THE HOLY TABLE, NAME & THING, MORE ANCIENTLY, properly, and literally used under the New Testament, then that of an ALTAR: Written long ago by a Minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D. COAL, a judicious Divine of Q. MARY'S days.  Illa Sacramenti donatrix Mensa.— Aurel, Prudent, in Peristeph, Hymno 11. 
Printed for the Diocese of Lincoln. 1637.   

I Have read and thoroughly perused a Book, called The Holy Table, Name, and Thing, etc. written by some Minister of this Diocese. And do conceive it to be most Orthodox in Doctrine, and consonant in Discipline, to the Church of England: And to set forth the King's Power and Rights, in matters Ecclesiastical, truly and judiciously; and very fit to be Printed: And do allow and approve of the same Treatise to be Printed and published in any place or places whereas Ordinary I am enabled and Licenced so to do. And in witness hereof, I have subscribed my Name the last day of November, 1636.  
IO. LINCOLN. Deane of Westminster.   

CHAP. I.  
Of the state of the Question, and the first-occasion of the writing of the Letter: with a true Copy of the same.  
IT was a new but witty Etymology, which the Lord Chancellor 
a At Star-cha, in the Cause of the Nottingham Libel.  St. Alban gave of a Libel; that it was derived of a Lie forged at home, and a Bell to ring it up and down the Country. Both these parts are fully expressed in this Pamphlet. First, 
b Title lease.  Coal makes the Lie, and presents it for a Token to his private friend; then his private friend makes the Bell, by commending it to the Press, and ringing it abroad over all the Country. And it gave an Omen, of what colour the whole Book would prove, by the mistake in the first page, where his friend calls him a Divine of Judgement, which is the second part, whereas indeed he is but a Divine of Invention, which is the first part of Logic. And this Invention he puts in practice, not only in displaying his matters of Right, as all your 
c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ulpian Enarr. in Demosth. orat. de classibus.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and artificial handlers of Controversies are permitted to do; but even in stating the matter of fact: which when it is in writing before our eyes, is no more by a disputant indeed to be wriggled and wrested, but to be taken as it is set down, and (for the time at the least) 
d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Rhet. l. 5. c. 17.  swallowed & believed. Whereas this poor fellow makes himself an Adversary, not out of the Letter, but out of his own fantasy; and driving him before him (as he in 
e Aristot. Meteor. lib. 3. c. 4.  Aristotle did his shadow) from one end of the Book to the other, shoots all his arrows at this man of clouts of his own rearing, and yet with all this advantage never stirs him. I will give you a short taste of his feigning, and his failing. 
f Title lea●e, & P. 26.  He feigns the Letter written not long since. He fails, because it was written, when all flesh in England had corrupted their ways, and that there was a general deviation in this weighty business. 
g Title lea●e, and Letter, p. 69.  He feigns, that the Question was of placing the Communion-table●. He fails, for it was about the erecting of a Stone-altar. 
h P. 5. & Let. p. 68 69.  He feigns, that the Writer conceived the Bowing at the name of JESUS was a vain thing. He fails, for the Writer doth commend, allow, and practise it. 
i Pag. 8. and Lett. p. 69.  He feigns the Writer had no reason to suspect any other sacrifice aimed at by the Vican, but spiritual only. He fails, and never conferred with the Writer about it, who chargeth the Vicar with meaning a Sacrifice contrary to his Subscription. 
k P. 27. and Lett. p. 69.  He feigns, that the Writer would cunningly draw the Chapels and Cathedrals to a kind of ●remurire about their Communion-tables. He fails, for the Writer confesseth he doth allow, and practise it. 
l P. 25. and Let p. 71 p. 41. & 40.  He feigns the Writer doth slight; But fails, for he doth cite and approve the appellation of Second service. He feigns, that the Writer doth report the people's pulling down of Altars, as a doctrine. He fails, for he mentions it only as a matter of fact. 
m Pag. 42. & Let p. 74.  He feigns the Writer should make the Counsel Act, for the taking down of Altars, A kind of Law which no man was obliged unto. He fails, for the Writer saith it was obeyed over all England. Lastly, 
n P. 51. and Let. p 69 76. 77  he feigns, that the Vicar did not think of Fixing his Table to the Wall, because he himself hath no cause to think so, nor reason to conceive, and may reasonably presume the contrary. He fails, for the Letter doth every where charge upon the Vicar the contradictory assertion. So that this man hath not only made himself the judge, to open the Law, but the Jury also, to find the fact in the whole controversy. But this is not to be endured. For beside that it is uncertain, whether he be of the Voisinage, and but an inhabitant of a remote and another Province, and so ignorant of the Circumstances of the fact, he showeth himself (every where) such a pugnacissimum animal (as 
o Petron. Arbit. satire. Coepique pugnacissimum animal armatâ elidere manu.  he said of the Gander) so partially addicted to brabbling and contention, that he may be well excepted against for a common Barreter. 
p Pag. 11.  He chargeth it home upon the Writer, for saying that the Curate and the Churchwardens were appointed to pull down, when they were appointed only to take down the Altars: For saying, that the name of an Altar 
q pag. 34.  Creep, when he should have said, Came into the Church: For 
r P. 12.  saying that they were taken down in all or most; whereas he should have said, in sundry and many places of this Kingdom: Lastly, for 
s P. 8.  saying, The Communion, whereas he should have said, The Lord's Supper. When the Rubric 
t The Order for the Administration.  hath it, The Lords Supper, or holy Communion, And would any man trust such a 
u Aristot. Ethic. l. 4. c. 1.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and Tither of Cummin, as this wrangler is, to be of his Jury? Besides that (as Plautus describes him to a hair in a Comedy of his own 
x Asinaria.  denomination) Siquidem hercle Aeacidinis minis expletus animisque incedit, he comes into the Session-house with such a haughty and prejudicare opinion of himself and his Cause, that no man can expect the least right at his hands. For besides that his friend Clove doth stick him in the door of his Book (before his going forth into the open Air) with this pretty perfume of a Judicious and Learned Divine, he doth so swell and improve by degrees, that he makes his work above all the Humane, and equal to the Laws Divine. For speaking of the Preface of the Communion-book, (a Canon confirmed by Act of Parliament) that doth not (without all question) direct the Bishop to send his resolutions to the Priest, he saith upon that Law, 
y P. 11.  It is as true, or at least wise more fit, that the Bishop should do as he would have him. Which is so high a Language against the Laws of the Land, and the practice of all Ordinaries (who execute their own Mandates by their own Officers) as was never uttered, and printed with Licence by any Subject of England before this time. T. C. indeed from his Press at Coventry, was wont to send abroad much of this stuff in Martin Marprelates days.  
And for the other, what meaning should he have to bind up the Letter, not (as in reason he should) before, but after his whole Book; and to call it 
z He turned to a Printer.  Apocrypha; but that he would have us to take all his dreams for Canonical Scripture? So that a man cannot imagine what evidence to provide, to give satisfaction to so haughty a Companion, who Jura negat sibi nata, nihil non arrogat armis.  
Considering therefore the partiality of this Writer, who makes his own Case, makes his own Evidence, makes his own Law, makes his own Authorities, and all out of his own Conceit; and endeavours what he can, a fear la Causa, (as the Spanish Advocates use to say) to give a fair Cause a foul face: I shall be bold (as a neighbouring Minister to the Scene of this business, and employed amongst other of my profession, in some of the main passages) to set down seriously and faithfully the whole carriage of the Business, the true Copy of the Letter, the agitation this Cause hath had with us below, not able to penetrate into those Motions it received above in the Ordinaries breast, and (for it hath been a kind of walking Spirit) in the Lower house of Parliament.  
The Vicar, a Chorister in the College, and bred up in Music, brought along with him from his faculty, some odd Crotchets into the Ministry. And having too much favour from his Diocesan (who had never seen a tolerable Incumbent of that Church before) began to fly upon his own Coat, and turned out of the Town two grave and painful Preachers salaried by the Parish; whereof the one was his own Cousin, and brought in by himself a little before. His next quarrel was with the Alderman and his Brethren, about some matters of Malting and Tithing: which (by the continued favour of the Ordinary) was ended to his advantage. Then he fell upon this removing of the Communion-table from the upper part of the Choir (where it was 
a Alderman's Letter.  comely placed and had stood time out of mind) to the Altar-place, as he called it. Mr. Wheately the Alderman questioning him thereupon, what Authority he had from the Bishop, Chancellor, or any of his Surrogates, to do this alteration, received this Answer, 
b Alderman's Letter.  that his Authority was this, He had done it, and he would justify it. Upon the which return Mr. Wheately commanded his Officers to remove the Table to the place again; which they did accordingly, but not without striking, much heat, and indiscretion, both of the one side and the other: The Vicar saying, he cared not what they did with their old Tresle, for he would build him an Altar of stone at his own charge, and fix it in the old Altar-place, and would never Officiate upon any other: the rude people replying, he should set up no dressers of stone in their Church, and they would find more hands to throw his stones out, than he should do to bring them in; and would all in a body make a journey to the Bishop, before they would endure it. Whereupon Mr. Wheateley the Alderman presently wrote unto his Lordship of these passages; as also of his light gestures in bowing at the name of JESUS, so as sometimes his Book fell down, and once himself, to the derision of those that were not so well affected to that religious Ceremony. And this was about June or July 1627. To this the Bishop returned no answer in writing at that time, but sent a quick and sharp Message by word of mouth; both to the Alderman and the Vicar; that they should not presume, either the one or the other of them, to move or remove the holy Table any more, otherwise then by special direction from him or his Chancellor; and that it should remain where it did (if it stood within the Choir) until his next passage to Lincoln by that Town; at what time he would himself by view taken upon the place, accommodate the same according to the Rubric and Canons. And that the Vicar should not presume to set up any thing in Church or Chancel, in the interim. Which return did not altogether pacify the People of the Town in their jealousies against their Vicar. But Mr. Wheateley, a prudent and discreet man, afraid to offend the Bishop, (as one who had been a singular friend and patron to that Town, when he was in place) resolved to ride unto his Lordship. Which was no ●ooner known, but all they of the Town that were able, would needs hire horses and ride along with him. The Bishop when he saw such a company, enquired of them what the matter was? They opened unto him all this difference, assured his Lordship they were every one of them quiet and peaceable men, conformable in all things to the King's Laws Ecclesiastical, and willing to submit themselves to any Order, concerning the situation of the holy Table, which his Lordship should appoint. Only they represented unto his Lordship, that they were much scandalised with the putting down of their Sermons, and this new intended erection of a stone-Altar upon the neck thereof. And that, if his Lordship should appoint the Table to stand in the upper end of the Choir, it was impossible that the 24th part of the Parish should see or hear the Vicar officiating thereupon. Desiring his Lordship to take it to his consideration, that the Vicar (whom his Lordship much favoured) was not always right in the Head-piece; and that they lived in the midst of Recusants, their chief Governor being one of that profession himself; and that those kind of men began already to jeer and deride this new Alteration. The Bishop entering into a discourse of the indifferency of this circumstance in its own nature, the Vicar came suddenly into the Hall, pale and staring in his looks, and either with his journey, or some other affrights much disordered. Which the Bishop observing, used him with all sweetness and lenity, bade him not be troubled with any thing that had happened, for he would end this difference to his contentment. The Vicar broke out into passion and tears, and said they threatened to set his house on fire. The Bishop answered, that if they did so, he would procure him another; and he hoped his Majesty would provide for them such houses, as in that case they well deserved. The Alderman & his Assistants utterly denied the knowledge of any such base intents, or menaces: but submitted themselves wholly (as the Vicar likewise did) to the Bishop's decision. Then the Lord Bishop taking the Vicar aside, talked with him in private a pretty while. What they discoursed of is not particularly known. His Lordship was overheard somewhat earnest with the said Vicar, to tell him who they were that set him on upon these alterations. And it is conceived generally, that the Vicar told his Lordship all the truth, from point to point. At the close, the Bishop said unto him, Well, Mr. () you shall sup with your Neighbours in my Hall to night, upon such cold provision as my people can make you: But I have supped already upon that you tell me. And if all the Books I have of that nature be able to do it, I will find some satisfaction for myself and you in all these particulars, before I go this night to bed. And I will provide a Letter, as written to you, Mr. Alderman, to show to your Brethren, and some Notes to be delivered to the Divines of the Lecture at Gr. And both these (if the fault be not in my servant) shall be ready by seven a clock in the morning.  
The Bishop sat up most of the night, and his Secretary with him in his Study. What they there did is not distinctly known: But it was observed that the Secretary came down for the Book of Martyrs which stood in the Hall, and borrowed from the Parish-church Bishop Jewels works. In the Morning between 7. and 8. of the clock, was delivered to the Alderman this Letter sealed up.  
Mr. Alderman, I do conceive, that your Communion-Table, when it is not used, should stand in the upper end of the Chancel, not Altarwise, but Table-wise. But when it is used, either in the time of the Communion, or when your Vicar shall be pleased to read the later part of the Divine service thereupon, the Churchwardens are to cause the Clerk or Sexton to remove it, either to the place where it stood before, or any other place in Church or Chancel, where your Minister may be most audibly heard of the whole Congregation. If both your Churchwardens agree with the Vicar upon such a place, let it be disposed of accordingly; and your Ministers are not to of ficiate upon it in any other place. If your Churchwardens disagree with the Vicar, let them take the opinion of that Surrogate of my Chancellor, who dwells next unto your Town of Grantham, and he and any one of the Churchwardens shall upon view assign the place where the Table shall stand in most conveniency, when it is to be of ficiated on by either of your Ministers. And so I desire you ●o intimate this unto the Churchwardens, and do recommend me very heartily to you and all your neighbours, and you and them in my prayers to God's protection. And am  
At the same time this Letter was delivered, there was delivered also by the Secretary, a sheet of paper closed up, to be conveyed to the Divines of the Lecture at Gr. upon their next meeting-day, with a Note of direction from the said Secretary, that if they conceived these passages contained in that Paper to be well and truly collected, and had not found in their readings and observations the contrary, they should impart them to the Vicar of Gr. being one of their Company, and improve them what they could to give him satisfaction, not denying (if he so required) to let him take out a Copy of the same for his own use, but not to divulge these papers any farther. But if they found any mistake in these Quotations, or had met with any other Canons or Constitutions differing from these, or that they themselves varied in opinion from the premises, they should forbear to impart them, but write freely back again their said variance from these directions, together with their reasons for the same, which should be very kindly and thankfully accepted. Or to this effect. We met accordingly, perused these Papers, found them digested in the former part into the fashion of a Letter, (yet directed to no body) but not so figuredly and distinctly in the later. They were not written with the Bishops own hand, with which we were all acquainted, nor subscribed by any body, and they varied in some places in matter from this printed Copy, but little in form. After perusal we did confer with the said Vicar at two several days, especially about the Contents of this Paper. Who undoubtedly, at that time, received full satisfaction thereby, and conceived that he had lost nothing by this decision, having gained all the points, excepting the Form of placing the Table; against the which he conceived the Rubric of the Liturgy to be apparent, but his Lordship's opinion to be very indifferent, because he observed (as he said) the Table in his Lordship's private Chapel to be so placed, & furnished with Plate and Ornaments above any he ever had seen in this Kingdom, the Chapel Royal only excepted. And so this difference was at that time thus ended and composed, and the Vicar well satisfied, and never out of his Lordship's favour (whereof he reaped after this much fruit and profit) to his very dying day. Now the true Copy of this Letter or Notes (for without all question they were neither superscribed nor subscribed) here ensueth  
Sir, with my very hearty commendations unto you, etc. When I spoke with you last, I told you that the standing of your Communion-table, was unto me a thing so indifferent, the unless offence and umbrages were taken by the Town against it, I should never move it, or remove it. That which I did not then suspect, is come to pass. Your Alderman, whom I have known these 17 or 18 years to be a discreet and modest man, and far from any humour of Innovation, together with the better sort of the Town, have complained against it. And I have without taking any notice of your act, or touching in one syllable upon your reputation, appointed the Churchwardens, whom in my opinion it principally doth concern, under the Diocesan and by his directions, to settle it for the time: as you may see by this Copy enclosed. Now for your own satisfaction, and my poor advice for the future, I have written unto you somewhat more at large then I use to express myself in this kind. I do therefore (to deal plainly) like many things well, and disallow of some things in your carriage of this business. It is well done that you affect decency and comeliness in the officiating of God's divine service, that you precedent yourself with the Forms in his Majesty's Chapels and the Quires of Cathedral Churches, (if your Choir, as those others, could contain your whole congregation) that you do the reverence appointed by the Canons to that blessed name of JESUS, so it be done humbly and not affectedly, to procure the devotion & not move the derision of your Parishioners, who are not it seems all of a piece) and that you do not maintain it Rationibus non cogentibus, & so spoil a good cause with bad arguments. These things I do myself allow and practise. But that you should say you will upon your own cost build an Altar of Stone at the upper end of your Choir; That your Table ought to stand Altarwise; That the fixing thereof in the Choir is so Canonical, that it ought not to be removed (upon any occasion) to the body of the Church, I conceive to be in you so many mistake.  
For the first; If you should erect any such Altar, (which I know you will not) your discretion (I fear me) would prove the only Holocaust to be sacrificed on the same. For you have subscribed when you came to your place, that that other Oblation, which the Papists were wont to offer upon these Altars, is a Blasphemous figment and pernicious Imposture. In the 31th Artic. And also, that we in the Church of England must take heed lest our Communion of a Memory be made a Sacrifice. In the 1. Homily upon the Sacrament. And it is not the Vicar, but the Churchwardens that are to provide Utensils for the Communion, and that not an Altar, but a fair joined Table. Canons of the Convocation 1571. pag. 18. And that the Altars were removed by Law, and Tables placed in their stead in all, or the most Churches of England, appears by the Queen's Injunctions 1559 related unto and so confirmed in that point by our Canons still in force. Canon 82. And therefore I know you will not build any such Altar, which Vicars were never enabled to set up, but were once allowed (with others) to pull down. Injunct. 1 more Elis. For Tables in the Church.  
For the second point; That your Communion-table is to stand Altarwise; if you mean, in that upper place of the Chancel, where the Altar stood, I think somewhat may be said for that, because the Injunctions 1559 did so place it. And I conceive it to be the most decent situation when it is not used, and for use too, where the Choir is mounted up by steps, and open, so as he that officiates, may be seen and heard of all the Congregation. Such an one, I am informed, your Chancel is not. But if you mean by Altarwise, that the Table should stand along close by the wall, so as you beforced to officiate at the one end thereof (as you may have observed in great men's Chappells I do not believe that ever the Communion-tables were (otherwise then by casualty) so placed in country-churches. For besides that the Countrypeople, without some directions beforehand from their superiors, would (as they told you to your face) suppose them Dressers rather then Tables. And that Queen Elisabeths' Commissioners for causes ecclesiastical directed, that the Tables should stand, not where the Altar, but where the steps to the Altar formerly stood. Orders 1561. The Minister appointed to read the Communion, which you (out of the Books of Fast in 1 more of the King) are pleased to call Second service, is directed to read the Commandments, not at the End, but at the North-side of the Table, which implies the End to be placed towards the East great window. Rubric before the Communion. Nor was this a new direction in the Queen's time only; but practised in K. Edward's reign. For in the plot of our Liturgy sent by Mr Knox & whittingham to Mr Calvin, in the reign of Q. Marry, it is said, that the Minister must stand at the North-side of the Table. Troubles at Frankford, p. 30. And so in K. Edward's Liturgies, the Ministers standing in the Midst of the Altar, 1549. is turned to his standing at the North-side of the Table, 1552. And this last Liturgy was revived by Parliament 1ᵒ Elis. c. 2. And I believe it is so used at this day in most places of England. What you saw in Chappells or Cathedral Churches, is not the point now in Question, but how the Tables are appointed to be placed in Parish-churches. In some of these Chapels and cathedrals, the Altars may be still standing, for aught I know; or, to make use of their Covers, Fronts and other Ornaments, Tables may be placed in their room, of the same length and fashion the Altars were of. We know the Altars stand still in the Lutherane Churches. And the Apology for the Augustane Confession, Artic. 11. doth allow it. The Altars stood a year or two in the reign of King Edward, as appears by the Liturgy printed 1549. And it seems the Queen and her Counsel were content they should stand, as we may guess by the Injunctions, 1559. But how is this to be understood? The Sacrifice of the Mass abolished (for which Sacrifice only Altars were erected) these (call them what you please) are no more Altars, but Tables of Stone or Timber. And so was it alleged 24. Novem. 4ᵒ Edu. 6. 1550. Sublato enim relativo formal, manet absolutum et materiale tantúm. And so may be well used in Kings and Bishops houses, where there are no people so void of Instruction as to be scandalised. For upon the Orders of breaking down Altars, 1550. all Dioceses, as well as that of London, did agree upon receiving Tables, but not so soon upon the form and fashion of their Tables. Act. and Monum. pag. 1212. Beside that, in the old Testament one and the same Thing, is termed an Altar and a Table. An Altar, in respect of what is there offered unto God; and a Table, in respect of what is thence participated by men, as for example, by the Priests. So have you Gods Altar the very same with God's Table, in Mal. 1. 7. The place is worth the marking: For it answers that merry Objection out of Heb. 13. 10. which you made to some of your fellow Ministers, and one Dr. Morgan before you, to Peter Martyr, in a disputation at Oxford. We have no Altar in regard of an Oblation; but we have an Altar, that is, a Table, in regard of a participation and Communion there granted unto us. The proper use of an Altar is to sacrifice upon, the proper use of a Table is to eat upon, Reason's, etc. 1550. vide Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. And because a Communion is an Action most proper for a Table, as an Oblation is for an Altar; therefore the Church in her Liturgy and Canons calling the same a Table only, do not you now, under the Reformation, call it an Altar. In King Edward's Liturgy of 1549 it is almost every where; but in that of 1552, it is no where called an Altar, but The Lord's Board. Why? Because the people being scandalised herewith (in country-churches) first it seems beat them down de facto; then the supreme Magistrate (as here the King) by the advice of Archbishop Cranmer and the rest of his Counsel, did Anno 1550 by a kind of Law put them down de jure. 4ᵒ Edu. 6. Novemb. 24. And setting these Tables in their rooms, took away from us, the Children of this Church and Commonwealth, both the Name and the Nature of those former Altars. As you may see Injunct. 1559. referring to that Order of King Edw. and his Counsel, mentioned Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. And I hope you have more learning, then to conceive The Lord's Table to be a new Name, and so to be ashamed of the Word. For, besides that Christ himself instituted this Sacrament upon a Table, and not an Altar; (as Archbishop Cranmer and others observe, Act. & Monum. pag. 1211.) it is in the Christian Church, at the least 200 years more ancient, than the name of an Altar in that sense; as you may see most learnedly proved (beside what we learn out of S. Paul) out of Origen, and Arnobius, if you do but read a Book that is in your Church, Jewel against Harding, of private Mass, Artic. 3. pag. 145. And whether this name of Altar crept into the Church, in a kind of complying in phrase with the people of the Jews, as I have read in Chemnitius, Gerardus and other sound Protestants; (yet such as suffer Altars to stand;) or that it proceeded from those Oblations made upon the Communion-tables for the use of the Priest and the poor, whereof we read in Justine Martyr, Ireneus, Tertullian and other ancient writers; or because of our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, as Archbishop Cranmer and others thought, Act. & Monum. pag. 1211. the name being now so many years abolished in this Church, it is fitter in my judgement, that your Altar (if you will needs so call it) should according to the Canons stand Table-wise, than your Table, to trouble the poor Town of Gr. should be erected Altarwise.  
Lastly, that your Table should stand in the higher part of the Chancel, you have my assent in opinion already: And so was it appointed to stand, out of the Communion. Orders by the Commiss. for causes ecclesiastical, 1561. But that it should be there fixed, is so far from being the only Canonical way, that it is directly against the Canon. For what is the Rubric of the Church, but a Canon? And the Rubric saith, It shall stand in the Body of the Church, or in the Chancel, where Morning prayer and Evening prayer be appointed to be said. If therefore Morning prayer and Evening prayer be appointed to be said in the Body of the Church, (as in most country-churches we see it is) where shall the Table stand in that Church most Canonically? And so is the Table made removable, when the Communion is to be celebrated, to such a place, as the Minister may be most conveniently heard by the Communicants; by Qu. Elis. Injunct. 1559. And so saith the Canon in force, that in the time of the Communion, the Table shall be placed in so good sort within the Church or Chancel, as thereby the Minister may be most conveniently heard, etc. Canon 82. Now judge you, whether this Table (which like Daedalus his Engines moves and removes from place to place, and that by the inward wheels of the Church Canons) be fitly resembled by you to an Altar that stirs not an inch, and supposed to be so resembled most Canonically. And if you desire to know out of Eusebius, St Augustine, Durandus, and the fifth Council of Constantinople, how long Communion-tables have stood in the midst of Churches, read a Book which you are bound to read, and you shallbe satisfied, Jewel against Harding: Of private Mass, Artic. 3. pag. 145. The sum of all is this.  
1. You may not erect an Altar, where the Canons admit only a Communion-table.  
2. This Table (without some new Canon) is not to stand Altarwise, and you at the North-end thereof, but Table-wise, and you must officiate on the North-side of the same, by the Liturgy.  
3. This Table ought to be laid up (decently covered) in the Chancel only, as I suppose; but ought not to be officiated upon, either in your first or second service (as you distinguish it) but in that place of Church or Chancel, where you may be most conveniently seen and heard of all.  
4. Though peradventure you be (with him in Tacitus) Master of your own, yet are you not of other men's Ears, and therefore your Parishioners must be Judges of your Audiblenes in this case, and upon complaint to the Ordinary, must be relieved.  
5. Lastly, whether side soever (you or your Parish) shall first yield unto the other in these needless controversies, shall remain in my poor judgement, the more discreet, grave, and learned of the two. And by that time you have gained some more experience in the Cure of Souls, you shall find no such Ceremony to Christian charity. Which I recommend unto you, and am ever, etc.  
Now if you desire to know why I have been so tedious in stating thus the Cause, with all the Circumstances thereof, I answer with the Poet, that it is to ease you, if you please, of further Tediousness:  
c Mart. Epigr. lib. 14. 4 poph. 2.  Vi, si malueris, lemmata sola legas; 
That if you be so disposed, you may end the Book with this first Chapter. For the true stating is the concluding of the Question we have in hand. I dare here appeal without any further defence to any indifferent Reader, what notorious want of Learning, what disaffection to the Church, what malice to Cathedrals, what inclination to Puritanisme, what approving of sedition, what popular affectation, this 
d jon. 4. 10.  filia unius noctis, this paper huddled up (upon this occasion) in one night, can argue either in the Writer (whosoever he be) or in us that were the approvers of the same. And particularly I appeal to you, that have read the Libel written against it, whether it hath any way answered your expectation, or whether  (
e Phaedr. Aug. Libertus. Fab. Aesop. lib. 4.  Carbonem, ut ajunt, pro the sauro invenistis) 
this 
f Ecclesiastic 8. 10.  Coal of a sinner doth not rather appear to have been fetched from a Smith's forge, than a sacred Altar.   

CHAP. II.  
Of the Regal power in ordaining, publishing, and changing Ceremonies, as also in all Causes Ecclesiastical. And whether that power was ever used in settling the Communion-table in form of an Altar.  
IF Alexander was afraid to commit the proportion of his body to every ordinary statuary, requiring that none but a 
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plutarch. de fortuna Alexand▪ Orat. 2.  Lysippus should effigiate the same, and that Apelles himself could never set forth the outward beauty of his face, but 
b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plutarch. in Alexandro.  slubbered and far short of the native vivacity; how careful aught Sovereign Princes to be, not to permit their Regal power and prerogative (the very visage of their persons, and majesty of their visage) to be profaned by every Bungler, and to be slubbered up (as here it is) with a base Coal, upon the walls of this ugly 
c From page 58. to the end of the Book.  Pamphlet. Thus it is, when Coblars will be stretching up their Pia-maters above their own Shop-lasts, and Chaplains (to show how ready they are, at the very first call, to be dealing in matters of State) will be puddling in studies they do not understand. Dr Coal hath here by his exquisite knowledge in the Can-none and Common (or trivial) law, committed a kind of merry treason, in presuming to give a man a call to be a 
d Pag. 61. judge Ployden.  Judge, who died but an 
e Reports de Edmund Plowden un Apprentise de le Common Ley.  Apprentice at the Law▪ (Which was more than the L. Keeper of the great Seal, without his Majesty's licence, durst have done.) And mends it by and by with a kind of sacrilege, by taking away from a noble Gentleman, his name given him at the Font in 
f Pag. 62. Sir Robert Cook.  Baptism. Whereas had this doughty Doctor left his Littleton, and kept him to his Accidence, he could not have forgotten that Edvardus was his proper name.  
Yea, but though he fails in names, he hits in matter, and shows you deep Mysteries of State; how this question of Ceremonies doth relate unto the King; and that the Statute of 1ᵒ Elis. cap. 2. (which by long search and study he found in the very first leaf of his Common prayer Book) was not a power personal to the Queen only, but to be continued unto her Successors; and that the Kings most excellent Majesty may safely and without any danger at all, command the Table to stand (as the Doctor would have it) and to be railed about. These are high matters indeed, if they be well proved.  
That they shall be to a hair. For this old Lawyer, and new-created Judge, doth tell us, that if a Fee-simple be vested in me, and I pass it unto the King, the Fee-simple doth pass without these words, SUCCESSORS, and HEIRS; as it doth to a Major, a Bishop, or any other meaner Corporation, as you have it 
g Cook on Littleton. fol 9 pag. 2. at the end  there at large. Well said Doctor; His Majesty is much beholding unto you, and those about him, to take special care of your speedy preferment. You have not in most of your scribble given a Bishop any more prerogative then to the Vicar, nor the King in this Allegation, then to the Alderman of Grantham. Peradventure not so much. For by perusal of your Author, I find the Alderman ranged in the third place, but the King and the Bishop jumbled up together (as in a bag after Chess-play) and so thrown into the fourth place. But I pray you good Doctor, where upon earth was this power of ordering matters ecclesiastical vested, before it passed away, as a piece of land held in Fee-simple, unto his Majesty by the Statute of Imo Elis. cap. 2?  Quis est tam potens cum tanto munere hoc? 
Was it in the Pope? in the people? in the Clergy? in the Convocation? in the Parliament? or (peradventure) was it in Abeyance? Away Animal; I tell thee, The Power in matters ecclesiastical is such a Fee-simple, as was vested in none but God himself, before it came (by his and his only donation) to be vested in the King. And being vested in the King, it cannot by any power whatsoever (no not by his 
h Translat. of the Orat. de ver. Obed. 1555. shows this to have been the opinion of Steph. Gardiner.  own) be devested from him. The donour in this Feoffment is God, and God only; the Deed, a Prescription time out of mind in the Law of nature, declared more especially and at large by that Statute-law, which we call the Word of GOD. So that, Doctor, you deserve but a very simple Fee, for your impertinent example of this Fee-simple. But what do you merit for your next prank? where you say (most ignorantly and most derogatorily to his Majesty's right and just prerogative) that that Statute of 1ᵒ Elis. c. 2. was a Confirmative of the old Law? What? and was it not good, until it had passed the upper and lower house of Parliament? was not God able enough; the King, his bright Image upon earth, capable enough; the Deed of Nature and Scripture strong enough; but that (like a Bishop's Concurrent Lease) it must receive a Confirmation in that great Chapter? Your 
i De jure Regis ecclesiastico, pag. 8. Non novam introduxit, sed antiquam declaravit.  Author (a deep learned man in his faculty) hath it otherwise, and rightly. It was resolved by the Judges, that the said Act of the first year of the late Queen, concerning Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, was not a statute introductory of a New Law, but declaratory of the Old. Parliaments are not called to confirm, but to affirm and declare the Laws of God. Weak and doubtful Titles are to be confirmed: such clear and indubitate Rights as his Majesty hath to the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, are only averred and declared by Acts of Parliament. And all declarations of this kind, are (as the stuff whereof they are made) to last forever, and no Ionas Gourds to serve a turn or two and so expire, as those 
k p. 61. 1. Elis. c. 16. 14. El. c. 1. 14. El. c. 2. 23. El. c. 2.  Probationers did, which (peradventure) some Justice his Clerk might tell you of. Yea, but your meaning is, that this Jurisdiction was intruth, or of right aught to be by the ancient Laws of the Realm, parcel of the King's Jurisdiction, and united to the Crown Imperiall. Still you are short, and write nothing like a Divine. I tell you man, It is the King's right by the ancient Law of God, and a main parcel of the King's jurisdiction, although the Laws of the Realm had never touched upon it.  

l Translate. 1553. Latin, 1535. Qua in re nihil novi latum est; tantùm significantiore vocabulo apposito competentem 〈◊〉 jure divino ●otestatem exprimi clarius volu●runt.  Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, in his Oration of true Obedience, saith, that by the Parliaments calling of King Henry the Eighth, Head of the Church, there is no new invented matter wrought; only their will was, to have the power pertaining to a Prince by God's Law, to be the more clearly expressed with this sounding and Emphatical Compellation. So likewise in that Book set forth by the King and Convocation, called The Institution of a Christian man, in the Chapter of the Sacrament of Orders, it is thus written: 
m The Institution of a Christian man, printed 1537.  Unto Christian Kings and Princes of right and by God's Commandment belongeth specially and principally to conserve and maintain the true doctrine of Christ, and all such as be true Preachers and setters forth thereof, and to abolish all abuses, heresies, and Idolatries, etc. And 
n De absoluto Regis imperio. p. 19 Ad eas licèt Episcopi populum ●ortar●et possint et debeant, l●gis tan●n vim habere sine supremi reipublicae Magistratûs authoritate, planè non dixerim.  John Beckinsan, speaking of these particulars in hand, to wit, Ceremonies and Traditions not commanded by God, but recommended by Clergymen to stir up the people to piety and devotion, saith, That however they mayor ought to be maintained by the Bishops, yet can they not be established as a Law, otherwise then by the Authority of the supreme Magistrate. And these are all Papists, not Protestants, who may be suspected to colloque with their Princes.  
Nor is this Right united to the Crown of England only, as this Scribbler seems to conceive, but to all other Christian Crowns, and challenged by all Christian Princes accordingly. For the Roman Empire, one of the former 
o Qui● unquam im●robavir justiniani sactum, qui leges edidit de summa Triutate, & de fide Catholica, & de Ep scopis? Steph. Winton, Orat. p. 19 ●od, lust●ni 〈◊〉 Tom. 2. lib. 1. i●rul. 1.  Authors doth instance in Justinian, that with the approbation of all the world, he set forth those Laws of the most blessed Trinity, the Catholic Faith, of Bishops, Clergymen, heretics, and the like. For the most ancient Kingdoms of Castille, Leon, Toledo, and others of Spain, famous is that great work of the seven Partidas or Sections of Laws, advanced by Ferdinando the third, otherwise called the Saint, (in whose long reign of 35 years, there was no touch of 
p Regnavit annis 35; in quibus nec ●am●s, nec p●stis fuit in regno suo. Lopez. Gloss. in Prologue. part. 1.  hunger or contagion) but finished and completed by his Son Alfonso the tenth; 
q ●n la prima Partida deal fablamos de to●as las cosas, que pertenescen a la se Catholica, que face all ome conocer a Dios por cre●ncia. Prol. d●l Rey Alonso, fol. 4. Col. 2. Partid. 1. In quibus Partitis sacratissimae leges, non solùm ad causas hominum decidendas, sed ad divinum cultum dirigendum augendúmque continentur. H●sp●●. Illustrate. Tom. 1. Roderici Santij Histor. Hipan. part. 4. cap. 2. Et few acabado d●ste que few commencado a siete annos complidos. Prologue. del Alonso. p. 4.  in the first Partida or Section whereof, he speaks wholly of matters pertaining to the Catholic faith, which directs a man to know God, by way of credence or belief. Nor were those Volumes so composed and collected in those seven years employed in that service, to be afterward disputed of in Schools and Universities only, but for the 
r Par● decision de las causas, y buena Governation de la justicia destos Reynos. K. Philip's Proclam. 〈◊〉 the Partidas, Sect. 7. 1555.  decision of Causes, and the doing of justice, in all those Kingdoms and Dominions. And how many Kings before this had made Laws to the same effect in those Country's, God knoweth. For these Partidas were for the most part, but a 
s Leges Hispaniarum quas vocant Partitas in volumen redegit. Francise. Taraph. de Regib. Hisp. in Alf. 10. Hisp. illustr. Tom. ●. Colligendarum cura injuncta earum quas Partitas vulgò vocant. Io. Marian. de Reb●s Hisp. lib. 13. cap. 8.  Collection of the ancient Laws. And no otherwise have these matters been carried in the Kingdom of France. For they ever held their Kings, if not for the 
t Sinon pour 〈◊〉 de leur 〈◊〉 pour le 〈◊〉 comme 〈◊〉 l'une de meilleures et plus saines parties d'ice●●●. Qui est la cause, que l' ou●ertu●e, etc. Pasq. reach. l. 3. c. 30.  Head of their Church, yet surely for the principal and most sound member thereof. Which is the reason, that the opening or Overture of their most ancient Counsels under the first and second (that is the Merovingian and Caroline) line, was ever by the power and authority, and sometimes the presidency of their Kings and Princes. And my Author quarrels very much the 
u Gratian. Decree part. 2. Caus. 23. q 1. 5. D●st. ●rincipes.  Monk Gratian, for attributing to Isidore of Spain, rather than to a national 
x Concil. Pa●is. 6. l. 2. c 2 sub Lu●ovico Pip. Anno Dom. 829. Concil. Antiq. Sirmondi. Tom. 2. p. 526.  Council of France, held in the year 829, that brave and excellent saying, Principes seculi nonnunquam intra Ecclesiam potestatis adeptae culmina tenent, ut per eandem potestatem disciplinam ecclesiasticam muniant. God sometimes imparts secular power to Princes that live in the bosom of the Church, that they might employ this power in preserving ecclesiastical discipline. Saepe per regnum terrenum coeleste regnum proficit. The Kingdom of Heaven doth many times take growth and increase from these Kingdoms upon Earth. Cognoscant principes seculi se Deo debere rationem propter Ecclesiam quam à Deo tuendam accipiunt. And therefore the Great ones of the world must know, that God will one day call them to an account for his Church, so tenderly recommended unto them. It is true indeed, that these words are found in the sixth Council of Paris, lib. 2. c. 2. But it is as true, that in my Book Isidore is set down in the Margin as ready to own them. And both these will stand well enough; considering that 
y Isidore lived Anno 610. Helvicus. 626. Palmerius.  Isidore, Scholar to Gregory the Great, did flourish very near 200 years before the Aera of that Council; and that that Council, by incorporating of these words unto the substance of their Canons, doth put a greater lustre and authority upon them, as the French 
z Et de plus grande authorité, en la recognoissant d' une Synod. Pasq. ibid.  Antiquary well observes. And according to this doctrine, are all those Capitulars or mixed Laws, for matters of Church and Commonwealth, of Charles the Great, Ludovicus Pius, Lewis the Gross, Pipine, and others, gathered by 
a In Codice Leg. Antiquar. p. 827.  Lindenbrogius: And a world of other Capitula●s of the same nature, intermingled with the Canons of the French 
b Edita à Sirmondo 3 volume.  Counsels, in the late edition of them by Sirmond the Jesuit. In a word, the very pure Acts and Constitutions of the Synods themselves, were in those former times no further 
c Les Constitutions Consiliaires n' avoient lieu, si non de tant et en tant qu'elles estoient confirmées par nos Roys et prizes aux Archifs de leur Palais. Pasq. reach. l. 3. c. 30. p. 273.  valid and binding, then as they were confirmed by the Kings of France, and entered duly upon the Records of their Palais or Westminster-Hall. And yet under favour, all Crowns Imperial must give place in regard of this one flower of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to the Crown of Great Britanny. For as our Prince is recorded to be the 
d This Island hath the glory to be graced with the first Christian King that ever reigned in the wo●ld, which was Lucius. Speed in his 6. Book, cap. 9 This first Christian King of the world. Eccles. History of Great Britain, Age 2. cap. 6. Sub Lucio Britannia omnium provinciarum prima publicitus Christi nomen recepit. Anton. Sabel. lib. 5. Ennead. 7.  first Christian King, so is he intimated to be the first that ever exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction, being directed by Eleutherius the Pope to fetch his Laws by the advice of his Counsel, from the 
e Habetis penes vos utramque paginam: ex illis (Dei gratia) per consilium regni vestri sume legem▪ Divisos d●bes in unum ad concordiam et p●cem, et ad fidem et legem Christi, et ad sanctam ecclesiam congregare. Epist. Eleutherijm. s. in Biblioth. Cotton. In Archivis Lond. apud Stow, Anno 189 In K. Edward's Laws. Archa●onom-Lambardi, sol. 131. Antiquit Brita●●. p. 5. Jewel against Harding, fol 119. Act. & Mon. 1. part. pag. 107, etc.  Book of God, the old and new Testament, wherewith to reclaim his subjects to the Faith and Law of Christ, and to the holy Church. And if Father 
f 3 Convers. part 1. c. 4.  Parsons shall damn this Letter, as foisted, and another obscure 
g Eccles. Hist. of great Brit. Age 2. c. 20.  Papist suspect it to be corrupted, let the Reader content himself with these proofs in the Margin of a far more authentical averment and authority. Sure I am, that (according to this advice of Ele●therius) the British, Saxon, Danish, and first Norman Kings have governed their Churches and Churchmen by Capitulars and mixed Digests, composed (as it were) of Common and Canon Law, and promulged with the advice of the Counsel of the Kingdom; as we may see in those particulars set forth by 
h In his excellent book called Archaionomia per totum.  Mr. Lambard, 
i In his Analect. Anglobrit. l. 2. c. 3. & lib. 2. c. 6. 7. etc.  Mr Selden, 
k History of Cambria, p. 59 in Howell Dha.  D. powel, and others. And I do not believe there can be showed any Ecclesiastical Canons for the Government of the Church of England, until long after the Conquest, which were not either originally promulged, or afterwards approved and allowed by either the Monarch, or some King of the Heptarchy, sitting and directing in the national or Provincial Synod. For all the Collections that Lindwood comments upon, are (as 
l theophra. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Theophrastus speaks) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but rough and rugged money of a more fresh and later coinage. And yet in those usurping times, I have seen a Transcript of a 
m In M. s. Chronic. Abbatiae de Bello.  Record Anno 1157. 3ᵒ Henr. 2. wherein, when the B. of Chichester opposed some late Canons against the King's Exemption of the Abbey of Battles from the Episcopal Jurisdiction, it is said, that the King being angry and much moved therewith, should reply, Tu pro Papae authoritate ab hominibus concessa, contra dignitatum Regalium authoritates mihi à Deo concessas, calliditate argutâ niti praecogitas? Do you, Sr, go about by subtleties of wit to oppose the Pope's authority, which is but the favour or connivance of men, against the authority of my Regal dignities, being the Charters and donations of God himself? And thereupon requires reason and justice against the Bishop for this foul insolency. And it hath been always as the practice, so the doctrine of this Kingdom, that both in every part, and in the whole, 
n Postnati, pag. 106.  Laws do not make Kings, but Kings, Laws; which they alter and change from time to time, as they see occasion, for the good of themselves and their Subjects. And to maintain that Kings have any part of their Authority by any positive Law of Nations (as this 
o Pag. 62.  Scribbler speaks of a Jurisdiction, which either is or aught to be in the Crown by the ancient Laws of the Realm, and is confirmed by 1ᵒ Elis. c. 1.) is accounted by that 
p It was never taught, but either by Traitors, (is in Spencer's Bill in Edward the 2ds' time) or by treasonable Papists, (as Harding in the Confutation of the Apology) that Kings have their authority by the positive Law. Post. nati, pag. 99  great personage an assertion of a treasonable nature. But when Sr Edward Coke, or any other of our reverend Sages of the Law, do speak of the ancient Laws of the Realm, by which this Right in ecclesiastical causes becomes a parcel of the King's jurisdiction, and united to his Imperial Crown, they do not mean any positive or Statute-law, which creates him such a Right, as if a man should bestow a new Fee-simple upon the Crown (as this Scribbler instanceth) or any Law which declares any such Right created by any former Law; but the continual practice, Judgements, Sentences, or (as this very 
q jurisdictio intra hoc regnum exercita, Cawdreys' Case, p. 8.  Report calls it) Exercise of the ancient Laws of the Realm: which declareth and demonstrateth by the effect, that the Kings of England have had these several flowers of ecclesiastical jurisdiction stuck in their Imperial Garlands by the finger of Almighty God, from the very beginning of the Christian Monarchy within this Island. For so our 
r Postnati, pag. 54.  Sententiae judicum, and Responsa prudentum, have been termed, time out of mind, a main and principal part of the Common Law of England. And therefore having cleared this point at large, I shall easily yield to Dr Coal, that the King's Majesty may command a greater matter of this nature, then that the holy Table should be placed where the Altar stood, and be railed about for the greater decency; and that, although the Statute of 1ᵒ Elis. c. 1. had never been in rerum natura. But how doth the Dr make it appear, that his most excellent Majesty hath commanded any such matter? or that there is (as he avows) any public Order for the same? And this he must do by Proof, Reason, Authority, nay Demonstrations; as one that can endure no modesty of assertion, 
s P. 28. & 18. A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Thucyd. lib. 1. And Aristotle gives us many precedents of these modest expressions. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Eth. 1. c. 1. See there the difference in Eustratius between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  I think, I conceive, I have heard, I believe, but jeers at them all. I warrant you, he shall make it cocksure with three apodictical Demonstrations.  
I 
t Pag. 1. p. 27 & pag. 51. 52.  It is so in his Majesty's Chapel, where the ancient Orders of the Church of England have been best preserved, and without the which (perhaps) we had before this been at a loss amongst ourselves for the whole form and fashion of Divine service. The Chapel of the King being the best interpreter of the Law which himself enacted; wherein the Communion-table hath so stood, as now it doth, sithence the beginning of Queen Elisabeth, what time that Rubric in the Common prayer-book was confirmed and ratified. For thus he useth to double and treble his files throughout all his Pamphlet, that he may make himself a Body and Grosse (of words at least) to scar crows withal.  
I do confess, that that most sacred Chapel, but especially the Saint of that Chapel, may for his pletie and true devotion be a moving precedent and breathing example, not only for the Laity and meaner sort of the Clergy, but even for the gravest of all the Prelacy, to follow and imitate. And long may this Relation continue between that Type and Prototype of Majesty. Long may he serve God, and God preserve him, and this Church and State through and by him. But yet every 
u Pag. 28.  Parish-church is not bound to imitate, in all outward Circumstances, the pattern and form and outward embellishment and adorning of the Royal Chapel. And that for these Reasons.  
1. 
x Summa Sylvestri, verbo Obed. p. 208▪ La razon es, por que lo que tiene el superior praecisament en la ment then la voluntad, nose ordena al subdito y inferior, a manera de praecepto, ni es declaration de sua voluntad. Luego, en tall caso no ay obligation de obedecer. Pedro de Ledesma 2. part de la Suma. tractad. 15. c. 1.  An Inferior is bound to yield obedience to the outward only, and not to the inward Motion of the mind in his Superior. For what the Prince keeps inwardly unto himself in his Will and Understanding, hath no reference to the Subject by way of Precept, until it break forth ad motum exteriorem, as the Schoolmen call it, to some outward overture and declaration relating to the Subject. How the King shall adorn and set out his Chapel Royal, is a matter imminent and left to his own Princely wisdom and understanding. It is a sin against many precepts to whisper or doubt, but that he doth it wisely and religiously. But how his Laws and Canons require us to adorn our Churches, that is the outward and exterior moving of his Princely mind, which the Schoolmen make the only Cynosure of our Obedience. It is not therefore his Majesty's Chapel, but his Laws, Rubrics, Canons and Proclamations, that we are to follow in these Outward Ceremonies. And this I shall clear by an instance, which we should have heard before from the Doctor, but that (peradventure) he knew it not. At. Q. Elisabeths' first coming to the Crown, a 
y Speed. p. 858. Stow, 634.  Proclamation indeed was set forth, forbidding any man to alter any Ceremonies, but according to the Rites of her own Chapel, Then I confess unto you, for that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and instant of time, the Chapel, and the Chapel only was the Rubric, and the Polestar we were to sail by in our obedience. But this direction was not intended to be long-lived; it was but a Bush that brave Lady got under to pass over a sudden shower, 
z Cambd. Elis. pag. 23.  donec de Religionis cultu ex authoritate Barliamentaria statueretur, until the Parliament might bring to the World that Statute of Primo, whereof we spoke so much before. As therefore that wise Princess made shift for a time with her Sister's 
a Postnati, p. 73.  Seal, so did she with her 
b For they were the entire Ceremonies of the Mass: but that the Lords prayer, Creed and Litany was in English, as was usual in her Father's time. Cambd. Elis. p. 23. Stow. p. 614. Litany with Suffrage printed 16. of june. 1544.  Ceremonies; but forsook them both, as soon as she could be otherwise provided. So as now we are no longer to precedent ourselves in this kind by the Chapel, but by the Liturgy of Queen Elisabeth.  
2. I hope I shall ever live and die in an awful and reverend opinion of that sacred Oratory, the vivest resemblance I know upon the Earth of that Harmony of the Cherubims we look for in Heaven. Yet do I trust it will be no offence to any that bears equal devotion to that sacred place, if I pluck out this Cumane creature (who like a fawning Sycophant thinks to take Sanctuary in that holy ground) from the shadow and shelter of the Royal Chapel. Where did the man ever hear of any Chapel in the Christian world that gave form and fashion of Divine Service to whole Provinces? To what use serve our grave and worthy metropolitans, our Bishops, our Convocation-house, our Parliaments, our Liturgies hedged in and compassed with so many Laws, Rubrics, Proclamations and Conferences, if we had been long before this at a loss in England for the whole form and fashion of Divine Service, but for one Dean and so many Gentlemen of the King's Chapel? Here is a riddle indeed!  

