who can doe it fyner if to maintaine the slewes who kéepeth a more sturre if to fauor fornication they haue no fellowes Good Orators I warrant you they are But in the defence of the Pope what is their reasons Marrie say they as in a Citie ought to bee one chiefe Mayor or Magistrate as in a shippe ought to bée one Maister as ouer a houshold ought to be one husbande and as in a Realme ought to be one ruler or Prince so in the Church amongst Christians ought to be saye they one head Uicar one Uicegerent or Regent vnder Christ Consider gentle Reader indifferently the strength of the example wey it with thine owne conscience vprightly Is it reason bicause a Prince without the assistance vnder God of others as of his counsaylers and officers can not rule well and orderlye his realme that therefore Christ without the ayde and helpe of man may not guide and rightly order his Church shall Gods infinite power bée so pinched and brought into that straightnesse as to bee compared with the miserable estate and impotencie of man shall the argument bée good bicause man maye not therefore God can not What shoulde we speake of the mutabilitie of mans hart or else of the stedfastnesse of the Lords counsell Fie vppon that man and fie vpon that spirituall man which woulde chalenge to rule the whole earth and that woulde abuse the name authoritie and power of GOD to maintaine such pride Fie vpon that tyrannicall tryple crowne chaire diademe scepter and the carying of vpon mens shoulders Fie in déede with dolor of hart I speake vpon all such popish pompe and pompeous poperie If I be earnest beare with me the cause requireth it What reason is it as though GOD were vtterly absent as though he could not be euery where present for a sinfull man to vsurp the maistrie and such a supreme maistrie ouer all ouer Princes Kinges and Emperors but we shall sée euen with our eyes this pride soone to decaye For the prowde is resisted of GOD and to the humble he graunteth his grace He putteth downe the mighty from their seats and exalteth them of low degree Whosoeuer exalteth himselfe shalbe brought lowe The bishop of Rome exalteth himselfe what then followeth therfore he must nedes be brought low And that hée doth exalt himselfe you shall sée that most euidentlye proued Christ woulde not haue neither his Apostles nor disciples to be called kings or Lords For know ye not sayth he that they which seeme to beare rule among the Gentiles doe raigne as Lordes ouer them and they which bee great among them exercise authoritie ouer them So shall it not be among you c. If that then the bishop of Rome doth contrarie vnto this contrarie vnto Christ contrarie vnto the Apostles doth he not exalt himselfe he doth not onely chalenge to be supreme in causes Ecclesiasticall but also to haue royaltie ouer the Christen people He will bée called Lorde of Lordes King of Kings yea the Pope hath saith his defender a kingly power ouer his subiectes euen in temporall things Where is Iames and Iohn the sonnes of Zebede where is your mother why come you not and craue to sit the one on the right hand of the Pope the other on the left in his glorie good God that the eyes of Christen people were once opened that they might equally discerne what it is for one and the selfe same man to be called the seruaunt O hypocrisie of the seruants of God and contrarie vnto that to vse a temporall power a kinglye maiestie ouer all to haue his sworde his scepter to haue his guilt sturrops fye to put in his holy féete and in all defyance of humilitie to haue kings and Emperors to be his footemen What reason is this Pride sayeth Ambrose hath caused angels to become deuils Pride sayeth all the worlde hath caused the Byshop of Rome to be called Pope and of a Pope to procéede further in all the degrées of Antichrist Let neither Cardinall Councell nor Doctor say who is like vnto the Pope who is like vnto the beast who is able to warre with him For as sure as God liueth Babilon that great Citie must fall the walles of Hierusalem will be raised vp falshoode must flie truth will ouercome darknesse must down the light beginneth to shine the deuil maugre his head must yeeld God will haue the field Let vs therfore neuer abuse eloquence to defende pryde to maintaine the Pope For who toucheth Pitch shall bee filed withall and he that will communicate with the prowde shall cloth himselfe with pride Neuer felt our cuntriemen neuer felt learned men greater reprofe than when by shewe of skill they haue sought to defende shadowes to defende dreames and to defende the filthie abhominable abuses of Rome Oh it was not without good cause that the Christian Poet then thus spake of Rome of the Prelacy I say vnder y e name of the Citie Si quid Roma dabit nugas dabit accipit aurum Verba dat heu Romae nunc sola pecunia regnat If we haue anye thing from Rome they be trifles It receyueth our gold and deceiueth vs. Alas onely mony nowe there raigneth And what is further sayd thereof little praise I