in these words Feare me not for I am a man as thou art but I shew my selfe in this likenes because I liued like a beast when I was a wicked Pope Much like stuffe I could recite but I studie to be briefe He that desireth to know more hereof may satisfie himselfe by reading my Suruay In these holy disholy Fathers no sound iudgement can be found Sect. II. Of the Schismes and conflictes which haue beene among the Popes or Bishops of Rome POpe Benedict the ninth was depriued of his popedome and the Bishop of Sabina who after that was called Syluester became Pope in his roome This Syluester was afterward expulst Benedict restored to the popedome again After that the same Benedict was yet againe expulst and the popedome was giuen to Iohn Archdeacon of S. Iohn ante portam Latinam who was after that called Gregorie the sixt This pope being altogether vnlearned caused an other Pope to be made iointly with him that he might execute the Ecclesiastical function which himselfe was not able to do Which thing displeased many and therefore the third Pope was appointed who alone should supply the places of the other two One therefore contending against two and two against one for the Popedome and Gregory being dead Henry the Emperour came to Rome against the two and deposed them by canonicall and imperiall censure and placed Sindegerus the Bishop of Babemberge in the popedome At which time the Romanes promised by solemne oathes that they woulde neuer elect the Bishoppe of Rome without the consent of the Emperour of Rome Many Schismes haue been in the church of Rome and amongst our Romish Bishoppes euen for many years together And thereupon it followeth euidently that the succession of the latter Popes can neuer bee proued constantlie to haue descended without interruption from the former The great Papist Onuphrius Panuinius maketh mētion of no lesse then thirtie Schismes which were all in the Church of Rome Bartholomeus Carranza a lerned Writer popish Fryer reckoneth vp two most notable Schismes in the Church of Rome The former Schisme saith he endured for the space of 64 years during al which time their godly Popedome was at Auinion in France and not one day at Rome though at Rome as they prate God placed their holy seat In the latter schisme three of their holy Bishops were Popes at one and the selfe same time to write Iohannes 24. of that name Benedict 13. Gregorie the 12. From which three striuing and contending like Dogges fighting for a bone I would gladly learne how they cā deriue their holy so supposed successiō of which succession I haue spoken more at large in my book of Suruey Of this Romish Schisme speaketh their own dear Abbot Bernarde egregiously these are his words Tempus faciendi c. It is now high time to do good for they haue trodē vnderfoot Gods law The beast mentioned in the Reuelation to whome was giuē a mouth speaking blasphemies and to make wars with the Saints sitteth in Peters chaire like a Lion ready to take his pray Now I weene that all wise men well obseruing and pondering with themselues these manifolde and notorious Schismes in the Church of Rome which haue continued aboue fiftie yeares togither and in which sundry Popes cōtending who should be the Pope no one could truly be discerned to bee Pope will be fully perswaded therwith that if Gods holy pleasure had bin to haue tied all people in the worlde to hang depend wholy vpon the Bishops of Rome from time to time in matters touching faith and their euerlasting saluation as vpon those persons whose faith should neuer faile that God I say would haue prouided for the securitie and common good of his people that the same Bishops should haue beene more honest and godly in their liues more peaceable among themselues more free from doing homage to the diuell more constant in their seates and not so doubtfull and vncertaine in their succession that Gods people were many times at their wits end which Pope they should take for Peters successor These men therefore can not bee iudges in Religion Sect. 3. Of the priuiledges falsely supposed to be granted from heauen to the Bishops of Rome AVgustinus de Ancona a religious Frier hath these wordes Papa Vicarius Iesu Christi vice Dei viuentis in toto orbe terrarū spiritualium temporaliium habet vniuer salem iurisdictionem The Pope being the Vicar of Iesus Christ hath in steede of the liuing God vniuersall iurisdiction of all things spirituall and temporall throughout the whole world Bartholomaeus Fumus a famous popish Frier and renowmed Canonist hath these wordes Omnis potestas iurat fidelitatē Papae obedientiam recognoscens ab eo omne quod habet Et si aliquando aliquid imperator douauit Ecclesiae vt de Constantino dicitur non fuit donatio sed restitutio Euery power sweareth fidelitie and obedience to the Pope acknowledging themselues to haue from him all that they haue and if any Emperor as Constantine gaue any thing to the Church it was no gift but restitution Iohn Gerson sometime the Chancellor of Paris singeth the same song in these wordes Consurgit ex aduerso c. There starteth vp on the contrarie side faire spoken and craftie adulation whispering in the eares of Cleargy-men specially of the Pope Oh how great how great is the maiestie of thine Ecclesiastiall power For as all power was giuen to Christ in heauen