this it will bee no otherwise prooved then c Confess Petric c. 92. de Traditionibus Hosius proveth that the greatest part of the Gospell is come to vs by tradition and verie little of it committed to writing which is a most rash false conceipt of his But Andradius acknowledgeth that the Cittie of refuge for all the runnagate points in Religion is Tradition His words d Andrad Orthod explic lib. 2. pag. â—0 be Quam traditionum autoritatem si tollas nutare vacillare videbuÌ„tur Manie points would reele totter if not supported by the helpe of Traditions Saint e 1. Cor. 9.6 Paule hath warned that no man presume aboue that which is written and f Regul contract 95. fol. pag. 502. Basill admonisheth that it is necessarie and consonant to reason that everie man learne that which is needfull out of Scripture both for the fulnes of godlines and least they bee invred to humane traditions Yet I answere concerning Traditions that when this controversie is fully discussed you wil be as vnable to proue your position from anie Apostolicall tradition as the men of Doryla in g Cicero pro L. Flacco Tully who when they were to proue somewhat against Flaccus out of their publike Records and their records were called for they said they were robd of theÌ„ by the waie so your Traditions which must speak for you they are lost by the waie no one neither Bellarmine nor Coccius nor Sonnius nor anie writer can produce one Apostolicall sanction tradition or authority And for the practise of the Church the Ecclesiasticall histories shew that the ancient servaÌ„ts of God which first retired themselues from the worlde did it not for anie opinion they had hereby to obtaine perfection but to escape persecution as h Sozomen lib. 1. c. 12. Sozomen writeth and to hide themselues And some of them were lay-men as k Athan. Ep. ad Dracont Dyonisius voucheth some of them married men as i Dion Ecclesiae hierar c. 6. Athanasius recordeth all of them freemen from binding themselues with vowes as l Nic. lib. 9. c. 14. Nicephorus proueth And for the practise of Popish Monkes now the patterns of this Evangelicall perfection m Philobib c. 5. Dunelmensis delivereth it Greges vellera fruges horrea porci olera potus patera lectiones sunt hodie studia Monachorum And you knowe the old verse O Monachi vestri stomachi sunt amphora Bacchi Vos estis Deus est testis teterrima pestis Mr LEECH But yet since contrary to my probable persuasion certaine private spirits whose faith is their owne fancy itching rather after prophane novelty and hereticall innovation then abiding the wholesome doctrine of sacred Antiquitie and the Churches dogmaticall tradition haue by all meanes laboured to impugne my doctrine and to defame my person I haue thought my selfe in conscience and duty both before God and man obliged a swell for the generall satisfaction of all whom this present busines may any way concerne as for my owne discharge in particular being the party herein especially interessed briefly to coÌ„pile and publish the whole carriage and progresse of this matter in the ensuing treatise humbly recommending and ever submitting my opinion vnto the graue and infallible iudgement of the Church at whose feete and tribunall alone prostrating my selfe I must stand or fall as also referring my selfe with the moderat deportment of my cause vnto the sincere iudgement of the discreet and impartiall Reader ANSVVER You were drawne to this vnwillingly in respect of your vnabillity to maintaine the opinioÌ„ but most willingly in desire to stand out in contradiction But why should you rubbe ouer any here with the title of itching spirits Barn It is the rule of S. Bernard when in disputation or coÌ„ference there is rayling or reviling tunc non veritas quaeritur sed animositas fatigatur Truth is not sought for but strong and stubborne stomakes disgordge their poison Hee that hath giuen leaue to try the spirits hath prohibited the condemning nay iudging of a brother and therefore while you slander them with the itch of prophane novelty you bewray your selfe to bee infected with the scab of heresie They that gainesaid your doctrine were wise and honest learned and religious not a few but the consent of all of all degrees among vs. And so farre are they from defaming of your person that I doe assure my selfe that everie religious honest heart in Oxford will bee desirous to cover it with the mantle of charity to pray that it maie bee invested with the robe of Christs righteousnes wishing from our harts that no other cause then conscience