mens armures and erected it in the market place yet we neuer reade that he made a Roodeloft or placed the Crosse vpon the altar And thynke ye that Eusebiê° would haue forgotteÌ„ thys which did remember far smaller matters if any such thyng of a truth had bene Wherfore whatsoeuer you déeme of other or whatsoeuer youre owne wisdome be your supposal in thys case is neither true nor lykely to be true PeradueÌ„ture ye suppose that your hote interrogations of Shal vve thynke Folio 47. and constant asseuerations of No man of vvisdome can thinke wyll make vs by and by yelde vnto a lye But we are no children we are not to be feared with rattels ye must bryng better matter than your own thinking and souÌ„der proufes than Siluester hys wryting or els your Crosse shal be little cared for We know what idle tales and impudent lyes of Constantines donation Peter and Paules apparition wyth suche other lyke are in the decrées ascribed to Siluester And thence ye fetche your authoritie that Constantine made a Church in honor of S. Paul and set a Crosse of gold vpon hys cophyne Folio 47. vvayghing an hundreth and fifty pounde vveyght O what an ouersight was thys in Eusebius that writing hys lyfe auauncing his actes suppressed such a notable and famous piece of worke O what a scape was this of Sozomenus that making mention of hys lyttle chappel forgat the great Church But as the Prophet sayth Hiere 10 an Image is a teacher of lyes so must your Imagery be defended with lyes or els they wyll fall to nought I perceiue ye be driuen to very narow shiftes when ye bryng the authoritie of a bishop of Orleance to auouche the auncientie of the signe of a Crosse Swete floures be rare where nettels be so made of But alas what hath he that furthereth youre cause Take away the terme of Legitimê° whereby he calleth it a lawful custome I wyl not contende for any piece of hys assertion I know that it crept not into the Churche first in the tyme of Charles to haue the signe of the Crosse vsed I know the custome receaued in some places was thrée hundreth yeare elder than he Yet not wythout contradiction at any tyme. Wherfore in this and suche other cases wher eyther against the vniuersal Scripture a custome generall is pretended or a priuate custome without the worde established let the rule of S. Augustine take place rather Omnis talia que neque sanctaruÌ„ scripturaruÌ„ authoritatibus continentur nec in concilijs episcoporum statuta inueniuntur Epist 119. nec consuetudine vniuerse ecclesie robâ—â—atu sunt sed diuersorum locorum diuersis moribus innumerabiliter variantur ita vt vix aut omnino nunquam inueniri possint cause quas in eis instituendis homines secuti sunt vbi facultas tribuitur sine vlla dubitatione resecanda existimo As such thinges as neyther are coÌ„tayned in the authorities of holy Scriptures nor are founde enacted in counsels of the bishops nor are coÌ„firmed by custom of the vniuersal Church but according to the dyuers orders of diuers places innumerably do vary so that the causes may scant or not at all be founde whereby men wer induced to ordayne them I thynke that they ought without all controuersie be cut away Then sith the signe of the Crosse of Christ is not commauÌ„ded in holy Scripture sith no more councels haue coÌ„firmed the vse of it then haue condemned it finally sith the vniuersall Church neuer hath receaued it but only some priuate places where the great Antichrist of Rome preuailed nor they themselues able to alleage a iust and lawful cause of thys their ordinance and wyll worship I conclude say that the signe of the Crosse out of al Churches chapels and oratories out of all places deputed peculiarly to God hys seruice ought to be remoued To the fourth Article ANd wheras ye be now beaten from the walles of your greatest forte and runne into the castell ye leaue of meddeling with Roode or Crucifix and fall to defence of the signe mysticall I must lay some battery to thys holde of yours and I feare me not but I shall fier you out That ceremonies wer of olde receaued in the Church and among the rest the signe of the Crosse draweÌ„ with a finger I deny not I do confesse When men were newly coÌ„uerted froÌ„ Paganisme and ech man was hote in hys profession the Christian would not only with hys harte belief and tong coÌ„fessioÌ„ shew what he was but also in despyte of hys masters enimies declare by som outward signe and by Crossing of hymselfe testifie to the world that he was not ashamed of Christ crucified Hereof haue I wytnesse Tertullian in Apologetico and in hys boke de corona militis Wherevpon the fathers of a zeale and deuotion admitted almost in all thyngs this signe of the Crosse receyued it into God hys seruice as a laudable ceremony and wyshed al men to vse it Hieronymus ad Eustochium Demetriadem Prudentius in Hymnis Yet caÌ„ it not be denied but some were to superstitious in thys case ascribing more to the outward signe thaÌ„ to the vertue signified so they made of a well meaning custome a magicall inchauÌ„tment Nor only the simple dyd in thys case abuse themselues but such as had more learning than the rest and ought to haue ben good scholemasters to other taught superstitious and vnfounde doctrine I report me to Ambrose if he be the author of the funeral oration for Theodosius and also to Ephrem de poenit Cap. 3. Et de armatura Spirituali Cap. 2. which effect if we had not séen by experience in our dayes folowe we would not for the ceremony contende so much But wheras we sée the people so prone to superstition that of euery ceremony they make a necessitie that they bende not their hartes to the consideration of the heauenly mysterye but defix their eyes and repose their affiaunce in the earthly signe we are forced to refuse the same For doctrine in this case wyll not preuaile if the thyng that they trusted to be not taken from them So that the thyng which the aunciente fathers in a better age with lesse abuse wer concented to admitte must not so strayghtly be enforced vpon vs in a woorse tyme to mayntayne a wycked error For as Augustyne sayth Non veruÌ„ est quod dicitur Semel recte factuÌ„ Ad Marcellinum Epist 5. nullatenus esse mutandum Mutata quippe temporis causa quod recte ante factuÌ„ fuerat ita mutari vera ratio plerumque flagitat vt cum ipsi dicant recte noÌ„ fierisi mutetur coÌ„tra veritas clamet recte non fieri nisi mutetur quia vtrumque tunc erit rectuÌ„ si erit pro temporum varietate diuersum Quod enim in diuersitate personarum vno tempore accidere potest vt huic liceat aliquid impun facere quod illi non liceat non
take it if ye had helde your tong I might haue esteemed you somevvhat and reputed you vvise Ye remembre the Prouerb Stultus si tacuerit Proue 17. Thus ye vvrite al some more some lesse learned vnlearned vvilfull and vvitlesse but mera poëmata stale iestes or fables and especially you vvhom among the reste I may pitie rather than enuie For learning haue ye little discretion lesse good maners least of al. Your frends that most embrace your opinion are ashamed of your proues vvhen ye speake of your selfe so fond they are so senslesse and vnsoūd Nor I doe derogate so much from my selfe but I vvould bee ashamed to ansvvere such a booke vnlesse I thought good vpon this occasion of vnseasonable sovving of your rotten seede to plant againe in the Lordes fielde the seede of saluation and certaine truth to the comfort of the vveake and cōfusion of the vvicked VVherein I maruell not if the doctrine be higher than your skill can reach vnto For I knovv vvhat Doctor presented you I knovv vvho made you start vp a vvriter Magister artis ingenijque largitor venter Your exhibition belike fayled you and therfore ye thought to pick a quarrell to the almes basket But more almes it vvere vvith stripes ynovve to send you to schole againe than to revvard you as a Schoolemaster to other For this must I needes say that eyther ye haue not vvell learned your Sophistrie or else you thinke you haue to doe vvith fooles For thre kindes of Paralogismes of false arguments or fonde cauils are most familiar vvith you First by inserting ofte into your vvriting Non causam pro causa taking that for a buttresse and defence of your cause vvhich maketh nought to purpose Then by arguing ab eo quod est secundū quid ad simpliciter making a general consequent of that vvhich in parte is true an absolute rule of that vvhich vvas done or spoken onely in some respect And most of all A consequenti vvhen ye rashly gather that doth not truely follovve Ye may paraduenture bring vs into hatred by these sinister meanes vvith them that by preiudice haue a pleasure in your fansies but your proues for all that shal be nothing the sounder nor our substanciall truth the vveaker As for the vvhole drift and conclusion of your tale vvhereby ye heape all mischieues on vs deriue the cause of the plages of God and our sinful liues frō the spring of doctrine vvhich in Christ vve professe therin ye bevvray your vvilfulnesse and your ignoraunce VVilfulnesse in speaking against a knovvē truth Ignorance in reasoning to ouerthrovv your self For though vve deserue most euill at gods hands being stil better learned and not better liued yet if ye remembre your self M. Martiall ther vvas neuer age so free frō miseries specially in England as since the preaching of the Gospel this of ours hath bene and sure a pitiful piece of vvorke it is vvhen Papists in honestie shal contend vvith them vvhome ye call Protestants A slender point of defence it is vvhen you giue such a pricke as makes your selues to bleede But ye may not be toucht ye thinke you haue dedicate your boke to the Queenes highnesse ye craftely come vvith a faire vievve commending hir Maiestie in apparaunce but in effect vvith a false profer to your shame and confusion be it spoken ye condemne hir Thus trayterously ye seeke for defence at hir hands vvhose person ye flee vvhose doings ye impugne You haue receiued from your Ioue of the Capitoll a Pandoraes boxe to present and God vvill to our Prometheus But she God be thanked is to vvise to credit you Ye may seeke for some other popish Epimetheus that accepting your offer may set abrode your mischieues I doubt not but the levvdenesse of suche hir enimies shall vvoorke great aduaūtage both to hir highnesse and to vs hir true subiectes Folio 1. Ye call hir gracious and clement Princesse Elisabeth by the grace of God Queene of England Fraunce and Ireland The rest of hir style ye vvittingly omit That vvhich is the chief praise in a christian Prince to be Defender of the Fayth ye abridge