seauen golden candlesticks are y e seauen Congregations Yea we say with saynt Paul 1. Cor. 10. Calix benedixionis cui benedicimus nonne communicatio sanguinis Christi est Panis quem frangimus nonne participatiò corporis Domini est The Cuppe or as you call it the Chalice that we blesse is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread that we breake is it not the partaking of the bodye of the Lord Quoniam vnus panis vnum corpus multi sumus Omnes quidem de vno pane de vno calice participamus For we being many are but one loafe of breade and one body And we doo all take part of one loafe of bread and of one cuppe If you therefore would deny that the Sacramentall cuppe is the Communion of the blood of Christ or that the sacramentall breade is the partaking of the bodie of the Lorde we would say that you doo lie and doo make the Apostle Paule a lyar and so consequently God himselfe for the spéeche that Paule vseth is not his but Gods that spake in him We doo beléeue that the body and bloud of Christ are giuen taken eaten and drunken of the faithfull in the Lords supper after a heauenlie and spiritual manner but yet verily and indéede Yea and that faith is y e meane whereby the bodie and bloud of Christ are receiued in the Supper All this we beléeue and confesse and your selfe Frier John had once learned this and did confesse it in my Church without Creplegate of London before many witnesses You doo vs open wrong therefore in that you say that we make God a lyer and say that he gaue not his body to his disciples but bread onely which is fully contrarie to the foresaid texts of Scripture And as touching the sentences that you cite out of the sixt Chapter of S. Iohn we acknowledge Christ to be that bread that came downe from heauen And that whosoeuer shall eate of that bread shall liue for euer And he that eateâ—h not the flesh of the sonne of man and drinketh not hys bloud shall not haue life in himselfe But he that eateâ—â— the flesh of Christ and drinketh his bloude shall haue life euerlasting and Christ will rayse him vppe in the latter day But héere you must gyue vs leaue to sale as S. Austen dooth and we must request you to thinke no worse of vs then you doo of him so long as we shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him For hee is a Catholick docter and I thinke you doo take him so to be If we therefore shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him I hope you will take vs for Catholickes also First I must tell you that in the place that you cite the words be thus Ego sum panis viâ—â—s and not panis vâ—tae That is the liuing bread and not the bread of life I note this because the meaning of our Saâ—â—our Christe was as you haue said to bring the Jewes to the knowledge of his diuinity by considering that the Manna which fell from heauen and was accounted to be the bread of life was not that liuing bread that liueth and hath life of it selfe and is the fountaine of life to al liuing creatures y t they might be occasioned to sée that the Manna was to the Fathers as our Sacrament is to vs a visible â—â—gne representing vnto theÌ„ this liuing bread as â—ur Sacrament dooth represent the same vnto vs. Concerning this matter saynt Austen wryteth thus in his 26. treatise vpon the Gospell of saint Iohn Patres vestri Manna manducaueruÌ„t mortui sunt noÌ„ quia maluÌ„ erat MaÌ„na sed quiamale maÌ„ducaueruÌ„t Hic est panis qui de coelo desceÌ„dit Hunc paneÌ„ significauit manna Hunc paneÌ„ significauit altare Dei SacrameÌ„ta illa fueruÌ„t in signis diuersa sunt sed in re que significatur paria sunt ApostoluÌ„ audi Nolo enim vos inquit ignorare fratres quia patres nostrâ— omnes sub nube fueruÌ„t omnes mare traÌ„sieruÌ„t omnes per Mosen baptizati sunt in nube in mari omnes eandeÌ„ escaÌ„ spiritu alem manducauerunt Spiritualem vtique eandeÌ„ nam corporalem alteraÌ„ quia illi Manna nos aliud spiritualem veroâ—quam nos Sed patres nostri non patres illorum quibus nos similes sumus non quibus illi similes fuerunt Et adiungit Et omnes eundem potum spiritualem biberunt Aliud illi aliud nos sed specie visibiliquidem tamen hoc idem significante virtuâ—e spirituali Quomoâ—o enim eundem potuÌ„ Bibebant inquit de spirituâ—li sequeÌ„te pâ—tra petra autem erat Christus Indepanis inde potus Petra Christus in signo verus Christus in verbo in carne That is to say Your Fathers did eate Manna and are deade not because Manna was an euill thing but because they did not eate it aright This is the bread that came downe from heauen Manna did signifie this breade The Lordes Altare did signifie thys breade Those thinges were Sacraments in signes they be dyuers but in the thing that is signified they are alike Gyue care to the Apostle For he sayth Brethren I would not haue you ignorant that all our Fathers were vnder the Clowde and that they did all passe thorow the Sea and that they