ARchilocus Arist. R [...]. c. 2. sharpning his quill, and dipping it in gall against Licambes; that his satiri­cal invectives might be more poignant, put­teth the pen in Archilocrus his fathers hand, and by an elegant prosopopeia maketh him upbraid his sonne with those errors and vices, which it was not fit that any but his father should in such sort rip up. AndOrat. pro M. Coeli [...]. Tully being to read a lecture of [Page] gravity and modesty to Clodia, which became not his yeers or condition, raiseth up, as it were, from the grave, her old grandfather Appius Caecus, and out of his mouth delivereth a sage and fatherly admonition to her. In like manner (Right Reverend) receiving the charge from you to give the charge unto you at this present, and being over-ruled by authority to speak something of the eminent autho­rity and sacred dignity into which ye are now to be invested; I have brought upon this holy stage the first of your ranke, and auncientest of your Apostolical order, to admonish you with authority both of your general calling, as Pastours set over Christs flocke; and your speciall, as Bishops set over the Pastours themselves: That in the former words, [...] feed; this in the latter, [...], bishoping, or taking the over-sight of them. Both they are to perform,

• 1 Not by constraint.
• 2 Not for lucre.
• 3 Not with pride.

1 Not by constraint: constraint standeth not with the dignity of the Apostles successors.

2. Not for filthy lucre: filthy lucre sorts not with Gods Priests.

3 Not in, or with Lord-like pride: Lord-like pride com­plyeth not with the humility of Christs Ministers.

As Tully the aged wrote to Cato the ancient, of old age; so in the words of my text Peter the Elder writeth to Elders, of the calling, life and reward of Elders in the Church of God.

• 1 Their function is feeding, and overlooking Christs flock, enjoyned, ver. 2.
• 2 Their life is to be a pattern of all vertue, drawn ver. 3.
• 3 Their reward is a Crowne of glory, set before them ver. 4.

• [Page]1 Their function sacred, answerable to their cal­ling, which is divine.
• 2 Their life exemplary, answerable to their fun­ction, which is sacred.
• 3 Their reward, exceeding great, answerable to the eminency of the one, and excellency of the other.

May it please you therefore to observe out of the words,

• 1 For your instruction, what your function is.
• 2 For correction, what your life should be.
• 3 For comfort, what your reward shall be.

As the costlyExod. 28. 14. ornaments of Aaron were fastned to the Ephod with golden chaines of writhen works, so all the parts and points of the Apostles exhortation are artificially joy­ned and tyed together with excellent coherence, as it were with chaines of gold. This chain thus I draw through them all.Feed.

1 There are some of the Ministery fitter to be fed and led like sheep, than to feed or lead like shepheards; they are hunger-starved themselves, having no better provision than the Apostles had in the wildernenesse after Christs miracu­lous feast,Mat. 14. 20. a few baskets full of broken meat. SaintTantae cha­ritatis sunt per quos nobis flu­enta coelestia emanant, ut antea effun­dere quam ef­fundi velint, loqui quam audire paratio­res, prompti docere quod nunquam di­dicerunt. Ber­nard. Ber­nard admireth at their Charity, saying, they by whom the streams of heavenly doctrine flow to us, are of such superabun­dant charity, that they desire to empty themselves before they are half full, nay many before they have any drop of saving knowledge, and divine learning, most ready to deliver that which they never received, and teach what they never learned. Such a one was thatLactant. di­vin. instit. l. 5. Cum coecus ipse esset, alios illuminate sus­cepit in se. Bithynian whom Lactantius taketh up for taking upon him to cure dimme and dark eyes, when himself was stark blind. I find nothing whereunto I may fit­ter resemble them, than to squibs or small fire-works, which as soon as they take fire, never leave popping and shooting, and making a hidious noise, till all the powder be spent: so these having rammed a little stuffe together, and being kin­dled [Page] with blind zeal, never leave shooting and spitting fire in the pulpit, as long as their poor provision lasteth. These men howsoever they are lyable to many other exceptions, yet all men will free them from the imputation which Felix laid upon Saint Paul Act. 26. 24. much learning hath made thee mad. And as secure are they from the danger of the killing letter, as the Poet in his witty Epigram playeth upon an ignorant Priest in time of Popery.

