the whole land with pestilence or with blood as he is likely to do for these wadges of execrable gold it is not the pontificall Lordships of byshops at whose commaundement the lordes sword will b Ierem. 47.6 returne againe into his sheath when your gasping soules shall cry for mercy at the Lords hands it is not the proud popelike Lordships of bishops their vsurped iurisdictions their prophane excommunications their railing slaunders against Gods truth and his seruants their blasphemous breathing of the holye ghost vppon their Idol priests that will driue the Lord to giue you and coÌ„fort Let me therfore though my person bee base conteÌ„ptible entreat your Hh. that the iudgements of God against sin both in this life and in the other of eternal woe and miserie may appeare so terrible in your eies of that vndoubted consequence as you will no longer retaine vnder your gouernment these thynges whose continuance doe giue the Lord iust cause in this life to pronounce this sentence by the mouth of c Iere. 22.29.30 Ieremiah against euery one of you and execute the same O earth earth earth heare the wordes of Iehouah write these men destitude of children men that shall not prosper in their daies yea there shall not be a man of their seed that shall prosper and sit at the counsell table or beare rule in England anye more And in the life to come to saye moreouer these a Luke 29.27 mine enemies that would not suffer mee to beare rule ouer them and their people bring hither and stay before my face yea binde them hand and foot and throw them to vtter darknes where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth And let me crauing vppon my knees with all submission and earnestnesse and more earnest if it were possible obtaine that my countrey-men by your meanes may haue the word preached euen the meanes wherby they may liue for euer with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Graunt them this my Lords though I die for it Oh I would thinke it an happie death which shoulde make mee the first messenger to carie such ioyful newes vnto the blessed b Luke 16. Saincts and aungels in heauen as that Wales were conuerted from sinne And this the Lord knoeth is the only scope of my writing and not the discrediting and galling of our lord-bishops Let not their places withstand the saluation of my brethren and the true seruice of God among them and if euer I either write or speak more against them any further then their sears are like to bee the ruine of her Maiestie and your Hh. let it cost mee my life Heare me in this sute good my Lords the rewarde whereof your soules shall find otherwise I am likelye to become a wearisome and an importunate sutor vnto you The couÌ„tenance of that creature is as yet vnseene that shal enforce me by the lords assistance to take a deniall at your hands The cause is so iust that if it were as sometimes it was by the c Act. 17.19 Apostle himselfe decided in the Athenians Areopago a court for heathen iustice of famous and celebrated memorie I doubt not but it should be heard And shall it not haue iustice at the christian counsell table of England Iustice my Ll. I say for I seeke nothing els but that the statutes of the God of iudgement iustice may be made knowen in my deare countrie where now they are vnheard off Then the which I knowe not what can be more iust neither can I see what iustice in trueth canne bee ministred by them that neglecte this cause Verelye for mine owne part GOD ayding me I will neuer leaue the suit vntill I either obtain it at your hands or bring the Lord in vengeance blood to plead with you for repelling his own cause Here I know it will be answered that counsellors can do nothing in the matter her Maiestie hath referted all vnto the prelates in church causes They haue dealt with her they cannot they may not be heard Be it that her maiestie hath bin mooued by you for the redresse of the church you shuld do it again againe and neuer leaue vntill you be heard Great matters are neuer brought to passe without great mightie endeuours Our sinnes haue otherwise deserued then that the Lord should at the first incline mercie vnto vs in the sight of her highnes would any of you alter any part of the gouernment of his familie being perswaded by leude flatterers that all were well vnlesse the abuse were shewed you earnestly delt with for a reformation And can you blame that our soueraigne is hardly drawen to reforme the Church whose estate euen in her hearing is said daily out of the pulpit to bee most flowrishing whereas the deformitie thereof is not made knowne vnto her I knowe it is no small perswasion that should draw a Monarch to alter and establishe new lawes vnles the vnanswerable necessitie thereof were made knowne vnto hir or him Hir Maiestie knoweth not I speake as I am perswaded the exacting necessitie that lieth vpon her shouldrrs of reâ—â—â—ning the Church e She knoweth not the estate of her vntaught and damned subiects to bee as it is Wherefore serue Counsellers if her eies must be euerie where to see euerie thing And what do your Hh. see if you see not our case and lament it In this point I grant her eies should be her owne chusers but if of ouersight the waightiest matters bee omitted should not you my Ll. put her in minde hereof and in submission intreat her yea and neuer leaue entreating vntill she yeeld to turne away the wrath of God from her selfe and her kingdome by abolishing vngodly ordinances and restoring beutie vnto SioÌ„ Which of you is he that hath that doth or wil performe