c Sphinx Philosoph.  Mater me genuit, qu●e eadem mox gignitur ex me. I have heard often of a Mother-church, but now behold a Mother-chappell! 
d Ad Basilicae principis Apostolorum publicari & affigi— Piu● Quintus, prooem. ante Missal.  When Pius Quintus set forth his new Missal, he caused it to be proclaimed claimed at S. Peter's Church, and not at the sacred Chapel. 
e Concil. Gerun●. in Spanish en Girona, Anno 517. can. 1. Que enquanto a la celebration de los officios ecclesiasticos, etc. Francisco de Padilla. Histor. Eccles. de Esp. ●art. 2. Centur. 6. c. 9 It is cited by Gratian 3. part. d. ●. de Consecr. Burch. l. 3. c. 66. Ivo part. 3. c. 68 Beat. Rhenanus Praesat. in Miss. Chrysost. And is a currant direction in all Authors.  In the name of God let the same Offices be said in all the Provinces, as are said in the Metropolitical Church: as well for the order of the Service, the Psalmody, the Canon, as the use and custom of the Ministration, was the old rule of the ancient Fathers. I have read of great diversity heretofore in saying and singing in Churches within this Realm; of the Uses of 
f Preface before the Common prayer-book.  Salisbury, of Hereford, of Bangor, of York, of Lincoln; but never until now of the Use of the Chapel. I have read also of far more ancient Offices than any of all these, the 
g In a very old and ancient Mis. at Sr. R. Cottons.  Gallicane Course, the Scottish Course, the Roman Course, the Eastern Course, the Course of S. Ambrose, and the Course of S. Benedict, all at once used in several parts of this Island: but never read I of any ordering or directing Course from his Majesty's Chapel until now.  
I pray you, good Sir, how were the divine Services held up in Christendom for the first 500 years, in all which time (if we may believe one of our best 
h Sir H. Spilm. verbo Capella.  Antiquaries,) we shall hardly meet with the name of a Chapel? I'll put you a merry Case. Most of our 
i Strabo, de rebus Ecclesiast. c. 31. A Capa B. Martini, quam Reges Francorum, ob adjutorium victoriae, in praeiijs solebant secum habere. Gemma Anim de antiq. ritu Miss. l. 1 c. 128. Durand. Rational. divin. l. 2. c. 10. Beat. Rhe●. Praefat. in Miss. Chrysost. joseph. Vicecomes Observat, Ecclesiast. vol. 3. l. 2. c. 28. Ludovici pri●● Amul●tum.  liturgical Writers (the Favourites of the time) are of opinion, that this word Capella is derived from Capa, which signifies a Hood or a Mantle, and borrowed from the first Christian Kings in France of the Merovingian line, who carried about them in their Armies, the Hood of S. Martin as a Relic of much esteem: and using to say their Matins and Vespers in that homely Booth where this Jewel was lodged, the place from this Capa was called Capella, and the beginning of Chappells in these parts of the world. My Case then is this: That if all the Churches in France had been to take the pattern of their Ceremonies from King Clovys his Chapel, they must have had every one of them a Hood of S. Martin's to officiate over: which would necessarily imply, that this one Saint had a fairer Wardrobe, than all the Saints in the martyrology put together. And many years after King Clovys, Chappells in France, and the bordering Countries, were allowed but 
k Gratian▪ Decret. part. 3. d. 1. De Consecr. Ex Concilio Triburt. Non extat hoc Concilium citatur tamen a Burchardo etiam l. 3. c. 56. qui proculdubio vidit; eitat enim haec verba, ex Con. 4. Vide joseph. Vicecom. ubi supraè & Bin. Concilior. vol. 3. p. 1094 ex Hermanno Canisii.  Portative, when all the Churches had fixed Altars; so as the former could not in our particular give Law to the later.  
I will now lead you from France into Spain, to see if any Country can yield you satisfaction; and let you understand, that in the Kingdom of Toledo, and the famous University of Salamanca, Services in happells are quite differing from those in Parish-churches, the 
l Mozarabe por que usaun del lo● Christianos, que qucdaron mezel●dos entre los Moros Arabes y se usa deal en particulares Capillas de Toledo y de Salamanca. Fr. de Padilla, Hist. Eccles. de Espan. part. 2. centur. 7. c. 20.  Mozarabique penned by Isidore & Leander, being to this very day in use in the one, but the Roman Office commanded in the other. Teach not the Daughter therefore against all Antiquity to jet it our before the Mother: But rather give us leave to steer ourselves by the King's Laws, and we shall honour as much as you, the comeliness and devotion of the King's Chapel.  
3. Lastly, I would you had not named at all the beginning of Queen Elisabeth. For when the Rubric and Common prayer was confirmed, and ratified, there was an Altar in that Chapel, and the very 
m Romano autem ritu in caeteris omnibus uterentur. Cambd, El. p. 2. 3. Vsque ad vicesimum quartum junit. Idem. p. 39  old Mass officiated thereupon. When the Act of Parliament was passed, assented unto, and printed or proclaimed, the Altar was removed, and the Table placed, and (as both parties conjecture, for they were neither of them, the Inigo's, or Masters of the work at that time) in the very room that was filled up with the former Altar. And this may be, for aught the one knoweth, to make use of the rich Covers and ornaments, which fitted that room. But the other, as resolute as 
n Called Doctor resolutissimus. Praefat in 1. Sentent.  Bacon the Carmelite, enduring no Guessing or May-bees in this subject, holds it for a thrifty dream, and a poor conjecture. Better a great deal the Chappells and Churches were left to their own ability, to provide themselves of convenient ornaments, without being any way beholding to their former Altars. And if so learned a man had not delivered it, I should have held this opinion to be but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as Pinder of another in that kind) the very dream of a shadow, or the shadow of a dream, that the State should throw away more rich furniture for trying of conclusions, than the revenues of many Churches in the Kingdom are worth. But there might be other reasons of this posture of that Table, than either party hath hitherto touched. 
o Hist. of the Counc. of Tr. l. 5. f. 4 11. Not making any open declaration, what doctrine she would follow, designing as soon as she was settled, to establish it. Et par my cette innovation laissa plusieurs choses qu'elle jugea indifferentes, comme les Orgues, les Ornements d'Eglise, quoy que plus pour policeque pour religion. Du Chesne Histoire d'Anglet. l. 21. d. 10. Exceptâ Christi cruci affixi effigy, quam in domestico sacrario servavit Regina, publicéque ostentari passa est. Thuan. Hist. l. 23. pag. 670. La Royne, qui vouloit flatter les Catholics & les Princes estrangers, laignant n'estre pas tant e●●oginée, qu'on pensoit, de la Religion Catholic, ny al'egal de ses Predecesseurs, fit dresser en sa Chapelle une table en formed ' Autel, sur laquelle elle fit m●ttre une croixd ' argent, aux d'eux cotés de laquelle il y avoit deux cierges, etc. Publiant, mais avec trop de faintise, que ce qu'elle faisoit, n'estoit que comme constra●nte a suiure l'inclination de ses subjects. Lesquels toutesfois aucontraire elle force & contrainct d'aller aux Eglises Protestants. Flor. Du Remond. de la Naiss. l. 6. c. 11. 73.  What if it was to hold besides fair Candlesticks, embossed Plate and Books of Silver, which must have a back or wall to rest upon? What if there stood in the midst thereof a massy Crucifix? What if all her Chapel was thus set forth, to comply with foreign Princes, and to make them believe she was not so far esloigned from the Catholic Religion, as was bruited abroad? Were all the Churches in England to take pattern by this, who might not possess a picture in this kind, no not any of the Subjects in their 
p Articles of Imo. Elis. Artic. 45. Whether you know any that keep in their houses, any undefaced Images, Tables, Pictures, etc. Sermon against peril. of Idol. part. 3. p. 42. Images of Christ be not only defects, but also lies. Not that this is Gospel, but that it is QElis. h●r Homily.  private houses? Let Dr Coal kindle as red as he pleaseth: I dare not be too peremptory in these Assertions, no more than Aristotle durst be in his moral Philosophy; But I leave him to peruse my Margin a little, where he shall find two or three Frenchmen, who out of the Freedom of the Nation, will be sure Parlour tout, and to conceal nothing that ever they heard of. And this is my Answer to the first Argument.  
2. 
q p. 18. 19  The Queen's Injunctions were se● our for the reiglement and direction of all the Churches in this Kingdom, and it is said in them, that the holy Table in every Church shallbe decently made, and set in the place where the Altar stood, and there commonly covered, as thereto belongeth, (there is added which he leaves out, and as shallbe appointed by the Visitours) and if so, then certainly (without any ifs and and's,) it must stand along close by the wall; because the Altars always stood so, that is, 
r p. 56.  generally and for the most part. 
s p. 19  And himself affirms, that placing of the Table where the Altar stood (which he no where affirms terminis terminantibus, but as before, 
t p. 17.  in the place of the Chancel where the Altar stood) is the most decent situation, when it is not used, and for use too, where the Choir is mounted up by steps, etc. which might have easily been done. Howbeit afterwards, like a cursed Cow, 
u p. 18.  Quo teneam nodo?) he throws down all the milk he hath given: for when he had (desperately) written before, 
x p. 17.  that he thought somewhat might be said why the Table should stand in that place of the Chancel where the Altar stood, he saith now, that 
y p. 18.  if by Altarwise is meant, that it should stand along close by the wall; then he believeth not, that ever it was so placed (unless by Casualty) in country-churches. So that confessing all this, 
z p 13.  and that (as he guesseth) the Queen's Commissioners were content, that the Altars themselves should stand, in the Injunctions 1559. we have that great 
a p. 13.  advantage which Tully speaks of, Confitentem reum; were we but sure to tie a knot upon him: For he is a slippery youth.  

b Plautus in Pseud.  Ps. Quid, cum manifestò tenetur? Ch. Anguilla'st, elabitur.  
So that, as the former Argument was taken from the Queen's Chapel, so is this from the Queen's Injunctions; and (I confess) the more pertinent of the twain, if it had a Cube, or any solidity to rest upon.  
I answer first: That though I may grant the Queen's Injunctions to have been an Ecclesiastical Law, yet shall I ever hold them to have been Laws of England, and not of the Medes and Persians. And 
c Postnati, p. 106.  the Kings of England have a power from God himself, not only to make Laws, but to alter and change Laws from time to time, for the good of themselves and their Subjects, as I showed before. Especially those parts of the Injunction, which (like trees) breed the Worms in the Body of them, which in a short time must needs destroy them, cannot but be subject to alteration. And this Injunction for Tables in the Church, is clearly of that nature; That the holy Table should be set in the place where the Altar stood, and there commonly covered as thereto belongeth, and as shallbe appointed by the Visitours. Which last words this false-fingerd gentlemen left out in his Quotation, as I noted before. So that this Injunction is but, as he said of 
d 1 Sam. 13 1.  Saul, the son of one year, and being set forth in the end of Primo, refers the placing and adorning of the Table to the Commissioners, which concluded both these particulars in their Orders of Tertio; 
e Orders the 10th of Octob. 1561. the first Item.  That the Table should stand where the steps within the Quires and chancels stood, and should be covered with Silk or Buckram. And there if you be a good huntsman, you may wind your Horn, and blow the full of that Injunction. O, but there is more life in the Game then so! 
f P. 22.  For then the Orders published 1561, must run quite cross to the Injunctions published 1559, but two years before; which were ridiculous to imagine. Well Coal, thou art an Antmal rationale risibile, that is, a most ridiculous creature, for thy reasoning. How many Acts of Parliament hath England seen, that were made Probationers for a shorter time than two years, as you compute it? What was that last Proviso in the Statute of Primo 
g P. 58, 59, 50.  you so much stood upon even now, but to imply, that the Queen by her Commissioners (when she saw cause) would appoint alterations of Ceremonies, without making your Mastership so merry disposed? However, this Injunction had her plenitudinem dierum, having lived to the last minute it was ever intended for, that is, the settling of some other Order in the premises by the Queen's Commissioners in Causes Ecclesiastical. They settled the Table from the Wall, and 
h P. 26.  so it continued for many years in most places of England, (perhaps when this Letter was written) though much deviated (as you think) from the ancient practice, of those few Months, scil. under the foresaid Injunction. But the Coal is not yet quenched; for he flames in the faces of the Commissioners, 
i P. 22.  for offering to place the Table where the Steps stood, and yet fixing upon the wall (which the Advertisements of 1565 do call the East-wall) the Tables of God's Precepts imprinted for the said purpose; which could not be, if the Communion-table were not to stand abo●●● the Steps, and under the Commandments, and therefore all along the wall, (and why not aswell in the place of the steps, and end-wise to the wall?) on which the ten Commandments were appointed to be placed. Here is the longest conclusion, that ever I heard made of such short and petty premises. I hope he doth not think that the Tables of the Law did hang Geometrically, by a perpendicular line cutting right angles with the Communion-Table. For if they did, they would not serve his turn even in that pendancy. So that to be fixed on the Wall, or the East-wall, over the Communion-boord, can signify nothing else, but that they should be fixed higher than the Communion-Table, upon some part of the East-wall, so as the people seeing the Communion-table, might over that see and read the ten Commandments. And this may be the better done, though the Table stand in the Midst of the Choir, which is more than the Letter required. And this is the true meaning of those Orders, as appears by 
k Interpretatio practice● is to be considered in all things. ●ost-nat. P. 66.  the general practice, and the Canons in force. That the ten Commandments be set upon the East-end of every Church, where the people may best see and read the same. Not just over the middle of the Tabl● 
l Canon 82.  running along the East-window Altarwise; (for then they must, in most Churches, be fixed in the very Glass itself) but in any part of the East-end, where 
m Canon 82.  they may be seen and read of the People. And so in B. Sand's visitation 13ᵒ of the Queen, the Article runs no more than thus, Whether have you in your Church or Chapel the Table of the ten Commandments? So that the very Church-Painters cannot but have Tanto di naso, a nose as long as the Rhinoceros, in making themselves merry with the conceit of this Argument. The Commandments are over the Table; Ergo over the side of the Table. Nonsequitur. They may be over the End of the Table. And that shallbe the end of my first answer.  
Secondly, how doth it follow, that 
n P. 8, & 9  if the Injunction require that the Table should be set in the place where the Altar stood, it must stand along close by the wall? have you no better proof for it, 
o P. 19  than that Altars always stood so? Although this be a most bold and ignorant assertion (as shall be showed in due time) yet being admitted, it doth not prove your sequel. For it might stand above the steps, with the end Eastward, and the side Northward, 
p P. 26.  as it was in most places of England, when this Letter was written, and yet obey the words of the Injunction, and be in the place where the Altar stood. If the Injunction had said, It was to be in the very place of the Altar, it had not done your feat. For, as Aristotle tells us, there is a double place; there is 
q Natur. Auscult. lib. 4. c. 4.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is a place of the Altar, which might hold more than the Altar did; and there is a place, that holds 
r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ibid.  just no more in any dimension, than the thing placed. And the Injunction directed to her Majesty's Subjects, and not to her Mathematicians, is likelier to use the term of a common and ordinary, then of a proper and Mathematical place. This very Injunction saith in the next words, that in the time of the Communion it shall be in the Chancel. 
s Before the Communion.  The Rubric saith, in the body of the Church or Chancel. The 
t Canon 82.  Canon in force, in the Church or Chancel. All which are common and Mechanical, and not Mathematical places. And so the place of the Altar in this Injunction, is not all, and in all dimensions, but some part only of the Room which that Altar filled, But here it is not so difficult neither. The words are, In the place, UBI, where the Altar stood; as in the 
u Also that the Steps, etc.  Orders of Tertio, where the Steps stood. So that the Injunction doth not describe the Mathematical place, but the Vbi only, and artificial place of the Altar. And 
x De subtilit. Exercit. 359. § 5.  Scaliger will tell you, that many things else may be in an Vbi, without levelling their length, breadth and thickness to the equal dimensions of a corporeall-place. And therefore for the great pains you take with your line and level, in finding that the 
y Pag. 19  Altar takes up much room to the North and South, which the Table placed endlong doth not take up, and the Table much room to the East and West, which the Altar did not; you might have spared it all against the building of a new Pigeon-house. Your Chalk and Ochre are quite washed away with these distinctions. For I that am but a poor Countrey-joyner, can set you up (if you please) a Table end-wise above the Steps, that shall be said as properly to be in the place where the Altar stood, as to be in the Church, in the Chancel, or that paved ground where the Steps were a little before demolished. And thus the Writer of the Letter doth not play 
z Pag. 18.  Fast and loose, but loose with you for altogether, dissolving this Utopian contradiction that rumbled in your brain, without the help of Antonius Zimarra. If you mean by Altarwise, the place; somewhat may be said for it; if the Form of an Altar, nothing at all in the Injunctions of 1559. Nor doth the writer of the Letter any where say, that 
a Pag. 13.  the Queen's Commissioners were content the Altars should stand; for my Copy hath it, 
b The Queen's most royal Majesty by the advice of her most honourable Counsel. Preface to the Injunct.  the Queen and her Counsel, her Commissioners having no hand at all in these Injunctions. So that yourself is the 
c P. 13.  Reus in this Confession: either wilfully corrupting the text, or swallowing a Gudgeon presented by the transcriber. I am not salaried to defend the Writer of the Letter in all words and syllables; who (had he any ground given him by his Majesty's Laws to turn him about) seems unto me fully as forward, and far more able to defend old Ceremonies, than you are. But I must say this (though both of you should be offended) that the 
d The words be these, In the other (that is, either) whereof, saving for uniformity, there seemeth no matter of great moment, so that the Sacrament be duly and reverently administered.  Queen and the Counsel do not, unto me, seem to approve, but rather to disprove the standing of Altars, in this Injunction. They say indeed, that absolutely, and abstractedly from circumstances and considerations, it seemeth no matter of great moment, unto them, whether the Sacrament be administered upon the Altars, or the holy Tables, so as it be duly and reverently performed. Duly, without turning it to a Sacrifice, as the Pontificians did: And reverently, without pulling it down to a bare sign and Figure, as the zwinglians did. But taking the case not abstracted and naked, but clothed and adorned with all its circumstances unto their consideration, they clearly resolve to put down the Altars, and set up the holy Tables, for two main reasons. 
e In these words, Yet for observation of one uniformity through the whole Realm, and for the better imitation of the Law in that behalf, it is ordered, etc.  The first, for uniformity of divine Service through the whole Realm. And secondly, for a conformity with the Statute of 1● Elis. c. 2. to the which the Queen had but newly passed her Royal assent, when by the advice of her Counsel she published these Injunctions.  
My third therefore and last Answer is this, That it had been 
f P. 22.  ridiculous indeed to imagine, that the Queen and her Counsel (the very flower and glory of both the Upper and Lower house of Parliament) should in these Injunctions vary from the Rites, which they had but few days before prescribed to be used in the Rubric of the Book of Common prayers: 
g Letter. p. 71  Where the Minister appointed to read the Communion, is directed to read the Commandments, not at the end, but at the North-side of the Table, 
h Rubric before the Communion.  which implies the end to be placed towards the East great Window, as is was likewise practised in King 
i P. 26. That only was put in to show that he had the Book entitled The Troubles of Francofurt.  Edward's time; which the writer of the Letter (what shift soever the poor man made to get the Book) hath endeavoured to prove out of 
k Pag. 30.  The Troubles at Francofurt. It being very like, that Cox, Grindall, and Whitehead (who made half the 
l Cambd. Elis. p. 23.  number of the perusers of the Liturgy, which was to be confirmed in the Parliament of Primo) would observe that Ceremony in placing the Communion-table, which themselves (at home and 
m Troubles of Francof. p. 23. 24.  abroad) had formerly practised. And that this was the last situation of that Table in King Edward's time, we may know from a servant in Ordinary of Queen mary's, from whom as I would be loath to receive matters of doctrine, so shall I never refuse to be informed in matters of Fact, consonant and agreeing to the Rubric of our Liturgy. Considering, as the Poet saith, — Fas est & ab hoste doceri.  

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

r pag. 23.  For there is no difference at all in this case, between the North-end and the North-side, which come both to one. For in all quadrilaterall and quadrangular figures, whether they be a perfect square, which Geometricians 
s Geometr. lib. 12. Can. 2.  that is, Peter Ramus, and those that follow him; for the Greeks do call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the Latinists, aequilaterum; which would not handsomely fit in this place, where the discourse is of a long-square) call Quadratum; or along-square (as commonly our Communion-Tables are) which they call Oblongum, it is plain, that if we speak according to the Rules of Art (as I hope we do not use to speak to poor Subjects, that are penally to obey Laws and Canons) everypart of it is a side, howsoever Custom 
t Horat. in Art Poëtica.  (Quem penes arbitrium est & jus & norma loquendi) hath prevailed to call the narrower sides by the name of Ends. When therefore he that ministereth at the Altar, stands at the North-end of the same, as we (that are not Mathematicians) use to call it, he stands no question (the right stile of a 
u Geometrae, qui se profitentur non persuadere, sed cogere. Cic. Acad. Quaest l. 4.  Geometrician) at the North-side thereof, as in property of speech we ought to call it. And this Interpretation of the Rubric I rather stand to, because it is translated in the Latin Liturgy of 2º Elisabethae; ad cujus mensae Septentrionalem partem Minister stans. And I presume no man of reason can deny, that the Northern end or side (call it which you will) is pars Septentrionalis. And thereupon he throws down his Gauntlet, and (contrary to the Proclamation) challengeth in plain terms the trim Epistoler, to let him (if he can) hear in some reasonable time the contrary from him.  
It is a Cartel of defiance, I confess, and being sufficiently divulged, I must leave it to the party called upon, to take up, if he please, or otherwise to digest, as his stomach and discretion shall best serve him. Let him meet the Doctor, if he dare; but yet happy he, if he do not meet him. For mine own part, I am nothing so much troubled with this language, as I am with a speculation that suddenly comes into my head, of the elevation and raptures of the Soul, when it is throughly plunged in the studies of the Mathematics. For as these learned men converse in abstracted notions (as the 
x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. de Anima, lib. 1. cap. 1.  Philosopher tells us) without any mixture with the mud of this world; so is their pleasure and contentment so pure and liquid, that it is a kind of 
y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plut. Non suaviter posse vivere juxta Epicurum. pag. 1094.  Honeycomb without any wax, and a bowl of Nectar poured down their throat without a crumb of any diverting or distasting thought to interrupt them. Incomparable was the delight of Euclid, when he had found how to make but 
z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plut. ibid.  a Jacob's staff, which notwithstanding, I can buy for twelve pence. Archimedes washed in a brazen Lavatory, cries out in an ecstasy, I have found it. His men thought he had found a Coronet of gold, and it was nothing but the 
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Idem. ibid.  Coronet or Circumference of the Vessel. But that sad youth Pythagoras went beyond them all, who having ever been in all his Sacrifices, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, far from any lavishing humour, when he had found in a Diagramme an equality of some lines, or (as the Doctor calls them) of some sides, in a rightangled Triangle, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (saith mine 
b Porphyrius de vita Pythag. ab Holstenio editus. p. 24.  Author) down went a whole Ox to the Gods for the Inspiration. It is not therefore without a great deal of reason, that Dr Coal doth thus triumph in this page, to have found, by his rare Invention and study in Geometry, four sides in a long Table; nor without some hope of having one day an Altar and a Sacrifice, for joy of the Diagramme. And surely well may he deserve it, if at a Table that hath no end, he can Officiate at the end of the Table. Otherwise, to inform us that in every Square there are four sides (that is, 
c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Squares are figures compassed with four right lines. Euclid. Element. ex Theon comment. translated by Dosypodius. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Right figures are those that are compassed with right lines. Ibid.  four lines; as all Mathematicians define a side.) I assure you, is no more, than a Child in his long coats was able to demonstrate to the Divine Socrates. 
d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Plato in Menon. pag. 418. Pusionem quendam Socrates interrogat quaedam Geometrica de dimensione Quadrati. Cic. Tufc. qu. l. 1.  Socr. From what line, my Child? Ch. From this line. Socr. What, from this of four foot long running from angle to angle? Ch. Just so, Sir. So as the Gods deserve nothing at all, no not that holocaust mentioned in the beginning of the Book, of the Doctors discretion (which is a grain or two less than nothing) for this poor and meager invention.  
And that I deal clearly in this point to the Greeks in the Margin, I will add some definitions of an 
e M. Blundevils' Exercit. 1 Book of the Sphere, p. 274.  English Gentleman of good esteem amongst the Learned. Triangles are those which are bounded with three right lines. Foure-square figures are those which are bounded with four right lines. Many square figures are those which are bounded with more right lines then four, etc. If you speak therefore according to the Rules of Art, a side in Geometry, is a line or length; and four sides are but four lengths. But a side in the English-tongue, is a long length (as the side of a man, from whence the word is derived, is the longest length of a man) and the two sides of a long Square, the two long lengths of that Square; which to the world's end will never be proved to be that Squares End. Yourself confess that Custom hath prevailed to call the narrower sides (say you, I say, Lines or Lengths) by the name of Ends. And will you dispute out of Geometry against Custom? And that with people which are no Geometricians? 
f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. Analyt. post. l. 1. c. 12.  Then Aristotle shall tell you what you are. You must not dispute in terms of Geometry, with those that verse not in Geometry: Otherwise, you will show yourself but a foul and sophistical disputant. Now Points and Lines are 
g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Arist. Anal post 1. c. 10.  proper to Geometry: 
h jul. Polluc. li. 4. c. 21. p. 212.  and so are Triangles, Quadrangles and Quadrates. And therefore these are not words for binding and penal Laws. Loquendum cum Vulgo. When you speak to the People of a Side, you must take a Side as they take it. 
i Opera danda est ut verbis utamur quam usitatissimis. Cio. 4. de Finib. Vsitata sunt ea, quae versantur in sermone & consuetudine quotidiana. Cic. ad Heren. lib. 4.  We must take the words that are most usual, that is, those of daily speech and communication. If Custom have prevailed, it is too late to stop the current. Custom will carry it quite away from your Geometry. And as you may see in the Margin out of Tully (one that understood prettily well the property of speech) there is no property of speech, but in the speech of use and Custom. For other wise every Art hath her words of Art; as 
k Dialecticorum quoque verba nulla sunt publica; suis utuntur, Et id quoque commune omnium ferè artium. Cic. Acad. quaest. l 1.  Logic, and what not? Nay the 
l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Analyt. post. l. 1. c. 11.  great Philosopher tells us, that if a Musician propound his Problem to a Geometrician in his own terms, he'll go near to gravel him. If you please, we'll try it a little. You are an excellent Geometrician, I perceive, and yet I shall present you with an Epitaph of a French Musician, Noelle sueur, written in terms of Music, which, for all your Mathematics, you will never understand without the help of that chanting Science. Now if you may perchance have a Crotchet in your pate more than I know of, be not descanting too fast upon this Epitaph. Upon my word it was not made of a Vicar, but of a 
m Les Bigarreures du Seigneur des Accords. De Rebus par letters ch. 3. p. 25 & 26.  Chanter of Langres, and is here faithfully translated from the original, who ever the Rhymer was.  

An Epitaph of an excellent Musician, faithfully translated out of a French Author.  
Well couth he climb the scale of Gamuth Are,  
Till leaving Choir, and of a Mood to marry,  
In this imperfect Time, & uneven Notchets;  
His house with Minums swarmed, his head with (Crotchets.  
Then prowles a Long the Country for relief,  
Looked for a Large, but lighted on a Brief.  
And from the White Long, and the sacred Altar,  
Deserving Duplas, reaped but Sesquialtar.  
Base was his best part; yet his Neighbours say,  
He sung the trouble till his dying day.  
For Counterpoints and Discords much inquest  
He made, till here he found his pause and Rest.  
Time perfect had he had and more prolation,  
He quite had changed the plain song of the Nation.   
Now all this is canting, not chanting, to an unmusicall man.  
You are too much in your Mathematical humour; as Euclid was before you: who passing through many countries, and coming at the last to the banks of Nile, and finding there some Diagrams in the sand, drawn by the Egyptians 
n Coelius Rhodigin. Antiq. lection. lib. 18. cap. 34● Nunquam non Collimitiis pereuntibus Nili exuperantia. Hieron. Card. Encom. Geometr.  (whom the often overflowing of that River had forced to the study of Geometry) is said to kneel down, and give the God's thanks, that he was entering into a country inhabited by men. As if they could be no men, that were not withal 
o Cardan. ibid.  Geomatrician. I pray you therefore remember, that the Rubric was written for the use of the English, not of the Gypsies or Egyptians. And for your directions hereafter, I will give you two Rules from two Englishmen, prettily well versed in Laws and Canons, because I perceive you suspect and jeer the 
a The ablest Canonist no doubt in the Church of England. p. 50.  writer of the Letter, as unskiled in that kind. 
b Postnat. p. 62.  Words should be taken sensu currenti. For use and custom is the best expositor both of Laws and words. If of all Laws and Words, than most of all of the Words of the Laws. That's the first. The second is to the same effect. 
c Whitgift in his defence of the admonition, tit. 9 pag. 134.  The other is the common name customably used of the common people, who will not be taught to speak by you or any man, but keep their accustomed names and terms. Though you will go near to tell him for his good advice, 
d Pag. 47.  that this was but his Helena to please the people. Well, if one should invite the good Gentlewoman your wife to dinner, and bid her sit down at the side, meaning in your property of speech, at the End of the Table, he might upon the very naming of this word side, find his Gossip (peradventure) in the Top of the house. But to dally with you no longer; learned men in these very particular Ceremonies we have in hand, have appropriated the word sides, to the long, and the word End, to the short length of an Oblong square: So as they cannot now be otherwise (but improperly) used. What say you to Gregory the 13th who renewed the Calendar? I hope he had about him all the best 
e Bullarii Tom. 2. p. 456.  Mathematicians of Europe, that could inform him what was properly to be called a side. And yet in his 
f Pontific. Greg 13. Venet. 1582. p. 144. Et thurificat Altare undique ad dextrum & sinistrum latus. Et p. 142. In parte posteriori, & parte anteriori Altaris. And it is so likewise in the Pontifical of Pius Quartus printed at Venice, 1561. p. 133. Above all this, see Act. & Monum. vol. 2. pag. 700. Of B. Ridley. And in the Church of ●oul broke down the wall, standing then by the high Altars side. And when the Altar Sanctum in S. Denis in France was opened by the Abbot Sugar, there was found S. James arm, en la party anteritur, in the anteriour part; S. Stephens at the right, and S. Vincents at the left side of the Altar. Du Brenl. Theatre des Antiquitez de Paris lib. 4. pag. 1102.  Pontifical, he makes no more sides of an Altar, then of a man, to wit, a right side and a left side; calling the lesser squares, the anteriour and posteriour part thereof. What think you of Archbishop Bancroft, and the Composers of our Canons now in being? Did they use in those Canons a property of speech? Surely they were much too blame, if they did not. And they require (as we heard before) 
a Canon 82.  That the ten Commandments should be set upon the East-end (not the East-side of every Church and Chapel. And for the words of the Latin Liturgy of 2● of the Queen, that translates it, ad mensae Septentrionalem partem (which 
b Politia Eccles. p. 221.  Mocket likewise follows in his Book) it helps the Doctor nothing at all, but to show his want of Logic and learning. For beside that that Book is recommended only 
c Quoniam intelligimus Collegia utriusque Academiae, Collegium item novum prope Wintoniam, & Aetonense. Q. Letters patents, 6. April. El. 2.  to a few Colleges, and not unto the Church of England, and was never confirmed by Act of Parliament, or King james his Proclamation; Walter Haddon, or whosoever else was the translator thereof, in his Rhetorical vein, useth in his rendering of these words, the Genus for the Species, which in an Argument will by no means endure a 
d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Top. 4. c. 1.  Reciprocation, as freshmen know in the Universities. I do presume, gentle Doctor, that no man of reason can deny but that every End is a Part: but I hope a man may stoutly deny that every Part is an End, and yet with the help of a warm Nightcap keep his Reason safe enough. Every side of a man is a part: but he that will say that every part of a man is a side, hath neither head nor brains of his own, nor hath he ever studied Vesalius his Anatomy. So that your Argument is troubled with a Pleurisy and some stitches in the side, which must be cured; otherwise you have reason, Sr, to expect ye● long to hear some news from the trim Gentleman. Your Eve, Sr,  
e Martial. epigr. lib. 6.  (— Illa tuum, Castrice, dulce latus) 
was taken from your side: (And thereupon, by the 
f Martinius in Lexic. verbo Latus.  Phrisians and Sicambrians, a Wife is to this day called a side.) But she was not taken from 
g Si ex posteriori parte eduxisset, nimiò plùs mulier vilis extitisset; si ex anteriori, quasi viro adversariam effinxisset. Gennad. 〈◊〉 aten. Lippo●● in Gen. c. 7. fol. 74. Nè aut Domina, si de Capite; aut Ancilla, si de Pedibus. Hugo de S. Victore.  everypart of a man. Tell her, that she was taken from your Heels, & you shall quickly find her (if she be metall'd) about your Ears. So in this particular; when you officiate at the end of the Table, you may officiate at a part (and well enough, for aught the writer of the Letter saith to the contrary) but you cannot officiate at that part of the Table, to the which by the Rubric, confirmed by Act of Parliament, you are literally directed and appointed. Besides that, there is in this Latin translation more to be considered, than you are aware of. The Calendar there is full of Saints, and some of them got into red scarlet; there is an innovation in the Obits and Exequys, which is fain to be warranted with the Queen's 
h Peculiari ● quaedam in funebribus & exequiis de●antinda, quae Statu●o non obstante, etc. Q. Letter patent.  especial Non obstante. And what needed this to young Scholars, that meant not to die so fast, but desired no more than leave to pray in Latin, to be better acquainted with books in that Language? Lastly, there were so few Copies of this Latin Liturgy printed at the first, that Dr Whitaker, when he was but yet a very young man, was employed by his Uncle the Dean of Paul's, to translate it again into 
i Latinitate donàsse fertur (The Book is extent in 8●. omnem rationem publicarum precum & totius Liturgiae formam praescriptam. Ashtonus in vita Whitak●ri. Oper. tom. 1. pag. 699.  Latin. Which had never been, unless the other version was at that time either exhausted or misliked. Set all these together, and compare the year of 3● and 4● of the Queen (for so long it may be yer the Book was printed) with the doings at the Council of Trent, with the Pope's endeavours to excommunicate, and the Emperors to protect this young Princess, and you shall find a probable reason that this Liturgy should be translated, rather to comply with the 
k See the History of the Counc. of Trent. lib. 8. pag. 727. Item Cambd. Elis. pag. 41.  foreign, then to reigle and direct the English Churches. And so much by way of Answer to the second Argument.  
3. The third and main Argument of Dr Coal is this: 
l p. 63.  That his sacred Majesty (whom God long preserve) hath hereupon already declared his pleasure, in the Case of S. Gregory's, and thereby given encouragement to the metropolitans, Bishops, and other Ordinaries, to require the like in all the Churches committed to them.  
If this were true, it might very well serve for a Wall of brass to keep off the tongues and pens of all the Clergy and Laity of England, from intermeddling in this Theme or Question any more. For who could have so steely a brow, as to outface such a sacred Sentence; especially in a matter of a nature indifferent, & acknowledged by all Laws divine and humane, to depend immediately upon the Royal decision? But it is most untrue, that his Majesty hath declared in that Act one word of his pleasure Hereupon, that is, against the Contents of this Letter; although it was (if I be rightly informed) either punctually read, or opened very fully, unto his most excellent Majesty at that Hearing But this Pamphleter, whose whole book is but a Libel against a Bishop, and every page thereof a malicious falsification of some Author or other, had this height of impudence only left to ascend unto in the Conclusion of his work, ponere os in coelum, to outface heaven itself, and misreport the justice of so divine a Majesty. For if you abstract from this Declaration, which this bold man hath printed for an Act of Counsel, the Allegations (which he calls the Relations) of both parties, and his Majesty's just pleasure for the dissolving of the Appeal; the remainder will prove a full confirmation of this Letter he so much frets against, and a most condign reprehension of that Squirrelheaded young man, that without consent of his Fellow minister, and in contempt of his Diocesan, and all that populous Parish, would throw the Communion-table out of doors, and build him a close Altar, out of faction and singularity. His Majesty's Rescript, Mentis aureae verba bracteata, fit to be written in plates of gold, is this, and this only, concerning the point in controversy.  
And likewise, for so much as concerns the liberty given 
p. 65.  by the said Communion-book, or Canon, for placing the Communion-table in any Church or Chapel with most conveniency: That liberty is not to be understood, as if it were ever left to the discretion of the Parish, much less to the particular fancy of any humorous person, but to the judgement of the Ordinary, to whose place and function it doth properly belong to give direction in that point, both for the thing itself, and for the time, when and how long, as he may find cause.  
With this Sentence I will conclude the Chapter: And will not presume with any 
q Nè quid, post illud divinum & immortal factum, mortale faceret. Plin. in Panegyr.  mortal discourse of mine, to profane such heavenly expressions. Here is more than I could say; here is as much as I could think. Here is no Altar, no Altarwise, no fixing in the East, no stepping, no mounting; but all left to the Law, to the Communion-book, to the Canon, and to the Diocesan. And therefore if this do not defend the Writer of the Letter (if he prove a 
r pag. 3.  Diocesan writing to his own private Parish-Priest) par my & par tout, (as our Common Lawyers use to say) from the first word to the very last therein contained, let him get him another Champion, and remain undefended for me.  
— 
s Virgil. Aeneid. 1.  Si Troija dextrâ  
Defendi potis est, etiam hâc defensa futura est.   

