narrow roome as that it should bee able to direct vs but in principall points of our Religion or as though the substance of Religion or some rude and vnfashioned matter of building the Church were vttered in them and those things left out that should pertaine to the forme and fashion of it let the cause of the accused bee referred to the accusers owne conscience and let that iudge whether this accusation be deserued where it hath bene layd 5 But so easie it is for euery man liuing to erre and so hard to wrest from any mans mouth the plaine acknowledgement of error that what hath beene once inconsiderately defended the same is commonly persisted in as long as wit by whetting it selfe is able to finde out any shift bee it neuer so sleight whereby to escape out of the handes of present contradiction So that it commeth here in to passe with men vnaduisedly fallen into errour as with them whose state hath no ground to vphold it but onely the helpe which by subtle conueyance they drawe out of casuall euents arising from day to day till at length they be cleane spent They which first gaue out that Nothing ought to be established in the Church which is not commanded by the word of God thought this principle plainely warranted by the manifest words of the lawe Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I commaund you neither shall ye take ought therefrom that ye may keepe the commaundements of the Lord your God which I commaund you Wherefore hauing an eye to a number of rites and orders in the Church of England as marrying with a ring crossing in the one Sacrament kneeling at the other obseruing of festiuall dayes moe then onely that which is called the Lords day inioyning abstinence at certaine times from some kindes of meate churching of women after Child birth degrees taken by diuines in Vniuersities sundry Church-offices dignities and callings for which they found no commaundement in the holy Scripture they thought by the one onely stroke of that axiome to haue cut them off But that which they tooke for an Oracle being sifted was repeld True it is concerning the word of God whether it be by misconstruction of the sense or by falsification of the words wittingly to endeuour that any thing may seeme diuine which is not or any thing not seeme which is were plainely to abuse and euen to falsifie diuine euidence which iniury offered but vnto men is most worthily counted haâ—nous Which point I wish they did well obserue with whom nothing is more familiar then to plead in these causes The law of God The word of the Lord who notwithstanding when they come to alleage what word and what lawe they meane their common ordinarie practise is to quote by-speeches in some historicall narration or other and to vrge them as if they were written in most exact forme of law What is to adde to the lawe of God if this bee not When that which the word of God doth but deliuer historically we conster without any warrant as if it were legally meant and so vrge it further then we can proue that it was intended do we not adde to the lawes of God and make them in number seeme moe then they are It standeth vs vpon to be carefull in this case For the sentence of God is heauy against them that wittingly shall presume thus to vse the Scripture 6 But let that which they doe hereby intend bee graunted them let it once stand as consonant to reason that because wee are forbidden to adde to the lawe of God any thing or to take ought from it therefore wee may not for matters of the Church make any lawe more then is already set downe in Scripture who seeth not what sentence it shall enforce vs to giue against all Churches in the world in as much as there is not one but hath had many things established in it which though the Scripture did neuer commaund yet for vs to condemne were rashnesse Let the Church of God euen in the time of our Sauior Christ serue for example vnto all the rest In their domesticall celebration of the passeouer which supper they deuided as it were into two courses what Scripture did giue commaundement that betweene the first and the second he that was Chiefe should put off the residue of his garments and keeping on his feast-robe onely wash the feete of them that were with him What Scripture did command them neuer to lift vp their hands vnwasht in prayer vnto God which custome Aristaeus be the credite of the author more or lesse sheweth wherefore they did so religiously obserue What Scripture did commaund the Iewes euery festiuall day to fast till the sixt houre The custome both mentioned by Iosephus in the history of his owne life and by the words of Peter signified Tedious it were to rip vp all such things as were in that Church established yea by Christ himselfe and by his Apostles obserued though not commaunded any where in Scripture 7 Well yet a glosse there is to colour that paradoxe and notwithstanding all this still to make it appeare in shew not to be altogether vnreasonable And therefore till further reply come the cause is held by a feeble distinction that the commandements of God being either generall or speciall although there be no expresse word for euery thing in specialtie yet there are generall commaundements for all things to the end that euen such cases as are not in Scripture particularly mentioned might not be left to any to order at their pleasure onely with caution that nothing be done against the word of God and that for this cause the Apostle hath set downe in scripture foure generall rules requiring such things alone to be receiued in the Church as do best and neerest agree with the same rules that so all things in the Church may be appointed not onely not against but by and according to the word of God The rules are these Nothing scandalous or offensiue vnto any especially vnto the Church of God All things in order and with seemelinesse All vnto edification finally All to the glory of God Of which kind how many might be gathered out of the Scripture if it were necessary to take so much paines Which rules they that vrge minding thereby to proue that nothing may be done in the Church but what Scripture commaundeth must needs hold that they tye the Church of Christ no otherwise then onely because we find them there set downe by the finger of the holy Ghost So that vnlesse the Apostle by writing had deliuered those rules to the Church we should by obseruing them haue sinned as now by not obseruing them In the Church of the Iewes is it not graunted that the appointment of the hower for daily sacrifices the building of Synagogues throughout the land to heare the word of God and to pray in when they came not vp
might haue eased them of much aftertrouble But a greater inconuenience it bred that euery later endeuoured to bee certaine degrees more remoued from conformitie with the Church of Rome then the rest before had bene whereupon grew maruellous great dissimilitudes and by reason thereof iealousies hartburnings iarres and discords amongst them Which notwithstanding might haue easily bene preuented if the orders which each Church did thinke fit and conuenient for it selfe had not so peremptorily bene established vnder that high commaunding forme which tendered them vnto the people as things euerlastingly required by the law of that Lord of Lords against whose statutes there is no exception to be taken For by this meane it came to passe that one Church could not but accuse condemne another of disobedience to the wil of Christ in those things where manifest difference was betweene them whereas the selfesame orders allowed but yet established in more warie and suspense maner as being to stand in force till God should giue the opportunitie of some general cōference what might be best for euery of them afterwards to doe this I say had both preuented all occasion of iust dislik◠which others might take and reserued a greater libertie vnto the authors themselues of entring into farther consultatiō afterwards Which though neuer so necessary they could not easily now admit without some feare of derogation from their credit and therfore that which once they had done they became for euer after resolute to maintaine Caluin therfore the other two his associats stiffely refusing to administer the holy Communion to such as would not quietly without contradiction and murmur submit themselues vnto the orders which their solemne oath had bound them to obey were in that quarell banished the