The holy table, name & thing more anciently, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an altar: written long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. Coal, a judicious divine of Q. Maries dayes.

The holy table, name & thing more anciently, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an altar: written long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. Coal, a judicious divine of Q. Maries dayes.

Table of contents

Title page

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CHAP. I.

CHAP. II.

CHAP. III.

CHAP. IV.

CHAP. V.

CHAP. VI.

CHAP. VII.

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THE HOLY TABLE, NAME & THING, MORE ANCIENTLY, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an ALTAR: Written long ago by a Minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. COAL, a judicious Divine of Q. MARIES dayes.

Illa Sacramenti donatrix Mensa.—

Aurel, Prudent, in Peristeph, Hymno 11.

Printed for the Diocese of Lincoln. 1637.

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I Have read and thorowly perused a Booke, called The Holy Table, Name, and Thing, &c. written by some Minister of this Diocesse. And doe conceive it to be most Orthodox in Doctrine, and consonant in Discipline, to the Church of England: And to set forth the Kings Power and Rights, in matters Ecclesiasticall, truly and judiciously; and very fit to be Printed: And doe allow and approve of the same Treatise to be Printed and published in any place or places whereas Ordinarie I am enabled and Licenced so to doe. And in witnesse hereof, I have subscribed my Name the last day of November, 1636.

IO. LINCOLN. Deane of Westminster.

CHAP. I.

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Of the state of the Question, and the first-occasion of the writing of the Letter: with a true Copie of the same.

IT was a new but wittie Etymologie, which the Lord ChancellourAt Star-cha, in the Cause of the Nottingham Libell. St. Albans gave of a Libel; that it was derived of a Lie forg'd at home, and a Bell to ring it up and down the Countrey. Both these parts are fully expressed in this Pamphlet. First,Title lease. Coal makes the Lie, and presents it for a Token to his private friend; then his private friend makes the Bell, by commending it to the Presse, and ringing it abroad over all the Countrey. And it gave an Omen, of what colour the whole Book would prove, by the mistake in the first page, where his friend calls him a Divine of Judgement, which is the second part, whereas indeed he is but a Divine of Invention, which is the first part of Logick. And this Invention he puts in [Page] practice, not onely in displaying his matters of Right, as all your [...]. Vlpian Enarr. in Demosth. orat. de classibus. [...] and artificiall handlers of Controversies are permitted to do; but even in stating the matter of fact: which when it is in writing before our eyes, is no more by a disputant indeed to bee wriggled and wrested, but to be taken as it is set down, and (for the time at the least) [...]. Arist. Rhet. l. 5. c. 17. swallowed & beleeved. Whereas this poore fellow makes himself an Adversary, not out of the Letter, but out of his own phantasie; and driving him before him (as he inAristot. Meteor. lib. 3. c. 4. Aristotle did his shadow) from one end of the Book to the other, shoots all his arrows at this man of clowts of his own rearing, and yet with all this advantage never stirs him. I will give you a short tast of his faining, and his failing. Title lea [...]e, & P. 26. He fains the Letter written not long since. He fails, because it was written, when all flesh in England had corrupted their wayes, and that there was a generall deviation in this weighty business.Title lea [...]e, and Letter, p. 69. He fains, that the Question was of placing the Communion-table [...]. He fails, for it was about the erecting of a Stone-altar. P. 5. & Let. p. 68. 69. He fains, that the Writer conceiv'd the Bowing at the name of JESUS was a vain thing. He fails, for the Writer doth commend, allow, and practise it.Pag. 8. and Lett. p. 69. He fains the Writer had no reason to suspect any other sacrifice aymed at by the Vican, but spirituall onely. He fails, and never confer'd with the Writer about it, who chargeth the Vicar with meaning a Sacrifice contrary to his Subscription. P. 27. and Lett. p. 69. Hee fains, that the Writer would cunningly draw the Chappels and Cathedrals to a kind of [...]remurire about their Communion-tables. [Page] He fails, for the Writer confesseth he doth allow, and practise it. P. 25. and Let p. 71 p. 41. & 40. He fains the Writer doth slight; But fails, for he doth cite and approve the appellation of Second service. He fains, that the Writer doth report the peoples pulling down of Altars, as a doctrine. He fails, for he mentions it onely as a matter of fact. Pag. 42. & Let p. 74. He fains the Writer should make the Counsell Act, for the taking down of Altars, A kind of Law which no man was obliged unto. He fails, for the Writer saith it was obeyed over all England. Lastly,P. 51. and Let. p 69 76. 77 he fains, that the Vicar did not think of Fixing his Table to the Wall, because hee himself hath no cause to think so, nor reason to conceive, and may reasonably presume the contrary. He fails, for the Letter doth every where charge upon the Vicar the contradictory assertion. So that this man hath not onely made himself the Iudge, to open the Law, but the Jury also, to find the fact in the whole controversie. But this is not to be endured. For beside that it is uncertaine, whether he be of the Voisinage, and but an inhabitant of a remote and another Province, and so ignorant of the Circumstances of the fact, he sheweth himself (every where) such a pugnacissimum animal (asPetron. Arbit. Satyr. Coepique pugnacissimum animal armatâ elidere manu. he said of the Gander) so partially addicted to brabbling and contention, that he may be well excepted against for a common Barreter. Pag. 11. He chargeth it home upon the Writer, for saying that the Curate and the Churchwardens were appointed to pull down, when they were appointed only to take down the Altars: For saying, that the name of an Altar pag. 34. Crepe, when he should have said, Came into the Church: [Page] ForP. 12. saying that they were taken down in all or most; whereas he should have said, in sundry and many places of this Kingdome: Lastly, for P. 8. saying, The Communion, whereas he should have said, The Lords Supper. When the Rubricke The Order for the Administration. hath it, The Lords Supper, or holy Communion, And would any man trust such aAristot. Ethic. l. 4. c. 1. [...], and Tither of Cummin, as this wrangler is, to be of his Jury? Besides that (as Plautus describes him to a hair in a Comedy of his ownAsinaria. denomination) ‘Siquidem hercle Aeacidinis minis expletus animisque incedit,’ he comes into the Session-house with such a haughty and prejudicare opinion of himself and his Cause, that no man can expect the least right at his hands. For besides that his friend Clove doth stick him in the doore of his Book (before his going forth into the open Aire) with this pretty perfume of a Judicious and Learned Divine, he doth so swell and improve by degrees, that he makes his work above all the Humane, and equall to the Laws Divine. For speaking of the Preface of the Communion-book, (a Canon confirmed by Act of Parliament) that doth not (without all question) direct the Bishop to send his resolutions to the Priest, he saith upon that Law, P. 11. It is as true, or at least wise more fit, that the Bishop should do as he would have him. Which is so high a Language against the Laws of the Land, and the practice of all Ordinaries (who execute their own Mandates by their own Officers) as was never uttered, and printed with Licence by any Subject of [Page] England before this time. T. C. indeed from his Presse at Coventry, was wont to send abroad much of this stuff in Martin Marprelates dayes.

And for the other, what meaning should he have to bind up the Letter, not (as in reason he should) before, but after his whole Book; and to call itHe turned to a Printer. Apocrypha; but that he would have us to take all his dreams for Canonicall Scripture? So that a man cannot imagin what evidence to provide, to give satisfaction to so haughty a Companion, who ‘Jura negat sibi nata, nihil non arrogat armis.’

Considering therefore the partiality of this Writer, who makes his own Case, makes his own Evidence, makes his own Law, makes his own Authorities, and all out of his own Conceipt; and endeavours what he can, a fear la Causa, (as the Spanish Advocates use to say) to give a fair Cause a foul face: I shall be bold (as a neighbouring Minister to the Scene of this businesse, and imployed amongst other of my profession, in some of the main passages) to set down seriously and faithfully the whole carriage of the Businesse, the true Copy of the Letter, the agitation this Cause hath had with us below, not able to penetrate into those Motions it receiv'd above in the Ordinaries breast, and (for it hath been a kind of walking Spirit) in the Lower house of Parliament.

The Vicar, a Chorister in the College, and bred up in Musick, brought along with him from his faculty, some odde Crochets into the Ministery. And having too much favour from his Diocesan [Page] (who had never seen a tolerable Incumbent of that Church before) began to fly upon his own Coat, and turn'd out of the Town two grave and painfull Preachers salaried by the Parish; whereof the one was his own Cozen, and brought in by himself a little before. His next quarrell was with the Alderman and his Brethren, about some matters of Malting and Tithing: which (by the continued favour of the Ordinary) was ended to his advantage. Then he fell upon this removing of the Communion-table from the upper part of the Quire (where it wasAldermans Letter. comely placed and had stood time out of mind) to the Altar-place, as he called it. Mr. Wheately the Alderman questioning him thereupon, what Authority he had from the Bishop, Chancellour, or any of his Surrogates, to do this alteration, received this Answer,Aldermans Letter. that his Authority was this, He had done it, and he would justifie it. Upon the which return Mr. Wheately commanded his Officers to remove the Table to the place again; which they did accordingly, but not without striking, much heat, and indiscretion, both of the one side and the other: The Vicar saying, he car'd not what they did with their old Tresle, for he would build him an Altar of stone at his own charge, and fix it in the old Altar-place, and would never Officiate upon any other: the rude people replying, he should set up no dressers of stone in their Church, and they would find more hands to throw his stones out, then he should do to bring them in; and would all in a body make a journey to the Bishop, before they would endure it. Whereupon Mr. Wheateley the Alderman [Page] presently wrote unto his Lordship of these passages; as also of his light gestures in bowing at the name of JESUS, so as sometimes his Book fell down, and once himself, to the derision of those that were not so well affected to that religious Ceremony. And this was about June or July 1627. To this the Bishop returned no answer in writing at that time, but sent a quick and sharp Message by word of mouth; both to the Alderman and the Vicar; that they should not presume, either the one or the other of them, to move or remove the holy Table any more, otherwise then by speciall direction from him or his Chancellour; and that it should remain where it did (if it stood within the Quire) untill his next passage to Lincoln by that Town; at what time he would himself by view taken upon the place, accommodate the same according to the Rubrick and Canons. And that the Vicar should not presume to set up any thing in Church or Chancell, in the interim. Which return did not altogether pacifie the People of the Town in their jelousies against their Vicar. But Mr. Wheateley, a prudent and discreet man, afraid to offend the Bishop, (as one who had been a singular friend and patrone to that Town, when he was in place) resolved to ride unto his Lordship. Which was no [...]ooner known, but all they of the Town that were able, would needs hire horses and ride along with him. The Bishop when he saw such a company, enquired of them what the matter was? They opened unto him all this difference, assured his Lordship they were [Page] every one of them quiet and peaceable men, conformable in all things to the Kings Laws Ecclesiasticall, and willing to submit themselves to any Order, concerning the situation of the holy Table, which his Lordship should appoint. Onely they represented unto his Lordship, that they were much scandalized with the putting down of their Sermons, and this new intended erection of a stone-Altar upon the neck thereof. And that, if his Lordship should appoint the Table to stand in the upper end of the Quire, it was impossible that the 24th part of the Parish should see or heare the Vicar officiating thereupon. Desiring his Lordship to take it to his consideration, that the Vicar (whom his Lordship much favoured) was not alwayes right in the Head-piece; and that they lived in the midst of Recusants, their chiefe Governour being one of that profession himself; and that those kind of men began already to jeere and deride this new Alteration. The Bishop entring into a discourse of the indifferency of this circumstance in its own nature, the Vicar came suddenly into the Hall, pale and staring in his looks, and either with his journey, or some other affrights much disordered. Which the Bishop observing, used him with all sweetnesse and lenity, bade him not be troubled with any thing that had happened, for he would end this difference to his contentment. The Vicar brake out into passion and teares, and said they threatned to set his house on fire. The Bishop answered, that if they did so, he would procure him another; and he hoped his Majesty [Page] would provide for them such houses, as in that case they well deserved. The Alderman & his Assistants utterly denied the knowledge of any such base intents, or menaces: but submitted themselves wholly (as the Vicar likewise did) to the Bishops decision. Then the Lord Bishop taking the Vicar aside, talk't with him in private a pretty while. What they discours'd of is not particularly known. His Lordship was over-heard somewhat earnest with the said Vicar, to tell him who they were that set him on upon these alterations. And it is conceiv'd generally, that the Vicar told his Lordship all the truth, from point to point. At the close, the Bishop said unto him, Well, Mr. () you shall sup with your Neighbours in my Hall to night, upon such cold provision as my people can make you: But I have sup't already upon that you tell me. And if all the Books I have of that nature be able to do it, I will find some satisfaction for my self and you in all these particulars, before I goe this night to bed. And I will provide a Letter, as written to you, Mr. Alderman, to shew to your Brethren, and some Notes to be delivered to the Divines of the Lecture at Gr. And both these (if the fault be not in my servant) shall be ready by seven a clock in the morning.

The Bishop sate up most of the night, and his Secretary with him in his Study. What they there did is not distinctly known: But it was observ'd that the Secretary came down for the Book of Martyrs which stood in the Hall, and borrowed from [Page] the Parish-church Bishop Jewells workes. In the Morning between 7. and 8. of the clock, was delivered to the Alderman this Letter sealed up.

Mr. Alderman, I do conceive, that your Communion-Table, when it is not used, should stand in the upper end of the Chancell, not Altar-wise, but Table-wise. But when it is used, either in the time of the Communion, or when your Vicar shall be pleased to read the later part of the Divine service thereupon, the Churchwardens are to cause the Clerk or Sexton to remove it, either to the place where it stood before, or any other place in Church or Chancel, where your Minister may be most audibly heard of the whole Congregation. If both your Churchwardens agree with the Vicar upon such a place, let it be disposed of accordingly; and your Ministers are not to of ficiate upon it in any other place. If your Churchwardens disagree with the Vicar, let them take the opinion of that Surrogate of my Chancellour, who dwels next unto your Town of Grantham, and he and any one of the Churchwardens shall upon view assigne the place where the Table shall stand in most conveniency, when it is to be of ficiated on by either of your Ministers. And so I desire you [...]o intimate this unto the Churchwardens, and do recommend me very heartily to you and all your neighbours, and you and them in my prayers to Gods protection. And am

At the same time this Letter was delivered, there was delivered also by the Secretary, a sheet [Page] of paper closed up, to be conveyed to the Divines of the Lecture at Gr. upon their next meeting-day, with a Note of direction from the said Secretary, that if they conceived these passages contained in that Paper to be well and truly collected, and had not found in their readings and observations the contrary, they should impart them to the Vicar of Gr. being one of their Company, and improve them what they could to give him satisfaction, not denying (if he so required) to let him take out a Copie of the same for his own use, but not to divulge these papers any farther. But if they found any mistakings in these Quotations, or had met with any other Canons or Constitutions differing from these, or that they themselves varied in opinion from the premisses, they should forbeare to impart them, but write freely back again their said variance from these directions, together with their reasons for the same, which should be very kindly and thankfully accepted. Or to this effect. We met accordingly, perused these Papers, found them digested in the former part into the fashion of a Letter, (yet directed to no body) but not so figuredly and distinctly in the later. They were not written with the Bishops own hand, with which we were all acquainted, nor subscribed by any body, and they varied in some places in matter from this printed Copie, but little in form. After perusall we did conferre with the said Vicar at two severall dayes, especially about the Contents [Page] of this Paper. Who undoubtedly, at that time, received full satisfaction thereby, and conceived that he had lost nothing by this decision, having gain'd all the points, excepting the Form of placing the Table; against the which he conceived the Rubrick of the Liturgie to be apparant, but his Lordships opinion to be very indifferent, because he observed (as he said) the Table in his Lordships private Chappell to be so placed, & furnished with Plate and Ornaments above any he ever had seen in this Kingdom, the Chappel Royall onely excepted. And so this difference was at that time thus ended and composed, and the Vicar well satisfied, and never out of his Lordships favour (whereof he reaped after this much fruit and profit) to his very dying day. Now the true Copy of this Letter or Notes (for without all question they were neither superscribed nor subscribed) here ensueth

Sir, with my very hearty commendations unto you, &c. When I spake with you last, I told you that the standing of your Communion-table, was unto me a thing so indifferent, the unlesse offence and umbrages were taken by the Town against it, I should never move it, or remove it. That which I did not then suspect, is come to passe. Your Alderman, whom I have known these 17 or 18 yeares to be a discreet and modest man, and far from any humour of Innovation, together with the better sort of the Town, have complained against it. And I have without taking any notice of your act, or touching in one syllable upon your reputation, appointed the Churchwardens, [Page] whom in my opinion it principally doth concern, under the Diocesan and by his directions, to settle it for the time: as you may see by this Copie enclosed. Now for your own satisfaction, and my poore advice for the future, I have written unto you somewhat more at large then I use to expresse my selfe in this kinde. I do therefore (to deal plainly) like many things well, and disallow of some things in your cariage of this businesse. It is well done that you affect decency and comelines in the officiating of Gods divine service, that you president your selfe with the Forms in his Majesties Chappels and the Quires of Cathedrall Churches, (if your Quire, as those others, could contain your whole congregation) that you do the reverence appointed by the Canons to that blessed name of JESUS, so it be done humbly and not affectedly, to procure the devotion & not move the derision of your Parishioners, who are not it seems all of a piece) and that you do not maintain it Rationibus non cogentibus, & so spoil a good cause with bad arguments. These things I do my self allow and practise. But that you should say you will upon your own cost build an Altar of Stone at the upper end of your Quire; That your Table ought to stand Altar-wise; That the fixing thereof in the Quire is so Canonical, that it ought not to be removed (upon any occasion) to the body of the Church, I conceive to be in you so many mistakings.

For the first; If you should erect any such Altar, (which I know you will not) your discretion (I fear me) would prove the onely Holocaust [Page] to be sacrificed on the same. For you have subscribed when you came to your place, that that other Oblation, which the Papists were wont to offer upon these Altars, is a Blasphemous figment and pernicious Imposture. In the 31th Artic. And also, that we in the Church of England must take heed lest our Communion of a Memory be made a Sacrifice. In the 1. Homily upon the Sacrament. And it is not the Vicar, but the Churchwardens that are to provide Vtensils for the Communion, and that not an Altar, but a faire joyned Table. Canons of the Convocation 1571. pag. 18. And that the Altars were removed by Law, and Tables placed in their stead in all, or the most Churches of England, appeares by the Queens Injunctions 1559 related unto and so confirmed in that point by our Canons still in force. Canon 82. And therefore I know you will not build any such Altar, which Vicars were never enabled to set up, but were once allowed (with others) to pull down. Injunct. 1 mo Elis. For Tables in the Church.

For the second point; That your Communion-table is to stand Altar-wise; if you mean, in that upper place of the Chancell, where the Altar stood, I think somewhat may be said for that, because the Injunctions 1559 did so place it. And I conceive it to be the most decent situation when it is not used, and for use too, where the Quire is mounted up by steps, and open, so as he that officiates, may be seen and heard of all the Congregation. Such an one, I am informed, your Chancell is not. But if you meane by Altar-wise, that the [Page] Table should stand along close by the wall, so as you beforced to officiate at the one end thereof (as you may have observed in great mens Chappells) I do not beleeve that ever the Communion-tables were (otherwise then by casualty) so placed in countrey-churches. For besides that the Countrey-people, without some directions beforehand from their superiours, would (as they told you to your face) suppose them Dressers rather then Tables. And that Queen Elisabeths Commissioners for causes ecclesiasticall directed, that the Tables should stand, not where the Altar, but where the steps to the Altar formerly stood. Orders 1561. The Minister appointed to read the Communion, which you (out of the Books of Fast in 1mo of the King) are pleas'd to call Second service, is directed to read the Commandments, not at the End, but at the North-side of the Table, which implies the End to be placed towards the East great window. Rubrick before the Communion. Nor was this a new direction in the Queens time onely; but practised in K. Edwards reign. For in the plot of our Liturgie sent by Mr Knox & whittingham to Mr Calvin, in the reign of Q. Mary, it is said, that the Minister must stand at the North-side of the Table. Troubles at Frankford, p. 30. And so in K. Edwards Liturgies, the Ministers standing in the Midst of the Altar, 1549. is turned to his standing at the North-side of the Table, 1552. And this last Liturgie was revived by Parliament 1o Elis. c. 2. And I beleeve it is so used at this day in most places of England. What you saw in Chappells or Cathedrall Churches, [Page] is not the point now in Question, but how the Tables are appointed to be placed in Parish-churches. In some of these Chappels and Cathedralls, the Altars may be still standing, for ought I know; or, to make use of their Covers, Fronts and other Ornaments, Tables may be placed in their room, of the same length and fashion the Altars were of. We know the Altars stand still in the Lutherane Churches. And the Apologie for the Augustane Confession, Artic. 11. doth allow it. The Altars stood a yeare or two in the reigne of King Edward, as appeares by the Liturgie printed 1549. And it seems the Queen and her Counsell were content they should stand, as we may guesse by the Injunctions, 1559. But how is this to be understood? The Sacrifice of the Masse abolished (for which Sacrifice onely Altars were erected) these (call them what you please) are no more Altars, but Tables of Stone or Tymber. And so was it alledged 24. Novem. 4o Edv. 6. 1550. Sublato enim relativo formall, manet absolutum et materiale tantúm. And so may be well used in Kings and Bishops houses, where there are no people so void of Instruction as to be scandalized. For upon the Orders of breaking down Altars, 1550. all Dioceses, as well as that of London, did agree upon receiving Tables, but not so soon upon the form and fashion of their Tables. Act. and Monum. pag. 1212. Beside that, in the old Testament one and the same Thing, is termed an Altar and a Table. An Altar, in respect of what is there offered unto God; and a Table, in respect of what is thence participated[Page]by men, as for example, by the Priests. So have you Gods Altar the very same with Gods Table, in Mal. 1. 7. The place is worth the marking: For it answers that merry Objection out of Heb. 13. 10. which you made to some of your fellow Ministers, and one Dr. Morgan before you, to Peter Martyr, in a disputation at Oxford. We have no Altar in regard of an Oblation; but we have an Altar, that is, a Table, in regard of a participation and Communion there granted unto us. The proper use of an Altar is to sacrifice upon, the proper use of a Table is to eat upon, Reasons, &c. 1550. vide Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. And because a Communion is an Action most proper for a Table, as an Oblation is for an Altar; therefore the Church in her Liturgie and Canons calling the same a Table onely, do not you now, under the Reformation, call it an Altar. In King Edwards Liturgie of 1549 it is almost every where; but in that of 1552, it is no where called an Altar, but The Lords Boord. Why? Because the people being scandalized herewith (in Countrey-churches) first it seems beat them down de facto; then the supreme Magistrate (as here the King) by the advice of Archbishop Cranmer and the rest of his Counsell, did Anno 1550 by a kind of Law put them down de jure. 4o Edv. 6. Novemb. 24. And setting these Tables in their rooms, took away from us, the Children of this Church and Common-wealth, both the Name and the Nature of those former Altars. As you may see Injunct. 1559. referring to that Order of King Edw. and [Page] his Counsell, mentioned Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. And I hope you have more learning, then to conceive The Lords Table to be a new Name, and so to be ashamed of the Word. For, besides that Christ himselfe instituted this Sacrament upon a Table, and not an Altar; (as Archbishop Cranmer and others observe, Act. & Monum. pag. 1211.) it is in the Christian Church, at the least 200 yeares more ancient, then the name of an Altar in that sense; as you may see most learnedly proved (beside what we learn out of S. Paul) out of Origen, and Arnobius, if you do but reade a Book that is in your Church, Jewel against Harding, of private Masse, Artic. 3. pag. 145. And whether this name of Altar crept into the Church, in a kind of complying in phrase with the people of the Jews, as I have read in Chemnitius, Gerardus and other sound Protestants; (yet such as suffer Altars to stand;) or that it proceeded from those Oblations made upon the Communion-tables for the use of the Priest and the poore, whereof we reade in Justine Martyr, Ireneus, Tertullian and other ancient writers; or because of our Sacrifice of praise and Thanks-giving, as Archbishop Cranmer and others thought, Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. the name being now so many yeares abolished in this Church, it is fitter in my judgement, that your Altar (if you will needs so call it) should according to the Canons stand Table-wise, then your Table, to trouble the poore Town of Gr. should be erected Altar-wise.

Lastly, that your Table should stand in the [Page] higher part of the Chancell, you have my assent in opinion already: And so was it appointed to stand, out of the Communion. Orders by the Commiss. for causes ecclesiasticall, 1561. But that it should be there fixed, is so farre from being the onely Canonicall way, that it is directly against the Canon. For what is the Rubrick of the Church, but a Canon? And the Rubrick saith, It shall stand in the Body of the Church, or in the Chancell, where Morning prayer and Evening prayer be appointed to be said. If therefore Morning prayer and Evening prayer be appointed to be said in the Body of the Church, (as in most Countrey-churches we see it is) where shall the Table stand in that Church most Canonically? And so is the Table made removeable, when the Communion is to be celebrated, to such a place, as the Minister may be most conveniently heard by the Communicants; by Qu. Elis. Injunct. 1559. And so saith the Canon in force, that in the time of the Communion, the Table shall be placed in so good sort within the Church or Chancell, as thereby the Minister may be most conveniently heard, &c. Canon 82. Now judge you, whether this Table (which like Daedalus his Engines moves and removes from place to place, and that by the inward wheeles of the Church Canons) be fitly resembled by you to an Altar that stirs not an ynch, and supposed to be so resembled most Canonically. And if you desire to know out of Eusebius, St Augustine, Durandus, and the fifth Councell of Constantinople, how long Communion-tables have stood in the midst of Churches, read a [Page] Book which you are bound to reade, and you shalbe satisfied, Jewel against Harding: Of private Masse, Artic. 3. pag. 145. The summe of all is this.

1. You may not erect an Altar, where the Canons admit only a Communion-table.

2. This Table (without some new Canon) is not to stand Altar-wise, and you at the North-end thereof, but Table-wise, and you must officiate on the North-side of the same, by the Liturgie.

3. This Table ought to be laid up (decently covered) in the Chancell onely, as I suppose; but ought not to be officiated upon, either in your first or second service (as you distinguish it) but in that place of Church or Chancell, where you may be most conveniently seen and heard of all.

4. Though peradventure you be (with him in Tacitus) Master of your own, yet are you not of other mens Eares, and therefore your Parishioners must be Judges of your Audiblenes in this case, and upon complaint to the Ordinary, must be relieved.

5. Lastly, whether side soever (you or your Parish) shall first yeeld unto the other in these needlesse controversies, shall remain in my poore judgement, the more discreet, grave, and learned of the two. And by that time you have gayned some more experience in the Cure of Soules, you shall finde no such Ceremony to Christian charity. Which I recommend unto you, and am ever, &c.

[Page] Now if you desire to know why I have been so tedious in stating thus the Cause, with all the Circumstances thereof, I answer with the Poet, that it is to ease you, if you please, of further Tediousnesse:

Mart. Epigr. lib. 14. 4 poph. 2.

Vi, si malueris, lemmata sola legas;

That if you be so disposed, you may end the Book with this first Chapter. For the true stating is the concluding of the Question we have in hand. I dare here appeale without any further defence to any indifferent Reader, what notorious want of Learning, what disaffection to the Church, what malice to Cathedrals, what inclination to Puritanisme, what approving of sedition, what popular affectation, thisIon. 4. 10. filia unius noctis, this paper huddled up (upon this occasion) in one night, can argue either in the Writer (whosoever he be) or in us that were the approvers of the same. And particularly I appeale to you, that have read the Libell written against it, whether it hath any way answered your expectation, or whether

(

Phaedr. Aug. Libertus. Fab. Aesop. lib. 4.

Carbonem, ut ajunt, pro the sauro invenistis)

thisEcclesiastic 8. 10. Coal of a sinner doth not rather appeare to have been fetcht from a Smiths forge, then a sacred Altar.

CHAP. II.

[Page]

Of the Regall power in ordayning, publishing, and changing Ceremonies, as also in all Causes Ecclesiasticall. And whether that power was ever used in setling the Communion-table in form of an Altar.

IF Alexander was afraid to commit the proportion of his body to every ordinary statuary, requiring that none but a [...]. Plutarch. de fortuna Alexand▪ Orat. 2. Lysippus should effigiate the same, and that Apelles himself could never set forth the outward beauty of his face, but [...]. Plutarch. in Alexandro. slubbered and farre short of the native vivacity; how carefull ought Soveraigne Princes to be, not to permit their Regall power and prerogative (the very visage of their persons, and majestie of their visage) to be prophaned by every Bungler, and to be slubbered up (as here it is) with a base Coal, upon the walls of this uglyFrom page 58. to the end of the Book. Pamphlet. Thus it is, when Coblars will be stretching up their Pia-maters above their own Shop-lasts, and Chaplains (to shew how ready they are, at the very first call, to be dealing in matters of State) will [Page] be puddling in studies they do not understand. Dr Coal hath here by his exquisite knowledge in the Can-none and Common (or triviall) law, committed a kinde of merry treason, in presuming to give a man a call to be aPag. 61. Iudge Ployden. Judge, who died but an Reportes de Edmund Plowden un Apprentise de le Common Ley. Apprentice at the Law▪ (Which was more then the L. Keeper of the great Seal, without his Majesties licence, durst have done.) And mends it by and by with a kinde of sacrilege, by taking away from a noble Gentleman, his name given him at the Font inPag. 62. Sir Robert Cooke. Baptisme. Whereas had this doughty Doctour left his Littleton, and kept him to his Accidence, he could not have forgotten that Edvardus was his proper name.

Yea, but though he fails in names, he hits in matter, and shews you deep Mysteries of State; how this question of Ceremonies doth relate unto the King; and that the Statute of 1o Elis. cap. 2. (which by long search and study he found in the very first leaf of his Common prayer Book) was not a power personall to the Queen onely, but to be continued unto her Successours; and that the Kings most excellent Majesty may safely and without any danger at all, command the Table to stand (as the Doctour would have it) and to be rayl'd about. These are high matters indeed, if they be well proved.

That they shall be to a hair. For this old Lawyer, and new-created Judge, doth tell us, that if a Fee-simple be vested in me, and I passe it unto the King, the Fee-simple doth passe without these words, SUCCESSOURS, and HEYRES; as it doth to a Major, a Bishop, or any other meaner Corporation, as [Page] you have itCook on Littleton. fol 9. pag. 2. at the end there at large. Well said Doctour; His Majesty is much beholding unto you, and those about him, to take speciall care of your speedy preferment. You have not in most of your scribble given a Bishop any more prerogative then to the Vicar, nor the King in this Allegation, then to the Alderman of Grantham. Peradventure not so much. For by perusall of your Authour, I finde the Alderman ranged in the third place, but the King and the Bishop jumbled up together (as in a bagge after Chesseplay) and so thrown into the fourth place. But I pray you good Doctour, where upon earth was this power of ordering matters ecclesiasticall vested, before it pass'd away, as a piece of land held in Fee-simple, unto his Majestie by the Statute of Imo Elis. cap. 2?

Quis est tam potens cum tanto munere hoc?

Was it in the Pope? in the people? in the Clergie? in the Convocation? in the Parliament? or (peradventure) was it in Abeyance? Away Animal; I tell thee, The Power in matters ecclesiasticall is such a Fee-simple, as was vested in none but God himselfe, before it came (by his and his onely donation) to be vested in the King. And being vested in the King, it cannot by any power whatsoever (no not by hisTranslat. of the Orat. de ver. Obed. 1555. shews this to have been the opinion of Steph. Gardiner. own) be devested from him. The donour in this Feoffment is God, and God onely; the Deed, a Prescription time out of mind in the Law of nature, declared more especially and at large by that Statute-law, which we call the Word of GOD. So that, Doctour, you deserve [Page] but a very simple Fee, for your impertinent example of this Fee-simple. But what do you merit for your next prank? where you say (most ignorantly and most derogatorily to his Majesties right and just prerogative) that that Statute of 1o Elis. c. 2. was a Confirmative of the old Law? What? and was it not good, until it had pass'd the upper and lower house of Parliament? was not God able enough; the King, his bright Image upon earth, capable enough; the Deed of Nature and Scripture strong enough; but that (like a Bishops Concurrent Lease) it must receive a Confirmation in that great Chapter? YourDe jure Regis ecclesiastico, pag. 8. Non novam introduxit, sed antiquam declaravit. Authour (a deep learned man in his faculty) hath it otherwise, and rightly. It was resolved by the Judges, that the said Act of the first yeare of the late Queen, concerning Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction, was not a statute introductory of a New Law, but declaratory of the Old. Parliaments are not called to confirm, but to affirm and declare the Laws of God. Weak and doubtfull Titles are to be confirmed: such cleare and indubitate Rights as his Majestie hath to the Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction, are onely averred and declared by Acts of Parliament. And all declarations of this kind, are (as the stuffe whereof they are made) to last forever, and no Jonas Gourds to serve a turn or two and so expire, as thosep. 61. 1. Elis. c. 16. 14. El. c. 1. 14. El. c. 2. 23. El. c. 2. Probationers did, which (peradventure) some Justice his Clerk might tell you of. Yea, but your meaning is, that this Jurisdiction was intruth, or of right ought to be by the ancient Laws of the Realme, parcell of the Kings Jurisdiction, and united to the Crowne Imperiall. Still you are [Page] short, and write nothing like a Divine. I tell you man, It is the Kings right by the ancient Law of God, and a main parcell of the Kings jurisdiction, although the Laws of the Realm had never touched upon it.

Translate. 1553. Latin, 1535. Qua in re nihil novi latum est; tantùm significantiore vocabulo apposito competentem [...] jure divino [...]otestatem exprimi clarius volu [...]runt. Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, in his Oration of true Obedience, saith, that by the Parliaments calling of King Henry the Eighth, Head of the Church, there is no new invented matter wrought; onely their will was, to have the power pertayning to a Prince by Gods Law, to be the more clearely expressed with this sounding and Emphaticall Compellation. So likewise in that Book set forth by the King and Convocation, called The Institution of a Christian man, in the Chapter of the Sacrament of Orders, it is thus written: The Institution of a Christian man, printed 1537. Vnto Christian Kings and Princes of right and by Gods Commandment belongeth specially and principally to conserve and maintain the true doctrine of Christ, and all such as be true Preachers and setters forth thereof, and to abolish all abuses, heresies, and Idolatries, &c. And De absoluto Regis imperio. p. 19. Ad eas licèt Episcopi populum [...]ortar [...]et possint et debeant, l [...] gis tan [...]n vim habere sine supremi reipublicae Magistratûs authoritate, planè non dixerim. John Beckinsan, speaking of these particulars in hand, to wit, Ceremonies and Traditions not commanded by God, but recommended by Clergy-men to stirre up the people to pietie and devotion, saith, That however they mayor ought to be maintained by the Bishops, yet can they not be established as a Law, otherwise then by the Authority of the supreme Magistrate. And these are all Papists, not Protestants, who may be suspected to collogue with their Princes.

Nor is this Right united to the Crown of England onely, as this Scribbler seems to conceive, but [Page] to all other Christian Crowns, and challenged by all Christian Princes accordingly. For the Romane Empire, one of the formerQui [...] unquam im [...]robavir Iustiniani sactum, qui leges edidit de summa Trivtate, & de fide Catholica, & de Ep scopis? Steph. Winton, Orat. p. 19. [...]od, lust [...]ni [...] Tom. 2. lib. 1. i [...]rul. 1. Authours doth instance in Justinian, that with the approbation of all the world, he set forth those Laws of the most blessed Trinity, the Catholick Faith, of Bishops, Clergie-men, here [...]icks, and the like. For the most ancient Kingdomes of Castile, Leon, Toledo, and others of Spaine, famous is that great work of the seven Partidas or Sections of Laws, advanced by Ferdinando the third, otherwise called the Saint, (in whose long reign of 35 yeares, there was no touch ofRegnavit annis 35; in quibus nec [...]am [...]s, nec p [...]stis fuit in regno suo. Lopez. Gloss. in Prolog. part. 1. hunger or contagion) but finished and compleated by his Sonne Alfonso the tenth; [...]n la prima Partida del fablamos de to [...]as las cosas, que pertenescen a la se Catholica, que face al ome conocer a Dios por cre [...]ncia. Prol. d [...]l Rey Alonso, fol. 4. Col. 2. Partid. 1. In quibus Partitis sacratissimae leges, non solùm ad causas hominum decidendas, sed ad divinum cultum dirigendum augendúmque continentur. H [...]sp [...]. Illustrat. Tom. 1. Roderici Santij Histor. Hipan. part. 4. cap. 2. Et fue acabado d [...]ste que fue commencado a siete annos complidos. Prolog. del Alonso. p. 4. in the first Partida or Section whereof, he speaks wholy of matters pertaining to the Catholick faith, which directs a man to know God, by way of credence or beliefe. Nor were those Volumes so composed and collected in those seven yeares imployed in that service, to be afterward disputed of in Schools and Vniversities onely, but for thePar [...] decision de las causas, y buena Governacion de la Iusticia destos Reynos. K. Philips Proclam. [...] the Partidas, Sect. 7. 1555. decision of Causes, and the doing of justice, in all those Kingdomes and Dominions. And how many Kings before this had made Laws to the same effect in those Countreys, God knoweth. For these Partidas were for the most part, but aLeges Hispaniarum quas vocant Partitas in volumen redegit. Francise. Taraph. de Regib. Hisp. in Alf. 10. Hisp. illustr. Tom. [...]. Colligendarum cura injuncta earum quas Partitas vulgò vocant. Io. Marian. de Reb [...]s Hisp. lib. 13. cap. 8. Collection[Page]of the ancient Laws. And no otherwise have these matters been carried in the Kingdome of France. For they ever held their Kings, if not for the Sinon pour [...] de leur [...] pour le [...] comme [...] l'une de meilleures et plus saines parties d'ice [...]. Qui est la cause, que l' ou [...]ertu [...]e, &c. Pasq. Rech. l. 3. c. 30. Head of their Church, yet surely for the principall and most sound member thereof. Which is the reason, that the opening or Overture of their most ancient Councels under the first and second (that is the Merovingian and Caroline) line, was ever by the power and authority, and sometimes the presidencie of their Kings and Princes. And my Authour quarrels very much theGratian. Decre part. 2. Caus. 23. q 1. 5. D [...]st. [...]rincipes. Monk Gratian, for attributing to Isidore of Spain, rather then to a Nationall Concil. Pa [...]is. 6. l. 2. c 2 sub Lu [...]ovico Pip. Anno Dom. 829. Concil. Antiq. Sirmondi. Tom. 2. p. 526. Councell of France, held in the yeare 829, that brave and excellent saying, Principes seculi nonnunquam intra Ecclesiam potestatis adeptae culmina tenent, ut per eandem potestatem disciplinam ecclesiasticam muniant. God sometimes imparts secular power to Princes that live in the bosome of the Church, that they might imploy this power in preserving ecclesiasticall discipline. Saepe per regnum terrenum coeleste regnum proficit. The Kingdome of Heaven doth many times take growth and encrease from these Kingdomes upon Earth. Cognoscant principes seculi se Deo debere rationem propter Ecclesiam quam à Deo tuendam accipiunt. And therefore the Great ones of the world must know, that God will one day call them to an account for his Church, so tenderly recommended unto them. It is true indeed, that these words are found in the sixth Councell of Paris, lib. 2. c. 2. But it is as true, that in my Book Isidore is set down in the Margent as ready [Page] to own them. And both these will stand well enough; considering thatIsidore lived Anno 610. Helvicus. 626. Palmerius. Isidore, Scholar to Gregory the Great, did flourish very neare 200 yeares before the Aera of that Councell; and that that Councell, by incorporating of these words unto the substance of their Canons, doth put a greater lustre and authority upon them, as the French Et de plus grande authorité, en la recognoissant d' une Synode. Pasq. ibid. Antiquary well observes. And according to this doctrine, are all those Capitulars or mixt Laws, for matters of Church and Common-wealth, of Charles the Great, Ludovicus Pius, Lewis the Grosse, Pipine, and others, gathered byIn Codice Leg. Antiquar. p. 827. Lindenbrogius: And a world of other Capitula [...]s of the same nature, intermingled with the Canons of the French Edita à Sirmondo 3 volum. Councells, in the late edition of them by Sirmond the Jesuite. In a word, the very pure Acts and Constitutions of the Synods themselves, were in those former times no furtherLes Constitutions Consiliaires n' avoient lieu, si non de tant et en tant qu'elles estoient confirmées par nos Roys et prises aux Archifs de leur Palais. Pasq. Rech. l. 3. c. 30. p. 273. valid and binding, then as they were confirmed by the Kings of France, and entered duly upon the Records of their Palais or Westminster-Hall. And yet under favour, all Crowns Imperiall must give place in regard of this one flower of ecclesiasticall jurisdiction, to the Crown of Great Britannie. For as our Prince is recorded to be theThis Island hath the glory to be graced with the first Christian King that ever reigned in the wo [...]ld, which was Lucius. Speed in his 6. Book, cap. 9. This first Christian King of the world. Eccles. History of Great Britaine, Age 2. cap. 6. Sub Lucio Britannia omnium provinciarum prima publicitus Christi nomen recepit. Anton. Sabel. lib. 5. Ennead. 7. first Christian King, so is he intimated to be the first that ever exercised ecclesiasticall jurisdiction, being directed by Eleutherius the Pope to fetch [Page] his Laws by the advice of his Counsell, from theHabetis penes vos vtramque paginam: ex illis (Dei gratia) per consilium regni vestri sume legem▪ Divisos d [...]bes in unum ad concordiam et p [...]cem, et ad fidem et legem Christi, et ad sanctam ecclesiam congregare. Epist. Eleutherijm. s. in Biblioth. Cotton. In Archivis Lond. apud Stow, Anno 189 In K. Edwards Laws. Archa [...]onom-Lambardi, sol. 131. Antiquit Brita [...]. p. 5. Jewell against Harding, fol 119. Act. & Mon. 1. part. pag. 107, &c. Book of God, the old and new Testament, wherewith to reclaim his subjects to the Faith and Law of Christ, and to the holy Church. And if Father3 Convers. part 1. c. 4. Parsons shall damne this Letter, as foisted, and another obscureEccles. Hist. of great Brit. Age 2. c. 20. Papist suspect it to be corrupted, let the Reader content himself with these proofs in the Margent of a farre more authenticall averment and authority. Sure I am, that (according to this advice of Ele [...]therius) the British, Saxon, Danish, and first Norman Kings have governed their Churches and Church-men by Capitulars and mixed Digests, composed (as it were) of Common and Canon Law, and promulged with the advice of the Counsell of the Kingdome; as we may see in those particulars set forth byIn his excellent book called Archaionomia per totum. Mr. Lambard, In his Analect. Anglo-brit. l. 2. c. 3. & lib. 2. c. 6. 7. &c. Mr Selden, History of Cambria, p. 59. in Howell Dha. D. Powell, and others. And I do not beleeve there can be shewed any Ecclesiasticall Canons for the Government of the Church of England, untill long after the Conquest, which were not either originally promulged, or afterwards approved and allowed by either the Monarch, or some King of the Heptarchy, sitting and directing in the Nationall or Provinciall Synod. For all the Collections that Lindwood comments upon, are (asTheophrast. [...]. Theophrastus speaks) [...] but rough and rugged money of a more fresh and later coinage. And yet in those usurping times, I have seen a Transcript of aIn M. s. Chronic. Abbatiae de Bello. Record Anno 1157. 3o Henr. 2. wherein, when the B. of Chichester [Page] oppos'd some late Canons against the Kings Exemption of the Abbey of Battles from the Episcopall Jurisdiction, it is said, that the King being angry and much moved therewith, should reply, Tu pro Papae authoritate ab hominibus concessa, contra dignitatum Regalium authoritates mihi à Deo concessas, calliditate argutâ niti praecogitas? Do you, Sr, goe about by subtilties of wit to oppose the Popes authority, which is but the favour or connivence of men, against the authority of my Regall dignities, being the Charters and donations of God himselfe? And thereupon requires reason and justice against the Bishop for this foul insolencie. And it hath been alwayes as the practice, so the doctrine of this Kingdome, that both in every part, and in the whole, Post-nati, pag. 106. Laws do not make Kings, but Kings, Laws; which they alter and change from time to time, as they see occasion, for the good of themselves and their Subjects. And to maintain that Kings have any part of their Authority by any positive Law of Nations (as thisPag. 62. Scribbler speaks of a Jurisdiction, which either is or ought to be in the Crown by the ancient Laws of the Realm, and is confirmed by 1o Elis. c. 1.) is accounted by thatIt was never taught, but either by Traitors, (is in Spencers Bill in Edward the 2ds time) or by treasonable Papists, (as Harding in the Confutation of the Apologie) that Kings have their authority by the positive Law. Post. nati, pag. 99. great personage an assertion of a treasonable nature. But when Sr Edward Coke, or any other of our reverend Sages of the Law, do speak of the ancient Laws of the Realm, by which this Right in ecclesiasticall causes becomes a parcell of the Kings jurisdiction, and united to his Imperiall Crown, they do not mean any positive or Statute-law, which creates him such a Right, as if a man should [Page] bestow a new Fee-simple upon the Crown (as this Scribbler instanceth) or any Law which declares any such Right created by any former Law; but the continuall practice, Judgements, Sentences, or (as this veryIurisdictio intra hoc regnum exercita, Cawdreys Case, p. 8. Report calls it) Exercise of the ancient Laws of the Realm: which declareth and demonstrateth by the effect, that the Kings of England have had these severall flowers of ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction stuck in their Imperiall Garlands by the finger of Almighty God, from the very beginning of the Christian Monarchy within this Island. For so ourPost-nati, pag. 54. Sententiae Iudicum, and Responsa prudentum, have been termed, time out of mind, a main and principall part of the Common Law of England. And therefore having cleared this point at large, I shall easily yeeld to Dr Coal, that the Kings Majesty may command a greater matter of this nature, then that the holy Table should be placed where the Altar stood, and be railed about for the greater decencie; and that, although the Statute of 1o Elis. c. 1. had never been in rerum natura. But how doth the Dr make it appeare, that his most excellent Majestie hath commanded any such matter? or that there is (as he avows) any publick Order for the same? And this he must do by Proof, Reason, Authority, nay Demonstrations; as one that can endure no modesty of assertion, P. 28. & 18. A [...]. Thucyd. lib. 1. And Aristotle gives us many presidents of these modest expressions. [...], &c. [...]. Eth. 1. c. 1. See there the difference in Eustratius between [...]. I think, I conceive, I have heard, I beleeve, but jeeres at them all. I warrant you, he shall make it cock-sure with three Apodicticall Demonstrations.

