scrutetur perspicatius textum ac contextum scripturae si quadrare inuenerit laudet Deum qui non alligauit expositionem scripturarum sacrarum priscorum doctorum sensibus sed scripturae ipsi integrae sub catholicae ecclesiae censurae alioquin spes nobis ac posteris tolleretur exponendi scripturam sacram nisi transferendo vt ainnt de libro in quinternum If at any time a new sense occurre which is consonant to the text not dissonāt frō holy writt or doctrine of the Church although it swarne from the opinion of neuer so many fathers yet let the Readers iudge there of indifferentlye and according to equitie Let them remember to giue to euerie one his right because this priuiledge is onelie graunted to the writers of the holy scriptures that we must therfore beleue it to be so because they haue written so Let none therfore loath a newe sense of holie scripture because it dissenteth from the old Doctors but let him exactly consider the text and context of the scripture and if he find it to agree let him praise God who hath not tyed the exposition of the holy scriptures to the opinions of the olde Doctors but to the integritie of the scripture it selfe vnder the censure of the Catholique Church For otherwise neither we nor our posterities shall haue any hope to expound the scripture but onely to translate out of one booke into another Thus we heare the crye of a well mouthed hound to wit the verdict of our learned Caictain our great Thomist our religious fryer our Cardinall of Rome By whose graue resolution well worthy to be written in golden letters it is euident to euery child that no sense though neuerso new no exposition though neuer so strange no opinion though different from neuer so many fathers must or ought to be reiected if it be agreable to the holy scriptures And consequently it followeth by the said resolution that euerie trueth is to be tryed by the scriptures and none at all by the fathers Melchior Canus an other learned papist is of the selfe same opinion These are his expresse wordes Vbi ego si Thomistae omnes cum Scotist is existant si cum antiquis iuniores vellent contra me pugnare tamen superior sim necesse est non enim vt nōnulli putant omnia sunt in the logorum authoritate Wherein though all the Thomistes stand with the Scotists though the olde writers with the younge fight against me yet shall I of necessitie haue the vpper hande ouer them For all thinges doe not as some thinke rest in the authoritie of diuins And why shoulde any man depende vpon the iudgement of men seeing O Pope thine owne sweete Iesuite Bellarmine doth tell vs plainely that all Bishops doe so dissent among themselues and so swarue from the truth of the scripturs as he knoweth not in the worlde whom to followe These are his expresse wordes At sine dubio singuli episcopi errare possunt aliquando errant inter se quaudoque dissentiunt vt nesciamus quisnam eorum sequendus sit But without all doubt all Byshops may erre one after an other and they sometime doe erre and sometime dissent one from an other so as we cannot in the worlde tell whome it is best to followe Out of these wordes I note first that God who caused Balaams Asse to speake hath enforced our Iesuite against his will to confesse the truth I note secondly that there is no Bishoppe in the worlde but he both may erre and sometime doth erre and consequently that the Pope of Rome is eyther no Bishoppe at all by his owne Iesuites graunt or else that he both may erre and doth erre in deede Of which testimonie I make the the greater account because it proceedeth from a Iesuites mouth For none more forcible weapons can be vsed against the papistes then to beate them with their owne swordes I note thirdlie that by our Iesuites confession euerie Bishoppe hath so manie errours that the people cannot tell whom to followe I note fourthlie that since euerie auncient father both may erre and doth erre and that by popish grant there is no reason why the papistes shoulde vrge vs as they doe to stande to the censure of the fathers in euerie thing Nay they ought to giue vs leaue to examine their writinges Ad amussim scripturarum according to the true meaning of the scriptures because the greate papistes Caietanus Canus and Bellarminus doe all three graunte the same as is alreadie prooued Adde heereunto the sente of the nexte hounde The 16. Hound TEll me O Pope doest not thou take awaye all freedome and libertie graunted of olde time to all assemblies and synodes Doest not thou denie voyces and definitiue sentence to all persons in all counsels euen to the Emperour himselfe admitting none though neuer so learned but Bishoppes onely to iudge of doubtes in faith