is incurable let it be obserued that tho many particular learned Papists k Mel. Canus lib. 11. c. 2. Bellar de Purgat lib. 2. cap. 8. Blas Vieg in Apoc. c. 6. comment 3. sect 3. Baronius annal circa temp Traiani haue misliked and condemned it as far as in them lyeth yet to this daie was it neuer condemned nor the book forbidden or amended by the Pope so vnwilling is BABYLON to be healed of her wounds Yea the Pope is so farre from healing it that contrariwise he suffred a Spanish Dominican Frier to defend it and that not in word but writing not priuatly but openly not in a corner of the World but to come to Rome within these fewe yeares and there euen to write and publish vnder his nose and by his authoritie an Apologie of this blasphemous fable endeuouring to proue it by many arguments That Gregory did deliuer Traian out of hell l Alphonsus Ciaconus Romae edidit Thus tho it containe neuer so great an impietie against God yet because it tendes to the magnifying of the Popes power prerogatiue let as many learned men as will speake against it m Hanc Apologiam vti historiam validis refutat argum Bellar. lib 2. de purgat cap. 8. vt Mel. Canus eandem antea improbauerat historiam c. haec dem Posseu â— prâ— it shall stand and be maintained so true it is that Babylon will not bee healed of her deadliest wounds And wonder not tho I call them deadly for consider of these consequences The Pope deliuered a soule out of hell therefore he did that which God neuer did Again therfore there may be redemption out of hell Againe therfore the Popes praiers did that which Christs praiers neuer could do againe Christ sayth I pray not for the world n Iohn 17. The world that is for the wicked damned ApologiaÌ„ pro historia Traiani quem precibus Sancti Gregorij ex inferno aiunt quidamin caelum ascendisse haec Possev Ies in apparatu sacro tâ—m 1. litera A. the Pope saith but I do Ergo the Popes pity charitie is more then Christs Alas alas is Rome the holy Church and sees not these blemishes Is she the liuing Church and feeles not these wounds nay rather is she not that Babylon that will not be healed But to conclude all this is the worse because hee hath razed out manie sentences and passages out of manie Authors wherin he thought himselfe and his seat to be wronged o Ludou viues Ferus Erasmus Stella Oleaster Espencaeus and infinite others but this that so highly dishonoreth God himselfe he can patiently suffer but had he beene as zealous of Gods glory as carefull of his own then he that forbids Espencaeus his commentaâ—ies on Titus till they be purged and the book called Onus Ecclesiae absolutly without any limitatioÌ„ because they touch his freehold too neere would also haue forbidden the Reuelation of S. Bridgit til this foule blasphemie had been purged out which seeing he hath so carelesly and wilfully neglected tho his Catalogue of forbidden bookes hath so often been renued p It was first made by Pius 4. and so siâ—ce coÌ„tinued renued augmeÌ„mented til Clement the 8. it appears what an vnworthy Vicar of God hee is who lookes onely to himselfe but suffers his master to bee dishonored before his face Therfore Arise O Lord maintaine thine owne cause Well then seeing this wound is incurable let vs leaue it rankling come to another Some 120. yeers â— The third 〈…〉 God hath diuided his kingdome with the Virgin Mary And that a man may appeal from Gods iustice to the Mercy of the Virgin Mary because God hath kept iustice to himself but committed his mercy to his Mother agoe an Italian Frier wittie and learned as the most in those daies a principall Preacher and as famous in his time as Mussus or Panegirola in these latter by name Bernardinus de Busto q Bernard de busto Marial par 3. ser 3. pag 96. editionis Lugd. anni 517 Licet ad MariaÌ„ appellare a diabolo a Tyranno imo a Deo si quis a Dei iustitia grauari se sentiat quod significatuÌ„ fuit Hâ—ster 5 vbi dicitur quod cum Rex Assuerus Iudaeis esset iratus Regina Ester ad ipsuÌ„ placandum accessiâ— Cui Rex ait etiam si diâ—idiam parteÌ„ regni mei petieris dabitur tibi ista ergo imperatrix figurauit imperatricem coelorum cum qua Deus regnum suum diuisit Cum enim Deus habeat iustitiam misericordiam iusticiam sibi retiâ—â—it in hoc mundo exercendam Misericordiam vero matri concessit ideo si quis sentit sâ—grauari in foro iustitiae Dei appellet ad forum misericordiae Matris cius preached this doctrine publikely after wrote it sent it to Alexander the 6. and vnder his name published it That God hath diuided his kingdome with the Virgin Marie 5 The impiety is so execrable and seemes so incredible that I will put downe the words out of the booke it selfe as it was dedicated to the Pope A man may appeal to the Virgin Mary not onely from a Tyrant and from the Diuell but euen from God himself Namely wheÌ„ he feels himself grieued or oppressed of Gods iustice which was signified in the 5. of Ester where it is sayd that when king Assuerus was angry at the Iewes Queene Ester came in to please and pacifie him to whom the king answered whatsoeuer thou askest me tho it be the halfe of my kingdome I wil giue it thee Now this Empress prefigured the Empress of heauen with whoÌ„ God hath diuided his kingdom For wheras God hath iustice and mercie Hee hath reserued Iustice to himselfe to bee exercised in this world and hath granted Mercie to his Mother therefore if any man finde himselfe agrieued in the Court of Gods iustice let him appeale to the Court of the mercie of his Mother What is this we heare do there lie appeales from God and from God to a creature is Gods Iustice such as a man may iustly be agrieued at it and further is God kingdome diuisible and hath God indeede diuided his kingdome and diuided it with a creature yea with a woman and hath God graunted his Mercie from himself to a creature wee may say with the Prophet Oh heauens be astonied at this and let all Christian harts tremble to heare such blasphemies yet these be good doctrins in Popery fit for their pulpits their people and after they be preached worthy to bee published to the world Surely if they grant these bee false doctrines then blame shame belongs to the papists that preach theÌ„ write theÌ„ publish them and allow theÌ„ for Catholick doctrine but if they stand to theÌ„ as true then mark what consequences will follow vpon them first it is here taught that a man may appeale froÌ„ God Herupon this
bee euerie daie eight and fortie yeeres of pardon which is in one yeere aboue fifteene thousand yeeres Euerie daie of the Annuntiation there bee one thousand yeers and hee that with deuotion goeth vp Saint Peters stayres hath for euery steppe seauen yeeres of pardon Surely purgatorie paines are not so fearefull as they beare the world in hand if going vp two and twentie steps may purchase releasement of a hundred fiftie yeers thereof And if these seeme too little Alexander the Pope like a liberall Lord opens his treasure and giues to euery steppe a thousand yeares So that now there is not a Papist in the world that needes to be in Purgatorie one daie except hee will For for going vp XXij thousand yeers of pardoÌ„ graÌ„ted for going vp 22. steps If the Pope say true in this no Papist need to come in Purgatory twentie two steppes with deuotion hee may be released out of Purgatorie for two and twentie thousand yeeres and I hope they do not think the World will last so long and Purgatorie they saie ends with the World Further whosoeuer will go through the 3. doores Three doores of one Church in Rome of so great vertue that whosoeuer goeth through them shall be as free from sinne â—â— when he was newly baptized Oh what a great power the Pope hath who can giue power to another so easily to deliuer soules out of purgatorie How easie purgatorie might be emptied by Popish doctrine of the Laterane Church shall bee as free from all his sinnes as hee was the houre hee was baptized Likewise at the Altar in Saint Peters Church there be xiiii thousand years of pardon and deliuerance of one soule out of Purgatorie And in the Church of Saint Lawrence whosoeuer visiteth that Church euerie Thursday for a yeare and â—ittes vpon the stone whereon Saint Lawrence was broyled shall deliuer one soule out of Purgatorie And in the Church of Saint Iohn at the gate called Porta Latina a man by either saying a Masse or causing it to bee sayde may deliuer one soule out of Purgatorie Are these true then why is there one soule left in purgatorie or else where is the charitie of the Papistes which they so much bragge of seeing so easilie they may deliuer so many thousands soules out of purgatorie in one yeare Certainely if these bee true as they be written then granting that there is a purgatotorie it might soone be emptied But if it be false and fabulous and friuolous and hath no other ende but to mocke poore people and to sucke out their siluer then what a religion is that which maintaines such dealings especially seeing this is not the deede of any priuate men but of the Popes themselues nor of a fewe but euen all since Boniface the eight Thus wee haue searched deepe into a foule and filthie wound Now what remaines but to see if it bee healed yet or no 20 The tenth wound not healed but groweth more desperate deadly to this day But alas Babylon will not be healed for as they feared not to put these trickes vpon the people 100. and 200. yeares agoe in the times of superstition so haue they presumed euen still in these dayes of light to do the like And as the whore is shamelesse in her sinne so is this whore of Babylon in her impietie for shee hath not at all amended this enormitie nor in any sort reformed it but rather lets it growe from bad to worse For euidence wherof let any man read Onuphrius Pauvinius z Vide Oâ—uphrium Pauuinium de praecipuis vrbis Romae sanctiorious basilicis quas septem Ecclesias vulgo vâ—cant Colon. 