this duetie to our Soueraigne which of you will make knowne vnto her this which I haue written I knowe I shal be traducted and torne againe in pieces with slaunders as a seditious firebrand of newe attemptes to stir vp her people to innouation at the least let me be made knowne vnto her by this name that some way I may come to the triall of my cause in hand and my warrantable proceedings therein I am neither papist Annabaptist libertine familian one that dareth seperate himself from the godly assemblies in this lande where the worde preached soundeth nor yet one that holdeth any thing either in substance or circumstance contrary to the wholsome doctrine expressed or included in Gods reuealed word of the old and new testament therefore let me haue the benefite of a Christian if not of a christian subiect not to be condemned before my cause be hearde whiche is not mine owne but the cause of God his Churches my countries and your Hh. I haue forged the most notable slaunders that euer were coyned or else the estate of my country is most miserable and yours no lesse lamentable
speaking or writing in the behalfe of either of these vnreconcilable eities Men belike thinking no more to bee required at their hands then the razng of Babell the deuil as yet contenting himself with Bethel The last yeare as I am almost pesuaded the verye same day or by all likly-hood the very same week vpon a suddain the enterprises of the building of both in 2. seueral books issuing from two of the remotest corners in our lande South-wales and North-wales was taken in hand The one of the bookes pleading the cause of Sion cōming forch priuiledged by publike authority alowāce was directed vnto hir maiesty the Parliament requiring at their hands by vertue of the lords own mandatory letters the performance of this work shewing by euidence of gretest antiquity this to bee required of duety at their handes as a part of the homage due vnto his highnes whose feudaries and vassalles all the princes states vnder heauen must acknowledge themselues to be a portion of that inheritance beeing theirs by liniall discent from their predecessors the godly kings and rulers who time out of mind alwaies laied their shulders vnto this burthen The other written in Welch printed in an obscure caue in Northwales published by an author vnknown Y druch Christ anogaw more vn learned for I thinke hee had neuer read any thing but the common published resolution of R. P. a book containing many substantiall errors frier Rush and other shamefull fables stood to by none hauinge no reasons to shew why his Babilon should be reaedified it contained it selfe within the handes of a few simple priuate men and neuer durst vnto thys hour be made known vnto your Hh. Both the books in this thing had the same successe in that both togither they fel into the hands of the prelats who as they pretend are enemies vnto both places but vndoubtedly vnto Syon especially as it appeared by their harde dealing with the pation of that cause whereas the fautors of the other were either not at all dealt with or very curteously entertained of thē The reason of their enmitie vnto both but their hatred vnto Syon is that neuer I feare me meaning to go thither This is spoken in regard of the Church-gouermen and constrained by law to be enemies vnto the other they haue of the golde of Caldea the drosse of Ierusalem compacted thē a citie wherwith they meane to content themselues vntill they returne vnto Babel againe or the Lord be merciful vnto them vnto a worse place Haue they not therfore good cause to be the more beholding vnto the one for the golde then to the other for the drosse Well my Ll. bee you assured hereof that they who stirred vp both these instruments both at one time wil neuer suffer them to cease vntil in Wales either a church of Christ or a synagogue of satan be built Out of question the concurring of both causes sheweth that the Lorde hath some secreat worke in the matter Satans instruments for their parts were neuer busier since hir Maiesties raigne then they are at this hower and shall be stil they trecherously against the lawes of God and this land seek to bring the people again vnto AEgypt I acording vnto both dutifully endeuour neuer to let them rest vntill it please God by hir Maiestie and your Hh. to bring them within the lande of promise no though they were vppon mounte Nebo whence with their eies they might view the same They haue dealt deale secretly with poore soules in darke corners dare not make known their fabulous cause I haue dealt all this while in the face of the sun and now before your Hh. I want not a good cause and by the grace of God it shall not want a defender or hide the face as long as I liue Whether you countenaunce it or no I know it shal one day preuaile when this wil be the Lord knoweth best but the matter is whether you wil imbrace christ in the building of his church or sathan in continuing the breaches thereof Therfore my Ll. entertaine THIS CAVSE and you giue satan the foile reiect this and you streng then him And trie if you denye it the hearing whether the very papists in this land will not be thereby encouraged to supplicate vnto your Hh. that you woulde grant them the liberty of their seared consciences to commit publike idolatrie Al that hitherto I haue spoken I haue spoken either in the cause of christ which is a good cause or in the cause of sathā If I seek the building of his synagog wil you let me liue if of the church of christ wil you denie me your helpe which yet againe