were all baptized by Moses in the clowde and in the Sea and that they did all eate one and the same spirituall meate The same spirituall meate indéede for the corporall was another for they did eate Manna and we an other thing but the spirituall was the same that we doo eate But these were our Fathers not theirs They to whom we are like not they to whom they were like And hée addeth to this And they did all drinke of one spirituall drinke but in the visible kind they did drinke one thing and we another and yet signifying the selfâ— same thing in spirituall vertue But howe was it the same drink They dranke sayth he of y e spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rocke was Christ Hence was the bread and hence was the drinke In a signe the Rocke is Christ but Christ indéede is in the word and in the flesh Can any man wryte or speake more plainly on our side in this matter then S. Austen hath doone in these wordes that I haue héere â—ited Doth he not plainly affirme that the Manna was to the faithfull Fathers in the wilderâ—es euen the selfe same thyng that the sacramentall breade in the Lordes supper is to vs nowe And that the Rocke in the Wildernes was vnto them the same thing that the cuppe in the Lords supper is vnto vs nowe And what wyll you haue vs to grant you a reall presence of Christes bodie and bloode in the Manna and in the Rocke And howe can you then require vs to grant it in the sacramentall bread wine S. Austen sayth that they and
not doubt to say this is my bodie when he gaue the signe of his body If there were no more but this one place of S. Austen it might suffice for the turning about of these foure péeces of Ordinaunce and the making of them ready to be shot off against Frier John and his fellowes For the force of them all consisteth in this one assertion When our Sauiour Christ tooke breade and gaue thankes or blessed and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples saying Take eate this is my bodie He did deliuer vnto those Disciples his owne body And when he did after supper take the Cuppe or Chalice saying thys Chalice is the Newe testament in my bloud c. He did deliuer hys owne bloâ—d Which thing S Austen denieth when he saith The Lorde doubted not to saie this is my bodie when he deliuered the signe of his body For the signe and the thing signified are Disparata thinges seperated the one from the other The thing therefore that is the signe of another thing can not by anie meanes be that thing whereof it is a signe As the Juâ—e or other matter that is hanged out to be a signe of Wyne to be solde can in no case be saide to be that Wine that is to be solde but a signe thereof onely Yea though wine indéede were setforth to be a signe of wyne to be solde or breade indéede were set forth to be a signe of bread to bee solde yet that wine and that breade could not rightly be sayd to be the same wyne or bread that is to be solde whereof that wyne or breade so set forth is but a signe And yet neither S. Austen nor we doo denie but that the name of the thing signified by a Sacrament may be giuen to the Sacrament because Sacraments haue a certaine similitude of those thinges whereof they be sacraments S. Austen writing to Bonifacius Epistola 23. saith thus Si enim Sacramenta quandam similitudinem earum rerum quarum sacramenta sunt non haberent omnino sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerumque etiam ipsarum rerum nomina accipiunt Sicut ergo secunduÌ„ quendaÌ„ moduÌ„ sacramentuÌ„ corporis Christi corpus Christi est et sacrameÌ„tuÌ„ sanguinis Christi sanguis Christâ— estâ—ita sacramentuÌ„ fidei fides est c. If sacraments had not a certaine similitude of those thinges whereof they be Sacraments they were indéede no Sacraments And of the same similitude they doo for the most parte take also the names of those thinges whereof they be sacraments Therefore as after a certaine manner the sacrament of the body of Christ is the body of Christ and the Sacrament of the bloude of Christ is the bloud of Christ euen so the sacrament of fayth is fayth c. Thus you may sée and as I thinke you doo sée that these words This is my body doo not proue any other presence of Christ in the Sacrament then that which may be called sacramentall mysticall heauenly and spirituall And to make this matter more plaine vnto you I wyll let you sée certaine places of Scripture where the like spéeche is vsed and in the like meaning Ezechiell the Prophet is commaunded to shaue of the hayre of his heade and beard to deuide it into thrée equall partes c. As it is written in the fiâ—t Chapter of his booke of Prophecies and then to say Thus sayth the Lord God This is JerusaleÌ„ c. By the circumstaunce of this text it is manifest that the meaning of that sentence This is Jerusalem was not that the dooing of those thinges that there were doone was the Ciâ—ty Jerusalem