wide by sundry tongues of Interpreters haue come to the knowledge of Nations and people to their saluation then belike Saint Augustine meant that the hyding of the Scriptures from the people in an vnknown tong is to their damnation as no doubt it is as before I haue manifestly proued And againe he saith Wee haue the benefite of God that woulde haue the Scriptures to be in many tongs Saint Chrisostom saith The Syrians the Aegiptians the Indians the Persians the Aethiopians and other Nations innumerable translating into their own tongs the doctrine that they had receiued of S. Iohn beeing a barbarous people endeuored themselues to learne Wisedome Then if all these Nations learned wisedome by translating the doctrine of Christe into theyr vulgare tongues then they muste néedes learne follie fancies and fables that haue not the Scriptures in their vulgare or mother tongue Saint Hierome saith The holye Scriptures are read to all Nations that al may vnderstande it Hereby it appeareth that the Scriptures were read in moe tongs than in the Latine tong vnlesse all the whole world were Latinists which I thinke is a very hard thing to proue Theodoretus saieth further That the Hebrewes Bookes of the Scriptures are translated not onelye in the Greeke or Latine tong but also into the tongues of Aegipt Persia India Armenia Scythia and Sarmatia and to be short into al the tongs that vntil this day are vsed in the worlde Now if it were lawful by these auncient learned men in the auncient time to haue the Scriptures in al tongs of the worlde why may it not be lawfull then for vs in these days to haue the Scriptures in oure vulgare or English tongue Therefore you may sée what godly and charitable men the Pope and his Prelates are that burne the Scriptures the gospel which Christ did leaue vnto vs for our saluatioÌ„ But some of you haue answered in the Popes cause herein and saide that you burne not the Scriptures but the errors and faults that are by false translation in the same I caÌ„not tel whether you burne the faults or no but you haue burned them so that you left none of the truth behinde vnburned for you burned all the whole Bible Certainly they were very euil and vnlearnedly translated if there were neuer a whit of them truly translated He is a verye sorie husband and I thinke wil neuer thriue that to destroye the Thistles doth wéede vp the Corne and al. The Popes lawes and decrées are full of manifest and wonderful errors diuelish doctrine wicked blasphemies is sufficieÌ„tly proued Yet none of those books are burnd noâ— one fault amended nay they are kept preserued ful saâ—â—y That vile and wicked Sodomite Iohannes a Gasa Archbishop of Beneuentum being deane of Pope Iulyes Chamber and his chief Legate to the Venetians did not only play the filthy Sodomite himselfe boasted openly of the same but also most impudently wrote a Booke in commendation thereof in Italian méetre saying that he himself neuer vsed any other which Booke was printed at Venice by one Troianus Nauus Yet that most vile and detestable Booke that was all full of wickednesse was permitted to goe abroad and not burnd therfore if the Pope and his Prelates were of God as they are not they woulde burne those diuelishe detestable Bookes that prouoke and persuade men to most wicked errors and to commit such shameful sins that highly offend God and not the holy Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ that teacheth vs al goodnesse and godlinesse wherby we should maruellously please God If al Bookes shoulde be burned that haue faults in them you that are of that Romish religion should haue but a few bookes to looke on If there were any suche faultes in the translation if you were godlye or meant well you woulde rather mend the fault than burne the whole Booke If a Candle should burn dimly it were more méete to toppe the Candle than to put out the Candle He might be thought to be a very euil Cooke that for one little rawe morssell in a Capon would caste the whole Capon away to the Dogs That woman might be counted no very good huswife that finding a flea on hir husbandes sâ—irte to kil the flea woulde burne the whole shyrt He might be thought to be scant an honest man that séeing a spider créep on his neighbors wal to kil the spider woulde set the whole house on fire burne it Euen so the Pope his Prelates do vse vs but homely y t for some faulte as they say in the Scriptures to destroy y e faults wil burne the whole Bible which is the chief house and Castle for our soules to dwell in Therefore excuse not the Pope nor his Prelates in burning the Scripturs for he that burnes y e whole Bible cares not for mending the faults of the Bible The hauing of the Scriptures in our vulgare tong is y e fault that he findes or is gréeued withall whatsoeuer he make shew of and therfore he burnes the whole Bible bycause he is offended with the translating of the whole Bible Marke how blindly fondly likewise y e Pope