and on earth so Christ left al the same power to Peter and to his successors Wherefore the Emperour Constantine gaue nothing to Pope Syluester which was not his owne before but onely restored that which was vniustly detained from him Further as there is no power but of God so is there neither any temporal or Ecclesiasticall Emperiall or Regall but of the Pope in whose thigh Christ hath written the King of kings the Lord of lords The Popes owne decrees tell vs plainly that though the Pope be neuer so wicked and carry to hell with himselfe neuer so many people yet may no mortall man reproue him for the same And the reason thereof is this because forsooth hee may iudge all but none may iudge him neither great nor small The Popish parasites the interpreters of the Canons doe ascribe titles yet more magnificall to the Pope yea titles plaine diuine and proper to God alone These are the expresse wordes in the popish Glosse vpon the Decretals Sic Papa dicitur habere coeleste arbitrium ideo etiam naturam rerū immutat substantialia vnius rei applicando alii de nihilo potest aliquid facere So the Pope is said to haue celestiall arbitrement and therefore doth he alter the nature of things by application of the substantiall parts of one thing to another and hee can make of nothing something To haue recited these absurd and prophane assertions
of all my books and played all their trickes and fetched all their friscoles their crestes are fallen their spirites rampant are become couchant and all that they can deuise to obiect against mee is nothing else in the world but one silly falsly so supposed contradiction For can any Wiseman thinke if they had any better stuffe which could better serue their turne or giue more credite to their cause or be more likely to satisfie the peoples long expectation that they would conceale it for my sake and the loue they beare to me No no my dearest they meane nothing lesse They will neuer while I liue publish any such confutation Their own consciences condemne them they know they are not able to performe it I would most gladly I protest before God and the world once see any such confutatiō during my life therfore here once again I challenge Robert Parsons that trayterous Iesuite whom I take to be this masked E. O. George Blackwell that seditious Arch-priest as the seculars tearme him and all other English Iesuites and Seminaries whosoeuer and wheresoeuer daring them all to publish the confutation of my saide bookes They are many in number and they busie themselues with publishing other needles bookes Pamphlets and libels and consequently they must of necessitie and will vndoubtedly accept of this challenge now after so many yeares and after so long consultation and mature deliberation aswell for their owne credites sake as for the consolation of their silly seduced Popelinges if they dare take the matter in hand But alas they haue said all they can and done what they were able possibly to performe CAP. III. Of the notorious lies of E. O. POpe Siricius as Thomas Bell affirmeth was seduced by Satā published wicked doctrine and taught the flat doctrine of the diuell These are the expresse wordes of E. O. whom as it seemeth the Diuell did euen then possesse when hee vttered them For not one of these words taught the flat doctrine of the Deuill can bee found in my Suruey in the place which E. O. hath quoted but these wordes which he of purpose did omit prohibited marriage as an vnlawfull thing This therefore is a notorious and a most malitious lye It is a lye in graine and that a knocker to vse his owne words else where adorned with the name of the Diuell to giue the more grace vnto it And that worthily because the Deuill is the Architect and chiefe workeman in that arte and occupation Where I wish the Reader to obserue seriously that my proceeding in all my books hath beene such and so sincere as the aduersaries for the space of eight whole yeares can but espie one onelie falsly so supposed contradiction neyther that but by belying mee and by falsifying my wordes So then it is hereby most apparant to all the worlde that if they had any iust matter agaynst me they woulde load my backe till my bones should cracke This is E. O. his first lie The second lie of E. O. is contained in these his wordes both Bell and Gough giue the lie to maister Sutcliffe denying prayer to Saints to bee auncient and Gough to Bell affirming that it was not knowne till the yeare of our Lord 370. For both Origen and Saint Cyprian liued before that time This is an other notorious lie as shall bee cleared by an euident demonstration I therefore say first that Vitium Scriptoris the negligence ignorance and ouersight of the Printer hath beene often is the cause of many faults extant in my bookes which I note here once for al wishing the reader euer to haue the same in remembrance This is apparant two wayes first because this number of 370. should haue beene 350. as is euident by the sixt Canon Secondly for that the number of 274. in my suruey is otherwise in my booke intituled the hunting of the Romish Foxe viz. 1215. and so the indifferent Reader may easily perceyue that the calumniation and cauill of E. O. proceedeth of meere malice against the truth I say secondly that the famous popish writer Aquinas surnamed the