Exhortation to Repentance, Dedication 2
TO THE RIGHT Worſhipfull Sir Edward Cooke Knight, his Maieſties Atturney General, & Sir Thomas Heskith Knight, Atturney of his Highneſſe Court of Wardes and Liueries, and one of his Maieſties Honourable Counſell in the North, Grace and peace from Ieſus Chriſt.
RIght Worſhipfull, giuegive mee leaue to put you both in one Epiſtle, whō one ſeruice, one place, one profeſſion, one order, and one Religion hauehave ſo neerely combined: As you are Brethren many waies, and eſpecially in the profeſsion & practiſe of one Religion: to vouchſafe to be ioynt Patrons of this little after-birth, this faetus posthumus, of that worthy man Ma. Perkins, now deceaſed. I ſend you heere one of the ſhortest, and one of the ſweeteſt of his Treatiſes: had it bene as well brought foorth by me, as it was begot by him it had beene a child not vnworthy of ſo great a father: but ſeeing it is now as a fatherles child, be you the Tutors to this Orphane, at whoſe hands Orphanes and Wards hauehave euer bene well vſed. The father whilſt he liued was a ſhining light in this our Church, and beeing dead, is a ſhining ſtarre in heauen, for he turned manie to righteouſneſſe, and his doctrine wil ſhine Dan. 12. 3.in Chriſtian Churches whilſt the Sunne ſhineth vponupon the earth. The ſubject of this Treatiſe is the Ministerie, whereof are layde downe the duties and dignities. And well dooth he couple theſe two together: for ſome can challenge the dignities of the Miniſterie, and cunningly caſt the duties from their ſhoulders: others performe the duties, but are kept from the dignities duly belonging to that calling: but as hee that will doe the duties, may iuſtly challenge the dignities, ſo he that will expect the dignities, muſt doe the duties of a Miniſter: therefore in this building, theſe two beames are in great wiſedome well ſet together by this wiſe Maiſter builder, and ſo cloſely coupled, as the idle or ambitious man cannot looke at the dignities, but hee muſt withal behold the duties, nor the painful & laborious man ſee his dutie, but withal ſha… ſee the dignitie thereto belonging.
And ſurely (Right Worſhipfull) none might better hauehave written of this ſubiect then he: for who may more worthily deſcribe the dignities of the Miniſterie, then he, who neither by doctrine nor conuerſation, was euer the leaſt diſgrace vntounto his Ministerie? or who may better challenge the honour of his calling, then he who was euer an honour to his calling; And who might better teach the duties of the Miniſterie, then hee who ſo diſcharged them, as En…ie it ſelfe cannot iuſtly reproue, and the enemies thēſelues cannot but aAnſwere to Perkins his reformed Catholike, by B. a Prieſt.commend? and who may better teach them to others, then he that carefully practiſed thē in his owne perſon: And as none could be a fitter Author of this diſcourſe then hee, ſo not many fi…ter Patrons then your ſelues: not many in your profeſſion better ſchollers, nor any that better louelove ſchollers then your ſelues: & you are ſome of thoſe few in this wicked age, who willingly yeld all dignities and due reuerence to ſuch Miniſters as you ſee willingly to diſcharge the duties of good Miniſters. Well would it be with the Miniſterie of England, (and the better with it, the better with England) if all as great as you, were as good friends to it as you. And if the Papiſts except, and ſay how can this be, for that you hauehave beene perſecuters of their Priests, let me anſwere once for you, who often anſwere for many diſtreſſed men: they perſecute you with ſlander, that ſay you perſecuted thē, (but be content to beare your part in popiſh ſlanders, with our Prince and ſtate, our Counſellers & Cleargy, our Parliaments and Lawes, for none of theſe hauehave eſcaped theſe viperous tongues) for though you hauehave executed the Lawes vponupon ſome of them in your ſeuerall places, yet not with ſharpeneſſe nor ſeueritie but with mercifull iuſtice▪ and that alſo not as they were Priests, but Plotters, Practiſers, ſubuerters, and ſeducers: and as they were Prieſts, you ſought their reformation, not their ruine. And if they, who can hardly diſcharge themſelues from beeing Priests of Baal, hauehave had but iustice, and that alſo tempered with mercy, it ſhewes how good regard you hauehave, and howe much you eſteeme all good and faithfull Miniſters, which are God Interpreters. In a word, if all our Miniſters were ſuch as this Treatiſe deſcribeth, or came but as neere it as the Author hereof did, and if all our great ones did vſe and eſteeme good miniſters as you do, we ſhould then ſoone pull the Miniſterie frō vnderunder that foote of contempt, with which this prophane age doth daily tread vponupon it. The Church of Rome, who are farre wiſer in their kinde then the children of light, hauehave taken other & ſtrange courſes to magnifie the Cleargie. They teach, that the ſtate Eccleſiaſticall, is ſo far more excellent then the Ciuile, as the Sunne is then the Moone, & that not in ſpirituall onelyonly, (for that we deny not) but in temporall power, pompe, and eſtate: and that therefore the Chiefe of their Clergie, is as farre aboue the mightieſt Emperour, as the Sunne is aboue the Moone; and as the Moone borroweth her light from the Sunne, ſo doth the Emperour is ſtate and power from the Pope.