Thou hast taken good care that the killing letter shall not hurt thee, for thou knowest never a letter in the book. The measures of the Sanctuary contained twice as much as the common measures, the shekel of the Sanctuary weighed down two other shekels; to shew us that the gifts of a Pastor ought to carrie a double proportion to those of his flocke, else he had need to be fed himself; and is not qualified for this duty required in my text, in the first place, Feed

2 Of those that are able to feed, The flock. some feed themselves, not their flock; like Varus, taxed by Velleius Paterculus, who came poor into a rich Province, but went rich out of the poor Province; making a very gainfull exchange, by leaving them the poverty he brought with him, and taking with him the wealth he found there. Feed yee not your selves but the Flock.

3 Of those that feed the Flock, Of God. some feed not Gods Flock but Satans heard; teaching in Conventicles of Hereticks, or Schismaticks. Waspes have their hives as well as Bees, and Pirats have their Pilots as well as honest Merchants: be not ye like them; feed not the droves of Satan or Antichrist, but the Flock of God.

4 Of those that feed the Flock of God,Among you. some feed not the Flock which is among them, they are [...], Bi­shops in other mens Diocesses; they thrust their sickle into anothers harvest, and discharge without a charge: they may rightly say with the Spouse in the Canticles, Cant. 1. 6 They have [Page] made me (or rather I have made my self) a keeper of vine­yards, but mine own vineyard I have not kept. If the frogs Plin nat. hist▪ l. 8. Ranae mu­tae sunt etiam nune in Sery­plio insula, eae­dem alio tran­flatae canunt, &c. Seryphus could speak they would claim kindred of these men; for as those frogs in the Island where they are bred are dumb, and make no noise at all, but carried to any other Country, fall on singing or croaking, and never give over: so these are silent and quiet in their own cures, but when they are out of them none can be quiet for them: they who can scarce afford a Sermon in a moneth at their own home, ma­king nothing of lecturing every day in the week abroad.

5 Of those that feed the flock of God which is among them, Taking the over-sight thereof. that is, preach painefully and powerfully, some are not [...] Overlookers; they that take the over-sight of their flock, they have not an eye to their life and manners, they never use the reine, or rather curbe of ecclesiasticall discipline; forgetting that in the Arke of God, together with the Table of the Testimony, and the Pot of Manna, the Rod of Aaron that budded was laid up: and that wherePsal. 23. 4. Da­vid compareth God to a shepheard, he maketh mention both of his rod and staffe.

6 Of those that feed the flock of God that is amongst them, Not by con­straint. and take the over-sight thereof, that is, both rule well, and labour in the word, some deserve not the double honour, because they do it by constraint, not wilingly, like those Calves, and Bullocks, and Rams, that were pulled and haled to the Altars of the heathen gods, wherewithPlin. l. 8. nat. hist. c. 45. Hoc quo (que) notatum est vitulos ad aras humeris homi­num allatos, non fere litare nec alienâ ho­stiâ placari deos, nec tra­hente se ab aris. Pli­ny observeth that the Paynim deities were never pleased, nor gave good successe to them which offred such sacrifice unto them. Nature it self giveth a prerogative to thatPlin. nat. hist. l. 1. c. 15. In omni melle quod per se fluit, ut mustum, ole­um (que) quod appellatur acaeton, maxime laudabile est. Not for filthy lucre. ho­ney which drops out of the combe, before that which is forced or squized out; and to thatPlin. nat. hist. l. 12. c. 15. Inciduntur bis, sudant autem sponte priusquam incidantur stact [...]n dictam. oyle which sweats out of the Myrrhe trees, issuing from thence of its own accord, before that which runneth after pricking or incision. The noblest pallate wine is made of that liquor of the grape [Page] which spinneth out upon the smallest touch, without any violent pressure. ‘Theog. gnom. [...].’

