intreatyng of so weyghtye and necessari an argument for all Christian men to knowe shold be better welcome to youre grace in oure owne contrye speche for profyt then in any fyner forren language for pleasure The which boke althoughe some men thynck that I myght more boldly haue dedicated to some other yet in my iudgement I knowe certaynely I can not exhibit it to any other more worthily then to your excellent Maiestie Our souereigne Lady of al other moste worthy to haue this boke dedicated to her grace For who is more worthy to haue bokes dedicated to them of veritie which is lykened to syncere and pure virginitie then youre grace a most cleare bryght and vnspotted virgin who is more mete to receaue that precyouse iuel which was presented to the wyse vertuouse and Catholyke Kyng of Poole then you one of the best learned graciouse victoriouse mercyfull Prynces vnder the Pole Therfore most excellent and pearles Pryncesse if I haue any thyng offended in boldnes by reason of dedicatyng this my lyttell laboure vnto your hyghnes your learnyng your wysdome your mercye and all other your Quenely qualities which make your grace as it were a marke for all learned men to direct theyr bokes to our gracyouse Quene a marke for all learned mēnes bokes to be directed to are the causes of myne offence But my trust is that nether I haue offended any good man in dedicatyng thys to your hyghenes nether that youre grace shall displease God in readyng it A true prayse of the reuerēd Father Hosius For who is the Auctour of this booke but Hosius who for his prudence in polityke affayres hathe of the myghtie kyng of Poland bene sent of long tyme in moste weyghtye and honorable Embassages who for hys diuine knowledge and incomparable learnyng was made president of the moste Catholyke and Christian Councell lately holdē at Trent who for his syncere and godly lyfe is worthily called Hosius which after the Greke Etymologie signifyeth holy Althoughe some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose harte is rotten at the rote with rancor whose māner is to reproue good men with rayling whē they arre not able to doo it by reason laboure to drowne the dignitie of such a pearlesse Prelate of such a blessed Byshope of such a famouse father in saying that he will be ouercome with his Polonyshe pottes But no maruayle if Hosius be called a drōkard for euen so was hys Master Chryst before hym called a wyne bybber which is all one to say a quasser a tosse potte As for his boke that youre grace neade not to feare the displeasure of God in readyng it what is it ells but a true treatyse intytuled by the author hym selffe of the begynnyng of heresies in oure tyme and by me the translatour named the hatchet of heresies for so muche as to shewe the begynnyng of heresies The cause why this boke is named the hatchet of heresies is to bryng heresye vnto an end and to cut it downe none other wyse then an hatchet in man his hand layde to the roote of a plant sone supplāteth and ouerthroweth it Euen so truly most souereyne Ladye thys boke is the hatchet which supplanteth that euel plant which Sathā hath sowed in God his groūde what manner of plāt this hatchet heweth down whose roote is raylyng whose body is rebellion whose braunches be bloodshedde whose leaues be lyes whose frute be the aples of Atheisme that is to be of no Religion or to thynck that there is no God at all Wherefore moste humbly vpō my knees I desire your grace not only to reade this excellent treatise your selffe but also to be contented that my dearly beloued countrie men youre graces moste faythfull subiectes may do the same that they may receaue this souerayne salue of their soules withoute any harme of their bodyes that they may here gather the euerlasting treasures of theire myndes witoute any losse of their temporall possessions that they may here see that it is not the expresse worde of God which our Britānical Brētians teache but the pressed and wrested worde of God not the holy Scriptures but prophane scrapinges of dyuerse olde and nue heresies not the traditions of the Apostles but rather I desyre pardon of youre maiestie to speake reason somwhat rowghly the trayterouse additiōs of Apostates Finally that in reading of this notable boke they standyng as it were in the Castell of cōtemplation and seing howe heretykes marche malitiously on toward the other in the medowe of madnes The battayle of heretykes fight one with the other in the felde of al foly howe they one against the other bend the ordinaunce of all disorder cast the dartes of deadly displeasure shote with the crosse bowes of cursed speakyng and to be short leaue nothing vndone to vndoo one an other I say that youre faythfull subiectes my dearly beloued countrymen seing in this boke quietly all theire disquyetnes may lothe deuydyng discorde and returne to Catholyke concorde of Christ his holy Churche vnto whiche no doubt Christ returnyng to his Father sayd these wordes Pacem meam do vobis pacem meam relinquo vobis c. My peace I gyue you my peace I leaue vnto you whiche peace God graunt we may seke ernestly fynde spedily and holde stedfastly This I say moste humbly and ernestly desyring your grace beseching also that it wyll please youre hyghenes to take me as I am youre sure and sounde harted subiect in all seruice that I can I desyre God to be youre graces buckler in battayle youre pillar in peace youre leader in all the slyppery wayes of this lyff and your crowner in the blessed Kyngdome which is to come Amen You re graces faythfull and obedient subiect Richard Shacklock THE TRANSLATOVRE vpon the holy wryter Hosius Semely Susanna was iudged to dye By peruerse iudges which dyd her oppresse But godly Daniel her cause true dyd trye when contrary thynges he herd them confesse So sorrowfull Susan he dyd ryghtly redresse Her which seêmd synfull he proued to be sounde And them which seêmd godly full gylty he founde Euen so holy Hosius in oure dolefull dayes Seing the truthe to be troden with myght Of misshapt Ministers which with wyly wayes Laboure to rob the truthe of her ryght Ragyng and rayling and spyttyng theire spyte One at an other full farre from consent Here tryeth the truth against which thei be bent The truthe being tryde the truthe let vs holde Praying to God to gyue vs hys grace To hate all heretykes so blynde and so bolde which vnder fayr visardes do hide their fowle face And pray we deuoutly for our noble Quenes grace That the spryng of heresies to her being knowen She may roote vp the sedes which Sathā hath sowē TO THE MOSTE REDOVBTED AND MOSTE CHRISTIAN Prince his renomed Lorde Lorde Sigismund by the grace of God Kyng of Poole great Duke of Luten Lorde and Heyre of Russia Prussia Masouia Samogitia
