that ye may be sure no peny no Pater noster of them So that I lust héere to make an exclamation with the Poet Quid non mortalia pectora cogit auri sacra fames Which we may englishe after this sort Oh of money looue most execrable that mans heart doost so sore enflame Oh gréedy desire of minde so myserable the woonders doost vndertake to thy great shame Put away offering then take away Purgatory For when the Préests can get no money then can they not defend Purgatorie giue them pence then wyll they finde some shifte or other to prooue that there is Purgatorie yea and that proofe they will fetch out from the example of S. Augustine who prayed for his mother yea and left in his writing the there was Purgatory But when S. August séeketh to prooue the same he dooth not bring one iote or syllable of the holy scriptures for to prooue his sayings by but groundeth him selfe only vpon the Forefathers I will be so bolde to follow his owne couÌ„sell which he giueth in the Prologue of his thirde booke De Trinitate Saying Noli meis scriptis quasi canonicis inseruire sed in illis quod non credebas si forte inueneris incunctaÌ„ter crede in istis autem quod certum non habebas nisi certum intellexeris noli firmiter credere I wyll not haue thee to be obedient vnto my writinges as vnto the Canonicall scriptures But if thou doost by chaunce finde in them meaning the Canonicall Scriptures the thing that thou diddest not beleeue beleeue it immediatly and without any delay But in these vnderstanding thereby his owne workes excepte thou doost vnderstand that thing to be most certayne which thou diddest not recken to be certaine I wyll not haue thee to beleeue it stedfastly What a goodly counsaile is this héere all men may sée that this holy Father wyll not haue his writinges to be beleeued except they be grounded vpon the scriptures and word of God Shall then any man blame vs if we doo as he him selfe dooth bid and counsayle vs to doo Dooth not all the world knowe that this auncient Doctour and most holie Father dyd as a man writte many thinges which he was fayne to reuoke and call backe afterwards in his booke of Retractions If he wrote any thing in defence of Purgatorie he disprooued the same afterwardes as by his owne wordes it dyd appeare in the. 18. Sermon De verbis Domini These be his very words Duae quippe habitationes sunt vna in igne aeterno altera in regno aeterno There be two habitations or dwelling places the one in the fire euerlasting and the other in the kingdome that neuer shall haue ende Dooth not this agrée wel with the doctrine of our sauiour Iesus Christ that dooth onely appoint vnto vs the bosome of Abraham that is to say the societie and fellowshippe of all them that died in the faith of Abraham into the which the poore Lazarus was caried by the handes of the Angels and hell fire where the ritch glutton was buried unmediatly after his death But ye shall heare him yet speak more plainly Primum enim sayth he sides Catholicorum diuina autoritate regnum credit esse coelorum secundum gehennam vbi omnis apostata vel à Christi fide alienus supplicia experitur tertium prorsus ignoramus imo nec esse in scripturis sanctis reperimus The faith of the Catholiques dooth first and formost beleeue by the aucthoritie of the Scriptures that there is the kingdome of heauen Secondly that there is hell fire where all Apostataes and all that be straungers from the faith of Christe doo suffer punishment We are altogeather ignorant of the thirde place yea we finde not in all the holy Scriptures that there is any Againe in an other place he sayth It should be best that they should affyrme nothing in a matter that is vncertaine of that which the Scriptures doo not onely holde their peace but also doo speake the contrarie Yet the Papists for lucres sake are not ashamed to defend the opinion of Purgatorie by the fansies and dreames of theyr owne heads They that die in the faith of Christe in true confession and acknowledging theyr sinnes and with a true repentant heart haue no néede after they be once dead gone out of this vale of miserie of the deuotion and good déedes of theyr fréendes and kinsfolkes If we should but follow the aucthoritie and saying of the blessed Martyr Saint Cyprian Contra Demetr Tracta primo Who béeing a good whyle afore Saint Augustin dooth write after this maner Tu sub ipso licèt exitu et vitae temporalis occasu pro delictis roges Deum qui verus et vnus est confessionem et fidem eius agnitionis implores venia confitenti datur et credenti indulgentia salutaris de diuÃna pietate conceditur et ad immortalitatem sub ipsa morte transitur That is to saye Although thou doost at thy verie departing out of this worlde and going downe of this temporall lyfe praye vnto GOD for thy sinnes who is the true and onely GOD calling vppon him with a faithfull confession and acknowledging bothe of thine offences and of his trueth Thus confessing and beleeuing thou hast free pardon and forgiuenesse giuen and graunted vnto thee of the meere goodnesse and mercie of God And in the verie death euen as soone as thou hast giuen vp the ghost thou passest vnto immortalitie Héere doo ye sée that by this holy Martyrs saying if we do vnfainedly confesse acknowledge our sinnes and repent from the bottome of our hearts we doo not onely obtaine a frée pardon and forgiuenesse of our trespasses and offences at the bounteous and mercifull hand of God but also in the verie death it selfe we passe vnto immortalitie that is to say vnto a lyfe that neuer shall ende What shall then the deuotion and good déedes of our fréends and kinsfolkes profite vs can they better our estate But then we shall haue the fruition of the Godhead and sée God as he is we shall be with Iesus Christ in glory and haue the fellowship of all the blessed spirits and soules of the righteous What could be added to this felicitie I beseech you the Scriptures doo in all pointes agrée with this holy Martyr First Ezechiel Cha 18. dooth crie out saying At what tyme soeuer a sinner dooth repent him of his sinnes from the bottom of his heart I wyll put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance sayth the Lorde Dooth not the holy Ghost heere by the mouth of Ezechiel certifie vs The Scriptures are sufficient testimonies for the faith of Christians that if we wyll with a true repentaunt heart flie vnto the mercie of God and take holde therevpon through faith in our sauiour Iesu Christe our sinnes shall not onely be forgiuen vs but also cleane put out of remembrance vtterly forgotten And wherefore I pray you because of our owne merites