towne A fewe yeares after such was the leuitie of that people the places of one or two of their Ministers being fallen voyde they were not before so willing to be rid of their learned Pastor as now importunate to obtaine him againe from them who had giuen him entertainment and which were loath to part with him had not vnresistable earnestnes bene vsed One of the towne ministers that sawe in what manner the people were bent for the reuocation of Caluin gaue him notize of their affection in this sort The Senate of two hundred being assembled they all craue Caluin The next day a generall conuocation They crye in like sort againe all VVe will haue Caluin that good and learned man Christs Minister This saith he when I vnderstood I could not choose but praise God nor was I able to iudge otherwise then that this was the Lordes doing and that it was maruellous in our eyes and That the stone which the builders refused was now made the head of the corner The other two whom they had throwne out together with Caluin they were content should enioy their exile Many causes might lead them to bee more desirous of him First his yeelding vnto them in one thing might happily put them in hope that time would breed the like easines of condescending further vnto them For in his absence he had perswaded them with whome he was able to preuaile that albeit himselfe did better like of common bread to bee vsed in the Eucharist yet the other they rather should accept then cause any trouble in the Church about it Againe they saw that the name of Caluin waxed euery day greater abroad and that together with his fame their infamy was spread who had so rashly and childishly eiected him Besides it was not vnlikely but that his credite in the world might many wayes stand the poore towne in great stead as the truth is their ministers forrein estimation hitherto hath bene the best stake in their hedge But whatsoeuer secret respects were likely to moue them for contenting of their mindes Caluin returned as it had bene an other Tully to his olde home He ripely considered how grosse a thing it were for men of his qualitie wise and graue men to liue with such a multitude and to be tenants at will vnder them as their ministers both himselfe and others had bene For the remedie of which inconuenience hee gaue them plainely to vnderstand that if he did become their teacher againe they must be content to admit a complet forme of discipline which both they and also their pastors should now be solemnely sworne to obserue for euer after Of which discipline the maine and principall partes were these A standing ecclesiasticall Court to be established perpetuall Iudges in that Court to be their ministers others of the people annually chosen twise so many in number as they to be iudges together with them in the same Court these two sorts to haue the care of all mens manners power of determining all kind of Ecclesiasticall causes and authoritie to conuent to controll to punish as farre as with excōmunication whomsoeuer they should thinke worthy none eyther small or great excepted This deuise I see not how the wisest at that time liuing could haue bettered if we duly consider what the present estate of Geneua did then require For their Bishop and his Clergie being as it is said departed from them by moonelight or howsoeuer being departed to choose in his roome any other Bishop had beene a thing altogether impossible And for their ministers to seeke that themselues alone might haue coerciue power ouer the whole Church would perhaps haue bene hardly construed at that time But when so franke an offer was made that for euery one minister there should be two of the people to sit and giue voyce in the Ecclesiasticall Consistory what inconuenience could they easily find which themselues might not be able alwayes to remedy Howbeit as euermore the simpler sort are euen when they see no apparant cause iealous notwithstanding ouer the secret intents and purposes of wiser men this proposition of his did somewhat trouble them Of the Ministers themselues which had stayed behinde in the Citie when Caluin was gone some vpon knowledge of the peoples earnest intent to recall him to his place againe had beforehand written their letters of submission and assured him of their alleageance for euer after if it should like him to harken vnto that publique suite But yet misdoubting what might happen if this discipline did goe forwarde they obiected against it the example of other reformed Churches liuing quietly and orderly without it Some of chiefest place and countenance amongst the laitie professed with greater stomacke their iudgements that such a discipline was little better then popish tyrannie disguised and tendered vnto them vnder a new forme This sort it may be had some feare that the filling vp of the seates in the Consistorie with so great a number of lay men was but to please the mindes of the people to the ende they might thinke their owne swaye somewhat but when things came to triall of practise their Pastors learning would bee at all times of force to ouerperswade
ye are not to claime in any such cōferēce other thē the plaintifs or opponents part which must cōsist altogether in proofe cōfirmation of two things the one that our orders by you condēned we ought to abolish the other that yours we are bound to accept in the stead therof Secōdly because the questions in cōtrouersie between vs are many if once we descend vnto particularities that for the easier more orderly proceeding therin the most generall be first discussed nor any questiō left off nor in each questiō the prosecutiō of any one argumēt giuē ouer another takē in hād til the issue wherunto by replies answers both parts are come be collected red acknowledged aswel on the one side as on the other to be the plain cōclusiō which they are grown vnto Thirdly for auoyding of the manifold incōueniēces wherunto ordinary extēporal disputes are subiect as also because if ye should singly dispute one by one as euery mans owne wit did best serue it might be cōceiued by the rest that happily some other would haue done more the chiefest of you do all agree in this action that whom ye shal then choose your speaker by him that which is publikely brought into disputation be acknowledged by al your cōsēts not to be his allegatiō but yours such as ye all are agreed vpō haue required him to deliuer in al your names the true copy whereof being taken by a notarie that a reasonable time be allowed for returne of answere vnto you in the like forme Fourthly whereas a number of conferences haue bene had in other causes with the lesse effectual successe by reason of partiall vntrue reports published afterwards vnto the world that to preuent this euill there be at the first a solemne declaration made on both parts of their agreement to haue that very booke no other set abroad wherin their present authorized notaries do write those things fully only which being written there read are by their owne opē testimony acknowledged to be their owne Other circumstances hereunto belōging whether for the choice of time place and language or for preuention of impertinent and needlesse speech or to any end and purpose else they may be thought on whē occasiō serueth In this sort to broach my priuate conceipt for the ordering of a publike actiō I should be loth albeit I do it not otherwise thē vnder correctiō of thē whose grauitie wisedome ought in such cases to ouerrule but that so venterous boldnes I see is a thing now general am therby of good hope that where al mē are licensed to offēd no man will shew himself a sharp accuser 6. What successe God may giue vnto any such kind of conference or disputation we cannot tell But of this we are right sure that nature scripture and experience it selfe haue all taught the world to seeke for the ending of contentions by submitting it self vnto some iudiciall definitiue sentence wherevnto neither part that cōtendeth may vnder any pretence or colour refuse to stand This must needs be effectuall and strong As for other meanes without this they seldome preuaile J would therefore know whether for the ending of these irksome strifes wherein you and your followers do stand thus formally deuided against the authorized guides of this Church the rest of the people subiect vnto their charge whether I say ye be content to referre your cause to any other higher iudgement then your owne or