7 Of those that take the over-sight of the flock, not by canstraint but willingly, some do it not freely, or of a ready mind, but for filthy lucre. The Eccho taught by Erasmus, rings this in the ears of the Laity, and they hear it briefe, Quid venatur sacerdos? [...]. AndPlat. in Bon. 3. Re [...]verâ pace bonorum dicam, multi episcopatum desiderant, explendae avaritiae suae causa, non quo communi utilitati ut eo­rum exposcit officium & nomen consu­lant: quaeritur enim quantum reddat episco­patus, non quot oves pascuae in eo [...]int. Platina giveth a touch thereof in the life of Pope Goodface the third; the first question is, after a man is chosen Pope, what is the Bishoprick of Rome worth? Filthy lucre carrieth such an ill savour with it, the precious oyntment of Aaron cannot take away the smell thereof: Covetousness is a spot in any coat, but a stain in the linnen Ephod: what so unfit? what so incongruous? nay what so opprobrious and scandalous, as for those who in scripture are stiled Angels, and should like Angels, by continual meditations, and divine contemplati­ons behold the face of God in heaven, to turne earth-wormes, and lye and feed upon very muck? How dare they deliver the holy Sacrament with those hands that have received bribes? or are defiled with the price of Blood? or are foul with telling their use-money? Holinesse (which of all other most befitteth our sacred calling) in the Greeke implyeth a contradiction to earthlinesse: [...] which we render holy, is all one in that language as unearthly. If a glasse be soy­led with dust, or besmeared with dirt, it reflecteth no image at all: in like manner if the minde be soyled with the dust of earthlinesse, the image of God cannot appeare in it; the fancie of such a man will represent no spirituall forme, con­ceive no divine or heavenly imaginations. If we seeke our own and not the things that are Jesus Christs, the Goods not the good of our flock, we lose the first letter of our name in the ProphetEzek. 3. 17. Sonne of man, I have made thee a watch­man. Ezekiel, and of speculatores become peculatores, and are not to be termed praedicatores but prae­datores. But I will not make this blot bigger by unskilfully going about to take it out.

8 Of those that feed, and take the over-sight of Gods flock that is among them, not by constraint, but willingly, Not as Lords. not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, some carry themselves, like Lords over the flock, not as ensamples to their flock, they go in & out before them in a lordly gate, [...],Concil. Car­thag. 4. [...]. fumosus seculi­typhus. in swelling pride, not in exemplary humillty, seeking rather to over-rule them with terror and violence, then rule over them with the spirit of meekness. These though they are put up in the highest forme, yet have not learned the first lesson in the schoole of Christianity,Mat. 11. 29. to be meeke and lowly in heart: neither understand they that divine graces, which are the plants of Paradise, are like to the tree in the Poet that beare golden boughes.

whose root was just somuch beneath the earth as the top was in height above it. The higher Gods Saint grow up­wards to perfection, the deeper they take root downward in humility, considering that they have nothing of their own, but sin; and what a foolish and impious sin of pride is it, to be proud of sin? He that presumes on his own strength, saith holy Austine, is conquered before he fight. To repose trust in our selves, saithBern. serm. 20. in vigil. nat. dom. Sibimet ipse fidere non, fidei sed per­fidiae est, nec confidentiae sed diffidentiae magis, in semetipso ha­bere fiduciam. Bernard, is not of faith, but per­fidiousnesse, neither breeds it true confidence, but diffi­dence. To be proud of knowledge, is to be blind with light: to be proud of vertue is to poyson himself with the Antidote: and to be proud of authority, is to make his rise his downfall, and his ladder his ruine. It is the darke soyle that giveth the Diamond its brightest luster: it is the humble and low, and obscure conceit of our own worth that giveth luster and grace to all our vertues and perfecti­ons, if we have any; Moses glory was the greater because his face shined, and he knew not of it.

Thus have I numbred unto you the severall linkes of the Apostles golden chaine of instructions for Pastors, now [Page] let us gather them together in a narrow roome.

1 Be not such as need to be fed but are able and willing to feed.

2 Feed not your selves but the flock.

3 Feed not the flock or droves of Antichrist, but the flock of God.

4 Feed the flock of God, not out of your charge, or without you, but the flock of God which is among you.

5 Content not your selves with feeding them onely with the word and Sacrament, but over-looke them also, have an eye to their manners.

6 Doe this not constrainedly, but willingly.

7 Not out of private respects, but freely.

8 Not proudly but humbly, not to shew your authority o­ver the flock, but to set before them an ensample in your selves of humility, meekness, temperance, patience, and all other vertues.

Thus feed the flock of God that is among you, thus rule those whom you feed, thus carry your selves towards those whom you rule, thus give good ensample in your carriage; and when the chief Shepheard and Bishop of your souls Christ Jesus shall appear, you shall receive instead of a Cro­sier a Scepter, of a Miter a Crown, of a Diocesse upon earth a Kingdom in heaven.

