelred had long before both founded, and furniſhed it? and how out of Clerkes, if Monkes had been there before? Let my Refuter ſhew me but a Verſe of equall antiquitie in a contrarie rime, Per me fundatus fuit ex Monachis Clericatus.

And I yeeld him my argument: Otherwiſe let the world iudge, if hee be not ſhameleſly obſtinate in not yeelding.

SECT. XII.

Refut. p. 324. Non eſt ſcriptum, ergo non eſt factum, &c.BVt to ſtrike it dead, my Aduerſarie will proue the Engliſh Clergie euer to hauehave beene continent. Reader, look now for Demonſtrations; His firſt proofe is, That in all the purſuit of this buſineſſe, we neuer reade of any that did ſtand vponupon the former cuſtom of the Church. A proper argument, ab authoritate negatiuè. And what other arguments doth my Detector finde vſed by the then perſecuted Clergie? Hiſtories record them not; therefore doubtleſſe they ſaid nothing for themſelues; and if they vrged other proofes, which are not now deſcended to vsus by any relation, why not this for one? Who can but hiſſe out ſo ſilly ſophiſtry? But to ſtop that clamorous mouth in this poore cauill; doth not his owneuuGul. Malmeſde geſt. Angl. l. 2. c. 9. Monke of Malmesbury tell him, that the Clergie vrged this plea for themſelues, Ingens eſſe & miſerabile dedecus, vt nouus aduena veteres colonos migrare compellerit, &c. That it was a great and miſerable ſhame, that theſe vpſtarts, the Monkes, ſhould thruſt out the ancient poſſeſſors of thoſe places; that this was neither pleaſing to God, which had giuen them that long-continued habitation, nor yet to any good man, who might iuſtly feare the ſame hard meaſure which was offered to them: Thus they, whoſe plea and complaint ſeemed ſo iuſt, that Alfgina the Queen, Prince Alfere, and others of the Nobilitie, ouerthrew many of thoſe new-founded Monaſteries, and reinſtalled the Prieſts in their former right.

Refut. p.. 325.His next proofe is from the Letters of Pope Gregory, which he wrote to Auſtin the Monke here in England. Riſum teneatis? Did euer any man doubt, but that Pope Gregory was deſirous to eſtabliſh Romiſh Lawes, and orders, amongſt the Engliſh. Where yet his Legate found many as good Chriſtians as himſelfe vnderunder another rule, conforme to the Greeke Church? But how followes this? This Pope was willing to in-romanize the Engliſh; therefore the ſtaffe ſtands in the corner: And yet euen Pope Gregory allowed mariage to thoſe of thexxGreg. reſp. ad quaſt. 2. Aug. Engliſh Clergie, which were not within the higher Orders; appointing them to receiue their ſtipends apart; a fauour which he ſaw neceſſarily to be yeelded to our Nation, whiles he abridged others.