else intend to persist proceed as ye haue begun til your selues can be perswaded to cōdemn your selues If your determinatiō be this we can be but sorie that ye should deserue to be reckened with such of whom God himselfe pronounceth The way of peace they haue not knowne Waies of peaceable conclusion there are but these two certaine the one a sentence of iudiciall decision giuen by authoritie therto appointed within our selues the other the like kind of sentence giuen by a more vniuersall authoritie The former of which two waies God himselfe in the lawe prescribeth and his Spirit it was which directed the very first Christian Churches in the world to vse the later The ordinance of God in the lawe was this If there arise a matter too hard for thee in iudgement betweene bloud bloud betweene plea c. then shalt thou arise and goe vp vnto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose and thou shalt come vnto the Priests of the Leuites and vnto the Iudge that shall be in those dayes and aske and they shal shew thee the sentence of iudgement thou shalt do according to that thing which they of that place which the Lord hath chosen shewe thee and thou shalt obserue to do according to al that they enform thee according to the law which they shall teach thee and according to the iudgemēt which they shal tell thee shalt thou do thou shalt not decline from the thing which they shal shew thee to the right hand nor to the left And that man that will do presumptuously not harkning vnto the Priest that standeth before the Lord thy God to minister there or vnto the Iudge that man shal dye and thou shalt take away euill from Israel When there grew in the Church of Christ a question Whether the Gentiles belieuing might be saued although they were not circumcised after the manner of Moses nor did obserue the rest of those legall rites ceremonies wherunto the Iewes were bound After great dissension and disputation about it their conclusion in the end was to haue it determined by sentence at Ierusalem which was accordingly done in a Councell there assembled for the same purpose Are ye able to alleage any iust and sufficient cause wherfore absolutely ye should not condescend in this controuersie to haue your iudgements ouerruled by some such definitiue sentence whether it fall out to be giuen with or against you that so these tedious contentions may cease Ye will perhaps make answere that being perswaded already as touching the truth of your cause ye are not to harken vnto any sentence no not though Angels should define otherwise as the blessed Apostles owne example teacheth againe that men yea Councels may erre and that vnlesse the iudgement giuen do satisfie your minds vnlesse it be such as ye can by no further argumēt oppugne in a word vnlesse you perceiue and acknowledge it your selues consonant with Gods word to stand vnto it not allowing it were to sinne against your own cōsciences But cōsider I beseech you first as touching the Apostle how that wherein he was so resolute peremptory our Lord Iesus Christ made manifest vnto him euen by intuitive reuelation wherein there was no possibilitie of error That which you are perswaded of ye haue it no otherwise then by your owne only probable collectiō therefore such bold asseuerations as in him were admirable should in your mouthes but argue
them to the contrary 7. Nor is mine owne intent any other in these seuerall bookes of discourse then to make it appeare vnto you that for the ecclesiasticall lawes of this land we are led by great reason to obserue them and ye by no necessitie bound to impugne them It is no part of my secret meaning to draw you hereby into hatred or to set vpoÌ„ the face of this cause any fairer glasse then the naked truth doth afford but my whole endeuour is to resolue the conscience and to shew as neare as I can what in this controuersie the hart is to thinke if it will follow the light of sound and sincere iudgement without either clowd of preiudice or mist of passionate affection Wherefore seeing that lawes and ordinances in particular whether such as we obserue or such as your selues would haue established when the minde doth sift and examine them it must needes haue often recourse to a number of doubts and questions about the nature kindes and qualities of lawes in generall whereof vnlesse it be throughly enformed there will appeare no certaintie to stay our perswasion vpon I haue for that cause set downe in the first place an introduction on both sides needfull to bee considered Declaring therein what law is how different kindes of lawes there are and what force they are of according vnto each kind This done because ye suppose the lawes for which ye striue are found in scripture but those not against which we striue vpon this surmise are drawne to hold it as the very maine pillar of your whole cause that scripture ought to be the onely rule of all our actions and consequently that the Church-orders which wee obserue being not commaunded in scripture are offensiue and displeasant vnto God I haue spent the second booke in sifting of this point which standeth with you for the first and chiefest principle whereon ye build Wherevnto the next in degree is that as God will haue alwayes a Church vpon earth while the worlde doth continue and that Church stand in neede of gouernment of which gouernment it behoueth himselfe to bee both the author and teacher so it cannot stand with dutie that man should euer presume in any wise to chaunge and alter the same and therefore That in Scripture there must of necessitie be found some particular forme of politie Ecclesiasticall the lawes whereof admit not any kinde of alteration The first three bookes being thus ended the fourth proceedeth from the generall grounds and foundations of your cause vnto your generall accusations against vs as hauing in the orders of our Church for so you pretend corrupted the right forme of Church politie with manifolde popish rites and ceremonies which certaine reformed Churches haue banished from amongst them and haue thereby giuen vs such examples as you thinke wee ought to follow This your assertion hath herein drawne vs to make search whether these bee iust exceptions against the customes of our Church when ye pleade that they are the same which the Church of Rome hath or that they are not the same which some other reformed Churches haue deuised Of those foure bookes which remaine and are bestowed about the specialties of that cause which lyeth in controuersie the first examineth the causes by you alleaged wherefore the publique duties of Christian religion as our prayers our Sacramants and the rest should not be ordered in such sort as with vs they are nor that power whereby the persons of men are consecrated vnto the ministerie be disposed of in such maner as the lawes of this Church doe allow The second and third are concerning the power of iurisdiction the one whether laâ— men such as your gouerning Elders are ought in all congregations for euer to bee inuested with that power the other whether Bishops may haue that power ouer other Pastors and there withall that honour which with vs they haue And because besides the power of order which all consecrated persons haue and the power of iurisdiction which neither they all nor they only haue there is a third power a power of Ecclesiasticall Dominion communicable as wee thinke vnto persons not Ecclesiasticall and most fit to be restrained vnto the Prince or Soueraigne commaunder ouer the whole body politique the eight booke we haue allotted vnto this question and haue sifted therein your obiections against those preeminences royall which thereunto appertâ—ine Thus haue J layd before you the briefe of these my trauailes and presented vnder your view the limmes of that cause litigious betweene vs the whole intier body whereof being thus compact it shall be no troublesome thing for any man to find each particular controuersies resting place and the coherence it hath with those things either on which it dependeth or which depend on it 8. The case so standing therefore my brethren as it doth the wisdome of gouernors ye must not blame in that they further also forecasting the manifold strange dangerous innouations which are more then likely to follow if your discipline should take place haue for that cause thought it hitherto a part of their dutie to withstand your endeuors that way The rather for that they