of dome the sole which is the cleare and faciall sight of God And it is said that he induced the Vniuersity of Paris to this that no man should take degree in the same but he that first did swear to desend this error to mantain the same for euer Thus saith Adrian who was him selfe the Byshoppe or Pope of Rome and the most excellently learned Byshoppe that euer was in that sea And it will not serue the turne to say as the Iesuite Bellermine doth in the defense of popish faith to wit that Pope Iohn erred as a priuate man but not as Pope for that distinction doth not onely want a good foundation whereupon it should be built but also it flatly destroyeth the plain text the reason hereof is most euident euen to euery childe First because Pope Adrian saith docuit hee taught Secondly because he saith publice publiquelie Thirdly because he saith mandauit he cōmaunded all to holde it Fourthly because none coulde be made graduate saue onely he that held this opinion Fiftly because euery graduate did swere to hold defēd it foreuer So then the Pope may erre not only as a priuate man but also in the publike decree of faith that euen by the consente testimonie of Adrian who was Pope himselfe yea who for learning knowledge as the papists thēselues cōfesse was one of the rarest Popes that euer came at Rome But of this point I haue spoken more largely in my booke of Motiues The eleunth Hound TEll me O Pope doe not thy Doctors deare wrest the scriptures most cleare that so they may serue thy turne thou must for shame confesse it for thine owne sworne vassall Polydorus Virgilius doth witnesse it to be so these are his expresse words Non secus isti iurisconsulti aliquoties detorquent sacras literas quo volunt ac sutores sordidas solent dentibus extendere pelles These popish Legistes and Canonistes doe nowe and then so wrest and writhe the holy scriptures euen as Coblers doe gnaw with their teeth and stretch out their filthy skinnes Out of these wordes I note first that this Polydore was a great papist himselfe and so this testimonie must needs be of great force against the papistes I note secondly that he speaketh not of the meanest and basest sort of papistes but euen of the best and of their renowmed Doctors because he meaneth Hostiensis their grande and famous Canonist I note thirdly that their mangling and wresting of the holy scriptures is most intollerable and that without the same they cannot possibly maintaine their wicked doctrine The 12. Hounde TEll me O Pope doth not Dominicus Soto thine owne Dominican Frier tell vs with open mouth that no soules abide in Purgatorie aboue tenne yeares Doest not thou for all that giue pardons for tenne thousand yeares doe not thy Romish priestes take money to saye Masses for those that were dead and buried seuen thousand yeares agoe the vsuall practise which my self haue knowen doth proue it to be so I haue also proued the same in my booke of Motiues and more at large in my booke of Suruey The 13 Hounde TEll me O Pope doest not thou teach thy children that they are iustified by their owne merites and by their workes of supererogation and yet doth not thy deare Frier Iohannes de Combis oppose himselfe roundlie against that wicked heresie Gods holy spirit mouing him so to doe I wote it is so for these are his expresse words Hoc patet quiae Deus semper remunerat supra meritum sicut punit citra condignum All this is euident because God euermore rewardeth vs aboue our merites and also doth euer punish vs lesse then we deserue For which respect Saint Austen saith grauely Ue etiam laudabilvitae hominum si remotae misericordiae discutias eam Woe euen to the best liuer of all if thou O GOD shall examine his life thy mercie set apart The 14. Hound TEll me O Pope doth not thy famous Canonist and most reuerend Bishop Couarruuias tell vs without blushing that albeit the doctrine of thine Angelicall Doctor Aquinas be confirmed for Authentical by sundry Popes afore thee yet must the contrary opinion be defended of necessitie because forsooth saith Couerruuias the life of popery cannot otherwise saued bee These are his expresle words Nec me latet D. Thomam praevia maxima deliberatione afferere Rom. pontificem non posse propria dispeae satione continentiae solenne votum monathorum tolere paulo post oportet tamen primam opinionem defendere neque passim fiant euertantur omnino Neyther am I ignorant saith Couerruvias that Saint Thomas affirmeth after great deliberation