1584. passim who not past 24. yeares agoe hath written with publike authoritie a booke to this verie purpose of the seaueÌ„ principal Churches of Rome and of the Indulgences belonging to them wherein all that is deliuered before is auerred and much more added some part whereof I would put downe saue for that it may bee reserued to a further purpose and fitter opportunitie And for better euidence that as she hath not so shee purposeth neuer to heale vp this wound within these two yeares they haue allowed published with authoritie the pilgrimage or voiages of Seigneur Villamont a Les voyages du St de Villamont diuisez eâ— trois livres derâ—iere edition reueuce augmentee c. A. Aâ—raâ— 16â—5 vide inter alia librum 1. cap. 12. c. one of the Gentlemen of the French Kings Chamber wherein the poore deceiued Gentleman out of his superstitious deuotion hauing visited all those Churches and made himselfe as hee saith blessed by being partaker of all the Indulgences thereto belonging and hauing ascended those holy staires to euerie steppe whereof belong so manie thousand yeares of pardon after all returning home at last much poorer but nothing wiser then hee went hee wrote a booke of his voiage and pilgrimage to Ierusalem and taking Rome in his way hee describes at large the Indulgences granted of olde and at this day in force to the Churches in Rome Which booke being written in French whoeuer list to reade will soon confesse that in this wound the Romish Babylon is not yet healed 21 The eleueÌ„th wound Granting of Indulgences thousands of yeares deliuerance of Soules out of purgatory to Beades Meddalls Crosses Pictures and such like toyes being blessed and hallowed by the Popes holy hands And herevnto I will adde another wound because it is so neere to this in popish consanguinitie The wiser sort of Popes and the rest of the craftier politicians in that hierarchie perceiuing that all the Nations of the earth many of them being so farre distant could not come to their market of Indulgences being kept in Rome therefore least they should lose their trafficke into those parts they deuised away that seeing a greate part of the worlde could not come to Rome Rome should send to them To which ende out of his bountie and spirituall liberalitie for the incredible good of mens soules the Pope ordained that certaine Crucifixes and Meddalls and Agnus dei b The principall of all these toyes is the Agnus dei which euerie one may not make but onely the Pope nor hee alwayes but onely at Easter nor at euerie Easter but the first next his entrance and euerie seauenth Easter after nor of any matter nor in any manner but preciselie of such simples and with such ceremonies as are prescribed for that purpose which together with the prayers or rather coniurations then to bee vsed are to bee seene in the booke called Caeremoniale pontil lib. 1. And hee that hath not that booke let him looke in the CoÌ„mentaries of Peter Mathew vpon the Constitutions of Gregorie the 13. Constit the 1. holy Graines beads other such Iewels should be first consecrated and hallowed by the hands of his Holinesse and haue all the holinesse powred vppon them that hee canne spare and further
take that course they doe with them which is such as though they would inuite nay hire or rather presse and prouoke men to the sinne For was it not also complained on at the same time by the Germanes that y Grauamina 100. Ger. grau 91. Sed sacerdotes continentes qui absque concubinis degunt concubinatus censum persoluere cogunt asserentes Episcopum pecuniae indigum esse qua soluta licere sacerdotibus vt vel coelibes permaneant vel concubinas alant Not only those Priests that had their whores paid yeerely rent for it but euen those that were continent and would haue no concubines yet for all that must pay the rent for say they my Lord the Bishop hath need of it and cause to imploy much money therefore pay you must and then be it at your owne choice whether you will haue a concubine or no. What is this but euen to trie mens strengths and as it were to presse them to the sinne for he that either by constitution is vnfit or out of morall honestie will not or out of conscience dare not keepe a concubine seeing he must pay his rent as well as he that doth will not this make him say to himselfe I see this is done by my superiours they haue more learning and knowledge then I I am to follow them and may rather trust them then my own conceit and certainly if it were so great a sinne as I haue imagined it to be our Bishops would not take a yeerely rent to suffer it and if they would yet his Holinesse it being so old and so notorious a practise would haue reformed it long ere this Therfore seeing the case stands thus and that I must and do pay doubtlesse I will not pay for nothing c. Surely he must haue a great measure of grace that liuing vnder popish subiection can resist this temptation and the like and therefore no maruell though as themselues confesse not one of their Clergie of a great number that hath not his whores in corners or else publikely in their houses Erasmus liuing about that time or soone after complaineth of it and saith z Erasmus annotat in 1. Tim. 3. Si quis perpendat horuÌ„ temporuÌ„ statum quà m innumeri sunt Monachi publico incesti impudici fortassis iudicabit magis expedire vt ijs qui prorsus non continent ius fiat publici matrimonij c. He that considereth the state of these times how in numerable the number is of such Monks and Priests as liue in open whoredome and incest would thinke it perhaps more conuenient to giue leaue to such as cannot containe rather to marrie then c. And not long after him florished Cassander a man of great name and account in his time both for wisdome and learning and hee finding the world still worse in this point confesseth a Cassander lib. Consult art 23. cap. 1. lam â—ò res redijt vt vix centesimum inuenias qui ab omni commercio foeminaruÌ„ abstineat c. Now the world is come to this passe that a man shall not finde scarce one of a hundred that keepes himselfe free from this fault Thus we see the fruit of this their practise to take rent for concubines and to make them pay that had none that almost none of their Clergie but are stained with this pollution But is this healed 38 The 18. wouÌ„d not healed for such as haue no concubines must pay their reÌ„t because they may haue if they will No saith Espencaeus it is too horrible to beleeue But it is too true that b Espencaeus de Conti. lib. 2 cap. 7. Adeoque etiam continentibus si credere dignuÌ„ est ad omnem censum persoluen dum coactis quo soluto eis liceret vel continentibus vel incontinentibus esse O rem execrandam c. Those that be continent and will haue none yet are compelled to pay the whole taxe or rent and so haue it lawfull and in their choice to haue a concubine or to haue none Oh execrable abomination c. Thus here was no amendement for fortie yeeres after the villanie was discouered and the grieuance complained of and that there was nothing done in the daies of Espencaeus which was for some ten yeers more we may see by his words in his other booke c Idem in Titum c. 1. p. 67. Accepto ab â—is atque adeo alicubi à continentibus certo quotannis censu habeat aiunt si velit quoties quisque talis cum tamen tam multi sunt hodie aâ—ter punitur They take the rent not only of those that haue concubines but in some places euen of them that haue none for say they he may haue if he will therefore let him pay for his libertie and though there be so many of these Priests that liue thus yet where is there any one of them punished otherwise then thus by the purse c. Since the time of Espencaeus whether this wound be healed or no I cannot tell and therefore if any of that side can shew me any good authoritie that now it is reformed and that either no Priests pay yeerly rent for concubines