A TREATISE OF MARRIAGE, WITH A Defence of the 32th Article of Religion of the Church of England; VIZ.  
Bishops, Priests and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law, either to Vow the state of single life, or to abstain from Marriage; therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.  Heb. 13.6. 
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: But Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge.  1 Tim. 3.2. 
A Bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife.  
— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Theophylact. on Tit. 1.6. 
London, Printed by J. D. and are to be sold by R. Chiswel, at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Churchyard. 1673.   

To the Worshipful Robert Raworth Esq.  
SIR,  
THe Argument of this small Treatise is so great, that I presume I need not Apologise for it: 'Tis Marriage, the Ordinance and Institution of God himself; that which the Church of Rome holds a Sacrament, and the Church of England, with other Reformed Churches, a Mystery. 'Tis that which our Blessed Lord and Saviour, Emmanuel, honoured, by being born, though of a Virgin, yet of one that was married to a Husband; by his presence at, and by working his first Miracle, of turning water into Wine, at the Celebration of a Marriage at Cana in Galilee. 'Tis that which the Holy, Ghost in the Scriptures honours, by comparing therein the joys of Heaven to a Marriage-Feast; and by making the Bosom of Abraham, a married person, and the Father of the Faithful, the Receptacle of all Saints in Heaven, whether they were married or single on earth. 'Tis a subject, of which that great Scholar Erasmus hath written, namely, both de Laudibus, and the Institutione Matrimonii; as has also Ludovicus Vives de Conjugii Origine & utilitate. 'Tis that which the zealous Martyr Dr. Taylor blessed God for, and in commendation of which that Saint of the Lord, (which one calls that Angel of God) Mr. Bradford, who when he was in Prison, and there being some hopes of his deliverance and freedom, being asked what he would do in case he should be released. Answered, he would marry; being, I question not, of that holy Bishop Paphnutius his mind, who at the Council of Nice declared, That the society of man and wife was a holy chastity. 'Tis the shame of this Generation, that so many men and women live in common, as if they understood that noted saying, All things are common amongst Friends, of a Community of Women and of Wives also, as of other goods. My wish therefore is, and it shall be my prayer, that the uncleanness and filthiness of this age, may not be punished with a Deluge of Popery; I mean, by God's giving us over to Spiritual Adultery, or the Idolatry of the Church of Rome. And now having mentioned that Church, give me leave to say, that she is justly branded with the name of, The Mother of Fornications, and those too Corporal as well as Spiritual. What other Church in the world allows of public Stews and Brothel-houses? where, but amongst her Sons, was it pleaded in their excuse, that they are as necessary as a Pump in a ship, and a Sink in a house, to keep all clean, And although they would make us believe, that their Church is pure and clean, yea, both Militant and Triumphant in their holy Societies of Monks and Nuns, that these are like the Nazarites, whiter than the snow: Yet if we may give credit to their own Authors, such as Polydore Virgil, Book 7. cap. 5. de Inventoribus rerum, speaking of their Orders of Monks, he saith, That it were behoveful that those dregs of men were cut off and burnt, and that with their filth they should no longer defile God's service. And N. de Clemangis, a Doctor of Paris, who in his Book de Corrupto statu Ecclesiae, c. 21. saith of the Nuns; Shame forbiddeth me to speak of them, lest I should mention a company of Virgins dedicated to God, but stewed, deceitful, impudent Whores, with their Fornications and Incestuous works: For what, I pray, are Nunneries now adays, but the execrable Brothel-houses of Venus, the Harbours of wanton young Women, where they satisfy their lust? that now the vailing of a Nun, is all one, as if you prostituted her openly to be a whore. So he. I say, if we may believe these and other their own Authors; our Church, who hath none of these Convents for single persons, and who allows of the married life of the Clergy, is more holy and honourable than Rome. And I doubt not, but our Ministers, though married, multitudes of them will present themselves, and their modest, chaste and pious Consorts, with innumerable others of their Congregations, as chaste Virgins to Christ. And whereas the Papists tell us, there are three special Crowns in Heaven, one for them that overcome the World, another for them that overcome the Flesh, and a third for them that overcome the Devil: If so, I dare promise many of our Doctors, though married, to each of them three Crowns in Heaven, far beyond the Pope's Triple Crown on Earth; namely, to our Learned and Laborious Doctors, who by their Writings overcome the Devil; to our married Doctors, who by their chaste Wedlock overcome the Flesh; to our courageous Doctors, who are ready, if God call them, to Martyrdom; to ascend to Heaven, like Elijah, in a fiery Chariot, and so overcome the world: I say, to these I dare promise three Crowns in Heaven, besides a fourth to them and their Religious, Modest and Chaste Consorts, viz. The Crown of Righteousness, which is laid up in Heaven for all them that love the appearance of Jesus Christ.  
Sir, Although neither the subject I treat on in the following Discourse, viz. Marriage, nor the Church of England her Doctrine in the 32 Article of Religion, which I defend, allowing persons in holy Orders to marry, need any Apology; yet I humbly beg your pardon for any weakness or miscarriage you may find in my manner of treating of these things. And I humbly present this small Piece to you, coming into the World from, as it were, under your roof; and beg your excuse at least, if not your Approbation and Patronage of it. If any of our Romish Adversaries should quarrel the Doctrine of our Church on this occasion, you have such Learned Friends and Acquaintance, and those who have opportunities, advantages, and courage sufficient to defend their chaste Mother, the Church of England, and their own chaste Wives, against the greatest Goliath amongst the Romish Philistines.  
Sir, I humbly thank you for your favours to me, and your care of the welfare of our Society; and shall, according as my duty binds me, pray for you, and for your good, your pious & charitable Consort, that God would crown you with all the blessings of this and the other World.  
Sir, I have one thing more to entreat of you both, which I am confident neither of you, being such good friends to our Church and Clergy, will deny, that is, to join with me in my prayers for the Tribe of Levi, Let thy Urim and thy Thummim be with thy holy One, let the sound of Aaron's bells be ever heard, and the smell of his Pomegranates always perfume the Church of God, and let there be found at last, of the Tribe of Levi amongst us, as of other Tribes, twelve thousand sealed ones. And that there may never want a supply of able and good men for the work of the Ministry, Let the Rod of Aaron, I mean the Universities, ever flourish, and yearly bud, blossom and bring forth ripe Almonds.  
Your very much obliged, and very humble Servant, T.H. July 1. 1673.   

TO THE READER.  
Courteous Reader,  
Two things I desire to premise: First, That I do not pretend in this small popular Tract, to teach Men, Brethren and Fathers of the Church, them, and their Wives, Economics: But yet shall beg leave to transcribe a passage out of Luther's Colloquia Mensalia, which I desire our Married Clergy would consider, viz. That one cause of the unmarried lives of Priests (to wit, in the Papacy) was, that the faults of the Priests wives were offensive, so that when the Priests should reprove the wickedness of others, than the people would hit them in the teeth again, and say, why did not they reform their own wicked wives? And truly I could wish, that I might have cause to say of all the Married Clergy, and of all others in the state of Matrimony, as confident, I am, I may say of many, Ye have no need that I writ unto you of Conjugal love and duties; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. To this purpose it was we advised by a Right Reverend Father of our Church viz. the B. of W. to all such as his Lordship married, often to read over the Office of Marriage that so they might the better remember and d● their duties each to other. And truly I could hearty wish and beg of the Right Reverend th● Fathers of our Church, that if ever they should revise our Liturgy, which even some good men desire, that the duties of Man and Wife, Parent● and Children, Masters and Servants, might b● appointed to be read on the Lords days (after the reading of the Commandments) out of the Epistle to the Ephesians, or Colossians, or both.  
The second thing I desire to premise is, that I do not present you with a Regular and Scholastical Discourse, either of Marriage, or of the difference betwixt the Church of England and Rome, concerning the Marriage of Priests, or persons in holy Orders; but offer, as to the latter, some Collections out of Dr. Field his Fifth Book of the Church Dr. Fulk and Mr. Cartwright their Annotations on the Rhemists' Testament, on Matth. 8. and on the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, Mr. Perkin' s his Demonstration of the Problem, Dr. John and Dr. Francis White concerning this Argument, and others, together with some of my own observations. The truth which is on our Church's side, is chiefly maintained, and the Church of Rome confuted by the Authority of the holy Scriptures. Bishop Hall in his Treatise of the Honour of the Married Clergy, page 124. observes, that the Church of Rome teaches contradictory to the Holy Scripture: The Spirit of God (saith he) saith, that a Bishop may be the husband of one wife; the Church of Rome says, a Bishop may not be the husband of any wife at all: The Spirit of God says, Marriage is honourable amongst all men; the Church of Rome says, Marriage is dishonourable to some: The Spirit of God says, to avoid fornication, let every man have his wife; the Church of Rome, like a quick-huswife, says, some Order of men shall not have a wife, though to avoid fornication. So that as another Author notes, amongst them, Marriage only, and not Fornication, is inconsistent with the dignity of a Clergyman; and that Fornication has been allowed to Priests and Friars, in compensation for their restraint from Marriage; three or four Whores, as part of their spiritual Preferment: And probably such foul Positions and Practices, made Luther so zealous for Matrimony. I took a wife (said he) therewith to upbraid the Devil, and to confound the whoring in Popedom; and in contempt of that nasty Lechery in Popedom, which is very great and abominable, Luth. Col. Mens. The same Author tells us, that under Pope Julius, was exercised an abominable Lechery and Whoring in Rome. At the same time, saith he, was a Cardinal that had a married wife; the which being known, he was constrained to forsake her, but in less than a years space he took her again: Now when the Cardinal died, his wife wept bitterly, and said, she had an honest husband, who contented himself with one woman: The Citizens of Rome wondering to hear the same, cried, O Sancta Maria! for, says Luther, Chastity in those people is rare Venison.  
And as we have the holy Text on our side, so have we the Fifth Canon of the Apostles, the testimony of Paphnutius a holy Bishop; and with him concurred the whole Council of Nice, the Sixth Council of Constantinople, Can. 13. and the practice of the Greek Church to this day, so far as to justify the lawfulness of Priest's officiating about the holy things of their Function, notwithstanding their being married.  
And further, to justify our Church and the practice of our Clergy, we have the Concessions of many of our Adversaries, as Franciscus a Sancta Clara observes, that the Celibacy of Priests is not de Jure divino, but by the Law of the Church; and that the Pope may dispense therewith, and some say doth dispense with the married Clergy in the Greek Church; and others in his name, 'tis said, have made Overtures of the like favour to the English Clergy; and in case they would be his dutiful and obedient Sons, be would be an Indulgent Father to them.  
Lastly, It is worth the consideration, on our behalf ●n this matter, that some of the best men of the Church of Rome, such as Espencaeus, Aeneas, Silvius, Polydore Virgil, Erasmus, and others, have desired that the Law of forced Celibacy might be taken away, to prevent the great scandal that is given by the filthy lives of the Clergy. Forasmuch then as the English Clergy have had the possession of their wives for above a thousand years after Christ; and again, have had them restored to them by Law at the Reformation, they have no reason to quit their so just and ancient Rights, and with one half of themselves; and to be contented with leman's, instead of Wives; and Nephews in room of Sons. I shall dismiss thee, Reader, when I shall have told thee, that the fig-leaves wherewith the Romanists seek to hid the nakedness of their Church in this cause, are eafily blown away by Dr. Field of the Church, Dr. Francis White his Defence of his Brother Dr. John White, by Bishop Hall his Treatise of the honour of the Married Clergy, and by Calixtus in his Book de Conjugio Clericorum: And when I shall have begged thy pardon for the many faults ●hou mayst possibly find in the Composing, Transcribing or Printing of these few sheets. Farewell.  
Thy Friend to serve thee, T.H. July 1. 1673.   

ERRATA.  

Pag. 10. line 6. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. lin. 8. aft 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, add etc.  
P. 24. instead of Friar Menolein, read Menotein.  
P. 28. instead of married married, r. married persons.  
P. 66. instead of Matrimony, read Maimony.  
P. 74. In the Margin, for Doctrine, r. Demonstration.    

CHAP. I. Of Marriage.  
GOD at first did not make a Pair, a Male and a Female, in Mankind, as he did of the rest of living Creatures; but he made the one of the other, the Woman of the Man; and thus Male and Female created he them, for to continue the Species by propagation, and to be a mutual help and comfort each to other. The Angels, which each fill a Species, and are à posteriori Eternal, were not made Male and Female; and therefore the Heathens, who fancied their Deities, Male and Female, and worshipped many Gods, and many Goddesses, must be conceived to have worshipped dead Men and Women. The difference of the Sex was made for the supply or remedy of our Mortality.  
When we shall come to be like the Angels of Heaven, than we shall neither Marry, nor be given in Marriage. Meat, Drink, Clothing, and Marriage, are all provisions only for this state. In the Regeneration, there shall be no further need or use of them.  
Our Creator made the Woman of the Man, to show the near Union and Conjunction which should be betwixt the Man and his Wife. 1. God himself made the Woman, as of the Man, so for the Man, for his Comfort and Benefit, and to be one flesh with him. And since Adam had his Marriage ordained and celebrated by God himself in Paradise, and in the state of Innocency; Who are they that dispute against God, against his Ordinance and Institution? Such as of old, Montanus and Martion, who condemned Marriage as uncleanness; and such as St. Jerom, who spoke unbecomingly of it; such as Papists, who forbidden Bishops and Priests to Marry, and rather tolerate them the having of a Concubine than a Wife.  
I cannot prefer the Woman before the Man absolutely, although it be granted, she was made after the Man, and of the Man, and not of the common Earth immediately. And that Anatomists tell us of a finer Structure in the Body of the Woman than of the Man. For the Holy Scripture tells us, That the Man was not made for the Woman, but the Woman for the Man; and therefore sure the Man is the Head of the Woman, and to be preferred before her. The Light of Nature taught the very Heathens to prefer the Male before the Female. When the Poets would shame men, they call them Women. We read in Homer's Illid. B. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. In Virgil his Aeneids, B. 9 O merè Phrygie nequae enim Phryges'. So Persius uses the word Troiades, Sat. 1. instead of Trojani.  
Good reason then that Wives should be subject to their own Husband; and that that Law of Ahasuerus should be an Oecumenial Law, viz. That every Man should bear rule in his own house.  
The Holy Ghost in Scripture, 'tis observed, gives three Reasons of the subjection of the Wife to the Husband.  
First; Because that Adam was first form, than Eve; whereas other Creatures were created the Male and the Female together at the same time, 1 Tim. 2.13.  
Secondly; Because the Woman was made to be a meet help and comfort for the Man, 1 Cor. 11.9.  
Thirdly; Because the Woman was made or built out of the Man, 1 Cor. 11.8.  
And as a sign of the subjection that was due from the Wife to the Husband, the Women in Eastern Countries used to wear a Veil on their Heads, and over their Faces, and in so doing, the Wife was said to have power on her Head, because she had a Veil, which did signify that she was under the power of her Husband, and therefore she is commanded to fear her Husband, Ephes. 5.33. Which, saith Reverend Mr. Bains on that place, did meet with the lewdness of many Women, that think it their glory to know no awe; for pleasing, they stand on no such points; if they like not, they may leave, say they, let them get others do it better; to their Husbands moved, they will not stick to bid them go walk themselves: For fearing them they cannot; why should they make such bull-beggars of them, they are their Wives, not their Slaves? Should they be pointed at for Sheep all the Town over? These things (saith he) the Devil will round you in the ear with; But know, that you had better be God's Sheep, than the Devil's Shrews.— So he.  
And Mr. John R●binson, in his Essays, p. 126. saith, If the Husband pass the bounds of wisdom and kindness, yet must not she shake off the bond of submission; but must bear patiently the burden which God hath laid upon the Daughters of Eve. The Woman in innocency was to be subject to the Man, but this should have been without all wrong on his part, or grief on hers; but she being first in transgression, hath brought herself under another subjection; and, the same to her grievor, etc. in regard of her Husband, often unjust, but in regard of God, always most just; who hath ordained that her desire should be subject to her Husband, who by her seduction became subject to him. And albeit, many proud Women think it a matter of scorn and disgrace thus to humble themselves to God and their Husbands, and even glory in the contrary; yet they but glory in their shame, and in their Husband's shame also; and whilst they refuse a cross, choose a sin of rebellion, both against God and their Husbands. Which shall not escape unpunished from God, though many fond Husbands nourish them therein, and by pampering and puffing them up by delicate Fare, costly Apparel, and Idleness, teach them to despise themselves and all others. So far my Author.  
And let me here have leave to say, That the pride & peevishness of some Wives to their Husbands in our days, hath brought an ill report on Matrimony; and 'tis to be feared, hath frighted many from the remedy of Marriage, into the Disease of Adultery and Uncleanness. If Wives would, by their discretion, and by their meck and quiet Spirits, they might gain their Husband's love and affection, and they might do this kindness for those of their Sex that are unmarried, they would raise and quicken the Market, so that Tradesmen that are well stocked with Daughters, should not have cause to complain that their Daughters are the veriest Drug they have about them. Let the Wife make it her business to please her Husband in lawful things, and to the rest of her Endowments, of Parts, Parentage, Beauty, Education, Portion, add that which makes the rest, That they are not mere Ciphers in comparison and account; namely, Let her study to frame and compose herself what may be, viz. lawfully, to her Husband, in conforming her Manners to his. And let not the Husband delight to domineer over his Wife, or please himself in showing always his Authority, (which none but fools will do, saith Mr. J. Robinson). Nabal was, according to his Name, a very Fool, that was so churlish, that neither Wife nor any body else could speak to him. It was Abigails wisdom to bear patiently with him; as it was the wisdom of Socrates, that taught him to bear with his Xanthippe, her daily home-brawling, and thereby learned him to converse quietly and patiently with unreasonable, perverse, and peevish persons abroad.  
The Husband should be able always to guide, counsel, and direct the Wife, to go before her as a man of knowledge. His Wife he should use as a Comfort and Helper, not, (saith Sir Walter Raleigh) as a Counsellor. When Adam in Innocency, (he observes) and Solomon, the wisest of Temporal Princes, took counsel of their Wives, they both miscarried; no such wonder as lamentable then that other men have been so alured to so many inconvenient and wicked practices by the persuasions of their Wives, or other beloved Darlings. If Adam in the state of perfection, and Solomon the Son of David, God's chosen Servant, and himself a man endowed with the greatest wisdom, did both of them disobey their Creator by the instigation, and for the love they bear to a Woman; It is not so wonderful, etc. that others have done the like. So he.   