IPag. 1. p. 27 & pag. 51. 52. It is so in his Majesties Chappell, where the ancient [Page] Orders of the Church of England have been best preserved, and without the which (perhaps) we had before this been at a losse amongst our selves for the whole form and fashion of Divine service. The Chappell of the King being the best interpreter of the Law which himself enacted; wherein the Communion-table hath so stood, as now it doth, sithence the beginning of Queen Elisabeth, what time that Rubrick in the Common prayer-book was confirmed and ratified. For thus he useth to double and treble his files throughout all his Pamphlet, that he may make himself a Body and Grosse (of words at least) to skarre crowes withall.

I do confesse, that that most sacred Chappell, but especially the Saint of that Chappell, may for his pletie and true devotion be a moving precedent and breathing example, not onely for the Laity and meaner sort of the Clergie, but even for the gravest of all the Prelacie, to follow and imitate. And long may this Relation continue between that Type and Prototype of Majestie. Long may he serve God, and God preserve him, and this Church and State through and by him. But yet everyPag. 28. Parish-church is not bound to imitate, in all outward Circumstances, the pattern and form and outward embellishment and adorning of the Royall Chappell. And that for these Reasons.

1.Summa Sylvestri, verbo Obed. p. 208▪ La razon es, por que lo que tiene el superior praecisamente en la mente yen la voluntad, nose ordena al subdito y inferior, a manera de praecepto, ni es declaracion de sua voluntad. Luego, en tal caso no ay obligacion de obedecer. Pedro de Ledesma 2. parte de la Suma. tractad. 15. c. 1. An Inferiour is bound to yeeld obedience to the outward onely, and not to the inward Motion of the mind in his Superior. For what the Prince keeps inwardly unto himself in his Will [Page] and Understanding, hath no reference to the Subject by way of Precept, untill it break forth ad motum exteriorem, as the Schoolmen call it, to some outward overture and declaration relating to the Subject. How the King shall adorn and set out his Chappell Royall, is a matter imminent and left to his own Princely wisdome and understanding. It is a sinne against many precepts to whisper or doubt, but that he doth it wisely and religiously. But how his Laws and Canons require us to adorn our Churches, that is the outward and exteriour moving of his Princely mind, which the Schoolmen make the onely Cynosure of our Obedience. It is not therefore his Majesties Chappell, but his Laws, Rubricks, Canons and Proclamations, that we are to follow in these Outward Ceremonies. And this I shall cleare by an instance, which we should have heard before from the Doctor, but that (peradventure) he knew it not. At. Q. Elisabeths first coming to the Crown, aSpeed. p. 858. Stow, 634. Proclamation indeed was set forth, forbidding any man to alter any Ceremonies, but according to the Rites of her own Chappell, Then I confesse unto you, for that [...], and instant of time, the Chappell, and the Chappell onely was the Rubrick, and the Pole-starre we were to saile by in our obedience. But this direction was not intended to be long-liv'd; it was but a Bush that brave Lady got under to passe over a sudden showre,Cambd. Elis. pag. 23. donec de Religionis cultu ex authoritate Barliamentaria statueretur, until the Parliament might bring to the World that Statute of Primo, [Page] whereof we spake so much before. As therefore that wise Princesse made shift for a time with her SistersPost-nati, p. 73. Seal, so did she with herFor they were the entire Ceremonies of the Masse: but that the Lords prayer, Creed and Letany was in English, as was usuall in her Fathers time. Cambd. Elis. p. 23. Stow. p. 614. Letany with Suffrage printed 16. of Iune. 1544. Ceremonies; but forsook them both, as soon as she could be otherwise provided. So as now we are no longer to president our selves in this kind by the Chappell, but by the Liturgie of Queen Elisabeth.

2. I hope I shall ever live and die in an awfull and reverent opinion of that sacred Oratory, the vivest resemblance I know upon the Earth of that Harmony of the Cherubims we look for in Heaven. Yet do I trust it will be no offence to any that beares equall devotion to that sacred place, if I pluck out this Cumane creature (who like a fawning Sy [...]ophant thinks to take Sanctuarie in that holy ground) from the shadow and shelter of the Royall Chappell. Where did the man ever hear of any Chappell in the Christian world that gave forme and fashion of Divine Service to whole Provinces? To what use serve our grave and worthy Metropolitanes, our Bishops, our Convocation-house, our Parliaments, our Liturgies hedged in and compassed with so many Laws, Rubricks, Proclamations and Conferences, if we had been long before this at a losse in England for the whole form and fashion of Divine Service, but for one Dean and so many Gentlemen of the Kings Chappell? Here is a riddle indeed!

Sphinx Philosoph. Mater me genuit, qu [...]e eadem mox gignitur ex me. I have heard often of a Mother-church, but now behold a Mother-chappell! Ad Basilicae principis Apostolorum publicari & affigi—Piu [...] Quintus, prooem. ante Missal. When Pius Quintus set forth his new Missall, he caus'd it to be proclaim'd [Page] claim'd at S. Peters Church, and not at the sacred Chappell. Concil. Gerun [...]. in Spanish en Girona, Anno 517. can. 1. Que enquanto a la celebration de los officios ecclesiasticos, &c. Francisco de Padilla. Histor. Eccles. de Esp. [...]art. 2. Centur. 6. c. 9. It is cited by Gratian 3. part. d. [...]. de Consecr. Burch. l. 3. c. 66. Ivo part. 3. c. 68. Beat. Rhenanus Praesat. in Miss. Chrysost. And is a currant direction in all Authours. In the name of God let the same Offices be said in all the Provinces, as are said in the Metropoliticall Church: as well for the order of the Service, the Psalmodie, the Canon, as the use and custome of the Ministration, was the old rule of the ancient Fathers. I have read of great diversity heretofore in saying and singing in Churches within this Realm; of the Vses ofPreface before the Common prayer-book. Salisbury, of Hereford, of Bangor, of York, of Lincoln; but never untill now of the Vse of the Chappell. I have read also of far more ancient Offices then any of all these, theIn a very old and ancient Mis. at Sr. R. Cottons. Gallicane Course, the Scottish Course, the Romane Course, the Eastern Course, the Course of S. Ambrose, and the Course of S. Benedict, all at once used in severall parts of this Island: but never read I of any ordering or directing Course from his Majesties Chappell untill now.

I pray you, good Sir, how were the divine Services held up in Christendom for the first 500 yeares, in all which time (if we may beleeve one of our bestSr H. Spilm. verbo Capella. Antiquaries,) we shall hardly meet with the name of a Chappell? Ile put you a merry Case. Most of ourStrabo, de rebus Ecclesiast. c. 31. A Capa B. Martini, quam Reges Francorum, ob adjutoriū victoriae, in praeiijs solebant secum habere. Gemma Anim de antiq. ritu Miss. l. 1 c. 128. Durand. Rational. divin. l. 2. c. 10. Beat. Rhe [...]. Praefat. in Miss. Chrysost. Ioseph. Vicecomes Observat, Ecclesiast. vol. 3. l. 2. c. 28. Ludovici pri [...] Amul [...]tum. Liturgicall Writers (the Favourites of the time) are of opinion, that this word Capella is derived from Capa, which signifies a Hood or a Mantle, and borrowed from the first Christian Kings in France of the Merovingian line, who carried about them in their Armies, the Hood of S. Martin as a Relick of much [Page] esteem: and using to say their Mattins and Vespers in that homely Booth where this Jewell was lodged, the place from this Capa was called Capella, and the beginning of Chappells in these parts of the world. My Case then is this: That if all the Churches in France had been to take the pattern of their Ceremonies from King Clouys his Chappell, they must have had every one of them a Hood of S. Martins to officiate over: which would necessarily imply, that this one Saint had a fairer Wardrobe, then all the Saints in the Martyrologie put together. And many yeares after King Clouys, Chappells in France, and the bordering Countreys, were allowed butGratian▪ Decret. part. 3. d. 1. De Consecr. Ex Concilio Triburt. Non extat hoc Conciliū citatur tamen a Burchardo etiam l. 3. c. 56. qui proculdubio vidit; eitat enim haec verba, ex Con. 4. Vide Ioseph. Vicecom. ubi supraè & Bin. Concilior. vol. 3. p. 1094 ex Hermanno Canisii. Portative, when all the Churches had fixed Altars; so as the former could not in our particular give Law to the later.

I will now lead you from France into Spaine, to see if any Countrey can yeeld you satisfaction; and let you understand, that in the Kingdom of Toledo, and the famous Universitie of Salamanca, Services in happells are quite differing from those in Parish-churches, theMozarabe por que usavn del lo [...] Christianos, que qucdaron mezel [...] dos entre los Moros Arabes y se usa del en particulares Capillas de Toledo y de Salamanca. Fr. de Padilla, Hist. Eccles. de Espan. part. 2. centur. 7. c. 20. Mozarabique pen'd by Isidore & Leander, being to this very day in use in the one, but the Romane Office commanded in the other. Teach not the Daughter therefore against all Antiquity to jet it our before the Mother: But rather give us leave to steere our selves by the Kings Laws, and we shall honour as much as you, the comelines and devotion of the Kings Chappell.

3. Lastly, I would you had not named at all the beginning of Queene Elisabeth. For when the Rubrick and Common prayer was confirmed, [Page] and ratified, there was an Altar in that Chappel, and the veryRomano autem ritu in caeteris omnibus uterentur. Cambd, El. p. 2. 3. Vsque ad vicesimum quartum Iunit. Idem. p. 39. old Masse officiated thereupon. When the Act of Parliament was passed, assented unto, and printed or proclaimed, the Altar was removed, and the Table placed, and (as both parties conjecture, for they were neither of them, the Inigo's, or Masters of the work at that time) in the very room that was filled up with the former Altar. And this may be, for ought the one knoweth, to make use of the rich Covers and ornaments, which fitted that room. But the other, as resolute asCall'd Doctor resolutissimus. Praefat in 1. Sentent. Bacon the Carmelite, enduring no Guessing or May-bees in this subject, holds it for a thriftie dream, and a poore conjecture. Better a great deal the Chappells and Churches were left to their own ability, to provide themselves of convenient ornaments, without being any way beholding to their former Altars. And if so learned a man had not delivered it, I should have held this opinion to be but [...], (as Pinder of another in that kinde) the very dream of a shadow, or the shadow of a dream, that the State should throw away more rich furniture for trying of conclusions, then the revenues of many Churches in the Kingdome are worth. But there might be other reasons of this posture of that Table, then either party hath hitherto touched. Hist. of the Counc. of Tr. l. 5. f. 4 11. Not making any open declaration, what doctrine she would follow, designing as soon as she was settled, to establish it. Et par my cette innovation laissa plusieurs choses qu'elle jugea indifferentes, comme les Orgues, les Ornements d'Eglise, quoy que plus pour policeque pour religion. Du Chesne Histoire d'Anglet. l. 21. d. 10. Exceptâ Christi cruci affixi effigie, quam in domestico sacrario servavit Regina, publicéque ostentari passa est. Thuan. Hist. l. 23. pag. 670. La Royne, qui vouloit flatter les Catholiques & les Princes estrangers, laignant n'estre pas tant e [...]oginée, qu'on pensoit, de la Religion Catholique, ny al'egal de ses Predecesseurs, fit dresser en sa Chapelle une table en formed' Autel, sur laquelle elle fit m [...]ttre une croixd' argent, aux d'eux cotés de laquelle il y avoit deux cierges, &c. Publiant, mais avec trop de faintise, que ce qu'elle faisoit, n'estoit que comme constra [...]nte a suivre l'inclination de ses subjects. Lesquels toutesfois aucontraire elle force & contrainct d'aller aux Eglises Protestantes. Flor. Du Remond. de la Naiss. l. 6. c. 11. 73. What if it was to hold besides fair Candlesticks, [Page] embossed Plate and Books of Silver, which must have a back or wall to rest upon? What if there stood in the middest thereof a massie Crucifix? What if all her Chappell was thus set forth, to comply with forreigne Princes, and to make them beleeve she was not so farre esloigned from the Catholick Religion, as was bruited abroad? Were all the Churches in England to take pattern by this, who might not possesse a picture in this kinde, no not any of the Subjects in their Articles of Imo. Elis. Artic. 45. Whether you know any that keep in their houses, any undefaced Images, Tables, Pictures, &c. Sermon against perill. of Idol. part. 3. p. 42. Images of Christ be not onely defects, but also lyes. Not that this is Gospell, but that it is QElis. h [...]r Homily. private houses? Let Dr Coal kindle as red as he pleaseth: I dare not be too peremptory in these Assertions, no more then Aristotle durst be in his morall Philosophie; But I leave him to peruse my Margin a little, where he shall finde two or three Frenchmen, who out of the Freedome of the Nation, will be sure Parler tout, and to conceal nothing that ever they heard of. And this is my Answer to the first Argument.

2.p. 18. 19. The Queens Injunctions were se [...] our for the reiglement and direction of all the Churches in this Kingdom, and it is said in them, that the holy Table in every Church shalbe decently made, and set in the place where the Altar stood, and there commonly covered, as thereto belongeth, (there is added which he leaves out, and as shalbe appointed by the Visitours) and if so, then certainly (without any ifs and ands,) it must stand along [Page] close by the wall; because the Altars alwayes stood so, that is, p. 56. generally and for the most part.p. 19. And himself affirms, that placing of the Table where the Altar stood (which he no where affirms terminis terminantibus, but as before, p. 17. in the place of the Chancell where the Altar stood) is the most decent situation, when it is not used, and for use too, where the Quire is mounted up by steps, &c. which might have easily been done. Howbeit afterwards, like a curs'd Cow, p. 18. Quo teneam nodo?) he throws down all the milk he hath given: for when he had (desperately) written before, p. 17. that he thought somewhat might be said why the Table should stand in that place of the Chancell where the Altar stood, he saith now, that p. 18. if by Altar-wise is mean't, that it should stand along close by the wall; then he believeth not, that ever it was so placed (unlesse by Casualty) in Countrey-churches. So that confessing all this, p 13. and that (as he guesseth) the Queenes Commissioners were content, that the Altars themselves should stand, in the Injunctions 1559. we have that greatp. 13. advantage which Tully speaks of, Confitentem reum; were we but sure to tie a knot upon him: For he is a slippery youth.

Plautus in Pseud. Ps. Quid, cùm manifestò tenetur? Ch. Anguilla'st, elabitur.

So that, as the former Argument was taken from the Queens Chappell, so is this from the Queens Injunctions; and (I confesse) the more pertinent of the twayn, if it had a Cube, or any solidity to rest upon.

I answer first: That though I may grant the [Page] Queens Injunctions to have been an Ecclesiasticall Law, yet shall I ever hold them to have been Laws of England, and not of the Medes and Persians. AndPost-nati, p. 106. the Kings of England have a power from God himselfe, not onely to make Laws, but to alter and change Laws from time to time, for the good of themselves and their Subjects, as I shewed before. Especially those parts of the Injunction, which (like trees) breed the Worms in the Body of them, which in a short time must needs destroy them, cannot but be subject to alteration. And this Injunction for Tables in the Church, is clearely of that nature; That the holy Table should be set in the place where the Altar stood, and there commonly covered as thereto belongeth, and as shalbe appointed by the Visitours. Which last words this false-fingerd gentlemen left out in his Quotation, as I noted before. So that this Injunction is but, as he said of1 Sam. 13 1. Saul, the sonne of one yeare, and being set forth in the end of Primo, referres the placing and adorning of the Table to the Commissioners, which concluded both these particulars in their Orders of Tertio; Orders the 10th of Octob. 1561. the first Item. That the Table should stand where the steps within the Quires and Chancells stood, and should be covered with Silk or Buckram. And there if you be a good huntsman, you may winde your Horn, and blow the full of that Injunction. O, but there is more life in the Game then so!P. 22. For then the Orders published 1561, must runne quite crosse to the Injunctions published 1559, but two yeares before; which were ridiculous to imagine. Well Coal, thou art an Antmal rationale[Page]risibile, that is, a most ridiculous creature, for thy reasoning. How many Acts of Parliament hath England seen, that were made Probationers for a shorter time then two yeares, as you compute it? What was that last Proviso in the Statute of Primo P. 58, 59, 50. you so much stood upon even now, but to imply, that the Queen by her Commissioners (when she saw cause) would appoint alterations of Ceremonies, without making your Mastership so merry disposed? However, this Injunction had her plenitudinem dierum, having lived to the last minute it was ever intended for, that is, the setling of some other Order in the premisses by the Queens Comm [...]ssioners in Causes Ecclesiasticall. They setled the Table from the Wall, andP. 26. so it continued for many yeares in most places of England, (perhaps when this Letter was written) though much deviated (as you think) from the ancient practice, of those few Moneths, scil. under the foresaid Injunction. But the Coal is not yet quenched; for he flames in the faces of the Commissioners, P. 22. for offering to place the Table where the Steps stood, and yet fixing upon the wall (which the Advertisements of 1565 do call the East-wall) the Tables of Gods Precepts imprinted for the said purpose; which could not be, if the Communion-table were not to stand abo [...] the Steps, and under the Commandments, and therefore all along the wall, (and why not aswell in the place of the steps, and end-wise to the wall?) on which the ten Commandments were appointed to be placed. Here is the longest conclusion, that ever I heard made of such short and pettie premisses. I hope he doth not think that the Tables of the Law did [Page] hang Geometrically, by a perpendicular line cutting right angles with the Communion-Table. For if they did, they would not serve his turn even in that pendancy. So that to be fixed on the Wall, or the East-wall, over the Communion-boord, can signifie nothing else, but that they should be fixed higher then the Communion-Table, upon some part of the East-wall, so as the people seeing the Communion-table, might over that see and read the ten Commandments. And this may be the better done, though the Table stand in the Midst of the Quire, which is more then the Letter required. And this is the true meaning of those Orders, as appeares byInterpretatio practice [...] is to be considered in all things. [...]ost-nat. P. 66. the generall practice, and the Canons in force. That the ten Commandments be set upon the East-end of every Church, where the people may best see and reade the same. Not just over the middle of the Tabl [...] Canon 82. running along the East-window Altar-wise; (for then they must, in most Churches, be fixt in the very Glasse it selfe) but in any part of the East-end, where Canon 82. they may be seen and read of the People. And so in B. Sand's visitation 13o of the Queen, the Article runs no more then thus, Whether have you in your Church or Chappell the Table of the ten Commandments? So that the very Church-Painters cannot but have Tanto di naso, a nose as long as the Rhinoceros, in making themselves merry with the conceit of this Argument. The Commandments are over the Table; Ergo over the side of the Table. Nonsequitur. They may be over the End of the Table. And that shalbe the end of my first answer.

Secondly, how doth it follow, thatP. 8, & 9. if the [Page] Injunction require that the Table should be set in the place where the Altar stood, it must stand along close by the wall? have you no better proof for it,P. 19. then that Altars alwaies stood so? Although this be a most bold and ignorant assertion (as shall be shewed in due time) yet being admitted, it doth not prove your sequele. For it might stand above the steps, with the end Eastward, and the side Northward, P. 26. as it was in most places of England, when this Letter was written, and yet obey the words of the Injunction, and be in the place where the Altar stood. If the Injunction had said, It was to be in the very place of the Altar, it had not done your feat. For, as Aristotle tells us, there is a double place; there isNatur. Auscult. lib. 4. c. 4. [...] there is a place of the Altar, which might hold more then the Altar did; and there is a place, that holds [...]. Ibid. just no more in any dimension, then the thing placed. And the Injunction directed to her Majesties Subjects, and not to her Mathematicians, is likelier to use the term of a common and ordinary, then of a proper and Mathematicall place. This very Injunction saith in the next words, that in the time of the Communion it shall be in the Chancell. Before the Communion. The Rubrick saith, in the body of the Church or Chancell. TheCanon 82. Canon in force, in the Church or Chancell. All which are common and Mechanicall, and not Mathematicall places. And so the place of the Altar in this Injunction, is not all, and in all dimensions, but some part onely of the Room which that Altar filled, [Page] But here it is not so difficult neither. The words are, In the place, UBI, where the Altar stood; as in theAlso that the Steps, &c. Orders of Tertio, where the Steps stood. So that the Injunction doth not describe the Mathematicall place, but the Vbi onely, and artificiall place of the Altar. AndDe subtilit. Exercit. 359. § 5. Scaliger will tell you, that many things else may be in an Vbi, without levelling their length, breadth and thicknesse to the equall dimensions of a corporeall-place. And therefore for the great paines you take with your line and levell, in finding that the Pag. 19. Altar takes up much room to the North and South, which the Table placed endlong doth not take up, and the Table much room to the East and West, which the Altar did not; you might have spared it all against the building of a new Pigeon-house. Your Chalk and Oker are quite washt away with these distinctions. For I that am but a poore Countrey-joyner, can set you up (if you please) a Table end-wise above the Steps, that shall be said as properly to be in the place where the Altar stood, as to be in the Church, in the Chancell, or that paved ground where the Steps were a little before demolished. And thus the Writer of the Letter doth not playPag. 18. Fast and loose, but loose with you for altogether, dissolving this Vtopian contradiction that rumbled in your brain, without the help of Antonius Zimarra. If you mean by Altar-wise, the place; somewhat may be said for it; if the Form of an Altar, nothing at all in the Injunctions of 1559. Nor doth the writer of the Letter any where say, thatPag. 13. the Queens Commissioners[Page]were content the Altars should stand; for my Copy hath it,The Queens most royall Majesty by the advice of her most honourable Counsell. Preface to the Injunct. the Queen and her Counsell, her Commissioners having no hand at al in these Injunctions. So that your self is theP. 13. Reus in this Confession: either wilfully corrupting the text, or swallowing a Gudgeon presented by the transcriber. I am not salaried to defend the Writer of the Letter in all words and syllables; who (had he any ground given him by his Majesties Laws to turne him about) seemes unto me fully as forward, and farre more able to defend old Ceremonies, then you are. But I must say this (though both of you should be offended) that theThe words be these, In the other (that is, either) whereof, saving for uniformity, there seemeth no matter of great moment, so that the Sacrament be duely and reverently administred. Queen and the Counsell do not, unto me, seeme to approve, but rather to disprove the standing of Altars, in this Injunction. They say indeed, that absolutely, and abstractedly from circumstances and considerations, it seemeth no matter of great moment, unto them, whether the Sacrament be administred upon the Altars, or the holy Tables, so as it be duely and reverently performed. Duely, without turning it to a Sacrifice, as the Pontificians did: And reverently, without pulling it down to a bare signe and Figure, as the Zuinglians did. But taking the case not abstracted and naked, but cloathed and adorned with all its circumstances unto their consideration, they clearely resolve to put down the Altars, and set up the holy Tables, for two main reasons.In these words, Yet for observation of one uniformity through the whole Realme, and for the better imitation of the Law in that behalf, it is ordered, &c. The first, for uniformitie of divine Service through the whole Realme. And secondly, for a conformitie with the Statute of 1• Elis. c. 2. to the which the Queen had but newly [Page] pass'd her Royall assent, when by the advice of her Counsell she published these Injunctions.

My third therefore and last Answer is this, That it had beenP. 22. ridiculous indeed to imagine, that the Queen and her Counsell (the very flower and glory of both the Vpper and Lower house of Parliament) should in these Injunctions vary from the Rites, which they had but few dayes before prescribed to be used in the Rubrick of the Book of Common prayers: Letter. p. 71 Where the Minister appointed to reade the Communion, is directed to reade the Commandments, not at the end, but at the North-side of the Table, Rubrick before the Communion. which implies the end to be placed towards the East great Window, as is was likewise practised in KingP. 26. That onely was put in to shew that he had the Book entituled The Trobles of Francofurt. Edwards time; which the writer of the Letter (what shift soever the poore man made to get the Book) hath indeavoured to prove out ofPag. 30. The Troubles at Francofurt. It being very like, that Cox, Grindall, and Whitehead (who made halfe theCambd. Elis. p. 23. number of the perusers of the Liturgie, which was to be confirmed in the Parliament of Primo) would observe that Ceremony in placing the Communiontable, which themselves (at home andTroubles of Francof. p. 23. 24. abroad) had formerly practised. And that this was the last situation of that Table in King Edwards time, we may know from a servant in Ordinary of Queen Maries, from whom as I would be loath to receive matters of doctrine, so shall I never refuse to be informed in matters of Fact, consonant and agreeing to the Rubrick of our Liturgie. Considering, as the Poet saith, [Page] ‘—Fas est & ab hoste doceri.’

Miles Huggard, in his book cal'd The displaying of I rotestants, Anno 1556. Pag. 81. So the Bishop of Lincoln to Bishop Ridley, And yet when your Table was constituted, you could never be content in p [...]acing the same, now East, now North, &c. Act. & Monum. vol. 3. p. 497. How long were they learning to set their Table to minister the said Communion upon? First they placed it aloft, where the high Altar stood. Then must it be set from the Wall, that one might go between: The Ministers being in contention on whether part to turne their faces, either towards the West, the North, or South. Some would stand Southward, some Northward, and some Westward. And this contention was determined (by the Rubrick still in force) for the North-side of the Table. Which in my opinion, confirmes very much the conceit of the Letter, seeme it to Doctor Coal never so shallow. That the Table should stand above the steps, if there were any; That it should not stand along close by the wall; That having (unlesse it were a Monster) but two long sides, Letter pag. 71. 70. one of them should be placed towards the North, to obey the direction of the Liturgie. And for elbow-room, let him take his square & plummet again, wee'l finde him enough.Actor. Eccles. Medio. sub Car. Borrom. part. 4. Instructionum fabricae & supellectilis Ecclesiastica, l. 1. c. 11. When you build an high Altar, there must be from the foot or lowest degree thereof, to the Rails that enclose the same, eight cubits, and more, if the Church will bear it, that there may be room for the Clergi to assist (as sometimes is required) at solemne Masses. When the Altars therefore, with their appurtenances, were taken down (for I will not offend those tender eares of his with the word Pag. 11. Pulling any more, though they deserve to be pull'd once again for this childish Criticisme) there was roomth enough to set a Communion-Table end-wise, in that very place where the Altar [Page] stood. Yet doth Doctor Coal hope (if his fire be of any activity at all) he hath burnt this doctrine to very dust, erudito pulvere, with the learned dust of his Geometry.

pag. 23. For there is no difference at all in this case, between the North-end and the North-side, which come both to one. For in all quadrilaterall and quadrangular figures, whether they be a perfect square, which Geometricians Geometr. lib. 12. Can. 2. that is, Peter Ramus, and those that follow him; for the Greeks do call it [...], and the Latinists, aequilaterum; which would not handsomely fit in this place, where the discourse is of a long-square) call Quadratum; or along-square (as commonly our Communion-Tables are) which they call Oblongum, it is plain, that if we speak according to the Rules of Art (as I hope we do not use to speak to poore Subjects, that are penally to obey Lawes and Canons) everypart of it is a side, howsoever Custome Horat. in Arte Poëtica. (Quem penes arbitrium est & jus & norma loquendi) hath prevailed to call the narrower sides by the name of Ends. When therefore he that ministreth at the Altar, stands at the North-end of the same, as we (that are not Mathematicians) use to call it, he stands no question (the right stile of a Geometrae, qui se profitentur non persuadere, sed cogere. Cic. Acad. Quaest. l. 4. Geometrician) at the North-side thereof, as in property of speach we ought to call it. And this Interpretation of the Rubrick I rather stand to, because it is translated in the Latin Liturgie of 2do Elisabethae; ad cujus mensae Septentrionalem partem Minister stans. And I presume no man of reason can deny, that the Northerne end or side (call it which you will) is pars Septentrionalis. And thereupon he throws down his Gauntlet, and [Page](contrary to the Proclamation) challengeth in plaine termes the trimme Epistoler, to let him (if he can) heare in some reasonable time the contrary from him.

It is a Chartell of defiance, I confesse, and being sufficiently divulged, I must leave it to the party called upon, to take up, if he please, or otherwise to disgest, as his stomack and discretion shall best serve him. Let him meet the Doctour, if he dare; but yet happie he, if he do not meet him. For mine owne part, I am nothing so much troubled with this language, as I am with a speculation that suddenly comes into my head, of the elevation and raptures of the Soul, when it is throughly plung'd in the studies of the Mathematicks. For as these learned men converse in abstracted notions (as the [...]. Arist. de Anima, lib. 1. cap. 1. Philosopher tells us) without any mixture with the mud of this world; so is their pleasure and contentment so pure and liquid, that it is a kind of [...]. Plut. Non suaviter posse vivere juxta Epicurum. pag. 1094. Hony-combe without any wax, and a bowl of Nectar powred down their throat without a crum of any diverting or distasting thought to interrupt them. Incomparable was the delight of Euclide, when he had found how to make but [...]. Plut. ibid. a Iacobs staffe, which notwithstanding, I can buy for twelve pence. Archimedes wash't in a brazen Lavatory, cryes out in an extasie, I have found it. His men thought he had found a Coronet of gold, and it was nothing but the [...], Idem. ibid. Coronet or Circumference of the Vessell. But that sad youth Pythagoras went beyond them all, who having [Page] ever been in all his Sacrifices, [...], far from any lavishing humour, when he had found in a Diagramme an equality of some lines, or (as the Doctour calls them) of some sides, in a rightangled Triangle, [...] (saith minePorphyrius de vita Pythag. ab Holstenio editus. p. 24. Authour) down went a whole Ox to the Gods for the Inspiration. It is not therefore without a great deale of reason, that Dr Coal doth thus triumph in this page, to have found, by his rare Invention and study in Geometry, foure sides in a long Table; nor without some hope of having one day an Altar and a Sacrifice, for joy of the Diagramme. And surely well may he deserve it, if at a Table that hath no end, he can Officiate at the end of the Table. Otherwise, to enform us that in every Square there are foure sides (that is, [...], Squares are figures compassed with foure right lines. Euclid. Element. ex Theon comment. translated by Dosypodius. [...], Right figures are those that are compassed with right lines. Ibid. foure lines; as all Mathematicians define a side.) I assure you, is no more, then a Child in his long coats was able to demonstrate to the Divine Socrates. [...], &c. Plato in Menon. pag. 418. Pusionem quendam Socrates interrogat quaedam Geometrica de dimensione Quadrati. Cic. Tufc. qu. l. 1. Socr. From what line, my Child? Ch. From this line. Socr. What, from this of foure foot long running from angle to angle? Ch. Iust so, Sir. So as the Gods deserve nothing at all, no not that holocaust mentioned in the beginning of the Book, of the Doctours discretion (which is a grain or two lesse then nothing) for this poore and meagre invention.

And that I deale clearly in this point to the Greeks in the Margin, I will adde some definitions of anM. Blundevils Exercit. 1 Book of the Sphear, p. 274. English Gentleman of good esteem amongst the Learned. Triangles are those which are bounded with three right lines. Foure-square figures [Page]are those which are bounded with foure right lines. Many square figures are those which are bounded with more right lines then foure, &c. If you speak therefore according to the Rules of Art, a side in Geometry, is a line or length; and foure sides are but foure lengths. But a side in the English-tongue, is a long length (as the side of a man, from whence the word is derived, is the longest length of a man) and the two sides of a long Square, the two long lengths of that Square; which to the worlds end will never be proved to be that Squares End. Your selfe confesse that Custom hath prevail'd to call the narrower sides (say you, I say, Lines or Lengths) by the name of Ends. And will you dispute out of Geometry against Custom? And that with people which are no Geometricians? [...]. Arist. Analyt. post. l. 1. c. 12. Then Aristotle shall tell you what you are. You must not dispute in termes of Geometry, with those that verse not in Geometry: Otherwise, you will shew your selfe but a foul and sophisticall disputant. Now Points and Lines are [...], Arist. Anal post 1. c. 10. proper to Geometry: Iul. Polluc. li. 4. c. 21. p. 212. and so are Triangles, Quadrangles and Quadrates. And therefore these are not words for binding and penall Laws. Loquendum cum Vulgo. When you speak to the People of a Side, you must take a Side as they take it.Opera danda est ut verbis utamur quàm usitatissimis. Cio. 4. de Finib. Vsitata sunt ea, quae versantur in sermone & consuetudine quotidiana. Cic. ad Heren. lib. 4. We must take the words that are most usuall, that is, those of daily speach and communication. If Custom have prevailed, it is too late to stop the current. Custom will carry it quite away from your Geometry. And as you may see in the Margin out of Tully (one that understood prettily well the propertie [Page] of speach) there is no property of speach, but in the speach of use and Custome. For other wise every Art hath her words of Art; asDialecticorum quoque verba nulla sunt publica; suis utuntur, Et id quoque commune omnium ferè artium. Cic. Acad. quaest. l 1. Logick, and what not? Nay the [...]. Analyt. post. l. 1. c. 11. great Philosopher tells us, that if a Musician propound his Probleme to a Geometrician in his own terms, hee'l go near to gravell him. If you please, wee'l try it a little. You are an excellent Geometrician, I perceive, and yet I shall present you with an Epitaph of a French Musician, Noelle sueur, written in terms of Musick, which, for all your Mathematicks, you will never understand without the help of that chanting Science. Now if you may perchance have a Crochet in your pate more then I know of, be not descanting too fast upon this Epitaph. Upon my word it was not made of a Vicar, but of aLes Bigarreures du Seigneur des Accords. De Rebus par lettres ch. 3. p. 25 & 26. Chanter of Langres, and is here faithfully translated from the originall, who ever the Rhymer was.

An Epitaph of an excellent Musician, faithfully translated out of a French Authour.

VVEll couth he climb the scale of Gamuth Are,

Till leaving Quire, and of a Mood to marry,

In this imperfect Time, & uneven Notchets;

His house with Minum's swarm'd, his head with (Crochets.

Then prowles a Long the Countrey for relief,

Look't for a Large, but lighted on a Brief.

And from the White Long, and the sacred Altar,

Deserving Duplas, reap'd but Sesquialtar.

[Page] Base was his best part; yet his Neighbours say,

He sung the trouble till his dying day.

For Counterpoints and Discords much enquest

He made, till here he found his pause and Rest.

Time perfect had he had and more prolation,

He quite had chang'd the plain song of the Nation.

Now all this is canting, not chanting, to an unmusicall man.

You are too much in your Mathematicall humour; as Euclide was before you: who passing through many countreys, and coming at the last to the banks of Nile, and finding there some Diagrammes in the sand, drawne by the Egyptians Coelius Rhodigin. Antiq. lection. lib. 18. cap. 34 [...] Nunquam non Collimitiis pereuntibus Nili exuperantia. Hieron. Card. Encom. Geometr. (whom the often overflowing of that River had forced to the study of Geometry) is said to kneele down, and give the Gods thanks, that he was entring into a countrey inhabited by men. As if they could be no men, that were not withallCardan. ibid. Geometricians. I pray you therefore remember, that the Rubrick was written for the use of the English, not of the Gypsies or Egyptians. And for your directions hereafter, I will give you two Rules from two Englishmen, prettily well versed in Lawes and Canons, because I perceive you suspect and jeere theThe ablest Canonist no doubt in the Church of England. p. 50. writer of the Letter, as unskil'd in that kind.Post-nat. p. 62. Words should be taken sensu currenti. For use and custome is the best Expositour both of Laws and words. If of all Laws and Words, then most of all of the Words of the Lawes. That's the first. The second is to the same effect.Whitgift in his defence of the admonition, tit. 9. pag. 134. The other is the common name [Page]customably used of the common people, who will not be taught to speak by you or any man, but keepe their accustomed names and terms. Though you will go neare to tell him for his good advice,Pag. 47. that this was but his Helena to please the people. Well, if one should invite the good Gentlewoman your wife to dinner, and bid her sit down at the side, meaning in your property of speech, at the End of the Table, he might upon the very naming of this word side, find his Gossip (peradventure) in the Top of the house. But to dally with you no longer; learned men in these very particular Ceremonies we have in hand, have appropriated the word sides, to the long, and the word End, to the short length of an Oblong square: So as they cannot now be otherwise (but improperly) used. What say you to Gregory the 13th who renewed the Calendar? I hope he had about him all the bestBullarii Tom. 2. p. 456. Mathematicians of Europe, that could inform him what was properly to be called a side. And yet in his Pontific. Greg 13. Venet. 1582. p. 144. Et thurificat Altare undi (que) ad dextrum & sinistrū latus. Et p. 142. In parte posteriori, & parte anteriori Altaris. And it is so likewise in the Pontificall of Pius Quartus printed at Venice, 1561. p. 133. Above all this, see Act. & Monum. vol. 2. pag. 700. Of B. Ridley. And in the Church of [...]oul brake down the wal, standing then by the high Altars side. And when the Altare Sanctum in S. Denis in France was opened by the Abbat Suger, there was found S. James arme, en la partie anteritur, in the anteriour part; S. Stephens at the right, and S. Vincents at the left side of the Altar. Du Brenl. Theatre des Antiquitez de Paris lib. 4. pag. 1102. Pontificall, he makes no more sides of an Altar, then of a man, to wit, a right side and a left side; calling the lesser squares, the anteriour and posteriour part thereof. What think you of Archbishop Bancroft, and the Composers of our Canons now in being? Did they use in those Canons a property of speach? Surely they were much too blame, if they did not. And they require (as we heard before)Canon 82. That the ten Commandments should be set upon the East-end (not the East-side [Page]of every Church and Chappell. And for the words of the Latin Liturgie of 2 [...] of the Queen, that translates it, ad mensae Septentrionalem partem (which Politia Eccles. p. 221. Mocket likewise follows in his Book) it helps the Doctour nothing at all, but to shew his want of Logick and learning. For beside that that Book is recommended onelyQuoniam intelligimus Collegia utriusque Academiae, Collegium item novum prope Wintoniam, & Aetonense. Q. Letters patents, 6. April. El. 2. to a few Colleges, and not unto the Church of England, and was never confirmed by Act of Parliament, or King Iames his Proclamation; Walter Haddon, or whosoever else was the translatour thereof, in his Rhetoricall vein, useth in his rendring of these words, the Genus for the Species, which in an Argument will by no means endure a [...]. Top. 4. c. 1. Reciprocation, as freshmen know in the Universities. I do presume, gentle Doctour, that no man of reason can deny but that every End is a Part: but I hope a man may stoutly deny that every Part is an End, and yet with the help of a warm Night-cap keep his Reason safe enough. Every side of a man is a part: but he that will say that every part of a man is a side, hath neither head nor brains of his own, nor hath he ever studied Vesalius his Anatomy. So that your Argument is troubled with a Pleurisie and some stitches in the side, which must be cur'd; otherwise you have reason, Sr, to expect ye [...] long to heare some news from the trimme Gentleman. Your Eve, Sr,

Martial. epigr. lib. 6.

(—Illa tuum, Castrice, dulce latus)

was taken from your side: (And thereupon, by theMartinius in Lexic. verbo Latus. Phrisians and Sicambrians, a Wife is to this day call'd a side.) But she was not taken from Si ex posteriori parte eduxisset, nimiò plùs mulier vilis extitisset; si ex anteriori, quasi viro adversariam effinxisset. Gennad. [...] aten. Lippo [...] in Gen. c. 7. fol. 74. Nè aut Domina, si de Capite; aut Ancilla, si de Pedibus. Hugo de S. Victore. everypart of a man. Tell her, that she was taken [Page] from your Heels, & you shall quickly find her (if she be metall'd) about your Eares. So in this particular; when you officiate at the end of the Table, you may officiate at a part (and well enough, for ought the writer of the Letter saith to the contrary) but you cannot officiate at that part of the Table, to the which by the Rubrick, confirmed by Act of Parliament, you are literally directed and appointed. Besides that, there is in this Latin translation more to be considered, then you are aware of. The Calendar there is full of Saints, and some of them got into red scarlet; there is an innovation in the Obits and Exequies, which is fain to be warranted with the Queens Peculiari [...] quaedam in funebribus & exequiis de [...]antinda, quae Statu [...]o non obstante, &c. Q. Letter patent. especiall Non obstante. And what needed this to yong Scholars, that mean't not to die so fast, but desired no more then leave to pray in Latin, to be better acquainted with books in that Language? Lastly, there were so few Copies of this Latin Liturgie printed at the first, that Dr Whitaker, when he was but yet a very yong man, was imployed by his Vncle the Dean of Pauls, to translate it again intoLatinitate donàsse fertur (The Book is extent in 8 [...]. omnem rationem publicarum precum & totius Liturgiae formam praescriptam. Ashtonus in vita Whitak [...]ri. Oper. tom. 1. pag. 699. Latin. Which had never been, unlesse the other version was at that time either exhausted or misliked. Set all these together, and compare the yeare of 3 [...] and 4 [...] of the Queen (for so long it may be yer the Book was printed) with the doings at the Councell of Trent, with the Popes endeavours to excommunicate, and the Emperours to protect this yong Princesse, and you shall finde a probable reason that this Liturgie should be translated, rather to complie with theSee the History of the Counc. of Trent. lib. 8. pag. 727. Item Cambd. Elis. pag. 41. forreign, then to reigle and direct the English [Page] Churches. And so much by way of Answer to the second Argument.

3. The third and main Argument of Dr Coal is this:p. 63. That his sacred Majestie (whom God long preserve) hath hereupon already declared his pleasure, in the Case of S. Gregories, and thereby given encouragement to the Metropolitanes, Bishops, and other Ordinaries, to require the like in all the Churches committed to them.

If this were true, it might very well serve for a Wall of brasse to keep off the tongues and pens of all the Clergie and Laity of England, from intermedling in this Theme or Question any more. For who could have so steely a brow, as to outface such a sacred Sentence; especially in a matter of a nature indifferent, & acknowledged by all Laws divine and humane, to depend immediately upon the Royall decision? But it is most untrue, that his Majesty hath declared in that Act one word of his pleasure Hereupon, that is, against the Contents of this Letter; although it was (if I be rightly informed) either punctually read, or opened very fully, unto his most excellent Majesty at that Hearing But this Pamphleter, whose whole book is but a Libel against a Bishop, and every page thereof a malicious falsification of some Authour or other, had this height of impudency onely left to ascend unto in the Conclusion of his work, ponere os in coelum, to outface heaven it self, and misreport the justice of so divine a Majestie. For if you abstract from this Declaration, which this bold man hath printed for an Act of Counsell, the Allegations (which [Page] he calls the Relations) of both parties, and his Majest [...]es just pleasure for the dissolving of the Appeal; the remainder will prove a full confirmation of this Letter he so much frets against, and a most condigne reprehension of that Squirrelheaded yong man, that without consent of his Fellow minister, and in contempt of his Diocesan, and all that populous Parish, would throw the Communion-table out of doores, and build him a close Altar, out of faction and singularity. His Majesties Rescript, Mentis aureae verba bracteata, fit to be written in plates of gold, is this, and this onely, concerning the point in controversie.

And likewise, for so much as concerns the liberty givenp. 65. by the said Communion-book, or Canon, for placing the Communion-table in any Church or Chappell with most conveniency: That liberty is not to be understood, as if it were ever left to the discretion of the Parish, much lesse to the particular fancy of any humorous person, but to the judgement of the Ordinary, to whose place and function it doth properly belong to give direction in that point, both for the thing it self, and for the time, when and how long, as he may finde cause.

With this Sentence I will conclude the Chapter: And will not presume with anyNè quid, post illud divinum & immortale factum, mortale faceret. Plin. in Panegyr. mortall discourse of mine, to profane such heavenly expressions. Here is more then I could say; here is as much as I could think. Here is no Altar, no Altarwise, no fixing in the East, no stepping, no mounting; but all left to the Law, to the Communion-book, to the Canon, and to the Dio [...]esan. And therefore if this do not defend the Writer of the Letter (if he [Page] prove apag. 3. Diocesan writing to his own private Parish-Priest) par my & par tout, (as our Common Lawyers use to say) from the first word to the very last therein contained, let him get him another Champion, and remain undefended for me.

—

Virgil. Aeneid. 1.

Si Troija dextrâ

Defendi potis est, etiam hâc defensa futura est.

CHAP. III.

Of the Episcopall, and Presbyterall or private Ministers power, in matters of Ceremony. What influence the Piety of the times, or the (secret) good work now in hand, can have on this subject.

AS theA ceromate nos Aphe exce pit. Senec. Epist. 57. Haphe, pulvis quo inspergebantur luctaturi. Muretus in locum. Sic Ovid. Ille cavis hausto spargat me pulvere palmis. ancient wrastler in the Olympick Games finding his adversaries members so slick and slippery with oile and sweat, as it was impossible to lay any fixed hold upon them, used to powder them over with a kind of dust, whereby to procure himself a surer gripe and fastning: So this Pamphleter having slipt and glided (as it were) those poore Reasons he hath into all the severall parts of this Libell, so as it is impossible to refute them without committing as many Tautologies as he useth himself; I have thrown this Method like a kind of Pin-dust upon those naked limbs, that I might get some hold of him, and trie whether he be as strong and manly, as he is fidging and slippery in his Refutation. As therefore I have in the last Chapter reduced into [Page] a body all the Regall, so I intend to do in this, all the Ecclesiasticall power, that the poore fellow conceives to be any way opposite to the Letter confuted. I must therefore fall a picking of them up, like so many Daisies in a bare Common, here and there one where I can finde them.

First, the setting of your Table Altar-wise being now exacted from you by your Ordinary: This Case (saithpag. 2. he) requires more of your Obedience then Curiosity. And should we all be so affected as to demurre on the Commands of our Superiours, in matters of exteriour order, and publick government, till we are satisfied in the grounds and reasons of their Commands, or fly off from our duty, we should soon find a speedy dissolution both of Church and State. You know who said it well enough; Si ubi jubeantur, quaerere singulis liceat, pereunte obsequio imperium etiam intercidit.pag. 59. Now the Ordinary of his own Authority can (if he please) so appoint and direct it. Beside that, his pag. 63. Majestie hath given encouragement to the Bishops and other Ordinaries (whereof I have shewed the contrary in the precedent Chapter) to require the like in all the Churches committed unto them.

