cerriage in his atire and manner of life he often faigned to be in meditation as in an extasie and after tolde meruailous visions as though he had talked with God his his prayer was this lifting vp his eies towards Heauen Father powre into my soule a zealous desire of thy justice which if thou doe not I will deny thee and al thine Apostles the like did many others his companions He taught that al were bretheren as children of a damme and that it was against reason that some should starue whilest others swimmed in vvealth and that the Apostles had nothing of thrir own but al was common This doctrine drew infinite numbers of people and caused straunge commotions seditions and wars Some counterfeired miracles and some sodainely could read which knew no letter in the booke before who comming againe to be Catholikes lost their skil in reading This Muncer afterwards was put to death who tooke it patiently and with wonderfull courage and exhorted Princes to read the Bible and to vnderstand the word of God After this mans death they made themselues a King and Prophets who tooke vpon them to inspire the holy Ghost into others but they were after taken and suffered death CHAP. VI. What Anbaptisme is THey first holde as all Heretiks haue done that nothing is to be beleeued but what is expresly set downe in the Bible and by that they proue what they will as the Lutheran doth who taketh in hand to prooue by Scripture that drunkennes pleaseth God In a booke printed at Lipse and dedicated to the Countesse of Mansfield they affirme that there is no true Church but theirs when they will choose their Pastours they assemble the people and the most auncient sheweth the necessity of such a flocke vnprouided euery one giueth his voice for the election and vpon whome the lotte falleth he taketh an oath to gouerne and rule well the flocke This new dignity giueth the Pastor neither title nor degree for being a craftsman he carryeth the marks and habits of his trade and hath no shewe at all of a Pastour they haue Deacons also in the same fashion they haue no pension or wages but liue by their labors as others doe from the pulpit they goe to the plough or cart or to their worke according to their trade They wil medle with no churches nor temples but make their assemblies in howses as is to be seene et Flushing Midleboroug Dansieke Camfer Amsterdam and in other partes of the lowe Countries They come not where Catholiks or Lutherans doe gouerne but are in Friseland Westfalia Prussia Silesia Morauia in some parts of Bohemia and in some places belonging to the King of Poland They baptize none vntill they come to the yeares of discretion and if any come to be of their Sect who was baptized when he vvas a child they christen him againe and of this they take their name They cannot endure the Masse but content themselues with prayer and preaching they beleeue not Purgatory neither doe they pray to Saintes they haue no Images or signe of the Crosse neither doe they any reuerence at the name of Iesus They teach that no man ought to be forced for his faith but that euery one must be free in such thinges They beleeue and celebrate the Supper as the Caluinistes doe for the most parte but these receiue standing only and carry it to the sicke but they neuer singe psalme ballad not any song When any man or woman commeth to be baptized he presenteth himselfe to the assembly and vpon his knees he desireth it and giueth testimony of his faith and if he be a magistrate he must forgoe his office If they knewe him to be of good life the Pastor casteth water vpon his head saying I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost without anything else They outwardly shew great piety and zeale of Religion and cuery one assureth himselfe that he hath the holy Ghost and that he doth not sinne and indeed in their negotiations and worldly businesse vvhat iniury soeuer is offered vnto them you shall neuer see them passionate or in choller but alwaies milde and quiet and most bould and constant in their profession They perswade themselues that they see many visions and that the spirit reuealeth vnto them things to come but how often haue they beene deceaued Iohn of Lerden their first King and second prophet foresawe that he should be the Emperour of the world but he was soone dispatched by the hangman A woman prisoner at Basill prophesied that shee should liue without meate which shee did nine dayes together but dyed the tenth day Many times they haue fore-tould the day of judgement and haue expected it lying in the colde night vpon rockes with a white sheet about them waiting for Christ his comming A yonge woman amongst them married to a Monke being so poore that they had not bread to put in their mouths shee had a reuelation that shee should inuite her friendes and neighbours to a feaste with promise that nothing should be wanting shee did so and many came inuited all ranne after to see the miracle Shee borrowed many tables at which the guests were placed expecting their victuals shee willed them to haue patience