CHAP. II. Of the Marriage of Persons in Holy Orders.  
MArriage is honourable amongst all; our Saviour graced a Wedding with his presence at Cana in Galilee, John 2. and there manifested his Glory, by working that Miracle, of turning Water into Wine: By which those who enter into that state, might be put in mind, that their sorrows should be turned into joys. The Apostle St. Paul, Ephes. 5.32. makes Marriage a Mystery, and to set out the relation and love 'twixt Christ and his Church. And lastly, 'Tis thought Heaven is set out in Scripture by a Marriage-Feast, Mat. 22. and the Joys of Heaven represented by the joys of a Wedding, Rev. 19 The Nazarites that were whiter than Snow, by reason of their vow of Holiness, were not defiled by their Marriage.  

Of the Marriage of Priests.  
The High Priest under the Law, was not forbidden to Marry, only he must have a Wife so and so qualified. Aaron the High Priest, the Saint of the Lord, a Type of our Lord Christ, was Married, and the High Priesthood annexed to his Family, and entailed on his posterity. It is made a Character of Antiochus Epiphanes, or Epimanes rather, that he should not regard Women, or desire Women, in the Old Testament, Dan. 11.37. And 'tis made a mark of the Antichrist, and branded for a Doctrine of Devils, (according to our Translators) to forbid to Marry in the New Testament, 1 Tim. 4.1, 3. And as Priests and Prophets under the Law might lawfully marry, so might the Holy Apostles and Ministers of our Lord and Saviour under our Gospel. St. Peter the first, or chief of the Apostles, as to a primacy of Order, was of this Order himself. And St. Paul asserts his right and power to lead about a Wife or Sister, as well as Cephas or Peter, and other of the Apostles of Christ.  
The Scripture foreseeing (saith a Reverend Author) the frenzy of this Heresy, (viz. of forbidding marriage to Priests) made the Wall higher and stronger, of the lawful marriage of the Ministracy; for besides the places wherein generally it is (without all exception) permitted to all Orders of men to Marry; it speaketh especially of the lawful use of Marriage in the Ministry. It speaks particularly of their Wives, likewise of their Children: which we remember not to be done in any other estates; only of the Kings it is said, That they should not marry many Wives: Wherefore the Ministers having not only the common evidence which all other men have to hold their Wives by, but also certain Specialties, and special Charters, whereby the quiet and peaceable possession of them is warranted, it is evident that the Popish Court, which impleadeth them, and condemneth them for their Wives, is a lawless Court. So Mr. Cartwright, in his Answer to the Rhem. Test. Annot. on St. Mat. chap. 8.  
And amongst the Canons ascribed to the Apostles, it is decreed, Can. 5. If any Bishop, Elder, or Deacon, under colour of Religion, or reverence, put away his Wife, let him be separate from his Ministry; if he abide in that mind, let him be deposed.  
This Canon (saith the aforesaid Author) is of a contrary spirit to you; for you sever men from their Wives, that sever themselves to the Ministry; and it severeth men from the Ministry, that sever themselves from their Wives, under pretence of the Ministry.  
Again, Mr. Perkins, in his demonstration of the Problem, testifies, That the Marriage of the Clergy, for the space of 300 years after Christ was a thing always freely allowed without prohibition, or vow of perpetual continency.  
Athanasius in his Epistle to Dracontius, saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And there are many of the Bishops, saith Athanasius, that have not married; and contrariwise, many Monks we see daily become Fathers of Children. Again you may observe many Bishops to be Fathers of Children, and many Monks that have not sought to see their own Generation; for this is lawful, and the other is not forbidden, but every one as he liketh, let him undertake to live. And whereas we read, saith the Decretal, c. 56. That the Sons of Priests have come to the honour of the Papacy, we must not understand them to be begotten by Fornication, but by lawful Marriage, which was lawful for the Priests every where, until the time of prohibition; and in the East Churches is lawful to this day; The singleness of Priesthood was instituted, because of the poverty of the Churches wanting sufficient means to maintain many families of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. D. 28. c. d. Syr.  
Pope Siricius, about the year 385. forbade Priests Marriage in the Western Church. But that Decree had no Universal Admission in the Church until the time of Pope Hildebrand 1007. And 'tis observed that Bishops and Priests married in England until Anselms time, that is, about 1100 years after Christ, no Law forbidding them. 'Tis an observation of Balsamon on the 5th Canon of the Apostles, that it was lawful before the 6th Synod in Trullo, for the Bishops to marry and have Wives, yea after they had received that dignity. And for my part, I think, Archbishop Crammer the Martyr, no less a Saint, though once or twice married, then if he had lived single. Archbishop Parker also, as I have read, was a married Man; and our Church, since the Reformation, never forbade any of her Fathers or Children to Marry, eo nomine, or else they could not be Presbyters, Priests, Bishops, or Arch-Bishops.  
It was smartly replied by Dr. Featley, when some had charged it on the Puritans, that they were Calvinistae tantum non in Sabbato, that their Adversaries were Papistae tantum non in uxoratu. Certainly Bishop Montague of Norwich, Bishop Wren, and Bishop Cousins, were all Canonical Men, and yet all Married. And Bishop Laud was one of the first that for a while was thought to discountenance Marriage in men of Holy Orders, saying, That in disposing of Ecclesiastical Preferments, he would prefer the single Man before the Married, supposing the Abilities of the Persons were otherwise equal. But Dr. Heylin, that wrote his Life, tells us, by what means and method, he sought to procure other apprehensions of him; namely, by negotiating, not long after, a Marriage between Mr. Thomas Turner, one of his Chaplains, and a Daughter of Windebank, his old Friend; and he officiated the whole service of their Marriage in his own Chapel, at London-House, joining their Hands, and giving the Nuptial Benediction, and perfecting all other Ecclesiastical Rites which belong to the Solemnisation of Matrimony by the Rules of this Church. D. H. in his Life, p. 212.  
I acknowledge that the Papists urge against the Marriage of our Clergy, the ill manners and lives of their Children. I confess I cannot tell of any one of our married Clergyes Wives, that can match that Whore, who, they say, was the Mother of Gratian, Petrus Cornestor, and Peter Lombard; yet doubtless there have been famous men who have been Children of Bishops, the Fathers of the Church, and of others in Holy Orders. Bishop King, late of Chichester, was the Son of Bishop King, sometime Bishop of London. Bishop Hall, late of Chester, was the Son of Bishop Hall, Bishop of Norwich, whose Works praise him in the Gate. And it hath been observed, that five Knightly Families descended from Archbishop Sands, Archbishop of York. One of the greatest blots in our English Bishops Escutcheons in this matter is, that Sir Toby Matthews, a great Son of the Church of Rome, was a Son of Archbishop Matthews of York.  
Let me add, for the honour of our Married Clergy, that Sir Francis Drake, that famous Sea Captain, was the Son of a Minister in Devonshire.  
Many at this day have attained to the honour of Knighthood, who own their Estates to Bishops and Arch-Bishops: And 'tis no abatement to their Honour, that the late reverend and renowned Bp. of Chester, Bp. Wilkins, his Mother was the Daughter of a Minister, viz. Mr. John Dod, a man famous in his Generation for Piety, and a learned Man, and who taught that excellent Critic of Christ-Church, Mr. Gregory, and the great Bishop of Winchester, Hebrew.  
It cannot be denied, that most of the Ancient Writers cry up the excellency of Virginity; and that divers of the Father's pleading for the singleness of Priests, do detract from the due praises of Marriage.  
So Siricius stuck not to say, That they that are in the flesh, that is (saith he) in Matrimony, cannot please God.  
And Ambrose, Offic. Lib. 1. Cap. ult. will have the Priests to be pure from Marriage, and to be contaminated by Marriage. But the blessed Apostle St. Paul, a greater than these, allows a Bishop to be the Husband of one Wife, that is, one who liveth chastely with one Wife alone at one time. And whereas some would oppose Marriage and Chastity, the same Apostle, in Titus 2.4, & 5. teaches us, that Wedlock and Chastity are not divorced or separated each from other, but may dwell together in the same House and the same Bosom, exhorting Titus, to teach the young Women to be sober, to love their Husbands, to love their Children; to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own Husbands. That which the Apostle Paul saith, in 1 Cor. 7. That 'tis good for a man not to touch a Woman, is to be interpreted, 'Tis not expedient, viz. that if a man have the gift of continency, and with particular respect to the Christian Church in that time of Persecution; for the Apostle saith, Nevertheless to avoid Fornication, let every Man have his own Wife, and let every Woman have her own Husband, Vers. 2. of the same Chapter.  
And Paphnutius, a good Man, and a Bishop in the Council of Nice, though himself a single Person, named an honest Matrimonial Conjunction, a Godly Chastity.  
The Celibaty, or single-Life of the Clergy, and others in the Popedom, hath hindered much good, and given great occasion to abominable sins.  
St. Vlrich, Bishop of Auspurgh, in an Epistle which he wrote, complained of a fearful Spectacle at Rome; namely, that after Pope Gregory had decreed and confirmed the unmarried kind of Life, he intended to fish in a deep Pond at Rome, hard by the Monastery of the Nuns; the Water of the Pond being let out, they found more than six thousand Heads of Children, which had been cast into the Pond and drowned; these were the fruits of the unmarried life: Whereupon Pope Gregory amazed at the sight, abolished that Decree concerning the unmarried kind of life; but the succeeding Popes decreed the same again.  
And in the Monastery of Neuburgh in Austria, where there had been Nuns who were displaced for their ungodly lecherous do, as my Author saith, when the Franciscan Friars, who were set therein, intending to build, digged up twelve great Pots, in each Pot was a Carcase of a little Child.  
We are told, that the Multitude of Bastards are so great at Rome, that they are constrained to build particular Monastries, wherein they are brought up, and that the Pope is named their Father; and that when any great Processions are held in Rome, the said Bastards go all before the Pope. If the Pope be accounted Father to all the Bastards, that may call the Whore of Babylon Mother, I suppose he may have as many Children every day in the year, as that Countess had at a Birth, namely, as many as there are days in the year.  
Our Histories tell us, That John de Crema, a● Italian Cardinal, was sent over from Rome to England, with his bigness and bravery, to bluster our English Clergy out of their Wives, he made, 'tis said, a most gaudy Oration in the commendation of Virginity; and on the same Night at London he was caught in Bed with a Harlot. See F. H. B. 3. p. 23. But the Cardinal might far sooner and easier be permitted his Concubine or Harlot, than the English Clergy their lawful Wives, the Pope being Judge.  
We find afterwards, that the Clergy paying a Fee or Fine to the Pope, were tolerated their Concubines: And this custom was so general, and thought so justifiable, that when one of the Priests pleaded he had no Concubine, it was answered straight, Habeat si velit, solvat pecuniam, He may have one if he will, let him pay his Money.  
Yea, it has of late days been maintained, That Marriage in a Clergyman, is a greater sin than Fornication, if not than Adultery; and yet their Schoolmen, Thomas and Scotus, that in other things differ, agree in this, That the single life of Priests, is not by Scripture prohibited, but by the Constitutions of the Church.  
What shall we say to these Men that make it a greater sin to break the Law of the Church, than the Commandments of God? Sure we are, 〈◊〉 Scripture prohibits the Marriage of Priests or Ministers of the Church. The Apostles were no more enjoined to forsake their Wives, than their Father and Mother, House and Land; and that saying of our Saviour, That whosoever did forsake father or mother, or house and land, or wife for his sake, respected those that were not Apostles, as well as them that were. 'Tis well noted by our Church Historian, that Enoch walked with God, and begat sons and daughters: In which Enoch, saith he, met the threefold capacity of King, Priest and Prophet: He made not a Prayer the less for having a child the more; and let us be but alike holy with Enoch, and let others be more holy with Anselm and Dunstan, that opposed the marriage of the Clergy here in England. They say of the latter, that he took the Devil by the nose; how true that is I know not, but in this point, forbidding to marry, being a doctrine of Devils, 'tis true enough, that the Devil led him by the nose. If that place be urged, 1 Cor. 7.33. where the Apostle saith, that he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. The Historian answers, These things are vitia m●●iti, not matrimonli; uxoris, not uxoratus, flowing neither from the exercise of marriage, but only from the depraved use thereof, which by God's assistance and man's best endeavours, may be rectified and amended. So he.  
That other saying of the Apostle in the same Chapter, Defrand ye not one another, except it be with consent, for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and come together again, that Satan tempt you not, by reason of your not having the gift of continency, doth not justify the Popish Prohibition of marriage; for that Interdiction of the Marriagebed is voluntary, by mutual consent of the parties, and temporary only, durante bene placito: But the Popish Prohibition is impulsive, by the power of others; and perpetual, to continue during their lives, F.H.b. 3. p. 22. woe to them by whom so great offences and scandals come, as do daily in the Papacy, from the forbidding to marry. If marriage be a Sacrament, why should the Priest be Interdicted the use of it? and if it be uncleanness, as the Marcionites and Manichees taught, why are the common people, the Laity indulged it? There were, I know, the Scripture saith, Mat. 19.12. some that made themselves Eunuches for the kingdom of heaven: But our Saviour hath laid upon his Disciples, whether Ministers or ordinary Christians, no such unnecessary burden. If a man have the gift of continency, which is not a common, but a proper gift, he may receive it, but not in origen's sense, who allegorized other Scriptures, and 'tis said, took this in a literal sense; by the same reason we should cut off our right hands, and pluck out our right eyes, and dismember ourselves, and destroy our bodies, lest they should be occasions and instruments of sin to us: But this way of interpreting those sayings of Christ in the Gospel, would be contradictory to God's Law, viz. the Sixth Commandment. The Apostle Paul saith indeed, Mortify your members which are upon earth, which he expounds to be fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence, etc. But whilst the Church of Rome would compel her Priests and Nuns to be like the Angels of Heaven, neither marrying, nor giving in marriage, 'tis too apparent, they occasion many to be worse than Beasts, and to be delivered over to the unclean Spirit, or to be possessed with an unclean Devil.  
