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
signing them with a Crosse nowe is it not according to your position medicineable against al Coniuration Enchauntment Sorcerie and Witchcrafte but rather dayly vsed in all these Wherefore your proues be to weake your miracles to no purpose Your Doctoures much like your selfe The Heathen the nevv Indians the Ievve the Apostata Folio 108. These are desirous of the signe of a Crosse These signed themselues vvith a Crosse on the forehead Therefore the signe of the Crosse must be vsed and honoured As lyke as if I sayd These were Idolaters they knewe no true worship the diuel deluded them and therfore we must follow them May I not therfore wyth iuster cause than you complaine and say as you do O tempora O miserable daies O times too licentious when euery Erostratus may become famous by burning of Dianaes temple when euery insolent and ydle brayne if he can inuey agaynst the state of his countrey defame them that in learning and vertue be farre vnlike himselfe shal presume to write and be suffered to print his ignorant allegations and impudent vntruthes to deface the Gospell to set a gogge seditious and newe fangled heads You would haue men iudge no better of vs but that we go about to ouerthrovv the religiō of Christ take avvay the memory of his passiō Fol. 109 a. b. say that there is no Christ at al. This do ye set forth by an example of Andrew Lampugnā which gat an audacitie to slay the duke of Millain by striking ofte his Image and by a similitude of a chambre of presence wherein who so commeth and pulleth downe the cloth of estate or otherwise breaketh Princes armes in pieces he is no loyall and faythfull subiecte Let the world iudge betwixt you and vs who seke lesse the defacing of Christ and his Gospel who would more abolishe the memorie of his death We by continuall preaching of it or you by often paynting of it We by referring al glory vnto God or you by transferring all prayse vnto your selues We by setting forth our state of saluation so as Christ himself hath taught vs saying Search ye the scriptures or you by following the diuels doctrine and peruerting the word affirming That we dayly must gaze vpon pictures There be other meanes to remembre Christ as in the Preface I haue at large declared than by laying .ij. stickes a Crosse or breaking the ayre with a thumb on my forehead Papists deny Christ Nor they deny Christ which affirme him to be God and therefore in Heauen seke him but such as make an Image of him seuering thereby his diuinity from humanitie and only as man vpon earth honour him Wherfore your history is yll applyed Galeatius Maria as your owne authour sayth being duke of Millain Paradinus in symbolis was a wicked tirant a common rauisher of all honest women a violent oppressor of al his subiects therfore God stirred the heartes of some to conspire his death And for the same cause the worde of that armes is vel in ara that God in euery place yea to the altare it selfe pursueth the reuenge vpon the vngodly And therefore the man which otherwise stode in dreade of the Prince was by another meane heartened But God stirreth the hart of none to work any vengeance on Christ his sonne therefore the comparison is not like Agayne Lampugnā gat him the liuely Image of the duke we haue the Image I wote nere of whom sure the Image of Christ it is not but in respect of the abuse a damnable Idoll Then if the striking at the Image of Christ be signe that Christ himselfe is hated consider with your selfe who is more faulty who is more despitefully set herein You or we We pecke at a stone or a piece of wood which hath no likenesse in the world of Christ you burne and butcher the liuely members of Christs owne body the perfect counterfets of him departed hence We pull downe the dumbe and the deafe Idols the instruments of abuse you murder the saincts you destroy the Prophets you spite that any liueth honester than your selues Who nowe I beseche you be more enimies of Christ Who be more like to fall into Apostacie the ouerthrowers of Idols or destroyers of sainctes the myslikers of a dead stocke or stone or murtherers of quicke and liuing men You request me to tell you Folio 109. b. if a man come into a chambre of presence and plucke dovvne the cloth of estate and breake the Princes armes in pieces is it not his intent to haue the Prince deposed In déede sir if the Prince haue set it vp and giue commaundement that it shall there stande it is too great an offence to breake it But if the Prince haue proclaymed the contrary that none shall presume to drawe his armes or set vp any cloth of estate for him and yet notwithstanding some in despite or mockerie shall hang vp a beggerly and stinking clout or in steade of his royall armes erecte some monument of reproufe and shame if I came in place I would pull it downe and be the faythfuller subiecte for that And this is the very state of our cause Christ and his Apostles as I haue proued before haue vtterly forbidden Images there is no Crosse that hath any likenesse of our redemer on it Christ hath taken order onely by his worde to be set forth vnto vs. Therefore the Crosse of woode stone or metall may wythout offence be remoued of vs. For it is not the cloth of estate of his the armes and recognisance of his kingdome It is a wicked inuention of the Papistes a crafty delusion of the diuell to supplant Christ to take away the knowledge and true seruice of him Alexander as Horace sayth Edicto vetuit Episto lib. 1. ne quis se praeter Apellem pingeret aut alius Lysippo duceret aera fortis Alexandri vultum simulantiae gaue charge that but Apelles none in colours should him dresse Or but Lysippus should in brasse his countenance expresse Then if a simple botcher had attempted to draw him contrary to his commaundement should he not haue committed pety treason trowe you On like sorte Christ hath gyuen out his worde whereby he hath witnessed of himselfe Ioan. 4. he hath strayghtly enacted that whosoeuer worship him Ioan. 5. in spirite and veritie they shall worshippe they shall not more symplie conceyue of him than of the Maiestie of a God the seconde person in Trinitie wyth our fleshe caryed vp into Heauen with him Nowe commeth the workeman with his tooles and maketh a corporall and lying shape to bring an outwarde and earthly worship Alexander the Coppersmyth cryeth out for his aduauntage Rom. 1. Epi. 1. ca. 5. Simon Magus the Sorcerer contendeth for hys share S. Paul is against it S. Iohn condemneth it What shall we nowe doe goe to the lying Image and forsake the true forbyd the worde and bring in a picture haue our heartes here