Christ nor Christ with them See I pray you howe lyttel a sparcke which so sone as it begā to kyndle myght easily haue bene quenched alas the day in to howe greate a fyar is it blowne in how many places euen with the dust and all as the prouerb is hath it ouerturned al Christian godlynes do you suppose that I haue reckoned vp all the Ghospelles nay There remayneth yet a rakehel rablement For seing suffering syn vnpunished is a great intysemēt to syn when men perceaued that they had no harme which attempted such thinges many stept forthe running as it were for the best game which thinkyng skorne of old thinges laboured to make all thinges a new by inuentyng some straunge kynde of doctryne might make theyr names neuer to be forgotten But who is so good in Arithmetyke that he is able to coumpt or who is at suche leasure that he is able to stand about declaring euery peculiar errour For so muche as it is both a greate busynes and also not pertayning to this present purpose Wherefore I wyll stand no longer in recyting those three hundred at Apocella in Heluetia which after seruice song to God all the lightes being put oute when they lyke brute beastes had defyled them selues yet for all that ascended in to an hyghe hyll frō whence they persuaded them selues that they sholde be caryed vp bothe body and soule And of other conuenticles of which Erasmus speaketh in the which the mothers of theire owne accorde dyd gyue they re children to be kylled Erasmus in his treatise of the amiable cōcorde of the churche and with chearefull countenaunce dyd stand by and looke on whylst the slaughter was done beleuing verily that theire children so slayne sholde be numbred amōg the cheifest saintes in heauē Then the which thinge what may be sayde more horrible Besyde this there is no cause that I sholde speake muche of a certayne Preste takē in Suenia A Preste in Suethen which taught that the Christian fayth was now almoste at an end that seing the lawe of Moyses continued but a thowsand fyue hundred yeares that lawe of Christ lykewyse sholde indure no longer Husbandmen deceaued by an heretyke wherefore the tyme was now at hand that an other lawe an other faythe sholde be gyuen to men And of an other not farr from Wittenberdge which tolde the husband men that by such a certayne day by such an howre domes day shold be which the sely soules beleued so certaynely that they left of all their husbandry loking for that howre And after they had loked long in vayne they were in ieopardy to peryshe for hunger because whereas they had sowed nothyng there was nothing for them to reape And of the thyrd Dauid which in the towne called Embden renued the heresy of the Saduces where as he denyed bothe the resurrection of the fleshe the latter iudgemēt Aungelles Dyuelles Baptisme Matrimony Scriptures the kyngdome of heauē Lykewyse of that Apostata of Premonstre who taught that there was no hell Caluin holdeth that Christ did not descēd in to hell that Christ dyd not descend in to hell which opinion Caluin holdeth in his Institutions or Catechisme the holy Patriarches and Prophetes not to haue bene in hell Yea that Christ hym selffe because whē he sayde God my God why hast thou forsaken me semed to despere therfore was damned Could any man speake any greater blasphemy Moreouer I wyll not voutsaffe to speake of them which thinck it an horrible thing to call oure lady the mother of God in whome the heresie of Nestorius lately cōdemned in the councell of Ephesus semeth to be renued Nether wyll I make mencion of them which ten tymes in the day worshipp the dyuell and there of arre called demoniacalles Besyde these there be spronge oute of Luthers scole Ihon Campane and among the Spaniardes Myles Seruet who wrote certayne bokes of the erroures aboute the Trinitie very full of erroures and blasphemies In the which they go aboute to set a newe glas vpon the olde cankred erroures of Arrius Macedonius and to disanull that faythe which the father 's gathered in the Councell of Nece and Constantinople haue prescribed vs. For they defend ernestly that onlye God the father and none elles is to be worshipped and called vpon because he only seeth oure hart the which no creature can do And it is a precept of the olde Lawe that he sholde be kylled which worshippeth any other but God alone To the which God they say we haue none other intercessor procurator or mediator besyde oure only Lorde Iesu Christ What other thing ells semeth to be forbydden by these wordes then the adoration and inuocation of the sone of God and of the holy ghoste Marke I pray you what great wyckednes dyd spryng oute of Luther his small beginninges in to what a pickell they haue brought the worlde at laste Prestehode being taken away the sacrifice ouerturned the Sacramentes by all meanes troden vnder foote many are so farre growne oute of grace that they deny that there is any heauen any hell any Christ Who wolde euer haue thought that of so small begynnynges there shold haue proceded so many horrible blasphemies which we haue comprehended in fewe wordes But that is a trym saying Principijs obsta serò medicina paratur Cùm mala per long as inualuére moras Seke phisick at first t is to late at lengthe VVhen euelles by prolonging haue gotten theyr strengthe If the disease had bene healed when it began fyrst the Churche of God sholde not now be pintched with such panges These pestilent poysons of Seruetus be scattred farr and neare and I wolde to God most noble Prince that euen as other heresies which I haue recited for the most parte so this had not entred in to youre Kyngdome and dominions the which whereas in dede it is more wycked then all the other yet of all the heresies of oure tyme there is not one which is more bolstred with scriptures then this is For it cryeth all the day long nothing elles but the scripture scripture Ghospell Ghospell And see I pray you what a cōfidence this man had in his owne cōceyte Although Caluin had written bookes agaynst his errour yet durst he ventre to go to Geneua and conferre with him face to face Seruetus cōdemned and put to deathe by meanes of Caluin At the lengthe after long and sharpe disputation when he dyd stick styffly in his opinion he was cōdemned to dye which no doubt was done at the earnest sute and request of Caluine who immediately dyd set furthe a boke in which he declareth his doctrin and describeth the whole matter as it was done also he teacheth Timmanus a Lutheran teacheth that heretykes are to be punyshed that it standeth with ryght and reason that heritykes sholde be punished with the sworde The lyke of the whiche a certayne Pastor of Breme named Timmanus in his sum