at all or at least not those that haue none I shall be willing to heare it and to see that any thing at all is amended d But whosoeuer will but look into their latest Casuists and Summists as be Tollet the Cardinall Iac de Graffijs Loel Zecchius Baptista Corradus Berarduccius Raphael de Caesare Llamas others will finde it more then suspitious though now they couer it more cunningly then formerly they did that this wound is farre from being healed Meane time I haue proued it apparently that till that time it was not amended and whosoeuer reades the Low Countrie Bishop Cuickius his booke aforenamed written but seuen yeeres agoe will iudge it as ill in these daies still as it was in the time of Espencaeus the French Bishop These Authors I haue named hauing some remorse of conscience and feare of God ingenuously and honestly wished that rather mariage might bee permitted then whoredom should so preuaile ouer the world But what hath bin done They for their labour are ill spoken of when they are dead their bookes partly prohibited to bee read at all partly purged and altered as they list e Opera Eraâ—mâ— Espencaei Cassandri prohibentur donec expurgentur Vide Indicem lib. prohibit per Clem. 8. Indices expurgatorios Hisp Belg. and for the matter it self mariage is still forbidden whoredome still practised and winkt at if not permitted stewes still tolerated and that vnder the Popes nose and no where so much as euen in Rome it selfe and still this doctrine is Catholike and currant They had better goe to whores then marrie And why alas all this but because Mariage hath been an enemie to the Popes Crowne and dignitie but stewes adulterie and
THE SERMON PREACHED AT the Crosse Feb. xiiij 1607. By W. CRASHAWE Batchelour of Diuinitie and preacher at the TEMPLE Iustified by the Authour both against Papist and Brownist to be the truth Wherein this point is principally followed namely that the religion of Rome as now it stands established is worse then euer it was 2. TIM 3. 13. The euill men and deceiuers shall waxe worse and worse deceiuing and being deceiued Imprinted at London by H. L. for Edmond Weauer and are to be solde at the great North-gate of S. Paules Church 1608. Academiae Cantabrigionsis Liber TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD ROBERT Earle of Salsburie Vicount Cramborne Lord High Treasorer of England principall Secretarie of Estate Master of his Maiesties Court of Wards Liueries Knight of the noble order of the Garter and most worthiâ— Chauncellour of the Vniuersitie of Cambridge GRACE PEACE RIGHT HONORABLE THe controuersies betwixt Gâ—â—s Church and the Romish haue been on both sides sufficiently debated heeretofore on our side with that plainness pourefulness that beseemes the truth on the other with such cunning and shiftes of wit as falsehood needes but on both sides with learning inough a On our side by Luther Zuinglius Oecolampadius Caluine P. Martir especially in these later times By this meanes the particular points in question are now either opened sufficiently or neuer will bee for when two men goe to lawe as we and the Papists doe for our freehold and title to the truth if one declare the other answer he again replie and the other reioin it is not possible but the matter will bee brought to a cleare issue if it can haue a full hearing and an indifferent Iudge Who should be the Iudge herein but Gods Church by the holy Scriptures but Bucer Melanct hon Iewell Fulke Whitaker Reinolds Zanchius Beza Iunius Sadeel c. those the Pope refuseth And then how the Church rather then in a free generall councel but that the pope feares as a theefe the Assises b See his Bulla coenae which the Pope himselfe denounceth in his own person on the euening before good-Friday where he excommunicates first all hereticks as Caluinists Lutherans c. Next all such as appeal from the Pope to a general Councel vid. CoÌ„stit pont Rom. per Pet. Mathaeum pag. 883. Til then it is reason that euery man as far as it coÌ„cerns his saluation be a iudge herein according to the measure of his knowledge for man is a reasonable creature can iudge of reason when he hears it so that vndoubtedly if the particular points debated as they haue been had but a full hearing and an equall Iudge the differences betwixt vs would soon receiue an end But our english papists are too blame in both for first they wil On theirs by Eccius Pighius Clictoueus Hosius Harding Bellarmine Greg. de Valentia Genebrarde Stapleton Heskins c. not heare both parties nor reade our bookes but onely theirs Here wants the full hearing Secondly if they do it is with a preiudicate conceit that whatsoeuer we saie the other are in the right and here wants an indifferent Iudge Wâ—ilst it is thus there will be no end of controuersies Hereupon wise and godly learnedmen haue vpon great and mature deliberation thought it fit to spare the labour so often formerly spent in vaine and to supersede for a time from arguing any more the matters so sufficiently already debated but so insufficiently heard and iudged and haue held it a better course both for their conuersion and setling of our owne to discouer the fouleness manifold abhominations of poperie both for doctrine practice which if many that be seduced did but see in the true colors surely they would strike themselues on the brest be ashamed hating this darkness would long look for light At this end haue I aimed in the course of my poor studies and that I might be furnished with their own records I haue spared no cost to get them nor time to peruse them and do protest vnto your Ho. the world the reading of their owne books especially the latest of all hath driueÌ„ me into a deeper detestation of popery then any thing that euer I heard or read of it out of our writers wherof whether ther be cause or no I dare refer my self to be iudged by your Lp. or any of indifferency vpon sight of these exceptions I here make against them which were for the most part deliuered at the Crosse before a reuerend honorable audieÌ„ce where hauing first discouered in the body of that religion xx woundes wide and deep deadly euen such as strike at the hart life of a Church the end I then droue at was to proue that the Romish Babylon is not healed of these wounds to this day This being done it is strange to see how they spurned at it and me for it affirming openly it was nothing but a heape of lyes and slaunders that I am not able to proue what I sayd nor dare stand to it that wee are set vp to raile on them and haue licences to lie on them and make them odious before our people and in the countrie they dispersed I was call'd before authoritie for it and censured and silenced for slandering rayling on the catholicks and that I was stricken by Gods hand with a strange hoarcenesse after I began to raile on them and could not speak c. Therfore to honour the truth and to cleer my selfe but much more to shewe that it is no trick nor policy of our State as it is in poperie c A book was printed in english in the colledge at Rome wherin it is affirmed that wee take Catholicks and drawe vppon their legs bootes ful of hot boiling liquor and vpon their feet hot burning shooes and do put them into beares skins and cast them to the dogs to be pulld in peeces all this and many such other set down in pictures to set vp men with authority to raile and lie therby to make our enemies odious I haue bin induced to publish what was said so to iustifie out of their own records what was affirmed of them I ask them no fauor I seek no corners I refuse no triall but let me be heard and then iudged and spare not If the particulars Feuardent a learned Frier yet liuing at Par wrot in latine 7. yeares agoe that we reuile reiect that praier to the holy Trinitie Sancta Trinitas vnus Deus miscrere nobis Thus writes he in his Comment on 1. Pet. cap. 1. What will not he say that dare say this for all our common prayer-books now and those in Q. ELIZABETHS and K. EDWARDS times doe testifie the contrarie I lay to their charge be true then how can they be the true Church if they be false I refuse no censure and wil further say that if these 20. wouÌ„ds be yet heal'd or if they can