and purpose is not in writing this booke to gape for popular applause and to hunt after prayse but to signifie to the world what I haue bene and what I haue doone I haue been a member of the Romishe Church as it is well knowne to many who bothe knewe me and were conuersant with me at Roome And at my first comming to that Babilonicall Cittie I was suspected to haue bene an Hereticke for so tearme they Christian Catholiques wherefore by the meanes of an English man named Salomon Aldred sometime a dweller in Birchen lane in London who was maried and had bene in my company in France I was brought by Doctor Morice prouider of the English Hospitall at Roome for his owne discharge to the house of the Romishe Inquisition Where béeing examined in matters touching Religion I confessed what I had bene in tyme past an enimie to theyr Religion When as by the processe of my wordes the Dominican Inquisitour had intelligence of my former state He commaunded Doctor Morice to bring me before him the day following which was the .xxvi. day of Aprill in the yeere of our Lord. 1578. So the morning after I came vnto him with Doctor Morice then the sentence of the fowre Cardinalles which are appertayning to that office was this that I should write what I could with frée lybertie of spéeche and pardon graunted against the Pope and against his Religion Béeing thus commaunded as I would auoide the Popes indignation and displeasure to write what I could against his swelling tytle and presumptuous name of supremacie I spared neyther him neyther yet his vnstable Religion as héerafter in the Sermon made at the cōmaūdement of the fowre Cardinals and this Dominican it shall appéere Which Sermon Oration were brought before the Pope and the rest of the Cardinals béeing then in the Consistorie Whē the Pope vnderstoode howe that I had bene reconciled to his Church before the time I came to Roome he pardoned my trespasse and gaue me a Signatura not forgetting to giue me thankes and professing fréendship he willed a Letter to be written to the Rector of the English Seminarie that he should ascribe me to the number of the rest And the Letters béeing deliuered and read both of him and Cardinall Morone Protector of the English house I was admitted the .xxviii. day of May to the Societie of the English Students For so much as the Religion of the Papists is grounded vpon lyes so can they doo nothing else but lie and report vntruelie Wheras a Masse-monger who writeth that he did not only knowe me but also lyued with me falsely reporteth in his Lybell set out against me That I was recommended from Cardinall Paleote of Bolonia to Doctor Lewes that by his meanes I might finde some releefe at the Popes handes this reporte is as true as nowe I am in Wales As touching Doctor Lewes there was not so much as one word spoken much lesse a Letter written vnto him But this is the onely fruite of theyr Religion to speake more then trueth is to slaunder him wrongfully that dooth degenerate from them to hate him vndeseruedlie that findeth out theyr treachery maliciously to backbite him that hath forsaken the dregges of their idolatrie For that I haue with an vnfayned heart renoūced the Romish faith what slaunderous reportes the Papistes haue had of me in what hatred they haue me how maliciouslie they speake of me God knoweth from whome no secrete is hyd and so doo I acknowledging my selfe cléere and frée from those crimes wherewith I am vniustly accused these theyr malicious and slaunderous reproches I haue procured against me for telling the trueth And for the breach of the fowrth decrée of Pope Leo which was no crime in déede for that the decrée is vnlawfull Should I excuse the murther by this Pope committed as the murthers of Sampson Should I commend the deuillishe practises and cruell attempts of this Pope Gregorie to haue the lyues of the true Christians in the lowe Countries abreuiated theyr countrie spoyled theyr houses burnt theyr Cattell slaine theyr Daughters rauished theyr Sonnes murthred euen in the sight of theyr Fathers and the Parentes eyther made slaues or else constrayned before the due course of nature to yéelde vp the ghost Of all this calamitie iniurie and murther the Pope is the onely cause and author This I knowe to be true this I am able to auouch this I am not afraide to write Should I prayse your Pope béeing an adulterer or should I cloake his faulte as the adulterie of Iacob Should I thinke your Pope to be a holie Virgin hauing two Bastardes the one made a Cardinall the other a Marquesse the one a ruler of his Castle Santo Angelo the other Grand mon Signior of his abyding Pallace Should I coullour his robberies as the robbing of the Egiptians what robberies hath he done in the Churches of Italie to mayntaine the English Seminaries bothe at Roome and at Rheimes in Fraunce he hath compelled the most part of all Abbottes and Priours and other Ecclesiasticall men to disburse him about a twelue month past a summe of money Because