leades you in that he doth make you beleue that you ought to pray only in the Latine tong wherby he pluckes from you one of y e chiefest Iewels that Christ left you if that be a Iewel that wil help you to whatsoeuer you lacke Christe saide not to his Apostles Whatsoeuer you aske my heauenly father in my name he wil giue it you so that you make your prayers to him in the Latine tong which you vnderstande not Neither his Disciples did euer say so to any other But Christe saide to his Disciples when ye pray pray thus Our father whiche arte in Heauen c. whiche I am sure he spake not to them in the Latine tong but in the Hebrewe tong whiche was their vulgare and mother tong and therefore bycause neither Christ nor his Apostles haue taught vs in the Scriptures that we must néedes make our prayers to God in the Latine tong I will not beléeue it though an Angell shoulde come downe from Heauen and tel me muche lesse the Pope and his Prelats You muste néedes graunte this that Christe biddeth vs aske and wée shal haue then it is méete if wée woulde haue to knowe what we aske but if wée knowe not what we saye howe can we knowe what wée aske and if wée knowe not what we aske howe can we knowe what wée shall haue then they that pray in the Latine tongue and knowe not what they saye doe not knowe what they aske and they that knowe not what they aske they can not knowe what they shal haue and they that know not what they shall haue can not bée sure to haue that they lacke And thus you that pray in Latine after the Popes teaching whyche you vnderstand not are not sure to haue that you lacke but they that praye
with a greate man it is no harme to speake to his Chamberlaine or to one that is next vnto him that he may shewe y e king of vs which vaine reason Saint Ambrose answers very wel saying we are broughte vnto the Princes of Kings by Lordes and officers bycause the king is a man and knoweth not to whom he may committe his Realme But to obtaine Gods fauour from whome nothing is secrete as knowing what euerie man is meete to haue we neede no spokes man but a deuoute minde wheresoeuer suche a one speaketh vnto God God wil aunswere him Thus hath that learned Doctour aunswered this foolish and vaine obiection wherby it plainely appeares that there wer some of your opinion in his days and that he was of the same opinion that we are in these dayes But if Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine and a thousande moe of learned men shoulde write that we ought to praye vnto the Uirgin Marie and to the Saintes yet we oughte not to beléeue them for as muche as Christ hath taught vs contrarie who biddes vs to make our prayers onelye to GOD oure Heauenlye Father But as long as the Doctoures and Fathers doe agrée with the Gospell we wil allowe them but if they do not we wil reiect them But whatsoeuer Christ sayth y e Pope saith otherwise now marke wel herein the holy doctrine of the Church of Rome which allows wils you to pray vnto y e blessed Uirgine thus Let him know thee to be his mother commaund thy sonne vse thy motherlye authoritie ouer him Is not this a trim kind of prayer you shal not finde this in al the Lordes prayer that Christ taught to his Disciples if you say y t this is but a spiritual dallying as M. Harding said to maister Iewel then I wil answere you as M. Iewel answered M. Harding this must néedes be a blessed kinde of Diuinitie that can turne praying to dallying This kinde of prayer was vsed vniuersally saith M. Iewel throughout all the Church of Rome that men women and children learned and vnlearned were taught and forced thus to praye Thou art the Queene of heauen Thou art the Lady of Angels cōmaunde thy sonne shew thy selfe to be the mother Cardinal Bembus sometimes the Popes secretarie calleth the Virgine Mary Lady and goddesse Ambrosius Catharinus in the late Chapter at Trydent calleth hir goddes fellow by these words fidelissima eius Socia that is Gods moste faithful fellow Nicholaus Cusanus a Cardinal of Rome saith This thing turneth to the praise of God and the Virgin Marie the mother of Christ that she was neuer at any time vnder the Princehoode of the author of death That Virgin neded no deliuerer that should redeeme hir from the sentence pronounced against Adam and his posteritie Mary was neued raced out of the booke of death for she was neuer written in it Here we are taught that Marie the Virgin is our Lady and goddesse that she is Gods fellow and that she had no neede to be saued by the death of Christ nay your church of Rome teacheth to pray vnto hir thus Saue thou al thē that glorifie thee and this also is in Lipomanus beholde howe mighty is the mother of God and how no mā may be saued but by hir What is blasphemie if this be not blasphemie yet this is the religion of your holy church of Rome would you haue thought y t either they had writtē thus or durst be so bold to write thus there was none that euer came of the séede of Adam but they