did sett an order for all the roumes in purgatory and for al kindes of punishment as for the poore vnhappy soules some he assigned vnto punishement some againe for money he toke out by and by at his pleasure also that he toke order for priuate masses that they should be said in euery corner That he whispered the holy misteries wyth a lowe voice and in a strange tonge set vp the Sacrament in all Churches and vpon euery altare caried it whersoeuer he went with lightes and sacring belles before him vpon an ambeling Genet that hee consecrated Oyle Waxe Woolle Belles Chalices Churches Alters with his holy brethe that he solde Iubilees graces licences expectations preuentions Annates Palles the vse of Palles Bulles pardons charters y t he called himselfe the head of the Church the chief Bysshop and Byshop of Bysshops and the only Most holy y t by vsurpation he tooke vpon hym a right and aucthorite ouer other mens Churches exempted himselfe frō vnder all ciuill power y t he made warres set Princes together by the eares and y t hauing his crown garnished w t goldē pendantes his pompous apparell comparable w t the Persians hys royal Sceptre hys golden diademe glyttering with precious stones he rode in a chayre of golde caried vpon noble mennes shoulders these thynges forsoothe dyd Peter when he was at Rome and the very same he deliuered as it were from hande to hande vnto his successours For these thinges be done by the Popes at this daye in Rome and be so done as though nothing else ought to be done Or excepte paraduenture they had rather aunswere thus that the Pope at this daye doth all those thinges which we knowe Peter did in time paste that he trauaileth heare and there in to all Coūtries preaching the Gospell not only in opē assemblies but also priually from howse to howse y t he plieth his businesse in season oute of season in time out of time that he doth the duty of an Euāgelist accomplisheth the ministery of Christ becommeth a watchman ouer the howse of Israell receiueth y e scriptures and worde of God and as he hath receiued them so deliuereth them againe to y e people that he is the salt of y e earth the light of the world that he fedeth not himselfe but hys flocke that he dothe not entangle hymselfe with worldly buisines appertaining to this life nor vsurpeth no dominion ouer the Lords people y t he seketh not to be serued himself of others but rather himself to serue others that he accoūteth all Bysshops for his fellowes and equalles that he is a subiect vnto Princes as vnto those that are sent of God giueth vnto Cesar that which appertaineth to Cesar and that according as the auncient Byshops of Rome did without exception he calleth the Emperour his Lorde Now onles the Popes doe these thinges at this day and except Peter doe those thinges which we spake of before there is no cause why they should bragge so much of the name of Peter and of this succession and lesse a great deale why they should complaine of our departing cal vs home againe vnto their faith and felowship It is said that a certaine Lacedemonian called Cobilo what time he was sent Embassadour to make a league with the Kinge of Persia and founde by chaunce certaine courtyers playing at the dise by and by without further consideration of his busines retourned home againe and when he was asked wherfore he had so little regarde to the doing of those things which he had in commission by common aucthoritie for to doe he answered that he thought it shoulde haue tourned to the slaunder of the common welth if he should haue made a league w t diseplaiers But if we should dispose our selues to retourn againe vnto the Pope and to his errors and make a league not onli with diseplaiers but also with men of much lewder condition then disers this shoulde be not onely slaunderous towardes our good name but also towardes the procuring of gods wrathe against vs and the oppressyon and vtter ouerwhelming of our owne consciences full of presente myschyefe For wee surelye departed from hym whom we sawe had blynded the worlde nowe manye yeares together from hym that was wonte ouer arrogantelye to auaunte hymselfe that hee coulde not erre and what soeuer he dyd that hee myght not be iudged of any mortall man not of kinges not of Emperours not of the whole clergye not of all the worlde together no not if he shoulde carye with hym a thousande soules to Hell from him that toke vpon him to commaunde not only men but also the Angels of God to goe to come to leade soules into purgatory to bring them back againe when it liked him whom Gregory did most plainly affirme to be the Uaunteurrer and standerdberer of Antichrist and that he had renounced the catholike Faith frō whom not long agoe those countrie men of oures that be the ringleders of such as bende themself against the Gospell and against the knowne truth did of their owne choyse and gladly euery one of them disseuer themself neither yet would they be vnwilling to doe it at this day were it not that that the blemishe of inconstancye and shame and their estimatiō amongst the people did let them To cōclude we haue forsaken him to whom we were not bounde and who had nothing except it were onely a certaine fonde ymagination of preeminence of the place and succession that he coulde saye for hymselfe And yet we of all other nations had most iust cause to departe from him for our Kinges euen those also which most carefully inclined themselfe to obey the Authorite and faith of the Bishops of Rome haue felt sufficiētly now long agoe the yoke tiranny of the Popes kingdome For both from our king Henry the second of that name the Romaine Bysshops did plucke the Crowne from his heade commaunding him all his Maiestye laide a parte and in a priuate arraye to the intent he shoulde be a laughinge stocke to all hys people to present himselfe as an humble petitioner and suter before his legate And also against oure king Ihon armed the Byshops and Monks and some parte also of the nobilitie and discharged all his subiects of the othe of their allegeance wherby thei were bound vnto him and last of all moste wyckedly they spoyled hym by trayterous meanes not onely of his kingdome but also of his lyfe And vpon king Henry the eight of y t name a most noble Prince thei thundered out their curses and lightnings of excommunication and stirred vp against him sometimes the Emperoure somtimes the Frenche king so much as was in them gaue ouer the whole Realme to the praie and to y e spoyle doubtles very madde and foolished men that could beleue that either so great a kyng might be made a gaste with bugges and with clyckets or that so mighty a kingdome might be so easily deuoured as