and againe in the name of the eternall God I require for the pretious death passions sake of Iesus christ I earnestly desire at your hands My Ll. as you wold haue the Lorde to entertaine your soules in the life to come as you would haue him shew you any mercie as you loue her Maiestie hir life as you would haue the continuance of her raigne ouer vs which the lord vndoubtedly thretneth to shorten because he would bring ruine vpon you vs all for the contempt of his trueth as you woulde not haue your names razed from vnder heauen as you would not haue the Lord to bring vpon vs the Spanish Italian Romish or Guisian forces as you woulde not haue those who shall liue to see the desolation and desperate sorrowe which the Lorde is to bring vpon this lande not abide to see you and your children ryde or go in the streets as you would not haue the most contemptible to stretche forth his hande vpon the dearest things you possesse offer violence before your eies vnto the fruit of your bodies so entertain this cause graunt this suite and haue a care of the Lords true seruice in Wales etherwise I feare me the vengeance of God will neuer leaue you your posterities as long as there is a man of your houses vnder heauen And notwithstanding the case of the Earle of Pembroke is neuer the better if he stil presume to beare rule within these gates where the Lords Sabboths are not sanctified Ezekiel in deede is not now liuing to put you in minde of the necessitie of redressing of thinges amisse by laying open the corruptions of all estates vnder your gouernement as he doeth cap. 22 of his prophesie His words I will set downe that your Hh. may waye our estate with the time wherin the prophet liued and see whether the Lord will spare you and vs if we still prouoke him to smite There is a conspiracie of her prophets in the middest thereof Ezek. 22.25.26.27.28.29 faith the prophet like a roaring lyon rauening the pray they haue deuoured foules they haue taken the riches and precious things they haue made hir manie widowes in the midst therof hir priests haue broken my law and haue defiled
22.15 or else you can haue no inheritance among 4 them that are sanctified but bee excluded out of the citie of God amongst dogges theeues murderers and inchanters if you be not wrought vpō by their hands whom the Lord hath sanctified to that office I am bolde therefore in the cause of Gods honour and of your own saluation to intreat you 4 as you meane to haue anie fellowship and communion in heauen with the blessed saints and angels as you intend to haue anie part in that kingdome which the Lorde Iesus hath purchased with his owne bloud as you woulde haue any interest in him and his sacred passions that while you haue time you labour with might and maine to prouide your selues of the meanes whereby you may bee translated out of the kingdome of darknes wherin you now liue vnto the blessed possessiō of sweet Sion the citie of the liuing God In which cause if your endeuours wil be colde and backeward I pronounce vnto you that you shal as surelie perish and bee damned as the Turkes Heathens or any other Idolaters who cannot abide the name of Iesus Christ Be afraide therefore as the apostle a Heb. 4.1 admonisheth you least by forsaking the oportunitie of being saued which at this day is offered vnto you you be depriued of your saluation How shal you be able to beare it when in the day of vengeance you shall see your selues arraigned of high treason before Gods tribunall seate for reiecting the pardon he offreth in Christ Iesus vnto you Would you but vouchsafe to seeke the same in the worde preached In the worde preached I saye for if you will imbrace Christ and haue pardon of your sinnes by his passions you must haue that brought to passe by preaching Christ I graunt may be otherwise taught but as the apostle saith b Ephe. 4.21 not as the truth is in Iesus and therefore wythout comforte and wythout saluation The small reckoning my brethren that hitherto you haue made of Christ truely taught vnto you testifieth vnto your faces that you haue not knowen the Lord c Iere. 4.22 that you are foolish children wise you may be to doe euill but to do well you haue no knowledge as saith the prophet Yea it testifieth that you declare your sinnes as Sodome and hide them not and out of al doubt it will bring woe vnto your soules d Esay 3.9 vnlesse you haue preaching for you haue rewarded euill vnto your selues For Christ his sake then for your owne felieities sake acknowledge in the practise of your liues that the Lorde hath tied 5 the foode of vnderstanding and knowledge vnto the mouthes of those pastors 5 e Ier. 3.15 who at the 6 least in regard of gifts 6 are according vnto his owne heart 7 The Apostle proclaimeth 7 vnto the Colossians f Gollos 1.20.21 that as it was the good will pleasure and decree of the eternal to reconcile all men vnto himselfe by Iesus Christ so he neuer purposed to make this reconciliation knowen vnto any but by the word preached a vers 23.28 he telleth 8 b Rom. 16.25 1. Tim. 3.16 1. Cor. 2.7 vs in many place 8 that saluation is a mystery so of necessitie must haue some wider opening than the withered hands of bare readers can reach vnto 9 Blessed Peter sheweth in plaine wordes that our newe birth can no way be wrought in vs 9 but by the worde preached c 1. Pet. 1.21 Those great and 10 hidden secretes which the very Prophets themselues coulde not attaine vnto wythout greate inquirie 10 d 1. Pet. 1.10 can be made knowen vnto you belike contrarie vnto the expresse word