haue néede to be saued by the death of Christ. These Bookes that containe these things you ought to burne and not the holy Scriptures wherin you can spie no such faultes Your Church of Rome calles the Uirgin Marie which is the mother of Christ the Quéene of Heauen but it mistakes hir as it doth many other things for she is not the Quéene of Heauen but hir Sonne Christ is the King heauen Therfore the Church of Rome doth most wickedly to worship hir as they doe Wherevpon Epiphanius sayth Let no man eate of this errour touching S. Marie for though the tree be faire yet is not the fruite to be eaten although Marie be beautiful holye and honorable yet is she not to be adored But these women worshipping S. Marie renue againe the sacrifice of wyne mingled in the honor of the goddesse Fortuna and prepare a table for the Diuell and not for God as it is written in the Scriptures They are fedde with meate and wickednesse And againe Their women boult flowre and their children gather stickes to make fine cakes in the honour of the Queene of Heauen Therfore let such women be rebuked by the Prophet Hieremie and let them no more trouble the worlde and let them not say we worship the Queene of Heauen Thus much writeth that auncient Father Epiphanius against the fonde and vnchristianly exalting and honouring of the Uirgin Marie for the Quéene of Heauen Marke also what a blasphemous prayer y e holy Church of Rome doth teache you to pray whereby it appeares that they that belonge to that Churche néede not the bloud of Christ to saue them for the bloud of Thomas Becket which was once a traitour to his King here in England is sufficient for they say thus in their Mattins O Christ make vs to ascend vnto heauen whether Thomas is ascended euen by the bloud of Thomas that he shed for thy sake Is not this Church of Rome thinke you the true Churche of God that blots out the blessed bloud of Christ without which there is no saluation puts in the bloud of a sinfull wretch to climbe to heauē by but I thinke they mistake y e words perhaps the meaning of them is thus make vs to descende into hell whether Thomas is descended euen by the bloud of Thomas y t he shed for the Popes sake for surely if Thomas Becket did pray to ascēd by the bloud of any but of Christ as these of the Churche of Rome doe by his I beléeue that this your holye Saint Thomas a Saint of the Popes making is rather in hell than in heauen Can the children of God or they that are Christians bée content to abide in this blasphemous Church of Rome that vseth suche a kinde of praying as desires to climbe to heauen by the bloud of a vile wretched sinner and refuseth the bloud of that immaculate lambe Iesus Christ the sonne of God Surely if I were as déepely drowned in that detestable Papistrie as any of you are or euer was hearing but halfe this that I haue written I should not onely with al spéede detest that abhominable Religion of the Pope but also flie vnto Christ and take holde on his holy Gospell as I doe not doubt but assuredly trust that many of you will And as this Romish Church hath with hir most wicked prayer blotted out the pure and perfecte order of praying
this therefore from henceforth thou shalt haue warres Thus we may sée that King Asas peace and quietnesse was turned into warres and trouble bicause he slidde from the Lorde and hearkned not to his voyce euen so if your Idolatrous Masse shoulde be planted and vsed here as you desire then our prosperitie and peace would be turned into aduersitie and warres And then King Asa to mend the matter withall did imprison the Prophet for telling him so and did not repent and turne to the Lorde as King Dauid did when the Prophet Nathan reproued him which encreased the Lordes displeasure the more against him Here it is manifest as before and as it is throughe the whole Scriptures that God doth blesse his people with victorie quietnesse and peace so long as they stay vpon him and obey his worde and no longer Marke how God did blesse that good and vertuous King Iehosaphat the sonne of King Asa with victories peace and great riches bycause he walked rightly in the sight of God and abolished Idolatry which godly vertuous King in the third yéere of his raigne sent his Princes and Rulers and learned men with them to set forth Gods lawe and to teach it in the Cities of Iudah And they did teache it in Iudah and had the Booke of the lawe of the Lord with them and went about throughout al the cities of Iudah his kingdome and taught the people And the feare of the Lorde fell vpon all the kingdomes of the landes that were rounde about Iudah And they fought not against Iehosaphat Nowe weigh the comparison and consider the like or more Hath not the Lorde likewyse blessed our gratious Quéene Elizabeth with an vnfoughten victorie without any bloudshed against hir rebellious subiects the Papists and hath not he besides blessed hir with such a plenty quietnesse and peace al the rest of hir