warraunt you and lesse it deserueth Quo magis appropias tanto magis omnia sordent The neerer you come to Rome the worse you will like it the more you loke on it the filthier it shall appeere What should I speake of their briberie ambicion poysoning fornication and euil liuing lothsome is the life if all were disclosed of their chiefe pastor the thing can not bée denyed his déedes be detestable Shall we graunt then by reason shall we be so vnreasonable that such a monster should be a maister and that ouer Gods annointed ouer Kinges and Princes how reuerently doth the scripture speake of Emperours and rulers how vnreuerentlye doth the bishop of Rome abuse and abase them and yet shall we followe the Pope Papam imitari debemus such is the reason that they vse Gregorie in reprouing the pride of the Bishop of Constantinople vseth this reason There were sayth he of the Bishops of Constantinople some that were great heretikes therefore if the bishop there should be called the vniuersall Patriarch the estate of Christes Church shoulde decaye Here if this reason be good we maye frame the like if it be not it is Gregorie and not I that framed it There were of the Bishops of Rome some which were great heretikes and verie lewde men therefore if the Bishop there should be the chiefe then the estate of Christ his Church shoulde decaye This is the Popes owne reason let him sée vnto it Aske of them what Anastasius Sisinnius and Iohn the twelfth of that name were They were Popes of Rome the one was an heretike the seconde was a wicked man and the thirde was a monster and a
very Epicure Liberius likewise was an horible heretike an Arrian yet B. of Rome I report of them as I finde it in the bookes written by the Popes owne friends Thus for my parte touching reason they finde me so reasonable that I answere and yet vse their owne reason But shall we nowe sée what authoritie they haue for reason wée perceyue they haue none and who the chiefest champions be that defende this primacie you may not thinke but that there are many of them yet what they are that is to be considered They be no Apostles nor yet disciples of Christ they bée the Popes of Rome themselues their Cardinals their Bishops their Doctors their dearlings their hirelings they be those whose necks were vnder the yoke either therevnto allured through gifts faire promises and flatterie or forced throughe feare or through ouermuch simplicitie blinded and seduced who so drewe forth and vphelde the pompous chariot of iniquitie And that I sée me not to vtter vntruth that the thing may appeare they were Stephanus Iulius Pelagius Symmachus with such like all being bishops of the Sée of Rome The case in controuersie is their owne they maye not bee their owne iudges in that their owne lawe is against them For I am sure indifferent Reader that in a controuersie betweene thée an other thou wouldest not willingly be tried by the defendant thine aduersarie And could the Pope except he were his owne iudge maintaine his primacie No. And therefore being better aduised they make this law that the Bishop of Rome may iudge all but he may be adiudged of none And who made it Innocētius Antherius Gelasius And what were they Bishops of Rome If therefore they prouided for their owne preferment coulde you blame them Naye you may in no wise blame them though they carie these bée their owne wordes an innumerable sort of people with them by heaps into hell And why bicause they doe iudge al but none maye iudge them I vse Christen reader no deceit they be their owne words wey thē with indifferencie I aske no more it shall doe thée good so to doe Doubtlesse it is both a pleasure and also a great griefe vnto him that hath eies and vnderstanding to sée their lawes to beholde their authorities a pleasure it is for that he seeth their fonde iuglinges being himselfe free from their filthie bondage and trumperie A great griefe it is to see men and those men which be our brethren and are called Christians to be so much giuen to blindenesse addicted to follye and so further such subiectes vnto the seruitude of so intollerable a wickednesse Wel consider we more of their lawes and let vs consider them indifferentlye For at the first beginning of their pontificall prowde kingdome they thought good to ordeine lawes that so vnto vs at this time their aunswere for lacke of reason and scripture might yet be Nos legem habemus c. We haue a law ▪ and by this law we defend our doings and fréedome by this we rule by this we raign And what be their lawes ouer vile to abhominable I warrant you They be these The Pope be he neuer so euill yet must you coniecture and ghesse him to be good Though we know him to be lewd yet lo we must ghesse that he is not so O execrable blindnesse The Pope graūteth the authoritie of the sword that is of a Princely gouernement Is not this a passing pride The Pope is not only in spirituall causes the chiefe but also in temporall O mightie ioly Monarch The Pope hath all