I haue spoken truely bothe by your Pope and by you Papistes therefore you maliciouslie slaunder me but in the Booke of Pilgrimage I wyll blaze out your armes and so discouer your treacheries the lyues of your Monkes and Iesuites among whome I haue lyued shall be knowen to all England the hypocrisie of your Cardinalles and Bysshoppes with whome I haue bene conuersant no man there is but shall knowe The Sodomiticall life of your Prelats repeate Monkes Theatines Iesuites Cardinals and Byshops and others I will sound out with the larum bell The discention of your Colledge the emulation of the Englishe Studentes the orders of the house theyr manner of lyuing theyr canckred hatred towardes theyr natiue Soyle all these thinges recited in the Booke of Pilgrimage shall be truely and not maliciouslie handeled for the greater detestation of your forged and fayned Religion sproong vp from couetousnesse and ambition I wyll haue an especiall care to the wordes which I shall write least that in misreporting ought of you rashly I incurre deseruedly the displeasure of almighty God and may not be frée of infamy and the hatred of such as haue been trauellers who knew them selues many things to be true which I intend to bring to light iustly I should procure I would thou Papist hadst the same minde not to haue excéeded the bondes and lymittes of trueth because they thought to bring my name to discredit by theyr vntrueths they thought it good to scatter abroade theyr lying Lybels to the ende that some who are weake of beléefe and others which are inclyning to Papistrie might reiect my writing and make no accoumpt of my sayinges howe false theyr Lybel was you may reade as followeth The first vntrueth is this that where as be vntruely reporteth That I was brought vp in Poperie and therein continewed vntyll for pouertie
all his Plate in custodie and who would haue giuen to me a Canonship if I would haue staid with him during lyfe which thing to be true you your selues know that were Préestes at Roome for thereof the Bishoppe wrote a Letter and sent his man with me to Millaine to Doctor Parkar who also wrote a Letter to the Scholers of the English Seminarie This his looue towardes me did I not obtaine in speaking vntrueth but for that he had bene a traueller himselfe to forraine Countries and had tried aduersitie him selfe as he fell into the handes of his enimies vpon which cōsideration he tooke compassion on me béeing a straunger and in pouertie Moreouer whereas thou writest That I slaundered the lyues of the Bisshops Ministers and other professours of England That is as true as they saye that it is lawfull to rebell against our Soueraigne for I neuer misreported of any Bishoppes Chaplaines how could I tell how Bishops Ministers lyued I neuer was conuersant with them As for other Ministers I must néedes confesse thus much I spake that in the beginning of this Quéens raigne when Ministers were somewhat scant through occasion well knowen then there were certaine honest zealous mē of occupatiō who supplied the roome for a time but afterward by the godly care of the Bishops were otherwise prouided for learned mē placed in their roome which being so néere driuen by casualty of the time vpon the great godlinesse earnest zeale of such men did so order it while til they were better prouided for But whereas thou saydest That I of mine owne freewill went to the Inquisition to obtayne greater credite This is as true as thou sayest That I presented my selfe and accused my selfe that I had beene a Papist Where as it is well knowen I was taken at Islington and brought by a Pursuinant to the right honourable Sir Frauncis Walsingham and by his commaundement was sent to the Bishop of London and from him I was brought by the Pursuinant to the Towre of London So as before I haue deelared I was brought suspected an Heretick at Rome by Doctor Morice to the Inquisition But where as thou sayest I neuer ceased very spytefully to detract and speak euyll of the Protestants this is as true as the rest But this I confesse that I much discōmended the liues of such who outwardly bare great show of zealous Protestantes and inwardly were craftie and dissembling Papists when they came in companye with any Protestants then they were as zealous as they themselues but when they came in conference with Papists they were as earnest in conscience as they likewise carrying in one hand both fire and water to deceiue the ignoraūt that did not mistrust them to séede the Diuell with that he would haue against this enormitie I did not a little inueigh for that I thought it worthy of all reprehensiou But as for otherwise defaming the Protestants thy wordes are most vntrue and I neuer opened my mouthe to vse any such spéeches Moreouer whereas you say That I delighted in flattery This you speake of mallice and not of trueth for I séeke to flatter none for preferment sake as thou sayst I doo Because I speake the trueth by thée and such as thou art therefore thou sayst I flatter I gape not for preferment neyther for any worldly pelfe I will be contented with Gods prouidence as he hath or dayned so shall it be with me happe well or hap ill the Lords name be praysed To flatter any man for exhibition sake I intend it not let them doo as they list and as God shall put in their mindes Whether I liue in myserie or else otherwise Gods wil I am not to resist but accept all thinges patientlye and speake well of the name of the Lorde who scourgeth whom he will and fanoureth whom he will And moreouer Thou countest me no better then halfe a foole as others maye easilie perceaue if they make tryall of mee Truelie I confesse I had rather be counted a foole and professe the trueth then be named a wise man and committe idolatrie The tyme hath béene that bothe