that you haue punished me for teaching the contrary assertion ANSVVERE Your second demand was out of all course of reason or sense Was it not knowne to al that you were censured for preaching such Evangelicall Counsells of perfection whereby a man might doe more then the law required yea more then man need to haue performed was not your convention now and inhibition before censure at last sufficient witnes to all the world what you delivered why you were censured c. Nay was not this yea more then this your request offred you viz. that you should if you durst hold your position in the divinity Chappell in Christ church and in forme of a Respondent answere the Vicechancellour promising to appoint fiue paires of Masters to oppose you which you knewe had easily beene performed in that honourable and fruitful Colledge This you refused and thereby shewd that you had not an originall state but a Traditionall insight in this question This you durst not and therefore you required the subscription to make way to some threatning opposition That as the Poet speaketh Pede pes cuspide cuspis so now you hoped there might haue bin another kinde of digladiation pen against pen and hands against hands which you never could haue obtained Mr LEECH This request D. King not only denied but also exclaimed against me for making this petition And no marvell for he that durst never throughout this whole proceeding formally and by expresse mention condemne Evangelicall Counsells how could hee yeeld vnto any such subscription whereby he and the rest might haue remained Heretiques vpon their owne record ANSVVER You neglected the reverence you did owe to his government and detected the wilfull weaknesse of your owne iudgement to require it No such course vsuall in any Iuridicall proceedings And for your vile slaunder that the Vicechancelour durst not condemne Evangelicall Counsells it is impudent He did in the proceedings often rebuke and confute your maner of handling that point not denying but that a nominall distinction of counsells was sometimes vsed but he expresly condemned such Counsells as you preached being of another kinde then S. Austin dâ—livereth with the rest of the Fathers and Wickliffe whom you vrge who all maintaine each Counsell to be a commande for some time and some circuÌ„stance Which sentence and iudgement how you oppugned in your sermons may be seene where till you recant you remaine an Heretique vpoÌ„ your own record I vse your owne wordes Mr LEECH The conclusion of all was this M. Vicechancellour beating me downe with the blow of authority hauing no other meanes to convince me pronounced his definitiue sentence against mee which I will here relate word for word as neere as I could possibly beare it away ANSVVER You were beaten downe as you truly say by authority but more theÌ„ by humane by diuine You were driveÌ„ by Scripture to refuse scripture to be your iudg beateÌ„ by the censure of the Church that you deny to be censured by the Church convicted for stubborne impudence for preaching that doctrine which was inhibited you wheÌ„ you were countermanded it You were convinced for ignorance in that you produced witnesses that you knewe not and vrged Greeke Fathers that you read not And this conviction was not only by the blow of authority but by such a blow from heauen as Paul in the Acts was stroken Scripture Church Fathers Acts. 9. and all arguments of power did agree to this deiection of you and your cause and to the censure that ensueth Mr LEECH M. Leech for preaching scandalous and erroneous doctrine Doctrine as you well knowe stifly defended by the Church of Rome and wherevpon many absurdities doe follow I doe first as Vicechancellour silence you from preaching Secondly as Deane of this house I suspend you from your commons and function here for the space of twelue moneths This is my sentence and before these my associates I require you to take notice thereof ANSVVERE Here is the Act the manner of the Act the reason of the Act or censure The sentence was deliberat and guided with ripe wisdome the hand of Iustice in him was slower then the tongue For besides your heresie in the deliverie there was contumacie in you for presuming so to preach forbidden by Authority and yet was this censure easie by many wished to bee more by all marvailed at that it was no more For as the times increase in daunger so the rigor should increase in discipline But the manner of this censure was milde it passed no farther then losse of commons for a time this was within the walles of the Colledge and silence for preaching within the precincts of Oxford and this within the limits of the Vniversity This was no eiection expulsion out of Colledge and Vniuersity It had been worse by infinite degrees had you beene sent to London And the reason of all this was first intimated for your scandalous erroneous doctrine a doctrine stifly defended by the church of Rome inducing many absurdities I will vse an honourable speech of that most noble CouÌ„sellor at the arraignement of Garnet Earle of NorthamptoÌ„ fit to be bestowed vpon you Currat lex viuat Rex vincat veritas The marginall scurrile Note which you borrowed from some more witty but as wicked pate as your owne I coulde returne as a dart to your very soule but I forbeare because all reproach and contumelies against this worthy do breake themselues as waues shattered in peeces by the force of a rocke Mr LEECH Which sentence though it were tyrannicall and vniust yet it no waies discouraged me but rather confirmed me in my opinion Wherefore I protested the doctrine againe more resolutely then before wishing M. Vicechancellor and his assistaÌ„ts to vnderstande thus much from me First that I held the doctrine with asmuch nay more confidence then ever I did Secondly that I farther concluded the invincibility of the point out of the manner of their proceedings whereat they were driven into the extremity of fury and passion ANSVVER This vvas a greate degree of the hardnesse of your hart and it is manifest that you apprehended this as a pretence of your revolt The Vicechancelour was vrged to this doome which as it was impartiall so was it no way Tyrannicall had it been any other it had bin mercifull iniustice You should haue acknowledged the Truths victory given some signe of humility modesty and reverence to authority You say you were hereby confirmed CoÌ„firmed you were in your flight not in your faith And in your boast that you so againe protested the doctrine if it had beene so you shewed more boldnes then goodnes and the Truth had lost lesse then you gained but it was not so you did not you durst not contest so vmbragiously as you protest here My obseruation through your whole book holdeth true where you bragge most you faine most where you paint your speech there it is most corrupted and