A MOST EXCELLENT TREATISE OF THE begynnyng of heresyes in oure tyme compyled by the Reuerend Father in God STANISLAVS HOSIVS Byshop of Wormes in Prussia To the moste renomed Prynce Lorde Sigismund myghtie Kyng of Poole greate Duke of Luten and Russia Lorde and Heyre of all Prussia Masouia Samogitia c. Translated out of Laten in to Englyshe by Richard Shacklock M. of Arte and student of the Ciuil lawes and intituled by hym The hatchet of heresies Haereses ad suam originem reuocasse est refutasse Of heresies to shewe the spryng Is them vnto an end to bryng ¶ Imprinted at Antwerp by Aeg. Diest Anno. 1565. the .10 of August CVM PRIVILEGIO THE TRANSLATOVRE vpon the figure following Sathan the sower of synfull doctrine For pastyme of late dyd pepe oute of hell Being wery of whipping Luther and Caluine To see if his sedes dyd prosper here well And seing bigg trees which no man dyd fell To be sprong of his sedes for ioy he dyd spryng That with sounde of his chaines all hell he made ryng But when with more hede aboute he dyd loke Fixing his eye on Prussian grounde He sawe holy Hosius makyng this boke Myndyng all Sathans craftes to confounde An hater of heretykes which falsely expounde Gods worde which boke so sone as he spyde An hachet an hachet oh me he cryde An hachet I see in Hosius hand Wich felleth my trees which ells myght haue stand Then hauing so sayde byting his lypp He ran agayne Luther and Caluine to whypp INSIGNE FALSITATIS INSIGNE VERITATIS SATHAN RAYLING REBELLION BLODSHED ATHEISME LYES HOSIVS DE ORIGINE HERESIVM THE TRANSLATOVRE vpon the figure before going Who planted this tree which there is set oute Sathan the sower of syn withoute doute The rote is rayling but can you tell why Take away rayling and heretykes dy Sampson Humfrey Cole with others The body is rebellion wherefore can you tell For a cap they be redy their Prince to expell The braunces is blodshed knowe you the cause Thei wold kyl if thei could al without lawes But why with lyes arre so loden the leaues Ah heresie with lyes all the worlde deceaues The apples be atheisme what doth that meane Heresie remoueth religion cleane wherefore dothe Sathan so sowrely loke Oh he is angry at Hosius boke what meaneth the crosse which here you do carue The badge of truth which neuer doth swarue what meaneth the cock which here I do fynde The badge of heretykes which waue with the wynde But what doth the ape vnder the cock Signifieth heretykes which holy thinges mock ▪ TO THE MOSTE EXCELLENT AND GRATIOVSE Pryncesse Elyzabeth by the grace of God Quene of England Fraunce and Irelande defendoure of the faythe your moste humble and obedient subiect Richard Schacklock hartily wysheth all grace and peace from God with long reigne honour helth and prosperitie ALTHOVGHE my faythefull and obedient hart towarde your Royal Maiest moste souereigne gracyouse Lady be so well knowen to God and all good men that it may seme neadeles to declare any outwarde testimoniall of it yet because as S. Chrysostome sayth God wolde neuer haue made the mouthe if it had bene inough in hart to thynck well I could not at thys tyme content my conscience onles I dyd gyue an open and euident signification of my secret fidelitie loyaltie and humble obedience toward your most excellent Maiest The which because I was not able to wytnesse vnto the world ether by famouse feates of armes for lack of experience ether in bryngyng golden gyftes for lack of abilitie ether in writyng workes of nue inuention for fault peraduenture of learnyng and knowledge I thought I myght declare no small token of a true subiectes harte towarde your gracyouse hyghenes in trauaylyng to trāslate some godly worke of some worthy wryter and when I had translated it The education of oure noble Quene to dedicate it to youre excellent Maiestie specyally seing your hyghnes euen from your tender age hath bene trayned vp in the treasure howse of learnyng not so muche bewtyfyed with byllementes and precyouse pearles as garnyshed with maruaylouse gyftes of grace and godlynes and euen with the increase of yeares hathe had an increasyng desyre of true science and knowledge in so much that I here it reported credibly and beleue it verily that euery nyght callyng your selfe to an accompt accordyng to Pythagoras councell howe you haue spent the day if by reason of consulting and caryng for youre common wealth any day scape withoute learnyng of one lesson oute of some godly authour you be wont to saye vnto them which be aboute youre noble grace Frendes this day haue I loste A golden sentence of our excellēt Quene for I haue learned neuer a lesson O sentence worthy to be pronounced of so excellent a Prynce O saying worthie to be translated in to all languages and to be written in letters of golde Truly moste noble Quene thys one saying The cause of our Englyshe Louanians wrytinges dothe encorage many of your graces faythfull and learned subiectes on this syde of the sea to wrytyng some to make nue workes neuer sene before some to translate bokes which haue bene made of other Some to wryte in Latē some in Englyshe some in verse and other some in prose All whose diligence and studye intendeth nothyng lesse then to wryte one worde wyllingly whiche myght displease youre Maiestie which may sowe any sedes of sedition A differēce betwene the wryting of the Catholikes now the heretykes in Q. Maries dayes loke knokes his bokes and others which may disquyet the peace of oure natyue countrie as in your graces deare systers dayes dyuerse sedityouse sectaryes dyd but only to further and to preferre as muche as is possible thys pryncely desyre of knowing the truthe which we heare with greate ioy to be reported of youre Maiestie This is the cause most redoubted Princesse why I am bold to present this my translacyon vnto your noble grace Not that I dyd thynk any such lack of Latten to be in your grace that your grace could not vnderstād it in the tounge in the which the fyrst author dyd wryte it for God hathe made youre grace as it were hys treasure howse of tounges youre fame florysheth for the Frenche your renome spreadeth farre for the Italian your glory glystreth for the Greke and many other laudable languages but that The cause of dedicatyng thys booke in Englishe to oure reedoubted Quene for as much as I haue learned by experyence that no man is so wel indued with the knowledge of forren tonges but when a matter of greate importaunce is tolde hym the truthe of the which he is desyrouse to knowe certaynly and to the which he is mynded to make an aunswer wysely had rather haue it declared in his natural and mother tonge be it neuer so barbarouse then in a straunge language be it neuer so eloquēt I thought that this boke
man sholde be so hardy to make any innouation in Religion that he sholde be accompted as a breaker of common peace and sholde be punished after the same sorte as an ennimie of his countrie is wont to be Nowe and please youre grace do not these thynges differ as muche as chalcke and chese from those thinges which Vergerius dothe tell VVho also blushed not to coyne this lye in his Epistle An other lye of Vergerius when that a reformation sholde be made of certayne abuses which be brought in to the Churche that some certaynelye dyd reporte that the peares of the Realme dyd denye that thing to appartayne to the knowledge and determination of the Byshopp of Rome and other Byshoppes whereas by the decree of the Parlementes which aboue to yeares agone were holden at Petricouia a messenger was sent of youre grace to the Pope which not only as it is the accustomed manner of Catholyke Kynges and Princes sholde promisse that you wolde allway be vnder his autoritie but also sholde desyre hym to send an Embassadoure by whose autoritie those hurleburleis might be appeased which were raysed vp in youre Realme aboute Religion Of decreing whiche Embassage the