thou and thy fellowes had good hope of me that I should be an instrument to mayntaine your idolatrous and superstitious Religion And where as thou sayst That I was vnable to goe foreward in Logicque or Philosophie This procéeded not of the rudenesse of my capacitie but of the mallice which Father Ferdinando the Prefect of the Englishe Seminarie bare to the Welshmen There were Batchelers of Arte not permitted to beginne theyr course of Logicque or Philosophie which is an vsuall thing at Roome for Batchelers yea Maisters of Arte eyther to be permitted to heare Rhetorique or to beginne Logicque And wheras thou writest that I wrote in my booke That I preached before the Pope I wrote no such things the booke is extant who that wyll may reade it And there he shall finde that my wordes are thus in effect Gentle Reader to excuse the fault of the Printer and to discharge my selfe of the Papistes obiection against me in this point l giue you to vnderstand that he mistooke him selfe in printing a Sermon preached before the Pope vvhereas I vvrote it a Sermon presēted before the Pope Wherfore I desire pardon for his offence and mine owne negligence in not vsing more respect in that place I made an Oration and a Sermon at Roome which was presented before the Pope and all his Cardinalles with diuers other in the Consistorie And the same Oration and Sermon which was my Recantation called and for the which the Pope gaue me thankes registred it in three great volumes in the house of Inquisition These wordes I spake and these wordes are true and there is one in London who was at Roome then and knewe of this my dooing knew me also who will affirme the same to be true Thou writest moreouer That with vaine brags I extoll the Sermon which I made at Roome in the English Seminarie vpon Saint Peters day last Advincula Thou art deceyued I bragge not thereof I made mention thereof onely for this cause to signifie to the Readers howe within thrée dayes after I became sicke and dispayred of my saluation for that I mistrusted many points of that Romish Religion and could not tell whether they were true or false And where thou saist That it was an exercise that Grammarians vse I studied positiue Diuinitie and not Grammar nor neuer dyd at Roome and it was an exercise which the studentes in Diuinitie vsed And where as thou sayst Thou knowest who was at it and laughed to heare such ridiculous stuffe as that was To speake a worde or two to make laughter it is the part of an Oratour and it is the part of a Preacher But the same Latin Sermon dyd so content them at that present tyme that they doubted not to saye but that I should peruert many in England and should become a profitable seruant
the witte of man by reason of the féeblenesse thereof can by no meanes attaine vnto God but béeing holpen and lyfted vp by his holie worde It followed of necessitie that all men except the Iewes did wander in vanitie errour because they sought God without his worde Should the Papistes committe such absurdities in theyr writinges of matters of Religion if they reiected not the scriptures Should they holde such erronious opinions as they doo if they would content them-selues with the sufficiencie of the Scriptures no truelie if they followed the doctrine preceptes and councell of the Scriptures and not Traditions the inuentions of ambitious and worldly minded men S. Iohn teacheth in the. 20. Chap. That all things needfull to saluation are onely contained in the word of God These are his wordes Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Iesus in conspectu discipulorum suorū quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc haec autem scripta sunt vt credatis quod Iesus est Christus ille filius Dei et vt credentes vi◠tam habeatis per nomen eius And many other signes dyd Iesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this booke but these thinges are written that ye might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God and that in beleeuing ye might haue life through his name The which wordes Cyrill expoundeth thus Non omnia qua Dominus fecit conscripta sunt sed quae scribentes putarunt sufficere tam ad mores quam ad dogmata All is not written that Christe dyd but so much as the writers thought sufficient as well to manners as to doctrine Saint Augustine De doctrina Christiana Lib. 2. Cap. 9. Sayth In his quae aperte in Scripturis posita sunt inueniuntur ea omnia quae continent fidem moresque viuendi All thinges contayning faith and manners are manifestly set downe in the Scriptures Basilius De fidei Confessione Sayth Manifesta est elapsio à fide et superbiae crimen aut reprobare quid ex ijs quae scripta sunt aut superinducere quid ex non scriptis It is a manifest slyding from the faith and a great pride eyther to reiect any thing that is written in the worde of GOD or to bring in any thing vnwritten For Christes sheepe sayth Saint Iohn Chap. 10.4 heare his voice and will not heare the voyce of an other And in his Moralles he sayth That if whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne if faith come by hearing hearing by the worde of God whatsoeuer is brought in beside the worde of God is not of faith and therefore sinne What haue we to doo good Christian people with Romish Traditions with Decrées Canons Constitutions Coūcels and Papisticall writings are their inuentions comparable with the scriptures or haue the Papists the lyke vtteraunce the lyke gifte of spéeche as Christe had Saint Iohn speaking of Christe Chap. 7.46 Sayth Nunquam sic loquutus est homo Neuer man spake as this man dooth Not all the hypocritical illusions of the Papists can once preuayle against Christes Church Not Cicero the father of eloquence not Demosthenes out of whose mouth flowed flooddes of eloquence not eloquent