or religion doest not thou absente thy selfe from all counsels and yet reseruest all iudgement to thy selfe sitting in thy chaire at home doest thou not with all this take thy Bishops sworne euen when they are made Bishops to defende thy papall Tyranny and lawes whatsoeuer I wote it is so and I haue proued it in my booke of Motiues I will neuerthelesse in this place briefely shewe the same by the testimonie of three Romish Houndes The first hounde is Gregorie who was himselfe the late Bishoppe of Rome His expresse words in his decreetals are these Ego N. episcopus ab hac hora sidelis ero S. Petro sanctaeque Romanae ecclesiae dominoque meopapae N. eiusque successoribus Canonicè intrantibus sequitur papatum Romanae ecclesiae regulas sanctorum patrum adiutor ero ad defendendum retinndum contra omnes homines sic me Deus adiuuet haec sancta euangelia I Iohn Fisher Bishoppe will from this day forwarde be faithfull to saint Peter and to the holy Church of Rome and to my Lorde Boniface the Pope and to his successours chosen canonicallie and I will bee an helper to defende the popedome or papall authoritie and the rules of the holie fathers against all people so God me helpe and the holie Gospell Out of these wordes it may be easilie gathered that the decrees of late Romish counsels are in these our daies of no force at all The reason is euident because none but Bishops haue definitiue voyces in the saide counselles neyther can the saide Bishops decree any thing against eyther the Pope or the Church of Rome For as we see by the Popes tyrannicall constitution nowe alledged all Bishops are sworne to be faithfull to my Lorde the Pope and to defend whatsoeuer he hath set downe against all people in the worlde Te second hound is Bellarmine our Romish Iesuite whose expresse wordes are these Istum iuramentum non tollit Episcoporum libertatem quae in conciliis necessaria est iurant
reges differentia agnoscatur To the firmament of heauen that is of the vniuersall Church God made two greate lightes to witt hee ordeined two great dignities which are the authoritie of the Pope the power of the Kinge but that power which ruleth spirituall things is greater that which ruleth things carnal is lesser that there may be as great difference knowne betweene Popes and Kinges as there is betweene the Sunne and the Mone The fourth Hound TEll me O Pope is not thy Romishe Purgatorie so sotted and senselesse a thinge as it can neither be proued by the scriptures nor yet by the ancient writers haue not thyne owne renowmed children Syluester Prieras who was somtime maister of thy sacred pallace and for his profounde knowledge surnamed Absolutus Theologus as also thy glorious so supposed Martyr Iohn Fisher our late Byshoppe of Rochester vttered so much in printed bookes to the viewe of the worlde I wote it is so and that all the worlde may knowe the vanitie and abhomination of late Romish religion I will set downe their expresse wordes Thus therefore writeth Syluester Indulgentia nobis per scripturā minime innotuit licet inducatur illud apostoli si quid donaui vobis sed nec per dicta antiquorum doctorum sed modernorum the Popes pardons were not knowne to vs by the holy scriptures although some doe alledge S. Paul for that purpose nether knowne by the auncient father but onely by the late writers Loc pardons and consequently purgatory being the ground thereof cannot be proued out of the scriptures My Lord of Rochester hath these expresse wordes sed graecis ad hunc vsque diē non est creditum purgatorium esse Legat qui velit graecorum veterum commentarios et nullum quantum opinor aut quam rarissimum de purgatorio sermonem inueniet Sedneque Latini simul omnes at sensim huius reiveritatem cōceperunt paulo post non absque maxima sancti spiritus dispensatione factum est quod post tot annorum curricula purgatorij fines indulgentiarū vsus ab Orthodoxis sit receptus quamdiu nulla fuerat de purgatorij cura nemo quaesiuit indulgentias nam ex illo pendet omnis indulgentiarum existimatio Si tollas purgatorium quorsum indulgentiis opus erit his enim si nullum fuerit purgatorium nihil indigebimus contemplantes igitur aliquandiu purgatorium incognitum fuisse deinde quibusdam pedetentim Partim ex reuelationibus partim ex scripturis fuisse creditum atque ita tandem generatim eius fidem ab orthodoxa ecclesia fuisse receptissimam facillime rationem aliquā indulgentiarum intelligimus Quum itaque purgatoriū tā sero cognitū ac receptū ecciesiae fuerit vniuersae quis iam de indulgentijs mirari potest quod in principio nascentis ecclesiae nullus fuerat carū vsum caeperunt igitur indulgentiae post quā ad purgatorij cruciatus aliquandiu trepidatum