Salomons bed will be euer provided to encombat any Iesuiticall Philistin that revileth the host of the Lord of hosts It lacked not such worthies in the former time such was our ſ Scot. 4. see Dist 18. Scotus resisting the real presence Anno 1290. Our t Wolsius lect memor Tom 1. Occam confuting the Popes authority Anno 1330. Our u Balaeus cōt 6. cap. 1. Wickliffe writing against most points of Popery about the yeare 1360. besides those Roses of the field and Lyllies of the vallies as * Aug. Augustin called Martyres Cranmer-Ridly Latimer those reverend and holy Bishops whoe sealed our religion in Oxford with their owne bloud And it lacketh not such worthies in these later times such as are those reverēd Doctors who openly in Schooles those learned preachers who haue publikely and frequently in disputations and sermons worthily confuted vnsound and vnsauory positions amōg the rest this of yours For many haue descended so low as to take knowledge of this your vnsound receit or conceit all which haue valiantly discharged peales of ordinance against it maintaining the contrary irrefragably in Diuinity schooles in disputations in St. Maries and Christ-Church most frequently in sermons besides letters of condemnation against you from the right Reverend Father our Chancelor to the Convocation My L. Grace of Canterbury in his letters to the Convocation An o 1608. speeches in our publike Act by the Vicechancelor Proctors Respondents and almost al that can write or speake among vs wil witnesse how poore your hope of allowance is here Nothing at this time and ever since the publishing of your booke being more commonly gratefull to the hearers gracefull to the speakers thē the dayly cōdēning confuting of this your extravagāt Paradox so that for folly or pusillanimity it is not harboured in the breast of our Vniversitie Mr LEECH For you stile your Vniversity the Fountaine and Eie of the kingdome And you say not vnfitly forasmuch as the Doctrine there taught doth streame forth into al parts of our nation and all men come vnto you to receiue information of their vnderstandings by your Academicall instruction In which respect you stand deeply obliged vnto God and men as you haue care of his glory and their benefit to vindicate the truth from oppression and to redeeme hir out of captiuitie into freedome that her lustre may not be darkned where so great a pretense is made of the gospells light ANSVVER Ex ore tuo Shall I condemne you out of your own mouth The story in y Gell. Noct. Attic. lib. 18. cap. 3. Gellius tells you that when a bad man had set downe a good cause the people liking the speech but disliking the man caused it to bee pronounced by one of better respect I will not deale so with you but I will take even your owne testimony It is the fountaine of our kingdome and her streames bee cleere as Christall sweet as the waters of Bethell and fluent as Iordan that maketh glad the City of God It is the eie of the land wherein neither the moat of schisme nor beame of superstition I hope shall euer take place to darkē the sight of this glorious light Naioth in Samuels time Iericho in Elizeus time Ierusalē in Iosias time Corinth in S. Paules time all schooles of the Prophets and Vniversities never more illustrious for Colledges and students then this eie of our land hart of our body fort of our country glory of our kingdome Neither need you ever doubt but that there be many here able willing pressing sweating striving to vindicate the truth from oppression and redeeme her out of captivitie yea to lead captivity captiue and to seek to bring redemption vnto those that sit in darknes and to reduce them into the glorious liberties of the sonnes of God here being no pretense of the light of Christs Gospell but the reall presence of his spirit Mr LEECH Which iust kindnesse if I may not procure at your hāds yet the truth shall not be impaired thereby nor will I be any whit discomfited otherwise then in a sorrowfull commiseration of your estate For my resolution is firmely made within mine owne heart to spare no travell that I may purchase condigne approbation of my cause from all the Vniversities in Europe if iustice may not bee there done where Gods truth and I meerely for her sake haue received such iniurie as seemeth almost incredible vnto strangers who do not yet sufficiently vnderstand the courses of D. King and of other Calvinists the assistāts of his spleneticall proceedings ANSVVER The law holdes it iniustice to afforde kindnesse to an adversarie and so you are helde if not to our persons yet to our positions truth by you hath beene impugned not impaired for Rome and hell cannot suppresse it oppugnari potest non expugnari saith the Oratour For your cōmiserating of vs it is impossible you shoulde afford vs such kindnes being so vnkinde vnto your selfe Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum saith z Aug. Augustin Charitie must begin with it selfe Begin then to pitty your selfe pray for your selfe that though you be led into temptation yet the tempter proue not victor Your resolution to travell all the Vniversities of Europe wil be verie laborious and yet very idle for the Vniversitie of Leaden may satisfie you well enough and it wil be verie laborious to carrie such a masse of flesh about you and so mountainous a heape of torments of conscience if you haue any conscience to remember that in a discontented humor you haue forsaken your God religion nation vocation the truth in which you were baptized by which you were bred and vnto which you agreed subscribed vowed your whole life and labour But if you determine to be so resolute a pilgrime as to travell al Vniversities in Europe assure your selfe it wil be as idle as laborious for it wil be to no purpose And if for idle i Mat. 12.37 words much more for idle actions answere must be made Yet in your travell thinke not to darken the sun as you may a Candle offer not to traduce him whom manners oathes of the Vniversitie Colledge where you lived haue obliged you to honour Thinke not to subiect the honourable reputation of your thrice worthy Deane our most worthy Vicechancelor by anie slanderous scandalous speeches nor let anie Phreneticall humor in you iudge his wise proceedings to relish of anie spleneticall savour Let neither nature through custome nor bitternesse through discontent force you so far to forget the dutie you owe to this k Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this most worthy servant of God seeing they that liue with him loue him all that know him reverence him they that heare of him admire him Qui primas nō habuisti sapientiae secundas habeas partes modestiae saith l Austin Retract Austin in his retractations I would you would so