reproches and lyes 1. Nowe a daies thei crie euery where that all we are Heretykes that we are departed from the faithe that we with oure newe perswasions and wycked doctrine haue brokē the cōsent of the Churche That we do raise as it were out of Hell and restore to life againe olde Heresyes such as longe agoe were condemned We sowe abroade newe sectes and furious fansies that neuer before were hearde of Also that we nowe are deuided into contrary factions opinions could neuer agree by any meanes among our selues That we ar wicked mē make war after the māner of y e Giauntes as the fable is against God himselfe do liue altogither w tout care or reuerence of God That we do despise al good dedes and vse no discipline of vertue maintaine no lawes no customes no equitie no iustice no right That we loose y e bridel to al mischiefe allure the people to al kynde of licence and luste That we go about and seke how al the states of Monarchies kingdomes might be ouerthrowen and that all thynges might be broughte vnto the rashe gouernment of the people to the rule of the vnskilful multitude That we haue rebelliouslye withdrawen our selues from the catholike Churche and shaken the whole world with a cursed schisme haue troubled the cōmon peace the general quietnes of the Churche and that lyke as in tymes paste Dathan and Abiron seuered themselues from Moses and Aaron so we at this daye departe from the Pope of Rome without any sufficient iuste cause As for the authoritie of the auncient fathers and olde Councelles we do set at naught All auncient ceremonies suche as of oure grandfathers and great grandfathers nowe many ages paste when better manners and better daies did florish were approued we haue rashely and arrogantly abolyshed haue broughte into the Churche by our owne priuate authoritie without any commaundement of any holy and sacred generall Counsell newe rites and ceremonies And that we haue done all these thinges not for any respecte of religion but onely of a desire to maintaine strife and contention As for them they haue changed vtterly nothinge at all but all thinges euen as they receiued them from the Apostles were approued by the moste auncient fathers so they haue kepte them from age to age vnto this daye But now least thei shoulde seme onely to picke quarels and to speake euell of vs in corners onely to the intent to brynge vs into hatred the Romyshe Byshops haue prouided themselues of certaine men eloquente ynoughe and not vnlearned for to vndertake this desperate cause and to set it forth with bokes and long orations to the intent that the matter being cōningly handled after the best fasshion the simple and ignorant man might suppose there were somwhat in it for truely thei sawe how their cause began to decline in al places how their sleights wer now espied and therefore lesse set by and that their Garrysons decaied euery daie and therfore their cause to be such that it had great nede of helpe Now as touching those thinges whiche thei do obiecte against vs parte of them are manifestly false and euen by the iudgment of the selfe same persons that do obiect them condemned for lies parte of them although they bee as false as the other yet in asmuche as thei carrye a shewe and a counterfeat of truth in suche the symple reader if he take not hede specially if vnto the probabylitie of the matter the painted delicate speache of these fellowes be cunningly applied may easilie be entrapped and caried out of the waie part of thē againe ar such as we oughte not to decline from them as crimes but as thinges right well and aduisedly done to acknowledge to professe them and euen to tell you at a word how the matter goeth these men do slaunder all our doings euen those thinges whiche them selues can not deny to be wel and ordrely done and as thoe it were not possyble that any thinge should be other done or spoken wel of vs so all oure sayinges and doinges thei moste malitiously depraue No doubt it hadde been their part to haue gone more simply and more playnely to worke yf thei had ment to deale truly whereas now nother truly nor courteouslie nor Christianly but couertly craftily thei assault vs with lyes abusinge the blindnes of the people and the ignoraunce of Princes to bringe vs into hatred and to oppresse the truth this is the power of darkenes proprety of men that for the furtherance of their cause haue more confydence in the blockishnesse of the vnskilfull multitude in darkenes then in truth and light as S. Ierome saith of such as with closed eyes do barke against the manifest truth But we gyue thanks vnto the almighty God that our quarel is such that euen these men woulde thei neuer so faine can say nothing in reproche therof whiche might not be tourned in reprofe of the fathers of the Prophets of the Apostles of Peter of Paule and of Christe himselfe Now then in case it be lawfull for these men in railinge and speaking euil to be thus lowde and eloquent truly we in our iuste quarell answeringe for the truth ought not to be dumme and specheles for thei that haue noe regarde what is saide of them selfe or of their quarell althoe it be falsly slaunderously spoken specially when it is suche as thereby the maiestie of God and the state of religion is blasphemed thei surely declare them selfe to be dissolute men and suche as carelesly and wickedly do winke at the iniuries done to y e name of God For albeyt many times other greate and greuous iniuries of a sobre and a Christian man may be borne withal and dissembled neuerthelesse who that paciently can endure to be accounted an Heretike suche a one Ruffine was wont to denie to be a Christian. Wherfore we will now do that thinge whiche all lawes whiche the very voyce of nature commaundeth to be done and whyche Christ him selfe being in the like matter in like sort railed vpon did before vs y t is to say we wil giue a repulse to the accusations of these men and modestly and trulie defende oure cause and oure innocency For Christ what time he was accused by the Pharises of sorcery as one that had familiaritie with Deuills and did many thinges by their helpe I saith he haue no Deuill but I glorifie my father and you haue dishonored mee And Paule what time as Festus the leutenante contemned him as a madde man I saith he noble Festus am not mad as thou thinkest but I speake the wordes of truth and of sobrenesse And the Christians of the primitiue Churche what time as thei were iniuriously slaundered vnto the people as murderers of men adulterers incestuous persons and troublers of commō wealthes and sawe that by such slaunders the religiō which thei
professed mighte bee broughte in question specially if thei should seme by their silence in manner to acknoledg the fault least I say this silence sholde hinder y e course of the Gospell thei made orations thei wrote supplications spake before Emperours and Princes in the open defence of them and of theirs As for vs inasmuche as within these .20 yeares laste paste so many thousandes of our brethrē in the middest of their extreme tormēts haue borne witnes to y e truth Princes coueting to bridel y e Gospell in moyling many waies haue lobored all in vaine and that the whole worlde in manner beginneth now to open their eies to beholde y e light we thinke that our cause is already sufficiently pleaded defended and that wheras the matter it selfe speaketh inough for it self there is no great neede of words For if the Popes themselues would or rather if thei coulde consider wyth them selues the whole matter the beginnings and the māner of the encrease of out religion how that their trasshe in manner euery white when no man touched it withoute all helpe of man sell downe to the grounde againe how our profession at the first not withstandinge the continual resistence of Emperors of so many Kynges of Popes Bishops of all men in māner hath encreased and by litle litle spred ouer al the earth and now also at the length is entered in to the Courtes and Palaces of kings euen these things onely might be sufficient tokens wherby to vnderstand that God himself doth fight in our defence and skorneth from