lawes O hollow place and not holie conteyned within his breast No man maye hate him Take héede of that you may not mislike him He may dispense in things contrarie vnto the Apostles No maruaile for that is the right propertie of Antichrist All questions concerning faith he must determine And must he be the very touchstone shall holye scripture be so excluded His mynde is to bee preferred before all the bishops In déede that is the next waye to reigne Of manslaughter or adulterie he may in no wise be accused No though he be neuer such a whoremonger though he murther neuer so many Yea and that we should go into hell in déede there to beare him companie their law is that we must follow him we must kill if he kill we must do as he doth Et sperent te tartararegem Must wée serue him in hell He may not looke for Rhadamanthus place he is no such Executor of iustice Let him take heede that he come not vnder Tisiphones handes With the rest of their lawes what shoulde I trouble thée they are if it maye be than these a great deale worse I will not much scan vppon their impietie there is no person that can reade the thing vprightlye considered but will and may regarde them accordingly Onely thus much I say if pride if couetousnesse if desire alone and onelye to raigne hath bene the grounde and was the verie cause why such lewd lawes were made if Sathan was the subtile secretary therin why trouble we our selues why torment we our consciences why care we ought for them we see his authoritie let his pardons alone haue not to doe with his dispensations Papa quandoque nimium papaliter dispensat The Pope thus saieth his owne Lawyer doth sometimes too popishly dispense What authorities the bishop of Rome hath specially to maintain his estate you haue heard Now what authorities be against him let his friendes be contented to heare I will be briefe I wil not be partiall To begin I néede not with the primitiue estate of Christ his Churche wherein we can finde no such primacie no superiority amongst the Apostles who then all hauing receyued the holye ghost alike did preache the Gospell and so faithfully did set forth the truth without pride without chalence of the highest roome or once mention of any supreme heade to be had or exercised among them Let the Popes owne authorities preuayle let his euidences be seene are not the wordes thereof these Although Peter Iames and Iohn were preferred by our Sauiour in a maner aboue the rest yet claymed not they any glorie or title of primacie and shal then the Pope claime that which Peter neyther would nor could not In the time first of Cyprian we reade that certaine lewde Priests being worthily condemned by the Bishops of Aphrica ranne to Rome that by the Bishop there they might haue the matter farther discussed Ciprian findeth great fault with the hearing of them and writeth thereof vnto Lucius then bishop of Rome saying that vnto euery bishop a portion of Christes flock is committed who shall render accordingly an account for the same and that therefore these men ought to be tried as in dede they were in Aphrica and that by and vnder their owne bishops he writeth likewise at large concerning the same and
much reprehending it vnto Cornelius Now what authoritie or what grounde of supremacie a fewe disobedient and conuict Priestes coulde purchase vnto the Sée of Rome iudging vprightly I sée not But if they be either s ignorant or s arrogant as to frame vppon these runnagates their right and vsurped title let them then and wyth good indifferencie consider how Dioscorus their Pope of Rome being excommunicated and yet touching no matter of faith did appeale for so they thēselues name him vnto the Pope the Patriarch of Constantinople Here we finde another Pope and vnto whome their Pope of Rome hath appealed Touching the time of Constantine it was he not Siluester it was the Emperour and not the bishop of Rome that made lawes in defence of the Christians it was the Emperor that condemned the writings of Arrius it was he that called from banishment Porphyrius and it was onely he that then made an edict against heretikes But if they will haue it that Constantine did ordeine y e bishop of Rome to be the chiefe then let them goe forward in their historie wherein they shall finde how at that time this voyce was hearde hodie venenum ecclesiae est immissum nowe doth poyson enter into the Church And that this voyce was true you shall well proue if you examine throughlye the whole doings of Siluesters successours For O Lord what crueltie was amongst them what ambition what symonie what disobedience what heresie was amongst them Come wée then vnto the Emperour Iustinianus his time For concerning Marcellus and Anacletus if the decrées in their names set forth be theirs as in déede they seme not to be they were bishops of Rome and therefore is their authoritie contrarie vnto the scripture in aduauncing themselues nothing worthie of anye reasonable man or of anye indifferent Christian to bée