raigne as before was neuer séene in England bicause she hath hearkned to the voice of y e Lord as Iehoshaphat did who staid not vntill the third yéere of hir raigne but in the first yéere and in the beginning therof abolished Idolatrie and did set forth the worde of God the holy Bible in the Englishe tongue throughout all England not onely in Cities but also in all townes villages and other places and commaunded and gaue commission to all hir Bishops Doctours Preachers Curates and Ministers to preache teache and vse the same purelye and rightly and all other hir Magistrates to defende it And accordingly al the time of hir worthy raigne it hath béene and is dayly preached and taught throughout all England And as the feare of the Lord fell vpon al the kingdomes of the landes that were round about Iudah and they fought not against King Iehoshaphat euen so the Lorde our God hath feared all the Countries and Kingdomes round about Englande and therefore they haue not fought against our Quéene Elizabeth Thus you cannot choose but graūt that if Iehoshaphat was blessed and prospered of God then our Quéene Elizabeth is blessed and prospered of God if Iehoshaphat was a good King and did please God then our Elizabeth is a good Quéene and pleaseth God and if that were Idolatrie that Iehoshaphat did abolish out of Iudah then papistrie was Idolatrous that our Quéene hath abolished out of England and if that were y e law of God that Iehoshaphat proclaymed published and caused to be taught throughout Iudah then this is the very lawe and word of God that our Quéene Elizabeth hath set forth throughout al hir Realme of Englande If this and all the rest that I haue written can not persuade you that this our religion is the verye true religion and that God doth both like and allowe it then I thinke you are determined not to be persuaded But yet to winne you if it wil be marke what followed of wicked Iehoram thoughe he was the sonne of godlye King Iehoshaphat This king Iehoram when he was placed in the kingdome of Iudah after his father slew and killed his brethren and y e princes of Israel he walked not according as Iehoshaphat his father did but wrought euil in gods sight And he caused the inhabitaunts of Ierusalem to commit spiritual fornication that is Idolatry and compelled his people of Iudah thereto whervpon the Prophet Eliah spake to him by writing saying Thus sayth the Lord God of Dauid thy father bycause thou haste not walked in the wayes of Iehoshaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Iudah but haste walked in the wayes of the Kings of Israel and haste made Iudah and the inhabitaunts of Ierusalem to go a whoring as the house of Ahab wente a whoring and haste also slaine thy brethren of thy fathers house which were better than thou Beholde with a great plague wil the Lord smite thy people and thy children and thy wyues and all thy substaunce And thou shalt be in great diseases in the disease of thy bowels vntil thy bowels fall out for the disease daye by day Then the Lord stirred vp against Iehoram the Philistines and the Arabians and they came vp into Iudah and brake into it and carryed away al the substance that was in the Kings house and his sons also and his wiues so that there was not a son left him saue Iehoahaz the yōgest of his sons And after al this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an vncurable disease and in processe of time euen after the end of two yeares his guts fel out with his disease so he died of sore diseases c. And againe you may sée vnlesse you do wilfully winke that the abolishing of Idolatrie setting forth of the lawe of God was the cause that God did blesse and prosper good King Iehoshaphat and contrary the committing of Idolatrie and the compelling of the people of Iudah to sin therein and the forsaking of the law of God was the cause that God did thus plague and punish wicked Iehoram his son with wars with the taking awaye of his sons and wiues and spoyling his house and with y e falling out of his guts wherof he dyed Here you may easily perceiue that God spared not wicked Iehoram though he were the sonne of godlye Kyng Iehoshaphat whom God loued so wel for it is not the person or place but the truth and the godlinesse of the person whatsoeuer he be and whersoeuer he be that God doeth respect Therfore as God doeth nowe blesse vs and thys realme with prosperitie quietnesse plentie and peace aboue all other kingdomes that are rounde aboute vs as he did Iehoshaphat for abolishing Idolatrous Papistrie for setting forth obeying and preaching his holy worde Euen so assure your selues and loke for none other but that God wil cursse vs and plague this Realm of England with troubles warres with comming in of straungers spoyling of vs and our goods with the losse of wiues and childrē and with vncurable diseases or such like as he did Iehoram and