CHAP. III.  
Of the Episcopal, and presbyteral or private Ministers power, in matters of Ceremony. What influence the Piety of the times, or the (secret) good work now in hand, can have on this subject.  
AS the 
a A ceromate nos Aphe exce pit. Senec. Epist. 57 Haphe, pulvis quo inspergebantur luctaturi. Muretus' in locum. Sic Ovid. Ille cavis hausto spargat me pulvere palmis.  ancient wrestler in the Olympic Games finding his adversaries members so slick and slippery with oil and sweat, as it was impossible to lay any fixed hold upon them, used to powder them over with a kind of dust, whereby to procure himself a surer gripe and fastening: So this Pamphleter having slipped and glided (as it were) those poor Reasons he hath into all the several parts of this Libel, so as it is impossible to refute them without committing as many Tautologies as he useth himself; I have thrown this Method like a kind of Pin-dust upon those naked limbs, that I might get some hold of him, and try whether he be as strong and manly, as he is fidging and slippery in his Refutation. As therefore I have in the last Chapter reduced into a body all the Regal, so I intent to do in this, all the Ecclesiastical power, that the poor fellow conceives to be any way opposite to the Letter confuted. I must therefore fall a picking of them up, like so many Daisies in a bare Common, here and there one where I can find them.  
First, the setting of your Table Altarwise being now exacted from you by your Ordinary: This Case (saith 
b pag. 2.  he) requires more of your Obedience then Curiosity. And should we all be so affected as to demur on the Commands of our Superiors, in matters of exterior order, and public government, till we are satisfied in the grounds and reasons of their Commands, or fly off from our duty, we should soon find a speedy dissolution both of Church and State. You know who said it well enough; Si ubi jubeantur, quaerere singulis liceat, pereunte obsequio imperium etiam intercidit. 
c pag. 59  Now the Ordinary of his own Authority can (if he please) so appoint and direct it. Beside that, his 
d pag. 63.  Majesty hath given encouragement to the Bishops and other Ordinaries (whereof I have showed the contrary in the precedent Chapter) to require the like in all the Churches committed unto them.  
Secondly, The Vicar of Gr. himself 
e pag. 9  might desire to have an Altar, i. e. to have the Communion-table placed Altarwise at the upper end of the Choir, or use the name of Altar for the holy Table. 
f pag. 10.  Because, for any thing the Canon tells us, the Vicar (who is never named or dreamt of in the Canon, or articled unto concerning this particular in either the Diocesan or Metropolitan Visitation) was to have a greater hand in ordering of the said Table then the Bishop's immediate Officers, the Churchwardens, were or aught to have; as one that better understood, what was convenient in and for God's Service, than they did or could. Nor did the Vicar any thing against the Canon (as he did not by taking his Morning's draught before he went about it) in causing the Table to be disposed of to a more convenient place then before it stood in. Only this Epistoler is pleased to countenance the Vestry-doctrine of these days, in which the Churchwardens and other Elders (that grow in the Doctors barren wit, never dreamt of in the Letter) would do all, leaving their Minister (God bless good holy Churchmen from such a misadventure) to his studies and Meditations. A thing more fitting for S. Basil or S. Bernard, then for a Vicar, who was never intended for a looker on, or a dull spectator of their active undertake in removing (when they are commanded by the Ordinary) a joined Table. 
g pag. 11.  For the Curate being once appointed as a principal man to take Altars down, who but he should set them up? It is true indeed that the Bishop of the Diocese is the man, to whom by right (and by the Liturgy) the ordering of these things doth belong; but than it is as true (or if it be not true, as it is most false and foolish) yet (saith the 
h Title pag.  judicious and learned Divine, Dr Coal, alias Firebrand) it is more fit, that he should send his resolutions to the Priest, then to the (I know not what) people, a kind of Myrmidons swarmed out of the Doctors fancy, and never mentioned in the Letter confuted. And to say that they are the Diocesans subordinate officers in this kind, is another smack of the Vestry-doctrine; And placed there on front; to delight the people, encouraged thereby to contemn their Parsons, who are left to mere contemplative Meditations, and not employed (as they should be) in removing and providing of Frames and Tables. And therefore, O bloody Prelate, to gore thy Clergy in this kind, as not to suffer them to execute all these Mandates of Commissaries and officials, concerning Bells, Frames, Bell-ropes, Beeres, Shovels, and square Tables; but leave those active spirits to moulder away (against all conscience) in divine Meditations! Parce precor stimulis. Oh be not so hardhearted and merciless 
i pag. 48.  to advance on this sort the Authority of the Churchwardens so high above their Ministers. Especially 
k pag. 51.  seeing the Vicar in correspondence unto former practice (some 80 years before) thought the place where formerly the Altar stood, to be fittest for it. Which he knew better than this extravagant Epistoler, 
l pag. 3.  though the Epistoler seem to be a Diocesan, and the other a private Parish-priest in his jurisdiction.  
Thirdly and lastly, If both the Ordinary and Vicar (which is not to be conceived) should want a power to set the holy Table Altarwise, 
m pag. 4. & 28.  what can be said to that uniformity of public order, to which the piety of the times is so well inclined? What say you to the good work which is now in hand? Shall such 
n pag. 3.  a poor trifling piece of work as this, discountenance these sublime intentions? Non sinam, non patiar, non feram. And thus our Coal sparkles and lays about him.  
But surely these demonstrations were born in Thebes, and not in Athens, and being of the true Cadmean brood, do kill and destroy one another; 
— 
o Ovid. Metamorph. lib. 3.  suóque  
Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulnera fratres.  For if the Vicar had power to transpose Tables and set up Altars without and contrary to the will of his Ordinary, why should he not (in the name of God) demur upon the Commands of his Superior in matters of exterior order, and bid a Fico to your first Argument. But if upon his first demur in this kind, imperium intercidit, the Empire Ecclesiastical is at an end, what shall become of the lusty blade that understood himself better than this extravagant Ordinary, and of your second kind of Argument? Marry then, if the Piety of the times, the devotion of some judicious particulars, and a good work, as yet in Abeyance and pendant in the air, but ready yer long to fall upon our heads, shall become the Square and Canon of our exterior order in the Church; Barbara celarent, talk no more of Mood and Figure, for I would not give a button for all your Syllogisms. So that these Theban Arguments, that drew their first breath  
p juven. satire.  Vervecum in patria crassóque sub aëre,— 
are but a kind of Sheep's head sodden in the wool, and will do the Writer of the Letter no harm at all; being made of the 
q Pallas adest motae que jubet supponere terrae Vipereos dentes. Ovid. Metam. l. 3.  tusks, though of a Serpent indeed, yet of a dead toothless Serpent. First, as touching the Reverend Ordinaries of this Land, if there be any that dislike of their Callings, or conceive of the same as not grounded upon Apostolical, and (for all the essential parts thereof) upon divine Right; I would he were with Master Cotton in the New, as unworthy of that most happy government, which (by the favour of God and the King) all the laity and Clergy do here enjoy in the old England. But yet they never had, or challenged unto themselves any such exorbitant power over their Clergy, and over the Laws and Canons established (especially over Acts of Parliaments) as this judicious and learned Divine (as he writes) but indeed most injudicious and trifling Novice (as he proves himself) doth attribute unto them. Did ever any Bishop covet to command his Clergy, as a General doth his Army in a drunken mutiny, by Martial Law? And yet this is the very 
r Vino graves They would know whither Varius Crispinus did drive those Cartloads of Armour. Tacit. Histor. l. 1. c. 83. according to Gruterus.  Precedent he cities out of Tacitus. No, no, Bishops have ever governed their Clergy by Canon Law, and not by Cannon shot. God hath appointed them to govern both the Priests and the People subjected unto them according to certain divine and humane Laws, and that with a power of Moderation, and not Domination, saith a great 
s Bills. de perpetua Guber●●. 1● p. 352.  Prelate of this Church. Sitting in Synods they might heretofore judge of Canons, but in their Chairs they are not to judge of Canons, but according to Canons, saith the 
t Gratian. par●. 1. dist. 4.  Father of all the Canonists. Otherwise why are the 
u Concil. Nice●. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore they may conqueri de judiciis suorum Episcoporum. Concil. Afric. sub Aug. Can. 28.  Appeals by Canon Law as ancient in the Church of God, as the Canons themselves? But because it is possible a Prelate may propose unto himself, some peevish, wrangling, and waspish humour of his own, in stead of a Canon? No ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever is to guide himself by his 
x Exir. de Constitut. c. 1.  own sense, but by the authority of the Canons. It is true indeed, that our reverend Archbishops and Bishops shops here in England had a power (in Synod) to make Declaratories and Revocatories of their Common Law (as they term it) to set penalties where they were wanting, and aggravate them where they were deficient, and to make Additaments to the constitutions of the Pope himself; but still with this 
y Lindwood in c. Presbyt. verbo juramento, de Majotit. & Obedient.  proviso, that they do not overthrow the jus common, and cross the general Laws of God's Church. But this power they had heretofore, it being now quite taken away by 
z 25. H. 8. c. 19  King Henry the Eighth. And that not for the reason some have given thereof, 
a Considerations of the Government of Bishops.  because the state of the Clergy was then thought a suspected part to the Kingdom, in their late homage to the Bishop of Rome: (for there were as great 
b cum esset Ra●isponae, nec adhuc Episcopus aut Cancellarius, dicebat fuisse in arbitrio Regis statuta abrogare & ritus novos instituere Calvin. in Amos. c. 7. v. 13.  Royalists in those days as in any age since whatsoever) but for the reasons I gave in the Chapter before; that these Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions were the native Roses, and Lilies of the Crown, not first pricked in by Gardiner the Bishop, but grafted and deeply rooted in the same by the first 
c Genes. 2.  Gardener we read of from the very beginning. So that the power of making and executing such Canons being ceased, if the Ordinaries now command, where there is no Law or former Canon in force, it lays a burden and grievance upon the subject, from which he may appeal, as being a thing unjust, and 
d Lindwood in c. Quia inconveniens.  consequently of a nature whereunto obedience is no way due. Nor do our reverend Bishops otherwise conceive it. 
e Bills. de perpet. Eccles Gubern. ●. 14. p. 341.  Whatsoever by the Laws of God, the Prince, or the Church, is once constituted, is no longer to be mooted upon, but absolutely obeyed by all inferiors. And what God, the King, and Church have directed, is not to be put to deliberation, but to execution. And 
f D. Field of thè Church. l. 5. c. 27.  another learned man saith truly, that we make not the power of the Bishops to be Princely, but Fatherly, and dirigible by the Laws. And Master 
g Preface to his Works.  Hooker gives the reason hereof: When public consent of the whole hath established any thing, every man's judgement being thereunto compared is private, howsoever his calling be to some kind of public charge. Now it is true as 
h P. 15.  Dr. Coal noteth, that in all doubts that may arise how to understand, do and execute the things contained in our Liturgy, a deciding power is left to the Bishop of the Diocese, to take order by his discretion for the quieting of the same. But it is as true, that Coal dasheth out with an etc. the main Proviso of this power; 
i Preface before the Book of Com. Prayer.  So that the same Order be not contrary to any thing contained in this Book. And therefore it is untrue what he saith in the end of his Pamphlet, That the Ordinary hath an Authority of his own (as he is Ordinary) to place the holy Table in one or other situation, more than what is given him (is case of doubt and diversity only) by the foresaid Preface. All which I have opened the more at large, to show the raw and indigested Crudities, that this judicious Divine imposeth upon us; not that I would advise any Clergyman, of what degree soever, to oppose his Ordinary, either in this or any other particular of so low a nature. Far be it from me to do so. That is a Doctrine — nigro carbone notanda, to be defended only by Dr Coal. I say, that all Commands of the King (for this Fellow jumbles again 
k P. 2. Should we ●ly off from our duty at sight of every new device, we should soon find a speedy dissolution both of Church and State.  the King and the Bishop, tanquam Regem cum regulo, like a Wren mounted upon the feathers of an Eagle) that are not upon the first inference and illation (without any Prosyllogismes) contrary to a clear passage in the Word of God, or to an evident Sunbeam of the Law of Nature; are precisely to be obeyed. Nor is it enough, to find a remote and possible inconvenience, that may ensue therefrom; (which is the ordinary objection against the book of Recreations) For every good subject is bound in 
l We would not hive our Subjects so much to mistake our judgement, so much to mistrust our Zeal, as though We either could not discern what were to be done, or would not do all things in due time. K. Edw. Proclam. before the Commun. 1548.  Conscience to believe and rest assured, that his Prince (environed with such a Counsel) willbe more able to discover, and as ready to prevent any ill sequel that may come of it, as himself possibly can be. And therefore I must not by disobeying my Prince, commit a certain Sin, in preventing a probable but contingent inconveniency. And then in the next place, for the Bishop or Ordinary: If he command according to the Laws and Canons confirmed, (for otherwise he is in his Eccentricks, and moves not as he should do) why then, insuch a case as we had even now, that is, a Case 
m Quid si dubite● subditus, utrùm quod praecipitur sit contra Deum vel non? Respondeo; Debet obedire. Summ. Rosell. Summ. Angel. Summ. Sylvest. in verbo Obedientia. Quoties subditus convenienti inquisitione certificari non potest, obedire debet, & obediend● excusatur, etiamsi dubites an agate contra praeceptum Dei vel non. Sylu. ex Raimundo. Vide Pedro de Ledesma. ●um. part. 2. trat. 15. c. 1. So in the Partidas. Part. 1. tit. 23. Ley 11. En esto es tenud● el menor de fazer la voluntad de su mayor (that is) The lesser in this case is to follow the will of the Greater. See then for the Canon Law. Hostiens. Sum. lib. 1. de majorit. & obed. Gl. in c. ad Aures. De tempore Ordin. in Gl. 2. et Gl. 1. in c. Qui contra morem. 1. dist. et text. cum Gl. in c. Admonendi. Dist. 2. q. 7.  of diversity, Doubt and Ambiguity, he is punctually to be obeyed by those of his Jurisdiction, be they of the Clergy, or of the Laity. I say in matters of doubting and ambiguity, where the inferior shall be approved of God for his duty and obedience, and never charged as guilty of Error, for any future inconvenience. The exceptions from this Rule are very few; in cases only, when the Command of the Ordinary doth expressly oppose 
n Summa Rosell verbo Obed.  an Article of Belief, one of the ten Commandments, or the general state and subsistence of God's Catholic Church. In all other Cases whatsoever that are dubious, the inferior is bound to believe his superior, saith the most wise and learned of all the 
o Tolet. Instruct. Sac. the 7 pecc. c. 15. See Gloss. in 1 Decret. tit. 11. c. 5. Si dubium sit praeceptum, propter bonum obedientia excusatur à peccato, licèt in veritate sit malum.  jesuits. This point well poised and considered, would clear a world of Errors both in Church and Commonwealth. And therefore I will set down in the Margin some of my best Authors that confirm it. I have not heard (I protest sincerely) of any Lord Bishop, that hath exacted of his Diocese the placing of the Holy Table, as this man would have it, and do believe this passage of his to be rather a Prophecy, what he means to do when he comes to his Rochet, than a true History of any Diocesan that hath acted it already. But howsoever, as long as the Liturgy continueth as it is (without offence to any man in place be it spoken) I had far leiver be he should obey, than he that should peremptorily command, in this kind of Alteration. And my reason for this, shallbe the reason and expression of a wise and learned man. 
p hooker's Eccles. Pol. book 4. d. 14. p. 16●.  If it be a Law which the custom and continual practice of many years hath continued in the minds of men, to alter it must needs be troublesome and scandalous. It amazeth them, it causeth them to stand in doubt, whether any thing be in itself by nature good or evil, and not all things rather such as men at this or that time agree to account of them; when they behold those things disproved, disannulled, and rejected, which use had made in a manner natural. And so in all respect and humility to their high places and callings, I leave those reverend persons herein to their own wisdom and discretion.  
But that Mounsieur the halfe-Vicar should have a power to remove (of his own head) the Communion-Table from that place of the Choir it had hitherto stood in from the very first Reformation, and to call that an Altar, which his Rubric never calls otherwise then a Table, and to be enabled to this by the Canons, and to be a judge of the conveniency of the standing thereof, yea a more competent judge, than the Ordinary and his Surrogates, and no way to permit the Church-Officers to do what they are enjoyed by their immediate Superiors, is such a piece of Ecclesiastical polity, as (were it but countenanced by many of these judicious Divines) would quickly make an end of all Discipline in the Church of England. Here is not only 
q Pag. 3.  I C. but T. C. up and down, and New England planted in the midst of the Old. O foolish Vicar of 
r Pag. 3.  Boston, that would needs take Sanctuary as far as America, to shelter himself from Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction! Whereas had he but made a permutation with his next Neighbour, the Vicar of Gr. and gotten but the acquaintance of these judicious Divines (as they passed by that Road) he might have done what he would in his own Church, 

s Mart. l. 6. Ep. 70.  Ostendens digitum, sed impudicum,  
Alconti, Dasióque Symmachóque,  in despite of the Ordinary & all his Officers. I am afraid that these judicious Divines that tamper so much in Doctrine with Sancta Clara, and in Discipline with 
t Notis in Epist. Molin. ad Bals.  Sancta Petra, 
u His Book against Dr. Kellison.  Flood and 
x Le Maistre Instaurat. Episcop. antiqui statûs. c. 1. ad Epist. Lomclii.  Lomeley, will prove in the end but prejudicious Divines to the estates of Bishops. I am sure this Tenet is in the highest degree jesuitical, and that the solid Divines, both of ancient and later times, were of another opinion. 
y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Corinth. p. 57  To impair the power of Bishops is no little sin. 
z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep ad Smyrn. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Idem in Ep. ad Trall ●s. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Idem Ep. ad Ephes.  Let no man presume, to dispose of any thing belonging to the Church, without the Bishop, saith Ignatius. For he that doth otherwise, doth tear (
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep ad Smy●●.  as you would do a bough from a tree) the unity, sodder, and comely order that should be amongst God's people. Suffer nothing to be done in that kind without thine own approbation, saith the same Father writing to a 
b Epist. ad Polycarp. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Bishop. And this advice was so well approved of in the Primitive Church, that word for word it was inserted into the body of that famous Counsel of 
c Concil. Laod. Can. 57 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Codex Canon. Eccles. Univers. Can. 161.  Laodicea, Anno 364. The word used both by Ignatius and the general Council is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to be active and stirring in these businesses. And therefore the Priest must needs (in despite of our Doctor and 
d Pag. 10.  his Doctrine) keep him still to his meditations, and be a looker on, until his Ordinary shall otherwise direct and appoint him. Especially in the matter controverted, which is Erecting of Altars. For the Case must be taken as it is in the 
c For the first; If you should erect any such Altar, (which I know you will not.)  Letter (and was in truth and verity) not as this poor Mooter doth 
f pag. 52.  reasonably (that is, against all the Laws of reasoning) presume it. For to presume a thing against the words of his adversary, is not to take a case, but to make a case; which willbe laughed at in the Inns of Court. There were some Priests in France and Germany, that encouraged thereunto by the Chorepiscopi or Countrey-Suffragans, did presume, in the absence of their Bishops, 
g Leo Epist. 88  erigere altaria, to erect Altars. And this about the time of Theodosius the younger. But Leo the great tells them plainly, they had no more power to erect, than they had to consecrate an Altar; and that the Novels and Canons Ecclesiastical did utterly 
h Siquidemnec erigere ils altaria, nec Eccle. sias vel altaria consecrare licet. Vide Bin. Concil. general. Tom. 1. P. 990.  in hibite single Priests to do either the one or the other. Whereupon not many years after, about the time of justinian the Emperor, Hormisda● made an absolute decree to inhibit Priests to erect any Altars in this kind, under pain of deprivation, as we read in 
i 3 part. dist. 1. Absque Episcopi permissu in Ecclesia consecrata non erigatur altar. Vide Bin. Conc. gen. Tom. 2. p. 368.  Gratian, and elsewhere Which places I do not (for all that) press dogmatically, as conceiving the Vicar would be so absurd to dogmatise any such matter, as you perceiv● the writer of the Letter seems to excuse him; no● was that the Error of the german Priests: bu● I press it only historically, to let you see, that if such a Rumour had been raised in the Church (as we all know the Vicar's behaviour did raise in the Neighbourhood) 1100 years ago, what severity they would have used to chastise the insolency. And no marvel, if you consider well what I shall now represent unto you: That the very 
k Video enim esse legem veterem Tribunitiam, quae vet vit in jussu plebis aedes, terram, aram consecreate. Cic. Orat. pro domo sua ad Pontifices, quae est. Or. 29.  Romans themselves, in the time of their Republic, would never assent that a private man should presume to erect an Altar. But that which I press for doctrine is this. 
l Illa potestas quae est ligandi & solvendi in soro judiciali, datur in consecratione Episcopi; alia, in consecratione Sacerdo. tum, quando dicitur, Quaecunque, remiscritis, etc. Húgo de Sancto Victore apud Halens.  That a single Priest, quà talis, in that formality and capacity only as he is a Priest, hath no Key given him by God or man, to open the doors of any 
m Sacerdotes non habent potestatem ligandi vel solvendi in foro Causae, & tamen absolvunt in foro Poenitentiae. Hol. part. 4. q. 21. membro 4.  external jurisdiction. He hath a Consistory within, in foro Poenitentiae, in the Conscience of his Parishioners, and a key given him upon his Institution, to enter into it. But he hath no Consistory without, in foro Causae, in meddling with ecclesiastical Causes, unless he borrow a key from his Ordinary. For although they be 
n Licet sit una potestas ligandi & solvendi hinc & indè, non tamen qui habet potestatem ejusmodi ad hunc actum, habet came ad illum actum. Alex. Hal. ibid. Non est alia in essentia, sed in alium usum se extendit. ibid.  the same keys, yet one of them will not open all these wards: the Consistory of outward jurisdiction being not to be opened by a 
o Quando consecratus Episcópus, non confertur alia clavis, sed extenditur usus illius primae clavis: unde dicitur accipere baculum, i. e. amplio●em potestatem. ibid. Sic Estius in 4. Sentent. d. 18. §. 2.  Key alone, but (as you may observe in some great men's Gates) by a Key and a staff, which they usually call a Crosier. This I have ever conceived to be the ancient Doctrine in this kind, opposed by none but professed Puritans. They tell us indeed, that the Bishop's power 
p Altar Damast. c. 4. p. 114.  was the poisonous Egg out of which Antichrist was hatched, that it is mere tyranny, because it takes all 
q Ibid. p. 113.  to the Bishop and his Officers, and turns the Vicars to Soliloquies and Meditations; whereas the 
r Mr. Hooker in his Preface.  Minister holdeth all his authority unto the spiritual charge of the house of God, even immediately from God himself, without dependence from King or Bishop. But all learned men of the Church of England, that are truly judicious Divines, do adhere to that former doctrine. They 
s Dr. Field of the Church, l. 5. c. 27. p. 498.  allow the Schoolmen's double power, that of order, and that of jurisdiction; and the subdivision of this jurisdiction, to the internal and external, appropriating this last to the Bishops only. They say clearly, that all 
t Mr. Hooker in his Preface.  consecrated persons have not the power of jurisdiction; They ask you roundly, 
u Answer to the Admonition, Tract. 2. p. 87.  Who shall judge what is most comely? Shall every private man? Or rather such as have chief care and Government in the Church? And for the Minister, whom you would have wholly employed, they conceive, that generally he is a man, 
x Mr. Hooker in his Preface.  though better able to speak, yet little, or no whit apt to judge then the rest; and that to give him a domineering power in matters of this nature, were to bring in as many petty Popes, as there are Parishes and Congregations. But the written Law and speaking Law of this Kingdom, are above all testimonies that can be produced, the one appointing the 
y Pag. 11.  Bishop of the Diocese only in the Affirmative, and the other excluding the particular 
z Pag. 66.  fancy of any humourous persons in the Negative, from assigning out these matters of Conveniency in God's service. And the reason why this private Vicar should not (without farther directions) call the holy Table an Altar, is set down in the Letter, but not touched by you, and is a stronger one than your Head-piece is capable of. 
a Pag. 74.  Because the Church in her Liturgy and Canons, doth call it a Table only. It seems by you, we are bound only to pray, but not to speak the words of the Canons. I have been otherwise taught by learned men. 
b Vbicu●que habemus legem vel cano● nem, non debemus allega●e rationem, nisi lege vel canone desiciente. Barbatus in Clement. de Elect. c. 1. n. 11.  That where we have a Law and Canon to direct us how to call a thing, we ought not to hunt after reasons and conceits, to give it another Appellation. 
c Verba aliquid operaridebent. c. Si Papa de Privileg. in 6. Et nota in margin, quòd argumentum à verbis valet.  And that every word hath that operation in construction of Law, that we may draw our Argument from the words, as from so many Topick places. Which the Writer of the Letter seems to do in this passage. The Rubric and the Canons call it nothing but a Table; and therefore do not you, a poor Vicar in the Country, call it an Altar. The writer doth not deny but that the name hath been 
d Letter P. 75.  long in the Church, in a Metaphorical usurpation, nor would he have blamed the Vicar, if he had in a Quotation from the Fathers, or a discourse in the Pulpit, named it an Altar in this borrowed sense: but to give the usual call of an Altar, unto that Church-utensill, which the Law (
e Regula communis est, Quòd statutorum verba propriè intelliguntur. Decius in league, Non vult haeres, de regulis juris.  (that always speaks properly) never calls otherwise then by the name of a Table, is justly by him disliked, and by this Gallant lamentably defended. For I appeal to all indifferent men, that pretend to any knowledge in Divinity; If the Reading-pew, the Pulpit, and any other place in the Church, be not as properly an Altar for prayer, praise, thanksgiving, 
f Pag. 8.  memory of the Passion, dedicating of ourselves to God's very service, and the Church's Box or Basin, for that Oblation for the poor which was used in the primitive times, as is our holy Table howsoever situated or disposed. Or if it be the Priest only that can offer a Sacrifice (which in these spiritual Sacrifices we 
g When the old Fathers called the Mass or Supper of the Lord a Sacrifice, they meant that it was a Sacrifice of jaud & thanksgiving. And to as well the people as the Priest do Sacrifice. Archb. Cramner, Defence of the Sacram. 1550. c. 16. sol. 115. And again, Christ made no such difference between the Priest and the Layman, that the Priest should make oblation and sacrific● of Christ for the Layman, Ide● ibid. c. 11. f. 111.  utterly deny) what one sacrifice doth he infer out of the Collects read by the Priest at the Communion-Table, which are not as easily deduced out of the Te Deum, or Benedictus, said in the Choir or Reading-pew● Is there no praying, praising, acknowledging or thanksgiving, commemorating of the Passion, and consecrating of ourselves to God's service in these two hymns? And therefore if that be enough to make an Altar, and that these judicious Rabbis mean not somewhat else then for fear of our gracious King they dare speak out, this man must change the Motto of his book, and say, Habenius Altaria, we have 10000 Altars. Whereas no place in all the Church, doth offer unto us the body and blood of Christ, in the outward forms of bread and wine, beside the holy Table only. And consequently if a Name be invented to 
h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Etymolog. ●●ag. p. 626.  divide and sever one particular thing from another, or to 
i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rei, à juvando, quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, cujus usu rem agnosceres. Jul. Scaliger de Caus. Ling. La●. c. 76. Est enim instrumentum quasi quoddam cognitionis, Imago quaedam quâ quid ●oscitur. Ibid.  help us to the knowledge of a particular thing, or that a name be tha● which the 
k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Law gives the thing, or that a thing cannot have two distinct and proper (however it may have twenty Metaphorical) names; then surely a Table ought to be the distinct and proper (and so the usual) an Altar but the translatitious and borrowed (and so the more unusual) appellation of that holy utensil. So that the Writer of the Letter saith no more than this: If you have occasion (as the Fathers had) to amplify and enlarge the excellency of those Christian duties, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, (at the time of the Eucharist especially) abnegation of ourselves, almsdeeds, and Charity, and to show unto your people, that these are the only incense, now under the Gospel, which God accepts in stead of those thousands of Rams and Odours of Arabia, vanished with the Law: then in God's name, — Fas usum tibi nominis hujus; you may use the name of Altar as the ancient Fathers do. But when there is no such occasion offered, and that you speak only with your Neighbours and Churchwardens about preparing or adorning the Church-Vtensils, what need you then tumble in your tropes, and roll in your Rhetoric, when the words of the Canon do far better express the duties enjoined them by the Canon? As therefore you do not in common discourse call the Church (as the Puritans in France do) the Temple; the Bells, the holy Trumpets; the Choir, the Sanctuary; the Font, jordan; your Surplice, the holy garment; and your Hood, the Ephod: (although the ancient writers ordinarily do so) So when the Rubric and Canons do call this sacred Vtensill a Table, and but a Table, do not you, to be noted only as a Divine of great judgement, that is, of whims and singularity, correcting Magnificat, in the Articles of your 
l Visit. of the Bishop of Linc●ln, Anno 1622. touching the Church Art. 5.  Bishops and most Reverend 
m Visit. of the Archbishop's grace, Ann. 1 (●●. Artic. 1. verb● Imprimi●.  Archbishop's 
n Pag. 65.  Visitation, and in the very expression of the King himself, call it an Altar. And surely that Vicar that will not be taught to word it, neither by the Law, nor the Rubric, nor the Canon, nor his Bishop, nor his Archbishop, nor the King himself, 
o Phavorinus apud Gellium.  qui tot imperat Legionibus, is (as they were wont to call a stout Priest) a very Thomas a Becket, and fitter a great deal to officiate at Bethlem near Bishopsgate, then at Jerusalem.  
Nor had the Ordinary been the wisest man in the world, if having proper Officers of his own to execute all his Mandates concerning the outward Utensils of the Church, he should have directed his Commandments to the Vicar, or permitted him to command without him. It is not the Ordinary, but the Apostles themselves, that have turned the Parsons and Vicars from being Active in this kind, to their diviner Meditations. 
p Act. 6. 2.  It is not reason we should leave the word of God, to serve Tables. The Greek word is a term of Law, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which Erasmus translates a Plea, the French keep to this day an Arrest or judgement in Law, as 
q Annot. in Pandect. ex lege ultima de Senatoribus, fol. 73. p. ●.  Budaeus was taught to interpret the word by Paulus Aemilius the French Historiographer. The meaning therefore of the Text is this, Let Dr Coal find as much fault as he will, that Priests are made dull Spectators in these affairs; yet shall he never find any Order, Arrest, or judgement in the Church of God, that Priests should meddle with Tables: Because from the time of this Arrest and sentence pronounced by the Apostles, the Deacons have ever dealt therein; as 
r Annot. in Act 6. v. 2. Sic tamen, ut Presbyterio sub●ssent.  Beza himself confesseth; though he hopes (for otherwise it would burst his heart) that they were guided therein by the Minister & the Elders. But these Elders are no elder than Calvin and Beza. And who guided the Deacons we must learn of the Elders indeed. They were the Eye, saith 
s Clemens Rom. in 1. Epist. ad Jacob. fratrem Domini Est enim Diaconus ipsius ●ipiscopi oculus.  one; The Ear, saith 
t E 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Clen. in Constit. Apostol. l. 1. c. 44.  another; The Ministerial servants of the Bishop, saith the 
u Council Nicen. Can. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  third Authority. Clear it is, that from this time that the Apostles here 