Refut. p. 326. The noble Starre of Monkes.From Gregory, he deſcends to Beda, a man doubtleſſe venerable for his learning, and vertue; but (as it is in his Epitaph) Monachorum nobile ſydus. Whether a neighbour at leaſt to Italy, by birth (as they contend) I am ſure a Diſciple of Abbot Benedict, and ſo great a fautor of the Roman faction, that hee cenſures S. Aidanus and Colmanuus, for adhering to thoſe Greeke formes, which the Churches of this Iland had anciently followed; p. 785whoſe part Ioannes Maior iuſtly takes againſt him. This Beda in a generall ſpeculation ſpeakes his conceit of the voluntary continency which he holds requiſit in the Prieſthood; ſayes nothing of the particular cuſtome of the Engliſh Clergie; rather in diuers paſſages inſinuating the contrary. Amongſt the reſt, hee tels vsus that in theyyBed. Eccleſ. hiſt. Aug. l. 4. Synod holden by Archbiſhop Theodorus, and other Biſhops (at Hereford) in the third yeare of King Egfride, (which was about Anno 673.) their tenth and laſt Canon was pro coniugiis; vt nulli liceat niſi legitimum habere connubium; For Mariages; That no man ſhould marry vnlawfully, no man ſhould commit inceſt, no man ſhould leaue his owne wife, vnleſſe (as the Goſpel teacheth) for fornication onelyonly, &c. I know my Refuter will plead the vniuerſalitie of this Canon, and will contend, that a Law generally made for all Chriſtians, is not without iniury reſtrained to Eccleſiaſtiques; But let my Reader well conſider both the Prologue and Epilogue of that Synode, hee ſhall ſee, that they who are required to keepe theſe Lawes, are Conſacerdotes omnes; and that whoſoeuer ſhall violate them, Nouerit ſe ab omni officio Sacerdotali & noſtra ſocietate ſeparatum; muſt know himſelfe ſeparate from all ſacerdotall office and ſociety; ſo as it will neceſſarily follow, that this Law did (at leaſt) concerne the Clergie with others, though not apart; Neither is there any other of thoſe Canons, which concernes not the Clergy onelyonly; except the firſt, concerning the obſeruation of Eaſter, which principally alſo belonged to them. Whereto it makes not a little, that in the Booke of Saxon Canons ſet out for the gouerning of the ſecular Prieſts, the rule is, Let them alſo doe their indeuour, I forbeare the Saxon word for lacke of their Characters. The Reader ſhall ſince them cited in Saxon by Mat. Parker. Def. of Pr. Mar.that they hold with perpetuall diligence their chaſtitie, in an vnſpotted bodie, or elſe let them bee coupled with the bond of one Matrimonie. Words, wherein our Clergie meant to regulate themſelues (as it ſeemes) by the holy preſcript of Iſidore, whereof we hauehave ſpoken. Laſtly, my Aduerſarie cannot deny, that this Synode giues order for many accidentall matters, concerning the Clergie, for their fixed ſtation, for their maintenance, &c. but except in this Canon, there is no one word of their ſtate of life; neither is there in all thoſe Canons, one ſyllable of this pretended Celibate, as that, which the contrarie receiued cuſtome of our Church would neuer hauehave endured; My Refuter dares not ſay that theſe mariages were ſo quite out of vſe, that it was needleſſe to ordaine ought againſt them; he knowes that his Dunſtan found here this courſe ſo inueterate, that the very age and deepe rooting of it hindred his deſignes.

SECT. XIII.

FRom Bede he comes downe to his three premiſed Saints, Dunſtan, Oſwald, Refut. p. 328.and Ethelwold; and, to make ſure worke, cites an obſcurezzVulſtan in vita Etholwoldi. Scholler of Ethelwold, for an authentique Witneſſe againſt eight honeſt Prieſts, and the lawfulneſſe of all Prieſts mariages. And laſtly, hee makes vp the mouth of his diſcourſe with the full Decree of Archbiſhop Anſelme Richard in the Synods of London; p. 329, 330, 331.and why not King Henries ſix Articles? and why not the Councell of Trent? Sic concluſum est contra hereticos; Now, becauſe his heart told him, how light theſe proofes were, hee layes in the ſcales vvith them certaine graue ponderations, which all put together, will proue almoſt as waightie as the Feather he wrote withall.

The firſt is, That there cannot be a greater nationall proofe, then to hauehave the Biſhops and the King, and his Nobilitie to define, and deliuer this point with ioynt conſent. Refut. p. 332.Take this, Reader, of King Edward the ſixt, and his Parliament, and Conuocation, and all is well. King Edgars Vtopicall decree was hatcht in a Monkes Cowle: and to his two King Henries, he might hauehave added Philip and Mary. And why might not we oppoſe King Edmund to Edgar, and Oſulphus his Biſhop to Dunſtan? And the Clergie before Anſelme to the Clergie after him? This match were made with ſome indifferencie; But how idly hath my Refuter miſlaid the compariſon betwixt Henry of Huntingdon, and Fabian on our part, and all the Clergie and Laity of theirs? Since thoſe two Authors (if we had no more) report onelyonly de facto, that Prieſt mariages vvere not before p. 786forbidden; and the cited Clergy and Laity doe now thus late-ward diſcuſſe de iure; Neither hauehave the Clergy and Laity by him alledged, euer contradicted that which Huntingdon and Fabian hauehave out of the courſe of all Story affirmed; VntoUnto which, let me addeaaPolyd. Hiſt. Ang. l. 6. Anno 970. De Jnuentorib. l. 5. Polydore Virgil, ſeconding this their aſſertion; who plainly tels vsus, that for 970 yeares, the reſtraint of mariage was neuer in vſe amongſt the Engliſh Clergie. Search not for this, Reader, in the later editions, leſt thou complaine of loſt labour; Poore Polydore may cry out of his graue with that other Polydore in Virgil: Fas omne abrumpit Polydorum obtrancat. Let him then (to anſwer this vaine challenge) produce but any one author of equall authority to any of theſe, which doth auouch the contrary to that which theſe three hauehave thus confidently deliuered, and I ſhall confeſſe my ſelfe herein ſufficiently anſwered; In the meane time, let him, and the world know, that all the ancient Clergy, and Laity of this Iland, was for this liberty, altogether ours: Whereto if he yeeld not, let him name the man, before his Dunſtan, that euer in this Ile opened his mouth againſt it; Till then, the Reader cannot but ſee; that whereas our proofe is, Ex ore duorum, aut trium, his ſide is mute; that for our Something, he can ſhew Nothing at all; and that our Huntingdon, F. Fabian, and Polydore, are better then C.E. and his man in the Moone.