and a godly Pope of whom you may learne suche humilitie as Christ neuer taught he was called Hildebrande who suffered Henrie the Emperour his wife and his child barefooted and bareheaded in the cold frostye wether at the gates of Canusium thrée dayes before he could be suffered to come in And this holye Fathers wrath woulde not be pacified nor suffer y e Emperour to rule as Emperour but vpoÌ„ most vnreasonable conditions which were vnméete for such a worthy Emperour to graunt vnto such a proude presumptuous prelate thus you maye knowe these holy Fathers whom they follow by their fruites This Hyldebrand who might well be called for his deuilish doings a fyrebrand of hell was a notable Sorcerer and a Necromancer who on a time had forgotte behinde him hys familiar Booke of Necromancie which hée was wont to carrie commonly alwaies with him wherevppon remembring him selfe entring the port of Laterane he called two of his most familiar friendes so fetch the Booke charging them at no hande to looke within it But they being so restrayned were the more desirous to open it and to peruse it and so dyd After they had red a little the secretes of the Sathanicall Booke sodaynely there come aboute them the messengers of Sathan the multitude and terrour of whom made them almost out of their wittes At length they comming to themselues the sprites were instant vpon them to know wherfore they were called vp and wherefore they were vexed quickely sayde they tell vs what you woulde vs to doe or else wée wyll fall vppon you if ye retaine vs longer Then spake one of the young men to them bydding them goe and plucke downe yonder walles poynting to certaine high walles there nye to Rome which they dyd quickly The young men crossing them for feare of the Spirites scarce recouering themselues at length came to their maister the Pope Here you may perceiue this holy Pope was a Coniurer of Deuils some say the Pope hath the holy Ghost at commaundement but here it appeares that this Pope had rather the Deuill at his commaundment This holy Hyldebrand hyred one to laye great Stones ouer the place where the Emperour vsed to pray and so to throwe them downe vppon the Emperours head when hée was a praying and so to kyll him but God so wrought that the Emperour escaped and the wicked hyred wretche was killed himself for as he was busie in remouing a gret and heauie Stone to the place euen ouer the Emperours head it broke the planke whereon it lay the saide wicked fellow standing on the said planke fell downe with the said stone from the Roofe to the Pauement of the Churche and with the same stone was dasht all in péeces Was not this a pretie practise for a Pope he neuer learned it in the newe Testament nay if hée had applyed that Booke well he should thereby rather haue vnlearned it This Hyldebrand on a time asked an answere of the Sacrament his Christ of Bread thinking bycause it was the body of Christ as he tooke it it shoulde haue resolued hym of the thing hée asked but it woulde not speake a good cause why bycause it coulde not for it had bene a verye straunge thing to heare a Cake speake and then therefore he threwe it into the fire and burned it Thus these holy Fathers can make Christ and burne hym when they haue done but if it had bene the bodye of Christ it would haue leapt out of the fyre and saued hymselfe It is no maruell though they burne the holy and spirituall members of Christ that burne Christ himselfe Marke further what a true Prophet this holye Hyldebrande was he sayde openly in the Pulpet before diuerse Cardinals and Bishops that the Emperour shoulde dye or be put from the Empire and that he shoulde not be able to make aboue the number of sixe Knightes and thereof hée made hymselfe so sure that then hée spake also these wordes following neuer accepte mée for Pope any more but plucke me from the Altar if this Prophesie be not fulfilled before the feast of Saint Peter next ensuing But for as much as the sayd Emperour was neither deade nor deposed by that day but contrarie to this Popes Prophesie the same Emperour deposed the sayde Pope and placed an other Pope in his roome called Clement The sayde Pope Hyldebrand therefore séeyng he woulde néedes bée a Prophet he was but a false Prophet and so not Prophet of God but the Prophet of the Deuill So that hereby it plainely appeares that Popes may not onely erre but also that they haue erred and lyed falsely yea and are assuredly the Deuils Prophets Also this holy and vertuous Father Pope Hyldebrand iudged to death thrée men before they were conuicte or founde or approued guiltie and caused them to be hanged without delay contrarie to all Lawe And further this vnmercifull Father for the Popes may not be called cruell dyd torment one Centius almost to death in a vessell thicke set with sharpe Nayles which Centius after tooke the Pope before he was deliuered he pardoned the said Centius al them that were on his part but for all his pardon he hanged the said Centius after and nine of his men If the Popes pardoÌ„s