haue seene alreadie some small beginninges of the fruits thereof in them who concurring with you in iudgement aboute the necessitie of that discipline haue aduentured without more adoe to separate themselues from the rest of the Church and to put your speculations in execution These mens hastines the warier sort of you doth not commend yee wish they had held themselues longer in and not so dangerously flowne abroad before the fethers of the cause had beene growne their errour with mercifull terms ye reproue naming them in great commiseration of mind your poore brethren They oâ— the contrary side more bitterly accuse you as their false brethreÌ„ against you they plead saying From your breasts it is that we haue sucked those thinges which when ye deliuered vnto vs ye termed that heauenly sincere and wholesome milke of Gods word howsoeuer yee now abhorre as poyson that which the vertue thereof hath wrought and brought forth in vs. Ye sometime our companions guides and familiars with whome we haue had most sweete consultations are now become our professed aduersaries because wee thinke the statute-congregations in Englande to bee no true Christian Churches because wee haue seuered our selues from them and because without their leaue or licence that are in Ciuill authoritie wee haue secretly framed our owne Churches according to the platforme of the worde of God For of that point betweene you and vs there is no controuersie Alas what would ye haue vs to doe At such time as ye were content to accept vs in the number of your owne your teachinges we heard we read your writinges and though wee would yet able wee are not to forget with what zeale yee haue euer profest that in the English congregations for so many of them as bee ordered according
lesse good was not preferred before a greater that wilfully which caÌ„not be done without the singular disgrace of nature the vtter disturbance of that diuine order wherby the preeminence of chiefest acceptation is by the best things worthily chalenged There is not that good which coÌ„cerneth vs but it hath euidence â—nough for it selfe if reason were diligent to search it out Through neglect thereof abused we are with the shew of that which is not somtimes the subtilty of Satan inueagling vs as it did Eue sometimes the hastinesse of our wils preuenting the more considerate aduice of fouÌ„d reasoÌ„ as in the Apostles wheÌ„ they no sooner saw what they liked not but they forthwith were desirous of fit froÌ„ heauen sometimes the very custome of euil making the hart obdurate against whatsoeuer instructions to the coÌ„trary as in theÌ„ ouer whoÌ„ our Sauior spake weeping O IerusaleÌ„ how often thou wouldst not Still therfore that wherwâ—th we stand blameable can no way excuse it is In doing euill we prefer a lesse good before a greater the greatnes whereof is by reasoÌ„ inuestigable may be known The search of knowledge is a thing painful the painfulnes of knowledge is that which maketh the will so hardly inclinable thereunto The root hereof diuine maledictioÌ„ wherby the instrumeÌ„ts being weakned wherwithall the soule especially in reasoning doth worke it preferreth rest in ignorance before wearisome labour to know For a spurre of diligence therefore we haue a naturall thirst after knowledge ingrafted in vs. But by reason of that originall weaknesse in the instruments without which the vnderstanding part is not able in this world by discourse to worke the very conceipt of painefulnesse is as a bridle to stay vs. For which cause the Apostle who knew right well that the wearines of the flesh is an heauy clog to the will striketh mightily vpon this key Awake thou that sleepest Cast off all which presseth downe Watch Labour striue to go forward and to grow in knowledge 8 Wherefore to returne to our former intent of discouering the naturall way whereby rules haue bene found out concerning that goodnes wherewith the wil of man ought to be moued in humaine actions As euery thing naturally and necessarily doth desire the vtmost good and greatest perfection whereof nature hath made it capable euen so man Our felicitie therefore being the obiect and accomplishment of our desire we cannot choose but wish and couet it All particular things which are subiect vnto action the will doth so farre foorth incline vnto as reason iudgeth them the better for vs and consequently the more auaileable to our blisse If reason erre we fall into euill and are so farre forth depriued of the generall perfection we seeke Seeing therefore that for the framing of mens actions the knowledge of good from euill is necessarie it onely resteth that we search how this may be had Neither must we suppose that there needeth one rule to know the good and another the euill by For he that knoweth what is straight doth euen thereby discerne what is crooked because the absence of straightnesse in bodies capable thereof is crookednesse Goodnesse in actions is like vnto straitnesse wherfore that which is done well we terme right For as the straight way is most acceptable to him that trauaileth because by it he commeth soonest to his iourneys end so in action that which doth lye the euenest betweene vs and the end we desire must needes be the fittest for our vse Besides which fitnes for vse there is also in rectitude beauty as contrariwise in obliquity deformity And that which is good in the actions of men doth not onely delight as profitable but as amiable also In which consideration the Grecians most diuinely haue giuen to the actiue perfection of men a name expressing both beauty and goodnesse because goodnesse in ordinary speech is for the most part applied onely to that which is beneficiall But we in the name of goodnesse do here imploy both And of discerning goodnes there are but these two wayes the one the knowledge of the causes whereby it is made such the other the obseruation of those signes and tokens which being annexed alwaies vnto goodnes argue that where they are found there also goodnes is although we know not the cause by force whereof it is there The former of these is the most sure infallible way but so hard that all shunne it and had rather walke as men do in the darke by hap hazard then tread so long and intricate mazes for knowledge sake As therefore Physitians are many times forced to leaue such methods of curing as themselues know to be the fittest and being ouerruled by their patients impatiency are fame to try the best they can in taking that way of cure which the cured will yeeld vnto in like sort coÌ„sidering how the case doth staÌ„d with this present age full of tongue weake of braine behold we yeeld to the streame thereof into the causes of goodnes we will not make any curious or deepe inquiry to touch them now then it shal be sufficient when they are so neere at hand that easily they may be conceiued without any farre remoued discourse that way we are contented to proue which being the worse in it selfe is notwithstanding now by reason of common imbecillity the fitter likelier to be brookt Signes and tokens to know good by are of sundry kinds some more certaine and some lesse The most certaine token of euident goodnesse is if the generall perswasion of all men do so account it And therefore a common receiued error is neuer vtterly ouerthrowne till such time as we go from signes vnto causes and shew some manifest root or fountaine thereof common vnto all whereby it may clearly appeare how it hath come to passe that so many haue bene ouerseene In which case surmises and sleight probabilities will not serue because the vniuersall consent of men is the perfectest and strongest in this kind which comprehendeth onely the signes and tokens of goodnesse Things casuall do varie and that which a man doth but chaunce to thinke well of cannot still haue the like hap Wherefore although we know not the cause yet thus much we may know that some necessary cause there is whensoeuer the iudgements of all men generally or for the most part run one the same way especially in matters of naturall discourse For of things necessarily naturally done there is no more affirmed but this They keepe either alwaies or for the most part one tenure The generall and perpetuall voyce of men is as the sentence of God himselfe For that which all men haue at all times learned nature her selfe must needes haue taught and God being the author of nature her voyce is but his instrument By her from him we receiue whatsoeuer in such sort we learne Infinite duties there are the goodnes