estéemen And before we speake of Iustinianus you must vnderstande that there were in his time and vnder him among others fiue especiall Cities that is Rome in Italy Constātinople in Thrace Alexandria in Aegipt Antioch in Siria Hierusalem in Iudaea ▪ Of these fiue there were fiue chiefe fathers or Patriarches euery one hauing a 〈◊〉 and a seuerall authoritie in causes spiritual such I meane as Archbishops should haue euery one within his owne and proper Prouince Neither did anye one Patriarch either intermedle with the iurisdiction of the other or clayme a Primacie the one aboue the other They were seuerall Cities seuerall Prouinces seueral Patriarches seuerall in authority equall in dignity And that this is most true the wordes of Iustinian himselfe shall testifie who hauing next vnder Christ a kinde of supreme authoritie made certaine Ecclesiasticall lawes to gouerne and rule them all So that some lawes being made concerning the Clergie for the due execution of the same he sendeth his especiall commaundement vnto the sayd fiue Patriarches in these wordes Iubemus igitur beatissimos Archiepiscopos patriarchas hoc est senioris Romae Constantinopoleos Alexandrinae Theopoleos Hierosolymorū c. we wil therfore that the most holy archbishops and Patriarches that is to say of old Rome Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Ierusalem c. He writeth not to one alone least that one shoulde chalenge a superioritie Where was then therfore of Rome the supremacie certaine bisshops he had vnder him so had the rest this was all his authoritie Iustinian his style vnto the bishop of Rome was this Ioanni viro beatissimo ac sanc̄tissimo Archiepiscopo Patriarchae veteris Romae To Iohn the most blessed man and most holy Archbishop Patriarch of old Rome And here least any may gather any thing by these wordes most blessed most holy you shall heare in what order he writeth vnto the Bishop of Constantinople weygh both the styles and you shall sée Constantinople to haue the greater reuerence his wordes vnto him be these To the most holy Epiphanius and most blessed Archbishop of this holy royall Citie and vniuersall Patriarch Yea Iustinian in playne words sayth that Constantinople Est sanctissimamaior ecclesia is the most holy worthier Church Iustinian no man can well denie it was then vnder Christ in earth if they will terme it so the supreme heade he then and none other made lawes and the same aswel spirituall as temporall Unto the Clergie these were his words we commaund we will not suffer we ordeine we streightlye prohibite we appoint we will we bidde These be wordes of greater authoritie than the bishop of Rome ought to vse they be wordes by authoritie commaunding him And that the Pope ought not to vse them Gregorie in manifest words beareth witnesse for writing vnto the Bishop of Alexandria thus sayth he Which word of bidding I woulde to bee farre from my hearing for I know who I am and who you are In calling you are my brethren in maners my fathers therfore I badde not but endeuored to shew what things seemed profitable Princes maye vse these words bidding c. in them they be tolerable and therefore the same Gregorie writing vnto the Emperor sayth Quantum ad me attinet serenissimis iussionibus obedientiam praebeo In that which appertayneth vnto me I yelde render due obediēce vnto your maiesties most roial biddings cōmaundements I would to God in hart I wishe it that as the Pope did here vnto the Emperor so al we would do vnto our most gracious souereigne and most royall Princesse the Queenes Maiestie and so vnto hir successors You see that there is no cause but we shoulde doe it there is no reason no authoritie to the contrarie Let any indifferent man reade the Chronicles yea let him reade their owne writings and it shal be euident that the Bishops of Rome had not the title of any such Primacie vntill at length thorow pride and ambicion contrarie vnto all custome and good order they vsurped that authoritie Symmachus and Laurentius being both at one time chosen Bishops of Rome tantaest discordia fratrum after much strife and controuersie were faine to go vnto Rauenna there to abide the iudgement as in déede they did of Theodoricus the king Pelagius the second how was he chosen absque decreto Principis contra consuctudinem without the decree of the Prince agaynst all custome Here they see that it was contrarie vnto all former example that the byshop of Rome shoulde be chosen against the decrée and will of the Prince Bonifacius the third did will that the election of the B. of Rome shoulde consist and be determined by the iudgement of the Prince of the Clergie and of the Laitie that for good causes But Phocas they saye marke well when their kingdom began cōmaunded at the request of the B. of Rome that all Churches should be obedient vnto y e Romain church And yet was the authoritie of y e bishop notwithstanding so smal y t he should be suffred to do nothing without y e