heauen all their endeuours that so mighty is the power of truth y t no force of man nor yet Hel gates can withstand it For be ye sure so many free cities so many kings so many Princes as at this day haue abandoned the sea of Rome and adioyned themself to the Gospel of Christe are not become madde And albeit peraduenture hetherto the Popes haue had no leisure to thinke aduisedli earnestly vpō these matters or if now at this day they be letted encombred w t other busines or if thei take these kinde of trauails to be base light matters to appertaine nothing to the maiestie of a Pope yet our cause oughte to seeme therefore neuer a whit the worse Nother if perhaps thei wil not see these thinges whiche thei do see but rather fighte against the knowne truthe ar we therefore by and by to be taken for Heretikes whiche do not apply our selues to their will Truly if Pope Pius had ben the man I saye not whiche he desiereth to be taken for but if he were at the least suche a one as had accounted vs to be other as his brothren or at the leaste as men he woulde fyrste haue diligently waied oure reasons bothe what we haue to saye for vs and what may be saide againste vs not so rashely onely with a blinde sentence determined afore hande in that Bul of his wherin of late he made a counterfaite shewe of a Councell haue condemned a good part of the worlde so many learned godly men so many commō weales so many Kynges so many Princes the persons vnheard the cause not pleaded But inasmuche as he hathe now openly slaundered vs after this sorte leaste that by silence we might seeme to confesse the faulte and specially bicause that in the open Councell wherein he will suffer no man but onely suche as are sworne and addicted vnto his vsurped power to haue authoritie to gyue a voyce or to declare his minde we can in no wise be hearde for therof in the laste assemble at Trente we had ouer muche experience what time the Embassadours and diuines of the Princes and of the free citees of Germany were vtterly excluded out of all their assembles nother can we yet forget how that Iulius the 3 tenne yeares past in his bul strayghtly did forbid that no man of oure proffessyon shoulde be hearde in the councell onlesse paraduenture there were any that woulde recante and chaunge his opiniō euen for these causes specially we haue thought it good to render a reason of oure faithe by writinge vnto suche thinges as are openly obiected againste vs truly openly to answer to the entēt the whole worlde may see the partes and the foundation of that doctrine whiche so many godly men haue preferred before their owne liffes that all men may vnderstande what māner of men thei be and what thei do thinke of God of religion whome the Byshop of Rome not wel aduised hathe condemned for Heretiks yea before thei were called to pleade their cause without lawe without example onely bicause he hearde say thei differed from him from his in some parte of Religion And although in the suspicion of Heresy S. Ierome will haue noe man to be pacient neuerthelesse we wyll demeane our selfe nother bitterly nor tantingly w t many wordes nor yet be caried into any chauffe with anger although in dede he ought not to seeme bitter or tātinge that speaketh truth But this kynde of eloquence we are content to leaue to our aduersaries who what soeuer thei speake against vs thoe it be neuer so bytterly or slanderously spoken yet it is modestly spoken and to good purpose how truly or falslye therof thei make no great account Suche kinde of sleights we haue no nede of that defende the truth But in case we doe proue that the sacred Gospell of God and the auncient Bishops together with the primitiue Churche dothe make for vs and that we haue vpon iuste cause bothe departed from these men and also retourned now againe vnto the Apostles and olde catholike fathers and that we do it in dede not couertly or craftely but with a good conscience before God truly frankly clerely plainely if thei them selues which flee oure doctrine and will be caled Catholikes shal euidently se al those tytles of ātiquitie wherin thei glorie so much wrounge out of their handes that ther is more pith in our cause then euer thei coulde imagine we trust no man amongest them wil be so negligente of his saluaciō but that he will at some time take in hande to bethynke hym selfe vnto whether parte it were best for him to sticke vnto and truly no man except suche a one as hath hardned his hart and wil not heare shal repent him selfe of his laboure to haue geuen eare vnto oure defence and to haue marked bothe what we do say and how agreably vnto y e whole course of Christiā religiō For wher as thei cal vs Heretikes truly the fault is so great y t vnles it be seene vnles it be felte vnles it be gryped with handes and fingers it ought not easily to be beleued of him that is a Christian mā For Heresie is a renouncing of saluation a casting awaie of the grace of God a departing from the bodi and spirit of Christ. But this thing was neuer
ought to be lawfully called rightly and ordrely appointed vnto the administration of the Churche of God and that no man maye thruste in himselfe to the holy ministerie after his owne wyll pleasure So much greater is the iniury y t these men do vnto vs in whose mouthes nothing is more common then that amongest vs nothinge is done by ordre nothinge comely al things in confusion ful of troble amongest vs all men to be preestes al men to be doctors all men to be interpreters We say that Christe hathe geuen vnto ministers authoritie to binde to lose to open and to shutte And y t the office of losinge dothe consiste herein when that other to suche as are ouerthrowen in their owne consciences and ar truly returned to a better minde the minister by the preaching of y e Gospel offereth y e merites of Christ and absolucion and doth assure him of the remission of his synnes and of the hope of eternall saluacion other when suche as in any greuous and slauderous offence by some notable publike faulte haue offended their brothrens consciences and therby haue in manner alienated themselues from the cōmon societie of y e Church and from the body of Christe after that thei do returne againe to a better minde he dothe reconcile gather and restore home againe vnto the felowship and vnitie of the faithefull and the authoritie of bindinge and shutting we saie he exerciseth as oftē as other vnto the vnbeleuers stubburne persons he shutteth vp the gates of the kingedom of heauen and threateneth vnto them the reuenge of God euerlasting punishment or when he excludeth out from the bosome of the Church such as are openly excommunicated the sentence that is geuen after thys sorte by the ministers of the Churche God doth so cōfirme y t whatsoeuer by their ministerie here in earthe is losed or bounde that same will he lose and binde and make good also in heauen The key whereby thei haue power other to shut vp or to open the kyngedome of heauen we say with S. Chrysostome that yt is the knowledge of the scriptures and with Tertullian the interpretation of the lawe and with Eusebius the worde of God and that the disciples of Christ receaued this authoritie not for to heare the secret cōfessions of the people or to occupie thēselues about priuy whysperinges whiche their sacrifisinge Prestes at this daye al of them do in euery corner in suche sorte thei do it as thoe the whole