and duty as you saie had obliged you to publish this your Treatise and that the discharge of your selfe and satisfaction of others had beene more truelie and charitablie performed that you had submitted your opinion to Gods word rather then the Church seeing the Church is not the infallible rule of iudgement as you hold n Relec. controu 4. de potestat ecclesiae in se q. 3. art 2. resp ad arg 5. Stapleton him selfe after loÌ„g discussing durst not absolutelie affirme it but seemeth to make it rather probable then credible when he confesseth that it is not anie article of our faith to beleeue that the authoritie of the Church is the rule of our faith And not only a Doctor but a Pope speaketh in this case more plainlie o Decret Greg. lib. 5. de sent excom c. 28. a nobis saepe Innocentius affirming that the Churches iudgement followeth opinion which often deceiveth and is deceived And howsoever I maie saie to you as p Aug. de vnit Eccles cap. 2. S. Augustine did to some heretiques of his time De hoc inter nos quaestio versatur vtrùm apud nos an apud illos vera Ecclesia sit the question being controverted betweene you and vs whethers is the true Church neither of vs can proue the argument by the Church seeing q Chrysost in Hom. 10. in 1. Tit Chrysostome doth conclude that the Scriptures must teach who hath the true Church r De vnit Eccles cap. 16. S. Austin resolving that Scriptures be documenta fundamenta firmamenta the proofes foundations grounds of our cause and therefore vnlesse you bee contented to submit your opinion to the Scriptures it is manifest that you acknowledge that your doctrine and the Scriptures were never acquainted The Pharisies the false porters of the kingdome Å¿ Mat. 23.13 tooke awaie the key of knowledge and they received their reward a volley t Luk. 11.42 of wo. Take heede least doing the like you incurre the like danger More respectiue are the Schoolemen of Scripture then you are u Lom dist 23. LoÌ„bard x Scot. 3. dist 23. q. vin Scotus y Oc. 3. q. 8. art 3. Ockam z Bi 3. dist 23. q. 2. lit g. h.
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
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
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
tranquillitas Though you thought the storme calmed yet it was no otherwise then that the expectation of our most worthy Vicechācellors cōming home staid it to whō by preuention anticipation you made repaire to repaire your weather-beaten credit and you say to do your duty which you had neglected to his deputy But why feared you sōe sinister impressiō in him who like that noble Emperour in all causes kept an eare as well for defendant as plaintiffe I coniecture the cause cōscience was the Notary Register Remembrauncer of an offence and will proue the sting and scourge for the offence Conscience at this your first appearing made you inwardly cry guilty Mr LEECH Assone as he beheld me he brake forth into this passionate declamation Sir would you haue a worde with me In verie good time I haue many words to speak with you for the shamefull rumor of your doctrine hath filled my eares wheresoever I came in London in Lambeth or else where your doctrine was stil laid in my dish yea I haue beene charged by divers to my face for tolerating such scandalous and erroneous doctrine freelie and openly to be preached in this Vniversitie ANSVVER His passion was no other then that which should be the proper passion of every true hearted Christian He was with Elias iealous for the Lord of hoasts 1. King 19.14 2. Cor. 11.2 and as S. Paul was iealous with a godly iealousie so was hee passionate with a religious holy Passion It concerned him in a double respect as a provident Vicechancellour of the Vniversity to see that the Lords ground receiue no tares as the diligent Governour of that honourable Colledge to see that the envious man liue not in his house that would sow these tares His burden of this double labour requireth a double ardor and without doubt it will receiue a double honour The speech hee vsed to you was the living representation of himselfe full of courage wisdome truth and honourable spirit and therefore I may returne Martiall his Apostrophe vpon you Sed malè dum recitas incipit esse tuū His sweet speech hath lost much by running through your Channell Occasion of much griefe it was to him to heare that vnder his Collegiat regiment any one should presume to teach that which was scandalous most erroneous doctrine And what freedome the world vseth in taxing Governors as guilty of connivency