How the Fathers haue vnderstoode hath beene sufficiently delivered The point is this doth S. Hierome S. Gregory or S. Augustine any where affirme that a man furnished with gifts beyond other men is not bound by Gods coÌ„mandement to make vse of those giftes to the vtmost of his ability to set forth Gods glory his own good If you shew this you proue somewhat if not nothing Where you inferre that Counsailes not observed haue no punishment Bellarmine in those words wrested out of S. Austin against himselfe Lib. de Mon. cap. 7. § 2. is thus evicted The Cardinall confesseth that a Counsell includeth a Precept if therefore he that observeth not a CouÌ„sell bee not punished then the observation of the Precept is not punished And if the carefull keeping of a CouÌ„sell be not punished it is to be only so interpreted that it is not punished in those who are not tyed to it as if Abraham neglect virginity it is not censured but if the Nazarite breaketh that iniunction it is condemned Mr LEECH And to this purpose almost in the very selfe same words speaketh S. Augustine in his 61. sermon de tempore his 18. sermon de verbis Apostoli his second booke of Evangelicall questions cap. 19. in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium cap. 12. S. Ambrose in the 10. booke of his Epistles the 82. Epistle ad Vercellensem Ecclesiam and his tract de viduis propè finem generally the Greek and Latine Fathers such is the vniforme consent heavenly harmony of all orthodoxe Antiquity in this point of Doctrine ANSVVER You quote strangely sometimes words but not the places and often places as here but not words so that it proveth that either these often vrged authorities make but weakely for the cause or else you tooke theÌ„ vp in grosse from Coccius Treasury or some Polyanthy The madde man in Athenaeus Athen. Dipnos that thought all the ships that came to the hauen to be his was for no other cause more ridiculous then for such a bragge as yours that all the Greeke and Latine Fathers heavenly harmony of all Antiquity is yours In your Pithagorean cares you holde the orbes to make musicke and dreame of a harmony and consent where there is none Al the Fathers disclaime as illegitimat this opinion and so your Iury hath given verdet against you And * Ierom pa. 145 Ambros p. 146. Aug. pag. 147. these in particular are answered Mr LEECH The defence therefore of Evangelicall Counsailes of perfection quoad viam quoad graduÌ„ which I woulde only commende vnto the learned and iudicious who well know that the whole course of Antiquity and concurrence of the fathers do often mention them is this that there are in the gospel of Christ certaine Counsailes which the Ancient pillers and Patriarches of divinitie call consilia perfectionis Counsailes of perfection and they are so called noÌ„ quòd ipsae sint perfectiones sed dispositiones quaedam ad perfectioneÌ„ quae constat in hoc vt mens hominis Deo vacet that is not that they are in themselues perfections indeed but rather dispositions directions preparations to perfectioÌ„ which consisteth mainly in this that the soule wholly sequestred from the world may be truly and sincerely ravished with the loue of God and of his neighbour ANSVVER You should say the offence therefore of Evangelicall Counsailes for the defence was so bad that heresie novelty and almost blasphemy were the best vpholders of you I would not possesse your will vnles I entred in with authority by the portall of your Iudgement but certainely if you woulde driue away those impediments of conceit opinion preiudice and error from the entrance of your soule you might easilie admit the truth to keepe mansion in you where now shee hath small habitation You present your doctrin you say to the iudicious and learned that knowe the course of Antiquity you should say iniquity for who knoweth not by reading of you howe you derogate from the law approue that a man may do more then is commanded by God make Angels but equall to meÌ„ before teach the greatest degrees of perfectioÌ„ now wheÌ„ you haue better coÌ„sulted about your Counsels you teach they be not the perfections of man but dispositions to perfection WheÌ„ you were among vs you were such a one as the souldiers of Gastro Polycenus de strat an Aegyptian in Grecian harnes and as you were then ready to hold Papistical Paradoxes among Protestants so now you are constrained to confesse a truth of Syon in Babilon that counsels are but dispositions Act. 9.5 Tho. 22 ae q. 184. And so hard a point it is to kicke against the Truth that Bellarmine is also forced to confesse out of Thomas that perfection doth coÌ„sist essentially in Precepts And thus what Gerson hath formerly delivered truely that CouÌ„sels do only dispose to the better fulfilling of the Precept the same at length you are drawne to acknoweledge vnwillingly Where be your entia transcendentia in regard of the generall precept Logicke will not admit a particular to transcend a generall And whereas you require that the soule shoulde bee ravished with the loue of God thus much the precept coÌ„maÌ„deth in the highest manner that may be performed What did David practise and professe but the law he was so ravished by this law as that he protesteth twice Psal 69 4. Ps 119.139 that the zeale of Gods house had eaten him vp If your counsels stretch further then the law you know the storie of Esops Frogge that would swel bigger then his skin could stretch and so brake Mr LEECH And therefore as Origen excellently obserueth in his commentary vpon S. Matthew his 8. Homily vpon those words of our Saviour giuen by way of Counsaile to the young man if thou wilt be perfit c. Non sic debemê° intelligere vt in eo ipso tempore quo homo dat bona sua pauperibus efficiatur omnino perfectus sed incipit ex eo tempore speculatio Dei adducere eum ad omnes virtutes vt incipiat ex eo tempore proficere that is to say we are not so to vnderstande perfection â—hat in the very moment wherein a man giueth all his goods to the poore he is made altogither perfit but from that time forwardes the speculation of God beginneth to leade him vnto all vertues that ever after he maketh a good progresse ANSVVER Origen his speech is most true and none deny it But I may aske you as the Poet did Quo nunc se proripit ille I confesse the true vrging of an orthodoxall Father in a sound point of religion it is either a light to confirme or as lightning to confound any that contradict that doctrine But as Pliny mentioneth when divinations were made vpon the fall of lightnings Plin. lib. 2. c. 43. those lightnings that fell into the sea or on tops of mountaines were neuer brought into observatioÌ„ but were