Pericles of whome it is written that he dyd thunder out his wordes not the golden tongued Chrisostome But Christes argumentes were so mightie and his wordes so swéete that a certaine woman hauing great admonition thereof lyfted vp her voice and sayde vnto him Happie is the wombe that bare thee and the pappes which thou hast sucked This worde differeth in perfection in his wordes all thinges endure take away this worde what is man a brute beast Take away the sunne out of the world what remaineth horrible darknesse Lactantius De ira Dei Cap. 1. Sayth Lumen mentis humanae Deus est remoto Deo coelestique doctrina omnia erroribus plena sunt God is the light of mans soule if you set a side or put away from you God his heauenlie worde all thinges are full of errours Take away this worde what is man a captiue of Sathan a praye of death a slaue of sinne a fire-brande of hell Ignorantia Scripturarū Christi ignorantia est Sayth Hierome in Prologo Esaiae Ignoraunce of the scriptures is ignoraunce of Christ As farre as heauen is distaunt from earth so farre ought heauenlie thinges alwayes be preferred before humaine thinges yea incomparably ought they alwayes to be preferred Hierome in Epistola Ad Demetriadem Virginem vtere lectione diuina Sayth hée Vtere speculo vide speculum foeda corrigenda pulchra conseruanda et pulchra facienda Scriptura enim speculum est foeda ostendens et corrige dicens Vse to reade the holie Scripture vse the glasse see the glasse that deformitie may be amended fayrenesse preserued and fayre thinges performed For the scripture is a glasse shewing deformitie and saying amend Gregoris in Moral sayth Sacra scriptura tanquam speculum quoddam mentis The holy Scriptures is as a certaine glasse of the minde S. Augustin in Psalm 48. Scriptura sancta sit tibi tanquam speculum speculum hoc habet splendorem non mendacem non adulantem nullius personam amantem formosus es formosum te ibi vides Sed cum foedus accesseries et foedum te ibi videris noli accusare speculum ad te redi non te fallit speculum tu te noli fallere Let the holie Scripture be to thee as a glasse this glasse hath no deceytfull or flattering brightnesse it is not in looue with any mans person Arte thou beautifull thou seest thy selfe there beautifull but when thou commest deformed accuse not the glasse aduise thy selfe the glasse deceyueth thee not deceyue not thou thy selfe Saint Augustine sayth Tom. 2. Epist 166. In Scripturis didicimus Christum in Scripturis didicimus Ecclesiā In the Scriptures we haue learned Christe in the Scriptures we haue learned the Church Saint Ambrose sayth in Homil. Lib. 4. Cap. 1. Christus oritur in lectione sol iustitiae In reading the Scriptures Christ the sonne of righteousnesse ryseth Saint Augustine sayth Verbo Dei docemur in omnibus By the worde of God we are instructed in all thinges Saint Basill in Concione Quod Deus non causa malorum verbum Dei ex quo solo noscitur Deus regiam viam monstrat et est lucerna pedum nostrorum The worde of GOD by the which onely GOD is knowen sheweth the kinges high way and is the lyght of our feete We learne faith in the Scriptures and not in Popishe Traditions Saint Hillarie sayth Ad imperatorem Constantinum to the Emperour Constantinus Fidem imperator quaeris audi eam non de nouis Chartulis sed de Dei libris Dooth your Maiestie seeke the faith Heare it then not out of any new scroll but out of the booke of God Saint Iohn sayth Chap. 14. Qui non diligit me sermones meos non seruat et sermo quem auditis non est meus sed eius
that not of your selues it is the gifte of God not workes least any mā should boast him selfe 2. Tim. 1.9 Qui saluos fecit nos vocauit vocatione sancta non secundum opera nostra sed secundum suum propositum gratiam quae dat a quidem est per Christum Iesum ante tempora aeterna Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his own purpose and grace which was geuen to vs through Iesus Christ before the world was Titus 3.5 Non ex operibus quae sunt in iustitia quae faciebamus nos sed secundum suam misericordiam saluos nos fecit per lauacrum regenerationis ac renouationis Spiritus sancti That is Not by the workes of righteousnes which wee had done but according to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost that we being iustified by his grace should be made heires according to the hope of eternal life 1. Iohn 4.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herein is loue not that we loued God but that he loued vs and sent his Sonne to bee a recōciliation for our sins In the 9. ver We loue him because he loued vs first To the Reue. 21.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will geeue to him that is a thirst of the wel of the water of life freely Many other places of Scripture could I alleadge against mennes merites righteousnesse but these already alleadged may suffise any Christian man Now briefly will I see what the Doctors speake against this matter of Iustification by good works Origene in his 4. booke and 4. Chap. I doe scarcely beleeue that there can be any woorke that may of duetie require a reward Basill vpon the Psalme 32. Hee that trusteth not in his owne good deedes nor hopeth to be iustified by his woorkes hath the onely hope of his saluation in the mercies of God Hilarie vpon the 118. Psalme If wee faste once we thinke we haue satisfied If out of the barnes of our houshold stoare we geue somewhat to the poore we beleeue that wee haue fulfilled the measure of righteousnesse But the Prophet hopeth all of God and trusteth all of his mercie Hierome vpon the 64. Chapter of Esay If we beholde our owne merites we must be driuen to desperation Vpon the. 3. Cha. to the Ephesians In Christe Iesu our Lord in whome we haue boldnesse and lyberty to come and trust and affiance by the