It is marked, that those who have neglected the remedy of marriage, which God hath prescribed, have in vain used other means and methods of cure. In vain, as to the cure of Concupiscence, did St. Jerome strike his breast with stones, St. Francis embrace and kiss the snow, to cool himself, and quench this fire of Lust; and St. Benedict strip himself naked, and lie among the thorns. In vain do the Romish Priests and Nuns make Vows os Celibacy, or Single-life; they Vow that which is not in their power, that is, to live always single, and yet chastely; whereas the gift of continency is a proper gift, and rarely given. If they say, they will pray for this gift. But where hath God promised to hear such prayers, it not being necessary to salvation to live chastely, without using the remedy. God gave not this gift to those he loved dearly, to Moses, to Aaron, to Samuel, to David, to Isaiah, etc. Ignatius and Ambrose tell us, that all the Apostles except John, were married; Philip the Evangelist had four Daughters; and Platina in the Life of Cletus the first, saith, that St. Luke was married, and that his wife was in Bythinia.  
'Tis a fond saying, an imagination of these men's brains, that the Apostles had wives, but that after their undertaking the Office of Apostleship, they never accompanied with them; they may as well say, they left for ever all propriety in their children, in their houses, in their fisherboats: But we see that they did not, St. John had his house, wherein he entertained the Blessed Virgin Mary after the death of our Saviour.  
Again; as to the Vows of Monks and Nuns, ordinarily they are made unwillingly, or without knowledge of what they do, and whether they shall have power to contain. Men make their daughter's Nuns at twelve years of age, and their sons Monks at fourteen, when they know not what Concupiscence meaneth, and which after kindling, burns more violently, like cinders covered over with ashes, at last break out violently into a flame. Witness the unchaste lives of many that are under this Vow of Chastity. But if they cannot contain, it is better for them to marry than to burn; better break an unnecessary and unlawful Vow, than the Commandment of God; better a Priest, or Monk, or Nun, their Vow notwithstanding, marry, than to break the Commandments of God, and their Vow in Baptism. 'Tis horrid to think that the Popes forbidden marriage, and permit or tolerate fornication and adultery in their Priests as a less crime than marriage.  
Again, That although a man that hath had two Wives, be accounted irregular in the Papacy, yet he that hath had divers Concubines is not, as Pope Innocent III. declareth. If for the strengthening of their unlawful Vows, they urge that of the Apostle, 1 Tim. 5.11, 12. where he saith, Refuse the young widows; for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have broken their first faith. This may be answered from the context, namely, that younger widows should marry, and guide the house, and not be received into the Office of Deaconesses, of being servants to the Church, to relieve or look to the sick, and to secure the poor, because such persons, if they should make such a promise to the Church, to continue in that state all the days of their life, would be apt to break it, either by being wanton against Christ, committing fornication, or else would be under the power of their husband, and so not be at liberty to serve the Church. Now therefore the Apostle concludes, that none should be received into the Church as Deaconesses, under the age of threescore, at which time, saith one, the Vow of not marrying would be ridiculous. Therefore the Pope and his Clergy, saith Dr. Fulk, admitting other widows or virgins to profess or vow Continency, do sin against the express Commandment of the H. Ghost. Nor was the want of Monasteries, and Monkish and Nunish Rules and Orders in the Apostles times, the occasion of this Prohibition or restraint: For, saith my Author, the Incontinency of Nuns and Monks in Cloisters, and under all your Rules and Orders, hath and doth daily give sufficient proof, that Lust will not be kept out by the walls of your Monasteries, nor by the Rules and Prescripts of your Orders. So then as the experience of some younger widows that had followed after Satan, was a sufficient reason to cause the Apostle to refuse all young widows to the Office of Deaconesses; so the experience of so many Milch Nuns, and filthy Monks and Friars, teach us, that no young persons are to be admitted to any Vow or Profession of perpetual Continency. Let me add here what the said Doctor hath out of Wierus de Praestig. Daemon. l. 3. cap. 9, 11. edit. 3. That the Devil helpeth the Nuns in their abominable lusts, in divers Nunneries in Germany, namely, in the Province of Colen, where the Devil in the likeness of a Dog, was seen to fall upon them in the day time, in most beastly manner, about the year of our Lord, 1558. also in the Nunnery of Nazanth in Colen, the Nuns in most filthy manner, suffered the same illusion oftentimes, in the sight and presence of many, anno 1564.  
The state of the Church, saith Gerson Chancellor of Paris, is grown altogether bruitist and monstrous; and should give an Item to the Overseers to inquire, whether the Cloisters of Nuns, be not become the Stews of Harlots— and who would think, saith the Author of the Triumph of Rome over despised Protestancy, that so wise a man as Caesarius Branchedorus could so far overreach as to say, that the lusts of whoredom and gluttony, and other shameful enormities, had gotten such a head, that young men did pati muliebria, and Priests did facere virilia; and that their Nuns did, as it were, openly profess unchastity; and at last, that whosoever was noted to be a shameless Adulterer, or a wild Ruffian, that had lavished out all his Patrimony, anu, pene, ventre, was sure to betake himself to the Court of Rome as his Sanctuary. And again, Who could have looked for such language to fall from so grave an Author as Espencaeus, that our Ancestors wished, that our Clerks should turn their wives into their sisters; but now our age turns them into Lemen and Whores, and consequently their lawful issue into Bastards. And again, God hath taken away our sons, and the Devil hath given us Nephews; and could imagine that so learned and ingenious a ●●n as Erasmus would so far wrong his neighbours, as to say, that a number of Monasteries are so degenerated, that the Stews are more chaste, and sober, and modest than they.  
The supplication of Beggars tendered to King Henry VIII. assured him, that by virtue of the Sacred Votaries, there were a hundred thousand Whores in this our Nation. Friar Menolem in the Pulpit cried to the Clergy, Ye my Masters of the Church, do not damn your souls: Ye have now Birds in the Cage that chirp to you by night; it know my meaning, put them away. So the Author of Rome's Triumph over despised Protestancy, which some say was Bishop Hall.  
Our Church Historian tells us, that King Stephen's fury fell most fiercely on the Dean and Canons of Paul's, for crossing him in the choice of their Bishop; for he sent and took their Focaria's, that is (Roger Hoveden being Interpreter) their Concubines, and cast them into the Tower of London; where they continued many days, not without much scorn and disgrace, till at last those Canons ransomed their liberty at a great rate, F. Hist. Book 3. p. 27.  
From these premises, I hope we may safely draw this good and honest Conclusion, That marriage is not to be prohibited to a whole Order of men within the pale of the Church, neither directly, nor by consequence; and that 'tis not expedient to suffer young men, and young maids or women to vow Celibacy all their lives.  
It was piously said of Pope Pius the second, That for great causes Priests wives were taken from them, but that for greater causes they ought to be restored to them again: See Platina in the life of the said Pope.  
It is better to marry than to burn, saith St. Paul; and the Canons of St. Paul's Church aforenamed, had much better have had Wives than Focaria's, Fire-makers, or Concubines.  
How horrible is it that the Church of Rome doth hold, That 'tis much better, and less offence, for a Priest to use another man's wife, than to marry one of his own, after that he hath once accepted and married our dear Mother the holy Church for his wife during life.  
But leaving such Apocryphal Doctrine of the Romish Church, I come to the Canon of the holy Scripture, 1 Cor. 7.2. To avoid fornication, let everyman (and therefore Spiritual persons are not exempted) have his own wife, and every woman (and therefore Nuns are not interdicted) have her own husband, and to avoid fornication it is enjoined; and therefore all persons of both Sexes, who have not the gift of Continency, are bound to marry; nor can any Vow or Oath be vinculum iniquitatis, i. e. a Bond of Iniquity, and oblige against God's Law, which saith, Thou shalt not commit Adultery; and, It is better to marry than to burn. Besides, if two Oaths be taken, and the one contradict the other, the first is obligatory, and not the second. Now all Priests and Nuns in Baptism vowed to keep all God's Commandments, and therefore the Seventh, not to commit Adultery.  
Those Scriptures, Be ye holy, for I am holy; and, Pray continually, concern all Christians, as well as Priests and Professed persons; and therefore if they be interpreted to oblige from marriage, they oblige the Laity as well as the Clergy, to use the ordinary distinction. Besides, Aaron and his Sons, though married persons, were daily both morning and evening to attend upon the Sacrifice, and to burn Incense every morning, Exod. 30.7. and this Incense was a Type of Prayer, which every Christian, whether married or single, is bound to offer up unto God daily. As for holiness, Matrimony is not inconsistent with holiness, witness Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Aaron the servant of the Lord, and Enoch that walked with God, and yet did not forsake his wife and children; and 'tis observable, that the Bosom of Abraham, although a married person, is used to set out Heaven by in the Scripture. If Heaven had been set out by the Bosom of any Saint in Heaven, that had always led a single life on earth, what triumphs would Rome have made on that occasion. And whereas 'tis said, Rev. 14.4. Those that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, these are they which are not defiled with women, for they are Virgins. Certainly Christ is followed whithersoever he goeth, not only by the blessed Saints that have led a single life, but also by married persons, as Patriarches, Apostles, Martyrs, and innumerable others, as the Scripture speaketh, 2 Cor. 5.6. 1 Thess. 4.17. And the Apostle speaks of all kind of true Believers, 2 Cor. 11.2. These are bought from among men, to be first-fruits unto God and the Lamb; these are dedicated, as first-fruits used to be, unto God. They are called ('tis thought) Virgins, because they adhered to Christ, when the Whore of Babylon had made all the Kings and Nations of the earth drunk with the cup of her fornication. It is conceived this place may have reference to those Israelites that were enticed to Idolatry by the Midianitish women; and 'tis frequent in Scripture to call, or compare Idolatry to Adultery or Fornication; because God's people are betrothed and married unto him, he is their Husband, and they his Spouse, and when they go after Idols, they are said to give God a Bill of divorce, and to go a whoring after other gods. Or, as Dr. Hamond on the place, These are they which had kept pure from all the heretical Gnostick corruptions of uncleanness. Where there is neither spiritual nor carnal Fornication or Adultery, there is no defiling with women; for the marriagebed in Scripture-Dialect is the bed undefiled, and to the pure all things are pure. The unbelieving husband, is sanctified by the believing wife; and the unbelieving wife, by the believing husband, and therefore are their children holy. If marriage was filthiness, or uncleanness, or a vice, or that married persons could not please God, doubtless the H. Ghost would never have said, Marriage is honourable amongst all, and therefore amongst Clergy men; nor would our blessed Saviour have been born of a Mother, though a Virgin, yet espoused and married to a husband, namely to Joseph. Marriage, one saith, fills earth, and Virginity heaven; but if there were no Saints in earth, how should there be any in heaven? if earth were empty, how could heaven be full of Saints? He did not commend his Sex that said, a woman was a necessary evil, for how evil then must man be deemed, for whom such an evil is necessary? and I take him to be a fool as well as mad, that being asked, whether he was married? he answered, He was never so mad yet; for I dare say, there are more made sober than mad by marriage. I presume, that Hypochondriacal Melancholy, a species of madness, doth more seize and distract single, than married married persons. And confident I am, as one saith, that the Patriarches did converse with many wives more chastely, than many do now adays with one; so that many live now more holily and chastely in Wedlock, than others in their Cloisters and Cells. And if when a voice from heaven calls to single persons, whether man or woman, whether Ecclesiastical or Temporal persons, Let every man have his own wife, etc. Let them not say or reply, I do not meddle with any state that is common or unclean. If they should, I reply to them again, What God hath cleansed, or rather always accounted a pure, holy and undefiled estate, that call not thou common or unclean.    

CHAP. III. Qualifications requisite in them that marry.  
AS for the Qualifications of a Husband or Wife, I would advise all to look at true Religion in the first place, that those that marry, may be said to marry in the Lord. If I mistake not, this was that King James advised Prince Henry unto, v. B.Δ. 2 b.p. 72. etc. When Solomon married the Daughters of a strange god, than he fell to tolerate, if not to worship their Idols.  
Next to Religion, I should commend a Suitable Disposition, and a Conformity in Manners, that man and wife may delight in the society and converse one of another. And as I would not have a man or woman marry merely o● chief by their eyes or fancies; so neither would I advise a marriage betwixt those that have an averseness or antipathy at first sight each to other. I would have a natural, free and unenforced affection before marriage. When there is no other affection 'twixt parties than what is the fruit of Ratiocination, or Syllogisms, I would never persuade a marriage: Syllogistical love, such as is raised thus: 

Every man must love his wife:  
But this woman is my wife;  
Therefore I ought to love her.    
And so on the part of the woman in reference to her husband.  