Secondly, The Vicar of Gr. himself pag. 9. might desire to have an Altar, i. e. to have the Communiontable placed Altar-wise at the upper end of the Quire, or use the name of Altar for the holy Table.pag. 10. Because, for any thing the Canon tells us, the Vicar (who is never nam'd or dream't of in the Canon, or articled unto concerning this particular in either the Diocesan or Metropolitan Visitation) was to have a greater hand in ordering of the said Table then the Bishops immediate Officers, the Churchwardens, were [Page]or ought to have; as one that better understood, what was convenient in and for Gods Service, then they did or could. Nor did the Vicar any thing against the Canon (as he did not by taking his Mornings draught before he went about it) in causing the Table to be disposed of to a more convenient place then before it stood in. Onely this Epistoler is pleas'd to countenance the Vestry-doctrine of these dayes, in which the Churchwardens and other Elders (that grow in the Doctours barren wit, never dream't of in the Letter) would do all, leaving their Minister (God blesse good holy Church-men from such a misadventure) to his studies and Meditations. A thing more fitting for S. Basil or S. Bernard, then for a Vicar, who was never intended for a looker on, or a dull spectatour of their active undertakings in removing (when they are commanded by the Ordinary) a joyned Table. pag. 11. For the Curate being once appointed as a principall man to take Altars down, who but he should set them up? It is true indeed that the Bishop of the Diocese is the man, to whom by right (and by the Liturgie) the ordering of these things doth belong; but then it is as true (or if it be not true, as it is most false and foolish) yet (saith theTitle pag. Iudicious and learned Divine, Dr Coal, aliàs Firebrand) it is more fit, that he should send his resolutions to the Priest, then to the (I know not what) people, a kind of Myrmidons swarm'd out of the Doctours fancie, and never mentioned in the Letter confuted. And to say that they are the Diocesans subordinate officers in this kind, is another smack of the Vestry-doctrine; And placed there on front; to delight the people, encouraged thereby to contemn their Parsons, who are left to meere [Page] contemplative Meditations, and not employed (as they should be) in removing and providing of Frames and Tables. And therefore, O bloudy Prelate, to gore thy Clergy in this kind, as not to suffer them to execute all these Mandates of Commissaries and Officialls, concerning Bells, Frames, Bell-ropes, Beeres, Shove ls, and square Tables; but leave those active spirits to moulder away (against all conscience) in divine Meditations! Parce precor stimulis. Oh be not so hard-hearted and mercilessepag. 48. to advance on this sort the Authoritie of the Churchwardens so high above their Ministers. Especiallypag. 51. seeing the Vicar in correspondence unto former practice (some 80 yeares before) thought the place where formerly the Altar stood, to be fittest for it. Which he knew better then this extravagant Epistoler, pag. 3. though the Epistoler seem to be a Diocesan, and the other a private Parish-priest in his Iurisdiction.

Thirdly and lastly, If both the Ordinary and Vicar (which is not to be conceived) should want a power to set the holy Table Altar-wise, pag. 4. & 28. what can be said to that uniformity of publick order, to which the piety of the times is so well enclined? What say you to the good work which is now in hand? Shall suchpag. 3. a poore trifling piece of work as this, discountenance these sublime intentions? Non sinam, non patiar, non feram. And thus our Coal sparkles and layes about him.

But surely these demonstrations were born in Thebes, and not in Athens, and being of the true Cadmean brood, do kill and destroy one another;

—

Ovid. Metamorph. lib. 3.

suóque

Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulnera fratres.

[Page] For if the Vicar had power to transpose Tables and set up Altars without and contrary to the will of his Ordinary, why should he not (in the name of God) demurre upon the Commands of his Superiour in matters of exteriour order, and bid a Fico to your first Argument. But if upon his first demurre in this kinde, imperium intercidit, the Empire Ecclesiasticall is at an end, what shall become of the lusty blade that understood himself better then this extravagant Ordinary, and of your second kinde of Argument? Mary then, if the Piety of the times, the devotion of some judicious particulars, and a good work, as yet in Abeyance and pendant in the aire, but ready yer long to fall upon our heads, shall become the Square and Canon of our exteriour order in the Church; Barbara celarent, talke no more of Mood and Figure, for I would not give a button for all your Syllogismes. So that these Thebane Arguments, that drew their first breath

Iuven. Satyr.

Vervecum in patria crassóque sub aëre,—

are but a kinde of Sheeps head sodden in the wooll, and will do the Writer of the Letter no harm at all; being made of thePallas adest motae que jubet supponere terrae Vipereos dentes. Ovid. Metam. l. 3. tusks, though of a Serpent indeed, yet of a dead toothlesse Serpent. First, as touching the Reverend Ordinaries of this Land, if there be any that dislike of their Callings, or conceive of the same as not grounded upon Apostolicall, and (for all the essentiall parts thereof) upon divine Right; I would he were with Master Cotton in the New, as unworthy of that most happy [Page] government, which (by the favour of God and the King) all the Laitie and Clergie doe here enjoy in the old England. But yet they never had, or challenged unto themselves any such exorbitant power over their Clergie, and over the Laws and Canons established (especially over Acts of Parliaments) as this Iudicious and learned Divine (as he writes) but indeed most injudicious and trifling Novice (as he proves himselfe) doth attribute unto them. Did ever any Bishop covet to command his Clergie, as a Generall doth his Armie in a drunken mutinie, by Martiall Law? And yet this is the veryVino graves They would know whither Varius Crispinus did drive those Cartloads of Armour. Tacit. Histor. l. 1. c. 83. according to Gruterus. President he cites out of Tacitus. No, no, Bishops have ever governed their Clergie by Canon Law, and not by Cannon shot. God hath appointed them to governe both the Priests and the People subjected unto them according to certaine divine and humane Lawes, and that with a power of Moderation, and not Domination, saith a greatBils. de perpetua Guber [...]. 1 [...] p. 352. Prelate of this Church. Sitting in Synods they might heretofore judge of Canons, but in their Chaires they are not to judge of Canons, but according to Canons, saith theGratian. par [...]. 1. dist. 4. Father of all the Canonists. Otherwise why are theConcil. Nice [...]. c. 5. [...] And therefore they may conqueri de judiciis suorum Episcoporum. Concil. Afric. sub Aug. Can. 28. Appeals by Canon Law as ancient in the Church of God, as the Canons themselves? But because it is possible a Prelate may propose unto himselfe, some peevish, wrangling, and waspish humour of his owne, in stead of a Canon? No ecclesiasticall Judge whatsoever is to guide himself by hisExir. de Constitut. c. 1. own sense, but by the authoritie of the Canons. It is true indeed, that our reverend Archbishops and Bishops [Page] shops here in England had a power (in Synod) to make Declaratories and Revocatories of their Common Law (as they terme it) to set penalties where they were wanting, and aggravate them where they were deficient, and to make Additaments to the constitutions of the Pope himselfe; but still with thisLindwood in c. Presbyt. verbo Iuramento, de Majotit. & Obedient. proviso, that they do not overthrow the jus commune, and crosse the generall Lawes of Gods Church. But this power they had heretofore, it being now quite taken away by25. H. 8. c. 19. King Henry the Eighth. And that not for the reason some have given thereof,Considerations of the Government of Bishops. because the state of the Clergie was then thought a suspected part to the Kingdome, in their late homage to the Bishop of Rome: (for there were as greatCùm esset Ra [...]isponae, nec adhuc Episcopus aut Cancellarius, dicebat fuisse in arbitrio Regis statuta abrogare & ritus novos instituere Calvin. in Amos. c. 7. v. 13. Royalists in those dayes as in any age sithence whatsoever) but for the reasons I gave in the Chapter before; that these Ecclesiastical Jurisdictiōs were the native Roses, and Lilies of the Crown, not first prickt in by Gardiner the Bishop, but grafted and deeply rooted in the same by the first Genes. 2. Gardener we read of from the very beginning. So that the power of making and executing such Canons being ceased, if the Ordinaries now command, where there is no Law or former Canon in force, it layes a burden and grievance upon the subject, from which he may appeale, as being a thing unjust, and Lindwood in c. Quia inconveniens. consequently of a nature whereunto obedience is no way due. Nor do our reverend Bishops otherwise conceive it.Bils. de perpet. Eccles Gubern. [...]. 14. p. 341. Whatsoever by the Laws of God, the Prince, or the Church, is once constituted, is no longer to be mooted upon, but [Page] absolutely obeyed by all inferiours. And what God, the King, and Church have directed, is not to be put to deliberation, but to execution. AndD. Field of thè Church. l. 5. c. 27. another learned man saith truly, that we make not the power of the Bishops to be Princely, but Fatherly, and dirigible by the Lawes. And Master Preface to his VVorkes. Hooker gives the reason hereof: When publike consent of the whole hath established any thing, every mans judgement being thereunto compared is private, howsoever his calling be to some kind of publike charge. Now it is true asP. 15. Dr. Coal noteth, that in all doubts that may arise how to understand, do and execute the things contained in our Liturgie, a deciding power is left to the Bishop of the Diocese, to take order by his discretion for the quieting of the same. But it is as true, that Coal dasheth out with an &c. the main Proviso of this power; Preface before the Book of Com. Prayer. So that the same Order be not contrary to any thing contained in this Booke. And therefore it is untrue what he saith in the end of his Pamphlet, That the Ordinary hath an Authoritie of his own (as he is Ordinary) to place the holy Table in one or other situation, more than what is given him (is case of doubt and diversity only) by the foresaid Preface. All which I have opened the more at large, to shew the raw and indigested Crudities, that this judicious Divine imposeth upon us; not that I would advise any Clergy-man, of what degree soever, to oppose his Ordinary, either in this or any other particular of so low a nature. Far be it from me to do so. That is a Doctrine ‘—nigro carbone notanda,’ [Page] to be defended onely by Dr Coal. I say, that all Commands of the King (for this Fellow jumbles againP. 2. Should we [...]ly off from our duty at sight of every new device, we should soon find a speedy dissolution both of Church and State. the King and the Bishop, tanquam Regem cum regulo, like a Wren mounted upon the feathers of an Eagle) that are not upon the first inference and illation (without any Prosyllogismes) contrary to a cleare passage in the Word of God, or to an evident Sun-beam of the Law of Nature; are precisely to be obeyed. Nor is it enough, to finde a remote and possible inconvenience, that may ensue therefrom; (which is the ordinary objection against the book of Recreations) For every good subject is bound inWe would not hive our Subiects so much to mistake our Iudgement, so much to mistrust our Zeale, as though We either could not discern what were to be done, or would not do all things in due time. K. Edw. Proclam. before the Cō mun. 1548. Conscience to beleeve and rest assured, that his Prince (environed with such a Counsell) wilbe more able to discover, and as ready to prevent any ill sequele that may come of it, as himself possibly can be. And therefore I must not by disobeying my Prince, commit a certain Sinne, in preventing a probable but contingent inconveniency. And then in the next place, for the Bishop or Ordinary: If he command according to the Laws and Canons confirmed, (for otherwise he is in his Eccentricks, and moves not as he should do) why then, insuch a case as we had even now, that is, a CaseQuid si dubite [...] subditus, utrùm quod praecipitur sit contra Deum vel non? Respondeo; Debet obedire. Summ. Rosell. Summ. Angel. Summ. Sylvest. in verbo Obedientia. Quoties subditus convenienti inquisitione certificari non potest, obedire debet, & obediend [...] excusatur, etiamsi dubites an agat contra praeceptum Dei vel non. Sylv. ex Raimundo. Vide Pedro de Ledesma. [...]um. part. 2. trat. 15. c. 1. So in the Partidas. Part. 1. tit. 23. Ley 11. En esto es tenud [...] el menor de fazer la voluntad de su mayor (that is) The lesser in this case is to follow the will of the Greater. See then for the Canon Law. Hostiens. Sum. lib. 1. de majorit. & obed. Gl. in c. ad Aures. De tempore Ordin. in Gl. 2. et Gl. 1. in c. Qui contra morem. 1. dist. et text. cum Gl. in c. Admonendi. Dist. 2. q. 7. of diversitie,[Page]Doubt and Ambiguity, he is punctually to be obeyed by those of his Jurisdiction, be they of the Clergie, or of the Laity. I say in matters of doubting and ambiguitie, where the inferiour shall be approved of God for his duty and obedience, and never charged as guiltie of Errour, for any future inconvenience. The exceptions from this Rule are very few; in cases onely, when the Command of the Ordinary doth expressly opposeSūma Rosell verbo Obed. an Article of Belief, one of the ten Commandments, or the generall state and subsistence of Gods Catholick Church. In all other Cases whatsoever that are dubious, the inferiour is bound to believe his superiour, saith the most wise and learned of all the Tolet. Instruct. Sac. de 7 pecc. c. 15. See Gloss. in 1 Decret. tit. 11. c. 5. Si dubium sit praeceptum, propter bonum obedientia excusatur à peccato, licèt in veritate sit malum. Iesuits. This point well poised and considered, would clear a world of Errours both in Church and Common-wealth. And therefore I will set down in the Margent some of my best Authours that confirm it. I have not heard (I protest sincerely) of any Lord Bishop, that hath exacted of his Diocese the placing of the Holy Table, as this man would have it, and do believe this passage of his to be rather a Prophesie, what he means to do when he comes to his Rochet, then a true History of any Diocesan that hath acted it already. But howsoever, as long as the Liturgie continueth as it is (without offence to any man in place be it spoken) I had farre leiver be he should obey, then he that should peremptorily command, in this kinde of Alteration. And my reason for this, shalbe the reason and expression of a wise and learned man.Hookers Eccles. Pol. book 4. d. 14. p. 16 [...]. If it be a Law which [Page]the custome and continuall practice of many yeares hath continued in the minds of men, to alter it must needs be troublesome and scandalous. It amazeth them, it causeth them to stand in doubt, whether any thing be in it selfe by nature good or evill, and not all things rather such as men at this or that time agree to accompt of them; when they behold those things disproved, disannulled, and rejected, which use had made in a manner naturall. And so in all respect and humilitie to their high places and callings, I leave those reverend persons herein to their owne wisdome and discretion.

But that Mounsieur the halfe-Vicar should have a power to remove (of his own head) the Communion-Table from that place of the Quire it had hitherto stood in from the very first Reformation, and to call that an Altar, which his Rubrick never calls otherwise then a Table, and to be enabled to this by the Canons, and to be a Iudge of the conveniencie of the standing thereof, yea a more competent Iudge, then the Ordinary and his Surrogates, and no way to permit the Church-Officers to do what they are enjoyed by their immediate Superiours, is such a piece of Ecclesiasticall politie, as (were it but countenanced by many of these judicious Divines) would quickly make an end of all Discipline in the Church of England. Here is not onlyPag. 3. I. C. but T. C. up and down, and New England planted in the midst of the Old. O foolish Vicar ofPag. 3. Boston, that would needs take Sanctuary as far as America, to shelter himself from Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction! Whereas had [Page] he but made a permutation with his next Neighbour, the Vicar of Gr. and gotten but the acquaintance of these judicious Divines (as they pass'd by that Road) he might have done what he would in his own Church,

Mart. l. 6. Ep. 70.

Ostendens digitum, sed impudicum,

Alconti, Dasióque Symmachóque,

in despite of the Ordinary & all his Officers. I am afraid that these judicious Divines that tamper so much in Doctrine with Sancta Clara, and in Discipline withNotis in Epist. Molin. ad Bals. Sancta Petra, His Book against Dr. Kellison. Flood andLe Maistre Instaurat. Episcop. antiqui statûs. c. 1. ad Epist. Lomclii. Lomeley, will prove in the end but prejudicious Divines to the estates of Bishops. I am sure this Tenet is in the highest degree Iesuiticall, and that the solid Divines, both of ancient and later times, were of another opinion. [...] Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Corinth. p. 57. To impaire the power of Bishops is no little sinne. [...] Ignat. Ep ad Smyrn. [...]. Idem in Ep. ad Trall [...]s. [...]. Idem Ep. ad Ephes. Let no man presume, to dispose of any thing belonging to the Church, without the Bishop, saith Ignatius. For he that doth otherwise, doth tear ( [...] Ignat. Ep ad Smy [...]. as you would doe a bough from a tree) the unitie, sodder, and comely order that should be amongst Gods people. Suffer nothing to be done in that kind without thine own approbation, saith the same Father writing to aEpist. ad Polycarp. [...]. Bishop. And this advice was so well approved of in the Primitive Church, that word for word it was inserted into the body of that famous Counsell ofConcil. Laod. Can. 57. [...]. Codex Canon. Eccles. Univers. Can. 161. Laodicea, Anno 364. The word used both by Ignatius and the generall Councell is [...], to be active [Page] [...][Page] [...][Page]and stirring in these businesses. And therefore the Priest must needs (in despite of our Doctor andPag. 10. his Doctrine) keep him still to his meditations, and be a looker on, untill his Ordinary shall otherwise direct and appoint him. Especially in the matter controverted, which is Erecting of Altars. For the Case must be taken as it is in theFor the first; If you should erect any such Altar, (which I know you will not.) Letter (and was in truth and verity) not as this poore Mooter dothpag. 52. reasonably (that is, against all the Laws of reasoning) presume it. For to presume a thing against the words of his adversarie, is not to take a case, but to make a case; which wilbe laught at in the Inns of Court. There were some Priests in France and Germany, that encouraged thereunto by the Chorepiscopi or Countrey-Suffragans, did presume, in the absence of their Bishops,Leo Epist. 88. erigere altaria, to erect Altars. And this about the time of Theodosius the yonger. But Leo the great tells them plainly, they had no more power to erect, then they had to consecrate an Altar; and that the Novells and Canons Ecclesiasticall did utterlySiquidemnec erigere ils altaria, nec Eccle. sias vel altaria consecrare licet. Vide Bin. Concil. general. Tom. 1. P. 990. in hibite single Priests to do either the one or the other. Whereupon not many yeares after, about the time of Iustinian the Emperour, Hormisda [...] made an absolute decree to inhibite Priests to erect any Altars in this kinde, under pain of deprivation, as we read in3 part. dist. 1. Abs (que) Episcopi permissu in Ecclesia consecrata non erigatur altare. Vide Bin. Conc. gen. Tom. 2. p. 368. Gratian, and elsewhere Which places I do not (for al that) presse dogmatically, as conceiving the Vicar would be so absurd to dogmatize any such matter, as you perceiv [...] the writer of the Letter seems to excuse him; no [...] was that the Errour of the Germane Priests: bu [...] [Page] I presse it only historically, to let you see, that if such a Rumour had been raised in the Church (as we all know the Vicars behaviour did raise in the Neighbourhood) 1100 yeares ago, what severitie they would have used to chastise the insolencie. And no marvell, if you consider well what I shall now represent unto you: That the veryVideo enim esse legem veterem Tribunitiam, quae vet uit in jussu plebis aedes, terram, aram consecrate. Cic. Orat. pro domo sua ad Pontifices, quae est. Or. 29. Romans themselves, in the time of their Republick, would never assent that a private man should presume to erect an Altar. But that which I presse for doctrine is this.Illa potestas quae est ligandi & solvendi in soro judiciali, datur in consecratione Episcopi; alia, in consecratione Sacerdo. tum, quando dicitur, Quaecun (que), remiscritis, &c. Húgo de Sancto Victore apud Halens. That a single Priest, quà talis, in that formality and capacitie onely as he is a Priest, hath no Key given him by God or man, to open the doores of anySacerdotes non habent potestatem ligandi vel solvendi in foro Causae, & tamen absolvunt in foro Poenitentiae. Hol. part. 4. q. 21. membro 4. externall jurisdiction. He hath a Consistory within, in foro Poenitentiae, in the Conscience of his Parishioners, and a key given him upon his Institution, to enter into it. But he hath no Consistory without, in foro Causae, in medling with ecclesiasticall Causes, unlesse he borrow a key from his Ordinary. For although they be Licet sit una potestas ligandi & solvendi hinc & indè, non tamen qui habet potestatem ejusmodi ad hunc actum, habet cam ad illum actum. Alex. Hal. ibid. Non est alia in essentia, sed in alium usum se extendit. ibid. the same keys, yet one of them will not open all these wards: the Consistory of outward jurisdiction being not to be opened by aQuando consecratus Episcópus, non confertur alia clavis, sed extenditur usus illius primae clavis: unde dicitur accipere baculum, i. e. amplio [...]em potestatem. ibid. Sic Estius in 4. Sentent. d. 18. §. 2. Key alone, but (as you may observe in some great mens Gates) by a Key and a staffe, which they usually call a Crosier. This I have ever conceived to be the ancient Doctrine in this kind, opposed by none but professed Puritanes. They tell us indeed, that [Page] the Bishops powerAltare Damast. c. 4. p. 114. was the poysonous Egge out of which Antichrist was hatched, that it is meere tyrannie, because it takes allIbid. p. 113. to the Bishop and his Officers, and turnes the Vicars to Soliloquies and Meditations; whereas theMr. Hooker in his Preface. Minister holdeth all his authoritie unto the spirituall charge of the house of God, even immediately from God himselfe, without dependance from King or Bishop. But all learned men of the Church of England, that are truly judicious Divines, do adhere to that former doctrin. TheyDr. Field of the Church, l. 5. c. 27. p. 498. allow the Schoolmens double power, that of order, and that of jurisdiction; and the subdivision of this jurisdiction, to the internall and externall, appropriating this last to the Bishops only. They say clearly, that all Mr. Hooker in his Preface. consecrated persons have not the power of jurisdiction; They aske you roundly, Answer to the Admonition, Tract. 2. p. 87. Who shall judge what is most comely? Shall every private man? Or rather such as have chiefe care and Government in the Church? And for the Minister, whom you would have wholly imployed, they conceive, that generally he is a man, Mr. Hooker in his Preface. though better able to speak, yet little, or no whit apter to judge then the rest; and that to give him a domineering power in matters of this nature, were to bring in as many petty Popes, as there are Parishes and Congregations. But the written Law and speaking Law of this Kingdome, are above all testimonies that can be produced, the one appointing thePag. 11. Bishop of the Diocese onely in the Affirmative, and the other excluding the particularPag. 66. fancy of any humourous persons in the Negative, from assigning out these matters of Conveniencie in Gods service. And [Page] the reason why this private Vicar should not (without farther directions) call the holy Table an Altar, is set downe in the Letter, but not touched by you, and is a stronger one then your Headpiece is capable of.Pag. 74. Because the Church in her Liturgie and Canons, doth call it a Table onely. It seemes by you, we are bound onely to pray, but not to speak the words of the Canons. I have been otherwise taught by learned men.Vbicu [...]que habemus legem vel cano [...] nem, non debemus allega [...]e rationem, nisi lege vel canone desiciente. Barbatus in Clement. de Elect. c. 1. n. 11. That where we have a Law and Canon to direct us how to call a thing, we ought not to hunt after reasons and conceits, to give it another Appellation. Verba aliquid operaridebent. c. Si Papa de Privileg. in 6. Et nota in margine, quòd argumentum à verbis valet. And that every word hath that operation in construction of Law, that wee may draw our Argument from the words, as from so many Topick places. Which the Writer of the Letter seems to do in this passage. The Rubrick and the Canons call it nothing but a Table; and therefore do not you, a poore Vicar in the Countrey, call it an Altar. The writer doth not deny but that the name hath beenLetter P. 75. long in the Church, in a Metaphoricall usurpation, nor would he have blam'd the Vicar, if he had in a Quotation from the Fathers, or a discourse in the Pulpit, nam'd it an Altar in this borrowed sense: but to give the usuall call of an Altar, unto that Church-utensill, which the Law (Regula communis est, Quòd statutorum verba propriè intelliguntur. Decius in lege, Non vult haeres, de regulis juris. (that alwayes speaks properly) never calls otherwise then by the name of a Table, is justly by him disliked, and by this Gallant lamentably defended. For I appeale to all indifferent men, that pretend to any knowledge in Divinitie; If the Reading-pew, the Pulpit, and any other place in the Church, be not as properly an [Page] Altar for prayer, praise, thanksgiving, Pag. 8. memory of the Passion, dedicating of our selves to Gods very service, and the Churches Box or Bason, for that Oblation for the poore which was used in the primitive times, as is our holy Table howsoever situated or disposed. Or if it be the Priest onely that can offer a Sacrifice (which in these spirituall Sacrifices weWhen the old Fathers called the Masse or Supper of the Lord a Sacrifice, they meant that it was a Sacrifice of Iaud & thanksgiving. And to as well the people as the Priest do Sacrifice. Archb. Cramner, Defence of the Sacram. 1550. c. 16. sol. 115. And again, Christ made no such difference between the Priest and the Lay-man, that the Priest should make oblation and sacrific [...] of Christ for the Lay-man, Ide [...] ibid. c. 11. f. 111. utterly deny) what one sacrifice doth he inferre out of the Collects read by the Priest at the Communion-Table, which are not as easily deduced out of the Te Deum, or Benedictus, said in the Quire or Reading-pew [...] Is there no praying, praising, acknowledging or thanksgiving, commemorating of the Passion, and consecrating of our selves to Gods service in these two hymnes? And therefore if that be enough to make an Altar, and that these judicious Rabbies mean not somewhat else then for fear of our gracious King they dare speak out, this man must change the Motto of his book, and say, Habenius Altaria, we have 10000 Altars. Whereas no place in all the Church, doth offer unto us the body and blood of Christ, in the outward forms of bread and wine, beside the holy Table onely. And consequently if a Name be invented to [...] Etymolog. [...]ag. p. 626. divide and sever one particular thing from another, or to [...] rei, à juvando, quasi [...], cujus usu rem agnosceres. Jul. Scaliger de Caus. Ling. La [...]. c. 76. Est enim instrumentum quasi quoddam cognitionis, Imago quaedam quâ quid [...]oscitur. Ibid. help us to the knowledge of a particular thing, or that a name be tha [...] which the [...]. Law gives the thing, or that a thing cannot have two distinct and proper (however it may have twentie Metaphoricall) names; then surely a Table ought to be the distinct and proper (and so the usuall) an [Page] Altar but the translatitious and borrowed (and so the more unusuall) appellation of that holy utensill. So that the Writer of the Letter saith no more then this: If you have occasion (as the Fathers had) to amplisie and enlarge the excellencie of those Christian duties, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, (at the time of the Eucharist especially) abnegation of our selves, almes-deeds, and Charitie, and to shew unto your people, that these are the onely incense, now under the Gospel, which God accepts in stead of those thousands of Rams and Odours of Arabia, vanished with the Law: then in Gods name, ‘—Fas usum tibi nominis hujus;’ you may use the name of Altar as the ancient Fathers do. But when there is no such occasion offered, and that you speak only with your Neighbours and Church-wardens about preparing or adorning the Church-Vtensils, what need you then tumble in your tropes, and roll in your Rhetorick, when the words of the Canon do far better expresse the duties enjoyn'd them by the Canon? As therefore you do not in common discourse call the Church (as the Puritanes in France do) the Temple; the Bells, the holy Trumpets; the Quire, the Sanctuary; the Font, Iordan; your Surplice, the holy garment; and your Hood, the Ephod: (although the ancient writers ordinarily do so) So when the Rubrick and Canons do call this sacred Vtensill a Table, and but a Table, do not you, to be noted only as a Divine of great Iudgement, that is, of whyms and singularity, correcting Magnificat, in the Articles of yourVisit. of the Bishop of Linc [...]ln, Anno 1622. touching the Church Art. 5. Bishops and most ReverendVisit. of the Archbishops grace, Ann. 1 ( [...]. Artic. 1. verb [...] Imprimi [...]. Archbishops Pag. 65. [Page] Visitation, and in the very expression of the King himself, call it an Altar. And surely that Vicar that will not be taught to word it, neither by the Law, nor the Rubrick, nor the Canon, nor his Bishop, nor his Archbishop, nor the King himself, Phavorinus apud Gellium. qui tot imperat Legionibus, is (as they were wont to call a stout Priest) a very Thomas a Becket, and fitter a great deal to officiate at Bethlem neere Bishopsgate, then at Jerusalem.

Nor had the Ordinary been the wisest man in the world, if having proper Officers of his own to execute all his Mandates concerning the outward Vtensills of the Church, he should have directed his Commandments to the Vicar, or permitted him to command without him. It is not the Ordinary, but the Apostles themselves, that have turnd the Parsons and Vicars from being Active in this kind, to their diviner Meditations. Act. 6. 2. It is not reason we should leave the word of God, to serve Tables. The Greek word is a term of Law, [...], which Erasmus translates a Plea, the French keep to this day an Arrest or Iudgement in Law, asAnnot. in Pandect. ex lege ultima de Senatoribus, fol. 73. p. [...]. Budaeus was taught to enterpret the word by Paulus Aemilius the French Historiographer. The meaning therefore of the Text is this, Let Dr Coal find as much fault as he wil, that Priests are made dull Spectatours in these affairs; yet shall he never find any Order, Arrest, or Iudgement in the Church of God, that Priests should meddle with Tables: Because from the time of this Arrest and sentence pronounc't by the Apostles, the Deacons have ever dealt therin; asAnnot. in Act 6. v. 2. Sic tamen, ut Presbyterio sub [...]ssent. Beza himself confesseth; though he hopes [Page] (for otherwise it would burst his heart) that they were guided therein by the Minister & the Elders. But these Elders are no elder then Calvin and Beza. And who guided the Deacons we must learn of the Elders indeed. They were the Eye, saithClemens Rom. in 1. Epist. ad Jacob. fratrem Domini Est enim Diaconus ipsius [...]ipiscopi oculus. one; The Eare, saithE [...]. Clen. in Constit. Apostol. l. 1. c. 44. another; The Ministeriall servants of the Bishop, saith theConcil Nicen. Can. 18. [...]. third Authority. Clear it is, that from this time that the Apostles here

Arator lib. 1. in Act. Apostol.

Jura ministerii sacris altaribus apti

In septem statuêre viris,—

from these first Deacons, to our presentThey have in charge omnia ornamenta & utensilia Ecclesiarum. Canon Steph. de Langt. Lindw. lib. 1. de Off. Archidia [...]. Archdeacons (in whose office the ancient power of the Deacons is united and concentred) Incumbents have been excluded from medling with the utensills of the Church, or ornaments of the Altar. So that the very Altar it self (with the Rail about it) hath been termed in the ancient Councells, [...]. Concil. Laod. Can. 21. Concil. Agath. Can. 66. The Diaconie, as a place belonging (next after the Bishop) to the care and custodie of the Deacon only. Nay, so far were the Ancients frō making a parish-Priest a stickler in Vestry-affairs, that aSinc Diaconis Sacerdos nomen habet, officium non habet. Conc. Aqu [...]sgr. sub Ludov. Pio, c. 7. Councell saith clearly, That the Priest can boast of nothing he hath in generall, but his bare name; not able to execute his very Office, without the Authority and Ministery of the Deacon. And to conclude this point with a president in this very particular:Lib. Quaes [...] ▪ ex▪ utroque mixtion. qu. 101. Nam utique & Altare portarent & vasa ejus. It was the Deacons Office Portare (mark well the word against anon) to move and remove the Altar and all the implements belonging thereunto, saith S. Augustine. And if you object, that some question hath been made, whether that Book be S. Augustines; [Page] I answer, That he that made that question, concludes withall, That if it was not written by S. Augustine, it was by anEx qu▪ 44. colligitur cum vixisse ante Augustinum, & I [...]s [...]e. on. Cens. in Append [...]om. 4. Oper. Augustin. p. 416. ancienter Author then S. Augustine, and is evidence good enough for matter of fact, though peradventure not every where for points of doctrine. And as the Archdeacon is the Eye, so the Churchwarden (as slight an Opinion as you conceive of him) is the Hand of the Bishop and the Archdeacon too, to put allOccononius, cui res Ecclesiastica gubernanda mandatur ab [...]pi [...]copo. Lindw. Const. l. 3. de Cleric. non resid. And therforo Churchwardens were call'd [...], men employed by him, Concil. Gangr. c. 7. and [...], men ordered by the Bishop. ibid. c. 8. Mandates in execution, that may concern the Vtensills of the Church. I observe our Latine Canors in force, by calling him Oecon [...]mus, do put him beside the scorn this companion would throw upon him, by making him relate to that ancient Ecclesiasticall Office, famous in the Greek and Latine Councells. It is true, he moves now in a lesser Orb, yet with the same influence he did before. At the first they were, as they are now, Lay-men, some [...]. Zonar. in Concil. Chalced. Can. 26. Domesticks or kinsmen of the Bishops, who [...]. Zonar. ibid. [...]. Photius, tit. 9. c. 1. & [...], 10. c. 1. managed all things belonging to the Church (being then matters of good moment and consequence) according to the direction of the Bishop. But because all the state of the Church, consisting in those times most-what in goods and chattels arising from the devotion of the people, was thus transacted in [...]. Zonar. in Concil. Chalced. hugger mugger, inter partes propinquas, by parties so neare allied in references one to another, that it grew very suspicious there might be foule play in the businesse, that famous Councell of Chalcedon Canon. 26. [...]. ordered peremptorily, [Page] That these Church-wardens from that time forward should be Clergie-men, and more esloigned from the Bishops family. Yet didBalsam, in Synod. 7. Can. 11. some continue of opinion, (this Canon notwithstanding) that Lay-men were capable of the Office: so that in aZonar. in Concil. Chalced. Canon. 26. very short revolution of time it reverted to the Laity for altogether. Now here in England it hath been ever held an ancient Office, and much countenanced as well by the Common as the Canon Law: The Church-wardens being admitted in all ages, to bring their11. Henr. 4. fol. 12. & 19. Henr. 6. fol. 66. &c. Actions at Common Law, for trespasses committed upon the Church-goods, wherewith they were entrusted. Now that Bishop were a wise piece indeed, who being complained unto against a Vicar, for removing the holy Table to a place every way inconvenient, would referre the examination of the Complaint to the Vicar himself, rather then to his own most ancient Officers; to the Archdeacon, his Officiall, or next Surrogate, for the designing; and to the Church-wardens, for the actuall placing of the Table in the most convenient situation. And the Elders of the Vestry will be little edified with this doctrine, to be made butArist. Poli [...]. lib. 1. c. 1. [...], (as Aristotle speaks) dead and passive Instruments, to execute the Commands of the Ordinary and his Surrogates. But all this while the Vicar is but a dull spectator, and hath no Sphere of Activity to move in, but is wholly left to his private Meditations. And Nos autem otiosos nos putamus, si verbo tantummodo studere videamur. Amb. in Psal. 118. Oct. 11. S. Ambrose indeed doth complain of the like complainers in his time, who held, that the study of the holy Scriptures was but a dull and [Page]idle kinde of employment. But thenBalt [...]s. Castil. Cor [...]isano, l. 3. Matto Sancto Petro (as the Charletan said when he saw the Pope in his Pontificalibus) O simple S. Peter in the sixth of the Acts, that thought it a far more laborious work, then all this moving and removing of Tables. Regul. fusior. Reg. 20. [...], pag. 454. O foolish S. Basil, that bids his Clergie take especiall heed, that their Martha be not troubled with many things. O dull Synesius, that held it fitter for anSyves. ep. 57. Aegyptian then a Christian Priest to be over-troubled with matters of wrangling. Well Doctour, God help the poore people committed to thy Cure; they are like to finde but a sorry Shepheard: one that will be in the Vestry when he should be in the Pulpit; and by his much nimblenesse in the one, is likely to shew a proportionable heavinesse in the other.

But now ventum est ad Triarios, we are drawing on to the maine of his Battell, and the very pith of his Arguments: That the Writer of the Letter Pag. 3. doth not shew one footstep of Learning or sincere affections to the Orders of the Church, because he did not (in a private Monition written nine yeares before) fore-see and make way Pag. 4. for a great good work, and the Piety of the times, that were to follow nine yeares after. Alas! Nè saevi, magne Sacerdos: Do not lay all this load upon him, most judicious Divine. For, as you finde by your self, that can further see into things to come, that all Prophets are not Ordinaries; so consider, I beseech you, in cool bloud, that all Ordinaries are not Prophets. L. Henry How. [...]d in his defens [...]ive, about the [...]6. leafe. We may discern of things that [Page] are, by Sight; that were, by Memory: [...]. Sophocl. in Antig. but before the proof make shew, no man is such a Prophet of the future, that he knoweth which way to direct his instructions, saith a learned and noble Writer, out of Sophocles. I am one, I thank God, that have buenas entranas (as the Spaniards speak) some good and tender bowels within me, and do much pity the poore mans case, even by mine own. How could he possibly fore-see this great Good work or Piety of these Times, so many yeares before, which I, opening my eyes as wide as I can, cannot discover at this very instant? What is this great Work now in hand? What new Proclamations, Rubricks, Canons, Injunctions, Articles are come (at the least into these parts) as any speciall invitations to the piety of these Times, more then were exhibited to the piety of all other Times, from the first beginning of the Reformation? Pag. 66. His Majestie heard the Cause in the yeare 1633; and in his Royall decision, he calls it not Altar, but Communion-Table, and leaves the moving and removing thereof to the discretion of the Ordinary. His Grace, the Metropolitane, visited these parts in the yeare 1634; and in all his Articles, doth not so much as mention the word Altar, but calls it (as the Rubrick doth) a Communion-Table; and puts his Article upon the Church-warden, and not upon the Vicar, concerning the decent site and convenient standing of the h [...]ly Boord. Articles to be enqui [...]ed of in the Metropoliticall Visitation, for the Diocese of Lincoln, 1634. Art. 1. Whether have you in your Church, a convenient and decent Communion-Table? &c. And whether is the same Table placed in [Page]such convenient sort within the Chancell or Church, at that the Minister may be best heard in his Ministery and the Administration, and that the greatest number may communicate? And whether is it so used (out of time of Divine Service) as is not agreeable to the holy use of it? &c. And his Lordship or Diocesan visiting the very next yeare, 1635. (as a burnt child, and dreading the fire) puts theArticles to be enquired of in the Diocese of Lincoln, 1635. Artic. 1. same Article in haec verba, in the very front of his own Book. Sithence that time we have heard no Ring but of the lesser Bells, in this Tune. AndArticles for the Visitation of the Archdeac. of Redford, 1636. one of these I heare chyming at this very instant: Whether have you in your Church a decent Table for the Communion, conveniently placed? And all these concurring with the conceit of the Letter, in every particular; in the name of a Communion-Table, and not an Altar; in the place of the Church or Chancell, not of the East-end onely; in the distinct (not confused time) of receiving and not-receiving▪ in the Accompt of the conveniency of the situation to be rendred by the Church-warden, not the Vicar; how shall I that live at this day (much lesse the Writer of the Letter, dead, peradventure, nine yeares ago) reasonably discover (to use your own phrase) that Good work now in hand, and the speciall inclination of these times to a peculiar kinde of pietie, differing from the pietie of former times, which under the peaceable Reignes of Queene Elisabeth, King Iames, and King Charles, the Church of God, in these parts, hath most h [...]ppily enjoyed? Surely, I [Page] do reasonably presume, that (these dreams of Dr. Coal notwithstanding)Eccles. 4. 9. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and that (in matters of this nature) there is no new thing under the Sun. Because wise men tell us, thatMr. Hooker Ecel. pol. l. 4. dist. 14. p. 67. change of Laws, especially in matters of Religion, must be warily proceeded in: And becauseArchb. Whitgift, Defence of the Answer to the Admonition, Tract. 2. fel. 86. there is no manner of Reason, that the orders of the Church should so depend upon one or two mens liking or disliking, that she should be compelled to alter the same so oft as any should be therewith offended. For what Church is void of some contentious persons and quarrellers, whom no order, no reason, no reformation can please? I should therefore reasonably presume, that this Good work in hand, is but the second part of Sancta Clara, and a froathy speculation of some fe [...], who by tossing the ball of Commendations, the one to the other, do stile themselves (by a kind of Canting) judicious Divines: Whereas they be (generally) as you may observe by this poore Pamphleter, doctiss [...]orum hominum indoctissimum genus (asIn Colloqu. E [...]asmus spake of another the like) men learned onely in unlearned Liturgies; beyond that, of no judgement and lesse Divinitie. For who but one whose Ruffe (as Sir Edward Coke was wont to say) is yellow, and his head shallow, would propound these wild conceits of an imaginary Pietie of the times, and a Platonicall Idea of a good work in hand, for a Modell to reforme such a well-composed Church as the Church of England? And if any Reformation of the name, the situation, or use of the Communion-Table, [Page] were seriously in hand, what man of the least discretion, but would take the Magistrate along with him?Proclamation before the Communion, 1548. The bounden dutie of Subjects is to be content to follow Authoritie, and not enterprising to run before it. Archbishop Whitgift, Answer to the Adm. p. 86, & 87. For if you let every Minister do what he list, speak what he list, alter what he list, & as oft as him list, upon a general pretense of a Good work in hand, or the Pietie of the times, you shall have as many kinds of Religion, as there be Parishes, as many Sects, as Ministers, and a Church miserably torn in pieces with mutability and diversity of opinions.

But there isPag. 13, & 14. much (you say) to be said in defence thereof, out of the Acts & Monuments, & some Acts of Parliamēts. Much good do it you, with that Much, so as you eat cleanly, and do not slubber & slabber your Quotations of those Books, in wch all sorts of men are thorowly versed. First, Jo. Frith calls it The Sacrament of the Altar. Doth he so? Then surely it was long before the Reformation, and when every man call'd it so. For he wasAct. & Mon. pag. 2. fol. 309, & 310. burned 4o Julii, 1533. But where doth he so call it? Yes, he saith in his Letter, They examined me touching the Sacrament of the Altar. Why man, they cal'd it so, not he. Those words are the words of the Article objected against him. They are their words, not his. He doth not once call it so in all his long discourse. Turn but theIbid. fol. 308. leaf, and you shall heare him interpret himselfe. I added moreover, that their Church (as they call it) Their Church, as they call it; Their Sacrament of the Altar, as they call it. If you will know how he cals it, in that dawning of the Reformation, look upon the Books pen'd by himself, not the Interrogatories [Page] ministed by Sr Tho. More, or some others. He calls it every where,Answer to M. Mores third book, fol. 102. The Sacrament of Christs body. Nay he is not there content; but desires, that all the Church had call'd it otherwise.Answer to M. Mores fourth book, fol. 111. I would it had been call'd (as it is indeed, and as it was commanded to be) Christs Memoriall. And to call it a Sacrifice, is (saith he) just as if I should set a Ibid. Copon before you to break-fast, when you are new come home, and say, This is your Welcome-home: whereas it is indeed a Capon, and not a Welcome-home. And if you will beleeve his Adversary,Answer to Frith's Letter, Oper. fol. 835. Sr Thomas More, None spoke so homely of this Sacrament, as Jo. Frith, no not Friar Barnes himself. Making this Bridegrooms ring of gold but even a proper ring of a rush. So that vouz avez Jo. Frith. Let him, in Gods name, come up to the Barre. The next man is Jo. Lambert. And he saith,Pag. 15. I make you the same Answer to the other six Sacraments, as I have done unto the Sacrament of the Altar. But tell me (in my eare) I pray you, How doth he begin that Answer to the Sacrament of the Altar? It is but 14 lines before in yourAct. & M [...] pa [...]t 2. p [...] own Book. Whereas in your sixth Demand you do enquire, Whether the Sacrament of the Altar, &c. All these words of enqui [...]y are theirs, man, not his. What is his Answer? I neither can, nor will answer one word. And so Jo. Lambe [...]t answers there not one word for you. Yea, but he doth in another place. That [...] Christ is said to be offered up, no [...] every year at Easter, but also everyday, in the celebra [...] on of the Sacrament, because his oblation once [...] made is therby represented. This likewise is [...] to be spoken long before any Reformat [...] [...] hand: For Lambert was also martyred [...] [Page] But are you sure these words are his? I am sure you know the contrary, if you have read the next words following. Even so saith S. Augustine. The words are the words of an honest man, but your dealing in this kind is scarce honest. John Lambert doth qualifie them afterward; that S. Augustines meaning was, That Christ was all this, in a certain manner or wise. He was an Oblation, as he was a Lion, a Lambe and a doore: that is, (as we said before) a Metaphoricall and improper Oblation, which never relates unto an Altar. Vouz avez an honest man, John Lambert: But stand you by for a Mountebank, John Coal. The next, is the most Reverend and learned Archbishop, who notwithstanding his opposition to the Statute of the 6 Articles, yet useth the phrase orPag. 15. term of Sacrament of the Altar, as formerly, without taking thereat any offence. Pag. 443. And are you sure he doth so in that page? Are you sure of any thing? I am now sure he names not that Sacrament at all, either in that page, or in any other near unto it. The Treatise there set down, is of J [...]hn Fox his composition, and set forth in his own name. It mentioneth indeed, in the Confutation of the first Article, the Sacrament of the Altar, but with such a peal after it, as none but a mad man would cite him for this purpose.Act. & Mon. 2. part. p. 443. This monstrous Article of theirs, in that form of words as it standeth, &c. And so the Lord Archbishop saith as much as John Lambert, that is, not one word for him. The next in order is John Philpot: whose speach this cruell man hath sore pinch't upon the rack, to [Page] get him to give some evidence on his side. He wriggles and wrests all his words and syllables, that the Quotation is (very near) as true a Martyr as the man himselfe. I am sure he hath lop't off the Head, that had a shrewd tale to tell, and the feet of his Discourse, which walk a quite contrary way to Dr Coals purpose, leaving the Relation, likePlutarch. in Philopoem. Philopoemenes his Army, all Belly, The Head is this: I must needs ask a Question of Dr Chedsey concerning a word or twain of your supposition (yours, not his owne) that is, of the Sacrament of the Altar; What he meaneth thereby; and, Whether he taketh it, as some of the Ancient Writers do, terming the Lords Supper the Sacrament of the Altar (for the Reasons there set down and mentioned by Dr Coal) or Whether you take it otherwise, for the Sacrament of the Altar which is made of Lime and Stone, over the which the Sacrament [...]hangeth. And hearing they meant it this later way, he declares himself, Then I will speak plain English, That the Sacrament of the Altar is no Sacrament at all. How like you John Philpot? You shall have more of him.Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 571. St Austinwith other ancient Writers do call the holy Communion, or the Supper of the Lord, The Sacrament of the Altar, in respect it is the Sacrament of the Sacrifice, which Christ offered upon the Altar of the Crosse: The which Sacrifice all the Altars and Sacrifices upon the Altars in the old Law did prefigure and shadow. The which pertaineth nothing to your Sacrament, hanging upon your Altars of Lime and stone. Christoph. No doth? I pray you, what signifieth Altar? Philip. Not, as you falsely [Page]take it, materially, but for the Sacrifice of the Altar of the Crosse. Christoph. Where finde you it ever so taken? Philip. Yes: Habemus Altare. Christoph. Well, God blesse me out of your companie. And I beleeve, so saith Dr Coal (if his hue would permit him to blush) by this time. For this man hath done all your businesse. He tels, how he came to use the term of Sacrament of the Altar, to wit, out of S. Austin, and some other of the Fathers; he tels us, it was not by way of Approbation, but by way of supposition; and lastly, what he conceives of the conveniencie of the particular in Question, a Materiall Altar. And in another place he expresseth himself yet further;Act. & Mon. par [...]. 3. p. 553. And as touching their Sacrament which they term of the Altar—They term it so, not he. Jury Philpot. The next is Reverend Latimer; who granteth (saithP. 16. he) very plainly, that the Doctours call it so in many places, though there be no propitiatory Sacrifice, but onely Christ. Still this is not to prove (no not by one Witnesse) what you undertake; That the Martyrs did call this Sacrament of themselves and their own expressions, The Sacrament of the Altar. This Reverend man saith, that the Doctours call it so, and especially S. Austin, as he speaks a little before: he doth not call it so himselfe. And what doth he adde, concerning those Doctours that call it so, in the very next words to these which are quoted by you? speak truth, man, and shame the Divell; for he is the old Clipper of speaches. Well, I must do it for you. The Doctours might be deceived[Page]in some points: I beleeve them, when they say well: or, as it is in the Margent, Doctores legendi sunt cum venia, The Doctours must be pardon'd, if they sometimes slip in their expressions. And this is all that you have gain'd by Reverend Latimer. The last you produce in this kinde, is Bishop Ridley. And he is for you not onely, but also. First he saith, that in the Sacrament of the Altar is the naturall body and bloud of Christ. But why do you leave out still those few words that go before? You know they are these;Act. & Mon. part 3. fol. 492. To the Question thus I answer. What is the Question then? Turn the leaf, and look. Article 1. We do object to thee, Nicolas Ridley, &c. That thou hast openly defended, that the true and naturall body of Christ is not really present in the Sacrament of the Altar. What saith he? To the Question I answer, That in the Sacrament of the Altar, &c. So that the word is the word articulated upon him, not his. And he could not possibly avoid the repeating of it, unlesse he should mutare terminos, and so confound all method of Disputation. But in all his own voluntary expressions in all that Conference, he never calls it, The Sacrament of the Altar, but the Sacrament of the Communion onely. The which Communion he there affirms to be onely a memory of Christs Passion. Which is the Doctrine I have all this while endeavoured to prove, to have no relation at all to a materiall Altar. In answering that place in Cyrill, objected by the Bishop of Lincoln, (whereby that Bishop would fain prove, that as erecting of Altars in Britanny did imply that Christ was [Page] come and beleev'd on in those parts; so the plucking of them down, as B. Ridley had done, was sufficient to imply, that Christ as yet was not come in the flesh) he saith, as you say, That the word Altar in Scripture, signifieth as well the Altar of the Jews, as the Table of the Lords Supper: alluding, without all question, to Hebr. the 13. as Philpot but even now expounded that place. But that the Bishop of Lincoln should apply that Altar whereof S. Cyrill spake, to those materiall Altars pull'd down in the Reformation under Edw. the sixth, B. Ridley (in the midst of his great Afflictions) could not heare without a little smiling. D. Ridley smiling answered. And then taking up his countenance againe, he tells him freely; That the removing of Altars was done upon just considerations; and, That the Supper of the Lord was not at any time better, ministred, nor more duly received, then when these Altars were taken down. And would you know how he placed his Table, when these Altars were gone?Act & Mon. part. 2. p. 700. When some used the Table Altar-wise, he determined, that to use it as a Table, was most agreeable to Scripture. And as B. Ridley smil'd dat the B. of Lincoln, so would the B. of Lincoln (were he alive) smile heartily at you, that would bring such a passage as this to defend your Altars.