really but that the miserable estate of that Cittie was signified thereby In the 12. Chapter of Exodus concerning the eating of y e Pasouer it is written thus After this manner ye shall eate it Ye shall gyrde vp your loynes and yâ— shall haue yoâ—r shooes vppon your â—éete holding staâ—es in your handes and you shall make hast in eating of it for it is Phase â—d est transiâ—us domini That is the Lordes Pasâ—â—er or passing by of the Lord. These wordes are not the words of Moses but of God himselfe spoken by Moses at the commaundement of God Neuer did any man as I thinke conceiue any such opinion of these wordes as you and your sort doo shewe your selues to haue conceiued of those wordes that our Sauiour Christ spake at his last supper which you woulde haue to be of such force that whensoeuer they shalbe breathed out by anie of your Priestes ouer breade and wyne Cum intentione conficiendi as you haue it in the cautiles of your masse that is with purpose or intent to make the bodye of Christ then of necessity the substance both of the breade and of the wyne must be turned into the substaunce of the body and bloud of Christ And whosoeuer shall deny this must néedes be accounted as one that maketh God a Lyer Agayne in the 15. Chapter of S. Iohns Gospell Ego sum vitis vera Pater meâ—s agricoia est I am the true or right vyne and my father is the husband man or vine tyllar And in the same Chapter Ego sum vitis voâ— palmitâ—s I am the vine and you are the braâ—nches And in the tenth Chapter of the same Gospell Ego sum ostium I am the doore Ego sum Pastor bonus I am the good shéephearde And in the 14. Chapter Ego sum via I am the way In all these spéeches you are contented to admit a figure and to confesse that the spéeches are figuratiue But in Hoc est corpus meum Thys is my bodie you may not abide to heare of any figure at all And why Because the admitting of a figure there wold marre all your market All your Cloysters of Monks Chanons Fryars Nunnes Colliges of Cannons and massing Priestes Chauntries Obbets Anniuersaries Trentalles Monthes mindes and masses of Requiem are builded vpon thys foundation Hoc est corpus meum This is my bodie in plaâ—ne speech without any manner of figure But if you once admit a figure in that spéeche downe goe all these goodly buildings and Frier John Fraunces and his fellowes must learne to eate their bread in the sweate of theyr owne faces as other poore men doo You must stick to it therefore and tell these â—ereticke Protestants that in denying the Reall presence in the blessed sacrament of the Altare they make God a lyer We denie not but doo confesse that the breade and the wyne in the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christe are the body and bloud of Christ euen as the Pascall Lambe was the passing by of the Lorde as the Rocke in the Wyldernes was Christ Petraerat Christus The Rocke was Christ saith Saint Paule 1. Cor. 10 and as the seauen starres spoken of in the firste of the Reuelations of S. Iohn are the seauen Angels of the seauen Congregations And as y e
I pray you what shall be sayde then to you that are Minime Fryers and all others that are altogether vnable eyther to féede or clothe others or themselues shall not the contrarye sentence trowe you be gyuen agaynst such Goe ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the deuill and his angels For I was hungry and you fedde me not I was thirsty and you gaue mee no drinke I was naked and you clothed mee not c. Beléeue me Fryer John if those wordes that you cite out of the 25. of saynt Mathewe should meane as by your writing you séeme to vnderstand theÌ„ the case of you of al such as doo either by vow or otherwise make theÌ„selues vnable to doo those good workes y t you speake of shalbe very hard Your voluntary vowe wil not then excuse you In the 7. Chap. of S. Mathew our sauiour Christ sayth Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem Depart from me all ye y t worke iniquity and doo not you worke iniquity When you hauing receiued from God good gifts by the vse whereof you might be able to féede and clothe your selfe and to helpe to féede and cloth others haue bounde your selfe by a vowe to leade such a kynde of life that of necessity you must either be fedde and clad by others or els perish by the lacke of thinges necessary Doo not you worke iniquity when you doo not onely robbe your naturall Parents your Prince and Countrey of that helpe that both by the Lawe of nature and by the Lawes of God and of your Country all these ought to haue at your hands but also of that reléefe helpe and seruice which all these might and ought to haue out of the labours of others but are by your hypocriticall meanes drawne from them that you may be thereby maintained in idlenes I knowe that such as haue not such gifts or be by any meanes naturall or casuall as we may terme it