Every woman must love her own husband:  
This man is my husband;  
Therefore I must love him.    
I say, this love goes so far about, that it is like to be long before it bring home affections. Nature is always at hand, and natural affections are up at first view; but Reason, Religion and Grace too, are sometimes to seek, or held off at distance by Passion. 'Tis true notwithstanding, that those that match merely by the eye, many times meet with their match, an eyesore, or a very thorn in their eye; and that beauty which was a Loadstone to attract their love, proves a snare to others, and a torment to themselves, whilst it draws others eyes to the same object, and occasions jealousy. And if neither of these happen, as oftentimes both do, yet a disease, a sickness, or at least old age changes the beautiful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, into a Chaos; and the most lovely countenance, into an object in which thou wilt say, I have no pleasure.  
Next, let me advise you not to marry by the ear, not for honour, or great parentage, and noble Titles; for these without virtue and money, are of small value, an empty sound, a tinkling cymbal, yea, more discord than harmony for the most part in such matches, and hence ordinarily is the worst sort of marriage-musick. Imparity in birth and parentage makes odds, where all should be even; the one oft lords it in this case, and the other is but a servant, and a servant to to their fellow yoke-fellow, a servant, underling to all their high kindred, and often despised by their own servants. 'Tis in such families oft as 'tis in the Family of Hawks, the males are the underlings, and the females have the respect, the glory, the mastery.  
I should further advise, not to marry by the hand or weight, merely for money: To marry World or Mammon, this is next to marrying the Devil. 'Tis true, a wise Counsellor advised his Son to marry a wife with something, because nothing could be bought in the Market without money: Yet a mateh merely for money, is not of Gods making, nor man's making, God never appointed, nor ever approved of such matches; and I have seen a Picture of three marriages, one said to be made by God, another by Love, and a third by the Devil, and this third in the Picture was, when two old covetous wretches married together, that they might join house to house, land to land, and bag to bag. It was well observed by Mr. Herbert Palmer, in his little piece of making Religion one's business, that he never found in all the Scriptures, amongst all the ends of marriage, that God ordained marriage to make one rich. And if so, then if we will make that the chief end of marriage, which was never by our Maker and the Author of marriage, intended or designed any end at all, how much are we degenerated! how have we degraded ourselves, and sunk God's Ordinance into earth, mire and dirt! If I mistake not, the Jews, and our Ancestors the Saxons, used to purchase their wives with gifts or dowries: Hence the custom with us, of laying Gold and Silver upon the Book, in the Solemnisation of Matrimony, and the Minister's giving it to the Bride; and perhaps also those words in the Office appointed on the man's part, with a●●y 〈…〉 goods I thee endow; and the money given at that time, was an earnest of the rest. A good wife at any rate, is a good bargain. I had much rather give money to buy a wife, then sell myself to purchase a rich one. Intolerabili nihil est quam faemina dives: he that marries for 100 s. & 1000 s. a 100, a 1000 to one but he is overwived. As he that marries above himself for honour, is like a ship that hath too much sail for its ballast; so he that marries below himself for money, is like a ship over-laden, that hath too much burden for its sails, and so is in danger of sinking. They that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and dangerous lusts, which drown men in perdition.  
Well then, marry neither only or chief for beauty, by the eye; nor for honour, by the ear; nor for money or wealth, by the hand; but find out a meet helper, a suitable yoke-fellow, one whom you are sure you shall love, because you do love her, and that too for her Virtues and Qualifications, so decently lodged, that you cannot but be pleased to dwell with them.  
To conclude this particular about the choice of a wife, and conversation with a wife, let me mind you what Wisdom itself adviseth, namely, To marry in the Lord, A woman that feareth God, of a meek and quiet spirit, in whose lips is the Law of kindness, in whom your heart can safely trust, a good housewife, that will look well to the ways of her household, and will not eat the bread of idleness, Prov. 31.  
And that you may hope for such a blessing, the greatest earthly felicity; for your preparation to marriage, take King James his advice to his Son Prince Henry, Keep your body clean and unpolluted, till you give it to your wife, to whom only it belongeth; for how can you justly crave to be joined to a pure Virgin, if your body be polluted? why should the one half be clean, and the other defiled?  
As for the time of your marriage, defer not to marry till your old age; for marriage was ordained to quench the lust of youth. Marry not a woman unable, either through age, nature or accident for procreation of children; neither marry one of known evil conditions, or vicious education; for the woman is ordained to be a helper, and not a hinderer to man. Add hereunto as accessions, as that wife Prince adviseth, if they may be had, Beauty, Riches, and Friendship by Alliance in your marriage; because Beauty increaseth your love to your wife, contenting you the better with her, without caring for others; and Riches and great Alliance, do both make her the abler to be a helper to you: Marry especially to one of your own Religion, weigh and consider how you and your wife can be one flesh, and keep unity betwixt you, being members of two opposite Churches: Disagreement in Religion brings on with it, disagreement in manners. When you are married, saith the Royal Author, keep inviolably your promise made to God in your marriage; and for your behaviour to your wife, the Scripture can best give you counsel therein: Treat her as your own flesh, command her as her Lord, cherish her as your helper, rule her as your pupil, and please her in all things reasonable, but teach her not to be curious in things that belongs her not. Ye are the head, she is the body; it is your Office to command, and hers to obey, but yet with such a sweet harmony, as she should be as ready to obey, as you to command; as willing to follow, as ye to go before: Your love being wholly knit unto her, and all her affections lovingly bend to follow your will. Three Rules he especially gives the Prince concerning his wife; Hold her at the Oeconomick Rule of the house, and yet all to be subject to your direction— Keep carefully good and chaste company about her; for women are the frailest Sex— And be never both angry at once, but when you see her in passion, you should with reason danton yours. B.Δ. 2 b. p. 82.   

CHAP. IU. Of Children.  
ONe great end of Marriage, is the peopling the world with mankind, especially planting the Church with a holy Seed; because men and women, the individuals, die, they seek lawfully and rationally, by marriage, the conservation of their kind; and because men cannot avoid death, and live ever here, they seek to live after death in their posterity; when they are dead in their own persons, they have a kind of Resurrection in their children. Good and bad, Saints and sinners, and those of both Sexes too, are desirous of children; What wilt thou give me, saith Abraham, seeing I go childless? and this Eliezar of Damascus, a stranger, born in my house, is my heir; and, Give me children or else I die, said Rachel.  
Increase and multiply, was one of God's first blessings to his Creatures, after their first creation. Fruitfulness is generally reckoned a blessing, as Barrenness a curse in the holy Scripture. God our heavenly Father, that hath the key of the clouds, he keeps the key of the womb: he opened Sarahs' womb, that she conceived a Son in her old age, and he fast shut up all the wombs in Abimelech's Court. Hence it is, that children are an inheritance of the Lord, and that it is accounted one of God's prerogatives, that he maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. And therefore because the Patriarches and Saints of the Lord were thus persuaded, they made their humble addresses and petitions at the Throne of Grace for children.  
The Jews tell us, that Abraham and Sarah put up their joint prayers to God for a Son; so did Hannab the Mother of Samuel, and we may probably guests, Zachary the Father of John the Baptist, whilst he ministered in the Temple and prayed; for we read, Luke 1.18. the Angel Gabriel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: And truly, if God give a child in answer to prayers, 'tis to be hoped, that such child will answer the Parent's prayers, and prove a blessing; and so did Isaac, Samuel and John the Baptist. I confess, that sometimes wicked men, who are described to be such, as call not upon God, have their fill of children, Psal. 17.14. and again, that they send forth their children like a flock; yea, and their children dance, Job 21.11. But yet I say, that children that are the fruit of prayers, are usually a double blessing; when as children bestowed on wicked Parents, who pray not for them, ofttimes prove a dismal curse to them. In the one sort, God, as it were, lights in his servants Families a Candle, that their names be not put out in obscurity: In the other, he permits a fire to be kindled, and that to a kind of wildfire, which soon consumes the whole house, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof. 'Tis a blessing to be fruitful, and to have our name continued; on the contrary, 'tis a curse to be barren, and to have our names blotted out; and therefore God provided, that if the elder Brother died childless, the next Brother was to raise up seed unto his Brother, and that was to be called after his Brother's name.  
The causes of Barrenness, are ofttimes:  
1. Disobedience to Parents: 'Tis just and equal that they should die childless, that do not honour their Parents, by whom, under God, they had their own Being's, Births and Lives.  
2. Adultery and Uncleanness: Those who lie with other men's wives, are punished with Barrenness in their own wives.  
3. Notorious Wickedness, and obstinate Rebellion against God: When a man is wicked overmuch, well may God in wrath say, Writ this man Childless, or, there shall no more of this man's seed be sown; and Job 18.19. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, not any remaining in his dwelling.  
4. An inordinate desire of great things in this world, and of the continuance of our Name and Family, Psal. 49.  
5. Persecuting of God's Saints and Servants, or afflicting the poor and needy, Psal. 109.13. Let his posterity be cut off, let his name be wiped out. Certainly on the other side, Fruitfulness is a blessing; and as a good Wife is the best Earthly blessing without us, so are Children a special gift of God. See Psal. 113.9. & Psal. 127.3, 4. Children are an heritage of Jehovah; the fruit of the womb his reward, or wages. Hebr. As Barrenness is threatened and inflicted sometimes as a curse, so is Fruitfulness promised and bestowed as a blessing; and yet God will be sought unto for this blessing. So did Abraham seek God for a Son, and obtained him: After Isaac had lived with his wife twenty years childless, they both (say the Jews) went to the Mount Moriah, and prayed there for a child, and God heard them.  
I should not advise Polygamy, as a means to be fruitful, and to multiply our Progeny. One wife seems enough, and often too much for one man to govern; and 'tis observed, that some who have allowed or indulged themselves the liberty or licence of many Wives, have had the fewest Children. Solomon's Wives and Concubines made up a thousand, and yet we read but of three Children he had by them all.  
2. Next to Prayer for Children, let me advise a serious resolution to bring up your Children which God shall bestow on you, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; resolve you and your Children will serve the Lord. Endeavour to be able to say to God at last, when you come to give account of these Talents, Of all thou hast given me, have I lost none: There is never a son or daughter of perdition amongst them, not a profane Esau, or a cursed Cham, nor a scoffing Ishmael, never a wandering Dinah, nor a mocking Michal; Lo, here am I, and the Children thou hast given me.  
3. Love God's Worship, the place of his Worship, and those that minister about holy things. It was to Hannah, praying at Shiloh; to Zachary, ministering in the Temple; and to the Shunamitish woman, that so courteously entertained the Prophet Elijah; and to the Mariner and his Wife, that in Q Maries Reign hid that eminent Doctor and Confessor, Dr. Sands, after Archbishop of York, to whom God gave Sons, after they had been childless a long time.  
4. Be you yourselves God's Children, his Sons and his Daughters, and he will give you Children, Sons and Daughters, or at least a name better than of Sons and Daughters, Isa. 58. & Psal. 128. Blessed are all they that fear God, and walk in his way— Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house— Thy children like Olive plants round about thy table— Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel. And this last Clause, brings to mind that saying of our Saviour, Luke 21.23. woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. If you ask why? it follows, For there shall be great distress in the land, namely, of Israel, and wrath upon this people. Else, save in case of war and desolation, or in case of trouble and persecution, as the times were like to be when St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. c. 7. Else, I say, Blessed are those wombs that bear, and the paps that give suck; the blessings of the breasts and of the womb, are the language of the Holy Tongue: And though in troublous times it is not good, i.e. expedient to touch a woman, yet in Serene times, and of Adam in Innocency, God said, it is not good for the man to be alone: And as we have a woe in Luke to those that are with child, so have we a We soli, a woe to him that is alone, in Ecclesiastes; distingue tempora & salves difficultatem, distinguish the times when, or of which these things were spoken, and you will easily reconcile our Saviour's words and his Apostles, with those of Solomon's. The Hebrew word Ben, which signifies a Son, comes from Banah, to build; and those Mothers who bring forth children, are said in Scripture to build up the house: So 〈…〉 prayed for Boaz his wife, Ruth, in this manner, The Lord make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachel, and like Leah, which two did build up the house of Israel; and I may say also, Which two did build up the Church of God. And if they built up God's Church on Earth, they made ready a people prepared for the Lord in Heaven: And as Jerusalem which is above, is said to be the Mother of us all, so in another respect, Jerusalem that is below, I mean the Church on Earth, doth bring forth Sons and Daughters to God, and is the Mother of all the Children of men, that are indeed also the Children of God, and Members of the new Jerusalem in Heaven, or above.   

CHAP. V Of the Education of Children.  
CHildren, of themselves a blessing, prove a cross and a curse too, unto their Parents, if not cultivated or well managed by a good Education. Teach a Child the way he should go, and he'll not forsake it when he is old: Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit ●dorem Testa diu. Although ragged Colts prove often good horses, yet let the horses run till they are six or seven years old, wild and unbroken, it will be a hard matter to tame and manage them. 'Tis good that a man bear the yoke in his youth: Blaspheme not, saying, A young Saint will prove an old Devil; rather, a young Devil is like to prove an old Beelzebub. You may bend the Oak as well as the Osier, whilst it is young and tender: Now, now is the time, the season, the very nick, article and joint of time, when you may turn your Children which way you please. Oh then, now teach them, mind them to remember their Creator in the days of their youth; bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let God have the first-fruits of their time, the flower of their age; dedicate them to God betimes, by engaging them to him and his service in the first place. God would have Children presented to him in the Temple at forty days old, our Saviour saith, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbidden them not, for of such is the kingdom of God: And our Lord was pleased with the children's Hosannas, as he road in Triumph to Jerusalem: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained or perfected praise, saith the Psalmist, Psal. 8.  
God of old called to young Samuel again and again, whilst he was a Child, rather than to old Eli. We keep a day to Commemorate the young Infants of about two years old, that were murdered for the cause of Christ, as well as of St. Stephen the Protomartyr, and of St. Paul the aged, that were put to death for the name of the Lord Jesus. God of old sealed the males amongst the Israelites at eight days old for his own, his peculiar Treasure. And if God will own your Children, why do not ye Parents present them to him? Children within the pale of the Church, God looks on as his Children: And if ye take his Children, your Sons and Daughters which you brought unto him, and offer them to Molock, to Baal, to Idols, or bring them forth, and up, to the Murderer, or the Abaddon, the Destroyer of souls, by evil or careless Education, a thousand times better had it been they had never been born. How will Children in Hell curse their Parents, that by their evil counsel, or evil example, or want of good Precepts, and good Patterns, brought them to the place of torment? Oh therefore teach them, by instilling good Principles into them betimes, and guide them by your good example; always be able to say to them, Be ye followers of us, as we are of Christ; or, Walk so, as ye have us for an example; drop good and precious instructions daily into these narrow mouthed Vessels, and when they are old, they will retain the good infused into them in their young days. Chasten them if they offend, if you love them, but in measure, that it may appear you love them. Correct them, but not in anger, lest they be discouraged, lest you provoke them to wrath also; lest your bitterness to them, embitter their spirits towards you. Teach them Affability, Courtesy, Gentleness, Humility, that as you love them, so may every body else; that so they may pass their time in peace and quietness, both at home, in their own bosoms, and abroad in the world.  
Next after they are fitted by a competency of Learning, for some honest and suitable Calling, be sure you dispose of them accordingly, considering what Bishop Sanderson hath left on Record in one of his Sermons, that Idle Gentlemen, and idle Beggars, are the pests of the Commonwealth: Let yours therefore be careful to maintain some honest Trades or Callings, that they be not unfruitful. These things are good and profitable unto men. Whereas the Grecians would have all Children to be bound to keep their Parents when old, the Athenians put in this Exception, Unless their Parents had taught them no Trade whereby to get their living. Every man, saith Mr. Perkins, besides his general Calling as a Christian, must have some personal, particular Calling to walk in, either public or private, either in the Church, or Commonwealth, or Family. Adam his personal Calling assigned him by God, was to dress and keep the Garden; and Christ the second Adam, lived with Joseph, saith Mr. Perkins, in the calling of a Carpenter: And hereupon it was, that the Jews said, Is not this the Carpenter, the son of Mary? Mark 6.3. Nor is it a calling to devote your Sons and Daughters to be Monks and Nuns in the Monasteries beyond Seas. The ancient Church, saith the same Author, condemned all Monks for Thiefs and Robbers, that besides the general duties of Prayer and Fasting, did not withal, employ themselves in some other Calling for their better maintenance,  
Give your Children then Callings: If you ask what Callings? I answer, 1. according to their Natural inclinations: And secondly, according to their Natural parts and gifts. Those Children which excel in the gifts of the body, bring them up to Mechanical Arts; those Children which excel in gifts of the mind, bring them up to the Liberal Sciences, to Academical Learning, that they may be serviceable thereby in Church or Commonwealth. Athanasius that famous Bishop, was first put to Learning, because he was found by the Sea side, doing the part of a Minister amongst a company of little Children like himself, examining and baptising them according to the solemn Order used in the Congregation. The Athenians, before they placed their Children in any Calling, did first bring them into a Public Place, where Instruments of all sorts were laid; and they observed, with what kind of Instrument they took delight; to the like Art after did they apply them with good success. Christian's may do well to follow the example of the Heathens in this so rational a practice: Choose Callings for your Children for which they are fitted, and to which they are inclined; they then will delight in their Employment, and their lives will be comfortable to them, their very Callings will be Recreations.  
After you have educated your Children, and trained them up in some honest Calling, provide timely a suitable Match for them. 'Tis the Parent's duty to dispose of their Children in Marriage; as appears plainly by these Scriptures, Deut. 7.3. Exod. 34.16. 1 Cor. 7.38. Where observe, saith my Author, that the Commandment touching the Marriage of the Child, 
Mr. Perkins.  is given to the Parent, not the Child. Thus Abraham took a wife for his son Isaac, and Isaac suffered himself to be disposed of by his Father; afterwards Isaac commanded his son Jacob to marry in the house of Laban, Gen. 28. and Jacob obeyed. I do not mean, that Parents may absolutely command their Child to marry this or that person, but to marry one thus or thus qualified, according to Rules of Scripture, and right Reason and Prudence, I say they may. Great is the power of Parents over their Children. In some Countries, Parents have power of life and death over their Children. Amongst the Jews, the Parents might sell their Children, to free themselves out of debt; and in case Children were disobedient and incorrigible, their Parents might bring them forth to be stoned to death by Gods Law.  
And this brings us to treat of the next Head or Argument (viz.) The duty of Children towards their Parents, Honour thy Father and Mother, saith the Law; Which is the first Commandment with promise, saith the New Testament, Ephes. 5. Parents must have a double honour, namely, of Reverence, and of Maintenance; Thou shalt fear thy Mother and thy Father. And again, according to our Saviour's Interpretation, the Pharisees Corban non obstante, Children were bound to provide for their Parents, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to do or show kindness to their Father and Mother; yea, those Christians who do not provide for their own Parents, are worse than Infidels. It is sad to think of what Luther observes, That one Father will more willingly maintain ten Sons, than ten Sons will maintain one Father: but where Children are unnatural to their Parents, God in just judgement suffers their Children to retaliate their unkindness unto themselves.  
'Tis memorable, the Story of the Father, who being drawn by his Son to the threshold of the house, by the hair of the head, cried to him, to draw him no further, for that he had drawn his Father no further; v. Robinson's Essays, p. 548. 'Tis observable, that Children are apt to slight their Mother most, and her especially in her old age. We are apt to break over the hedge where 'tis lowest; but the Law of God is a Mound and a Hedge in this Gap, charging us not to despise our Mother when she is old, Prov. 23.22. And there is a curse denounced against him, that setteth light by father or mother, and all the people were to say, Amen to it, Deut. 27.16. How terrible is that place, Prov. 30.17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out, and the young Eagles shall eat it. And he that slights his Parents for the infirmities that accompany their old age, or for their wrinkles, or hoary hairs, is very unreasonable. The natural affection and kindness of the Stork to its Dam, may be a witness against such Children, such worse than unreasonable men and women. Aeneas is called Pius Aeneus by the Poet; and why? because he carried his Father Anchises upon his back, at the destruction of Troy. We must do what we can to hid our Parent's nakedness: Remember Cham's, or his son Canaan's curse, who some say, first saw his Grandfather Noah, and went and told his Father, and is therefore cursed: We must think reverently of them, we must show outward reverence to them, bow down to them, or rise up before them; we must speak awfully to them, and respectively of them: We must obey their just and lawful commands; if they say, Go, we must go; if, Come, we must come; if, Do this, we must do it. We must provide necessaries for them if they want, afford them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, we must thus honour or reward them for their kindness to us. The Jews have a saying, What honour is to be given to Parents? the answer is, To give them meat and drink, and to  them and cover them. Let's endeavour to procure their hearty prayers for blessings to God upon us and ours, and dread the thoughts of their ill Wishes, Curses or Imprecations.  
'Tis memorable what St. Austin in his Civ. Dei, b. 22. cap. 8. relates, namely, Often Children, that being cursed by their Mother, went about quaking and trembling from one place to another like Vagabonds. And I have been very credibly told of a Son, that stamping on his Mother's grave, for madness because she had given him no more, thereby broke his leg. Though a man must love his Wife more than his Mother, yet he must reverence his Mother, rather than his Wife. We should honour our Parents living and dead, with Civil honour and respect; so Joseph fell on Jacob his Father, and kissed him when dead. Give them decent burial; so Jacob and Esau too, buried their Father Ifaac; and weep, or mourn, over them. David speaking of great sadness, saith, he bowed down heavily, as one th●● mourned for his mother, Psal. 35.14. and Joseph when he buried his Father, it was with a great and solemn mourning, and of a long continuance, Gen. 50.10. If the widows made great lamentation for the death of Dorcas, and shown the Coats that she had made for them, Acts 9.39. how much more should Children weep and mourn for their deceased Parents, from whom under God they had their Being's, their Lives, Education, Food and Clothing, and Portion and all.   

