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
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
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
as we call the Rogation weke The cause was pro terrae motu pro tempestatibus bestiarum incursionibus quae tùm témporis populum contriuerunt For earthquakes and tempestes and inuasiōs of wilde beasts which then did greatly destroy the people The greater Litany was deuised by Gregory Gregorius In dic 6. cap. 2. the Pope Anno. 592. when as the occasion being like as before the superstition began to be more For by reason of a great pestilēce following of a floud the byshop by ceremonies thought to appease the wrath of God and therfore made septiformem litaniam a seuen fort Litany One of the Cleargy another of the monkes one of men another of their wiues one of maydens another of widowes the last of poore and children together These people so distinct into seuen orders should come from seuen seuerall places and then it was thought they should be hearde the soner But in their procession Sigebertus in annum 591. foure score persons were striken with the plage to shew how well God was pleased with them Notwithstanding how thinges of a good deuotion instituted in tyme do grow to great abuse these litanies that you talke of do proue For what the order and solemnitie of them was Concilium Moguntiacum we reade in the councell of Mentz celebrated .viij. hundreth and thirtene yeare after Christe The words of their decrée be these Placuit nobis vt Litania maior obseruanda sit a cūctis Christianis diebus tribus Et sicut sancti patres nostri instituerunt non equitando nec preciosis vestibus induti sed discalccati cinere cilicio induti nisi infirmitas impedierit Our wil is Papistes degenerat from all good order that the greater Litany be obserued of al Christians .iij. dayes and as our holy fathers haue ordayned it not ryding nor hauing precious garmentes on them but bare footed in sackecloth ashes vnlesse infirmitie do let So farre the councell Contrary to which the popish procession is neuer solemne but when all the copes do come abrode and euery wyfe is ready to scratch an other by the face for going next the Crosse And as the deuocion of men is lesse so are the wordes of Inuocation vsed among the Papistes woorse which I shal haue occasiō anone to speake of when I come to the Litany that Augustine the Monke vsed at entring into our lande With you M. Martiall I wyl procede in order Fol. 93. b. The Arrians as you cite out of Sozomenus beyng set beside their Churches at Constantinople had secret conuenticles whether they resorted much lyke to men of your occupation in Englande which haue theyr Masse in corners They deuided themselues into cōpanies and song psalmes hymnes made in ryme after their own guise with additions for proufe and defence of their owne doctrine as popish portusses hipocriticall himnals haue such as you in Oxforde were delited to sing about the Christmas fier Which thing say you the good bishop and vigilāt pastor Chrysostome espying least some of the catholiques allured vvith the pleasaunt casure of the meter and svvete sounde of their ryme should go to their assēblies deuised also certaine hymnes in meter and made them sing them in the same tune that the Arrians dyd vvhereby it came to passe that the catholiques farre passed them in number and in solemnitie of procession For sayth Sozomenus Argentea crucis signa vna cum caereis accensis precedebant eos Before the Catholiques vvent tvvo siluer Crosses vvith tapers or torches burning Thus farr you sir And doubtlesse herein you haue shewed a great piece of skil You haue noted in the margent bicause we shal not forgot it how Crosses and tapers were caryed in procession And is not the Crosse much beholden to you that now make it a candelsticke that now wyl cōpare it to a lynke or a staffe torche or to the pole that caryeth the cresset And may not youre Louanistes greatly ioy in you that can deuise may not we also greatly ioy in them that can ouersée and suffer suche a proufe to go to print Geue me leaue a little to examyne your history First of all that whiche is the chiefe circumstance ye vtterly omyt That the Arrians assemblies were in the nyght Whervpon Sozomenus sayth Lib. 8. cap. 8. Noctu congregati in coetus diuisi that in the night tyme they were gathered together and deuided themselues into