whereunto reasonable creatures are bound but as hath bene shewed we restraine it to those onely duties which all men by force of naturall wit either do or might vnderstand to be such duties as concerne all men Certaine half waking men there are as Saint Augustine noteth who neither altogether asleepe in folly nor yet throughly awake in the light of true vnderstanding haue thought that there is not at all any thing iust and righteous in it selfe but looke wherwith nations are inured the same they take to be right and iust Wherupon their conclusion is that seeing each sort of people hath a different kind of right from other and that which is right of it owne nature must be euery where one and the same therefore in it selfe there is nothing right These good folke saith he that I may not trouble their wits with rehearsal of too many things haue not looked so far into the world as to perceiue that Do as thou wouldest be done vnto is a sentence which all nations vnder heauen are agreed vpon Refer this sentence to the loue of God it extinguisheth all heinous crimes referre it to the loue of thy neighbor and all grieuous wrongs it banisheth out of the world Wherefore as touching the law of reason this was it seemeth Saint Augustines iudgement namely that there are in it some things which stand as principles vniuersally agreed vpon and that out of those principles which are in themselues euident the greatest morall duties we owe towards God or man may without any great difficultie be concluded If then it be here demaunded by what meanes it should come to passe the greatest part of the law morall being so easie for all men to know that so many thousands of men notwithstanding haue bene ignorant euen of principall morall duties not imagining the breach of them to be sinne I deny not but lewd and wicked custome beginning perhaps at the first amongst few afterwards spreading into greater multitudes and so continuing from time to time may be of force euen in plaine things to smother the light of naturall vnderstanding because men will not bend their wits to examine whether things wherewith they haue bene accustomed be good or euill For examples sake that grosser kind of heathenish idolatrie wherby they worshipped the very workes of their owne hands was an absurdity to reason so palpable that the Prophet Dauid comparing idols and idolaters together maketh almost no ods betweene them but the one in a maner as much without wit and sense as the other They that make them are like vnto them and so are all that trust in them That wherein an idolater doth seeme so absurb and foolish is by the Wiseman thus exprest He is not ashamed to speake vnto that which hath no life he calleth on him that is weake for health he prayeth for life vnto him which is dead of him which hath no experience he requireth helpe for his iourney be sâ—â—th to him which is not able to go for gaine and worke and successe in his affaires he seeketh furtherance of him that hath no maner of power The cause of which senselesse stupidity is afterwards imputed to custome When a father mourned grieuosly for his son that was taken away suddenly he made an image for him that was once dead whom now he worshipped as a God ordeining to his seruants ceremonies sacrifices Thus by processe of time this wicked custome preuailed was kept as a law the authority of Rulers the ambition of craftsmen and such like meanes thrusting forward the ignorant and increasing their superstition Vnto this which the Wiseman hath spoken somwhat besides may be added For whatsoeuer we haue hitherto taught or shal hereafter coÌ„cerning the force of mans naturall vnderstanding this we alwayes desire withall to be vnderstood that there is no kind of faculty or power in man or any other creature which can rightly performe the functions alotted to it without perpetuall aide concurrence of that supreme cause of all things The benefit whereof as oft as we cause God in his iustice to withdraw there can no other thing follow then that which the Apostle noteth euen men indued with the light of reason to walke notwithstanding in the vanity of their mind hauing their cogitations darkned being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardnes of their harts And this cause is meÌ„tioned by the Prophet Esay speaking of the ignorance idolaters who see not how the manifest reason condemneth their grosse iniquity and sinne They haue not in them saith he so much wit as to thinke shall I bow to the stocke of a tree All knowledge and vnderstanding is taken from them For God hath shut their eyes that they cannot see That which we say in this case of idolatry serueth for all other things wherein the like kind of generall blindnes hath preuailed against the manifest lawes of reason Within the compasse of which lawes we do not onely comprehend whatsoeuer may be easily knowne to belong to the duty of all men but euen whatsoeuer may possibly be known to be of that quality so that the same be by necessary consequence deduced out of cleere and manifest principles For if once we descend vnto probable collections what is conuenient for men we are then in the territory where free and arbitrarie determinations the territory where humane lawes take place which lawes are after to be considered 9 Now the due obseruation of this law which reason teacheth vs cannot but be effectuall vnto their great good that obserue the same For we see the whole world and each part thereof so compacted that as long as each thing performeth onely that worke which is naturall vnto it it thereby preserueth both other things and also it selfe Contrariwise let any principall thing as the Sun the Moone any one of the heaueÌ„s or elemeÌ„ts but once cease or faile or swarue and who doth not easily conceiue that the sequele thereof would be ruine both to it selfe whatsoeuer dependeth on it And is it possible that man being not only the noblest creature in the world but euen a very world in himselfe his transgressing the law of his nature should draw no maner of harme after it Yes tribulation and anguish vnto euerie soule that doth euill Good doth followe vnto all things by obseruing the course of their nature and on the contrarie side euill by not obseruing it but not vnto naturall agents that good which wee call Reward not that euill which wee properly tearme Punishment The reason whereof is because amongst creatures in this world onely mans obseruation of the lawe of his nature is Righteousnesse onely mans transgression Sinne. And the reason of this is the difference in his maner of obseruing or transgressing the lawe of his nature Hee doth not otherwise then voluntarily the one or the other What we do against our
what nature and force lawes are according vnto their seuerall kinds the lawe which God with himselfe hath eternally set downe to follow in his owne workes the law which he hath made for his creatures to keepe the law of naturall and necessarie agents the law which Angels in heauen obey the lawe whereunto by the light of reason men find themselues bound in that they are men the lawe which they make by composition for multitudes and politique societies of men to be guided by the law which belongeth vnto each nation the lawe that concerneth the fellowship of all and lastly the lawe which God himselfe hath supernaturally reuealed It might peraduenture haue beene more popular and more plausible to vulgar eares if this first discourse had beene spent in extolling the force of lawes in shewing the great necessity of them when they are good and in aggrauating their offence by whom publique lawes are iniuriously traduced But for as much as with such kind of matter the passions of men are rather stirred one way or other then their knowledge any way set forward vnto the triall of that whereof there is doubt made I haue therefore turned aside from that beaten path and chosen though a lesse easie yet a more profitable way in regard of the end we propose Least therefore any man should maruailâ— whereunto all these things tend the drift and purpose of all is this euen to shew in what manner as euery good and perfect gift so this very gift of good and perfect lawes is deriued from the father of lights to teach men a reason why iust and reasonable lawes are of so great force of so great vse in the world and to enforme their minds with some methode