cheife in the Senate was the noble man Ihon Earle of Tarnow moste famouse for many noble feates done bothe in warre and peace A saying worthye for a Senatoure with greate prayse and prosperouse successe which also dyd not styck to say that which a Catholyke Senatoure ought for to say that if any chaunge were brought in of any customes what so euer they were withoute cōsent of the holy Apostolyke sea it wolde come to passe that oure Realme sholde run in infamye of Schisme and of wycked diuision Therefore seing this message vnto the Pope was decreed no more of youre graces pleasure then of the agreable consent of youre whole Councell the which this man who is so curiouse in a forren Common wealthe coulde not but knowe what a brasen browe hathe he that he dare wryte that the Peares denyed the amendment of abuses and erroures to appertayne to the knowledge of the Byshoppe of Rome and other Byshoppes VVhy wolde they so ernestly haue desyred an Embassadoure to be sent from the See Apostolyke if they had thought that it had nothing to doo with suche thynges Vergerius his rayling on the Pope But nowe as concerning that reproche with the which he calleth the Pope and Byshoppes ennimies of the truthe whome it is no doubt to be and euer to haue bene the defendours and patrones of the truthe dyd it not procede from the open ennimie of the truthe But howe many more bokes of hys I dyd reade wrytten very impudentlye so muche the more I dyd perceaue that he was all together patched and clouted of guyle decepte and lyes Vergerius howe he was a banyshed mā of Iesus Christ who neuer semeth to haue spoken a truer worde then when he calleth hymselffe a banished man of Iesu Christ forsomuche as synce the tyme he translated hym selffe vnto an other Gospell and cutte hym selffe of from the body of Christ he hathe left of to be a citezin and howseholde seruaunt of God and made an aliaunt from Christ he hathe bequethed hym selffe to the powre of the dyuell with whose spyrit for so muche as he is guyded he can not chose but vtter suche thinges as he dothe Nether can it be false whiche the truthe dothe say Howe can you speake good thinges when you youre selues be euell He semeth to be of theire number whome S. Ihon calleth Antichristes of whome he sayth They haue gone oute from vs but they were not of vs for if they had bene of vs they wolde surely haue remayned with vs. For this man was once in the body of Christ How euell men be in the church of Christ as euell humoures be in the bodye of man the which when thei be purged the body is lyghtned euen so this fellowe after he once departed the body of Christ the Churche was muche eased in so muche that it is to be reioysed that suche an one went oute of it For he was not cut from the fleshe of Christ of the whiche he was neuer a member but only he leaned heauily on his brest so long as he was in the body so that great lyghtnes and easement of Christ his body is followed after that this euell humoure is gone oute of it We truly arre well contented that suche be called to the defence of this fift nue gotten Gospell that it may be as saythe the Prouerb Dignū patella operculum A mete couer for suche a cup. But nowe I haue spoken inoughe as concerning the man and that otherwyse then I dyd propose Nowe brefely youre grace shall heare the causes which moued me to bend my selffe to confute with my contrary writynges these bokes of Brentius which Vergerius dothe sette so muche by The causes mouing Hosius to write agaynst Brentius I toke it very heauely when I dyd see that man whiche not only for hys learnyng and godly lyuing but also for that autoritie which he dyd beare ought to be had in greate reuerence of all men shold be so prouoked as it were to a combate of suche a tryfelyng fellowe But that dyd nypp me nearer the hart that the saucy face syr durst presume to wryte to you of suche a matter to make youre grace hys iudge to dedicate this Brentian booke to you a Christian and truly taught kyng The which thyng when I perceaued to be interprised of other heretykes diuerse tymes that they brought you in to an euel name by dedicating theire workes vnto you and wolde rayse a suspition of youre grace as who saye that you were of one mynde with them which desyre Christian Religion ether to be chaunged or ells to be cleane rased I was trobled in mynde that the Catholykes dyd not bestowe lyke laboure and studye in remouyng that suspition whiche these peruerse persones dyd go aboute to bryng you into For althoughe you so behaue your selffe in defendyng and mayntaynyng that Catholyke and true Religion which you haue receaued of your auncetours that you be nothyng to be suspected of suche a cryme yet notwithstandyng for so muche as they whiche knowe you not and see bookes stuffed with all kynde of wyckednes to be dedicated to you and as it is the manner of this fyft Gospell do here false rumours to be reported of youre maiestie occasion is gyuen them to thynk and suspect the wurste Which thing howe muche grefe it is wont to graft in my hart it passeth the common credit of all men For it behoueth youre so excellent Maiestye not only to be withowte fault but also to be farre from all suspition of fault Therefore I haue taken willingly vpon me thys trauayle that I might delyuer you of thys suspitiō and that I myght wytnesse it to the whole worlde that you allway haue purely and vndefyledly defended the Catholyke Religion
and oute of ordre So much dyd he disdayne that any thing shold be set vp or pulled downe of any man a lyue except he had fyrst gyuen oute a coÌ„mission that so it sholde be Luther most gredie of glorie The gentleman was so gredy of glory that he might well syng this verse which dyd become his ambitiouse ielosie Riualem possum non ego ferre Iouem I think greate skorne that God above Sholde fansie the thing which I do love He dyd wryte .ij. bokes against the heavenly Prophetes in one of the whiche he warneth those preachers to be forbidden the benefytes of water and fyar Luther a sore ennimie to image breakers whiche persuade the people to throwe downe images or at the least he willeth so to nypp them in the heades some other way that they presume no more so to prate because after the destruction of images commonly followeth the destruction slaughter of men Good Sirs sayth he the pulling downe of images is not the mark which the dyvell shoteth at but to make hym selffe a muse to start in and oute at to shed blode to make one man cut an others throte The spiryt of imagehaters is not good for it breathes murders and vprores although it beareth a fayre face for a whyle tyll suche tyme as it spyeth any advauntage Thus Luther and Carolstadius dyd burne with deadly displeasure one against the other they dyd rayle so spytefully one against the other that they semed wurse then heretikes one to the other And this was not the least cause of their enimitie contention that bothe dyd chalaunge this prayse vnto him selff for bringing fyrst vnto light the true knowledge of the Ghospell But it is knowen well inoughe Carolstad the fyrst marryed preste in