a while and they should see Angels bring meate abundantly from Heauen shee prayed with sighes and sobs euen vntill night but nothing came which made her guests in a furie halfe famished to goe home in haste to get some victuals Hoffinan their great preacher taught them to suffer wrongs without murmuring not to defend themselues hut to endure all for the honor of God to doe good for euill to beare no armes nor vse any words or weapon but only prayers They apprehend no malefactor they will be no magistrates they say that their Pastors and assemblies suffice for al. They detest swearing more then any thing in the vvorld yea in courts or before Iudges They can abide no Images and when one dieth he is carried without pompe or ceremony and buried in the Church-yard amongst other Sectaries This Sect is diuided into many petite Sectes and one amongst another So as if an Anabaptist of Sueuia or Morauia come into Holland he cannot bee admitted into their Synagogue except he will be baptized againe The principall Sects amongst them are Apostoliques which say that they liue as the Apostles did these haue all their goods in common In Morauia are many thousands of this sect none hath any goods or possessions they til the ground for others and haue trades but all haue equall profit none can bee of their Religion but such as will labour they get much and spend little which causeth them to maintayne themselues well They haue ouer-seers which see that euery one hath what he needeth They haue besides spirituall Fathers which instruct them in Religion and reade the prayers in their assemblies Whilest the Father readeth with a lowd voyce houlding
the Catholikes obserue the Gregorian Calendar and they the olde vse yet confessing that the reformation is right This is to be seene in Ausburg Spires Wormes Franckforte Ratisbone and in other places without any contention at all They bring their children to the Fonts to be christened which were In ancient time and after the P father hath recited the institution of Baptisme he absolueth the infant from originall sinne coniureth the Diuell to leaue this newe Christian which he baptiseth making three times the signe of the Crosse and other thinges after the Catholike fashion They obserue also the Catholike ceremonies in Marriage for the most part they abstaine from flesh on Fridayes Saterdayes and in Lent their Churchyardes are esteemed holy and when one is dead there commeth singers with boyes kept for that purpose which goe before the Corps and sing psalmes in the vulgar tongue all the vvay and in the Church Manie of them beleeue that there is Purgatòry and doe pray for the dead The Ecclesiasticall persons in Emperiall Citties enjoy their reuenues and so doe the Religious also But the Religious which are in Lutherane Dutchies and Countries haue beene banished and poore children are put in their places and brought vp in learning Ecclesiasticall persons amongst them differ in habit from the Laytie The Confessionists are in many Emperial townes as in Ausburg Vlmes Dingnelspil Bibrace Norlingen Hedpron in Colmar Strausburg Haganan Wisemburge Landan Spires Wormes Oppenheny and Franckeforte There be diuers Princes as the Duke of Wittenberg the Lantgraue of Hesse the Marquesse of Brandeburg and other Counts and Lords which follow the Confession of Ausburge with an oath to admit no other Religion in their Territories When all the Country was in an vproare about these new Sects many Sectaries met together at Spires and although they were of different opinions yet joyned they in league against the Catholike Church and against the Emperor protesting that they vvould dye in their opinions And of this protestation they were tearmed Protestans but this league was afterwards more established at Smalcade See here many auncient ceremonies yet amongst the Lutherans which make vp a just beard in the face of the eldest brother Lutheranisme Now to Iohn Caluin CHAP. III. What manner of man Iohn Caluin was HE was borne at Noyon in Picardy in Fraunce the tenth of Iuly Anno 1509. His name indeed was Iohn Chaunie sonne of Gerard Chaunie and of Iane France But as Luther chaunged his name so did he and called himselfe Caluin and because the Anagramme of his name maketh Lucian he vvould be called Alcuin vvho vvas the learned master of Charles the great After his infancy in some forte bestowed in learning sitte for that age he was sent to Orleans and after that to Bourges to study the ciuill Law and there meeting with one Melchior Wolmer a Germane the greeke Reader was by him drawne to the study of Diuinity for that he espied a ready wit in him and Melchior himselfe was sectetly a Lutheran but outwardly shewed himselfe a Catholike He opened vnto Caluin the secrets of Luther his Sect. After some time spent with Wolmer of whom he learned Luther his Religion and some skill in the Greek tongue he left the Vniuersitie and returned to Noyon where his father had prouided for him a Prebend a Cure in the country Yet Wolmer solicited him still by letters to become a Lutheran yea