of reducing the lawes whereof there is present controuersie vnto their first originall causes that so it may be in euery particular ordinance thereby the better discerned whether the same be reasonable iust and righteous or no. Is there any thing which can either be throughly vnderstood or soundly iudged of till the very first causes and principles from which originally it springeth bee made manifest If all parts of knowledge haue beene thought by wise men to bee then most orderly deliuered and proceeded in when they are drawne to their first originall seeing that our whole question concerneth the qualitie of Ecclesiasticall lawes let it not seeme a labour superfluous that in the entrance thereunto all these seuerall kinds of lawes haue beene considered in as much as they all concurre as principles they all haue their forcible operations therein although not all in like apparent and manifest maner By meanes whereof it commeth to passe that the force which they haue is not obserued of many Easier a great deale it is for men by law to be taught what they ought to do then instructed how to iudge as they should do of law the one being a thing which belongeth generally vnto all the other such as none but the wiser and more iudicious sorte can performe Yea the wisest are alwayes touching this point the readiest to acknowledge that soundly to iudge of a law is the waightiest thing which any man can take vpon him But if we wil giue iudgement of the laws vnder which we liue first let that law eternall be alwayes before our eyes as being of principall force and moment to breed in religious minds a dutifull estimation of all lawes the vse and benefite whereof we see because there can be no doubt but that lawes apparently good are as it were things copied out of the very tables of that high euerlasting law euen as the booke of that law hath said concerning it selfe By me Kings raigne and by me Princes decree iustice Not as if men did behold that booke and accordingly frame their lawes but because it worketh in them because it discouereth and as it were readeth it selfe to the world by them when the lawes which they make are righteous Furthermore although we perceiue not the goodnesse of lawes made neuerthelesse sith things in themselues may haue that which we peraduenture discerne not should not this breed a feare in our harts how we speake or iudge in the worse part concerning that the vnaduised disgrace whereof may be no meane dishonour to him towards whom we professe all submission and awe Surely there must be very manifest iniquitie in lawes against which we shall be able to iustifie our contumelious inuectiues The chiefest roote whereof when we vse them without cause is ignorance how lawes inferiour are deriued from that supreme or highest lawe The first that receiue impression from thence are naturall agents The lawe of whose operations might be happily thought lesse pertinent when the question is about lawes for humane actions but that in those very actions which most spiritually and supernaturally concerne men the rules and axiomes of naturall operations haue their force What can be more immediate to our saluation then our perswasion concerning the lawe of Christ towardes his Church What greater assurance of loue towards his Church then the knowledge of that mysticall vnion whereby the Church is become as neare vnto Christ as any one part of his flesh is vnto other That the Church being in such sort his he must needes protect it what proofe more strong then if a manifest lawe so require which law it is not possible for Christ to violate And what other lawe doth the Apostle for this alleage but such as is both common vnto Christ with vs and vnto vs with other things naturall No man hateth his owne flesh but doth loue and cherish it The axiomes of that lawe therefore whereby naturall agentes are guided haue their vse in the morall yea euen in the spirituall actions of men and consequently in all lawes belonging vnto men howsoeuer Neither are the Angels themselues so farre seuered from vs in their kind and manner of working but that betweene the lawe of their heauenly operations and the actions of men in this our state of mortalitie such correspondence there is as maketh it expedient to know in some sort the one for the others more perfect direction Would Angels acknowledge themselues fellow seruants with the sonnes of men but that both hauing one Lord there must be some kinde of lawe which is one and the same to both whereunto their obedience being perfecter is to our weaker both a paterne and a spurre Or would the Apostle speaking of that which belongeth vnto Saintes as they are linked together in the bond of spirituall societie so often make mention how Angels are therewith delighted if in thinges publiquely done by the Church we are not somewhat to respect what the Angels of heauen doe Yea so farre hath the Apostle S. Paule proceeded as to signifie that euen about the outward orders of the Church which serue but for comelinesse some regard is to be had of Angels who best like vs when we are most like vnto them
matter whereof they speake Let any man therefore that carieth indifferency of iudgement peruse the Bishops speeches and consider well of those negatiues concerning scripture which he produceth out of Irenaeus Chrysostome Leo which three are chosen from amongst the residue because the sentences of the others euen as one of theirs also do make for defence of negatiue arguments taken from humane authority and not from diuine onely They mention no more restraint in the one then in the other yet I thinke themselues will not hereby iudge that the Fathers tooke both to be strong without restraint vnto any speciall kind of matter wherein they held such arguments forcible Nor doth the Bishop either say or proue any more then that an argument in some kinds of matter may be good although taken negatiuely from Scripture 7 An earnest desire to draw all things vnto the determination of bare and naked Scripture hath caused here much paines to be taken in abating the estimation and credite of man Which if we labour to maintaine as farre as truth and reason will beare let not any thinke that we trauaile about a matter not greatly needful For the scope of all their pleading against mans authoritie is to ouerthrowe such orders lawes and constitutions in the Church as depending thereupon if they should therefore be taken away would peradueture leaue neither face nor memory of Church to continue long in the world the world especially being such as now it is That which they haue in this case spoken I would for breuities sake let passe but that the drift of their speech being so dangerous their words are not to be neglected Wherefore to say that simply an argument taken from mans authority doth hold no way neither affirmatiuely nor negatiuely is hard By a mans authority we here vnderstaÌ„d the force which his word hath for the assurance of anothers mind that buildeth vpon it as the Apostle somewhat did vpon their report of the house of Cloe and the Samaritanes in a matter of farre greater moment vpon the report of a simple woman For so it is sayd in Saint Iohns Gospell Many of the Samaritans of that City belieued in him for the saying of the woman which testified He hath told me all things that euer I did The strength of mans authority is affirmatiuely such that the waightiest affaires in the world depend therâ—on In iudgement and iustice are not herevpon proceedings grounded Sayth not the law that in the mouth of two or three witnesses euery word shal be confirmed This the law of God would not say if there were in a mans testimony no force at all to prooue any thing And if it be admitted that in matter of fact there is some credite to be giuen to the testimonie of man but not in matter of opinion and iudgement we see the contrary both acknowledged and vniuersally practised also throughout the world The sentences of wise and expert men were neuer but highly esteemed Let the title of a mans right be called in question are we not bold to relie and build vpon the iudgement of such as are famous for their skill in the lawes of this land In matter of state the waight many times of some one mans authority is thought reason sufficient euen to sway ouer whole nations And this not onely with the simpler sort but the learneder and wiser we are the more such arguments in some cases preuaile with vs. The