in my dayes and it is a parte of my faith still That the Sonne was bègotten of the Father before all worldes But borne of the Father as we in our Englishe tongue vnderstande it I doe not beleeue is to be founde in anie creede in the world but onelie in this newe Sutclivian Creede of ours Further I can not but muze that 〈◊〉 being a scholler as hee is would euer suffer Difference of the Person to passe the print without some revocation razure or correction seeinge it was neuer heard of I trowe before nowe that in the Godhead there should be anie difference of the persons at all but onelie a distinction Sure if one of these Puritanes had written thus we should haue had olde adoo I beleeue As to that other newe refined and farre fette phrase of his of Characteristicall being so pregnant and proper for the place where it is sette because I see neither diuinitie nor sense in it nor am able to discerne why it should come in rusteling heere vnlesse it be onely for the bare noise and sounde of it I willinglie leaue it to those that be of a deeper reache then my selfe to make somewhat of it But one of the speciall thinges that I would wishe your La. and all others to note in Maister Sutcliffe is this that among the writers of our age you shall not lightlie finde a more bolde peremptorie and resolute man in the worlde then hee For proofe whereof marke I pray you howe of one of the worthiest and most accomplished diuines of our age and of that conference that for th'exellencie of the woorke is thought by the learned to be vnmatchable as if his worde or a cast of his countenance were sufficient to change the face of the heauens and to turne light into darkenesse he giueth this slight and brasen censure to witte That it was long forsooth and without effecte What must such men as I looke for at his handes when such workes as that is and such men as Maister Raynolds is are of no greater accompt and estimation in his eyes But I doo not thinke Madame that there is anie man in the worlde if he be not smitten with the giddinesse of the braine that is of his iudgment concerning that Conference Neither doo I see for mine owne part if the matters therein handeled with the circumstances be advisedlie looked into howe he could possiblie haue bin shorter but he must withall haue bene much darker and intricat As to the litle effecte he speakes of Ma. Sutcliffe must pardon me I will neuer beleue that all that euer he hath written or can write while he liues will euer worke the like effecte in the hartes of men for the confutation of poperie the confirmation of the Princes true and lawfull Supremacie as that one worke alone hath done But alas Madame howe shall we doe nowe Maister Sutcliffe thinkes not so and where be we then For what soeuer he avoucheth true or false right or wrong blacke or white It is bound straight if you marke it with All Antiquitie All the Fathers All Diuinitie If he say it once there must bee no straggering at it we must receyue it foorthwith as an oracle from his mouth be it neuer so sottish As your Honor may plainlie see by this newe Characteristicall sentence of his to witte That the Sonne was borne of the Father Which is sayeth he the Characteristicall difference of that person What can be more absurd and senseles then this And yet 〈…〉 countenanced and guidoned as it is with Maister Sutcliffes coulers that is with All Religion saieth it All Religion saith it It must you see marche on without an encounter or els there will be no hoe with him And yet for his owne sake I would this were the worst thing in him then should neuer I trowe so many innocent and guiltlesse haue bene thus vily and iniurioussie bee besprinkled with the gall and vineger of his penne as haue bene of late to the triumphe and reioycing of th'adversarie and to the griefe of those that loue the trueth And surelie Madame when I lay before me this deadly sting and bloudie minded drift of Maister Sutcliffes for I can call it no better in that he would so faine haue Maister Cart. and Maister Egerton with so manie woorthie men to be traitours conspiratours with Hacket and Maister Vdall for the pure loue he beares him honored with the gibbet I could me thinkes in 〈◊〉 regard if I had anie acquaintance with him finde in my harte to befriende him a little with my poore advise if I thought hee would take it well at my handes to witte That seeing the Revenger of th' innocent and afflicted is mightie and able as he knowes to grinde their oppressors and backbitors into pouder he would for all this huffing and heate of distemperature at length yet bethinke him selfe and beware howe he goes on anie further in his vnchristianlike veine of bytinge and bitternesse especiallie against such men whom their greatest adversaries if they haue not quite abandoned all modestie and shamefastnesse doe yet sometimes reverentlie accoumpt of as may appeare by the late politicke treatise of Mai. Hookers who though hee bee asmuch distasted with the Discipline