after that hee vvas returned into Germany But he went from Noyon to Paris where he began secretly to teach his owne opinions and being suspected he went to Angolesme where he was maintayned for the space of three years by one Tillet curat of Claixe Canon of Angolesme to whom he did read greeke And there it was said and diuers haue written it that he was accused conuicted of a most filthy crime Here he beganne to frame his Institutions and did read the same to diuers secretlie where he durst he was abstinent and of a sharp wit but he abstayned as himselfe confessed not for cause of Religion but because his stomacke was weake and he was subiect to the Megreame He would not as Luther his custome was to doe vomitte out all that he thought but kept still some things to himselfe outwardly shewing himselfe otherwise then he was within his words were few and he giuen to be solitary for naturally he was Melancholike opening himselfe to few and not delighting in company and euer had in his mouth Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus That he was neuer lesse alone then vvhen he vvas alone At Angolesme in Tillet his Gallery were some 3000. books and manuscripts which Caluin still turned ouer in such retired sort as his chiefest friends could hardly come to the speach of him Luther was cloquent and had a great gift in speaking and preaching but Caluin contrary was very silly in his sermons had neither grace nor action in the pulpit so asneuer any auditor was moued but only by the name of Caluin he in his speech so vnpleasing and redious with his quidmoror cómon in his mouth He was more skilfull in latin then Luther was he would often say that Luther had done nothing vvorth a button and that Christendome vvas no more beholding to him then a poore trauailer is obliged to one that sheweth him his way a farre of that it was to no purpose to follow his steppes which was said he to be halfe a Papist but better it wer to build the Church altogether new for he scorned to be any mans Disctple Dispite and desperation made Luther an Arch-Sectary and the desire of glory and estimation made Caluin another author of vvorse Heresies for this he writeth of himself All who desired pure doctrine came to me to learne although I my selfe had but new begun Prafat in Psal He called himselfe a Ptophet and spake and wrote in his owne praise and vvas very eloquent in his mother tongue vvhich caused many vnlearned to reade his bookes with delight He vsed most dispitefull and reprochfull vvordes against Kings and Princes calling them brute beasts fooles and asses If they band against God that is to say against his sect saith hee wee ought rather to spit in their faces then to obey them in 6. Daniell hee would endure no man except he submitted himselfe to him Wolmar vvho first founded the disposition of his wit vvriteth thus of him to Farell his associate in the conquest of Geneua I feare not so much saith he the ouer-thwartnesse of his vvit for this vice is sit to aduance our affaires to make him a stout defender of our opinions for he vvil not so easily be catched but that he vvill be able to entrap our aduersaries This letter caused great stirre betwixt him and one Christian a Minister of Poytiers vvho scattered copies of it by reason of the emulation vvhich was between him and Caluin Whilst he stayed in Angolesme he sayned himselfe to bee a Catholike and said
in conference with his companions that what he said he did it but by way of disputation to finde out the truth He passed from thence into Germany and tooke Geneua in his way and saw many which were reuolted and amongst them Bucer vvho brought him to Erasmus Roterodamus who then did but cry ayme and the same Erasmus hauing sounded Caluin said to Bucer pointing at him I see a great plague spring in the Church Caluin returneth againe into France to Poytiers where he got some disciples and he told them that indeed Luther had found out but a litle sparke of light vvhich gaue a little ayme a-farre off to those who trauayled in the dead time of the night to giue them some small glimmering of their iourney But to come to light indeede the Masse must be altogether abolished and the supper put in place thereof where Christ said hee to vnite the Lutheranes and the Zwinglians is really but eaten spiritually and by faith only that the communion of the materiall flesh might enter into the soule by the irradiation of the holy Ghost But diuers of his disciples oppugned this assertion and inuented new When he had some few disciples he sent them abroad with new names for one that was Reader in a Hall of the Institutes of law they called Monsieur le Minister And although the name Minister be a generall name for Seruiteurs in the Church and in the cómonwealth yet Caluin first appropriated it to the Pastors and Teachers of his new Church and yet before it was neuer proper to any order or kinde of men of religion Another was called the Gatherer afterward when their number increased they ordayned Ministers Carders of wooll Fullers Drapers Embroderers and