made vnable both to helpe other themselues must be sustayned by the labour of others and shall not be reiected as they that doo not féede and clothe Christ in his members but yet so that they haue mercifull hartes and doo pitty the case of the néedy when they shall sée them in misery But this is not your case Take héede to your selfe in time Fryer John for I feare there is no place in heauen for purgatory Fryers And thus much for that great double Cannon that you haue brought out of the 25. of saynt Mathewes Gospell with the reste that you haue tolde vs of and we haue viewed and séene The recoyle of them hath hurte you much more then the shott hath anoyeo vs. Nowe let vs sée what great Ordinaunce you haue bent agaynst that Bulworke of ours wherein we stande and denie the reall presence of Christ in the blessed Sacrament of the Altare Thus you say The Fryar Nowe as touching that which you deâ—y concerning the reall presence in the blessed Sacrament of the Altare Looke I pray you in the xxvi of S. Mathewe where these wordes are written Caenantibus autem eis accepit Iesus panem et benedixit ac fregit deditque discipulis suis aiâ— Accipite commedite Hoc est corpus meum c. That is to say why lest the rest were at Supper Iesus tooke breade blessed it and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples and saide Take and eate this is my body The same altogether we reade in the 14. Chapter of the Gospell of S. Marke sauing onely that he sayth Sumite hoc est corpus meum where as the foresayd Euangelist sayth Accipite commedite Agayne in the 22. Chapter of S. Luke we reade the same in wordes as it sâ—emeth more plaine then the before written words are For hee sayth Accepto pane gratias egit et fregit â—t dedit illis diceus Hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis datur Similiter calicem postquam caenauit dicens Hic est calix nouum Testamentum in sanguine meo qui pro uobis fundetur The English of these Latine wordes is thys Iesus Christ hauing taken bread gaue thankes and brake it gaue it to his disciples saying This is my body In like manner also the chalice after that he had sâ—pped saying This chalice is the newe Testament in my blood which shalbe shedde for you Or as Saint Marke in his Gospell sayth Accepto calice c. That is to say Hauing taken the chalice he gaue it to his disciples saying Thys is my bloud of the Newe testament which shalbe shed for many Thus you see howe that all the three Euangelists agree in thys poynt howe that our blessed Sauiour gaue to his disciples in hys last supper his most precious body and bloude I haue not shewed this vnto you by the savings of holie doctors but by the wordes of our Sauiour himselfe vnto the intent that you may beleue me We reade in the 6. Chapter of the Gospell after S. Iohn how that our Sauiour endeuouring to bring the hard harted Iewes vnto the knowledge of his diuinitie spake these wordes I am the bread of life which came downe from heauen If any body eate of this breade he shall liue for euer and the bread which I wil giue is my flesh for the life of this worlde Againe in the same Chapter If you eate not the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke hys bloude ye shall not haue life in you Verely verely I say vnto you he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud shall haue lyfe euerlasting and I wyll rayse him vp from death in the latter day You say the contrary nowe you make God a lyer you say that he gaue them not his body but onely breade which is fully contrary to the foresayd texts of Scripture Crovvley These foure double Cannons that this valiant Captayne Frier John hath planted against y e Forte of our faith are of excéeding great force but he hath so ouercharged them that when he shall put fire to them they must of necessitie recoyle with such force that the Captaine with all his company are like to bée in verie great daunger For off they will not goe against our Forte and breake they can not Yea we are in good hope that we shall haue such ayde at the hands of S. Austen and his companie that this great Ordinaunce shalbe turned against the whole Armie of the Romish Catholickes and shotte of so freshlye that they shall hardlie escape the losse of the Romane honour for euer And first let vs sée what may be doone with the first of these Cannons called CaenaÌ„tibus autem eis c. Whylst that the rest were at supper c. S. Austen in that booke that he wrote agaynst Adimantus and in the 12. Chapter of that booke wryteth thus Non enim dominus dubitauit dicere â—â—â— est corpus meum cum signum daret corporis sâ—i The Lord sayth S. Austen did