and for anie thing I see as stronglie bewitched and euerie way as deepelie interessed in the case of the Hierarchie as Maister Sutc. doeth yet in wordes at least and I hope from his hearte vouchsafe to honor them and beblesse them with manie reuerent and brotherlie tearmes as Right well affected and most religiouslie inclined mindes and such like And yet me thinkes to speake indifferentlie they should not bee verie well affected neither if they should be as Maister Sutcliffe would haue them that is guiltie of anie practise or conspiracie against her Maiestie Wherevpon if I might I would gladlie knowe for my learning what point of Cosmographie Maister Sutcliffe holdes this to bee namelie to presse men so egerly as he doeth to the defence of the cause asking them whether they be quite spent and haue nothing to say but must be faine poore men to sende ouer to Geneua for helpe and in the meane season by the verdure and venime of his penne to drawe as it were a kinde of endightment of treason and conspiracie against them and so to put them to the iumpe and defence of their liues A good round readie way to silence and refute men I trowe As if it were wisedome or godlie policie for a State to suffer traitours and conspiratours eyther to write bookes or defend anie thing by disputation Yet me thinkes it were much fairer play and an evener course a great deale to cleare them of treason firste and then to tender them the chalendge and disputation afterwardes then thus to throw out the gauntlet and chartell of defiance with one hande and to shake the halter and shewe the hatchet with th' other or rather in plaine tearmes to doo what in him lieth to cut
in sunder their windpipe first and then to aske them why they whoppe not or lewre not afterward For this cause if I thought there were anie man to be founde in this age so sober and well qualified that might heerein be a director to a man of Maister Sutcliffes constitution I would then entreate him that when hee writes againe he would make either Maister Hooker or some one discreete man of his owne side his glasse and diall or direction for the better temperature of his penne beinge enough and enough euen in conscience if not more then enough that he hath thus runne him selfe out of breath allreadie and vnlesse hee should burne a newe the temple of Diana I doe not see howe hee can make him selfe more famous then he hath done by this newe emblasure of his In which regard it is sure to somebody I trowe that Maister Hooker writes whē he so solemnely adviseth admonisheth men To lay aside the gall of that bitternesse wherein their mindes haue hitherto ouer abounded and with meeknesse to seeke the trueth c. Yea and it seemeth by the whole course of his booke that there is no man in the worlde if we may beleue him more out of loue with an envenomed penne which is the discrier of the poison of the heart then he And therfore if in this good counsell of his he did not speciallie and particularlie and as it were by name leuell at his brother Sutcliffe aboue others I must needes say hee was to harde and partially bounde about th' eies For though for mine owne part I be sufficientlie perswaded and my heart thoroughlie settled in the trueth of the cause notwithstanding a whole librarie of bookes should be written against it and the more that is written in that kinde and the more disgraces that are thus maliciouslie disgorged out against the defendours thereof the more I am confirmed yet dare I passe this promise to Maister Hooker or to any man living of his complexion that if among all those that haue hitherto sued for reformation he can picke me out but one that is comparable to Maister Sutcliffe in that sea of bitternesse and ouerflowing of the gall he speakes of I will forth with yeeld him the bucklers and passe him my recantation vnder seale So 〈◊〉 shall be sure to say that which I beleeue Maister Sutcliffe will neuer be able to say 〈◊〉 that hee hath wonne one Disciplinarian to the faith of the Hierarchie All which considered I could wish that Maister Sutcliffe would something recall him selfe while he hath time and space and in remorse of that which is past strike his hande vpon his breast to some blusshinge and repentance if it might be before the day of his visitation remembring that one of the speciall things that the holy ghost marketh out as abhorred of the Lorde is A proude heart a lying tongue and handes that are swifte to sheade innocent bloud I come nowe againe to Maister Copinger who after hee had thus written vnto me and I had thus answered him as before is set downe found meanes to steale vpon me once more at my lodging pressing me very earnestlie to be acquainted with that man meaning Hacket whom he had before so highlie commended vnto me redoublinge his speaches loading me with a newe supplie of his prayses especiallie of his gift in prayer beyond all that euer he heard He tolde me that he was nowe in the towne and that hee would bring me to him if