falsified Mr LEECH Thus the assēbly was dissolued I putting M. Vicechancellour in minde of the Articles which he formerly promised and bade me now to expect within two or three daies tooke my leaue for that time ANSVVER What prostituted cōscience would so persevere in falsity This must not passe vnconfronted Articles were not promised you It is more then improbable that such experienced discreation and expert resolution should first condemne and sentence and after giue the reason It is neither the custome nor commendation of Iuridicall proceedings His wisdome prevented you in this scandall and told you before many that you most falsly did bely him all may perceiue your spiting spleene to break out in revenge which revenge that you seeke to wreake vpon others will without repentance proue vengeance to your selfe Mr LEECH And now courteous Reader since thou hast seene the proceedings of these mē consider with me whether I haue not iust cause to complaine against them as S. Augustine complained long before against the Donatistical faction Fecerunt quod voluerunt tunc in illâ caecitate Non Iudices sederunt non Sacerdotes de more Quod solent in magnis causis congregati judicare Non accusator reus steterunt in quaestione Non testes documētū quo possent crimē probare Sed Furor Dolus Tumultus qui regnant in falsitate Wherfore I conclude this whole passage with the burthē of that excellent Psalme Omnes qui gaudetis de pace modò verum judicate ANSVVER Consider Christian reader duly ponderat whether a malignant adversary or a repugnāt Controversiary may more truely be portraied then these antecedent proceedings of M. Leech haue most liuely deciphered Malice hath strengthned error error begot heresie and this last brought forth Apostasie The virulence of speech is much in the former chapters Prolog ad 1. sentent the accusation in this Paragraph is the summe of all Lombard well noteth that in such cases fidei defectionem sequitur hypocrisis mendax And I feare me this will proue a remaining disease in the bowels not only of this Triumphant Pamphlet but of any thing that shall come from the same Author It is absurd you should so vnfitly and rudely apply S. Austins verses Fury Deceit and Tumult are the vpholders only of Heretikes And as good Physick misapplied is but poison so good Authorities misvsed though they keep the sense yet loose their reason To your verses so rudely applied in prose we returne S. Chrysostome his speech vpon Genesis Chrysost in Gen. hom 5. Quocirca divinae Scripturae vestigia sequamur neque feramus eos qui temerè quidvis blaterant and this shall bee the resolution of vs to follow the steppes of holy Scripture and not to endure those that rashly babble every thing And if this prose serue not wee returne part of the same Psalme of Austin contra Partem Donati Sacerdotes transmarini possent inde iudicare Quid curritis ad schisma altare contra altare Vt quod postea iudicatum est iam non possetis audire Et à iudicibus vestris cogeremini appellare Dum vultis erroris regnum quoquo modo confirmare You may abuse and accuse your iudges seeing like to the Donatists you appeale from them The clause and aphorisme of the song of S. Austin we receiue and honor our Saviour is the Prince of peace our Gospell the Gospell of peace we are the children of peace and the end of our beleefe is the peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding CHAP. 4. Mr LEECH VVHen S. Paul had appealed vnto the tribunall of Caesar Festus the deputy thought it an vnreasonable thing to send a prisoner vnto his Lord and not to signifie the cause For thus the light of nature could teach an Heathen that in discretiō and in iustice no man should be called into question without a pretence at the least of some speciall crime But see now a Christian Magistrate inferiour vnto an heathen in this behalfe who did not only convent but cōdemne me and never signified the cause which yet could be none other 1. Cor. 7.25 then that which concerned S. Paul himselfe Consilium do c. ANSVVER To whom appealed you whether were you sent Prisoner An idle and dull comparisō And to vse your owne wordes if but the light of nature had taught you any thing your comparison had not beene so rude nor your senses so duld as not to remember what was obiected not as a pretence but as a generall scandall offred not only against authority and the Vniversity but against the law and the truth of God For which you were often convented threatned inhibited now censured Was not the cause signified by Doctor Hutton by the Vicechancelor in your censure and by all that were assistants and dare you say the cause was never signified Was it so and do you deny it Do you deny it in one line in the next say it could be no other then that which concerned S. Paule himselfe Consilium Do wheras it is manifest S. Paul hath not the word Consilium By this you cōfesse the cause of the censure though we deny that ever S. Paul was the cause of your doctrine Mr LEECH Howbeit if he had dealt with me according to the law sparke of sinne he would answer him as he answereth you Avoide Sathan I will worship the Lord my God I abhorre the name of periury I will never sweare but in truth and iudgement and iustice And for that which followeth in this poisōful Paragraph I say that which S. Ierome in the like case counselleth Ierom. prol super Mat. if Shemei barke and snarle at thee contumelious wordes are to bee regarded only as the barking of Dogs And I ende this with the speech of Seneca Men speake evil of him but evil men If Marcus Cato if wise Lelius if Scipio should so speake it would grieue him but when professed slaunderers branded with the indelible marke of falshood and pursued with the fury of feare taught by error tempted by Sathan replenished with vnrighteousnesse and malitiousnesse let it no way grieue goodnesse it selfe Mr LEECH When I perceiued what small conscience he made either of faith in his promise or of equity in his proceedings I desired him with many earnest obtestations that it woulde please him at the least to signifie vnto me now by worde of mouth expresly what that point is for which he had thus punished me to my disgrace and losse And this fauor I hūbly requested at his hands asmuch for the generall as my owne particular satisfaction For many saw the punishment but could not know the cause ANSVVER Is there extant in the worlds greatest volume of history example of such dulnesse and senselesse apprehēsion that when the cause had been ingeminated yea tergeminated so often mentioned yea so often exprobrated and censured that yet you should pleade that you knew not the cause And that without