You see I have a large and plentifull field before me, yet I purpose at this time to follow the example of the Apo­stles, Matth: 12. 1.who as they passed through the corn field, plucked only an ear or two, and rubbed them in their hands.

To rub the first ear, that you may see what grain it yeeld­eth. To feed, saithl. 1. de Rom. pont. c. 15. In scripturis pascere passim accipitur pro regere, ut Psal. 2. reges cos in virgâ ferreâ in Heb. est pasce [...] & Apoc. 2: 27. [...]. Bellarmine, signifieth to rule with princely authority, to sway the scepter as a spiritual Prince over Christs flock; and to this purpose he alledgeth that text in the Apocalyps, 2. 27. [...] he shall feed (or rule) them with a rod of iron, hard feeding for Christs sheep; he had need to have an Estridge's stomack that can digest this interpretation here. Feed, not over-ruling ver. 3. that is, over-rule them, not feeding: this is as natural an inter­pretation [Page] of this Scripture, as the glosse upon the word statuimus in the Canon law, id est, abrogamus, or statuimus quod non; we enact, that is, we abrogate; we command, that is, we forbid; we appoint this, that is, we appoint that this shall not be. If this be a right interpretation of this place, and the other parallel to it in SaintIoh. 20. 17. Iohn, then St. Bernard. de considerat. ad Eugen. l. 2. I ergo tu & tibi usurpare aude aut dominans apostolatum, autapostolicus dominatum, &c. Bernard was in the wrong, for he infers the clean con­trary from it; and which is most considerable, in a book of consideration dedicated to the Pope himself: Peter could not give thee that which he had not, what he had, that he gave thee, care over the Churches: but did he not also give thee dominion? heare what himself saith, not as being Lords over Gods heritage, but being made examples to the flock: least a­ny man should think that this was spoken onely in humility, and not in truth, it is the voice of the Lord in the Gospel, Kings of the Nations beare rule over them, but it shall not be so with you; it is plain that Lord-like dominion is forbidden to the Apostles: goe too therefore now, and assume to thy self if thou dare, either the office of an Apostle, if thou be a Lord, or Lord-like dominion if thou be an Apostle. Howbeit I de­ny not that the word [...] here used, sometimes signifi­eth to rule with Princely authority, and Lord-like com­mand, both in Scriptures and prophane Writers: as Hom l [...]. 1. Homer stileth King Agamemnon [...] the Shep­heard of the people: so God himself calleth Cyrus hisEsay 44. 28. That saith of Cyrus, he is my shepheard Shep­heard; and which is very observable, Cyrus as if he had ta­ken notice of this name imposed by God upon him before his birth, was wont usually to say,Xen. Cyr. paed. l. 8. [...] That a good Prince was like a good Shepheard, who can by no other means grow rich, than by making his flock to thrive under him; the prosperity of the subject is not onely the honour but the wealth also of the Prince. All this maketh nothing for the Popes triple Crowne, to which he layeth claime by vertue of Christs threefold pasce, or feed (Ioh. 21. 15, 16, 17.) for neither doth [...] originally, or properly, nor usually signifie to reigne as a King, especially when oves meae, or grex domi­ni, my sheep, or the flock of God is construed with it; nor can [Page] it be so taken here, or Ioh. 21. as the light of texts set toge­ther reflecting one upon the other will clear the point. For that which Christ enjoyneth Peter, Ioh. 21. that Peter here enjoyneth all Elders: the words of the charge are the same, Feed my sheep, there; Feed the flock of God, here. But Saint Peter enjoyneth not all Elders in these words to rule with soveraigne authority as Kings over the whole flock, or as Lords over their own peculiar: for this he expressely forbiddeth, ver. 3. therefore to usurpe authority over the whole Church, or to domineere over any part thereof, is not to feed according to Christs charge to Saint Peter, or Saint Peters to all Elders. What is it then? if you have reference to the Etomology [...] is [...], to feed, as the word imports in the original, is to reside upon our cure, or abide with our flock, where the spouse is com­manded to seeke Christ,Cant. 1. 8. go thy way forth to the footsteps of the flock. And indeed where should the Sentinel be but upon his watch tower? Where the Pilot but at the sterne? where the intelligence but at his orbe? where the Sun but within his ecliptick line? where the candle but in the can­ble-stick? where the diamond but in the ring? where the shepherd but among his flock? whom he is to feed, for whom he is to provide, of whom he is to take the over-sight, to whom he ought to be an example; which he cannot be if he never be in their sight. But because this observation is grounded only upon the Etymology, I will lay no more stresse upon it. The proper and full signification of the word is, pastorum agere, to play the good shepherd, or ex­ercise the function of a Pastor, which consisteth in three things especially.