erat The Greeks to this day do not beleeue there is a purgatorie Reade who will their commentaries and he shall finde either verie seldome mention of purgatorie or rather none at all for neither did the Latine Church conceiue the veritie of this matter all at once but ley surelye by little and little neither was it done without the great dispensation of the holy ghost that after so many yeares Catholicks both beleeued purgatory and receiued the vse of pardons generally so long as there was no care of purgatorie no man sought for pardons For of it dependeth all the estimation that we haue of pardons If thou take awaie purgatory to what end shal we need pardons For if there be no purgatory we shall need no pardons Considering therfore how long purgatory was vnknown thē that it was beleeued of some by little and little partly by reuelations and partly by the scriptures and so at the last beleeued generally of the whole Church we doe easily vnderstande the cause of pardons synce therefore purgatory was so lately knowne and receiued of the whole Church who can now admire pardons that there was no vse of them in the Primitiue Church Pardons therefore began after the people stoode in some feare of purgatorie Thus O Pope writeth thine owne deare Byshoppe whose testimonie must needes be of great credite with thee Whose wordes notwithstanding if they be well marked with the due circumstances thereof are able of themselues without more adoe to perswad any man liuing to detest all popish religion For first we learne here that the greekes neuer beleeued purgatory no not to the daies of this Byshoppe who liued within these three score yeares last past Secondly that the church of Rome now the mother of all superstition did not beleeue the said purgatory for many hundreds of yeares after S. Peters death whose successour for all that thou O Pope boasts thy selfe to be Thirdly that this purgatory which is now the foundation of papistry crept by little and little not all at once into the Latine Church Fourthly that purgatorie was found out by reuelation from heauen or if you had rather so thinke from the deuell of Hell Fiftly that pardons came not vp vntill purgatory was found out the reason hereof saith our popish Byshopp is this because forsooth if there be no purgatory all popish pardons are needlesse Sixtly that pardons were not heard of nor knowne to the Primatiue Church Seuently that pardons then began when men began to feare the paines of purgatorie but of this matter I haue written more at large in my booke of Motiues The Fift Hound TEll me O Pope hast thou not imposed vpon thy Monkes Friers and Nunnes such an heauie yoake as they are not able to beare Is not the prohibition of matrimonie contrarie to Christs institution to the doctrine of the Apostls to the practise of the Primitiue church was not Pope Syritius the first man that made any setled law for that purpose was not the mariage of priests allowed in the Church for one thousand yeares after christ doth not thine owne Gratianus tell vs euen out of thine owne approued decrees that many priests sonnes haue beene Popes of Rome Doth hee not name Bonifacius Agapitus Theodorus Syluerius Faelix Hosius Gelasius Densdedit and many others Doth not thine owne glosse vpon the same text thinke it better to say they were all bastardes then to graunt them to be legitimate children lawfully begotten in holie wedlocke doth not the same glosse alledge for his excuse that vit iu tollitur per successionem the fault is taken away by vertue of their holy succession commeth not the same Gratian roundly vpon the glosse and affirmeth plainly that priests might marrie lawfully euery where vntill the late inhibition made by Siritius doth not Socrates that famous Greeke historiographer tell vs that Byshops of the east Church did in his time beget children of their lawfull wiues and that euen in the time
friend Beat us Rhenanus doth so affirme I haue set downe his expresse words in the 12. chapter of my Suruey And heere I note by the way that there were euer some good men amongst the papistes as this Godly Geileirus who disliked and reproued as farre as they durst the absurdities and abhomination of late Romish doctrine The 24 Hound TEll me O Pope is not thy late Romish religion like to a patched beggars cloake with clouts vpon clouts doe we not knowe how euery clout was put one to an other by whome and at what time I wote we knowe it and my selfe haue proued it in my booke of Suruey If any papist can deny it let him answere that that I haue written there The 25. Hound TEll me O pope doest not thou make hauocke of Christes gospell doest not thou dissolue that