awaye This is it that Satan desired to sift thē What followeth but I haue praied for thée vnto Peter he sayth that thy faith fayle not And what gather wee of these wordes forsooth that Christ séeing considering yea vttering the estate to come of Peter that is how in that day he should denie him thrise and that before the Cocke crewe he thought it necessarie also as néedfull it was that Simon by name should receyue some words of comfort that he should vnderstand though through feare he denied him that yet his faith shoulde not so fayle but that in hart still he would acknowledge him to be the sonne of the liuing God and though that through frayltie he did fall yet should he through due repentance be raysed vp againe and so should not his faith fayle There followeth also in the same place and when thou art cōuerted make more constant thy brethren That is after thou hast denied me after thou hast bitterly wept and repented call then togither thy brethrē call those that are fled confirme them tell them that you all haue done euil will them nowe with thée to repent and to be sorie Such is the sense of that text it soundeth you sée in no wise to any superioritie And touching the authoritie of binding and losing as it was giuen vnto Peter so was it vnto all the rest and that without anye exception For our Sauiour speaking vnto them al as S. Iohn witnesseth saith thus whose sinnes soeuer yee remit they are remitted vnto them and whose sinnes so euer yee retain they are retayned Saint Mathew recordeth the same his wordes bee plaine the sense is euident the meaning is manifest what would you more S. Paule himselfe a thing to bee marked being accused before Festus there and then appealed not vnto Peter but vnto Caesar shewing thereby vnto vs that in causes accusations and controuersies it is not vnto the Pope but vnto the Prince that we ought to appeale Wherefore these thinges with an vpright iudgement with an honest conscience considered how by what meanes shall the Popes primacie be defended the foundation thereof is pride the fruite is poyson it can not be praysed Reason is wholye against it good authorities do earnestly withstand it and holye scripture doth altogither denie it If good reason therefore maye take place if right authorities can preuayle if sacred Scripture shall ouercome who is he now where is any that will maintaine defend vphold or assist either the Pope or his feyned painted hollow Popedome I will therfore conclude yea the kings of the earth as sayeth the Prophet Esay doe one after another conclude and say How happeneth it that the oppressor leaueth off is the golden tribute come to an end art thou wounded also as wee art thou become like vnto vs thy pompe and thy pride is gone downe to hell Mothes shall bee layd vnder thee and wormes shall be thy couering The Cockatrice which came out of the Serpents roote we sée now rooted out God graunt that it neuer take roote so ragingly to rebell against heauen againe Here séeing then that the chiefest bulwark of vnbeliefe is battered downe séeing the gate of Babilon is broken séeing that the very seate of Lucifer is defaced séeing hys prowde pallace is ouerthrowen wée maye briefly speake of the braunches which sayd we nothing the roote being destroyd would else of themselues in verie short time fayle die wither and decaye For if the Pope bée put downe how can dreaming Purgatorie stande how can his Bulles liue how can his Pedlars and his Pardons preuayle of these things and of such others I meane as briefly so in plaine wise and indifferently to speake Yet first I sée it needefull that we aunswere vnto certaine obiections now bellowing in the throtes of the aduersaries that so their vaine dartes and foolish reasons throughly weied they acknowledging their disease maye with a more moderation of mynde with vs consider what things they be whence they came and wherevnto they tende whereof we haue to treate Shall we saye they mislike the fayth which our fathers professed when we were borne if the common people which knowe not the lawe and are accursed doe follow this newe doc trine shall we be also seduced doth any of y e chiefe Rulers of the Lords of the Lawyers or of the learned beleeue it Oh sicut patres vestri it a vos as your fathers the Pharisies haue obiected wil you also obiect if S. Paule had still followed the Pharisaicall law which his father embraced and wherin he was borne he had not bene worthie to haue the name of an Apostle of Christ if Peter if Barnabas if the rest had not forsaken the rites and lawes then vsed whē they were borne and which their forefathers helde and kept they had neuer bene accounted the Disciples and followers of Iesus Touching the common people you knowe how the Pharisies foolishlye obiected by the same wordes the selfe same thing against our sauiour And as you saye these Protestants be mad they haue no learning so sayd they turba haec non nouit legem execrabiles sunt these foolish people know not the lawe they are accurst But let the