be so slender y t he giues on his owne behalfe then the pardons y t he giues on Gods behalfe must néedes be of small value Therefore you were not best to trust to the Popes pardons too much least after you be hanged in hell as Centius and his men were hanged on earth This Pope Hyldebrande dyd an other déede of mercye There was at the apprehension of this Pope a certayne widdowes Sonne to whom and other moe for their pennaunce the Pope enioyned a yeares banishment which tyme beyng â—â—ded the widdowe in token of a more ample satisfaction thinking thereby to haue appeased the more the Popes furie put a halter about hir sonnes necke and drawing hir Sonne by the rope to the foote of the sayde holy Hyldebrand sayd my lorde Pope at your handes will I receyue agayne my Sonne which one whole yeare hath endured banishment and other pennaunce by your holynesse enioyned Then the saide Hyldebrand for that instant bycause of those that were with him in companye dissembling his wrath deliuered hir sonne churlishly saying get thée hence woman I byd thée let me bée in rest After this he sent his officers and apprehended the sayde widdowes sonne gaue commaundement to the Iustices to put him to death who altogether making answere saide that they coulde no more condemne or meddle with him for that hée had for his crime committed appealed once to the Pope and abidden the banishment and done the pennance by him enioyned Herevpon this glorious Hyldebrand being displeased with the Iudges caused y e foote of the said widdows sonne to be cut off notwithstanding he had fulfilled all that was enioyned him by the saide Pope before And thus
and liued in the lawes of marriage Yet Saint Paule saith They were not in the fleshe but in the spirite Saint Aug. saith The bodies of marryed people keeping faith both to themselues and to the Lorde are cleane and holy Chrisost. saith It is the honest chastitie temperance that is betwene man and wife S. Paule calleth Holynesse And againe Marriage is voide of faulte and is no hindraunce to Vertue If S. Paule these holy Doctors writers were aliue now they would say there were more holinesse in mens marriage than in Priests chastity Chriso saith Abundance of riches doth hardly bring a man into the kingdome of heauen yet often times manye ryche men haue entred into it so also dothe Marriage As Marriage hindreth so doth Riches and no more the one thaÌ„ the other Christ calleth riches Thornes and Brambles I doe not remember that euer of marriage he saide the like yet the Pope restrayneth his Priestes onelye from marriage and alloweth them benefices Prebends Abbeys Bishopprickes vpon Bishopprickes with money and treasure as muche as they liste and thinks it no hinderance to perfecte life Christe forbade the Apostles mony in their purses but not Marriage but the Pope forbids his Prelates marriage but not money Thus whatsoeuer we can saye or doe the Pope wil néedes be contrary to Christe And now for y e Priests marriage is aucthorized by God allowed by Christ vsed of the Apostles commended of the Doctors and confirmed by the Popes then why should you so muche discommend it or speake against it Perhaps you wil say that Priests haue made a vowe to liue vnmarryed if they did liue chastely by being vnmarryed I would saye they did wel but if they commit fornication by their being vnmarryed I must say they doe euill But I pray you who required this vow at their hand where did euer God commaunde them or Christe procure them or the Apostles persuade them Now séeing they make this their vowe without Gods wâ—rrant therefore their vowe is bothe vaine wicked so ought not to be kept Iephtha the Iudge of the Israelites made a vowe that if he got the victorie he woulde kil and sacrifice the first thing that mette him after he came home whereby he killed his owne daughter who did méete him firste of all other Herode vowed vnaduisedly that hée would giue his daughter whatsoeuer he asked whereby S. Iohn Baptist loste his head And the Iewes made a vow to kil Saint Paule It is noted by Gratian in the Decrées that Hubaldus made a vowe That hee woulde neuer helpe hys owne mother or brethren were their neede neuer so greate but as they that make euill vowes oughte not to kéepe them so they that make godlye vowes aduisedly ought not to breake them but if the vowe séeme neuer so godly and the maker thereof is not fully able to performe it let him then rather breake it to goodnesse than to kéepe it in euilnesse All Priestes that made this vowe to lyue vnmarryed did make it for a shewe to liue chaste But howe chastely did they liue or howe were many of them able to liue chaste forsoothe they liued as chastely as their Popes that caused them to make it the Popes pond found ful of childrens sculles shewes how chastely they and their Chaplaines liued Therefore for one to make a vowe that knowes he is not able to kéepe it is méere follie or else to commit sinne by the kéeping it is