we differ not in the thing signified although we differ in the signes Theyr signes were Manna and the Rocke or water that ishewed out of the Rocke and our signes are the Breade and the Cuppe or the wyne vsed in the Lords supper But the spirituall meate and drinke that both they and wee doo eate and drinke is the very body and bloud of Christ that innocent Lambe that hath béene slaine for the sinnes of the world euen from the beginning of the world And to giue vs occasion to consider that not euery one that receiueth the Sacrament dooth also receiue the body and bloud of Christ S. Austen sayth thus Oâ—r Fathers not their Fathers They to whom we are like not they to whom they were like That is to say the faythfull not the vnfaithfull did then and doo nowe eate the body and drinke y e bloode of Christ our Sauiour But wyll you see more out of S. Austen in the same 26. treatice vpon Iohn Qui maâ—â—ucat carnem meam bibit meum sanguinem in me manet et egâ— in illo Hoc est ergo manâ—ncare illam escam illum bibere potum in Christo maâ—â—re illum manentem in se habere Ac â—er hoc quâ— non manet in Christo in quo noÌ„ manet Christus proculdubio nec manducat spiritualiter carnem eius nec bibit etus sanguinem licet carnaliter visibâ—liter premat dentâ—bus sacramentum corporis sanguinis Christi sed magis tantae rei sacramentuÌ„ ad iuditium sibi manducat bibit He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloode dwelleth in me and I in him To eate that meate therefore and to drinke that drinke is this For a man to dwell in Christ and to haue Christ dwelling in him And héereby it appeareth that who so dwelleth not in Christ neither hath Christe dwelling in him the same no doubt doth neither â—ate his fleshe spiritually nor drinke his bloude although he doo fleshly and visibly presse with his téeth the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christ but rather he dooth eate and drinke the Sacrament of so excellent a thing to be a condemnation vnto him self Thus you may sée Master Fryer John how rashly you haue written in that you haue sayd thus If any bodye eate of this breade meaning I am sure of that Sacrament that is kept ouer your high altar he shall liue for euer And the bread that I wyll giue is my fleshe for the life of this worlde You say If any body eate of this breade c. S. Austen sayth No body but such as dwell in Christ and haue Christ dwelling in them eyther doo or can eate the flesh of Christ but doo by the receiuing of the Sacrament of so excellent a thing eate and drinke to their owne condemnation Nowe I leaue you to try this matter with S. Austen If you can entreate him to recant so it is If not your best way is to recant your selfe And yet one other sentence of S. Austen in the same treatice vpon Iohn Nonne buccella dominica venenum fuit Iudae tamen accepit cum accepit inimicus in eum intrauit non quia malum accepit sed quia bonum male malus accepit Was not the Lords soppe a poysonne to Iudas and yet he receiued it and when hee receiued it the enimie entred into him not because he receiued an euill thing but because he being euill did receiue a good thing after an euill sorte Much more might be saide to this effect but I leaue you as I sayd before As touching the other sentence that you cite out of this sixt of S. Iohn which is thus If you doo not eate the flâ—sh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloode you shall not haue life in you I would wyshe you to looke on that which S. Augustine wryteth in the 16. Chapter of his thyrd booke De doctrina christiana Nisi manducaâ—eritis inquit carnem fiâ—ij hominis sanguinem biberitis non habebitis vitam in vobis Facâ—nus vel â—â—agitium videtur iubere Fâ—gura est ergo praecipiens passioni dominicae esse communicandum suauâ—ter aâ—que vtiliter recondendum in memoria quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa vulneraâ—a sit Except saith he you shall eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you shall not haue life in you He séemeth to commaund an heynous or horrible facte It is therefore a figure commaunding that we should be partakers of the Lordes passion or suffering and that we should swéetely and profitably laie vp in memory that his flesh was crucified wounded for vs. Immediatly before these wordes S. Augustine hath written thus Si praeceptiua locutio est aut flagitium aut facinus vetans â—ut vtilitatem aut benefiâ—entiam iubens non est figurata Si autem flag tium aut facinus videtur iuberâ— aut vtilitatem aut beneficentiam vetare figurata est If the spéeche be a commaundement that forbiddeth an heynous or horrible fact or that commaundeth profitablenes or beneficence then the spéeche is not figuratiue But if it be a spéeche that séemeth to commaunde an heynous or horrible fact or to forbidde profitablenes or beneficence then it is a figuratiue spéeche By this Rule all these places that you haue alledged out of the 26. of s Mathew The 14. of s Mark The 22. of s Luke the 6. of S. Iohn are siguratiue spéeches For vnderstanding them after the Letter as you doo they séeme to commaund an heynous and horrible fact that is To