SECT. XIIII.

Refut. p. 335.HIs ſecond ponderation of the ſanctity of the perſons, is no truer auoir-de-pois. That B. Dunſtan was an holy man, we may eaſily grant; but taken from the Couent of Glaſtenbury. Neither would the Nobility of his time be ſo liberall as to yeeld this; who accuſed him to the King, de libidinibus & praeſtigiis; for (two remarkable qualities in his Saintſhip) lechery and ſorcery; whereupon he was caſt out from the Court; and that he was receiued againe, he might thanke the Kings horſe, whoſe ſudden ſtop on the verge of a ſteepe down-fall, reſtored Dunſtan to the good opinion of the ſuperſtitious Prince; who was yet ſo farre from being guilty of this deliuerance, that he did not ſo much as know of the danger;To King Athelſtan, who firſt brought him from his Cell. an acquitall at leaſt as cauſleſſe as the accuſation.

That Biſhop Anſelme was deuout and learned, we willingly grant, but withall an Italian, and taken from a Norman**The Clergie of Engl…nd did ſo well approue theſe Mo…kiſh Archbiſhops, that after Anſelme, and Rodulph, the Biſhops of the Land became Suiters to the …ing, that they might neuer hauehave any Archbiſhop of Canterbury choſen from the Monkiſh profeſsion. Sax. Chron. An. 1123. Refut. p. 338. Couent; he was holy, but how impetuouſly addicted to his owne will; and how refractary to authority, I had rather Hiſtories ſhould ſpeake then my ſelfe. Neither is it any wonder if both theſe Prelates (how holy ſoeuer) ſauored ſomewhat too ſtrong of the Cloiſters, and of Rome. Something muſt be yeelded to times and places; we will not thinke but a wel-meant zeale caried them into theſe reſolutions; but a zeale miſguided with the ſway of the times. The name of Saints, the truth of their ſanctitie did not priuiledge them from errors; wee know how to ſeuer their chaffe from their wheat, and to ſend one of them to the winds, the other to the granary. As for the maried Clergy, That they were euer accounted the ſcumme and refuſe of their Order, it is but the ſcurrilous ſcummy blurre of an intemperate pen; what was Spiridion? what was Hilary? what were both Gregories? what was Sidonius? what was Tertullian, Proſper, Simplicius, Eupſychius? In a word, what vvere all thoſe whom his Damaſus recounteth? vvhat was the father of the Archdeacon of Huntingdon, whō within two leaues he recordeth (from his Epitaph) forttStella carit cleri, ſplendor marcet Nicolai: Stella …adens cleri, ſplendeat arce Dei, Huntingd. l. 7. the ſtarre of the Clergy. This ſcumme is better then their broth: which though it ſend forth a fume, ſeemingly delicious, yet many times being neerer taſted, proueth but cock-crowen pottage. Theſe Saints he ignorantly ballanceth again with our Huntingdon and Fabian; as if their preſent decree did contradict the hiſtory of things paſſed; as if vve had no more hiſtories on our ſide, becauſe my margin cited them not. In the mean time he finds this teſtimonie of Huntingdon ſo too much, that he would faine ſtrip vsus of it; denying peremptorily that Huntingdon affirmes Anſelme to be the firſt that forbade mariage to the Clergy. Reader, in ſtead of all other ponderations weigh the words,uuHenr. Huntin…d. edit Sauil. p. 378. Eodem anno ad feſtum S. Michaelis tenuit Anſelmus Archiepiſcopus Concilium, apud Londoniam, in quo prohibuit p. 787vxores ſacerdotibus Anglorum, antea non prohibitas, i. The ſame yeare; on the Feaſt of S. Michael, Archbiſhop Anſelme held a Synode at London, wherein hee forbade wiues to the Prieſts of England before not forbidden; and tell mee vvhether my Detector be true.