Having thus impannell'd his Jury, he begins to open his Evidence, for the Sacrament of the Altar, out of the Laws of the Land, 1o Edv. 6. c. 1. revived 1o Elis. c. 1. but with the same felicitie he produced those worthy Martyrs, that is, to [Page] witnesse point-blank against himself. For in this Quotation, he doth but peep over the Wicket, and touch upon the Title of the Statute: he dares not for his eares open the doore, and enter in to the Body thereof. It is enough for him, that in the Title, The Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ is (at that time before the Statute of the six Articles was actually repealed) said to be commonly called, The Sacrament of the Altar. Therefore saith he, That Name of the Sacrament of the Altar doth occurre in that Statute still in force. First, I deny it to be the Name in that place, but the Addition onely of the blessed Sacrament, of the body and bloud of Christ. The Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ is the Name, and true Name; the other is onely an Addition Exposition of the Terms of the Law, p. 12. given unto this Sacrament, over and beside the proper name thereof, whereby it might be certainly known in this dawning of the Reformation: the darknesse of Poperie, and the terrour of the six Articles being not as yet dispelled from the beliefe or language of the fearfull multitude. So one Hume is said to be at this time▪ convicted before Archbishop Cranmer, for denying somewhatAct. & Mon. part 2. p. 655. in the Sacrament (as it was then called) of the Altar. Then; Then was a time, which the Frenchmen callPour denoter les rets de la nuict nous disons entre chien & loup. Pasq. des Recher. che [...] de la Fr. l. 8. c. 15. Entre Chien & Loup, so early in the Morning of our Religion, as a man could not (without some speciall Character) discern a Dog from a Wolf; a name given by God himself, from a name given by the invention of man, unto that blessed Sacrament. Secondly, I utterly deny, that the Act of Parliament takes [Page] it for the Name: It takes it clearly for the Nickname of that Sacrament. Come in with shame enough into the Body of the Act, and see what imposture you print for the people.1o Edv. 6. 1. The most comfortable Sacrament of the body and bloud of our Saviour Iesus Christ, commonly called, The Sacrament of the Altar, and in Scripture, The Supper and Table of the Lord, The Communion and partaking of the body and bloud of Christ. Here is (I confesse) some strife and contention about the naming of the Child. The Commonaltie and Corruptions of the time (and, as I shall shew anon, the Course of the Common Law) name it one way, the holy Scripture another way. AndCic. de Oratore, lib. 1. if it were a matter de stillicidiis (as Tully speaks) a matter of Custome or Prescription, that two or three Goodfellows might eeke it out with an Oath before a Iury of the same feather, I think it would go hard with both Church and Scripture. But in a matter of the most venerable Sacrament of the Christian Religion, and before a Learned and Iudicious Divine, (as his best friend, his Alter ego, stiles him) me thinks there should be no question, but that the holy Scripture should carry it quite away; and that The Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ, The Supper, or The Communion, should be the right name, and The Sacrament of the Altar the Nickname or vulgar Appellation onely of this blessed Sacrament. But a penall Law, as this is, was to take notice, not onely of the proper name, but of every Appellation, whatsoever this blessed Sacrament enjoyned to be had in reverence by that Law, was [Page] at that time known by and discerned.Brook [...] Abridgement, verbo Misnon [...]e [...], ex 1o Edv. 4. fol. 82. A man may be known by twenty Names, and yet have but one Name, say the learned in our Laws: The Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ, as by the right name; of the Altar, as a thing known by, saith the Statute. It is so called indeed, but not by the Law of God, nor by the Law of Man, but commonly, that is, by the common Errour, and Popery of those times. Learn Doctour, learn to language this Sacrament from a Prelate of this Church, from whom you may well learn as long as you live. Answer to the Gagger, p. 251. The Sacrament (as you call it) of the Altar. Gaggers of Protestants call it so, Protestants themselves do not. For there hath been much alteration in this Church and State, (God be praised for it) and all in melius, and all confirm'd by Acts of Parliament sithence that Time. Rubrick before the Comm. in K. Edw. Liturgie of 1549. f. 121. This very Sacrament was then commonly called the Masse, and allowed to be so called by2o & 3o Ed. 6. c. 1. & Injunct. of K. Edw. Injunct. 21. Act of Parliament, and in that Appellation appointed to be so sung or said, all England over. I hope it is not so Now. 23▪ Elis. c 1. For every person that shall now say or sing Masse, shall forfeit the summe of 200 Marks, &c. And if Dr Coal shall report of me, that I have said Masse, when I have onely administred the Communion, I shall have against him my remedy in Law, as in a cause of foul Slander. And presently after this Act was reviv'd by Q. Elisabeth, there was at the same Session anThe later part of the Catechisme added in Q. Elis. her Liturgie. Addition made to the Catechisme, (and that likewise confirm'd by1o Elis. c. 2. Act of Parliament) whereby all the Children of this Church are punctually taught to Name our two [Page] Sacraments, Baptisme and the Lords Supper. So that this Iudicious Divine was very ill catechised, that dares write it now, The Sacrament of the Altar.

For the Writ directed in that Act of Parliament, it doth not call it (as D. Coal doth expressely falsifie the passage) Sacramentum Altaris, but it saith onely, that it is grounded upon that Statute, which was madeContra sormam Statuti concernent. Sacros. Sacram. Altaris. concerning the Sacrament of the Altar. Having therefore clear'd the Statute it self from naming it so, the Writ will never be found guilty of such a Misnomee. But how many presidents of that Writ can this great Lawyer shew in the Book of Entries? However, it was high time for the wisdome of the Parliament to take some quick Order in this kinde, when they were resolv'd to revoke all2o H. 5. c. 7. & 25o H. 8. c. 14. former Laws that commanded honour to the Sacrament, and yet found the unsufferable indiscretion of the Zelotes mounted to that height, as to dare to term the Institution of Christ (however disguis'd in this superstitious habit) with those base compellations of Altare Damasc. p. 316. Iack of the Box, and Sacrament of the Halter, on the one side, and thenDefence of three Ceremonies, p. 270. Iewel, Art. 4. p. 282. Bakers bread, Ale-cakes, and Tavern-tokens, on the other side. Purposing therefore to keep in force one Branch of those two Laws which were by and by to be repeal'd, (I mean, 2o H. 5. c. 7. and 25o H. 8. c. 14.) which required due reverence to be performed to this Sacrament, they reserved the ancient words and Additions, not of the people onely, but of the Common Law it self, in the Indictments for Lolardy, [Page] as we may see in the Book ofEt docuerunt opiniones haereticas contra fidem Catholicam Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae: viz. Quòd in Sacramento Altaris non est nisi panis Sanctus, & non caro & sanguis Christi, &c. Rastall, Coll. of Entries, Endictment, c 11. Entries. And because this Sacrament was so commonly called, not onely in the Mouth of the Church, but in the Mouth of the Law it self, the Statute in the head of the Act, and foot of the Writ, gives it this Addition of Sacramentum Altaris. But this Lollard Writ, these threescore yeares, hath had (God be thanked for it) no more operation in Law, then the Clause against Lollards in theNostro aevo accipiunt alii Lollardos, pro institutae religioni adversantibus, eó (que) vetus jutamentum Vicecomitum ad prosequendos Lollardos juratorum hodie attrahunt. H. Spilm. in verbo Lollard. Sheriffs Commission. And if there were any occasion to put it in force, me thinks (the subsequent Laws considered) it ought to be issued contra formam Statuti concernentis sacrosanctum Sacrament [...]m Corporis & Sanguinis Dominici; admitting theBrooks Abridgement, ex 2o H. 6. 9. And Cowell, in verbo Variance. variance by this matter ex post facto, as men and Corporations may do in some Cases. But being led by this fellow quite out of my way, I wholly submit my Opinion herein to the Reverend of that Profession.

I make haste therefore to return to the Doctour again, before he finish his Triumph over this Section, attended with Princes, Prelates, Priests, and Parliaments, to confirm his Altar and his Sacrifice. Whereas in very truth all his Witnesses are under Age, and are not able to speak of themselves one word to his purpose. Iohn Frith (as you have heard) speaks by Sr Thomas More; Iohn Lambert, by S. Austin; Archbishop Cranmer, by Iohn Fox; Iohn Philpot, by the ancient Writers; B. Latimer, by the Doctours, who might be deceived; B. Ridley, by the publick Notary that drew the Articles; the Writ, by the Act of Parliament; and the Act of Parliament, [Page] by Vox populi, and common Report. Not one of all these, that speaks of his own knowledge, as a witnesse ought to do. But this is some Susenbrotus Figure, by which this judicious Divine useth to write in a different manner from all honest Authours; to make one man still to speak what was uttered by another. Thus he handleth the Writer of the Letter, in that similitudePag. 21. of Dressers, unmannerly applyed to the Altar-wise-situation of the holy Table. For although the Writer saith clearly,Letter 68, 69. he likes that fashion, he allows it, and so useth it himself; yet if one Prinne hath printed it I know not where, or some Countrey-people said I know not what, he must (in most Oyster-whore language) pinne it and Prinne it upon the Writer of the Letter. And if one Bishop of Lincoln, the Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 486. Popes Delegate, and one Dean of Westminister, Queen Maries Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 44. Commissioner, shall speak irreverently of the Protestants Table; by this new Figure, all Bishops and Deans of those two places, must, untill the end of the world, be suppos'd to do it. And so must the Bishops of Norwich be ever sending forth Letters of Persecution, becauseIn his Index reser [...]ing to Act. & Mon. part. 1. pag. 870. Iohn Fox observeth that one of them did so. It remaineth onely, he should with the Italian Hen. [...] Apol. d' Her [...]d. Friar, fasten upon David, (whom he hath reasonably abused already) that he should also say, There was no God; because in one of thePsal. 14. 1. Psalmes, the Doctours own Cofin, the foolish body, hath heretofore said it.

CHAP. IV.

[Page]

Of Bowing to the Name of Iesus. Of Sacrifice. Of the Name of Altar. Whether an Altar is necessary for all kinde of Sacrifices, &c.

HE cannot ascend not so much as to this Discourse of the Altar, without Bowing; which makes him fall upon thisP. 4. Preamble so impertinently. But let him bow as often as he pleaseth, so he do it to this blessed Name; or toP. 42. honour him (and him onely) in his holy Sacrament. This later, although the Canon doth not enjoyn, yet reason, pietie, and constant practice of Antiquitie doth. The Church-men do it in S.Vet. Pa [...]rtom. 2. p. 61. [...]. Chrysost [...]ms Liturgie, and the Lay-men are commanded to do it in S. Chrysostoms. Homil. 24. ad Corinth. Hom. 61. ad pop. Antioch. vide Claud. de Sainctes de Ritibus Missae. Homilies. And if there be any proud Dames, quae deferre nesciant mentium Religioni, quod deferunt voluptati, as S.De Virginib. l. 3. Ambrose speaks, that practise all manner of Courtesies for Masks and Dances, but none (by any means) for Christ, at their approach to the holy Table; take them Donatus for me: I [Page] shall never write them in my Calendar for the Children of this Church. But what is this to Dionysius? Yes, it comes in as pat as can be. He was serving his firstPag. 5. That herb (according as the saying is) hath spoil'd all the Pottage. Messe of Pottage, and the Bishop (as the saying is) got into it, and hath quite spoiled it, by warning a yong man (that was complain'd upon for being a little fantasticall in that kinde) to make his reverence humbly and devoutly, that he might winne his people also to sympathize with himself in that pious Ceremonie. But this is to censure the heart. No, the Writer goeth no further then the outward action: ut audio, sic judico. In that he had heard somewhat to be amisse, and desir'd (in a friendly manner) it might be reformed: But still according to the Canon: Which requires itCan. 18. should be done, as it hath been accustomed, saith our Canon, referring to a former: As it hath been accustomed heretofore, saith theQ. Elis. Injunct Injunct. 52. Injunction, referring to a time out of minde. It is not therefore enough to obey a Canon in the matter, if we obey it not likewise in the manner. Not to make a Courtesie, if it be not aInjunct. 52. lowly Courtesie. Nor so neither, unlesse it be as heretofore hath been accustomed. If we would preserve old Ceremonies, we must not taint them with new Fashions; especially with apish ones. That reverence which the Priests and Deacons were wont to perform in this kinde, is call'd in the Greek Liturgies,Chrysost. Liturg. [...]. Vet. Pat. Tom. 2. p. 84. Reverentia, ut vulgò loquuntur. Meurs. in [...]loss. [...], a modest and humble Bowing of the body: such as in the primitive Church, the Christians us'd in performing their Publick penance. And if we may believe [Page] their modern Divines, it was two-fold, a greater, and a lesser Reverence. The greater, when they bowed all theirMartin. Crustus in Histor. Eccl. Turcograec. ex Ge [...]lach. p. 205. [...]. Herol [...]g. Body, yet without bending of the knee, very lowly and almost to the earth. The lesser, with the inclination and bending of the Head and shoulders onely. Which or whether any of these were used in the Western Churches, and delivered over unto us, is not so certain. An accustomed lowly reverence to this blessed Name, we receiv'd from all Antiquitie, as appears by the Canons and Injunctions. And good reason we should entail it on our Posteritie. If this yong man faulted therein, he was much the better; If he faulted not, but was unjustly informed against, he was not much the worse, for being gently admonished. But behold this judicious Pag. 5. Censurer of the Censurer of the heart, is now become himself a Censurer of the spirit. Comparing (an angry man would say, Blasphemously) the young man Bowing, with Davids dancing before the Ark. Do you know with the Si corripiatur eodem spiritu, quo David. Martyr in 2. Sam. 6. 14. rapture of what spirit David did this? Surely S.Comment. in Matth lib. 2. in c. 11. Hierome seems to imply, that it was done with no other spirit, then the very same, wherewith Christ and his Apostles piped unto the Jewes, when they had not danced. Besides that,Etiam quia populus non scandalizabatur in illo, sed putabant eum magis dignum honore. Test. in 2. Reg. c. 6. q. 19. the people were not scandalized in him (which is supposed to be our case) but Michel onely. And so much of your Preamble, that is, your Pottage. Now to your more solid Meat, if your Book have any of that kinde.

The Writer of the Letter had said, that if [Page]the Vicar should erect any such Altar, that is, a close Altar at the upper end of the Quire, where the old Altar in Q. Maries time stood, that then, his discretion would prove the sole Holocaust should be sacrificed thereupon. Not onely because his discretion, being of a very airy and thin substance, would quickly (as a Holocaust should do) vanish into nothing; but by reason that thereby by he should put himself into the very Case, that Isaac conceiv'd his father to be in:Gen. 21. 7. Behold the Fire and wood, but where is the Lamb for the burnt-offering? Because the 31 Article having taken away the Popish Lamb (for the which that old Altar had been erected) as aB. of Articles, Artic. 31. Blasphemous figment and pernicious imposture; the Homily had commanded us to take heed, we should look to finde it in the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper: For there it was not: There was indeed in the Sacrament a Memory of a Sacrifice, but Sacrifice there was none. And we must take heed of quillets and distinctions, that may bring us back againe to the old Errour reformed in the Church. Whereof this was a principall part: That we should not consecrate upon profane Tables (as theIn 1. Cor. 11. Rhemists most profanely term'd them) which relate to a Supper, but upon sacred Altars onely, which referre to a Sacrifice. For soDu. S. Sacram. l. 2. Aut [...]r. 10. c. 1. Cardinall Peron observeth, that it is ever call'd a Table, when it points to the Communion or Supper; and an Altar, when it points to the Sacrifice. Now the Homily stating in one sentence most of the Controversies in this matter between us and the Church of [Page] Rome, by an enumeration of opposit and distinct species (the one whereof, as in [...]. Arist. de Partib. animal. l. 1. c. 3. Logick the nature of such is describ'd to be, if we make the Doctrine of our Church, we cannot without implication make the other) observes these foure contradistinguished Tenets or Positions: 1. We must make the Lords Supper fruitfull to us that be alive, not to the dead: both we of this Church cannot do. 2. We must receive it in two parts, not in one only: both we of this Church cannot do. 3. We must make it a Communion, or Publick, not a private eating: both we of this Church cannot do. 4. Lastly, we must make it a Memory, and not a Sacrifice: both we of this Church cannot do. And this is the passage cited by the Writer. We must take heed, lest of a Memory it be made a Sacrifice. What saith the Doctour to this? He saith, that by these words the Church admits of a Commemorative Sacrifice. Which is as much asLib. 4. S [...]n [...]. d. 11. c. [...]. Peter Lombard and all his ragged regiment admit of. I am (as K. James of famous memory was wont to say) a Slave to reason, and must yeeld when ever I am thus summoned by it. I do confesse the man hath found a true and reall Sacrifice; but it is a Bull:

Virgil. Aeneid. 1. Taurum Nept [...]no, Taurum tibi, pulcher Apollo. A very strange and hideous Bull, which this Calf makes the Church to speak unto her people in her publick Homilies. As we must take heed, good People, we apply not the Sacrament of the Supper to the dead, but to the living; receive it not under one, but under both kindes; Let not the [Page] Priest swallow up all, but take our part with him: So must we take especiall heed, lest of a Commemorative Sacrifice, it be made a Sacrifice. Which though it be not so fierce as Pius Quintus his, yet is a kinde of Pious Bull. But the Church in her Book of Hom. p. 197. Homily, or any other publick writing, never speaks a word of any Commemorative Sacrifice, but of the Memory onely of a Sacrifice, that is (as she clearly interprets her self in the page before) of the Memory of Christs death, which she there affirms to be sufficiently celebrated upon a Table. And I shall be able to shew unto you, that it is call'd by S.De Civit. Dei, l. 17. c. 20. Austin, a Sacrament of Memory; by [...]. Euseb. de Dom. Evang. l. 1. c. 10. ad finem. Eusebius, a Sacrifice of Memory: which is the word in the Homily. You will not be able to shew unto me out of S. Austin, or any of the Fathers (althoughReplique a la Resp. p. 793. Bellarm. lib. 1. de Missa. c. 2. Cardinall Peron affirms it to be sometimes used by them; which Bellarmine utterly denies) no, nor out of Peter Lombard himself (upon whose old rubbish they have built the distinction) and least of all (saith Chemuit. Ex Conc. Trident. part. [...]. Bellarm. l. 1, de Missa. c. 2. Chemnitius, which Bellarmine also approves) out of Scripture; that it is call'd punctually a Commemorative Sacrifice. All thatSent. l. 4. dist. 12. Peter Lombard saith in a manner is this, that it is call'd in the Fathers an Oblation and a Sacrifice, Quia memoria est & repraesentatio veri Sacrificii; Archb. Cranmer Def. l. 5. contra Gardiner. doth thus interpret it. not because it is a true Sacrifice (for you see those two terms are contradistinguish'd) but because it is a Memory and representation of a true Sacrifice. A true Sacrifice it is not (The Christian Church hath but one in that kinde:) but a Memory onely [Page]of a true Sacrifice. So likewise S.Chrysost Hem. 17. in 9. ad Hebraeos. Chrysostom, when he had call'd it [...], a Sacrifice, eats up his word by and by, and addes (by way of explication, yea, and correction too, asSive explicationis, sive etiam correctionis loco. Cas [...]ub. ad Per. Ep. p. 52. one observes; Rom. Sacris. l. 6. c. 5. p. 443. correction of that excesse of speach, saith a Reverend Prelate of this Church; That no man might take offence at the speach, saith Archbishop Defence against Gardiner, lib. 5. Cranmer) [...], I should rather have said, a Memory of a Sacrifice. You know best, saith Casaubon to Cardinall Peron, what weight and efficacie those little particles, [...], do carry with them. I am sure, saith Mounsieur Ces mots sont fort exprez & grenvent advers [...]ires. Resp au Cardin. du Per. Controvers. 10. c. 2. Moulin, they vex the Pontifician not a little. Surely, if you put them in an even and unpartiall balance, the name of Sacrifice will prove too light, and the Memory of a Sacrifice onely will passe for the currant and lawfull money. I know some few learned men of the reformed Church do use the name of Commemorative Sacrifices: but it is not with an intent to disturb the Doctrine of Gods Church, as it is taught now; but to give a candid and faire interpretation to those words of Art, by which this selfsame Doctrine hath been heretofore illustrated by the ancient Fathers. Besides that, our truly learned men do set down precisely, that a Archb. Cranm [...]r Def. against Gard. 5. Book. Episc. Dunelm. Rom. Sacrifice, l. 6. c. 5. p. 440. Because the Eucharist being onely a Commemorati [...]e, cannot be a proper Sacrifice. Commemorative Sacrifice, is not properly a Sacrifice, but (as K.Rex—hoc Sacrificium nihil esse aliud contendit, nisi Commemorationem ejus quod semel in cruce, &c. Casaub. Ep. ad [...]eron. p. 52. James took it rightly) Commemoratio Sacrificii, a Commemoration onely of a Sacrifice, which differs in predicament (then the which nothing can be more) from a true Sacrifice. And yet the most learned in this Theme [Page] of our late Divines,Def. of the 5. Book against Gardiner. Archbishop Cranmer, doth refuse to tie himself to Peter Lombard in the Consequences, however he doth sometimes use the terms of this Distinction. And therefore if a Memory of a true Sacrifice be all that he hath gain'd, which can be celebrated upon a Table, as well or better then upon an Altar, the Vicars discretion, and his Campions to boot, are not quite out of danger, to become the Holocaust of this new Altar. And herein because you appeale unto the Homily, to it you shall go; little to your comfort, I hope. The immmediate words before these we spake of, are those of S. Ambrose. Indignus est Domino, qui al [...]ter mysterium celebrat, quà [...] ab eo traditum est. Non enim potest devotus esse, qui aliter p [...]aesumit, quàm datum est ab Autore. Ambr. in 1. Cor. 11. That he is unworthy of the Lord, that otherwise doth celebrate that Mystery, then it was delivered by him. Neither can he be devout, that doth otherwise presume then it was given by the Authour. We must therefore take heed, lest of a Memory, &c. Now there is no one word in Christs Institution, that can probably inferre a proper Sacrifice: As our reverend Instit. Sacram. l. 6. c. 1. p. 398. Bishop proves at large. Nor was there extant any one word of all these Collects of our own (or of any other Liturgie whatsoever) from whence you muster up your unproper Sacrifices, in the Apostles times. In which Age, they consecrated the Sacrament of the Supper with the short Canon of theMos Apostolorum fuit, ut ad ipsam solū modo orationem Dominicam Oblationis hostiam consecrarent. Greg. l. 8. Ep. 7. Sit Durand. Ration. l. 4. Pl [...]in. in vita Sixti. Idem cita [...] ex Gregor. Joan. 9. Papa. In vita Gregor. l. 2. & [...]ea [...]. Rh [...]an. Praef. in Liturg. Chrysost. & Ambros. Pelargus in Pro [...]. in Liturg. Chrysost. Lords Prayer onely; out of the which, you must bestirre you well with your Logick, before you can inferre all your unproper and spirituall Sacrifices. And if you should wring them all out of these six Petitions, yet will it not serve your turn, unlesse you prove that the Lords Prayer cannot [Page] be said in Pew or Pulpit, but at an Altar onely. But to deal clearly with you, and to come to the point. I do grant freely, that in the Scripture and the ancient Fathers, we do meet with, not onely those few which you reckon up, but a great many more duties and vertues of Christian men, that are usually term'd by the Names of Sacrifices; howbeit (for the most part) they have (as In divinis literis opera virtutum non vocantur absolutè Sacrificia, sed cum addito, ut, Sacrificium laudis, &c. Bellar. de Miss. l. 1. c. 2. Bellarmine observes) their Sirnames also and Additions put unto them. The learned Prelate of our own Nation reckons up some six out of Scripture, and a great many more out of the ancient Fathers. And it is no marvell; For I could fill a page or two, if I list, with the like Sacrifices, out of the very heathen Writers. [...]. Isocr. ad Nico [...]l. Hold this the most glorious of all thy Oblations, if thou canst exhibit thy self unto the Gods a most just and excellent man, saith Isocrates. It were a pitifull case indeed (saith [...], &c. Plato de voti [...]. Socrates in Plato) if the Gods should regard the Perfumes onely, and not the Souls and Vertues of mortall men. Lastly, I will adde that most admirable passage of the Poet, applauded and commented upon byLactant. divin. instit. l. 6. c. 11. Sentiebat non carne opus esse ad placandam coelestem majestatem, sed mente sanctâ. Lactantius himself. Let us sacrifice unto the gods

A. Pers. Sat. 2.

Compositum jus, fásque animi, sanctós (que) recessus

Mentis, & incoctum generoso pectus honesto.

I will likewise allow you, (which your indigested Meditations forgot to call for) that all these spirituall Odours, improperly called Sacrifices, are not onely stirred up and made more fragrant with the Meditation, but many times sown of seeds, and engendred at first by the secret operation of [Page] this blessed Sacrament. Nay yet further; In contemplation of all these rare and speciall Graces of the Spirit, wrought in our soules by means of the Eucharist, you shall not reasonably expect any outward expression of reverence and submission to the Founder of the Feast, any trimming and adorning of the Room and Vtensils prepared for this great solemnitie, which I will not approve of, and bring the ancient Fathers along with me to do as much. I will allowErat solicitus Nepotianus, si niteret Altare, Hieron. ad Heliodor. ep. 3. c. 10. Nepotian to take especiall care that things be neat and handsome in that blessed Sanctuary. I will encourage [...]. Pallad. Lausiac. hist. c. 119. Melania to beautifie that place, with the forbearance (if need be) of her chiefest Ornaments. I could say in a manner with thatIddio scrive in quella polvere [...] vostri peccati, O curatori d' anime, quando per lungo spatio rimano, Freder. Borrom. Cardin. Ragionam. Syno dal. 31. p. 305. Italian Prelate, that God in that holy Table, which he finds full of dust, doth write down the sinnes of the carelesse Church-man. But this I can by no means approve, which Protestants and Papists do joyntly deny, that ever materiall Altar was erected in the Church for the use of spirituall and improper Sacrifices. Defence of his fifth book against Gardiner. The Sacrifice which Malachy speaks of, being the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, all people offer unto God, as well as the Priest; be they at the blessed Sacrament, at Prayers, or at some charitable work, at any time, and in any place whatsoever; saith Archbishop Cranmer. If question be asked, It there then no Sacrifices now left to be done of Christian people? yea truly, but none other then such as ought to be done without Altars. And these bee of three sorts, &c. For hee instanceth in three of those which the Doctour doth instance upon in this Book; [Page] Praise and Thanksgiving, our Soules and Bodies, and Oblations for the poore: And then concludes; Seeing Christian men have no other Sacrifices then these, which may and ought to be done without Altars, there should amongst Christians be no Altars; saith BishopIn his third Sermon upon lonas, preached before the King, 1550. Hooper. Priest, Altar, and Sacrifice are Relatives, and have mutuall and unseparable dependance one of each other. So he, and truly. But you ought to take with you a necessary Caution, observed by the same Cardinall, That an unproper Sacrifice cannot inferre a proper Altar, saith the Lo.Institut. lib. 6. c. 5. §. 15. p. [...]61. Bishop of Duresme; when he had said a little before (most truly and learnedly) that aBecause the Eucharist being only commemorative, cannot be a proper Sacrifice, p. 440. Commemorative Sacrifice cannot be a proper Sacrifice: and therefore cannot inferre a proper Altar. Then for the Pontificians, they are all of this opinion; I will single out a few of the Prime. An Altar of Stone is never erected to praise God or say our prayers at, saith In Epist. ad Hebr. c. 13. ad octav. Salmeron. If not of Stone, neither of Timber; for that makes not the difference. There is none so blinde, but he may see that these Christian duties and Ceremonies may be performed to God without an Altar, saithQuis enim non videt &c. de Missa, l. 1. c. 2. Bellarmine. And he quotes to confirm this point, the testimonie ofInstitut. lib. 4. c. 18. §. 13. Calvin; They that extend the name of Sacrifice to all Ceremonies and religious Actions, I do not see what reason they can produce for it. To Sacrifices taken improperly and metaphorically, the circumstances of Altars (which relate still to true Sacrifices) are no way requisite, saithLes circ [...]nstances des autels, qui ont relation aux vrais sacrifices, n'estoit point requise. Replique, p. 790. Cardinall Peron. would the Iews (who no doubt had Prayers and Oblations) take them for Sacrifices, or build an Altar for them? saith Dr Survey, lib 4. c. 2. Kellison. Which puts me in minde [Page] of one Argument, wherewith I will conclude this Passage. God would not suffer the first Age of the world, for 1650 yeares, to passe away without Prayers, Praises, and Thanksgivings unto him; but he suffer'd it to passe without any Altars: That of Noahs being theGen. 8. primum Altare erectum, Bellar. l 1. de Missa, c. 2. Le premler autel dressé. P. Cotton. Genev. Plagiar. p. 282. Primus omnium Noah Gen. 8. fecit Altare, Hospin. l. de Orig. Altar. c. 6. first that ever was built, as learned men are of opinion. Therefore these duties may be still performed without Altars. And consequently, if after all this search in the Collects of the Liturgie, you can finde the Vicar nothing, but Prayers, Praises, Thanksgivings, and Commemorations; the holy Table, in the place where it stood, will serve for all these, without erecting or directing this new Altar. But what if I finde you severall Altars for all these spirituall Sacrifices, in the ancient Fathers, will you promise not to disturb the peace of the Church any more? Or if this be too much for you to perform, will you have a better opinion of the Writer of the Letter, and suffer the poore man to procure, if he can, so poore a Vicaridge as your friends was, to be quiet in? Is it not a very little one? It is but a piece of a piece of a piece of a Benefice: And therefore I will presume upon your kindnesse therein, and set you up all the Altars that God ever required for these kinde of Sacrifices. The first, is the [...]. Ignatiu [...] Epist. ad Eph. vide Nic. Vedel. Exercit. 6. c. 1. p. 237. Councell of the Saints and the Church of the first begotten; a most fitting place for the pouring forth of these Christian duties: And this is Ignatius his. Altar. The second, is [...], &c. Orig. contra Cels. lib. 8. p. 404. [...], not the minde (as it is usually translated) but the commanding and directing part of the reasonable soule, from whence is sent forth [Page] those Odours of sweet Incense, to wit, Vowes and Prayers out of a good Conscience: And this is Origens Altar. The third, is the [...]. Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 7. Righteous Soul; the Incense whereof, is holy invocation: And this is Clemens Alexandrinus his Altar. The fourth, is every place wherein we offer unto God the sweet-smelling fruits of our studies in Divinitie: And this is [...]. Euseb. de Dem. Evang. l. 1. c. 10. Eusebius his Altar. The fifth, isE [...]seb. hist. Eccl. l. 10. c. 4. it is said to be [...], by Nic [...]ph. l. 7. c. 40. Domi cō posita, as Longus translates it, at the dedication of a Church. [...], the clearnesse and sinceritie of the minde, smo [...] king up the unbloudy and immateriall Sacrifices of Prayers: And this is the Panegyrists Altar, quoted in your Pamphlet under another name, p. 53. The sixth, is the heart of a man, Cor nostr [...]m Altare Dei, the true, proper, and literall Altar of all spirituall Sacrifices: And this is S.Nos templum Dei sumus omnes, cor nostrū Altare Dei, Au [...]. l 10. de Civ. Dei, c. 5. Augustines Altar. The seventh, is our Memory, and remembrance of Gods blessings; a very fit and pertinent expression: And this isPhilo Iud. lib. Quis rerum divinarū haeres, & l. 3 de vita Mosis. Philo Iudaeus his Altar. The eighth, is the Sonne of God, become the sonne of man; Altare sanctificans donum, The Altar which sanctifieth all these spirituall Sacrifices, that but touch that Altar: And this is S.Altare Redemptoris, humilis Incarnatio, Berr. in Sent. Bernards Altar. The ninth, is the Sonne of God now in Heaven; that Habemus Altare, Hebr. 13. that Golden Altar, Apoc. 8. upon which we offer to God the Father all spirituall Sacrifices: And this isAquin in. 13. c. ep. ad Heb & Antididagma Colon. de Miss. Sac [...]if. Aquinas his Altar. The tenth and last, (for we must make an end, and remember we are not now at Paphos or Cyprus, ‘—Virg. Aeneid 1. ubi templum illi centúmque Sabeo’

Thure calent arae) is our Faith, the Prothesis or preparing-Altar to that Altar going before. [Page] Altare id est Fides, the immediat Altar of all these spirituall Sacrifices, is the Faith of a Christian, which elevates all these vertues up to Heaven, (that otherwise would lie flagging about the Earth.) And this is S.Vnusquisque sanctus Altare Domini in se habet, quod est Fides, Hieron. in Psal. 25. Hieromes Altar. Now consider with your self, whether it were fitter for you to make use of these Altars for your unproper and metaphoricall Sacrifices, and have all these Greek and Latin Fathers to applaud you for the same, rather then to rely upon some Miracle of a good Work in hand, or some poore Dreame of the pietie of the Times; especially when we are clearly inhibited by the Canons ofConc. Carthag. 5. An. 438. c. 14. Num quae per somnia consti [...]uuntur altaria omnimodò reprobantur. Sen [...]nens. Synod. An. 1528. Can. 38. Nè pr [...]tex [...] no [...]i miraculi erigatur altare novum. two Nationall Councells, to erect any Altars upon Dreames or Miracles.

CHAP. V.

[Page]

Of the second Section. The Contents thereof.

1 Of Sacrifice of the Altar.

2 Tables resembling the old Altars

3 Alteration not in Bishop Ridley's Diocese onely, and how there.

4 Altar and Table how applied.

5 Altar of participation.

6 Of Oblation.

7 No Altars in the Primitive Church.

8 None scandalized with name of the Lords Table.

9 Altars of old, how proved. 10 Not taken away by Calvin.

THis Section is a true Section indeed, divisibilis in semper divisibilia, chop't into a very Hotchpotch, or minc'd pie, and so crumbled into smal snaps and pieces, that an Adversary doth not know, ‘Martial Epigr. lib. 1. ep 61. Quod ruat in tergum, vol quos procumbat in armos.’ [Page] All the first part therof that relates unto any Laws, Canons, or Constitutions, made or confirmed by the Kings & Queens of this Realm, concerning this yong Controversie, I have already examined in the first Chapter: It being a ridiculous thing for us to have waded thus far into the book, if we had received but the least check frō any Law of God or the King. In the remainder of this Section, there are some things that concern the Question in hand, which we may call his Sixth (as it were;) and some other that are but [...], certain skips and spurts, or Boutades of the man (when hee thought what Dignities he might expect for this piece of service) which wee will call his Extravagancies, and see that they shalbe forth-coming (as Waives in a Pinfold) to be surveyed at our better leisure in the next Chapter. And in the former part now to be perused, you shall finde little that concerns the Writer of the Letter, or any of us that approved of the same. For this New-castle-Coal is mounted up from the Kitchin to the Great Chamber, and confutes no longer a private Monition sent to a Vicar, but Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Iewel, Iohn Calvin (a greater stickler, then ever I heard before, in our Upper and Lower house of Parliament) the Acts of Counsell made for the Reformation, the Lords spirituall and temporall, with the Commonaltie, that confirmed our present Liturgie: not forbearing toP. 40. jeere and deride both them and King Edward(The sonne of whom, was Edward the Saint; of whom we may say, as of Enoch, Though hee departed the world soone, yet fulfilled he much time, Hooker Eccles. [...]ol. l. 4. p. 168. whom the Iudicious Divine indeed doth call Saint Edward) in a most prophane and abominable fashion.

[Page] First therefore he falls upon a solemneAct & Men. part 2 f 700. Act of the King and Counsell, mentioned by Iohn Fox, upon this occasion:Letter, p. 73. The writer of the Letter observes that in Saxony and other parts of Germany, the Popish Altars upon the Reformation, being permitted to stand, were never esteemed (call them by what name you will) any otherwise then as so man Tables of Stone or Timber; the Sacrifice of those Popish Altars being now abolished. Which words, I perceive, the Writer had translated in a manner from a learnedQuia cessante sacrificio, altaria illa nihil aliud sunt quàm mensae lapid [...]ae: Sublato enim relativo formali, manet absolutum & materiale tantùm, Gerard. lib. 2. tom. 5. p. 5 [...]6. Lutheran. And that these sacrifices were abolished, D.Pag. 7. Coal hath already confessed, pronouncing him for no sonne of the Church of England, that presumes to offer them. Yet the Writer alleging the fourth Reason given by the King and Counsell, for their taking away in England; That the form of an Altar being ordained for the Sacrifices of the Law, and both the Law and the Sacrifices thereof new ceasing (in Christ) the Form of the Altar ought to cease also; D. Coal makes nothing of this Reason; but pities the simplicity of the Times, as not being able to distinguish between the Sacrifices of the Law, and the Sacrifices of the Altar. I pray you good Doctour, where may we read of this Term of yours, Sacrifices of the Altar, if we do not reade of it in the Sacrifices of the Law? Omnia omnino quae in Scriptura dicuntur Sacrificia, necessariò destruenda erant, Bellarm, de Missa, l. [...] c. 2. For surely all Sacrifices that wee reade of in Scripture, none excepted, were necessarily to be destroyed. And beside the Sacrifices of the Law, woe reade of no Sacrifice that was destroyed, but that one you wot of, offered up upon the Crosse, and not upon an Altar. Beside that, the Apostles and Writers of the [Page] New Testament, Lib. 1. de Missa, c. 17. by the speciall instinct of the holy Ghost, did purposely forbear to insert into their Writings the name of an Altar, if we may beleeve Bellarmine. And in the ancient Fathers you shall not reade your Sacrifice of the Altar, terminis terminantibus, how ever you may have found it foisted into their As the Divines of Lovain to the Index of S. Augustine. Indexes by some Priests and Iesuits. AndDe Missa, l. 3. c. 4. Mornay doth shew with a great deal of probability, that the ancient Fathers could not possibly take any notice of this Sacrifice of the Altar. What then? are you Christians to perform no manner of Sacrifices at all? No, not any at all, saithQuid ergó? Sacrificia censetis nulla facienda? Nulla. Arnobius adversus Gen [...]es, l. 7. Arnobius. Not any corporeall Sacrifice; but onely praise and hymnes, saithLib. 6. c. 23. Lactantius. And if some of the Fathers bad used those terms (as they have done others of as high expressions) yet are there divers reasons given by our gravest Divines, why wee should forbear in this kinde the term of Sacrifice. Bilson of Christ subject. part 4. p. 524. 1 Christ and his Apostles did forbear it, and therefore our Faith may stand without it. 2 The speaches of the Fathers in this kinde are dark and obscure, and consequently unusefull for the edifying of the people. 3 Lastly, we finde by experience, that this very expression hath been a great fomenter of Superstition and Popery. And all these inconveniences have sprung from the words, not from the meaning, of any of the Fathers.

But the Doctour hath found it in the Bible for all this, Hebr. 13. 10. We have an Altar. And although this be but one, and that (God he knoweth) a very lame souldier; yet like an Irish Captain, he brings him in in three severall disguises, to fill up his Companie; inTitle-page. front, in thePag. 30. middle, and in thePag. 87. end of [Page] his Book. But in good faith, if S. Paul should mean a materiall Altar for the Sacrament in that place, (with all reverence to such a chosen Vessell of the Holy Ghost be it spoken) it would prove the weakest Argument that ever was made by so strong an Artist. We have an Altar, and a Sacrifice of the Altar, that you of the Circumcision may not partake of. Have you so? And that's no great wonder (may the Jew reply) when abundance of you Christians, may not your selves partake thereof. For in the old time, asAlbaspin. Observ. l. 2. obs. 2. Antiquitus fieri, non nasci Christianos. one observes, they were not born, but made Christians. Made by long and wearisome steps and degrees, and forced. Concil. Constantinop. 1. Can. 7. [...], to creep on with time and leisure to the bosome of the Church, saith the Generall Councell.Ex Albasp. l. 2. Observ. 2. Quid est quod datum est completivum? Corpus quod nôstis, quod non omnes nôstis, Aug. in Ps. 39. Tom. 8. p. 143. Ainsi pa [...]le t [...]il a cause de non initiez devant les quelz iln'cstoit pas permis de parler ouvertement du mystere de l'Eucharistie, Cardin. du Peron. Repliq. p. 806. 1. They were taught in some private house, the vanity of their Paganisme, without so much as daring to peep into the Church-porch. 2. They were admitted to be Hearers only, and that at a very far and remote distance. 3. They were licenced to bend the Knee, and to join in some Prayers with the Congregation. 4. They had leave granted them to become Competentes, suiters and petitioners for the Sacrament of Baptisme. 5. And then, after many moneths, nay yeares expectation, being baptized, they were enrolled in the number of the Faithfull, and never before admitted to the least interest in the Sacrament of the Supper. And therefore for S. Paul to frighten the Jewes with the losse of that, which so many millions of Christians were themselves bereaved of, had been a very weak and feeble dehortation. [Page] I am sure this fellow is a mighty weak piece, to take up this leaden Dagger, which the Non urgeo hunc locum, quia non desunt ex Catholicis, qui interpretantur de Cruce, vel de Christo ipso, Bellarm. de Missa, l. 1. c. 14. Papists themselves have thrown away, as of no use in the day of Battell. And that you should not build upon mine opinion alone, you shall heare what others have printed in that kinde. This place is brutishly abused, to prove that the Christians have a materiall Altar, saith D.Rhemish Test. p. 779. Fulk. Who is of so shallow a brain, as not to discern the notarious unconscionablenesse of your Diputers, who allege the word Altar in the Tent to the Hebrews, for proof of a proper Altar? saith a ReverendInstitut. of the Sacrament, l. 6. c. 3. p. 416. Bishop. And (for vanieties sake) take you one of another Sect:M. Cartwr. in [...], f. 648. Let the Reader observe, how not childishly onely, but absurdly also the Jesuite [...] apply this place to prove a reall Altar. But to put your mouth into r [...]lish again, I will conclude with S.Nihil hîc visibile, ne (que) Sacardos, ne (que) Sacrificium, ne (que) Altare, in 10. [...]p. [...]p. ad Hebr. Ambrose: That we have nothing visible in all this disputation of S. Paul, neither Priest, nor Sacrifice, nor yet Altar. And if these people be [...]rutes, br [...]inlesse, childish and absurd, who (grant them but their suppositions; that here is an He [...]ules in a Lions skin, seen of all, but discerned of none, asPar l' example d'un homme, gui [...]ntieremēt cou [...]ert d'une p [...]a [...]dolion, ne pour [...]a est [...]e discerné d'aucun, mais bien touché de tout le monde, Le [...] princip [...]ux pointes de la Fey, c. 6. Sect. 2. p. 131. Cardinall Richelieu; that here is a David representing his former combat with Goliah, asInstitut. of the Sacra [...]. l. 6. c. 5. p. 446. Cardinall Peron; that here is a King [...]cting a battell he atchieved before, asSi rex aliquis gravissimo bello confecto, idem ipsum bellu [...]r ad oblectand [...]m populo in s [...]ena repraesentare vellet, & ipse idem quirerè pu [...]naverat, i [...] s [...]ena seipsum repraesentaret: Esset enim ipse verè Antitypon suiipsins, De Sacra. Eucharist. l. 2. c. 15. Cardinall Bellarmine; or representing [...] 's hirmish [...]hat was [...]o come after, asInduit, Christus in Coena modum & conditionem quam habult, ut sangul [...]em fu [...]dens in sacrificio Crucis, De Euchar [...]st [...] Sacrif. l. 2. c. 13. Cardinall [...]lan doth conceive it) have [...]ll the reason that [Page] can be to erect a stage for such representations: If these (I say) be to be so termed, what a Brute is this wrangler then, who would have an Altar he knows not for what! For he would have an Pag. 9. Altar, i. e. a C [...]mmunion-Table; and a Sacrifice, i. e. aPag. 8. Memory; and aPag. 11. Send his resolutions to the Priest. Priest, i. e. not derived fromThe name of Priest need not be so odious unto you, as you would seem to make it. I suppose it cometh of the word Presbyter, and not Sacerdos; and then the matter is not great. Whitg. Answer to the Adm. part. 2. pag. 183. Sacerdos for all that. So that I do not know how to resemble this Doctrine fitter, then to that which a Countrey.Becan. Summ. Theolog. part. 1. c. 16. M [...]untebank in France was wont to give in writing to his Patients for the curing of all diseases what soever:

Si vis curari de morbe nescio quali,

Accipias herbam, sed qualem nescio, nec quam;

Ponas, nescio quò; curabere, nescie quando.