x Arator lib. 1. in Act. Apostol.  Jura ministerii sacris altaribus apti  
In septem statuêre viris,—  from these first Deacons, to our present 
y They have in charge omnia ornamenta & utensilia Ecclesiarum. Canon Steph. de Langt. Lindw. lib. 1. de Off. Archidia●.  Archdeacon's (in whose office the ancient power of the Deacons is united and concentred) Incumbents have been excluded from meddling with the utensils of the Church, or ornaments of the Altar. So that the very Altar itself (with the Rail about it) hath been termed in the ancient Counsels, 
z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Concil. Laod. Can. 21. Concil. Agath. Can. 66.  The Diaconie, as a place belonging (next after the Bishop) to the care and custody of the Deacon only. Nay, so far were the Ancients from making a parish-Priest a stickler in Vestry-affairs, that a 
a Since Diaconis Sacerdos nomen habet, officium non habet. Conc. Aqu●sgr. sub Ludou. Pio, c. 7.  Council saith clearly, That the Priest can boast of nothing he hath in general, but his bare name; not able to execute his very Office, without the Authority and Ministry of the Deacon. And to conclude this point with a precedent in this very particular: 
b Lib. Quaest▪ ex▪ utroque mixtion. qu. 101. Nam utique & Altar portarent & vasa ejus.  It was the Deacons Office Portare (mark well the word against anon) to move and remove the Altar and all the implements belonging thereunto, saith S. Augustine. And if you object, that some question hath been made, whether that Book be S. Augustine's; I answer, That he that made that question, concludes withal, That if it was not written by S. Augustine, it was by an 
c Ex cue▪ 44. colligitur cum vixisse ante Augustinum, & I●s●e. on. Cens. in Append ●om. 4. Oper. Augustin. p. 416.  ancienter Author then S. Augustine, and is evidence good enough for matter of fact, though peradventure not every where for points of doctrine. And as the Archdeacon is the Eye, so the Churchwarden (as slight an Opinion as you conceive of him) is the Hand of the Bishop and the Archdeacon too, to put all 
d Occononius, cui res Ecclesiastica gubernanda mandatur ab ●pi●copo. Lindw. Const. l. 3. de Cleric. none resid. And therforo Churchwardens were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, men employed by him, Concil. Gangr. c. 7. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, men ordered by the Bishop. ibid. c. 8.  Mandates in execution, that may concern the Utensils of the Church. I observe our Latin Canors in force, by calling him Oecon●mus, do put him beside the scorn this companion would throw upon him, by making him relate to that ancient Ecclesiastical Office, famous in the Greek and Latin Counsels. It is true, he moves now in a lesser Orb, yet with the same influence he did before. At the first they were, as they are now, Laymen, some 
e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Zonar. in Concil. Chalced. Can. 26.  Domestics or kinsmen of the Bishops, who 
f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Zonar. ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Photius, tit. 9 c. 1. & ●●, 10. c. 1.  managed all things belonging to the Church (being then matters of good moment and consequence) according to the direction of the Bishop. But because all the state of the Church, consisting in those times mostwhat in goods and chattels arising from the devotion of the people, was thus transacted in 
g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Zonar. in Concil. Chalced.  hugger mugger, inter partes propinquas, by parties so near allied in references one to another, that it grew very suspicious there might be foul play in the business, that famous Council of Chalcedon 
h Canon. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  ordered peremptorily, That these Churchwardens from that time forward should be Clergymen, and more esloigned from the Bishop's family. Yet did 
i Balsam, in Synod. 7. Can. 11.  some continue of opinion, (this Canon notwithstanding) that Laymen were capable of the Office: so that in a 
k Zonar. in Concil. Chalced. Canon. 26.  very short revolution of time it reverted to the Laity for altogether. Now here in England it hath been ever held an ancient Office, and much countenanced as well by the Common as the Canon Law: The Churchwardens being admitted in all ages, to bring their 
l 11. Henr. 4. fol. 12. & 19 Henr. 6. fol. 66. etc.  Actions at Common Law, for trespasses committed upon the church-good, wherewith they were entrusted. Now that Bishop were a wise piece indeed, who being complained unto against a Vicar, for removing the holy Table to a place every way inconvenient, would refer the examination of the Complaint to the Vicar himself, rather than to his own most ancient Officers; to the Archdeacon, his Official, or next Surrogate, for the designing; and to the Churchwardens, for the actual placing of the Table in the most convenient situation. And the Elders of the Vestry will be little edified with this doctrine, to be made but 
m Arist. Poli●. lib. 1. c. 1.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as Aristotle speaks) dead and passive Instruments, to execute the Commands of the Ordinary and his Surrogates. But all this while the Vicar is but a dull spectator, and hath no Sphere of Activity to move in, but is wholly left to his private Meditations. And 
n Nos autem otiosos nos putamus, si verbo tantummodo studere videamur. Amb. in Psal. 118. Oct. 11.  S. Ambrose indeed doth complain of the like complainers in his time, who held, that the study of the holy Scriptures was but a dull and idle kind of employment. But then 
o Baltics. Castil. Cor●isano, l. 3.  Matto Sancto Petro (as the Charletan said when he saw the Pope in his Pontificalibus) O simple S. Peter in the sixth of the Acts, that thought it a far more laborious work, than all this moving and removing of Tables. 
p Regul. fusior. Reg. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, pag. 454.  O foolish S. Basil, that bids his Clergy take especial heed, that their Martha be not troubled with many things. O dull Synesius, that held it fitter for an 
q Syves. ep. 57  Egyptian then a Christian Priest to be over-troubled with matters of wrangling. Well Doctor, God help the poor people committed to thy Cure; they are like to find but a sorry Shepherd: one that will be in the Vestry when he should be in the Pulpit; and by his much nimbleness in the one, is likely to show a proportionable heaviness in the other.  
But now ventum est ad Triarios, we are drawing on to the main of his Battle, and the very pith of his Arguments: That the Writer of the Letter 
r Pag. 3.  doth not show one footstep of Learning or sincere affections to the Orders of the Church, because he did not (in a private Monition written nine years before) foresee and make way 
s Pag. 4.  for a great good work, and the Piety of the times, that were to follow nine years after. Alas! Nè saevi, magne Sacerdos: Do not lay all this load upon him, most judicious Divine. For, as you find by yourself, that can further see into things to come, that all Prophets are not Ordinaries; so consider, I beseech you, in cool blood, that all Ordinaries are not Prophets. 
t L. Henry How. ●●d in his defens●●ive, about the ●6. leaf.  We may discern of things that are, by Sight; that were, by Memory: 
u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sophocl. in Antig.  but before the proof make show, no man is such a Prophet of the future, that he knoweth which way to direct his instructions, saith a learned and noble Writer, out of Sophocles. I am one, I thank God, that have buenas entranas (as the Spaniards speak) some good and tender bowels within me, and do much pity the poor man's case, even by mine own. How could he possibly foresee this great Good work or Piety of these Times, so many years before, which I, opening my eyes as wide as I can, cannot discover at this very instant? What is this great Work now in hand? What new Proclamations, Rubrics, Canons, Injunctions, Articles are come (at the least into these parts) as any special invitations to the piety of these Times, more than were exhibited to the piety of all other Times, from the first beginning of the Reformation? 
x Pag. 66.  His Majesty heard the Cause in the year 1633; and in his Royal decision, he calls it not Altar, but Communion-Table, and leaves the moving and removing thereof to the discretion of the Ordinary. His Grace, the Metropolitan, visited these parts in the year 1634; and in all his Articles, doth not so much as mention the word Altar, but calls it (as the Rubric doth) a Communion-Table; and puts his Article upon the Churchwarden, and not upon the Vicar, concerning the decent site and convenient standing of the h●ly Board. 
y Articles to be enquired of in the Metropolitical Visitation, for the Diocese of Lincoln, 1634. Art. 1.  Whether have you in your Church, a convenient and decent Communion-Table? etc. And whether is the same Table placed in such convenient sort within the Chancel or Church, at that the Minister may be best heard in his Ministry and the Administration, and that the greatest number may communicate? And whether is it so used (out of time of Divine Service) as is not agreeable to the holy use of it? etc. And his Lordship or Diocesan visiting the very next year, 1635. (as a burnt child, and dreading the fire) puts the 
z Articles to be enquired of in the Diocese of Lincoln, 1635. Artic. 1.  same Article in haec verba, in the very front of his own Book. Sithence that time we have heard no Ring but of the lesser Bells, in this Tune. And 
a Articles for the Visitation of the Archdeac. of Redford, 1636.  one of these I hear chiming at this very instant: Whether have you in your Church a decent Table for the Communion, conveniently placed? And all these concurring with the conceit of the Letter, in every particular; in the name of a Communion-Table, and not an Altar; in the place of the Church or Chancel, not of the East-end only; in the distinct (not confused time) of receiving and not-receiving▪ in the Account of the conveniency of the situation to be rendered by the Churchwarden, not the Vicar; how shall I that live at this day (much less the Writer of the Letter, dead, peradventure, nine years ago) reasonably discover (to use your own phrase) that Good work now in hand, and the special inclination of these times to a peculiar kind of piety, differing from the piety of former times, which under the peaceable Reigns of Queen Elisabeth, King james, and King Charles, the Church of God, in these parts, hath most happily enjoyed? Surely, I do reasonably presume, that (these dreams of Dr. Coal notwithstanding) 
b Eccles. 4. 9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and that (in matters of this nature) there is no new thing under the Sun. Because wise men tell us, that 
c Mr. Hooker Ecel. pol. l. 4. dist. 14. p. 67.  change of Laws, especially in matters of Religion, must be warily proceeded in: And because 
d Archb. Whitgift, Defence of the Answer to the Admonition, Tract. 2. fel. 86.  there is no manner of Reason, that the orders of the Church should so depend upon one or two men's liking or disliking, that she should be compelled to alter the same so oft as any should be therewith offended. For what Church is void of some contentious persons and quarrellers, whom no order, no reason, no reformation can please? I should therefore reasonably presume, that this Good work in hand, is but the second part of Sancta Clara, and a frothy speculation of some fe●, who by tossing the ball of Commendations, the one to the other, do stile themselves (by a kind of Canting) judicious Divines: Whereas they be (generally) as you may observe by this poor Pamphleter, doctiss●●orum hominum indoctissimum genus (as 
e In Colloqu.  E●asmus spoke of another the like) men learned only in unlearned Liturgies; beyond that, of no judgement and less Divinity. For who but one whose Ruff (as Sir Edward Coke was wont to say) is yellow, and his head shallow, would propound these wild conceits of an imaginary Piety of the times, and a Platonical Idea of a good work in hand, for a Model to reform such a well-composed Church as the Church of England? And if any Reformation of the name, the situation, or use of the Communion-Table, were seriously in hand, what man of the least discretion, but would take the Magistrate along with him? 
f Proclamation before the Communion, 1548.  The bounden duty of Subjects is to be content to follow Authority, and not enterprising to run before it. 
g Archbishop Whitgift, Answer to the Adm. p. 86, & 87.  For if you let every Minister do what he list, speak what he list, alter what he list, & as oft as him list, upon a general pretence of a Good work in hand, or the Piety of the times, you shall have as many kinds of Religion, as there be Parishes, as many Sects, as Ministers, and a Church miserably torn in pieces with mutability and diversity of opinions.  
But there is 
* Pag. 13, & 14.  much (you say) to be said in defence thereof, out of the Acts & Monuments, & some Acts of Parliaments. Much good do it you, with that Much, so as you eat cleanly, and do not slubber & slabber your Quotations of those Books, in which all sorts of men are thoroughly versed. First, Jo. Frith calls it The Sacrament of the Altar. Doth he so? Then surely it was long before the Reformation, and when every man called it so. For he was 
h Act. & Mon. pag. 2. fol. 309, & 310.  burned 4ᵒ Julii, 1533. But where doth he so call it? Yes, he saith in his Letter, They examined me touching the Sacrament of the Altar. Why man, they called it so, not he. Those words are the words of the Article objected against him. They are their words, not his. He doth not once call it so in all his long discourse. Turn but the 
i Ibid. fol. 308.  leaf, and you shall hear him interpret himself. I added moreover, that their Church (as they call it) Their Church, as they call it; Their Sacrament of the Altar, as they call it. If you will know how he calls it, in that dawning of the Reformation, look upon the Books penned by himself, not the Interrogatories ministed by Sr Tho. More, or some others. He calls it every where, 
k Answer to M. Moor's third book, fol. 102.  The Sacrament of Christ's body. Nay he is not there content; but desires, that all the Church had called it otherwise. 
l Answer to M. Moor's fourth book, fol. 111.  I would it had been called (as it is indeed, and as it was commanded to be) Christ's Memorial. And to call it a Sacrifice, is (saith he) just as if I should set a 
m Ibid.  Copon before you to breakfast, when you are new come home, and say, This is your Welcome-home: whereas it is indeed a Capon, and not a Welcome-home. And if you will believe his Adversary, 
n Answer to Frith's Letter, Oper. fol. 835.  Sr Thomas More, None spoke so homely of this Sacrament, as Jo. Frith, no not Friar Barnes himself. Making this Bridegroom's ring of gold but even a proper ring of a rush. So that vouz avez Jo. Frith. Let him, in God's name, come up to the Bar. The next man is Jo. Lambert. And he saith, 
o Pag. 15.  I make you the same Answer to the other six Sacraments, as I have done unto the Sacrament of the Altar. But tell me (in my ear) I pray you, How doth he begin that Answer to the Sacrament of the Altar? It is but 14 lines before in your 
p Act. & M●● pa●t 2. p●●  own Book. Whereas in your sixth Demand you do inquire, Whether the Sacrament of the Altar, etc. All these words of inquiry are theirs, man, not his. What is his Answer? I neither can, nor will answer one word. And so Jo. Lambe●t answers there not one word for you. Yea, but he doth in another place. That 
q 〈…〉  Christ is said to be offered up, no 〈◊〉 every year at Easter, but also everyday, in the celebra●● on of the Sacrament, because his oblation once 〈…〉 made is thereby represented. This likewise is 〈…〉 to be spoken long before any Reformat●●● 〈◊〉 hand: For Lambert was also martyred 〈…〉 But are you sure these words are his? I am sure you know the contrary, if you have read the next words following. Even so saith S. Augustine. The words are the words of an honest man, but your dealing in this kind is scarce honest. John Lambert doth qualify them afterward; that S. Augustine's meaning was, That Christ was all this, in a certain manner or wise. He was an Oblation, as he was a Lion, a Lamb and a door: that is, (as we said before) a Metaphorical and improper Oblation, which never relates unto an Altar. Vouz avez an honest man, John Lambert: But stand you by for a Mountebank, John Coal. The next, is the most Reverend and learned Archbishop, who notwithstanding his opposition to the Statute of the 6 Articles, yet useth the phrase or 
r Pag. 15.  term of Sacrament of the Altar, as formerly, without taking thereat any offence. Pag. 443. And are you sure he doth so in that page? Are you sure of any thing? I am now sure he names not that Sacrament at all, either in that page, or in any other near unto it. The Treatise there set down, is of J●hn Fox his composition, and set forth in his own name. It mentioneth indeed, in the Confutation of the first Article, the Sacrament of the Altar, but with such a peal after it, as none but a mad man would cite him for this purpose. 
s Act. & Mon. 2. part. p. 443.  This monstrous Article of theirs, in that form of words as it standeth, etc. And so the Lord Archbishop saith as much as John Lambert, that is, not one word for him. The next in order is John Philpot: whose speech this cruel man hath sore pinched upon the rack, to get him to give some evidence on his side. He wriggles and wrists all his words and syllables, that the Quotation is (very near) as true a Martyr as the man himself. I am sure he hath lopped off the Head, that had a shrewd tale to tell, and the feet of his Discourse, which walk a quite contrary way to Dr Coals purpose, leaving the Relation, like 
t Plutarch. in Philopoem.  Philopoemenes his Army, all Belly, The Head is this: I must needs ask a Question of Dr Chedsey concerning a word or twain of your supposition (yours, not his own) that is, of the Sacrament of the Altar; What he meaneth thereby; and, Whether he taketh it, as some of the Ancient Writers do, terming the Lord's Supper the Sacrament of the Altar (for the Reasons there set down and mentioned by Dr Coal) or Whether you take it otherwise, for the Sacrament of the Altar which is made of Lime and Stone, over the which the Sacrament changes. And hearing they meant it this later way, he declares himself, Then I will speak plain English, That the Sacrament of the Altar is no Sacrament at all. How like you John Philpot? You shall have more of him. 
u Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 571.  St Austinwith other ancient Writers do call the holy Communion, or the Supper of the Lord, The Sacrament of the Altar, in respect it is the Sacrament of the Sacrifice, which Christ offered upon the Altar of the Cross: The which Sacrifice all the Altars and Sacrifices upon the Altars in the old Law did prefigure and shadow. The which pertaineth nothing to your Sacrament, hanging upon your Altars of Lime and stone. Christoph. No doth? I pray you, what signifieth Altar? Philip. Not, as you falsely take it, materially, but for the Sacrifice of the Altar of the Crosse. Christoph. Where find you it ever so taken? Philip. Yes: Habemus Altar. Christoph. Well, God bless me out of your company. And I believe, so saith Dr Coal (if his hue would permit him to blush) by this time. For this man hath done all your business. He tells, how he came to use the term of Sacrament of the Altar, to wit, out of S. Austin, and some other of the Fathers; he tells us, it was not by way of Approbation, but by way of supposition; and lastly, what he conceives of the conveniency of the particular in Question, a Material Altar. And in another place he expresseth himself yet further; 
x Act. & Mon. par●. 3. p. 553.  And as touching their Sacrament which they term of the Altar— They term it so, not he. Jury Philpot. The next is Reverend Latimer; who granteth (saith 
y P. 16.  he) very plainly, that the Doctors call it so in many places, though there be no propitiatory Sacrifice, but only Christ. Still this is not to prove (no not by one Witness) what you undertake; That the Martyrs did call this Sacrament of themselves and their own expressions, The Sacrament of the Altar. This Reverend man saith, that the Doctors call it so, and especially S. Austin, as he speaks a little before: he doth not call it so himself. And what doth he add, concerning those Doctors that call it so, in the very next words to these which are quoted by you? speak truth, man, and shame the Devil; for he is the old Clipper of speeches. Well, I must do it for you. The Doctors might be deceived in some points: I believe them, when they say well: or, as it is in the Margin, Doctores legendi sunt cum venia, The Doctors must be pardoned, if they sometimes slip in their expressions. And this is all that you have gained by Reverend Latimer. The last you produce in this kind, is Bishop Ridley. And he is for you not only, but also. First he saith, that in the Sacrament of the Altar is the natural body and blood of Christ. But why do you leave out still those few words that go before? You know they are these; 
z Act. & Mon. part 3. fol. 492.  To the Question thus I answer. What is the Question then? Turn the leaf, and look. Article 1. We do object to thee, Nicolas Ridley, etc. That thou hast openly defended, that the true and natural body of Christ is not really present in the Sacrament of the Altar. What saith he? To the Question I answer, That in the Sacrament of the Altar, etc. So that the word is the word articulated upon him, not his. And he could not possibly avoid the repeating of it, unless he should mutare terminos, and so confound all method of Disputation. But in all his own voluntary expressions in all that Conference, he never calls it, The Sacrament of the Altar, but the Sacrament of the Communion only. The which Communion he there affirms to be only a memory of Christ's Passion. Which is the Doctrine I have all this while endeavoured to prove, to have no relation at all to a material Altar. In answering that place in Cyrill, objected by the Bishop of Lincoln, (whereby that Bishop would fain prove, that as erecting of Altars in Britanny did imply that Christ was come and believed on in those parts; so the plucking of them down, as B. Ridley had done, was sufficient to imply, that Christ as yet was not come in the flesh) he saith, as you say, That the word Altar in Scripture, signifieth as well the Altar of the Jews, as the Table of the Lords Supper: alluding, without all question, to Hebr. the 13. as Philpot but even now expounded that place. But that the Bishop of Lincoln should apply that Altar whereof S. Cyrill spoke, to those material Altars pulled down in the Reformation under Edw. the sixth, B. Ridley (in the midst of his great Afflictions) could not hear without a little smiling. D. Ridley smiling answered. And then taking up his countenance again, he tells him freely; That the removing of Altars was done upon just considerations; and, That the Supper of the Lord was not at any time better, ministered, nor more duly received, then when these Altars were taken down. And would you know how he placed his Table, when these Altars were gone? 
a Act & Mon. part. 2. p. 700.  When some used the Table Altarwise, he determined, that to use it as a Table, was most agreeable to Scripture. And as B. Ridley smiled dat the B. of Lincoln, so would the B. of Lincoln (were he alive) smile heartily at you, that would bring such a passage as this to defend your Altars.  
Having thus impanelled his Jury, he begins to open his Evidence, for the Sacrament of the Altar, out of the Laws of the Land, 1ᵒ Edu. 6. c. 1. revived 1ᵒ Elis. c. 1. but with the same felicity he produced those worthy Martyrs, that is, to witness point-blank against himself. For in this Quotation, he doth but peep over the Wicket, and touch upon the Title of the Statute: he dares not for his ears open the door, and enter in to the Body thereof. It is enough for him, that in the Title, The Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ is (at that time before the Statute of the six Articles was actually repealed) said to be commonly called, The Sacrament of the Altar. Therefore saith he, That Name of the Sacrament of the Altar doth occur in that Statute still in force. First, I deny it to be the Name in that place, but the Addition only of the blessed Sacrament, of the body and blood of Christ. The Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ is the Name, and true Name; the other is only an Addition 
b Exposition of the Terms of the Law, p. 12.  given unto this Sacrament, over and beside the proper name thereof, whereby it might be certainly known in this dawning of the Reformation: the darkness of Popery, and the terror of the six Articles being not as yet dispelled from the belief or language of the fearful multitude. So one Hume is said to be at this time▪ convicted before Archbishop Cranmer, for denying somewhat 
c Act. & Mon. part 2. p. 655.  in the Sacrament (as it was then called) of the Altar. Then; Then was a time, which the Frenchmen call 
d Pour denoter les rets de la nuict nous disons entre chien & loup. Pasq. des Recher. che● de la Fr. l. 8. c. 15.  Entre Chien & Loup, so early in the Morning of our Religion, as a man could not (without some special Character) discern a Dog from a Wolf; a name given by God himself, from a name given by the invention of man, unto that blessed Sacrament. Secondly, I utterly deny, that the Act of Parliament takes it for the Name: It takes it clearly for the Nickname of that Sacrament. Come in with shame enough into the Body of the Act, and see what imposture you print for the people. 
c 1ᵒ Edu. 6. 1.  The most comfortable Sacrament of the body and blood of our Saviour jesus Christ, commonly called, The Sacrament of the Altar, and in Scripture, The Supper and Table of the Lord, The Communion and partaking of the body and blood of Christ. Here is (I confess) some strife and contention about the naming of the Child. The Commonalty and Corruptions of the time (and, as I shall show anon, the Course of the Common Law) name it one way, the holy Scripture another way. And 
f Cic. de Oratore, lib. 1.  if it were a matter de stillicidiis (as Tully speaks) a matter of Custom or Prescription, that two or three Good-fellows might eke it out with an Oath before a jury of the same feather, I think it would go hard with both Church and Scripture. But in a matter of the most venerable Sacrament of the Christian Religion, and before a Learned and judicious Divine, (as his best friend, his Alter ego, styles him) me thinks there should be no question, but that the holy Scripture should carry it quite away; and that The Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, The Supper, or The Communion, should be the right name, and The Sacrament of the Altar the Nickname or vulgar Appellation only of this blessed Sacrament. But a penal Law, as this is, was to take notice, not only of the proper name, but of every Appellation, whatsoever this blessed Sacrament enjoined to be had in reverence by that Law, was at that time known by and discerned. 
g Brook● Abridgement, verbo Misnon●e●, ex 1ᵒ Edu. 4. fol. 82.  A man may be known by twenty Names, and yet have but one Name, say the learned in our Laws: The Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, as by the right name; of the Altar, as a thing known by, saith the Statute. It is so called indeed, but not by the Law of God, nor by the Law of Man, but commonly, that is, by the common Error, and Popery of those times. Learn Doctor, learn to language this Sacrament from a Prelate of this Church, from whom you may well learn as long as you live. 
h Answer to the Gagger, p. 251.  The Sacrament (as you call it) of the Altar. Gaggers of Protestants call it so, Protestants themselves do not. For there hath been much alteration in this Church and State, (God be praised for it) and all in melius, and all confirmed by Acts of Parliament since that Time. 
i Rubric before the Comm. in K. Edw. Liturgy of 1549. f. 121.  This very Sacrament was then commonly called the Mass, and allowed to be so called by 
k 2ᵒ & 3ᵒ Ed. 6. c. 1. & Injunct. of K. Edw. Injunct. 21.  Act of Parliament, and in that Appellation appointed to be so sung or said, all England over. I hope it is not so Now. 
l 23▪ Elis. c 1.  For every person that shall now say or sing Mass, shall forfeit the sum of 200 Marks, etc. And if Dr Coal shall report of me, that I have said Mass, when I have only administered the Communion, I shall have against him my remedy in Law, as in a cause of foul Slander. And presently after this Act was revived by Q. Elisabeth, there was at the same Session an 
m The later part of the Catechism added in Q. Elis. her Liturgy.  Addition made to the Catechism, (and that likewise confirmed by 
n 1ᵒ Elis. c. 2.  Act of Parliament) whereby all the Children of this Church are punctually taught to Name our two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lords Supper. So that this judicious Divine was very ill catechised, that dares write it now, The Sacrament of the Altar.  
For the Writ directed in that Act of Parliament, it doth not call it (as D. Coal doth expressly falsify the passage) Sacramentum Altaris, but it saith only, that it is grounded upon that Statute, which was made 
o Contra sormam Statuti concernent. Sacros. Sacram. Altaris.  concerning the Sacrament of the Altar. Having therefore cleared the Statute itself from naming it so, the Writ will never be found guilty of such a Misnomee. But how many precedents of that Writ can this great Lawyer show in the Book of Entries? However, it was high time for the wisdom of the Parliament to take some quick Order in this kind, when they were resolved to revoke all 
p 2ᵒ H. 5. c. 7. & 25ᵒ H. 8. c. 14.  former Laws that commanded honour to the Sacrament, and yet found the unsufferable indiscretion of the Zelotes mounted to that height, as to dare to term the Institution of Christ (however disguised in this superstitious habit) with those base compellations of 
q Altar Damasc. p. 316.  jack of the Box, and Sacrament of the Halter, on the one side, and then 
r Defence of three Ceremonies, p. 270. jewel, Art. 4. p. 282.  Baker's bread, Ale-cakes, and Tavern-tokens, on the other side. Purposing therefore to keep in force one Branch of those two Laws which were by and by to be repealed, (I mean, 2ᵒ H. 5. c. 7. and 25ᵒ H. 8. c. 14.) which required due reverence to be performed to this Sacrament, they reserved the ancient words and Additions, not of the people only, but of the Common Law itself, in the Indictments for Lolardy, as we may see in the Book of 
s Et docuerunt opiniones haereticas contra fidem Catholicam Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae: viz. Quòd in Sacramento Altaris non est nisi panis Sanctus, & non caro & sanguis Christi, etc. rastal, Coll. of Entries, Endictment, c 11.  Entries. And because this Sacrament was so commonly called, not only in the Mouth of the Church, but in the Mouth of the Law itself, the Statute in the head of the Act, and foot of the Writ, gives it this Addition of Sacramentum Altaris. But this Lollard Writ, these threescore years, hath had (God be thanked for it) no more operation in Law, than the Clause against Lollards in the 
t Nostro aevo accipiunt alii Lollardoes, pro institutae religioni adversantibus, eóque vetus jutamentum Vicecomitum ad prosequendos Lollardos juratorum hodie attrahunt. H. Spilm. in verbo Lollard.  Sheriff's Commission. And if there were any occasion to put it in force, me thinks (the subsequent Laws considered) it ought to be issued contra formam Statuti concernentis sacrosanctum Sacrament●m Corporis & Sanguinis Dominici; admitting the 
u Brooks Abridgement, ex 2ᵒ H. 6. 9 And cowel, in verbo Variance.  variance by this matter ex post facto, as men and Corporations may do in some Cases. But being led by this fellow quite out of my way, I wholly submit my Opinion herein to the Reverend of that Profession.  
I make haste therefore to return to the Doctor again, before he finish his Triumph over this Section, attended with Princes, Prelates, Priests, and Parliaments, to confirm his Altar and his Sacrifice. Whereas in very truth all his Witnesses are under Age, and are not able to speak of themselves one word to his purpose. john Frith (as you have heard) speaks by Sr Thomas More; john Lambert, by S. Austin; Archbishop Cranmer, by john Fox; john Philpot, by the ancient Writers; B. Latimer, by the Doctors, who might be deceived; B. Ridley, by the public Notary that drew the Articles; the Writ, by the Act of Parliament; and the Act of Parliament, by Vox populi, and common Report. Not one of all these, that speaks of his own knowledge, as a witness ought to do. But this is some Susenbrotus Figure, by which this judicious Divine useth to write in a different manner from all honest Authors; to make one man still to speak what was uttered by another. Thus he handleth the Writer of the Letter, in that similitude 
x Pag. 21.  of Dressers, unmannerly applied to the Altar-wise-situation of the holy Table. For although the Writer saith clearly, 
y Letter 68, 69.  he likes that fashion, he allows it, and so useth it himself; yet if one Prinne hath printed it I know not where, or some Countrypeople said I know not what, he must (in most Oyster-whore language) pin it and Prinne it upon the Writer of the Letter. And if one Bishop of Lincoln, the 
z Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 486.  Pope's Delegate, and one Dean of Westminister, Queen Mary's 
a Act. & Mon. part. 3. p. 44.  Commissioner, shall speak irreverently of the Protestants Table; by this new Figure, all Bishops and Deans of those two places, must, until the end of the world, be supposed to do it. And so must the Bishops of Norwich be ever sending forth Letters of Persecution, because 
b In his Index reserving to Act. & Mon. part. 1. pag. 870.  john Fox observeth that one of them did so. It remaineth only, he should with the Italian 
c Hen. 〈◊〉 Apol. d' Her●d.  Friar, fasten upon David, (whom he hath reasonably abused already) that he should also say, There was no God; because in one of the 
d Psal. 14. 1.  Psalms, the Doctors own Cofin, the foolish body, hath heretofore said it.   

CHAP. IU.  
Of Bowing to the Name of jesus. Of Sacrifice. Of the Name of Altar. Whether an Altar is necessary for all kind of Sacrifices, etc.  
HE cannot ascend not so much as to this Discourse of the Altar, without Bowing; which makes him fall upon this 
a P. 4.  Preamble so impertinently. But let him bow as often as he pleaseth, so he do it to this blessed Name; or to 
b P. 42.  honour him (and him only) in his holy Sacrament. This later, although the Canon doth not enjoin, yet reason, piety, and constant practice of Antiquity doth. The Churchmen do it in S. 
c Vet. Pa●rtom. 2. p. 61. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Chrysost●ms Liturgy, and the Laymen are commanded to do it in S. Chrysostoms'. 
d Homil. 24. add Corinth. Hom. 61. ad pop. Antioch. vide Claud. de Sainctes de Ritibus Missae.  Homilies. And if there be any proud Dames, quae deferre nesciant mentium Religioni, quod deferunt voluptati, as S. 
e De Virginib. l. 3.  Ambrose speaks, that practise all manner of Courtesies for Masks and Dances, but none (by any means) for Christ, at their approach to the holy Table; take them Donatus for me: I shall never write them in my Calendar for the Children of this Church. But what is this to Dionysius? Yes, it comes in as pat as can be. He was serving his first 
f Pag. 5. That herb (according as the saying is) hath spoiled all the Pottage.  Mess of Pottage, and the Bishop (as the saying is) got into it, and hath quite spoiled it, by warning a young man (that was complained upon for being a little fantastical in that kind) to make his reverence humbly and devoutly, that he might win his people also to sympathise with himself in that pious Ceremony. But this is to censure the heart. No, the Writer goeth no further than the outward action: ut audio, sic judico. In that he had heard somewhat to be amiss, and desired (in a friendly manner) it might be reform: But still according to the Canon: Which requires it 
g Can. 18.  should be done, as it hath been accustomed, saith our Canon, referring to a former: As it hath been accustomed heretofore, saith the 
h Q. Elis. Injunct Injunct. 52.  Injunction, referring to a time out of mind. It is not therefore enough to obey a Canon in the matter, if we obey it not likewise in the manner. Not to make a Courtesy, if it be not a 
i Injunct. 52.  lowly Courtesy. Nor so neither, unless it be as heretofore hath been accustomed. If we would preserve old Ceremonies, we must not taint them with new Fashions; especially with apish ones. That reverence which the Priests and Deacons were wont to perform in this kind, is called in the Greek Liturgies, 
k Chrysost. Liturg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Vet. Pat. Tom. 2. p. 84. Reverentia, ut vulgò loquuntur. Meurs. in ●loss.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a modest and humble Bowing of the body: such as in the primitive Church, the Christians used in performing their Public penance. And if we may believe their modern Divines, it was twofold, a greater, and a lesser Reverence. The greater, when they bowed all their 
l Martin. Crustus in Histor. Eccl. Turcograec. ex Ge●lach. p. 205. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Herol●g.  Body, yet without bending of the knee, very lowly and almost to the earth. The lesser, with the inclination and bending of the Head and shoulders only. Which or whether any of these were used in the Western Churches, and delivered over unto us, is not so certain. An accustomed lowly reverence to this blessed Name, we received from all Antiquity, as appears by the Canons and Injunctions. And good reason we should entail it on our Posterity. If this young man faulted therein, he was much the better; If he faulted not, but was unjustly informed against, he was not much the worse, for being gently admonished. But behold this judicious 
m Pag. 5.  Censurer of the Censurer of the heart, is now become himself a Censurer of the spirit. Comparing (an angry man would say, Blasphemously) the young man Bowing, with David's dancing before the Ark. Do you know with the 
n Si corripiatur eodem spiritu, quo David. Martyr in 2. Sam. 6. 14.  rapture of what spirit David did this? Surely S. 
o Comment. in Matth lib. 2. in c. 11.  Hierome seems to imply, that it was done with no other spirit, than the very same, wherewith Christ and his Apostles piped unto the Jews, when they had not danced. Besides that, 
p Etiam quia populus non scandalizabatur in illo, sed putabant eum magis dignum honore. Test. in 2. Reg. c. 6. q. 19  the people were not scandalised in him (which is supposed to be our case) but Michael only. And so much of your Preamble, that is, your Pottage. Now to your more solid Meat, if your Book have any of that kind.  
The Writer of the Letter had said, that if the Vicar should erect any such Altar, that is, a close Altar at the upper end of the Choir, where the old Altar in Q. Mary's time stood, that then, his discretion would prove the sole Holocaust should be sacrificed thereupon. Not only because his discretion, being of a very airy and thin substance, would quickly (as a Holocaust should do) vanish into nothing; but by reason that thereby by he should put himself into the very Case, that Isaac conceived his father to be in: 
q Gen. 21. 7.  Behold the Fire and wood, but where is the Lamb for the burnt-offering? Because the 31 Article having taken away the Popish Lamb (for the which that old Altar had been erected) as a 
r B. of Articles, Artic. 31.  Blasphemous figment and pernicious imposture; the Homily had commanded us to take heed, we should look to find it in the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper: For there it was not: There was indeed in the Sacrament a Memory of a Sacrifice, but Sacrifice there was none. And we must take heed of quillets and distinctions, that may bring us back again to the old Error reform in the Church. Whereof this was a principal part: That we should not consecrate upon profane Tables (as the 
s In 1. Cor. 11.  Rhemists most profanely termed them) which relate to a Supper, but upon sacred Altars only, which refer to a Sacrifice. For so 
t Du. S. Sacram. l. 2. Aut●●r. 10. c. 1.  Cardinal Peron observeth, that it is ever called a Table, when it points to the Communion or Supper; and an Altar, when it points to the Sacrifice. Now the Homily stating in one sentence most of the Controversies in this matter between us and the Church of Rome, by an enumeration of opposite and distinct species (the one whereof, as in 
u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arist. de Partib. animal. l. 1. c. 3.  Logic the nature of such is described to be, if we make the Doctrine of our Church, we cannot without implication make the other) observes these four contradistinguished Tenets or Positions: 1. We must make the Lords Supper fruitful to us that be alive, not to the dead: both we of this Church cannot do. 2. We must receive it in two parts, not in one only: both we of this Church cannot do. 3. We must make it a Communion, or Public, not a private eating: both we of this Church cannot do. 4. Lastly, we must make it a Memory, and not a Sacrifice: both we of this Church cannot do. And this is the passage cited by the Writer. We must take heed, lest of a Memory it be made a Sacrifice. What saith the Doctor to this? He saith, that by these words the Church admits of a Commemorative Sacrifice. Which is as much as 
x Lib. 4. S●n●. d. 11. c. ●.  Peter Lombard and all his ragged regiment admit of. I am (as K. James of famous memory was wont to say) a Slave to reason, and must yield when ever I am thus summoned by it. I do confess the man hath found a true and real Sacrifice; but it is a Bull:  

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

y A. Pers. Sat. 2.  Compositum jus, fásque animi, sanctósque recessus  
Mentis, & incoctum generoso pectus honesto.  I will likewise allow you, (which your indigested Meditations forgot to call for) that all these spiritual Odours, improperly called Sacrifices, are not only stirred up and made more fragrant with the Meditation, but many times sown of seeds, and engendered at first by the secret operation of this blessed Sacrament. Nay yet further; In contemplation of all these rare and special Graces of the Spirit, wrought in our souls by means of the Eucharist, you shall not reasonably expect any outward expression of reverence and submission to the Founder of the Feast, any trimming and adorning of the Room and Utensils prepared for this great solemnity, which I will not approve of, and bring the ancient Fathers along with me to do as much. I will allow 
z Erat solicitus Nepotianus, si niteret Altar, Hieron. ad Heliodor. ep. 3. c. 10.  Nepotian to take especial care that things be neat and handsome in that blessed Sanctuary. I will encourage 
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pallad. Lausiac. hist. c. 119.  Melania to beautify that place, with the forbearance (if need be) of her chiefest Ornaments. I could say in a manner with that 
b Iddio scrive in quella polvere ● vostri peccati, O curatori d' anime, quando per lungo spatio rimano, Freder. Borrom. Cardin. Ragionam. Syno dal. 31. p. 305.  Italian Prelate, that God in that holy Table, which he finds full of dust, doth write down the sins of the careless Churchman. But this I can by no means approve, which Protestants and Papists do jointly deny, that ever material Altar was erected in the Church for the use of spiritual and improper Sacrifices. 
c Defence of his fifth book against Gardiner.  The Sacrifice which Malachy speaks of, being the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, all people offer unto God, as well as the Priest; be they at the blessed Sacrament, at Prayers, or at some charitable work, at any time, and in any place whatsoever; saith Archbishop Cranmer. If question be asked, It there then no Sacrifices now left to be done of Christian people? yea truly, but none other than such as ought to be done without Altars. And these be of three sorts, etc. For he instanceth in three of those which the Doctor doth instance upon in this Book; Praise and Thanksgiving, our Souls and Bodies, and Oblations for the poor: And then concludes; Seeing Christian men have no other Sacrifices than these, which may and aught to be done without Altars, there should amongst Christians be no Altars; saith Bishop 
d In his third Sermon upon lonas, preached before the King, 1550.  Hooper. Priest, Altar, and Sacrifice are Relatives, and have mutual and unseparable dependence one of each other. So he, and truly. But you ought to take with you a necessary Caution, observed by the same Cardinal, That an unproper Sacrifice cannot infer a proper Altar, saith the Lo. 
e Institut. lib. 6. c. 5. §. 15. p. ●61.  Bishop of Duresme; when he had said a little before (most truly and learnedly) that a 
f Because the Eucharist being only commemorative, cannot be a proper Sacrifice, p. 440.  Commemorative Sacrifice cannot be a proper Sacrifice: and therefore cannot infer a proper Altar. Then for the Pontificians, they are all of this opinion; I will single out a few of the Prime. An Altar of Stone is never erected to praise God or say our prayers at, saith 
g In Epist. ad Hebr. c. 13. add octav.  Salmeron. If not of Stone, neither of Timber; for that makes not the difference. There is none so blind, but he may see that these Christian duties and Ceremonies may be performed to God without an Altar, saith 
h Quis enim non videt etc. de Missa, l. 1. c. 2.  Bellarmine. And he quotes to confirm this point, the testimony of 
i Institut. lib. 4. c. 18. §. 13.  Calvin; They that extend the name of Sacrifice to all Ceremonies and religious Actions, I do not see what reason they can produce for it. To Sacrifices taken improperly and metaphorically, the circumstances of Altars (which relate still to true Sacrifices) are no way requisite, saith 
k Les circ●nstances des autels, qui ont relation aux urais sacrifices, n'estoit point requise. Replique, p. 790.  Cardinal Peron. would the jews (who no doubt had Prayers and Oblations) take them for Sacrifices, or build an Altar for them? saith Dr 
l Survey, lib 4. c. 2.  Kellison. Which puts me in mind of one Argument, wherewith I will conclude this Passage. God would not suffer the first Age of the world, for 1650 years, to pass away without Prayers, Praises, and Thanksgivings unto him; but he suffered it to pass without any Altars: That of Noah's being the 
m Gen. 8. primum Altare erectum, Bellar. l 1. de Missa, c. 2. Le premler autel dressé. P. Cotton. Genev. Plagiar. p. 282. Primus omnium Noah Gen. 8. fecit Altar, Hospin. l. de Orig. Altar. c. 6.  first that ever was built, as learned men are of opinion. Therefore these duties may be still performed without Altars. And consequently, if after all this search in the Collects of the Liturgy, you can find the Vicar nothing, but Prayers, Praises, Thanksgivings, and Commemorations; the holy Table, in the place where it stood, will serve for all these, without erecting or directing this new Altar. But what if I find you several Altars for all these spiritual Sacrifices, in the ancient Fathers, will you promise not to disturb the peace of the Church any more? Or if this be too much for you to perform, will you have a better opinion of the Writer of the Letter, and suffer the poor man to procure, if he can, so poor a Vicarage as your friends was, to be quiet in? Is it not a very little one? It is but a piece of a piece of a piece of a Benefice: And therefore I will presume upon your kindness therein, and set you up all the Altars that God ever required for these kind of Sacrifices. The first, is the 
n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ignatiu● Epist. ad Eph. vide Nic. Vedel. Exercit. 6. c. 1. p. 237.  Council of the Saints and the Church of the first begotten; a most fitting place for the pouring forth of these Christian duties: And this is Ignatius his. Altar. The second, is 
o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Orig. contra Cels. lib. 8. p. 404.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, not the mind (as it is usually translated) but the commanding and directing part of the reasonable soul, from whence is sent forth those Odours of sweet Incense, to wit, Vows and Prayers out of a good Conscience: And this is origen's Altar. The third, is the 
p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 7.  Righteous Soul; the Incense whereof, is holy invocation: And this is Clemens Alexandrinus his Altar. The fourth, is every place wherein we offer unto God the sweet-smelling fruits of our studies in Divinity: And this is 
q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Euseb. de Dem. Evang. l. 1. c. 10.  Eusebius his Altar. The fifth, is 
r E●seb. hist. Eccl. l. 10. c. 4. it is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by Nic●ph. l. 7. c. 40. Domi composita, as Longus translates it, at the dedication of a Church.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the clearness and sincerity of the mind, smocking up the unbloudy and immaterial Sacrifices of Prayers: And this is the Panegyrists Altar, quoted in your Pamphlet under another name, p. 53. The sixth, is the heart of a man, Cor nostr●m Altare Dei, the true, proper, and literal Altar of all spiritual Sacrifices: And this is S. 
s Nos templum Dei sumus omnes, cor nostrum Altare Dei, Au●. l 10. de Civ. Dei, c. 5.  Augustine's Altar. The seventh, is our Memory, and remembrance of God's blessings; a very fit and pertinent expression: And this is 
t Philo jud. lib. Quis rerum divinarum haeres, & l. 3 de vita Mosis.  Philo judaeus his Altar. The eighth, is the Son of God, become the son of man; Altar sanctificans donum, The Altar which sanctifieth all these spiritual Sacrifices, that but touch that Altar: And this is S. 
u Altar Redemptoris, humilis Incarnatio, Berr. in Sent.  Bernard's Altar. The ninth, is the Son of God now in Heaven; that Habemus Altar, Hebr. 13. that Golden Altar, Apoc. 8. upon which we offer to God the Father all spiritual Sacrifices: And this is 
x Aquin in. 13. c. ep. ad Heb & Antididagma Colon. de Miss. Sac●if.  Aquinas his Altar. The tenth and last, (for we must make an end, and remember we are not now at Paphos or Cyprus, — 
y Virg. Aeneid 1.  ubi templum illi centúmque Sabeo  
Thure calent arae) is our Faith, the Prothesis or preparing-Altar to that Altar going before. Altar id est Fides, the immediate Altar of all these spiritual Sacrifices, is the Faith of a Christian, which elevates all these virtues up to Heaven, (that otherwise would lie flagging about the Earth.) And this is S. 
z Vnusquisque sanctus Altare Domini in se habet, quod est Fides, Hieron. in Psal. 25.  Hieromes' Altar. Now consider with yourself, whether it were fitter for you to make use of these Altars for your unproper and metaphorical Sacrifices, and have all these Greek and Latin Fathers to applaud you for the same, rather than to rely upon some Miracle of a good Work in hand, or some poor Dream of the piety of the Times; especially when we are clearly inhibited by the Canons of 
a Conc. Carthag. 5. An. 438. c. 14. Num quae per somnia consti●uuntur altaria omnimodò reprobantur. Sen●nens. Synod. An. 1528. Can. 38. Nè pr●tex●● no●i miraculi erigatur altare novum.  two national Counsels, to erect any Altars upon Dreams or Miracles.   

CHAP. V.  
Of the second Section. The Contents thereof. 

1 Of Sacrifice of the Altar.  
2 Tables resembling the old Altars  
3 Alteration not in Bishop Ridley's Diocese only, and how there.  
4 Altar and Table how applied.  
5 Altar of participation.  
6 Of Oblation.  
7 No Altars in the Primitive Church.  
8 None scandalised with name of the Lords Table.  
9 Altars of old, how proved. 10 Not taken away by Calvin.    
THis Section is a true Section indeed, divisibilis in semper divisibilia, chop't into a very Hotchpotch, or minced pie, and so crumbled into small snaps and pieces, that an Adversary doth not know, 
a Martial Epigr. lib. 1. ep 61.  Quod ruat in tergum, vol quos procumbat in armos. All the first part thereof that relates unto any Laws, Canons, or Constitutions, made or confirmed by the Kings & Queens of this Realm, concerning this young Controversy, I have already examined in the first Chapter: It being a ridiculous thing for us to have waded thus far into the book, if we had received but the least check from any Law of God or the King. In the remainder of this Section, there are some things that concern the Question in hand, which we may call his Sixth (as it were;) and some other that are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, certain skips and spurts, or Boutades of the man (when he thought what Dignities he might expect for this piece of service) which we will call his Extravagancies, and see that they shallbe forthcoming (as Waives in a Pinfold) to be surveyed at our better leisure in the next Chapter. And in the former part now to be perused, you shall find little that concerns the Writer of the Letter, or any of us that approved of the same. For this New-castle-Coal is mounted up from the Kitchen to the Great Chamber, and confutes no longer a private Monition sent to a Vicar, but Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop jewel, john Calvin (a greater stickler, than ever I heard before, in our Upper and Lower house of Parliament) the Acts of Counsel made for the Reformation, the Lords spiritual and temporal, with the Commonalty, that confirmed our present Liturgy: not forbearing to 
b P. 40.  jeer and deride both them and King Edward (
c The son of whom, was Edward the Saint; of whom we may say, as of Enoch, Though he departed the world soon, yet fulfilled he much time, Hooker Eccles. ●ol. l. 4. p. 168.  whom the judicious Divine indeed doth call Saint Edward) in a most profane and abominable fashion.  
First therefore he falls upon a solemn 
d Act & Men. part 2 f 700.  Act of the King and Counsel, mentioned by john Fox, upon this occasion: 
e Letter, p. 73.  The writer of the Letter observes that in Saxony and other parts of Germany, the Popish Altars upon the Reformation, being permitted to stand, were never esteemed (call them by what name you will) any otherwise then as so man Tables of Stone or Timber; the Sacrifice of those Popish Altars being now abolished. Which words, I perceive, the Writer had translated in a manner from a learned 
f Quia cessante sacrificio, altaria illa nihil aliud sunt quam mensae lapid●ae: Sublato enim relativo formali, manet absolutum & materiale tantùm, Gerard. lib. 2. tom. 5. p. 5●6.  Lutheran. And that these sacrifices were abolished, D. 
g Pag. 7.  Coal hath already confessed, pronouncing him for no son of the Church of England, that presumes to offer them. Yet the Writer alleging the fourth Reason given by the King and Counsel, for their taking away in England; That the form of an Altar being ordained for the Sacrifices of the Law, and both the Law and the Sacrifices thereof new ceasing (in Christ) the Form of the Altar ought to cease also; D. Coal makes nothing of this Reason; but pities the simplicity of the Times, as not being able to distinguish between the Sacrifices of the Law, and the Sacrifices of the Altar. I pray you good Doctor, where may we read of this Term of yours, Sacrifices of the Altar, if we do not read of it in the Sacrifices of the Law? 
h Omnia omnino quae in Scriptura dicuntur Sacrificia, necessariò destruenda erant, Bellarm, de Missa, l. ● c. 2.  For surely all Sacrifices that we read of in Scripture, none excepted, were necessarily to be destroyed. And beside the Sacrifices of the Law, woe read of no Sacrifice that was destroyed, but that one you wot of, offered up upon the Cross, and not upon an Altar. Beside that, the Apostles and Writers of the New Testament, 
i Lib. 1. de Missa, c. 17.  by the special instinct of the holy Ghost, did purposely forbear to insert into their Writings the name of an Altar, if we may believe Bellarmine. And in the ancient Fathers you shall not read your Sacrifice of the Altar, terminis terminantibus, how ever you may have found it foisted into their 
k As the Divines of Louvain to the Index of S. Augustine.  Indices by some Priests and jesuits. And 
l De Missa, l. 3. c. 4.  Mornay doth show with a great deal of probability, that the ancient Fathers could not possibly take any notice of this Sacrifice of the Altar. What then? are you Christians to perform no manner of Sacrifices at all? No, not any at all, saith 
m Quid ergó? Sacrificia censetis nulla facienda? Nulla. Arnobius adversus Gen●es, l. 7.  Arnobius. Not any corporeal Sacrifice; but only praise and hymns, saith 
n Lib. 6. c. 23.  Lactantius. And if some of the Fathers bade used those terms (as they have done others of as high expressions) yet are there divers reasons given by our gravest Divines, why we should forbear in this kind the term of Sacrifice. 
o Bilson of Christ subject. part 4. p. 524.  1 Christ and his Apostles did forbear it, and therefore our Faith may stand without it. 2 The speeches of the Fathers in this kind are dark and obscure, and consequently unuseful for the edifying of the people. 3 Lastly, we find by experience, that this very expression hath been a great fomenter of Superstition and Popery. And all these inconveniences have sprung from the words, not from the meaning, of any of the Fathers.  
But the Doctor hath found it in the Bible for all this, Hebr. 13. 10. We have an Altar. And although this be but one, and that (God he knoweth) a very lame soldier; yet like an Irish Captain, he brings him in in three several disguises, to fill up his Company; in 
p Title-page.  front, in the 
q Pag. 30.  middle, and in the 
r Pag. 87.  end of his Book. But in good faith, if S. Paul should mean a material Altar for the Sacrament in that place, (with all reverence to such a chosen Vessel of the Holy Ghost be it spoken) it would prove the weakest Argument that ever was made by so strong an Artist. We have an Altar, and a Sacrifice of the Altar, that you of the Circumcision may not partake of. Have you so? And that's no great wonder (may the Jew reply) when abundance of you Christians, may not yourselves partake thereof. For in the old time, as 
s Albaspin. Observe. l. 2. obs. 2. Antiquitus fieri, non nasci Christianos.  one observes, they were not born, but made Christians. Made by long and wearisome steps and degrees, and forced. 
t Concil. Constantinop. 1. Can. 7.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to creep on with time and leisure to the bosom of the Church, saith the General Council. 
u Ex Albasp. l. 2. Observ. 2. Quid est quod datum est completivum? Corpus quod nôstis, quod non omnes nôstis, Aug. in Ps. 39 Tom. 8. p. 143. Ainsi pa●le t●il a cause de non initiez devant les quelz iln'cstoit pas permis de parler ouvertement du mystere de l'Eucharistie, Cardin. du Peron. Repliq. p. 806.  1. They were taught in some private house, the vanity of their Paganism, without so much as daring to peep into the Church-porch. 2. They were admitted to be Hearers only, and that at a very far and remote distance. 3. They were licenced to bend the Knee, and to join in some Prayers with the Congregation. 4. They had leave granted them to become Competentes, suitors and petitioners for the Sacrament of Baptism. 5. And then, after many months, nay years expectation, being baptised, they were enroled in the number of the Faithful, and never before admitted to the least interest in the Sacrament of the Supper. And therefore for S. Paul to frighten the Jews with the loss of that, which so many millions of Christians were themselves bereft of, had been a very weak and feeble dehortation. I am sure this fellow is a mighty weak piece, to take up this leaden Dagger, which the 
x Non urgeo hunc locum, quia non desunt ex Catholicis, qui interpretantur de Cruse, vel de Christo ipso, Bellarm. de Missa, l. 1. c. 14.  Papists themselves have thrown away, as of no use in the day of Battle. And that you should not build upon mine opinion alone, you shall hear what others have printed in that kind. This place is brutishly abused, to prove that the Christians have a material Altar, saith D. 
y Rhemish Test. p. 779.  Fulk. Who is of so shallow a brain, as not to discern the notarious unconscionableness of your Diputers, who allege the word Altar in the Tent to the Hebrews, for proof of a proper Altar? saith a Reverend 
z Institut. of the Sacrament, l. 6. c. 3. p. 416.  Bishop. And (for vanieties sake) take you one of another Sect: 
a M. Cartwr. in 〈◊〉, f. 648.  Let the Reader observe, how not childishly only, but absurdly also the Jesuite● apply this place to prove a real Altar. But to put your mouth into relish again, I will conclude with S. 
b Nihil hîc visibile, neque Sacardoes, neque Sacrificium, neque Altar, in 10. ●●p. ●p. ad Hebr.  Ambrose: That we have nothing visible in all this disputation of S. Paul, neither Priest, nor Sacrifice, nor yet Altar. And if these people be ●rutes, brainless, childish and absurd, who (grant them but their suppositions; that here is an He●●ules in a Lion's skin, seen of all, but discerned of none, as 
c Par l' example d'un homme, gui●ntieremēt cou●ert d'une p●a●dolion, ne pour●a est●e discerné d'aucun, mais bien touché de tout le monde, Le● princip●ux pointes de la Faith, c. 6. Sect. 2. p. 131.  Cardinal Richelieu; that here is a David representing his former combat with Goliath, as 
d Institut. of the Sacra●. l. 6. c. 5. p. 446.  Cardinal Peron; that here is a King acting a battle he achieved before, as 
e Si rex aliquis gravissimo bello confecto, idem ipsum bellu●r ad oblectand●m populo in s●ena repraesentare vellet, & ipse idem quirerè pu●naverat, i● s●ena seipsum repraesentaret: Esset enim ipse verè Antitypon suiipsins, De Sacra. Eucharist. l. 2. c. 15.  Cardinal Bellarmine; or representing ●● 's hirmish ●●hat was ●o come after, as 
f Induit, Christus in Coena modum & conditionem quam habult, ut sangul●●em fu●dens in sacrificio Crucis, De Euchar●st● Sacrif. l. 2. c. 13.  Cardinal ●lan doth conceive it) have ●ll the reason that can be to erect a stage for such representations: If these (I say) be to be so termed, what a Brute is this wrangler then, who would have an Altar he knows not for what! For he would have an 
g Pag. 9  Altar, i. e. a Communion-table; and a Sacrifice, i. e. a 
h Pag. 8.  Memory; and a 
i Pag. 11. Send his resolutions to the Priest.  Priest, i. e. not derived from 
k The name of Priest need not be so odious unto you, as you would seem to make it. I suppose it cometh of the word Presbyter, and not Sacerdos; and then the matter is not great. Whitg. Answer to the Adm. part. 2. pag. 183.  Sacerdos for all that. So that I do not know how to resemble this Doctrine fitter, then to that which a Country. 
l Becan. Summ. Theolog. part. 1. c. 16.  Mountebank in France was wont to give in writing to his Patients for the curing of all diseases what soever: 
Si vis curari de morbe nescio quali,  
Accipias herbam, sed qualem nescio, nec quam;  
Ponas, nescio quò; curabere, nescie quando.   
Id est, 
Your Sore, I know not what, do not foreslow  
To cure with Herbs; which, whence I do not know:  
Place them (well pounreed) I know not where; and than  
You shall be perfect whole, I know not when.  And yet for all that, if we talk of a 
m Pag. 47.  Helena indeed, this one place of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is the Helena of all this sort of people. This they hug and clip and kiss: And above all indeed, S. Paul in his HABEMUS ALTAR. Lord, how the man melts upon it! And presently after follow those pathetical words, Haec est illa Helena. And yet, God knoweth, they have of theirs, but as Paris had of his Helena (or rather of her 
n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith the Scholiast of Lycophron out of Stesichorus.  Statue only, her person being seized upon by Pr●teus in Egypt) 
o Lycophron in Cassandra.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a most cold and uncomfortable embracement, and as 
p Cited by Garassus' Doctrine Curieus. l. 4. §. 4. in fi●t.  Gulielmus Parisiensit speaks of a like fancy, Chimaram Chimaerissimam, the very Chimaera of all Chimaeras. For I will be bold (not without some premeditation) to make all these several observations upon this passage.  
First, that this is the first son of the reformed Church of England, that hath presumed openly to expound this place, of a material Altar: Yet not constantly neither: For he confesseth, for all his love to this Text, that the Apostle 
q Pag. 47.  may mean there the Lords Table, or the Sacrifice itself, which the Lord once offered. And so a great Scholar indeed of this Church hath expounded it. For the Altar in the old Testament is by Malachy called MENSA DOMINI. 
r Bish. Andrew's notes upon Peron, p. 7.  And of the Table in the new Testament, by the Apostle it is said, HABEMUS ALTAR. The Altar in the old, the Table in the new Testament (if we will speak with that great personage, properly and Theologically.) And this is the exposition of Peter Martyr, mentioned in the Letter, which this squeamish gentleman could by no means understand: That as sometimes a Table is put for an Altar, as in the first of Malachy; so sometimes an Altar may be put for a Table, as in this Epistle to the Hebrews. Then the which solution there may be peradventure a more full, (for the Cross of Christ is more appositely aimed at in that Text, than the holy Table) but there cannot be a more plain and conceivable Answer. And whereas it is inferred, that then at the least S. Paul conceived the name of an Altar neither to be improper, nor impertinent in the Christian Church; there is no man ever made doubt thereof; so as it be taken, as S. Paul takes it, Metaphorically, and by way of Allusion, but not materially, for this Church-Vtensill; which is the thing that lies before us upon the Carpet at this time.  
Secondly, I do observe, that (
s Exposed. in l●●.  Sedulius only excepted) no writer before the beginning of the Reformation, did literally, and in the first place, but Allegorically only, and in the second place of their exposition, by way of use (as it were) and accommodation, bend this Text to the Material Altar. So 
t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Theophyl. in locum.  Theophylact expounds it, first, of the Tenets and Observations of the Christians; 
u Remigius, Haymo, Anselmus, Contarenus, in 13. cap. ad Hebr.  Remigius and Haymo (who seem to be but two Friars under one hood) of the blood of the Passion; Anselm, of Christ himself; Cardinal Contaren, of the Passion: and in the second place only, of the Eucharist: making the debauchery of a Christian man, to be the Service of the Tabernacle, which hinders him from the worthy participation of this spiritual Sacrifice. Which clearly implies a continued Allegory.  
Thirdly, setting by the Jesuits on the one side, as 
x Salmeron, Rhemens'. A Lapide, Haraeus, Tirimus, Gordonius, Menochius, & Cajet. in 13. cap. ad Hebraeos.  Salmeron, the Rhemists, A Lapide, Haraeus, Tirinus, Gordon, and Menochius (and Cajetan, a kind of Controversie-man) who expound it point-blank for a material Altar; and all the Reformed Expositors, on the other side, aswell 
y Illyricus, Hemingius, S●rigelius, Nulla est grata Deo, nisi Christus Filius, ara, Qui luit officio crimina nostra suo, in locum.  Lutherans (who minister the Communion upon Stone-Altars) as Calvinists, who utterly disallow of that exposition; I do observe, that the most learned of all the Roman Writers, even sithence the stirring of these Controversies, do expound it either of Christ himself, his cross, or his profession; as Bellarmine, the Antididagma of Coleine, Catharinus, and Estius: As you may see more at large in the learned 
z Inst●●ut. of the Sacram. l. 6. c. 3. p. 406.  Bishop.  
Fourthly and lastly, I do observe, that all Antiquity, besides these, do not in the exposition of this Text, reflect in any kind upon the material Altar. 
a Chrysostomus, Oecumenius, Aquinas, Gorra●●s, Lyra, in 13. ●. ad Hebreos.  Chrysostom expounds it of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the things professed here amongst us; Oecumenitus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. the Tenets, as it were, of Christian men; Peter Lombard, of Christ's body; Aquinas, of the Cross; Gorran, of the Incarnation; and Lyra, of the Passion of our Saviour. Not any one ancient Writer (beside Sedulius) that next his heart, as it were, and in his first exposition, did ever touch upon this material Altar. 
b Fulks Def. of the Translas. against Gregory M●rtin, c. 17.  I do not except Oecumenius or Haymo, mistaken herein by a learned Doctor. And therefore, good Doctor (unless you mean to turn Jesuit) leave off your cracking to your Novices of this place, until you be able to back it with better Authority than your poor conceptions. For above all indeed S. Paul in his HABEMUS ALTAR is least of all for your material Altars.  
And behold, he hath not done yet with the Act of State, but will needs have another bout with it. For 
c Pag. 30.  although the Law and the Sacrifices thereof be both abolished, and consequently the form of these Altars should be abolished; yet that doth not reach at their Altar, which lieth along the wall, but at our Communion-Tables, that are in the Body of the Church or Chancel, as the Jewish Altars stood in the old time. Vah! quantum est sapere! It is an excellent thing to be a judicious Divine! But the King and the Lords do not say that the Jewish Altars are abolished, for us to put other Altars in the body of the Church or Chancel, or for you to fasten them all along the wall; but that the form of such Altars should cease to be erected in any place whatsoever in the English Church.  
And having a reasonable guess how those old Altars under the Law came to be placed in the midst of the Priest's Court and outward Temple, to wit, that it was so done by God's appointment; I pray you, forget not to tell me in your next Book, 
d Your needless and superstitious walls, which you have erected without commission, Jewel, Des. of the Apol. part. 3. pag. 315.  where God, or his blessed Son, or the Apostles, or the Fathers after them or any Council, or any Canon-law, or so much as a Pope's Bull, hath commanded any Christian Church to set their Altars all along the wall? But I shall have occasion to tell you many things more than you know, about that particular, in the last Section.  
For a full Answer to this Quillet, I do read in Antiquity, that the form and situation of the holy Table in the Christian Church, was not exemplified from the 
e Exod. 27. 1. And thou shalt make an Altar of Shittim wood, five cubits long, and sive cubits broad.  Square Altars, but from the 
f Exod. 25. 23. Thou shalt make a Table of Shirtim wood; two cubits shallbe the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof.  long Table of the Shewbread, which stood in the Temple. And if we can make good our fashion and situation according to this pattern we saw in the Mount, we care not how Altars stood either in the Jewish or Popish Church; our holy Tables being quite of another race, and no descendants from any of them. One Benjamin a Jew fell upon Isidorus Pelusiota, (a reverend Prelate, as ancient very near as S. Chrysost●m) and charged him with the boldness of this new Oblation and Sacrifice of Bread (as he termed it) invented by the Christian Church, without any pattern or precedent from her Mother the Synagogue. To whom the ancient Father returns this Answer; That there were two Oblations in the Synagogue: The one upon an Altar, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the outward Court, performed in blood and steaming vapours, and visible to all: The other was upon a 
g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Isidor. Pelusiota, lib. 1. Epist. 401.  Table, performed in Bread, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, within the Temple, hid from the Understanding of the old, and reserved for the Faith of the new people. And of those former (saith he) thou art one thyself, that couldst not see the truth of this Mystery, hid so long in the Law, and revealed so clearly to us in the Gospel. It will be long yer you will bring us so clear and ancient an extraction for the form and fashion of the Altars in Christianity. 
h P. 35.  Yea but (say you) this Table was not made to eat upon. The Figure indeed was not, but the 
i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Isidor. Pelus. l. 1. ep. 401.  verity was, that is, the verity then hid, but now revealed. And yet David, t●ough no Priest, did eat of that which was upon it▪ to let us know, that omnes justi Sacerdotalem habent ordinem. All we that are justified in Christ, have a Priestly interest in this holy Bread, saith 
k Irenans● l. 4. c. 20.  Irenaeus. David's eating was a figure that the meat of the Priest should one day be improved to be the meat of the people: Because all the children of the Church are perfect Priests; By reason that we are anointed unto a holy Priesthood, offering up ourselves as spiritual Sacrifices to. Almighty God. This Type teaching us thus much, that one day in the Body of Christ, food should be provided for true Believers, saith S. 
l Ambros. in 6. c. Luc. Sacerdotalem cibum ad usum transiturum populorum demonstrante typo, quòd Christi corpore cibus ●idelium pararetur.  Ambrose most excellently. So that there is just that difference between the Shewbread and the Body of Christ in the Sacrament, as there is between the shadow and the body, the representation and the verity, the patterns of future things, and the things themselves prefigured by these patterns, saith S. 
m Hieron in Ep. ad Tit. c. 1. & in Ezek. c. 44.  Hierome. And so said 
n Origen. super Levit. Hom. 43. fol. 82.  Origen long before; The Commemoration and Remembrance of the 12 Tribes by those 12 Loaves, doth relate to those words of our Saviour, Do this in remembrance of me. And therefore if you mark well these mysteries of the Church, you shallbe enabled to observe the truth of the Gospel in the dark mists and Riddles of the Law. I will add to these and other Testimonies of the most ancient Fathers (which you shall by and by find in the Margin) the conceits of two jewish Rabbins, somewhat tending to our purpose. Ezek. 4. 22. it is thus written, And he said unto me, This is the Table before the LORD: Meaning (without doubt) the Altar of Incense. The Question than grows, why the Altar is here called a Table, I have heard this given as a Reason of it, saith 
o Vitalpand. in Ezek l. 4. c. 51.  R. Shelomo, That at this day the Table performs what the Altar was wont to do. R. johanan and R. Eliezer give the like reason, That while the Temple stood, the Altar of God; but sithence the destruction thereof, the Table of a man, is become the place of Sacrifice and propitiation. But I leave these Rabbis to Rabbi Coal's consideration, whether he shall reject them, for their conceit of the Table, or let them pass on, for maintaining the Sacrifice. However, to conclude this point, I find the 
p Cornel. A Lapide in 9 ad Hebr. Vilalpand. ubi suprá. Ribera in Ezek. 41. 22. Barrad. Harman. Tom. 2. l. 3. c. 20. So likewise Dam. de Fid. Orth●d. l. 4. c. 14. Hieron. in 1. Malach. Rupertu● in Mal. 1. Cyrill. Catech. Myst. Cat. 4. agreeing with the other Fathers.  jesuits themselves of Opinion, that the Table of the Temple, was the true Type and prefiguration of the Communion-Table. And no great wonder they are of that conceit, considering that Hymn inserted in the Body of the Mass: 