The vvords are too plaine; hee will wrangle yet with the ſenſe, and tels vsus that the word, Before may ſignifie, perhaps, Immediately before, in the raigne of the Williams and not all ſucceſſion of times. It were well if he could eſcape ſo: But this ſtarting hole will not hide him. For (not to ſend him to Schoole to learne the difference betwixt Antea and Dudum, or Pridem) The ſame Author, in the following words, ſhewes vsus the cenſures and conceits that paſſed vponupon this Act, as an abſolute and vnheard-off noueltie, like as in Germany, the Hiſtorians brand this ſame act in Hildebrand, with a nouo exemplo and inconſiderato praeiudicio. And for the times preceding, Polydore Virgil giues the very ſame witneſſe. Neither let him fly for ſuccour to his Dunſtan, who neuer can be proued to hauehave prohibited the mariage of Prieſts, though he diſliked that Monaſteries and Cathedrall Churches ſhould be poſſeſſed by maried Clerkes.

Laſtly, …here the teſtimonie is diſpleaſing,Refut. p. 343. the vvitneſſe himſelfe muſt bee diſgraced. Curioſitie led my Detector to ſearch who this H. Huntingdon might be, with one inquiry he might find him to be a Canon Regular of Auſtins Order, and for dignity an Archdeacon; a perſon paſt exception: But for his parentage, hee went no further then to the next Leafe, to finde that he was the ſonne of a noted, and, in thoſe dayes, eminent Clergy man:Vid. ſupra. His Epitaph at Lincolne ſhewes him to hauehave been the ſtarre of the Clergie, no whit dimmed in his acknowledged light, or hindred in his influence, by his coniunction in lawfull wedlocke: What better inſtance could my Refuter hauehave giuen againſt himſelfe? If he thinke to inſinuate that his birth made him partiall; The Reader will eaſily conſider, that if ſuch Parentage had been then accounted ſhamefull, the Hiſtorian would hauehave had the wit to hauehave ſuppreſſed it; And withall that hee durſt not; writing in the times when this thing was ſo familiarly and vniuerſally knowne, hauehave offered ſuch a Propoſition to the light, out of a vaine partialitie, to incurre the controlment of all eyes.

SECT. XV.

AS for our Fabian, if C.E. finde him a Merchant,Refut. p. 333. I finde him to hauehave been Sheriffe of the Honorable Citie of London; A man whoſe credit would ſcorne to be poiſed with an hundred nameleſſe Fugitiues, paraſiticall petty-chapmen of the late ſmall-wares of Rome. Neither can the name of a Citizen diſparage him to any wiſe iudge. How many hauehave our times yeelded of that ranke, whom both Academicall education, and experience and trauell, and ſtudy hauehave wrought to an eminent perfection in all Arts, eſpecially in Mathematicks, and Hiſtory! Such was Fabian, whoſe fidelitie (beſides his other worths) was neuer (that I find) taxed but by this inſolent Pen that hath learned to forbeare no man; He was too old for vsus to bribe, and too credible for C.E. to diſgrace. If hee would hauehave lent Rome but this one lye, no man had beene more authenticall; now his truth makes him fabulous Fabian. That one fault hath marred our Archdeacon of Huntingdon alſo.

The Story which hee tels of the Cardinall of Crema the Popes Legate taken in bed (after his buſie indeuours, againſt the maried Clergie) the ſame day with an Harlot,Refut. p. 348. hath vndone his reputation. Why will C. E. ſtirre this ſinke? No man prouoked him: If hee did not long to blazon the ſhame of his friends, hee had rather ſmothered this foule occurrence; but ſince he will be medling, Res apertiſsima negari non potuit, celari non debuit, ſaith Huntingdon. The thing was moſt openly knowne, it could not be denyed, it might not be concealed. Yet now comes an Vpſtart-Nouice, and dares tell vsus from Baronius, that this was a meere Fable; how publike and notorious ſoeuer Huntingdon makes it: with theſe men this rule is vniuerſall, whatſoeuer may tend to the diſhonour of the Church of Rome, is falſe and fabulous.