reason why the simpler sort are mooued with authority is the conscience of their owne ignorance whereby it commeth to passe that hauing learned men in admiration they rather feare to dislike them then know wherefore they should allow and follow their iudgements Contrariwise with them that are skilfull authority is much more strong and forcible because they only are able to discerne how iust cause there is why to some mens authority so much should be attributed For which cause the name of Hippocrates no doubt were more effectuall to perswade euen such men as Galen himselfe then to moue a silly Empiricke So that the very selfe same argument in this kind which doth but induce the vulgaâ— sort to like may constraine the wiser to yeeld And therefore not Orators only with the people but euen the very profoundest disputers in all faculties haue hereby often with the best learned preuailed most As for arguments taken from humaine authority and that negatiuely for example sake if we should thinke the assembling of the people of God together by the sound of a bell the presenting of infants at the holy font by such as commonly we call their Godfathers or any other the like receiued custome to be impious because some men of whom we thinke very reuerendly haue in their bookes and writings no where mentioned nor taught that such things should be in the Church this reasoning were subiect vnto iust reproofe it were but feeble weake and vnsound Notwithstanding euen negatiuely an argument from humaine authority may be strong as namely thus The Chronicles of England mention no moe then onely sixe kings bearing the name of Edward since the time of the last conquest therefore it cannot be there should be moe So that if the question be of the authority of a mans testimony we cannot simply auouch either that affirmatiuely it doth not any way hold or that it hath only force to induce the simpler sort and not to constraine men of vnderstanding and ripe iudgement to yeeld assent or that negatiuely it hath in it no strength at all For vnto eâ—uery of these the contrary is most plaine Neither doth that which is alleaged concerning the infirmitie of men ouerthrow or disproue this Men are blinded with ignorance and errour many things may escape them and in many things they may bee deceiued yea those things which they do knowe they may either forget or vpon sundry indirect considerations let passe and although themselues do not erre yet may they through malice or vanity euen of purpose deceiue others Howbeit infinite cases there are wherein all these impediments and lets are so manifestly excluded that there is no shew or colour whereby any such exception may be taken but that the testimony of man will stand as a ground of infallible assurance That there is a City of Rome that Pius Quintus and Gregory the 13. and others haue beene Popes of Rome I suppose we are certainely enough perswaded The ground of our perswasion who neuer saw the place nor persons before named can be nothing but mans testimony Will any man here notwithstanding alleage those mentioned humaine infirmities as reasons why these things should be mistrusted or doubted of Yea that which is more vtterly to infringe the force and strength of mans testimony were to shake the very fortresse of Gods truth For whatsoeuer we beleeue concerning saluation by Christ although the scripture be therein the ground of our beliefe yet the authority of man is if we
continuance of it must then of necessitie appeare superfluous And of this we cannot be ignorant how sometimes that hath done great good which afterwardes when time hath chaunged the auncient course of thinges doth growe to be either very hurtfull or not so greatly profitable and necessary If therefore the end for which a lawe prouideth be perpetually necessary the way whereby it prouideth perpetually also most apt no doubt but that euery such law ought for euer to remain vnchangeable Whether God be the author of lawes by authorizing that power of men wherby they are made or by deliuering them made immediately from himselfe by word only or in writing also or howsoeuer notwithstaÌ„ding the authority of their maker the mutabilitie of that end for which they are made doth also make them changeable The law of ceremonies came from God Moses had commandement to commit it vnto the sacred records of scripture where it continueth euen vnto this very day and houre in force still as the Iewe surmiseth because God himselfe was author of it and for vs to abolish what hee hath established were presumptioÌ„ most intollerable But that which they in the blindnes of their obdurate hearts are not able to discerne sith the end for which that lawe was ordained is now fulfilled past and gone how should it but cease any longer to bee which hath no longer any cause of being in force as before That which necessitie of some speciall time doth cause to be inioyned bindeth no longer theÌ„ during that time but doth afterwards become free Which thing is also plain euen by that law which the Apostles assembled at the counsell of Ierusalem did froÌ„ thence deliuer vnto the Church of Christ the preface whereof to authorize it was To the holy Ghost and to vs it hath seemed good which stile they did not vse as matching theÌ„selues in power with the holy Ghost but as testifying the holy Ghost to be the author and themselues but onely vtterers of that decree This lawe therefore to haue proceeded from God as the author therof no faithful man wil denie It was of God not only because God gaue theÌ„ the power wherby they might make lawes but for that it proceeded euen froÌ„ the holy motion suggestion of that secret diuine spirit whose sentence they did but only pronounce Notwithstanding as the law of ceremonies deliuered vnto the Iews so this very law which the Gentiles receiued from the mouth of the holy Ghost is in like respect abrogated by decease of the end for which it was giuen But such as do not sticke at this point such as graunt that what hath bene instituted vpon any special cause needeth not to be obserued that cause ceasing do notwithstanding herein faile they iudge the lawes of God onely by the author and maine end for which they were made so that for vs to change that which he hath established they hold it execrable pride presumption if so be the end and purpose for which God by that meane prouideth bee permanent And vpon this they ground those ample disputes coÌ„cerning orders and offices which being by him appointed for the gouernment of his Church if it be necessary alwaies that the Church of Christ be gouerned then doth the end for which God prouided remaine still and therefore in those means which he by law did establish as being fittest vnto that end for vs to alter any thing is to lift vp our selues against God and as it were to countermaund him Wherin they marke not that laws are instruments to rule by and that instruments are not only to be framed according vnto the generall ende for which they are prouided but eueÌ„ according vnto that very particular which riseth out of the matter wheron they haue to worke The end wherefore lawes were made may be permanent and those lawes neuerthelesse require some alteration if there be any vnfitnes in the meanes which they prescribe as tending vnto that end purpose As for exaÌ„ple a law that to bridle theâ—â— doth punish the ones with a quadruple â—estitution hath an end which wil coÌ„tinue as long as the world it self coÌ„tinueth Theft will be alwayes and will alwayes need to be bridled But that the meane which this law prouideth for that end namely the punishment of quadruple restitution that this will be alwaies sufficient to bridle and restraine that kind of enormity no man can warrant Insufficiency of lawes doth somtimes come by want of iudgement in the makers Which cause cannot fall into any law termed properly and immediatly diuine as it may and doth into humaine lawes often But that which hath bene once most sufficient may wax otherwise by alteratioÌ„ of time place that punishment which hath bene somtimes forcible to bridle sinne may grow afterwards too weake and feeble In a word we plainely perceiue by the difference of those three lawes which the Iewes receiued at the hands of God the morall ceremoniall iudiciall that if the end for which and the matter according whereunto God maketh his lawes continue alwaies one and the same his laws also do the like for which cause