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their Parents, Masters Husbands, not onely by way of Counsell or advise,
which they may obey or reject at pleasure; but of Iurisdiction and Authority;
so farre as to be enforced to obedience, and justly punished for disobedience
or neglect, according to the quality of the offence and contempt. Thus in∣feriours
of all sorts, in a politicke relation onely (as subjects to their Princes,
to all subordinate Magistrates Officers, in their respective places of power▪
Kingdomes to their Parliaments, Cities to their Majors, Aldermen, and Com∣mon-Councell;
Companies to their Masters, Wardens and Assistants; Soul∣diers
to their Generals, Commanders of all Rankes; Schollars to their Tutors,
Colledges to their Rectors, mariners to their Masters) both by the Law of
God Nature, Nations & Dictat of common reason, are subject to all just orders
Mandates of these their superiours, to which they must yeeld obedience under
paine of such punishments as are answerable to their contempt and disobe∣dience.
The same rule and reason holds as firmely in all Ecclesiasticall Rela∣tions:
Take severall private Christians as Christians, or severall Parishes or
Congregations, as they are such; and it is certain one of them hath no Iuris∣diction
nor power at all over another in any Ecclesiasticall matters, either to
prescribe Lawes to, or inflict censures upon one another; but only a power to
exhort, admonish, reprove, advise, or assist one another in a brotherly way. But
yet looke upon the selfe-same particular persons, Churches, as Members of a
Parochiall or Nationall Church, and then in this Relation they are and
ought to be subject to the just rules, precepts, Canons, Orders of the Mini∣sters,
and whole Congregation of which they are Actuall Members,
even in point of conscience; and every particular Church, must and
ought readily to submit to the just Canons, Constitutions, Orders, determi∣nations
Ecclesiasticall Censures of the whole. Representative Nationall, or
Provinciall Church, Councell, ynod, ratified by Authority of Parliament,
in a Regular way, under paine of Obinacy, Contempt, Disobedience
and exemplary punishment; there being the selfe-same reason and equity for
severall combined Churches in a Councel Synod Presbytery to have a coecive
power over every particular Church within their limits as for any particu∣lar
Congregation, to claim or exerise a jurisdiction in point of direction or cor∣rection,
over any or every particular member of it. Our Independents no
doubt will grant, that if two or three severall Congregations unite themselves
into one Church, they do by vertue of this union, become all lyable to the
Iurisdiction, Canons, Orders Determinations, Censures of that one Church;
and those, who whiles divided, had no authority nor power, but onely of their
owne members, have by this union a Iurisdiction over the Members of all
these Churches, thus eonjoyned into one: As it is with several persons united in∣to
one Corporation Society, Church, or when severall powers Or jurisdictions
meet and joyne together in one, as the Parliaments, Commissioners, Armies of
two Provinces, Kingdome in one Parliament Councel Army; the Lords, Com∣mons,
Knights and Burgesses of every County, Citty, Town, and Burrough in
both Realmes in one Parliament, they have by this their union the whole
power and authority of both united Kingdomes, Armies, Parliaments.
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