as in the former The Second Part touching mysticall Babylon THat which we haue heard of the literal is also true in the mystical Babylon Mystical Babylon is the spiritual kingdome of darkenesse the kingdome of Satan And this kingdom is partly temporarie which is the kingdom of Antichrist and partly permanēt and perpetuall and that is the kingdom of Sin That the kingdome of Antichrist namely the Church of Rome is mysticall Babylon I will not stand to proue seeing it is granted by Bellarmin a Bellar. de Romano pontif lib. 3. cap. 13. in resp ad argu compelled thereunto by the cleere authorities of some Fathers but especially by the euidence of the holy Text in the Reuelation where by two notable arguments it is ineuitably concluded For first if the mysticall Babylon be the Citie seated on 7. hills b Reuel 17. 9 as the Text sayth then Rome is Babylon which aboue all or anie Citie in the world is so and that not on seauen obscure or little hillocks but seauen hills famously and notoriously knowen by name c Mons Coelius Exquilinus Palatinus Viminalis Quirinalis Auentinus Capitolinus Nor is it any thing worth to say that olde Rome was indeede so seated but that now it is shrunke into the plain of Campo Martio For notwithstanding that it be true for the body of the town yet diuers publicke places where Antichrist exerciseth his authoritie and tyrannicall iurisdiction are yet to this daie on those hils as namely especially the Lateran Church and Palace which Church one of their Popes hath by Bull Charter made the head of all the Churches of the world to wit Gregory the eleuenth d Gregorius xj vide constitut pont Rom. per Pet. Mathae um inter constitut Greg. xj constit 1. p. 61 almost 250. yeares agoe and after him Pius the fourth e Vide eundem inter constitut Pij 4. constit 19. pag. 454. and of late Pius quintus f Vide eundem inter constitut Pij 5. constit 〈…〉 g. 618. 〈…〉 de eiusdē Mathaei commentaria in illam constitutionem Pij 5. pag. 621. haue by publicke constitution confirmed the same and in which Church or palace there haue been held by seuerall Popes some xxxiij prouinciall or nationall 5. generall Councells g all or most of them for the raising vp and establishing of Antichrists Throne and in which the most horrible and hainous canons were concluded against God and his Church that euer were before as to name but 2. 1. That monster of transubstantiation that the substance of breade and wine in the sacrament ceaseth and is turned into the substance of Christs bodie bloud h Vide Concil Later sub Innocentio 3. c. 1 2. That a King an hereticke not reforming himselfe and his land meaning to poperie is to be deposed by the Pope his subiects to be discharged from his obedience and his land to be giuen to Papists to whom the popes gift shall be good and effectuall i Concil idem cap. 3. This Church and palace besides many of inferior note stands to this day on the hil Coelius k Vide Onuphrium in lib. de Ecclesijs vrbis Et eundē Mathaeum in loco cirato and tho now the Pope for his pleasure hath remooued himself ouer the Riuer to the Vaticane yet in former times for many hundred yeeres as Blondus himself confesseth it was the principall seate of the Popes which appeareth also by the verses written vp down the church especially those that are grauē ouer the marble chaire which is hard by the high altar where the Pope sitteth at masse Haec est Papalis sedes pontificalis Praesidet Christi de iure vicarius isti Et quia iure datur sedes Romana vocatur Nec debet vere nisi solus Papa sedere Et quia sublimis alij subduntur in imis Thus its apparant his chief throne is vpō one of the 7. hils and it is very obseruable that howsoeuer they make their succession from Peter and that therfore in reason his Church should haue bin chief yet that God may shewe to the world that their Citie is the Whore that sitteth on seauen hilles therefore by Gods iust iudgement they are so blinded that they haue made a Church and Palace that is on one of the hils superior to that they call S. Peters and haue given it not only prioritie and precedence but euen priuiledge preheminence aboue S. Peters Another answerable reason out of the Text is That Citie saith the Text is Babylon which reigneth ouer the kingdoms of the earth l Reu. 17. 18 but Rome no other Citie at that daie long after reigned ouer the world Therfore Rome is that Babylon Seeing then the holy Text cleers it the Fathers approue it Bellarmine himselfe grants it and the Rhemists also vpon condition we will yeelde that Peter was at Rome doe willingly yeelde it m Rhemist in 1. Pet. cap. 5. therefore wee will not stand vppon further proofe And as for their distinction that Rome heathen is BABYLON but not Rome Christian I answere briefely that if heathenish Rome bee BABYLON in regard of her sinfulnesse and persecution of the Saints then this Rome is Babylon also seeing in her sinfull abhominations and cruel persecutions she is nothing inferiour to olde heathenish Rome as may bee easily prooued shewed at large if this time and place required it as hath been alreadie shewed by diuerse learned writers and in good part confessed by many of their owne Now then to goe forward touching this mysticall Babel I propound these 4. points to be considered 1. That we would haue healed her 2. That she will not be cured 3. That therfore we ought to forsake her 4. That God will take iust vengeance on her The 1. and 2. is past the 3. is in hand the fourth is sure to come its true wee would haue healed her it s most true shee is past cure I hope it shall be as true that we shall quite forsake her and the last hastens fast on her destruction is at hand and sleepes not For the first That we would haue cured the Papists we dare call the world to witnesse and appeale euen to God himselfe and this not onely desired but endeuoured it by all good means both in the daies of that renowned Q. Elizabeth of happie memorie and in the present gouernment of our Souereigne that now is The meanes we haue vsed for their healing be diuerse 1. By instructing informing them in the truth discouering their errours both by holy Scriptures and by the ancient Fathers of the best purest times Iewel Fulk Whitakers Rainolds Perkins and manie other who now sleep in Christ haue left behind them such testimonies of this truth as shall liue whilst the world lasteth and neuer can be confuted as appeares in that they haue not dared to answere most of their books to
confuted or but as much as reprooued this blasphemie or shewe any that hath reprooued it whom they haue not blamed or condemned But that shee is not cured in this point I can make it apparant For looke in the Canon lawe reuiued and as they pretende c Vide Corpus iuris Canonici iussu Gregorij 13. emendatum editum anno 91. dist 96. cap. 7. reformed and reprinted of late b by the authoritie and with the approbation of the Pope vnder his bull where though many things be altered or taken out that made against the Popes primacie yet this that makes so much against Gods holy Maiestie is not in one point helped nor in one word altered but still this is good and Catholicke Diuinitie in the popes lawe that The Pope is God and therefore may not bee iudged of men But wil you haue yet better euidence that She is not cured Hearken a little A great Italian Doctor no lesse then a Bishop writes thus to the Pope himselfe for to the Pope either the Authour or his Nephew dooth dedicate it some three or foure yeares agoe c Vide Adoardum GualaÌ„dum EpiscopuÌ„ Caesenatem de morali ciuili facultate lib. 14 cap. 3. A Papa tanquaÌ„ a Capite in vniuersum Eccle siae corpus hoc est in omnem ChristianaÌ„ Remp. spiritus influunt caelestium gratiarum sensum fructumque praestantes efficicem moâ—â— ad sempiternam â—eatitudinem Merito igitur sanctissimus beatissimus appellatur 〈◊〉 Christianam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi quidam Deusad oratur coliâ—â—t Liber impressus est Romae 1604. Clementi 8. Papae dicatus From the Pope as from the Head there doe flowe into the whole bodie of the Church that is into the whole Christian world spirits or spirituall life yeelding the feeling and fruite of heauenly graces and effectuall motion to eternall happinesse therfore hee is worthily called as God is most holy most blessed and is worshipped and adored as a God of all christian men Loe heere as bad or worse then the former the Pope is such a Head of the church as infuseth spiritual life and heauenly grace into the body of the Church Doth Christ himself anie more and he is worthily worshipped as a God And this dooth Pope Clement the 8. suffer to be spoken and written of him and not 4. yeares agoe to be printed vnder his nose at Rome and thence to bee sent ouer the world now iudge is not Romish Babylon well healed nay rather alasse doth not her wound fester and rankle more and more Well then seeing this is the Romish doctrine and practise both olde and newe both long agoe and now present let vs make a little vse of it First wee see heere good reason why a Papist should holde the Pope aboue a Councell and euen the holy scripture it selfe for the Pope is God and wee knowe that GOD is aboue the scripture Secondly why also the Pope holdes himselfe aboue kings for hee is God and GOD is King of kinges in a word no maruell why hee should take appeals from all the world we are a triple Crowne bee caried on mens shoulders giue his foote to be kissed dispose of kingdomes and kings at his pleasure for hee that is God may do more then all these And surely we Protestants must needes grant that as truely as he is a God so lawfully may hee do all these All these vses are as good as that is the Pope himselfe makes when hee sayth God may not be iudged by men but I am God and therefore may not bee iudged by man these bee his arguments but now hee shall giue mee leaue to make but one for him and his fellowes The God that admitteth another Lord God and to bee worshipped as God is not the Lord Iehouah the true God for the true God is God alone d Deut. 6. 