p. 788Indeed, I remember what their Gloſſe ſaid of old,xxDiſt. 96. In ſcript. Clericus amplectens mulierem, praeſumitur bene agere, ſi ergo Clericus amplectitur mulierem, interpraetabuitur quòd cauſa benedicendi eam, hoc faciat: That is; A Clergie man imbracing a woman, muſt bee preſumed to doe well; if therefore a Clerke take a woman by the middle, it muſt bee interpreted that he doth it to giuegive her his bleſsing. **So the Chronicle tels vsus of Adelme, Abbot of Malmesbury, who when he was ſtirred to the vice of the fleſh, had wont to deſpite the Deuill, and torment himſelfe with holding a faire yong Virgin in his bed ſo long as he might ſay ouer the whole P…alter, Vid. Pa…k. Def. Polyd ſuppreſſing the name telleth the Hiſtory.Perhaps, the good Legate was but beſtowing his ghoſtly bleſſing on ſo needfull a ſubiect, but that he was found in bed with her, if C. E. were not as ſhameleſſe as that Cardinal, or his bed-fellow, he durſt not deny; For what impudency is this, to caſt this relation only vponupon H. Huntingdon, when ſo many vncontrolable Pens hauehave recorded it to the world? Men of their own ſtampe, for Religion, for Deuotion. Matthew Paris, Ranulfus Ceſtrenſis, Roger Houeden, Polydore Virgil, Fabian, Matthaeus Weſtmonaſterienſis, otherwiſe called Florilegus; Dictus Ioannes, qui in Concilio, &c. ſaith he; The ſaid Iohn which in the open Councell had grieuouſly condemned all the yyViz the maried: ſo did the enemies of Mariage diſgracefully terme the maried Clergie, and ſo are the words of the Legate to bee vnderſtood, de latere meretricis; be then railing againſt Mariage not (whoredome property) was deprehended in whoredome.Concubinary Prieſts, was taken himſelfe in the ſame crime. Now let my Reader iudge, whether this Prieſts Truth, or that Cardinals honeſty were greater.

SECT. XVI.

HIs third Ponderation is the ſame with the firſt; EueryEvery thing eekes. His S. Dunstan and Anſelme, Gregory and Beda are againe laid in our diſh; we cannot feed on theſe ouer-oft-ſod Coleworts. I am challenged here, to produce any Prieſt or Deacon that liued in Wedlocke before the times of Dunstan; The man preſumes vponupon the ſuppreſsion of Records. For one, I name him hundreds. Who were they that Dunſtan and his fellow Saints found ſeated in the Cathedrall Churches of this Land? vvhom did they eiect? Were they not maried Prieſts? What did the e…ected Clergy plead but ancient poſſeſsion? After that; in the Synod which ArchbiſhopaaEx Act. Concil. Wint. ſub. La…fr. Martyrol. Cant. Lanfranck held at Wincheſter (which I wonder my Detector would ouer-ſee: This neglect is not for nothing;) was it not decreed, that the Canons ſhould not hauehave Wiues, but that the Prieſts which dwelt in Townes and Villages, ſhould not bee compelled to put away their Wiues; though caution is put in for the future?

What doth this imply, but that in thoſe ancient Times the Engliſh Clergie were inoffenſiuely maried? To which adde that old Record from an ancient Martyrologue of the Church of Canterbury: Lanfrancus Archiepiſcopus reddidit Eccleſiae Sancti Andreae, &c. Lanfranck Archbiſhop hath reſtored to Saint Andrewes Church, the Monasterie of Saint Mary, with the Lands and Houſes which Liuingus Priest, and his Wife had in London, &c. And before him, or Dunſtan either, in King Edmunds time,bbFox Act. & Mon. Biſhop Oſulphus with Athelme and Vlrick, Laicks, thruſts out the Monks of Eueſham, and placed Canons (maried Prieſts) in their roome.

Laſtly,If he be the Sonne of a Biſhop, &c. Iornalenſis records it as King Ina's Law, long before theſe times; Si Epiſcopi filiolus ſit, ſit dimidium hoc, &c. as ſuppoſing this no other then ordinary in thoſe times.