Angelicall doctor will confesse with me against E. O. to his euerlasting shame in this combat These are his expresse wordes Actus morales procedunt a voluntate cuius obiectum est bonum apprehensum Et ideo si falsum apprehendatur vt verum erit quidem relatum ad voluntatem materialiter falsum formaliter autem verum Si autem id quod est falsum accipiatur vt falsum erit falsū materialiter formaliter Si autem id quod est verum apprehendatur vt falsum erit verum materaliter falsum formaliter Moral actes proceede from the will whose obiect is good apprehended And therefore if falshood bee apprehended as truth it being related to the will shall be false materially but true formally But if that which is false be taken as false it shall be false both materially and formally But if that which is true be apprehended as false it shall bee true materially and false formally Againe in an other place the same Author hath these words Si ista tria cōcurrant scilicet quod falsū sit id quod enūciatur quod adsit voluntas falsum enūciandi iterū intētio fallendi tunc est falsitas materialiter quia falsum dicitur formaliter propter voluntatem falsum dicendi effectiue propter voluntatem falsitatem imprimendi Sed tamen ratio mendacii sumitur à formali falsitate ex hoc scilicet quod aliquis habet voluntatem falsum inunciandi Vnde mendaciū nominatur ex eo quod cōtra mentem dicitur Et ideo si quis falsum enunciet credens id esse verum est quidem falsum materialiter sed non formaliter quia falsitas est propter intentionem dicentis vnde non habet perfectam rationem mendacii id enim quod praeter intentionem dicentis est per accidens est If these three things concurre to wit that the thing be false which is vttered and that there be also a will to vtter falshoode and withall an intention to vtter falshood then there is falshood materially because falshood is auouched and there is falshoode formally because there is a will to speake falsly and there is also falshood effectiuely for that there is a will to imprint falshoode in the hearts of others But for all that the formalitie of the lie is deriued from the formal falshoode in that forsooth that one hath a desire to speake falsly Whervpō a lie hath the name of this that it is spoken against the mind And therefore if any man vtter a falshood thinking it to be the truth then is it a lie materiallie but not formally because the falshood is beside his intention that speaketh it and so it hath not the perfect nature of a lie For that which is beside the intention of the speaker is meere accidentall These are
gentle Reader to obserue these pointes with me First that it is one thing to publish wicked doctrine an other thing to teach wicked doctrine publikely The case is cleare and euident Sccondly that Ministers of the Church may be called godly men either in respect of their publike doctrine and preaching or in regard of their good life and holy conuersation For this cause did our Sauiour Christ commaund the people to obserue and doe whatsoeuer the Scribes and Pharisies did preach vnto them but not to doe after their works And he added the reason thereof because saith Christ they say do not Lo Christ reputeth the Scribes and Pharisies both godly and wicked men Godly in respect of their publike doctrine wicked in regard of their sinful liues For doubtles Christ did not commaund the people to obey wicked men as they are wicked but as they are godly that is to say as they deliuered godly doctrine to them Euen so do I say of Pope Siricius and Pope Sozimus that they were godly Bishoppes in respect of their publike doctrine as who neyther taught nor decreed publikely any materiall point of doctrine contrarie to the doctrine of S. Peter This aunswere is confirmed by the vsuall practise of all Papistes euery where For they terme euery Bishop of Rome their holy Father the Pope And this notwithstanding they freely graunt as I haue proued in my booke of Motiues that one Pope entered into the Popedome as a Foxe raigned in it as a Wolfe and died out of it as a dogge That an other Pope gaue himselfe to the Diuell that so the diuell might effect his designements They also graunt that euery Pope may erre in his priuate person and become an Heretike an Idolater an Atheist and whatsoeuer els And so they cannot all be termed holy Fathers in respect of their liues or personall doctrine taught priuate lie They must therefore terme them holy in regard of their publike doctrine agreeable to the doctrine of their predecessors though they be very often wicked in respect of their liues and conuersations So were Siricius and Sozimus good Popes secundum quid but not simpliciter Thirdly it is the vsuall course of holy Scripture to speake of many as of all to terme all wicked when the greater part is wicked and all godly when the greater part is godly This is the constant doctrine both of S. Austen and of your renowmed Papist Melchior Canus But because your Cardinall Bellarmine is the mouth of all Papistes I am content to set downe his expresse wordes so to stoppe your mouthes at this time These are your Cardinals wordes Neque mouere nos debet quod Esaias loqui videatur ita generatim vt omnes homines comprehendat Est enim iste scripturae mos vt loquatur de multis quasi de omnibus Neither ought it to moue vs that Esay seemeth to