faith of him not through our righteousnes but through him in whose name our sinnes be forgiuen In his first booke against the Pellagians Our ryghteousnesse dooth not confist of our merites but of the grace and mercy of God Augustin in his 50. Booke of Homyles 14 Hom. Dyd not he giue that thou mightest fight a good fight if he him selfe dyd not giue what was it that thou sayst In an other place I laboured more then all they yet not I but the grace of God within me behold thou sayst I haue ended my course dyd he not also giue vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course If he gaue not vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course what is it that thou sayst In an other place It lyeth not in the willer nor in the runner but in God that sheweth mercy I haue kept the faith I acknowledge and allowe it I confesse and grant that thou hast kept the faith but except the Lord dooth keepe the Citty he watcheth in vaine that dooth keepe it Pardon me O Apostle I know nothing of thine owne but euyll Pardon vs O Apostle we say so because thou hast taught vs. Therefore when he crowneth thy merites he crowneth nothing but his owne gyfts Thus you haue heard déerely beloued what both scriptures and Doctors write against mens merites and righteousnesse Wherefore I pray you in the name of Christe to embrace the trueth THus was the Sermon ended at Roome in the yéere of our Lord. 1578. in the moneth of May which Sermō is registred only for this cause the if I should reuolt frō Papistry mine own writing which is registred should cōdemne me to the fire for pardō there were none Otherwise if they had not registred this Sermon I might haue forsaken Papistrie without any feare of burning I might haue repayred vnto them be reconciled to the Romishe Church againe But nowe if I were so wicked lewde by meanes of my Sermō registred at Roome the Pope him selfe could graunt me no pardon according to theyr owne lawes But without any faile I should be burnt as an Heretique for thus tearme they Christians But God defend me from theyr clawes strengthē me in his faith graunt me patience vnto the ende and in the ende God graunt me an heart to looue him and obey my Soueraigne Quéene Elizabeth During her life I hope the Papists shall not burne me God graunt her Grace many yéeres to raigne with much felicitie encrease of honour and ioy of health bothe of body and soule Pray well O England for her Maiestie for truely thou hast much néed thou knowest the cause as well as I wherfore the same I doo omit to write This booke is ended Momus holde thy peace for there was neuer Momus that euer thriued vnlesse he became a mome for his labor Men wyll say as they haue done before this tyme that this Booke was the labour of other men as they say the other was It is well knowne of twēty and not so few that I had the helpe of none in this book neyther in the first booke which was called my Recantation All the helpe I had was of God and my bookes as for other helpe had I none not so much as one sentence or clawse had I by other mens industrie to be written in my booke This haue I spoken not to win prayse or that I should séeme to be coumpted learned before I be But I thought it good so much to write to certifie the Readers howe falsely I am accused and slaundered and what vntruethes the Papists report of me I crane no more of them then they would of me in the lyke case to speake no more then trueth is And let them not spare to report that which is trueth so shall they as I thinke neyther displease God nor molest their owne conscience And before the any man ought to beléeue them in misreporting ought of me let them first trie examine theyr wordes whether they be true or false and as they haue prooued theyr wordes so let them beléeue Thus I haue ended to write any farther to God be prayse vnto me to accomplishe what to a Christian belongeth If you like this simple worke of mine expect for a better which I hope to God ere it be long shal be brought to lyght to the misliking of the Papists and to the discredite of theyr hypocriticall Religion and to the profite of the Christians and aduancement of
concedere potest neque igitur potest quisquam iustè affirmare simulationem in me cecidisse Hanc pretiosam gemmam hanc Dorninam nostram Elizabetham conseruet Deus ad eius religionem purè atque sanctè colendam et audacter defendendam ad Diuinum spiritum diligendum et timenduÌ„ charitatis satorem altorem et pareÌ„tem cuius numine concilio et voluntate regna nascuntur augentur atque retinentur cuius mente atque ratione gubernantur cuius denique offensione labuntur et concidunt atque delentur Precibus contendamus vt totum regni pondus sustinens summa cum laude gubernet qua ire via coepit ea pergat ad immortalem gloriam consequendam curam et cogitationem esse in religionis studio ponendam nunquam inficietur sic enim omnium virtutum opibus et ornamentis magnificentissimè redundabit et gloria ingenti nullis vnquam saeculis interitura circumfluet presidijsque diuinis in omni rerum discrimine munietur et ex his terratum angustijs in illam coelestem regionem euolabit illius autem splendoris cupiditate incensa rapietur quae non peruulgata virtutis claritate aut praedicatione hominum continetur Qui ad veram custodiendam religionem et ad pauperum ScholasticoruÌ„ inopiam subleuandam incredibili animi studio contendunt et incumbunt remunerationem vberrimam obtinebunt Precationibus denique nostris diuinum numen inuocemus vt Elizabetha Regina et Domina nostra latissimè diu et fortunatissimè in terra dominetur et post extremum vitae diem sedibus illis beatissimis diuinÃsque domicilijs fruatur in quibus homines praestantes locati nec vitijs infici nec deformitate maculari nec tormentis conuelli possint sed expertes omnium malorum aeternÃsque