Now let my Refuter comfort himſelfe and his Catholikes, with the weake defence of Hereſie, and the ſtrong Bulwarkes of Romane Truth; who in the meane time muſt be put in minde, that he puts on me the burden which ſhould lye vponupon his own ſhoulders; I hauehave produced Hiſtories which affirme peremptorily, that the Engliſh Clergy were neuer forbidden to marry vntill Anſelmes time; it is now his taske to diſproue this aſſertion of theirs by equall authoritie to the contrarie, which till hee hauehave done, the day is ours.

SECT. XVII.

Refut. p. 347.HIs fourth Ponderation, is the difficultie of this grant in King Edwards Parliament. And is it poſsible the man ſhould not ſee the greater difficultie that was found in the inforcement of this glorious Celibate? How Alfere and the Nobles diſpoſſeſſed p. 789the Monkes of Dunstan; iuſtly reſtoring the maried Prieſts to their ancient right? How Lanfranck durſt not ſpeake it out; Anſelme did; but preuailed little: LetccVid. ſupra Epiſt. ad Anſel. Neubr. l. 3. c. 5. Girardus then Archbiſhop of York witneſſe. After whom Roger Archbiſhop of that See (as Neubrigenſis records) thruſt outddPope Paſchalis writing to Anſelme ſaith, that there was at this time …o great a number of Prieſts ſons in England, that the greater part of the Clergie conſiſted of them. Anſelmes Monkes, and ſtood for the libertie of Mariage: inſomuch as in the ſucceſsion of Times, euen by Royall leaue alſo, Mariage of ſpirituall perſons yet continued. Neither could Anſelmes Succeſſors, Radulphus, Gulielmus de Turbine and the reſt, (notwithſtanding all their Canons and practices) preuaile againſt it. How plaine is that of theeeChron. Saxon. Anno 1129. Chron. Iornal. Saxon Chronicle? Thus did the Archbiſhop of Canterbury and the Biſhops, which were in England; And yet all theſe Decrees and biddings ſtood not; All held their Wiues by the Kings leaue, euen as they did. Inſomuch at Archbiſhop William refer'd it to the King. The King decreed, that the Prieſts ſhould continue with their Wiues ſtill. Neither were any thing more eaſie then to giuegive ſtore of inſtances in this kinde. What need I giuegive more then that of Galfride B. of Ely, who was auouched before the Pope himſelfe to hauehave maried a wife? whichffHabet excuſationem Euangelicam. reſp. eſt ab Epiſ. Arelat. Alexandro Papae. Euangelicall excuſe (vxorem duxit) was made for his not appearing at Rome with the reſt. Of Richard Biſhop of Chicheſter. Robert Biſhop of Lincolne maried men, after theſe Decrees; yea, good Euidences of ancient Charts are ready in our hands, to ſhew the vſe and legall allowance of theſe Mariages for no leſſe then two hundred yeares after.

As for thoſe idle words which his ſawcineſſe throwes after our reuerend Martyr, Archbiſhop Cranmer, (whom he falſly affirme to hauehave beene the firſt maried Archbiſhop of this Kingdome,Anno 1250. when as Archbiſhop Boniface ſate maryed in that See three hundred yeares before him) and King Edwards Parliament, wee anſwer them with ſilence and ſcorne. Let leeſers hauehave leaue to talke.

The approbation, and better expedience of ſingle life in capable ſubiects, we do willingly ſubſcribe vntounto; The lawfulneſſe, yea, neceſſitie of Mariage where the gift of Continencie is denyed, our Sauiour and his choſen veſſell iuſtifie with vsus. So as I ſtill conclude, He that made mariage, ſaith it is honorable, what care wee for the diſhonour of thoſe that corrupt it?

SECT. XVIII.

HIs laſt ponderation is leaden indeed; That from the bickerings of our Engliſh Clergy with their Dunſtans, it will not follow, Refut. p. 351.that Continencie was not ancient, but was repiningly, lately, vniuſtly impoſed. By this reaſon, C.E. writes in the Margine, Maſter Hall… looſe manner of diſputing.hee will proue there was neuer Thiefe nor Malefactor in our Countrie, before the time of King Iames; ſince all Iudges hauehave yeerely bickerings with ſuch people. Thus he. But did euer ſuch looſe Beſome ſweepe the preſſe before?