speake so generally as if he comprised all For it is the manner of the scripture so to speake of many as of all I say fourthly that I speake of the Popes vntill S. Austens time and long after not generally but in indefinitely and consequently my words are and must be true notwithstanding the bad dealing of Siricius and Sozimus I say fiftly that 18. Bishops at the Nicene councel were of a different opinion from the rest yet are the decrees termed the decrees of the Bishops ingenerall So in your last councell of Trent the decrees are published vnder the names of the Bishops there and for all that there were three Bishops that would not agree thereunto I say sixtly that the Iesuites and Seminaries are at their wits end and know not in the world what to aunswere to my bookes The reason is euident to euery childe for that now after many yeares they can finde out nothing at all in any of my Bookes sauing one onely contradiction falsly so supposed And yet to make a faire shew of something they haue hudled vp and iumbled together three places far distant one from another Which supposed contradiction if it were as they imagine would be too deare of a button If they could haue picked out of all my bookes any one thing of moment they would not for shame haue published in a printed Booke such a silly obection as this But the truth must preuaile and wil haue the vpper hand I doubt not but all indifferent Readers will be better perswaded hereafter to belieue the doctrine contained in my bookes especially seeing the aduersaries can say nothing against them in so many yeares but onely that I haue contradicted my selfe in saying in one place that the Popes were godly men till S. Austens time and in an other place that two Popes were wicked men For besides that this is so sufficiently cleared many wayes as the indifferent Reader cannot but perceiue the same it must needes bee most apparant to the world that if the Iesuites or Seminarie Priestes could frame any colourable answere to all my bookes or to any of them they would not doubtles passe ouer with silence all the Articles of Popish faith with the confutation therof set downe in my bookes and busie themselues about one onely silly contradiction and that no contradiction indeed but as they falsly or rather malitiously pretend vnto the Reader Where the Reader if he be wise and indifferent must perforce condemne them and their religion in that they dare not aduenture to encounter with my doctrine which doth touch them and their holy father the Pope so narrowly that many perceyuing it haue renounced both him them and their religion And I nothing doubt but these silly euasions and poore shiftes which they are driuen vnto will be a meane vnder God to cause many moe to renounce all Popish faction euery day more then other To shew the insufficiency of the Iesuites and Seminaries and that they know not possibly what to say or how to deale concerning the aunswering of my bookes I haue thought good to insert in this place the wordes of a letter which the Prouinciall of the Iesuites in England Henry Garnet by name addressed to his fellowes being then in consultation how to frame some kind of answere to my bookes These are the expresse wordes of his letter which by a friend of mine came very lately to my hands The wordes of the Iesuite Garnets letter sent to the rest of his fellowes COncerning the answere to the wrangler I am euen as I was before vncertain what were expedient The man desireth nothing but wrangling and besides that which I feare most is that which I haue seene by experience in other his writings that is exceeding and outragious choller Whereby he will be moued to vtter not only al imperfections which he knoweth of our fellowes but also those things which ought to be most surely sealed vp the man being past all grace and shame Neuerthelesse for this matter as you shal al agree for I doubt not but so many and such
will see what is best If it bee done it must be verie short and rather made to describe the man then to vnfold at large his doctrine For if it bee long neither the time nor commoditie of transporting vp and down nor the securitie of doing it can be correspondent That shall bee done on my part which may be This gentle Reader is there whole narration which for the exact examination and confutation thereof I will repeate by particular members one after an other euer adding a particular seuerall answer to the same The Iesuite Concerning the answere to the wrangler I am euen as I was before vncertaine what were expedient The Answere To these wordes I answere first that the Iesuites haue beene long buzzing about an answere to my bookes and haue vsed as great speede therein as hee that shoulde driue a snaile from Paris to Rome For after my bookes haue beene eight or nine yeares in their handes and vnder their malicious censure they are still at the same poynt where they began That is to say they neither haue made neither can they make any answere to my bookes I answere secondly that though the Papists be greatly troubled about my bookes and doe often consult among themselues how to frame some aunswere therevnto yet can they not this day tell what is expedient for them to doe in that behalfe But euery wise man can easily discerne that if the truth were on their side and