• 1 Docendo quid facere debeant.
• 2 Orando ut facere possint.
• 3 Increpando si non faciant.

• [Page]1 In teaching those of his flock what they ought to do.
• 2 In praying that they may do it.
• 3 In reproving if they do it not.

All which may be reduced to a threefold feeding.

• 1 With the Word, Ier. 3.
• 2 With the Sacraments,
  Ier. 3. 15. I will give you pastors accord­ing to mine own heart, that shall feede you with knowledg and under­standing.
  Apoc. 2. & Ioh. 6.
• 3 With the Rod, Micah 7. 14.

To feed with the Word and Sacrament is the common duty of all Pastors, but to feed with the rod is reserved to Bishops: they are Seraphims, holding the spiritul sword of excommunication in their hands, to guard the tree of life: whose speciall office, and eminent degree in the Church is implied in the word [...], which the vulgar latine rendreth providentes, but SaintAug. de civ. l 19. c. 19. Supervidentes appellantur, ut intelligant se non esse episcopos qui praeesse dilex­erint, non prodesse. Augustine more agreeable to the Etymology, supervidentes, super-visors, or super-in­tendents. Yet this is but a generall notation of the name; every Bishop is a super-visour or over-seer, but every super-visour is not a Bishop. The Lacedaemonian Magistrates were called Epori, which is an equivalent stile to Episcopi: and Euseb. vit. Constant. [...]. Constantine the great spake as truly as piously to his Bi­shops; Yee reverend Fathers are Bishops of them that are within the Church, but I of them that are out of the Church: where your pastoral staffe is too short, I will piece it out and lengthen it with my scepter. [...] in the most pro­per and restrained signification is to exercise Episcopal Au­thority (or perform the office of a Bishop) which consisteth, in two things:

• 1 In ordaining.
• 2 Ordering.

• 1 Giving orders.
• 2 Keeping order.