hir of belike ye repute hir not to be such a one That vvhich your great god much like to Caiphas prophecy vvas contented to giue to hir predecessor Folio 3. you louing subiecte and true bedes man be loth to graunt hir the true successor That vvhich is the onely proufe of kinglike authority vvithin hir ovvne realmes and dominions to be the supreame gouernor vnder god of all persons causes ye deny to hir yet ye graūt hir to be the Queene She to be Queene yet a subiect to other you to be English men and yet no subiectes to hir In deede good cause you haue vvith al the rable of your peruerse cōfederates outlavves to call hir gracious and clemēt princesse if grace and clemency it may be called vvhich suffring you to your self vvil taketh not the svvord of vengeaunce in hir hand but lets you run headlong on your ovvne destruction Her grace might punish vvhere she forbeareth She might iustly pronounce the sentence of death vvhere she remitteth an easy prisonment Therefore clement she is Ye say right vvell But vvhether hir maiestie gracious othervvise to al be gracious vnto you I doubt For if it had pleased hir royall grace to haue brideled you ere this vvith shorter raynes ye had not bene at this day so headstrong as ye are Many hundreths of you repenting your rebellious hearts had bene cōuerted to Christ and by seueritie learned that vvhiche clemencie shal neuer teach you Novv is your insolēce grovven to such excesse that ye abuse al other and your selues to that ye think men dare not for feare do that vvhich for tēder hart and pitie they do not that ye thinke vvith hipocrisie to deceiue God and vvith flatterie the vvorld Ye threaten kindnesse on the Queenes maiestie Folio 1. b. saying that hir noble personage in al princely prowesse for so ye terme it and hir good affection to the crosse vvhich is the matter ye treate of moued you so presūptuously to aduenture so aduenterously to presume I shoulde say as to recommend your Treatise to hir highnesse In dede vve haue a most noble Princesse God for his mercy prosper hir lōg to raigne ouer vs in despite of your malice increase of our ioy such a one as is beautified vvith rare giftes of nature in vvisdome maruellous in vertue singuler Provvesse she leaueth to the other sexe Subiectes she hath ynovve to practise it As for hir priuate doings neyther are they to be dravven as a president for all nor any ought to creepe into the Princes bosome of euery facte to iudge an affection This can the vvorlde vvell vvitnesse vvith me that neyther hir grace and vvisedome hath such affiaunce in the Crosse as you doe fondly teach neyther takes it expedient hir subiectes should haue that vvhich she hir selfe she thinketh
may keepe vvithout offence For the multitude is easyly through ignoraunce abused hir Maiestie to vvell instructed for hir ovvne persone to fal into Popish error and Idolatrie Novv for that vvhich follovveth if ye vvere so good a subiecte as you oughte and framed your selfe to lyue according to the lavves ye should see and consider hovve good order is taken by Publique authoritie not Priuy suggestions that Roodes and Images should be remoued according to Gods lavve out of churches chappels and oratories and not so despitefully throvven dovvne in hie vvayes Folio 1. b. as you most coÌ„stantly do affirme the coÌ„trary vvherof as by our lavv is established so in effect is proued For vve doe see them in many places stand nor are at all offended thervvith And doe not you giue vs a good cause to credit you in the rest vvho in the first entrance of your matter make so lovvd a lie But that your impudeÌ„ce may be the more apparant ye stay not so ye stick not to father of the auncient fathers faith such falsehodes and absurdities as they neuer thought good man neuer gathered For vvhere ye say Folio 2. by their authoritie that euer since Christes death christen men haue had the signe of the crosse in churches chappels oratories priuate houses hie wayes and other places meete for the same it shall be euident by their ovvne vvritings such as none shal agaynsay that .400 yeare after Christ there vvas not in the place of Gods seruice any such signe erected By the vvay I report me to that vvhich Erasmus a gret stickler in the crosse quarrell vvriteth Vsque ad aetatem Hieronomi erant probatae religionis viri In Catechesi sua Cap. 6 qui in templis nullam ferebant imaginem nec pictam nec sculptam nec textam ac ne Christi quideÌ„ vt opinor propter Anthropomorphitas Vntil Hieroms time there were men of good religion vvhich is to be noted least ye say they vvere heretikes that suffred not in Churches any picture at all eyther painted or graued or wouen yea not so much as the picture of Christ bycause of the Anthropomorphites as I suppose Novv this vvas aboue .400 yeare after Christ In ê“aemio 3. Cement super Amos. for by Hieroms ovvn coÌ„putacion it must be after the syxt yeare of Arcadius Consulship vvhich falles out Anno .408 And Prosper Aquitanicê° maketh it to be .422 yeare after Christ But as much as this the Fathers themselues shal be vvitnesses of to disproue your vanity Folio 2. Then that they worshipped the signe of the crosse or counselled other to do the same is as true as the other yea a thing it vvas vvhen vse of such signes vvas receyued in deede most abhorred of them Ep. li. 7. Indict 2. Ep. â—9 I appeale to your Pope Gregory the great the first that euer defended Images He found fault vvith Serenus Byshop of Massilia for breaking the Images that he fouÌ„d in his church yet he condeÌ„neth your doctrine for vvorshipping them saying in one place Et quid zelum vos ne quid manu factum adorari possit habuisse laudauimus And truely we coÌ„mended you in that ye had a zeale that nothing made with hand should be worshipped Tua ergo fraternitas illas seruare ab earum adoratione populuÌ„ prohibere debuit Therfore your brotherhead should haue preserued them forbydden the people that they should not worship them And this Gregorie vvas 600. yeare after Christ VVhere then vvas the reuereÌ„ce done to the signe VVhere gaue they the counsell to creepe to the Crosse See you not hovve shamefully ye abuse the Prince vvith slaunders and vntruthes As for the third substancial ground vvherevpon ye builde the buttresse of your cause that no feare or mystrust of Idolatrie can be where the crosse is woorshipped that position and more than Paradoxe Folio 2. is as true as the reste 2. Reg. 18. Num. 21. Ioan. 9. as true as the Ievves could commit no Idolatrie in vvorshipping the brasen Serpent and yet that signe vvas coÌ„maunded once this signe to vs vvard vvas coÌ„mauÌ„ded neuer VVherfore since your vvare is no more vvorth M. Martial you like a pelting Pedler putting the best in your packe vppermost I see not vvhere ye may haue vtteraunce for it vnlesse it be to serue to sluttish vses And that ye should rest in any hope that the Queenes maiesty amidst hir great affaires should haue so much vacant time as to take a vievve of your vaine deuises is a miracle to me and makes your folly to appeare the more the more ye coÌ„ceiue a liking of your self The story that ye bring of Socrates report It is Socratis lib. 5. Cap. 10. not truly quoted for I think ye neuer red it maketh smal for your purpose VVhat though Sisinnius an heretike a Nouatian did giue aduise for appeasing of the Arrians heresy that the auncient fathers should be called to vvitnesse vvil you take example of one not vvell instructed nor vvise in this case as it appeared VVere the auncient fathers suffisaunt to appease the cause VVere they not enforced that notvvithstanding eche man to bring his opinioÌ„ in vvriting and stand to a furder iudgement and determinatioÌ„ Reade ye the place They neyther could nor can for imperfections that remayn amongst them content the conscience in doubtfull cases nor ought at any time to be iudges of our fayth S. Augustine contra MaximinuÌ„ Arrian Epis hath a goodly rule better to be follovved obserued than yours For vvhen in the like controuersie vvith the Arrians the counsell of Ariminum vvhere many Fathers vvere assembled made for the one parte and the Counsell of Nice confirmed the other Augustine to declare that vve ought not to depende vpon mans iudgement but vvholy solely vpon the truth of Gods vvord sayde Nec ego Nicenum nec tu debes Ariminense tanquam preiudicaturus proferre Concilium Epist. lib. 3. Cap. 14. Nec ego huius authoritate nec tu illius detineris Scripturarum authoritatibus non quorumque proprijs sed vtrisque communibus testibus res cum re causa cum causa ratio cum ratione concercet vvhich vvords in English be these Neither I muste bring forth the Counsell of Nice nor thou the Counsell of Ariminum as one to preiudice the other Neyther I am bounde to the authoritie of the one nor thou restrayned to the determination of the other But by the authorities of the Scriptures not peculiar witnesses vnto eyther of vs but common and indifferent vnto vs both let one matter with an other cause with cause reason contende wyth reason Then is it no outrage as it pleaseth your vvisedome to terme it to refuse your order Folio 3. since most of the fathers yea euery one of them haue had their errors as aftervvard more clerely shal appeare Yet for al your dotages vvherof peraduenture ye dreamed in some dronken frensy for al your absurdities I