eate the fleshe and to drinke the bloude of a man But taking them for figuratiue spéeches as we doo and as they are indéede they doo commaunde a very profitable thing that is as S. Austen hath saide to be partakers of the passâ—on or suâ—fering of the Lord and swéetly and profitably to lay vp in memory that his fleshe was crucified and wounded for vs. If you haue not vowed neuer to reade ought that either is or can be written by anie of vs that are Protestants or if you will with a duetifull reuerence reade the workes of thys auncient and learned Catholick Father saint Austen I doubt not but that you wil eare long time be past doo as the Prophet Ieremie writeth of Ephraâ—m in the â—1 Chapter of his prophesiâ—s which place you haue cited for another purpose that is strike your selfe vpon your thigh and say I am confounded I am ashamed that euer I went out of England following the counsell of a blinde ghostlie father When that blind buâ—â—arde had abused my tender yéeres and had put into my heade that I had béene brought vppe in heresie I might haue imparted this with my gray headed instructors which had béene able to instruct me as nowe one of them hath doone If our merciful father shall sâ—e that in you that he did then sée in Ephraim vndoubtedlie this wyll come to passe to
dayes that they shall continue in this transitory life Yea and they doo constantly beléeue all that she hath taught or dooth teache and they doo dailie craue of God that they may be made able to beléeue and boldly confesse all that she shall teache so long as they shalbe liuing on this earth If thys be your meaning they doo most hartily thank you for your fréendly and christian admonition But it séemeth to me that the holie mother that you speake of is another whom men of your sort call the Romish Catholicke Church Your father and mother Iohn and Catherine Debnam and as manie as be of one mind with them doo vtterlie refuse that mother because she vseth to teache manye moe false lyes then true lessons They dare not rowle themselues vp and downe in her lap because she is not y e chaste spouse of Christ Iesus but that arrant whore of Babilon that murdereth the chyldren saints of God Our mother hath told vs that our father hath commanded vs to beléeue in one God onely which beeing thrée in person is but one in substance essence power but your mother teacheth you to beléeue in manie Gods For she teacheth you to cal vpon Angels and saints and what is that other then to teache you to beléeue in them For s paule writeth thus in his Epistle to the Romans Cha. 10. Quomodo inuocabunt in quē non crediderunt How shall they cal vpon him in whom they haue not beleued Our mother hath told vs that our father hath forbidden vs to make to our selues anie grauen Images or the likenes of any thing that is in heauen aboue or in the earth benethe c. But your mother teacheth you to make the Images of men of Angelles yea and of God himselfe whom neuer man could sée and to set them vppe in your Churches to burne Incence vnto them to set light before them to offer gifts vnto them to fal downe before them and to make prayers before them all which is directly contrary to our heauenly fathers commaundement Our mother hath tolde vs that our father hath forbidden vs to take his name in vaine and that he hath commaunded vs to sweare by him onely and not by anie other But your mother teacheth you to sweare by your idolatrous masse by your saints and by the Images of your saints and to profane the blessed name of God in making your superstitious vowes and in all your exorcismes coniurations Our mother hath told vs that our fathers will is that we should spende the Saboth day holilie and not to profane it in anie condition But your mother telleth you that you may daunce dallie and sporte and plaie bayt Bulles and Beares and giue your selues to all other pastimes on the Sabothe daie so that you dispatche your Idolatrous seruice in your Churches either before or after but you must in any case take heede that you giue not your self to any good exercise in that day Our mother telleth vs that our fathers pleasure is that we shold shew due obedience to such as are in any respect our fathers or mothers and y t we ought to honor them and be of duetiful behauiour towards them yea and if néede shal so require to ayde succor and reléeue them in such measure as GOD shall make vs able But your mother teacheth you to say Corban as the Pharesyes taught theyr Schollers when our Sauiour Christ was amongst them Let your olde Father and Mother Iohn and Catherine Debnam sterue in England by reason that being aged and impotent they can not by laboure procure thinges néedefull as in youth they did and fedde both themselues and you with the rest of theyr chyldren Theyr sonne Samuell must if he will hearken to his new mother of Rome liue still in Fraunce béeing fedde