[Page] Saint Paul givethTit. 1. 5. Titus both in charge: for this cause I left thee in Crete, to ordain Elders in every Church, there is the first, to wit, ordination; and to set in order things that are wanting, or [...], to correct things out of order, there is the second viz. ordering or reformation. Timothy likewise the first Consecrated Bishop of Ephesus is put in mind of these branches of his Episcopal function: of the first, 1 Tim 5. 22. [...]9. Lay hands suddenly on no man: of the second, Against an Elder receive not an accusation but under two or three wit­nesses; Ve [...]. 20. Them that sinne rebuke before all, that others also may fear. Be not ver. 22. partaker of any mans sinnes, to wit, by not censuring or punishing them. These two offices to be most necessary in the Church, every mans reason and com­mon experience will inform us. For how shall we have Mi­nisters at all without Ordination? and how shall we have good Ministers or people without visitation? Now for Pres­byters or Ministers, who are equal in degree to exercise au­thority one over the other, and lay hands upon themselves, and so to become their own ghostly Fathers, is to make order it self a confusion. Therefore God in the law put a difference between the Priests and Levits: and Christ in the Gospel between the Apostles and Disciples; and the Apostles after Christs death between Bishops and Elders. Which the primitive Church kept so religiously, that to op­pose it in practise was accounted no lesse themAct. Concil. 1. Chalced. [...]. sacriledge; in doctrine, flat heresie. The first that I find ever to have gone about to break down the partition wall between Bi­shops and Presbyters, was Aerius, a man like this name, was light and aery, easily carried away with the winde of ambition. For asEpiph haeres. 71. Cum epis­copatus spe excidisset Eu­stathiopost ha­bitus ut se consolaretur hanc haeresem excogitavit. [...]. Apiphanius writeth, standing for a Bi­shoprick, and missing it, he invented this heresie to comfort himself; and because he could not raise up himself to the high rank of Bishops, he sought to pull them down to his lower rank of Elders. What difference, saith he, is there between a Bishop and Priest? none at all, their order, and honour, and dignity, is one and the self-same. But for this his sawcy malepartnesse he felt the smart of the Crosier staffe, [Page] and for ranking Bishops among Presbyters or Elders, he was himself ranked among hereticks. God who made greater and lesser lights in the firmament, and set Angels in ranks one above another, hath erected anSee King James his Cygnea Cantio. Bilson his per­petual government. Hierarchy upon earth: which as he hath ever yet, so I hope he still will to the end of the world establish and support and propagate it, as it hath wonderfully supported and propagated the Church.Bancroft his survey of the holy pretended discipline, c. de episc. The bounds thereof extended by the preaching, and kept by the Government of Bishops; the Hereticks and Schis­maticks in all ages suppressed by Councels and Synods of Bishops;Downam his sermon at the consecration of the Bishop of Bath & Wells. Andrew opus posthum. the Rubricks of Ecclesiastical Kalendars coloured with the blood of so many martyred Bishops, are sufficient evidence thereof. And as the Church soon after her first plantation exceedingly prospered under the shade of Iames Bishop of Hierusalem, Titus of Crete, Timothy of Ephesus, Mark of Alexandria, Ignatius of Antioch, Antipas of Par­gamus, Polycarpe of Smyrna,Hallier defenc. ecclesiast. hier. l. 1. and divers others ordained by the Apostles, or their immediate successors; and in suc­ceeding ages received her best sap and nourishment from the Greek and Latine Fathers,Aurelius vin­diciae censurae tit. 3. de epis. & curatis. who for the most part were Bishops: soBeza de grad. Min. evang. cap. 18: Non tantum insignes Dei martyres, sed etiam prae­stantissimos doctores & pastore. Beza himself acknowledgeth it to have been the singular happinesse of the Church of England, which he prayeth may be perpetual, that this reverend and sacred or­der hath yeelded not only famous Martyrs, but also most ex­cellent Doctors and Pastors, As the Poet blazing the vertues of the Emperour then reigning, said,

Brutus and Camillus and Cato, the greatest sticklers for the liberty of the Commonwealth, if they were now alive would turn Royalists: so we may truly affirm that the greatest ene­mies of Episcopal Jurisdiction, could not but approve of such Bishops as now sit at the stern in our Church. And what if all are not such? must the whole order suffer for their sake? [Page] ‘Ovid. l. 1. de [...]rt. Desine paucorum diffundere crimen in omnes.’ lay not upon all the fault of some. If one or other bud of Aarons rod, the Bishoprick of Rome and the dependants thereon, are turned into serpents, shall the whole rod be cast out of the Arke, and Ionah's gourd put in the place thereof? I mean the new sprung up mushrome, the Govern­ment of lay Elders; Elders whereof no Elder age of the Church ever took notice, and younger cannot tell yet how to Christen them: because they are a kind of epicoens, of both genders, plant-animals, partly Animals, partly plants▪ like a sort of Nuns at Bruxels, partly regular, partly secular; in the morning wearing the cowles and habit of Recluses, in the afternoon the feathers and other attire of Gallants. For they are Clergy-laickes, and Lay-clerkes: of their clergy they are, for they together with their Ministers ordain Ministers, and inflict Ecclesiastical censures; and yet laicks they are, for they may not preach nor baptize. Church­men they are, for they bear rule in the Church; yet Church­men they are not, for they may receive no maintenance from the Church. They are the Elders that rule well, and labour, not in the word, for such they will have intimated by St. Paul, yet the honour which their own Interpreters there expound honourable maintenance, is not due unto them. Spare me Men, Fathers, and Brethren, if I spare not them who go about to bereave us of our spiritual Fathers, qui saeviunt in plagas & vulnera ecclesiae, who seek to ruine the ruines, and spoile the very spoiles of Ecclesiastical dig­nity and distinction left among us. To place such Bats as these, rather mice than birds, must Christs Apostles and their successors be displaced, and all ranks of Ecclesiasticall order confounded: is there any justice in this, to break all Crosier staves, and tread all Miters under foot, and teare all Rochets in pieces. ‘Vnius obnoxam & furias Ajacis Oilei.’ [Page] for the usurpation and tyranny of one Bishop the Pope of Rome? By this reason take away the Reverend order of the Apostles for Iudas sake, take away the sacred order of Prophets for Balaams sake, take away the soveraigne order of Princes for Iulians sake, take away the glorious orbs of stars for the stars sake calledApoc. 8. 11. wormwood in the Apocalyps, nay take away the highest regiment of Angels for Lucifers sake, & the rest of his faction, sometime in the highest order in heaven, but now reserved in chaines of darknesse till the great day.