4. but the Papists God admittes of another Lord God and to be worshipped as God therefore hee is not the true God If they denie the Maior they denie scripture if the Miâ—â—r they denie their doctrine and their owne bookes if they graunt both they are worthy of the conclusion I would end this but I cannot omit to make one vse more of this their doctrine It hath been made a question amongst them whether the Pope might noâ— emptie all Purgatorie if he see cause and no maruellâ— for he being God surely if there be a purgatorie God can emptie it Now to conclude all these doe but equalize the Pope with God but what if hee haue made himselfe greater then God 3 The secoÌ„d wound The pope hath done more then God I will be but the relatour let the Reader iudge Almost two hundred yeeres agoe hee did with publicke authoritie and after long examination by a great Cardinall e This Cardinal was IohaÌ„nes de turre cremata as appears in the prefaces before the book of the Reuelations of Saint Brigit and other Commissioners approue e Posseuinus in apparatu sacro lit B. to 1. Brig Reuelationes diligeÌ„ter examinatae approbatae à viris doctis fuerunt after suffered to be published to the World a booke in latine called The Reuelations of Saint Bâ—IGITE Where it is dogmatically deliuered and as a matter without question That Pope Gregory by his prayers lifted the heathen Emperour Traiane out of hell f Reuelationes Brigittae lib. 4. cap. 13. Bonus Gregorius oratione sua etiam infidelem Caesarem eleuauit ad altiorem gradum and another long afore whome they pretend also to bee theirs deliuereth it more amplie adding further that God answered the Pope thus I haue heard thy prayers and I grant mercy and pardon to Traiane but see that thou hereafter offer me no sacrifice for an vngodly man g Damascenus in ser de mortuis adiuuandis Cum enixè Deum precaretur Gregorius pro salute Traiani annis ante sua tempora fere 500. defuncti audiuit vocem diuinitùs allatam dicentem preces tuas audiui veniam Traiano do tu vero deinceps pro impio hostiam mihi ne offeras From hence I offer them this argument to thinke on The true God neuer deliuered a damned soule out of hell but the Pope hath deliuered a soule out of hell therefore he hath done that that GOD neuer did nor for ought that is reuealed euer will doe Heer is a soule wound but is this healed vp No 4 The second wound not healed this booke stands allowed by the Pope and in his Catalogue of the bookes which hee forbiddes to bee read h Vide IndiceÌ„ lib prohib per Clem. 8. where many a learned and godly booke is condemned this is not toucht and therefore as Posseuine himselfe a Iesuite grants i Posseuinus loco citato not 2. yeares agoe not onely the booke stands vncondemned but this foule blalphemy vncontrolled and to shewe that the head of Babylon namely the Pope
the aduantage of the Romish cause and sayth that hereby wee may see what a perillous thing it is for Lay people to read the Scriptures But with his leaâ—e hereby we may see what a filthie heart and vile estimation popish doctors haue of the holy Scriptures who hearing their disciples thus horribly blaspheme them and God in them do not reproue it but make vse of it nor burie and quench them but write and publish them rather with an approbation then any detestation of them But will you heare his owne wordes and his owne iudgement not related from others as these but vttered out of his owne heart How little incitement to vertue appeareth to bee in the songes of Salomon yea rather how vngodly and wanton seeme they to bee in the outward face rather teaching and prouoking I craue pardon of all Christian cares Wantonnesse then godlinesse and what can the vnlearned finde or vnderstand in many sentences any thing to edification of godly life or rather a prouocation to wanton life And after certaine sentences alledged hee concludes The whole booke is no better like vnto these saith hee is all that booke You haue heard how the proueâ—bes were disgraced in the glosse vpon the decretalls and here the Canticles Now that Salomon may not haue one book left in credite Heskins i Vide approbationem laudem huius autoris libri apud Possev in appar sacro to 3. lit T. verbo Thomas Hardingus addeth touching Ecclesiastes What may appeare more vehement to disswade a man from wisedome then the booke of the Preacher how much is wisedome the goodly gift of God abused to appearaunce in this booke k Heskins in the same book and Chapter And to conclude of another booke which they holde also to be canonicall scripture and some of them to be Salomons hee sayth that The booke of Ecclesiasticus seemeth to haue such vnseemely wordes in it as an honest man would bee ashamed to speake them and I also sayeth hee would bee ashamed to write them if they were not Scripture l Heskins a little after in the same chapter If the wordes bee as immodest as hee pretendes they bee then why doe they holde such a booke to be Scripture and if they holde it to bee Scripture then how dare a Christian man say that it hath such speeches in it as an honest man would bee ashamed to speake or write I leaue this for them to aunswere in the meane time I go forward Not longe after comes Hosius a greate Doctor of theirs and after a Cardinall and writes thus m Hosius editionis vlt. tom 20. lib. de expresso dei verbo pag. 5. Pronuntiamus non verbum dei sed scripturam pendere ad authoritate testimonio approbatione Ecclesiae quae non aliter verbum esse dei censeri debet nisi quatenus ecclesiae fuerit autoritate coÌ„probata The word of God of it selfe doth not but as it is written in the Scriptures it dependeth on the authoritie testimonie and approbation of the Church and it ought no otherwise nor no further to bee esteemed the worde of God then as farre foorth as it is approued by the authority of the Church Lo what doctrine here is for hence it followeth that therefore if the Church should not allowe the newe Testament it were not scripture Put all these together and then it will soone appeare how pitifully this wound is healed Nay further if the time and present occasion would giue leaue to looke into their latter and moderne writers wee should see by the last and latest of all this wound is so farre from being healed that it rankles further and deeper euen like an incurable leprosie that cannot bee healed but let it suffice to name some of the Authors and referre the learned Reader to them n Pistoriuâ— cont Mentz disp 1. Stapleton lib. 9. doct princip cap. 14. Bellar. tom 1. Controv. 1. lib. 4. cap. 4. Fran. Agricola de verbo dei scripto non scripto cap. 7 cap. 9. Perouu de incertitudine c. scripturaruÌ„ And let vs go forward to another wound They taught the People in olde time namely for two or three hundred yeares past that Images were good laye mens bookes and euen then when they denied them the scripture as vnfit for them and obscure dangerous for seducing them to heresies were Images allowed and coÌ„mended vnto them as good meanes of Instruction 13 The seaueÌ„th wound Images are good laye mens bookes Some three hundred years ago liued a Frier called Gulielmus Peraldus learned for that time and well approued o Guliel Peraldus ord praed postea Epistola Lugdunens scripsit inter alia summa virtutuÌ„ vitiorum pervtilem illaÌ„ quidem coÌ„modam concionatoribus quae saepius est recusa haec Possev appar sac to 1. lit G. of their Moderne Censurers hee writes thus As the Scriptures are the bookes and containe the learning of the Clergie so Images and the scripture are the learning and bookes of laye men p Guliel Peraldus Summa virt vit tom 1. cap. 3. vt scripturae literae sunt Clericorum sic scriptura sculptura literae sunt laicorum Lo here how Images are associated and ioyned with the Bible Search the scripture saith Christ look on them and on Images sayth the Pope how readest thou saieth Christ what seest thou saith the Pope It is written sayeth Christ it is painted and grauen sayeth the Pope thy worde sayeth Dauid is my light not the golden Châ—rubins but nowe sayeth Poperie euen in the newe Testament the scriptures and Images are laye mens lights What a wronge is this to GOD and what an iniurie to his worde But is this healed Oh that it were but let the reader iudge by that that followeth 14 The seauenth wound not healed but made worse and worse One of their greatest Casuists Laelius Zecchius a great Diuine a famous Lawyer and of late yeares Penitentiarie of Bresse writing a great volume of Cases of Conscience dedicated to Pope Clement the viij amongst many other strange doctrines touching Images teacheth that It is not lawfull onely but profitable to haue Images in Churches to cherish and encrease charitie towards God and men c. and to preserue faith seeing Images are to bee held as bookes for them that bee vnlearned to draw them vnto knowledge memorie and imitation of holy and diuine matters c. q Laelius Zecchius Summa moral theolog casuum consci tom 2. cap. 90. art 18. pag. 609. Imagines poni â—n Ecclesijs vtile est ad charitatem erga deum sanctos fouendam augendam c. ad fidem conseruandam cum Imagine babeantur pro libris his qui literas ignoraÌ„t ex quibus ducuntur in cognitionem memoriaÌ„ imitationem diuinorum c. Brixiae 1598. Lo here this doctor who heing Penitentiarie is by his place