q In Cano●● Missae.  Sacerdotes sancti incensum  
et panem offerunt Domino.   
That is, 
The holy Priests from thence  
Offer bread and incense.  And therefore we have borrowed nothing at all from the square Altars of the Law; but leave that form to the Papists, required of them in their 
r Suarez in tertiam part.  Canons: but the only Vtensill we relate unto, is the Long-square Table of the Incense.  
Yet will not this man be got off by any means from the King and the Counsel. 
s Pag. 31.  He saith, that a small measure of understanding is sufficient to avoid offence at an Altar (howbeit he prayeth heartily to God, there may be but such a measure found in Kings and Bishops houses; of which he either is over-careful, or hath a very base conceit) and that they have had now 80 years to become better edified towards Altars. Lastly, if that they still continue scandalised thereat, they are rather Headstrong, then strong enough, as was said of the Puritans in the Conference at Hampton-Court. The Puritans moved then for an Abrogation; those that are scandalised with your new Altars, move only for a Confirmation of the ecclesiastical Laws, and the practice of them, as they have been these last fourscore years generally executed. So that your quotation of that Conference, is a fine new Nothing. The Act of Counsel made for this Reformation, doth say peremptorily 
t In the first and third Reason, Act. & Mon. part. 2. p. 700.  in two several places, That the form of a Table shall more move the simple from the Superstitious Opinions of the Popish Mass, and that this superstitious Opinion is more holden in the minds of the simple and ignorant, by the form of an Altar, then of a Table. And therefore they did not intend to make a provision to prevent this inconvenience in the Church of England for fourscore years only, but for ever. And accordingly they went to work, caused their Liturgy to be mended in this particular, the word Altar to be left out, the word Table to be put in, in their Rubrics for that purpose. Nor rested they there, but confirmed this 
u 50 & 60▪ Ed. 6. c. 1.  corrected Liturgy by Act of Parliament, 
x 10 Elis. c. 2.  revived again by another Act of Parliament, confirmed by the 
y Before our ordinary books of Common Prayer.  Proclamation of the late King of famous Memory, which was revived (with his other Proclamations) by his most excellent Majesty, in the very beginning of his happy Reign. And what is the son of your father, to dare to offer limitation of time to a Law so absolute and Authentical?  
But 
z Pag. 32.  this Counsell-order doth not appear to have been transmitted to any other Diocese beside Bishop Ridley's. This Quiblet is grounded upon a mere Error of the Printer, by not putting a Period where he should, and putting it where he should not. The words, rightly pointed, run thus, Anno 1550. other Letters (not a Letter) likewise were sent for the taking down of Altars in Churches, and setting up the Tables in stead of the same. And here the full point should be. Unto Nicolas Ridley made Bishop of London in Boners' place, (Here is a Period in the new, but a Comma only in the old Book) the Copy and contents of the King's Letters, are these, as followeth. So that Letters were written to all; but john Fox (having access to the Bishop of London's Registry) prints only the Copy of those which were sent to Bishop Ridley. So that this is a subtility indeed, a subtility in Print, as they use to say. But the next is more gross and downright: That he saith, that both parties that strove about the placing of their Tables, in Bishop Ridley's Visitation, were left to follow their own affections, and the thing left at large, and not determined.  
There fell out about the year 1605, a great Controversy between M. Broughton and M. Aynsworth, that troubled all the Dyer's in Amsterdam, Whether the lining of Aaron's Ephod was blue, or sea-water-green. And 
a A Book called Certain Questions, printed 1605.  M. Aynsworth, poor man, was put to print a large Apology in that business. But had the Question been of the colour of this Tale told here by D. Coal, it might have been resolved in one word; It is a blue and perfect blue Tale. For Bishop Ridley there resolves these Questionists, That the Situation most conformable to Scripture, to the usage of the Apostles, to the Primitive Church, to the Kings proceedings, was, not to lay the holy Table all along the wall, (and therefore in Paul's Church he broke down the wall standing then by the high Altars side) nor to lay it only in the right form of a Table (as this 
b Quis tàm comesor mu● Ponticus, qu● qui Evangelia corrosit? Tertullian, adversus Marcionem, l. 1. c. 1.  muss Ponticus, as he said of Martion, this nibbler at all Quotations, doth mis-recite the Text) but to lay it in the form of a right Table, that is a long Table; or, as your own 
c See the Index in the word Ridley.  Index doth interpret the word, not Altarwise, but as a Table. So that by this impudence of yours, which put us to this narrow search, we have met with two particulars very pertinent to the present dispute. First, that upon the taking down of the Altar, the Table is not directed to be set up in the place where the Altar stood, 
b In the Letter of the K. and Counsel to Bishop Ridley, Act. & Mon. part. 2. p. 699.  but in some convenient part of the Chancel: That's the first. And secondly, that the meaning of the Kings proceedings (better known to this Bishop, then to you) was, that the 
* Ibid. p. 700. col. 2.  Table should not be placed and disposed Altarwise, which is the Question now before us.  
Soon after, D. Coal begins to relent, and could find in his heart to bestow half a Vicarage upon the Writer of the Letter, for saying, That in the old Testament one and the same thing may be called an Altar in respect of 
e Pag. 33.  what is there offered unto God, and a Table in respect of what is there (as he hath it) participated by men. See what it is to put a man into a peevish humour! 
f Martial. Epig. l. 5. ep. 84.  Velle tuum nolo, Dindyme, nolle volo.  
Now I would not give the Writer a Peas-cod for that distinction, nor do I believe he ever dreamt of it. He said, that an Altar might be called a Table, in what was Thence (not there) participated by men. For it is a thing notoriously known (saith 
g In theophra. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Cas●●bon) that Feasts heretofore were wont to accompany all solomn Sacrifices. And that they did eat their good Cheer, not upon, but from the Altars. And so saith 
h theophra. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Theophra●●s, that they did first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, offer up their Sacrifices, and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lay it on in entertainments. But if they did the one, then necessarily the other. For if I did Sacrifice, then surely I did eat, saith 
i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Philostrat. de vita Apoll l. 8. p 402.  Apollonius Tyaneus in his Apology to Domitian. The first they did at the Altar, the second at their houses. 
k Plautus in Militie, Act. 3. Sc. 1.  Sacrificant? Me ad se ad prandium ●o●ant. They never offer a Sacrifice, saith the Parasite, but they invite me to dinner to their houses. And this custom was no stranger to the people of God. For so we 
l 1 Sam 9 v. 15. 22, 23.  read, that Samuel did bless the people's Sacrifice in the high place, but Feasted his strangers with his portion of that Sacrifice in his own Parlour. 
m 1. Cor. 9 13.  So they that wait upon the Altar, are partakers with the Altar.  
And because their provision came from the Lords Altar, as from a rich and plenteous Table, this Altar was sometimes figuratively and improperly called a Table. For otherwise (if we speak properly) 
n Institut. of the Sacram. l. 6. c. 5. p. 465.  tell us where it was ever know, that any Altar was ordained for eating and drinking, saith a reverend Prelate. And for this Altar you aim at, This is the way to correct the Son of God, who said not, Take this and offer it, as upon an Altar, but, Take this and eat it, as from a Table, saith another of our 
o Bilson's true differ. part. 4. p. 490.  Prelates. 
p Bish. Andrews of his Sermons, p. 453.  Christ was given for us in the Sacrifice, to us in the Sacrament. There, per modum Victimae, by way of Offering; Here, per modum Epuli, by way of Banqueting: saith a third. And to Banqueting, a Table relates more literally and properly then an Altar. The Father's Altar of Oblations which you find in the 
q Pag. 34.  Letter, is but an Altar of Allusion, as the Levits likewise are, which in the ancient Fathers, are made to attend the foresaid Altar. That Altar of Praise and thanksgiving, which the Act of Council approves of, is a Metaphorical Altar, all made of Notions, as the Sacrifices also are, that fume on that Altar. All these are but airy Altars, built up of the Metaphors and Figurative speeches of the ancient Fathers; resembling in composition that Altar of 
r Claud. Sa●●nas. ad arras Dosiadae. Lutet. Paris. 1619, p. 127.  Dosiades, all made of words or poetical feet, or that of 
s Liceti Encyclopaed. ad aram Nonar. Terrigen●, Patau. 1630.  Aeneas Terrigena, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  made neither of Gold nor Silver, nor any other solid matter, but of the sublime Conceptions of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, those grandchildren of the heaven, the nine Muses. Lastly, such another Altar, for the Materialities thereof, as that of 
t Liceti Encyclop, ad aram Pythiam, 1630.  Publicius Optatianus, which thus describes itself, 
Non caute durâ me polivit artifex;  
Excisa non sum rupe montis albidi;  
Me metra pangunt de Camoenarum modis.   
That is, 
No Mason hewed me out of Rocky vein;  
Nor put I Carpenter to sweat or pain:  
But made I stand of Muses gentle strain.   
And therefore, gentle Doctor, you have (for all your boasting) found no Altar of Stone, no Altar of Timber, no Altar that can lie along the Wall, and consequently, no proof in the Letter for the situation of your Altar.  
I but another and a worse 
u Pag. 55.  Conclusion would soon follow upon this doctrine, [That Communion is an Action most proper for a Table] which is, That men would think it necessary to sit at the Communion. It is (I perceive) the Act of Counsel, that still you are offended at. For so it speaks indeed; If we come to feed upon him spiritually and to eat his body, and spiritually to drink his blood, which is the use of the Lords Supper; then no man can deny, but the form of a Table is more meet for the Lords Board, than the form of an Altar. If you were a Scholar, you would have been ashamed to write this Divinity. There can be no question made, but that for a certain time, the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the Lords Supper were eaten at the same Table, and (for aught appears in any Antiquity) in the same 
x Vtraque coena jungebatur, Baron. Annal. tom. 1. pag. 536. Which he clearly proves out of Chrysost. in 1. Cor. Hom. 27. in the beginning thereof.  posture: And yet was it a pious and religious Celebration. Our Church and State are more cautious in their expressions, than this poor Doctor: 
y Pref. of Cerem. in the Book of Comm. Prayers.  And in our doings we condemn no other Nation, nor prescribe any thing but to our own people only. For we think it convenient, that every Country should use such Ceremonies, as they shall think best. For 
z Suarez, in tertiam part.  to sit, stand, kneel, or walk, be not of the substance of the Sacrament.  
Nor doth the Church of Rome absolutely condemn this Ceremony of Sitting: Or else it would recall that 
a Called Mandatum, of the Anthem appointed to be sung at this Ceremony of washing one another's feel; Mandatum novum do vobis. Andrea's Quercetames, Notis ad vitam S. Odonis. Vide Lib. Statutorum Ordinis Casal. Benedicti; Titulo, De Mandato, sive Ablutione pedum. And so Synod. Aquisgran. Can. 20. In coena Domini pedes fratrum post lavacrum Abbas lavet & osculetur. And so the word is used in Chronico Casin. l. 2. c. 85. And how it is used▪ now, you may learn from a late Cardinal, Par une Collation, que l'on fait, dans le Chapitre des Moynes à l'imitation des anciennes Agapes de l'Eglise Chrestienne pour la celebration de l'Eucharistie, Card. du Peron. du S. Sacram. l. 3. c. 11. p. 871.  Mandate or maundy of the Benedictines, which testifies, that they (at the least one day in the year) do receive the Sacrament sitting. And this custom mounts higher than S. Benedict; even to 
b Ep. 118. ad Januar.  S. Augustine's time: Who affirms, nonnullos probabilem quandam rationem delect●ssse, that not Monks only, but some other kind of men, were pleased with a specious reason, upon that peculiar day of the year, wherein our Saviour administered the Supper, to receive the body and blood of Christ presently upon their ordinary repast, as a more notable commemoration of that first Supper. Which must be in their private houses, & mensa communi, upon their ordinary Table, as 
c De Sacram. l. 4. c. 7.  Mornay observes: Although it be true what the 
d Vbi suprà, p. 8●2.  Cardinal Peron coldly replies, that S. Austin, in those words, doth not deny but this might be done in the Church, and upon an Altar, and inclines, as to the better opinion, to have this Sacrament received by all men Fasting. But the Cardinal there doth clearly affirm, that the Apostles omitted no due reverence, or (as he calls it) adoration of Christ, although they sat with him at the Table: and brings a passage out of 
e De Oratione, c. 12.  Tertullian, to prove that some of the ancient Christians did adore Sitting; and maintained their Ceremony, with a place out of the book of Hermes, called the Pastor. Which position of theirs although (as the Cardinal notes) Tertullian doth not blame, for being an imitation of the Pagans; yet surely he doth not there commend those Ancients, no more than I do this Ceremony in our modern and Neighbour Christians; but spare to censure them, as I hope they will do us, in matters of this nature. And sure it is, that (as the Cardinal there observes) all the old Romans, by an express Law of 
f Plutarch. in Numa, & in Rom. Quaestion.  Numa Pompilius, were required to worship their gods sitting. He proves the same to be the custom of the Greeks also, by an old Quatrain of the Sieur de 
g Quatrain. 4. Adore assis, comme le G●ec ordonne, etc. Tertullian makes it a common posture for all Pagans. Porrò cum perinde faciant Nationes adoratis sigillaribus suis residendo, L. de Oratione, c. 12.  Pibrac. Which I will not set down in French, as the Cardinal hath it; but as I find it translated into Greek by Florence Christian, 1584. 