Germany that Carolstadius was the fyrst Preste that euer marryed a wife in Germany and enterprysed those thinges which I made rehersall of a littell before for which cause he thought the prayse of fynding oute the true light of the Ghospell to be only due vnto him But when he perceaued the more accoumpt was made of Luther who in dede passed him farre in wytte learninge and vtteraunce to the intent he might make hys name ryng among hys posteritie he thought it good to coyne some newe conceited doctrine which being suche as Luther had never medled with all he sholde not presume to any part of the prayse which he had newly inuented Luthers doctrine was an occasion of the SacrameÌ„taries sect To the vttering abroade of which doctrine it is playne that Luthers bokes dyd offer occasion who as Calvine dothe recorde wryting against transsubstantiatioÌ„ semed to sounde a larum to rayse vp the heresie of the Sacramentaries For Luther dyd teache that after Consecration there remayned in the Sacrament the substaunce of brade and wyne Caluin in the. 2. defeÌ„ce agaynst Ihon west which some dyd so vnderstand as thoughe Luther had taught that Christ whome the Scriptures wytnesse to haue bene incarnat that is to haue taken vpoÌ„ him oure fleshe had bene in the Sacrament impanate that is taken vpon him bread whome also it shold be idololatrie for any man to worshyp in the Sacrament onles he dyd coÌ„municate As who shold say that the body of Christ were not made in the SacrameÌ„t with the worde of Christ but with oure receaueing and that there coulde not be suche vertue in Christ his wordes to make his bodye there onlesse it were put to oure mouthe What is this ells but to falsifye the wordes of the Scripture and in stede of that which Christ sayde This is my body to say this shall be my body when it shall be receaued But in very dede it is aboue .xx. yeares agone since Luther being as it were caught with Buchers wyly lyme twigges dyd agree vnto this his opinion for Bucer by no meanes wolde be persuaded to confesse the bodie and blood of Christ to be in the SacrameÌ„t substantially onles Luther wolde lykewyse yelde thus muche to him that the body the blood of oure Lorde is not there onles it be receaued as Ruard Tapper a man of excellent learning expounding the tenth article of Louayne dothe wytnesse in his wrytinges Luther beguyled of Bucer became a SacrameÌ„tarie Thus Luther invegled with Bucers baytes whylst he intended to make Bucer holde of his syde he hym selffe becam a Sacramentary For there is nothing which doth more strenghthen the SacrameÌ„taries heresye then this opinion of Bucer which Luther consented to of the which thing Ihon Caluine dothe make his boste in diuerse places Thus farr had Luther marched at that tyme. but as yet he had not taken oute his lesson so farr in his Christ curse rewe that he durst deny the presence of Christ his body and bloode in the Sacrament The fyrst which had the face to deny it in oure dayes Carolstad fyrst presumed to denye the presence of Christ in the sacrament MelancthoÌ„ to Friderike Miconiê° was Andrewe Carolstad to whome Philipp Melancthon wryting of this matter gyueth this commendation Carolstade sayth he hathe stirred vp these coles a sauage man voyde of wyt withoute learnyng lackyng hys common sence whome as yet we neuer could perceaue to vnderstande or practise any poynt of ciuilitie so farre of is it that we could beleue any reuelation to be made to hym by the holy ghoste Of whome also he thus wryteth in an other place Euen as Luther dyd in spyte of the Pope Of oure Lorde his supper agaynst the Anabaptistes so lykewyse Carolstade in spyte of Luther not for any zeale or loue of godlynes raysed vp this controuersy of the supper of oure Lorde And he bryngeth in there a worthy sentence which wold to God he dyd hartily fauoure In my iudgement sayth he it is greate folly to plant any new opinioÌ„s withoute conference consent of the auncient churche Notwithstanding that this fellowe is so paynted oute in his ryght coloures of MelancthoÌ„ yet hathe he so many to take his parte in defending this his dyuellishe doctrine that nowe you may fynde mo Sacramentaries then Lutherans and among them many of excellent learning and singular grace of vtteraunce whiche couet rather to be counted CarolstadiaÌ„s then Lutherans Therefore agaynst thys kynde of herisye he dyd set oute many bokes in one of the which intituled agaynst Zwinglius Oecolampadius and other new Wicleffistes he is meruaylouse hotte agaynst this sort of sectaries and wryteth that they haue digged themselues thorow the scripture allmost ten shyftyng wayes starting holes And that he neuer hathe readen of a more fylthie heresye theÌ„ it is which had euen at the fyrst syght so many heades so many sutes of sectes althoughe in the principal poynte that is in tearying and tormoyling Christ they agree together lyke lambes In that boke which he named That these wordes of Christ stand styll in theire full force This is my body he reciteth seauen and in the treatise which a lyttell
knowledge he confesseth to be kept secret from his soule doest not thou feare least those wordes be spoken to the which once were spoken to the Pharisies whome Christ called paynted sepulchers Matth. 23. Luc. 16. You be they sayth he which iustifye youre selues before men but God knoweth youre hartes for that which is commendable in mennes eyes is abhominable before God And there can be no greater abomination in the syght of God then this so greate presumption of heretykes The first obiection makyng for speciall faythe is soluted But some man peraduenture wyll say why then do you forbyd me to beleue the remission of synnes which we professe in oure crede God forbyd Yea I byd you beleue constantly and to make youre accompt certaynlye that there is remission of synnes in the Churche and that Christ hathe sufficiently deserued thys forgyuenes for me for the for the traytoure Iudas for all men in the worlde 1. Ioan. 2. 1. Cor. 5. yea to them which arre nowe or here after shall be damned in hell who hangyng on the crosse is made a propiciation for oure synnes and not for oure synnes only but also for the synnes of the whole worlde who by his deathe hath reconcyled vs to hys father But that thou sholdest beleue that al men be partakers of this pardon or that all do pleade possession in heauen at thys present or that all men shall inheryt it in the worlde to come not I Heb. 2. but the scripture doth forbydde the to beleue He tasted of the sower cupp of deathe for us all but all men do not endeuoure to applye the benefite of hys deathe vnto them he was a cause meanes of saluation to all men but the scripture addeth to all Heb. 5. which were and wolde be obedient vnto him He dyd set the dore of euerlastyng lyff wyde open to all men but Christ putteth this condition If they shall kepe the commaundimentes If any man refuse to obey him if any man shall not kepe his lawes if any man shall not continue with him vnto the end he which putteth no doubt but suche a man is neuer the lesse sure to be saued what doth he but deny the sentence of the Ghospel which shall be pronounced vpon them which are set on the left hand among the goates auoyde hence from me you cursed caytyfes in to euerlasting fyar which is prepared for the dyuel and his aungelles So then Matth. 