is conferred on an other Learne you by thys that the matter of the Crosse neuer had the vertue to worke such thinges as you reporte and therefore ought not of any to be worshipped God by hys Prophet in playne termes doth call it whoredom which you for your profit in speach of hipocrisie do cal Deuotiō Wherefore beware of the plage insuing deryue not the glory fed the crucified to the Crosse Lactan. li. 2 cap. 2. Viuū colite vt viuatis Moriature enim necesse est qui se suamque animā mortuis adiudicauit Worship the liuing God that you may lyue For nedes he must dye that hath adiudged hymselfe and hys soule vnto the dead To the ninth Article What commoditie euery Christen man hath or may haue by the signe of the Crosse AS the grounde it selfe chiefe buttresse of your cause is taken out of the seconde of Nice whose impudent vanities I haue sufficiently before declared so are not you ashamed sometime to alleage them wyth as small triall as they had truth But as S. Ambrose sayd of the councel helde at Ariminū Illud ego concilium exhorrea the councel I do vtterly abhorre so do I say of thys that with as good cause and with al my hart I refuse their authoritie condemne their doinges Li. Ep. 5. Epi. 31. Fol. 113 b. A vaine allegation it was of Germanus that the Images of holy men are a liuely description of their stoutenesse a representatiō of holy vertue a dispensation of grace giuen thē a vayne applycation it is of yours that euen so the Crosse Image of Christ crucified set before our eyes is a liuely descriptiō of his stoutnesse in bearing the blovves of the Ievves and so forth To speake first of other Images and so to descende to yours I besech you what stoutnesse and vertue is described what holynesse grace is dispēsed by them When the Saincts were alyue their vertues could not be discerned with eye they rested in the mynd their proper subiect And shall they nowe be séen in their dead Images which haue neyther mynde nor sense to hold them Thys is as iust as Germaines lips Whē I sée an Image gorgiously apparelled with speare or sword or boke in the hand an other with a box or a babe in hir armes what reason can tel me whether Mars or S. George Venus or the Virgin the mother of Christ be there erected If ye tell me that the superscriptiō discernes thē thou if it please the maker to remoue the title that which before was the Idoll Venus shal now become the blessed Virgin that which was Mercury shal anone be Paul so as it pleaseth the workeman to name it it shal be reuerenced and estemed But whereas they be called lay mens bokes impossible it is wtout a scholemaster to reade thē But whē they be red what lessons haue they Such as Cherea did learne in Terēce or such as Venus Cnidia did teache in Lucian For when they beholde straunge costly Images wonderously adored with coronets on their heds rynges on their fingers precious stones on their garmēts what may they thinke but that some stately Princes with their proude apparell disguised traine be come in presēce and then they fall down and worship the body or the garmēt the Idoll or the golde or peraduenture both The body is stiffe for it is a stone the garmentes as stiffe for they are of golde The shape inforceth an honor to the Image the furniture prouoketh a coueting of the goods So at one time two Idolatries be cōmitted If your maydes do loke vpon Mary Magdalen as in the Churches she is set forth with nice apparell and wanton lokes what can they behold in hir but the prankes of an harlot what can they learne of hir but lustes of vanitie Doubtlesse if Images must be admitted to set forth the Saincts the Saincts themselues shall not be honored but dishonored and we shall espye no example of sobrenesse of chastitie of contempt of richesse vanitie of the world but of excesse of wantonnesse of pride and couetousnesse For if the externall decking the trimming of the puppettes do lyuely describe any thyng it is not the nature of holy Sainctes but childish affection of old doting fooles which must haue suche babies to playe them withall The reasō of our tyme for Images But the play of folly doth ende in earnest of grosse Idolatry And although some affirme that in these dayes men be too wyse and learned to take any hurt or offence by Images they know what they are they gad not into farr countries after them the preachers otherwise informe thē and therfore as they suppose it is not vnlawful or wicked absolutely to haue Images in Churches though it maye for the daunger of the simpler sort seme to be not altogether expedient To thys I reply that none in these dayes in thys respect is better instructed in the feare of God than Ezechias was more zelously affected to the truthe than Iosias more endued with wisedome from aboue thā Salomon they knewe what an Idoll or Image was they were not likely for their own persōs to sustaine any harme or domage by them they armed other against the danger of them yet would not Ezechias suffer the brasen serpent the signe of Christ our Sauior to stande Iosias for al hys knowledge 2. Re. 18. 2. Re. 23. 1. Re. 11. which could not in that case be him selfe abused tooke awaye all occasion of ruine from hys people and vtterly remoued al Idols Salomon for all hys wisedome by suffering his wāton Paramoures to bryng their Idols into hys court and pallace was by carnall harlottes persuaded and brought at the last to the committing of spirituall fornication and of a most wise and godly Prince became a most folish and vile Idolater Then let Ezechias and Iosias teache vs vtterly to remoue all occasion of fal aswell from other as from our selues let Salomon also feare vs from suffering any such to stande least by transgression our wisedome be folly and vnderstanding error He that loueth daunger shall perishe therein Eccle. 13. 1. Cor. 10. and let hym that standeth beware he fall not I am sure there is no Prince of the world more furnished with skill than was the Salomon none haue more graces conferred on them and yet he was abused by Images by Images that he knew to be but stockes and stones For horrible it is to fall into the hands of the liuing God and who so turneth the glory of the incorruptible God to the similitude of the Image of a corruptible man Heb. 10. Rom. 1. whoso turneth the truthe of God into a lye worshippeth the creature forsaking the creator for this cause God giueth them vp to vile affections to theire hearts lustes to vncleannesse c. Then let all Princes all wise of the world beware that they procure not Gods indignatiō by breaking hys precept so