and sustayned by the labour of others and write to his Father and Mother bee their case neuer so harde that he must fast and pray and whippe himselfe for their sinnes and obserue the Rule of a bonehome all the dayes of his life and not come ouer into England and lay hys lasie limmes to any honest laboure whereby he may eate his own breade and helpe to féede the féeble bodies of his decayed Father and Mother or doo any honest seruice in the Common weale of hys Countrey Yea that mother of his telleth him that he is exempted from all secular power and so sequestred from the world that he may not imploy himselfe or suffer himselfe to be imployed in dooing any good therein Our Mother hath tolde vs that we may not shedde any mans bloud for who so shall doo so shall haue his bloude shedde by man But your mother telleth you that if you can shed the bloud euen of Princes that be Protestants you shall thereby purchase forgiuenes of all your sinnes and be canonized for a saint and haue your name written in the Popes Calender yea and you shall be called vppon in the Letanie amongst such as the Pope alloweth of for saints Sancte Samuele Iohannes Francisce or a pro nobis O holye Samuell Iohn Frauncis pray for vs. Our mother hath told vs that our fathers wyll is that we should kéepe our bodies vndefiled by adulterie or fornication and that he wyll destroy them that shal defile his Temple which is the body of euery Christian eyther by fornication or adultery and therefore he would haue all men and women that haue not chaste mindes in chast bodies to match them selues in chaste mariage But your mother hath taught you to vowe a wiueles lyfe net knowing whether God wyll make you able to performe that vowe or not So that although you shall burne in concupiscence neuer so much yet mary you may not to kéepe your body vndefiled for you haue forsworne that remedye which is the onely remedie that God hath appointed Our mother hath tolde vs that our father hath forbidde vs to steale or to take anie thing that doth not by some iust title belong to vs eyther by force or by fraude But your mother teacheth you to robbe God of his glory yea and to challenge and clayme to your self that which belongeth onely to him as the appoynting of a mediator and the meanes of mediation for the obtayning of pardon and forgiuenes of sinnes which you assigne to Angels and saints and to massyng Priestes and to your selues and to al other merite mongers Perswading the poore and simple people that wyll harken vnto you that by your austeritie of life your going and lying woolwarde your rysing at midnight your singing your saying your fasting your praying and by your whypping and scourging theyr sinnes shalbe forgiuen because they féede and mayntain you in idlenes by their fore labours and thus you robbe and spoile them of the fruite of their labours vnder pretence of long prayers and such other hipocriticall workes as the Pharesies did Mathew 23. But our mother hath tolde vs and we beléeue it that our
force of the fire of Gods spirit which in hys good time wyll trye all that men haue builded vpon thée which art that foundation that all the builders which wyll buylde the Temple of GOD must needes builde vppon because there is none other foundation to builde vppon 1. Cor. 3. O swéete Iesus thou haste commaunded mee to searche the Scriptures Iob. 5. And thy holy Euangelist saynt Luke reporteth that in Berroaea such as receiued the doctrine of the Gospell gladly dyd searche the Scriptures daily Acts. 17. But my sonne Samuell forbyddeth mée the vse of the Byble in English And hée knoweth that I vnderstande none other language Hys meaning therefore must needes bée to forbydde that which thou hath commaunded O swéete Iesus suffer mée not to be seduced by my sonne Samuels flattering and hypocriticall spéeches Hée teacheth mée to beseeche thee to bée mercifull to mée a most wretched sinner for thy name sake A better lesson then this no man can teache O swéete Lorde Iesus doo thou imprint thys lesson in my harte that I doo neuer forgette it And worke thou in my hart by thy holye spyrite that I may haue a ready good will dayly to vse it But alas he beléeueth that thy blessed Mother Mary is able to helpe such as call vppon her and therefore hée teacheth me to pray vnto her to helpe mée But thou hast taught me a lesson contrary to that When you pray you shall say O our Father which art in heauen hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy wyll be doone in earth as it is in heauen c. O swéete Iesus let me neuer forgette that forme of prayer Gyue mée grace I beséeche thee to vse it nyght and day to craue continuallye at the handes of thy heauenly Father which through thee is become my heauenlye Father all those thyngs that in that forme of Prayer thou haste taught mee to craue Let mee not so hearken to my Sonne Samuell as that