of the holie ghost e vois 12. by those who can not preach the Gospell 11 In what 11 a desperate case then is my deare country the place of the sepulchres of my fathers f Nehe. 1. who hopeth for saluation and hath no meanes to be brought into the knowledge of the truth g 1. Tim. 24. by the publike ministerie And what a publike miniscerie or miserie rather is that in whose handes saluation is not because the knowledge of the truth is not in their handes Ieroboam 12 woulde thou haddest againe thy vnlearned priests 12 h 2. Chro. 13 9 For it is out of controuersie that they are sit to be the ministers onelie of them that woulde haue no God i 2. Cro. 15.3 but we would haue Ichouah for our God 13 and serue him Timotheus 13 to the ende he might be made more fit to cal men to saluation was commaunded to take heede vnto himselfe and vnto learning and to continue therein k 1. Tim. 4.13 15 16 but our Ministers if they can reade are able without any further learning to make saluation knowen vnto vs. Is reading 14 the way whereby the Lord will bestow vpon men the spirite of wisedome 14 and reuelation thorough his knowledge l Ephe. 2.17 No no 15 downe therfore vnto hell with that doctrine whence it sprang 15 and issued that seeketh saluation vnto men by reading of that which canner be vnderstoode without an expounder a Act. 8.30.32 And here I would 16 know of you which so long haue cōtented your selues with bare reading 16 whether for the space of nine and twenty years complet you haue selt either in your selues or perceiued in others the woorde to haue bene so powerfull as it is said to be b Heb. 4.12 If you haue not bee you assured that it is not the worde whereof the apostle speaketh in that place which worketh those effectes in some of the hearers either vnto death or vnto life For the word of God is liuelie as hee there setteth downe and mightie in operation and sharper then anie two edged swoord and entereth through euen to the deuiding asunder of the soul and the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart Besides that wofull experience sheweth that the spirite of God meaneth not the word read in this place the second verse of the chapter euidentlie conuinceth that it must needes bee the woorde preached vnto whome these imperiall titles as I may say are ascribed But saye the holie ghost what it will say the people of Wales had rather be lims of the deuil to bee euerlastinglie destroyed then labour to haue the woorde that by meanes thereof they might be made the members of Christ and so eternallie saued 17 Though 17 the or dinaunce of God be to demde the worde aright c 2 Tim. 2.15 vnto the seuerall vse of the hearers though 18 saluation be a thing that must be learned 18 euen of them who can read d Colos 15.7 our reading Baalites scane able to reade 19 19 though the decleration of the same bee such a thing as euerie christian who
be busie in matters of state Miserable daies Into what times are we fallen That theeues and murtherers of soules the very paternes and patrons of all couetousnes proud and more then popelike tyrants the very defacers of Gods trueth vnlearned dolts blind guides vnseasonable and vnsauory salt drunkardes adulterers foxes and wolues mire and puddle to be briefe the very swinestie of all vncleannes and the very ignomie and reproche of the sacred ministery cannot be spoken against but this will be straightwayes made a matter against the state And therfore although all the miserie all the ignoraunce all the prophanenesse in lyfe and conuersation hath beene for the most part by meanes of our Bishops and our other blinde guides yet may not a man affirme so much with any safety least he be said to be a mutinous and factious fellowe and one that troubleth the state For mine owne part the prophet Malachi shall deale with you and let the reader consider whether his wordes ought not in a fearful sort to strike and astonishe you A sonne a Mal. 1.6 saith the Prophet honoureth his father and a seruaunt his maister if then I bee a father b Read Mala. 1. 2. chap. where is mine honour if a maister where is my feare saith Iehouah of hostes vnto you O ye Bishops of VVales that despise his name If you say wherein haue we dispised him it wil be answered that you offer the blind the lame and the maimed vnto the holie ministery and say it is no euill and so dispise the Lords name bicause you say the Lords ministery is not to be regarded For seeing you your selues knowe and all VVales knoweth that you haue admitted vnto this sacred function rogues and vacabounds gadding about the countrey vnder the names of schollers spend-thrifts and seruing men that made the ministerie their last refuge seeing you permit such to bee in the ministerye as are knowen adulterers knowen drunkardes theeues roisters most abhominable swearers euen the men of whome Iob speaketh c Iob. 30.1.8 who are more vile then the earth doe you not say that the Lords seruice is not to be regarded if you any longer either tollerate others or continue your selues to bee theeuishe non-residents and so sterue the soules of poore innocents do you regard the Lords honour and the saluation of his people Is the law of truth sound in your mouthes Do ye conuert any from iniquitie It should be so indeed a Mala. 1.7 For your lips should preserue knowledge and the ignorant should seeke the law at your mouthes for you ought to bee the messengers of Iehouah b Mala. 2.9 of hosts But may this testimony bee giuen of you I feare me no Nay rather bicause all the world seeeth that iudgement vppon you which the prophet denounced against the prelats of his daies namely that you are vile and contemptible in the sight of the people for what is more contemptible among the best and basest of our people then to be a Priest yea a priestly Lord-Bishop I can iudge no otherwise of you but that you haue not kepte the waies of Iehouah gone out of the way caused many to fall by the law c Deut. 33.10 mala 2.6 and corrupted the couenant of Leuy And will you still continue in these transgressions God forbidde Be awakened nowe at the length considering where vnto you are called Vndergo that calling no longer which you are not able to discharge I speake vnto you all euen vnto you that will be accounted Lord-Bishops though it bee to the Lordes d Luke 22 25. 