power and vse of the keys did consist therein alone butte to the entent thei shoulde go thei shoulde teache thei shoulde openly preache the Gospell that vnto suche as beleued thei mighte be a sauer of life vnto life vnto the vnbeleuing and vnfaithful persons the sauer of death vnto death to the entent y t the mindes of the godly beinge ones astonnied with the conscience of their life paste of their synnes after thei shoulde beginne to beholde the light of the Gospell and beleue in Christe euen as a dore with the key so might they be opened wyth the worde of God that the wicked and stubborne and such as woulde not beleue returne into y e high way as men y t wer faste locked shut vp should be lefte to themselues become euery day as S. Paule saith worse and worse This saie we is the reason and ordre of the keys and by this meanes mens consciences ar other opened or closed vp The minister we deny not is the Iudge but as Ambrose saith he hathe no title of right to take any rule and power vpon him Wherfore Christe for to reproue their negligence in teachinge cried out vpon the Scribes and Pharises in these words Wo saith he be vnto you Scribes and Pharises whyche haue taken away the keis of knowledge and haue shutte vp the kingedome of heauen before men And for as muche as the key wherwith the entry into the kingdome of God is opened vnto vs is the worde of the Gospel the interpretation of the law and of the scriptures whereas Gods worde is not there we say is not the key And by reason that one Word is geuen vnto al and all haue but one key the authoritie of al ministers concerninge openinge and shutting must nedes be one Yea moreouer the Pope himselfe althoughe his Parasites singe this songe neuer so sweetlye vnto him Unto thee will I giue the keys of the kingedome of heauen as though thei appertained vnto him only and to no man els vnlesse he endeuoure himselfe so that the consciences of men may be tourned and submitte themselfe vnto Gods worde we deny that other he openeth or shutteth or hath any keys at al. And albeit he should teache and instructe the people the whiche woulde God he woulde bothe do it in deede and finde in his harte at y e length to thinke y t it were at the least some part of his office yet his key shoulde be nother better nor greater than the keys of other men for who did exempt hym Who did teache him to open more cunningly or to loose better then his brothren Matrimony we say in al kindes and states of men in Patriarkes in Prophets in Apostles in holy Martyrs in Ministers of the Churche in Byshops is holy honorable And as Chrysostome saith that it is lawfull and rightefull to ascende therewith vnto the Byshopps chaire as Sozomenus saith of Spiridion and Nazianzenus of his father that a godly a diligent Byshop exerciseth hys office in the Ministerie neuer a whitte the worse for that cause but rather better and to more profite That lawe whiche violently taketh this libertie frō men and driueth them against their will to a single life we saie with S. Paul is the doctrine of Diuells And y t thervpon as the Byshop of Ausboroughe Faber the Abbot Panormitanus Latomus and the Thre parted worke whiche is added vnto the seconde Tome of the Councells with others of the Popes garde yea and the matter it selfe and al histories do confesse an vncredible vncleanes of life of manners in the ministers of God and moste horrible mischiefes haue insued And therfore Pius the seconde a Byshopp of Rome sayde very well that he sawe many causes why wyues should be taken away from the ministers of the Churche but hee sawe bothe many moe and more waightier why thei should be restored agayne We do receaue and embrace all the Canonicall scriptures bothe of the olde and of the newe Testament and we giue thankes vnto our God that he hathe raised vp that light before vs that we mighte alwaies haue it before our eies lest that other by the deceit of mē or guiles of the deuil we shoulde be caried away after errors and fables These we acknowledg to be y e heauenly wordes by the which God hath declared his will vnto vs vpon them
haynouslye to exclayme agaynst our life It were a great deale more wisdome for them first other to make good their owne doynges before men or at the least to couer them somwhat more conningly For we doe kepe in vre oure olde auncient lawes and so farre forth as it maye be in these dayes and maners and in so great a corruption of al thinges we doe execute diligently and earnestly Churche discipline as for stewes for cōmon whores or flockes of concubines harlots we haue not Nor we doe not prefarre adultery before mariage nor we doe not occupie bawdery nor we gather no rentes vpon bawdy houses nor we doe not suffer incests and deuelish abuses of bodily luste nor such as Aloisius or as Casus or as Diazius the murderer to goe vnpunished For if these thynges had liked vs we needed not to haue departed from the felowship of these men where those thinges doe florish and ar had in price by rayson of our departing thus to fall into the hatered of men and into present perils Paule the fourth had not many moneths paste in prysonne at Rome certayn Augustine friers divers Byshops a great nōbre of other godly mē for the cause of religion He put them to tortures he examined them vpō interrogatories he assaide alwaies that might be At the laste how many coulde he finde of all these to be mē of vnordinate lustes how many whorehūters how many adulterers how many incestes Thākes be vnto our god although we be not such as we ought to be such as our professiō doth require yet what so euer we be if we be compared with these men euen our life and our innocencie shal easily cōfute these slaūders For we doe exhorte the people not onely w t bookes and sermōs but also with examples and well doyng vnto all kinde of vertue and of good deedes We teach that the gospell is not an ostentation of knowlege but the lawe of life and as Tertullian saith that a christian mā ought not to speake nobly but to liue nobly And not the hearer but the doers of the law ar iustified before God Unto al these thinges they ar wonte also to adde this to enlarge it w t all kindes of rayling that we be seditious personnes that we pluck the scepters from out of the handes of Kinges that we arme the people that we overthrowe all courtes of Iustice that we abolyshe lawes that we bryng possessions into common that we turne kingdomes into a popular state that we confoūde al thinges vpside downe To cōclude we would haue nothyng in y e cōmon welth to remayne vnfoyled O how often haue therwith these wordes inflamed the hartes of princes to the intent they should put out the light of the gospel whiles it were yet in kindelyng and should first begin to hate it before they might attayne to know it And that the magistrate as oft as he should see any of vs so ofte he should imagine that he sawe his enemie It would trouble vs very much to be thus odiously accused of high trayson but that we know that Christ him self before vs and the Apostles and infinite other good men and Christians were brought in hatered in māner for the same matter For Christe although he had taught that we ought to giue vnto Cesar y t which was Cesars yet he was accused of sedition bycause he was reported to be a mā that went about newe deuises and aspired to a kyngedome For this cause in open courte of iudgemente the people cryed agaynste hym If