shall giue thee daily allowance of meate if thou wilt promise mee heereafter to hurt no hodie the wolfe bowing his heade aunswered by signes that hee woulde Yea but then sayth Francis Brother Wolfe giue mee thy Francis bids his brother wolf giue him his hand and faith that hee will performe his order faith and credit that I may beleeue thee and the wolfe presently lifted vp his right fore-foote and layed it in Francis his hand therby giuing his faith that he would performe it Then Brother Wolfe sayth Francis I command thee in the name of the Lord Iesus that thou go with me into the Citie and there feare not to make peace in the name of the Lord the wolfe forthwith followed him as meeke as a Lambe So comming into the Citie all the people togither with the Magistrates being assembled S. Francis made vnto them an Brother wolfe standeth by whilst S. Francis preacheth to the people excellēt sermon the wolfe being by which being done he sayd to them these words This brother of mine this wolfe that standeth here hath promised me vpon his promise hath giuen me his faith that hee will be friends with you and doe no more hurt prouided that you shall dayly giue him an allowance and portion of meate which if you doe Francis is surety for his brother wolfe to the towne for your partes then I will bee suretie for my brother Wolfe that he shall perform the conditions on his part required Then said S. Francis Brother Wolf it is reason that as thou did before so here before all this people Brother wolfe giueth his faith againe thou giue me thy faith againe that thou wilt keep the couenants on thy part and the wolfe immediately lift vp his right fore-foot and laid it in the hand of S. Francis his suretie in the sight of all the people and so gaue his faith againe and then all the people shouted and wondred and praised Christ for sending S. Francis amongst thē by whose merits they were deliuered frō the cruel wolf And from that day forward the people Brother wolfe liueth in the towne takes his meate at the dores to the wolf wolf to the people performed their couenants made by S. Francis the wolf liued 2. years after FRANCIS was gone and went vp and downe the streets and tooke his meate from door to door hurting no man and was well and daintily fed and there was neuer so much as a dog that barked at him And at last after 2. yeares Brother Wolfe beeing stricken in Brother wolfe dieth is lamented yeares dyed for whose death the Citizens did very much lament Heere is a miracle worth the marking Now let all Huguenots and Heretickes shewe such a miracle in their religion no no they neuer can doe it And no maruell for Iesus Christ who is the King and Captain of their religion neuer did the like in his time to this which S. Francis the king and captaine of the Franciscans u Francisce Iesu typicè dux formaque Minorum hath heere done If the time would giue leaue I could bring 20. more as impious as incredible and as absurd in their kinde as this but leauing it to a further opportunitie and referring the learned to the booke it selfe I proceed What may bee saide to all this are not these wide and wofull wounds Oh! but they are healed I may answere as the Prophet doth Were they ashamed when Ierem. 7. 12 they had committed abhomination Nay they were 18 The ninth wound not healed not ashamed For whereas this booke was written aboue two hundred yeares agoe by Bartholomeus Pisanus a Franciscan Frier it was not then only suffred to passe to publique viewe in those daies of darknesse and superstition but now of late within lesse then 20. yeares when one would haue thought they woulde if not repented of the impieties yet haue beene ashamed of the absurdities they contrariwise haue reprinted the Booke x The newe edition is at Bononie in Italie 1590. is dedicated to a Cardinal in this editiō is all that I haue alleaged and haue not taken ou◠nor reformed one worde of all these euilles nor of many more which do so directly disgrace the merits of CHRIST IESVS onely some things haue they altered which they thought might make against themselues but not one of these which doe so farre dishonour God and Christ and all religion Compare together the olde and newe bookes who will and he shall finde this to be true wherefore the conclusion is that this wound is farre from being healed Let vs then go forward and see if wee can finde one wound healed 19 The tenth wound The Pope may giue Indulgences for 20000. yeers grant men power to redeeme soules out of Purgatory in the Romane Church Two or three hundred yeares agoe the Popes Indulgences did growe to that height of rotten ripenesse that all men of vnderstanding euen of his owne broode were ashamed of it and manie a one of the wiser sort euen in these mystie times did see and laugh at the nakednesse of Poperie in that poynt the excesse whereof grewe so great as they cannot denie but it gaue at last an occasion of LVTHERS reuolte from them There is a Manuscript extant written some two hundreth yeeres agoe and another not much differing from it some 130. yeares ago printed at Rome containing a catalogue onely of those Indulgences belonging to the parish Churches of Rome amongst which they say are 7. principall let vs but consider of some fewe y He that wāts this booke let him looke in Hospinian de Templis lib. 2 c. 28. pag. 348. edition is Tigur 603. where he shall finde both mention of the book a particular recitall of a great part of it In the Laterane Church it is graunted thus by Pope Boniface If any Pilgrime come for deuotion to this Church hee shall be absolued from all his sinnes And in the Chappel there called sanctum sanctorum there is full and true remission of all sinnes And one daie in the yeare which is the daie of the dedication of the Church there is full remission of all sinnes both à poena culpa and this Indulgence is so certaine sayth the booke that when the Pope first pronounced it the Angells Angels say Amen to the Popes Indulgences but they shold first proue y◠God saith Amen to them for els the Angells will not vnlesse it bee the euill Angells in the hearing of all the people sayd Amen If these things bee true then it is strange that all Papists in the world are not saued for hee that hath full remission of all sinnes both à poena culpa dying in that state cannot be damned And certainly he that for the obtaining therof wil not take the pains to visite that Church one daie in a yeer is not worthy of saluation In Saint Peters Church there
is abhominable l Oleaster in CommeÌ„t suis in Pentateu In Deut. cap. 23. fol. 270. Displicuerunt semper Deo turpia lucra ideoque vetat ne merces meretricuÌ„ ei offeratur at nunc cùm ecclesia ministri muÌ„diores esse deberent omnia haec acceptantur qualiacunque sunt vndecunque venerint Filthy gaines saith he were euer abhominable to God therfore he forbids to bring into his house the hire of a whore But now in the new Testament when the Church and Ministers thereof should bee much more cleane and pure then afore all manner of filthy gaines are accepted and taken how vile soeuer they be and whencesoeuer they come Thus all gaine is sweete and all rent welcome to the Pope tho it come froÌ„ whores so true a friend to stewes and whores is the whore of Babylon But wil some say this might be so in the elder times that were of more libertie because all was quiet but now since Luther rose and the Church hath beene wakened by heretickes this wound is healed No this wound is not healed as I wil proue by their late and moderne writers 30 The 14. wound not healed for the Romish religion doctrine practice tolerate stewes still Navarrus one of their greatest Canonists of this last age and one whom the Popes helde worthy to be cald to Rome for his continuall aduise direction m Martinus Azpil Nauar. Hisp Iuris cononici scieÌ„tis ideque theolog insignis c. Haec Posseu in apparatu sac tom 2. lit M. deals very plainly in this matter and saith that n Nau. Manual c. 17. nu 195. pa. 433. edit Wirceb in 8. 1593. Licet potestati publicae permittere meretrices in aliqua parte ciuitatis et postea alicubi constituuntur eis patroni domus eis locaÌ„tur carius quaÌ„ honestis locarentur et in hac vrbe Romana sciente patieÌ„te papa locantur et semper consueuerunt locari domus meretricibê° et confessarij absoluuÌ„t et semper absoluerunt locatores eoruÌ„ sine proposito abstineÌ„di à tali locatione c. Kings Princes States and Magistrates of Cities appointing stewes and setting out places for them in some conuenient place of their Cities wherein whores may exercise their whorish trade it seems saith he to be no sinne in them See here a peece of spanish deuotion and modesty Surely no maruell tho this man were sent for from Spaine to Rome for it seemes by this doctrine he was for the Popes tooth and much more for his Cardinalles Alphonsus Viualdus another learned Spaniarde wrote a booke of matters of conscience not long agoe of so great account amongst them that they call it the golden Candlesticke It hath beene often printed and within these 7. yeares was by the Popes speciall Commission purged and reprinted hee writes thus o Martinus AlphoÌ„sus Vivaldê° theol Iuris canon professor poenitentiariê° maior c. In Candelabro aureo tit de Confessione numero 60 Vtrum hae meretices censeantur excommunicatae per synodales coÌ„stitutiones quae nec consitentur nec coÌ„municant respondeo c. Meretrices nuÌ„ quaÌ„ publicantur nec denuÌ„tiantur pro excoÌ„municatis in ecclesia nec visum vnquam fuit aliquem hac de causa ab earuÌ„ participatione fugisse c. Pro resolutione dico quod si non coÌ„fiteaÌ„tur nec communicent per 10. aut 20. annos non ideo incurruÌ„t poenas ecclesiae in detestationem sui pessimi statê° quia meretrices non sunt dignae laqueis legum pag. 81. editionis Brixiensis 1588. First he makes a question whether in the yeerely excommunication pronounced by the Bishop against them that do not confess and communicate whores in the stewes be comprehended or no and he resolueth that they be not tho they neither confesse nor do communicate and giues his reasons 1. For that whores in the Romish Church be neuer published nor denounced excommunicate 2. No man refuseth their companie notwithstanding that yeerely excommunication and concludeth further that though one continue a whore for twentie yeares long yet doth shee not incurre the Censures of the Romish Church Oh excellent doctrine and fit for the Romish Church but all this will some say is salued by this that followeth Nay contrariwise say I the wound is made worse and by the craft of that that followeth obserue the subtiltie and iniquity of Romish teachers for this is done saith he in detestation of their ill life the Church doth so detest their maner of life that she will not thinke them worthy of her censures oh notable shift are they too bad to bee punished not too bad to bee suffered doth the Romish Clergie thinke them so vile that way and yet allow them see the iniquitie and filthinesse of this religion Thus its apparant by the great Confessor Vivaldus that the Romish Church excoÌ„municats not common whores nor them that go to them another as great a Clark as himself saith it is the common opinion p Iac de Graffijs tom 1. lib. 1. cap. 9. art 8. 9. But yet to shewe better that this wound is not healed harke a little what the grand poenitentiarie Iacobus de Graffijs saith q Iacobê° de Graffijs decis aur cas cons tom 1. lib 2 cap. 75. art 3. et 4. pag. 348. Sed quare ipsa ecclesia lupanaria permittit per consequens fornicar quod est mortale peccatum Respondeo quod ecclesia quandoque tollerat minus malum praesens vt euitet maius malum futurum quod verisimilibus coniecturis speratur sic caâ— c. vbi ecclesia tolerat meretrices ad euitandas promiscuas luxurias et foedissimas coiunctiones sic non illud peccatum approbat sed dissimulando tolerat vt eo medio adulteria Incestque atque alia luxuriae crimina compescat Hinc c. Et in tantum tolerat lex huiusmodi fornicationes vt etiam cogat publicas meretrices ad fornicandum cum quocunque iuxta tamen mercedem But if fornication be a sin then why doth the church her selfe permit stewes consequently fornication which is a mortall sinne I answere saith he that the church somtime tolerateth a less euill present that she may auoide a greater euill to come that is probable to fal out and this he proues out of the Canon law so concludes that the church doth tolerate stewes and whores to auoide greater sins not approuing the sin of fornicatioÌ„ but by coÌ„niuence or dissimulatioÌ„ tolerats it that so she may restraine keep yong men from adulteries incests and other crimes of that kinde then he goeth further to proue his conclusioÌ„ which he doth out of the practice of heathen lawegiuers and by the ciuile lawe would proue it out of the Fathers then to make vp the measure of his iniquitie he addeth that the law doth so far forth tolerate fornications in stews that it takes
to their Clergie hath notwithstanding either tolerated and permitted them concubines or at least not punished it to reformation Thus was it complained of almost an hundred yeeres agoe by the Germane nation then being Papists q Vide Cen tum grauami na Germanicae nationis grauamen 75. 91. In locis plaerisque Episcopi eorum Officiales sacerdotuÌ„ tollerant concubinatum duÌ„modo certa persoluatur pecunia recepto ab eisdeÌ„ hoc annuo ceÌ„su publice cum suis concubinis pellicibus alijs id genus meretricibus illegitime cohabitare liberosque procreare sinunt c. In most places say they Bishops and their Officials doe tolerate and suffer the Priests to haue concubines vnder the paiment of a certaine annuall rent of money and further doe euen permit them to keepe their whores openly and haue them in their houses and to beget children of them c. Of these and certaine other grieuances one hundred in all the Germane nation complained to their Bishops and Clergie in their owne Diets or Parliaments held at home But hauing no redresse they went further and about the yeere 1522. complained to the Popes Legats and Nuntios at Noremberge who gaue them good words and promised they would make report thereof to his Holinesse and procure them a gratious answere But hauing long waited to no end they published their grieuances and sent them to the Pope crauing with much humilitie audience redresse and reformation promising vpon that condition they would still and euer shew themselues dutifull and obedient children to the Pope and all whom hee set ouer them but if they had no redresse they assured him they could not nor would endure them longer Hereupon the Pope not willing to venture the losse of so faire a childe as Germany pacified them for a time with goodly promises But what reformation followed in whole or in any part the stories of those ages make it apparant But for the particular I haue in hand 36 The 17. wouÌ„d not healed for stil in Poperie to this day their Clergie are forbiddeÌ„ mariage but whores and concubines are not taken from them what notable reformatioÌ„ was wrought herein let a Bishop of their owne Espencaeus as wise and learned as that age did yeeld let him I say deliuer for me who fortie yeeres after writing of this matter saith r Espencaeus de Continentia lib 2. cap. 7 pag. 176. Pro praetenso puro mundoque caelibatu successit impurus immundusque concubinatus vt latere nec prae multitudine queat nec pâ—ae impudentia quaerat at haec tollerantia alâ—iùs radices egit permissis alicubi sub annuo censu Clericis at que laicis cum suis concubinis cohabitare quod vtinam falso immerito extaret inter grauamina Germaniae c. Impress Paris 1560. In stead of pure and honest single life succeeded impure fornication and filthie keeping of concubines in such sort as neither can they be concealed for multitude nor seeke they to be they are so shamelesse Nay of later times this tollerancie hath spread further insomuch as in some places both Clergie and laitie haue their whores permitted them vnder a yeerely rent whereof saith he the Germane nation complained long agoe too truly and vpon too great cause But was not this wound healed and this abuse reformed vpon this complaint of Espencaeus A man might haue thought it would and the rather seeing he was a man of so great esteeme in those daies not in France only but euen in the Court of Rome Å¿ Espencaeus vvas in special fauour vvith Pope Paul the 4. insomuch as after much coÌ„sultation had vvith him he found bine so vvise and learned a man as he had made him Cardinall if he had liued this is appareÌ„t in his bookes de Continent lib. 3. cap. 4. and in his CoÌ„mentarie on Titus cap. 1. pag 91. But what amendment insued let himselfe tell vs in his Commentarie vpon Titus which he wrote many yeeres after his former booke t Episcopi Archidiaconi c. plae unque dum dioeceses parociam