Reader, vouchſafe yet once more to caſt thine eye vponupon the cloſe of my Epiſtle; Doth my argument runne thus wildly as he makes it? The Engliſh Clergie had bickerings with their Dunſtans, therefore continencie was repiningly and vniustly impoſed? Canſt thou thinke I hauehave met with a ſober Aduerſarie? My words are; That our Hiſtories teach vsus how late, how repiningly, how vniuſtly our Engliſh Clergie ſtooped vnderunder this yoake. And what can his ſophiſtrie make of this? Are ye not aſhamed (ye Superiors of Doway?) are ye not aſhamed of ſuch a Champion; fitter for a troope of Pigmees to traile a reed in their bickerings with Cranes, then to be committed with any reaſonable or Scholler-like Antagoniſt? In the bickerings with his Dunſtans, the P…t…ents pleaded preſcription (as we hauehave ſhewed out of Malmesbury) and taxed his Saints with noueltie; In my bickerings with him, I plead Antiquity, Scripture, Reaſon; and taxe him moſt iuſtly with impudence, and abſurditie. How well is that man, that is matcht but with an honeſt Aduerſarie?

p. 790The Concluſion.

Refut. p. 353, &c.THe Concluſion followes, a fit couer for ſuch a diſh; The Reader was not weary enough, but he muſt be tyred out with a tedious recapitulation; wherein my Refuter recollects all his diſperſed folly, that it may ſhew the fairer: Telling his Proteſtant friend, what I hauehave bragged, vvhat I hauehave vndertaken, what I hauehave not performed; how I hauehave falſified, how I hauehave miſtaken; what himſelfe hath in all paſſages performed againſt me, how he hath anſwered, how he hath conquered; The beſt is, the Concluſion can ſhew no more then the Premiſes. By them, let me be iudged: Thoſe hauehave made good to my Reader, that C. E. hath accuſed much, and proued nothing; vanted much, and done nothing; rayled much, and hurt nothing; laboured much, and gained nothing; talked much, and ſaid nothing.

It is a large and bold word: but if any one clauſe of mine be vnproned, if any one clauſe of mine be diſproued, any one exception againſt my defence proued iuſt, any one charge of his proued true, any one falſhood of mine detected, any one argument of mine refelled, any one argument or propoſition of his not refelled: Let me goe away conuicted with ſhame. But if I hauehave anſwered eueryevery challenge, vindicated eueryevery**I onelyonly except that one ſlip of my Pen, that I ſaid Gratian cited a ſentence out of Auſtin, which was indeed his owne. anthoritie, iuſtified eueryevery proofe, wiped away eueryevery cauill, affirmed no propoſition vntruely, cenſured nothing vniuſtly; ſatisfied all his malicious obiections, and warranted eueryevery ſentence of my poore Epiſtle: Let my apologie liue and paſſe; and let my Refuter goe as he is, C. E. Cauillator Egregius: Let my cauſe bee no more victorious then iuſt; and let honeſt Mariages euer hold vp their heads; in deſpite of Rome and Hell: With this Farewell, I leaue my Refuter, either to the acting of his vnbloody executions of the Sonne of God, or the plotting of the bloody executions of the Deputies of God, or (as it were his beſt) to the knocking of his Beads; But if he will needs be medling with his pen, and will hauehave me, after ſome Iubilies, to expect an anſwer to my fixe weekes labour, I ſhall in the meane time pray, that God would giuegive him the grace to giuegive way to the knowne Truth, and ſometimes to ſay true.

Yet to gratifie my Reader at the parting, I may not conceale from him an ancient and worthy Monument, vvhichwhich I had the fauour and happineſſe to ſee in the Inner Librarie of Corpus Chriſti Colledge in Cambridge; An excellent Treatiſe written (amongſt ſeuenteene other) in a faire ſet hand, by an Author of great learning and Antiquitie;Of Rome in France. He would needs ſuppreſſe his name, but deſcribes himſelfe to be Rotomagenſis:

The time wherein it was written, appeares to bee amids the heat of contention, which was betwixt the Archbiſhop of Canterbury & Yorke, for precedency;**As alſo the contention betwixt the Church of Roane and Vienna. R…g. Houed. which quarrell fell betwixt Rodulph of Canterbury, and Thurſtin of Yorke, in the yeare (1114,) at which time Pope Paſchalis wrote to King Henry concerning it; and was renued after about the yeare 1175. The Diſcourſe ſhall ſpeake enough for it ſelfe.