thou lettest this man goe thou arte not Cesars friende And the Apostles although they had alwayes and constantly taught that magistrates ought to bee obeyd and that euery soule is subiecte vnto the higher powres that not onely for feare of displeasure and of punishement but also for consciens sake yet they weer reported that they troubled the people and stirred vp the multitude vnto rebellion Aman chyefly by this meanes broughte the whole nation and name of the Iewes into hatered of the kynge Assuerus in sayng that they were a rebellious a stubbern people and that they cōtemned the proclamations and ordinances of Princes The wicked king Achab speaking vnto Eli the prophet of God Thou sayeth he troublest Israel Amasias the prieste of Bethel accuseth Amos the Prophet vnto kyng Hieroboam of cōspiracy Beholde sayeth he Amos hath made a conspiracie agaynst thee in the middest of the house of Israel To conclude Tertullian sayeth that this was a common complaint in his time agaynst all Christian men that they were traytours that they were enimies of their country that they were enemies to all mankinde Wherfore if truth now also at this time be euil spoken of and as it is the same thyng so it be intertayned with the same reproches wherewith it was wonte to be althoughe it be greuous and vnpleasant yet it can not seeme to be newe or a thing that hath not ben before accustomed It was an easye matter for these men fortie yeres paste to deuise these slaunders and other more greuous matters agaynste vs what time as in the middest of that darkenes some little lightsome beame of the truth as yet in those dayes vnknowne and not hearde of beganne first to rise and to shyne what time as Martine Luther and Huldericus Zuinglius twoe most excellēt personages sente of God to giue light vnto the world came firste vnto the Gospell what time as the matter was yet but newe and the successe vncertaine and mēs mindes were waueryng and astonied and their eares open vnto slaunders and no mischief so haynous could be deuised agaynste vs whiche for the noueltie and straūgnes of the doctrine it selfe should not of y e people easily be beleued For after this maner the olde enemies of y e Gospell Simmachus Celsus Iulian Porphyry in times paste toke in hande to accuse all Christians of sedition and of treyson before that other the Prince or the people could knowe what maner of mē those Christians were or what they did professe or what they beleued or what they would haue Now after that oure very enemies doe see can not denie but that alwayes in all our wordes and writinges we haue diligētly admonished y e people of their duety how that they ought to obey their Princes and Magistrates although they were wicked and that vse and experience doth declare thesame and the eyes of all men whatsoeuer and whersoeuer they be doe see it and beare witnes thereof It was but an vnsauery deuise to obiecte suche thinges agaynst vs and for wante of newe and fresh matter to goe aboute to brynge vs into hatred only with olde forworne lies For we giue thankes vnto oure God to whome alone this cause doth appertayne that in all the kingdoms Iurisdictions countrays and Commonweales whiche haue receaued the Gospel hytherto no such example hath ben at any
onlesse the Byshop of Rome admitted and commaunded the same it ought to be taken as a thing vain and as vnsaid at all if wee coulde haue founde in our hartes to beleue these thinges wee confesse there had bene no cause why we should haue forsaken their fellowshipp But as touching that y t we haue now done in goyng from that Church whose errors are openly testifyed manifest and which hath it selfe moste euidently gone backe from the worde of God in as much I say as we haue departed rather from the errors therof then from it self and y t nether disorderly nor stubbernely but quietly and soberly we haue done nothing that disagreed other from Christ or frō the Apostles For the Church of God is not in that state as that it may not be blemmished with some spott or that it shall not haue neede sometimes of reformation for else what neded there so many assemblies and Councels without which as Egidius saith Christian faith can not stande For as ofte saith he as Councelles are neglected so oft is the Church forsaken of Christ. Or if ther be no daunger of any dammage that may come vnto the Church what nedeth as the case standeth now amongest these men the counterfet names of Bysshops For why be they called Shephardes if there be no sheepe that may go astraye Why are they called Watchmen if there be no Citie y t may be betraide Why are thei called Pillers if there be nothing that can fall The Church of God beganne forthwith from the beginning of the worlde to spredde abrode and was taught with the heauenly worde which God himselfe powred out of his mouth was taught with holy Ceremonies taught wyth the Spirit of God taught with the Patriarkes and Prophets and was so continued vntill those dayes when Christ shewed himselfe in fleshe But O mercifull God how often was it in that meane tyme and how horribly defaced and empaired Where was the Church at that tyme when all fleshe had defyled hys waye vpon earthe Where was it when as of the whole multitude of mankinde there was lefte but eyght personnes and they not all chaste and Godly which it pleased God to preserue oute of the common slaughter and destructyon Or when Elias the Prophet complayned so lamentablye and bitterly that amongest all them that lyued vpon earthe there was lefte none but hee alone that truely and rightlye worshipped God And when Esaye sayd The Siluer of the people of God that is to saye the Church is turned into drosse and that Citie whych sometime had been faythfull was becomme a harlott and that in hit from the hedd to the foote throughout the whole body there was nothing vncorrupted or what tyme Christe sayde that the Pharyseis and Priestes had made the howse of God a denne of theeues For the Churche euen like vnto a corne fielde except it be tylled except it be harrowed except it be laboured except it be husbanded in steade of Wheate it wyll brynge forthe Thistels Darnell and Nettels Wherefore God sent from tyme to tyme Prophetes and Apostles and also at the length his annoynted Christe which should leade the people home agayne into the ryght way and thoroughly repaire the Church at such times as it was ready to fall But least any man should say that these things happened only vnder the law and in y e shadow infancy of the Church what tyme as the truthe was couered w t figures and ceremonies what time nothing as yet was brought into perfection what tyme the law was engrauen not into mens hartes but in tables of stone although the same also be but a foolish obiection for euen at that time was also the same God the same spirit the same Christ the same Faith y e same doctrine y e same hope the same enheritāce y e same couenāt the same force of gods word And Eusebius saith that al the faithful euen frō the time of Adam were in very deede Christiās although they were not so called but least I say any mā shold make this obiectiō Loe Paul the Apostle found out like errours and like faultes in y e time of the Gospel in the time of perfectiō and of light in so much that he was driuē of necessite to write vnto the Galathians whom he had before instructed after this māner I am afraid least y t I haue labored amongest