obequitant non tam facinorosos criminum reos poenis correctionibus à vitijs deterreÌ„t quo sine pere grinaâ—iones huiusmodi olim iam sueruÌ„t iure Canonico ordinata quam pecunia praesenti numerata titulo procurationis ne dicam ficticiae iurisdictionis â—mungunt exugunt tum Clericos tum laicos turpissimum quod hos cum concubinis pellicibus meretriculis cohabitare liberosque procreare sinunt accepto ab eis certo quotannis censu c. Our Bishops and Archdeacons c. in Poperie when they ride their visitations do not so much punish the euill doers for which end the visitations were first ordained as rake vp siluer and sucke it both from laitie and Clergie vnder false and fained pretences of iurisdiction but it is most filthie of all that they suffer them to keepe their whores in their houses and haue children of them at a certaine annuall and yeerely rent c. This is the healing and reformation wrought in those daies Oh but will some say that is 40. yeers agoe sure it is better in these latter daies Indeede this enormitie was so generall and so scandalous that euen the Councell of Trent it selfe was ashamed and made great adoe for reformation of it v Vide Concil Trid. sess 24. cap. 8. But what effect it tooke how they executed it and what is done in the matter let another Bishop of theirs tell vs who in these late daies scarce seuen yeeres agoe w Henricus Cuickius Rutemundensis Episcopus scripsit speculum concubinariorum Sacerdotum Monachorum Clericorum Colon. 1599. found it to bee so common and shamelesse a sinne all ouer all the Low Countries where Poperie raigned not onely in secular but euen in Monkes Friers and regular Priests that hee writes a booke against the sinne bitterly but iustly inueighing against it and shewing how dangerous and damnable a sinne it is and so much the more saith he because it is so common and so little regarded and so farre are they from shaming with it that mark how it is healed they will take their concubines and whores and carrie them vp and downe the countrie as men doe their wiues to feasts and meetings and challenge place and precedence for them as for honest Matrons And further freelie confesseth but with great griefe and shame that there bee very few in their Clergie free from this crime x Idem Cuickius in praefatione eiusdeÌ„ libri Ad vos qui casti c. qui dolenter dico raâ—i estis vt Esai 24. tanquam racemi c. 37 The 18. wound Such Priests as be continent haue no whores yet must pay a yeerly rent as they that haue because they may haue if they will And no maruel though there be but few of their Clergie that haue not concubines seeing they
the sinfulnesse of the popish Church and religion would bring vpon all the world Let them reade that haue them these books named in the margent q Vide Gersonis opera passiâ— Reuelationes Brigiâ—tae Vincentij Ferrariens prognostie PerruÌ„ de Aliaco de reformatione eccl Nicolai de Clemangi â—â— opera in Bibliotheca Patrum editionis primae Poemata Walteri Mapes Maillardi Menotti Sermones Holcot in Sapient lect 182. passim Onus Ecclesiae passim and those that haue them not it may bee shortly they may haue some helpe therein and then you will grant with me that the former and better times confessed that which I now lay to their charge I will insist particularly but vpon two the one of so great antiquitie the other of so great authoritie as both are beyond exception Some 400. yeares ago liued a Monke learned for those times called as Posseuine confesseth r Vide Posleu in Appar sac In append priori ad â—om 1. lit B. Bernardus Morlanenâ—is hee wrote three bookes of the contempt of the world in an artificiall kind of Poetrie but much more artificially describing and zealously deploring the sinfulnesse of the Romish Church and state in those daies from the head to the foote describing particularly their adulteries Å¿ Casta cubilia sunt modò vâ—â—a lata petunâ—ur c. drunkennesse t Cura stat vnica luctaque publica carnis in esu ebâ—ietas placet tua vox â—acet ô bone Iesu ambition idlenesse dissimulation deceits cosenages murders u Arcta relinquitur via carpitur ampla quibusque Quaeâ—imus in via fluxa fluentia con fluit ansque Architâ—iclâ—â—iuâ— sceptra sedilia rima petendo Quisque tumultuat instat aestuat haec satagendo Stat simulatio dissimulatio crimen vt uÌ„ que Alea crapula fraus facinus gula flagitiumque Ora bilinguia lis homicidia Mars tuba terror Vis probra Iergia quid moror omnia me docet error whoredomes w I am meretricia pene cubilia niâ— reputaÌ„tur Et venialia quod genialia vociferaÌ„tur of all estates then particularly for their Clergie their ignorance and negligence x Grex flet amarius est operarius in grege raâ—us Pontificum â—tatus excidia datus extat auarus c. their Sodomie y Parcite credere quae pudet edere sed tamen edam Horrida nomine plus mala crimine crimina quaedam Heu male publicus est Sodomiticus ignis aestus Nemo seelus tegit aut premit aut fugit esse scelestus Plangite saecula plangite singula crimine pâ—ena Mas maris immemor ô furor ô tremor est vt hyaena their Simonie and other corruptions in attaining places in the Church z Non sine Simone sed sine canone dux animarum Mox docet inscius sibi nâ—scius ipse praeesse O mala saecula vendiâ—uâ— infula Pontificalis Infula venditur nec reprehenditur emptiâ— talis Roma dat omnibus omnia dantibus omnia Romae Cum pretio quia iuris ibi via ius perit omne Roma nocens nocet atque viam docet ipsa nocâ—ndi lura relinquere luâ—ra requirere pallia vendi and then at last comming to Rome it selfe so layes open the filthinesse of the whore of Babylon a Roma ruens rora foeda satis nota canteâ—iat te Scilla vorax rapis cupis capis trahis ad te Gurges es alâ—ior area capacior alta lacuna Insatiabilis insociabilis omnibus vna Si tibi det sua non repleat tua guttura Croesus Merca vel aureus à modo non Deus est tibi Iesus as it is doubtfull whether her sinfulnes be more hatefull then his boldnes is admirable Let him that would bee able to answere all their false slanders which they lay to the charge and disgrace of Protestant Churches and to retort vpon themselues their obiection of the liues of our Professors and he that would see the Church and state of Rome in her owne natural colours let him I say reade but that one Author who beside that hee is Manuscript in many Libraries he was also published at Amsterdam or somewhere neere therabouts this present yeare 1607. And after hee hath discouered her corruptions and laid open her sinnes from head to foote then he vrgeth her vehemently to repentance and reformation b Roma resurgito te tibi reddito Romam Cuius eras prius ordinis illius exprime formam Quo modo corpora tuÌ„â— ita pectora nune rege fracta Fracta recollige deuia diâ—ige â—er labâ—facta c. Sed facis haec secus c. Roma quid exequar imò quid eloquar aut tibi promam Vncia te roâ—at vncia te notat haud fore RomaÌ„ Tu populos tibi te rutilans sibi marca subegit Semper eâ—im lucra progenies tua vult agit egit which because he seeth no hope of but that still she falleth from euill to worse therefore he denounceth Gods iudgements against her and assures her that vengeance ruine and destruction shal fall vpon her c Fas mihi dicere fas mihi scribere Roma fuisti Ecce relaberis ecce reuoluer is ordine tristi Fas mihi scribere â—as mihi dicere Roma peristi Obruta maenibus obruta moribus occubuisti Vrbs ruis inclita tam modo subdita quam prius alâ—as Quo prius altior hoc modo pressior est labefacta Fas mihi scribere fas mihi dicere Roma ruisti Sunt tua maenia vociâ—erantia Roma peristi Haec omnia multa huiusmodi Bernardus Marlanensis Monacus Cloniacensis in libris suiâ— de contemptu mundi ante 400. annos scriptis 1607. editis Some part of his owne words I haue here put downe in Latine but not in English because the sinnes he laieth against her are such as some of them are better vnnamed then reprooued What can they say to it is he some fained and forged new found Author deuised by some of vs or was he some late writer hired by Luther or suborned by Caluine to raile on the Pope or Poperie Nay Posseuine the Iesuite confesseth in the place aforenamed and if he did not it is well enough knowne by other good and ancient records he was a professed Monke and liued aboue foure hundred yeeres ago therefore his testimonie in this case is beyond exception Now whether these wounds and corruptions in the Romish Church and State were healed in the subsequent ages or no if any man doubt let him looke vpon the Authors named afore who liued in the ages succeeding one after another Gualterus Mapus and their S. Brigid not much more then a hundred yeares after him about 100. yeeres after them Bonauenture and Wiclieffe about a hundred yeeres after them Gerson Clemangius Vincentius and others these if any man looke vpon he shall see that those wounds stood vnhealed and those corruptions vnreformed