matrimonye which Christ himselfe pronounceth to be indissoluble doest not thou dispense with persons lawfully married that the husbande may take an other wife and the wife an other husbande I wote thou doest it and thine owne deare Doctors Nauarrus and Couerrunias doe testifiye the same against thee Nauarre hath these expresse words Diuiditur matrimonium ante consummationem per dispensationem Papaeinsta de can sa factam Matrimony is dissolued before consummation or carnall copulation by the Popes dispensation if it be granted vpon iust cause And the same Nauarre anoucheth boldy in the place already quoted that Paulus the third and Pius the fourth late Bishops of Rome did giue such dispensations in his time to certaine married persons at the same Nauarrs request Couerrunias hath these words Nec me latet Paulum quartum summum ecclesiae pontificem an 1558. hac vsum fuisse dispensatione quibusdam ex causis quas iustissimas esse idem summus ecclesiae praesul existimauit idem paulo ante Iulius tertius fecerat in eodem matrimonio cum ecclesiae vninersali presideret Neither am I ignoraÌ„t that Pope Iulius the fourth put this dispensation in practise for certaine causes which the same Pope thought to be most iust Iulius the third likewise when he was Bishop of Rome granted the same dispensation in the same matrimoniall contract See more herof in my booke of Motiues The 26. Hounde TEll me O Pope dost not thou teach vs that the Virgin Mary was conceiued without sinne hast not thou for that end appointed the feast or festiuall day of her conception doth not thine own sweete Bernard forsake thee herein doth not he sharply reproue the Carhedrall Church of Lyons for the self same thing doth not he terme that practise the nouelty of presuÌ„ption the mother of temerity the sister of superstition the daughter of leuitie do not S. Austin S. Ambrose S. Chrisostome S. Bede Eusebius Remigius Anselmus Bonauentura Aquinas Hugo and all the resti sing the selfe same song are anye with these idolatrous Pope in this point of doctrine saue onely thy late hatched Iesuites and Seminaries few or none I assure thee as I haue proued in my Suruey and in my booke of Motyues To which bookes I earnestly wish that some of thy vassals would once frame some answere The 27. Hounde TEll me O pope thou that commauÌ„dest thy Church-seruice to be said and song in a vnknown language which the coÌ„mon people the greater part of the priests caÌ„not vnderstand were not all prayers other seruice of the Church in the vulgar tongue as well in the primitiue Church as many hundred years after Christ I wote it was so I haue proued it in my booke of Suruey But harken O Pope what thine own Lyra telleth thee he is a wel mouthed hound take heed lest he bite thee for these are his words Caeâ—eruÌ„ si benedixerit 1. Tu sacerdos vel episcope spiritu 1. absque hoc quod populus intelligat qui supplet locuÌ„ idiotae quasi diceret quid proficit populus simplex noÌ„ intelligens q. d. nihil aut modicuÌ„ quia nescil se coÌ„formare tibi qui estainister ecclesiae respoÌ„dendo Amen Propter quod in primitiua ecclesia benedictiones cetera coÌ„munia fiebaÌ„tin vulgari But if thou shalt blesse that is thou that art priest or Bishop in spirit that is so as the people vnderstand not what thou saist what pro fit shal the simple ignoâ—â—â— people haue truly eyther very little or none at all because they cannot coÌ„forme theÌ„selues to thee who are the minister of the Church in saying Amen to thy giuing of thanks For which cause both praiers other coÌ„mon things were done in the vulgar tongue in the primitiue church Out of which words I note first that the church-seruice in old time was made in the vulgar tong which all the people vnderstood I note secoÌ„dly that the church seruice ought to be in the vulgar tongue according to S. Pauls doctrine I note thirdly that the people receiue no profit by the church seruice wheÌ„ it is made in a tongue which they do not vnderstaÌ„d I note fourthly that the people ought to pray together with the minister to answer AmeÌ„ to this blessings I note fiftly that the people in the Romish church caÌ„not this day performe that which their own Lyra a learned man indeed auoucheth very constantly to be the doctrine of S. Paul I note sixtly that the late Romish religion is farre different nothing like to the olde catholike religion and practise of the primitiue Church The supplement for the solace of the vvell affected Reader FIrst the Church-seruice was made in the vulgar tongue in the old ancient and primitiue Church Secondly popish primacy began in the yeare 607. by the tyranny of the Emperour Phocas at the earnestsuit of Boniface