CAAP VI Of the loss of Children.  
IF God have given you Children, and taken them away again, yet be not like Rachel, weeping for her children, because they are not; Rather with Job say, The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord, Job 1.21. Better, I think, to have had Children, though we see them go before us to their grave, than to have been always Childless; for hereby God hath taken away the reproach and curse of Barrenness, and hereby you have helped to fill Heaven, and your Children are not lost, but gone, or sent thither before you. Job who had all his other goods doubled, had not a double number of Children; and this reason some give of it, because these were not lost, Job should meet with them again in Heaven. If your Children die in the womb, and never see the Sun, the Sun in the visible Heavens, yet may they for ever see the Sun of Righteousness in the highest Heavens; and surely 'tis a pleasant thing always to behold this Sun, in the vision and fruition of whom consists so much of our happiness. What though your children die in the womb, or go out of the world presently after they are born into it, yet may they see God, notwithstanding the opinion of the Father, that Duras Infantum Pater; and not withstanding the hardheartedness of the pretended Mother-Church of Rome, in this a Stepmother, rather than a true Mother to her Children. The Hebrew Children that died before the eighth day; and consequently before they were circumcised, and those Bethlemitish Children that were baptised in their own blood; and that child that being born, was also baptised and buried in the flames, being thrown into the fire again, the arms of that Midwife that delivered the Martyred Mother of a live child, doubtless were not excluded Heaven for want of a Sacrament, which they did in no wise neglect or contemn, but could not have; these being comprehended in the Covenant made and sealed to, and with their Parents had a right and title to the heavenly inheritance, were of with God, and coheirs with Christ.  
Again consider, That God may have taken away your Children from the evil to come on the place where they lived. When Storms, Tempests and Troubles are abroad, you Parents call home your Children, and so doth God. God saith by his Providence in these cases to his Children, though your Children also, Come my Children, enter into your Chambers, and shut the door, till all these calamities be overpast. 'Tis a common saying, Quem diligit Dous moritur Juvenis, he whom God loves, dies young; and sometime, and in some cases, God calls the sins of Parents to remembrance, and slays their Children. If so it be, this is a Lamentation, and aught to be for a lamentation: But upon your Repentance, God may give other Children in room of them he hath taken from you, or himself be better than ten Sons, than all Sons and Daughters could be unto you. Learn of Aaron the Priest of the Lord, who when he had lost Nadab and Abihu, both in one day, and after an extraordinary manner, did not say, If it be so, why is it thus? but saith the Text, And Aaron held his peace, Levit. 10.3. he was dumb, and opened not his mouth, because God had done it. Jonah was angry because God had smitten and withered the Gored, that came up in a night, and perished in a night, but Aaron acquiesced in God's handiwork, though he slew his two Sons by fire in an extraordinary manner, in all this Aaron sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, what dost thou? If thou art either barren, or by the death of thy child childless, thou mayest do well to educate others Children, you may adopt some Kinsman, or Friend, or Neighbour's Child, and cultivate them, and sow the seeds of Virtue and Learning in them, and make such your heirs; else make the Church, or Poor your heirs, and do not prodigally therefore waste your Estates, or live idly and wastefully.  
Again, If you have no Child, be humbled under the want of this blessing, for Children are so, and then increase and abound more in your Devotions towards God; the less you are to care for the things of the world, the more reason you have, and the more care you should have, how to serve and please God, 1 Cor. 7.   

CHAP. VII. Of Parents that have bad Children.  
IF Parents have Children, and they prove crosses to them, how great is that cross! If blessings, prove curses; if comforts, turn to sorrows; and your light be darkened in the Heavens thereof, how great is that darkness! And yet this may be the case of a good man or woman; for Parents are Parents, as men and women, and not as Christians; and Grace and Virtue is not Ex traducè, is not propagated. A righteous Noah, had a profane Cham; a good David, a rebellious Son Absolom. Of some Children we may say, Blessed is the womb that bore them, and the paps that gave them suck! of others, It had been good for them, and for their Parents too, if such children had never been born: 'Tis more tolerable to have none, than wicked Children. It is the Speech and Protestation of King James in his Preface to his Book to the Prince, I protest before that great God, I had rather not be a Father, and Childless, than be a Father of wicked Children. I charge you (saith he) as ever you think to deserve my fatherly blessing, to follow and put in practice, so far as lieth in you, the Precepts hereafter following: And if ye follow the contrary course, I take the great God to record, that this Book shall one day be a witness betwixt me and you, and shall procure to be ratified in Heaven, the Curse that in that case here I give unto you. And I find in the life of Reverend Mr. Robert Bolton, that he had told his Children so much, both in the time of his sickness, and before, he verily believed that none of them durst think to meet him at that great Tribunal, in an unregenerate estate. I confess; 'tis a sad Meditation for a Parent to think of the life or death of a wicked Child. David, that was presently comforted for the death of the young Child he had by Bathsheba, refused to be comforted for the death of Absolom, sorely lamenting, Oh Absosom, my Son, my Son, I would to God I had died for thee, Oh Absolom, my Son, my Son, 2 Sam. 18.33. It is thought it was for the manner of his death, the ill condition he died in, and for his Soul, that he pierced his heart so deeply, and that he wept so sorely. Let good Parents that have bad Children, give them good counsel, and good example, and pray daily with all earnestness, for the return of their Prodigals. St. Augustine's Mother Monica, her Prayers for her Son, when a Manichee, were heard at last, and he was converted, and became one of the greatest and best Lights of the Church since the Apostles times. 'Tis thought one cause why Hezekiah wept so sore at the tidings of death was, because he was then Childless; but could the Prophet have told him, that he should have such a Son as Manasseth, that should commit such abominations, how needs must such tidings have made his ears to tingle, and pierce his heart thorough with many sorrows. Yet this may somewhat alleviate Parents grief that have bad Children, Manasseth when he was in Chains, sought the Lord, and was found of him at the last, and that out of his loins, by his Son Amon, came the Mirror of Kings, King Josiah. And if thou hast matter of sorrow from thy own immediate Child, thou mayest have abundant cause of rejoicing from thy Grandchild; thy children's Children may praise the Lord, and this may be part of thy happiness, thus to see thy children's Children, and peace upon Israel. And sigh so it is, that sometimes godly Parents have ungodly Children, this should moderate your desire of Children, and your grief for the want of them. Let none be so impatient or passionate as Rachel, saying to God, or their own Husbands, Give me Children, or else I die. It may further be considered, that if yet good Parents have divers towardly Children, yet if they have one profane person, as Esau, it may break your hearts more than all the rest can comfort you. Like as in the Natural body, there is more grief by the aching of some one part, though but a tooth, than ease and comfort in all the rest that are found and well. And this consideration, though it ought not to make us judge Children no blessings, or not the gift of God, or to be lightly esteemed; yet may it put us upon being as earnest, for to have our Children to be born again, as to be born at first; to have them Gods Children by Grace, as ours by nature; and to have his Image and likeness on their Souls, as ours on their bodies. When the Parents are in Covenant with God, and endeavour their utmost to educate their Children in the fear of God, it usually follows, that their labour is not in vain in the Lord. The Israelites, the holy Scriptures tell us, their Sons and their Daughters, which they had born unto God, they sacrified unto Devils, Psal. 106. 37. Which in a Spiritual sense we do, saith one, if we either neglect instructing them, or praying to God for them; or walking exemplarily as we ought before them. or correcting them duly, or any such means as by which the seeds of Grace may grow and prosper in them, Rob. Ess. p. 532, 533.   

CHAP. VIII. Of Adultery and Fornication, etc.  
ALL sin is accounted filthiness and uncleanness, and compared to the filthiest things, Scum, Mire, Vomit; but this sin is signanter, called the fin of Uncleanness; 'tis called also Abomination, Ezek. 22.11. and Neighing, Jer. 5.8. These sins are usually secret sins, and therefore most frequently committed, pleasing sins; stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret: and men are prone to forget these sins: the Whore wipes her mouth, and thinks all well. 'Tis observed, that the Sacrifice which was offered for the woman suspected of Adultery, was called an Offering of Memorial, because it was not offered to put away sin, but to bring it to mind, or to remembrance, if it was committed. Adultery by God's Law, was punished with death, either, as the Rabbins say, by strangling, or they were to be thrust thorough with a Javelin, as Phineas executed Zimry or Cosby; or they were to be stoned with stones, if the Damsel that was defiled was betrothed; see Deut. 22.23, 24. or else by burning with fire, if she that played the Whore was a Priest's Daughter, and in her Father's house, Leu. 21.19. One expounds this, of hot Lead poured into her mouth: This punishment was called, Combustio animae; this punishment, they say, was used in aftertimes in imitation too of Gods punishing with Lightning, whereby the outward parts are not hurt, and the inward burnt up, as in the example of Nadab and Abihu.  
If any wonder at what was said before, (viz.) that the punishment of her that was betrothed, in case she was defiled or vitiated, that it was greater by God's Law, than of her that was married; Grotius gives this Reason, Because she was not in her husband's custody; as stealing a sheep out of the field, was punished more severely, than stealing a sheep out of the fold. Another Author gives these Reasons, 1. Because she gave away her Virginity, which her husband most esteemed. 2. She broke her promise in so doing, Deut. 22.23. 3. She wrought folly in her Father's house, Deut. 22.19. 4. She was not only dishonest to her husband in her first love, but dishonoured also her firstborn (whose honour and privilege amongst the Jews was very great) and you must not say her punishment should be less, because she was not another man's wife, for she is called a neighbour's wife, Deut. 22.24. and therefore she is said, v. 22. to be married to an husband, as if the party were her husband before: If so, we know God accounts Idolatry committed by his people Adultery, although the Church is but, as it were, espoused and betrothed to him here, and the wedding and wedding-supper to be in Heaven.  
Amongst the Nations, in some Countries, Adultery was punished by the loss of both eyes; in some by death. Amongst the Egyptians, by cutting off the nose, if he vitiated a free woman. In some Country, illi virilia execantur: The which also, saith Alexander ab Alexandro, was used amongst the Romans. The same Author, Gen. D. l. 4. c. 1. tells us, The Partbians punish no crime more grievously; that Opilius Macrinus condemned such to be burnt with fire; and that amongst the Arabians and other Nations, Adultery was always punished capitally: That divers Philosophers have accounted Adultery a greater crime than Perjury. In the Christian Church of old, those that admitted such to Communion who had fallen after Baptism, excepted those who were guilty of Adultery, Murder and Idolatry. Many and great are the threats against such sinners in the holy Scripture; disgrace and dishonour is threatened to their name, wasting and consumption to their bodies and estates, a dart shall strike through their liver: Lust is lodged in the Liver, and there it is especially punished; Whoremongers and Adulterers, especially, God will judge, Hebr. 13.4. Neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, etc. shall inherit the Kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 6.9.  
Dr. Heylin our Historiographer, writing of them any divisions in Hungary, into Romanists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Yet, saith he, all these different parties do agree in this, to punish Adultery and Fornication with no less a punishment than death; the Father forcing his Daughter, the Husband his wife, and the Brother his Sister to the place of Execution, H. G. p. 542. King James in his Advice to the Prince, with much zeal dehorts him from this sin of Uncleanness, p. 74. etc. Hear God (saith this English Solomon, this King-Preacher) commanding by the mouth of St. Paul, to abstain from Fornication, declaring that the Fornicator shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; and by the mouth of St. John, reckoning out Fornication amongst other grievous sins, that debars the Committers, amongst Dogs and Swine, from entry into that spiritual and heavenly Jerusalem. And because, saith he, sibbest examples touches us nearest, consider the difference of success that God granted in the Marriages of the King my Grandfather, and me your own Father; the reward of his incontinency (proceeding from his evil Education) being the sudden death, at one time, of two pleasant young Princes, and a Daughter only born to succeed him, whom he had never the hap so much as once to see or bless before his death; leaving a double curse behind him to the Land, both a Woman of Sex, and a new born Babe of age to Reign over them. And as for the blessing God hath bestowed on me, in granting me both a greater Continency, and the fruits following thereupon, you self and sib folks to you, are (praise be God) sufficient witnesses. And page 81. Have the King my Grandfather's example before your eyes, who by his Adultery, bred the wreck of his lawful Daughter and Heir, in begetting that Bastard, who unnaturally rebelled, and procured the ruin of his own Sovereign and Sister. And this brings to mind, that excellent Captain-General Gideon, who had by his Wives Threescore and ten Sons, and by his Concubine but one, viz. Abimelech, and he slew all these Threescore and ten Sons, except Joash, who escaped his hands, Judg. chap. 8 & 9 'Tis a sin to beget a Bastard, and a shame to be born one. 'Tis noted on Job 31. 10. where Job saith, Let my wife grind unto another man, and let others bow down upon her; the Septuagint render the last words, Let my children be abased. Jeptha, though a valiant, and a gallant, and good man, yet is recorded the base Son of Gilead, Judg. 11.1. 'Tis a reproach to be thus born, in Scripture-Heraldry; notwithstanding I have been told, that William the Conqueror, King of England, did use to style himself, Gulielmus Bastardus Rex Angliae, etc. God forbade a Bastard to enter into the Congregation of the Lord, to bear any Office, until the tenth Generation, Deut. 23.3. Yet that such persons may not be discouraged, let them know we have one example, though but one, and that is the example of Jeptha, a Judge, and a valiant man, and one eminent for his Faith, Hebr. 11.32. ranked amongst David, Samuel and the Prophets. 'Tis a blot to be base born, but this may be taken away, in a great measure, by good Education. And then, saith one, this should be no more a blot unto them, than if they wanted a hand or a leg; and as we blame not the stolen seed, when it is sown and groweth up, but those who stole the seed, so we should not blame the Child begotten out of Marriage (if he follow not his Father's footsteps) but only his Father who begat him. There hath been, saith he, profitable men in the Church, who have been basely born, as Lombard, Gratian, and Petrus Comestor, the Sons of one Whore, and Darius Nothus among the Persian Kings, and Hercules, Weem 3 Vol. p. 145. I know the Jews stood upon their Pantofles, and took it in great dudgeon, that our Saviour should tell them, they did not act like the Children of Abraham; they retort presently, John 8.1. We are not born of fornication. Yet I should dissuade from casting such an one's birth into his dish, or into his teeth, because never in his power to help it: And I should exhort such who are so base born, to endeavour to be born again, and then they are truly Noble and Honourable, the Sons of God, and Coheirs with Jeptha the Saint of the Lord.   