This may suffice to be spoken of, and for your calling: two words of the two dutie; implyed in the words, [...] and [...], feed and take the over-sight. You are Pa­stors and Bishops, make good your titles, feed as Pastors, take the over-sight of your Diocesse as Bishops. The three or­ders in the Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, resem­ble the three faculties of the soule, the vegetative, sensitive, and reasonable. For as the sensitive faculty includeth the vegetative, & aliquid amplius and somewhat more, to wit, sense; and the reasonable implyeth the sensitive, & aliquid amplius and somewhat more, to wit, reason; for a Priest implyeth a Deacon, & aliquid amplius; and a Bishop im­plyeth a Priest, & aliquid amplius. Yee are (my Lords) both Bishops and Priests, and as you are invested into a double honour, so you have a double charge: as Bishops you are to rule well; as Priests to labour in the word; as Priests you are to preach, as Bishops to ordain Priests, and countenance Preachers: as Priests you are to smite simony and sacriledge, schisme and heresie, impurity and impiety, gladio oris, with the sword of your mouth; as Bishops, ore gladii, with the mouth, that is, the edge of the sword, the sword of ecclesiastical censures which Christ hath put into your hand: bear not this sword in vain, be not pertakers of the sinnes of any of the Clergy, or bribes of the laity; use this your sword for, not against the Church. ‘V [...]g▪ Aen. 4. Non hos quaesitum munus in usus.’

[Page] Hold not too strict a hand over your too much oppressed Clergy; let it not be said of the clergy of your Diocesse, as it was said of the Roman souldiers under Severus, that they were more affraid of their Captain then of the enemy. For as St. Paul speaketh to the Corinthians, if I make you sad who shall comfort you? so I may say to you, if you dishearten poor Ministers who shal comfort them, or stand for them? the laity? no, they take two much of the nature of the stone, from whence they have their name given them, [...] signifieth people, [...] [...] stone. [...] from [...]: if a faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, if a diligent preacher, that spends all his Oyle and Week, his body and soul to give them light, sue but for his dues, especially if he mutter but a word against their great Diana, their sacrilegious customes, which oft deprive the Ministers of the Gospel of nine parts of the Tenth, and leave them but decimam decimae, the tenth of the tenth: they will all fall upon him, and unlesse your power and authority relieve him, grind him to powder. They use their godly Preachers, whom the world cannot parallel, as the Hawk in Hesiod dealt with the melodious Nightingale,Hesiod. op. & [...]ies, l. 1. they plum them and devour them, [...], although they be the sweetest singers of Israel. Many of them after they have spent their strength in preaching in season and out of season, catechizing and lecturing on the Lords day, and on the week dayes, may truly say as Syne­sius sometimes complained that they carried nothing away from their parishes or cures, but bonam conscientiam & ma­lam valetudinem, a good conscience, and an ill crazed body.