1. pet 5.3 mar 10.43.43 ier 5.31 dishonour Let the cursse of damned soules cleaue no longer vnto you For it perceth deeply You are one day to giue a reckoning for your mercilesse dealing with pore soules Let not the wicked Papists haue anye more cause to vpbraid the ignorāce of our people as they haue done in that pamphlet which they threwe abroad the last year to seduce our simple people The confutation wherof if legendarie fables wherewyth that skroul is fraught the translation of some part of R.P. his resolution of Didachus Stella Dionysius Carthus deserueth a confutation I shall publish when the Lord shall giue oportunitie If their brutish slaunders will not mooue you let the wordes of Paule stirre you forward whereby from heauen in most Patheticall and earnest sort he speaketh vnto euerie one of you seuerally in the person of Timothie a 2. Tim. 4.1.2 (41) 41 I adiure or charge thee therefore sayth he before God and before the Lord Iesus Christ preach the woord be instant in season and out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine Obey this charge or doubtles most irksom shal be your dānation Is it not a shame that Ieremie may crye b Iere. 27.1 that our lande is defiled by such as you are yea in my house haue I found their wickednes saith Iehouah Are not we the inhabitaunts of Wales as odious in the sight of our God as the inhabitants of Gommorrah seeing he c Iere. 8.14 seeth filthines in you our prophets and euerie of you from the greatest to the lowest is giuen to couetousnesse and dealeth falselye d Iere. 23.14 And what with your loitring idlenesse insufficiencie and euil life e Iud. 11. you strengthen the hands of the wicked that none can returne from his wickednes Wo be vnto you all for you haue followed the waye of Caine and are cast away by the deceit of Baalams wages Woe bee vnto you that account it pleasure to liue delitiously for a season vppon the price of soules you shal receue the wages of vnrighteousnes f 2. Pet 2.13 weping and gnashing of teeth in the pit of hell g 1. Pet. 2.15 What comfort is it for you to forsake the right way for a little worldly promotion seeing the blacknes of euerlasting destruction is reserued for you What maye hir Maiestie and the H. I. L. of hir counsell thinke you to be but the curssed shepheards that scatter their flockes seeing you haue not turned your people from their euill waies h Ierem. 23.22 Ieremy prooueth you to be such Therefore wo be to the shepheards of Wales saith Iehouah which feede themselues should not the shepheards feed their flocks you eat the far and cloath you with the wooll a Ezech. 34.23 but you feede not the flocke The sentence pronounced by the Lord against you b Ezech. 34.10 shal be execured with out doubt in the time thereof if you continue still in your vngodlye course Take this from mee also that vnlesse you forsake your idlenes those personages and those chaires of pestilence wherein you sit I mean your Bishops seas will spue you out And the Lorde I hope will make them so abhominable and reprochfull that all men fearing God will be afraid hereafter to enter into those seas of Dauids Asaph Bangor and Landaff
in Englande in these peaceable dayes of her highnes I haue wholye dedicated my selfe to seeke the flowrishing estate thereof By labouring to beautifie the same both in the plucking vp of those filthie Italian weeds wherewith now it is miserablie deformed and planting therein whatsoeuer may bee to the cōlines of gods orchard For my pore country because it hath pleased the Lord of life that therein I first saw the light of the son and haue beene by my parents there liuing brought vp in both the vniuersities of this land I haue vowed my selfe dutifully to benefite the same whether by my life or by my death I do not greatly weye And wherein shall I stand my deare countrimen in any stead if not by speakinge in their cause that are not able to make knowne their owne wantes If not in blessing the deafe eares in remouing the stumblingblock from before the eyes of the blind if not in labouring to bring them to heauen who of their owne natures should liue eternally in a worse place to their own wo. The aforenamed callings and corruptions standing as enemies in the way to hinder my brethren from eternall life I professe my selfe to seeke their ouerthrowe and confusion And by the Lordes assistance as longe as I liue I will neuer leaue them vnles they leaue the massakring of the soules of my brethren In respect of your HH seinge I receiued the former blessings throgh your hands by meanes of the outward peace whereof her right excellent Maiestie hath made the whole kingdome partaker from the Lord I canot of conscience but in most submiss reuerend and humble sort put you in minde of the estate wherein you stand