note in their registers such as were slaine in the warres they would mark them with the letter ☉ as thrust thorow with a dart or els of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is death But when they would note any one aliue they woulde put their letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Crosse mark T vpon him Also Asconius Paedianus sayth that when a Iewry gaue vp their verdite of gilty or not gylty such as were condemned to death were marked wyth ☉ but such as were quit were marked with the T. Wherfore there is no reason why your Roode or Crucifixe can by any meane be applyed to the mark which Ezechiel speaketh of Fyrst bycause none haue the Prophets marke but such as be godly lament wickednesse But many of the diuels children grinagods and such other be crossed and cursed to Then also the proportion is so farre different that there is no likenesse betwixt them But for the likenesse of the effect they may be well compared together For as they only were saued which were so signed with the letter Thau ת so none be saued now nor yet euer were but such as haue the print of Christes Crosse within them merits of his passion and fayth in his bloud Wel doth Hierome shew In Ezech. Cap. 9. the causes why the signe Thau ת shuld be made in the foreheads of the elect fyrst vt perfectam in viris gementibus et dolētibus scientiam demonstraret quia extrema apud Hebraeos est Viginti duarum litterarum that is to say To shew a perfect knowledge in them that mourne and be sory bycause it is the laste letter of .xxij. among the Hebritians That as that letter doth end the Alphabete So when Christ died on the Crosse which that letter signified all things were ended necessary for our saluation Ioan. 19. according to the worde Consūmatum est It is finished The worke of oure saluation was then fully wrought Agayne sayth Hierome bycause this letter is the first in the word which signifieth Lawe among the Hebrewes Illi hoc accipere signaculum qui legis precepta compleuerant They receyued this marke which had fulfilled the preceptes of the lawe So that the fashion of the letter is not so much as the mysterie which accordeth well to that which I sayde before Yet neither the fashion nor the mysterie maketh ought for your purpose M. Martiall Nowe I maruell what toy came into your ydle heade when for a proufe of the vndoubted signe of the Crosse ye bring forth the words of the Psal O Lord the light of thy countenaunce is sealed on vs. Do ye think that the light of gods coūtenance is a piece of wood in the Roodeloft or a Crucifixe on the altare Or else do ye think that the light of Gods countenance can be fixed with a finger in the fleshy foreheade If none of these be true what shall I say to you You haue made a whip your self shal be beaten with it Hieroms wordes be these Praecipitur sex viris vt praeter eos qui possunt dicere Signatū est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine cunctos interficiāt Cōmaūdement is giuē to the six men of whom Ezechiell speaketh that they kil all but them that can say O Lord the light of thy countenance is sealed on vs. The light of Gods coūtenance is his fauour toward vs. Thē is it signed in vs when the sense therof doth come vnto vs bréede a confidence sure hope within vs. If the light of Gods coūtenance be the self same with the letter ת Thau the letter Thau no other but the signe of the crosse thē whosoeuer haue the signe of the Crosse haue hope haue cōfidence haue fayth in God But this is vtterly false as experiēce it self doth teach vs. Therfore the letter Thau though in a mysterie it betokened the death of Christ yet hath it no relation to the signe of the Crosse For answere to the other places of Esay Ieremy I referre you to the which I said before Nowe to come to the time of grace I had nede to beware of you Folio 31. Ye come in with that which ye haue good testimony to be true in dede that a Crosse in the fourth signification such a crosse as ye speak of was shewed frō heauen to Constantine the great with these Angels words In hoc vince In this ouercom Obiectiō Nor the good Emperor savv this only but as Eusebius vvriteth vvas comaūded to make a signe of it caried it in his stādard aftervvard did cause his mē in their armour to graue it Solution But whatsoeuer it hath pleased God for his glories sake at any time to doe must not be drawen for example vnto vs. Priuileges extend no further than to the persons cōprised in them Signes miracles were shewed to some which neyther be graūted to other nor ought to be asked of al. Moses had a signe to confirme him in his enterprise agaynst Pharao But Iosue had not so He onely had a bare cōmaūdement when he entred vpon the land of Chanaā Gideon was confirmed by miracle to fight against the Madianites So neither Iephte nor Sampson were Paul was by a signe frō heauen called So was not Peter nor any of his successors after Wherfore if thus it pleased God to enbolden the heart of Constantine to fight agaynst Maxentius the tirant that he would shew him such a signe from heauē not to confirme his fayth which by the word was to be established but to put him in assurance of a thing beside the word that is to say victory against his enimies what president is this to preiudice my cause He newly was conuerted to the fayth be was weake therein therefore he doubted of such successe in his affayres as for his Church cause God apointed to graūt him For which cause an extraordinary meane was vsed And God applied himself to the capacity of them that he dealt withal giuing such a token to thē as might wel assure thē of conquest in his name In hoc signo vince sayd God In this signe that is to say in his name whom this figure representeth ouerthrow thine enimies It was not the signe that gaue the victorie Constantine neuer thought it He taught his people otherwise to say as it apeareth in the solemn praier which he willed thē with lifting vp of eyes hearts to heauen daily to make For assone as euer he had vanquisht the tirant he returned vnto Rome and first of al Eusebius de vita Const. lib. 1. Victoria authorigratiarū actionem persoluit he gaue his thanks to the author of victory then afterward he set vp his crosse in the market place to the end it might there remayne a testimony of the power of God that whosoeuer did behold the same might by by conceiue of whose religion this Emperor was in whose name he ouercam his foes Which visible signe
further in coÌ„futatioÌ„ of his Church halowing It coÌ„futeth it self with shame inough to you Only I maruell Folio 38. a. that as the Angel as you say ingraued vvith his finger in the square stones the signe of the Crosse further froÌ„ God coÌ„maunded theÌ„ to make such a signe in their foreheades coÌ„maunded not aswel which had ben more to purpose to make the like signes in other stones in dedicatioÌ„ of other Churches I would wishe in the next print it might be put in that your popish Church halowing wherof I wyl speake anone myght séeme to haue som presideÌ„t for it But for S. Bartholomew I haue said inough And the same answer may suffise for S. Philip as hys exaÌ„ple is out of the said Abdias brought For as S. Hierom sayth Super. 23. Math. touching the name of Zachary of whoÌ„ meÌ„tioÌ„ is made Math. 23. that some would haue him to haue ben the .xj. of the Prophets But some other to haue ben the father of S. Ihon baptist hoc quia de scripturis noÌ„ habet authoritateÌ„ eadeÌ„ facilitate coÌ„teÌ„nitur qua probatur This bicause it hath not authority of the Scripture is as easily contemned as proued So may I say for the wordes which ye father vpon S. Philip Folio 39. In the place vvhere Mars semeth to staÌ„d fast set vp the Crosse of my Lord Iesus Christ and adore the same bicause it is coÌ„trary to the Scripture is but the report of a lying legend I may with good cause reiect the authoritie For neither was the chaÌ„ge alowable to destroy one Idoll to make an other as in the first article I proued nor to adore it was in any wyse tollerable as afterwarde more at large appeareth Wherfore your reason being as it is absurde and foolishe we be not driuen to any such shifte as ye talke of to say that fayth should be fixt in a wall Wée know no such melodie to moue as you say harde stones or make brasen pillers to vnderstande though your magicall minstrelsie hath bene such that rotten stockes haue spoke at your pleasure spoken good reason as you haue estemed it Remember ye not the Roode of Winchester that cunningly decised a controuersie betwéene the Monkes and maryed priestes pronouncing in latine for he was better taught then hys masters the Monkes Non bene sentiunt qui fauent presbyteris They thinke not well that fauour the priestes Who was that Orpheus that wrought that vnderstanding there Dunstane or the Diuell or both It hath bene alwayes a Popishe practise to make Roodes Images to rolle their eyes to sweate and to speake wherof infinite examples might be brought But that of men professing the Gospell of protestants as ye call them there hath bene any such delusion is not in any writing of any age to be founde Wherfore ye doe vs wrong in burdening vs with such vntruthes vnlesse by remembrance of your owne follyes ye will force vs as it were to open and disclose your shame But let mee come to your counsels The first ye fetch from the recorde of Iuo Gratian alleaging a Synode kept at Orleance in Fraunce Ye doe right well to cite your authors otherwise I might haue suspected the authoritie For in all the Canons of the councell it selfe we reade not the words that make for your purpose But you do wysely not to passe the compasse of your owne profession and therfore say no more than the popishe decrées do teache you But if a man may be so bolde in your owne faculty to appose you how doe the woords of this your counsell proue that euery Church must haue the signe of the Crosse Folio 40. Forsoth say you bycause it is decreed that no man builde a Church before the Byshop of that diocesse come and set vp a Crosse By the same reason the ring of the church dore is a piece of Gods seruice too For as the fixing of a Crosse the pitching of a stake as it were in the grounde doth shewe that the Byshop hath limitted out the compasse of the Church so the other is a proufe of Induction of the Priest Yet as thys signe of possession taken is no parte of duety within the Church discharged so the other signe of authoritie to builde giuen is no parte of seruice within the building to be done And this is the poynte which in this article ye go about to proue that euery Church and Chappel must haue a Crosse erected in it to the honor and seruice of almighty God But this Crosse serueth an other turne to a ciuill pollicy no poynt of religion For least that men should presume to builde Churches without authoritie ecclesiasticall it was decréed that the byshop of the diocesse should viewe the place appoynte where the body of the Church should be leaue his mark behinde him Which marke might as wel haue bene his crosier as his Crosse but that the one was lesse chargeable than the other If ye credite not me turne ouer your Decree There shall ye finde that ordre is taken for thinges necessary before the Church be builded But we doe inquire what is necessary seruice in a Church hallowed Wherefore I sée not how that Councell prouinciall triginta trium Episcoporum of thrée and thyrty byshops as the boke doth tell vs can make any thing for you But if there were most playne determination for the Crosse in that or any other such like Councell I am no more bound to the authority therof than you will be to the English Synodes held in king Edwardes dayes and in the Quéenes Maiesties raygne that nowe is Yet the duety of a subiect if ye were honest might driue you to this wheras there is no cause that might enforce my consent to the other Nowe for your second at Tovvres whose Canon is this Vt corpus dnÌ„i in altari non in armario sed sub Crucis titulo coÌ„ponatur Which you do english after this sort Foli 40. b. That the body of our lord consecrated vpon the altar be not reposed set in the reuestry but vnder the Roode Where we may learne two schole poynts of you Fyrst that armariuÌ„ is latine for a Reuestry Then that titulus Crucis is latine for a Roode But if your schollers haue bene taught heretofore to translate no better a rod a rod had bene more méete for the vsher For armariuÌ„ may wel be taken for a librarie for a closet or almerie but no more for the reuestry than for the belfry Yet wil I not greatly in that word coÌ„tend with you Be it that their folish meaning was for a reuestry yet doubtlesse they were not so mad as to put titulê° Crucis for a Roode Titulus crucis is the title of the crosse And I maruel that you wold not rather expound it for a Pixe than a Roode being driuen by this to cary gods body sacred from the altar into the Roode loft We haue not heard