Id est,

Your Sore, I know not what, do not fore-slow

To cure with Herbs; which, whence I do not know:

Place them (well pounre't) I know not where; and then

You shall be perfect whole, I know not when.

And yet for all that, if we talk of aPag. 47. Helena indeed, this one place of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is the Helena of all this sort of people. This they hug and clip and kisse: And above all indeed, S. Paul in his HABEMVS ALTARE. Lord, how the man melts upon it! And presently after follow those patheticall words, Haec est illa Helena. And yet, God knoweth, they have of theirs, but as Paris had of his Helena (or rather of her [...], saith the Scholiast of Lycophron out of Stesichorus. Statue onely, her person being seis'd upon by Pr [...]teus in Egypt)Lycophron in Cassandra. [...], a most cold and uncomfortable embracement, and asCited by Garassus Doctrine Curieus. l. 4. §. 4. in fi [...]t. Gulielmus Parisiensit speaks of a like fancy, Chimaram [Page]Chimaerissimam, the very Chimera of all Chimeras. For I will be bold (not without some premeditation) to make all these severall observations upon this passage.

First, that this is the first sonne of the reformed Church of England, that hath presum'd openly to expound this place, of a materiall Altar: Yet not constantly neither: For he confesseth, for all his love to this Text, that the Apostle Pag. 47. may mean there the Lords Table, or the Sacrifice it self, which the Lord once offered. And so a great Scholar indeed of this Church hath expounded it. For the Altar in the old Testament is by Malachy called MENSA DOMINI. Bish. Andrew's notes upon Peron, p. 7. And of the Table in the new Testament, by the Apostle it is said, HABEMVS ALTARE. The Altar in the old, the Table in the new Testament (if we will speak with that great personage, properly and Theologically.) And this is the exposition of Peter Martyr, mentioned in the Letter, which this squeamish gentleman could by no meanes understand: That as sometimes a Table is put for an Altar, as in the first of Malachy; so sometimes an Altar may be put for a Table, as in this Epistle to the Hebrews. Then the which solution there may be peradventure a more full, (for the Crosse of Christ is more appositely aim'd at in that Text, then the holy Table) but there cannot be a more plain and conceivable Answer. And whereas it is infer'd, that then at the least S. Paul conceiv'd the name of an Altar neither to be improper, nor impertinent in the Christian Church; there is no man [Page] ever made doubt thereof; so as it be taken, as S. Paul takes it, Metaphorically, and by way of Allusion, but not materially, for this Church-Vtensill; which is the thing that lies before us upon the Carpet at this time.

Secondly, I do observe, that (Expos [...]t. in l [...]. Sedulius onely excepted) no writer before the beginning of the Reformation, did literally, and in the first place, but Allegorically onely, and in the second place of their exposition, by way of use (as it were) and accommodation, bend this Text to the Materiall Altar. So [...]. Theophyl. in locum. Theophylact expounds it, first, of the Tenets and Observations of the Christians; Remigius, Haymo, Anselmus, Contarenus, in 13. cap. ad Hebr. Remigius and Haymo (who seem to be but two Friars under one hood) of the bloud of the Passion; Anselme, of Christ himself; Cardinall Contaren, of the Passion: and in the second place onely, of the Eucharist: making the debauchery of a Christian man, to be the Service of the Tabernacle, which hinders him from the worthy participation of this spirituall Sacrifice. Which clearly implies a continued Allegory.

Thirdly, setting by the Jesuites on the one side, asSalmeron, Rhemens. A Lapide, Haraeus, Tirimus, Gordonius, Menochius, & Cajet. in 13. cap. ad Hebraeos. Salmeron, the Rhemists, A Lapide, Haraeus, Tirinus, Gordon, and Menochius (and Cajetan, a kinde of Controversie-man) who expound it pointblank for a materiall Altar; and all the Reformed Expositours, on the other side, aswellIllyricus, Hemingius, S [...]rigelius, Nulla est grata Deo, nisi Christus Filius, ara, Qui luit officio crimina nostra suo, in locum. Lutherans (who minister the Communion upon Stone-Altars) as Calvinists, who utterly disallow of that exposition; I do observe, that the most learned of all the Romane Writers, even sithence the stirring [Page] of these Controversies, do expound it either of Christ himself, his crosse, or his profession; as Bellarmine, the Antididagma of Coleine, Catharinus, and Estius: As you may see more at large in the learnedInst [...]ut. of the Sacram. l. 6. c. 3. p. 406. Bishop.

Fourthly and lastly, I do observe, that all Antiquity, besides these, do not in the exposition of this Text, reflect in any kind upon the materiall Altar. Chrysostomus, Oecumenius, Aquinas, Gorra [...]s, Lyra, in 13. [...]. ad Hebreos. Chrysostom expounds it of [...], of the things professed here amongst us; Oecumenitus, [...]. the Tenets, as it were, of Christian men; Peter Lombard, of Christs body; Aquinas, of the Crosse; Gorran, of the Incarnation; and Lyra, of the Passion of our Saviour. Not any one ancient Writer (beside Sedulius) that next his heart, as it were, and in his first exposition, did ever touch upon this materiall Altar. Fulks Def. of the Translas. against Gregorie M [...]rtin, c. 17. I do not except Oecumenius or Haymo, mistaken herein by a learned Doctour. And therefore, good Doctour (unlesse you mean to turn Jesuite) leave off your cracking to your Novices of this place, untill you be able to back it with better Authoritie then your poore conceptions. For above all indeed S. Paul in his HABEMVS ALTARE is least of all for your materiall Altars.

And behold, he hath not done yet with the Act of State, but will needs have another bout with it. ForPag. 30. although the Law and the Sacrifices thereof be both abolished, and consequently the form of these Altars should be abolished; yet that doth not reach at their Altar, which lyeth along the wall, [Page]but at our Communion-Tables, that are in the Body of the Church or Chancell, as the Jewish Altars stood in the old time. Vah! quantum est sapere! It is an excellent thing to be a judicious Divine! But the King and the Lords do not say that the Jewish Altars are abolished, for us to put other Altars in the body of the Church or Chancell, or for you to fasten them all along the wall; but that the form of such Altars should cease to be erected in any place whatsoever in the English Church.

And having a reasonable guesse how those old Altars under the Law came to be placed in the midst of the Priests Court and outward Temple, to wit, that it was so done by Gods appointment; I pray you, forget not to tell me in your next Book,Your needlesse and superstitious walls, which you have erected without commission, Jewel, Des. of the Apol. part. 3. pag. 315. where God, or his blessed Sonne, or the Apostles, or the Fathers after them or any Councell, or any Canon-law, or so much as a Popes Bull, hath commanded any Christian Church to set their Altars all along the wall? But I shall have occasion to tell you many things more then you know, about that particular, in the last Section.

For a full Answer to this Quillet, I do reade in Antiquitie, that the form and situation of the holy Table in the Christian Church, was not exemplified from theExod. 27. 1. And thou shalt make an Altar of Shittim wood, five cubits long, and sive cubits broad. Square Altars, but from the Exod. 25. 23. Thou shalt make a Table of Shirtim wood; two cubits shalbe the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof. long Table of the Shew-bread, which stood in the Temple. And if we can make good our fashion and situation according to this pattern we saw in the Mount, we care not how Altars stood [Page] either in the Jewish or Popish Church; our holy Tables being quite of another race, and no descendants from any of them. One Benjamin a Jew fell upon Isidorus Pelusiota, (a reverend Prelate, as ancient very neare as S. Chrysost [...]m) and charged him with the boldnesse of this new Oblation and Sacrifice of Bread (as he term'd it) invented by the Christian Church, without any pattern or precedent from her Mother the Synagogue. To whom the ancient Father returns this Answer; That there were two Oblations in the Synagogue: The one upon an Altar, [...], in the outward Court, perform'd in bloud and steaming vapours, and visible to all: The other was upon a [...]. Isidor. Pelusiota, lib. 1. Epist. 401. Table, perform'd in Bread, [...], within the Temple, hid from the Vnderstanding of the old, and reserved for the Faith of the new people. And of those former (saith he) thou art one thy self, that couldst not see the truth of this Mystery, hid so long in the Law, and revealed so clearly to us in the Gospel. It will be long yer you will bring us so clear and ancient an extraction for the form and fashion of the Altars in Christianitie. P. 35. Yea but (say you) this Table was not made to eat upon. The Figure indeed was not, but the [...]. Isidor. Pelus. l. 1. ep. 401. verity was, that is, the verity then hid, but now revealed. And yet David, t [...]ough no Priest, did eat of that which was upon it▪ to let us know, that omnes justi Sacerdotalem habent ordinem. All we that are justified in Christ, have a Priestly interest in this holy Bread, saithIrenans [...] l. 4. c. 20. Irenaeus. Davids eating was a figure that the meat of the Priest should one day be improved to be the meat of the people: Because all the children[Page]of the Church are perfect Priests; By reason that we are anointed unto a holy Priesthood, offering up our selves as spirituall Sacrifices to. Almighty God. This Type teaching us thus much, that one day in the Body of Christ, food should be provided for true Believers, saith S.Ambros. in 6. c. Luc. Sacerdotalem cibum ad usum transiturum populorum demonstrante typo, quòd Christi corpore cibus [...]idelium pararetur. Ambrose most excellently. So that there is just that difference between the Shew-bread and the Body of Christ in the Sacrament, as there is between the shadow and the body, the representation and the verity, the patterns of future things, and the things themselves prefigured by these patterns, saith S.Hieron in Ep. ad Tit. c. 1. & in Ezek. c. 44. Hierome. And so saidOrigen. super Levit. Hom. 43. fol. 82. Origen long before; The Commemoration and Remembrance of the 12 Tribes by those 12 Loaves, doth relate to those words of our Saviour, Do this in remembrance of me. And therefore if you mark well these mysteries of the Church, you shalbe enabled to observe the truth of the Gospell in the dark mysts and Riddles of the Law. I will adde to these and other Testimonies of the most ancient Fathers (which you shall by and by finde in the Margin) the conceits of two Iewish Rabbins, somewhat tending to our purpose. Ezek. 4. 22. it is thus written, And he said unto me, This is the Table before the LORD: Meaning (without doubt) the Altar of Incense. The Question then grows, why the Altar is here call'd a Table, I have heard this given as a Reason of it, saithVitalpand. in Ezek l. 4. c. 51. R. Shelomo, That at this day the Table performs what the Altar was wont to do. R. Iohanan and R. Eliezer give the like reason, That while the Temple stood, the Altar of God; but sithence the destruction thereof, the Table of a man, is become the place of Sacrifice and propitiation. [Page] But I leave these Rabbies to Rabbi Coal's consideration, whether he shall reject them, for their conceipt of the Table, or let them passe on, for maintaining the Sacrifice. However, to conclude this point, I finde theCornel. A Lapide in 9. ad Hebr. Vilalpand. ubi suprá. Ribera in Ezek. 41. 22. Barrad. Harman. Tom. 2. l. 3. c. 20. So likewise Dam. de Fid. Orth [...]d. l. 4. c. 14. Hieron. in 1. Malach. Rupertu [...] in Mal. 1. Cyrill. Catech. Myst. Cat. 4. agreeing with the other Fathers. Iesuits themselves of Opinion, that the Table of the Temple, was the true Type and prefiguration of the Communion-Table. And no great wonder they are of that conceipt, considering that Hymne inserted in the Body of the Masse:

In Cano [...] Missae.

Sacerdotes sancti incensum

et panem offerunt Domino.

That is,

The holy Priests from thence

Offer bread and incense.

And therefore we have borrowed nothing at all from the square Altars of the Law; but leave that form to the Papists, requir'd of them in theirSuarez in tertiam part. Canons: but the onely Vtensill we relate unto, is the Long-square Table of the Incense.

Yet will not this man be got off by any means from the King and the Counsell. Pag. 31. He saith, that a small measure of understanding is sufficient to avoid offence at an Altar (howbeit he prayeth heartily to God, there may be but such a measure found in Kings and Bishops houses; of which he either is over-carefull, or hath a very base conceit) and that they have had now 80 yeares to become better edified towards Altars. Lastly, if that they still continue scandalized thereat, they are rather Headstrong, then strong enough, as was said of the Puritanes in the Conference at Hampton-Court. The [Page] Puritanes mov'd then for an Abrogation; those that are scandalized with your new Altars, move onely for a Confirmation of the ecclesiasticall Laws, and the practice of them, as they have beene these last fourescore yeares generally executed. So that your quotation of that Conference, is a fine new Nothing. The Act of Counsell made for this Reformation, doth say peremptorilyIn the first and third Reason, Act. & Mon. part. 2. p. 700. in two severall places, That the form of a Table shall more move the simple from the Superstitious Opinions of the Popish Masse, and that this superstitious Opinion is more holden in the mindes of the simple and ignorant, by the form of an Altar, then of a Table. And therefore they did not intend to make a provision to prevent this inconvenience in the Church of England for foure-score yeares onely, but for ever. And accordingly they went to work, caus'd their Liturgie to be mended in this particular, the word Altar to be left out, the word Table to be put in, in their Rubricks for that purpose. Nor rested they there, but confirmed this50 & 60▪ Ed. 6. c. 1. corrected Liturgie by Act of Parliament, 10 Elis. c. 2. revived againe by another Act of Parliament, confirmed by theBefore our ordinary books of Common Prayer. Proclamation of the late King of famous Memorie, which was revived (with his other Proclamations) by his most excellent Majesty, in the very beginning of his happie Reign. And what is the sonne of your father, to dare to offer limitation of time to a Law so absolute and Authenticall?

ButPag. 32. this Counsell-order doth not appeare to have beene transmitted to any other Diocese beside [Page]Bishop Ridley's. This Quiblet is grounded upon a mere Errour of the Printer, by not putting a Period where he should, and putting it where he should not. The words, rightly pointed, run thus, Anno 1550. other Letters (not a Letter) likewise were sent for the taking down of Altars in Churches, and setting up the Tables in stead of the same. And here the full point should be. Vnto Nicolas Ridley made Bishop of London in Boners place, (Here is a Period in the new, but a Comma onely in the old Book) the Copie and contents of the Kings Letters, are these, as followeth. So that Letters were written to all; but Iohn Fox (having accesse to the Bishop of Londons Registry) prints onely the Copie of those which were sent to Bishop Ridley. So that this is a subtilitie indeed, a subtilitie in Print, as they use to say. But the next is more grosse and down-right: That he saith, that both parties that strove about the placing of their Tables, in Bishop Ridley's Visitation, were left to follow their own affections, and the thing left at large, and not determined.

There fell out about the yeare 1605, a great Controversie between M. Broughton and M. Aynsworth, that troubled all the Diers in Amsterdam, Whether the lining of Aarons Ephod was blue, or sea-water-green. AndA Book call'd Certaine Questions, printed 1605. M. Aynsworth, poore man, was put to print a large Apologie in that businesse. But had the Question been of the colour of this Tale told here by D. Coal, it might have been resolved in one word; It is a blue and perfect [Page] blue Tale. For Bishop Ridley there resolves these Questionists, That the Situation most conformable to Scripture, to the usage of the Apostles, to the Primitive Church, to the Kings proceedings, was, not to lay the holy Table all along the wall, (and therefore in Pauls Church he brake down the wall standing then by the high Altars side) nor to lay it onely in the right form of a Table (as thisQuis tàm comesor mu [...] Ponticus, qu [...] qui Evangelia corrosit? Tertullian, adversus Marcionem, l. 1. c. 1. mus Ponticus, as he said of Marcion, this nibbler at all Quotations, doth mis-recite the Text) but to lay it in the form of a right Table, that is a long Table; or, as your ownSee the Index in the word Ridley. Index doth interpret the word, not Altar-wise, but as a Table. So that by this impudency of yours, which put us to this narrow search, we have met with two particulars very pertinent to the present dispute. First, that upon the taking down of the Altar, the Table is not directed to be set up in the place where the Altar stood, In the Letter of the K. and Counsell to Bishop Ridley, Act. & Mon. part. 2. p. 699. but in some convenient part of the Chancell: That's the first. And secondly, that the meaning of the Kings proceedings (better known to this Bishop, then to you) was, that the Ibid. p. 700. col. 2. Table should not be placed and disposed Altar-wise, which is the Question now before us.

Soone after, D. Coal begins to relent, and could finde in his heart to bestow half a Vicaridge upon the Writer of the Letter, for saying, That in the old Testament one and the same thing may be call'd an Altar in respect of Pag. 33. what is there offered unto God, and a Table in respect of what is there (as he hath it) participated by men. See what it is to put a man into a peevish humour! [Page] ‘Martial. Epig. l. 5. ep. 84. Velle tuum nolo, Dindyme, nolle volo.’

Now I would not give the Writer a Peas-cod for that distinction, nor do I beleeve he ever dream't of it. He said, that an Altar might be call'd a Table, in what was Thence (not there) participated by men. For it is a thing notoriously known (saith In Theophrast. [...]. Cas [...]bon) that Feasts heretofore were wont to accompany all solomn Sacrifices. And that they did eat their good Cheer, not upon, but from the Altars. And so saithTheophrast. [...]. Theophra [...]s, that they did first [...], offer up their Sacrifices, and then [...], lay it on in entertainments. But if they did the one, then necessarily the other. For if I did Sacrifice, then surely I did eat, saith [...], Philostrat. de vita Apoll l. 8. p 402. Apollonius Tyaneus in his Apologie to Domitian. The first they did at the Altar, the second at their houses. Plautus in Militie, Act. 3. Sc. 1. Sacrificant? Me ad se ad prandium [...]o [...]ant. They never offer a Sacrifice, saith the Parasite, but they invite me to dinner to their houses. And this custome was no stranger to the people of God. For so we1 Sam 9. v. 15. 22, 23. reade, that Samuel did blesse the peoples Sacrifice in the high place, but Feasted his strangers with his portion of that Sacrifice in his own Parlour. 1. Cor. 9. 13. So they that wait upon the Altar, are partakers with the Altar.

And because their provision came from the Lords Altar, as from a rich and plenteous Table, this Altar was somtimes figuratively and improperly called a Table. For otherwise (if we speak properly) Institut. of the Sacram. l. 6. c. 5. p. 465. tell us where it was ever know, that any Altar was ordained for eating and drinking, saith a reverend Prelate. And for this Altar you aime at, This is [Page]the way to correct the Sonne of God, who said not, Take this and offer it, as upon an Altar, but, Take this and eat it, as from a Table, saith another of ourBilson's true differ. part. 4. p. 490. Prelates. Bish. Andrews of his Sermons, p. 453. Christ was given for us in the Sacrifice, to us in the Sacrament. There, per modum Victimae, by way of Offering; Here, per modum Epuli, by way of Banqueting: saith a third. And to Banqueting, a Table relates more literally and properly then an Altar. The Fathers Altar of Oblations which you finde in thePag. 34. Letter, is but an Altar of Allusion, as the Levits likewise are, which in the ancient Fathers, are made to attend the foresaid Altar. That Altar of Praise and Thanks-giving, which the Act of Councell approves of, is a Metaphoricall Altar, all made of Notions, as the Sacrifices also are, that fume on that Altar. All these are but airy Altars, built up of the Metaphors and Figurative speaches of the ancient Fathers; resembling in composition that Altar ofClaud. Sa [...]nas. ad aras Dosiadae. Lutet. Paris. 1619, p. 127. Dosiades, all made of words or poeticall feet, or that of Liceti Encyclopaed. ad aram Nonar. Terrigen [...], Patav. 1630. Aeneas Terrigena,

[...],

[...],

made neither of Gold nor Silver, nor any other solid matter, but of the sublime Conceptions of those [...], those Grand-children of the heaven, the nine Muses. Lastly, such another Altar, for the Materialities thereof, as that ofLiceti Encyclop, ad aram Pythiam, 1630. Publicius Optatianus, which thus describes it self,

Non caute durâ me polivit artifex;

[Page] Excisa non sum rupe montis albidi;

Me metra pangunt de Camoenarum modis.

That is,

No Mason hew'd me out of Rocky vein;

Nor put I Carpenter to sweat or pain:

But made I stand of Muses gentle strain.

And therefore, gentle Doctour, you have (for all your boasting) found no Altar of Stone, no Altar of Timber, no Altar that can lie along the Wall, and consequently, no proof in the Letter for the situation of your Altar.

I but another and a worsePag. 55. Conclusion would soon follow upon this doctrine, [That Communion is an Action most proper for a Table] which is, That men would think it necessary to sit at the Communion. It is (I perceive) the Act of Counsell, that still you are offended at. For so it speaks indeed; If we come to feed upon him spiritually and to eat his body, and spiritually to drink his bloud, which is the use of the Lords Supper; then no man can deny, but the form of a Table is more meet for the Lords Boord, then the form of an Altar. If you were a Scholar, you would have been asham'd to write this Divinitie. There can be no question made, but that for a certaine time, the [...], and the Lords Supper were eaten at the same Table, and (for ought appeares in any Antiquitie) in the same Vtra (que) coena jungebatur, Baron. Annal. tom. 1. pag. 536. Which he clearly proves out of Chrysost. in 1. Cor. Hom. 27. in the beginning thereof. posture: And yet was it a pious and religious Celebration. Our Church and State are more cautious in their expressions, then this poore Doctour: Pref. of Cerem. in the Book of Comm. Prayers. And in our [Page]doings we condemn no other Nation, nor prescribe any thing but to our own people onely. For we think it convenient, that every Countrey should use such Ceremonies, as they shall think best. For Suarez, in tertiam part. to sit, stand, kneel, or walk, be not of the substance of the Sacrament.

Nor doth the Church of Rome absolutely condemn this Ceremony of Sitting: Or else it would recall thatCall'd Mandatum, of the Antheme appointed to be sung at this Ceremony of washing one anothers feel; Mandatum novum do vobis. Andreas Quercetames, Notis ad vitam S. Odonis. Vide Lib. Statutorum Ordinis Casal. Benedicti; Titulo, De Mandato, sive Ablutione pedum. And so Synod. Aquisgran. Can. 20. In coena Domini pedes fratrum post lavacrum Abbas lavet & osculetur. And so the word is used in Chronico Casin. l. 2. c. 85. And how it is used▪ now, you may learn from a late Cardinall, Par une Collation, que l'on fait, dans le Chapitre des Moynes à l'imitation des anciennes Agapes de l'Eglise Chrestienne pour la celebration de l'Eucharistie, Card. du Peron. du S. Sacram. l. 3. c. 11. p. 871. Mandate or Maundie of the Benedictines, which testifies, that they (at the least one day in the yeere) do receive the Sacrament sitting. And this custome mounts higher then S. Benedict; even toEp. 118. ad Januar. S. Austins time: Who affirms, nonnullos probabilem quandam rationem delect [...]ssse, that not Monks onely, but some other kinde of men, were pleas'd with a specious reason, upon that peculiar day of the yeare, wherein our Saviour administred the Supper, to receive the body and bloud of Christ presently upon their ordinarie repast, as a more notable commemoration of that first Supper. Which must be in their private houses, & mensa communi, upon their ordinary Table, asDe Sacram. l. 4. c. 7. Mornay observes: Although it be true what theVbi suprà, p. 8 [...]2. Cardinall Peron coldly replies, that S. Austin, in those words, doth not deny but this might be done in the Church, and upon an Altar, and inclines, as to the better opinion, to have this Sacrament received by all men Fasting. But the Cardinall there doth clearly affirm, that the Apostles omitted no due reverence, or (as he calls it) adoration [Page] of Christ, although they sate with him at the Table: and brings a passage out ofDe Oratione, c. 12. Tertullian, to prove that some of the ancient Christians did adore Sitting; and maintained their Ceremony, with a place out of the book of Hermes, call'd the Pastor. Which position of theirs although (as the Cardinall notes) Tertullian doth not blame, for being an imitation of the Pagans; yet surely he doth not there commend those Ancients, no more then I do this Ceremony in our modern and Neighbour Christians; but spare to censure them, as I hope they will do us, in matters of this nature. And sure it is, that (as the Cardinall there observes) all the old Romans, by an expresse Law ofPlutarch. in Numa, & in Rom. Quaestion. Numa Pompilius, were required to worship their gods sitting. He proves the same to be the custome of the Greeks also, by an old Quatrain of the Sieur de Quatrain. 4. Adore assis, comme le G [...]ec ordonne, &c. Tertullian makes it a common posture for all Pagans. Porrò cùm perinde faciant Nationes adoratis sigillaribus suis residendo, L. de Oratione, c. 12. Pibrac. Which I will not set down in French, as the Cardinall hath it; but as I finde it translated into Greek by Florence Christian, 1584.

Vide Fabri Pibraci Tetrasticha, p. [...].

[...]

[...].

[...].

[...].

That is,

Worship God sitting, as the Greeks have used;

Running Devotion he cannot endure;

But will be serv'd with a Heart firm and sure;

Which Heart is onely by himself infused.

Now although (asIn his Replique, c. 19. Mounsieur Moulin returns it well upon the Cardinall) the Apostles of Christ [Page] were not to learn Ceremonies out of the Laws of Numa, or the Quatrains of Pibrac; yet may we herein learn some modesty out of Papists themselves, Not to conclude the Ceremonies of so many Neighbouring Protestants, as altogether unchristian; which this Doctour for want of learning, or charity, or both, endeavours to do in this place.

But for ownArchb. Whitgifts Answer to the Admonition, p. 100. Kneeling in the Church of England, at our receiving of this blessed Sacrament; it is appointed, either for a signification of the humble and gratefull acknowledgement of the Benefits of Christ, given to the worthy receiver; or rather because it is administred in our Church with a most effectuall Prayer and Thanksgiving. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is given for thee, preserve thy body and soul, &c. The bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. preserve thy body and soul to everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christs bloud was shed for thee, and be thankfull. Now he must have a knee of a Camel, and heart of Oake, that will not bow himself, and after the manner of adoration and worship, say, Amen, (as S. [...]. Cyrill▪ Hierosol. Catech. Mystag. Cat. 5. Cyrill speaks) to so patheticall a Prayer and Thanksgiving, made by the Minister unto God in his behalf. And this is a powerfull Argument indeed for conformity in this point; with the which I have seen some Leicester-shire- people of good sort, that had been refractory for a long time, satisfied in an instant [Page] by the Bishop of the Diocese, being very sory they had not observed so much before, That in the Church of England, our whole act of Receiving is accompanied in every part with the act of Praying and Thanksgiving. Archb. Whitgifts Answer to the Admonition, p. 99. However it behooveth humble and meek spirits in such indifferent matters to submit themselves to the Order of the Church, appointed by lawfull Authority. And as long as our Liturgie hath the honour and repute given thereunto, which it so well deferves, there is little feare, that the people will clap them down upon their Breech about our holy Table: It being no posture used in this Church to say, Amen, to such divine raptures and ejaculations. Beside that, throughout all the Diocese I live in (being no small part of the Kingdome) there is (whether the Epistoler likes it or no) Rails and Barricadoes to keep the people from all irreverences in that kinde. But the generall Rule in this case, is that which is set down in the Articles of the Dutch Church in London (allowed by Beza himself and divers others) Archb. Whitgifts Desence of the Answer to the Admonition, p. 87. That every private mans judgement in these circumstances is not to be respected. But what is profitable to edifie, what is not, is not to be determined by the judgement of the common people, nor of some one man, but (as I have said at large heretofore) of those that have the chief care and government in the Church. And so was it well done by the Reformed Church in Poland, first by Monitions, in the year 1573. and then by Sanctions, in the year 1583. Nè in usu sit, that the usuall receiving of the Communion in those parts, should not be by sitting round [Page] about the Table. (A Ceremonie which some of the Brethren, as they call them, had brought into those parts, either from John Alasco, their countrey-man, or from other Reformed Churches, as might be (the commerce of these three Nations considered) from the Low-countreys, or the Church ofLib. Disciplina Eccl. Scot. edit. 1560. Scotland, where this posture of sitting was Synodically established from the very beginning of the Reformation.) It was well done of them, I say, to reform it; but very ill done of you to steal this Coal from the Altar of Damasco, and never say so much as, I thank you, good Gaffer, or deliver it us cleanly as you found it. And yet it is not▪ considering you confesse the Thefts in the Title of your Book, calling it ingeniously, A COAL FROM THE ALTAR.

Yet I would you had spar'd to abuse that grave Synod, to make them say peremptorily, Haec ceremonia Ecclesiis Christianis non est usitata, especially as you turn it to English, that Pag. 36. this Ceremony is a thing not used in the Christian Church: And so put the reformed Churches to fall together by the eares one with another, and many of them to become odious in the Christian Church. Which (God he knoweth) is far from either the words or meaning of that Synod. For their words are these, Haec ceremonia, licèt cum caeteris libera, &c. This Ceremony, however in its own nature free and indifferent, as the rest of the Ceremonies, &c. Which sweetens the Case very much. And then for their meaning; They do not say, it is a thing not used in the Christian Church. This is your fingering [Page] and corruption. But they say; it is me [...]sed in those Christian and Evangelicall Churches, nostri consen [...]us, which agreed with them in Articles of confession. They condemn no other Nations, no more then the Church of England doth. And is this the part of a judicious Divine, to corrupt a passage in a Sectary or Puritan, who will be sure (without any mercy) to send Hue and Cry after you over all the Countrey? Surely the man hath been instructed by Chrysalus inIn Bacchide. Plautus. ‘Improbis-cum improbus sit, harpaget, furibus furetur quod queat.’ He is resolv'd to put some knavery upon the knave himself, and to steal from the Stealer what he can. For indeed (to come to the second point) both the Coal and the Altar are quite mistaken, to think that the Synod did ever say, that this Ceremony was brought in, or used by the modern Arians. It is very well known, that John Alasco, who maintained this Ceremony of sitting, in aCall'd, Forma S [...]ratio totius Eccles. Ministerii, &c. little Book published here in England in K. Edwards dayes, was setled in Poland, and (by the means of his Noble bloud and kindred) in great favour with his Prince, inNolui committere, quin te nunc certiorem facerem do successu rerum magnifici Domini Ioannis à Lasco in Polonia, Cracoviae, 19. Feb. 1557. V [...]enh [...]vious Calvino, Calv. Ep. p. 194. the year 1557. which is long before either of these two Synods. And all that either of the Synods say in dislike of the Ceremonie, is this; That it is Arianis cum Domino pari solio se collocantibus propria: A thing fitter for the Arians, who by their Doctrine and T [...] ne [...]s, plac'd themselves cheek by joul with the Son of God, then for devout and humble Christians, compassed about with Neighbours so fundamentally [Page] hereticall. I could say that here in England, this worse conclusion of the Doctours, To desire to sit at the Communion, is more to be feared from the Opposers of our Liturgie, who brag of theirIt suiteth not with a Co-heir with Christ, to kneel at the Table, Abridgement of Lincolnshire, p. 61. Cosin-ship and Coheir-ship with Christ, then from us who are ready to live and die in defence of the same. And theAltar Damasc. p. 752. Altar at the last espied this to be the meaning of the Synod, that this Sitting was proper to the Arians, not by usage, but secundum principia doctrinae suae, as an Inference easily drawn from the Principles of their Doctrine. Howbeit the Coal was resolv'd to wink at it in his Authour, and to speak big words, (though beside the Cushion, and against all truth of History) that it was brought in at the first by the Modern Arians: His Author telling him in the same Page, that it was published in the Book of Scottish discipline, Anno 1560. and my self having shewed by a Testimony beyond all exception, that it was preached in Poland three year before that, by John Alasco.

And then your Principles were they true (as the Altare & Sacrificium Relativa sunt, Bell. de Missa, l. 1. c. 2. So he, and truly, [...]ish. of Dur. l. 6. c. 5. one of them is false; For there was never any Altar erected in the Temple, but to sacrifice upon, nor ever any man read in divine or humane learning, that deniedIt is called Mincha in the Hebr. and translated Sacrificium by Hierom. Numb. 16. 15. Nadab and Abihu are said to offer [...], by Ioseph. Antiq. l. 3. c. 10. and Ruffinus translates is Victimas. And some were of opinion, that all Sacrifices were perfeated upon the Altar of Incense, according to Heb. 9. 6. Vilalp. in. 41. Ezek. Incense to be a Mincha, and kinde of Sacrifice) the conclusion could not come within a league of us. For we, who extract our selves (as I told you before) from that Table in the Temple, do desire to eat in no other manner, then as the Priests, and as David, our Types, did eat before us. We do not desire to eat upon, which is but [Page] your foolish Inference, but to eat from the holy Table. And that all the faithfull may do in verity, what David and the Priests did before in a representation, I have shewed already out of the ancient Fathers. Nor are we so unreasonably tyed to one Table, but if theDefence of 3 Cerem. p. 256. woman were driven to the desert, we could be content with the green Grasse. But in that case, the Grasse should be unto us in stead of a Table; it should not be in stead of an Altar▪ I do not love [...], (as Orat. contra Julian. Gregory Nazianzen calls it) to break jests in these high Mysteries. Otherwise, I could tell you that unhappy Inferences may be made out of your Tenets, as well as out of those of the Arians. That no place will serve your turn to eat upon, but Altars, appropriated by all Learning humane and divine toAltare soli Deo vero ritè potest erigi, Bell. de Missa, [...]l. c. 2. ex August. l. 20. contra Faust. c. 21. God alone. Well, if you will needs be snapping at the Meats of the Gods, [...], Lucian. in Ic [...]ro. Menippo. Menippus will tell you that you must be content to fare as they do, upon Bloud, Vapours and Frankincense. This Menippus saith. For mine own part, I shall onely desire to know of you, a judicious Divine, what may be the meaning of an odde word used by Aristotle in his Ethicks, to wit, Ethic. l. 4. c. 14. [...]. Because I was told it signifieth two things, a scurrilous Railer at men in place, and a Snatcher of Meats from the holy Altars.

Yea, but he doth set down at large out of the Act ofPag. 38. Counsell, with what indifferency these names of Table, Boord, and Altar have been used before, and may be used for the present. He doth indeed and [Page] with a great deal of ingenuitie, if you mark it. For the Question being made by some of his humour that would have the Altars stand, because the Book of Common Prayer (meaning the Book before it was reformed) did mention an Altar; the Lords (amongst whom Archbishop Cranmer was a chief) were put to this Apologie; That the Book intended no Table, or Altar, formally, but a certain Thing (as they there call it) whereupon the Lords Supper was administred. This Thing had no figuration at all prescribed unto it in that Book: But so far forth, as the Lords Supper is there ministred, though it be upon an Altar, it calleth the said Altar, a Table, and The Lords Boord; but so far as the holy Communion is distributed with the Sacrifice of Lands and Thanksgiving, though it be a Table, it calleth the said Table, an Altar. And therefore in so much as the distribution of the Lords Supper in both kindes, is a reall and sensible Action, it is a reall and sensible Table: But because the Laudes and Thanksgivings are by all Divines acknowledged to be a Metaphoricall and improper Sacrifice, it is but a Metaphoricall and improper Altar. And to call it an Altar in that sense, you know the Letter doth every where allow. But heark you, Sir; it makes no matter for the Letter. I pray you, tell me in my eare, What Book is it that calls it an Altar? and for what Book do the Lords apologize in this place? If it be for the Book of 1549,Ratio quidem her [...]e apparet: Argentum [...], Plant. in Trin. Act. 2. Se [...]. 4. [...], that's vanisht, and we have nothing to do with it. And you are a very Coal, that is, a thing that [Page]cannot blush, to say that that Book, or any thing spoken of that Book, alloweth you to call the holy Table an Altar for the present. Your tongue for the present ought to speak, as the present Book and Law speaks it unto you; and that is, as you your self confesse, Pag. 37. The Lords boord onely. And when men in their nominations of things do vary from the Law, which is the Quintessence of Reason, they do it in a humour, which is the Quintessence of Fansy. Nor is there any way possible of peace and quietnesse, unlesse the probable voice of every entire Societie or Body politick, over-rule all private of like nature in that Body, saith M.In his Preface. Hooker.

But we have been all this while mistaken in the Cause of this Change of Liturgies, which the Letter so much stands upon. For the Letter supposeth, as the Act of Counsell and K. Ed [...]ards Mandate do, that the Altars themselves were put out of our Churches, and their names out of our Liturgie, to comply with the godly considerations of some that had taken them down already, and to root out superstitious Opinions, more holden in the mindes of the simple and ignorant by the form of an Altar. And men did the rather believe it so, because a Divine, very neare as judicious as D. Coal, seemes to be of that Opinion, when he saith, thatHooker, Eccles. Polit, l. 4. dist. 14. p. 165. our Churches were purged of things, which indeed [...]ere burdensome to the people, or to the simple offensive and scandalous. But the matter is Kim Kam to all that we have conceipted. For it was indeed an offence against our Liturgie Pag. 39. conceived by Iohn Calvin (a poore Minister at the foot of the Alpes, who died in [Page] Books and all worth very neareSee his last Will, in his Life, set forth by Beza, p 12. 40 [...]' sterling) that caused the King of England, the Convocation, the Lords spirituall and temporall, and all the Commonaltie, to make that Change in the Book of Common Prayer. And is it even so? Why then, gentle Readers,Assem para & accipe auream fabulam: fabulas imò, Plin. Calvisi [...], Ep. lib. 2. ep. 20. Assem parate, et accipietis auream fabulam; make ready your Bread and Cheese, for my life on it, you shall heare a Winter-Tale. Pag. 39. It seems that Bucer had informed Calvin of the Condition of this Church, and the publick Liturgie thereof; and thereupon he wrote to the Duke of Somerset, who was then Protectour, Epistola ad Bucerum. And is this to look unto the Story of those Times? It seems unto me that this Epistle to Bucer hath no Date at all, and if we give it a Date from the Printers placing of the Letter, (which is your childish and erroneous Criticisme) you shall finde it between November 19, 1548, and Ianuary 16, 1549, and consequently before the publishing of the first Liturgie, which was March 7, 1549. And so it must needs be. For Calvin Rumor est vobis esse à Gallis inducias: utinam & firmae pacis ratio iniri posse [...]! Calv. ep. p. 81. saith in that Letter, that there was Cessation of Armes between France and England, and wish't that some course might be taken for a solid Peace. Tillet le Greff. Recueil de Traitez, pag. 410. & Tillet l' Evesq. Chroniq. p. 197. Now the Commissioners were met to conclude that Peace, 24 of March, 1549. And therefore the Letter was written before that. And to strike this seeming of yours dead in the nest;Veni igitur quàm cit [...]ssimè poteris vir omnium desideratissime, Petr. Alex. Dat. Lamb. 24. Martis, 1549. int [...]r▪ M. Buceri opera Anglic. p. 191. Peter Alexander writes his Letter to Bucer (as yet at Strasburgh) to invite him to England, of the very same Date with the Commission of the French Treaty, 24 of March 1549, and tells him for news, that in [Page] the Parliament then sitting, Missae Papisticae missae sunt ad novos Monachos Germaniae, the Popish Missal was dismiss'd to the new Monks in Germanie, by the first approbation of our first Liturgie in that Parliament. See then how well you look't into the stories of the time. You make Bucer, before ever he came hither, to enform Calvin of the condition of this Church, and the publick Liturgie thereof, before the Liturgie was penn'd and approv'd in Parliament. But I will endeavour to give this undated Letter a truer Date. Inter M Buceri script. Anglic. p. 190. Archbishop Cranmer writes for Bucer to come over, 2o Octob. 1549. He desir'd Calvin (who was no doubt a Polypragmon, and made his Letters to fly to all the Princes in the world, that did but look towards a Reformation) to write by him to the Protectour, and to perswade him to a serious Reformation in generall. Calvin in this Letter, tell's him he had written to the Protectour a Letter (not the Letter Printed, bearingOctob. 22. 1546. Epist. Calvini, p. 72. Date two yeares before.) and bids him if he could procure Audience (a signe he had not been here as yet) deal with him roundly himself, and take heed of his old fault (as he terms that most admired prudence and wisdome of that learned man) to be ever inclining, mediis Consiliis, to peaceable and moderate Advices. And this Letter must be written unto him about the Spring, 1549, when he was ready to come for England. Where we finde he was safely arrived, and repos'd himself atFrom his Epistle to Pet. Martyr, inter Opera Anglic. p. 550. Canterbury in Iune following. Now although he had considered of the Book of Common Prayers before, [Page] as well as he could,Censura, p. 456 per interpretem, by the help of an Interpreter, and approv'd it, as in nothing (candidly construed) repugnant to the word of God; yet did he never make Notes and Censures thereupon, untill he was required thereunto by Archibishop Cranmer, two yeares after this; to wit, Anno 1551: Nor could he tell Tales to Calvin thereof, being then bedrid, and dying within Censura, p. 503. Nonis Ianuar. Anno Domini 1551. Cantabrigiae, die 25o pòst defunctus. 25 dayes after (some two moneths before the Alteration of the Liturgie) especially not any Tale against the Altar, having suffer'd Auricular Confession, Oblations and Altars (though termed Boords or Tables) to stand in the Reformation at For that Book call'd, A Religious consultation, by Herman Archb. of Cullen, and printed here in English, 1548. was pen'd in Latine by Bucer. See fol. 114. Of the Lords Supper. Cullen, and not taking the least exception against the word in his Censure of our Liturgie. I am therefore strengthened in my former Opinion, That it was the King, the Lords, and the State rather then any incitement of Martin Bucer, that made this Alteration in our Liturgie, in the point of Altars.

Then for Calvin; no man can conceive him to be more pragmatically zealous in point of Reformation (even in those Countreys which cared least for him) then I do. Yet do I hold him a most innocent man, and our famous Liturgie sorely wounded through his side, by this audacious Companion, in this particular concerning Altars. The Letter to the Protectour, that D. Coal relies upon, bears Date, Octob. 22, 1546. which according to forreign Accompts, is a yeare before K.K. Edward began his Reign the last of Ianuary, 1546. Stilo Angl. 1547. Stilo com. muni. Stow. Edward came to the Crown. But compute it as you please; it must be three full yeares before the [Page] moneth of March, 1549. At what time I finde that this former Liturgie was first printed. And if you relie upon his Character, the Letters placed before and behinde this to the Protectour, are of the same Date, 1546. And yet would this Companion have his courteous Readers to swallow this Gudgeon, without so much as champing or chewing on it. And in this Letter, Calvin toucheth onely upon 4 particulars (whichCensura, p. 468. Optarem ego commendationem defunctorum & precem pro aeterna eorum pace praetermitti. Bucer himself doth likewise censure) Chrisoms, oyl in Baptisme, Commemoration of the dead, and the abuse of Impropriations, but not one word of the Altars. And good reason for it. ForSed non repugno quin Coena Domini in Altari celebrari possit. Nam & à Lausanna Altare marmoreum, &c. Beza in Colleq. Mempelg. p. 350. Beza confesseth, that at Lausanna, where Calvin taught before he came to Geneva, there was a Marble-Altar used for a Communion-Table, which from thence was removed to Bearn (where Calvin also sometimes taught) and is so there used as a Communion-Table (abstracted from all former relations to a Sacrifice) unto this day. Which I therefore note, to let you see that Calvin was not so strait-lac't in this particular. Yea, but he findes great fault with the Commemoration of the dead. And doth he so? And I pray you, what doth K. Iames declare the generall Opinion of our Church to be, for these Commemorations in the time of the Communion, in that most exact Answer of his to Cardinal Peron? Ad Epist. Card. Peron. Resp. p. 55. This is a rite (saith he) which the Church of England, though it doth not condemne in the first ages of the Church, yet holds unfit to be retained at this day, for many and weightie causes and reasons, which you may read most excellently pressed in [Page] that Book. Besides that, Calvin acknowledgeth (as he wanted to wit to understand how the world went with him abroad) that he had no such credit with the Conformable partie here in England, as within two or three yeares after this, he confesseth openly in one of hisSed ego frustra ad eos sermonem converto, qui fortè non tantum mihi tribuunt, ut consilium à tali autore profectum admittere dignentur, Calvinus Anglis Francofurt. Epist. p. 158. Letters. Lastly, (which is the main Answer of all) the Protectour was of no power in the State, when this Liturgie was reformed; which was not altogether unknown to Calvin, having an hint from Archbishop Cantuarichsis nihil me utilius facturum admonuit, quàm si ad Regem saepius scriberem, Calv. ad Farell. 15. lun. 1551. Epist. p. 384. Cranmer to addresse his Letters to the King himself. But for the Lord Protectour, he had his crush a yeare and a half before (never restor'd again to his Power or Office, admitted onely by a John Stow. New oath, to serve but as a Counseller at large) and in the firstAbstract of the Acts of that Parliament, at St R. C. sitting of this Parliament which altered the Liturgie, he was attainted, and condemned, and presently executed, having been in no case or place of a long time, to make Alterations to gratifie Calvin. And for Archbishop Cranmer; it is true, the foresaid Active man writes unto him from Geneva a couple of Letters, and offers his service in person, to make up our Articles of Religion, and to state the Controversies in Divinity (another project, it seems, the learned Archbishop had then in hand) when he gives him a generall touch of the residui surculi, the remaining stumps and roots of Popery, together with the cause thereof (as he conceived) the Lay-mens swallowing of the Impropriations: But hath not in all the two Letters, so much as one syllable of Altars or amendment of Liturgies. And what Date [Page] these Letters were of, God knoweth; for they have none a all in the Book. But the Date seems to be much before Ann. 1551. which is D. Coal's conjecture. For in the first Letter he presents his Grace with the news of Osianders troubles, which heMelchion Adamus in vita Osiandri. stirred up in the yeare 1549. And in the second he tells him of aNon multò levius mihi videtur aliud vitium, quòd ex publico Ecclesiae proventu aluntur otiosi ventres, qui linguâ incognitâ Vesperas cantillent, Calvinus Cranmero, Epist. p. 101. chanting of Vespers in an unknown tongue here in England; which was inhibited in this Kingdom by Act of Parliament, full two years before the Altering of the Liturgie. Nor doth it seem that Calvin had any great acquaintance with the Archbishop (who neither accepted of his Offer in the Agreeing of the Articles, nor, for ought appeares, ever wrote unto him back againe; but sent him a Message by one Nicolas, wishing him to write to the King himself about the Restoring of the Impropriations) I say, it doth not seem they were much acquainted, by that first Letter that Calvin writes unto him. For in that he rails most bitterly upon yong Osiander, a Divine very near Vxorejue Neptis fuit uxoris Osiandri, Godwin. in Catal. p. 198. Moram Norimbergae fecit, hospitió que Andreae Osiandri usus est. Cum quo, secundâ conjuge ductâ, contraxit affinitatem, Antiq. Britann. p. 331. allied unto the Archbishop.

