as Paul chose to be present at certain Jewish feasts,(863) not for
any respect to the feasts themselves, nor for any honour which he meant to
give them, but for the multitudes' cause who resorted to the same, among
whom he had a more plentiful occasion to spread the gospel at those
festivities than at other times in the year.

I had thought here to close this chapter; but finding that, as the parrot,
which other while useth the form of a man's voice, yet being beaten and
chaffed, returneth to his own natural voice, so some of our opposites, who
have been but erst prating somewhat of the language of Canaan against us,
finding themselves pressed and perplexed in such a way of reasoning, have
quickly changed their tune, and begin to talk to us of warrants of another
nature nor of the word of God. I am therefore to digress with them. And I
perceive, ere we know well where they are, they are passed from Scripture
to custom. For if we will listen, thus saith one of the greatest note
among them, Bishop Andrews(864) I trow they call him: "We do but make
ourselves to be pitied other while (well said) when we stand wringing the
Scriptures (well said) to strain that out of them which is not in them
(well said), and so can never come liquid from them (well said), when yet
we have for the same point the church's custom clear enough. And that is
enough by virtue of this text" (meaning 1 Cor. xi. 16). And after he
saith, that we are taught by the Apostle's example in "points of this
nature, of ceremony or circumstance, ever to pitch upon _habemus_, or _non
habemus talem consuetudinem_."

_Ans._ 1. The text gives him no ground for this doctrine, that in matters
of ceremony we are to pitch upon _habemus_ or _non habemus talem
consuetudinem_, so that he is wide away, whilst he spendeth the greatest
part of his sermon in the pressing of this point, that the custom of the
church should be enough to us in matters of ceremony, and particularly in
the keeping of Easter; for the custom of the church there spoken of, is
not concerning a point of circumstance, but concerning a very substantial
and necessary point, namely, not to be contentious: neither doth the
Apostle urge those orders of the men's praying uncovered, and the women's
praying veiled, from this ground, because so was the church's custom (as
the Bishop would have it), but only he is warning the Corinthians not to
be contentious about those matters, because the churches have no such