of the Crosse is hoysed vp the iniquitie of the deuil is dryueÌ„ backe teÌ„pest of vvinde is calmed Wherupon I besech you doth he inferre the deuil doth disquiet vvinde squat it not vpon the mention of a ship wtout a mast whervpon dyd he talke of the Church Crosse or the ship Crosse If the mast of the ship dyd no more preserue and saue the vessel than the Crucifix on the altar or Crosse in the roodlofte can do the Church neyther should the ship be preserued in the water nor the Church at any tyme be consumed with the fyer We neded not to feare if your opinion were true the burning any more of Paules Make a Crosse on the steple and so it shal be safe But within these fewe yeares it had a Crosse and reliques in the bowle to boote yet they preuailed not yea the Crosse it self was fyred fyrst Wherfore S. Ambrose hys rule as you most fondly do take hym holdeth not If ye say that hys rule doth holde notwtstanding bicause Paules was burned in the tyme of schisme I answere that in your most catholike tyme the lyke plague happened twise within the compasse of .l. yeares and therfore S. Ambrose was not so foolysh to meane as you imagine As for LactaÌ„tius LactaÌ„tius whose verses ye bryng to confirm the vse of a Roode in the Church I myght say wyth Hierom. Vtinam tam nostra potuisset coÌ„firmare Ep ad Paulinum In HieremiaÌ„ 10. quam facile aliena destruxit I would to God he had ben able aswel to haue confirmed our doctrine and religion as he dyd easely ouerthrow the contrary For many errors and heresies he had among the which I myght reken thys flecte genu lignumque crucis venerabile adora bow down thy knée and do honor to the worshipfull wood of the Crosse For vpoÌ„ the word of the Prophet Hieremy Lignum de saltu pracidit He hath cut a trée out of the forrest S. Hierom taketh occasioÌ„ to speake of the Gentils Idols adorned with golde and siluer of whoÌ„ it is said Psal 113. A mouth they haue and speake not eares they haue and heare not And least it myght be thought that the making honoring of such appertayned peculiarly vnto the heathen he sayd Qui quidem error ad nos vsque transiuit Which error in dede hath come ouer vnto our age And theÌ„ inferreth thys Quicquid de Idolis diximus ad oiÌ„a dogmata quae sunt coÌ„traria veritati referri potest Et ipsi enim ingentia polliceÌ„tur simulachruÌ„ vani cultus de suo corde coÌ„fingunt Imperitorum obstringunt acteÌ„ à suis inuentoribus sublimantur In quibus nulla est vtilitas quoruÌ„ cultura propriè gentium est eorum qui ignorant deum Whyche wordes are in English these Whatsoeuer we haue spoken of Idols may be referred vnto al doctrines contrary to the truth For they also do promise great thynges and deuise an Image of vayne worship out of their own hart They blind the eye of the ignoraunt and by the inuenters of them are set a loft In which there is no profyt and the worshipping of which is an heathenish obseruaunce a maner of suche as know not God Wherfore the wordes alleaged by you as out of Lactantius suffised to discredit him bicause he wil haue a pece of wood to be worshipped Omitting al his other errors and that Gelasius the Pope in consideration of many hys imperfections rekeneth his bokes inter Apocripha such as may be read no doctrine be grouÌ„ded on But I wyl answere to you otherwyse disproue it if you can I veryly suppose that those verses were neuer written by Lactantius The causes that induce me to this are these In catalogo S. Hierom makyng mention of al hys wrytinges yea of many moe than are come vnto our handes maketh no mention of thys Agayn Churches in hys time were scarcely builded for he liued in the raigne of Dioclesian by whom he was called into Nicomedia as Hierom wryteth Afterwarde when he was very old he was scholemaster to Crispus CoÌ„stantinus soÌ„n and taught hym in Fraunce Now in the raigne of Dioclesian the poore ChristiaÌ„s had in no countrey any place at al whether they myght quietly resort and stande still a vvhile loking on the Roode Folio 43. vvith his armes stretched handes nayled feete fastened They had neither leisure nor liberty to be at such ydle cost They coÌ„tented theÌ„selues with poore cabanes wherto they secretly resorted yet notwtstanding had them pulled on their heades Eusebiê° writing of the persecutioÌ„ vnder DioclesiaÌ„ Lib. 8. ca. 2. sayth Oratoria à culmine ad pauimeÌ„tuÌ„ vsque vnà cum ipsis fuÌ„dameÌ„tis deijci diuinásque sacras scripturas in medio foro igni tradi ipsis oculis vidimus We saw with our eyes that the oratories he calleth theÌ„ not teÌ„ples for so thei wer not wer vtterly thrown down froÌ„ that top to the grouÌ„d yea with the very fouÌ„datioÌ„s of theÌ„ and that the sacred holy Scriptures in the mydst of the market place wer coÌ„mitted to the fier TheÌ„ was it no tyme for them to make Images of Christ whose fayth without perill they could not professe nor solemnly to set vp Roodes where priuatly they had no place therto And this was in the most florishing tyme of LactaÌ„tiê° Yea afterward in the beginning of CoÌ„staÌ„tinê° raigne Maximinê° gaue liceÌ„ce first the Christians might build Dominica oratoria The Lordes places of praier And the first teÌ„ple that CoÌ„staÌ„tinus built was at HierusaleÌ„ the .xxx. yeare of hys raigne wherfore me thinketh impossible it is that Lactantius should wryte Eus lib. 9. cap. 10. Sozom. li. 2. cap. 26. Quisquis ades medijque subis in limi na templi with the rest of the verses rehersed by you Then howe different the doctrine is both froÌ„ that which himselfe teacheth and generally was receaued in his daies the leud verse Flecte genu lignuÌ„que crucis venerabile adora sheweth for in hys boks he playnly affirmeth Diui. Insti li. 2. ca. 1. cap. 9. Diui. Inst lib. 2 ca 19. that no maÌ„ ought to worship any thynge on the earth And further he sayth that whosoeuer wyll retaine the nature and condition of a man must seke God aloft in heaueÌ„ not in earth in hart not in workmaÌ„ship of hand His argumeÌ„t is this Si religio ex diuinis rebus est diuini auteÌ„ nihil est nisi in celestibus rebui careÌ„t ergo religione simulachra quia nihil potest esse caeleste in ea re quae fit ex terra If religioÌ„ coÌ„sist of holy things and there be nothing holy but in heauenly thynges then Images are voyde of religion bicause in that thyng which is made of the earth ther caÌ„ be nothing heauenly You wil grauÌ„t me now that a Roode is made of some earthly matter of stone or tymber TheÌ„ doth LactaÌ„tiê° repute it vnholy to haue no religioÌ„
Idolatry as Augustyne playnly reporteth Yet were they nothing the lesse Idolatrers For thys he sayth of them In psa 113. Videntur autem sibi purgatioris esse religionis qui dicunt nec Simulachrum nec daemonium colo sed per effigieÌ„ corporalem eius rei signum intueor quam coiere debro They séeme to be of more pure religion which say I neyther worship the Image nor the power thereof but by the corporall lykenesse I beholde the signe of the thyng which I ought to worship Yet notwithstanding bicause they called their Idols by the names of Vulcanus and Venus as we our Images by the name of Christ and of our Lady bicause they dyd some outwarde reuerence to their Idols as we vnto our Images both for them and vs as Augustyne sayth Apostoli vna sententia poenam damnationemque testatur One sentence of the Apostle witnesseth our punishmente and condemnation And what sentence is that Qui transmutauerunt veritatem Dei in mendatium colürunt seruierunt creaturae potius quam creatori qui est benedictus Deus in secula Which turned the trueth of God into a lye and worshipped and serued the creature forsakyng the creator which is the blessed God for euermore But how is the truth turned to a lye and the creature rather serued than the creator It foloweth in the place alleaged Effigus à fabro factas appellando nominibus earum rerum quas fabricauit deus transmutaÌ„t veritatem Dei in meÌ„datium res autem ipsas pro dijs habeÌ„do venerando seruiunt creaturae potius quam creatori By calling the pictures made of the workeman by the name of those thinges which God hath made they change the truth of God into a lye And when they repute and worship the thynges themselues as Gods they serue the creature rather than the creator Wherefore Augustine noted very well that Paul priore parte sententiae simulachra daÌ„nauit posteriori autem interpretationes simulachrorum in the firste parte of hys sentence condemned Images and in the latter the interpretation and meaning of them So that if your cause be all one with the Gentiles and excuse one and yet both of them condemned by the Scripture and conuinced by authoritie It foloweth that no Roode nor Crucifixe in the Church oughte to be suffered for it is Idolatrye Of the same metall that the Crosse is made we haue the candlestickes we haue the censors yet they which most do thinke that God is serued with candlestickes censors attribute not that honor vnto them that they do to the Crosse What is the cause S. Augustine declareth Illa causa est maxima impietatis insanae quod plus valet in affectibus miseroruÌ„ similis viueÌ„ti forma quae sibi efficit supplicari quam quod eam manifestuÌ„ est noÌ„ esse uiuentem vt debeat à viuente contemni Plus enim valent simulachra ad curuaÌ„daÌ„ in foeliceÌ„ animaÌ„ quod os habeÌ„t oculos habent aures habent nares habeÌ„t manus habeÌ„t pedes habent quam ad corrigendaÌ„ quod non loquentur nón videhunt non audient noÌ„ odorabaÌ„t noÌ„ coÌ„trectabuut