you in vaine that in vain you haue heard y e Gospell My little Children in whose birthe I trauaile againe vntil Christ be formed in you for as touching y e Church of the Corinthiās how filthily it was defiled it is not nedefull to speake of Now I praye you then might the Churches of the Galathians and the Corinthians fal from the faith and only y e Church of Rome may neither erre nor slide away Doubtles Christ touching his Church pronounced so long aforehand that the time should come when that desolation should stād in the holy place And Paule saieth that Antichrist in time to come should set his chaire of state in y e temple of God And that it should come to passe y t mē woulde not endure to heare sound doctrine but euē in the very Church men should turne their eares to the hearing of fables And Peter saith that in the Church ther shal be maisters of lyes And Daniel the Prophet speaking of the laste daies of Antichrist saith that in those daies truth shall be ouerthrowen and troden downe to the grounde And Christ saith that miserye and confusion amongest men shall be so great that euen the electe if it were possible should be ledd away in to errour And that all these things should come to passe not amongst the Paganes or Turkes but in the holy place in the Temple of God in the Church in the Congregation and fellowshipp of them that shall professe the name of Christe And albeit these warnings alone might suffise a wise man to beware that he suffer not himselfe vnaduisedly to be so deceiued with the name of the Church so y t he should neglect to make inquisition out of Gods word concerning the truth therof neuertheles many of the fathers also learned and Godly men hath oftimes greuously complained that all these things hath also happened in their times for God euē in the middes of that darkenes would haue some which although they did not open so manifest and cleere light yet they shoulde kyndle as it were some sparkell wherof men sitting in darkenes might haue a glymse Hylary what time as thinges remayned yet in māner vncorrupted pure neuerthelesse in an euill howre saith he haue you set your loue vpō walles In an euil howre doe you worship the Church of God in great houses and buildings In an euil howre do you thrust in vnder these the name of peace Is there any doubt but Antichrist in these places shall haue his seate vnto mee
out by the holy and canonical Scriptures and y t which can not abide the trial of thē is not y e Church Yet these men I can not tell howe whether it be of reuerence or of cōscience or for dispayre of the victory doe alwayes abhorre and flee Gods worde euen as a thief dothe the gallous Nother is it any maruell at al. For like as it is sayde of the golde worme that in the ioyce of Balsme an ointment to all other respectes of moste sweete and delicate sauour he is sone dispatched and killed so they in Gods worde doe see theyr cause as it were in poyson to be vtterly dispatched destroyed Wherefore to the intent they might the more easily driue the people from the scriptures as from a moste daungerous and a hurtful thing the whiche neuerthelesse our sauiour Iesus Christ did not only vse in al his cōmon talke but also at the laste sealed them with his bloud thei ar wont to cal thē a colde an vncertaine an vnprofitable a dumme a killing a dead lettre Which vnto vs semeth to be asmuche as thoe they had sayd they be no scriptures at all But they sticke not to adde thereunto a similitude not al together of the beste making that thei be in maner as it were a nose of waxe that maye be fashioned and turned into all manner of shapes and serue euery mans purpose Trowe ye the Pope is ignorant that these thinges ar spoken euen by his owne derelinges Or dothe he not vnderstande that he hath such Champions Let him heare therefore how deuoutly how godly one Hosius writeth of this matter a Poloniane as he him self sayth a Byshop doutles an eloquent man not vnlearned and a very earnest and stoute defender of his cause He wil maruel I suppose that any man fearyng God coulde other thynke so wickedly of those wordes whiche he knoweth to haue proceded from the mouthe of God or write so slaunderously and that specially in suche sorte as that he would not haue it to be taken for his own iudgement alone but as the cōmon iudgement of them all In deede I doe not denie but he dothe dissemble his owne personne doth so propoūde the matter as thoe not he nor mē of his sorte but y e heretikes called Zuenkfeldians did speake after y t māner We sayth he as touchyng y e very scriptures wherof we see brought in now a daies so many interpretatiōs not only diuerse amōgst them self but also cōtrary one to an other wil bidde Away with thē And wil rather heare God speake then turne our selfs towardes these beggerly elementes in them repose y e hope of our saluatiō It is not requisit to be cūning in the lawe in y e scriptures but to be taught of God It is but vaine labour y t which is bestowed vpō y e scripture for y e scripture is a creature and a certain beggerly elemēt These be y e wordes of Nosius writē no doubt w t the same spirite minde wherw t Montanus in time paste Marcion did speake of whome it is sayd y t they were wōte to say at what time they would contemptuously reiect the holy scriptures that they knewe many bothe moe better thinges then euer other Christ or his Apostles did knowe What shall I saye therefore in this pointe O ye pillers of Religion o ye prelates of the Church of Christ is this the reuerence that you giue vnto Gods worde Dare you so deale with the holy Scriptures the whiche S. Paule sayth ar deliuered vnto vs by inspiraciō from God the whiche God hath adorned and set forth with so many miracles in the which the most euident footesteppes of Christes passage ar certainely imprynted whiche all the holy fathers whiche the Apostles whiche the Angels whiche Christe him selfe the sonne of God when neede required did call to witnes Dare you I say abide away with thē as though they were vnworthy to be hearde of you Is not this to commaunde God him self whoe most euidently speketh vnto you in the scriptures to kepe silence or will you call that worde by the whiche onely as S. Paule saythe we ar reconciled vnto God and whiche Dauid saith is holy and pure and shall endure for euer by the name onely of a beggerly and a dead element or will you saye that to bestowe our labour about that thing whiche Christe commaunded vs diligently to serche and alwayes to haue before our eyes is a vayne labor and to none effect And that Christ and the Apostles what time they did exhorte the people to the redyng of the holy scriptures that out of them thei might become plentifull in all wisdome and knowlege did goe about to abuse menne with lies It is no meruaile thoe these men despise vs and all that we doe or say whiche make so litle accounte of God him self and of his moste holy worde Yet was it but a folish deuise of them in seking to hurte vs to commit so haynous an iniurie agaynst the worde of God But Hosius will crie out we doe him iniurie and that these be not his but Zuinkfeldius wordes But what if Zuenkfeldius also crie that they be not his but Hosius wordes For wher did Zuinkfelde euer write thē or if he did write them and Nosius iudged them to be wicked why did he not at y e least speake one worde to cōfute them how so euer the matter goe Althoe peraduēture Hosius wil