h Vide Fabri Pibraci Tetrasticha, p. ●.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
That is, 
Worship God sitting, as the Greeks have used;  
Running Devotion he cannot endure;  
But will be served with a Heart firm and sure;  
Which Heart is only by himself infused.  Now although (as 
i In his Replique, c. 19  Mounsieur Moulin returns it well upon the Cardinal) the Apostles of Christ were not to learn Ceremonies out of the Laws of Numa, or the Quatrains of Pibrac; yet may we herein learn some modesty out of Papists themselves, Not to conclude the Ceremonies of so many Neighbouring Protestants, as altogether unchristian; which this Doctor for want of learning, or charity, or both, endeavours to do in this place.  
But for own 
k Archb. whitgift's Answer to the Admonition, p. 100  Kneeling in the Church of England, at our receiving of this blessed Sacrament; it is appointed, either for a signification of the humble and grateful acknowledgement of the Benefits of Christ, given to the worthy receiver; or rather because it is administered in our Church with a most effectual Prayer and Thanksgiving. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is given for thee, preserve thy body and soul, etc. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, etc. preserve thy body and soul to everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankful. Now he must have a knee of a Camel, and heart of Oak, that will not bow himself, and after the manner of adoration and worship, say, Amen, (as S. 
l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Cyrill▪ Hierosol. Catech. Mystag. Cat. 5.  Cyrill speaks) to so pathetical a Prayer and Thanksgiving, made by the Minister unto God in his behalf. And this is a powerful Argument indeed for conformity in this point; with the which I have seen some Leicester-shire- people of good sort, that had been refractory for a long time, satisfied in an instant by the Bishop of the Diocese, being very sorry they had not observed so much before, That in the Church of England, our whole act of Receiving is accompanied in every part with the act of Praying and Thanksgiving. 
m Archb. whitgift's Answer to the Admonition, p. 99  However it behooveth humble and meek spirits in such indifferent matters to submit themselves to the Order of the Church, appointed by lawful Authority. And as long as our Liturgy hath the honour and repute given thereunto, which it so well deferves, there is little fear, that the people will clap them down upon their Breech about our holy Table: It being no posture used in this Church to say, Amen, to such divine raptures and ejaculations. Beside that, throughout all the Diocese I live in (being no small part of the Kingdom) there is (whether the Epistoler likes it or no) Rails and Barricadoes to keep the people from all irreverences in that kind. But the general Rule in this case, is that which is set down in the Articles of the Dutch Church in London (allowed by Beza himself and divers others) 
n Archb. whitgift's defence of the Answer to the Admonition, p. 87.  That every private man's judgement in these circumstances is not to be respected. But what is profitable to edify, what is not, is not to be determined by the judgement of the common people, nor of some one man, but (as I have said at large heretofore) of those that have the chief care and government in the Church. And so was it well done by the Reformed Church in Poland, first by Monitions, in the year 1573. and then by Sanctions, in the year 1583. Nè in usu sit, that the usual receiving of the Communion in those parts, should not be by sitting round about the Table. (A Ceremony which some of the Brethren, as they call them, had brought into those parts, either from John Alasco, their countryman, or from other Reformed Churches, as might be (the commerce of these three Nations considered) from the Low-countrieses, or the Church of 
o Lib. Disciplina Eccl. Scot edit. 1560.  Scotland, where this posture of sitting was Synodically established from the very beginning of the Reformation.) It was well done of them, I say, to reform it; but very ill done of you to steal this Coal from the Altar of Damascus, and never say so much as, I thank you, good Gaffer, or deliver it us cleanly as you found it. And yet it is not▪ considering you confess the Thefts in the Title of your Book, calling it ingeniously, A COAL FROM THE ALTAR.  
Yet I would you had spared to abuse that grave Synod, to make them say peremptorily, Haec ceremonia Ecclesiis Christianis non est usitata, especially as you turn it to English, that 
p Pag. 36.  this Ceremony is a thing not used in the Christian Church: And so put the reformed Churches to fall together by the ears one with another, and many of them to become odious in the Christian Church. Which (God he knoweth) is far from either the words or meaning of that Synod. For their words are these, Haec ceremonia, licèt cum caeteris libera, etc. This Ceremony, however in its own nature free and indifferent, as the rest of the Ceremonies, etc. Which sweetens the Case very much. And then for their meaning; They do not say, it is a thing not used in the Christian Church. This is your fingering and corruption. But they say; it is me used in those Christian and Evangelicall Churches, nostri consen●us, which agreed with them in Articles of confession. They condemn no other Nations, no more than the Church of England doth. And is this the part of a judicious Divine, to corrupt a passage in a Sectary or Puritan, who will be sure (without any mercy) to send Hue and Cry after you over all the Country? Surely the man hath been instructed by Chrysalus in 
q In Bacchide.  Plautus. Improbis-cum improbus sit, harpaget, furibus furetur quod queat. He is resolved to put some knavery upon the knave himself, and to steal from the Stealer what he can. For indeed (to come to the second point) both the Coal and the Altar are quite mistaken, to think that the Synod did ever say, that this Ceremony was brought in, or used by the modern Arians. It is very well known, that John Alasco, who maintained this Ceremony of sitting, in a 
r Called, Forma S●ratio totius Eccles. Ministerii, etc.  little Book published here in England in K. Edward's days, was settled in Poland, and (by the means of his Noble blood and kindred) in great favour with his Prince, in 
s Nolui committere, quin te nunc certiorem facerem do successu rerum magnifici Domini joannis à Lasco in Polonia, Cracoviae, 19 Feb. 1557. V●enh●vious Calvino, Calv. Ep. p. 194.  the year 1557. which is long before either of these two Synods. And all that either of the Synods say in dislike of the Ceremony, is this; That it is Arianis cum Domino pari solio se collocantibus propria: A thing fitter for the Arians, who by their Doctrine and T●ne●s, placed themselves cheek by joul with the Son of God, then for devout and humble Christians, compassed about with Neighbours so fundamentally heretical. I could say that here in England, this worse conclusion of the Doctors, To desire to sit at the Communion, is more to be feared from the Opposers of our Liturgy, who brag of their 
t It suiteth not with a Co-heir with Christ, to kneel at the Table, Abridgement of Lincolnshire, p. 61.  Cosin-ship and Coheir-ship with Christ, then from us who are ready to live and die in defence of the same. And the 
u Altar Damasc. p. 752.  Altar at the last espied this to be the meaning of the Synod, that this Sitting was proper to the Arians, not by usage, but secundum principia doctrinae suae, as an Inference easily drawn from the Principles of their Doctrine. Howbeit the Coal was resolved to wink at it in his Author, and to speak big words, (though beside the Cushion, and against all truth of History) that it was brought in at the first by the Modern Arians: His Author telling him in the same Page, that it was published in the Book of Scottish discipline, Anno 1560. and myself having showed by a Testimony beyond all exception, that it was preached in Poland three year before that, by John Alasco.  
And then your Principles were they true (as the 
x Altar & Sacrificium Relativa sunt, Bell. de Missa, l. 1. c. 2. So he, and truly, ●ish. of Dur. l. 6. c. 5.  one of them is false; For there was never any Altar erected in the Temple, but to sacrifice upon, nor ever any man read in divine or humane learning, that denied 
y It is called Mincha in the Hebr. and translated Sacrificium by Hierom. Numb. 16. 15. Nadab and Abihu are said to offer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by joseph. Antiq. l. 3. c. 10. and Ruffinus translates is Victimas. And some were of opinion, that all Sacrifices were perfeated upon the Altar of Incense, according to Heb. 9 6. Vilalp. in. 41. Ezek.  Incense to be a Mincha, and kind of Sacrifice) the conclusion could not come within a league of us. For we, who extract ourselves (as I told you before) from that Table in the Temple, do desire to eat in no other manner, then as the Priests, and as David, our Types, did eat before us. We do not desire to eat upon, which is but your foolish Inference, but to eat from the holy Table. And that all the faithful may do in verity, what David and the Priests did before in a representation, I have showed already out of the ancient Fathers. Nor are we so unreasonably tied to one Table, but if the 
z Defence of 3 Cerem. p. 256.  woman were driven to the desert, we could be content with the green Grass. But in that case, the Grass should be unto us in stead of a Table; it should not be in stead of an Altar▪ I do not love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as 
a Orat. contra Julian.  Gregory Nazianzen calls it) to break jests in these high Mysteries. Otherwise, I could tell you that unhappy Inferences may be made out of your Tenets, as well as out of those of the Arians. That no place will serve your turn to eat upon, but Altars, appropriated by all Learning humane and divine to 
b Altar soli Deo vero ritè potest erigi, Bell. de Missa, ●l. c. 2. ex August. l. 20. contra Faust. c. 21.  God alone. Well, if you will needs be snapping at the Meats of the Gods, 
c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Lucian. in Ic●ro. Menippo.  Menippus will tell you that you must be content to far as they do, upon Blood, Vapours and Frankincense. This Menippus saith. For mine own part, I shall only desire to know of you, a judicious Divine, what may be the meaning of an odd word used by Aristotle in his Ethics, to wit, 
d Ethic. l. 4. c. 14.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Because I was told it signifieth two things, a scurrilous Railer at men in place, and a Snatcher of Meats from the holy Altars.  
Yea, but he doth set down at large out of the Act of 
e Pag. 38.  Counsel, with what indifferency these names of Table, Board, and Altar have been used before, and may be used for the present. He doth indeed and with a great deal of ingenuity, if you mark it. For the Question being made by some of his humour that would have the Altars stand, because the Book of Common Prayer (meaning the Book before it was reform) did mention an Altar; the Lords (amongst whom Archbishop Cranmer was a chief) were put to this Apology; That the Book intended no Table, or Altar, formally, but a certain Thing (as they there call it) whereupon the Lords Supper was administered. This Thing had no figuration at all prescribed unto it in that Book: But so far forth, as the Lords Supper is there ministered, though it be upon an Altar, it calleth the said Altar, a Table, and The Lords Board; but so far as the holy Communion is distributed with the Sacrifice of Lands and Thanksgiving, though it be a Table, it calleth the said Table, an Altar. And therefore in so much as the distribution of the Lords Supper in both kinds, is a real and sensible Action, it is a real and sensible Table: But because the Laudes and Thanksgivings are by all Divines acknowledged to be a Metaphorical and improper Sacrifice, it is but a Metaphorical and improper Altar. And to call it an Altar in that sense, you know the Letter doth every where allow. But hark you, Sir; it makes no matter for the Letter. I pray you, tell me in my ear, What Book is it that calls it an Altar? and for what Book do the Lords apologise in this place? If it be for the Book of 1549, 
f Ratio quidem her●●e apparet: Argentum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Plant. in Trin. Act. 2. Se●. 4.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that's vanished, and we have nothing to do with it. And you are a very Coal, that is, a thing that cannot blush, to say that that Book, or any thing spoken of that Book, alloweth you to call the holy Table an Altar for the present. Your tongue for the present aught to speak, as the present Book and Law speaks it unto you; and that is, as you yourself confess, 
g Pag. 37.  The Lord's board only. And when men in their nominations of things do vary from the Law, which is the Quintessence of Reason, they do it in a humour, which is the Quintessence of Fancy. Nor is there any way possible of peace and quietness, unless the probable voice of every entire Society or Body politic, overrule all private of like nature in that Body, saith M. 
h In his Preface.  Hooker.  
But we have been all this while mistaken in the Cause of this Change of Liturgies, which the Letter so much stands upon. For the Letter supposeth, as the Act of Counsel and K. Ed●ards Mandate do, that the Altars themselves were put out of our Churches, and their names out of our Liturgy, to comply with the godly considerations of some that had taken them down already, and to root out superstitious Opinions, more holden in the minds of the simple and ignorant by the form of an Altar. And men did the rather believe it so, because a Divine, very near as judicious as D. Coal, seems to be of that Opinion, when he saith, that 
i Hooker, Eccles. Polit, l. 4. dist. 14. p. 165.  our Churches were purged of things, which indeed ●ere burdensome to the people, or to the simple offensive and scandalous. But the matter is Kim Kam to all that we have conceited. For it was indeed an offence against our Liturgy 
k Pag. 39  conceived by john Calvin (a poor Minister at the foot of the Alpes, who died in Books and all worth very near 
l See his last Will, in his Life, set forth by Beza, p 12.  40 ● ' sterling) that caused the King of England, the Convocation, the Lords spiritual and temporal, and all the Commonalty, to make that Change in the Book of Common Prayer. And is it even so? Why then, gentle Readers, 
m Assem para & accipe auream fabulam: fabulas imò, Plin. Calvisi●, Ep. lib. 2. ep. 20.  Assem parate, et accipietis auream fabulam; make ready your Bread and Cheese, for my life on it, you shall hear a Wintertale. 
n Pag. 39  It seems that Bucer had informed Calvin of the Condition of this Church, and the public Liturgy thereof; and thereupon he wrote to the Duke of Somerset, who was then Protector, Epistola ad Bucerum. And is this to look unto the Story of those Times? It seems unto me that this Epistle to Bucer hath no Date at all, and if we give it a Date from the Printers placing of the Letter, (which is your childish and erroneous Criticism) you shall find it between November 19, 1548, and january 16, 1549, and consequently before the publishing of the first Liturgy, which was March 7, 1549. And so it must needs be. For Calvin 
o Rumour est vobis esse à Gallis inducias: utinam & firmae pacis ratio iniri posset! Calv. ep. p. 81.  saith in that Letter, that there was Cessation of Arms between France and England, and wished that some course might be taken for a solid Peace. 
p Tillet le Greff. Recueil de Traitez, pag. 410. & Tillet l' Evesq. Chroniq. p. 197.  Now the Commissioners were met to conclude that Peace, 24 of March, 1549. And therefore the Letter was written before that. And to strike this seeming of yours dead in the nest; 
q Veni igitur quam cit●ssimè poteris vir omnium desideratissime, Petr. Alex. Dat. Lamb. 24. Martis, 1549. inter▪ M. Buceri opera Anglic. p. 191.  Peter Alexander writes his Letter to Bucer (as yet at Strasburgh) to invite him to England, of the very same Date with the Commission of the French Treaty, 24 of March 1549, and tells him for news, that in the Parliament then sitting, Missae Papisticae missae sunt ad novos Monachos Germaniae, the Popish Missal was dismissed to the new Monks in Germany, by the first approbation of our first Liturgy in that Parliament. See then how well you looked into the stories of the time. You make Bucer, before ever he came hither, to inform Calvin of the condition of this Church, and the public Liturgy thereof, before the Liturgy was penned and approved in Parliament. But I will endeavour to give this undated Letter a truer Date. 
r Inter M Buceri script. Anglic. p. 190.  Archbishop Cranmer writes for Bucer to come over, 2ᵒ Octob. 1549. He desired Calvin (who was no doubt a Polypragmon, and made his Letters to fly to all the Princes in the world, that did but look towards a Reformation) to write by him to the Protector, and to persuade him to a serious Reformation in general. Calvin in this Letter, tell's him he had written to the Protector a Letter (not the Letter Printed, bearing 
s Octob. 22. 1546. Epist. Calvini, p. 72.  Date two years before.) and bids him if he could procure Audience (a sign he had not been here as yet) deal with him roundly himself, and take heed of his old fault (as he terms that most admired prudence and wisdom of that learned man) to be ever inclining, mediis Consiliis, to peaceable and moderate Advices. And this Letter must be written unto him about the Spring, 1549, when he was ready to come for England. Where we find he was safely arrived, and reposed himself at 
t From his Epistle to Pet. Martyr, inter Opera Anglic. p. 550.  Canterbury in june following. Now although he had considered of the Book of Common Prayers before, as well as he could, 
u Censura, p. 456  per interpretem, by the help of an Interpreter, and approved it, as in nothing (candidly construed) repugnant to the word of God; yet did he never make Notes and Censures thereupon, until he was required thereunto by Archbishop Cranmer, two years after this; to wit, Anno 1551: Nor could he tell Tales to Calvin thereof, being then bedrid, and dying within 
x Censura, p. 503. Nonis januar. Anno Domini 1551. Cantabrigiae, die 25ᵒ pòst defunctus.  25 days after (some two months before the Alteration of the Liturgy) especially not any Tale against the Altar, having suffered Auricular Confession, Oblations and Altars (though termed Boards or Tables) to stand in the Reformation at 
y For that Book called, A Religious consultation, by Herman Archb. of Cullen, and printed here in English, 1548. was penned in Latin by Bucer. See fol. 114. Of the Lord's Supper.  Cullen, and not taking the least exception against the word in his Censure of our Liturgy. I am therefore strengthened in my former Opinion, That it was the King, the Lords, and the State rather than any incitement of Martin Bucer, that made this Alteration in our Liturgy, in the point of Altars.  
Then for Calvin; no man can conceive him to be more pragmatically zealous in point of Reformation (even in those Countries which cared least for him) than I do. Yet do I hold him a most innocent man, and our famous Liturgy sorely wounded through his side, by this audacious Companion, in this particular concerning Altars. The Letter to the Protector, that D. Coal relies upon, bears Date, Octob. 22, 1546. which according to foreign Accounts, is a year before K. 
z K. Edward began his Reign the last of january, 1546. Stilo Angl. 1547. Stilo come. muni. Stow.  Edward came to the Crown. But compute it as you please; it must be three full years before the month of March, 1549. At what time I find that this former Liturgy was first printed. And if you rely upon his Character, the Letters placed before and behind this to the Protector, are of the same Date, 1546. And yet would this Companion have his courteous Readers to swallow this Gudgeon, without so much as champing or chewing on it. And in this Letter, Calvin toucheth only upon 4 particulars (which 
a Censura, p. 468. Optarem ego commendationem defunctorum & precem pro aeterna eorum pace praetermitti.  Bucer himself doth likewise censure) Chrisoms, oil in Baptism, Commemoration of the dead, and the abuse of Impropriations, but not one word of the Altars. And good reason for it. For 
b Sed non repugno quin Coena Domini in Altari celebrari possit. Name & à Lausanna Altar marmoreum, etc. Beza in Colleq. Mempelg. p. 350.  Beza confesseth, that at Lausanna, where Calvin taught before he came to Geneva, there was a Marble-Altar used for a Communion-Table, which from thence was removed to Bearn (where Calvin also sometimes taught) and is so there used as a Communion-Table (abstracted from all former relations to a Sacrifice) unto this day. Which I therefore note, to let you see that Calvin was not so straitlaced in this particular. Yea, but he finds great fault with the Commemoration of the dead. And doth he so? And I pray you, what doth K. james declare the general Opinion of our Church to be, for these Commemorations in the time of the Communion, in that most exact Answer of his to Cardinal Peron? 
c Ad Epist. Card. Peron. Resp. p. 55.  This is a rite (saith he) which the Church of England, though it doth not condemn in the first ages of the Church, yet holds unfit to be retained at this day, for many and weighty causes and reasons, which you may read most excellently pressed in that Book. Besides that, Calvin acknowledgeth (as he wanted to wit to understand how the world went with him abroad) that he had no such credit with the Conformable party here in England, as within two or three years after this, he confesseth openly in one of his 
d Sed ego frustra ad eos sermonem converto, qui fortè non tantum mihi tribuunt, ut consilium à tali autore profectum admittere dignentur, Calvinus Anglis Francofurt. Epist. p. 158.  Letters. Lastly, (which is the main Answer of all) the Protector was of no power in the State, when this Liturgy was reform; which was not altogether unknown to Calvin, having an hint from Archbishop 
e Cantuarichsis nihil me utilius facturum admonuit, quam si ad Regem saepius scriberem, Calv. ad Farell. 15. lun. 1551. Epist. p. 384.  Cranmer to address his Letters to the King himself. But for the Lord Protector, he had his crush a year and a half before (never restored again to his Power or Office, admitted only by a 
f John Stow.  New oath, to serve but as a Counsellor at large) and in the first 
g Abstract of the Acts of that Parliament, at St R. C.  sitting of this Parliament which altered the Liturgy, he was attainted, and condemned, and presently executed, having been in no case or place of a long time, to make Alterations to gratify Calvin. And for Archbishop Cranmer; it is true, the foresaid Active man writes unto him from Geneva a couple of Letters, and offers his service in person, to make up our Articles of Religion, and to state the Controversies in Divinity (another project, it seems, the learned Archbishop had then in hand) when he gives him a general touch of the residui surculi, the remaining stumps and roots of Popery, together with the cause thereof (as he conceived) the laymen's swallowing of the Impropriations: But hath not in all the two Letters, so much as one syllable of Altars or amendment of Liturgies. And what Date these Letters were of, God knoweth; for they have none a all in the Book. But the Date seems to be much before Ann. 1551. which is D. Coal's conjecture. For in the first Letter he presents his Grace with the news of Osianders' troubles, which he 
h Melchion Adamus in vita Osiandri.  stirred up in the year 1549. And in the second he tells him of a 
i Non multò levius mihi videtur aliud vitium, quòd ex publico Ecclesiae proventu aluntur otiosi ventres, qui linguâ incognitâ Vesperas cantillent, Calvinus Cranmero, Epist. p. 101.  chanting of Vespers in an unknown tongue here in England; which was inhibited in this Kingdom by Act of Parliament, full two years before the Altering of the Liturgy. Nor doth it seem that Calvin had any great acquaintance with the Archbishop (who neither accepted of his Offer in the Agreeing of the Articles, nor, for aught appears, ever wrote unto him back again; but sent him a Message by one Nicolas, wishing him to write to the King himself about the Restoring of the Impropriations) I say, it doth not seem they were much acquainted, by that first Letter that Calvin writes unto him. For in that he rails most bitterly upon young Osiander, a Divine very near 
k Vxorejue Neptis fuit uxoris Osiandri, Godwin. in Catal. p. 198. Moram Norimbergae fecit, hospitió que Andreae Osiandri usus est. Cum quo, secundâ conjuge ductâ, contraxit affinitatem, Antiq. Britann. p. 331.  allied unto the Archbishop.  
But if Calvin's Letter to the Protector himself be misdated (as like enough it is, being but a Copy from the French, wherein the Date was not regarded) then came it to the Duke's hands (as some Letter from Calvin was then delivered to the Duke by one Nicolas, a Tell-tale of M. calvin's, that studied in Cambridge in those days) but in the year 1551, Bucer being dead before, (which Calvin 
Calvin Farello; P. 384.  there takes notice of) and the Liturgy newly altered.  
Let us not therefore, as we tender the credit of the Church of England, suffer such a famous piece, as our Common Prayer-book is, to be disparaged in this kind, upon such weak Flams and ridiculous suppositions. But if any desire to know the reason of the Alteration, let him repair to the Act itself, where he may be fully satisfied. He shall find, it was partly the 
m 5ᵒ & 6ᵒ Ed. 6. c. 1.  Curiosity of the Ministers, and mistakes in the use and exercise of the former Book met withal in the second Book by a clear explanation. Of the which curiosity and mistaking, whether this removing and placing of the Altar, which they found usually so termed in the former Liturgy, might not be a special branch, I leave to the Readers collection, out of what hath been already delivered in the examination of the Counsell-Act in that behalf. And partly also he shall find the Book was altered, for the more 
n In the same Act.  perfection thereof, or (as it followeth in the body of the Act) to be made fully perfect: Not to gratify Calvin, who was Lecturing in his Chair at Geneva, nor to comply with the Duke of Somerset, who was a condemned prisoner, looking every day for the stroke of the Axe, when this Book was passing the several Committees in the Upper and Lower house of Parliament. And that it seems by any one syllable of the Letter to Farell, that Calvin wrote unto the King about the change of the Liturgy, is another blue one. Read the Letter, and you will be of my opinion.  
Yea, but the 
o Pag. 40.  King in his Answer to the Devonshire-men had formerly affirmed, that the Lords Supper, as it was then administered, was brought even to the very use, as Christ left it, as the Apostles used it, and as the holy Fathers delivered it. I answer, that these Devonshire-men (whom the Doctor clothes in this fair Livery) were a sort of notorious Rebels. And if a King (to avoid shedding of blood) should answer such people clad in steel, edictis melioribus, in a more passable language, then will endure Logical examination; is it fit he should be so many years after jeered thus, by such a Mushroom here on earth, reigning himself (without all doubt) a most glorious Saint above in Heaven? Besides that, the Form that Christ left, the Apostles used, and the Fathers delivered the Lord's Supper in, is never taken by judicious Divines in a mere Mathematical and indivisible point of exactness: but in a Moral conformity, which will admit of a Latitude, and receive from time to time degrees of 
p And so the King clearly conceived it. That we may be encouraged from time to time further to travel for the Reformation, Proclam. before the Book of Communion, 1548.  perfection. But I will not lead you to any woods, to borrow shadows for this place: the Answer is set down in such capital Letters, that he that runs by may read it. The Rebels in their third Article (set on by the Popish Priests) do petition for their Mass (that is, that which we call the Canon of the 
q We will have Mass celebrated, as it hath been in times past, without any man communicating with the Priest, Acts and Mon. part. 2. p. 666.  Mass) and words of Consecration, as they had it before, and that the Priests might celebrate it alone, without the communicating of the people. To this the King answers, That for the Canon of the Mass and words of Consecration (which is in nothing altered in the second Liturgy) they are such as were used by Christ, the Apostles, and the ancient Fathers: that is, They are the very words of the Institution. But for the second part of their Demand, which was for the Sacrifice of the Mass, or the Priests eating alone, they must excuse him: For this the Popes of Rome for their lucre added unto it. So there is a clear Answer to both parts of the Article. They should have a Table, and a Communion, and the words of Consecration, as they were used body Christ, the Apostles, and the ancient Fathers: But they should have no Altar, nor Sacrifice; for these the Popes of Rome for their lucre, had added to the Institution; being, as 
r Def. part. 3. p. 315.  B. Jewel truly calls them, the Shops and gainful Booths of the Papists.  
And this Answer did nothing like our noble Doctor. And therefore from making himself merry with the King, by a kind of Conversion (borrowed from father 
s 3 Convers. part. 2. c. 12. p. 615. But yet for the present, this was the pure Word of God, and the work of the H. Ghost, and no man might mislike or reprove it.  Parson's three Conversions) he wheels about, and breaks a Lance upon the Parliament: That would take upon them to mend a Book, which they could not but acknowledge to be both agreeable to God's Word and the Primitive Church. And then he quotes 5ᵒ and 6ᵒ Edu. 6. cap. 1. as if he should say, There's my Cloak, and here's my Sword, and I stand in Cuerpo ready to maintain it. I say still, that this agreeableness to God's Word and the Primitive Church, is not to be taken in a mathematical, but in a moral point. The first Book was in some, the second is in more degrees, agreeable to those excellent Patterns. But what need I say this, when the Act of Parliament saith no such matter as is pretended? In that part of the Act, where these words are mentioned, some coercion and penalties were provided for sensual persons, and refractory Papists, who forbore to repair to the Parish-Churches upon the establishment of the English Service, desiring still to feed upon husks, when God had reigned down his Manna upon them. The Parliament (according to their deep wisdom in that kind) desirous to include some reason in the Preamble, of the smart that comes after in the body of the Act, tells the Offenders against this new Law, that Prayers in the Mother-tongue, is no Invention of theirs, as the Priests would make them believe, but the direction of the Word of God, and the practice of the primitive Church. Meddling no further with the Liturgy in this part of the Act, then as it was a Service in the Mother-tongue. And so begins the Act, That 
t 5ᵒ & 6ᵒ Ed. 6. c. 1.  whereas order had been set forth for Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments to be used in the Mother-tongue, agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive Church, etc. The thing excepted against, was Prayer in the Mother-tongue, and this the Parliament avows to be agreeable to God's Word and the Primitive Church. And I hope, you are not mounted as yet to that height, as to dare to deny it. If any Reader can doubt of so clear an explication, let him look once more upon the Kings Answer to the Devonshire-Rebells, immediately before this Parliament, and he shall find Sunbeams to display all darkness that can possibly fall upon this point. 
u Act. & Mon. part 2. p. 666.  To the 3. Ask, for the Service in the English tongue, it hath manifest reasons for it. 
x Act. & Mon. part 2. p. 667.  If the Service in the Church was good in Latin, it remaineth good in English. An alteration to the better, except Knowledge be worse than Ignorance. So that whosoever hath moved you to dislike this Order, can give you no reason for it. Order, saith the King; a godly Order, saith the 
y 5ᵒ & 6ᵒ Ed. 6. c. 1.  Parliament: both mean the same thing, as they use the same words: An Order for Common prayers in the Mother-tongue. So that Father Parsons and you must unlaugh again this foolish Laughter, which you made without cause upon this Act of Parliament.  
Well, let the King, the Counsel, and the Parliament order what they please; two things he will make good: first, that if Origen, or Arnobius do 
Pag. 45.  say they had no Altars in the Primitive Church, they meant, not any for bloody or external Sacrifices, as the Gentiles had. Where you see, he is almost come to that we have been wrangling for all this while, That they had no Altars for external Sacrifices. And show me, that ever one Father or Schoolman did teach a necessity of an external Altar to an internal Sacrifice, and I will yield him the better of the Controversy. But I see his Loophole already; he will help himself with those words, As the Gentiles had: Although it be, God wot, but a poor shift. And secondly, he will make it good, that the Church had Altars, both the Name (which the Letter denies not, but only the name applied to the material Instrument called the Lords Table) and Thing too, a long time together, before the birth of Origen and Arnobius. This later part would prove too heavy a Buckler for any man to take up, that were to fight it out with a Scholar indeed. For the Writer of the Letter doth utterly decline the Combat, retiring himself to his 200 years, (which will not serve his Turn, for all his Caution, if 
a Rohwhick Fascicul. tempor. p. 48. Item que le Messe ne sut celebrée, si non sur l' Autel, Les sleures & manieres de temps, translated by Surget, 1483. and augmented by Peter D'csrey, 1513.  Sixtus Primus did first appoint that Mass should be said no where, but upon an Altar) as to an advantage of ground, and turning B. Jewel against this Goliath, without averring any thing of his own, beside the testimony of S. Paul: at which this Doctor, like that drunken Gossip, saith, Amen; when he should have said, All this I steadfastly believe. But having to do but with this man of rags, I dare undertake him in both the points; and if I could fully satisfy that place of Tertullian in his Book De Oratione, will adventure my credit, to wipe his nose of the rest of those Testimonies produced by him. And all this while I am no Champion for the Writer of the Letter (who hath withdrawn his Neck out of the Collar) but of the great Champion of our Church, B. Jewel.  
For the first therefore, because B. Jewel saith, 
b Pag. 45.  that then the faithful, for fear of Tyrants, were fain to meet together in private houses, etc. therefore it was, they were not so richly furnished, or at least wise they had not such Altars, as the Gentiles had, saith D. Coal. But B. Jewel, when he spoke those words of their wanting of Churches in the Primitive Church, adds presently a word or two (which this Doctor did not unwillingly forget) 
c Art. 3. p. 145.  And may we think that Altars were built before Churches? Which though it be not altogether an unanswerable Question (for 
d Because Abraham, Isaac, and other Patriarches built Altars unto the Lord, before the Tabernacle or Temple were erected, Suar. in 3. tom. 3, 4. 83. disp. 81. Sect. 5. So saith Walasr. Strabo de rebus Ecclesiast. c. 1.  men are of opinion that Altars were built before the Churches;) yet is it sufficient to declare the impudency of this man, that would undertake to answer Origen, and Arnobius, out of B. Jewel. B. Jewels conclusion there is, that M. Harding was ill advised to say confidently, that Altars have ever been sithence the Apostles times. And he answers fully out of S. 
August. in Q. V. & N. Testam. qu. 101.  Austin, the Doctors Objection, that Altars being then portativo, and carried by the Deacons from place to place (which the learned Papists do not deny) they might have had Altars, although they had no standing Temples. That is, portative Altars, not of Stone, fixed to the walls of the Church (as our late Popish Altars be) of the which B. Jewel might very well make his former Question.  
Now for that other Flame, That Origen and Arnobius should deny their having only of Heathenish, but not of Christian Altars; although it were enough to stop the mouth of this Ignoto, to set down the Testimonies of those great Worthies of the reformed Church, who (with B. Jewel) expound these two Fathers, of the having no Altars at all; as the 
f Institut. lib. 6. c. 1.  B. of Duresme, 
g lib. 2. de Miss. c. 1. p. 171.  Mornay, 
h Digress. lib. 2. digr. 4.  Desiderius Heraldus, Monsieur 
i In his Answer to the Replique, Controvers. 10.  Moulin, 
k De Orig. Altar. p. 6. c. 34.  Hospinian, and others; yet because he thinks he hath gotten the Coward's advantage, to put us to the proof of the Negative, presuming only upon the justice of the cause, I will undertake him upon these hard conditions.  
For Origen; it is cleared in a word, that he was not interrogated, and consequently that he never answered, concerning the Heathen or Pagan Altars. For 
l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Orig. contra Cels. l. 1.  Celsius his adversary (what Countryman soever he was) disguiseth himself as a jew disputing against the Christians in all that discourse. And it were an Argument fitting as wise a Rabbin as our D. Coal, to prove the Christians to be Atheists, because they had not (which they themselves abhorred to the death) Pagan Altars. But Celsus his objection is to the purpose and general, that the Christians had amongst themselves a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or secret Token, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of some invisible combination, that they erected no kind of Altars, as all other Sects and Professions (not being 
m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Orig. contra Cels. l. 7. p. 384.  Atheists) amongst the Jews and Gentiles did. And to this general Objection the Answer was likewise general (or very impertinent) that they had no Altars at all, but those immaterial Altars we spoke of before, in the Souls and Consciences of holy men.  
And Arnobius well weighed, comes to the same effect. For howbeit he had not to do with Jews, but with Gentiles, yet the Objection is in general terms, not, that they erected no Altar for their Gods and Sacrifices, but that they built them no Altar, venerationis ad officia, to officiate upon in any kind of divine worship. And so Desiderius Heraldus, the best Critic extant upon that Book, delivers himself, That this may be understood 
n Potest hoc intelligi simpliciter, quòd nulla haberent simpliciter, Desid. Herald. ad Ain. l. 6. p. 342.  simply and absolutely, without any relation to the Pagan Altars. Holding an opinion elsewhere, that simply and absolutely there were no Altars erected in the Church of God, before Tertullia's time. But this will appear yet more clearly by a place of S. Cyrill, which the L. 
o Institut. l. 6. c. 5. p. 464.  B. of Duresme doth thoroughly examine to this purpose. For Julian the Apostata had been a 
p Greg. Nazianz. Orat. 3. advers. Julianum.  Reader of our Church, and knew the general practice thereof, and that it had been in him a ridiculous thing to imagine, that the Christians should have any Pagan Altars. Nay the witty Prince takes notice of it, that the very Jews do sacrifice, and have an agreement in that particular with the Pagans, and yet concludes bitterly against us (as he conceives) Offer Sacra in Altari & sacrificare cavetis, You Christians are most scrupulous in offering of any Sacrifice upon your Altar. And to this (as the Learned Bishop well observes) S. Cyrill answers not one word: which had been prevarication before God and man, if the Christians had acknowledged in those days, any Christian-Sacrifice upon a material Altar. And in Minutius Felix, (if it be well observed, and rightly read) there is as pregnant a testimony as this of S. Cyrill. Some one had 
q Et qui hominem summo supplicio pro facinore punitum, & Crucis ligna feralia, eorum Ceremonias fabulantur, (a● Wowerius; fabulatur, as Des Heraldus reads it) congruentia perditis sceleratisque tribuunt Altaria, ut id colant quod merentur, Minutius Fel. p. 20. juxta Wowerii edit.  written of the Christians (for you must read it fabulatur, not fabulantur) that a Felon punished for his offence, and that woeful wood of the Cross, was all the Ceremonies of the Christians. Whereupon Caecilius the Pagan, running descant, saith that the Author had suited them to a hair, and built them Altars fit for such wretches, ut id colant quod merentur, making them to adore that 
r Infelici arbore suspendito, In 12 Tabul.  unlucky tree, which they had so well deserved. So far he goeth with his Author. But coming in the next Page, to charge the Christians himself, he moves this Question; Why do they keep such ado to conceal, quicquid illud c●lunt (not, colimus) that, what ever it be, they (the Christians, not we the Pagans) do really worship? Cur nullas Aras habent? What is the matter they have no Altars? Then ●urther in the Book, when Octavius comes to make his Repartee to all this, he saith, 
s Putatis autem nos occultare quod colimus, si delubra & arras non habemus? Vt rejiciam ei suum munus, ingratu●● est. cum sit litabilis hostia bonus animus & pura mens & sincera conscientia, p. 73.  It is not with any desire to conceal the object of their worship, that they have no Altars: But that with them, the bottom of their heart supplies the Altar, and a good intention the hallowed Sacrifice. Where I observe two remarkable circumstances; First, God's truth acknowledged by the Father of Lies, the Devil himself, by the mouth of a Pagan, That the Tree of the Cross was the Altar of the Christians: And then a joint agreement of Caecilius & Octavius, the Pagan, and the Christian, That for the setting forth of that (what ever it be) that they, the Christians, then worshipped, they had no visible erected Altar. And I hope I have set before you more solid stuff than the Quelquechoses of the poor Doctor, to nourish your consent to B. Jewel in this point, That in Origen and Arnobiu● his time, there were in the Church of God no material Altars. I will conclude with an observation, that hath much inclined me towards this Opinion; howbeit I do not find it stood upon by any other, because peradventure it is but an Argument drawn from the Rack, and more passable in the Civil Law, then in Schools of Divinity. 
t Plinius Secund. l. 10 ep. 97. Compare with this Epistle, that of Tertullian; Plinius Secundus cum provinciam regeret, damnatis quibusdam Christianis, quibusdam gradu pulsis, etc. Allegans praeter obstinationem non sacrificandi nihil aliud se de sacris eorum comperisse, Apologet. advers. Gentes. And Baronius is of opinion, that Pliny himself doth take notice in that Epistle, of the Christians receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Tom. 2. ad annum 104. dist. 4.  Plinius Secundus, a very witty and learned man, making strict enquiry against the Christians, and desirous to know exactly, what they did in his Province of Bythinia at their private meetings and congregations, learned what he could from Apostata's revolted from the Faith twenty years before, who before his face, sacrificed to the gods, and adored the image of the Emperor. And having collected from them the substance of all the Christian Profession in those days, put two young Christian Maids upon the Rack, who in their Confessions agreed word for word with the former Apostatas. I find in those Extracts, continual meeting at their Love-feasts, (together with the which the Communion was usually administered in those days) until all 
u These were Sodalitates, Companies, or Colleges of Artisans, such as they have in London. Amongst whom there was a Fellowship, (as the Greek word signifies) and now and then Good-fellowship. Upon a motion made by Pliny for a Company of Ironmongers or Armourers in Nicomedia, Trajan, a wary Emperor, put down all these meetings; because he called to mind, istas civitates ab ejusmodi factionibus esse vexatas. See his Epistle, Plin. l. 10. ep. 43.  Wakes were put down by the Emperor Trajan; but I do not find one syllable to fall either from the poor Maids, or the Apostatas themselves (who knew but too well that those things were) of the Christian material Altar.  
And so much for Bishop jewels Negation; now for Bishop Wouldbee's Affirmation of Altars in the Primitive Church.  
It is (saith 
x Pag. 46.  he) most certain (as you found every thing to be which he said before) that the Church had Altars, both the name and the thing; and used both name and thing a long time together, before the birth of Arnobius. This is the ground he means to fight it out on. And in the leading up of his men, to make it good, he placeth, as Captain of the squadron, a stout Mauritanian, to wit, Tertullian. And he hath reason for it. For if Tertullian make not the Charge upon B. jewel, I am sure of it, none of the rest (of this Band) will hurt him. And if this Leader should chance to be overcome, 
— 
y Pet. Arbit. in satire. de Catone.  in uno victa potestas  
Romanúmque decus;—  we shall make wash work with the rest of his followers. The more probable authority that can be produced (as the Lord 
z Tertullianum probabiliùs citare videantur, De Miss. l. 2. c. 1. p. 175.  Plessie doth acknowledge) is this of Tertullian in his Book of Prayer. Will not thy 
a Stationes, i. e. jejunia, l. 4 Cerda. Publici Ecclesiae generalésque conventus, quibus pii omnes jubebantur stare in Ecclesia distils, & comparere coram Domino ad actiones sacras, ●r. Ju●n. in hunc locum. A militia Romana tractum & usurpatum vocabulum. Nunc ad Basilicas, nunc ad Martyria stantes & attenti precabantur, praeclpuè die Dominico, Beat. Rhenan. in Tertullian. l. 2. ad uxor.  Fast or Public meeting prove the more solemn, if withal thou celebrate the same at the Altar of God? That noble 
b Anon apertè de sacra Mensa loquitur? Mornaeus, ubi suprà.  Lord (because of the mention made of the Eucharist in the words before) conceives it a clear case, that, by this Ara Dei, in his African and affected stile, he means plainly, the Lords Table. I will add some reason for this opinion. 
c Quilibet editior locus. Qui in publico aliquid dicere volebant, semper ex edito loco, quasi suggessu vel tribunali, pronunciabant. Vt cespititia tribunalia in castris. So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Lucian, in Alexan. Abunotichite, for any high place: For such a companion would not have been suffered to clamber up an Altar. So that high stone, that Apollonius stood upon when he cried, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of him that slabed Domitian, Philostratus in vita Ap●ell●n. Salmasius in lib. de Pallip, p. 396. Locus planus editúsque. Varre de re Rustica, l. 1, c. 54. As Rocks that seem higher than the Sea; Saxa vocant Itali mediis quae in fluctibus Aras, Aexeid. 1. Fr. jun.  Ara in Tertullian doth not signify an Altar, but any hillock or advantage of ground, or Stall or Table to stand upon; as appears plainly by that in his Book De Pallio; Soleo de qualibet margine vel ara medicinas moribus dicere; I am wont (saith the Mantle, alluding to the fashion of the Stoics) to prescribe Medicine to the manners of men, upon every brink, hillock, or stall that is presented unto me. Because therefore the Lords Table, upon which the Sacrament was administered, was in a kind of height, rising and elevation from the Pavement of the Church, he calls it, Ara Dei; not that Altar, but that Rising, or Table of Almighty God. And when these two places are well understood and compared together, and notice also taken that the word is not otherwise used by Tertullian in any place but this one, I shall not be afraid to submit the interpretation to any learned Readers. Secondly, Tertullian, of all the Fathers, doth most allude in expressions to the fashion of the Gentiles. Their fashion (as we touched heretofore) was of every Sacrifice they made, to give a portion or share to their especial favourites. 
d Plautus in Amphitr. Act. 3. Sc●n. 3.  Vt re divinâ factâ, mecum prandeat, saith Plautus, That Sacrifice being done, he might come and dine with me. And so saith the 
e Theocr. in Bucol.  Poet, 
— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  When you next sacrifice to the Nymphs, forget not to send a good piece of flesh to your friend Morson. Because therefore in Tertullia's time, they did not (as we now do) eat the consecrated bread upon the place, but (as it here followeth in the nextword) accipere & reservare, reserve it and carry it home with them, as the Heathens did their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or portion (as 
f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Theophrastus calls it) from the Altars into their houses; Tertullian alluding to these Reservations from the heathen Altars, doth call the Communion-Table, ARA DEI, God's Altar. Lastly, Tertullian, by naming his Sacrifice immediately before, Sacrificium Orationis, to be but the Sacrifice of Prayer, doth clearly interpret what he means by his Altar, to wit, a Metaphorical and improper Altar; as we showed abundantly heretofore. I will add hereunto for a parting-blow, that Defiderius Heraldus, as strict an examiner of Tertullian, as any we have this day in Print, was so little moved with this Authority, that howbeit he grants Altars to have been in the Church in Naziazen's time, yet doth he clearly affirm they were brought in after 
g Digress. l. 2. Digr. 4. For when he had showed the other place, Aris Dei was to be read, Charis Dei; yet he saith, Afterward, that is, af●er Tertullia's time, Altars came to the Church. Where he is to be read, Postea autem (not as it is falsely printed, Postea ante) cum Altaria in Ecclesiis constitui coeperunt, Aris etiam atque Altaribus supplices accidebant, p. 277.  Tertullia's time. I could add a fourth exposition of these words, made by a most Learned and judicious Divine, one D. Coal, That 
h P. 47. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God's Altar, as Tertullian and S Cyprian did after call it, ad Tarsens.  Tertullian by an Altar in this place means as Ignatius doth in his Epistle ad Trallenses, that is, an old woman; But that I am afraid you would take it to be, not a Tale of an old Wife, but an old Wife's Tale.  
Being therefore rid of this Captain-authority, the rest will quickly vanish of themselves. And that Geniculatio ad Aras, which the Doctor quotes out of Tertullian, De Poenitentia, is a Testimony that never was in the Book at all. Adgeniculari Aris Dei, to kneel to the Altars of God, was there once, I confess, and much made of by 
i Bailius' item ex Bellarmino. Rivet. Cath. Orthod. tom. 1. p. 516.  Bellarmine and 
k Depravations, p. 282.  Pere Cotton: But is now like a Coward got out of the Book, and run away: The true reading being Adgeniculari CHARIS Dei, To kneel to God's Favourites, the Saints and Priests, to intercede for them. A likelier matter, a great deal, in men that did penance, then to be kneeling at the Altars of God, which in those days they durst not approach by a great distance, until they had undergone all that was enjoined them. And this Criticism is none of ours originally, but Pamelius his, corresponding with the M. S. in the Vatican Library; but approved by 
l In locum.  La Cerda, 
m In locum.  junius, 
n L. 2 de Miss. c. 1.  Du Plessy, 
o Digress. l. 2 digr. 4.  Heraldus, 
p Ad aram Dosiadae.  Salmasius, 
q Observ. l. 2. observ. 22.  Albaspinaeus, and all men else, beside this poor Doctor.  
As I was writing of this, I was showed a Latin Determination, that goeth from hand to hand, well-languaged, but of poor stuff and substance (God he knoweth) aiming to prove, that look what Ceremonies were used about the Altar before the Reformation, vi & virtute Catholicae consuetudinis, by power and force of any general Custom, though passed over in deep silence by our Liturgy, are notwithstanding commanded, as by a kind of implicit precept, even unto us that live under the discipline of the English Liturgy. Which is a doctrine so contrary, not only to that Chapter in our Liturgy, 
r Book of Com. Prayer, of Ceremonies.  Of Ceremonies, why some be abolished and some retained, but even to the 
s 1 Elis. c. 2.  Act of Parliament, that appropriates the addition of any more Ceremonies of that nature, then be prescribed in our Book, unto the person of the King himself, that I cannot believe, that any Divine should publish the same, otherwise then in a Merriment. The same Writing doth except against this new reading of this place in Tertullian, Charis Dei adgeniculari, (embraced, as I said before, by all learned men of both Religions) because it is not said, Charis Deo, as he thinks all the Africans, Cyprian, S. Austin, and the like, would say; and because doers of penance, though they might not at the first (as Pamelius objects) yet might well at the last, when they came for their Absolutions, approach the Altars. Wherein this pocket-Authour is very wide in both his Criticisms. For why should not Tertullian say as well Charis Dei, as Aris Dei adgeniculari, which he himself would make him speak? But that he knoweth not what Chari signifieth in this place. The word is here a substantive, and signifieth 
t As Chara cognatio, Tertullian. de Idol. c. 10. Chari dicuntur liberi▪ Turneb. Adversar. l. 18. c. 14. Chari 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liberi, lun. in Tertull. de Idol. p. 105.  Children: as Peniculus in 
u Menoechm. Act. 1. Sc. 1. Charis meis, i. e. liberis meis, qui sunt nobis charissimi, Lambin. p. 419. Chari dicuntur liberi, Taubm. p. 598.  Plautus,  Domi domitus fui usque cum charis meis. 
I have been hampered all this while at home with my poor Children. And so 
x Divin. Institut. l. 6. c. 12. Biblioth. Patr. 10. 9 p. 226.  Lactantius calls the Widow and the Orphans, Charos Dei, God's peculiar Children. And this in imitation of the 
y Appellatione Charorum interdum Liberi intelliguntur, more Graecorum, qui Liberos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant, Lambin. in Menoechm. Act. 1. ●c. 1.  Greeks, who call their Children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Yea, we have both these expressions in the African writers, speaking of Jobs 
z Nec amissionibus Charissimorum, Tertull. lib. de Patientia, c. 14. Which S. Cyprian, his Scholar, calls, Amissionem Charorum, lib de Patientia, c. 9  loss of his children. And that the African Fathers also use it in the second, not in the third Case (as the Determinatour would have it) appears by 
* Volo ut Impatientia sit in secundo Casu, vividiore & acriore sententiâ, La Cerda in lo●um. Sic Affines cupiditatis deprehendemur, Tertull. lib. de Patient. c. 7.  La Cerda upon that of Tertullian, Lib. de Patient. c. 9 Quis Omnino impatientiae natus, etc. And so the doers of Penance in this place are said, Adgeniculari charis Dei, t● kneel before God's peculiar Children. And as much more is the man deceived in his other conjecture, That this Adgeniculation was before the Altar, when they came for Absolution. God knoweth, few lived in Tertullia's time to come for absolution, the Penances for slender faults were of so long Continuance. But whereas there were four several degrees of public Penance in those severer times, called in Latin Fletus, Auditio, Substratio, Consistentia, Weeping before the Porch, Hearing in the Porch, Lying all along on the Church-Pavement, not far from the Porch, in expectation of the Bishop's prayers and blessing, and Standing with the people within the Church to partake of their Orisons, but not of the holy Sacrament: this Adgeniculation was in the first and not in the last degree; and to procure the Priests to enjoin, and not to dissolve their penance, as 
* See it handled of purpose by Albaspin. Obs. l. 2. Observat 22. & in sequentib. by Pamelius on this place: by Desid. Heraldus at large, Digress. l. 2. Digr. 4.  learned men observe. And the words that follow in Tertullian, do prove clearly that this was not the last act, and done to the Priest alone, ad absolutionem obtinendam, to obtain absolution: Omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis injungere, to enjoin all the Brethren, an embassy of prayers and intercession in their behalves: That is, to God, not to the Priests; and that in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or first degree of penance, as S. 
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And so Eustatb. ad 9 Iliad. defines a prayer to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Basil teacheth us clearly in his Commentary upon the 32. Psalm. And this is enough, if not too much, to wash away this weak conjecture, opposed by all learned men, that have lived since Pamelius his time. And so much for Tertullian.  
Irenaeus, l. 4. c. 20. is a peaceable man, and fights against none of our side: Making (by a continued Allegory taken from Deuter. 33. 9) all to be Priests serving at the Altar, who are willing to forsake all and follow Christ. 
b So doth Nicolaus Galasius epitomise this Chapter, Omnes justos Sacerdotalem habere ordinem, Iren. ab illo editus, p. 245.  Omnis justus, Every sanctified man (as we quoted before) that makes himself a lively, 〈◊〉, and wellpleasing Sacrifice, offering Alms and the Calves of his lips to Almighty God, is a Priest serving at Irenaeus his Altar. Sacerdos scitus fuit David, (saith he) David in this kind was a proper Priest. And so is this man, scitus scriptor, a very proper Writer, to bring in this place of Irenaeus for a proper Altar. S. Cyprian, l. 1. c. 7. ad Epictetum, expounds himself clearly what he means by an Altar, to wit, Stipes, Oblationes, Lucra; the Contributions, Offerings, and all Advantages belonging to the man's Bishopric, whom they had suspended. Interlarding all this passage with allusions to Texts in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus (quoting one which 
c Reperire autem non potui quem Scriptu●ae locum citet, Pamelius & Goulart.  Pamelius knoweth not where to find) de Sacerdotum altari Jehovae inservientium officio, touching the duties of Priests attending the Lords Altar, saith 
d Pag. 191.  Goulartius. For that famous place out of the eighth Epistle, [There is one God, and one Church, and one Chair, founded upon Peter by the words of Christ. Other Altar, or other Priesthood, beside that one Altar, and that one Priesthood, cannot be erected.] you know how all the 
e As Pamelius himself, in his Notes, in librum De unitate Ecclesiae, refers it.  Pontificians interpret. And I hope you would not have the Popedom itself settled and erected in every Parish-Church of England. But if you will expound it with the learned Protestants, than you must know, that by the Altar and Priesthood in this place, he means Summam Evangelii, the substance of the Gospel delivered by Christ and his Apostles, inviting all Christians to the participation of Christ's death and the efficacy thereof, that they may be collected together and united in him, saith learned 
f Annot. in librum Cypr. de unitate Ecclesiae, p. 305.  Goulartius. Lastly, for that place in his ninth Epistle; it is a clear case, that by Altar he means there, ministerial functions and offices, and that with a plain and literal allusion to the Tribe of Levi under the 
g Nec sacrae institutionis & functionis, in Levitica praefiguratae, debitam habuisse rationem, Goulort.  Law. S. Cyprian was angry with one Geminius Victor, for making (against the 
h An old Canon renewed, Concil. Chalced. Can. 3. Exceptis tutelis miserabilium personarum, & legitimis, ad quas per leges compelli possent, Goulart. Habetur in Codice Ecclesiae universae, Can. 180. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Leo Imp. Novel. Constitut. 68  Canon) one Faustinus a Priest, Overseer of his Will, and by that means withdrawing of him from his Calling and Ministry. And enlarging of himself in that Discourse, how careful God had been in providing Tithes and Oblations for the Priest under the Law, giving him no Lands and Husbandries amongst the other Tribes, ut in nulla re avocaretur, that he might have no occasion to be withdrawn from the Altar: he aggravates the offence of those Testatours, that by making Churchmen, Executours and Overseers of their last Wills, ab altari Sacerdotes & Ministros volunt avocare, will needs withdraw Ministers from their Ecclesiastical functions, with no less offence, then if, under the Law, they had withdrawn the Priests from the holy Altar. So that this place takes my Doctor a little by the Nose, that 
i Pag. 10.  cannot endure to be a looker on, and a dull Spectator, confined only to his Ministerial meditations: but hath not one syllable that crosseth the assertion of B. ●ewell, That as yet there was not erected in the Church any material Altars. S. Cyprian doth allude in every one of these three passages, and the Doctor illude and abuse his Readers, figure-casting them in this sort, as if he had been to deal with some ill Spirits, and not daring to cite his Authors at large, Nè deberet risum, lest children should hoot at him with Jeers and Laughters.  

k Pag. 46.  But to go higher yet (ut lapsu graviore ruat) he tells us, that Ignatius useth it in no less than three of his Epistles. What it man? If you mean the name, Ignatius useth it in five or six of his Epistles at the least; if the thing, that is, a proper and material Altar; he useth it not in any of these three insisted on by you. The place in the Epistle to the Magnesians (besides that 
l Locum hunc supposititium esse, luce clarius meridianâ est, Exercit. in Epist. ad Magn. Then in the Margin, he notes them to be excerpted out of the Constitutions of Clemens, l. 2. c. 59, 60, 62. Although this later part doth not so clearly appear unto me.  Vedelius conceives it to be a supposititious fragment, taken out of the Constitutions of Clemens) the man brings in undoubtedly to make sport. Run all of you like one man, to the Temple of God, as to one Altar, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to one Jesus Christ; Or, to translate it in plain English, to one Jesus Christ, as to one Altar. And this one Altar we all acknowledge to be in the Church. In his next place to the Philadelphians, he doth express himself to mean by Altar, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Council of the Saints and Church in general (as we said before) and not any material Altar; as 
m Exercit. in Epist. ad Eph. p. 237.  Vedelius proves at large. For should Ignatius mean by the like speeches, a material Altar, when he saith, that if any man be not 
n Ep. ad Trallens.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, within the Altar, he is deprived of the Bread of God, what should become of women and the Laity, that by an express Canon of a general 
o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Conc. Laod. Can. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Concil. 6. in Trall. Can. 69.  Council, are prohibited from coming within the material Altar? By Altar therefore in these passages, he must understand the bosom of the Church. For that place in the Epistle to them of Tarsus; I pity the poor man, if he be indeed (as they say he is) married to a Widow. Sure I am, he never read the passage, but some knavish Scholar exscribed it for him, to make sport withal. The words are these, Honour 
p Et de continentia viduarum, locum intelligit Baronius, Annal. Tom. 2. ad annum 109. dist. 30.  Widows, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that uphold their Chastity (as Vedelius translates it) and Reputation, as the Altars of God. But 
q Clement. Constit. l. 3. c. 6. Genebrardus in eundem.  Genebrard himself confesseth, that this is a patch taken out of Clemens his Constitutions. And were these any vendible commodities amongst good Scholars, that Passage would make more for the Doctor a thousand times, than all he hath produced. Let her know (saith he) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that she is God's Altar, and set her down in her house, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for the Altar of God never useth to run or gad about. and well said, most Metaphorical Clemens! Here's an Altar indeed! An Altar becomes much better the upper end of his Table, than the upper end of his Church: though not out of love with the upper end in that place also. And yet men sometimes make use of these Altars, if they be richly set out. 
— 
r juvenal. satire.  Optima summi  
Jam via processûs vetulae fortuna Beatae.   
A young Scholar that was reading Callimachus his Hymn of Apollo, concerning the famous horn-Altar built at Delos, hearing me and a neighbour-Minister of mine somewhat pleasant about this Widow-Altar, and other fond passages in those foisted Constitutions of Clemens, brought me the next morning this allusion between the passage in his Author, and that in mine; 

s Callimach. Hymns in Apoll.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
That is, 
Carbo alleging Fathers for his ground,  
No Altar there, but a chaste Widow found:  
Which yet not unbecame his new device  
Of Widow-Altar without Sacrifice.  
From this chaste Widow may his find such aid,  
As Ph●bus Altar did from that chaste Maid;  
Who with her Bow that crooked matter brought,  
Which he at Delos to an Altar wrought.  
That Virgin's horns lay 
t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Plutarch. de solertia. Anis mal. p. 983.  jointlesse, smooth, and shee●;  
Such those our Widows plant have sometimes been▪  
Yet was that 
u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ibid.  wonder of the World I w●●;  
We make no wonder in the World of this.   
For the 3 Canons of the Apostles (to say nothing how all good Scholars esteem these Canons but as so many 
x See the Magdeburgenses, that make many exceptions against them, Centur. 1. p. 544.  Potguns) he that shall read what was and what is presented on these Altars for the maintenance of the Bishop and all his Clergy (the Tenths being then due, but not then established) as Honey, Milk, strong Drink, 
y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Consecta quaedam, Dionysius E●ig. & Hervetus.  Sweetmeats, Fo●l, Flesh, Roots, Grapes, Ears of Corn, Oil, Frankincense, and Fruits of the Season, will conceive them to be rather so many Pantries, Larders, or Storehouses, than consecrated Altars. And indeed they were such, as are called in the Greek Liturgies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Oblation-Tables: which no learned man but knoweth to be Utensils quite differing from the holy Altar; however called Altars by these Canons, by a manifest allusion to the Altars of Oblation among the Jews. And as 
Imò cum adhuc superstes Dominus munus praedicationis obiret, ex his quae dabantur, unà cum suis victum capere consueve r●●. judas enim habens loculos, etc. Ad Apostolorum poste● pedes Credentes oblationem faciebant, Baron. A●n. tom. 1. p. 513. Et hunc ●●cum citat Binius, ad hos Canon's.  Baronius himself implieth, Judas his Bag, and the Apostles feet (from whence these Oblations had their raise and beginning) may with as good reason, as these Tables, be termed Altars. Of his place, above all indeed, of Hebr. 13. 10. we have spoken indeed but too much already. Lastly, I have perused reverend B. Jewel, Artic. 13. Divis. 6. and do find, that there he cities many Fathers that mention but one Altar in one Church, and that placed in the midst of the Congregation; (which this Doctor doth not observe) and that (he thinks) this unity of Altar was kept in the Church of God, until the Council of Anti●i●d●rum: But I cannot find, with all my perusal, one word in him, why it should not be properly called a Table, and not an Altar. But perusing withal the third Article, and 26. Division, I find he declares himself in those words, with which I will conclude this Chapter, and withal (if it please the Doctor) the whole Controversy. And notwithstanding it were a Table, yet was it also called an Altar: not for that it was so indeed, but only by allusion to the Altars of the old Law. And so Irenaeus calleth Christ, and Origen our Heart, our Altar: Not that either Christ or our Hearts be Altars indeed, but only by a metaphor or a manner of speech. Such were the Altars which were used by the old Fathers immediately after the Apostles time. And this is all that the Letter desires the Vicar to know and observe.   