praesidijs et ornamentis magnificentissimè redundantes gloria immortali circumfluent Ipsi soli demum sunt beatissimi iudicandi diuinis opibus exculti summis bonis affluentes aeternis gaudijs triumphantes quorum vita est omni bonorum copia cumulata quorum laus emori non potest quorum nomen nulla vnquam obscurabit obliuio Vt in illam coelestem ciuitatis conditionem Domina amplissima atque splendidissima huis imperij Regnatrix tua Maiestas accipiatur diuinis laudibus abundans splendore diuinae lucis illustrata et diuina gloria florens Iehouam supplex deprecor Christus optimus maximus te cum summa dignitatis exaggeratione multis annis saluam et incolumem tueatur atque conseruet Papista tacet Christianus dicit Amen Sic concluditur Epistola det Deus bonum euentum ⧠Tuae Maiestatis obedientissimus subditus Ioannes Nicholaus Camberbritannus To the courteous and wel disposed Reader FOure things good Christian reader haue caused me to be circumspect in vvritiÌ„g this Book to vvit Feare Care Necessitie and Affection Feare afflicted me Care compelled me Necessitie bound me and affection vvounded me Feare afflicted me because the greef of coÌ„ming into infamie reproch and troubles caused a great circumspection in me to mark diligently vvhat I vvrote and to put the same dovvne in vvriting vvithout any spot of hipocrisie and double dealing Care compelled me to be circumspect in my dooings lest that the Papists should finde a bone to gnavv there vpon Necessitie vrged me bothe to ansvver to the infamous Libels vvritten against me and to satisfie if that I might the honest request of certain zelous ChristiaÌ„s in vvriting the OratioÌ„ and Sermon vvhich vvere doon at Roome And as necessitie caused me to purge my self of the false reports of lying Papists so dooth necessitie prouoke me to be circumspect in all my sayings affectioÌ„ stirreth me vp to vvrite those things vvhich are no lesse true then profitable But if my vvritings be neuer so true yet notvvithstanding some or other busie headed fellovv vvilspeak against theÌ„ I haue not their tungs in keeping let them speake vvhat they list and I shall arme my self vvith pacience And heerin vvil I follovve the steps of Zenocrates vvho for his pacience vvas much commended for though he vvere of his Maister Plato vniustly accused of vngratefulnes yet vvas he nothing mooued there vvith all and being asked vvhy he did not ansvver Platoes defaming of hiÌ„ made this ansvver That vvhich I do is good and profitable for me So I say that vvhich I haue vvritten in this Sermon made at Roome novv I confesse to be true and I hope this confession shal be good and profitable for my soules helth And as for the vvords of the Papists as they are but vviÌ„de so let them passe as vvinde as they proceed from a malicious hart so I conster them and so I accept them not vvith malice but vvith pacience The pacience of Eusebius teacheth me so to doo for vvhen a vvicked vvoman infected vvith the heresies of Arrius had vvilfully throvvne astone at him and thervvith all had vvounded him to death hee vvas so far from taking reuenge that he svvare his freends vpon his death bed not to punish her therfore O noble minde O vertuous act vvorthy of eternall memorie he forgaue her that vvas his enemie and did him great iniurie The like pacience GOD graunt vnto me that vvhatsoeuer the Papists say or doo against me I be not angrye therfore but take all things in good parte and pray for them that they may haue a penitent hart to be sory for their dooings and sayings against them vvhich vvish them no othervvise then to them selues one faith in Iesu Christe brotherly looue one tovvard an other God be mercifull vnto them and vnto vs all and shevv vs the light of his Countenaunce God increase the number of his Elect God conuert his enemies vnto the trueth of his sacred Gospell God graunt amendment of life vnto vs all for surely as yet God is not serued aright our vvoords and deeds doo greatly differ in effect our vvoords are heauenly our vvoorks are vvorldly vvicked and deuilish God graunt vs effectually grace vvherby vve may be saued Graunt this O Lord for thy deere Sonnes sake Amen Thine in the Lord Iohn Nichols To the worshipfull companie of Merchant Aduenturers at Emden and at Antwerp grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ Amen AS I was desirous worshipfull Company to satisfie the request of diuers and sundrie zealous Catholiques so am I not forgetfull of your tried fréendship in a forraine Countrie constrained at that present time to craue the same and to shewe my selfe no lesse thankfull then mindfull of your proued courtesie Duety bindeth me to sende vnto you this Oration and Sermon made at Roome written then in Latin but nowe in Englishe for the profite and commoditie of the ruder sort who vnderstand not the Latin tongue which Oration and Sermon notwithstanding I purpose God willing by the permission of my Superiours as it was once written and registred at Roome in the Latin tongue so to write it againe and bring it to light My intent