not allow the wordes yet he dothe not disallow the meanyng For in all controuersies almost and namely touchyng the vse of the holy cōmunion vnder bothe kindes although Christes wordes be most plaine yet he cōtemptuously reiecteth them as colde and dead elementes and woulde haue vs beleue certain newe deuises prescribed by the Church and certain reuelations I know not what of the holy ghost And Albert Pighius saieth we ought not to beleue the wordes of the scripture althoe thei were moste manifest vnlesse the same be allowed by the interpretation and authoritie of the Churche Neuerthelesse as though this were but a smal matter they sticke not also to burne vp y e sacred scriptures as in time paste wicked kyng Aza did or as Antiochus or Maximinus did and these they ar wonte to cal heretikes bookes wherein they seeme to intende the same practise whiche Herode in time paste for the mayntenāce of his estate went about in Iury. For he wheras he was an Edomite a very straunger to the stocke and kinred of the Iewes and neuerthelesse couetid to be taken for a Iewe to the intent he might the rather establish for him and his posteritie his kingdome ouer thē the which he had before obtained at the handes of Augustus themperour commaunded all their enrolments of petigrees whiche euen from the time of Abrahā vnto that daye had bene diligentlie kepte amongest their recordes and by the which it might with out al error easily be
that is well instructed to stande a very blocke and a post without giuing any voice w tout vttering his opinioÌ„ only to awaite what they wil appoint or commaunde him to doe w tout eares without eyes without stomacke without courage to receiue without exception whatsoeuer these fellowes shall lay vpon him and at a blinde auenture doe their commauÌ„dements how blasphemous and wicked soeuer thei be yea though they shoulde commaunde them to destroye Religion all together and to hange vp Christ himselfe vpon the Cross this is surely a matter bothe of great pride and of great reproch and of great iniquite also vntolerable for ChristiaÌ„ and wise Princes to endure For what think you Can Annas and Caiphas vnderstand these matters and can not Dauid and Ezechias vnderstande them Is it lawfull for a Cardinal being a man of warre and deliting in blood to sit in the couÌ„cell And is it not lawful for the Emperor or a ChristiaÌ„ king For we doe giue no aucthoritie vnto our magistrates more then y t we know is both giuen vnto them out of gods word and also approued by the example of the beste gouerned commoÌ„ welthes For besides y t God hath committed vnto euery faithfull Prince the charge of both the tables to the entent he shoulde vnderstande y t not only Ciuile matters but also religious Ecclesiasticall causes appertained to his office Besides y t kings or ofteÌ„times expresly coÌ„maÌ„ded of God to cut down superstitious groues to ouerthrowe Images of Idoles and aulters to haue at hande a copye of the boke of the law and that Esaie saith he ought to be a patron and a fosterer of the Church Besids I say al these things we see by the stories examples of the best tims for gouernement y t godly Princes neuer thought it a thing estranged from their office to take the charge of Churches Moses a ciuile magistrate and a leader of the people bothe receaued of God and also deliuered vnto the people the whole ordre of religion and of sacrifices and moreouer sharpely and greuously chastened Aaron the Byshoppe for the golden calfe and for transgression of Religion Iosue although he was none other but a cyuile magistrate neuerthelesse what time he was fyrste aduaunced to his office and appoynted to be ruler ouer the people he receiued his commission namely for religion and for the worshiping of God King Dauid what tyme as all religion by wicked kinge Saule was vtterly destroied broughte home againe the arke of God that is to saye he restored religion neither was he there as one that onely did cal vpon them and exhorte them to that worke but also he made Psalmes and Hymnes and did set in ordre euery degre and ordained their solemne araye and was in manner the chiefe amonge the Preestes Salamon the king buylded a Temple to the Lord the whiche his father Dauide had onely in purpose to set vp and when all was finished he made a goodly oration to the people touching ReligioÌ„ and the worship of God afterwards he remoued Abiathar the Bysshop out of office and did apoint in his place Sadoke and what time as the Lords Temple was afterwards through the defaulte and negligence of the priestes in most filthy wise defiled Ezechias the king commauÌ„ded that the rubbishe and filth should be caried away that lightes should be set vp that incense should be offered and sacrifices be made according to the olde appointed order also that the brasen Serpent which at that time the people did most vngodly worsship should be takeÌ„ downe and broken into powder King Iosaphat what time he saw the true worship of God was hindered that the people was w tholden by a priuate superstition froÌ„ the coÌ„mon Temple which was at IerusaleÌ„ wherunto men ought to resort yearely from al partes of the realme he ouerthrew and toke away their hill altars superstitious groues King Iosias was diligent in admonisshing the priestes and Bysshops of their dutye King Ioas corrected y e ryoting arrogancy of priests Iehu did put the wicked Prophets to death But now to speake no more of examples out of the holy Scriptures and that we may rather come to coÌ„sider in what sorte the Church hath been gouerned since the birth of Christ in the time of the gospell in time past Christian Emperors did suÌ„mon y e Bysshops to come to couÌ„cels CoÌ„stantine the Councell of Nice Theodosiê° y e first the CouÌ„cel of ConstaÌ„tinople Theodosius y e second y e couÌ„cel of Ephesus MarcioÌ„ the couÌ„cel of Calcedon what time as Rufine alleged a couÌ„cell as an aucthoritie that made for his purpose his aduersari Hierôe for to coÌ„fute him saith Tel me by what Emperor was it suÌ„moned The same man in an Epitaphe of Paula doth cyte the letters of Emperours which commaunded the Latine and Greeke Bysshops to appere at Rome Doubtlesse for fiue hundred yeares together Themperour alone called the holy assemblies helde the couÌ„cels of Bysshops So much the more doe we maruaile at the vntimely boldnesse of the Bysshop of Rome at this day who so vnaduisedly entyteleth himselfe alone vnto that thing which he knoweth whiles the Christian common welth was vnited in one was the Emperours right and now sythens that kynges haue encroched vpon part of the Emperors estate is the common right of all princes and yet he thinketh it sufficient for him to signifie his pleasure of holding a couÌ„cell to the greatest estate of the worlde euen as he woulde sende to his man And in case that Ferdinando paraduenture be of such modesty by reason he is not sufficiently instructed of y e Popes sleightes that he can bere this iniurye yet the Pope himselfe for his holines sake should not offer him iniury chaleÌ„g vnto himself the right of an other maÌ„ But some man will say true it is that in those daies the Emperour called the councels bicause the Bysshop of Rome was not yet come to this greatnes yet neither at that time did he sit together in councell with the Bysshops nor entermeddle his authoritie wyth anye parte of their consultation Yes truely the Emperour Constantine as Theodoret saith did not onely sitt amongest them in the councel of Nice but also admonished y e Bishops how thei ought to trie their coÌ„trouersy out of the bookes of the Prophets and of the Apostles In disputation saith he of matters of diuinitie wee haue the doctrine of the holy Ghost set before vs to the intent we should folowe it For the bookes of the EuaÌ„gelistes of y e Apostles and of the Prophets doth sufficieÌ„tly declare vnto vs what we ought to think of gods will Theodosius the Emperour as Socrates saith dyd not onely sit amongest the Bysshops but also was chiefe iudge of the controuersy and did both teare the writinges of the Heretikes and also allowed the iudgement of the Catholykes In the councel