25. to teache that it is necessary for euery man to the attayning of saluation to beleue certaynely to feare nothing that his syn-be forgyuen him for Christ his sake that he is God almyghtyes deare darlyng that without question he is one of the heires apparant to the crowne of glory is nothing ells then to teache that there be no paynes of hell prepared for the wycked who doubtles as euerye Christian man beleueth shall taste of terrible tormentes not by Christ his default as who shold say that his death and bytter passion auayled littell to the sauing of theyr soules but by theyr owne naughty negligence whiche laboured not by worthy workes of repentaunce to applye the vertue of Christ his death and passion to them selues Wherfore if I be not bounde to beleue that all men haue they re synnes forgyuen them if I be not boūde to beleue so of this man or that man then truly am not I bounde to beleue so of my selffe onles it be specially reueled to me of God Here wyll these heretykes replye you do so reason with vs The secōd obiection as thoughe we encoraged them whiche styll ly wallowing in they re wickednes to beleue that they be in the fauoure of God whereas we only speake of them which be conuerted I assure you I dyd shoote at thys marke I longed to make you confesse so muche Well then you graunt that there is some thyng in vs which may bolden harten vs to beleue certaynly and assuredly that is if we be auerted from oure synnes and conuerted to God But I pray you Sirs what if one some in his owne fansie to be conuerted which is not cōuerted in dede As for an example A peruerse Lutheran thinketh hym selff to be a cōuerted man a more peruerse Zuinglian taketh hym seffe to a conuerted man the moste peruerted of all the Anabaptiste either Seruetus either Suenckfeldius or any other most pestilent heretyke doth esteme hym selff to be a cōuerted man wil you therfore warrāt hym to be in God his fauoure lyke as none be more puffed vp with a proud conceyte of learning then they which haue least learning of all in so muche that without cause it is not vsed in a prouerb which Chucidides wryteth Tuc. in his secōd boke of the warre of Peloponnesus Ignoraunce bredeth boldnes but knowledge causeth one to doubt and feare the wurst so it is often sene that such do certaynely stedfastly beleue that they be conuerted when in dede they be most shamfully peruerted The wyse man perceaued thys when he sayde there be wycked men so careles and voyde of all feare Eccle. 5. as if they lyued as vprightly as the most perfect men whilst Saule thundered threatnynges agaynst the disciples of oure Lorde Actes 9. and mynded to murder them and throughe ignoraunce plaged the churche of God dyd not he seme thyncke you in hys owne conceyte to burne with a certayne syngular zeale of Godlynes dyd not hys mynde gyue hym that he sought after God with all hys harte Philip. 3. And that he dyd hym hyghe seruyce in makyng hauock of the Christians for so muche as what so euer he dyd in that case he dyd yt of emulation because he was a meruaylouse precise follower of the tradytions of hys forefathers Gala. 2. He had therefore a zeale and was hotte of the spyryt but not accordyng to knowledge and therefore he obtayned mercye Rom. 10. bycause he knewe not what he dyd Therefore that ys true whiche the wyse man wryteth 1. Tim. 01. there is a way which at the begynnynge semeth as yt woulde leade a man to lyfe Pro. 14. but the end of it draweth hym to deathe and destruction And in an other place Euery man demeth the way where in he walketh to be ryght strayght but God weyeth they re hartes But lett infydeles and heretykes go Pro. 21. althoughe the Zuinglians and the Anabaptistes thynke not them selues so greate heretykes as the Lutherans be Let vs nowe speake of Catholykes Yea among them you may fynde which think them selues to be cōuerted when in dede they be not Salomon hath a notable sayng who can say truly my hart is cleane I am not spotted with syn Pro. 20. in many fautes we displease God all the sorte of vs. And al be it we were conuerted to God with all oure hart yet ought we not certaynely to warrant oure selffe but fixing oure faythe in God his mercye leue
that which is vnperfect to the holy scripture that which is perfect to the reuelations of the spyrit to which reuelations so sone as we haue attayned that which is vnperfect that is to say the preaching vse of the scripture they lyke dreaming doctours do think ougt to be cleane abolished To this purpose they strech that place of S. Peter on the laste althoughe in very dede it is contrary to this theire inspiration where he warneth vs to gyue hede to propheticall speache 2. Pet. 1. as to a bright burning candell in a darke place tyll suche tyme as the daye starr doth ryse in oure hartes They take the illusions of Sathan for the lightning of the holy Ghoste and for the morning starre which so sone as it is rysen then is there no more nede of the candell of propheticall speakyng They alleadge also those scriptures which Luther also vouched for the confirmation of his erroure in his boke of abrogating the Masse Heb. 8. Hier. 31. No man shall teache his neighboure or his brother Iacob 3. saying Knowe oure Lorde For all shall knowe me froÌ„ the leaste to the moste of them Matth. 23 There shall not be many masters among you for you haue one Master in heaueÌ„ 1. Ioan. 2. You neade not that any man sholde teache you his anoynting teacheth you Therefore they commaund men to run to this Master for succoure that they may be taught of hym not of the deade scripture or of men Suencfelde fynished that Ghospell which Sathan began by Luther Behold most godly Prince to what issue they haue brought the matter After that by the example of Luther euery man toke it to be lawfull for hym to go from the assent and consent of the whole Churche and to expounde the scriptures after hys owne brayne that what so euer he imagined sholde be receaued as the worde of God it cam to this poynte at the laste that by the autoritie of the scriptures they went aboute to make the scriptures of no autoritye and men were thaught to gyue more credit to dreames and reuelations then to the scriptures Luther toke away outewarde prestehode and the sacrament thereto belongyng when Suenckfeldius perceaued that he did this not only withoute controlemeÌ„t but also that his doing was allowed and approued of many he lykewise toke away the externall minystery of the worde by the same authoritie that Luther toke away the sacrifice For why shold Luthers authoritie be stronger then Suenckfeldius his seyng this man hath mo scriptures on his syde then he For no scripture hath gyuen contrary coÌ„maundiment that mo shold offer sacrifice but that there shold be mo maysters then one it hathe openly bene forbydden in mo places then one For seing we haue one Mayster in heauen