abhominable and wicked What a fonde thing is it that a lame man that is not able to go a mile a day should make a vow to go to Ierusalem in a moneth and to come home in an other euen so what a madnesse is it for Priestes and ministers of the Church to make a vowe to liue vnmarryed al their liues that can not be without a woman a moneth therfore it is a wicked thing for Priests to vowe Chastitie and can not liue chastely A vowe of Chastitie without kéeping of Chastitie pleaseth God as wel as the Pope doth in naming himselfe Christes Uicar béeing notwithstanding the Diuels Deputie Saint Hierome saith Quid prodest pudicitia corporis animo constuprato What profiteth the chastitie of the body if the minde be vnchaste Nowe if they bée vnchaste before God as they are indéede that haue vnchaste mindes thoughe they touche not a woman then howe chaste are the Popishe Priestes that vowe to liue chaste and yet are common fornicators for they make theyr vowe of custome not for chastitie And as they make the vowe commonly so they breake the vowe commonly But truly it stands with reason that if a Priest may breake his vowe in taking a whore then he may breake his vowe in taking a wife Saint Cypryan saith Peius est quam mechari continentiam ducere criminosam To lyue vnchastely vnder the coulour of chaste life as the spirituall Chaplaines of the Popes doe is worse than aduoutrie And thoughe you woulde thinke that the forbidding of Priestes marriages was established to make the Priestes liue more godly and religiously and the Priestes vowes to be made only to make them liue chastely you shal sée now by this that followeth whether they were appointed and dayly performed for that purpose or not After that moste pestilent Pope Hyldebrande hadde by crueltie tyranny quite abolished the mariage of Priests Auentin wrote That theÌ„ many godly lerned men forsooke the ministerie and also that false Prophets false Apostles and false Priestes sprang vppe whiche vnder a counterfaite religion deceiued the people The moste part of them vnder the honest name of Chastitie commit whoredome aduoutry incest and that commonly and without punishment The Popes chaste liuing maye shewe vs their Chaplaines chastitie for such Maister suche man suche Soueraigne such subiects such schoolemaister such Scholler One Robert Holcote doth set out the Priests in his time in theyr colours for their chastitie saying The Priests of our tyme by their lecherie are like the sprites called Incubi the Priests of Priapus or Belphegor and the Angels of the pit of Hel. The Priests wicked liuings for want of wiues made Pope Pius say thus Perhappes it were not worst that many Priestes were marryed for many might be saued in marryed Priesthoode whyche nowe in bare Priesthoode are condemned If the Popes themselues speake againste the single life of Priests and spy the mischiefe that commeth of it and thinke it good for Priestes to haue wiues then you that fauor the Popes me thinke oughte not to maintayne their single life or thinke it necessary that oure Spiritualtie shoulde putte awaye their wiues Thus you maye perceiue their lacke of wiues and their holy vowe made them rather liue vitiously than vertuously If I shoulde write al the sayings of godlye and learned men that haue thus writteÌ„ against their vowed chastitie vnchast liues I shold rather make a great bible than a little
booke S. Aug. saith although you haue no wiues yet is it not lawful for you to haue cōcubines whom ye may after putte frō you So y t by S. Aug. it appéers y t a wife a concubine is not al one though M. Harding a defender of Priests concubines saith that a concubine is taken for a wife and she is a true wife before God though one kepe hir and lye with hir before they be married But I may answer M. Hard. thus Suppose that a Concubine is taken for a wife as it is not where a man kéepeth a woman y t after he intendes to marry yet the popish Priests can not cal their cōcubines wiues in this sense For what Prelate or Priest of the Romishe Church kéeps a concubine to the intent to marrie hir afterward therfore if a cōcubine might signifie a wife to him y t kéepes hir marries hir afterward yet a Concubine must néedes be a harlot to Priestes that neuer marrie hir nor meane to marrie hir But the texte shewes plainely that a wife and a Concubine are two seuerall things as appeareth by S. Augustines words before recited And as the text shewes whereof M. Harding writes which is he that hath not a wife but in stéede of a wife hath a Concubine let him not be put from the Communion this lawe giues no libertie at all to sinne Therefore M. Harding as M. Iewell sayth is fowlie deceyued or meanes fowlie to deceyue other that sayth a wife and a concubine is all one for hereby it appeares they are two seuerall things If a Concubine be a lawfull wife then a lawfull wife is aswell a Concubine and if a Concubine and a wife be bothe one why doth the Pope allowe a Priest to