following hys counsell I shoulde doo contrary to thy commaundements Blessed Lorde Iesus I doo knowe that thy blessed mother is a most blessed creature But thou with thy Father and the holye Ghoste art her Creator and mine and the Creator of all creatures Wée must say of her as the Prophette Esay sayde of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Abraham neuer knewe vs Israell is ignoraunt of our case but thou art our Father thou art our deliuerer Esay 63. Thinkest thou oh thou blynde Fryer Iohn that thy mother that bare thee is so blinded with affection towardes thee that shee wyll turne her backe vppon Christe Iesus to follow thee Thou teachest her to vse daily a forme of prayer which in the first words is swéeter then honnie to the taste of a faithfull Christian but in all the wordes that followe it is full of most pestilent and deadlye poyson She wyll none of it therefore She wyll pray to the heauenly Father in such sorte as Christ Iesus the sonne of God hath taught her and not to creatures as thou doost exhort her Though she coulde yet she wyll not goe to shryft to make confessyen of her sinnes to a Priest Shée knoweth who it is against whome shée hath sinned To him alone she wyll confesse all her secrete sinnes At his handes onely she wyl aske forgiuenes of her sinnes because she knoweth that he onely is able to forgiue them And when she shall sinne against men she wyll confesse those sinnes to those men agaynst whom she shall committe them Shee will doo all that shée shall bee able to doo in making satisfaction to them Shée wyll craue forgiuenes at their handes and beséeche them to pray to GOD for her that she may obtaine forgiuenes at hys handes also The blessed body and bloude of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christe shée will receiue as often as shée may but not after so bloudy a manner as you imagine that you doo Shee hath learned to receiue an outwarde Sacrament into her mouth and stomache and by fayth to receyue spirituallie into her soule the thing that is signified by that outwarde Sacrament Shée knoweth that if shée dwell in Christe and haue Christ dwelling in her shée dooth at the Lordes Table receiue eate and drinke the Lordes bodye and bloude in the Sacrament exhibited to her and to the reste of the faithfull But if shée shoulde intrude herselfe into the companye of Christians not dwelling in Christ neyther hauing Christe dwelling in her she knoweth that though she shoulde receiue the Sacramentall breade and drinke the Sacramentall wyne neuer so often yet shée shoulde neither eate the bodye nor drinke the bloude of Christe but the Sacrament of so excellent a thing to her owne condemnation August in sermone de Sacramentis fidelium Feria 2. Paschae Thys is the iudgment of saynt Augustine in hys Sermon that he made of the Sacraments of the faythfull the seconde day of Easter And Fryer Iohn I must aduise you to call to remembraunce that dealing of yours when you presumed to bée partaker of the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christe in company wyth your mother the morrowe after you hadde béene at shryfte and were as your selfe haue in these your Letters confessed reconciled to the Romish Catholicke Church If Christe did then dwell in you vndoubtedly bothe Christ and Antichrist may dwell together which is knowne to bée a thing impossible You were reconciled to Antichrist therefore hée dwelt in you and not Christ You presumed with Iudas to eate the Lordes breade against y e Lord as Iudas did when he had before bounde himselfe by promise for money to deliuer the Lorde into the handes of the high Priestes and Elders of the people Euen so had you compacted with your new fréendes and made promise to forsake the Protestants Religion as you terme it and to embrace the Romish Catholicke Religion during the whole time of your transitory life And howe durst you then thrust your selfe into our Communion the next day after you hadde made thys promise to your ghostly father that had béene the meane and instrument of your reconciliation and so dissemble both wyth your newe and your olde fréendes as a Newter or Iacke on both sides But it may be that your ghostly Father had some large Commission from the holy father of Rome to disspence in such cases For such doo account our Sacrament to bée but a péece of breade and a cuppe of wyne and that therefore there is no danger in the receiuing of it in such manner as you did then receiue it But that dispensation can not helpe you for it was Panis Domini the Lords breade as well to you as that other was to Iudas And you receiued it Contra Dominum against the Lord as Iudas did euen to your owne condemnation because you made no difference of the Lordes body To your mother and to other the faithfull that dyd at that time receiue that Sacrament it was Panis Dominus The breade which is the Lorde