Pharisies let their followers speake what them list wée must saye nunquam sic loquutus est homo sicut hic homo there is no preaching like vnto the Gospell there was neuer man that set forth such doctrine there is none that may be compared vnto this S. Augustine before his conuersion vnderstanding that the poore Christians did preuaile and now somewhat better liking their doctrine sayth Quid patimur what suffer wee surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum nos cum nostris scientijs dimergimur in profundum the vnlearned doe rise vp and they get heauen but we with all our knowledgesse are drowned in darkenesse Let none therefore alleadge that wee are vnlearned for were wée so indocti rapiunt coelum these vnlearned these foolish protestants doe get heauen It is they which by persecution be encreased and by suffering of fire water and sworde are so multiplied that they may well say magna est veritas praeualet mightie is the truth and shee ouercommeth And concerning the chiefe rulers right great praise be therefore vnto God They were not of a long time so desirous to heare the truth nor so willinglye to embrace it as nowe If some be yet clogged if their eyes be not opened what maruaile When the Prophet Ieremie perceiued that the people would not repent what sayd he for sit an pauperes sunt peraduenture they are foolish and simple they vnderstand not the Lordes way ibo igitur ad optimates I will goe therefore vnto their heades and rulers vnto the chiefe ecce magis hi simul confregerunt iugum ruperunt vincula but loe these in like maner haue rather broken the yoke and burst the bandes in sunder these are worse than y e other
How say you now what speake you of the chiefe and Rulers as for the learned I will confesse the truth there are in the ministerie men verie simple and of small vnderstanding I knowe of thē a number I wil not denie it the thing may in time be remedied but to speake indifferentlye if we examine the ministerie with the former prelacy they are as learned now yea better learned than euer they were For in times past what say you vnto Priestes what say you vnto Bishops that coulde not speake anye true Latine Let none thinke that I slaunder them they were such and therfore to excuse themselues thus they say If the Bishops or Preistes doe speake amisse through ignorance in Grammer they maye not bee therefore despised of schollers no marrie bicause the faultes are rather to bee aduoyded in maners than in wordes A proper matter and an arche argument be ye assured The faultes in a mans life are to be rather aduoyded therefore such Bishops or Priestes as can not speake true Latine are not to be dispraised I pray thee of felowship christen reader findest thou herewith anye fault if a poore Minister had made any such shoulde he not haue bene flowted is this their learning O learned fathers Fie vpon such an ignorant time it was to darke it was intollerable Non est deponendus aliquis propter imperitiam no spirituall man say they should be depriued for ignorancie Why speak they then of the learned they themselues being not only ignorant but also the defenders of ignorancie what talke they of learning the effect of their whole glosaicall studie is this Beholde the deceitfull pen of the Scribes hath set foorth lyes What learning what wisdome then can be amongst thē An other obiection is this we sée say they the iniquitye of the time this doctrine cannot be good there is such vngodlinesse euery where In dede we cōfesse that y e world is naught yea and that we are naught we neither wil nor may iustify our selues silētio culpa crescit we hide not our faults we confesse thē vnto God of him we craue mercie And what is y e cause of this mischief let vs be indifferent let vs tell troth Satan forsooth of a long time hauing the world vnder his clawes was quiet without care he was negligent Then loe though most horrible vices raigned yet had they eyther the title of vertues or else had the people no eies to discerne them so that Satan was animi securi homo one that feared nothing he néeded not to be busie a better trade than he had coulde he neuer haue For Superstition had put on the name of Religion hawtinesse was termed holynesse tyrannie was called a zeale vnto iustice whoredome was named chastitie and as Gregorie sayth vitia virtutes se esse mentiuntur vile vices reported thēselues to be vertues suche was the wretchednesse O miserie of the time But in these days Satan being pinched mens eyes opened darkenesse remoued vices defected and the deuill in a maner naked howe on euery side besturreth he himselfe he bloweth abrode his poyson he scattereth euerye where hys newes he calleth vnto him his mates it standeth him vpon he maketh all the troubles that may be And what of all this is it a thing straunge or is not a thing always séene that when the Gospell is preached then Satan is most moued For the deuill hearing that the sonne of god descended into this world hearing the fayth of Christ preached he made great haste against him to shut vp mens harts in sinne and infidelitie thinking that he coulde destroye as much as Christ was able to saue For example therof what should I speake of the persecution in the primatiue Church it shal suffice if I set before you but a péece of the wickednesse and of the lamentable estate of y e Romaine Empire beginning anon after Marcus Commodus the Emperour you know caused most cruelly all his good fathers friends to be slaine he liued in moste detestable whoredome and murther he him selfe was in thende after other great daungers poysoned and strangled Next him succeded Pertinax a verye good man yet was he slaine and murthered of his owne souldiors What shoulde I speake onely of murther what wickednesse raigned not These cut throte souldiours after the death of Pertinax solde the Empire vnto a couetous Carle one Iulianus But what came thereof the whole estate of y e Empire was troubled thrée at one time claymed the authoritie Iulianus Niger and Seuerus Againe of the death of Antoninus and of Iulia his mother what should I saye go thorow the whole historie and you shall finde almost nothing but méere impietie And yet at this time the Gospell was preached wée may not say that the doctrine was not therfore good bicause the time ouer flowed with iniquitie Consider this Christen Reader wey it with thine owne conscience and then iudge vprightly They obiect also that y e life of the Ministers is naught that they be vicious lewde and I knowe not what Their lewdenesse I will not defende if they be euill God amende them I knowe hereof more thā for some causes I will yet write I know there be within y e Ministerie a number of the Popes friendes in Protestantes skins I know their trades I know them If in the Church now there be some lewde men I maruaile not So was amongst and of the twelue a Iudas there was one naughtie person amongst eight within the arke of Noe in the house of Abraham in the house of I saac of Iacob of Dauid there were offenders and men altogither vnfaithfull in the heauen it selfe many of the Aungels were faultie What then thoughe some yea euen of the Preachers be peruerse There are some which be lewde I wil graūt it Were they not so in S. Paules time I haue no man sayeth he which with a like affection will care for your matters with me for all doe seeke that is their owne and not that is Iesus Christ What saye you to this how saye you vnto that time Touching the Pope and his Prelacie who can accuse them for though they be neuer so lewd of themselues though they offende in most detestable filthinesse though the Pope doe not one good déede yet the vertues of his Predecessors maye suffice him These be their owne words wey them I aske with indifferencie In this their owne Doctor their owne Pope is against them I meane Gregorie Grace sayth he and not the place doth saue the soule Surelye had I here time to set forth their lewde and fonde Canons had I leysure cōuenient to lay out before you their foule fornication their naughtinesse and abhomination you woulde doubtlesse abhorre them we should altogither defie them But would you thinke vnto their friendes I speake that they defended whoredome would you beleue that these were their wordes One hauing no wife that hath
proposition at large framed if we procéede I thinke we shall proue aswel the Pope as those which ouer popishly doe take his part to be accurst The argument is made if we saye that the Pope and his adherentes doe so thinke and for that cause mislike his ministering therefore they bée accurst Such is the conclusion In this argument if they denie any thing it must bée their owne Proposition which was made at a generall Councell by the aduise of so manye fathers Gregorie the Pope and the seauenth of that name who vsurped vnto himselfe as some doe write the authoritie kept a great sturre and laboured earnestly to forbid the mariage of Priestes But the whole Clergie resisted him in so much that the Popes deputie in that behalfe the Bisshop of Mentz had great a doe much trouble and no small perill in dealing therein So odious vnto all was the prohibition of matrimony so vsurped yea so wicked then séemed that deuilish doctrine But what whose sonnes were O sius Bonifacius Agapitus Theodorus Siluerius Deusdedit Felix Gelasius with a number more who were Popes of Rome were they not all Priests children how then can they excuse but that either their fathers were maried or else that they were filthie fornicators and verie lesude liuers Concerning the Apostles specially such as were maried is it to be thought thinke you that they neuer came where their wiues were the Popes friends say they came not And how prooue they it forsooth bicause there is no mention thereof made in the Scriptures A proper proofe Bicause we reade onelye by name of Peters mother in law which laye sicke in his house therefore shall we thinke that she lay succourlesse that her daughter was gone that there was none in the