CHAP. VI  
Of Extravagancies. Misquotation, Book of Fast. Chappells and Cathedrals. The Fact of taking down Altars. Altars in the old Liturgy. Children of this Church and Common-Weal. The name of the Lords Table. Oval Table. Pleasing the people.  
THe last Chapter contained the Sixth (as the Canonists term it) this, the Extravagants, or Wild-goos-chase of this second Section. Wherein the Doctor diverts his fury, from the King, the Counsel, the Parliament, and B. jewel, upon the Writer of the Letter again; but all upon 
a Querelles d'Allement.  high-Germane or picked Quarrels, not worth two rushes apiece.  
First, he chargeth the Writer with lending lame Giles a pair of Crutches to walk upon, and some 
b Pag. 21.  Arrows to shoot at the Altars, and the Bowing to the blessed Name of JESUS. Who this Claudius Gellius, or Lame Giles should be, I cannot guess; nor is this Cripple known by any in our Neighbourhood. He may be much older them the 
c Pag. 4.  Letter but now sought after. And this Doctor may halt before his Cripple, when he talks of Canons 1471; and again▪ outrun a Constable, when he denies the Canons of 1571, pag. 18. to require joined. Tables for the Communion. Pag. 15. you say; because you saw it in Latin: Pag. 18. they say; because they saw it in English. And you may see it, when you please, the easier, because printed by john Day. In the mean time, the world may see your wisdom, to trouble the Press with such impertinent Follies.  
Secondly, 
d Pag. 24.  he taxeth the Writer with seeming to cast a scorn on them, by ●hose direction the Book of the Fast in 1ᵒ of the King was drawn up and published; as if it were a Novelty or singular device of theirs, to call the Later part of divine Service by the name of Second Service: Which the Discourser slighteth. Surely this is a fierce hunting-Dog!  — 
e Petron, Ambit. in Satyric.  In somnis leporis vestigia latrat. 
He hath dreamt of some Hare, and now barks after her● Unless (peradventure) all this noise be but to get a bit from his Masters, 
f Seneca, lib. 2. de ●ra.  ex consuetudine magìs quam ex ferocitate; of a Custom he hath got to be rewarded in this kind, not that he is any way provoked by the Writer of the Letter. For the Writer speaks not one word against this Partition of the Service in the Book of Fast. But the Vicar applying the same in his discourse (as it seems) to the Book of Common Prayer, and some of his Neighbour's boggling thereat, the Writer excuseth it, as done in imitation of that grave and pious Book, (which never intended to give Rubrics to the public Liturgy) and not (as might be conceived) of the two Masses used of old, that of the Catechumeni, and that of the Faithful, a Partition 
g Mutatis rebus, necesse fuit mutare Ceremonias. Quia jam Catechumeni deesse incipiebant, & hodie nulli sunt. Quòd si sint (ut existere possint) judaeis ad nos transeuntibus & Turcis, quid attinet propter paucos veterem repetere morem? B. Rhenan●t of S. Gregory's changing of Gelasius his Liturgic, ●raf. ad Liturg. Chrysost.  deserted long ago by the Church of Rome itself, as of no further use in these parts of the world, wholly converted to Christianity. But D. Coal being conjured into the Circle of this Parenthesis, knows not how to get out again; but about he goes, and about he goes, from one absurdity to another.  
For first, the Order of Morning Prayer is not (as this man supposeth) nor ever was, the whole Morning Prayer, but a little fragment thereof, called the order of Matins, in the Primar of 
h A Primar of Salisbury Use, printed 1544.  Sarum, as also in K. 
i A Primar set forth by the King, 1545.  Henry the Eighths Primar, (which was in use under K. 
k K Edward's Injunct. Injunst. 34.  Edward for a long time) as also in the first Liturgy set forth by K. 
l Fol. 121. And so in his Injunst. Injunct. 23.  Edward himself. Besides these Mattius or Order of Morning Prayer, there were of old, 
m See the two Primars.  laud's, Primes, Hours, Collects, Litanies, Suffrages, and sometimes Dirges and Commendations. Some whereof are still retained in our Morning Service. So that if we should make one Service of the Matins, we must make another of the Collects, a third of the Letary, and our Communion shallbe, at the soon, our fourth, and by no means our Second Service.  
Besides that, according to this new Reckoning, we shall have (that which I will be hold to say no Liturgy, Greek or Latin, can show this day) an entire Service without a Prayer for the King or Bishop, which in our own Liturgy come in after, Thus endeth the Order of Morning Prayer.  
Thirdly, The 
n 1ᵒ Elis. c. 2.  Act of Parliament calls it Service, not Services; and the 
o Contents of the Book of Common Prayer.  Contents of our Liturgy (which is our Rubric confirmed) followeth the old distinction in K. Henry's Prime. 9 Order for Morning Prayer; 10 the Litany; 11 the Collects, Epistles and Gospels; and 12 the holy Communion. And therefore it was a bold part in a Country- Vicar, to make thereof any other Partition. And the Writer of the Letter showed (in my Opinion) more good will, then good skill, in excusing his Ne●fanglednesse.  
Lastly, the true and legal division of our Service into the Common Prayer, and the Communion, or Administration of the Sacrament; the one to be officiated in the Reading-pew, and the other at the holy Table conveniently disposed for that purpose; as it is the more justifiable, so is it indeed the ancient Appellation. I will not undertake to make good the Antiquity of S. Peter's Liturgy: but I do find that this part of Divine Service is there called 
p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. Deinde legit Communionem, Orationem quae ad sacram Eucharistiae participationem populum praeparat. A Sancto Andrea. Bibl. V. Patrum, Tom. 2. p. 123.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and translated by S. Andrea's, Communion. And in S. Ambrose his Liturgy, which all the world knows to be very ancient, it is called, 
q Sic & in Ambrosiano, ubi additur, & Communicatio. A Sancto Andrea. ibid.  ●ommunicatio, the Administering of the Communion; and by other names in other 
r As, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The thanksgiving-part, S. Marc. Liturg. Et●lioth. V. Patrum, tem. 2 p. 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Office done upon the Table, by Dionysius.  Liturgies; but nowhere by that of Second Service. And for our own Divines; Archbishop Whitgift, being put unto it by a fierce and a learned adversary, reckons ●p all the parts and parcels of our Liturgy, and calls this 
s Answer to the Admonition, pag. 151.  last of all, the Administration of the Sacrament. And M. Hooker speaking of that Case, which this man triflingly toucheth by and by after, to wit, when there is no Communion, and yet some Prayers to be said at the holy●Table, doth not say (as this poor soul would imply) that these Prayers make a Second Service, but that they were 
t M. hooker's Eccles. Polit. l 5. dist. 30. p. 248.  devised at first for the Communion, and that that is the true cause, why they are at the Table of the Lord (not always neither, but) commonly read. So that those Directours of the Book of Fast, had (no doubt) their particular reason for the particular. Division of those pious Devotions (which none but a slight man would offer to slight;) but never dreamt (I dare swear for them) to impose upon the public Liturgy of the Church, any other than the ancient and Legal Partitions and Appellations.  
And again, before he comes out of his Circle, he is resolved to conjure up such a Doctrine, as might (if any were so simple as to believe him) turn not a few Parsons and Vicars out of their Benefices in a short time: By encouraging of them (in a Book printed with Licence) to set up a Consistory in the midst of Divine Service, to examine the worthiness of all Communicants. And upon what ground think you? Because the Communicants (that due provision may be made of Bread and Wine, and other Necessaries for that holy mystery) are required to signify 
u Pag. 25.  their names unto the Curate over night, or before the beginning of Morning Prayer, or at the least immediately after. After what? Clearly; saith he, after all the Morning Prayer, and before the Communion, that the Curate may hold a privy Session in the midst of divine Service, and impanel a jury of the Congregation, to know whether they be offended against the party. Clearly say all 
x Vel immediatè post principium matutinarum precum, Latin Liturgy. So to a word, Doctrima & Politia Ecclesiae Anglic. p. 221.  other men (and his own Latin translation to boot) post principium matutmarum precum, immediately after the beginning of morning prayer, that there may be allotted some space of time to make provision according to the number of the Communicants. And this is the true meaning of that first Rubric, that hath no reference at all to the three subsequent. The second requires the Curate to admonish all 
y They must be notorious and known. Answer to the Adm. p. 102.  open and notorious evil livers of those, that is, those intenders to receive the Sacrament, so to amend their lives, that the Congregation may thereby be satisfied. Which were a thing ridiculously prescribed, to be done in such a place, or in so short a time; but is intended to be performed by the Curate (private Confession being not in use) upon 
z Let him communicate with him privily at convenient leisure. The Order of the Communion 1548. p. 6.  private conference with the parties. The third directs the Curate how to deal with those that he perceiveth (by intimation given and direction returned from his Ordinary, as the 
a Canon 27. compared▪ with Can. 26.  Canon interprets it) to continue in unrepented hatred and malice. These (having the direction of his Ordinary) he may abstain or keep back from receiving the Sacrament, and that (as we know by experience) in an Instant, without chopping or dividing the divine Service. Otherwise, it is a thing unreasonable, and altogether illegal, that a Christian man, laying open claim to his right in the Sacrament, should by the mere discretion of a Curate be debarred from it. I would be loath to put my Lands, nay my goods and Chattels, and shall I put my interest in the body and blood of Christ to a private discretion? So might it be in the power of a malicious Priest (as our learned 
b cum enim quilibet Christianus ex hoc ipso quòd est baptizatus, sit admis●us ad Dominicam mensam, non potest jus suum ei tolli, nisi pro aliqua causa manifesta. Aquin. Summ. p. 3. q. 60. art. 6. Imò quilibet Christianus habet jus in perceptione Eucharistae, nisi illud per peccatum mortale amittat. Vnde cum in fancy Ecclesiae non constet talem amisisse jus suum, non debet ei in fancy Ecclesiae denegaii— alias daretur facultas malis sace dotibus, pro suo libito, punire hâc poenâ quos vellent. jandwood l. 3. de Celebrat. Missar. fol. 128.  Glosser doth prudently observe) to mulct whom he pleased with this most horrible and execrable punishment. And therefore may not the Steward by any means keep back these Nimrods' or fat ones of the Earth, from his Master's Table, but warn them fairly of the danger ensuing, as 
c Gratianus part. 3. de Consecrat. d. 2. fol. 437.  Gratian tells us out of S. Augustine. And indeed it is against the practice of all Antiquity, that the Priest should offer of his own head, to keep off any Christened and believing man from the sacred Mysteries.  
It was the Deacon (whose power, as I touched before, our Archdeacon's now, by Collation of the Bishop, and prescription of Time, have incorporated in their jurisdictions) that always executed this severity: It is the Deacon, that cries out, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Look to the doors, the doors there; in S. 
d Biblioth. V. Patr. Tom. 2. pag. 46.  Basils' Liturgy: It is he that shows out three several times, 
e Ibid. p. 72.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, On, on there, get you out there, all you that are to be catechised; in S. Chrysostoms' Liturgy. It is the Deacon that cries, Go out all that are not to receive, go out Catechumeni; in the 
f Biblioth. V. P. Tom. 6. pag. 75.  Ethiopic Liturgy. It is unto the Deacons, that S. Chrysostom elsewhere speaks, 
g Chrysost. in Matth. Ho●. 82. edit. Savil. Tom. 2, p. 515.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, You deserve no little punishment, if conscious of notorious crimes in any of the Communicants, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, you connive at them to partake of that holy Table. This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true dignity which God hath given unto you, to look to the worthy and unworthy Communicants; and not to strut it up and down the Church in white or shining Copes and Vestments. And I verily believe, that from these ancient times until this present, the debarring of unworthy persons from the holy mysteries, hath ever been esteemed a part not of the spiritual, but the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The Curate is but to present to the Ordinary, and to admonish the offender, and that in private only (as I should conceive the Law) lest he prove 
h Peccato occulto poenam publicam inferens, est revelator confessionis, aut proditor criminis. Lindw. ubi suprà Sed quia Christus nobis debuit esse exemplum justitiae, non conveniebat ejus mag●sterio, ut judam, occultum peccatorem, sine accusatore & evidenti probatione, ab aliorum communione separaret; nè pe● hoc daretur exemplum Praelatis. (To the Prelates, not to the simple Priests) Aquin, 3. part. q. 81. art. 2 in corp. So Tertullian; Parùm hoc, si non etiam proditorem suum secum habuit, nec constanter denotavit. De patientia, c. 3.  proditor criminis, a revealer rather, than a healer of his Brother's infirmities. And S. 
i Tom. 9 lib. De Medicina penitent. c. 3. Citatur in Gloss. ad 1. Cor. 5. & in Summ. Aquin. part. 3. cue 80. art. 6.  Austin is clear of this opinion: Nos à Communione quenquam prohibere non possumus, nisi aut spontè confessum, aut in aliquo judicio Ecclesiastico vel seculari nominatum atque convictum, We may not prohibit any man from the Communion, until he either willingly confess, or be openly pronounced and convicted (of some notorious crime) in some Ecclesiastical or secular Court. 
k In 4m m Sent. dist. 12. art. 6.  Dominicus de Soto is of opinion, that if a sinner do but privately demand the Sacrament of the Parish-priest, the Priest may not deny it him, until it be pronounced deniable unto him juridicè, that is, by some one exercising Ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Howbeit 
l In 3m m disp. 67. Sect. 3.  Suarez and others differ from him in that opinion, affirming the Parish-priest to be restrained in this case, not upon private, but upon open and public demands only. But in the case of a public demand the 
l In 3m m, disp. 67. § 4.  jesuit sets down, in my opinion, an excellent Rule. It is requisite for the Common good, and the convenient order of both Church and Commonwealth, that all common favours, which are publicly to be disposed and distributed according to the merit & dignity of private persons, should be dispensed by some public Minister, designed thereunto by the chief person in that Church or Commonwealth; not according to the private knowledge neither of that Minister, but according to a public and notorious cognisance, agreed upon in that Church or Commonwealth. And however a sinner doth by his offence against God, loose (as the Schoolmen think) his right and interest in this blessed Sacrament, until by a new Repentance, he makes, as it were, a new Purchase of the same; yet, saith 
m In 4m m, d. 12. q. 1. art. 5.  Aquinas, must he lose it in the face of the Church, before it can be denied him in the face of the Church: Being to be judged (as in all other Cases) not by any man, nor any Ministers private knowledge, but according to Proofs and Allegations, before such men and in such places only, as have power to admit of Proofs and Allegations. The Common good requiring necessarily, that all such public actions of this nature should be reigled by a kind of public, and not private knowledge; which once admitted into judicature, would soon fill up the Church and State with a world of Scandals, Injuries and Inconveniences. And although public demanders of this Sacrament are by the Doctrine of these Jesuits to be publicly rejected, when their offences are known to the Priest, either by an Evidence of Law, or by an Evidence of fact; yet because this later Evidence of fact doth arise from a scrupulous and curious examination of the number of the persons which know the same (and how many of the present Communicants be of that number) as also of the quality of the place, the nature of the Crime, the Condition of the Witnesses, and a thousand other Circumstances; I had leiver entrust the Ordinary for altogether, then trouble a simple Curate to charge his head-piece with so many Quillets, and be liable afterwards to answer over in higher Courts, for the least misprision, and misapprehension in any of these curious pieces or Circumstances.  
My practice therefore hath ever been, not to keep back, but to admonish only, public offenders, upon the like evidence of fact; and that not publicly neither, nor by Name. And I continue the stiffer in this Opinion, because I find sithence the Reformation, our Church had once a Canon for the One (which still may be in some force) but never any footstep of the other, being the height of the Genevan and Presbytery Doctrine. But for the former, there was (as I said) a Rubric of this nature, immediately before the Collect, You that do truly and earnestly repent, etc. 
n Order of the Commun. 1548. pag 6.  Here the Priest shall pause a while, to see if any man will withdraw himself. And if he perceive any one so to do, let him commune with him privily at convenient leisure. Privily, not in the Church: At leisure, not by chopping and enterloping with the divine Service. But this (though I think I am very near the right) I submit for all that (for the declaration of the practice) to the learned Canonists of our Church.  
His third Extravagancy is, That 
o pag. 27.  he so fain would learn of this doughty Disputant why he should make such difference between the Chappells and Cathedral Churches on the one side, and the Parochialls on the other: The Laws and Canons now in force looking alike in all. And if there be not some cunning, to make Chappells and cathedrals guilty of some foul Transgression. The Reason that the poor man gives, is because the placing of 
p Letter p. 72.  Tables in Chappells and cathedrals is not the point in Question. The Reason that you give is void of all reason (though not of all malice) that he should do it to their prejudice: when he tells you at the first, he doth both approve in the Vicar, and imitate in his own practice their forms and Ceremonies. I should conceive, that he could not but know that the Altars in Chappells and Oratories are not amongst the Papists themselves (the Mint-masters of Ceremonies) agreeable in situation to the Altars in Churches. And this 
q In 3m m part. Tom. 3. q. 83. art. 3. disp. 81. § 5.  Suarez the jesuit could tell him. He might also mark some special differences which our Canons themselves do make between Cathedrals and Parochial Churches: As in the 
r Q. Elis. Injunct. 18.  place of Reading the Litanies; in the allowance of 
s Injunct of K. Edw. Injunct 21.  Local Statutes; in 
t Certain Canons 1571. p. 8.  monthly Communions; in 
u Advertisem. Articles for Adm. the Sacrament, ibid. revived. c. 24.  Copes, not only for him that officiates, but for the Epistolers and the Gospelers; in the Excepting of cathedrals from delivering up to the Queen's Commissioners, the Ornaments and jewels of their Churches; (the Article naming expressly the 
x Q. Elis. Injunct 47. For Vestments, etc.  Churchwardens of every Parish only) And particularly in an observation concerning the point in hand, That whereas in Parish-churches, the ten Commandments were only appointed to be printed in little Tables, and to be fixed upon the wall over the said Communion-Boord; there is a special Proviso, that in Cathedral Churches, the Tables of the said Precepts be more costly and largely painted out. Whereof this may be a reason, That in some Cathedral Churches where the Steps were not transposed in tertio of the Queen, and consequently 
y Orders, October 1561.  thought fit to continue, and the Wall on the Backside of the Altar untaken down, the Table might stand, as the Altar did before, all along, and the Commandments be more largely painted out, to fill up the length and extension of the same. But he that will peruse all these Canons well, that concern the placing and displacing of Tables, shall find, that not one of them names Cathedral Churches; And will easily condemn this man's supposition, as childish and ridiculous, That every Injunction given the Visitours, for the Parochial, is extendible to the Mother and Cathedral Church, left in many things to her Local Statutes. Unless there were some other special directions, as to B. Ridley in the case of Paul's; which are not extant in Print, nor (as I am informed) in the paper-office. But I do not find in the Writer of the Letter, any supposable End of this Exception, beside Caution and wariness, not to give any the least offence, or stir up needless and unnecessary Controversies.  
His fourth Extravagancy, 
z Pag. 40. 41.  is a great desire he hath to bring both this Writer (and all other writers of Histories) within the compass of the Statute of Sedition, for daring to relate the People's beating down of Altars de facto, before any Order of Law issued forth for their demolishment. Because the People (of England) are led by Precedents, more than by Laws, and think all things lawful to be done, (for example, the Rebellion of jack Straw, and Wat Tiler) which were done before them. And therefore to write such a fine History, is fine Doctrine. As to raise Doctrines out of Narrations in Histories, is a fine and a very fine Bull. Thrice happy than Sr Thomas More and the Lord of S. Albans, that are already dead; and woe be to that learned Nobleman, who having much to lose, is notwithstanding commanded to relate the 
a Acts and Mon. part. 2. fol. 377.  Rebellion of Captain Cobbler in Lincolnshire, and the holy Pilgrims in Yorkshire, that would appoint Counsellors and Bishops to King Henry the eighth. This is fine Doctrine indeed, when Doctor Coal (if he should look that way) can neither be Counsellor nor Bishop, without the special recommendations of brave Captain Cobbler. Nay the Father of the 
b T. Livius Prooem.  Latin History is not out of the danger of this Gun-shot: Who delivers this fine Doctrine to all Historians, That they ought to set down Foedum incoeptu, the foul attempts of ill men, not to be imitated, but to be eschewed by all Readers. Yea, but with the Relating of it, he should have written a Sermon or Homily against it. There are already public 
c Against disobedience and wilful rebellion▪ The worse should give place to th● better.  Homilies in the Church, written of purpose against all Seditions and Rebellions. And to do this in every Narrative of a fact, is the fault that 
d Hist. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Polybius finds with Philarchus; for presenting his Readers with a passionate Tragedy, in stead of plain and naked History.  
Yea but (saith the 
e pag. 41.  Doctor) the History is false in matter of fact. For the Altars were not stirred by the people, until they had some Order and authority from those who had a power to do it. If this be made good, let the Writer defend himself for me; I wash my hands of him. Yes, there is nothing can be more clearly proved. For in the Letter to Bishop Ridley it is said, that it was come to the King's knowledge already (that is, before any Order given by the King or the Counsel, for aught appears in any Book or upon any Record) that the Altars upon good and godly Considerations were taken down. Were they taken down already, before the King and Counsel heard thereof? and upon Considerations only? Then surely, not upon any Command of the King, direction of the Counsel, Canon of the Convocation, Mandate of the Ordinary; (For where doth your Doctourship find any Commands of this nature called Considerations?) but upon the private apprehension of the People, instructed by their Ministers, that the form of a Table would more move the simple to the right use of the Lords Supper. For so the King and Lords, in their first reason, do clearly express what is meant by the good and godly Consideration set down by that King in his Letter. Because the Doctor therefore is disposed to be merry, and to make his Readers sport, looking (like a Waterman in a Wherry) one way, and pulling on his Proofs another way; I will tell you, what I conceive the Writer of the Letter might mean by these two Lines objected against; although it be little material to the present Controversy.  
1. I perceive he relates (in the first place) to the Reformation of Altars beyond the Seas (because he speaks of supreme Magistrates) which the people began by way of fact, before the Magistrates established the same by way of Law. And this Luther complains of against 
f Tu verò irruis & turbas eyes, altaria demoliendo & ●acra tollendo,— cum è suggesto docendum fuisset, etc. Lut●erus, Sermone, De iis quae non necessarò exiguntur. 1522. Oper. Tom. 7. p. 276.  Carolostadius: that he chose rather to hew down, then to dispute down Altars. Although some 
g Melchior Adamus in vita Carolostandii, ex Sleidan. lib. 3.  others write, that Carolostadius had herein the assent at least wise of the Magistrates then residing in the Castle of Wittenberg. However Luther was inflamed against him, that he durst in the time of his absence in Pathmos presume upon so punctual a Reformation. 
h Tom. 5. De Sacra Caena, dist. 261.  Gerardus likewise finds no fault with the thing▪ but with the manner of the Reformation, which the Calvinists made in this particular of the Altar: That they did it Securibus et bipennibus, with Axes and Hammers, and not with the power of the Magistrate, instructed thereunto by the ecclesiastical Synod. So jacobus 
i Colloq. Mo●pelg.  Andrea's gives Beza thanks, that however he maintained the matter, he did so clearly express his dislike of the manner of this Reformation, done (as Andreas saith) argumentis à Fustibus, rather with Arguments from Clubs and Staves, then with Syllogisms fetched from the Word of God. And thus this Reforming of Altars began in the Churches beyond the Seas: Of the which we may say, as the Romans did of 
k Plutarch. in Vita Pompeii.  Pompey the great, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that it was a fair and a happy daughter, though brought forth by an ugly and odious Mother.  
2. And in the second place, I do conceive, that the Writer holds it a very easy matter to prove the same by way of Fact, to have been observed in all the taking down and setting up of Altars, practised here in England in these last Reformations. K. Edward himself complains of this kind of people, that did enterprise to run before 
l Proclam. before the Communion.  authority; and declares how 
m 5ᵒ & 6ᵒ Ed. 6. c. 1.  he with his uncle the Protector, and Counsel, divers times in the first and second year of his reign, did assay to stay innovations or new Rites in this kind, though not with that success he wished. Howbeit (as it is there said) he did not punish them, but granted them a Parliament-pardon for these disorderly attempts; because his Highness took it, that they did it of a good zeal. Where you have a clear exposition of those words we spoke of even now, good and godly Consideration. And Q. Mary herself, as forward as she was to set them up again, yet could she not make such haste of her deformation in this kind, but she was prevented by the superstition of her 
n Cooper in his Chronicle.  Zelotes, who no doubt had likewise their Considerations. The same may be said of Q. Elizabeth: That before her Injunctions could get forth, 
o Q. Elis. in her last Injunct.  In many and sundry places of the Realm, the Altars of the Churches were removed: And much strife and contention did arise amongst her subjects about the removing of the Steps of the foresaid Altar. And all out of private Considerations. This irregular forwardness of the people the Writer of the Letter doth touch indeed, (though but in a word) but doth no more approve of, than I do of your stickling in this sort for Table-Altars in the Church, upon pretence of the Piety of the Times (another Consideration up and down) and running before the Declaration of your Prince and the Chief Governors of the Church in this your fancy and imagination. This answers another Hubbub the Doctor makes, 
p pag. 28.  that the Altars stood longer, then for two years, in K. Edward's time. They stood three or four years before the King's Declaration, but not one complete year, before this godly Consideration had taken them to task. And this Declaration is therefore in the Letter called a kind of Law, because it was neither Act of Parliament, nor a mere Act of Counsel, but an Act of the King sitting in Counsel; which (if not in all things else) without all question, in all matters ecclesiastical, is a kind of Law. And if it be more than a kind of Law, the more it is for the advantage of the Writer, and the more impudent is this Companion, that in all this Section, from the beginning to the end thereof, hath set himself to thwart and oppose it.  
His fifth extravagancy, is to impose upon the 
q pag. 37.  Writer of the Letter, that he should aver the name of Altar to be only used in the Liturgy of 1549. Whereas the Letter saith no more, but that it is passim, everywhere there used without scrupulosity. And whereas he taxeth the Writer for want of leisure to find the word Board once, and the word Table once, in that Liturgy▪ I perceive plainly, that he is more busy a great deal, than the Writer, who peradventure came not so late from his Hornbook as this Doctor did, to mind the joining together of Letters and Syllables. For though upon perusal in cold blood, he can find the word Board but once, and the word Table but once, in all that Liturgy; (And he must cry, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Print, to all England, to come out and see this sublime curiosity) yet will I undertake to show unto him the word Board twice, and the word Table six times used in that Liturgy, if he will but promise to show unto me, how he, or I, or the Writer of the Letter, or the Reader of this scribble, may be six pins the better for this doughty observation.  
His sixth Extravagancy goeth a little beyond his companions, and lacks but a grain of a Capricheo; That the Writer of the Letter deserves first to be burnt as an Heretic to the Church, and then (at the same instant) to be drowned as a Trayor to the State, for using in a Kingdom these desperate expressions of Children of this Church and Commonwealth. Here is fine Doctrine indeed, That all Children of this Church, must be ●●tra partem Donati, downright Puritans: And all that mention here any Commonwealth, (even Sir Thomas Smith, that writ of England's Commonwealth) must be an Enemy to the Kingdom. I never heard of a Church without Children, unless it be one of a Sebaptist in Amsterdam, who having baptised himself to a faith of his own making, could never be seconded in that Religion. And I never heard of a Kingdom without a Commonwealth, unless it be likewise on little 
r Robert Gaguin. Histor l. 2▪ in Clotario. And Belleforest after him▪ ●he S●ory doubted of by Precedent Fauchet, (who thinks there was no such Roitelet, as he called him) and disputed against by Pasquier des Re●her. l. 3. c. 7.  Yvitot in Normandy, which, they say, is but the Countryhouse of an ancient Gentleman. I had heard heretofore, that the Church was the best Mother, as bearing Children unto God; and the Kingdom the best of Commonweals, to nourish and preserve this Church and her Children. But now, all the Children of this Church must be printed the Brethren of dispersion: And the wellwishers of the Commonwealth must be Enemies to Monarchy and Friends to confusion. And this blinking Doctor can see this with half an eye. I would fain have him open the other half, and tell me what he sees in 
s Epist. 40. jerusalem which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all. Gal. 4. De qua praedicatur, quòd in toto mundo fructificet & cre●cat. Aug. tom. 7. contra Crescon. Grammat. l. 4. p. 212.  S. Cyprian; when he lessons him about this fine Doctrine; Nemo filios Ecclesiae de Ecclesia tollat, Let no▪ men presume to take the Children of the Church, and thrust them into the part of Donatus: As also what he can see in 
t Haec est Eva matter omnium Viventium. l. 2. In Luc. c. 3. Tom. 5. p. 32.  S. Ambrose, 
u Mater nostra Ecclesia est. Hieron. tom. 4. in Ezek. l. 5. in c. 16. p. 821.  S. Hierom, 
x Quales debent ess● Ecclesiae filii? quales? pacifici. Aug. tom. 8. in Psal. 127.  S. Augustine, and 
y Ecclesiae pueri vocantur, qui coelestibus mandatis inserviunt. Tom. 1. in job. 29. p. 466.  S. Gregory, who call all Christians, the Children of the Church: What in so many 
z 5ᵒ Elis c. 2. etc. 4. 39ᵒ Elis. c. 12. 1ᵒ jac. c. 22. 3ᵒ jac. c. 12. 21ᵒ jacob. c. 9, 10, 17, 18.  Acts of Parliaments, in so many 
a See K. james his works p. 485▪ 528, 544, 545, 546. And most of these Expressions to his people in Parliament.  Speeches of K. James in Parliament, that mention without scruple the Commonwealth of this Kingdom. Shall the Fathers learn Criticisms to speak of the Church; and K. James, expressions to speak of Kingdoms, from this railing Philistine? For the Writer of the Letter one half is too much; a quarter of an eye will serve the turn, to see what he means, and to see what he means not, by the one and the other. The Children of this Church, be those (in his stile) that will give ear to the voice and Canons of this Church: The Children of this Commonwealth, are such as obey the wholesome Laws and Reiglement of this State and Kingdom. But base Sycophants, that slight the Canons of their Bishops, and undertake to refute the Reiglement of their Princes, (though they hope by flattery to prey upon either) are (as the Writer thinks) no true Children of the one or the other. As this man by his allusion to Donatus the African, shows clearly what he would be, if he were to choose: Donatus potius quam Natus, No obedient Child, but a domineering Father in God's Church. Howbeit the man (give him his due) is not infinite in his Ambition, nor so malicious, as he seems, against the Puritans. For whereas S. Paul in his first to Timothy, reckons up a long Catalogue of Graces, to be blameless, vigilant, sober, modest, learned, hospital, and I know not what; the man is content, the Puritans take all these for themselves, and the glorious Titles of Children of the Church and Servants of the Commonwealth, so as they leave him but the first in that Chapter, a desire to be a Bishop. Which great pity it were so judicious a Divine should not enjoy as long as he lives.  
His seventh Extravagancy is this, To conceive that none was ever scandalised at the name of the Lords Table: 
b p. 43.  And to charge the Writer for making this Supposition to persuade the people, that questionless such men there are. Surely there are of that kind but too many in the world: Some, that (because it stands not Altarwise) call it a 
c Rhemists, 1. Cor. 11.  profane Table; some, an 
d p. 21.  Oister-boord; some, an Oister-table; and this Vicar himself (if the Neighbours charged him rightly) a 
e Chapt. 1.  Treste. Nay, this judicious Divine implies very strongly, that the name and fashion of an Altar is more agreeable to the Piety of the times, and the Good work in hand: Which could I believe to be true, I would myself be ashamed to be such an Enemy to Piety and good works, as to give it any other Appellation, then that of an Altar. Beside that, there goeth from hand to hand, a pocket- Determination, as said or read in one of our Universities, to prove the lawfulness of bowing before the Altar. The Altar, I say, not the Table, by any means. For in this short Discourse (which held me but one half-houre to read over) this word Altar is thundered out one hundred and five several times, and the holy Table scarce once named (in the man's own expression) in the whole Treatise. And whether the Author may not be suspected to be ashamed of the name of a Table, I will leave you to guess by this which followeth.  
He saith, the Rubrics of all the Greek Liturgies, and more especially of those of S. Basil, and S. Chrysostom, (the rest in truth, having in a manner no Rubrics at all, do require 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fieri 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, vel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that Courtesies or Adorations be made before the Altar or the holy Table. At which Quotation, you would swear the word Altar were to be found in these Rubrics up and down, but the word Table scarce at all used, but brought in by this Protestant Doctor, to comply with our own Liturgy. Whereas, the clean contrary way, these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are there required to be made (and decently, as I think) before the holy Table; but no mention at all in any of those Rubrics, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or the Altar, in any good or Authentical 
f Neither in those in Biblioth Vet. Patr. tom. 2. Parsiis, 1624. Nor in those set out at Paris by Morelius, 1560.  Copy. There is indeed a lame and imperfect Liturgy of S. Chrysostom, set out by 
g Parisiis, 1537.  Erasmus, one Rubric whereof doth say, that the Priest, and the Deacon, do make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, three Reverences towards the holy Altar. But, beside that the complete Copies have no such Rubric in them, Erasmus translates 
h Missa Chrysost. Graecolat. pag, 〈◊〉 per Wechelium, 1537.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that place, sanctum sacrarium, the holy Chancel, not the holy Altar. True it is, that the Papists (whom the Doctor doth not a little imitate) do in all these Liturgies familiarly translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ The holy Altar, in stead of The holy Table. Whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth ever signify a Table; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not ever signify an Altar. For in that place of Socrates, lib. 1. c. 25. (in the Latin; but c. 37. in the 
i Set forth at Paris by Robert Stephen▪ 1544.  Greek) cited in the same Determination, it is not well translated by Musculus (whom the Doctor followeth) Alexander going into the Altar, did fall down on his face before the holy Table. For it ought to be, Alexander going into the Choir or Chancel, did fall down, etc. For 
k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Eustath. in 1. Iliad. p. 39  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signify a motion to such a place, as the mover may be at the last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, within that place. But Alexander could not be within the Altar, but very properly within the Choir or Chancel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Altarium, Sacrarium. It signifies a Chancel aswell as an Altar, saith the old 
l Found annexed to some manuscripts of cyril, and set forth by Henry Stephen, 1583.  Glossary. And so Erasmus doth often translate the Word, as I noted before. But this Humiliation before the holy Table, had never prevailed against Arius, as this Determinatour thinks, unless by hook or by crook, it had been eaked out to an Adoration before the Altar.  
However, that this private Letter, written to be perused, and to die in the hands of Divines only (and not so much as once read to the Alderman of Grantham) should be indicted to humour or persuade the People, is a Calf already, and may in time prove a more bellowing creature, if venom and malice do not metamorphize the same to that deformed reptile that walks upon the Belly. But the true Adversary this passage in the Letter reacheth at, is the Church of Rome; which, upon the Reformation of her Mass by Pius Quintus, directed by the Council of Trent, hath quite left out of her Canon, this very name of the holy Table, against the practice of all Antiquity, and the precedent of the Liturgies of all Ages and Nations that ever I could set eye upon. And I shall crave the patience of the Reader, if I enlarge myself a little in this particular; because it may conduce (peradventure) to enlighten all the Corners of this little Controversy.  
S. Luke is styled by S. Paul (as you know) the 
m 2 Cor. 8. 18.  man whose praise is in the Gospel. And (as some of the Greek Fathers are of opinion) the Gospel of S. Luke dictated by S. Paul, is called in one place, 
n Rom. 2. 16.  S. Paul's own Gospel. There being such a harmony of expressions between the one and the other. Now look what S. Luke calls that Vtensill upon the which the Rich man did eat his meat, in the 
o Luke 16. 21.  16th, he calls the same, which our Saviour did celebrate the Supper upon, in the 
* Luke 22. 21.  22th Chapter of his Gospel: and that is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which the Grammarians derive of 
p Etym. M●g.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fourfooted Table. S. Paul likewise speaking of set purpose and in a continued discourse, (Neither of both, as I desire you to observe well, S. Paul doth in the Epistle to the Hebrews) doth call that utensil, upon the which they in the Primitive Church did celebrate the Lords Supper, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. a fourfooted Table likewise. And in all the new Testament, there is no one place, which treating purposely and literally of the Sacrament, doth give the Vtensill it was celebrated upon, any other name or Appellation. The Syriack Translation calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the 22th of Luke. Which is the 
q Arias Montan. in Lexico Syriaco.  same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Table, the word in S. Mathews Hebrew Gospel set forth by 
r See Munster's Hebrew Gos●ell. of S. Matth. p. 244.  Munster, derived of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Mess or set on, from the Messes standing thereon, say 
s Pag●in.  some, or from the Mission and extension of the same, as being more extended in length then in breadth, as 
t Mercer.  others conceive. And in the Syriack and Latin Testament printed in Rome with curious pictures, Christ and his Disciples are painted sitting upon such a long and fourfooted Table: Asdruball Mounsieur 
u In his Answer a la Replique.  Moulin observes to have seen them set forth in the Gallery of a French Cardinal. 
x Libro 2. de Missa, c. 17.  And Bellarmine is of Opinion, that the Apostles all their time called this Vtensill by no other name, especially not by the name of an Altar: The learned Bishop of 
y Instit. l. 6. c. 5.  Duresme agreeing with the Cardinal in this Opinion, though not in the reason he gives of the same. Some while after the Apostles age (but how long that while may be, we have already handled) this Vtensill came to be called both a Table and an Altar: But with this difference: that (as Gregory 
z In Fulks d●●ence c. 17. pag. 174  Martin tells us) the Greek Fathers call it more often Table; the Latin, more often Altar. But, as our learned 
a Instit. l. 6. c 5.  Bishop conceives, it was more rarely called Altar, of Greeks and Latins, than Table. However, in S. Basil, and S. Chrysostoms' Liturgies, it is in the Prayer before the Consecration, and in all the Rubrics, called a Table.  
It is so in the 
b Set forth in Syriack and Latin by Gui●o Fabricius, 1672.  Syriack Liturgy of the Patriarch Severus, who useth the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we spoke of before. It is so in the Aethiopian Liturgy, called 
c Bibliotheca Patr. Tom. 6. p. 79.  Miraculosa Mensa, a miraculous Table. The word is used by 
d l. 5. de Sacram. c. 3.  S. Ambrose, in his Books de Sacramentis. Nay it is used in the Roman Pontifical, in the very 
e Pontif Greg. 13. 1582. pag. 145. Pontif. ●ii 4 t●▪ 1561. p. 136. Adesto, Domine, dedicationi hujus mensae tuae.  Prayer of consecrating the Altar. But upon the Reformation, the words began to be examined and more narrowly looked unto by both parties. The Protestants, because they make it a Communion or a Supper, and no Sacrifice, therefore they call it Table only, and abhor from the word Altar, as Papistical, saith 
f In Fulk's Defence, c. 17. pag. 174.  Gregory Martin; And very truly, for those times he wrote in. For D. Fulk, when he comes to answer that passage, doth no way flinch, but clearly confess that it was so here in England. 
g Ibidem.  With us indeed it is, as it is called in Scripture, only a Table. And this Book was dedicated to Q. Elisabeth. And what did the Papists on the other side? Although in their writings they give us smooth words, as this our Doctor doth, That they do with the Fathers approve equally of the one and the other appellation; yet when they come to reform their Canon of the Mass, they never use in Rubric or Prayer, neither literally, nor so much as by Allusion, this word Table. Let any indifferent Reader therefore judge, if the Writer of the Letter had not then some cause, and myself now much more, to wish that the Lords Table may not be conceived to be a new name, and that the Good work in hand may not make the unlearned sort of men ashamed of it.  
His eighth Extravagancy is this; That having conferred with the Joiner, which wrought the Table upon the which our Saviour Christ celebrated the Supper, he hath found it to be of a more curious composition, than we took it for, to wit, of an 
h Pag. 44.  Oval form. Which surely is some addle Egg, hatched by the wind of his own imagination. Nor doth he offer to cite any Author for it. 
i Nonnus in 13. Joan. and a little before, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Nonnus doth seem to call it indeed a Circle; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
But that is in regard of the Apostles filling of the Table, and sitting (as those Olive-branches in the Psalm) 
k Psal. 127. 3.  round about the Table. And so is the Verse to be understood, which 
l In summa de Eccles.  Turrecremata calls the Verse of the ancient Divines, and 
m Vnde & quidam metricè dixerunt. 3. part, q. 81. art. 2. ad 1m m  Thomas Aquinas, the Meetre-verse. 
Rex sedet in coena turbâ cinctus duodenâ,  
Se tenet in manibus, se cibat ipse cibus.  That is, 
The twelve Apostles in a Ring  
Sat at the Table with their King:  
Who in his hands himself did bring,  
The Food and Feeder being one thing.  And there was amongst the ancient Jews a round and circular kind of sitting at meat, called in Salomon's 
n Cantic. 1. 12.  Canticum Canticorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having Oecos rotundos, Spherical Rooms, with banquetting-beds suitable to the place, as that great 
o Casaub. Exercit. 16. p. 494.  Critic doth describe them. But this Oval form is the Doctors own Invention, and he might challenge, if not a Triumph, yet an Ovation for the same, could it be handsomely accommodated to those Benches, Stools, Chairs, and other Furniture he hath bespoken for his Table. For he saith, it was compassed round about with Beds; which how it could be about an 
p Pag. 44.  Oval Table that held thirteen (or more, as 
q See Suarez in 3m m, q. 81.  some are of opinion) but that those of either end must make long arms to reach at their meat, and especially to take the bread from our Saviour's hand, can never be cleared without another bout in Geometry, and as long a wrangling about Spherical, as we have had already about Angular figures. For let these Feasting-couches be three, as 
r Joseph Scaliger de emendatione temporum, l. 6. p. 271.  Scaliger, or four, as 
s Exercit. 16. p. 494.  Casaubon will have it, yet will it pose 24 of the nearest Gentlemen Ushers about the Court, to fit them so about an Oval Table of this Diameter, but that some of the Guests must suffer a kind of strappado in their arms, when they reach at their Victuals.  
The last Extravagancy (of more 
t Pag. 10. 42. 48. 58.  vagancy than any of the rest, as wand'ring like a Gypsy up and down his Pamphlet from one end thereof unto the other) is this, That he chargeth all this Letter (written to Clergymen, and them only) to be composed populo ut placeret, to please the people. And I must confess, it is a heavy case, as you lay it. A fantastical Vicar may not call his Communion-table, an Altar, as the Papists do, nor change it to an Altar of Stone, without the leave of his Superior, but his Ordinary, or this fellow that looks like a Ordinary, must check him for his devotion, and all to curry favour with the multitude or people. Nay the Vicar, though (after that fashion of the ancient Kings of 
u Xenoph●n in Cyrop●d.  Persia) he hath ears planted in every corner of his Church, may not by this domineering fellow be suffered to determine, who can hear him, and who not, rather than the deaf Adder of the Parish, the common People. Lastly, this Vicar, being no dull Spectator or contemplative piece, but è meliore luto, a right blade, and of the Active Mould, cannot thwack these Russet-coats as they well deserve, but he must be most basely used, and exhorted to Peace and Charity by this supposed Ordinary, out of a trick to please the people. O Literam illiteratissimam! O Letter fit to make litter of, for offering in this sort to pull down the Steeple, and wind up the People! There is a kind of Venom that makes a man laugh; and of this operation is this part of the Libel. Diogenes would fain triumph upon the ambition of Plato, but doth it with a far more swelling ambition. The ambition of this Text had never been blown up with the blast of the People, had it not been for the pride and ambition of the Commentator. It is a certain judicious Divine had an itching desire to be in print, and to build a new house upon old ruins, carrying this poor Letter but like a Pageant of conquered Countries, to set forth and adorn his Triumphal Chariot: but for whose (no small) indiscretion, I might have said of this Letter (destinied to the perusal of a few Churchmen of the Neighbourhood only) as Aristotle once said, either of his Physics as 
o Aulus Gellius noct. Attic. l. 20. c. 5.  A. Gellius) or Metaphysics (as 
p Plutarch. in vita Alexandri.  Plutarch conceives it) that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that it was published and unpublished, before the Edition of this railing Pamphlet. However the man (we conceive to be aimed at in this malicious passage) hath better reason, than D. Coal, to know, 
q Tacit. Annal. lib. 2.  quam breves & infausti populi Romani amores, how brickle and unlucky a repose it hath been in all Ages of the world, for a man to stay himself upon the unconstant multitude. And yet if he were a Diocesan (as you seem to make him) he were as very a mad one as ever scaped Bethlem, if he should give way to such a slight and undiscreet Churchman, by odd humours and conceits of his own to scandalise the people committed unto him.  
At non ille, satum quote mentiris, Achilles  
Talis erat populo.—  
The first Protestant's of the Reformation (whom you falsely pretend to imitate) had a better opinion of the Common people. We have proved already, and that at large, that the first inducement of K. Edward and his most able Counsel, to remove your Altars, and place holy Tables, was to root up superstition in the minds of these (by you so much despised) Common people. And if you be (I will not say a judicious, but) any Divine at all, how dare your Mother's Son in such a State as this, in such a Church as this, and under such a Prince so beloved as this, speak so contemptibly of these so many provisionary Saints of God, so many Nerves and Sinews of the State, so many Arms of the King to defend his Friends and offend his Enemies, as are these, whom (for want of wit) you jeeringly call the poor people? This is a kind of Lion, which (the more is the pity) often offends, but is not, for all that, to be lashed by every man's whip, but by the rod of the Prince his accustomed Governor. If you have obtained a Cure of Souls over any people, you are a poor Soul yourself, if you conceive them therefore to be your own. I tell you, they are none of yours; they are the Kings, they are God's people. If you feed them, they feed you, by those settled means which God and the King have provided for you. And being of so proud & ignorant a spirit, as all your Pamphlet speaks you, for fear you should despise any admonition of mine, I will lesson you in this point, in the words of a national Council. 
r Concil. Sirmondi, tom. 2. Concil. Paris. 6. c. 23. sub Ludovico ●io Imperatore, Anno 829. Nec sibi dominatum superbus usurpare contendat. Fulgent. de veritat. Praed. & Gratiae. l. 2. Debet Pontifex habere Paternam severitatem, & Maternam pietatem, Lombard. in Tit. 1. ex Ambros.  Because there are but too too many that carry no Fatherly affection, but a domineering spirit, towards the Flock committed to their Charge, and like bladders blown up with the wind of Arrogancy, conceive their people to be owned by them, and not by Christ; we would have them listen to their Saviour in the 21 of John, IF YOU LOVE ME, FEED MY FLOCK, MEAS, inquit, non SUAS; Mine, good Sir, not your Flock. And therefore it is more than a presumptuous vanity to slight your Neighbours, as if they were your own; when they are none of yours, but God's people.  
I will conclude this point with the observation of a Heathen man; 
s Valer. Max. An vos consulere scitis, Consulem f●cere nescitis? Caius Figulus. Dictum graviter & meritò, sed tamen aliquanto melius non dictum: Nam quis Populo Romano irasci sapienter potest? l. 9 c. 3.  Irasci populo Romano nemo sapienter potest. You may (when Fortune is disposed to make some Christmas-sports) prove a great, but you shall never prove a wise or judicious man, by these jeers and Invectives against the People.   