feare of God or care of truth you did so importunately craue for occasion of publike advantage which as oft as you desired so oft you received the resolute repulse You pretended the generall and particular satisfaction only as a pretext for who heard your sermō that desired not censure against your opinion Mr LEECH This petition was reinforced in my name by a graue and ancient M. of Arts who pleaded to obtaine the same in regard of Iustice wisdome and Charitie Iustice See Act. 25.16 vt accusatus locum defendendi accipiat ad abluenda crimina quae ci obijciuntur because said he it was the forme of law that the party accused should answere articulately vnto the crime obiected Wisedome that you may deliver your selfe from the suspition of iniurie and especially since the whole Vniversitie is much distracted vpon these late proceedings Charity that you may rectifie M. Leech his vnderstanding by a proper conviction of his supposed errour To punish without instruction it is tyranny Salust And I dare promise in his behalfe that if you can convince his iudgement he will recant the doctrine for I haue heard him often protest thus much These reasons and persuasions of my friend entered so deeply into M. Doctour Kings heart for the present that he promised to convent me againe and that he would proceed with me according to my desire herein Notwithstanding hee violated this promise also to his exceeding great disreputation ANSVVER The graue and ancient M. of Arts though able to speake very elegantly yet not very willing in so bad a cause protesteth he vsed no such tearmes as you doe by Atturny here vtter His honest care was such that first he sought to remoue your opiniō before he made meanes for your pardon which motion of his to you as he testifieth tooke so good effect that he found you willing to acknowledge the offence till some nocturnus ambulo diurnus nebulo some Romish fugitiue altered you who is not only suspected but knowne to haue dealt with you here in this businesse By this your graue and learned Advocate the Vicechancelour was moued only as Deane of Christchurch to vouchsafe you the benefit of your Commons This conditionally he promised for no man is more mild to a relenting vanquisht adversary But for promise of second convention the Reverēd Deane and your louing and learned friend doe both disclaime any speech of it Vpon your and his importunacy you were promised one to conferre and dispute with you if you would But first the condition was to be performed namely that as you had offended in disobedience to authority contrary to D Huttons inhibition presuming to preach so you should come first to acknowledge this and after you should be conferred with But this conference you accepted not fearing it would proue a disputatiō as knowing the much difference between dicere and disserere Your opinion you knewe was but Chymicall durst not abide the touchstone of Argument It is shamelesse therefore to vrge any promise of another convention your conviction being past and gracelesse to accuse the Vicechancelour for violating such a promise which he never mentioned and which your friend never moued Conscientia cauterizata hauing lost spirituall feeling cannot be more hardned thē I feare me you are A bramble hauing no reputation would set on fire a Caedars estimation Mr LEECH But I come now vnto his answere which he made vnto my former humble petition Sir said he it shall satisfie you and the Vniversitie that I haue don it take your remedy where you can If I haue wronged you here right your selfe elsewhere This was spoken like a King indeed and not like a subiect who though he be a Magistrate over others yet should be subordinate vnto a common law and Lord. And happy are those gouernments where the wise sentence of an heathen Poet is not neglected Quicquid à vobis minor extimescit Horat. Major hoc vobis Dominus minatur This was my last refuge and finall hope but how far I was deceiued in my iust expectation the sequele shall declare ANSVVER As your petition was most vnreasonable so also the time was vnseasonable the Reverend Vicechancelour at that time being negotiated with the particular occasions presence of very many Vpō your preposterous comming to him and vehemently desiring not so much as formerly you did but that you might answere at another place his wisdome did as earnestly wish it as you did impetuously and intempestiously moue it not only because he knew his proceedings to be iustifiable but that by this the light of his iudgement against you might the more appeare by the darknesse of your vnderstanding and apprehension that had followed so bad a cause with so incessant suite The resolute answere gaue you leaue and encouragement if you had had any such intent Your scorne This was spoke like a King indeed calleth to minde not only what a resolute champion of truth doth testifie for this worthy against Parsons D. Morton Deane of Winchester Encounter who venteth his choler adust vpō the name of Doctour King where Parsons is answered that he considered not the admirable and indeed kingly worthinesse of this our Doctor And to this I may adde the title that MAIESTIE it selfe hath bestowed vpon him entitling him the King of Preachers And though he be a Magistrate over others yet noe one more considerat of his awfull observance to those aboue him or of his respectfull care of those below him And this may bee his crowne and garland that hee hath ever so confined himselfe within the circle of iustice that his eares never heard any accusatiō against his gouernmēt but yours which is as hatefull as shamefull All harts else haue both the affections of loue feare so sweetly cōioined that there is as much ioy in vs that we liue vnder such a gouernor as in such a place Your verses quoted out of Horace but not found there are in Seneca his Thyestes And I requite them with Horace seeing you quote him who prophecied of you Hor. de art Poetic Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hyrudo CHAP. 5. Mr LEECH BEing now silenced by the Vicechancellour from preaching within the precincts of the vniversity so that I could not exercise my function neither in the publique audience of the learned nor yet in any of the parish Churches which I had vsually visited by course every sabboth and holy day vnlesse some speciall occasion diverted me from my customable practise I receiued letters from the Lord Bishop of London my very Honorable and much respected friend whom it pleased freely to bestow that place vpon me in regard of my first sermon preached in Oxford from which his successour had now suspended me for the last wherein his Lordship required me to preach at S. Pauls crosse and not to faile at the time prefixed in his summons Wherevpon I prepared my selfe accordingly and certified