house but she Came not Peters wife came not his daughter Petronella with him into Rome hereof I report me vnto their owne histories S. Paule when he wrote vnto the Corinthians was unmaried but what if afterwards he had a wife and that I come not with bare iffes I will alledge mine authoritie it is Leo the Pope of Rome himselfe that so sayth They must eyther blame his holinesse or else knowledge Paule to haue bene a maried man This is a harde choyse What shall I speake of the deuilish diuorcementes and most vngodly separations vsed in these later dayes euen in lesse than sixtene yeares past why were at that time the maried Priestes separated from their wiues bicause sayth the Pope their mariage was no mariage bicause they were adulterers What bicause of their former vowes O Augustine were thou now liuing thou wouldest laye this heresie vowne But though he be dead doe not his writings yet liue wrote he not against this before he died yes And these are his wordes Quidam nubentes post votum asserunt adulteros esse ego autem dico vobis quod grauiter peccant qui tales diuidunt There are some which say that those which marrie after their vow be adulterers But I tell you that they offende grieuouslye which separate such Nowe if they be adulterers how doe they offende that separate them But if they do amisse which separate them then be they no adulterers Whosoeuer sayeth Augustine will separate such hée doth grieuously offende but Calixtus the Pope doth separate such therefore he doth grieuously offende I dare boldlye saye that they haue nothing herevnto to aunswere I am playne the argument is good it cannot be denyed Montanus est qui docuit nuptias solui it is Montanus the heretike who first taught that mariage shoulde be dissolued they are Montani they are of his sect they are heretikes that doe it What other authorities néede we the thing is playne what would we more in the ende let thys one authoritie suffice Si quis docuerit sacerdotem sub obtent u religionis propriam contemnere vxorem anathema sit if any shall teach that a Priest vnder the pretence of Religion may in any wise contemne his own wife let him be accurst What is not this a decrée of their owne sinode Non in perpetuum sed tempore oblationis à complexu suarum vxorum sacerdotes abstineant Their Latine is so embracing as let them english it that like it We will sayth that sinode that henceforth the mariage of spirituall men shall be in force and good Thus haue I passed ouer first the miserable estate of such as bée in blindenesse then haue I disproued the vsurped primacie of Rome I haue battered downe the rotten walles of Purgatorie I haue defended the right vse of the Lordes supper I haue proued that there are no faultes in our translation I haue shewed that the seruice and prayer ought to bee in the Englishe tongue I haue declared the true vse of fasting prayers repentance and almes deedes I haue set forth the right doctrine of iustification I haue defended the honorable estate of matrimonie I haue also as occasion serued without partialitie answered all the obiections of the aduersaries All which things as they are briefly done so wish I the reader to consider of them indifferently I wish that odious termes may cease I desire that charitie in vs all maye increase It is not inough to terme men heretikes Remember what Gregorie sayth there are many euen of the faythfull which are puffed vp with an ignoraunt zeale and manye times while they hate others as heretikes they are the cause of heresies themselues Awaye with your excommunications renounce your cursings leaue off your threatnings your weapon is naught your authoritie is nothing Haue in memory what S. Hierome saith If any be put out and sent forth not through the right iudgement of such as rule in the Church if he before went not out that is if he did nothing whereby he deserued to go foorth it is not hurtfull vnto him at all though hee seeme to be throwen out by the vnright iudgement of men and so it happeneth oftentimes that he which is cast foorth is within and he that seemeth to be within is without Weigh this well and you shall esteeme the bannings of Rome as they be you shall if you haue eyes sée that you were abused and holden vnder the heauie yoke of a most bitter bondage Shake off therfore selfe wil cast away selfe loue away with estimation care not for a vaine credite consider your estate helpe to redresse that is amisse wee séeke but the putting awaye of shadowes vanities errors blindenesse superstition arrogancie and abuses That this may bée done ioyne handes helpe forwarde the building of Gods house deserue well of your countrie whervnto God exhorteth you our Princes your moste gracious Quéene prayeth you your friendes doe desire you your countriemen doe beséeche you your natiue soyle your countrye it selfe this florishing realme of Englande doe togither and most earnestly entreate you FINIS ¶ A briefe vewe of the erring estate of the Bishops of Rome IF the gates