non ambulabunt Thys is the greatest cause sayeth he of thys mad impietie that the lyuely shape preuayleth more wyth the affections of miserable men to cause reuerence to be done vnto it than the playne sight that it is not liuing is able to worke that it be contemned of the lyuyng For Images are more of force to crooke an vnhappy soule in that they haue mouthes eyes eares nosthrels handes and feete Then otherwyse to strayghten and amende it in that they shall not speake they shall not sée they shall not heare they shall not smell they shall not handell they shall not walke And so farre Augustine Which wordes myght vtterly dehorte vs from Imagery and dryue both the Roode and the Crosse out of the Church Psa 134. if we were not such as the Prophete speaketh of become in most respect lyke them For with open and feling eyes but with closed and dead myndes we worship neither séeing nor liuing Images More could I cite aswel out of hym as out of the rest before alleaged for confirmation of thys trueth of myne I could sende you to the .4 boke of Aug. de ciuit Dei ca. 31. Where he commendeth the opinion of Varro that affirmed God myght be better serued wythout an Image than wyth one I coulde alleage hys boke de haeres ad Quod yult deuÌ„ Where he meÌ„tioneth one Marcellina whose heresy he accompteth to be thys that she honored the pictures of Christ and other I could referre you to hys boke de Con. Euan. Li. 1. Ca. 10. where he sayeth Omnino errare merueruÌ„t qui ChristuÌ„ noÌ„ in saÌ„ctis codicibus sed in pictis parietibus quaesicruÌ„t They haue béen worthy to be deceiued that haue sought Christ not in holy bokes but in paiÌ„ted walles These I say with diuerse other I could bring forth but that I thinke that thys suffiseth to proue that the fathers wer not so foÌ„dly in thys case affected as you would haue it appeare to other Folio 4 4. Concerning Paulinus I wyll not greatly contende wyth you but that in his dayes which was .448 yeare after Christ there was in some Churches the signe of the Crosse erected Epi. 3. ad Aprium But as I sayd before it suffiseth not to say Thys vvas once so But proued it must be that Thys was wel so Paulinê° coÌ„mendeth the woman that separated her selfe froÌ„ her own husbande without consent vnder cloke of religioÌ„ And hath the word of God the lesse force therefore which sayth Whom God hath coupled together Mat. 19. Ad Cithe rium let no maÌ„ put a suÌ„der Paulinus affirmeth that the boke of the Epistles which the Apostles wrote layd vnto diseases headeth them and shall we thynke that in vayne it is that the Lord hath created medicines of the earth Eccle. 38. He that is wyse wil not abhorre theÌ„ He that wyll folow whatsoeuer hath bene is a very foole I know that IustiniaÌ„ taketh order which is yet but politique that no man build a Church or monastery but as reasoÌ„ is by consent of the bishop and that the byshop shall set hys marke which by hys pleasure shoulde be a Crosse But what is thys say I to the Roode or Crucifix in places consecrate where God is serued The same answer that I made before to the Synod which was kept at Orleance may serue to thys Emperoures constitutioÌ„ although it be not preiudiciall to truthe if he that lyued by your wise computatioÌ„ a thousand yeare after Christ in dede fyue hundreth thirtie at the least in tyme of great ignoraunce and barbaritie In catalogo post prefationeÌ„ Folio 45. should enact a thyng contrary to a truthe Yet to say the truth I sée no cause why I should not admyt his graue authorite since he neyther speaketh of
quod dissimilis sit res sed is qui facit Ita ab vna eademque persona diuersis tēporibus tunc opartet aliquid fieri tunc non oportet non quod sui dissimilis sit qui facit sed quando facit It is not true that is sayd A thing that was once well done must in no wyse be altered For when the cause of the tyme is changed good reason doth require the wel done thyng afore so to be changed now That where they say it can not be wel if it be changed the truth on the other syde cryeth out that it can not be well if it be not changed For that which may chaunce at one tyme in diuersity of persons that one may do a thing without offēce which an other may not not that the matter is of it self vnlyke but the party that doth it so in respect of diuerse tymes of the selfe same person now may a thyng be done and now may it not be done not that he is differēt frō hymselfe that doth it but the tyme when he doth it Wherfore I like wel that counsell of Gregory which he gaue to Augustine the Monke whō he sent into Englande to plante a Religion Nouit fraternitas tua Dist 12 cap. Nouit saith he Romanae ecclesiae consuetudinem in qua se meminit esse nutrita sed mihi placet vt siue in Romana siue in Gallicorum siue in qualibet ecclesia inuenisti quod plus omnipotenti Deo possit placere sollicite eligas in Anglorum ecclesia quae adhuc in fide noua est in constitutione precipita quae de multis ecclesijs col ligere poteris infundas Non enim pro locis res sed pro rebus loca amāda sunt Ex singulis ergo quibus cūque ecclesijs quae pia quae religiosa quae recta sunt elige hac quasi in sasciculum collecta apud Anglorum mētes in consuetudinē depone Your brotherhode knoweth the custome of the Romish Church wherin ye remember ye haue bene brought vp But my pleasure is that whatsoeuer ye haue founde be it eyther in the Church of Rome or Frenche Church or any other that more may please almighty God ye carefully choose the same and the best constitutiōs that you can gather out of many Churches poure into the Church of Englande which is as yet raw in the fayth For the customes are not to be embraced for the countrey sake but rather the countrey for the custom sake Chose ye therfore out of al Churches whatsoeuer they are the thynges that are Godly religious and good and these beyng gathered into one bundel repose them as customes in the English mennes hartes So that of the wyse it hath bene alwayes reputed folly to sticke to prescriptiō of tyme or place Only the lawfulnesse of the vse hath brought more or lesse authoritie to the thing Wherfore ye haue no aduauntage of me in that I graunted the vse of Crossing to be auncient in the Church For if it had bene well in oure forefathers yet by Augustines rule it might be ill in vs and therfore to be altered And stifly to defende one certain custome without apparant commodity to the Church is by Pope Gregory hymselfe disproued Only I am sory that imperfections of wise men haue gyuen such president of error to the wilfull I am loth to saye that the fathers themselues were not so wel affected as they ought But ye driue me to lay my finger on thys sore and continually to scratch it The tale of Probianus which ye cyte out of Sozomene in the Tripartite history Folio 48. hath small apparance of truth in it For if he adored not the materiall Crosse he was the better Christian for that but if he beleued not the death of Christ then was he not conuerted vnto the fayth at al. For without Christ and the same crucified our fayth is all in vayne Wherfore whē it is sayd that he vvould not vvorship the cause of our saluation either the writer of this hystory doth il apply thys to the worde materiall or you do ill apply it to your purpose It shuld seme to be a tale framed out of Constantinus apparition when folish worshippers of the Crosse would styl haue moe miracles to cōfirme their Idolatry But as theues that haue robbed do leaue alway some marke behynde them wherby they may be knowen eyther what they were or which way they be gone so thys author of yours leaping ouer the pale hath left a piece of hys cloke behynde hym and ye may tracke hym by the foote For if he ment as your deuise that euer since the death of Christ vvhatsoeuer good hath ben vvrought to mankinde either by good men or holy Angels the same hath bene vvrought by the signe of the Crosse then Angels by lyke haue bodyes to beare it haue hādes to make it But Angels beyng ministring spirites Heb. 7. haue from the beginning wrought many vertues for mans behoufe haue bene by Gods prouidence a defence of the faythful and ouerthrowe of the wicked yet can they not make any materiall Crosse such as is set vp in Churches nor yet mysticall such as men vse to print in their foreheades wherfore eyther the collector of this tale was a lyer or you a fonde applyer Howsoeuer it falles out in ryme yet the reason is good But rather of the twoo I would excuse the author who by the Crosse ment Christ hys passion and lay you in the fault which vnderstode him not For doutlesse if there were such an apparitiō to Probianus as I am not yet persuaded of yet that the meaning of it should be such as you say to driue him to the vvorship of a Crosse in earth hath neyther religion nor reason in it Constantine hymselfe which was as newly cōuerted to the fayth neyther was commaunded to do the lyke nor euer dyd it Cyprian Augustine and Chrisostome intreating al of the passion of Christ do vse the terme of the Crosse as the Apostle hymselfe doth Folio 50. b 1. ad Cor. 1. ad Gal. 5. Vt cruxsit praedicatio de crucifixo That when they name the Crosse by a figure they meane the Crucified Notwithstanding I graūt that in ministration of sacramentes and some tyme otherwyse they séemed all to vse a certayne signe of Crosse not signe material Folio 49. but such as mē do prynt in their foreheades shall we therfore be restrayned to that whereof there is no precept in Scripture nor they thēselues yeld lawful cause But admit their authoritie Thynke you they dyd attribute so great vertue to the wagging of a finger That the holye ghost could be called downe the diuel dryuen away by it Thynke you they would haue neglected Churches refused Sacramentes doubted of their health if a priest had not broken the ayre first and wyth hys holy hande made an ouerthwart signe Learne more good ye Puiné than so fondly