Chrysostom and Euthymius you wil proue the truth of this that as Christ did looke vpō him and loued him thereby to excite him to cherish the good so also he did vnmaske him in that covetousnesse which hypocritically lay hid thereby to cure and remoue the ill Mr LEECH Here Doctour Barlow interposed his verdict whō if I had knowne aswell by his face as I knewe him by his sermon I had then appeached as a man of little honesty or conscience pag. fourth before the end because he in a sermon preached before his Maiestie at Hamptō Court cōcerning the authority of Bishops doth iustifie the distinction betwixt Precepts and Counsailes citing a text of S. Paul to that effect 1. Cor. 7.25 yet now seeing his Grace of Canterburie disaffected towards this doctrine he also spake against it And thus it pleased D. Shaw who proclaimed the Earle of Essex his Cales triumph and his London ruine to crosse himselfe with a flat contradiction rather then to dissent from his assertion by whose favour he had mounted into the chaire of Honour ANSVVER This Reverend Prelat did interpose both because of your bragge of Antiquitie in which he observed your insufficiencie as also that you did seeke to besmeare the credit of the Vicechancelour for both which his Lordship did powerfully reproue you and so pusle you that as a man amaz'd you were able to reply nothing The distinction vsed in the sermon I haue answered Page 191. where how farre the meaning of the words be from strengthning of your assertion may be seene Your intolerable impudence in scornefull maner to cast the by name of that Popish Priest Shaw vpon this Honorable Bishop is to bee repaied you in another world And therefore I forbeare to defile this paper with such tearmes as you deserue What was done was commanded by the State into the depth of whose actions your shallownesse cannot looke and if charity and truth had observed that sermon as well as spite and misprision it had appeared to all how great a share in the generall sorrow this worthy Preacher and Prelat had lamenting the death of that Peerelesse Renowned Earle acknowledging that a greate Prince was fallen that day in Israell Mr LEECH Many occurrences there passed at that time with the recapitulation whereof I will not now surcharge this little treatise In conclusion my Lord of Canterbury demāded a copy of my sermō which I delivered vnto Master Barkham one of his Chaplaines togither with the authorities which do hereafter ensue In the end of all The sermon was receiued the authorities were returned vnto me againe which made me thinke that my cause should never come vnto an indifferent triall And truely I saw no probability of any triall For though I gaue continuall attendance at Lambeth for the space of fifteene or sixteen daies yet I was fed with delaies to my iust griefe and great expense ANSVVER All occurrences tended to your reproofe confutation and condemnation of your carriage in your sermon and cōventiō The authorities were returned you because it was knowne whence they were had as also hovve great your crack and how little your knowledge was in the true vse reading of the fathers Trial you needed not to expect farther so weakely you were able to defend your selfe at your first appearance before his Grace that with desire you could not expect a second Your attendance at Lambeth was needlesse you had your answer at the first The proceedings in Oxford were iustified your Doctrine condemned and your Cēsure continued Mr LEECH Wherefore seeing no hope of redresse where it lastly remained and was iustly expected I retyred my selfe vnto some privatnesse recollecting my thoughts in meditation betwixt God and my owne soule And now in the sweetnesse of contemplation having God only for the obiect of my comfort I took an intellectual review of my cause and all circumstances of the fore passed Businesse commending the whole vnto God the great and soveraigne Iudge For I had now resolued to be no farther troublesome vnto his Grace of Cāterbury who had so little respect of truth and no greater cōpassion of my wrongs ANSVVER What hope to be expected when contumacie so remained as an inseparable quality in you neither the inhibition convention censure in Oxford nor heere the dislike opposition contradiction and detestation of your wilfull deportment both in action and opiniō Privacy is then happy when men be free as well from vices and discontentments as from tumults but other wise the Tempter hath no fitter apprehensiue opportunity then retirednes The world knew you but did not want you and had you continued your contemplatiue priuacy here you had done better then in your actiue Monastical pouerty where you be Your retirednes had wrought your happines if you had duly as in the sight and feare of God considered all circumstances belonging to the cause the weaknesse and wilfulnes of your assertion and especially how in all the particular passages you found God still opposite to you You commende that busines to God that hath had so much dispraise before men but how dare you commend that cause which doth so much derogate from the Law and truth of God dare you offer a blinde sacrifice without the eie of truthes direction or an oblation without salt the seasoning of religious discretion The Apostles and Martyrs though their defence were good did shew reverence to heathen Iudges when they appeared before them but you manifest all contempt contumacy calumny and vncivility before Christian Governors though your cause be most faulty And because God to whom you say you commēded your cause hath not redressed it you fledde to the Pope where you serue and starue CHAP. 7. Mr LEECH VVHen I had now remained a fortnight space in my privat meditations his Graces Chaplaine accompanied with a doctor of Diuinity made diligent enquiry after me and finding me out D. Childerly who is a Chaplain also vnto his Grace he demanded of me what was the reason of my long absence from his Lorde who as hee saide would write his letters effectually vnto his Vicechancellour for our reconciliation so that I should be relieued and restored aswell vnto my former liberty of preaching as vnto the fruition of my place But here I remēbred the answer of Iehu vnto the question of Ioram Is it peace Iehu what peace said he while the fornication of Iezabell thy mother her witchcraftes are yet in force So what reconciliation what peace betwixt me and D. King while truth was thus suppressed and his heresie worse then witchcraft stoode yet in force ANSVVER THe company that you frequented in this space and the provisions for your flight are discovered your private meditations were publike circumvagations These learned Reverend Divines when they found you offred you this promised favor only vpon conditiō of your submission for otherwise it was not only improbable but impossible to obtaine the benefit of