the bishop of Rome third of that name Thirdly the Popes pardons were neuer heard of vntill the yeare 1300. Fourthtly the mariage of priests was not prohibited till the yeare 385. at which time Syritius then Bishop of Rome made a wicked lawe in that behalfe Fiftly popish purgatory tooke no roote in the Romish Church till the yeare 250. sixtly popish pilgrimage began in the yeare 420. seuenthly the merit of works de condigno was disputable about the yeare 1081. eightly the inuocation of saints adoratioÌ„ was not known or hard of till the yeare 370. ninthly the coÌ„munion vnder both kinds was neuer thought vnlawfull till the yeare 1414. tenthly the Popes Buls were not authenticall till the yeare 772. eleuenthly auricular confessioÌ„ was not established till the yeare 1215. twelftly generall couÌ„sels were euer summoned by the Emperours These many other importaÌ„t matters are proued at large in my book of Suruey here noted briefly for the helpe of the simple vulgar sort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 32. ver 8. 19. 2. Reg. 18 Numb 11 8 1. Reg 18 vers 18 2. Reg. 1. v. 2. 10. 12. Psal. 69. vers 9. Act. 13. vers 10. Act. 5. vers 5. 2. Tlm 4.
est persecutiones tyrannorum et tentationes spirituum malignorum non praeualebunt ad uersus eam a vera fide subuertendo ex quo patet quod ecclesia non consistit in hominibus ratione potestatis vel dignitatis ecclesiasticae velsecularis quiamulti principes summi pontifices alij inferiores inuenti sunt apostatasse a fide propter quod ecclesia consistet in illis personis in quibus est notitia verae confessio fidei veritatis And I say to thee for thee and for thy fellowes that thou art Peter that is to say the confessor of the true rocke which is Christ. And vpon this rocke which thou hast confessed that is vpon Christ will I builde my Church and Hel-gates that is the persecutious and tentations of wicked spirits shall not preuaile against it in subuerting it from the true faith Whereby it is euident that the Church doth not consist in men by reason of power or dignitie either ecclesiasticall of secular because manie both Princes and Popes and others of the inferiour sort are founde to haue reuolted and made an appostasie from the faith for which cause the Church consisteth in those persons in whom there is true knowledge and confession of the faith and veritie Loe by the verdict of Lyra a great learned papist that which was spoken to Peter was spoken to him not as to himselfe alone but to him for and in the behalfe of his fellowes And the rocke vpon which Christ promiseth to builde his Church is not Peter but his owne person euen our Lord Iesus But this point is handled atlarge in my booke of Suruey To which as also to my booke of Motiues the papists would ere this haue framed some answere if they knewe in the worlde how to deuise the same But the truth must needes in time haue the vpper hand The 21 Hounde TEll mee O pope thou that bearest the worlde in hand that the particular Church of Rome can not erre is not that Church which cannot erre the whole congregation of the faithful I wote it is so and thine owne children doe testifie the same against thee Panormitanus a famous popish Archbishope thyrenowmed canonist hath these expres wordes ecclesia uniuersitatis errare non potest scilicet in fide vel articulis fidei pro hac tantum christus in euangelio orauit ad patrem The church vniuersall cannot erre to witte in the faith or in the articles of our beleefe and for this church onelye was Christs prayer when he prayed to his Father in the Gospell Syluester hath these wordes sicintellige glossam dicentem quodecclesia quae errare non potest dicatur non papa sed congregatio fidelium quae silicet tenet fidem quam Petrus cum aliis populis docuit And thus must we vnderstande the glosse which saith that the church which cannot erre is not the Pope But the congregation of the faithfull that is such as holde that faith firmely which S. Peter with other godlye people taught By which testimonie euery one may see that hath eyes that all the auncient writers euen the papistes themselues did euer more both thinke and write that the church which could not erre was onely and solely the whole companie of the faithfull which thinge our Iesuite Bellermine as one that forgetteth himselfe confesseth vnawares in these expresse wordes secunda opinio est pontificem etiam vt pontifex posse esse baereticum docere haresim sequitur hanc opinionem tuentur aliquot Parisienses vt Gerson Almain in libris de potestate ecclesiae nec non Alphonsus de Castro libro primo cap. 2. contra haereses et Adrianus sextus papa The second opinion is that the Pope euen as Pope may