latter clause with you you would not haue attributed operation to the priest nor effect of sacraments to the signe of the Crosse nor haue bene layd ouer the forme for it But ye féele not the stripes I am very sory for that verely verely ye haue well deserued them For if S. Cyprian would not ascribe so much vertue to the name of God that it should be able to do all otherwise than called vpon which respecteth the fayth of the receyuer shall we thinke that he had a sory breaking of the ayre wherby the Crosse is made in such hie reuerence and admiration On a time the same father was demaunded his iudgement whether such as were baptised bedred were Christians Cyprianus Magno Epist. 64. or no wherto he answered Aestimamus in nullo mutilari debilitari posse beneficia diuina nec minus aliquid illic posse contingere vbi plena tota fide dantis sumētis accipitur quod de diuinis muneribus hauritur We thinke that the benefits of God can not in any thing be mangled and made the weaker nor any thing lesse can happē there where the grace that is drawē from the spring of Gods goodnesse is apprehended with ful and perfect fayth as wel on the giuers behalfe as on the receyuers If such as were baptized in their beds hauing but a little water sprinckled vpon thē wanting a great number of ceremonies which Cyprian thought Apostolique and necessary were in as good case as the rest Quia stant consummantur omnia as he sayth maiestate Domini fidei veritate Bicause all things do stand and be brought to perfection by the maiestie of God and sinceritie of fayth shall we thinke that the idle ceremony of a Crosse can giue effect to sacraments and sacramentes be imperfect without a Crosse Your owne doctor doth ouerthrow you But ye cite two authorities of S. Augustine to confirme your error For the first where he sayth Folio 49. b. With the mysterie of the Crosse the ignorant are instructed and taught the font of regeneration is hallovved c. I aunswere as I did before according to the true meaning of the word mysterie that the meaning of the crosse which we beleue and sée not for so Chrisostome Chrisos 1. ad Cor. cap. 2. Hom. 7. saith and not the visible and materiall Crosse worketh the effectes aforesayd For you wyll graunt me that the signe of the Crosse is but an accessory thing The substance of the sacrament may consist wythout it Augustine Aug. in Io. Tract 40. et de catacl cap. 3 sayth not Accedat Crucis signatio ad elementum fit Sacramentum Let the signe of the Crosse concurre with the elemente and it is a sacramente But let the worde come to the element and it is a sacramente And yet he doth not attribute so muche to the elemente it selfe or to the worde as you doe to the signe of the Crosse For of Baptisme he sayth Vnde ista tanta virtus aquae vt corpus tangat cor abluat nisi faciente verbo Non quia dicitur sed quia creditur Nam in ipso verbo aliud est sonus transiens aliud virtus manens Whence commeth this so great vertue of the water to touch the body and washe the soule but by the working of the worde not bycause the worde is spoken but bycause it is belieued For in the worde it selfe the sound that passeth is one thing and the vertue remayning another If onely fayth bring effecte to sacramentes if the worde it selfe be not auayleable wythout beliefe shall we thinke that S. Augustine made such accompt of the signe of a Crosse In déede he made great of the mysterie of the Crosse bicause on it onely dependeth fayth But the mysterie you haue nothing to doe withal For vnlesse it be a materiall Crosse or a Crosse made with a fynger in some part of the body ye professe that in thys treatise ye will speake of none Folio 24. And now to the seconde allegation out of Augustine As the maner of signing with the Crosse was in his time vsual so wold I wish for your own sake that ye could content your self with his significations and wade no further in so daungerous a puddle than he hath dypped his fote before you Wel doth he please himself in a subtile deuise of his when he wil referre the Apostles wordes Ephe. 3. to the figure of the Crosse meaning by the breadth that there is spoken of Charity by height Hope by length Pacience by depth Humilitie But these make no more for Paules meaning than the Geometricall proportion that Ambrose out of the same place gathereth Onely there is some edification in the wordes and though ye apply them to your most aduauntage Folio 48. b. yet can ye not inferre your purpose of them For you would haue it appeare that no Sacrament were made and perfected rightly wythout the signe of the Crosse Trac in Ioā 118. But Augustine goeth not so farre Onely he sayth Nihil eorum rite perficitur None of them is solemnly done and according to the receyued order For are you M. Lawyer ignoraunte of this common position among the Ciuilians Quod recte iusticiā causae rite solennitatem respicit That this terme recte hath respecte vnto the righteousnesse and truth of the cause but rite which is the word that Augustine vseth doth go no farther than to the order and solemnitie thereof So I graunt you well that in Augustines tyme if there wanted a Crosse there wanted a ceremony and yet were the sacraments perfect notwithstanding In our Church of England a Crosse is cōmaūded to be made in baptisme yet was it neuer thought of any wise or godly De Conscr Dist. 5. Cap. Nūquid nō that baptisme was insufficiēt without it Go to your Canon where order is taken Vt omnia Sacramenta Crucis signaculo perficiantur That all Sacraments shal be made perfect with the signe of the Crosse Yet in the glose vpon the same place ye shall finde twise in one leafe these words Non remouet quin aliter possint sanctificari valere ad remissionem sed refert factum nec aliter fit solennis baptismus He doth not take away this but that otherwise that is to say without the signe of the Crosse they may be sanctifyed and the thing be auayleable vnto remission But it is requisite that the thing be done that is to say the signe of the Crosse be made nor othervvise it is a solemne baptisme This is the Popes lawe and your gospell Wherefore I besech you good solemne sir be not so harde master to vs that for default of solemnity Folio 50. a we shal be defaulked of fruite of Sacramentes As for Chrisostome I haue answered you oft he speaketh of a Crosse that you haue nothing to doe withal It is to heauy for you to beare It is not to be séene
yet where ye touch that Matrimonie is a sacrament yea the company it self of man and wife together in the act of matrimony to be a sacrament euery sacrament you say conferreth grace howe doth this holde together that in the acte of matrimonie in the company of man and wife together ye deny the presence of the holy ghost for your law affirmeth it to be sinne though a sinne veniall Shall it nowe be a sacrament Dec. 1. parte dist 13. Cap. item aduers in glo and anone no sacrament Shall all sacraments conferre grace and this be a sacrament and conferre none shall it be holy and yet prophane a sacrament and yet a sinne Last of all to proue that in all your deuises of error and hipocrisie The fift absurdity for the sacrament of matrimony ye séeke for nothing else but to colour and cloke abhominations consider what an heape of mischieues is couered with this face of holynesse When ye haue determined that matrimonie is a sacrament ye take the knowledge of causes Matrimonial vnto your selues for spiritual cases must not be handled of prophane iudges Then haue ye made such horrible lawes to confirme your tyranny that they are not onely impious to God but iniurious to man As that yong folk wilfully contracting themselues without their parents coÌ„sent may marry well ynough that there shall be no mariage within the seauenth degrée that he that diuorceth an adulterous person may not marry another that gossippes as we call them may not be man and wife together that from thrée wéekes before Lente till the octaues of Easter from Aduent to Twelftyde for thrée wéekes before Midsommer there shall be no marrying at all wythout a dyspensation No maruell then if ye haue made a sacramente of Matrimonie since that is the mylch cowe that yeldeth so large a meale of spirituall extortion Nowe to come to Penaunce Penaunce Folio 68. â— which ye make a sacrament as well as Matrimonie Ye call it a bath of teares a dispoyling of the olde lyfe the second boorde after shipvvracke These titles argue not that it is a sacrament nor I contend who giueth it these titles certayne I am that some of them be blasphemous and abhominable For to go no further than to this that it is called the second table after shipvvracke Quia si quis innocentiae vestem in Baptismo perceptam peccando corruperit Lib. 4. Sent. Dist 14. ca. 1 per Paenitentiae remedium reparare potest Bicause sayth the author whose name I suppresse as well as you if any haue marred his garment of innocencie which in Baptisme he gat by the remedie of Penance he may repaire it This is asmuch to saye as if the effecte of Baptisme were taken away by synne whereas we be bounde to call our Baptisme to remembraunce when so euer we synne that by the promyse exhibited in Baptisme the sinfull soule may be refreshed penance out of it gathered Therefore as the gospell it self doth say Mar. 1. Dec. caus 15. quest 1. Iohn preached the Baptisme of penance to remission of synnes So the fathers of the Church do cal Baptisme sometime the sacrament of Penaunce But to your reason Folio 68. b. whereby ye proue Penaunce to be a sacrament It is a visible signe of inuisible grace ye say the visible signe is the external act of the priest absoluing the penitent By this reason ye proue better AbsolutioÌ„ to be a sacrameÌ„t than Penance And so shal our sacrameÌ„ts multiply stil I besech you what hath Penance to do with the priests Absolution Can there be no remission of sinnes vnlesse the priest assoyle me I wil proue that manifestly false by your own law For Confession goeth before absolution yet without coÌ„fession there may be good remission So by this reason we stand not in nede of the visible element the inuisible grace is grauÌ„ted without it For according vnto your canon De Paen. dist 1. Ca. Si cui Folio 68. b. Voluntas remuneratur non opus The wil is rewarded not the work Then is it a lie which you affirm that sinnes are remitted by meane of the external vvork I know that you be more conuersant in the Popes decrées theÌ„ in Austins works therefore I wil shew you what GratiaÌ„ gathereth out of theÌ„ De Paen. dist 1. Ca. Faciliê° The sorrow of my hart though I speak neuer a word nor priest lay hand vpoÌ„ my head purchaseth me pardon Id quod probatur autoritate illa prophetica In quacunque hora peccator fuerit coÌ„uersus et ingemuerit Non enim dicitur ore confessus fuerit sed tantum coÌ„uersus fuerit ingemuerit vita viuet et non morietur Which thing is proued saith he by the authoritie of the Prophet saying In what houre soeuer a sinner shal be turned lament for he saith not wheÌ„ he shal be confessed but when he shal be coÌ„uerted and lament then shal he liue and not dye Ca. qui natê° Likewise after Euidentissimè apparet quod sola cordis contritione sine confessione oris peccatum remittatur It appeareth most euidently that by the onely contrition of heart without confession of mouth sinne is remitted And yet againe Ca. Quidam Deo Confessio quae soli deo fit quod est iustoruÌ„ purgat peccata The confessioÌ„ which is made to God alone which is the part of the righteous purgeth the offences By which places all it is playnly to be sene first that your eareshrift one part of your penance is to no purpose then that Absolution which is your externall worke your Sacrament as you call it is no meane of Remission Furthermore to rake out this kenell of Poperie Penance is a sacrameÌ„t ye say Euery sacrament a visible signe The visible signe herein is the externall acte of the priest the inuisible grace is the remission of sinnes to the penitent So the signe and sacrament is in the priest but the grace in the people But how is this grace conferred Forsoth by the priest the ghostly father And on whose head so euer the priest layeth his hands vnder confession hath he remission Lib. 4. Sent. Dist 1. Cap. 1. 