before the Lord at this day I affirme therefore and I would to God I coulde tell howe more dutifully to expresse in wordes that whiche in heart I haue most dutifully conceiued that all of you are in a feareful manner both in this life and in that to come subiect to the intollerable masle of Gods wrath the execution whereof shall vndoubtedly come vpon you and your houses vnles you preuent the fiercenes of his indignation And that for these 2. causes First inasmuch as the whole countrie of Wales for the most part all this time of the Gospell in England hath bene without the publike seruice of God in the publike meetings of your people in such sort as most parrishes within Wales haue wanted the means of saluation all this time of your gouernement The trueth of this assertion is manifested in this little booke because they haue wanted a Ia. 2.21 1. pet 1.25 Iob. 33.23 1. cor 1.21 rom 10.14 eph 1.13 2.17 act 20.32 prou 8.34.35 isai 53.11 preaching and I haue elswher to my power laboured to make it known vnto her Maiestie the parliament Consider my Lordes what care you haue had of the soules of men and howe in the day of account these things will be answered Consider how lamentable a case it is that in the flowrishingst gouernment for outwarde peace that is againe vnder the coape of heauen where publicke idolatrie hath bene bannished not one familie or one tribe but a whole nation should perish and be destroyed for want of knowledge And see whether I haue not sufficient cause to deale with you in the behalfe of my countrimen My crie my crie is not the crie of guiltles and innocent a blood b Deut. 21.8 which were verie wofull but of lost and damned soules which is most lamentable giue eare vnto it my LL. lest the blood of soules be laid to your charge required at your hands If I be thoght to report an vntruth in regard of the estate of the Church in my countrie let me bee brought face to face for the triall hereof with those vnto whom the care I should say the spoile of the Church there is committed and being conuinced to haue vttered an vntrueth let me haue no fauor but die the death before your Honours and my blood bee vppon mine owne head for impeaching the credit of the princes of my people vndutifullie by publike writing whose estimation I know it to be vnlawfull for mee euen in thought once to violate I do here therefore before your HH offer to proue that the most congregations in Wales want the verie essential outward marks of a true church and so the meanes of saluation and the comfort of faith by the right administration of the sacraments I also offer to proue that you shal be reckoned with without your speedie repentaunce because that in this point you haue plowed but iniquitie and sowed wickednesse and so as Iob saith you shall reape the same Belieue them not that tell you all is well Iob. 4.8 vnder your gouernment in Wales and that they are a sort of clamorous and vndiscreet men that affirme the contrarie Beleeue them not that tell you that it belongeth not vnto your dutie to be careful of the estate of the Church that the Lord requireth no more at your hands but to maintain outward peace As though men committed to your gouernement were but droues of bruit beastes onely to be foddered and kept from externall inuasions and inrodes giue care rather vnto the woordes of the prophet who with a loude voice crieth vnto you why will you die you your families Ierem. 27.23.14 and your people by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence and why wil you be damned as the Lord hath spoken against I may allude without iniurie to the word all those gouernours that will not a Ezra 7.17.23 psal 2.10 101 2. chro 29.10 30.9 34.27 exod 20.10 gen 18.19.2 chron 15.12.13 17.7 see their people prouided of the meanes of saluation Therfore heare not the wordes of the Prophetes that tell you you shall neither see sworde or famine though you be still as careles of your people as you hytherto haue bene looke the punishement both of the flatteringe prophets and of those that are deceiued by their flatterie Ierem. 14.16 Heare them not I say but obey the Lorde in the execution of that dutie which he efflagitateth at your handes by calling of your people vnto the knowledge of his sonne that you may liue for why should this land bee made desolate for this your carelesnes Ier. 27.17 They prophesie vanity a lie vnto your HH that saie peace peace vnto you while in this point you despise the Lorde and walke still in this secure course or else a Iere. 23.16.17 Ieremie is deceiued if they be prophets And if the word of the lord be in their mouthes b Ierem. 27.18 let them intreat the Lorde her Maiestie and your HH and stirre you vp to see that the miserie of helplesse Wales may be considered off You are in a miserable taking my LL that either you haue none about you to tell you of these things or that men dare not tel you of thē you are more