But if Calvins Letter to the Protectour himself be misdated (as like enough it is, being but a Copie from the French, wherein the Date was not regarded) then came it to the Dukes hands (as some Letter from Calvin was then delivered to the Duke by one Nicolas, a Tel-tale of M. Calvins, that studied in Cambridge in those dayes) but in the year 1551, Bucer being dead before, (which Calvin Calvin Farello; P. 384. there takes notice of) and the Liturgie newly altered.

Let us not therefore, as we tender the credit of the Church of England, suffer such a famous piece, [Page] as our Common Prayer-book is, to be disparaged in this kinde, upon such weak Flams and ridiculous suppositions. But if any desire to know the reason of the Alteration, let him repaire to the Act it self, where he may be fully satisfied. He shall finde, it was partly the5o & 6o Ed. 6. c. 1. Curiositie of the Ministers, and mistakes in the use and exercise of the former Book met withall in the second Book by a clear explanation. Of the which curiosity and mistaking, whether this removing and placing of the Altar, which they found usually so termed in the former Liturgie, might not be a speciall branch, I leave to the Readers collection, out of what hath been already delivered in the examination of the Counsell-Act in that behalf. And partly also he shall find the Book was altered, for the moreIn the same Act. perfection thereof, or (as it followeth in the body of the Act) to be made fully perfect: Not to gratifie Calvin, who was Lecturing in his Chaire at Geneva, nor to comply with the Duke of Somerset, who was a condemned prisoner, looking every day for the stroke of the Ax, when this Book was passing the severall Committees in the Upper and Lower house of Parliament. And that it seems by any one syllable of the Letter to Farell, that Calvin wrote unto the King about the change of the Liturgie, is another blue one. Reade the Letter, and you will be of my opinion.

Yea, but the Pag. 40. King in his Answer to the Devonshiremen had formerly affirmed, that the Lords Supper, as it was then administred, was brought even to the very use, as Christ left it, as the Apostles used it, [Page]and as the holy Fathers deliver'd it. I answer, that these Devonshire-men (whom the Doctour cloaths in this fair Livery) were a sort of notorious Rebells. And if a King (to avoid shedding of bloud) should answer such people clad in steel, edictis melioribus, in a more passable language, then will endure Logicall examination; is it fit he should be so many yeares after jeered thus, by such a Mushrom here on earth, reigning himself (without all doubt) a most glorious Saint above in Heaven? Besides that, the Form that Christ left, the Apostles used, and the Fathers deliver'd the Lords Supper in, is never taken by judicious Divines in a meere Mathematicall and indivisible point of exactnesse: but in a Morall conformitie, which will admit of a Latitude, and receive from time to time degrees ofAnd so the King clearly conceived it. That we may be encouraged from time to time further to travell for the Reformation, Proclam. before the Book of Communion, 1548. perfection. But I will not lead you to any woods, to borrow shadows for this place: the Answer is set down in such capitall Letters, that he that runnes by may read it. The Rebells in their third Article (set on by the Popish Priests) do petition for their Masse (that is, that which we call the Canon of the We will have Masse celebrated, as it hath been in times past, without any man communicating with the Priest, Acts and Mon. part. 2. p. 666. Masse) and words of Consecration, as they had it before, and that the Priests might celebrate it alone, without the communicating of the people. To this the King answers, That for the Canon of the Masse and words of Consecration (which is in nothing altered in the second Liturgie) they are such as were used by Christ, the Apostles, and the ancient Fathers: that is, They are the very words of the Institution. But for the second part of their Demand, which was [Page] for the Sacrifice of the Masse, or the Priests eating alone, they must excuse him: For this the Popes of Rome for their lucre added unto it. So there is a clear Answer to both parts of the Article. They should have a Table, and a Communion, and the words of Consecration, as they were used body Christ, the Apostles, and the ancient Fathers: But they should have no Altar, nor Sacrifice; for these the Popes of Rome for their lucre, had added to the Institution; being, asDef. part. 3. p. 315. B. Jewell truly calls them, the Shops and gainfull Booths of the Papists.

And this Answer did nothing like our noble Doctour. And therefore from making himself merry with the King, by a kinde of Conversion (borrowed from father3 Convers. part. 2. c. 12. p. 615. But yet for the present, this was the pure Word of God, and the worke of the H. Ghost, and no man might mislike or reprove it. Parsons three Conversions) he wheels about, and breaks a Lance upon the Parliament: That would take upon them to mend a Book, which they could not but acknowledge to be both agreeable to Gods Word and the Primitive Church. And then he quotes 5o and 6o Edv. 6. cap. 1. as if he should say, There's my Cloak, and here's my Sword, and I stand in Cuerpo ready to maintain it. I say still, that this Agreeablenesse to Gods Word and the Primitive Church, is not to be taken in a mathematicall, but in a morall point. The first Book was in some, the second is in more degrees, agreeable to those excellent Paterns. But what need I say this, when the Act of Parliament saith no such matter as is pretended? In that part of the Act, where these words are mentioned, some coertion and penalties were provided for sensuall persons, and refractory [Page] Papists, who forbore to repair to the Parish-Churches upon the establishment of the English Service, desiring still to feed upon husks, when God had rain'd down his Manna upon them. The Parliament (according to their deep wisdome in that kinde) desirous to include some reason in the Preamble, of the smart that comes after in the body of the Act, tells the Offenders against this new Law, that Prayers in the Mother-tongue, is no Invention of theirs, as the Priests would make them believe, but the direction of the Word of God, and the practice of the primitive Church. Medling no further with the Liturgie in this part of the Act, then as it was a Service in the Mother-tongue. And so begins the Act, That 5o & 6o Ed. 6. c. 1. whereas order had been set forth for Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments to be used in the Mother-tongue, agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive Church, &c. The thing excepted against, was Prayer in the Mother-tongue, and this the Parliament avows to be agreeable to Gods Word and the Primitive Church. And I hope, you are not mounted as yet to that height, as to dare to deny it. If any Reader can doubt of so clear an explication, let him look once more upon the Kings Answer to the Devonshire-Rebells, immediately before this Parliament, and he shall finde Sun-beams to display all darknesse that can possibly fall upon this point.Act. & Mon. part 2. p. 666. To the 3. Ask, for the Service in the English tongue, it hath manifest reasons for it. Act. & Mon. part 2. p. 667. If the Service in the Church was good in Latin, it remaineth good in English. An alteration to the better,[Page]except Knowledge be worse then Ignorance. So that whosoever hath moved you to dislike this Order, can give you no reason for it. Order, saith the King; a godly Order, saith the5o & 6o Ed. 6. c. 1. Parliament: both mean the same thing, as they use the same words: An Order for Common prayers in the Mother-tongue. So that Father Parsons and you must unlaugh again this foolish Laughter, which you made without cause upon this Act of Parliament.

Well, let the King, the Counsell, and the Parliament order what they please; two things he will make good: first, that if Origen, or Arnobius doPag. 45. say they had no Altars in the Primitive Church, they meant, not any for bloudy or externall Sacrifices, as the Gentiles had. Where you see, he is almost come to that we have been wrangling for all this while, That they had no Altars for externall Sacrifices. And shew me, that ever one Father or Schoolman did teach a necessity of an externall Altar to an internall Sacrifice, and I will yeeld him the better of the Controversie. But I see his Loop-hole already; he will help himself with those words, As the Gentiles had: Although it be, God wot, but a poore shift. And secondly, he will make it good, that the Church had Altars, both the Name (which the Letter denies not, but onely the name applied to the materiall Instrument call'd the Lords Table) and Thing too, a long time together, before the birth of Origen and Arnobius. This later part would prove too heavie a Buckler for any man to take up, that were to fight it out with a Scholar indeed. For the Writer of the Letter doth utterly decline the Combat, retiring himself to his 200 [Page] years, (which will not serve his Turn, for all his Caution, ifRohwhick Fascicul. tempor. p. 48. Item que le Messe ne sut celebrée, si non sur l' Autel, Les sleures & manieres de temps, translated by Surget, 1483. and augmented by Peter D'csrey, 1513. Sixtus Primus did first appoint that Masse should be said no where, but upon an Altar) as to an advantage of ground, and turning B. Jewell against this Goliah, without averring any thing of his own, beside the testimony of S. Paul: at which this Doctour, like that drunken Gossip, saith, Amen; when he should have said, All this I stedfastly believe. But having to do but with this man of rags, I dare undertake him in both the points; and if I could fully satisfie that place of Tertullian in his Book De Oratione, will adventure my credit, to wipe his nose of the rest of those Testimonies produced by him. And all this while I am no Champion for the Writer of the Letter (who hath withdrawn his Neck out of the Collar) but of the great Champion of our Church, B. Jewell.

For the first therefore, because B. Jewell saith, Pag. 45. that then the faithfull, for fear of Tyrants, were fain to meet together in private houses, &c. therefore it was, they were not so richly furnished, or at least wise they had not such Altars, as the Gentiles had, saith D. Coal. But B. Jewell, when he spake those words of their wanting of Churches in the Primitive Church, addes presently a word or two (which this Doctour did not unwillingly forget)Art. 3. p. 145. And may we think that Altars were built before Churches? Which though it be not altogether an unanswerable Question (forBecause Abraham, Isaac, and other Patriarchs built Altars unto the Lord, before the Tabernacle or Temple were erected, Suar. in 3. tom. 3, 4. 83. disp. 81. Sect. 5. So saith Walasr. Strabo de rebus Ecclesiast. c. 1. men are of opinion that Altars were built before the Churches;) yet is it sufficient to declare the impudencie of this man, that would undertake to answer Origen, and Arnobius, out of B. Jewell. B. Jewells conclusion there [Page] is, that M. Harding was ill advised to say confidently, that Altars have ever been sithence the Apostles times. And he answers fully out of S.August. in Q. V. & N. Testam. qu. 101. Austin, the Doctours Objection, that Altars being then portativo, and carried by the Deacons from place to place (which the learned Papists do not deny) they might have had Altars, although they had no standing Temples. That is, portative Altars, not of Stone, fixed to the walls of the Church (as our late Popish Altars be) of the which B. Jewell might very well make his former Question.

Now for that other Flam, That Origen and Arnobius should deny their having onely of Heathenish, but not of Christian Altars; although it were enough to stop the mouth of this Ignoto, to set down the Testimonies of those great Worthies of the reformed Church, who (with B. Jewell) expound these two Fathers, of the having no Altars at all; as theInstitut. lib. 6. c. 1. B. of Duresme, lib. 2. de Miss. c. 1. p. 171. Mornay, Digress. lib. 2. digr. 4. Desiderius Heraldus, Monsieur In his Answer to the Replique, Controvers. 10. Moulin, De Orig. Altar. p. 6. c. 34. Hospinian, and others; yet because he thinks he hath gotten the Cowards advantage, to put us to the proofe of the Negative, presuming onely upon the justice of the cause, I will undertake him upon these hard conditions.

For Origen; it is clear'd in a word, that he was not interrogated, and consequently that he never answered, concerning the Heathen or Pagan Altars. For [...], &c. Orig. contra Cels. l. 1. Celsius his adversary (what Countreyman soever he was) disguiseth himself as a Iew disputing against the Christians in all that discourse. And it were an Argument fitting as wise a Rabbin as our D. Coal, to prove the Christians to be [Page] Atheists, because they had not (which they themselves abhorred to the death) Pagan Altars. But Celsus his objection is to the purpose and generall, that the Christians had amongst thēselves a [...], or secret Token, [...], of some invisible combination, that they erected no kinde of Altars, as all other Sects and Professions (not being [...], Orig. contra Cels. l. 7. p. 384. Atheists) amongst the Jews and Gentiles did. And to this generall Objection the Answer was likewise generall (or very impertinent) that they had no Altars at all, but those immateriall Altars we spake of before, in the Souls and Consciences of holy men.

And Arnobius well weighed, comes to the same effect. For howbeit he had not to do with Jewes, but with Gentiles, yet the Objection is in generall termes, not, that they erected no Altar for their Gods and Sacrifices, but that they built them no Altar, venerationis ad officia, to officiate upon in any kinde of divine worship. And so Desiderius Heraldus, the best Critick extant upon that Book, delivers himself, That this may be understoodPotest hoc intelligi simpliciter, quòd nulla haberent simpliciter, Desid. Herald. ad Ain. l. 6. p. 342. simply and absolutely, without any relation to the Pagan Altars. Holding an opinion elsewhere, that simply and absolutely there were no Altars erected in the Church of God, before Tertullians time. But this will appeare yet more clearly by a place of S. Cyrill, which the L.Institut. l. 6. c. 5. p. 464. B. of Duresme doth thorowly examine to this purpose. For Julian the Apostata had been aGreg. Nazianz. Orat. 3. advers. Julianum. Reader of our Church, and knew the generall practice thereof, and that it had been in him a ridiculous thing to imagine, that the Christians should have any Pagan Altars. [Page] Nay the wittie Prince takes notice of it, that the very Jewes do sacrifice, and have an agreement in that particular with the Pagans, and yet concludes bitterly against us (as he conceives) Offerre Sacra in Altari & sacrificare cavetis, You Christians are most scrupulous in offering of any Sacrifice upon your Altar. And to this (as the Learned Bishop well observes) S. Cyrill answers not one word: which had been prevarication before God and man, if the Christians had acknowledged in those dayes, any Christian-Sacrifice upon a materiall Altar. And in Minutius Felix, (if it be well observ'd, and rightly read) there is as pregnant a testimony as this of S. Cyrill. Some one hadEt qui hominem summo supplicio pro facinore punitum, & Crucis ligna feralia, eorum Ceremonias fabulantur, (a [...] Wowerius; fabulatur, as Des Heraldus reades it) congruentia perditis sceleratisque tribuunt Altaria, ut id colant quod merentur, Minutius Fel. p. 20. juxta Wowerii edit. written of the Christians (for you must read it fabulatur, not fabulantur) that a Felon punished for his offence, and that wofull wood of the Crosse, was all the Ceremonies of the Christians. Whereupon Caecilius the Pagan, running descant, saith that the Authour had suited them to a hair, and built them Altars fit for such wretches, ut id colant quod merentur, making them to adore thatInfelici arbore suspendito, In 12 Tabul. unluckie tree, which they had so well deserved. So far he goeth with his Authour. But coming in the next Page, to charge the Christians himself, he moves this Question; Why do they keep such adoe to conceal, quicquid illud c [...]lunt (not, colimus) that, what ever it be, they (the Christians, not we the Pagans) do really worship? Cur nullas Aras habent? What is the matter they have no Altars? Then [...]urther in the Book, when Octavius comes to make his Repartee to all this, he saith,Putatis autem nos occultare quod colimus, si delubra & aras non habemus? Vt rejiciam ei suum munus, ingratu [...] est. Cùm sit litabilis hostia bonus animus & pura mens & sincera conscientia, p. 73. It is not [Page]with any desire to conceal the object of their worship, that they have no Altars: But that with them, the bottom of their heart supplies the Altar, and a good intention the hallowed Sacrifice. Where I observe two remarkable circumstances; First, Gods truth acknowledged by the Father of Lyes, the Divell himself, by the mouth of a Pagan, That the Tree of the Crosse was the Altar of the Christians: And then a joint agreement of Caecilius & Octavius, the Pagan, and the Christian, That for the setting forth of that (what ever it be) that they, the Christians, then worshipped, they had no visible erected Altar. And I hope I have set before you more solid stuffe then the Quelque-choses of the poore Doctour, to nourish your consent to B. Jewell in this point, That in Origen and Arnobiu [...] his time, there were in the Church of God no materiall Altars. I will conclude with an observation, that hath much inclined me towards this Opinion; howbeit I do not finde it stood upon by any other, because peradventure it is but an Argument drawn from the Rack, and more passable in the Civill Law, then in Schools of Divinitie. Plinius Secund. l. 10 ep. 97. Compare with this Epistle, that of Tertullian; Plinius Secundus cùm provinciam regeret, damnatis quibusdam Christianis, quibusdam gradu pulsis, &c. Allegans praeter obstinationem non sacrificandi nihil aliud se de sacris eorum comperisse, Apologet. advers. Gentes. And Baronius is of opinion, that Plinie himself doth take notice in that Epistle, of the Christians receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Tom. 2. ad annum 104. dist. 4. Plinius Secundus, a very witty and learned man, making strict enquirie against the Christians, and desirous to know exactly, what they did in his Province of Bithynia at their private meetings and congregations, learn't what he could from Apostata's revolted from the Faith twentie yeares before, who before his face, sacrificed to the gods, and adored the image of the Emperour. And having collected from them [Page] the substance of all the Christian Profession in those dayes, put two yong Christian Maids upon the Rack, who in their Confessions agreed word for word with the former Apostata's. I finde in those Extracts, continuall meeting at their Love-feasts, (together with the which the Communion was usually administred in those dayes) untill all These were Sodalitates, Companies, or Colledges of Artisans, such as they have in London. Amongst whom there was a Fellowship, (as the Greek word signifies) and now and then Good-fellowship. Vpon a motion made by Plinie for a Companie of Ironmongers or Armo [...]ers in Nicomedia, Trajan, a warie Emperour, put down all these meetings; because he call'd to minde, istas civitates ab ejusmodi factionibus esse vexatas. See his Epistle, Plin. l. 10. ep. 43. Wakes were put down by the Emperour Trajan; but I do not finde one syllable to fall either from the poore Maids, or the Apostata's themselves (who knew but too well that those things were) of the Christian materiall Altar.

And so much for Bishop Iewells Negation; now for Bishop Wouldbee's Affirmation of Altars in the Primitive Church.

It is (saithPag. 46. he) most certain (as you found every thing to be which he said before) that the Church had Altars, both the name and the thing; and used both name and thing a long time together, before the birth of Arnobius. This is the ground he means to fight it out on. And in the leading up of his men, to make it good, he placeth, as Captain of the squadron, a stout Mauritanian, to wit, Tertullian. And he hath reason for it. For if Tertullian make not the Charge upon B. Iewell, I am sure of it, none of the rest (of this Band) will hurt him. And if this Leader should chance to be overcome,

—

Pet. Arbit. in Satyr. de Catone.

in uno victa potestas

Romanúmque decus;—

we shall make wash work with the rest of his followers. The more probable authority that can [Page] be produced (as the Lord Tertullianum probabiliùs citare videantur, De Miss. l. 2. c. 1. p. 175. Plessie doth acknowledge) is this of Tertullian in his Book of Prayer. Will not thy Stationes, i. e. Iejunia, l. 4 Cerda. Publici Ecclesiae generalésque conventus, quibus pii omnes jubebantur stare in Ecclesia di [...] tills, & comparere coram Domino ad actiones sacras, [...]r. Ju [...]n. in hunc locum. A militia Romana tractū & usurpatum vocabulum. Nunc ad Basilicas, nunc ad Martyria stantes & attenti precabantur, praeclpuè die Dominico, Beat. Rhenan. in Tertullian. l. 2. ad uxor. Fast or Publick meeting prove the more solemn, if withall thou celebrate the same at the Altar of God? That nobleAnnon apertè de sacra Mensa loquitur? Mornaeus, ubi suprà. Lord (because of the mention made of the Eucharist in the words before) conceives it a clear case, that, by this Ara Dei, in his African and affected stile, he means plainly, the Lords Table. I will adde some reason for this opinion.Quilibet editior locus. Qui in publico aliquid dicere volebant, semper ex edito loco, quasi suggessu vel tribunali, pronunciabant. Vt cespititia tribunalia in castris. So [...] in Lucian, in Alexan. Abunotichite, for any high place: For such a companion would not have been suffered to clamber up an Altar. So that high stone, that Apollonius stood upon when he cried, [...], of him that slab'd Domitian, Philostratus in vita Ap [...]ell [...]n. Salmasius in lib. de Pallip, p. 396. Locus planus editúsque. Varre de re Rustica, l. 1, c. 54. As Rocks that seem higher then the Sea; Saxa vocant Itali mediis quae in fluctibus Aras, Aexeid. 1. Fr. Iun. Ara in Tertullian doth not signifie an Altar, but any hillock or advantage of ground, or Stall or Table to stand upon; as appeares plainly by that in his Book De Pallio; Soleo de qualibet margine vel ara medicinas moribus dicere; I am wont (saith the Mantle, alluding to the fashion of the Stoicks) to prescribe Medicine to the maners of men, upon every brink, hillock, or stall that is presented unto me. Because therefore the Lords Table, upon which the Sacrament was administred, was in a kinde of height, rising and elevation from the Pavement of the Church, he calls it, Ara Dei; not that Altar, but that Rising, or Table of Almightie God. And when these two places are well understood and compared together, and notice also taken that the word is not otherwise used by Tertullian in any place but this one, I shall not be afraid to submit the [Page] interpretation to any learned Readers. Secondly, Tertullian, of all the Fathers, doth most allude in expressions to the fashion of the Gentiles. Their fashion (as we touch't heretofore) was of every Sacrifice they made, to give a portion or share to their especiall favourites.Plautus in Amphitr. Act. 3. Sc [...]n. 3. Vt re divinâ factâ, mecum prandeat, saith Plautus, That Sacrifice being done, he might come and dine with me. And so saith theTheocr. in Bucol. Poet,

— [...]

[...].

When you next sacrifice to the Nymphs, forget not to send a good piece of flesh to your friend Morson. Because therefore in Tertullians time, they did not (as we now do) eat the consecrated bread upon the place, but (as it here followeth in the nextword) accipere & reservare, reserve it and carry it home with them, as the Heathens did their [...], or portion (as [...]. Theophrastus calls it) from the Altars into their houses; Tertullian alluding to these Reservations from the heathen Altars, doth call the Communion-Table, ARA DEI, Gods Altar. Lastly, Tertullian, by naming his Sacrifice immediately before, Sacrificium Orationis, to be but the Sacrifice of Prayer, doth clearly interpret what he means by his Altar, to wit, a Metaphoricall and improper Altar; as we shewed abundantly heretofore. I will adde hereunto for a parting-blow, that Defiderius Heraldus, as strict an examiner of Tertullian, as any we have this day in Print, was so little moved with this Authority, that howbeit he grants Altars to [Page] have been in the Church in Naziazen's time, yet doth he clearely affirme they were brought in afterDigress. l. 2. Digr. 4. For when he had shewed the other place, Aris Dei was to be read, Charis Dei; yet he saith, Afterward, that is, af [...]er Tertullians time, Altars came to the Church. Where he is to be read, Postea autem (not as it is falsely printed, Postea ante) cùm Altaria in Ecclesiis constitui coeperunt, Aris etiam at (que) Altaribus supplices accidebant, p. 277. Tertullians time. I could adde a fourth exposition of these words, made by a most Learned and Iudicious Divine, one D. Coal, ThatP. 47. And [...], Gods Altar, as Tertullian and S Cyprian did after call it, ad Tarsens. Tertullian by an Altar in this place means as Ignatius doth in his Epistle ad Trallenses, that is, an old woman; But that I am afraid you would take it to be, not a Tale of an old Wife, but an old Wife's Tale.

Being therefore rid of this Captain-authority, the rest will quickly vanish of themselves. And that Geniculatio ad Aras, which the Doctour quotes out of Tertullian, De Poenitentia, is a Testimony that never was in the Book at all. Adgeniculari Aris Dei, to kneel to the Altars of God, was there once, I confesse, and much made of byBailius item ex Bellarmino. Rivet. Cath. Orthod. tom. 1. p. 516. Bellarmine andDepravations, p. 282. Pere Cotton: But is now like a Coward got out of the Book, and runne away: The true reading being Adgeniculari CHARIS Dei, To kneel to Gods Favourites, the Saints and Priests, to intercede for them. A likelier matter, a great deal, in men that did penance, then to be kneeling at the Altars of God, which in those dayes they durst not approach by a great distance, untill they had undergone all that was enjoyn'd them. And this Criticisme is none of ours originally, but Pamelius his, corresponding with the M. S. in the Vaticane Library; but approved byIn locum. La Cerda, In locum. Iunius, L. 2 de Miss. c. 1. Du Plessy, Digress. l. 2 digr. 4. Heraldus, Ad aram Dosiadae. Salmasius, Observ. l. 2. observ. 22. Albaspinaeus, and all men else, beside this poore Doctour.

[Page] As I was writing of this, I was shewed a Latine Determination, that goeth from hand to hand, well-languaged, but of poore stuffe and substance (God he knoweth) ayming to prove, that look what Ceremonies were used about the Altar before the Reformation, vi & virtute Catholicae consuetudinis, by power and force of any generall Custom, though passed over in deep silence by our Liturgie, are notwithstanding commanded, as by a kinde of implicite precept, even unto us that live under the discipline of the English Liturgie. Which is a doctrine so contrarie, not onely to that Chapter in our Liturgie, Book of Com. Prayer, of Ceremonies. Of Ceremonies, why some be abolished and some retained, but even to the1 Elis. c. 2. Act of Parliament, that appropriates the addition of any more Ceremonies of that nature, then be prescribed in our Book, unto the person of the King himself, that I cannot believe, that any Divine should publish the same, otherwise then in a Merriment. The same Writing doth except against this new reading of this place in Tertullian, Charis Dei adgeniculari, (embrac't, as I said before, by all learned men of both Religions) because it is not said, Charis Deo, as he thinks all the Africans, Cyprian, S. Austin, and the like, would say; and because doers of penance, though they might not at the first (as Pamelius objects) yet might well at the last, when they came for their Absolutions, approach the Altars. Wherein this pocket-Authour is very wide in both his Criticismes. For why should not Tertullian say as well Charis Dei, as Aris Dei adgeniculari, which he himself would make him speak? [Page] But that he knoweth not what Chari signifieth in this place. The word is here a substantive, and signifiethAs Chara cognatio, Tertullian. de Idol. c. 10. Chari dicuntur liberi▪ Turneb. Adversar. l. 18. c. 14. Chari [...] liberi, lun. in Tertull. de Idol. p. 105. Children: as Peniculus inMenoechm. Act. 1. Sc. 1. Charis meis, i. e. liberis meis, qui sunt nobis charissimi, Lambin. p. 419. Chari dicuntur liberi, Taubm. p. 598. Plautus,

Domi domitus fui usque cum charis meis.

I have been hampered all this while at home with my poore Children. And soDivin. Institut. l. 6. c. 12. Biblioth. Patr. 10. 9. p. 226. Lactantius calls the Widow and the Orphans, Charos Dei, Gods peculiar Children. And this in imitation of the Appellatione Charorum interdum Liberi intelliguntur, more Graecorum, qui Liberos [...] appellant, Lambin. in Menoechm. Act. 1. [...]c. 1. Greeks, who call their Children [...]. Yea, we have both these expressions in the Africane writers, speaking of JobsNec amissionibus Charissimorum, Tertull. lib. de Patientia, c. 14. Which S. Cyprian, his Scholar, calls, Amissionem Charorum, lib de Patientia, c. 9. losse of his children. And that the Africane Fathers also use it in the second, not in the third Case (as the Determinatour would have it) appears byVolo ut Impatientia sit in secundo Casu, vividiore & acriore sententiâ, La Cerda in lo [...]um. Sic Affines cupiditatis deprehendemur, Tertull. lib. de Patient. c. 7. La Cerda upon that of Tertullian, Lib. de Patient. c. 9. Quis Omnino impatientiae natus, &c. And so the doers of Penance in this place are said, Adgeniculari charis Dei, t [...] kneel before Gods peculiar Children. And as much more is the man deceiv'd in his other conjecture, That this Adgeniculation was before the Altar, when they came for Absolution. God knoweth, few liv'd in Tertullians time to come for absolution, the Penances for slender faults were of so long Continuance. But whereas there were foure severall degrees of publick Penance in those severer times, call'd in Latine Fletus, Auditio, Substratio, Consistentia, Weeping before the Porch, Hearing in the Porch, Lying all along on the Church-Pavement, not far from the Porch, in expectation of the Bishops prayers and blessing, and [Page] Standing with the people within the Church to partake of their Orisons, but not of the holy Sacrament: this Adgeniculation was in the first and not in the last degree; and to procure the Priests to enjoyne, and not to dissolve their penance, asSee it ha [...]dled of purpose by Albaspin. Obs. l. 2. Observat 22. & in sequentib. by Pamelius on this place: by Desid. Heraldus at large, Digress. l. 2. Digr. 4. learned men observe. And the words that follow in Tertullian, do prove clearly that this was not the last act, and done to the Priest alone, ad absolutionem obtinendam, to obtain absolution: Omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis injungere, to enjoin all the Brethren, an embassie of prayers and intercession in their behalfs: That is, to God, not to the Priests; and that in the [...], or first degree of penance, as S. [...]. And so Eustatb. ad 9. Iliad. defines a prayer to be [...]. Basil teacheth us clearly in his Commentary upon the 32. Psalm. And this is enough, if not too much, to wash away this weak conjecture, oppos'd by all learned men, that have lived sithence Pamelius his time. And so much for Tertullian.

Irenaeus, l. 4. c. 20. is a peaceable man, and fights against none of our side: Making (by a continued Allegory taken from Deuter. 33. 9.) all to be Priests serving at the Altar, who are willing to forsake all and follow Christ. So doth Nicolaus Galasius epitomize this Chapter, Omnes justos Sacerdotalem habere ordinem, Iren. ab illo editus, p. 245. Omnis justus, Every sanctified man (as we quoted before) that makes himself a lively, [...], and well-pleasing Sacrifice, offering Almes and the Calves of his lips to Almighty God, is a Priest serving at Irenaeus his Altar. Sacerdos scitus fuit David, (saith he) David in this kinde was a proper Priest. And so is this man, scitus scriptor, a very proper Writer, to bring in this place of Irenaeus for a proper Altar. S. Cyprian, l. 1. c. 7. [Page] ad Epictetum, expounds himself clearly what he means by an Altar, to wit, Stipes, Oblationes, Lucra; the Contributions, Offerings, and all Advantages belonging to the mans Bishoprick, whom they had suspended. Interlarding all this passage with allusions to Texts in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus (quoting one whichReperire autem non potui quem Scriptu [...]ae locum citet, Pamelius & Goulart. Pamelius knoweth not where to finde) de Sacerdotum altari Jehovae inservientium officio, touching the duties of Priests attending the Lords Altar, saithPag. 191. Goulartius. For that famous place out of the eighth Epistle, [There is one God, and one Church, and one Chair, founded upon Peter by the words of Christ. Other Altar, or other Priesthood, beside that one Altar, and that one Priesthood, cannot be erected.] you know how all theAs Pamelius himself, in his Notes, in librum De unitate Ecclesiae, referres it. Pontificians interpret. And I hope you would not have the Popedome it self setled and erected in every Parish-Church of England. But if you will expound it with the learned Protestants, then you must know, that by the Altar and Priesthood in this place, he means Summam Evangelii, the substance of the Gospell delivered by Christ and his Apostles, inviting all Christians to the participation of Christs death and the efficacie thereof, that they may be collected together and united in him, saith learnedAnnot. in librum Cypr. de unitate Ecclesiae, p. 305. Goulartius. Lastly, for that place in his ninth Epistle; it is a clear case, that by Altar he means there, ministeriall functions and offices, and that with a plain and literall allusion to the Tribe of Levi under theNec sacrae institutionis & functionis, in Levitica praefiguratae, debitam habuisse rationem, Goulort. Law. S. Cyprian was angry with one Geminius Victor, for making (against the An old Canon renewed, Concil. Chalced. Can. 3. Exceptis tutelis miserabilium personarum, & legitimis, ad quas per leges compelli possent, Goulart. Habetur in Codice Ecclesiae universae, Can. 180. [...], Leo Imp. Novell. Constitut. 68. Canon) one Faustinus a Priest, Overseer of his [Page] Will, and by that means withdrawing of him from his Calling and Ministery. And enlarging of himself in that Discourse, how carefull God had been in providing Tithes and Oblations for the Priest under the Law, giving him no Lands and Husbandries amongst the other Tribes, ut in nulla re avocaretur, that he might have no occasion to be withdrawn from the Altar: he aggravates the offence of those Testatours, that by making Church-men, Executours and Overseers of their last Wills, ab altari Sacerdotes & Ministros volunt avocare, will needs withdraw Ministers from their Ecclesiasticall functions, with no lesse offence, then if, under the Law, they had withdrawn the Priests from the holy Altar. So that this place takes my Doctour a little by the Nose, thatPag. 10. cannot endure to be a looker on, and a dull Spectatour, confined onely to his Ministeriall meditations: but hath not one syllable that crosseth the assertion of B. [...]ewell, That as yet there was not erected in the Church any materiall Altars. S. Cyprian doth allude in every one of these three passages, and the Doctour illude and abuse his Readers, figure-casting them in this sort, as if he had been to deal with some ill Spirits, and not daring to cite his Authours at large, Nè deberet risum, lest children should hoot at him with Jeeres and Laughters.

Pag. 46. But to go higher yet (ut lapsu graviore ruat) he tells us, that Ignatius useth it in no lesse then three of his Epistles. What it man? If you mean the name, Ignatius useth it in five or six of his Epistles at the least; if the thing, that is, a proper and materiall[Page]Altar; he useth it not in any of these three insisted on by you. The place in the Epistle to the Magnesians (besides thatLocum hunc supposititium esse, luce clarius meridianâ est, Exercit. in Epist. ad Magn. Then in the Margent, he notes them to be excerpted out of the Constitutions of Clemens, l. 2. c. 59, 60, 62. Although this later part doth not so clearly appeare unto me. Vedelius conceives it to be a supposititious fragment, taken out of the Constitutions of Clemens) the man brings in undoubtedly to make sport. Runne all of you like one man, to the Temple of God, as to one Altar, [...], to one Jesus Christ; Or, to translate it in plain English, to one Jesus Christ, as to one Altar. And this one Altar we all acknowledge to be in the Church. In his next place to the Philadelphians, he doth expresse himself to mean by Altar, [...], the Councell of the Saints and Church in generall (as we said before) and not any materiall Altar; asExercit. in Epist. ad Eph. p. 237. Vedelius proves at large. For should Ignatius mean by the like speaches, a materiall Altar, when he saith, that if any man be not Ep. ad Trallens. [...], within the Altar, he is deprived of the Bread of God, what should become of women and the Laity, that by an expresse Canon of a generall [...], Conc. Laod. Can. 44. [...], Concil. 6. in Trall. Can. 69. Councell, are prohibited from coming within the materiall Altar? By Altar therefore in these passages, he must understand the bosome of the Church. For that place in the Epistle to them of Tarsus; I pity the poore man, if he be indeed (as they say he is) married to a Widow. Sure I am, he never read the passage, but some knavish Scholar exscrib'd it for him, to make sport withall. The words are these, Honour Et de continentia viduarum, locum intelligit Baronius, Annal. Tom. 2. ad annum 109. dist. 30. Widows, [...], that uphold their Chastity (as Vedelius translates it) and Reputation, as the Altars of God. ButClement. Constit. l. 3. c. 6. Genebrardus in eundem. Genebrard himself confesseth, [Page] that this is a patch taken out of Clemens his Constitutions. And were these any vendible commodities amongst good Scholars, that Passage would make more for the Doctour a thousand times, then all he hath produced. Let her know (saith he) [...], that she is Gods Altar, and set her down in her house, [...], for the Altar of God never useth to run or gad about. and well said, most Metaphoricall Clemens! Here's an Altar indeed! An Altar becomes much better the upper end of his Table, then the upper end of his Church: though not out of love with the upper end in that place also. And yet men sometimes make use of these Altars, if they be richly set out.

—

Iuvenal. Satyr.

Optima summi

Jam via processûs vetulae fortuna Beatae.

A yong Scholar that was reading Callimachus his Hymn of Apollo, concerning the famous horn-Altar built at Delos, hearing me and a neighbour-Minister of mine somewhat pleasant about this Widow-Altar, and other fond passages in those foisted Constitutions of Clemens, brought me the next morning this allusion between the passage in his Authour, and that in mine;

Callimach. Hymn [...] in Apoll.

[...]

[...].

That is,

Carbo alleging Fathers for his ground,

No Altar there, but a chast Widow found:

Which yet not unbecame his new device

Of Widow-Altar without Sacrifice.

[Page] From this chast Widow may his finde such aid,

As Ph [...]bus Altar did from that chast Maid;

Who with her Bow that crooked matter brought,

Which he at Delos to an Altar wrought.

That Virgins horns lay

[...], Plutarch. de solertia. Anis mal. p. 983.

jointlesse, smooth, and shee [...];

Such those our Widows plant have sometimes been▪

Yet was that

[...], Ibid.

wonder of the World I w [...];

We make no wonder in the World of this.

For the 3 Canons of the Apostles (to say nothing how all good Scholars esteem these Canons but as so manySee the Magdeburgenses, that make many exceptions against them, Centur. 1. p. 544. Pot-guns) he that shall reade what was and what is presented on these Altars for the maintenance of the Bishop and all his Clergie (the Tenths being then due, but not then established) as Hony, Milk, strong Drink, [...], Consecta quaedam, Dionysius E [...]ig. & Hervetus. Sweet-meats, Fo [...]l, Flesh, Roots, Grapes, Eares of Corn, Oil, Frankincense, and Fruits of the Season, will conceive them to be rather so many Panteries, Larders, or Store-houses, then consecrated Altars. And indeed they were such, as are call'd in the Greek Liturgies, [...], or Oblation-Tables: which no learned man but knoweth to be Vtensils quite differing from the holy Altar; however called Altars by these Canons, by a manifest allusion to the Altars of Oblation among the Jews. And asImò cum adhuc superstes Dominus munus praedicationis obiret, ex his quae dabantur, unà cum suis victum capere consueve r [...]. Iudas enim habens loculos, &c. Ad Apostolorum poste [...] pedes Credentes oblationem faciebant, Baron. A [...]n. tom. 1. p. 513. Et hunc [...]cum citat Binius, ad hos C [...] n [...]nes. Baronius himself implieth, Judas his Bagge, and the Apostles feet (from whence these Oblations had their raise and beginning) may with as good reason, as these Tables, be termed Altars. Of his place, above all indeed, of Hebr. 13. 10. wee have spoken indeed but too much already. Lastly, I have perused reverend B. Jewell, Artic. 13. Divis. 6. [Page] and do finde, that there he cites many Fathers that mention but one Altar in one Church, and that placed in the midst of the Congregation; (which this Doctour doth not observe) and that (he thinks) this unitie of Altar was kept in the Church of God, untill the Councell of Anti [...]i [...]d [...] rum: But I cannot finde, with all my perusall, one word in him, why it should not be properly call'd a Table, and not an Altar. But perusing withall the third Article, and 26. Division, I finde he declares himself in those words, with which I will conclude this Chapter, and withall (if it please the Doctour) the whole Controversi [...]. And notwithstanding it were a Table, yet was it also called an Altar: not for that it was so indeed, but onely by allusion to the Altars of the old Law. And so Irenaeus calleth Christ, and Origen our Heart, our Altar: Not that either Christ or our Hearts be Altars indeed, but onely by a metaphor or a manner of speach. Such were the Altars which were used by the old Fathers immediately after the Apostles time. And this is all that the Letter desires the Vicar to know and obserue.

CHAP. VI.

[Page]

Of Extravagancies. Misquotation, Book of Fast. Chappells and Cathedrals. The Fact of taking down Altars. Altars in the old Liturgie. Children of this Church and Common-Weal. The name of the Lords Table. Ovall Table. Pleasing the people.

THe last Chapter contained the Sixth (as the Canonists term it) this, the Extravagants, or Wild-goos-chase of this second Section. Wherein the Doctour diverts his fury, from the King, the Counsell, the Parliament, and B. Iewell, upon the Writer of the Letter again; but all uponQuerelles d'Allement. high-Germane or pickt Quarells, not worth two rushes apiece.

First, he chargeth the Writer with lending lame Giles a pair of Crutches to walk upon, and some Pag. 21. Arrows to shoot at the Altars, and the Bowing to the blessed Name of JESUS. Who this Claudius Gellius, or Lame Giles should be, I cannot [Page] guesse; nor is this Cripple known by any in our Neighbourhood. He may be much older them the Pag. 4. Letter but now sought after. And this Doctour may halt before his Cripple, when he talks of Canons 1471; and again▪ outrunne a Constable, when he denies the Canons of 1571, pag. 18. to require joyned. Tables for the Communion. Pag. 15. you say; because you saw it in Latine: Pag. 18. they say; because they saw it in English. And you may see it, when you please, the easier, because printed by Iohn Day. In the mean time, the world may see your wisdome, to trouble the Presse with such impertinent Follies.

Secondly,Pag. 24. he taxeth the Writer with seeming to cast a scorn on them, by [...]hose direction the Book of the Fast in 1o of the King was drawn up and published; as if it were a Novelty or singular device of theirs, to call the Later part of divine Service by the name of Second Service: Which the Discourser slighteth. Surely this is a fierce hunting-Dog!

—

Petron, A [...]bit. in Satyric.

In somnis leporis vestigia latrat.

He hath dream't of some Hare, and now barks after her [...] Unlesse (peradventure) all this noise be but to get a bit from his Masters,Seneca, lib. 2. de [...]ra. ex consuetudine magìs quàm ex ferocitate; of a Custome he hath got to be rewarded in this kinde, not that he is any way provoked by the Writer of the Letter. For the Writer speaks not one word against this Partition of the Service in the Book of Fast. But the Vicar applying the same in his discourse (as it seems) to the Book of Common Prayer, and some of his Neighbours boggling thereat, the Writer excuseth [Page] it, as done in imitation of that grave and pious Book, (which never intended to give Rubricks to the publick Liturgie) and not (as might be conceived) of the two Masses used of old, that of the Catechumeni, and that of the Faithfull, a Partition Mutatis rebus, necesse fuit mutare Ceremonias. Quia jam Catechumeni deesse incipiebant, & hodie nulli sunt. Quòd si sint (ut existere possint) Iudaeis ad nos transeuntibus & Turcis, quid attinet propter paucos veterem repetere morem? B. Rhenan [...]t of S. Gregories changing of Gelasius his Liturgi [...], [...]raf. ad Liturg. Chrysost. deserted long ago by the Church of Rome it self, as of no further use in these parts of the world, wholly converted to Christianity. But D. Coal being conjured into the Circle of this Parenthesis, knowes not how to get out againe; but about he goes, and about he goes, from one absurditie to another.

For first, the Order of Morning Prayer is not (as this man supposeth) nor ever was, the whole Morning Prayer, but a little fragment thereof, call'd the order of Mattins, in the Primar ofA Primar of Salisbury Vse, printed 1544. Sarum, as also in K.A Primar set forth by the King, 1545. Henry the Eighths Primar, (which was in use under K.K Edwards Injunct. Injunst. 34. Edward for a long time) as also in the first Liturgie set forth by K.Fol. 121. And so in his Injunst. Injunct. 23. Edward himself. Besides these Mattius or Order of Morning Prayer, there were of old,See the two Primars. Lauds, Primes, Houres, Collects, Letanies, Suffrages, and sometimes Dirges and Commendations. Some whereof are still retained in our Morning Service. So that if we should make one Service of the Mattins, we must make another of the Collects, a third of the Letary, and our Communion shalbe, at the soonest, our fourth, and by no means our Second Service.

Besides that, according to this new Reckoning, we shall have (that which I will be hold to say no Liturgie, Greek or Latine, can shew this day) an entire Service without a Prayer for the [Page] King or Bishop, which in our own Liturgie come in after, Thus endeth the Order of Morning Prayer.

Thirdly, The1o Elis. c. 2. Act of Parliament calls it Service, not Services; and theContents of the Book of Common Prayer. Contents of our Liturgie (which is our Rubrick confirmed) followeth the old distinction in K. Henry's Prime. 9 Order for Morning Prayer; 10 the Letanie; 11 the Collects, Epistles and Gospells; and 12 the holy Communion. And therefore it was a bold part in a Countrey-Vicar, to make thereof any other Partition. And the Writer of the Letter shewed (in my Opinion) more good will, then good skill, in excusing his Ne [...] fanglednesse.