Vincentius rule is twice already interpreted and without any further answer to your clamarous repetitions interrogations You received not this point iointly from the fathers The Latin fathers how ever they retaine vpon mistake of S. Paul the word Counsel yet haue no part of your meaning the Greeke are so far from your meaning that they had not so much as the word They therfore that impugne your doctrin do it not vntruly or vnconscionably nor haue condēned you as a brother a graduat or a Minister but because you were a false brother and betraied truth and in your degrees like the Sun that went many degrees backward that in your ministry you were disobediēt you were no better then a Minister of Sathan to buffet the eares of Gods servantes with heresies and in a stubborne opposition contradiction you did repugne Authority and orders stoode out against the Iudges and Magistrates that confuted and censured you And how could you professe such reverence to the fathers you knew not when you were so opposite to your natural fathers as this is your Country Academicall fathers as this is your Vniversity spiritual fathers as this is Aust 48. epist your Church We answer your Patriarke with Saint Austin in his 48. epistle Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Hilarius aut Ambrosius aut Augustinus sed dicit Dominus We honor the fathers and where they bring Dicit dominus our eares and harts be open to entertaine them And as S. Austin vsing the same words which your Patriarch doth both vsing the words of Scripture Haereticū devita so this is my 9. irrefragable position to avoid that Religion which claimeth but hath no Antiquitie and only hath though it confesseth it not the most absurd and ridiculous Novelty for mainetenance of their positions Mr LEECH The tenth Motiue The Protestants for want of better meanes to convince the Catholiques propose vnto them questions of capitall daunger I haue often heard the Catholiques cōplaine that where as they are persecuted for righteousnes sake for their Religion yet they are traduced with the crime of obstinacy disobedience treason and such like odious imputations But aboue the rest their iust griefe arising from vniust vexations did seeme to deserue great compassion forasmuch as their life and liuelyhood is alwaies in the mercie of a most vnmercifull law touching Reconciliation and the Supremacie matters of high and capitall nature Touching the later of these two I can say more Doctor Aray because the bloudy hart of a Calvinist did seeke my ruine and subversion thereby For whereas in my sermons I continually gaue this stile vnto his excellent Maiestie viz in all causes and aboue al persons for iustice and iudgmēt supreme Head and Governour the Calvinist suspecting me not to stand throughly affected to the kings Supremacy according to the purport of the law whereby his Maiestie hath as much spirituall Iurisdiction as ever the Pope de facto had in England and 26. Henr. 8. chap. I. I. Edward 6.1 Elizab. See these things excellently discoursed by a Cath. divine against the 5. part of Sir Ed. Cookes Reportes by vertue of his saide supremacie power of Excommunication is graunted by the Lord Chancellour vnto the Delegates vpon Appeales from the Archbishop of Canterbury his courts wished M. Vicechancellour to examine me vpon this point and to require my opinion therein Which severity though it was then declined yet if that other Calvinist had beene in office as lately he was al mē may easily conceiue into what extremity of perill I had beene cast For though I ever did and shall attribute that right vnto his Maiestie which by the law temporal not dissenting frō law divine is annexed vnto his imperiall crown yet I must confesse that I did purposely moderate his title of Supremacie as the law hath established it because I alwaies conceived that the stile of Defensor fidei given vnto the Crowne of England by the Pope did more properly belong vnto him then the other which was translated from the Pope vnto the Crowne by the violence of a King and by the flattery of his subiects And if Doctor Airay had made a cōscience of his Masters iudgement he would rather haue condescended vnto the equity of my opinion then sought to draw my life into the certainety of such a danger But these men are so possessed with malice and adulation that they rather desire to satisfie their owne passions and to winne favour from their Superiours then to speak or doe according to the truth which pleadeth for it selfe within their corrupt hearts and dayly accuseth them before the throne of greatest iustice ANSVVER MAny complaine without a cause as the ful bellied Monks so fatte that they coulde scarsely breath yet cry Heu quāta patimur pro Christo The Protestants never persecuted your Religion but for the vnrighteousnes therof The mulct was inflicted for Popish opinion but execution never was threatned for Religion The oath of supremacy required is not as you treacherously cal it a most vnmercifull law if it were not required it were an vnwise vniust mercy Your accusation so vncharitable as to tearme him bloody who in his governement hath beene meeke as Moses nay in heavy iniuries cast vpō him hath beene as meeke as a Lambe and not opened his mouth I would you were as farre from bloodthirsting as his hart was frō the desire of your bloodshedding But if you remember the particulars as they bee discussed in my answer Pag. 262. it was most seasonable to sound how you stood affected to the kings Maiesty when you denied your faith and appealed from your Church The rather because in your Prayer you often left out the words supreame Head and Governor For howsoever you infer that you vsed all that belongeth to the Supremacie in acknowledging his most excellent Maiesty to be supreame Head and Governour in all causes and aboue all persons for iustice and iudgement yet seeing in the forme of the oath prescribed vnto al you were in particular bound vtterly to testifie declare in your Conscience that the Kings Highnesse is the only supreame Gouernor of this Realme and of all other his Highnesse dominions and countries as well in spirituall or Ecclesiasticall things or causes as Tēporall you ought for the avoidance of this suspition to haue spoken cleerely and plainely I knowe there be some that vse such manner of speech in their publike prayers for his Maiestie yet their forme is much more consonant to the required forme then yours is And howsoeuer Salomon was placed on his throne for iustice and iudgement as the Queene of Sheba told him and Doctor Raynolds in the end of the Preface to Harts Conference 1. Reg. 10.9 affirmeth that the Lords Annointed are the higher powers ordained to execute iustice and iudgement yet ever these words haue beene interpreted to containe not only ius Politicum