mine holy things they haue put no difference betweene the holy prophane neither discerned between the vncleane and the cleane and haue hidd their eies from my Saboth and I am prophaned among them Hir princes in the midst thereof are like wolues rauening the prey to shed blood to destroy soules for their owne couetous lucre And her I rophets haue dawbed thē with vntempered morter seing vanities diuining hes vnto them saying thus saith the Lord Iehouah when Iehouah hath not spoken The people of the land haue violently oppressed by spoiling and robbing and haue vexed the poore and needy yea they haue oppressed the stranger against right Thus far Ezekiel Be the sinnes of our prophets of our princes of our people the same that heare he speketh against be they greater or be they lesse yet without controuersie Verse 30 if the Lorde may saye I haue sought for a man among the coūsellors of England thatshuld make vp the hedge stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none then wo be vnto vs for that shal follow which is set downe in the prophet Therefore haue I powted out mine indignation vpon them Verse 31 consumed them with the fire of my wrath their owne waies haue I rendred vpon their heads saieth the Lord Iehouah And vnlesse there were iust cause to think that this Lord had either already or shortly ment to pronounce this sentence against vs wee might contemne scorne at the carped assaults of the Spanyards or any other the enemies of the gospel and her Maiesties whosoeuer But as long as we giue not the right hande vnto the Lorde by entring into his sanctuarie we haue iust cause to feare a nation that is no nation much more a people in number as the sand which is by the sea shore Our leags and most stable couenants with the enemies the lord will soone disanull standing thus at the staffes end with his maiestie as we do And as a Ierem. 37. Ieremie said vnto the king and states in his time though we had smitten the whole hoast of the Spanyardes that intend our ouerthrow there remained bur wounded men among them yet should euerie man rise vp in his tent and ouerrun this lande Let vs looke assuredlie whensoeuer the abiecte and contemptible enemie shall assaile vs abiect and contemptible I saie in all respects in comparison of the value and strength of our men and munition and the lord increase them a thousand folde more that this God whose seruice is so little esteemed of vs will send a terror into the harts of our valiantest and stoutest men so that he whose heart is as the heart of a lyon shall become as weake as water and one enenimie shal chase a thousand of vs because the hand of the lord will be against vs for our sinnes It is not therefore the Spanishe furniture and preparations but the sinnes within the land that we are most of all to feare For although the armie of the Spanyarde were consumed with the arrowes of famine although the contagious and deuouring pestilence had eaten them vp by thousands although their tottering shippes were dispersed and carried away with the whirle-winde and tempest although madnes astonishment were amongst them from him that sitteth in the throne vnto her that grindeth in the mil although the lords reuenging sword in the hand of the sauage Turke had so preuailed against them as it had left none in that vncircumcised host but languishing and foyled men notwithstandinge a contēptible withered remnant of the plague famine a nauie of winde and weather-shaken ships a refuse of feeble and discomfited men shal be sufficiently able to preuaile against this land vnlesse an other course be taken for Gods glory in Wales by your Hh. then hitherto hath bene If I did speake vnto infidels and vngodly atheists I know I should not be so plaine because vnto such the trueth is at sometimes vnseasonably spoken But I speake vnto your Hh. that haue vndertaken the profession of Christianitie and therefore shoulde be at all times fit to heare the trueth of your God And I know no temporizing trueth no temporising iudgements of God against sinne no trueth that is to be concealed vnto Christians because their Hh. cannot brooke the same no trueth my LL that is either not at all or minsinglye not to bee vttered because states loue not to heare thereof So that I was in this matter not to consider what your high places were content to hear but what was the dutie of your high places to heare And therefore I should thinke it I protest an vndutifull and flattering petition to intreat your Hh. not to be offended with me for vttering the trueth As though I supposed you woulde thinke it wonderfull that a man should aduenture to speake euen in the cause of his GOD anye farther then stood with your good liking I know the infirmities wants of men that deal in good causes are commonly beaten vpon the bak of the cause they handle Therefore the Lord knoeth how carefull I haue beene to keepe it vnspotted and my selfe out of all vnnecessary daunger Setting downe nothing before I had weighed what might ensue either in regard of the mater or maner of deliuery This I am assured that in the whole woorke there is nothing whereby any law of the land canne take holde of me But why did I publish a matter of suche waight before I acquainted your Hh. therewith Grant the pitition I will redeeme mine oversight heerein if it can be prooued any which I know to be none with the losse of my life if you do not meane to yeeld vnto it neither would you haue done it being mooued thervnto by priuate writing The cause I make known to the end it may be granted and herein let not my life be precious vnto me vpon the necessity of the publishing thereof I stand bicause that the world maye see when you redresse those things that you did nothing which you durst leaue vndone vnlesse you would haue brought swift destruction vpon your selues and the whole lande But what folly is it to think that such great matters in our daies wil be reformed Rather what iniury do they to your Hh. that thinke you will countenance any longer the breache of Gods lawes And in this point let the good opinion that they which aleadge such pretences conceiue be weighed with my dutifull perswasions of your Hh. and both our causes iudged accordingly For mine own part I thinke the maiesty of the cause to be such as they who are the lords dare not but entertaine it tremble to think that all this while it hath bene so carelesly attended vpon And it is in the behalf therof that I haue presumed to deale with you who other-wise durst not haue suffered my voice to be hard in the ears of the rulers of my people