with his true body and with his handes he delyuered vnto his Disciples the Sacrament of his onely body Héereupon it followeth that the faithfull acknowledging the Sacrament mysterie receiue with theyr mouth the sacramentall bread of his body But with the mouth of the spirite they eate the very body of the Lord. He is eaten in such sort as he may be eaten that is to say spiritually by faith As the Lord himselfe expoundeth this mysterie vnto vs at large in Saint Iohn the. 6. Chapter Neyther haue the purest Doctours of the auncient Church taught any otherwise yea and this place may well be applied to the wordes of the Lord. For séeing our Lord hath but one true body the which he gaue vp to death for vs and that in these two places he speaketh of this selfe same body it séemeth vnto me that this place of S. Mathewe ought to be expoūded by that of S. Iohn Séeing that Saint Augustin also in his third booke of the agréement of the Euāgelists supposeth that S. Iohn speaketh not of the institution of the Supper of the Lord because in an other place he had set foorth this matter at large All the auncient Doctors of the Church Neither the sufficiencie of the scriptures nor aucthoritie of the Doctours can satisfie the Papists speaking of the Supper alleageth the Supper of the Lord. Yet for all that the Papistes euer haue in theyr mouthes transubstantiation transubstantiation Though bothe Scriptures Doctours writte against them yet so voyde they are of reason and common sence and so blockish that they will embrace signes for things them selues they turne that to worshipping knéeling which was delyuered for a thankfull remembrance by most agréeable application The Deuill hath so bewitched their sences and vnderstanding that they thinke they make God euery day as oft as they list hauing none aucthority of the most holy Scriptures but as they wrest it and wring it for theyr owne purposes For Iesus Christ at his last supper took bread and gaue thankes and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples and sayde Take eate this is my body and he lykewise tooke the cuppe and gaue thankes and gaue it them saying drinke ye all hereof this is my blood in the new Testament which shall be shed for many for the remission of sinnes Nowe to come to our purpose where as these heretiques doo take aucthoritie vpon these wordes Hoc est corpus meum that is to say This is my body The horrible blasphemie of the Papists vsed in their Masse Dooth it followe by the holy scripture that they when they haue sayde these wordes ouer the bread should create a materiall fleshe blood and raynes yea the selfe same body that the blessed Virgin Marie dyd beare as these Antichristes say they doo I doo aunswer no for when Christe brake the bread and blessed it dooth it follow that it was his body in déede and there remayned no more bread if they say no I aunswere no more doo we if they say yea then if the bread was not crucified he gaue it to his Disciples and they dyd eate dyd they eate Christes body or no I meane the verie selfe same body that was borne of the Virgin Marie if they say no I aunswer no more doo we if they say yea then dyed he not for vs For could he dye for vs when they had eaten him vp afore But this worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my body was the swéetest worde that they could finde out in all the whole Testament The poore people much deceyued by the Papists to bleare mennes eyes with a false God compelling the people to knéele on theyr knées and holde vp theyr handes which is abhominable and detestable Idolatrie But heere is a question to be demaunded of these holy Gentlemen the Godmakers When they make God whether doo they make him at once or twise for they say Note heere that there remaineth no materiall bread after the Consecration but the very naturall body that Marie bare flesh blood bone Then dooth it follow that wée worshippe a false God in the Challice Then wyll they saye as shameles Iuglers that they Consecrate the verie selfe same substāce in the wine that they doo in the bread wherby it dooth appeare manifestly that they are false Sacrilegers robbers and théeues of the laye people For at Easter they giue them a drie body without blood for they giue them Wine vnconsecrated this is once true and manifest But what wyll these Iuglers saye forsoothe euen as they haue all sayde Heretique Heretique blearing mennes eyes with such blinde examples saying euen as there is a glasse and many faces séene in the glasse so lykewise maye a multytude of people receyue the substance at one worde Ah false fayning Iuglers As there be many faces sayth hee in the glasse Note heere and but one glasse I aunswere if I sée my selfe in the glasse dooth it followe that I haue a face styll in the glasse an other in my head Or when a great number of faces is séene in one glasse it is not to note that there are faces in déede but the similytude of faces no more is it to be beléeued that this bread is Christes body that Marie bare for that it dooth but represent the body I would demaund this question that I speaking the worde with reuerence might not make Christes body as well as they they will say no wherfore because we are not elect chosen let them aunswere to this question Dooth the word giue vertue to election Note heere for an especiall enstruction or election to the word If the they say that election giueth vertue to the word then I prooue the worde of no vertue then how can they make God with it If they say that the worde giueth vertue to the election then I prooue that all men speaking the worde may doo as much in it as they For the worde taketh effect in the spirite and not in the fleshe this argument can not be denied except they make God parciall If a man should demaund by what aucthoritie they make God they wyll say by the worde Oh crafty Iuglers God made the world in sire dayes and rested the seuenth day he made Sunne Moone and starres he made byrds beasts fowles and fishes woormes serpentes stones hearbes grasse and euerie thing of the same worde and the same words wherwith he made all these thinges doo remayne mayne styll in the Bible and yet can it not make any of these thinges neyther bread nor beast nor nothing else yet wyll they make the maker of all these things and say they doo it by the word the worde that made all these things remaineth still in the Bible and yet can they not doo it Nowe to come to the word that they make God of that is Hoc est corpus meum which is to say This is my body Behold the