that the Bishop of Rome cannot with his dispensation take away from monks their solemne vow of chastity this notwithstanding we must defend the first opinion least the common practise of the Pope be turned vpside downe Out of these wordes sundry very necessarie obseruations may be gathered First that the best learned Papistes doe not agree about the Popes Authoritie Secondly that great learned papistes among whom Aquinas is one doe deny the Popes resolution iudgement and authority and that euen in the highest points of doctrine Thirdly that false and absurd opinions must be defended for the credite and safegarde of the Popes religion Fourthlye that most miserable is the Popes religion which must haue such beggerly shiftes for the maintenance of the same The 15. Hound TEll me O Pope doest thou not reiect the sixt generall synode because it prescribeth limites to thy holinesse doest thou not like wise reiect one parte of the generall counsell of Constance for that it preferreth the authority of the counsell against thee doth not thine owne Iesuite Bellarmine reiect the Epistle of Damasus to Hierome and an other of Hierome to Damasus doth not thy renowmed canonist Nauarre reiect the common opinion so often as hee disliketh the same doth not Cardinall Caietanus contemne a whole multitude of Fathers when they seeme to him to holde against the scriptures doth not Melchior Canus a most learned papist oppose himselfe against the Thomistes and the Scotistes Against all both olde and newe writers all this is true I knowe it well and I houe proued it in my booke of Motyues One or two testimonies I will heere set downe because they are verie profitable for the Reader Caietanus hath these expresse wordes Si quando occurrerit nouus sensus textui consonus nec à scriptura sacra nec ab ecclesiae doctrina dissonus quamuis à torrente doctorum sacrorum alienus aequas se praebeant censores Memineriut ius sum vnicuique tribuere solis scripturae saecrae authoribus reseruata est authoritas haec vt ideo credimus sic esse quod ipsi ita scripserunt nullus itaque detestetur nouum sacrae scripturae sensum ex hoc quod dissonat à priscis doctoribus Sed
of the Houndes that hunt the Romish Foxe Victoria Couarruvias Aquinas Vignerius Fumus Lyra Gerson Syluester Rhenanus Grelerius Polydorus Soto Caietanus Gratianus Roffensis Socrates Alphonsus Panormitanus Durandus Platina Carranza Bellarminus Sigebertus Palmerius Bergomensis Polanchus Philaster sianus Dionysi Carthu Glossa decretalium ⧠THE HVNting of the Fox The first Hounde GIue me leaue O holy father of Rome to tell you in the way of charitie what your owne beloued vassales haue in printed books reported of your holinesse Gods spirit no doubt enforcing them thereunto Thou O disholy Pope fearing that thy Antichristian vsurped primacie would in time be turned vpside downe if euery man might frely examine thy doctrine tyrannicall constitutions according to Gods sacred worde the true touchstone of veritie hast by an abhominable decree in thy detestable canon-lawe made it flat sacriledge to dispute of thy power I will forge nothing of mine own brayn I will deale sincerely in euery point euen as I will answere at the dreadfull day of dome and therefore do I exhort the gentle readers to marke well what I say Franciscus a victoria one O pope of thy dominican Fryers and the learnedst diuine that euer Spaine brought forth doth constantly thus report the matter non spectat ad subditos determinare aut examinare quid possit Papa aut quid non possit quomodo teneātur parerevel non quia sacrilegium est disputare de poteutia principis praecipuè Papae It belongeth not to popish vaslals to determine or examine what the pope may doe or what he may not doe and wherein they ought to obey or not because he hath made it sacriledge by his lawe to reason dispute of his power Consonant hereunto is a decree of the late counsell of Trent by which it is made vnlawfull aswell to the clergie as to the layicall people to read either the olde or the newe Testament translated into the vulgar tongue and that vnder the paine of the Popes curse vnlesse such person or persons be by him licensed thereunto Yea it is strictly inhibited by the said counsell that no person or persons whosoeuer shall print read keepe or lend any booke at all saue such only as are not oriously knowne to be allowed by the Pope and why I pray your holinesse did you make this most cruell law doubtlesse because if learned