Let what I haue written be examined yea by mine aduersaries them selues if I haue anye and it shall appeare that I haue made a conscience how I haue dealt with my superiours especially those concerning whome it is said you are gods least I should seeme to leaue behinde mee the least print of a minde in anye sorte tending to diffame them or their gouernment As I haue beene carefull herof so let the Lord yea and no otherwise which I speake as far as my corruptions do permit graunt this cause and my selfe also if it be his wil fauour in your eies Indeede in regarde of the cause I commandatory wise vnto your Hh. but in regard of my selfe I come in feare and trembling as vnto the lords vice-gerents entreating most humbly that the dignitie of so worthy a cause be thought off nothing the more dishonorably because it is brought in my hands And I protest in respect of my sinnes that the Lord may iustly denie it the fauor it deserueth in your eies bicause I am a dealer therein But this should be no cause why your Hh. should giue it a repulse For in the eies and ears of al the world I make it known that it is the cause of the liuing god wherein I deale and that if it had beene possible for me to haue written more humbly dutifully I had done it Or if I had seene any way that might haue bene likelier to preuail with my superiors then this course I take the Lord to record vnto my soul that I would not haue vsed this And I would to GOD I could tell how to make the cause plaucible So far I am from setting down any thing that might carrie with it any shew of occasion to hinder and disgrace the same Well I haue done my endeuour the successe I expect at the lords hands vnto whom I commend the cause and the saluation of that pore people The sworde of iustice reached vnto you by the Lord himselfe to take punishment of him only that is an a Rom 13.4 euil doer I fear not because I haue not offended If it should be drawn against me for this action the president wold be such as they who ment hereafter to prophesie vnto your Hh. might be aduisedly counselled b Micha 2.6 not to prophisie the Lord as a token of your iust destruction to ensue would say they shal not prophesie nor take shame If I haue spoken any vntruth beare witnesse thereof if a truth I dare by the lords assistance stand to it and demand what he is that wil presume to obiect and throw himselfe vnto the vengeance of God by punishing me an innocent The Lord may for my other sinnes bring mine head vnto the graue with bloud but in this cause what haue I offended and therfore vndoubted woe will betide him that shall molest me for this worke Howsoeuer it be thus I haue performed a dutye towardes the Lorde and his church my countrey and your Hh. which I would doe if it were to be done againe though I were sure to endanger my life for it And be it known that I am not afraid of earth in this cause And if I perish I perishe my comfort is that I know whether to go and in that day wherin the secreats of all hearts shabe manifested the sinceritie of my cause also shall appeare It is enough for mee that howsoeuer I be miserable in regard of my sins yet vnto Christ I both liue and die and purpose by his grace if my life should be prloonged to liue herafter not vnto my self but vnto him to his church otherwise then hithertoo I haue doone The Lorde is able to raise vp those that are of purer hands and lippes then I am to speake and write in the cause of his honor in Wales the Lord make them whosoeuer they shal be neuer to be wanting vnto so good a cause the which because it may be the Lordes pleasure I shall leaue them behinde me in the worlde I earnestly and vehemently commende vnto them as by this my will and testament And haue you pore Wales in remembraunce good my Lordes by establishing the word preached there that the blessing of many a saued soule therein may follow her maiestie and your Hh. ouertake you light vpon you and sticke vnto you for euer The eternall God giue hir Maiestye and your Hh. the honour of building hys church in Wales multiply the daies of hir peace ouer vs blesse hir and you so in this life that in the life to come the inheritance of the kingdom of heauen may be hir and your portion so be it good Lord. Were my dutifull heart towards your Hh. throughly knowen then I doubt not but I should bee better knowen vnto you then by my name IOHN PENRI TO THE READER Master D. SOMES booke was published this day I haue read it The man I reuerence from my heart as a godly and learned man The reasons he vseth against me in the questions of the reading ministrie and communicating with them I had aunswered as you may see in this booke before he had written They are faultie either because they desire that for graunted which is the question or make those things of like nature wherein there is a great dissimilitude as the arguments drawen from the magistracie and the Leuiticall Priesthood I haue answered thē The cause the reuerence I owe vnto the man though the reasons he vseth deserue not to be twise read ouer will enforce me to answere him at large There be certaine faults escaped in the print beare with them