be an heretique and teach heresie Certaine doctors of Paris follow this opinion as Gerson and Almaine Alphonsus also pope Adrian him selfe Loe both papists the Pope himselfe tell vs that the Pope euen as Pope may be an heretique teach vs a false faith yet must we beleeue that whatsoeuer he desireth or teacheth as Pope is as true as the Gospell or else be reputed heretiques for our refusall in that behalfe and if it rest in the Popes power be also burned at a stake The 22 Hound TEil mee O monstrous Pope doe not all thy priestes in all their absolutions ascribe remission of sinnes eternall life to the merites of mans works I wote they doe so I know your practise right well and Polanchus our Iesuire hath published the same in print These are his expresse worde passio D. N. I. Christi merita B. V. Mariae omnium sanctorum quicquid bonifeceris vel mali sustineris sit tibi in remissionem peccatorum tuorum in augmentum gratiae praemium vitae aeternae The passion of our Lord Iesus Christ the merites of the blessedvirgin Marie of al Saints whatsoeuer good thou shalt do what punishment soeuer thou shalt suffer be to thee for remission of thy sinnes for increase of grace for reward of eternall life Thus doth our Iesuite truely set downe the vsuall practise of the Romish Church of all popishe Priestes dispersed whersoeuer This practise is agreable to the hymne made of Thomas Becket late Bishop of Canterbury These ar the words Tu per Thomae sanguinē quem pro te impendit fac nos Christe scandere quo Thomas ascendit By the bloud O Christ which Thomas for thee did spend make vs come thither whither Thomas did ascend Which doubtles is blasphemy intollerable The 23. Hound TEll me O Pope if it like your holines what malice hatred and dissention hath bene among you Popes and that in most weighty and important matters euen in matters of faith fundamentall points of your religion did not Pope Stephanus the sixt of that name persecute the very name of Formosus did he not disanull his giuing of orders did he not degrade them that had receiued orders by him did not Pope Romanus abrogate the whole Actes of Pope Stephanus did not Sergius the third persecute the very name of Formosus did he not cause his head to be cut of after his body was laid in the graue Carranza and Platina doe so write of thee thy brethren O holy father of Rome The 23. Hounde COnfesse the truth O cruell Pope disssemble no longer with the worlde Doe not thy wicked lawes charge all men women children of mature age to make auricular confession of all their thoughts words deeds doth not for all that thine owne Cardinall Caietaeine tell thee that it is a thing impossible to be done did not Iohannes Geilerius a very graue and reuerend diuine who was a long time the preaher at Argentoratum cōplaine oftentimes to his trusty friends that it was impossible for men to make their confessions as the Popes lawe required I wote he did so and thine owne deare
of their priestly function This thing I haue prooued so effectually in my booke of Suruey as all the papistes in Europe are not able to disproue the same Here onely I will adde the flatte testimonie of Socrates out of his ecclesiasticall historie whose expresse wordes are these non pauci illorunt Episcoporum dum Episcopatum gerunt liberos ex vxore legit tima procreant Many of them saith Socrates speaking of Byshoppes doe beget children of their lawfull wiues euen in time of their Episcopall or Byshoplike functions these wordes are so plaine that they neede no glosse The sixt Hounde TEll me O Pope doe not so many intollerable excommunications so many dissolute dispensations come daily and hourely from the chuch of Rome as therby the state of vs Christians is now become more seruile then was of olde the condition of the Iewes I wote it is so thine owne doctors Uictoria Syluester Fumus Gerson Rhenanus and Geilerius affirme the same as I haue proued at large in my booke of Suruey One onely Victoria I will here alledge whose expresse wordes are these videmus quotidie a Romana curia tam largas imò omnino tam dissolutas dispensationes profectas vt orbis ferre non possit non solum in scandalum pusillorum sed maiorum Wee see dailye so large yea altogether so dissolute dispensations come from the court of Rome that the worlde cannot endure it neither is this dissolutioÌ„ to the scand all only of the weake but euen of the perfect sort and those that are the wisest among the rest Againe he writeth thus ego nullam dispensationem in particulari condemno sed video duo primunm quid in fine anni sunt tot dispensationes factae vt nescio an sint tot qui legem seruent secundo video quod omnes qui petunt adferunt