his honoure semeth to be defaced his dignitie semeth to be diminished if any other be herd besyde hym as who wold saye that he is not fyt inoughe to teache vs as thoughe there were such lack of abilitie in hym that he coulde not performe so muche withoute the help and ministery of man So nowe the Ghospell which Sathan hathe begone by Luther he hath fynished by Suenckfeldiê that after prestehod is takeÌ„ away after the sacrifice is dispatched after that all holy thinges be brought in to vtter contempt we may see also the outewarde ministery of the worde to be taken from vs the Canonicall scriptures to be so stryped of all they re dignitie that we be charged not to beleue them that the scripture is not the worde of God but only a deade letter which is to be reputed among other creatures to the which to be wedded to muche is not the parte of a Christian man Nether is this Suenckfeldius an oute cast or rascal For Philipp saythe he is an hundred handed captayne that he hathe souldiours in euerye place which in his name do not onlye spred libelles abroade but also stirr vp seditions This pestilent heresye of Suenckfeldius rageth not onlye ouer all Germany but also ouer all Heluetia there is an huge number of them which boaste themselues that they haue this inspiration so that in many greate Cities by hearesay Mo SuenckfeldiaÌ„s theÌ„ Lutherans or Zuinglians you may fynde of the coÌ„mon sorte mo Suenckfeldians then ether Lutherans or ZuingliaÌ„s To say the truthe I knowe not the man nether haue I sene his bokes but when I went on youre Maiesties Embassage to the moste Christian Emperoure and very Catholyke King Charles the fyft of certayne graue persones such as were worthy of al credyt I heard the contrary of that to be affirmed of Suenckfeldius whiche Erasmus Roterodamê once dyd wryte of them whiche falsely vaunt them selues to be Euangelicall men Suenckfeldians meruailouse holy to se to that he knewe none of them which ioyned them selues to their company and coÌ„gregation but he proued much wurse then he was before but how many so euer embrased Suenckfeldiê doctrine it was tolde me that they were sodenly chaunged as thoughe they had bene inspyred by the holy Ghost that they dyd put of olde Adam and put on new Christ that afterwarde they walked no more after the flesh but after the spyrit so that al men myght see that they had crucified theyr fleshe with theyr synnes and concupiscences Here many we see how Sathan many tymes iuggleth him selff in to an Aungell of lyght that by a coloure of holynes he may deceaue the simple people Euen as fowlers do set certayne intising baytes to the intent they may take the byrdes with shewing them deyntie and lykersom meates Holynes of heretykes is the diuell his pytfall to catche soules Origenes so is there a certayne holynes of the dyuell that is a trap or pytfall of man his soule by the which he may with a more subtyll sleyght inuegle snare men with false and forged wordes Euen as Origenes expoundyng Ezechiel more at lardge doth declare Suche pretensed holynes was to be sene in tyme past in the Psalbanes Euchites Anthropomorphites Ebionites Tacians and other heretykes of the same sorte the lyke of the whiche is also to be sene in the Pycardes and the Suenckfeldians which is none other thing as that moste learned man Origenes dothe saye then a certayne trap priuily set and layde for man his sowle by the deceate crafty conueyaunce of the Dyuell A conclusion of the fourth new Gosballes Now haue you foure Ghospells but not according to Mathewe Luke and Ihon but after Luther Zuinglius Muncerus and Swenkfeldius These be straunge names but theire Ghospells be more straunge which you may rather call Goosebelles then Ghospells for so muche as they haue brought in with them the matter of al mischefe not proceding from Christ but from the dyuell the author and founder of them for which cause they chose rather to be called Ghospellers then Christians for that theyr conscience telleth them that they haue nothing to do with
groweth losse and incōuenience for that men do learne by lyttell lyttell to disobey Magistrates Therefore to chaunge old lawes for newe shall be no thing elles but all to gether to weakē the lawes to inure men to chaunge thinges of greater weyght and importaunce whē those thinges which shall appeare very tryfles shall be causes of moste greate calamities and miseries The which thing experience hath taught in the chaūges begone of Luther what wyndowes are made for this Sathanisme whiche nowe we see in Germany Therfore it behoued hym fyrst to haue complayned on them manfullye to haue withstode them A defence of Melancthō against Illiricus And there was no cause M. Flaccus why vnmyndefull of youre dutie you sholde so dispytefully and slaunderously intreate youre Master who had deserued so well at youre handes because he when he sawe it neadefull dyd all hys indeuoure to bryng order disciplyne in to the churche bothe which thinges Luther had taken away to the intent that men might retyre againe to that perfect pathe from the which they had erred and gone a stray This was a good meaning of a mā not of the wurst sort who neuer lyked the chaūges brought in by Luther Frō whose tyranny that he was at laste delyuered he semeth to reioyse seyng wryting to Carlouitius he graunteth that he had bene his filthie bond slaue And I cā not but prayse youre stedfastnes in Religion most godly Prince that when diuerse were suetors to youre grace that you wolde be content The constauncie godlynes of Kyng of Pole that there sholde be an alteration in thinges as some men thought indifferēt you could be persuaded by no meanes to do it least you myght seme to gyue a token of youre going backward frō the Christian religion left vnto you of youre forefathers and of youre bending forwarde to Sathanisme which you see at this present floryshe in many places of Germany and to begin to budd more is the pitie in diuerse partes of youre Realme The thinges which were requested may seme to some man to be of lesser importaunce then that anye man sholde styck to graunte the takyng away of them How peril louse it is to swarne from olde religion in small matters but put the case there were no faute in cutting of those thinges yet in cutting of a man 's his owne selffe from all the rest of Christendome is suche a greate trespasse that al other synnes compared to it seme but a more weyghing in balaunce with a myll poste And this is the thing which many seke for for they desire diuision in men and not in suche thinges as they know well inoughe pertayne nothing to soule healthe This Vergerius hym selffe confesseth in certayne brefe cōmentaries By what degrees Sathanisme dyd infect all Germany which he naughty man as he was dyd write vpon the Pope his Epistle to the kyng hys councelloures Flaccus wryteth very well that these deceaptes be all to gether lyke a wedge which at the poynte is very thynne and being dryuen in to the woode maketh no greate cleft or ryft but yet for al that thoughe the forepart of it be small yet it maketh way for the thycker parte of