other artificers which secretly preached there was hardly to be found amongst them no not in the yeare 1540 any learned man He raysed great stirs at Geneua but after many tumults hee became their chiese Pastor where he changed all and iudging criminall causes He marryed the Widdow of Iohn Estordeur borne in Liege in religion an Anabaptist which left that sect and became of Caluins religion shee was called Idelette de Bure a name not much differing from Luthers name He neuer had child by her although shee were yong and beautifull he married his brother Anthony Caluin to the daughter of Nicholas de Fer who at Antwerp had played such prancks as hee vvas glad to runne away and to shrowde himselfe at Geneua vvhich town was then become the receptacle of bankrupts vvhore-mongers murderers and of all debauched people vvhich flocked thither out of diuers countries and became of Caluins religion Hee made his brother a booke-seller that he might disperse his bookes But his daughter being taken in adultery and deliuered to the Bonreau to be whipped and catted shamed her vncle Iohn so that he could scarce looke vp or behould the people to whome he deliuered this new gospell He sent some few of his disciples into America to preach his gospel there because he would seeme to be as zealous in planting as the Catholiks were known to be But by that time they came there their prouision of wine wasall spent and not knowing how to minister their communion for want of wine they sent to their master Caluin to know his opinion vvho answered that being constrained by necessity they might vse in stead of wine any other kind of drink vsed in that part of the world Beza was of the same opinion and so vvas Luther vvho taught also that for want of water they might baptize in Ale Beere or Milke Thus he taught what him best pleased and his resolution to his followers was an Oracle he liued and dominiered much at Geneua where he ended his life most miserably being eaten with vermin to death as histories doe record CHAP. IIII. What religion Caluin left to his followers HE allowed of no Image at all for Religious vse turning away the word Idol in the Bible into the word Image yet did he reserue the picture of the Diuell He allowed of no feast day but the seauenth day vvhich they tearme the Saboath his church indeed was a long time without sorme or fashion for euery one vsed his owne manner some in one fort and some in another yet they al tearmed themselues the faithfull children of Christ They cannot endure the signe of the Crosse nor Altars nor any honor to the name of Iesus nor fasting daies nor chalices but in their communion they vse glasses They will haue no head of their Church but in steed of Bishoppes and Priests they haue them whome they tearme a name not known in that sence to antiquity Their ecclesiasticall officers are deuided into Ministers Auncients or Watchmen and Deacons In the ordinances of Geneua there was a fourth kinde to wit Doctors but that continued but a smal space Their Ministers dot preach administer their Sacraments and haue soueraigne authority When one will bea Minister he is proposed to the Consistory in the presence of the Minister and Auncients these be ignorant artizans afterward he is admitted to triall where a chapter is assigned him to discourse vpon in the vulgar tongue he must in no case alleadge any thing in latin in sermons But one chiefe point is that he be well able to raile against the Pope and Catholike religion as one of them began his sermon in this manner The great locke-master meaning the Pope brought vp and fedde fat in the kiâ—â—hin of Sathan c. which the audience applauding the preacher for his conceirs was much commended The minister to be after trial in this sort is by the President of the assembly hauing taken suffrages called in who telleth him his faults and wants and also commendeth something in him Then he giueth him his hand of association and others doe the like making signes of amity and ciuility and this is all their making of Ministers Yet before he be a receaued Minister some church or congregation must make meanes to haue him and thither he goeth and if the people like of him three or foure Ministers assemble and receaue him into the Ministery and for their brother and companion after that he hath subscribed to the confession of their faith his auditors maintayne him but his pension thirty pounds or forty pounds a yeare at the most if he be vnmarried if married he may haue two hundred crownes pension some would haue had them to serue without any wages at all as the Anabaptists doe If he which is called to the Ministery hath bin a Monke Friar Priest or such like he must attend a while vntill he haue disgorged his Monkery as they tearme it They are alwaies jelous of such persons first they disgrade them dismonke them and then cal them to the Ministery In disgrading them they vse this ceremony the party putteth off his habit cursing him who vested him therewith then treadeth he it vuder his feete or renteth it some of them dye their habit to