They teach, that the Cleargie is a ſtate ſo diſtinct, & ſo abſolute of it ſelfe, as it hath not to do with the Ciuile ſtat…, yea they exempt their Cleargie, from beeing any way ſubiect to the temporall Magistrate. And though their crimes, be neuer ſo many or monſtrous, yet the Prince, or ciuill authoritie, hath nothing to do to take notice thereof, much leſſe to puniſh them: and herevpon great volumes are written, and many Acts and decrees are made in their Cannon Lawe, De exemptione Clericorum. They extoll their Cleargy aboue the Temporaltie, allowing the Prieſts both Bread and Wine in the Sacrament, but leauing the Laitie bread alone. They make them in their maſſe, mediators betwixt Chriſt & God the Father, & Creators of their Creator and Redeemer, when and as often as themſelues liſt. And finally, they ſend for the moſt part, all their Clergie immediatly to heauen without let, wheras all the Temporaltie (except Martyrs) muſt paſſe by Purgatorie. Here are great buildings, but on a ſandy foundation, goodly Caſtles, but built in the ayre; if theſe deuiſes were of God, they would certainly ſtand, but their long tottering threatens a ſuddaine fall.
Contrariwiſe, our Church, or rather the corruption of our Church, by auoyding this Scilla, hauehave falne into Charibdis, by auoyding one extremitie, hauehave falne into the other, by taking too much dignitie and authority frō our Miniſterie, & by laying too much pouerty, contempt, & baſeneſſe vppon it. It were a worke worth the labour of the wiſeſt heads, to put downe the true meane betwixt both extreames, & worth the labour of our Noble King, to take order that that meane be kept, without riſing to the right hand, or falling to the left. This ſhort Treatſe may hap to giuegive ſome light & directions therein, or at leaſt may encourage & ſtir vp their hearts in whoſe hands it is to doe it: VnderUnder your woorthy names would I hauehave it ſee the world, not ſo much for that I am bound to you both in many priuate and particular reſpects, (though that be much) as for that know you both to be o… ſo right and reformed a iudgement in this caſe, as you would hauehave none Miniſters but of ſufficient gifts, and vnblameable liues, nor thoſe Ministers put to their Penſions, or vncertaine ſalailes, but to hauehave certaine & ſufficient maintenance proportionable to their charge, and beſeeming the honour of a Chriſtian Church: God continue you ſtill in that minde, and make many more of the ſame with you, ſo ſhould we hauehave as floriſhing a Church as any Chriſtendome hath ſeene. Goe forward in that, and other your religious reſolutions, it is the true way to honour, both heere and in a better world: ſtand firmly for the truth, and boldly againſt the Popiſh enemies thereof, as hitherto you hauehave done: Religion had neuer more cauſe to thanke you, and all that doe ſo, then now it hath, for her enemies were neuer ſo inſolent ſince they were our enemies: but if you and others holde on, as in your ſeuerall places you hauehave wel begun, and others take the like courſe, there is hope their inſolencies will bee eaſily (if timely) repreſſed, and themſelues neereſt the fall, when they imagine they are in the full. The Lorde bleſſe and aſſiſt you in your painfull places, and make you on earth Inſtruments of his glorie, to the good of his Church, ſo ſhall you bee veſſels of glory in the kingdome of Heauen: And thus commending this little treatiſe to your reading, and my ſelfe to your fauour, I take leaue, and wil euer reſt, 1605.
Your Worſhips in the Lord, VV. Craſhawe.