dispensationes I condemne no dispensation in particular but I see two thinges First that in the ende of the yeare there are so manie dispensations gotten that I knowe not if so many keepe the lawe secondly I see all that aske bring dispensations with them In another place the same Victoria hath these words Paulatim ad haue iâ—temporantiam deuentum est hunc tale in statum vbi nec mala nostra nee remeâ—â—a pati possumus Da mihi Clementes Lâ—â—s Syluestros omnia permittaÌ„ arbitrio eoruÌ„ Sed vt nihil grauius dicatar in recentiores Pontifices certe multis partibus sunt priscis illis inferiores By little little we are brought to these inordinate dispensations and to this so miserable state where we are neither able to endure our owne griefes nor the remedies which shoulde mitigate the same Yet giue me Clements Lines Syluesters and I will commit all thinges to their charge But to speake fauourably of our late Popes they are doubtles farre inferiour to Popes of old time Loe the Chuch of Rome is not now as it was in old time The seauenth Hound TEll me O Pope haue not thy predecessours made their beginning like Foxes and theeues and in the end dyed like dogges haue not thine owne religious Fryers made report of this veritie I wote it is so and Carranza together with thy sweete Platina shall witnesse the same with mee Platina hath these expresse wordes qua quidem bearitudine Ioanes caruit fur certe in pontificatuâ— latro non enim vt par fuerat per ostium intrauit Which happie life Pope Iohn wanted as who was a theese and a robber for he entered not in by the doore as he should haue done Againe in an other place the same Platina writeth in this maner eo enim tum pontificatus deuenerat vt qui plus largitione ambitione non dico sanctitate vitae et doctrina valeret is tantum inde dignitatis gradum bonis oppressis reiectis obtineret quem morem vtinam aliquando non retinuissent nostra tempora For to that passe was the Popedome now brought that who so could excell others in giuing bribes in ambition I say not in godly lyfe sound doctrine for that was farre from them he onely should haue the degree of honor and good men should be reiected which vsage would to God it had neuer bene in our time Herken O Pope is it not now with your Byshops of Rome as it was with Annas Caiphas others of old time among the Iewes thy holines can it not denie but let Carranza byte thee in the haunch whose expresse words are these intrauit vt Vulpes regnauit vt Lupus mortuus est vt Canis He entred as a foxe he reigned as a Wolfe he died as a dogge He spaketh of Pope Boniface the eight of that name This Carranza albeit he were one of the Popes deare Friers is for all that a well mouthed Hound The eight Hound TEll me O Pope can not thy holines with plenitudine potestatis euacuate hellish purgatory and deliuer all soules tormented there send them streight away to heauen nay canst thou not free all men from all punishment due to their sinnes here on earth I am sure thou canst for thy deare doctors Fumus Syluester Vignerius haue so affirmed to mee Fumus shall speake for all whose expresse wordes are these Papa posset liberare omnes animas purgaporij etiam si plures essent si quis pro sis faceret quod iuberet peccaret tamen indiscretè concedendo in hoc sensis dicunt Doctores quod non potest spoliare Purgatorium The Pope coulde deliuer all the soules out of purgatory albeit they were very manie if one did that which he appointed to be done marrie the Pope should sin for his vndiscrete dealing therein Thus writeth our holy fryer who addeth well in the ending that the Pope wanteth somtime his capp of discretion to which I will make another addition if percase it may stand with the Popes good liking to witte that since as Popery telleth vs the fire of purgatory is the selfe same in nature with the fire of Hell if therefore his holinesse had but one droppe of charitie he would neuer suffer so many soules to abide that doolfull miserie Yet I must needes graunt that in so doing his holinesse should want discretion because forsooth if there were no soules in purgatory then for trentals diriges and Masses men woulde not bestowe one quatrine vpon his vassals The ninth Hounde TEll me O Pope canst not thou Free a man by thy plenary pardon from all punishment due in this life and in the life to come I know thou canst doe it because thine owne deare Syluester so affirmeth These are his expresse words qui plenariam indulgentiam rite assecutus est si eo instanti moreretur euolaret statim ad caelum He that hath orderly gotten the Popes plenarie pardon if he should dye presently he should flie to heauen out of hand Thus writeth Syluester the Popes