companyes And Socrates sayth Et hoc maxima noctis parte faciebant And this they dyd most part of the nyght Agayne where ye say Lib. 6. cap. 8 that the catholiques had two siluer Crosses it is more than ye founde in the text and peraduenture lesse for argentea crucis signa may be aswell many siluer signes of the Crosse as one But what wer those siluer Crosses Such as ye would make the ignoraunt beleue Such as you do vse to cary in processiō If other be so made to credit you yet we do know to much to be abused by you Socrates Socrates ecclesia Hist lib. 6. cap. 8 writeth of the matter thus Ioannes veritus ne huiusmodi cantionibus simpliciorū quisquam ab ecclesia auelleretur opposuit illis quosdamè suo populo qui ipsi nocturnis hymnis dediti illorum studium hebetarēt suos in fide confirmarent Videbatur quidem vtile fore hoc Ioannis propositum verum cum perturbatione est periculis terminatum Cum enim homousiani hymni in nocturnis illis hymnodijs illustriores redde rentur excogitauerat enim argenteas cruces quibus erant impositae cereae faces accensae ad quam rem Eudoxia imperatrix sumptus suppe ditauerat Arriani numero multi and so forth Whiche wordes are in English these Iohn byshop of Constantinople fearyng least by these songes of the Arrians any one of the simple myght be pulled from the Churche set certayne of hys own people against them which beyng also giuen to sing the nyght hymnes might both hinder the purpose of the aduersary and confirme in fayth the mindes of the catholiques Thys intente of Iohn semed to be profitable but it ended with trouble and perils For when the songs of the catholiques in their night tunes were made more notable for he had deuised certayne Crosse pieces of siluer wherevpon were put burning tapers of waxe whereof Eudoxia the empresse did beare the charge the Arrians endeuored to reuēge themselues Here it is euident wherfore these Crosses that you do talke of were had that inasmuch as their assemblies were in the night when lightes were necessary and those lyghtes of theirs The crosses of Cōstantinople could not be caryed on a strayghte piece they would haue a piece to go crosse ouerthwart to set many candels on which being made of siluer the lightes glymering therevpon made a beautifull goodly shewe This is the history Thys was the Crosse these were the tapers of Chrisostomes tyme. But what is thys to
Si angeli sacrificia sibi petant fieri adhibuerint signa ac è diuerso alij testeÌ„tur vni Deo sacrificaÌ„dum neque vlla miracula fecerint ijs vtique non illis credere oportet If Angels require sacrifice to be done vnto them and worke signes with all and contrary wyse some other testifie that Sacrifice must only be made to God and yet doe no miracles we must beleue these and not them And in an other place concerning the Maniches he sayth Signa vt vobis credatur nulla facitis Contra faustum quamuis si ea faceretis vobis credendum non esset Ye worke no miracles sayth Augustine to the Maniches whereby ye may induce vs to beleue you though if ye dyd worke such we ought not therefore to credit you And so say I to you M. Martiall you say the Crosse is able to doe thys and that we sée it not no miracles ye worke and yet if ye dyd so straunge thynges as ye talke of we were not bounde to beleue your doctrine For miracles alone are not sufficient Miracles alone no proufe of doctrine to coÌ„firme and stablish vs in a ryght fayth First of all by the lyne of Scripture we must examine the doctrine that is taught vs then if it do agrée to that we must beleue it yea though we haue no miracle at al but if miracles do come beside theÌ„ are the beleuers more established and such as yet do not beleue be made the more attente to heare and haue a way made for them to come to the fayth Wherfore in some condition they be like to Sacraments Miracles in some part lyke to Sacramentes For both are added as assurances to promises as seales to wrytinges And as Sacramentes do bryng no comfort vnlesse they be receiued by fayth so miracles do not auayle except we haue first a regarde to doctrine In this diuersity to make no difference is ouersight to commend the worse and omit the better is falshode Folio 99. a. You are you say in a great perplexitie vvhere ye shal begin as he that sytteth at a table furnished vvith many delicate dishes vvhereof he shal first taste And I maruell that you so fine a féeder will fall to