A treatise of episcopacy confuting by Scripture, reason, and the churches testimony that sort…

This present experience openeth to us to the day. What did set up Luther, and Melanchthon, and Illyricus, but their eminent parts? What ⟨p. 171⟩else gave Zuinglius and […] the Presidency at Zurich? What else did set up Calvin, and Beza at Geneva? And Knox and Henderson in Scotland▪ And all our Parishes that have Chapels and Curates show it here in England: Where one man for his worth is thought merest to have the Benefice and chief cure; but others may be chosen by him and placed under him, and maintained by him (by the Bishops allowance) as his curates.

This present experience openeth to us to the day. What did set up Luther, and Melancthon, and Illyricus, but their eminent parts? What ⟨p. 171⟩else gave Zuinglius and 〈…〉 the Presidencie at Zurich? What else did set up Calvin, and Beza at Geneva? And Knox and Henderson in Scotland▪ And all our Parishes that have Chappels and Curates shew it here in England: Where one man for his worth is thought meerest to have the Benifice and chief cure; but others may be chosen by him and placed under him, and maintained by him (by the Bishops allowance) as his curates.

And indeed it was so long before Academies made a sufficient store of men of sufficiency for every Presbyters place, that for four or five hundred years, there were few bred up to competent Learning, except either under Heathens, or else in a Bishops house, or here and there as an Auditor of some one rare Teacher▪ Clemens Alexandrinus, as a Disciple of Pantenus and Origene of clemens, and some few others, came to Learning, as auditors in that Alexandrian School: But few other places besides Alexandria had any such School of a long time, in so much as Nazianzen, Basil, Greg. Nissen. Chrysostom, &c. were taught at Athens, by Lybanius and such other Heathens; And Ambrose, Augustine, and many others, were in a manner [Greek or Hebrew] self taught, so that it was not possible then to have many Learned men ordinarily for one Church (or congregation) And yet many Presbyters certainly they had. Which is the true cause that one Learned man was made an Overseer and Guide to the rest, who were his Curates or Assistants, gifted like our wiser sort of the Laity, but of the same Office and order with him; And this Bishop was the usual Preacher, and the other did learn of him to Preach, and grew up under him as Scholars; and he that came to greatest abilities under him, was chosen for a Bishop to another Church that wanted, but not without his own Bishops consent, which made the debate in Councils so frequent, whether a Presbyter might remove to another Church, or be chosen for a Bishop of another Church? And an African Council giveth it as a Reason why that Bishop that had able Presbyters, should not refuse to let one go to be a Bishop elsewhere, because where there were many fit to be Presbyters, there were but few men fit to be made Bishops, which implieth that they took it not then for a mere place of order, where one man of equal parts was for Unity to rule the rest, but for a necessary difference of exercising the same Office, because of the different abilities of the Officers: Which was not only to keep an order by disparity of places, but to educate the Presbyters to greater abilities, and to manage Gods work in each assembly more skilfully and guide the Church more prudently, and defend the truth more powerfully, than common unlearned Presbyters could do.