Lastly, the true and legall division of our Service into the Common Prayer, and the Communion, or Administration of the Sacrament; the one to be officiated in the Reading-pew, and the other at the holy Table conveniently disposed for that purpose; as it is the more justifiable, so is it indeed the ancient Appellation. I will not undertake to make good the Antiquitie of S. Peters Liturgie: but I do finde that this part of Divine Service is there called [...], i. e. Deinde legit Communionē, Orationem quae ad sacram Eucharistiae participationem populum praeparat. A Sancto Andrea. Bibl. V. Patrum, Tom. 2. p. 123. [...], and translated by S. Andreas, Communion. And in S. Ambrose his Liturgie, which all the world knows to be very ancient, it is call'd, Sic & in Ambrosiano, ubi additur, & Cō municatio. A Sancto Andrea. ibid. [...]ommunicatio, the Administring of the Communion; and by other names in otherAs, [...], The thanksgiving-part, S. Marc. Liturg. Et [...]lioth. V. Patrum, tem. 2 p. 32. [...], The Office done upon the Table, by Dionysius. Liturgies; but nowhere by that of Second Service. And for our own Divines; Archbishop Whitgift, being put unto it by a fierce and a learned adversary, reckons [...]p all the parts and parcells of our Liturgie, and call's thisAnswer to the Admonition, pag. 151. last of all, the Administration of the Sacrament. [Page] And M. Hooker speaking of that Case, which this man triflingly toucheth by and by after, to wit, when there is no Communion, and yet some Prayers to be said at the holy [...]Table, doth not say (as this poore soul would imply) that these Prayers make a Second Service, but that they wereM. Hookers Eccles. Polit. l 5. dist. 30. p. 248. devised at first for the Communion, and that that is the true cause, why they are at the Table of the Lord (not alwayes neither, but) commonly read. So that those Directours of the Book of Fast, had (no doubt) their particular reason for the particular. Division of those pious Devotions (which none but a slight man would offer to slight;) but never dream't (I dare swear for them) to impose upon the publick Liturgie of the Church, any other then the ancient and Legall Partitions and Appellations.

And again, before he comes out of his Circle, he is resolv'd to conjure up such a Doctrine, as might (if any were so simple as to believe him) turn not a few Parsons and Vicars out of their Benefices in a short time: By encouraging of them (in a Book printed with Licence) to set up a Consistory in the mid'st of Divine Service, to examine the worthinesse of all Communicants. And upon what ground think you? Because the Communicants (that due provision may be made of Bread and Wine, and other Necessaries for that holy mysterie) are requir'd to signifie Pag. 25. their names unto the Curate over night, or before the beginning of Morning Prayer, or at the least immediately after. After what? Clearly; saith he, after all the Morning Prayer, and before the Communion, [Page] that the Curate may hold a privie Session in the midst of divine Service, and impannell a Iury of the Congregation, to know whether they be offended against the partie. Clearely say allVel immediatè post principium matutinarum precum, Latine Liturgie. So to a word, Doctrima & Politia Ecclesiae Anglic. p. 221. other men (and his own Latin translation to boot) post principium matutmarum precum, immediately after the beginning of morning prayer, that there may be allotted some space of time to make provision according to the number of the Communicants. And this is the true meaning of that first Rubrick, that hath no reference at all to the three subsequent. The second requires the Curate to admonish all They must be notorious and known. Answer to the Adm. p. 102. open and notorious evil livers of those, that is, those intenders to receive the Sacrament, so to amend their lives, that the Congregation may thereby be satisfied. Which were a thing ridiculously prescribed, to be done in such a place, or in so short a time; but is intended to be performed by the Curate (private Confession being not in use) uponLet him communicate with him privily at convenient leisure. The Order of the Communion 1548. p. 6. private conference with the parties. The third directs the Curate how to deal with those that he perceiveth (by intimation given and direction return'd from his Ordinary, as theCanon 27. compared▪ with Can. 26. Canon interprets it) to continue in unrepented hatred and malice. These (having the direction of his Ordinary) he may abstain or keep back from receiving the Sacrament, and that (as we know by experience) in an Instant, without chopping or dividing the divine Service. Otherwise, it is a thing unreasonable, and altogether illegall, that a Christian man, laying open claim to his right in the Sacrament, should by the meere discretion of a Curate be debarred from it. I would [Page] be loath to put my Lands, nay my goods and Chattels, and shall I put my interest in the body and blood of Christ to a private discretion? So might it be in the power of a malitious Priest (as our learnedCùm enim quilibet Christianus ex hoc ipso quòd est baptizatus, sit admis [...]us ad Dominicam mensam, non potest jus suum ei tolli, nisi pro aliqua causa manifesta. Aquin. Summ. p. 3. q. 60. art. 6. Imò quilibet Christianus habet jus in perceptione Eucharistae, nisi illud per peccatum mortale amittat. Vnde cùm in facie Ecclesiae non constet talem amisisse jus suum, non debet ei in facie Ecclesiae denegaii—aliàs daretur facultas malis sace dotibus, pro suo libito, punire hâc poenâ quos vellent. Iandwood l. 3. de Celebrat. Missar. fol. 128. Glosser doth prudently observe) to mulct whom he pleas'd with this most horrible and execrable punishment. And therefore may not the Steward by any means keep back these Nimrods or fat ones of the Earth, from his Masters Table, but warn them fairly of the danger ensuing, asGratianus part. 3. de Consecrat. d. 2. fol. 437. Gratian tells us out of S. Augustine. And indeed it is against the practice of all Antiquity, that the Priest should offer of his own head, to keep off any Christned and believing man from the sacred Mysteries.

It was the Deacon (whose power, as I touch'd before, our Archdeacons now, by Collation of the Bishop, and prescription of Time, have incorporated in their Iurisdictions) that alwayes executed this severitie: It is the Deacon, that cries out, [...], Look to the doores, the doores there; in S. Biblioth. V. Patr. Tom. 2. pag. 46. Basils Liturgie: It is he that show [...]s out three severall times,Ibid. p. 72. [...], On, on there, get you out there, all you that are to be catechised; in S. Chrysostoms Liturgie. It is the Deacon that cryes, Go out all that are not to receive, go out Catechumeni; in theBiblioth. V. P. Tom. 6. pag. 75. Ethiopick Liturgie. It is unto the Deacons, that S. Chrysostom elsewhere speaks, Chrysost. in Matth. Ho [...]. 82. edit. Savil. Tom. 2, p. 515. [...], You deserve no little punishment, if conscious of notorious crimes in any of the Communicants, [...], you connive at [Page]them to partake of that holy Table. This is [...] the true dignitie which God hath given unto you, to look to the worthy and unworthy Communicants; and not to strout it up and down the Church in white or shining Copes and Vestments. And I verily beleeve, that from these ancient times untill this present, the debarring of unworthy persons from the holy mysteries, hath ever been esteemed a part not of the spirituall, but the Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction. The Curate is but to present to the Ordinary, and to admonish the offender, and that in private onely (as I should conceive the Law) lest he provePeccato occulto poenam publicam inferens, est revelator confessionis, aut proditor criminis. Lindw. ubi suprà Sed quia Christus nobis debuit esse exemplum Iustitiae, non conveniebat ejus mag [...] sterio, ut Iudam, occultum peccatorem, sine accusatore & evidenti probatione, ab aliorum communione separaret; nè pe [...] hoc daretur exemplum Praelatis. (To the Prelates, not to the simple Priests) Aquin, 3. part. q. 81. art. 2 in corp. So Tertullian; Parùm hoc, si non etiam proditorem suum secum habuit, nec constanter denotavit. De patientia, c. 3. proditor criminis, a revealer rather, then a healer of his Brothers infirmities. And S.Tom. 9. lib. De Medicina poenitent. c. 3. Citatur in Gloss. ad 1. Cor. 5. & in Summ. Aquin. part. 3. qu 80. art. 6. Austin is cleare of this opinion: Nos à Communione quenquam prohibere non possumus, nisi aut spontè confessum, aut in aliquo Iudicio Ecclesiastico vel seculari nominatum atque convictum, We may not prohibit any man from the Communion, untill he either willingly confesse, or be openly pronounced and convicted (of some notorious crime) in some Ecclesiasticall or secular Court.In 4m Sent. dist. 12. art. 6. Dominicus de Soto is of opinion, that if a sinner do but privately demand the Sacrament of the Parish-priest, the Priest may not deny it him, untill it be pronounced deniable unto him juridicè, that is, by some one exercising Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction. HowbeitIn 3m disp. 67. Sect. 3. Suarez and others differ from him in that opinion, affirming the Parish-priest to be restrained in this case, not upon private, but upon open and publick demands [Page] onely. But in the case of a publick demand the In 3m, disp. 67. § 4. Iesuite sets down, in my opinion, an excellent Rule. It is requisite for the Common good, and the convenient order of both Church and Common-wealth, that all common favours, which are publickly to be disposed and distributed according to the merit & dignity of private persons, should be dispensed by some publick Minister, designed thereunto by the chief person in that Church or Common-wealth; not according to the private knowledge neither of that Minister, but according to a publick and notorious cognisance, agreed upon in that Church or Common-wealth. And however a sinner doth by his offence against God, loose (as the School-men think) his right and interest in this blessed Sacrament, untill by a new Repentance, he makes, as it were, a new Purchase of the same; yet, saithIn 4m, d. 12. q. 1. art. 5. Aquinas, must he loose it in the face of the Church, before it can be denied him in the face of the Church: Being to be judged (as in all other Cases) not by any man, nor any Ministers private knowledge, but according to Proofs and Allegations, before such men and in such places onely, as have power to admit of Proofs and Allegations. The Common good requiring necessarily, that all such publick actions of this nature should be reigled by a kind of publick, and not private knowledge; which once admitted into Iudicature, would soon fill up the Church and State with a world of Scandals, Injuries and Inconveniences. And although publick demanders of this Sacrament are by the Doctrine of these Iesuites to be publickly rejected, when their [Page] offences are known to the Priest, either by an Evidence of Law, or by an Evidence of fact; yet because this later Evidence of fact doth arise from a scrupulous and curious examination of the number of the persons which know the same (and how many of the present Communicants be of that number) as also of the quality of the place, the nature of the Crime, the Condition of the Witnesses, and a thousand other Circumstances; I had leiver entrust the Ordinary for altogether, then trouble a simple Curate to charge his head-piece with so many Quillets, and be liable afterwards to answer over in higher Courts, for the least misprision, and misapprehension in any of these curious pieces or Circumstances.

My practice therefore hath ever been, not to keep back, but to admonish onely, publick offenders, upon the like evidence of fact; and that not publickly neither, nor by Name. And I continue the stiffer in this Opinion, because I find sithence the Reformation, our Church had once a Canon for the One (which still may be in some force) but never any footstep of the other, being the height of the Genevan and Presbyterie Doctrine. But for the former, there was (as I said) a Rubrick of this nature, immediately before the Collect, You that do truly and earnestly repent, &c.Order of the Commun. 1548. pag 6. Here the Priest shall pause a while, to see if any man wil withdraw himself. And if he perceive any one so to do, let him commune with him privily at convenient leisure. Privily, not in the Church: At leisure, not by chopping and enterloping with the divine Service. But this [Page] (though I think I am very near the right) I submit for all that (for the declaration of the practice) to the learned Canonists of our Church.

His third Extravagancy is, Thatpag. 27. he so fain would learn of this doughty Disputant why he should make such difference between the Chappells and Cathedrall Churches on the one side, and the Parochialls on the other: The Laws and Canons now in force looking alike in all. And if there be not some cunning, to make Chappells and Cathedralls guilty of some foule Transgression. The Reason that the poore man gives, is because the placing of Letter p. 72. Tables in Chappells and Cathedralls is not the point in Question. The Reason that you give is void of all reason (though not of all malice) that he should do it to their prejudice: when he tells you at the first, he doth both approve in the Vicar, and imitate in his own practice their forms and Ceremonies. I should conceive, that he could not but know that the Altars in Chappells and Oratories are not amongst the Papists themselves (the Mint-masters of Ceremonies) agreeable in situation to the Altars in Churches. And thisIn 3m part. Tom. 3. q. 83. art. 3. disp. 81. § 5. Suarez the Iesuit could tell him. He might also mark some speciall differences which our Canons themselves do make between Cathedrals and Parochiall Churches: As in theQ. Elis. Injunct. 18. place of Reading the Letanies; in the allowance of Injunct of K. Edw. Injunct 21. Locall Statutes; inCertain Canons 1571. p. 8. monthly Communions; inAdvertisem. Articles for Adm. the Sacrament, ibid. reviv'd. c. 24. Copes, not onely for him that officiates, but for the Epistolers and the Gospellers; in the Excepting of Cathedralls from delivering up to the Queens Commissioners, the Ornaments and [Page] Iewels of their Churches; (the Article naming expresly theQ. Elis. Injunct 47. For Vestments, &c. Churchwardens of every Parish onely) And particularly in an observation concerning the point in hand, That whereas in Parish-churches, the ten Commandments were onely appointed to be printed in little Tables, and to be fixed upon the wall over the said Communion-Boord; there is a speciall Proviso, that in Cathedrall Churches, the Tables of the said Precepts be more costly and largely painted out. Whereof this may be a reason, That in some Cathedrall Churches where the Steps were not transposed in tertio of the Queen, and consequently Orders, October 1561. thought fit to continue, and the Wall on the Backside of the Altar untaken down, the Table might stand, as the Altar did before, all along, and the Commandments be more largely painted out, to fill up the length and extension of the same. But he that will peruse all these Canons well, that concern the placing and displacing of Tables, shall finde, that not one of them names Cathedrall Churches; And will easily condemne this mans supposition, as childish and ridiculous, That every Injunction given the Visitours, for the Parochiall, is extendible to the Mother and Cathedrall Church, left in many things to her Locall Statutes. Unlesse there were some other speciall directions, as to B. Ridley in the case of Pauls; which are not extant in Print, nor (as I am informed) in the paper-office. But I do not finde in the Writer of the Letter, any supposable End of this Exception, beside Caution and warinesse, not to give any the least offence, or stirre up needlesse and unnecessary Controversies.

[Page] His fourth Extravagancy, Pag. 40. 41. is a great desire he hath to bring both this Writer (and all other writers of Histories) within the compasse of the Statute of Sedition, for daring to relate the Peoples beating down of Altars de facto, before any Order of Law issued forth for their demolishment. Because the People (of England) are led by Precedents, more then by Laws, and think all things lawfull to be done, (for example, the Rebellion of Iack Straw, and Wat Tiler) which were done before them. And therefore to write such a fine History, is fine Doctrine. As to raise Doctrines out of Narrations in Histories, is a fine and a very fine Bull. Thrice happy then Sr Thomas More and the Lord of S. Albanes, that are already dead; and wo be to that learned Nobleman, who having much to loose, is notwithstanding commanded to relate theActs and Mon. part. 2. fol. 377. Rebellion of Captain Cobler in Lincoln-shire, and the holy Pilgrimes in York-shire, that would appoint Counsellers and Bishops to King Henry the eighth. This is fine Doctrine indeed, when Doctour Coal (if he should look that way) can neither be Counseller nor Bishop, without the speciall recommendations of brave Captain Cobler. Nay the Father of theT. Livius Prooem. Latine History is not out of the danger of this Gun-shot: Who delivers this fine Doctrine to all Historians, That they ought to set down Foedum incoeptu, the foul attempts of ill men, not to be imitated, but to be eschewed by all Readers. Yea, but with the Relating of it, he should have written a Sermon or Homily against it. There are already [Page] publickAgainst disobedience and wilfull rebellion▪ The worse should give place to th [...] better. Homilies in the Church, written of purpose against all Seditions and Rebellions. And to do this in every Narrative of a fact, is the fault thatHist. l. 2. [...]. Polybius findes with Philarchus; for presenting his Readers with a passionate Tragedy, in stead of plain and naked History.

Yea but (saith thepag. 41. Doctour) the History is false in matter of fact. For the Altars were not stird by the people, untill they had some Order and authority from those who had a power to do it. If this be made good, let the Writer defend himself for me; I wash my hands of him. Yes, there is nothing can be more clearly prov'd. For in the Letter to Bishop Ridley it is said, that it was come to the Kings knowledge already (that is, before any Order given by the King or the Counsell, for ought appeares in any Book or upon any Record) that the Altars upon good and godly Considerations were taken down. Were they taken down already, before the King and Counsell heard thereof? and upon Considerations onely? Then surely, not upon any Command of the King, direction of the Counsell, Canon of the Convocation, Mandate of the Ordinary; (For where doth your Doctourship find any Commands of this nature call'd Considerations?) but upon the private apprehension of the People, instructed by their Ministers, that the form of a Table would more move the simple to the right use of the Lords Supper. For so the King and Lords, in their first reason, do clearly expresse what is mean't by the good and godly Consideration set down by that King in his [Page] Letter. Because the Doctour therefore is dispos'd to be merry, and to make his Readers sport, looking (like a Water-man in a Wherry) one way, and pulling on his Proofs another way; I will tell you, what I conceive the Writer of the Letter might mean by these two Lines objected against; although it be little materiall to the present Controversie.

1. I perceive he relates (in the first place) to the Reformation of Altars beyond the Seas (because he speaks of supreme Magistrates) which the people began by way of fact, before the Magistrates established the same by way of Law. And this Luther complains of againstTu verò irruis & turbas cies, altaria demoliendo & [...]acra tollendo,—cùm è suggesto docendum fuisset, &c. Lut [...]erus, Sermone, De iis quae non necessarò exiguntur. 1522. Oper. Tom. 7. p. 276. Carolostadius: that he chose rather to hew down, then to dispute down Altars. Although some Melchior Adamus in vita Carolostandii, ex Sleidan. lib. 3. others write, that Carolostadius had herein the assent at least wise of the Magistrates then residing in the Castle of Wittemberg. However Luther was enflam'd against him, that he durst in the time of his absence in Pathmos presume upon so punctuall a Reformation. Tom. 5. De Sacra Caena, dist. 261. Gerardus likewise finds no fault with the thing▪ but with the manner of the Reformation, which the Calvinists made in this particular of the Altar: That they did it Securibus et bipennibus, with Axes and Hammers, and not with the power of the Magistrate, instructed thereunto by the ecclesiasticall Synod. So Iacobus Colloq. Mo [...] pelg. Andreas gives Beza thankes, that however he maintained the matter, he did so clearly expresse his dislike of the manner of this Reformation, done (as Andreas saith) argumentis à [Page]Fustibus, rather with Arguments from Clubs and Staves, then with Syllogismes fetch'd from the Word of God. And thus this Reforming of Altars began in the Churches beyond the Seas: Of the which we may say, as the Romans did of Plutarch. in Vita Pompeii. Pompey the great, [...], that it was a faire and a happy daughter, though brought forth by an ugly and odious Mother.

2. And in the second place, I do conceive, that the Writer holds it a very easie matter to prove the same by way of Fact, to have been observed in all the taking down and setting up of Altars, practised here in England in these last Reformations. K. Edward himself complains of this kind of people, that did enterprise to runne before Proclam. before the Communion. authoritie; and declares how5o & 6o Ed. 6. c. 1. he with his uncle the Protector, and Counsell, divers times in the first and second yeare of his reigne, did assay to stay innovations or new Rites in this kinde, though not with that successe he wished. Howbeit (as it is there said) he did not punish them, but granted them a Parliament-pardon for these disorderly attempts; because his Highnesse took it, that they did it of a good zeal. Where you have a clear exposition of those words we spake of even now, good and godly Consideration. And Q. Mary her self, as forward as she was to set them up again, yet could she not make such hast of her deformation in this kind, but she was prevented by the superstition of herCooper in his Chronicle. Zelotes, who no doubt had likewise their Considerations. The same may be said of Q. Elizabeth: That before her Injunctions could get forth,Q. Elis. in her last Injunct. In many and [Page]sundry places of the Realm, the Altars of the Churches were removed: And much strife and contention did arise amongst her subjects about the removing of the Steps of the foresaid Altar. And all out of private Considerations. This irregular forwardness [...] of the people the Writer of the Letter doth touch indeed, (though but in a word) but doth no more approve of, then I do of your stickling in this sort for Table-Altars in the Church, upon pretence of the Pietie of the Times (another Consideration up and down) and running before the Declaration of your Prince and the Chief Governours of the Church in this your fancy and imagination. This answers another Hubbub the Doctour makes, pag. 28. that the Altars stood longer, then for two years, in K. Edwards time. They stood three or foure yeares before the Kings Declaration, but not one complete yeare, before this godly Consideration had taken them to task. And this Declaration is therefore in the Letter call'd a kind of Law, because it was neither Act of Parliament, nor a meere Act of Counsell, but an Act of the King sitting in Counsell; which (if not in all things else) without all question, in all matters ecclesiasticall, is a kind of Law. And if it be more then a kind of Law, the more it is for the advantage of the Writer, and the more impudent is this Companion, that in all this Section, from the beginning to the end thereof, hath set himself to thwart and oppose it.

His fifth Extravagancie, is to impose upon the pag. 37. Writer of the Letter, that he should averre the name of Altar to be onely used in the Liturgie of 1549. [Page] Whereas the Letter saith no more, but that it is passim, every-where there used without scrupulosity. And whereas he taxeth the Writer for want of leisure to finde the word Boord once, and the word Table once, in that Liturgie▪ I perceive plainly, that he is more busie a great deal, then the Writer, who peradventure came not so late from his Horn-book as this Doctour did, to minde the joyning together of Letters and Syllables. For though upon perusall in cold bloud, he can finde the word Boord but once, and the word Table but once, in all that Liturgie; (And he must cry, [...], in Print, to all England, to come out and see this sublime curiosity) yet will I undertake to shew unto him the word Boord twice, and the word Table six times used in that Liturgie, if he will but promise to shew unto me, how he, or I, or the Writer of the Letter, or the Reader of this scribble, may be six pinnes the better for this doughtie observation.

His sixth Extravagancy goeth a little beyond his companions, and lacks but a grain of a Capricheo; That the Writer of the Letter deserves first to be burnt as an Heretick to the Church, and then (at the same instant) to be drown'd as a Tra [...]or to the State, for using in a Kingdom these desperate expressions of Children of this Church and Common-wealth. Here is fine Doctrine indeed, That all Children of this Church, must be [...]tra partem Donati, down-right Puritans: And all that mention here any Common-wealth, [Page] (even Sir Thomas Smith, that writ of Englands Common-wealth) must be an Enemy to the Kingdome. I never heard of a Church without Children, unlesse it be one of a Sebaptist in Amsterdam, who having baptized himself to a faith of his own making, could never be seconded in that Religion. And I never heard of a Kingdom without a Common-wealth, unlesse it be likewise on little Robert Gaguin. Histor l. 2▪ in Clotario. And Belleforest after him▪ [...]he S [...]ory doubted of by President Fauchet, (who thinks there was no such Roitelet, as he called him) and disputed against by Pasquier des Re [...]her. l. 3. c. 7. Yvitot in Normandy, which, they say, is but the Countrey-house of an ancient Gentleman. I had heard heretofore, that the Church was the best Mother, as bearing Children unto God; and the Kingdom the best of Common-weales, to nourish and preserve this Church and her Children. But now, all the Children of this Church must be printed the Brethren of dispersion: And the well-wishers of the Common-wealth must be Enemies to Monarchie and Friends to confusion. And this blinking Doctour can see this with half an eye. I would fain have him open the other half, and tell me what he sees inEpist. 40. Ierusalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all. Gal. 4. De qua praedicatur, quòd in toto mundo fructificet & cre [...]cat. Aug. tom. 7. contra Crescon. Grammat. l. 4. p. 212. S. Cyprian; when he lessons him about this fine Doctrine; Nemo filios Ecclesiae de Ecclesia tollat, Let no▪ man presume to take the Children of the Church, and thrust them into the part of Donatus: As also what he can see inHaec est Eva mater omnium Viventium. l. 2. In Luc. c. 3. Tom. 5. p. 32. S. Ambrose, Mater nostra Ecclesia est. Hieron. tom. 4. in Ezek. l. 5. in c. 16. p. 821. S. Hierom, Quales debent ess [...] Ecclesiae filii? quales? pacifici. Aug. tom. 8. in Psal. 127. S. Augustine, andEcclesiae pueri vocantur, qui coelestibus mandatis inserviunt. Tom. 1. in Iob. 29. p. 466. S. Gregory, who call all Christians, the Children of the Church: What in so many5o Elis c. 2. &c. 4. 39o Elis. c. 12. 1o Iac. c. 22. 3o Iac. c. 12. 21o Iacob. c. 9, 10, 17, 18. Acts of Parliaments, in so manySee K. Iames his works p. 485▪ 528, 544, 545, 546. And most of these Expressions to his people in Parliament. Speaches [Page] of K. James in Parliament, that mention without scruple the Common-wealth of this Kingdom. Shall the Fathers learn Criticismes to speak of the Church; and K. James, expressions to speak of Kingdoms, from this rayling Philistine? For the Writer of the Letter one half is too much; a quarter of an eye will serve the turn, to see what he means, and to see what he means not, by the one and the other. The Children of this Church, be those (in his stile) that will give eare to the voice and Canons of this Church: The Children of this Common-wealth, are such as obey the wholesome Laws and Reiglement of this State and Kingdom. But base Sycophants, that slight the Canons of their Bishops, and undertake to refute the Reiglement of their Princes, (though they hope by flattery to prey upon either) are (as the Writer thinks) no true Children of the one or the other. As this man by his allusion to Donatus the African, shews clearly what he would be, if he were to chuse: Donatus potiùs quàm Natus, No obedient Child, but a domineering Father in Gods Church. Howbeit the man (give him his due) is not infinite in his Ambition, nor so malitious, as he seems, against the Puritanes. For whereas S. Paul in his first to Timothy, reckons up a long Catalogue of Graces, to be blamelesse, vigilant, sober, modest, learned, hospitall, and I know not what; the man is content, the Puritanes take all these for themselves, and the glorious Titles of Children of the Church and Servants of the Common-wealth, so as they leave him but the first in [Page] that Chapter, a desire to be a Bishop. Which great pitie it were so Iudicious a Divine should not enjoy as long as he lives.

His seventh Extravagancy is this, To conceive that none was ever scandalized at the name of the Lords Table:p. 43. And to charge the Writer for making this Supposition to perswade the people, that questionlesse such men there are. Surely there are of that kind but too many in the world: Some, that (because it stands not Altar-wise) call it a Rhemists, 1. Cor. 11. profane Table; some, anp. 21. Oister-boord; some, an Oister-table; and this Vicar himself (if the Neighbours charg'd him rightly) aChapt. 1. Treste. Nay, this Iudicious Divine implies very strongly, that the name and fashion of an Altar is more agreeable to the Pietie of the times, and the Good work in hand: Which could I believe to be true, I would my self be asham'd to be such an Enemy to Piety and good works, as to give it any other Appellation, then that of an Altar. Beside that, there goeth from hand to hand, a pocket-Determination, as said or read in one of our Vniversities, to prove the lawfulnesse of bowing before the Altar. The Altar, I say, not the Table, by any means. For in this short Discourse (which held me but one half-houre to read over) this word Altar is thundred out one hundred and five severall times, and the holy Table scarce once named (in the mans own expression) in the whole Treatise. And whether the Authour may not be suspected to be asham'd of the name of a Table, I will leave you to guesse by this which followeth.

[Page] He saith, the Rubricks of all the Greek Liturgies, and more especially of those of S. Basil, and S. Chrysostom, (the rest in truth, having in a manner no Rubricks at all, do require [...] fieri [...], vel [...], that Courtesies or Adorations be made before the Altar or the holy Table. At which Quotation, you would swear the word Altar were to be found in these Rubricks up and down, but the word Table scarce at all used, but brought in by this Protestant Doctour, to comply with our own Liturgie. Whereas, the clean contrary way, these [...] are there required to be made (and decently, as I think) before the holy Table; but no mention at all in any of those Rubricks, of [...], or the Altar, in any good or Authenticall Neither in those in Biblioth Vet. Patr. tom. 2. Parsiis, 1624. Nor in those set out at Paris by Morelius, 1560. Copy. There is indeed a lame and imperfect Liturgie of S. Chrysostom, set out byParisiis, 1537. Erasmus, one Rubrick whereof doth say, that the Priest, and the Deacon, do make [...], three Reverences towards the holy Altar. But, beside that the complete Copies have no such Rubrick in them, Erasmus translatesMissa Chrysost. Graecolat. pag, [...] per Wechelium, 1537. [...] in that place, sanctum sacrarium, the holy Chancell, not the holy Altar. True it is, that the Papists (whom the Doctour doth not a little imitate) do in all these Liturgies familiarly translate [...] ▪ The holy Altar, in stead of The holy Table. Whereas [...] doth ever signifie a Table; but [...] doth not ever signifie an Altar. For in that place of Socrates, lib. 1. c. 25. (in the Latin; but c. 37. in theSet forth at Paris by Robert Stephen▪ 1544. Greek) cited in the same Determination, it is not well translated [Page] by Musculus (whom the Doctour followeth) Alexander going into the Altar, did fall down on his face before the holy Table. For it ought to be, Alexander going into the Quire or Chancell, did fall down, &c. For [...]. Eustath. in 1. Iliad. p. 39. [...] doth signifie a motion to such a place, as the mover may be at the last [...], within that place. But Alexander could not be within the Altar, but very properly within the Quire or Chancell, [...], Altarium, Sacrarium. It signifies a Chancell aswell as an Altar, saith the oldFound annexed to some manuscripts of Cyrill, and set forth by Henry Stephen, 1583. Glossary. And so Erasmus doth often translate the Word, as I noted before. But this Humiliation before the holy Table, had never prevail'd against Arius, as this Determinatour thinks, unlesse by hook or by crook, it had been eak'd out to an Adoration before the Altar.

However, that this private Letter, written to be perused, and to die in the hands of Divines onely (and not so much as once read to the Alderman of Grantham) should be endicted to humour or perswade the People, is a Calf already, and may in time prove a more bellowing creature, if venom and malice do not metamorphize the same to that deformed reptile that walks upon the Belly. But the true Adversary this passage in the Letter reacheth at, is the Church of Rome; which, upon the Reformation of her Masse by Pius Quintus, directed by the Councell of Trent, hath quite left out of her Canon, this very name of the holy Table, against the practice of all Antiquity, and the precedent of the Liturgies of all Ages and Nations that ever I could set eye upon. [Page] And I shall crave the patience of the Reader, if I enlarge my self a little in this particular; because it may conduce (peradventure) to enlighten all the Corners of this little Controversie.

S. Luke is stil'd by S. Paul (as you know) the 2 Cor. 8. 18. man whose praise is in the Gospell. And (as some of the Greek Fathers are of opinion) the Gospell of S. Luke dictated by S. Paul, is call'd in one place, Rom. 2. 16. S. Pauls own Gospell. There being such a harmony of expressions between the one and the other. Now look what S. Luke calls that Vtensill upon the which the Rich man did eat his meat, in theLuke 16. 21. 16th, he calls the same, which our Saviour did celebrate the Supper upon, in theLuke 22. 21. 22th Chapter of his Gospell: and that is, [...], which the Grammarians derive ofEtym. M [...]g. [...] a foure-footed Table. S. Paul likewise speaking of set purpose and in a continued discourse, (Neither of both, as I desire you to observe well, S. Paul doth in the Epistle to the Hebrews) doth call that Utensill, upon the which they in the Primitive Church did celebrate the Lords Supper, [...]. a foure-footed Table likewise. And in all the new Testament, there is no one place, which treating purposely and literally of the Sacrament, doth give the Vtensill it was celebrated upon, any other name or Appellation. The Syriack Translation calls it [...] in the 22th of Luke. Which is theArias Montan. in Lexico Syriaco. same with [...] a Table, the word in S. Mathews Hebrew Gospell set forth bySee Munsters Hebrew Gos [...]ell. of S. Matth. p. 244. Munster, derived of the Verb [...] to Messe or set on, from the Messes standing [Page] thereon, sayPag [...]in. some, or from the Mission and extension of the same, as being more extended in length then in breadth, asMercer. others conceive. And in the Syriack and Latine Testament printed in Rome with curious pictures, Christ and his Disciples are painted sitting upon such a long and foure-footed Table: As MounsieurIn his Answer a la Replique. Moulin observes to have seen them set forth in the Gallery of a French Cardinall.Libro 2. de Missa, c. 17. And Bellarmine is of Opinion, that the Apostles all their time called this Vtensill by no other name, especially not by the name of an Altar: The learned Bishop ofInstit. l. 6. c. 5. Duresme agreeing with the Cardinall in this Opinion, though not in the reason he gives of the same. Some while after the Apostles age (but how long that while may be, we have already handled) this Vtensill came to be call'd both a Table and an Altar: But with this difference: that (as Gregory In Fulks d [...] [...]ence c. 17. pag. 174 Martin tells us) the Greek Fathers call it more often Table; the Latine, more often Altar. But, as our learnedInstit. l. 6. c 5. Bishop conceives, it was more rarely call'd Altar, of Greeks and Latines, then Table. However, in S. Basil, and S. Chrysostoms Liturgies, it is in the Prayer before the Consecration, and in all the Rubricks, call'd a Table.

It is so in theSet forth in Syriack and Latine by Gui [...]o Fabricius, 1672. Syriack Liturgie of the Patriarch Severus, who useth the same word [...] which we spake of before. It is so in the Aethiopian Liturgie, call'dBibliotheca Patr. Tom. 6. p. 79. Miraculosa Mensa, a miraculous Table. The word is used byl. 5. de Sacram. c. 3. S. Ambrose, in his Books de Sacramentis. Nay it is [Page] used in the Romane Pontificall, in the veryPontif Greg. 13. 1582. pag. 145. Pontif. [...]ii 4t• ▪ 1561. p. 136. Adesto, Domine, dedicationi hujus mensae tuae. Prayer of consecrating the Altar. But upon the Reformation, the words began to be examined and more narrowly look't unto by both parties. The Protestants, because they make it a Communion or a Supper, and no Sacrifice, therefore they call it Table onely, and abhorre from the word Altar, as Papisticall, saithIn Fulk's Defence, c. 17. pag. 174. Gregory Martin; And very truly, for those times he wrote in. For D. Fulk, when he comes to answer that passage, doth no way flinch, but clearly confesse that it was so here in England. Ibidem. With us indeed it is, as it is call'd in Scripture, onely a Table. And this Book was dedicated to Q. Elisabeth. And what did the Papists on the other side? Although in their writings they give us smooth words, as this our Doctour doth, That they do with the Fathers approve equally of the one and the other appellation; yet when they come to reform their Canon of the Masse, they never use in Rubrick or Prayer, neither literally, nor so much as by Allusion, this word Table. Let any indifferent Reader therefore judge, if the Writer of the Letter had not then some cause, and my self now much more, to wish that the Lords Table may not be conceived to be a new name, and that the Good work in hand may not make the unlearned sort of men ashamed of it.

His eighth Extravagancy is this; That having conferr'd with the Joyner, which wrought the Table upon the which our Saviour Christ celebrated the Supper, he hath found it to be of a more [Page] curious composition, then we took it for, to wit, of anPag. 44. Ovall form. Which surely is some addle Egge, hatch't by the winde of his own imagination. Nor doth he offer to cite any Authour for it.Nonnus in 13. Joan. and a little before, [...]. Nonnus doth seem to call it indeed a Circle; ‘ [...].’

But that is in regard of the Apostles filling of the Table, and sitting (as those Olive-branches in the Psalme)Psal. 127. 3. round about the Table. And so is the Verse to be understood, whichIn summa de Eccles. Turrecremata calls the Verse of the ancient Divines, and Vnde & quidam metricè dixerunt. 3. parte, q. 81. art. 2. ad 1m Thomas Aquinas, the Meetre-verse.

Rex sedet in coena turbâ cinctus duodenâ,

Se tenet in manibus, se cibat ipse cibus.

That is,

The twelve Apostles in a Ring

Sate at the Table with their King:

Who in his hands himself did bring,

The Food and Feeder being one thing.

And there was amongst the ancient Iewes a round and circular kinde of sitting at meat, call'd in Salomons Cantic. 1. 12. Canticum Canticorum [...] having Oecos rotundos, Sphericall Rooms, with banquetting-beds suitable to the place, as that greatCasaub. Exercit. 16. p. 494. Critick doth describe them. But this Ovall form is the Doctours own Invention, and he might challenge, if not a Triumph, yet an Ovation for the same, could it be handsomely accommodated to those Benches, Stools, Chairs, and other Furniture he hath bespoken for his Table. For he saith, it was compassed round [Page] about with Beds; which how it could be about anPag. 44. Ovall Table that held thirteen (or more, as See Suarez in 3m, q. 81. some are of opinion) but that those of either end must make long arms to reach at their meat, and especially to take the bread from our Saviours hand, can never be clear'd without another bout in Geometry, and as long a wrangling about Sphericall, as we have had already about A [...]gular figures. For let these Feasting-couches be three, asJoseph Scaliger de emendatione temporum, l. 6. p. 271. Scaliger, or foure, asExercit. 16. p. 494. Casaubon will have it, yet will it pose 24 of the nearest Gentlemen Ushers about the Court, to fit them so about an Ovall Table of this Diameter, but that some of the Ghests must suffer a kinde of strappado in their arms, when they reach at their Victualls.

The last Extravagancy (of morePag. 10. 42. 48. 58. vagancy then any of the rest, as wandring like a Gypsy up and down his Pamphlet from one end thereof unto the other) is this, That he chargeth all this Letter (written to Clergie-men, and them onely) to be composed populo ut placeret, to please the people. And I must confesse, it is a heavie case, as you lay it. A phantasticall Vicar may not call his Communion-table, an Altar, as the Papists do, nor change it to an Altar of Stone, without the leave of his Superiour, but his Ordinary, or this fellow that looks like a Ordinary, must check him for his devotion, and all to curry favour with the multitude or people. Nay the Vicar, though (after that fashion of the ancient Kings ofXenoph [...]n in Cyrop [...]d. Persia) he hath eares planted in every corner of his [Page] Church, may not by this domineering fellow be suffered to determine, who can heare him, and who not, rather then the deaf Adder of the Parish, the common People. Lastly, this Vicar, being no dull Spectatour or contemplative piece, but è meliore luto, a right blade, and of the Active Mold, cannot thwack these Russet-coats as they well deserve, but he must be most basely used, and exhorted to Peace and Charity by this supposed Ordinary, out of a trick to please the people. O Literam illiteratissimam! O Letter fit to make litter of, for offering in this sort to pull down the Steeple, and winde up the People! There is a kinde of Venome that makes a man laugh; and of this operation is this part of the Libell. Diogenes would fain triumph upon the ambition of Plato, but doth it with a far more swelling ambition. The ambition of this Text had never been blown up with the blast of the People, had it not been for the pride and ambition of the Commentator. It is a certain judicious Divine had an itching desire to be in print, and to build a new house upon old ruines, carrying this poore Letter but like a Pageant of conquered Countreys, to set forth and adorn his Triumphall Chariot: but for whose (no small) indiscretion, I might have said of this Letter (destinied to the perusall of a few Church-men of the Neighbourhood onely) as Aristotle once said, either of his Physicks asAulus Gellius noct. Attic. l. 20. c. 5. A. Gellius) or Metaphysicks (asPlutarch. in vita Alexandri. Plutarch conceives it) that it was [...], that it was published and unpublished, before the Edition of [Page] this rayling Pamphlet. However the man (we conceive to be aim'd at in this malitious passage) hath better reason, then D. Coal, to know, Tacit. Annal. lib. 2. quàm breves & infausti populi Romani amores, how brickle and unlucky a repose it hath been in all Ages of the world, for a man to stay himself upon the unconstant multitude. And yet if he were a Diocesan (as you seem to make him) he were as very a mad one as ever scap'd Bethlem, if he should give way to such a slight and undiscreet Church-man, by odde humours and conceipts of his own to scandalize the people committed unto him.

At non ille, satum quote mentiris, Achilles

Talis erat populo.—

The first Protestants of the Reformation (whom you falsely pretend to imitate) had a better opinion of the Common people. We have prov'd already, and that at large, that the first inducement of K. Edward and his most able Counsell, to remove your Altars, and place holy Tables, was to root up superstition in the mindes of these (by you so much despised) Common people. And if you be (I will not say a Iudicious, but) any Divine at all, how dare your Mothers Sonne in such a State as this, in such a Church as this, and under such a Prince so beloved as this, speak so contemptibly of these so many provisionary Saints of God, so many Nerves and Sinews of the State, so many Arms of the Ki [...]g to defend his Friends and offend his Enemies, as are these, whom (for want of wit) you jeeringly call the poore people? This is a [Page] kinde of Lion, which (the more is the pity) often offends, but is not, for all that, to be lash't by every mans whip, but by the rod of the Prince his accustomed Governour. If you have obtained a Cure of Souls over any people, you are a poore Soul your self, if you conceive them therefore to be your own. I tell you, they are none of yours; they are the Kings, they are Gods people. If you feed them, they feed you, by those settled means which God and the King have provided for you. And being of so proud & ignorant a spirit, as all your Pamphlet speaks you, for fear you should despise any admonition of mine, I will lesson you in this point, in the words of a Nationall Councell. Concil. Sirmondi, tom. 2. Concil. Paris. 6. c. 23. sub Ludovico [...]io Imperatore, Anno 829. Nec sibi dominatum superbus usurpare contendat. Fulgent. de veritat. Praed. & Gratiae. l. 2. Debet Pontifex habere Paternam severitatem, & Maternam pietatem, Lombard. in Tit. 1. ex Ambros. Because there are but too too many that carry no Fatherly affection, but a domineering spirit, towards the Flock committed to their Charge, and like bladders blown up with the winde of Arrogancy, conceive their people to be owned by them, and not by Christ; we would have them listen to their Saviour in the 21 of John, IF YOU LOVE ME, FEED MY FLOCK, MEAS, inquit, non SUAS; Mine, good Sir, not your Flock. And therefore it is more then a presumptuous vanity to slight your Neighbours, as if they were your own; when they are none of yours, but Gods people.

I will conclude this point with the observation of a Heathen man;Valer. Max. An vos consulere scitis, Consulem f [...] cere nescitis? Caius Figulus. Dictum graviter & meritò, sed tamen aliquanto melius non dictum: Nam quis Populo Romano irasci sapienter potest? l. 9. c. 3. Irasci populo Romano nemo sapienter potest. You may (when Fortune is dispos'd to make some Christmas-sports) prove a great, but you shall never prove a wise or judicious man, by these Ieeres and Invectives against the People.

CHAP. VII.

[Page]

Canonicall standing of the Table. [...], In medio, what they signifie. Table in the midst of the Quire, in the Easterne, so in the Westerne Churches. The Rites of the Church of Antiochia. The Diptychs.

IN all this Section of thePag. 48. Fixing of the Altar, or Communion-table at the upper end of the Quire, (where you see the Altar is perkt up already before the Communion-table in this new Heraldry) there is nothing offered more then what hath been already handled, worth the Readers perusall, were it not that Reverend B. Iewell may not be left undefended from the irreverent usage and slights of this whiffler. To the writer of the Letter he hath nothing to say, unlesse he can make him say what he never imagined; Pag. 49. that the Table should stand most Canonically in the body of the Church. No such matter in all the Letter. It is there only affirmed, that the Canons allow it not to be fixed to the End of [Page] the Quire (where the Writer, be he Canonist or none at all, would haveLetter 51. it situated, when it is not used, and used too, when the Minister may be heard of all the Congregation,) but to be made of a moveable nature, to meet with those Cases in the Law, in the which, without this transposing thereof upon occasions, the Minister (were he that Stentor with the sides of brasse, ‘Homer. 11. 5. [...],’ That is,

Who equall'd with his voyce

Full fifty men in noise)

could never be heard of his Congregation. And happy was reverend Iewell in this point of Controversy: for he had to do with a learned and Ingenuous Adversary,Dr Harding in B. Jewell, 3. Artic. 1. p. 45. who confest he never mean [...]t the people should understand any more of what was said at the Altar, then what they could guesse at by dumb shews and outward Ceremonies. This is fair dealing yet; and gives us opportunity to ask him again, Why then do S.S. Jacobi Liturg. [...], &c. Bibl. vet. Patr. tom. 2. p. 21. Iames, and S.S. Marci Liturg. [...], &c. Ibid. p. 40. Mark, in their severall Liturgies, give the people so large a part in all the Prayers and Letanies poured out at the very Altar? But these new Reformers, though they prepare and lay grounds for the same, dare not (for fear of so many Laws and Canons) apparently professe this Eleusinian Doctrine. They are as yet busied in taking in the out-works, and that being done, they may in time have a bout with the Fort it self.

But he tells us,p. 10. that the 82 Canon, that saith the Table shall be placed in the Church or Chancell, so as the Minister may more conveniently be heard by the Communicants,[Page]is a matter of Permission, rather then Command. He saith so indeed, but without any authority or reason. I hope the reverend house of Convocation is not convened, or licensed by the King, to make Permissions, that men may do what they list; but to make (when they are confirmed by the25o H. 8. c. 19. King) strong and binding Canons, to be obeyed by the Subjects, and to be pursued by all the Ordinaries of the Kingdome. And so is this Canon a Conditionall Law, of the same nature with a Conditionall Proposition, growing to be of an absolute and Categoricall force, when the Condition begins to exist, though before suspended, and in deliberation. As if the Table be so far esloigned and removed from the people, that they cannot possibly heare their Minister, when he officiates thereupon; the Ordinaries in this case, are not permitted, as this man conceiveth, but absolutely required to transpose the Table. And his Majesties most prudent Determination, in the case of S. Gregories, makes the Ordinaries indeed Iudges of the Fact, and the existence of the Condition, as was most fitting: but that once agreed upon, it makes them by no means Arbitratours of the Law; which if they do not literally follow and pursue, the parties are left to their ordinary Appeals, as in other cases of grievances and abuses. For in all other sentences Ecclesiasticall, the Iudges are not to pursue their own sense, but the sense and meaning of the Canons.

Pag. 51. Yea, but the Altars may soon be mounted up by steps, that the Minister may be seen and heard of the Congregation. [Page] I cannot tell you that neither, without new directions. For theSee Ord. 10. Octob. 1561. pag. 2. Orders made 1561 require plainly, that if in any Chancell the steps be transposed, they be not erected again. And these were high Commissioners grounded upon the 1o Elis. c. 1. Act of Parliament, who set forth these Orders. Which how far they binde, I dare not determine, being (as you say) none of the ablest Canonists in the Church of England.