No more of [...], taking the over-sight: but a word of [...], feed, lest whilest I exhort you to feed, I detain you from better feeding, viz. upon the blessed Sa­crament now set before you. As in Churches and Noble­mens Halls, where there hang great Candlesticks with many branches, the lights are first let down to be tinded, and when they are fully lighted, then they are drawn up by degrees to give light to the whole room: so our Church first send­eth her sweet wax lights, made and formed in private schools, down to the Universities to be tinded, and when [Page] they are fully enlightned with knowledge, then draweth them up by degrees, first to pastoral charges, then to digni­ties, Deanaries, and Bishopricks; not that then they should be put out, but to the end that as they are set higher they should give more light. You are, Right Reverend, the sil­ver Trumpet of Zion, whom God lifteth up on high that you may sound the louder and shriller, as bells are hung higher in the steeple, that they may be heard further. Let it be never said of you as it was of Saul, that when he came to the high places he made an end of prophecying. The more God hath honoured you, the more you ought to honour him; the higher Christ hath preferred you, the more you ought to love him, and shew this your love by your treble diligence in feeding his sheep. To which end these words, Peter lovest thou me? feed my sheep, &c. are by the order of our Church appointed to be read for the Gospell at your consecration. I grant you feed many ways: you feed when you appoint pastors to feed, you feed when you instruct them how to feed, you feed when you censure them for not feed­ing their flocks, or not feeding them with wholesome food, you feed in a Synode when you make good Canons, you feed in your visitations when you encourage good Ministers, and reform abuses in the Church; lastly, you feed at your tables when you keep good hospitality. And after all these manners the Apostle; and ancient Fathers fed; yet they thought themselves in danger of a vae, or curse if they fed not by preaching the Gospel in their own persons. Wo be to me, saith St.1 Cor. 9. 16. Paul, if I preach not the Gospel. Saint Gre­gory was a Bishop himselfe, and that of a very large and troublesome Diocesse (for he was Pope of Rome) yet he deeply chargeth Bishops with this duity, thus inferring upon Christs words to Peter, lovest thou me? feed, &c. Greg in verb. evang. secun­dum Iohan. Si dilectionis ar­gumentum est cura pastora­lis, quisquis virtutibus pol­lens gregem Dei renuit pa­scere, summum pastorem con­vincitur non amare. If care and diligence in a pastoral charge be an argument, and cer­tain evidence of the love we bear to Christ, whosoever furnish­ed with gift, and abilities thereunto, refuseth to feed Christs flock, is to be taken pro convicto, that he bears no good affe­ction to the chief Pastor and Bishop of our souls. If the love of [Page] Christ constrained us not to stirre up the grace of God in us, which we have received by imposition of hands, and even like lambes to spend our selves to give light to our flockes, yet methinks the excellency of this function should inflame us thereunto. Where can we fix our thoughts with more delight and contentment than upon heaven and heavenly objects? how can we put our tougues to a better use than to declare the word of life? to preach the Gospell of the Kingdome? to sound out our makers praises? how can our hands be better employed than about the seales of grace? Hear SaintChrysost. ho­mil. 1. in Matth Chrysostome open his golden mouth, and weigh his words in the scales of the sanctuary; Seest thou not, saith he, how thine eyes water whilst thou stayest in the smoak, but are cleared and refreshed if thou go out into the open ayre, or walkest a turn in a pleasant garden? so the eye of our mind is cleared, and our spirituall senses much revived by walking in the garden of holy Scriptures, and smelling to the flowers of Paradise; but if we run about in the smoak, that is, busie our selves about earthly affairs, we shall shed many a tear, and be in danger of quite loosing our sight.

I will conclude, and briefly represent all the principall points of the Apostles exhortation to your view in one type of the law. In the Ark of the covenant there was the rod of Exod. 24. 25. Aaron that budded, and about it a Crown of gold. By the rod of Aaron you easily apprehend the Priests office or pastoral charge: the buds of this rod, or parts of this charge are two, feeding and overseeing; which ought to be perfor­med not by constraint, but willingly, as the buds were not drawn out of Aarons rod, but put forth of their own accord. And herein we are not to respect our own good, but the good of our flock: we must do nothing for filthy lucre, but of a free mind to benefit others, as the rod of Aaron bare not blossomes or fruit to, or for it self, but to, and for o­thers. By the fruits of Aarons rod you may understand the good life of a faithful Pastor, who is to be an example to his flock; this fruit enclineth him to true humility oppo­site to Lord-like pride, as the fruit of a tree weigheth the [Page] branches down to the earth. Lastly, by the Crowne above the rod, and round about the Ark, is represented the reward of a faithful Shepheard and vigilant Bishop▪ You have the embleme of your office, the word or Motto shall be Germi­net virga Aaronis, Let the rod of Aaron blossome in your mouth by preaching the word, and bud in your hands by the exercise of Ecclesiasticall discipline, and bear fruit in your lives by being ensamptes to your flock, and the crown above the rod, and about the Ark shall be yours, as it is promised ver. 4. And when the chief shepheard shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away; ‘Which God the Fa­ther grant for the price of his Sonnes blood, to whom with the holy Spirit be all honour, glory, praise, and thanks­giving, now and for ever, Amen.’