it were at one morsell And as thoughe all these thinges had not been ynoughe they woulde haue had the whole Realme also to be tributary vnto them and out of it moste vniustly they did exacte an yerely rent So costlye forsooth was the frendship of the Citie of Rome vnto vs. But in as much as by crafty meanes and with lewde sleightes thei wrested out these things from vs there is no cause why the same againe by lawefull meanes and good lawes might not be taken from them Yea if our kings in those times of darknes ledd by some opinion of their coūterfet holines of their owne accorde and liberalitie gaue them those thinges for Religion sake yet afterwardes when the errour is espied of other kinges that haue the same aucthoritie they may be taken away for that gift is of none effect that is not approued by the will of the gyuer but that can not seeme to be a will which is darkened and empeched with errour Thou haste heard Christian reader that it is no new thing y t at this day Christian Religion being restored to his former estate and as it were newe borne againe be slaulderously and shamefully spoken of For the same thing happened vnto Christ himselfe and to the Apostles Neuertheles least thou shouldest suffer thy selfe to be ledde out of the waye and to be deceiued with these outraging clamors of our aduersaries wee haue sett forth before the the whole course of our Religion what wee dooe beleue of God the Father what of his onely sonne Iesus Christe what of the holye Ghoste what of the Church what of the Sacramēts what of the Ministery what of the holy Scriptures what of Ceremonyes and what of euery parte of a Christian mans profession We haue declared how that we doe detest al olde Heresies the which other the holy Scriptures or the auncient Councels haue condemned as pestilences and poysons of mens soules and that as much as we can possiblie we doe call home againe the discipline of the Church the which our aduersaries haue vtterly brought to nothing and doe punishe according to the auncient lawes of our forefathers all losenes of lyfe and licencious manners and that with such seueritie as the cause doth require and so farre as our power will stretche that we doe vpholde the state of kingedomes in the same condition that we founde them without empairing or chaunging any thing and doe maintaine to the best of our power the Maiesty of our Princes safe and sounde that wee haue forsaken y t Church which these men had made a den of theeues and wherein they had left nothing sounde or sauering of the Church of God and which by their owne testimony had erred in many thinges none otherwise then as Loth in time past wēt out of Sodoma or Abrahā out of Chaldey not of a desire to cōtend but by y e commaundement of God himselfe and y t we haue sought out of the holy Scriptures which we knowe can not deceiue vs a certaine constant forme of Religion and are now retourned vnto the primitiue Church of the Apostles and of the auncient fathers y t is to say to the first originall and to the beginnings and as it were to the very fountaines of Christes Church True it is in dede y t for the accomplishemēt hereof we haue not attended vpon the aucthoritie or consent of the councel of Trente in which we coulde not hope to see any thinge vprightly and orderly done specially where all mē are sworne to one man where our Princes Embassadors ar cōtemned where none of our diuines mai be heard where men ar euidently enclined vnto partes and to ambition but according as the holy fathers in tyme past and our predecessors haue done oft time we reformed our Churches by a councel gathered in our owne prouince and that as touching the yoke and tirannye of the Bysshop of Rome vnto whome wee ought no dutye and in whom there is no resemblance either of Christ or of Petre or of an Apostle or in any point of a Bysshop according as it behoued vs we haue shakē of and cast away And last of all how y t we doe agree amongest our selues in all the principles and articles of Christian Religion and with one mouthe and one spirit doe worshippe God and the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ. Wherfore good Christiā reader in as much as y u seest the reasons causes both of our doings touching the restitutiō of Religiō amōgst vs also of our departing from the fellowship of these men thou oughtest not to maruaile if y t we had rather obey our Iesus Christ then men Paule dyd admonishe vs that we shoulde not suffer our selues to be caried out of the way with these variable doctrines and thal specially wee should flye from them that woulde sowe any dissension from that doctrine which wee had receiued from Chryste and from the Apostles Their iuggeling toyes euen as the owle at the rysing of the Sunne beginne alredy to fall and flye away at the presence and light of the Gospell And although they were pyled and heaped vp euen to the highe skyes yet they fall downe againe vpon the least occasion and in manner of their owne accorde For thou oughtest not to imagine that al these things are happened at a blind auenture or by chaūce for it was goddes will that maugre the malice in maner of all men the Gospell of Iesus Christ shoulde be spredde in these dayes throughout the worlde Wherefore men beyng admonysshed by gods worde haue of their owne accorde applyed themselues to the doctrine of Christe Wee surely haue not sought to wynne vnto our selues either glory either riches either pleasure eyther ease thereby For all these thinges our aduersaries haue in great aboundance and we also what time we were amongest them had such thinges more largely and more plentifully Neither doe we abhorre from peace agrement but for conseruation of worldly peace we will wage no warres w t God Doubtles saith Hylarius the name of peace is sweete but peace saith he is one thing and thraldome is an other For to assent which is the thyng that these men doe seeke for that Chryste shoulde bee commaunded to sylence that the truthe of the Gospell shoulde bee betrayed that wicked errours should be dissembled that the eyes of Christian menne shoulde be blered that men should manifestly conspire agaynst God is not an establyshment of peace but a moste horrible couenant of thraldome There is saythe Nazianzene a certayne kinde of peace vnprofitable ther is a profitable discorde For we muste allowe peace with an exception so farre as it is laweful and so farre as we may For otherwise Christ himself brought not peace into the world but a sword Wherefore yt the Pope will haue vs to be friendes agayne with him lette him firste reconcile himselfe with God For hereof saythe Cyprian scismes doe aryse bycause the head is not sought for