the morall law cannot be altered secondly that whether the matter wheron lawes are made continue or coÌ„tinue not if their end haue once ceased they cease also to be of force as in the law ceremonial it fareth finally that albeit the end coÌ„tinue as in that law of theft specified and in a great part of those ancient iudicials it doth yet for as mush as there is not in all respects the same subiect or matter remaining for which they were first instituted euen this is sufficient cause of change And therefore lawes though both ordeined of God himselfe and the end for which they were ordeined continuing may notwithstanding cease if by alteration of persons or times they be fouÌ„d vnsufficieÌ„t to attain vnto that end In which respect why may we not presume that God doth eueÌ„ call for such change or alteratioÌ„ as the very coÌ„dition of things theÌ„selues doth make necessary They which do therfore plead the authority of the law-maker as an argument wherefore it should not be lawfull to change that which he hath instituted and will haue this the cause why all the ordinances of our Sauiour are immutable they which vrge the wisdome of God as a proofe that whatsoeuer laws he hath made they ought to stand â—nlesse himselfe from heauen proclaime them disanuld because it is not in man to correct the ordinaÌ„ce of God may know if it please theÌ„ to take notice therof that we are far froÌ„ presuming to think that meÌ„ can better any thing which God hath done eueÌ„ as we are from thinking that meÌ„ should presume to vndo some things of men which God doth know they cannot better God neuer ordeined any thing that could be bettered Yet many things he hath that haue bene changed and that for the better That which succeedeth as better now wheÌ„
vs to cōforme our indifferent ceremonies to the Turkes which are farre off then to the Papists which are so neare Touching the example of the eldest Churches of God in one councell it was decreed that Christians should not decke their houses with baye leaues and greene boughes because the Pagans did vse so to doe and that they should not rest from their labours those daies that the Pagans did that they should not keepe the first day of euery month as they did Another councell decreed that Christians should not celebrate feastes on the birth daies of the Martyrs because it was the manner of the heathē O saith Tertullian better is the religion of the Heathen for they vse no solemnitie of the Christians neither the Lordes daye neither the Pentecost and if they knew them they would haue nothing to doe with them for they would be afraide least they should seeme Christians but we are not afraid to be called heathen The same Tertullian would not haue Christians to sit after they had prayed because the Idolaters did so Whereby it appeareth that both of particular men and of councels in making or abolishing of ceremonies heed hath bene taken that the Christians should not be like the Idolaters no not in those thinges which of themselues are most indifferent to b◠vsed or not vsed The same cōformitie is not lesse opposite vnto reason first in as much as Contraries must be cured by their contraries and therefore Poperie being Antichristianitie is not healed but by establishment of orders thereunto opposite The way to bring a drunken mā to sobrietie is to carry him as far frō excesse of drink as may be To rectifie a crooked sticke we bend it on the contrary side as farre as it was at the first on that side from whence we drawe it and so it commeth in the ende to a middle betweene both which is perfect straightnes Vtter Inconformitie therefore with the Church of Rome in these thinges is the best and surest policie which the Church can vse While we vse their ceremonies they take occasion to blaspheme saying that our religion cannot stand by it selfe vnlesse it leane vpon the staffe of their ceremonies They hereby conceiue great hope of hauing the rest of their popery in the end which hope causeth them to be more frozen in their wickednesse Neither is it without cause that they haue this hope cōsidering that which maister Bucer noteth vpō the 18. of Saint Mathew that where these thinges haue bene left Popery hath returned but on the other part in places which haue bene cleansed of these thinges it hath not yet bene seene that it hath had any entrance None make such clamors for these ceremonies as the Papists and those whom they suborne a manifest token how much they triumph and ioy in these thinges They breede griefe of minde in a number that are godly minded and haue Antichristianitie in such detestation that their mindes are martyred with the very sight of them in the Church Such godly brethren we ought not thus to grieue with vnprofitable ceremonies yea ceremonies wherein there is not onely no profit but also daunger of great hurt that may growe to the Church by infection which popish ceremonies are meanes to breede This in effect is the summe and substance of that which they bring by way of oppositiō against those orders which we haue commō with the church of Rome these are the reasons wherewith they would proue our ceremonies in that respect worthy of blame 4 Before we answere vnto these thinges we are to cut off that wherunto they from whom these obiections proceed do oftentimes flie for defence and succor when the force and strength of their argumēts is elided For the ceremonies in vse amōgst vs being in no other respect retained sauing onely for that to retaine thē is to our seeming good and profitable yea so profitable and so good that if we had either simply taken them cleane away or els remoued them so as to place in their stead others we had done worse the plaine direct way against vs herein had bin only to proue that all such ceremonies as they require to be abolished are retained by vs with the hurt of the Church or with lesse benefit thē the abolishmēt of thē would bring But for as much as they saw how hardly they should be able to perform this they took a more compendious way traducing the ceremonies of our church vnder the name of being popish The cause why this way seemed better vnto them was for that the name of Popery is more odious then very Paganisme amongst diuers of the more simple sorte so as whatsoeuer they heare named popish they presently conceiue deepe hatred against it imagining there cā be nothing cōtained in that name but needs it must be exceeding detestable The eares of the people they haue therfore filled with strong clamor The church of Englād is fraught with popish ceremonies They that fauour the cause of reformatiō maintaine nothing but the sinceritie of the Gospel of Iesus Christ All such as withstand them fight for the lawes of his sworne enemie vphold the filthy reliques of Antichrist and are defenders of that which is popish These are the notes wherewith are drawn from the harts of the multitude so many sighs with these tunes their mindes are exasperated against the lawfull guides and gouernours of their souls these are the voices that fil thē with general discōtentment as though the bosome of that famous Church wherin they liue were more noysome then any dungeon But when the authors of so scandalous incantations are examined and called to account how they can iustifie such their dealings when they are vrged directly to answere whether it be lawfull for vs to vse any such ceremonies as the Church of Rome vseth although the same be not cōmanded in the word of God being driuen to see that the vse of some such ceremonies must of necessitie be granted lawfull they go about to make vs beleeue that they are iust of the same opinion and that they only think such ceremonies are not to be vsed when they are vnprofitable or when as good or better may be established Which answer is both idle in regard of vs and also repugnant to themselues It is in regard of vs very vaine to make this answere because they know that what ceremonies we retaine common vnto the Church of Rome wee therefore retaine them for that we iudge them to be profitable and to be such that others in stead of them would be worse So that when they say that we ought to abrogate such Romish ceremonies as are vnprofitable or els might haue other more profitable in their stead they trifle and they beat the aire about nothing which toucheth vs vnlesse they meane that wee ought to abrogate all Romish ceremonies which in their iudgement haue either no vse or lesse vse then some