CHAP. IX. Of Second Marriages, and of the Qualifications of Ministers or Priests Wives.  
OF old they were accounted Bigamists, or Digamists, who had two Wives, not only at one and the same time, but successively one after another; and such were enjoined Penance by the Council of Laodicea, and Neo-Caesarea; and by the latter Council, a Presbyter was forbidden to be present at the Wedding-feast, lest he should seem to consent to such Marriage; and Bigamists were not received to the Communion without prayer and fasting, and repentance first enjoined and exercised: And by the ancient Canons, Bigamists were not to be admitted to holy Orders, Concil. Andegavense, Can. 11. Concil. Romanum, an. 467. Can. 2. Concil. Arelatense, 3. Decr. 2. Concil. Hispalense 2. Cap. 4. and the same is forbidden in the Apostolical Canons, Can. 17. And by the same Canons, such as otherwise might be capable of being Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons, are made incapable of being such, if they married a Widow, or a Whore, or one that was cast out by her own Husband, aut aliquam de iis quae publicis spectaculis mancipantur, Can. 18. or one that was a notorious frequenter of the Spectacles in that time.  
By the Law of God, the High Priest was not to marry a Widow, or a divorced Woman, or profane, or an Harlot; But he shall take, saith the holy Text, a Virgin of his own people to wife, Leu. 21.14. Another Priest was forbidden to take a Wife that was a Whore, or profane, or any woman put away from her husband, Leu. 21.7. but was not forbidden to marry a Widow: If the woman was not a Daughter of Israel, or had married to one that it was not lawful for her to marry, or had been defiled by constraint or unwillingly, or had been suspected of Whoredom by her Husband, though she had not been put to drink the water of Jealousy, yet by the Law (according to Matrimony) the Priest might not lawfully marry with her. The Priests of the old Law were not forbidden (except only the High Priest, a special type of Christ) to marry a Widow. The High Priest was not to marry a Widow, but a Virgin; ('tis thought) that so he might have her first love; and 2. lest she should prove with child, and bring in a strange seed into the Priesthood, provided against, Leu. 21.15. Again, he must not marry a divorced woman, because it was conjectured she was put away for some miscarriage or misdemeanour. 3. He must not marry one defiled, either voluntarily or violently, such a blot must not lie on his wife, lest it slain his Function. The Law allows the High Priest to marry, but a Virgin; Because, saith one, she may be more easily guided and ruled, and won to frame herself to duty and obedience. And in Ezek. 44.22. he was allowed to marry the Widow of a Priest; for it may be presumed, that such an one hath been already trained to Modesty, to Sobriety, to a chaste and sweet Behaviour, beseeming the wife of a Priest. Now although the Ministers of the New Testament are not prohibited, but expressly allowed to marry; yet must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things, and he that is in holy Orders, must be sure to order and rule his own house well, having his children in subjection with all gravity, 1 Tim. 3.4. & 11. This care being had, they being married, saith my Author, shall be as holy and honourable in their Function, as the Priests of the Old Testament, who being married, were said to have the Crown of God upon their heads, and to offer the bread of God, and to be after a special manner holy. And where 'tis said, 1 Tim. 3.2. & Tit. 1.16. that a Bishop must be the husband of one wife, etc. the meaning must be, that he must not be married to two wives at once, according to the custom of the Jews, nor have a Concubine, together with a lawful wife, accordng to the practice of the Gentiles; or he might not marry a second woman, after he had put away the first, without any lawful cause: But it seems to be very improbable, that the Apostle should seclude from the Calling of a Bishop or Presbyter, one that married a second wife, after the death of his former. Observe, it is not said, that a Bishop must be such a one as hath been the husband of one wife in time past; but he useth the present time, both in Timothy and Titus. The High Priest himself under the Law, might have a wife after his first wife, if she was dead; if he married a maid, which was a figure of Christ's Spouse, the Church, which was to be presented holy, and as a chaste Virgin to Christ: By the same reason that they may drive Ministers from their wives, they may also deprive them of all use of wine; and they may deprive Ministers of all use of meat, and command them to fast always, that they may be fit to pray always, as well as always to abstain from their wives: We never read, that the Levites that taught in the Synagogues (into the place of which our Churches succeed) were barred from the company of their wives. And consider, it may be as necessary to marry the second time, as the first, and sometime, and in some cases, perhaps more necessary [says Dr. Hamond.] The wife may die presently after Marriage, and without Children, and the second Marriage in that case tending as much to the ends of Matrimony (Comfort of life, Propagation, remedy of Lust) as the former can be supposed to do; it would then be strange to debar a Bishop or Presbyter in such a condition. chrysostom and Theodoret, with divers others, plainly and clearly teach this place to be understood as we do, that a Bishop should not have two wives at once. Erasmus upon the place, disliked the then practice of the Church of Rome, in forbidding Marriage to Bishops and Priests: Admittitur, saith he, incestus, admittitur homicida, admittitur pirata, admittitur Sodomita, sacrilegus parricida, denique quis non? solus digamus excluditur ab hoc honore, qui solus nihil admisit: And further, considering the times, and the ill consequence of the single life amongst their Clergy and Monks, he inclines to think they had better much to allow Matrimony to these persons: Nunc caelibes habet Mundus quamplurimos, castos perpaucos. Grotius saith, I confess, that amongst all Nations, second Marriages were less honoured, and amongst some, these were restrained by punishments. And that Tertullian is fierce against second Marriages, condemning them as unlawful, and interprets this of the Apostle, against a Bishops being twice married. Notwithstanding which Authorities, let the Scripture and right Reason be heard, and what hath been premised on this Argument considered, and you will have good ground and cause, not to call good, evil; I meann not to condemn 2. Marriages, whether in Laymen or Clergy. And if a Bishop may, without sin, marry a second wife, after he has buried his former, surely than he may lawfully marry at first: If he cannot contain, let him marry, he sinneth not, only let him marry in the Lord, an honest, grave, sober person, that may adorn, and not blemish his holy Function.  
The Romanists say, there are three special Crowns reserved in Heaven; one for Martyrs, a second for Virgins, and a third for Doctors: The Virgins, overcome the flesh; the Martyrs, overcome the World; and the Doctors, overcome the Devil. They have no such Crown for married persons; but although they have none for them, God hath laid up for them a Crown of Righteousness, even the like Crown of Righteousness for every one that loves the appearing of Christ, the Judge of quick and dead, as that Virgin Apostle, as most say, the Doctor of the Gentiles, and eminent Martyr, St. Paul, 2 Tim. 4.7, 8. Virginity, saith one, is not a Virtue in itself, and no more acceptable to God than Marriage is; and this he proves, Because all Virtues by Repentance may be restored: But Virginity cannot be restored, and therefore it is not a Virtue. Again, Because all Virtues in time and place are commanded: But Virginity is left free, and only Paul gives his advice to it, 1 Cor. 7. therefore it is not a Virtue. The same Author saith, That Virginity is not good in itself, but good for another end; when a man having the gift of Continency, lives a single life, that he may be more fit or free to serve God. The Papists glozing on the Parable of the Sour, say, That Virginity bringeth forth an hundred-fold; Widowhood, seventy fold; and Marriage, but thirty-fold.  
Great is the difference 'twixt the Ancient Church of God amongst the Jews, and the present Church of Rome in this matter; there in Psalm 78.63. The Virgins were not given in Marriage; or, were not praised, so the Hebrew signifies: But in this Church, the Virgins which are not married are most praised. Celibacy is made here a state of Perfection, or Supererogation and Meritorious; but if but one half be true which we find in our Chronicles, it had been happy for our Votaries, very many of them at least, that they had never known their Cells and Cloisters; they might have gone as near a way to Heaven out of the World, as out of their Monasteries. Bale, in his Book of the Acts of the Roman Bishops, saith. That when the King's Visitors in England, in the year, 1538. visited the Abbeys, they found in some of their Sties, rather than Religious Houses, five, in some ten, in some twenty Sodomites and Adulterers; of which some kept five, some seven, some twenty Harlots. And a later Historian tells us, That Barkley Nuns were all with child at once, and how Sir Henry Colt caused a Buckstal to be set in the narrowest place of the Marsh, from Cheshnut Nunnery to Waltham Abbey, and therein took the Monks of Waltham as they passed homewards in the night; and the next morning he brought and presented them to the King, namely, to King Hen. 8. who had often seen sweeter, but never fatter Venison; D.F.H. 6 b. p. 317. And 'tis reported that Dr. Smith, who disputed at Oxford against Peter Martyr, and who had written a Book for the Celibacy of Priests, was taken himself at Oxford in the manner, or in the very act. This is enough to prove, That 'tis much easier to make an Eloquent Speech, or write a Learned Book in Commendation of Single-life, and of Chastity in that condition, than to live so. If you Object the practice and praise of the Monks of Ancient times: I answer, That the Monks of old times, and our present Votaries of the Church of Rome, are very different.  
1. They lived single, without any Vow of Continency, these are Votaries.  
2. They had Callings, and got their bread in the sweat of their brows; these live idle most of them, and like Drones, consume the honey which others have gathered.  
3. They did not look upon that condition, as a state of greater perfection, and in itself Meritorious; these do.  
4. Some of them, as I take it, had wives; and these not, but esteem it more lawful to have a Concubine than a Wife.  
Those Monks were none of the Pope's licensing or founding; these are. We read of 12000 Monks of Bangor, that were destroyed by the King of Northumberland, for not stooping to Austin the Monk, upon the instigation as (History tells us) of Austin. The Original of Monkery, or the Pattern or Platform of it, is not taken in the Mount; viz. in or from the holy Scriptures; although perhaps, some would pretend that they imitate Jeptha's Daughter, or Elijab, and Elizeus, or the Nazarites, or St. John Baptist, or the Children of Jonadab the Son of Rechab. But who hath required these things at their hands, now under the Gospel, to tread in the steps of those ? and yet Jeptha's Daughter bewailed her Virginity, and so 'tis thought did yearly the Daughters of Israel lament on her account, or for her sake. As for our Nazarites, they might marry, and some were married, as Samson and Samuel. Again, the Monks and Anchorites of old, were necessitated to that Solitary life; these live so out of choice, voluntarily obliging themselves to this course. Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist, were all extraordinary Persons and Prophets, had extraordinary Calls, and are not to be imitated by ordinary Christians. It is noted by Mr. Perkins, that Jerome saith, in the life of Hilarion, that there was no Monk in Syria, 
See his Doctrine of the Problem.  before Hilarion, who was the Founder of that Profession in that Province. And chrysostom in the 25 Hom. ad Hebraeos, saith, That in Paul's time there was no sign nor step of any Monk. Monastical Profession began in the Church about 260 years after our Redemption, by Paul a Theban; or rather, saith my Author, about the three hundredth year by Antony. These Monks, or Hermit's, lived alone in Fields or Deserts.  
Basil, 'tis said, first invented Monasteries, and was head of the Monks.  
Basil, himself, Ep. 65. saith, That the Neo-Caesarians objected the Novelty of Monastical life against him. Besides, these Monks of old were Laymen, and not Clergymen; and Athanasius in his Epistle to Dracontius, saith, That he knew many, both Monks and Bishops that were married, and had Children. There were no Nuns, saith Mr. Perkins, until about two hundred years after Christ, and these lived continent and freely, privately, out of Monasteries. In Rome, Marcelia was one of the Nuns, about the year 400. vid. Hieron. in Epitap. Marcellae. St. Austin doth not approve of the idle lives of Monks. The Solitary life, saith one, is inferior to the common and ordinary life, because it is full of importunate cogitations, etc. neither do we speak this out of bare conjecture, but have learned it of those who have tried it, to be true. Ivo Carnotensis. Ep 258.  
I shall now give some Answer to the Objections against the married lives of the Clergy, or of men in holy Orders, taken from the Scriptures. The Scriptures that have been, are, or may most seemingly be alleged to the contrary are these, Those that are in the flesh cannot please God, Rom. 8.8. Be ye holy, for I am holy, 1 Pet. 1.16. Defraud not one another, except it be by consent, for a season, that ye may give yourselves to prayer and fasting, 1 Cor. 7.5. 'Tis good for a man not to touch a woman, 1 Cor. 7.1. He that is unmarried, careth how to please the Lord; but he that is married, careth how to please his wife, 1 Cor. 7.33. No man that is chosen to be a Soldier, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, 2 Tim. 2.4. Whosoever hath left Father, or Mother, or Wife, or House, or Land, for my sake, or the Gospels, shall receive a hundred-fold in this life, Mat. 19.29. There are that make themselves Eunuches for the Kingdom of Heaven; he that can receive it, let him receive it, Mat. 19.12. Younger widows reject; for when they wax wanton against Christ, they will marry, having damnation, because they have forsaken their first faith, 1 Tim. 5.11, 12. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but she that is married, careth for the things of this world, how she may please her husband, 1 Cor. 7.34. To these Objections from Scripture, I answer in general;  
1. That the Scripture directly and plainly allows Marriage to Ministers, equally as to any sort of men, 1. Saying, That Marriage is honourable among all men (and therefore amongst Clergymen) and the bed undefiled, Hebr. 13.4.2. And again, Let every man have his own wife, 1 Cor. 7.2. and if every man, than a Priest, or Presbyter may lawfully have a wife. 3. A Bishop must be the husband of one wife; and one that hath his children in subjection, with all gravity, 1 Tim. 3.4.  
2. I say, That the High Priest and Priests of the old Law, had liberty to marry; that Aaron the Saint of the Lord was married, and had Children; Nadab and Abihu, etc. that divers of the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour were actually married; that St. Peter, whose Successor the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, claims to be, was married, our Saviour healing S. Peter's wives Mother of a Fever, Mat. 8.14, 15. Nor doth it any where appear, that they did wholly forsake society with their Wives, any more than their Houses, Trades, Ships, to which they certainly sometime after, at least for a time, returned.  
3. That Scotus, Aquinas, Bellarmine, Franciscus à Sancta Clara, divers in the Council of Trent, and of the Romish Church, hold, that the Celibacy, or single life of Priests, is not the Jure Divino; and therefore cannot be proved out of Scripture, either by Precept, Institution, or Example.  
To the particular Scriptures, besides what hath been said before to several of them, I answer, That Rom. 8.8. Those that are in the flesh, cannot please God; must not be interpreted or understood, those that are in Wedlock cannot please God; because we know, that many Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, were married, and yet pleased God; and Enoch walked with God, and God took him up to Heaven, that he saw not death; for before he was translated, he had this Testimony, that he pleased God, Heb. 11.5. But by those that are in the flesh, must be meant, either those that adhere to the old Law, and slight the Gospel; or else those that are in a state of Nature, in an unregenerate estate, never as yet renewed in the Spirit of their minds, but still remain carnally minded, and drowned in the corruptions and sinful lusts of the flesh. To that of Peter, Be ye holy, for I am holy; it concerns all Christians, and if Marriage and Holiness could not consist together, neither Laymen nor Clergymen should marry; and again, Moses and Aaron, and God's people of old, to whom these words were spoken, were married persons, and not commanded thereby to put away their wives. To the third, 1 Cor. 7.5. Defraud not one another, etc. that it is said to all indifferently Laymen, as well as Clergymen, and that it forbids to separate the man from the society of the woman, or his wife, wholly and perpetually, but only for a time, and that too, that they might give themselves to fasting and prayer, and so come together again; and this too, was to be done by the mutual consent of man and wife.  