I would his lodginge was not farre from Smithfield I tolde him I was so troubled and in a maner oppressed with busines that I could not be at anie leisure neither could I appoint him anie time as he would faine haue had me Well yet sayeth he doe me that fauour as but heare him pray once before you go out of the town I can not certeinlie promise you that neither saied I but if I be at anie leisure and may convenientlie I will and so we parted But heere by the way I had like to haue forgotten that which of all others is most woorthie the remembraunce namely his discourse of the first greeting and meeting betwixt him this newe Sainct of his which to my remembrance was thus That he hearing of th'vnfaigned conversion of the man with the simplicitie of his heart and the rare giftes that God had lent him being a man vnlearned did write him a letter to come vp Which Hacket accomplished accordinglie As soone as they mette after some salutations Copinger signified vnto him what revelations he had had of late howe the Lord had sundrie times appeared vnto him from heauen but he could gette no man hereabouts to beleeue him that there was anie such thing in trueth but that all was a meere illusion of Sathan No sayeth Hacket will they not beleeue it But I 〈◊〉 beleeue it and will prooue it to them for I my selfe haue had reuelations and straunge revelations too Wherevpon I remember Maister Copinger glaunced a little at Maister Egerton and Maister Cart. that they would by no meanes be perswaded of the trueth of these thinges whereas this simple man did at the firste both conceiue of it giue credite to it and was readie by his owne experience to iustifie it And this verifies sayeth he that which I tolde you before that the Lord will not haue this worke brought to passe by anie other then by the simplest and weakest And then he tolde me howe that vpon these speaches of Hacket he burning in desire to knowe what those revelations of his were pressed him verie earnestlie to tell him But Hacket seeing him so sharpe sett to giue him as it were the keener edge and the greater longing did purposelie as it should seeme keepe him fasting and helde of telling him that there was a time for all things he had not nowe long to staye in the towne but he should knowe more shortlie for the present let this suffise him That there were manie strange practises and wonderfull treasons a brewing against the Queene Heerevpon it was that Copinger after Hacket was gone downe into the Countrie wrote those same letters that I before mentioned to witte vnto her Maiestie the Countesse of Warwicke and my L. Treasurer from whom hauing receyued that answere that I haue heere set downe namelie That he should bring with him some grounded matter to worke vpon he writes me againe in all post haste to his newe prophet willing him to come vp with all possible speede for he had broken the yee forsooth nowe was the time or neuer Wherevpon Haket came vp and was by his meanes as he tolde me brought before my Lo. Treasurer In whose presence he so behaued him selfe falling flatte on his face groueling groaning and foming at the mouth that my L. seeing him should say What hath Copinger brought me a mad man heere My Lord saied he thought he had bin madde whereas he no doubt was inwardlie ravished in soule and rapt vp
wordes without sappe And then I beganne to enter into some particulars with him as what should be the reason or howe it might be iustified that a man should dare to offer vp his prayers to God without anie acknowledgement of his sinne and vnworthinesse as at that time Hacket neuer did neither in generall nor in particular Againe I asked him what warrant anie man had to vse anie of those imprecations and bitter curssinges of him selfe in his prayer whereof there was neither rule nor warrant in the whole Scripture of God Vnto all which his aunswere was still one and the same not vnlike to the rest of his resolutions Oh sayeth he you must consider it is extraordinarie extraordinarie And I am verely perswaded Maister Throkmorton that as Iohn Baptist was the fore-runner of our Saviour in the fleashe So this man is the very fore-runner of our Saviour in iudgement At which wordes of his I confesse I was something amazed and looking vpon him remembring Maister Cartwrightes former speaches vnto me I could not but pitie the man with this resolution neuer to come at him againe nor anie of his confederates if I could avoid them while I liued And thus parted Maister Copinger and I being the last time that euer I sawe him who as farre as I coniecture returned backe againe at that verie instant to Hacket because I sawe him bende that way Not long after this I went to Enfielde to visite my cousin Middlemore that then was verie yll vnto whom I reported at large the trueth of the whole as I haue heere set downe and howe at Maister Copingers earnest intreatie I heard Hacket pray and of the maner of his prayer c. And I remember his wordes and shall doo while I