that they could confute the doctrine laid downe in my bookes they would vndoubtedly performe the same The Iesuite The man desireth nothing but wrangling And besides that which I feare most is that which I haue seene by experience in other his writings that is exceeding and outragious choller The aunswere To these wordes I answere first that if I did but wrangle they might with facilitie haue aunswered me so many yeares ago Secondly that the Priestes and Iesuites are of a verie shallow iudgement and small reach if they can not tell in eight whole yeares what to answere to a wrangler or wrangling disputation Thirdly that the Iesuite as is confessed alreadie can not yet tell what is expedient to be done in that matter Whereupon it followeth of necessitie that it is a matter of great moment and of no smal importance For otherwise a man of rare wisedome and deepe iudgement such as our Iesuites vsually be especially those Iesuites who are elected to be prouincials and rulers of all others within a whole Prouince could not but know in much lesse time then 8 or 9. yeares what were fit meete expedient to be done concerning the answering of my bookes And yet as this great father of wisdom freely granteth he is still as vncertain as he was afore what aunswere were best to be made Fourthly that our father Iesuite lieth flatly vpon his head when he saith that hee feareth nothing more then my exceeding and outragious choller For first he and his brethren do not spare at all to write against their owne brethren the secular Priests who shew more choller in one leafe of paper then I haue done in all my Bookes Againe he and the other Iesuites doe disgorge more choller agaynst the Seculars in the least page they haue written then my selfe haue done in all my bookes Hereof none can be ignorant that shal seriously peruse my booke intituled the Anatomie of Popish tyrannie The Iesuite Whereby he will be moued to vtter not onely vll imperfections which he knoweth of our fellowes but also those things which ought to be most surely sealed vp The Answere I answere first that hereby euerie one may see that the Iesuites and their fellowes are full of notorious imperfections which they feare shall be made knowne vnto the world Secondly that if the Iesuites be guiltie in their own consciences of greater crimes offences then the secular Priests haue discouered to the world then certes they are so farre from being Saints that they are more like the Diuels of hell Thirdly that they haue damnable practises among them which must be sealed vp and not be made knowne vnto the world But hereof Watson the secular Priest seemeth to haue spoken sufficiently in his Quodlibets My book of Anatomie will tell them more Fourthly that the Iesuite doth vnawares confesse me to be an honest man For it must needes bee the part of an honest man to speake nothing of his enemie but onely that which he knoweth to be true The Iesuite The man being past all grace and shame The Answere I say first that it is no maruaile if this lewde Iesuite write thus of me to his felowes couertly seeing both hee and his fellowes write most bitterly and impudently against their owne brethren the secular Priests men of better deserts by many degrees then themselues Secondly they are arrant traitors cruell murderers impudent lyars notorious coozeners full of enuie pride malice and all vices vnder heauen as the secular Priests write of them and consequently this Iesuites tongue can not or at least ought not to be of credite against any man Thirdly all that this rayling impudent companion can truly say of me is nothing else in deede but that I haue renounced lately inuented popish Religion For the olde Roman religion practised in the primatiue church I allow and defend in al my bookes and will perseuere in the same God willing vnto my liues ende It is the superstition and Idolatrie of latter yeares crept into the Church of Rome by little and little the originall whereof I haue proued in my booke of Suruey agaynst which proofe this proude Iesuite can say nothing that I impugne condemne in all my writings Fourthly this rayling fellow hath graunted alreadie that I will vtter nothing of them but known truths consequently I must haue some grace and honestie left by his owne confession The Iesuite Neuerthelesse for this matter as ye shall all agree For I doubt not but so manie and such will see what is best The Answere Loe they that haue consulted how to answere my bookes are not onely many in number but also of the best iudgement and reputation among them For you heare his wordes so many and such will see what is best And yet these men so many and so worthie haue not in so many yeares found out any answere to my bookes But as he truly sayth they see what is the best to be done As if he should haue said the best is to passe ouer the matter with silence as wee haue done heretofore For his doctrine is sound grounded vpon the Scriptures Councels Fathers and the practise of the ancient Church and we are not able to gainsay the same It is better to sit still then to rise vp and fall The Iesuite If it be done it must be verie short and rather made to describe the man then to vnfold at large his doctrine For if it belong neither the time nor commoditie of transporting vp and downe nor the securitie