keepe a Concubine and so straightly forbid him to haue a wife Also in the Popes decrées it is lawfull for a Christian man to haue only one woman either his wife or in steede of a wife his Concubine but first by the way this is a godly law here a cōcubine is not a wife saith M. Iewel but a woman in steede of a wife And the Rubrike vpon the 34. distinction Is qui. is thus It is lawfull for him that hath no wife in steade of hir to haue a Concubine here is good stuffe And what is a Concubine but a harlot For S. Aug. saith Some man wil say that the woman that I keep is not my Harlot she is my Concubine whereto S. Aug. aunswered thus Wel wel whether thou wilt or wilt not shee that sleepeth with thee besides thy wife is thy harlot Thus Maister Harding would proue that a Concubine is a good honest woman bycause belike they are Priests Lemans but the Scriptures S. Aug. accompt them plaine harlots May you not now perceiue that the Popes law is a pure and holy law that allowes Priests to haue harlots forbids them to haue wiues nay punisheth them and burneth them for Heretikes that haue wiues I maye say that you are not so wise as I woulde haue you if you forsake the Gospel of Christ and follow stil that Romish Church that allowes laws to maintain whordom As it doth partly appeare before that these Popes restraine Priestes from Marriage not to liue in Chastitie but in whoredome and aduoutrie so shall you vnderstande the same more plainely by this that followeth therefore marke it wel For fornication no man ought to be deposed vnlesse he continue in the same wherevpon they haue made this fauourable glose for their chaste Priests Now adayes no man may be deposed for fornication Is not this a good glose for the cherishing of Chastitie yes I trowe Panormitane saith The lawes of men ought to bee altered according to the change of times for though before tyme when the Churche of Rome followed Christe Priestes are deposed for fornication yet nowe bycause the times were changed the iudgement of the Church of Rome is changed therfore now-adayes Panormitane telleth vs an other tale and saith That for simple fornication no Priest is deposed from his benefice Likewise it is noted vpon the Decrées thus It is commonly said that for simple fornicatiō no Priest ought to be depriued for that fewe Priests are found without that fault yea but why did you take away mariage from thē y t wold haue made them be without that fault and therfore by that saying the wordes that I spake before are verified which were Driue away Marriage and bring in Whordome But they that committed fornication or aduoutrie Maister Harding saith Saint Siluester made a brydle for them which was They shoulde suffer ten yeres penaunce which to our newe Cleargie saith he woulde seeme very straite Yea but as they vse the matter it is nowe slacke ynough for it is so qualified with such a glose that the offender may release all that tenne yeares penaunce for the giuing of a peny Therefore the Popes chaste Priests hauing thys libertie and so easily to be released will make harde shifte but they wil giue that peny Further y e Popes law is that no man now a dayes ought to be depriued for fornication and that bycause oure bodyes are frayler than they were wont to be So the Priestes bodies bothe in the olde law and in the newe lawe long before your tyme woulde haue bin fraile as wel as yours if they could not haue bin suffered to haue wiues Therefore why do you not take the remedy that God hath appointed that is to marry whereby youre bodies woulde not be so fraile as they are Otho in his Constitution Legantine saith Let Priestes put away their Concubines within a moneths respite and afterwarde to holde neither them nor any other in any wise whiche the glose very fauourably expoundeth for the spirituall ease of the Priests they may not afterwardes holde neither the same Concubines nor any other which wordes you must thus vnderstād That by the space of a whole moneth togither he may not hold them And thus by this kind of glosing y t Priests are safe inough frō being punished by this lawe for the Diuel were on them if they shoulde lye with their harlots a whole moneth togither And thus thoughe some of their lawes be straite the gloses of their lawes haue made them easie ynough Many suche licencious laws are made in fauouring of the Priests fornication Now I pray you iudge rightly and without partiality whether Gospellers or the Papists giue more carnal libertie or occasion to sinne A man maye loke al Gods lawe throughe ere he finde one such fauourable clause for fornicators as the Pope hath made manye for his fornicatyng Priestes Maister Harding sayeth If the Bishop winke and dissemble and beare with the wickednesse of the Priest in this behalfe that then he himselfe ought to be punished by suspētion from his office Whom Maister Iewel aunsweareth as followeth This maister Harding is Canon of your own making for other authoritie