3. Yea forsoth Quia sacramenta nouae legis efficiunt quod figurant Bycause the sacraments of the newe law do bring to passe that which they figure Then euery murderer théefe adulterer though he neuer repent hath cleare remission for he hath the sacrament O shamelesse impudencie But if it were so which is great impiety that by the external act remission were obtayned yet I sée not how that shoulde be a Sacramente Folio 69. a. For the matter of this Sacrament say you is the external act of the penitent coÌ„tayning these three poyntes Contrition Confession Satisfaction Among all these where is the visible elemente Vbi est illa corporalis species Ser. de bap Infan quae fructum habet spiritualeÌ„ as Augustine sayth
order Sainct Iames will haue all to be anoynted if they be sycke you onely anoynt in case of mortalitie and daunger of death when one foote is in the graue already If oyle be your sacrament the promise of grace be annexed to it The absurdities to heale both bodyly ghostly as you say then what harde heartes haue you that suffer so many to languish in extremitie that come not by your wils before the last gaspe S. Iames will haue the sick to be anoynted of many you wil admit but one alone with his head in his sleue muffled as an Ape with a bell before him as a batfowler for an owle S. Iames will haue the elders to be called to this office which were not onely of the ministerie but also of the lay sée You will haue a rable of shorne priestes and none but them S. Iames is content with simple oyle you will haue none but such as a byshoppe hallowed with many a stinking breath warmed with many a sorcerous word inchaunted with many a beck many a knée to the ground Idoled S. Iames wil haue vnction the signe of Gods spirit and prayer of the faythfull to concur together noting that it is not the oyle that healeth but good mennes prayers are alwayes auayleable you most blasphemously doe ascribe remission of sinnes vnto your oyle boxe Now brag of your vnction goe sell your kitchin stuffe Trye it and ye lose it It is to stale to make a sacramente It stinketh I tell you For where as in a sacrament two things be required first that it be a ceremonie instituted of God then that it haue a promise of grace in it In the first we respect that the ceremonie be deliuered vnto vs in the seconde that the promise also concerne vs. And for asmuch as neither the ceremonie was coÌ„maunded vs nor the promise appertayneth to vs both being temporall long agoe surceassed I may wel coÌ„clude that Extreme vnction is no sacrament What soeuer in the Councell of Florence or in the late Synode of Trent hath bene decréed to the contrary shall not preiudice my truth For I hauing reason and Scripture for me with the learned and sounde determinations of moe fathers of the Church than these will not be prescribed by conuenticles and conspiracies You pretende authoritie we bring the scripture You call vs heretiques we proue you no lesse And which shal take place Gods worde or mens willes A talke or a proufe If all the fat bulles of Basan did drawe together and the diuel their carter dyd dryue them to Trent there to fede and stande fast for their prouender shall the Lordes shepe therfore be starued shal hys worke be neglected If ten thousande of your affinitie bewitched with the sorcery of Romish Circe should holde a councell and cal al men to the trough of your own draffe should not I acknowledge and coÌ„fesse with Grillus in whoÌ„ bearing the figure of a reasonable creature inchauntmeÌ„t could take no place that reason and religion should be preferred to the belly What reason is in thys their sentence to holde who be the parties accused and yet iudges of the cause What religion is in thys that for filthy lucre mannes idle ordinaÌ„ce shall displace the coÌ„maundement of almighty God Wheresoeuer I sée thys shame and disorder as in al your popish councels it is I appeale from them 1. Cor. 4. I say with Paul Mihi pro minimo est vt à vobis iudicer I passe very little to be iudged of you As for the place of Hilariê° against Auxentius the Arrian how fitly it may be applyed vnto you and not to vs whom you would seme to touch al they that haue eyes do sée For you can say nothing Fol. 71. 72 but these nevve ministers are heretiques they are Caluinistes and therfore diuels Proufe bryng ye none but the same is reproued I trust therfore ye haue credite according But to you I say Ye be fallen with Auxentius ye do participate with Arrius heresy Who is the diuels Angel thaÌ„ Who is to be auoided Nor I am contented onely to say it as you do though in thys respect my worde were aswell to be accepted as yours but I proue it too For when ye make an Image of God the worde Creaturam facitis eum qui omnia creauit as Epiphanius sayeth Ye make a creature of hym Lib. 2. tom 2 Her 96. the created all thinges Wherfore if ye would assente to the decrées of the first Nicene councell and go no further these wordes neded not betwixte you and me Fol. 72. b But when ye take away the name of Nicene and put Florence or Trente in place therof ye are as true a maÌ„ as he that stale a goose and sticked down a feather For al couÌ„cels are not a lyke Nor al they that bragge of the holy ghost are by and by inspired with hys grace For Hilarius your own author whoÌ„ to no purpose ye brought forth last hath to good purpose thys Multi sunt qui simulantes fidem Hilarius Li. 8. de Trinit non subditi sunt fidei sibique fideÌ„ ipsi potius constituunt quam accipiunt sensu humanae inanitatis inflati dum quae volunt sapiunt nolunt sapere quae vera sunt cum sapientiae haec veritas sit ea interdum sapere quae nolis Sequitur vero hanc voluntatis sapientiaÌ„ sermo stulticiae Quia necesse est quod stulte sapitur stulte praedicetur Many there are sayth he which fayning a fayth are not subiecte to fayth and rather do appoynt themselues a fayth than receiue it puffed vp with the sence of mans vanitie whyle they vnderstande those thinges that they lust but wyll not vnderstande those thinges that be true whereas the truth of wisdome is sometyme to vnderstande those thynges that thou wouldest not But the talke of folly commeth after thys wyll wysedome for necessary it is that foolishly it be vttered that foolishly is vnderstode To the fifth Article ALthough ye bende your selfe in all thys Article and stretch euery vaine of your feble skyl to proue a matter which although it be in part vntrue yet beyng grauÌ„ted dyd not hurt my cause that the Apostles and fathers of the primitiue Churche blessed theÌ„selues vvith the signe of the Crosse Fol. 73. a. and counselled all ChristeÌ„ meÌ„ to do the same and that in those dayes the Crosse vvas set vp in euery place conuenient for it yet bicause ye styll appeare in your lykenesse and it is so requisite ye be knowen to the world a clouter of a patch of troth vpoÌ„ a whole cloke of lyes I wyll not disdayne to make an easy proufe of your thrée taglesse poyntes for any greater stresse they wil not abyde And first of all the terme of blessing is ill applyed to signing in the forehead For what it is to blesse To blesse I declared in the Article before to speake wel
popish procession As much as if I said My Lord Maior hath a perch to set on hys perchers when hys gesse be at supper Therfore the Priest when he is at hys praiers must haue a crucifix to go before hym The barber in hys shop hath a lateÌ„ place to set on hys candels to shaue men therat therfore the priest wheÌ„ he goeth hys stations about the churchyarde muste haue a siluer Crosse caried before him and a couple of boyes with tapers in their handes to lyght hym at none dayes I remeÌ„ber of olde that on Tenebre wednesday or one of the soleÌ„ne dayes before Easter ye were wont to haue a ryghte counterfet in the Church of Constantinoples Crosse saue that the one was of siluer the other of wood And thys was Iudas Crosse wherupon was set a great sort of caÌ„dels which at seruise tyme were put out in order But thys I thinke is not the Crosse that ye speake of For you wyll haue a siluer Crosse or copper at the least wyse after the paterne of Chrisostomes catholiques But then you must sticke it full of candels to or els you be not lyke nother And haue you not great cause M. Martiall vpoÌ„ thys example to inferre these wordes of triumphe and victory Lo good readers Chrisostome an auncient father and one of the moste famous doctors of the Greke Church and renovvmed for vertue and learning throughout the vvorld had the signe of the crosse and tapers vvith lyght Fol. 94 a caryed in his Church of Constantinople before hys people in procession And was it in dede a Crosse M. Martiall In which signification of yours the first secoÌ„de third or fourth doubtlesse you were much ouer séene that dyd not make the fifth signification of Crosse to be the Crosse staffe that caryeth the candels And was thys Crosse caryed in the Church I had thought it had bene in the streates For the Arrians could not come into the Church and yet they met with them with flinging of stones and cracking of pates The Arrians had no Crosse you say why then they went darkling or were content with a lanterne Lo good readers hath not M. Martiall Martial in one stony maketh foure lyes and yet the matter maketh nothyng for him Martials conclusioÌ„ out of Sozomenus sayd muche to the matter First that in Constantinople there should be caried two siluer Crosses And that is a lye For there is no number mentioned Then that they should be caryed in procession And that is a lye For it was only in processu in their marching