Here may be condemned then, the Romanists barring persons in holy Orders from Marriage, or in case they have been married before, from Conjugal fellowship with their wives whilst they live, and that whether the wife will or no. We never read, that the Apostles so left their wives, nor that ever they asked their consent so to do; and their saying, that the Apostles, although they were married, yet after they were called to the Apostleship, never did accompany with their wives any more, is gratis dictum, a mere say-so, a fancy of their own brain, without any good ground or foundation from Scripture, or sound Reason, or good Authority. To the fourth Scripture, viz. That 'tis good for a man not to touch a woman. I answer, Good there, is taken for expedient, and that by reason of the present distress, and the danger of persecution; in a married state or condition in such times, they should meet with troubles. To the fifth, viz. 2 Tim. 2.4. I say, that Soldiers do not use, whilst they are engaged in Military employment, to undertake and entangle themselves with merchandise or husbandry, etc. But this notwithstanding, the Apostle Paul did work with his hands to maintain himself, that he might not be chargeable to the Church of Corinth, because of false Teachers, who would have taken advantage, if he had been chargeable to that Church. And nevertheless, the Romanists do allow persons in holy Orders, to be Justices of the peace, Lord Chancellors, Ambassadors of Princes: And the Apostle Paul did allow of the Apostle Peter his having a wife; and I have been told, that ecclesiastics wives take on them, and off from their husbands, the cares of the Household and Family: so that by Marriage, they are freed from worldly cares, rather than immersed in them.  
The case is not now with Clergymen, as in the Apostles days; then the Church was poor and destitute, now she is rich, and her Officers are well provided with Houses, Glebe and Tithes, and necessaries for House-keeping and Hospitality; and now a Housekeeper, especially in times of peace, may be as expedient, as it was inexpedient in the Apostles time, and days of persecution. To the sixth, viz. Mat. 19.29. I answer, That if the times be so, that a man cannot be a good Christian, or follower of Christ, except he leave or forsake his wife, house, lands, etc. then he must leave all, or deny all these things and relations, rather than deny Christ; and that this concerns the Laity, as well as the Clergy. If our Saviour had ever taught any such Doctrine, as to part man and wife for the sake of his Religion, and as part of his Religion, how would the Scribes and Pharisees have replied unto him from his own mouth, That which God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Besides, it no where appears, that the holy Apostles did wholly and perpetually forsake the society of their wives; but rather, when they were to fly, took them with them, in case they would accompany them in their travels. To the seventh Scripture, I say, He that hath the gift of Continency may, if he sees that Marriage will prove a snare to him, and entangle him so in the cares of the world, that he shall not be free and able to serve God as he ought: I say, let not 〈◊〉 marry; but this is far from proving, that all 〈◊〉 in holy Orders, whether they have the gift or not, should vow Continency, or abstain from Marriage, in case of a mans not being able to contain. The blessed Apostle, who knew the mind of his and our Lord, hath left us a general Rule, Notwithstanding to avoid Fornication, let every man have his own wife, 1 Cor. 7.2. To the eighth Scripture, viz. 1 Tim. 5.11, 12. I answer, That as therefore because younger widows were likely (after they had made promises to live to their lives end (as Deaconnesses, to minister to the Church; in attending the sick and weak) to change their minds, and marry perhaps to Infidel husbands, and so be in danger of forsaking their Christian Religion, and prove a great scandal to Christianity, making it be ill thought of by the world; therefore the Apostle Paul would not by any means have these younger widows admitted into such Offices, but only such widows as were above threescore years old, and so out of the danger of desires of marriage, or altering their condition. So I could hearty wish, that no vow of Single life or Continency, might be put upon young persons of either Sex, upon pretence of admitting them to any Office, or of separating them to any special devotion, lest they be tempted to break such their Vows. This is the right and best use we can make of this Testimony. To the ninth Scripture, viz. 1 Cor. 7.34. I say, that it doth not condemn Marriage, ●● uncleanness or unholiness; but it imports and implies, that single persons, taken off from the care and solicitude about the world, may more commodiously serve God; and having the gift of Continency, they may purely serve God with body and soul, not being overcome with any temptation to Fornication or Uncleanness: Not but that he or she that is married, may and aught to be, and ofttimes are pure, chaste and holy both in body and soul. Marriage is honourable amongst all, and the bed undefiled; and the married as well as unmarried, may keep their vessel in Sanctification and honour, 1 Thess. 4.4. To that about Carefulness, etc. I say, That if God call his servants to a married condition, he can and will, if sought unto, give Grace to overcome those lets, and bear these persecutions they meet withal, so, as they may turn to helps and furtherances in the Kingdom of God, and to a richer Crown of Glory in the same, than the Virgins come unto; which because they never wrestled with such mighty temptations, cannot wear the like Crown of Victory that they do, v. T. C. in loc.  
The last place of Scripture that is alleged, is Rev. 14.4. These are they which are not defiled with women, for they are Virgins; these are they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth; these were redeemed from amongst men, being the first fruits unto God, and to the Lamb. By Virgins, we are to understand all those pure Christians, who had kept themselves pure from the Gnostics Corruptions and Uncleanness, or from Idolatry, which is Spiritual Fornication; and have loyally adhered to Christ, the only Bridegroom of the Church, 2 Cor. 11.2. By those that are said not to be defiled with women, we must not understand those that are not married, as if they that were in that state were defiled with women; the Scripture reaches the contrary, Heb. 13.4. The Marriagebed, is the bed undefiled; and Christ is followed wheresoever he goeth, not only by the blessed Saints that have led a single life, and were not married; but also by married persons, as Patriarches, Apostles, Martyrs, and innumerable others, 1 Thess. 4.17. 'Tis observed, that there is nothing said of these Virgins, which agreeth not to all the faithful. 1. They have all the name of the Lamb, his Father, and written in their foreheads; and all God's servants are sealed in their foreheads, Rev. 7.3. 2. All God's servants are to sing the new Song, Rev. 5.9, 10. all are redeemed from the earth, by the blood of the Lamb, chap. 5.9. The believing Jews, they are all a kind of first-fruits unto God, James 1.18. Lastly, The Jesuits at Rheims confess, that these are the same number of the Elect that were sealed, chap. 7. where in the Margin they note, That by the number there spoken of, are understood all the Elect, both of the Jews, and of the Gentiles, vid. T. C. in loc.  
These Virgins than are those, that would not be polluted or defiled with the Idolatry, or Spiritual Fornication of the Whore of Babylon, mentioned in Verse 8. of the 14 Chapter of the Revelations. Whatever Papists or old Heretics say against the lawful Conjugal society of man and wife, as if it were a work of the flesh; the holy Apostle Paul doth not rank or condemn it for a work of the flesh, in that black Catalogue of the works of the flesh, on Record, Gal. 5.19, 20, 21. But on the other side 'tis observable, that those who decry Marriage, without a just cause, and cry up single life more than they have cause, as the Papists do, they are verily guilty of Idolatry, which is Spiritual Adultery or Fornication; witness their worship of the Cross with Religious worship; their worship of Images, of Saints, and particularly of the B. Virgin; their worship of Angels, with Invocation, with Adoration. They tell us a story, that at the Synod held at Winchester, when there was a difference 'twixt the married Clergy and the Monks, and Archbishop Dunstan had a mind to introduce the Monks, The Cross spoke humano more, with man's voice, against the married Priests. This was in the days of King Edgar, who began his Reign, 959. It seems then that there were married Priests in England in those days.  
If it be Objected, That many Ancient Councils have ordained Celibacy for Priests, as the first Elibertine Council, an. 310. or 311. Can. 33. The second Council of Cartharge, about the year 396. Can. 2.  
Concilium Agathense, Can. 9 about the year, 506.  
The third Council of Orleans, Can. 1. about the year 537. The fourth Council of Orleans, an. 547. Can. 17. etc.  
My Answer is, That we have the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, for the lawfulness of Priests or Presbyters marriage, the Canons of the Apostles, Can. 5. and the General Council of Nice, rejecting the Proposal about prohibiting of it; as also the sixth General Council of Constantinople, etc. in the year, 692. and the Council of Toledo, an. 400. chap. 4. & 7. which testifies that the Clergy had wives. I might also have alleged Concilium Gangrense, cap. 4. in or about the year, 324. which Anathematiseth those who held it unlawful to receive the blessed Sacrament at the hands of a married Priest; and many Councils which forbidden Priests second Marriage, or to marry a widow, etc. All which supposed it lawful for him to marry. Whatever the Canons decreed, certain it is, that the Greek Church unto this day, allow of a married Clergy; and that divers Nations and Countries, for a long time in the West, did not admit of this necessary Celibacy, but tolerated their Clergy to be married. In England they had their wives, for above a thousand years, almost twelve hundred years after Christ. So in Ireland, till the days of Henry the second of England, who began his Reign, 1155.  
Pope Pius II. who sat about the year, 1458. was a great man in the Council of Basil, his saying was, That Marriage was better for the Clergy than single life, and turned out divers cloistered Nuns to take their liberty.  
De facto many Priests were married of old. So Novatus a Priest, permitted by Cyprian to live with his wife. Tertullian was married, as appears by his Book written to his wife.  
Gratian tells of the Sons of Presbyters and Bishops, that were promoted to the Papal Dignity, Dist. 56. So was Bonifacius the Pope, the Son of Jucundus the Presbyter; Foelix the Pope, the Son of Foelix the Presbyter; Agapetus the Pope, Son of Gordianus the Presbyter; Theodorus the Pope, Son of Theodorus the Bishop; and many more, he saith, there were; and addeth, we are not to understand them as born out of lawful Marriages, which were lawful to Priests, before the Prohibition, ibid. Chrysostom agreeth with Athanasius, and Clemens Alexandrinus, in 1 Tim. 3. and saith, That Marriage is in so high a degree honourable, that men with it may ascend into the Episcopal Chairs, and yet live with their wives. For though it be a hard thing, yet it is possible so to perform the duties of Marriage, as not to be wanting in the performance of the duties of a Bishop.  
Sozomen saith of Spiridion, that though he had a Wife and Children, yet he was not therefore any whit the more negligent in performing the duties of his Calling; and of Gregory Nyssen it is reported, that though he was married, he was no way inferior to his worthy Brother, that lived single: And howsoever in Thessaly; Thessalonica, Mandonia, they did not admit into the Ministry any single persons, yet all the Bishops of the East besides, were then left unto their own liberty; and though some went about to take away their liberty in some places, yet the worthiest men the Church had, stood in defence of it. So Synesius, when they of Ptolemais would needs have him to be their Bishop (which thing he little desired) he made them acquainted with his present condition, and resolved purpose for the time to come: God (saith he) the Law, and the sacred hand of Theophilus, have given to me a wife, I therefore tell all men aforehand, and testify unto all, that I will neither suffer myself to be altogether estranged and separated from her, neither will I live with her secretly as an Adulterer; for the one of these is no way pious and godly, and the other no way lawful: But I will desire and pray unto God, that exceeding many and most good and happy Children may be born unto me: Neither will I have him that is chief in ordaining of me, to be ignorant hereof. Synesius ad fratrem Ep. 105. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. This liberty the Council in Trullo impeached in respect of Bishops, but in respect of Presbyters, it continueth in all the East Churches of the world unto this day, Greek, Armenian and Ethiopian; warranted unto them by the Canons of the Apostles judgement of Bishops, Canons of councils, etc. Dr. Field of the Ch. l. 5. p. 708. Some attempts were made in the East, by Eustathius Bishop of Sebastia; in Armenia and in the West by Siricius, and Innocent the first his Successor; and some Canons were made in the second, or rather last Council of Carthage to the contrary. Yet by degrees these Canons and Severities against the married Clergy lay dormant, being found a burden too heavy for the Church to bear. We find, that in the time that Hildebrand climbed up into the Papal Chair, namely, anno 1075. and long before, that Priests had wives publicly: This was he, that was neither chosen by Emperor or Clergy, but intruded himself; this was he, that threw the Sacrament into the fire; this was he, that forced the Emperor, whom he had Excommunicated, to come with his Empress and Son bore footed, in the cold of Winter, to his Castle at Canusium, and there to wait three days fasting, until he might have audience; which at length was obtained by the mediation of Madam Matilda the Pope's Minion, that left her husband to live with the Pope, vid. Plat. this was he, that Sainted his Predecessor Liberius the Arrian; and this was he, that restrained and forbade Priests Marriage; but by so doing, stirred up the whole Nation of Clergymen against him, crying out, that he was an Heretic, and a man damnably erring in his judgement, etc. And it is so far from being true, that Bellarmine saith, That the Priest's beginning to marry in Gregory's days, was the cause of the great contempt of the Sacrament, and of the Confusions and Profanations of Sacred things in those days, that it was clear contrary; as Nauclerus testifies, de Clericis, lib. 1. cap. 19 that it was an old and confirmed custom, that was not easily to be altered; and the Priests rather in Gregory's time ceased, than began to marry, by reason of the attempts and endeavours of Gregory to restrain them from marriage; and the causes of the Confusions of those times, were occasioned rather by the forbidding the Priests to marry, than by their beginning then to marry. And now since the Church of Rome hath forced this single life on Clergy men, very many Learned men of later times, have desired the Law of single life may be taken away.  
Durandus in his Book de Modo celebrandi Concilii, proveth by many Reasons, that it were fit that the liberty of Marriages were again restored to Priests, in a General Council. Aeneas Silvius, after Pope Pius the second, was of this mind, So was Polydore Virgil and Erasmus; the first of these in Book 5. chap. 4. de Invent. rerum, saith thus, I dare confidently say, that it hath been so far from being true, that this enforced chastity hath excelled that which is in Marriage: That no sinful crime hath brought greater disgrace to the Order of the Ministry, more evil to Religion, or made a greater and deeper impression of sorrow in all good men, than the stain of the impure lusts of Priests. Erasmus in Declam. de laudibus Matrimonii, affirms, that in his conceit, he should not ill deserve, nor take the worst course, for the furthering of humane affairs, and the right informing of the manners of men, which should procure liberty of Marriage (if it might be) both for Priests and Monks: Read also his Annotations on the first Epistle to Timothy, chap. 3.1. And Sigismond the Emperor, a little before the Council of Basil, declared and published, That forasmuch as more evil cometh by the forbidding of Marriage than good, it were better and more safe to permit Clergy men to live in the state of Marriage, according to the custom of the Oriental Churches, than to forbid them so to live.  