ButPag. 49. he must first shew us where it was determined by the Ordinary of the place, that Morning and Evening prayer shall be said onely in the body of the Church, before he venture on such new and strange Conclusions. And for the Rubrick, it saith onely, that it shall be so placed in Communion-time. And just so saith thePag. 76. Letter, and no otherwise; In the body of the Church or of the Chancell, where Morning and Evening prayer be appointed to be read, when the Communion is to be celebrated. So that you see our Coal begins to be quite extinct, and to yeeld nothing but vapour and smoke for a parting farewell. For considering that both Provinces (God be praised) have been so lately visited, what needs the Writer saddle up his Horse, and visit them over again, to know where the severall Ordinaries have appointed the Reading-pews in every Parish-Church to be erected? Erected they must be in some convenient place, or else the Canon. 82. not without an ancient precedent. Nehem. 8. And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a Pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And the Deacon reades the [...], in S. Chrys. Liturgie. Canon is not pursued. Wheresoever that Convenient place is in Church or Chancell, thither, in this case of the Peoples not-hearing their Minister, the Communion-table is to be transposed: [Page] [...]. But he tells usPag. 20. our Countrey-churches for the most part are so little, that this provision is superfluous. What pity is this! that asOre enim blasphemo dicebat palàm, si à principio creationis humanae Dei consilio interfuisset, nonnulla meliùs, ordinatiúsque condita fuisse. Roderic. Santii Hist. Hisp. p. 4. c. 5. exantiquis Annalib. Alfonso the wise (in other matters, in this no wiser then our Doctour) bemoan'd himself very much, that he was not at Gods elbow to put him in mind of some things, when he was at work in the Creation of the World; so that this Iudicious Divine had not been at the elbow of that unexperienced Prelate Archbishop Bancroft (whose very dreams were wiser then his Morning-thoughts) and the rest of his Brethren, when they were in hand with that superfluous work of the 141 Canons! Why man, ‘—P. Heylin, 461. Ecclesia, Foemina, Lana.’ What Countrey of Europe can yeeld you fair, if England affords but small Churches?

And having shot his childish shaft, ‘—Aeneid. 2. telúmque imbelle sine ictu,’ at the Writer of the Letter, he falls once more (as Kestrels love to feed on dead things) to rake into the ashes of Reverend Iewell. The Vicar (suppos'd to have but a small Study of Books) was desired for his satisfaction, That Communion-tables have heretofore stood in the midst of Chancells and Churches, toLett. p. 77. reade some places out of Eusebius, S. Augustine, Durandus, and the fifth Councell of Constantinople, in a Book chayn'd in his Church, to wit, B. Iewell against Harding. To the which, the Doctour sitting in his Chair (that may prove Episcopall one day) and making triall how the style and language would now become [Page] him, he speaks, or rather pronounceth in this maner, Pag. 53. And read him though we have, yet we are not satisfied. And this is somewhat a strange Case. Three great Princes successively, the one after the other, and foure Archbishops of very eminent parts, have been so satisfied with the truth and learning of this Book, that they have impos'd it to be chain'd up, and read in all Parish-Churches throughout England and Wales; and yet careth Act 18. 17. Gallio for none of these things: For we Don Nosotros are not satisfied. And why, good Gravity, are not you satisfied? Because Eusebius speaking of the Church at Tyre, hath it in the Greek, [...], which is not (as3. Article, p 145. Bishop Iewell interprets) in the midst of the Church among the people, but Pag. 53. in the middle of the Chancell, in reference to North and South. And well sayd Doctour; I had thought Eusebius (or rather the Paneg [...]rist in Eusebius) had been describing in that place a brave Chancell set all about with Seats and other Ornaments, and that he had placed the Altar in the very midst of that Chancell. But I see I am mistaken, and so isArtic. 3. p. 145. B. Iewell, Instit. l. 6. c. 5. p. 462. B. Morton, In 1 Cor. 11. p. 528. D. Fulk, De Orig. Altar c. 6. p. 35. Hospinian, De Miss. l. 2. c. 1. p. 177. Mornay, andResp. a la Repliq. Controv. 12. Monsieur Moulin, as well as I. For the Panegyrist it seems is there painting a Sea-card of the Winds, or the foure points of Heaven; & having set down the North, and the South, he placeth in the middle of these two the aforesaid Altar. But the Doctour in this Conceipt, is (as Sr Philip Sidney calls it) Heavenly wide, as wide from the true sense, as the North of the Heaven is from the South. For if this [Page] Altar stood along the Eastern Wall, and because fixed in the Middle of that Wall, is sayd to be in the midst of the Chancell, a Grecian would not call such a posture, [...], or understand what you meant when you sayd so; but, [...], asElem. l. 1. propos. 32. Euclide himself terms it, over-aneanst the middle of the wall; as the Septuagint describe the situation of the Altar of Incense (which is your own instance in the next line) to beExod. 30. 5. [...], over-aneanst the veil of the Temple. Nor is it conceivable how this Altar should be in the middle between North and South, rather then in the middle between East and West; All substantiall bodies here on Earth being equally measureable by those foure postures of the Heavens, as theAristot. de coelo, & mundo, l. 1. Philosopher tells us.

But (like a child in a sandy bank) look what fine structure the Doctour had here built up with one hand, he straight-way in the very next words of all, pulls down with the other.Pag. 54. For now the Altar might possibly be plac't in the Middle of the Church, in imitation of the Iews, with whom this people were mingled. Well, this Doctour is full of Miracles in his writings. I had read of anPiccol. De Stellis fi [...]is, Cùm victoriam ob [...]nuissent Di [...], Aram inter sidera colloc [...]runt, p. 50. Altar heretofore, suddenly got up from Earth to Heaven; but of an Altar so soon toppled down from Heaven to Earth, I never read before this time. But he had as good let the Altar alone, where he had plac't it: For it shall not serve his turne. For Tyre though it was in Syria; Adrichom in Aser, [...]n descript. Tyri. pag. 10. c. 2. yet were the people thereof never mingled with the Iews, nor the Iews with them, untill their embracing of the Christian [Page]Faith, after the utter ruine and subversion of that Nation, saith Adrichomius. Nor was the Altar of Incense in the midst of the Temple, asPag. 54. he likewise unlearnedly relates.Josephus de bello Iudaico, l. 6. c. 6. For Herods Temple was sixty cubits long; twenty within, and fourty without the Veil: And this Altar was close unto the Veil; asIn Exod. 30. 5. Tostatus andDe Templo, l. 2. c. 8. Ribera do fasten it; and therefore farre from the midst of the Temple. But it stood indeed in another midst; in the midst between the Table on the North, and the Candlestick on the South thereof, saithLib. 3. De v [...]ta Mosis. Philo Iudaeus. Nor lastly is any thing observed truly (though the refuting thereof be altogether impertinent) which this man sets down in all this Section; unlesse it be, that the word Altar is named in Eusebius. It is not true, that the Gate or Entrance of this Church is said to be open to the East: nor is there any such thing in Eusebius. It is not [...], but [...] not a Gate, but a Portico, or a shady walk; nor is it of the Church, but [...], of the Cloister about the Church. To be short, there is (as I said even now) in this passage nothing related sincerely, but, that the word [...] is there indeed. But then it is as sincerely to be replied, that this Altar is by and by after interpreted to be a Metaphoricall Altar; [...], the Sanctification of a Christian Soul; as we heardCap. 4. before. And so much for Eusebius. The next he takes in hand, is the fifth Councell of Constantinople, Pag. 54. as it is there called (by poore B. Jewell that never saw it) being indeed the Councell sub Agapeto & Menna. And how should we [Page] have done, had we not known under whom this Councell was held? and any man would swear, that correcting B. Jewell so punctually, he should be now in the right. But the poore man is abused by some wag that fits him with these Exscriptions. Agapetus was dead before this Councell was held. And if he had but read any one Action, he could not but have found it out, Agapetus of blessed memory, &c. It was held by Menna the Patriarch, in the vacancy of the See of Rome, between Agapetus and Sylverius, as Binius, tom. 2. Concil. p. 4 [...]2. Binius, Praesidente Mennâ Patriarch [...], p. 164. Caranza, andBreviar. Chronol p. 166. tempore in terregni. & summ. Concil. p. 454. Coriolanus do state it. Well, in this Councell he findes, that [...], cannot be properly interpreted (as B. Jewell would have it) round about the Altar, but before the Altar: as the Noblemen standing before the King, may be said to be about the King; and the Angels in the Revelation, round about the Throne. I had thought the Throne in Heaven had been safe enough, and had needed no wall to rest upon; and that the Angels might be as conveniently conceived to compasse it about (as all Interpreters expound the place) as to cast themselves into a half-Moon in this sort, before the presence of Almighty God. But what Authours hath he for this new conceipt, to weigh down these great Names that expound it otherwise, asArtic. 3. p. 143. Bishop Jewell, De Missa, l. 2. c. 1. Mornay, Lib. De Orig. Altar. c. 6. Hospinian, and others? None, but the learned judicious Divine his own self. Then I must tell him, that S.Bibl. ve [...]. Patr. tom. 2. p. 45. See likewise Dionysius, Athanas. and Chrys. cited by the B. of Duresme, to the phrase of [...]and [...]. Instit. l. 6. c. 5. Basil in his Liturg [...]e doth otherwise interpret those postures in Heaven; [...], The [Page]Seraphims stand round about thee, in orbem, in a ring, or perfect Circle, as Gentian Hervet doth there expound it.

And for the passage in the Councell, [...], I will be bold to say, that it cannot possibly be thus interpreted in Greek or Latine, if we examine but the phrase it self. For the Greek; See Budaeus Comm. p. 1494. & 1495. Budaeus handles of purpose all the [...] and compassings in this kinde, that are to be found in any good Authour, and hath not one acception of the word for an imperfect compassing about. The GreekEustath. in ultim. Iliad. pag. 1462. Scholiast upon Homer will have that onely to be termed Circular [...], which hath in it no Corner at all, as your eye will let you see all your half-Moons have. AndIn Verbo [...]. Hesychius, an excellent Grammarian, doth tell us, that in Geometry, a Circle is a kinde of Circumference caried about with one line: which cannot be said of men standing in a half-Circle before the front of a Throne, or the face of a King, according to this English Phraser. And then if we come to the Latine, Tully himself doth end the Controversie, putting both the words with their differences before our eyes.Cicero l. 1. De sinibus. Circulos aut semicirculos consectari. Intimating by the former, saithComment. L. Gr. p. 1494. Budaeus, a Company of men in orbem collectorum, gathered into a perfect round; by the later, a concourse of people before one man, as it might be before a publick Reader in Philosophy. Where you finde a cleare distinction between a Circle and half-Circle. I will conclude this Grammaticall [Page] Question, with Eustathius his note upon Pandarus his Bow; whereIl [...]ad. 4. Which Nazianzen imitates in his description of the devill. [...]. Naz Carm. 54. Homer saith, - [...], That he drew his Bow into a perfect Circle. Whereupon Eustathius observes, that the Bow of it selfe cannot be said to be [...], a Circle, but [...] or [...], a bowed or crooked thing, untill the Armes of the Archer draw it with such a strength, that both the ends meeting in one, do fashion the Bow to a perfect Circle. And so the people flocking about the Altar in this Councell, did not resemble a bended onely (which Homer would have exprest by [...]or [...]) but a full-drawn Bow, (which Homer will have to be [...]) and therefore are said to stand about the Altar [...], in a perfect Circle.

But to leave the Grammar, and come unto the Businesse. There is nothing more cleare in Antiquity, then, that not onely this Altar in Constantinople, but all the Altars and Communion-tables in all the Eastern Churches were so situated and disposed, as they might be compassed round about by the Priests and Deacons. In the [...], or Chancell, there be two Altars, whereof the greater stands in the midst of that Room, and the l [...]sser close by, at the left side of the greater, Ad lectorem, in the [...] of the Greek Liturg. 1560. p. 115. saith Gentian Hervet. There be in those Churches two Altars: the greater is in the midst, and called the holy Table; the lesser is called the Prothesis or Table of Proposition, saith theBiblioth. vet. Patrum tom. 2. in Annot. Setter forth of the Greek and Latine Liturgies. In the Greek Temples there is but one high Altar, and that placed in the middle of the Quire, saith [Page] In his Edition of the Greek Liturg. at Paris, 1560. Claudius Saintes. [...]. I will compasse about thine Altar, saith the Priest, in S.Pag. 12. as it is set forth in G. L. by S. Andr. Peters Liturgie. Be not ashamed, O Lord, of any of us that compasse thy holy Altar, saith S. Basil in his Liturgy. The Deacon takes the Censer and fumes the holy Table [...], i. e. circumcirca, saith Hervetus, round about, in S. Chrysostomes Liturgy. Biblioth. Vet. Patr. tom. 2 p. 64. And in another place of the same Liturgy, the Deacon perfumes the holy Table Ibid. p 40. [...], in all the circuit and compasse thereof. Lastly,Constit altera habita ad Thatalaeum. Synesius saith, that he will [...], compasse about the Altar of God, in one of his Epistles. Where you may observe, that these three last, together with the Priest in S. Peters Liturgie, are but single men, and cannot possibly be expounded to go about the Altar, in the Doctours absurd Interpretation. For standing in the face of the holy Table, as Noble-men do before a King, is not for one man to compasse about, or for one man to incense about the holy Table.

Having made sport in the Greek with the Councell of Constantinople, he doth as much in the Latin with S. Augustine. The like mistake there is, if it be lawfull so to say (as no doubt it is lawfull for such as you are to say any thing; ‘Virgil. Aeneid. 1. Haec ara tuebitur omnes:’ having, if any man should call you in Question, an Altar, as the Poet saith, to fly unto) A mistake there is, saith [...]ag 55. he, in the words of S. Austin. For that which hath been alledged from him, being the 46 Sermon, not the 42, (Another correction of Magnificat; theTheolog Lovan. in Oper. S. Augustin. Tom. 10. Sermon being the 46 in the late, but the 42 in Bedes Numeration, which Bishop [Page] Iewell followed) Mensa ipsius est illa in medio constituta, clearly, and without ambiguities, is not to be interpreted, as it is translated (by B.Artic. 3. p. 145. Iewell, and B.Instit. l. 6. c. 5 Morton, and applied in the same sense by De Missa, l. 2 c. 1. Mornay, De Orig. Altar. ubi su [...]râ. Hospinian, Cathol. Orthod. tom. 1. q. 29. p. 514. Rivet, and all our Divines,) the Table set here in the midst, but, the Table which is here before you. Now because he saith it appeares so clearly; I will appeal, not to those great Worthies I named even now, but to every School-boy, Whether l [...]terally and Grammatically, Medium doth not signifie the middle part or space; (being in truth a Geom [...]tricall word of proportion, as Aristotle notes in hisLib. 5. c. 7. Ethicks and whether, when it signifieth a thing set before us, it be not every where taken for a Metaphor, and a figurative Phrase; when a Reason or any other thing, Haec non sunt quaesita ex occulto aliquo genere literarum, sed sumpta de medio. Cic. Orat pro domo sua. In medio posita, Things obvious to every o [...]e. Idem, lib. 1. de Oratore. not so obvious before, is newly produced, and so presented unto us; as if a massy substance should be so layd in the midst between us, that (unlesse we close our eyes) we cannot but behold it. The Greek (from whence the Latine word, asDe Causis Linguae Latinae. Scaliger observes, is derived) is therefore call'd [...], because it dothEtym. magn. or, [...]. Phavorin. [...], take out an even share or proportion from either extreme; which every thing doth not do that is only set before us. And (because these conceipts are fitter a great deale to be refuted by School-boyes then Divines) observe I pray you, that the Latine word for a Table was not always Mensa, but at the first Mesa, from the Greek word [...], saithMesa quod à nobis media, à Graecis [...], mensa dicit potest. De Lingua Latina, l. 4. Varro; because this Vtensill, saith he, is ever plac'd in the very middle space between us. So that according to this [Page] great and ancient Critick, (with whom theMartin. in Lexico. Brocensis, In Covarruvias Spanish Dictionary. modern do concurre) it cannot properly be called a Table, unles it be placed, as S. Austin reports it, in Medio, in the Middle. But however Etymologies may seem more pretty then weighty Arguments, it is impossible it should be used by S. Austin in this place in that Metaphoricall sense, which is here before you. For the man will not be so senselesse, I presume, as to say, that Medium doth properly signifie before; as that the Vertue in Ethicks is to stand before the two Vices, or the Argument in Logick to stand alwayes before the two Extremes: but that he explaines his meaning by that other Phrase,Pag. 56. afferre in Medium, to bring it to us, or before us; so as we may use it as freely, if we please, as we do the meat and drink upon the table, for that very purpose layd before us. Such and such a thing was then to seek, but now afferam in Medium, I will lay it before you. Now will I make a School-boy (whom with his book of Phrases the Doctour hath given us for a Companion in this place) easily conceive, that S. Austin could not possibly mean it so in these words: (though the Doct [...]ur, when he scrubbed up this leaf, did little dream of what could be objected.) For the Table of the Lord, or the Sacrament of that Table, was not to be brought unto, nor to be set before these, to whom S. Austin addresseth his speach in this place. For he speaks unto theVnum genus Catechumenorum, qui audiebant verbum Dei, sed nondum petierunt Baptismum, dicebatur Audientes, sive Auditores. Iustell. in Cod. Can. Eccles. vet. pag. 150. And they stood [...], without the Church, untill the reading of the Gospell. The Schol. on Harmenop. Tom. 1. pag. 53. Audientes, a sort of Catechumeni, and not unto the Fideles, or Faithfull, in this Passage. He tells them, that they are as yet to be fed by Preachers, not by Sacraments; and bids them [Page] ply it hard, that from Hearers becoming Vnderstanders, they may in time become Receivers; and so be fed by this Sacrament at the Lords Table. And because that very word might amaze those Novices, who were never so timely to be instructed in these mysteries, and did not know what Table that should be, which S. Austin call'd the Lords Table, When those words were thundered by the Deacon, [...], Zonar. in Concil. Neocaes. p. 305. (being ever driven out by the Deacon, when the Priest began to approach the holy Table) S. Austin tells them, that the Lords Table is that Table in medio constituta. How is that? Brought unto them, or ready for them? Soft and fair; nothing so. They are yet but Audientes, and have a great whileFor we use to make them [...], to come by little and little unto the Church, that we may keep them the longer. Concil. C [...]nstantinop. 1. Canon. 7. Lest any root of bitternesse lurked in them. Rupert. de divin. [...]ssi [...]. l. 4. c. 18. And thereup [...]n seven Scrutinies pass'd upon them, to see, an essent in Fide stabi it [...]. Vasq. de Bapt. q 71. art. 4. [...], to Time it, (as you heard before) many degrees to get thorow yer it come to that. They must beNcocaes. Con 5. genuflectentes, knee-benders, as the Councell calls them: they must bePasch [...] appropinquante, dedit nomen inter alios competentes. Lib. de cura pro mortuis, c. 12. Tanquam qui jam Baptismū peterent. Beat. Rhen Praef. in Lit. Chrys. Competentes, suiters, saith S. Austin: they must beLib. de Poenitentia. Intincti, dipped in the Font, as Tertullian terms it, before this Table be either brought unto them, or ready for them. It is not ready for them, before they be ready for it. But that's the Lords Table there, saith S. Austin, which you see placed in the midst of the Church. For were it in the Chancell, you could not be admitted to draw so neare, as to see and view it: and could you but by chance get aAlbasp. Observat. l. 2. Obs [...]r [...]at. 2. ex antiquo Canone. glimpse of the same, you were instantly (all discipline notwithstanding) to be baptized. Ply then your Catechismes and Sermons apace, that you may not only see it, but partake of it. This none are admitted to do but the Faithfull; nor is it to be expected of you, [Page] Being as yet Gods Bisognos, as it were, Tyrones Dei, Aug. l 2. De Orthod fide, ad Catechum. c. 1. Novitioh, Tertul de Poenit. c. 6. And their Pew was extra Ecclesiam. La Cerda vol. [...] l. 5. p 275. [...]. Throrianus in Legat. Armen. untill after two or three further degrees of Ecclesiasticall discipline, you do your selves likewise grow to be of the number of the Faithfull. And whether we shall believe this School-boys device, or S. Augustine expounded by himself and all Antiquity, I leave to the consideration of the learned Reader.

But what needs this wresting and writhing of Histories, Fathers, and generall Councels? Is it such a new thing in Israel, that the Tables heretofore, and the high Altars afterwards, did stand in the midst of the Church or Chancell? or at leastwise, so far from the wall, as the Priests and Deacons might stand round about them? Did ever any learned Bapist make a question of it? Let this fellow but travell into any part of the World where Altars stand, and he cannot but blush to impose such Dreams upon the people. For the practice of the Eastern Church, I have already set down rather too many, then too few Examples. I will do the like now for the Western Church; First quoting the Authorities of some learned Pontifician Writers, ancient and modern: And then the Precedents answering these Authorities in all Ages and in all Countreys whatsoever. Howbeit I found some difficulty herein: for being laught at by all Strangers for making unto them such a foolish Question, as they deem'd it; when I came home to my Study and mine own Books, I found it such a silly thing, that very easinesse made it hard to be related in serious manner: asEccles. Pol. lib. 4. dist. 14. M. Hooker [Page] speaks of not an unlike subject.

For my Authours; I will begin withLib derebus Ecclesiastici [...], c. 4. Walafridus Strabo: who though he was but a blinker, and saw (as this Doctour doth) but with half an eye; yet could he see, that the Christians in the beginning did place their Altars indifferently, in diversas plagas, East, West, North, and South; and gives a reason for it not to be easily refuted; Quia non est locus, ubi non est Deus. God is as well the God of the West, North, and South, as he is of the East: and it is Paganish (asDeo cuncta [...]lena lum. Vbique non tan [...]ùm nobitproximus, sed infusus est. p. 75. Ista non prima & maxima contu [...]elia est, habitationibus Dens habere districtos? Arnob. l. 6. Minutius Felix well observes) to make him more propitious in any one Corner of the world, then he is in another. And this Strabo died about theGulielm. Eising. citatus à Melchiore Hittorpio, prooem. in Walafridum. yeare 846. OneSacrorum Electorum, l. 2. c. 3. Aloysius N [...]varinus writes as much, upon those words, Cir [...]undabo Altare tuum; That their situation was such in former times, that the Priests might encompasse round about the holy Altar. But the most learned in our Age, of all that have dealt with Rites and Ceremonies, is Iosephus Vicecomes; who both out of the Tombs and Sepulchres of the Martyrs (the first place elected in the Church for fixing of Altars) and especially out of that passage in Eusebius we spake of before, takes it for a very clear and indubitable Assertion,Lib. 2. de Antiquis Missae ritibus, c 28. Altaria medio in Templo allocata fuisse, that Altars were placed heretofore in the midst of the Church. AndDe cultu Sanctorum, l. 3. c. 3. Bellarmire himself together withIn 3 partem, tom. 3. disput. 81. sect. 6. Suarez, do willingly allow they may be fixt in any posture propter loci commoditatem, if the conveniency of the place [Page] shall so require it. But the main Authority I relie upon, is theRom. Pontific. Greg. 13. Circuit ter Altare, p. 144. sem l, 145. semel, 146. and the Chaplain must perfume it continuè circumcundo, p. 144. Roman Pontificall. Which in the Ceremonies of the Consecration of the Altar, enjoyns the Bishop (in three severall places at least) to compasse the Altar, circumcirca, round about: Which were it fastened to the East-end, were impossible for a Mouse to perform, without a good minde prepared before-hand for the fitter accomplishment of that service. And these Authours may suffice for a Question that admits of no more difficulty.

In the Precedents, I will begin with Rome it self; And first, with the famous place called Baron. Martyrolog. Rom, Jan. 20. Catacombe (a word of a mongrell composition, half Greek, half Latin, and signifying as much as near the Tombs) a kind of vaulted Church under the earth in a manner, of a semicircular form, seated not unhandsomly round about; wherein the ancient Bishops of Rome were wont to repose themselves in time of persecution. Roma Soterran l. 3. c. 13. In medio de questo aedificio, e [...]un antiquissimo Altare, &c. In the very midst whereof there stands a most ancient Altar of Marble, under the which lay for a time the Bodies of S. Peter and S. Paul, and upon the which it was not lawfull heretofore for any to officiate beside the Pope himself, untill Paulus Quintus, in our [...] memory, licensed by a speciall Bull, all other approved Priests to do the like. That's for the time past. For the present, S. Peters Body being removed by Constantine unto S. Peters Church in the Vatican, and the great Altar, called Altare Maggiore, consecrated by Pope Sylvester over [Page] the same (which is recorded in a Book kept in that Church, called Codex S. Petri, preserved to this day) the posture of this high Altar was in the midst of the Quire, and such from the beginning, thatRoma Soterran, lib. [...]. c. 4. pag. 31. Clemens Octavus had room enough to erect a new Altar sopra di esso, above this former Altar: which he consecrated, assisted with 38 Cardinals, 26. of June, 1594. And this very Pope, Vrbane the eighth, reedifying and enhansing the old Altar, did not offer to change the position or situation of the same. So that the Pope himself is more tractable in this point, then this heady Authour. From Rome I must lead you, as my Books lead me, to Millain, and let you see, that untill Cardinall Borromaeus (made a Saint it seems for this service) did demolish them, the Altars had an indifferent situation in any part of the Church; as, under the Actor. Eccles. Mediolan. part. 4. l. 1. de fabr. Eccles. p. 569. Pulpit, where Gods Word was preached; under the Organ-loft, whence God was praysed; and under the Reading-desk, where the Gospell was delivered. And this continued thus, untill within these threescore yeares. And yet in this severe Reformation, which that Cardinall made in all the Churches of the State of Millain, he dothActor. Eccles. Mediolan. part. 4. l. 1. de fabr. Eccles. p. 567. require, that there be left a space of eight Cubits at the least between the high Altar and the Wall, to admit the assistance of more Priests and Deacons, at Feasts of Dedications, and other Appointments of solemne Masses. And this is more liberty yet, then our Doctour will afford. Howbeit, this Cardinall was so severe [Page] a Prelate, that he was once shot at with a Pistoll by some of hisBy Farina one of the Order of the Humiliati, set on by 3 Priors of the same Order Rip [...]mentius Hist. Eccles. Mediolan. parte 3. l. 3. p. 155. Clergie: whereas God forbid that any man should discharge ought at D. Coal, unlesse it be a Shot of Jests, or a Peal of Laughter.

From Italy, my Books transport me to Germany, where I heareCrantz. in Metrop. l. 1. c. 24. Witikind the ancient Saxon telling Charles the Great (who much endeavoured, and at last effected his Conversion to Christianity) that be observed a great deal of cheerfulnesse and alacrity in the Emperours face (cast down before) when he began to approach that Table which was in the midst of the Church. AndLibr. de Origine Altar. c. 6. pag. 35. Hospinian tells us, that in the Reformation which the Helvetians made at Tigure, 1527, they found that of old time the Font had been situated in that very place, where the Popish high Altar was then demolished. And looking for more, I find thatExam. Concil. Trid parte 4. p. 84. Chemnitius notes that Altar in the Vatican we spake of before, to be placed, ante Chorum, before the very Quire; which my former Authour had not observed: And thatPraefat ante Liturg. Chrys. Beatus Rhenanus makes a generall observation, that these Wall-altars in Europe, are nothing so ancient as the Churches, but of a much fresher and later Erection. Which D.An Answer of a true Christian, p. 56. Fulk proves both of our Altars and Chancells here in England, by many pregnant conjectures and probabilities.

In France, they do not fasten (as I am informed) the high Altars to the Wall, but the lesser or Requiem-Altars onely. In myLe Theatre des Antiquitez. de Paris, l. 4. p. 1098. out of Sugerius a m. s. of that Abbey. Books I find a most rich Table in the Abbey-church of S. Denys, [Page] all of beaten gold, encha'st round about with rich and curious precious stones: to the beautifying whereof (as the Children of Israel, to the enriching of the Sanctuary) the Kings, Princes, Prelates, and Nobles of that Kingdom, parted with the Stones of their chiefest Rings; as Sugerius an ancient Abbar, who hath recorded all the Curiosities of that religious house, doth report at large. This Table is not laid along the Wall, but stands Table-wise; and by the Inscription, must needs have been used heretofore for a Communion-table: It being this,

Da pro praesenti, Coeli mensâ satiari:

Significata magìs significante placent.

That is,

Let this food us for Heavenly food enable,

The signifying for signified Table.

I doLe Theatre des Antiquit. l. 4. p. 1102. reade likewise, that the holy Altar in the same Church placed before the Tomb of Charles the Bald, stands in a manner in the midst of that Room. But these postures are no strangers in that Countrey.

Now having led you a long round to visit the sites of the Altars in Rome, Italy, France, and Germany, I will bring you home again unto your own Countrey, and desire you to mark well, how Austin the Apostle of the Saxons, plac'd his first Altar in the Cathedrall Church at Dover, dedicated to S. Peter and S. Paul. This Church hathBeda Eccles. Histor. Gentis Anglor. l. 2. c. 3. in medio sui penè, almost in the very midst thereof, an Altar, dedicated to the honour of S. Gregory the Pope. Vpon the which the Priest of the place doth [Page]every Sabbath-day perform the Agends of this Austin and S. Gregory. And shall we believe, that no Church of all the English Nation, did imitate herein her first Metropolis? It is impossible it should be so. But we may the more reasonably presume, the Conjecture (for I dare not otherwise propound it) of D.An Answer of a true Christian to a counterf. Catholick, Artic. 14. Fulk to be worthy of further consideration. That if you mark the most part of the old Churches in England, you shall plainly see, that the Chancells are but additions builded since the Churches. Also that some Churches are builded round, as one in Cambridge, and the Temple in London; to which may be added the old Pantheon in Rome, call'd by the Moderns, Santa Maria Rotunda. And many Churches (if you mark it) which are of the Gothick building, have their steeples at the East-end. Lastly, a number of our old Churches have their Iles of such a perfect Crosse, that they cannot possibly see either high Altar, or so much as the Chancell. A shrewd Argument that the holy Tables in England were not fixed as the Piety of the Times would now have them, when these Churches were first erected. I will conclude all this discourse with a couple of rich and curious Tables, presented unto the two great Mother-Churches of the World, Rome & Constantinople, and leave it to your considerations, whether they were so richly enchas't and adorned to lie along against the stone-wall. The first wasSozom Hist. Eccl. l. 9. c. 1. Niceph. Callist. lib. 14. c. 2. Pulchclia's [...], a miraculous thing for wealth, all of Gold and pretious stones, and wrought thus of purpose by that incomparable Lady, [...], for a [Page] holy Table, as both the Greek Historians affirm. The second was sent from France, by K.Concil. Sirm. Tom. 2. pag. 51. a [...] Ann. 761. Pipin to Pope Stephen, and by him to be dedicated to S. Peter, and falling short of that Pope, came into the hands of Paul his Successour: Who in his Letter back again to the King, doth not say he turn'd it to an Altar; but that upon that very Table, which he received with Hymnes, and Letanies, and consecrated with Oyle, he offered Sa [...]rifice of Praise to Almighty God for the prosperity of his Kingdome. This Table is still in Rome, and was never laid along any Wall. And because I will be better then my promise, I will propound unto you a third Table, farre exceeding the other two, as having in it all the riches of the Land, and Sea (as mine Authour describes it.) And this was really, [...], a holy Table, offered up by Iustinian in the Temple of Sophia in Constantinople. This had a long & admirableGeorgius Cedrenus Compend. Histor. ad Annum. 32. Justiniani, p. 3 17. [...]. Inscription engraven, [...], round about it, [...], &c. We offer here Thine of Thine unto Thee, &c. Half which Inscription could not have been seen, had this Table layn along the Wall. And so much in defence of B. Iewels exposition of that Passage in S. Augustine.

The last Authour quoted by B. Iewell, is Durandus, whom this man turns over with another Flamme; That, In medio Ecclesiae aperui os meum, is as much in good English, as, I opened my mouth in the midst of the Altar. So that these two words, In Medio, ‘Illudi. Cornucopiae, Plautus in Pseudolo. Corrupiae est, ubi inest quicquid velit:’ [Page] It is his Cogging-box, to strike what Casts of the Dice he lists to call for. If he have to do with Eusebius, In medio signifies, between North and South: If with S. Austin, In medio is to be construed, to us, or, before us: But if with Durandus; why then, In Medio against him, is in the midst of the Altar. But ‘Durus Durandus jacet hîc in Marmore duro.’ That is,

You do but knock, whilst you 'gainst Durand warble,

Your head of glasse against his head of Marble.

For he doth with a witnesse aperire os suum, open his mouth so wide in this point, that he devours all your Book at one Gobbet.Durand Rat. divin. l. 1. c. de. Altars. Per Altare Cor nostrum intelligitur, quod est in medio corporis, sicut Altare in medio Ecclesiae. By the Altar is to be understood our heart, which is in the midst of the Body, as the Altar is in the midst of the Church. If you be a good Ramist, analyse these words a little. No sensible Sacrifice is offerd upon the Heart: which makes an end of your first Section. A materiall Altar cannot become a Predicate to the Heart: which makes an end of your second Section. The Heart is situated in the middle, and not in the Heels of a man; which gives a wipe to your third Section. So that you had been as good let Durand alone, to sleep and take his nappe in Moralizations and Allegories, as awake him thus between Hawk and Buzzard, to blast the fair hopes of your expected Conquest.

But hang Durand; he is but a Child to those [Page] gray haires and hundreds of yeares, that the Wallaltar is able to shew. And this shall be made to appeare in one Pag. 56. word, and all this Combate ended at one Blow. For as the Greek Proverb saith, that the Fox hath many tricks, but the Hedgehog, [...], though but one, yet a great one; to winde up himself towards a Combate, so that his Adversary shall have nothing butPlin. Histor. natural, l. 9. c. 12. Prickles to fight against: So saith the Doctour here; that although B. Iewell was put to many shifts in this kinde, and to call for the helps of many Fathers, Councells, and Canonists to protect his cause; Yet my Don Nos [...]tros will not lay hold on any such poore advantage. We will allege one Testimony, and no more but one: Pero, But such a one as shall do the businesse, as shall give very good assurance of that generall usage, (that the holy Table lay Altarwise all along the East-end of the Church) and that is this: Socrates in his Ecclesiasticall History, lib. 5. cap. 21. speaking of the different Customes in the Christian Church, saith of the Church of Antioch, the chief City of Syria, that it was built in different manner from all other Churches. How so? Because the Altar was not placed to the Eastward, but to the Westward. Nicephorus, lib. 12. cap. 24. observes it generally of all the Altars in that City, and note's withall, that they were situate in a different manner from all other Altars. I have set down these words entirely and at large, because I intend to let the Reader see the sillinesse of this Braggard, in understanding never a word aright of all this passage, which [Page] he so much insists upon. And first, this must needs be a Halt he hath learn't fromPag. 20. Lame Giles, to borrow Quotations, Mistakes and all. For this place of Nicephorus is not to be found, lib. 12. cap. 24. but lib. 12. cap. 34. And I beshrew him for this trick, making me to reade Nicephorus all over in a manner to finde it out, and to run through so many strange Miracles, that I am now much disposed to believe any man that speaks of his own, though not this Doctour yet, because he speaks (as you see) out of another mans knowledge. And for Socrates likewise, though in Latine he cites him right (according to Musculus his Translation) yet in theSee Socrat. ex officina Rob. Steph Lutet. Paris, 1544. p. 249. Greek (which he takes upon him to have read) it is not the 21, but [...], the 22. Chapter. So that this may be truly called, Lame Giles his Haltings. Secondly, both his Authours, Socra [...]es and Nicephorus, when they enter into the discourse of this Variety of Rites in the Christian Churches, set down this Rule for a Proeme, That it no way infringeth the Vnity of the Faith; so as it is not materiall to the true piety of the times, how our Tables are placed Thirdly, these Historians do not note these Rites of the Altars of the City of Antioch, as different from all other Altars, (this is an addition of D. Coal) or from the generall practice of the Church. No such matter. Sed ab Ecclesia Romana Ceremoniis discrepâsse, that they varied in these Rites from the Church of Rome onely, asDe Missae ritibus, lib. 2. [...]. 5. Iosephus Vicecomes proves at large. Fourthly, this man pitifully forgets himself, [Page] unlesse it be true what some report; that the Pamphlet was penn'd by more then one. Doth not he say that Antioch is the chief City in Syria? And did not he say, but twoPag. 54. leaves before, that all the people in Syria might possibly place the Altar in the middle of the Church, to comply with, and allude unto the Iewish Altars? See this prov'd by Dr. Willet, 6. generall Controvers. q. 6. And was not both the Temple at Hierusalem, and the Altar there, builded toward the West? This Doctour may have a good wit, because he hath a very bad memory. Fifthly, the man surely hath not seen the Greek, nor observed well Musculus his Translation. For neither Socrates nor Nicephorus do say, that the Altars were placed to the West-ward, or did stand West-ward. All these are mistakings. Socrates doth not speak at all of any [...] or position of these Altars, but of the Churches onely. Nicephorus who copied him out, addes (besides his Authour) the posture of the Altars; but presently corrects himself in Socrat [...]s his word, that his meaning was the same with Socrates, that the Altars there did [...] not stand, but look and carry an aspect West-ward, where ever they were sited and fixed. And this is the true point in Question; not where the Altars stood, but to what part of the heavens he that officia [...]ed upon the Altar, did bend his looks, as Walafridus Strabo, thoughAs he is plaised to call himself: H [...]e pus exiguum Valafridus pauper h [...]bes (que) though he was indeed in omni doctrin [...]rum genere celeberrimus. Gulie [...]m. [...]isinger cited by Hittor ius. pauper hebésque, a poore and heavie Authour, did betterDe rebus Eccles. 6. 4. state it then this Doctour. It is true indeed, that (as these Historians write) the Churches & Altars must be built [...], so as the Priest may turn a contrary way to that [Page]they do that pray onely to the East. And this B. Iewell observes to be used at this day,Articl. 3. pag. 146. in all the great Churches of Millain, Naples, Lions, Mentz, and Rome, and in the Church of S. Laurence in Florence, the Priest in his service standing towards the West, with his face still upon the People, howsoever their Altars be standing or placed. Sixthly, This is utterly against what the man labours for all this while. He desires topag. 23. stand at the North-end of a Table laid Altar-wise all along the Wall, looking (as that posture requires) towards the South; and to bring this project to passe, he makes (or would fain make) these two Historians to say, that the generall practice of the Church (besides a few places in Antioch) was to make their Altars [...], alwayes to looke towards the East. Howbeit properly the Altars cannot be said to look at all; but those onely that officiate, or pray upon these Altars. Lastly, the Coal being now quite spent, that he might be sure to go out with a stench, especially in the sense of those Readers that have any Noses, doth fain a Tenet to be maintained, which is opposed in all the Letter, That Communion tables should not stand or be placed towards the East. Who ever said so man? The Writer of the Letter is but too much for it, not allowing the ordinary exceptions of De cultu Sanctor. l. 3. c. 3. Bellarmine, Suarez in 3am partem Thom. ubi suprá. Suarez, orDe reb. Eccles. c. 4. Walafridus Strabo before them, that it might be otherwise, when the Conveniency of the building doth require it. It may stand to the East, in the body of the Church, much more in the body of the Chancell, unlesse [Page] the man would have it planted in Eden (where God planted his Orchard) to be sure it stood farre enough in the East.

I will conclude this Brangle with a better reason then any this doughty scribbler could think of, why all the Churches in those parts had their Altars and postures, in the same manner that the Temple and Synogogues of the Iews were formerly contrived. Because upon every occasion of their Conversion to Christianity, the entire Synag [...]gues of the Iews undemolished and unaltered, were turned in a trice to Christian Churches, as you may read at large in two severall Greek Ex M. S. Palatinis vetustissimis Athanas. Oper. G. I. tom. 2. pag. 6 31. & 632. Peter Bishop of Nicomedia attests this book. Concil. Nicen. 2. Act. 4. Copies lately printed, of a Book written by S. Athanasius under this title, De passione Imaginis Domini nostri, &c. But how indifferent they were in the midst of Rome it self in those primitive times how their Churches should stand, the very Titles of the Cardinals preserv'd to this day do clearly witnesse, being all of them (in a manner) converted to sacred use from the habitations of private men. Especially that of our Countrey-woman (if we may believe our Popish Broughto [...]s Eccles. History of Brit. Age 1. c. 1. Parsons 3 Convers. part 1. c. 1. p. 17. Baron. in Martyrolog. Roman ad 19 Maij. Heralds) the Lady Claudia, who suffering this part of her patrimony (the first lodging of S. Peter in that City) to descend upon her daughter by Pudens, gave an opportunity to have it converted to a Title and a Church, call'd at this day Sancta Pudentiana: A blushing Saint, to whom this Doctour (when his Altar is up, and conveniently beautified) should do very well to addresse more speciall and peculiar devotions.

[Page] And here I could make an end, if the Doctours ignorance would give me leave: Which I cannot endure should abuse so mild and patient a Reader, as hath held out so long a Discourse of no more use or consequence unto him in the reiglement of his Soule, or advantage of his Civill conversation. And that is, in his foolish definition of the Diptychs in the primitive Church, which is this; Thepag. 55. Diptychs, i.e. The Commemoration of those famous Prelates and other persons of chief note, which had departed in the Faith. A description, that no man, who could with the help of a Lexicon have but known the meaning of the Greek word, would ever have offered (in this learned age) to have imposed upon his Readers. I have seen a naughty boy, that having but two leaves of his ABC left, being graveld in the one, would tear it out, and go very pertly to be pos'd of his Master in the other. No otherwise doth our Iudicious Divine. ‘(—Virg. Aegl. 1. Sic parvis componere magna solemus.)’ behave himself in this place. The Diptychs in the primitive Church, were two Leaves, Tables or Boards, bound like an oblong Book: in the one Column whereof were written the Names of such worthy Popes, Princes, Prelates, and other men of noted Piety, that remained yet alive; and in the other, a like Catalogue of such famous men, as were already departed in their sleep, as the Greek, or in their pause, as the Mozarabick Liturgy terms it. This man having heard by some body, that there was heretofore out of these Tables a Commemoration [Page] of the dead at the time of high Masse or Communion, was willing to let the world understand so much, and therefore made hast to put it in print. But being unskill'd in the other leaf, he tore it quite out of his ABC; as not bound by any law of God or man, to write any more then he knew himself.

Now the Greek word in generall, signifies any thing that is two-fold, in the form of a pair of Tables: And in this particular, was (without all Question) borrowed for this sacred use, from the first Book of Homers Iliads; where ‘ [...]—Iliod. l. [...]—.’ doth signify their laying of a [...], Didymus. fold or lining of tallow on the one side, and another fold of fat or tallow on the other side of the flesh which was to be offered in the Heathen Sacrifice, to make it burn the clearer and sooner in the Holocaust. From this proper and reall, it was taken by the Greek Fathers to signify that Metaphoricall and improper Sacrifice of Comm [...]moration, as well of the living, as of the dead, us'd in the Church in those ancient times. And these Tables were alwayes double, as I have told you the word generally doth require and import.Annot. in Liturg. S. Petri. p. 39. Lindan saw one of them at Biscay in Spain at the Church of S. George. They were like two little doores, a foot and a half high, to be opened in time of high Masse, and clos'd again assoon as it was finished. They contained the names of generall Councels, Popes, Emperours, Princes, Prelates; the living in the one page, and the dead in the other; saithObservat. Eccles de Missae apparatu. l. 7. c. 17. Tom. 4. Iosephus Vicecomes. They were two Tables; the one containing the names of those that [Page]were alive, the other of those that were departed, saith learnedIn verbo, Diptycha. St Henry Spilman. And it must be a true description. For besides that we read the Priest commemorating the living and the dead in S. Bibl. vet. Patr. tom 2. pag. 16. et 17. Iames and S.In the Edition of S. Andreas, p. 21. and p. 29. Peters, and the Deacons perfuming the Diptychs of the living and the dead in S.Tom. 2. vet. [...]atr. p. 53. Basils and S.Ibid pag. 80. Chrysostoms Liturgy; Niceph. Histor. Eccles. lib. 16 c. 19. Euphemius is sayd with his own hands to have put out Mongus, that was dead, and inserted Felix, that was alive: AndConcil. juxta Bin. tom. 2. pag. 508. Timotheus is charged in a generall Councell by the Bishops of Egypt, for scraping out Proterius, and inscribing himself and Dioscorus into the sacred Diptychs. Nor have I ever read any learned man that gave this wooden book any fewer then these two Columnes. I have read ofAmbros. Pelarg. Annot. in Chrysost. liturg. Wormatiae, Anno 1541. Annot. 63. in hoc verbum, Duplicata. one that gave it foure, two in either leaf. The first contained a Memoriall of Saints already blessed: The Second, a remembrance of good people at rest; but not yet consummated: The third made a rehearsall of pious and exemplary men, that they might be hereby more encouraged: The last was an enumeration of some notorious and debauched people, that they might by this means become ashamed of themselves, and in time amended. And into this Column, I could be willing, if the Church approve thereof, this railing Doctour might be inserted: Promising, that if ever I heare those Diptychs read in the time of the Communion at the holy Table (though layd Altar-wise, and all along at the East-end-wall) yet shall it not deterre me in my devotions from saying thereunto a hearty AMEN.

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Information about this book

Title statement

The holy table, name & thing more anciently, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an altar: written long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. Coal, a judicious divine of Q. Maries dayes.

Williams, John, 1582-1650.

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1637

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2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

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A68902

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STC 25725.2

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ESTC S120079

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99855279

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20765

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— The holy table, name & thing more anciently, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an altar: written long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. Coal, a judicious divine of Q. Maries dayes., Williams, John, 1582-1650..

Extent

[6], 234, [2] p.

Printed [by Eliot's Court Press] for the Diocese of Lincoln,. [London] :: 1637.. (By John Williams.) (A reply to: Heylyn, Peter. A coale from the altar.) (It is reasonably certain that no one compositor and probably no one printing house produced the whole of this or any other edition in STC. The printers supplied in this imprint has been identified from the ornaments in the preliminaries and A1r, and how much they contributed to the rest of the respective editions is undetermined (STC).) (The first leaf and the last leaf are blank.) (In this edition, page 234 last line begins "saying"; page 1, side-note (a), line 2 has "in the Cause of" (italic, with plain C); third line from bottom has "Judgement" with roman J and italic lower-case letters.) (Some copies have part of quire X and all of Y and 2G1 the same typesetting as STC 25725, reimposed.) (Identified as STC 25725 on UMI microfilm.) (Reproduction of the original in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery.) (Some print faded and show-through; some pages stained with loss of print. Pages 80-89 from the Union Theological Seminary (New York, N.Y.). Library copy spliced at end.)

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