to some vnrulie Heretoclits vnder their authority Seperatists and Papists like Herod Pilat in their daily invectiues do testifie Mr LEECH To whom returning my answere in dutifull sort I protested first that I came not to insinuate with him nor to divert any course of iustice Secondly I know the doctrine to be founded vpon such invincible proofes and reasons that it will stand impregnable against all assaults whatsoever For demonstration whereof I presented the aforesaid testimonies vnto him and desired him to take a diligent review of the places alleaged in that schedule ANSVVER Your dutifull answere was vndutifull in that first you came not to craue his favourable interpretation and thereby in submission to haue committed your selfe and cause vnto his worthy iudgement as being in a double respect vnder his government secondly you might haue remembred to speake truth in this your answer for you presented no such Testimony of Fathers as you report here nor collected any authorities out of them at all When you were Collector for the poore proofes that you produce it seemeth you were Collector for the high waies also you gathered that rubbish out of Bellarmine and Coccius Ierem. 6.16 not out of the old waie as the Prophet calleth them Mr LEECH Whervpon he contemptuously entwited me saying go go you are a foole an asse c whē you preach here is nothing but Leo Leech and al the Fathers A proverbe which he had borrowed from some braynsicke Puritans and prophane scoffers ANSVVER Reproofes be as necessary Purgations you knowe how lawful it is according to the proverb to affirme Schapha est Schapha as also that it is helde true in Physicke Morality and Diuinity varium poscit remediū diversa qualitas passionum Ioh. 4.7 Acts. 7.51 Iohn Baptist to the Pharisies crieth out O ye generations of vipers Stephen to the Iewes O yee stiffe necked and of vncircumcised hearts eares Peter to Ananias Why hath Sathā so filled thy hart Acts. 5.3 Acts. 13.10 that thou shouldest lie vnto the holy Ghost and Paul to Elymas vseth no other language but this O ful of al subtilty and of all mischiefe the child of the divell and enemy of all righteousnesse wilt thou not cease to pervert the straight waies of the Lord Such reproofes even to the dividing asunder the bones and the marrowe haue beene vsed frequently and necessarily But the wisdome of the reverend Vicechancellor forbare any such words as you impute here to him therefore in being the false relator you are become the author of these titles you giue your selfe The Title of Leo Leech was so commonly growne to a Proverb of you as that you grew prowd of it but without reason for you know how the creature was dealt with that strouted in the Lyons skin But this title of Leo Leech was not named then but deferred till your finall Censure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is your disease your Title of brainsicke Puritanes is spleneticall if not Phreneticall Wee are all free from the note of that Schisme we professe no transcendencie every man hath subscribed and willingly acknowledged the most auspitious and gracious goverment by the Religion professed and for ever to be avowed in our Church Forbeare then this tongue murthering and malignant slandering Mr LEECH Which contumely I repelled with few words and digested it with patience assuring him that Leech with one Leo woulde bee too hard for any man that impugned this doctrine ANSVVER Why should you boast of Leo when you had neither strength nor hony from this Lyon Leo is none of your Iury you haue no Counsaile from him Looke over your Catalogue you finde him not there and looke into your conscience and you wil finde that you made no mention of him here though you be false in opinion yet continue not in everie paragraph to be false in relation Mr LEECH And truely I could not but marvaile that hee who in his lectures vpon Ionah hath made a copious defence of the holy Fathers and approved the vse of their testimonies in publique sermons should now so vehemētly except against me and so meanely esteeme of them But such is the condition of these men that they will accept and reiect the Fathers at their owne pleasures as winde weather go ANSVVER That our worthy Vicechancellor was no Antipater may be plainely seene by his most exquisite apology for the vse of those great Fathers and Doctours of the Church who derived their streames of divine knoweledge from the Scriptures and from whose Lampes all Christendome haue
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