of eradication to bee rooted out of their possessions whereas otherwise their daies might haue been long in the land which the Lord their God had given thē The most Reverend but now deceased much lamēted Prelat did not by chāge of place chāge his thoughts your intimation is base and false to make the worlde beleeue any other affection in his Grace towardes Religion then what God and man approved openly so by the sequel of your busines it is manifest Where in your second limb of that mōstrous accusation is against his Iustice his approbation of the Vniversitie censure was as much as another condemnation of you pretenses his grace needed not for maine reasons wanted not his experience of the truth knowledge wisedome iudgement and goverment of his vicegerent and the worlds experience of his Graces prudent and eminent carriage in all his high and honourable imployments do free them both from your imputations and returne you your smoaky evaporations a Phrase lent you from the sulphureous fume of the bottomlesse pit But you conclude that you are nothing and worse then nothing The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of your booke sheweth that you are somewhat more then nothing the only argumēt to serue your turne to proue the Pope to be God is because he can make something of Purgatory which is nothing I could turn this vpon you but I forbeare and only returne to your owne figure How pleaded you for Iustice With stubborne tumultuous quarellous disobediēce In what In a point derogatory to the Iustice and Law of God When Then when you oppressed truth reiected your faith disobeyed your Iudge beganne to forsake your Church Before whom In the open face of heaven in the presence of God men and Angels in the holie place the pulpit in the best place on the best day For what end the dishonor of God the disgrace of his law which you accused of insufficiencie and imperfection Thus you did delude and were deluded for this these Reverēd Doctors haue beene by you iniuriously traduced That I may truely say no Revolter ever did offer more scandall in generall to our Church or slander in particular to so many worthy members thereof Mr LEECH TO M. DOCTOR KING DEANE OF Christ-Church in Oxford and Vicechancellour of the Vniversitie H. L. wisheth health and salvation in Christ IESVS SIR though your will was your law to punish me without my offence yet it shall not bee your sanctuary to defend your selfe without more sufficient reason For as you convented me before a selected Calvinian assembly so now I convent you and them before all men in the assured confidence of my good cause and in the comfortable peace of my sincere heart And since you dealt with me as a Magistrate by the strength of your authority you must giue mee leaue now to deale with you as a Scholler by the validity of arguments Finally because I wish your future happinesse I cannot omit to acquaint you with your present miserie which I will lay forth before your eies in Syllogisticall manner and then I will referre you vnto the consultation of your owne heart Whatsoever doctrine is founded vpon Scripture according to the conformable opinion of the ancient Church that is a point of Catholike faith But the doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes is founded vpon Scripture according to the conformable opiniō of the ancient Church Therefore the Doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes is a point of Catholique faith The Maior is a maxime in all Christian schooles The Minor is proued by the ensuing testimonies of the Fathers whose vniforme verdict in this behalfe is the iudgement of the Church Whosoeuer doth obstinately impugne any point of Catholique faith he is an heretike But Doctour Kinge D. Aglionby D. Airay D. Hutton D. Benefield c. do obstinately impugne a point of Catholique faith Therefore D. Kinge D. Aglionby c. are heretikes De haeres ad Quod-vult D. in perorat The Maior is granted by all men of iudgement and is confirmed by S. Augustines rule The Minor is proued by their own proceedings against me in this particular Every heretike is bound to recant his heresie or else he is liable to the punishment decreed in the Canonicall law of the Church But D. King D. Aglionby c. are heretickes Therefore D. King D. Aglionby c. are bound to recant their heresie or else they are liable to the punishment decreed in the Canonicall law of the Church The Maior is cleare of it selfe The Minor is proued already And because it shall appeare yet more sensibly I pray you to consider that whosoeuer reiecteth the ioint consent of Fathers in a point of doctrine as D. King doth herein he is an hereticke and this I will breefly declare by foure evidences FIRST Epist 1. ad Leon. cap. 1. by the testimony of Flavianus Patriarch of Constantinople saying Haeretici est praecepta Patrum declinare instituta eorum despicere In Concil Chalced. SECONDLY by the testimony of Eudoxius admitted in a generall Councell qui non consentit sacrosanctorum Patrum expositionibus alienat se ab omni sacerdotali communione a Christi praesentia See Sozom. l. 7. c. 12. THIRDLY by the proceedings of the most Christian emperour Theodosius against the proud distracted Hetikes who would not submit themselues vnto the iudgements of the venerable Fathers See Vincent Lit. cap. 41. FOVRTHLY by the practise of the Ephesine Counsaile against Nestorius who was iudged an heretike not only in regard of the matter itselfe Veterum interpretum scripta perdiscere dedignatus est See Socrat. l. 7. c. 32. NOTA. wherein he erred damnably but in regard of the manner and tryall by the holy Fathers which his contemptuous spirit did vtterly decline Many also of those Fathers by whose testimony the cause was then handled against Nestorius are the very same whose verdicts I shall now produce against D. King and against his abettours whosoeuer ANSVVER TO Mr. HVMFREY LEECH LATE Minister now Revolter SIr it is Salomons counsel in the 4. verse of the 26. Chap. of Proverbs not to answer some sort of mē yet in the next verse he adviseth to answer such lest they TRIVPMH in their owne eies Vpō the instruction of the former verse this worthy Deane intends to contēne rather then answer and yet wisheth you lesse presūption greater knowledg lesse sophistry more honesty but vpō the directiō of the insuing vers I the weakest of many yet strōg enough for this cause haue vpon reasons of some importance vndertaken to confute your calumnies to cleere the truth to cōfirme the faithfull In Christian Policy you were to be answered and in common charity you are to bee counselled hereafter to care what you write whom you revile so to rule your pen and order your tongue that you be not iudged either in this worlde or in the future or in both for a prostituted cōsciēce if not a