liue to witte That he feared he would come to some ill ende whiche hee gathered by those bitter cursinges and execrations that were so vsuall with him Nowe when I came backe againe to London I founde this short letter at my lodginge which Ma. Copinger wrote vnto me from Knightrider streete and which Maister Sutcliffe I thanke him hath taken the paines to print and reprint to wit That much hath bene done since they sawe me which I would reioyce to heare of That they desire conference with mee That the busines is the Lords owne That some of the enemies of God beganne to be hottely pursued by Sathan c. For so was it in my letter though in their printed copie it be pursued by God c. That I receyued such a letter I denie not but you must vnderstand Madame that they had bene preaching in the cart and were apprehended before this letter came to my handes But what could I doo withall if Maister Copinger did write thus vnto me It is knowne he did write letters to other maner of men then I. I confesse hee did wonderfullie seeke me and labour to haue drawne me to the bent of his bowe And albeit I may truely say that his vnsensible perswasions had neuer anie taste or relish in my breast neither did I euer feele so much as anie inclination to bee drawne away by him yet doo I not nor dare I not attribute the least parte of this resistance to mine own strength because the Lorde might iustlie haue giuen me ouer to a weaker assault then this if it had pleased him But what will Maister Sutcliffe make of this Copinger wrote vnto me twice or thrice True I denie it not and good leaue haue he to make his advantage of it let him hardlie presse it and straine it to th'vttermost it shall not offende me What then Why then forsooth he concludeth that Throk is not onelie an accessarie and a concealer of their treacherous practises but also a principall actor in the Pagent and deepely guiltie of the conspiracie This haulting consequent I leaue to be refuted by Maister Sutcliffe him selfe when he is sober and not all out so distempered as it may be he was when he wrote the booke He knowes well enough it were great pitie that all they that wrote and receyued letters from Copinger or had anie conference with him or anie view of Hacket should forthwith be reputed traitors and conspirators for that For the rest I would Maister Sutcliffe knewe that I holde it not onelie lawfull but euen my bounden dutie to reveale anie practise or treason intended against my Soveraine and that of conscience if there were no lawe to binde me too it but the lawe of God Of which sinne I hope I may without offence pleade guiltlesse not onelie before men but for anie thing I knowe before the tribunall seate of Christ And if probable collections bee in th' eies of indifferent Iudges of as great force for a mans clearing and defence as they are for a mans guiltinesse and condemnation then mine innocencie I hope though it bee neuer so much shotte at by the dartes of envenomed mouthes shall yet by Gods assistance escape vntouched and vnbleamished in the ende If anie man should demaunde sayeth Arthington why I did not discouer Hackets intended villainous practises against the Queene and the State Arth. â—â—duct and repent pag. 21. seeing hee was knowne to bee a sorcerer and condemned for high treason against her Maiestie truelie as I meane to be saued at the last day both these matters were vnknowne to me so long as he liued and to Maister Copinger too as I thinke Neither was I euer any farther acquainted with anie visions or speeches touching these matters then as before in substance is declared c. Therefore as on the one side I should deepely offende the Maiestie of God if I should conceale any daunger intended against her Maiestie falling within the compasse of my knowledge So should I displease the Lorde on the other side by speaking more then a trueth of anie yea were it of the Devill himselfe protesting thus much in the presence of God that if I were privie to one evill woorde spoken against her Maiestie c. This booke of Arthingtons Madame hath wee see th'alowance and approbation of the State And if hee that was one of the three naming him selfe the prophet of iudgement so manie times conversant with Hacket aswell in prayer as in conference be thus publikelie cleared by his protestation and that taken and accepted of for payement It goeth harde me thinkes that another man that neuer saw Hacket but once in his life that wrote and laboured to Maister Copinger to desist as one altogither distasted with his courses should not haue the same libertie to pawne his protestation for his defence If then Maister Sutcliffe or anie of his humour doo aske of Iob Throk why he did nor reueale the treasons practises of Hacket and his accomplices he aunswereth in a worde and that with protestation before the Lorde of heauen and earth Because he knewe not of anie neither euer heard so much as the least noyse or sounde of anie And that Maister Sutcliffe him selfe for