CHAP. VII.  
Canonical standing of the Table. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In medio, what they signify. Table in the midst of the Choir, in the Eastern, so in the Western Churches. The Rites of the Church of Antiochia. The Diptyches.  
IN all this Section of the 
a Pag. 48.  Fixing of the Altar, or Communion-table at the upper end of the Choir, (where you see the Altar is perkt up already before the Communion-table in this new Heraldry) there is nothing offered more than what hath been already handled, worth the Readers perusal, were it not that Reverend B. jewel may not be left undefended from the irreverent usage and slights of this whiffler. To the writer of the Letter he hath nothing to say, unless he can make him say what he never imagined; 
b Pag. 49.  that the Table should stand most Canonically in the body of the Church. No such matter in all the Letter. It is there only affirmed, that the Canons allow it not to be fixed to the End of the Choir (where the Writer, be he Canonist or none at all, would have 
c Letter 51.  it situated, when it is not used, and used too, when the Minister may be heard of all the Congregation,) but to be made of a movable nature, to meet with those Cases in the Law, in the which, without this transposing thereof upon occasions, the Minister (were he that Stentor with the sides of brass, 
d Homer. 11. 5.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That is, 
Who equalled with his voice  
Full fifty men in noise)  could never be heard of his Congregation. And happy was reverend jewel in this point of Controversy: for he had to do with a learned and Ingenuous Adversary, 
e Dr Harding in B. Jewel, 3. Artic. 1. p. 45.  who confessed he never mean●t the people should understand any more of what was said at the Altar, than what they could guess at by dumb shows and outward Ceremonies. This is fair dealing yet; and gives us opportunity to ask him again, Why then do S. 
f S. Jacobi Liturg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Bibl. vet. Patr. tom. 2. p. 21.  james, and S. 
g S. Marci Liturg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Ibid. p. 40.  Mark, in their several Liturgies, give the people so large a part in all the Prayers and Litanies poured out at the very Altar? But these new Reformers, though they prepare and lay grounds for the same, dare not (for fear of so many Laws and Canons) apparently profess this Eleusinian Doctrine. They are as yet busied in taking in the outworks, and that being done, they may in time have a bout with the Fort itself.  
But he tells us, 
h p. 10.  that the 82 Canon, that saith the Table shall be placed in the Church or Chancel, so as the Minister may more conveniently be heard by the Communicants, is a matter of Permission, rather than Command. He saith so indeed, but without any authority or reason. I hope the reverend house of Convocation is not convened, or licenced by the King, to make Permissions, that men may do what they list; but to make (when they are confirmed by the 
i 25ᵒ H. 8. c. 19  King) strong and binding Canons, to be obeyed by the Subjects, and to be pursued by all the Ordinaries of the Kingdom. And so is this Canon a Conditional Law, of the same nature with a Conditional Proposition, growing to be of an absolute and categorical force, when the Condition begins to exist, though before suspended, and in deliberation. As if the Table be so far esloigned and removed from the people, that they cannot possibly hear their Minister, when he officiates thereupon; the Ordinaries in this case, are not permitted, as this man conceiveth, but absolutely required to transpose the Table. And his Majesty's most prudent Determination, in the case of S. Gregory's, makes the Ordinaries indeed judges of the Fact, and the existence of the Condition, as was most fitting: but that once agreed upon, it makes them by no means Arbitratours of the Law; which if they do not literally follow and pursue, the parties are left to their ordinary Appeals, as in other cases of grievances and abuses. For in all other sentences Ecclesiastical, the judges are not to pursue their own sense, but the sense and meaning of the Canons.  

k Pag. 51.  Yea, but the Altars may soon be mounted up by steps, that the Minister may be seen and heard of the Congregation. I cannot tell you that neither, without new directions. For the 
l See Ord. 10. Octob. 1561. pag. 2.  Orders made 1561 require plainly, that if in any Chancel the steps be transposed, they be not erected again. And these were high Commissioners grounded upon the 
m 1ᵒ Elis. c. 1.  Act of Parliament, who set forth these Orders. Which how far they bind, I dare not determine, being (as you say) none of the ablest Canonists in the Church of England.  
But 
n Pag. 49.  he must first show us where it was determined by the Ordinary of the place, that Morning and Evening prayer shall be said only in the body of the Church, before he venture on such new and strange Conclusions. And for the Rubric, it saith only, that it shall be so placed in Communion-time. And just so saith the 
o Pag. 76.  Letter, and no otherwise; In the body of the Church or of the Chancel, where Morning and Evening prayer be appointed to be read, when the Communion is to be celebrated. So that you see our Coal begins to be quite extinct, and to yield nothing but vapour and smoke for a parting farewell. For considering that both Provinces (God be praised) have been so lately visited, what needs the Writer saddle up his Horse, and visit them over again, to know where the several Ordinaries have appointed the Reading-pews in every Parish-Church to be erected? Erected they must be in some convenient place, or else the 
p Canon. 82. not without an ancient precedent. Nehem. 8. And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a Pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And the Deacon reads the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in S. Chrys. Liturgy.  Canon is not pursued. Wheresoever that Convenient place is in Church or Chancel, thither, in this case of the People's not-hearing their Minister, the Communion-table is to be transposed: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But he tells us 
* Pag. 20.  our country-churches for the most part are so little, that this provision is superfluous. What pity is this! that as 
q o'er enim blasphemo dicebat palàm, si à principio creationis humanae Dei consilio interfuisset, nonnulla meliùs, ordinatiúsque condita fuisse. Roderic. Santii Hist. Hisp. p. 4. c. 5. exantiquis Annalib.  Alfonso the wise (in other matters, in this no wiser than our Doctor) bemoaned himself very much, that he was not at God's elbow to put him in mind of some things, when he was at work in the Creation of the World; so that this judicious Divine had not been at the elbow of that unexperienced Prelate Archbishop Bancroft (whose very dreams were wiser than his Morning-thoughts) and the rest of his Brethren, when they were in hand with that superfluous work of the 141 Canons! Why man, — 
r P. Heylin, 461.  Ecclesia, Foemina, Lana. What Country of Europe can yield you fair, if England affords but small Churches?  
And having shot his childish shaft, — 
s Aeneid. 2.  telúmque imbelle sine ictu, at the Writer of the Letter, he falls once more (as Kestrels love to feed on dead things) to rake into the ashes of Reverend jewel. The Vicar (supposed to have but a small Study of Books) was desired for his satisfaction, That Communion-tables have heretofore stood in the midst of chancels and Churches, to 
t Lett. p. 77.  read some places out of Eusebius, S. Augustine, Durandus, and the fifth Council of Constantinople, in a Book chained in his Church, to wit, B. jewel against Harding. To the which, the Doctor sitting in his Chair (that may prove Episcopal one day) and making trial how the style and language would now become him, he speaks, or rather pronounceth in this manner, 
u Pag. 53.  And read him though we have, yet we are not satisfied. And this is somewhat a strange Case. Three great Princes successively, the one after the other, and four Archbishops of very eminent parts, have been so satisfied with the truth and learning of this Book, that they have imposed it to be chained up, and read in all Parish-Churches throughout England and Wales; and yet careth 
x Act 18. 17.  Gallio for none of these things: For we Don Nosotros are not satisfied. And why, good Gravity, are not you satisfied? Because Eusebius speaking of the Church at Tyre, hath it in the Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is not (as 
y 3. Article, p 145.  Bishop jewel interprets) in the midst of the Church among the people, but 
z Pag. 53.  in the middle of the Chancel, in reference to North and South. And well said Doctor; I had thought Eusebius (or rather the Panegyrist in Eusebius) had been describing in that place a brave Chancel set all about with Seats and other Ornaments, and that he had placed the Altar in the very midst of that Chancel. But I see I am mistaken, and so is 
a Artic. 3. p. 145.  B. jewel, 
b Instit. l. 6. c. 5. p. 462.  B. Morton, 
c In 1 Cor. 11. p. 528.  D. Fulk, 
d De Orig. Altar c. 6. p. 35.  Hospinian, 
e De Miss. l. 2. c. 1. p. 177.  Mornay, and 
f Resp. a la Repliq. Controu. 12.  Monsieur Moulin, as well as I. For the Panegyrist it seems is there painting a Sea-card of the Winds, or the four points of Heaven; & having set down the North, and the South, he placeth in the middle of these two the aforesaid Altar. But the Doctor in this Conceit, is (as Sr Philip Sidney calls it) Heavenly wide, as wide from the true sense, as the North of the Heaven is from the South. For if this Altar stood along the Eastern Wall, and because fixed in the Middle of that Wall, is said to be in the midst of the Chancel, a Grecian would not call such a posture, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or understand what you meant when you said so; but, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as 
g Elem. l. 1. propos. 32.  Euclid himself terms it, over-aneanst the middle of the wall; as the Septuagint describe the situation of the Altar of Incense (which is your own instance in the next line) to be 
h Exod. 30. 5.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, over-aneanst the veil of the Temple. Nor is it conceivable how this Altar should be in the middle between North and South, rather than in the middle between East and West; All substantial bodies here on Earth being equally measureable by those four postures of the Heavens, as the 
i Aristot. de coelo, & mundo, l. 1.  Philosopher tells us.  
But (like a child in a sandy bank) look what fine structure the Doctor had here built up with one hand, he straightway in the very next words of all, pulls down with the other. 
k Pag. 54.  For now the Altar might possibly be placed in the Middle of the Church, in imitation of the jews, with whom this people were mingled. Well, this Doctor is full of Miracles in his writings. I had read of an 
l Piccol. De Stellis fi●is, cum victoriam ob●●nuissent Di●, Aram inter sidera colloc●runt, p. 50.  Altar heretofore, suddenly got up from Earth to Heaven; but of an Altar so soon toppled down from Heaven to Earth, I never read before this time. But he had as good let the Altar alone, where he had placed it: For it shall not serve his turn. For Tyre though it was in Syria; 
m Adrichom in Aser, ●n descript. Tyri. pag. 10. c. 2.  yet were the people thereof never mingled with the jews, nor the jews with them, until their embracing of the Christian Faith, after the utter ruin and subversion of that Nation, saith Adrichomius. Nor was the Altar of Incense in the midst of the Temple, as 
n Pag. 54.  he likewise unlearnedly relates. 
o Josephus de bello judaico, l. 6. c. 6.  For Herod's Temple was sixty cubits long; twenty within, and forty without the Veil: And this Altar was close unto the Veil; as 
p In Exod. 30. 5.  Tostatus and 
q De Templo, l. 2. c. 8.  Ribera do fasten it; and therefore far from the midst of the Temple. But it stood indeed in another midst; in the midst between the Table on the North, and the Candlestick on the South thereof, saith 
r Lib. 3. De v●ta Mosis.  Philo judaeus. Nor last is any thing observed truly (though the refuting thereof be altogether impertinent) which this man sets down in all this Section; unless it be, that the word Altar is named in Eusebius. It is not true, that the Gate or Entrance of this Church is said to be open to the East: nor is there any such thing in Eusebius. It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Gate, but a Portico, or a shady walk; nor is it of the Church, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the Cloister about the Church. To be short, there is (as I said even now) in this passage nothing related sincerely, but, that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is there indeed. But than it is as sincerely to be replied, that this Altar is by and by after interpreted to be a Metaphorical Altar; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Sanctification of a Christian Soul; as we heard 
s Cap. 4.  before. And so much for Eusebius. The next he takes in hand, is the fifth Council of Constantinople, 
t Pag. 54.  as it is there called (by poor B. Jewel that never saw it) being indeed the Council sub Agapeto & Menna. And how should we have done, had we not known under whom this Council was held? and any man would swear, that correcting B. Jewel so punctually, he should be now in the right. But the poor man is abused by some wag that fits him with these Exscriptions. Agapetus was dead before this Council was held. And if he had but read any one Action, he could not but have found it out, Agapetus of blessed memory, etc. It was held by Menna the Patriarch, in the vacancy of the See of Rome, between Agapetus and Sylverius, as 
u Binius, tom. 2. Concil. p. 4●2.  Binius, 
x Praesidente Mennâ Patriarch●, p. 164.  Caranza, and 
y Breviar. Chronol p. 166. tempore in terregni. & sum. Concil. p. 454.  Coriolanus do state it. Well, in this Council he finds, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, cannot be properly interpreted (as B. Jewel would have it) round about the Altar, but before the Altar: as the Noblemen standing before the King, may be said to be about the King; and the Angels in the Revelation, round about the Throne. I had thought the Throne in Heaven had been safe enough, and had needed no wall to rest upon; and that the Angels might be as conveniently conceived to compass it about (as all Interpreters expound the place) as to cast themselves into a halfmoon in this sort, before the presence of Almighty God. But what Authors hath he for this new conceit, to weigh down these great Names that expound it otherwise, as 
z Artic. 3. p. 143.  Bishop Jewel, 
a De Missa, l. 2. c. 1.  Mornay, 
b Lib. De Orig. Altar. c. 6.  Hospinian, and others? None, but the learned judicious Divine his own self. Then I must tell him, that S. 
c Bibl. ve●. Patr. tom. 2. p. 45. See likewise Dionysius, Athanas. and Chrys. cited by the B. of Duresme, to the phrase of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Instit. l. 6. c. 5.  Basil in his Liturgy doth otherwise interpret those postures in Heaven; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Seraphims stand round about thee, in orbem, in a ring, or perfect Circle, as Gentian Hervet doth there expound it.  
And for the passage in the Council, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I will be bold to say, that it cannot possibly be thus interpreted in Greek or Latin, if we examine but the phrase itself. For the Greek; 
d See Budaeus Comm. p. 1494. & 1495.  Budaeus handles of purpose all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compassings in this kind, that are to be found in any good Author, and hath not one acception of the word for an imperfect compassing about. The Greek 
e Eustath. in ultim. Iliad. pag. 1462.  Scholiast upon Homer will have that only to be termed Circular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which hath in it no Corner at all, as your eye will let you see all your halfmoons have. And 
f In Verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Hesychius, an excellent Grammarian, doth tell us, that in Geometry, a Circle is a kind of Circumference carried about with one line: which cannot be said of men standing in a half-Circle before the front of a Throne, or the face of a King, according to this English Phraser. And then if we come to the Latin, Tully himself doth end the Controversy, putting both the words with their differences before our eyes. 
g Cicero l. 1. De sinibus.  Circulos aut semicirculos consectari. Intimating by the former, saith 
h Comment. L. Gr. p. 1494.  Budaeus, a Company of men in orbem collectorum, gathered into a perfect round; by the later, a concourse of people before one man, as it might be before a public Reader in Philosophy. Where you find a clear distinction between a Circle and half-Circle. I will conclude this Grammatical Question, with Eustathius his note upon Pandarus his Bow; where 
i Il●ad. 4. Which Nazianzen imitates in his description of the devil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Naz Carm. 54.  Homer saith,- 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That he drew his Bow into a perfect Circle. Whereupon Eustathius observes, that the Bow of itself cannot be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Circle, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a bowed or crooked thing, until the Arms of the Archer draw it with such a strength, that both the ends meeting in one, do fashion the Bow to a perfect Circle. And so the people flocking about the Altar in this Council, did not resemble a bended only (which Homer would have expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) but a full-drawn Bow, (which Homer will have to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and therefore are said to stand about the Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in a perfect Circle.  
But to leave the Grammar, and come unto the Business. There is nothing more clear in Antiquity, then, that not only this Altar in Constantinople, but all the Altars and Communion-tables in all the Eastern Churches were so situated and disposed, as they might be compassed round about by the Priests and Deacons. In the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Chancel, there be two Altars, whereof the greater stands in the midst of that Room, and the l●sser close by, at the left side of the greater, 
k Ad lectorem, in the 〈◊〉 of the Greek Liturg. 1560. p. 115.  saith Gentian Hervet. There be in those Churches two Altars: the greater is in the midst, and called the holy Table; the lesser is called the Prothesis or Table of Proposition, saith the 
l Biblioth. vet. Patrum tom. 2. in Annot.  Setter forth of the Greek and Latin Liturgies. In the Greek Temples there is but one high Altar, and that placed in the middle of the Choir, saith 
m In his Edition of the Greek Liturg. at Paris, 1560.  Claudius Saintes. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I will compass about thine Altar, saith the Priest, in S. 
n Pag. 12. as it is set forth in G. L. by S. Andr.  Peter's Liturgy. Be not ashamed, O Lord, of any of us that compass thy holy Altar, saith S. Basil in his Liturgy. The Deacon takes the Censer and fumes the holy Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. circumcirca, saith Hervetus, round about, in S. Chrysostom's Liturgy. 
o Biblioth. Vet. Patr. tom. 2 p. 64.  And in another place of the same Liturgy, the Deacon perfumes the holy Table 
p Ibid. p 40.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in all the circuit and compass thereof. Lastly, 
q Constit altera habita ad Thatalaeum.  Synesius saith, that he will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, compass about the Altar of God, in one of his Epistles. Where you may observe, that these three last, together with the Priest in S. Peter's Liturgy, are but single men, and cannot possibly be expounded to go about the Altar, in the Doctors absurd Interpretation. For standing in the face of the holy Table, as Noblemen do before a King, is not for one man to compass about, or for one man to incense about the holy Table.  
Having made sport in the Greek with the Council of Constantinople, he doth as much in the Latin with S. Augustine. The like mistake there is, if it be lawful so to say (as no doubt it is lawful for such as you are to say any thing; 
r Virgil. Aeneid. 1.  Haec ara tuebitur omnes: having, if any man should call you in Question, an Altar, as the Poet saith, to fly unto) A mistake there is, saith 
s ●ag 55.  he, in the words of S. Austin. For that which hath been alleged from him, being the 46 Sermon, not the 42, (Another correction of Magnificat; the 
t Theolog Lovan. in Oper. S. Augustin. Tom. 10.  Sermon being the 46 in the late, but the 42 in Bedes Numeration, which Bishop jewel followed) Mensa ipsius est illa in medio constituta, clearly, and without ambiguities, is not to be interpreted, as it is translated (by B. 
u Artic. 3. p. 145.  jewel, and B. 
x Instit. l. 6. c. 5  Morton, and applied in the same sense by 
y De Missa, l. 2 c. 1.  Mornay, 
z De Orig. Altar. ubi su●râ.  Hospinian, 
a Cathol. Orthod. tom. 1. q. 29. p. 514.  Rivet, and all our Divines,) the Table set here in the midst, but, the Table which is here before you. Now because he saith it appears so clearly; I will appeal, not to those great Worthies I named even now, but to every Schoolboy, Whether l●terally and Grammatically, Medium doth not signify the middle part or space; (being in truth a Geometrical word of proportion, as Aristotle notes in his 
b Lib. 5. c. 7.  Ethics and whether, when it signifieth a thing set before us, it be not every where taken for a Metaphor, and a figurative Phrase; when a Reason or any other thing, 
c Haec non sunt quaesita ex occulto aliquo genere literarum, sed sumpta de medio. Cic. Orat pro domo sua. In medio posita, Things obvious to every o●e. Idem, lib. 1. de Oratore.  not so obvious before, is newly produced, and so presented unto us; as if a massy substance should be so laid in the midst between us, that (unless we close our eyes) we cannot but behold it. The Greek (from whence the Latin word, as 
d De Causis Linguae Latinae.  Scaliger observes, is derived) is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because it doth 
e Etym. magn. or, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Phavorin.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, take out an even share or proportion from either extreme; which every thing doth not do that is only set before us. And (because these conceits are fitter a great deal to be refuted by Schoolboys then Divines) observe I pray you, that the Latin word for a Table was not always Mensa, but at the first Mesa, from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith 
f Mesa quod à nobis media, à Graecis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mensa dicit potest. De Lingua Latina, l. 4.  Varro; because this Vtensill, saith he, is ever placed in the very middle space between us. So that according to this great and ancient Critic, (with whom the 
g Martin. in Lexico. Brocensis, In Covarruvias Spanish Dictionary.  modern do concur) it cannot properly be called a Table, unless it be placed, as S. Austin reports it, in Medio, in the Middle. But however Etymologies may seem more pretty than weighty Arguments, it is impossible it should be used by S. Austin in this place in that Metaphorical sense, which is here before you. For the man will not be so senseless, I presume, as to say, that Medium doth properly signify before; as that the Virtue in Ethics is to stand before the two Vices, or the Argument in Logic to stand always before the two Extremes: but that he explains his meaning by that other Phrase, 
h Pag. 56.  afferre in Medium, to bring it to us, or before us; so as we may use it as freely, if we please, as we do the meat and drink upon the table, for that very purpose laid before us. Such and such a thing was then to seek, but now afferam in Medium, I will lay it before you. Now will I make a Schoolboy (whom with his book of Phrases the Doctor hath given us for a Companion in this place) easily conceive, that S. Austin could not possibly mean it so in these words: (though the Doctor, when he scrubbed up this leaf, did little dream of what could be objected.) For the Table of the Lord, or the Sacrament of that Table, was not to be brought unto, nor to be set before these, to whom S. Austin addresseth his speech in this place. For he speaks unto the 
i Vnum genus Catechumenorum, qui audiebant verbum Dei, sed nondum petierunt Baptismum, dicebatur Audientes, sive Auditores. justell. in Cod. Can. Eccles. vet. pag. 150. And they stood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, without the Church, until the reading of the Gospel. The Scholar on Harmenop. Tom. 1. pag. 53.  Audientes, a sort of Catechumeni, and not unto the Fideles, or Faithful, in this Passage. He tells them, that they are as yet to be fed by Preachers, not by Sacraments; and bids them ply it hard, that from Hearers becoming Understanders, they may in time become Receivers; and so be fed by this Sacrament at the Lords Table. And because that very word might amaze those Novices, who were never so timely to be instructed in these mysteries, and did not know what Table that should be, which S. Austin called the Lord's Table, 
k When those words were thundered by the Deacon, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Zonar. in Concil. Neocaes'. p. 305.  (being ever driven out by the Deacon, when the Priest began to approach the holy Table) S. Austin tells them, that the Lords Table is that Table in medio constituta. How is that? Brought unto them, or ready for them? Soft and fair; nothing so. They are yet but Audientes, and have a great while 
l For we use to make them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to come by little and little unto the Church, that we may keep them the longer. Concil. C●nstantinop. 1. Canon. 7. Lest any root of bitterness lurked in them. Rupert. de divin. ●ssi●. l. 4. c. 18. And thereup ●n seven Scrutinies passed upon them, to see, an essent in Fide stabi it●. Vasq. de Bapt. q 71. art. 4.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to Time it, (as you heard before) many degrees to get thorough yet it come to that. They must be 
m Ncocaes'. Con 5.  genuflectentes, knee-benders, as the Council calls them: they must be 
n Pasch● appropinquante, dedit nomen inter alios competentes. Lib. de cura pro mortuis, c. 12. Tanquam qui jam Baptismum peterent. Beat. Rhen Praef. in Lit. Chrys.  Competentes, suitors, saith S. Austin: they must be 
o Lib. de Poenitentia.  Intincti, dipped in the Font, as Tertullian terms it, before this Table be either brought unto them, or ready for them. It is not ready for them, before they be ready for it. But that's the Lord's Table there, saith S. Austin, which you see placed in the midst of the Church. For were it in the Chancel, you could not be admitted to draw so near, as to see and view it: and could you but by chance get a 
p Albasp. Observat. l. 2. Obs●r●at. 2. ex antiquo Canone.  glimpse of the same, you were instantly (all discipline notwithstanding) to be baptised. Ply then your Catechisms and Sermons apace, that you may not only see it, but partake of it. This none are admitted to do but the Faithful; nor is it to be expected of you, 
q Being as yet Gods Bisognos, as it were, Tyrones Dei, Aug. l 2. De Orthod fide, ad Catechum. c. 1. Novitioh, Tertul de Poenit. c. 6. And their Pew was extra Ecclesiam. La Cerda vol. ● l. 5. p 275. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Throrianus in Legat. Armen.  until after two or three further degrees of Ecclesiastical discipline, you do yourselves likewise grow to be of the number of the Faithful. And whether we shall believe this Schoolboy's device, or S. Augustine expounded by himself and all Antiquity, I leave to the consideration of the learned Reader.  
But what needs this wresting and writhing of Histories, Fathers, and general Counsels? Is it such a new thing in Israel, that the Tables heretofore, and the high Altars afterwards, did stand in the midst of the Church or Chancel? or at leastwise, so far from the wall, as the Priests and Deacons might stand round about them? Did ever any learned Bapist make a question of it? Let this fellow but travel into any part of the World where Altars stand, and he cannot but blush to impose such Dreams upon the people. For the practice of the Eastern Church, I have already set down rather too many, then too few Examples. I will do the like now for the Western Church; First quoting the Authorities of some learned Pontifician Writers, ancient and modern: And then the Precedents answering these Authorities in all Ages and in all Countries whatsoever. Howbeit I found some difficulty herein: for being laughed at by all Strangers for making unto them such a foolish Question, as they deemed it; when I came home to my Study and mine own Books, I found it such a silly thing, that very easiness made it hard to be related in serious manner: as 
r Eccles. Pol. lib. 4. dist. 14.  M. Hooker speaks of not an unlike subject.  
For my Authors; I will begin with 
s Lib derebus Ecclesiastici●, c. 4.  Walafridus Strabo: who though he was but a blinker, and saw (as this Doctor doth) but with half an eye; yet could he see, that the Christians in the beginning did place their Altars indifferently, in diversas plagas, East, West, North, and South; and gives a reason for it not to be easily refuted; Quia non est locus, ubi non est Deus. God is as well the God of the West, North, and South, as he is of the East: and it is Paganish (as 
t Deo cuncta ●lena lum. Vbique non tan●ùm nobitproximus, sed infusus est. p. 75. Ista non prima & maxima contu●elia est, habitationibus Dens habere districtos? Arnob. l. 6.  Minutius Felix well observes) to make him more propitious in any one Corner of the world, than he is in another. And this Strabo died about the 
u Gulielm. Eising. citatus à Melchiore Hittorpio, prooem. in Walafridum.  year 846. One 
x Sacrorum Electorum, l. 2. c. 3.  Aloysius N●varinus writes as much, upon those words, Cir●undabo Altar tuum; That their situation was such in former times, that the Priests might encompass round about the holy Altar. But the most learned in our Age, of all that have dealt with Rites and Ceremonies, is josephus Vicecomes; who both out of the Tombs and Sepulchers of the Martyrs (the first place elected in the Church for fixing of Altars) and especially out of that passage in Eusebius we spoke of before, takes it for a very clear and indubitable Assertion, 
y Lib. 2. de Antiquis Missae ritibus, c 28.  Altaria medio in Templo allocata fuisse, that Altars were placed heretofore in the midst of the Church. And 
z De cultu Sanctorum, l. 3. c. 3.  Bellarmire himself together with 
a In 3 partem, tom. 3. disput. 81. sect. 6.  Suarez, do willingly allow they may be fixed in any posture propter loci commoditatem, if the conveniency of the place shall so require it. But the main Authority I rely upon, is the 
b Rom. Pontific. Greg. 13. Circuit ter Altar, p. 144. sem l, 145. semel, 146. and the Chaplain must perfume it continuè circumcundo, p. 144.  Roman Pontifical. Which in the Ceremonies of the Consecration of the Altar, enjoins the Bishop (in three several places at least) to compass the Altar, circumcirca, round about: Which were it fastened to the East-end, were impossible for a Mouse to perform, without a good mind prepared beforehand for the fitter accomplishment of that service. And these Authors may suffice for a Question that admits of no more difficulty.  
In the Precedents, I will begin with Rome itself; And first, with the famous place called 
c Baron. Martyrolog. Rome, Jan. 20.  Catacombe (a word of a mongrel composition, half Greek, half Latin, and signifying as much as near the Tombs) a kind of vaulted Church under the earth in a manner, of a semicircular form, seated not unhandsomely round about; wherein the ancient Bishops of Rome were wont to repose themselves in time of persecution. 
d Roma Soterran l. 3. c. 13. In medio de questo aedificio, e●un antiquissimo Altar, etc.  In the very midst whereof there stands a most ancient Altar of Marble, under the which lay for a time the Bodies of S. Peter and S. Paul, and upon the which it was not lawful heretofore for any to officiate beside the Pope himself, until Paulus Quintus, in our● memory, licenced by a special Bull, all other approved Priests to do the like. That's for the time past. For the present, S. Peter's Body being removed by Constantine unto S. Peter's Church in the Vatican, and the great Altar, called Altar Maggiore, consecrated by Pope Sylvester over the same (which is recorded in a Book kept in that Church, called Codex S. Petri, preserved to this day) the posture of this high Altar was in the midst of the Choir, and such from the beginning, that 
e Roma Soterran, lib. ●. c. 4. pag. 31.  Clemens Octavus had room enough to erect a new Altar sopra di esso, above this former Altar: which he consecrated, assisted with 38 Cardinals, 26. of June, 1594. And this very Pope, Vrbane the eighth, re-edifying and enhansing the old Altar, did not offer to change the position or situation of the same. So that the Pope himself is more tractable in this point, than this heady Author. From Rome I must lead you, as my Books lead me, to Milan, and let you see, that until Cardinal Borromaeus (made a Saint it seems for this service) did demolish them, the Altars had an indifferent situation in any part of the Church; as, under the 
f Actor. Eccles. Mediolan. part. 4. l. 1. de fabr. Eccles. p. 569.  Pulpit, where God's Word was preached; under the Organ-loft, whence God was praised; and under the Reading-desk, where the Gospel was delivered. And this continued thus, until within these threescore years. And yet in this severe Reformation, which that Cardinal made in all the Churches of the State of Milan, he doth 
g Actor. Eccles. Mediolan. part. 4. l. 1. de fabr. Eccles. p. 567.  require, that there be left a space of eight Cubits at the least between the high Altar and the Wall, to admit the assistance of more Priests and Deacons, at Feasts of Dedications, and other Appointments of solemn Masses. And this is more liberty yet, than our Doctor will afford. Howbeit, this Cardinal was so severe a Prelate, that he was once shot at with a Pistol by some of his 
h By Farina one of the Order of the Humiliati, set on by 3 Priors of the same Order Rip●mentius Hist. Eccles. Mediolan. parte 3. l. 3. p. 155.  Clergy: whereas God forbid that any man should discharge aught at D. Coal, unless it be a Shot of Jests, or a Peal of Laughter.  
From Italy, my Books transport me to Germany, where I hear 
i Crantz. in Metrop. l. 1. c. 24.  Witikind the ancient Saxon telling Charles the Great (who much endeavoured, and at last effected his Conversion to Christianity) that be observed a great deal of cheerfulness and alacrity in the Emperor's face (cast down before) when he began to approach that Table which was in the midst of the Church. And 
k Libr. de Origine Altar. c. 6. pag. 35.  Hospinian tells us, that in the Reformation which the Helvetians made at Tigure, 1527, they found that of old time the Font had been situated in that very place, where the Popish high Altar was then demolished. And looking for more, I find that 
l Exam. Concil. Tried part 4. p. 84.  Chemnitius notes that Altar in the Vatican we spoke of before, to be placed, ante Chorum, before the very Choir; which my former Author had not observed: And that 
m Praefat ante Liturg. Chrys.  Beatus Rhenanus makes a general observation, that these Wall-altars in Europe, are nothing so ancient as the Churches, but of a much fresher and later Erection. Which D. 
n An Answer of a true Christian, p. 56.  Fulk proves both of our Altars and chancels here in England, by many pregnant conjectures and probabilities.  
In France, they do not fasten (as I am informed) the high Altars to the Wall, but the lesser or Requiem-Altars only. In my 
o Le Theatre des Antiquitez. de Paris, l. 4. p. 1098. out of Sugerius a m. s. of that Abbey.  Books I find a most rich Table in the Abbey-church of S. Denys, all of beaten gold, encha'st round about with rich and curious precious stones: to the beautifying whereof (as the Children of Israel, to the enriching of the Sanctuary) the Kings, Princes, Prelates, and Nobles of that Kingdom, parted with the Stones of their chiefest Rings; as Sugerius an ancient Abbar, who hath recorded all the Curiosities of that religious house, doth report at large. This Table is not laid along the Wall, but stands Table-wise; and by the Inscription, must needs have been used heretofore for a Communion-table: It being this, 
Da pro praesenti, Coeli mensâ satiari:  
Significata magìs significante placent.  That is, 
Let this food us for Heavenly food enable,  
The signifying for signified Table.  I do 
p Le Theatre des Antiquit. l. 4. p. 1102.  read likewise, that the holy Altar in the same Church placed before the Tomb of Charles the Bald, stands in a manner in the midst of that Room. But these postures are no strangers in that Country.  
Now having led you a long round to visit the sites of the Altars in Rome, Italy, France, and Germany, I will bring you home again unto your own Country, and desire you to mark well, how Austin the Apostle of the Saxons, placed his first Altar in the Cathedral Church at Dover, dedicated to S. Peter and S. Paul. This Church hath 
q Beda Eccles. Histor. Gentis Anglor. l. 2. c. 3.  in medio sui penè, almost in the very midst thereof, an Altar, dedicated to the honour of S. Gregory the Pope. Upon the which the Priest of the place doth every Sabbath-day perform the Agends of this Austin and S. Gregory. And shall we believe, that no Church of all the English Nation, did imitate herein her first Metropolis? It is impossible it should be so. But we may the more reasonably presume, the Conjecture (for I dare not otherwise propound it) of D. 
r An Answer of a true Christian to a counterf. Catholic, Artic. 14.  Fulk to be worthy of further consideration. That if you mark the most part of the old Churches in England, you shall plainly see, that the chancels are but additions builded since the Churches. Also that some Churches are builded round, as one in Cambridge, and the Temple in London; to which may be added the old Pantheon in Rome, called by the Moderns, Santa Maria Rotunda. And many Churches (if you mark it) which are of the Gothick building, have their steeples at the East-end. Lastly, a number of our old Churches have their Isles of such a perfect Cross, that they cannot possibly see either high Altar, or so much as the Chancel. A shrewd Argument that the holy Tables in England were not fixed as the Piety of the Times would now have them, when these Churches were first erected. I will conclude all this discourse with a couple of rich and curious Tables, presented unto the two great Mother-Churches of the World, Rome & Constantinople, and leave it to your considerations, whether they were so richly enchased and adorned to lie along against the stone-wall. The first was 
s Sozom Hist. Eccl. l. 9 c. 1. Niceph. Callist. lib. 14. c. 2.  Pulchclia's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a miraculous thing for wealth, all of Gold and precious stones, and wrought thus of purpose by that incomparable Lady, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for a holy Table, as both the Greek Historians affirm. The second was sent from France, by K. 
t Concil. Sirm. Tom. 2. pag. 51. a● Ann. 761.  Pipin to Pope Stephen, and by him to be dedicated to S. Peter, and falling short of that Pope, came into the hands of Paul his Successor: Who in his Letter back again to the King, doth not say he turned it to an Altar; but that upon that very Table, which he received with Hymns, and Litanies, and consecrated with Oil, he offered Sacrifice of Praise to Almighty God for the prosperity of his Kingdom. This Table is still in Rome, and was never laid along any Wall. And because I will be better than my promise, I will propound unto you a third Table, far exceeding the other two, as having in it all the riches of the Land, and Sea (as mine Author describes it.) And this was really, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a holy Table, offered up by justinian in the Temple of Sophia in Constantinople. This had a long & admirable 
u Georgius Cedrenus Compend. Histor. ad Annum. 32. Justiniani, p. 3 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Inscription engraven, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, round about it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. We offer here Thine of Thine unto Thee, etc. Half which Inscription could not have been seen, had this Table lain along the Wall. And so much in defence of B. jewels exposition of that Passage in S. Augustine.  
The last Author quoted by B. jewel, is Durandus, whom this man turns over with another flame; That, In medio Ecclesiae aperui os meum, is as much in good English, as, I opened my mouth in the midst of the Altar. So that these two words, In Medio, Illud 
x i. Cornucopia, Plautus in Pseudolo.  Corrupiae est, ubi inest quicquid velit: It is his Cogging-box, to strike what Casts of the Dice he lists to call for. If he have to do with Eusebius, In medio signifies, between North and South: If with S. Austin, In medio is to be construed, to us, or, before us: But if with Durandus; why then, In Medio against him, is in the midst of the Altar. But Durus Durandus jacet hîc in Marmore duro. That is, 
You do but knock, whilst you against Durand warble,  
Your head of glass against his head of Marble.  For he doth with a witness aperire os suum, open his mouth so wide in this point, that he devours all your Book at one Gobbet. 
y Durand Rat. divin. l. 1. c. de. Altars.  Per Altare Cor nostrum intelligitur, quod est in medio corporis, sicut Altare in medio Ecclesiae. By the Altar is to be understood our heart, which is in the midst of the Body, as the Altar is in the midst of the Church. If you be a good Ramist, analyse these words a little. No sensible Sacrifice is offered upon the Heart: which makes an end of your first Section. A material Altar cannot become a Predicate to the Heart: which makes an end of your second Section. The Heart is situated in the middle, and not in the Heels of a man; which gives a wipe to your third Section. So that you had been as good let Durand alone, to sleep and take his nap in Moralizations and Allegories, as awake him thus between Hawk and Buzzard, to blast the fair hopes of your expected Conquest.  
But hang Durand; he is but a Child to those grey hairs and hundreds of years, that the Wallaltar is able to show. And this shall be made to appear in one 
z Pag. 56.  word, and all this Combat ended at one Blow. For as the Greek Proverb saith, that the Fox hath many tricks, but the Hedgehog, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, though but one, yet a great one; to wind up himself towards a Combat, so that his Adversary shall have nothing but 
a Plin. Histor. natural, l. 9 c. 12.  Prickles to fight against: So saith the Doctor here; that although B. jewel was put to many shifts in this kind, and to call for the helps of many Fathers, Counsels, and Canonists to protect his cause; Yet my Don Nos●tros will not lay hold on any such poor advantage. We will allege one Testimony, and no more but one: Pero, But such a one as shall do the business, as shall give very good assurance of that general usage, (that the holy Table lay Altarwise all along the East-end of the Church) and that is this: Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History, lib. 5. cap. 21. speaking of the different Customs in the Christian Church, saith of the Church of Antioch, the chief City of Syria, that it was built in different manner from all other Churches. How so? Because the Altar was not placed to the Eastward, but to the Westward. Nicephorus, lib. 12. cap. 24. observes it generally of all the Altars in that City, and note's withal, that they were situate in a different manner from all other Altars. I have set down these words entirely and at large, because I intent to let the Reader see the silliness of this Braggart, in understanding never a word aright of all this passage, which he so much insists upon. And first, this must needs be a Halt he hath learned from 
b Pag. 20.  Lame Giles, to borrow Quotations, Mistakes and all. For this place of Nicephorus is not to be found, lib. 12. cap. 24. but lib. 12. cap. 34. And I beshrew him for this trick, making me to read Nicephorus all over in a manner to find it out, and to run through so many strange Miracles, that I am now much disposed to believe any man that speaks of his own, though not this Doctor yet, because he speaks (as you see) out of another man's knowledge. And for Socrates likewise, though in Latin he cities him right (according to Musculus his Translation) yet in the 
c See Socrat. ex officina Rob. Steph Lutet. Paris, 1544. p. 249.  Greek (which he takes upon him to have read) it is not the 21, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the 22. Chapter. So that this may be truly called, Lame Giles his Halting. Secondly, both his Authors, Socra●es and Nicephorus, when they enter into the discourse of this Variety of Rites in the Christian Churches, set down this Rule for a Proem, That it no way infringeth the Unity of the Faith; so as it is not material to the true piety of the times, how our Tables are placed Thirdly, these Historians do not note these Rites of the Altars of the City of Antioch, as different from all other Altars, (this is an addition of D. Coal) or from the general practice of the Church. No such matter. Sed ab Ecclesia Romana Ceremoniis discrepâsse, that they varied in these Rites from the Church of Rome only, as 
d De Missae ritibus, lib. 2. ●. 5.  josephus Vicecomes proves at large. Fourthly, this man pitifully forgets himself, unless it be true what some report; that the Pamphlet was penned by more than one. Doth not he say that Antioch is the chief City in Syria? And did not he say, but two 
e Pag. 54.  leaves before, that all the people in Syria might possibly place the Altar in the middle of the Church, to comply with, and allude unto the jewish Altars? 
f See this proved by Dr. Willet, 6. general Controvers. q. 6.  And was not both the Temple at Jerusalem, and the Altar there, builded toward the West? This Doctor may have a good wit, because he hath a very bad memory. Fifthly, the man surely hath not seen the Greek, nor observed well Musculus his Translation. For neither Socrates nor Nicephorus do say, that the Altars were placed to the Westward, or did stand Westward. All these are mistake. Socrates doth not speak at all of any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or position of these Altars, but of the Churches only. Nicephorus who copied him out, adds (besides his Author) the posture of the Altars; but presently corrects himself in Socrat●s his word, that his meaning was the same with Socrates, that the Altars there did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not stand, but look and carry an aspect Westward, where ever they were sited and fixed. And this is the true point in Question; not where the Altars stood, but to what part of the heavens he that officiated upon the Altar, did bend his looks, as Walafridus Strabo, though 
g As he is plaised to call himself: H●●e pus exiguum Valafridus pauper h●besque though he was indeed in omni doctrin●rum genere celeberrimus. Gulie●m. ●isinger cited by Hittor ius.  pauper hebésque, a poor and heavy Author, did better 
h De rebus Eccles. 6. 4.  state it then this Doctor. It is true indeed, that (as these Historians write) the Churches & Altars must be built 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so as the Priest may turn a contrary way to that they do that pray only to the East. And this B. jewel observes to be used at this day, 
k Articl. 3. pag. 146.  in all the great Churches of Milan, Naples, Lions, Mentz, and Rome, and in the Church of S. Laurence in Florence, the Priest in his service standing towards the West, with his face still upon the People, howsoever their Altars be standing or placed. Sixthly, This is utterly against what the man labours for all this while. He desires to 
l pag. 23.  stand at the North-end of a Table laid Altarwise all along the Wall, looking (as that posture requires) towards the South; and to bring this project to pass, he makes (or would fain make) these two Historians to say, that the general practice of the Church (besides a few places in Antioch) was to make their Altar's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, always to look towards the East. Howbeit properly the Altars cannot be said to look at all; but those only that officiate, or pray upon these Altars. Lastly, the Coal being now quite spent, that he might be sure to go out with a stench, especially in the sense of those Readers that have any Noses, doth fain a Tenet to be maintained, which is opposed in all the Letter, That Communion tables should not stand or be placed towards the East. Who ever said so man? The Writer of the Letter is but too much for it, not allowing the ordinary exceptions of 
m De cultu Sanctor. l. 3. c. 3.  Bellarmine, 
n Suarez in 3am partem Thom. ubi suprá.  Suarez, or 
o De reb. Eccles. c. 4.  Walafridus Strabo before them, that it might be otherwise, when the Conveniency of the building doth require it. It may stand to the East, in the body of the Church, much more in the body of the Chancel, unless the man would have it planted in Eden (where God planted his Orchard) to be sure it stood far enough in the East.  
I will conclude this Brangle with a better reason than any this doughty scribbler could think of, why all the Churches in those parts had their Altars and postures, in the same manner that the Temple and Synogogues of the jews were formerly contrived. Because upon every occasion of their Conversion to Christianity, the entire Synagogues of the jews undemolished and unaltered, were turned in a trice to Christian Churches, as you may read at large in two several Greek 
p Ex M. S. Palatinis vetustissimis Athanas. Oper. G. I. tom. 2. pag. 6 31. & 632. Peter Bishop of Nicomedia attests this book. Concil. Nicen. 2. Act. 4.  Copies lately printed, of a Book written by S. Athanasius under this title, De passione Imaginis Domini nostri, etc. But how indifferent they were in the midst of Rome itself in those primitive times how their Churches should stand, the very Titles of the Cardinals preserved to this day do clearly witness, being all of them (in a manner) converted to sacred use from the habitations of private men. Especially that of our Countrywoman (if we may believe our Popish 
q Broughto●s Eccles. History of Brit. Age 1. c. 1. Parsons 3 Convers. part 1. c. 1. p. 17. Baron. in Martyrolog. Roman ad 19 Maij.  Heralds) the Lady Claudia, who suffering this part of her patrimony (the first lodging of S. Peter in that City) to descend upon her daughter by Pudens, gave an opportunity to have it converted to a Title and a Church, called at this day Sancta Pudentiana: A blushing Saint, to whom this Doctor (when his Altar is up, and conveniently beautified) should do very well to address more special and peculiar devotions.  
And here I could make an end, if the Doctors ignorance would give me leave: Which I cannot endure should abuse so mild and patient a Reader, as hath held out so long a Discourse of no more use or consequence unto him in the reiglement of his Soul, or advantage of his Civil conversation. And that is, in his foolish definition of the Diptyches in the primitive Church, which is this; The 
r pag. 55.  Diptyches, i.e. The Commemoration of those famous Prelates and other persons of chief note, which had departed in the Faith. A description, that no man, who could with the help of a Lexicon have but known the meaning of the Greek word, would ever have offered (in this learned age) to have imposed upon his Readers. I have seen a naughty boy, that having but two leaves of his ABC left, being gravelled in the one, would tear it out, and go very pertly to be posed of his Master in the other. No otherwise doth our judicious Divine. (— 
s Virg. Aegl. 1.  Sic parvis componere magna solemus.) behave himself in this place. The Diptyches in the primitive Church, were two Leaves, Tables or Board's, bound like an oblong Book: in the one Column whereof were written the Names of such worthy Popes, Princes, Prelates, and other men of noted Piety, that remained yet alive; and in the other, a like Catalogue of such famous men, as were already departed in their sleep, as the Greek, or in their pause, as the Mozarabick Liturgy terms it. This man having heard by some body, that there was heretofore out of these Tables a Commemoration of the dead at the time of high Mass or Communion, was willing to let the world understand so much, and therefore made haste to put it in print. But being unskilled in the other leaf, he tore it quite out of his ABC; as not bound by any law of God or man, to write any more than he knew himself.  
Now the Greek word in general, signifies any thing that is twofold, in the form of a pair of Tables: And in this particular, was (without all Question) borrowed for this sacred use, from the first Book of Homer's Iliads; where 
t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— Iliod. l.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉—. doth signify their laying of a 
u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Didymus.  fold or lining of tallow on the one side, and another fold of fat or tallow on the other side of the flesh which was to be offered in the Heathen Sacrifice, to make it burn the clearer and sooner in the Holocaust. From this proper and real, it was taken by the Greek Fathers to signify that Metaphorical and improper Sacrifice of Commemoration, as well of the living, as of the dead, used in the Church in those ancient times. And these Tables were always double, as I have told you the word generally doth require and import. 
x Annot. in Liturg. S. Petri. p. 39  Lindan saw one of them at Biscay in Spain at the Church of S. George. They were like two little doors, a foot and a half high, to be opened in time of high Mass, and closed again assoon as it was finished. They contained the names of general Counsels, Popes, Emperors, Princes, Prelates; the living in the one page, and the dead in the other; saith 
y Observat. Eccles de Missae apparatu. l. 7. c. 17. Tom. 4.  josephus Vicecomes. They were two Tables; the one containing the names of those that were alive, the other of those that were departed, saith learned 
z In verbo, Diptycha.  St Henry Spilman. And it must be a true description. For besides that we read the Priest commemorating the living and the dead in S. 
a Bibl. vet. Patr. tom 2. pag. 16. et 17.  james and S. 
b In the Edition of S. Andrea's, p. 21. and p. 29.  Peter's, and the Deacons perfuming the Diptyches of the living and the dead in S. 
c Tom. 2. vet. ●atr. p. 53.  Basils' and S. 
d Ibid pag. 80.  Chrysostoms' Liturgy; 
e Niceph. Histor. Eccles. lib. 16 c. 19  Euphemius is said with his own hands to have put out Mongus, that was dead, and inserted Felix, that was alive: And 
f Concil. juxta Bin. tom. 2. pag. 508.  Timotheus is charged in a general Council by the Bishops of Egypt, for scraping out Proterius, and inscribing himself and Dioscorus into the sacred Diptyches. Nor have I ever read any learned man that gave this wooden book any fewer than these two Columns. I have read of 
g Ambros. Pelarg. Annot. in Chrysost. liturg. Wormatiae, Anno 1541. Annot. 63. in hoc verbum, Duplicata.  one that gave it four, two in either leaf. The first contained a Memorial of Saints already blessed: The Second, a remembrance of good people at rest; but not yet consummated: The third made a rehearsal of pious and exemplary men, that they might be hereby more encouraged: The last was an enumeration of some notorious and debauched people, that they might by this means become ashamed of themselves, and in time amended. And into this Column, I could be willing, if the Church approve thereof, this railing Doctor might be inserted: Promising, that if ever I hear those Diptyches read in the time of the Communion at the holy Table (though laid Altarwise, and all along at the East-end-wall) yet shall it not deter me in my devotions from saying thereunto a hearty AMEN.  
FINIS.