Antiochus' aforementioned, a Figure of Antichrist, Dan. 11.37. did not regard women, or the desire of women, or of wiving; and the Antichrist forbids to marry, and commands to abstain from meats. The ancient Romans liked and encouraged Marriage. Thus the Figure and Forerunner of Antichrist, he himself and his followers, decry wiving, and cry up single life; and by Friars and Monks, the great Adorers of single life, and Observers of distinctions of meats, the Doctrine of Image-worship was brought and spread, and propagated in the Church; as is proved by Mr. Mede in his Apostasy of the latter times.  
Some of these Hermit's, Anchorites, or Monks and Coenobites, might be honest and good persons, abating them their error about over-magnifying the single life; yet the generality of them he condemns as hypocrites: For the lawfulness of Marriage of persons in holy Orders, we have the Old and New Testament, and the practice of the Church, and the Doctrine of the Church at the Council of Nice; and after, till the time of Siricius, about the year, 385. Afterwards we have the Marriage of these allowed by all those Councils which forbidden such persons to marry widows, such as Concilium Epaunen. Canon 2. Aurelianum the first Council, Can. 15. Concilium Toletanum 1. & ch. 1. the 3. And we find the Council of Carthage made divers Canons, about the Government of the Sons and Daughters of Bishops and Clergymen, such as the 11. That they should not make or go to the Spectacula Secularia, c. 12. That their Sons and Daughters should not marry to Heathens, Heretics or Schismatics, c. 14. That they suffer not their Sons to go free out of their power and Government, till they are assured of their manners, and of such age, ut possint ad eos propria pertinere peccata. This Council was held, saith Coriolanus, 397. The first Council of Toledo, an. 400. c. 1. Ordains de Presbyteris & Deaclnis, si post ordinationem filios genuerint, ad altiorem gradum non ascendant. Yet they might continue in their station, though not rise higher in the Church.  
In the year, 506. Consilium Agathense, in the time of Pope Symmachus, cap. 1. although Bigamists, and those that had married widows, being Presbyters or Deacons, might not consecrate or minister; yet they might retain the name of Presbyters and Deacons. Hence it is to be supposed, that Presbyters and Deacons, who were not Bigamists, nor had married widows, might consecrate and minister, notwithstanding their marriage.  
If it be Objected, That there were endeavours to make the Clergy content themselves without wives. I say, yet in many places it would not prevail; not in England, till above Eleven hundred years after Christ; not in Ireland, till the days of Henry the Second of England, who subdued Ireland. I read, that Celsus the great Apostle of Armagh, and High Primate of Ireland, had both a wife and children, in the time of his Archbishopry, according to the usage of the Country, vid. Bernard in vita Malachiae. And we are told, that Pope Adrian, and Pope Alexander, did stir up Henry the Second to subdue Ireland, because the people withstood their proceed against the Marriage of Bishops and Priests.  
It is certain de facto, that many Eminent Persons, in holy Orders, were actually married: So Gregory Nazianzen's Father was a Bishop, and begat him after he was Presbyter, if not after he was advanced to the Bishopric.  
Gregory the Great, was Grandchild to Foelix Pope of Rome, who was Pope, 590. and he is said to have cancelled his Decree against Priests Marriages, upon the finding of 600 Infants skulls in a fishpond. Pope Adrian II. was Son to Bishop Tallerus, had a Daughter by his Wife Stephania, both which were killed after he was Pope, which was, an. 863.  
Christopher Patriarch of Jerusalem, about the year, 900. had children, viz. two Sons, and two Daughters.  
In Armenia, the Secular Priests are all enjoined to marry, else they must not be admitted to the Priesthood, Neque permittitur aliquis Sacerdotium assumere qui uxorem non duxit. Berchard. p. 95. The Prebendaries of Cathedrals, out of which number they choose their Bishop, are not allowed to marry. In Biscay, they allow not any Priest to live in their Villages, except ●he bring his Concubine with him, conceiving it impossible for them to keep their wives unto themselves, if the Curate hath not a woman of his own. D. H. G. p. 256. At the Council of Trent, the Emperor and Duke of Parma, made instance to the Pope, and said it would be of great moment, to grant that Priests that are separated because they are married, may be reconciled, and retain their wives, and that hereafter, where there is not a sufficient number of Priests married, men of good life and fame may be admitted to the Priesthood. Vid. History of the Council of Trent, p. 813. And we find in the History of that Council, that the more common Opinion was, the Marriage of Priests might be dispensed withal. 'Tis true, that this was thought by some dangerous, because that married Priests would turn their affections and love to their wives and children, and by consequence to their house and Country; so that the strict dependence which the Clergy hath on the Apostolic See, would cease; and to grant Marriage to Priests, would destroy the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and make the Pope to be Bishop of Rome only. Council of Trent, p. 680. Yea, the famous saying of Pope Pius II. was then in the mouth of many, That Priests were by the Occidental Church forbidden to marry, for good reason; but there was stronger reason to restore Marriage to them again. The two great Reasons urged at the Council were, Scandal given by incontinent Priests; and want of continent persons fit to exercise the Ministry, Hist. of C. Trent, p. 679, & 806. It was in the same Council alleged, that the Constitution of the Church, forbidding to marry might be taken away by the Pope; or, in case the Constitution remain still, the Pope may dispense with it: They alleged the examples of those who have been dispensed with; and the use of Antiquity, that if a Priest did marry, the Marriage was good, but the man was separated from the Ministry, C. T. p. 679. And whereas, as some thought; that persons who were bound to Continency by solemn Vow, could not be dispensed withal by the Pope; others maintained, that the Pope might dispense with these also, and marvelled at those, who granting the dispensation of simple Vows, did deny that of Solemn, as if it were not most clear, that every Solemnisation is de Jure positivo. They brought places out of S. Austin, by which it doth manifestly appear, that in his time, some Monks did marry; and howsoever it was thought, they offended in it, yet the Marriage was lawful; and St. Austin reprehendeth those who did separate them. And as for Marriage of Priests, Innocent II. was the first, that ordained there should be a nullity in the Marriage. This Pope sat in the Sea, 1130. Innocent III. who bore a heavy hand over our King John, and Interdicted the Kingdom for six years together, was the terrible man against Priests Marriages: Whereupon we have these Verses by an Oxford man.  
Prisciana Regula penitus cassatur,  
Sacerdos per hic & haec olim declinatur  
Nunc per hic solum articulatur  
Cum per nostrum praesulem hec amo veatur.  [Prid. Intro. to Histri. 123.] 
Old Priscian's Rule henceforth must hold no more,  
'Twas hic & haec Sacerdos heretofore:  
But now poor Hic must lie alone perforce,  
For his dear Haec our Prelate doth divorce.  
This Pope Innocent, was Pope first, an. 1198. If we may credit History, divers Popes have had their Concubines. Sixtus iv provided for his Concubine Tiresia shoes covered with Pearl; builded Stews at Rome, which brought him 2000 Ducats yearly income; he granted the Cardinal S. Lucia the use of unnatural lusts for three months in the year, June, July and August. Innocent the eight a Genua, he had divers base children, 
Vid. B. Prid. Hist.  and gave a great dowry to his Daughter Theodorina. 'Tis said of him, 
Octo Nocens pueros genuit totidemque puellas  
Hunc merito poteris dicere Roma Patrem.  
Eight Lads, and twice four Girls Nocens got,  
And might not Rome him Father term? why not?   
Pope Alexander the sixth heaped all upon his Bastards, and carnally used his own Daughter Lucretia.  
Hence those Verses:  Hic jacet in Tumulo Lucretia nomine sed re Thais, Alexandri, filia, sponsa, nurus. 
Lucrece by name here li●s, but Thais in life,  
Pope Alexander's Child, Spouse, and sons wife.  
This Pope entered on the Popedom, an. 1492. Paul the third prostituted his Sister Julia Fornesia to Alexander the Sixth, that he might be made Cardinal, committed incest with his own Daughter Constantia, and poisoned her husband Bosius Sforsia, to enjoy her the more freely; he became Pope, 1534. B. Prid. Hist. p. 145.  
Yet I shall grant, 1. That single life is in some respects to be preferred, as most free ordinarily from trouble and care, and in times of persecution, and to unfixed persons, as to their habitations, affording better opportunity to serve God, or to suffer for him, and fewer and lesser temptations to deny him. 2. I grant, that those who have made a vow of Celibacy, before or at their entrance into the Ministry, or on some other occasion, if they have they have the gift of Continency, are bound to keep it. 3. That 'tis possible some Votaries of both Sexes, may be free from the gross vices and crimes charged on most of our Votaries, in the days of K. H. 8. at the dissolution of Abbeys. 4. That in Colleges, for training up youth in Learning, it is expedient, that those that are Tutors and Readers to youth, be, during such their employment, single. 5. That Presbyters or Priests, at times of extraordinary Humiliation, and at times of more solemn Celebration of the Lord's Supper, shall do well to observe the old Canons, that forbidden the society of their Wives for a time.  
But then I assert and avow with the Author to the Hebrews, chap. 13.4. 1. That Marriage is honourable among all men, and therefore among persons in holy Orders, and the bed undefiled: And therefore 2. That the society of a Clergyman with his wife, whether he was married to her before his Ordination, or after, is lawful; no Adultery, no Uncleanness. 3. That for a person at his Ordination to make an absolute vow of single life for all his days, is a rash and unlawful Vow. 4. That if a man have made such a Vow, and find he have not, nor cannot obtain the gift of Continency, in that case he ought to marry. 5. That the Marriage of Luther with Katherine Bora, on supposition they could not contain, was lawful. 6. That the Church of Rome sins grievously, to put a yoke upon the neck of the Disciples of Christ, that officiate in holy things, which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear. 7. That the Church of Rome may, and aught to reverse and repeal her Laws, Canons or Constitutions, enjoining Celibacy on the Clergy; so contrary to Scripture, the Apostles Canons, the Council of Nice, and the continued practice of the greatest part of the Christian Church to this day. 8. That that Church of Rome's admitting young Youths and Virgins to make and engage in absolute solemn Vows, that they will live all their days in Celibacy, is a great snare, a grievous sin, and contrary to the Apostles advice concerning young widows, 2 Tim. 5.14. is opposite to the prime blessing, Crescite & multiplicamini, Increase and multiply; is a great scandal to Religion, is a damage to Kingdoms and States, where such are educated idle and useless to the Public; is a weakening to their Country, a destruction of their Race and Family, an occasion of grievous and horrid lusts and wickednesses. 9 That Marriage, notwithstanding it is lawful to all Ranks, Orders and Degrees of men, and consequently to men in holy Orders, yet it is no Sacrament. 10. That the Church of Rome, by advancing Matrimony to be a Sacrament, lays claim to the Administration of it, and to the judging and deciding Matrimonial causes, and so brings store of grist to her Mill. And by forbidding Marriage to Priests, doth enrich the Church with that which should otherwise be expended on wives and children, and keeps the Clergy in a dependence on Rome, having no such near relation as wives and children to withdraw their affections from it. 11. That to assert that for a man in holy Orders (suppose he have made a Vow of Celibacy) to marry, and to accompany with his wife, is worse than Fornication, yea, than Adultery, is an erroneous and dangerous Position; contrary to the holy Scriptures, to sound Reason, to the Ancient Councils and Fathers; vid. Austin de Bono viduitatis: And if this Book be questioned, whether it be his or not, see his Epistle to one Bonifacius, who had vowed a Monastical, retired and single life, and yet afterwards did marry; his words are these, Thy wife hindereth me that I cannot exhort thee to this kind of life, without whose consent it is not lawful for thee to contain, etc. Of this opinion also was Jerome, the great Patron of Virginity, Ep. 47. de Suspecto contubernio vitando. Of the same judgement was Epiphanius, Haeres. 61. who indeed maketh it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. a thing evil, and such as God will judge and punish, to forget, neglect, and not perform a Vow made to God; but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. a thing which casteth men into the condemnation of Hell fire, and plungeth them in everlasting destruction, as to live in Adultery. He thinks it better for a man (though he have committed a fault in breaking his Vow, which he may repent of, and be forgiven) to marry, than by living in continual Adultery, to add one sin to another, and to plunge himself in endless destruction. And 'tis an absurd and irrational thing for any man to say, that 'tis better to burn, than to marry, because either of his Vow, or of the Command of the Church; for neither a Vow of our own, nor any Command of the Church, can make void the Law of God: if he cannot contain, let him marry, and to avoid Fornication, let every man have his own wife. Our Saviour saith nothing to the contrary, when he saith, he that can receive it, let him receive it. We speak only of those who cannot receive it, who cannot contain; and in such case, we must not make void the Laws of God against Adultery and Fornication, in seeking to confirm or observe the Laws and Constitutions of the Church. In this case, Whether it be better to obey God or man, judge ye. I shall not here go about to show, that the Answers of Bellarmine and others, to the Authorities that are brought on our side, are but fig-leaves to cover the nakedness of their cause, and easily blown away; but I shall direct my Reader to Bp. Jewel his Defence of his Apology, Dr. Field of the Church, B. 5. ch. 57 to Mr. Cartwright, and Dr. Fulk's Answer to the Rhemist's Testam. on Matth. 8. and on 1 Tim. 3.8. to Calixtus de Conjugio Clericorum, to Bishop Hall's Honour of the married Clergy. Nor shall I go about to answer the particular say of some Fathers to the disparagement of Marriage. It sufficeth, that the Church of England hath the holy Scripture, and the Ancient Church on her side; the desires of many Learned, Worthy men that have been in the Church of Rome; the practice of the greatest number of Christian Churches in the world at this day; so far as to justify the lawfulness of married men, to be admitted to holy Orders, and to officiate in and about holy things, notwithstanding their having wives; and that the blessing of God is, and hath been upon our married Clergy, no other Nation excelling them in Learning, Piety, or the gift of Preaching; that saying still holding good, notwithstanding their Marriage, Stupor mundi Clerus Britannicus. If it be objected, That this Marriage doth spoil our Charity and Hospitality, and proves a temptation to Covetousness. I answer, That Solomon, Eccles. 4.7, 8. says, There is a vanity and dissatisfaction, and unprofitableness in heaping up riches, even by single persons. And 'tis observed by a sober and learned Casuist of our own [Mr. Capel] That single persons, and those that have but few children, ofttimes prove more covetous, than those that are married, and have many children; alleging, that the latter are by daily and frequent experiences and layings out, habituated to part with money, and so a penny comes not (as from some others, like a drop of blood from their hearts. I say further, that great things have been done by the married Clergy, and other married persons in our days, if it were necessary, we might instance in particulars. It hath been said, That Pater Noster built Churches, and Our Father pulled them down; but it hath been proved and published to the world, that as many and great Acts of Piety and Charity have been done in England since the Reformation of Religion, as in the like number of years in times of Popery. And whatever is or may be said or pretended to the contrary, as if the allowing of the marriage of the Clergy was an impoverishment of the Church and Country, and a damage to the Kingdom; I dare say, they that would remove the married Clergy, to bring in the Monks, could never be able to recompense the Churches, their Countries, and the Kings and Kingdoms damage. Who can more earnestly pray for, and endeavour the weal of their own King and Country, than those who have such great bonds and interests to desire and endeavour it? And who is like to be most at home amongst his own people, if not he that hath amongst them continually a wife, the desire of his eyes, and children, which he loves as his own eyes?   
FINIS.