your crambe Ye are come to a garden set rounde about vvith fresh fragrant flovvers yet ye gather but an handfull of nettels for vs to smell vnto Christ by the touch of his hand spettle of his mouth by a playster of dyrt as you call it healed the sicke opened the eares of the deafe restored the eyes of the blinde And why should not the dyrte of the streats be aswell honoured as the Crosse of the altare since the Scripture doth commende the dyrte but maketh no mention at all of the Crosse since better proufe we haue of miracle wrought by the one than euer can be made for the other If any external meanes Thre reasons vvhy miracles shuld not make for the crosse whereby strange wonders haue come to passe be to be had in admiratioÌ„ why not such as Christ and his Apostles vsed the Scripture mentioneth rather than the ydle deuise of man whereof there is no lawful president Agayne if your assertion were true that miracles vvere vvrought by the signe of the Crosse yet were they not only by the signe of the crosse and therefore the Crosse onely according to your treatise should not without the rest be magnified Last of all if it were true as ye shall neuer proue that such things as you alleage were done sometime by the signe of the Crosse yet this can be no reason why the Crosse shuld now be had in estimation vnlesse ye will haue all meanes and instruments of wonders heretofore wroughte as the hem of Christes garmente the spettle and the clay the shaddowe of Peter and napkin of Paule to be likewise honoured and estéemed of vs. But let me come to rehearsal of your miracles Among theÌ„ this is the fyrst And bycause I will haue your truth in allegations appeare I will put it downe as you haue written it Martiall worde for worde in order At vvhat time the vertuous Lady Helena vvilled as the story mentioneth by reuelation from God Euseb li. 10 Cap. 7. .8 Eccl. Histo. to seeke the Crosse of Christ in Hierusalem fouÌ„d after long digging in the mount of Caluary thre Crosses so confuse that neyther by the title that Pilate set vp in Hebrevve Greeke and Latine neyther by any other means they could discern vvhich vvas the Crosse that bare our sauiour Christ a noble vvoman of the city consumed and spent vvith long sickenesse did he at deathes dore c. Ye note for your credite in the margent the place whence ye haue the story and that you affirme to be out of Eusebiê° his ecclesiasticall historie the tenth boke the seauenth and eyght Chapters Martial belyeth Eusebius But this is a shamefull lye For Eusebiê° hath no such worde And this is a better proufe of the vanitie of your historie that where Eusebius in his third boke de vita Constantini maketh mention of Helena and the place it selfe of Christes sepulchre which by the Emperors commaundement was cleansed yet he speaketh not a word of this miraculous inuention of the Crosse Yet he liued at the same time and was more likely to knowe a truth than other Ye be to blame therfore to belye Eusebius In déede Ruffinus in his first boke seauenth Chapter hath the like that ye talke of But what may be iudged of the story shal afterward appeare And firste for the vertue of Ladye Helena thoughe I woulde be gladde to speake as much good of my countrey-woman as I can yet she was a concubine by your leaue to Constance as it apeareth in Catalogo Caesarum Cap. 1. which is inserted into the Ecclesiasticall history Likewise S. Ambrose Ambros de obitu Theodosij calleth hir StabulariaÌ„ a woman brought vp in an hostrie And as for hir superstition which in part I haue touched before it is too euident But whatsoeuer she was let vs goe to hir facte If she found the Crosse a time was when she found it and the same must be after hir conuersion when Siluester was byshop of Rome For otherwise she could not be so vertuous and religious as ye talke of And Nicephorus Nicephorus Li. 7. ca. 40. affirmeth that by Siluester she was conuerted to the fayth For which cause the author whose credite in this tale ye followe doth write the Inuention of the Crosse to haue bene in the raigne of Constantinus the greate But what sayth your Popeholy lawe to thys Reade your decrée In Decre de Consec di 3. Cap. Crucis Eusebius Papa Crucis Domini nostri Iesu Christi quae nuper nobis gubernacula sanctae Romanae ecclesiae tenentibus quinto nonas Maij inuenta est Eusebius the Pope The Crosse of our Lorde Iesus Christ which of late was