forwarde Thirdly that they were caryed in the Church And that is a lye For it was in the streates Fourthly that they were caryed as ours are in the daye tyme. And that is a lye For it was in the nyght season What foure lyes together in to small towme To much of conscience But marke the conclusion Forsoth vve gather out of Sozomonus by the godly father Chrisostomes fact that vve must cary a candlesticke in steade of a Crosse in procession A proper collection and yet very true For the Crosses of Constantinople to proue a doctrine of the Church Crosse is as good as the cressets on midsommer nyghte to proue the romors at hye muste in Poules And thus much for the Crosse Now to the candels If they were of olde vsed in the seruise of the Church no maruel at al since their metings were in the nyght tyme Eusebius eccl Hist lib. 5. cap 1 where to be darkeling it was vncomfortable We reade in Eusebius that in the raygne of Antoninus verus in Fraunce in Lyons and vienna the Christians were forbidden to haue any houses to dwell in Euse Eccle. Hist li. 5. cap. 1. to enter with other folke into the bathes to walke abrode in the streates or to be sene in any place By reason wherof they were compelled to get theÌ„ caues and there vnder the grounde to hyde them But when for their comforte in Christ they would resort together they dyd it in the nyght tyme for feare of suspition and therof many slaunders did ryse vpon them The vse of tapers for treasons conspiracies horedomes and murder Yet candels they had necessary they were Likewyse we reade that when Iustina the Empresse fauoring the Arrians had graunted them the vse of the Churche in Millain Augustinê° li. Confes 9. cap. 7. Ambrose withstode it and kept it day and nyght with watch warde Then Litanies were song and then were tapers vsed But when persecutions ceassed and men myght fréely serue God abrode when rewardes were geuen to the seruers of hym and seruise appoynted in the daye tyme that candels should be vsed they had no grounde of reason I sée not whence you may haue a president of your burning tapers at none day so wel as from the sacrifices of Saturnus Macrob. Saturn li. 1. cap. 7. Aras saturnias non mactando viros sed acceÌ„sis luminibus excolebant They decked and furnished the altares of Saturn not with the bloud of men but with burning of candels And we neuer reade that any returned from GeÌ„tilitie but retayned somewhat of their olde obseruaunces If ye vrge the olde custome that so many huÌ„dreth yeares ago tapers were vsed in Gods seruise I wyll reply with reproufe of that custome by a generall councell For in the Synode helde in Spain called CoÌ„ciliuÌ„ ElibertinuÌ„ is was straightly enioyned Cap. 34. Lactantius de vero culâ—â— dei li. 6. cap. â— that none should lighte candels in the daye tyme. Lactantius inueighing agaynst the heathennish or popishe superstition conueniunt enim in vno tertio for Papistes Paganes agrée in a third that is to say lyghting of candels vnto their Gods sayth Accendunt lumina velut in tenebris agenti Deo Sed si coeleste lumen quod dicimus solem contemplari velint tam sentiaÌ„t quod non indigeat lucernis eorum Deus qui in vsum hominis tam candidum luceÌ„ dedit tamen quum in tam paruo circulo qui propter longinquitateÌ„ non amplius quaÌ„ hamani capitir videtur habere mensuraÌ„ tantuÌ„ sit fulgoris vt euÌ„ mortaliuÌ„ luminuÌ„ acier non queat contueri si paulisper intenderis hebetatos culos caligo ac tenebrae consequantur quid tandeÌ„ luminis quid claritatis apud deuÌ„ penes quem nulla nox est esse arbitremur qui hanc ipsam luceÌ„ sic moderatus est vt neque nimio fulgore neque calore vehementi noceret animantibus tantúmque istarum rerum dedit ei quantum aut mortalia corpora pati possunt aut frugum maturitas postularet Which is to say in English They light candels vnto God as if he were in the darke But if they wyl beholde the heauenly lyght that we call the sunne they may vnderstande that their God lacketh no lyghtes that for the vse of man hath giuen so cleare a lyght And yet whereas in so small a circle whyche by
Crosse were able now to do the lyke I would admit youre case the rather though absolutely as I sayd before miracles do not enforce a doctrine The woman of which Epiphanius reporteth when she was in the bathes felt one Li. 1. Her 30 by inchantment touche her whome she sawe not and made the signe of a Crosse which was no cause of her preseruation but wytnesse of hir fayth that dyd preserue hir And thys Epiphanius hymselfe testifieth Signauit se in nomen Christi vt quae Christiana esset She signed hir selfe into the profession and name of Christ as who was a Christiā And after he sayth not that the signing serued hir But per signa ulum fidem By the signe of Christ and by fayth the woman receyued helpe And fayth doutlesse without the signe had bene able to haue wrought asmuch as that but that it pleased God to shew a miracle which to an other end he would by some visible signe to be expressed The ende was to shewe the vertue of beliefe in Christ and to conuert an heathen man which could not sée the secret fayth that so preuayled against inchantmente and therefore stode in nede of an outwarde signe Lib 1. Tom. 2. Her 30. Wherfore Epiphanius in the same place concludeth Hoc tertium instructionis ad fidem opus Iosepho contigit Thys thirde worke happened vnto Ioseph for instruction of hys fayth So that when it pleased God to vse a miracle for cōuersion of an infidell we must not gather that he hath left an example for vs to do the lyke yet is not such power ascrybed to the signe as you collect but the vertue remained in the name of Christ Notwithstanding as oft in the Scripture causa per effecta fides per opera declaratur the cause is declared by the effectes as the fayth by workes so many tymes and specially for the worldes instruction the inwarde puritie and persuasion is notified to men by the outwarde fact which fact nedeth not now to be the signe of the Crosse since we lyue not amōg Turkes and Sarazins but al mē without it know of whom we holde in whom we doe beleue Thus haue I aunswered the place of Epiphanius and by thys you may learne neuer to alleage a place but to consider better the circumstaunce of the same I thinke a man should haue much a doe with you if ye were able at this day to shew the lyke vertue and effect of a crucifix as hath bene of olde reported Yet thys oughte to be approued afore we do confirme the necessary vse therof A catholique of yours for all hys confidence in the Crosse would be loth to aduenture hys daughter in a common brothell house as your tale is Foli 104. a. of the woman of Corinth although he had taught her neuer so much to Crosse her Peraduenture she might be as good a maid as she that toke such pleasure in Massing and in Crossing that oute of the Churche she would neuer come vnlesse it were to a mans bed Only I maruell if the signe of the Crosse be so souerayne a medecine to preserue chastitie Why papistes are more licētious and aduouterous than other why so many of your order that most delyte therin make stewes as it were of theyr own houses none so great lechers as the superstitious none more incontinente than popishe priestes And they thynke they haue warrant of your religion for it For in that tyrānous interraigne of Antichrist .viij. yere a go when a priest of Oxforde was accused to Cardinall Pooles cōmissioners of an horrible offence not to be named of a Christian but commonly practised among the papistes Nefas est accusare sacerdotem cryed out the Datary It is a wickednesse to accuse a Priest of such cryme or such But the matter was euident the parties confessed it And what was awarded hym forsoth to aske hys fellow whether he were a thefe to tell a tale in an others eare which was as good as himselfe So that confession salued that sore strayght About the same tyme an olde fornicator in red Crosse streate in London declared the effect of your religiō which is to bréede a securitie in synne for beyng taken in adultery by such as are yet alyue and haue good cause to remember it he sped hymselfe as fast as he could to Church would nedes haue a Masse whē he had heard it he came home agayne Hys wyfe layed the matter bitterly to hys charge his frēds most greuously dyd expostulate with hym when he had nothing to excuse hymselfe nothing to lessen the fault withal he sayd There is none of you all though you would sée me hāged but knowes I beleue in the Sacrament of the altare well then I beleue well I thanke God of that Yet he thought hys beliefe in the Sacrament of the altare was inough for hym though otherwyse he played the varlet egregiouslye You thynke that a signe of a Crosse suffiseth as it dyd for Luciā and the Iew though no fayth in Christ no goodnesse do come with al. And thys may be supposed to haue encoraged your deuoute fathers to lyue so licentiously as they haue done Wherein if I had lewes Euans hys vayne I could with truthes make those eares to glowe which now do glory in hys shamelesse lyes The signe of the Crosse say you maketh that harlots vvould liue chast Fol. 116. a. What chastitie in crossing papistes How happens it thē that a frende of yours a bastard or bishop or both was peraduenture which is not I warrāt you without a Crosse or twayne should haue from hys bedsyde a priuy posturne Not that when hys Bacchus had bathed hym hys Venus might warme him How falleth it out that a chiefe maintayner of your saction that ioyeth asmuch in the Crosse signe as you lothed alwayes hys lawfull dyet and delyted moste in stolen venery What happe was thys that sometyme a warden of your colledge the daily deuoutly would knele before the siluer Crosse attempted as earnestly to bryng al Christians to the wodden Crosse should kepe both the mother and the daughter in Oxforde and after for periurye weare a paper in Windsore I wyl no further offēde chast eares with rehearsing the shame of your vnchast generatiō Only wyll I say and if ye further vrge me in particularity wyll proue that as I am now entreating of miracles so euer in my tyme it hath bene greatest miracle to sée a chaste votary But to returne to your allegations if ye wyll haue vs credite you in your doctrine then let vs sée the fruites let miracles be wrought let the Crosse make you honeste and I wyll verily affirme it a miracle If the signe of a Crosse do heale diseases and kyll dragons if it kepe vs frō the fall of trées and make our enimies stande styll before vs Then fare well physicke I wyll occupye no weapons Miracles past no proufe of present vse In