bookes might be allowed publiquely your heathenish late Romish religion woulde soone receiue a deadelye wound For notwithstanding this your tyrannicall law many other decrees of like sort your own dearest hounds do still hunt your holinesse euen to very death The second Hounde THy hellish glosses O Pope of Rome do tell vs manifestly that thou canst change the nature of things that thou canst apply the substantiall parts of one thinge to another and that thou canst make of nothing somthing consequētly that thou canst make thy selfe another God For although it may seme a wōder that any not bewitched by the maister Deuill of Hell woulde euer vtter such folly and open blasphemie yet doe I neither say any thing of malice neither vrge any one iote against thee O Pope but those very things which thine owne deare Doctors haue in printed bookes published to the worlde and this I obserue to my great comfort wishinge al Christiā readers to note the same seriouslie that thou O Pope with thy late predecessours wouldest long sythence haue musseled the mouthes of these houndes if the holy Ghost for the good of his elect had not appointed the contrarie to be done thus therfore O Pope writeth thine owne approued glosse euen vpon thine owne decretals sic Papa dicitur habere caeleste arbitrium et ideo etiam naturam rerum immutat substantialia vnius rei applicando alij et de nihilo potest aliquid facere So is the pope saide to haue celestiall arbitrement therfore doth he chāge the nature of things by applying the substantiall parts of one thing to an other and he can make that which is nothing to be something Beholde here most execrable blasphemie that euer was or henceforth can be for it is proper to God alone to make something of nothing by his peculier worke of creation This to be so neither euer did or can any diuine denie The third Hound Tell me O Pope haue not thy sworne vassals written of you that Christ him selfe hath engrauen in thy thighs that thou art king of kings Lord of Lords as this also O sweete Iesus that though thou carry a thousand soules to hell yet may noman say to thee why doest thou so sundry I knowe haue so written but Iohannes Gerson shall speake for himselfe and the rest I will not alter one worde or syllable that he saith Thus doth he write Sicut Christo collata est omnis potest as in caelo et in terra siceam Christ us omnem Petro suisque successoribus dereliquit vndo nec Constantinus Siluestro papae contulit quod non esset prius suum sed reddidit iniuste detentum Porro sicut non est potestas nisi a Deo sic nec aliqua temporalis vel ecclesiastica imperialis vel regalis nisi a Papa in cuius faemore scripsit Christus Rex regum dominus dominantium de cuius potestate disputare instar sacrilegij est cui neque quisquam dicere potest cur it a facis mentior sinon inueniantur haec scripta ab illis etiam qui sapientes sunt in oculis suis. As all power was giuen to Christ in heauen and on earth so Christ left all that power to Peter and his successours for euer Wherefore the Emperour Constantine gaue nothing to Pope Syluester which was not his owne before but he onely restored that which was vniustly kept from him Further as there is no power but of God so is there neither any temporall nor ecclesiasticall neither imperiall nor regall but only of the Pope in whose thighes Christ hath written the King of Kings the Lord of Lordes of whose power to dispute it is euen as sacriledge to whom no man may say why doest thou so Let me haue the lye if these things be not found written euen by those that seeme wise in their owne conceites Thus writeth Maister Doctor Gerson who though he liued in the altitude of Popedome yet coulde hee neither digest nor conceale these antichristian blasphemies ascribed to the Pope against the Sonne of GOD. Neuerthelesse the Popes themselues did chalenge the same tooke no small delite therein For thus writeth Pope Gregorye the ninth of that name ad firmamentum caeli hoc est vniuersalis ecclesiae fecit deus duo magna luminaria idest duas instituit dignitates quae sunt pontificalis authoritas regalis potestas sed illa quae praeest diebus idest spiritualibus maior est quae vero carnalibus minor vt quanta est inter solem lunam tanta inter pontifices
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
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
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
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.