the wedge so that when that parte is entred in necessarily the other partes shall followe vntyll suche tyme as the wode be quite clouē We see howe Sathan hathe wrought these craftes in Germany The first riuing parte of this wedge was the striuing aboute pardones The second part was somewhat thicker when the layetie had leaue to receaue vnder bothe kyndes when it was graunted that Prestes might haue wyues The middell part was the allowaunce of the confession of Augusta The laste parte was this vniuersall sathanisme of which I haue spokē before with the which all Christendome is so clouen that except God wyll loke vpon vs with the eyes of his mercye it can not easyly be recouered with any remedie Wherefore you dyd bothe wysely and godlyly o moste worthy Prince in that you haue taken hether to diligent hede to youre selffe and youre Realme of this tearyng wedge of the which also here after you must so muche beware howe muche the saffetie of youre selffe and youre countrie is deare vnto you Nowe then by Flaccus rekonyng we haue three or .iiij. sectes of Lutherans Other sectes of Lutherans For he saythe that the Interimistes or Tyme takers of Lipsiabe of two sortes one patched pesed of others the second made of it selffe There must be then .iij. Disorders of Interimistes and one disorder of Adiaphoristes all whose familiaritye Flaccus hathe forbidden all godly Christians The fourth sect is not aboute Adiaphorical or indifferent thinges but cōcerning weyghtye ernest matters For there were certayne at Wittēberdge almost twenty yeares past which as they were taught by Luther dyd reiect that lawe of workes Against whome he inueyed in many disputations and called them in dispite Antinomos Antinomi that is men contrary to lawe The sixt sect is of the Confessionistes of Augusta who not for wearing of a surplesse Linea vestis for whiche cause Flaccus styrred vp suche coles the which he saythe was the first parte of the myserable wedge but aboute the cheife poynte of Christian religion Luther in a boke intytuled operetiones in Psalm aboute that which Luther thinketh to be the head poynte of all Euangelical doctryne on that which hangeth as he sayth the knowledge of hym selffe the knowledge and glory of God which he thinketh to be the opinion of free wyll of the which he euer taught Luther denyeth free will that it only suffereth and neuer dothe any thing that it is a thing of a bare name or ells a fayned matter in thinges or a title withoute a thing because it is in no man hys powre to thinck either good or euell but as Wycliff his article condemned at Constance teacheth all thinges come to passe of necessitie So it is no doubt sayth he this name free wyll to haue come in to the churche from the Master thereof Sathan to seduce men from the way of God in to theire owne wayes euell workes sayth he God worketh in the euell men To which doctryn also Philipp Melancthon dyd subscribe in those cōmon places which he dyd set oute at Wittenberdge Melancthō how arrogantly he at the first denied free wyll when he was but one twenty yeares of age not withoute a certayne youthely arrogancie in no wyse to be borne with all For he durst take vpon hym to gyue hys censure vpō the holy Doctoures Augustine sayth he and Bernard dyd wryte of free wyll Augustine truly dyd recant diuerse tymes in his last bokes written agaynst the Pelagians his opinion of free wyll As for Bernard often tyme he turneth the cat in the pan The Greke Doctoures dyd wryte somthing of this matter but oute of order I for so muche as I followe not the opinions of men
commaundeth them which be not baptized to kepe this lawe and in an other place afterwarde this sentence of free wyll hath no inconuenience in it it is the true meanyng both of other Ecclesiastical wryters and Synodes also of S. Augustyne hym selffe nether dothe it bryng good myndes to desperation nether dothe it discourage them from doyng they re indeuoure but it aduaunceth the helpe of the holy ghoste and sharpneth the care and the diligeÌ„ce of oure wyll I defye the dotyng dreames of the Maniches which denyed that oure wyll dyd any thing at all thoughe it were holpeÌ„ of the holy ghoste as thoughe there were no difference betwene a paynted poste and oure wyll He wryteth also that three causes of a good action do mete to gether the worde of God the holy ghost and man his wyll assenting and not resisting the worde of God For it may resist as Saule resisted of his owne accorde but when the mynde obeyeth and yeldeth then doth it not gyue place to mistrust but by the helpe of the holy ghoste it indeuoureth it selffe to coÌ„sent in this indeuouryng oure wyll standeth not by ydely lokyng on And agayne with in a few wordes after I haue sene many not of the Epicures sect which when they were in heauynes for theire syn disputed thus with themselues howe sholde I hope that I am receaued agayne in to God hys fauoure seing I perceaue not a nue lyght nue vertues to be powred in to me More ouer if my free wyll dothe nothing at all in the meane whyle tyll I fele that regeneration which you speake of to be wrought in me I wyll gyue my selffe vp to desperation and other synfull affections This imagination of the Maniches is an horrible lye If this opinion of MelancthoÌ„ be true why was one not long agone expulsed out of Trinitie Colledge in Cambrige and wrytten in the Regestre booke for a semipelagian and mennes myndes are to be dissuaded from this erroure to be taught that oure free wyll worketh and endeuoureth Pharao Saul resisted God not compelled but wyllingly frely nether was Dauid conuerted as if so be a stone sholde be turned in to a figg but free wyll dyd some thing in Dauid when he heard the rebuke and the promisse then willinglye and frely he confessed his syn and his wyll dyd some thing when he comforted hym selffe with these wordes Oure Lorde hath taken away thy syn And agayne a fewe wordes after For so muche as God hys promisse is generall to all men in God be no contradictorye wylles of necessitye there is some cause of diuersitie in vs why Saul is reiected and Dauid accepted that is as muche to saye there muste nedes be some vnlyke action in bothe of them And in the chapter afore going which is of the cause of syn of casualtie he sayth thus This is a godly and a true saying to be holdeÌ„ fast with bothe handes or rather to be prynted in oure hart the God is not a cause of syn and that he wolde not haue syn committed that he inforceth not oure wylles to syn or that he approueth syn But the causes of syn be the wyll of the Dyuell and the wyll of man who myght abuse his wyll and turne hym selffe from God whiche thinges he dothe there intreate vpon more at large MelancthoÌ„ declareth playnelye that he had bene a Maniche By the which euery man may see howe Philip MelancthoÌ„ recanteth what so euer he wrote of free wyll in his common places condemning also with his owne his Master Luthers opynion as wycked and agreing with the Manichees heresie which thing he also dothe in mo wordes in hys Epitome of morall Philosophy which he dyd sette furthe at Straesbroughe in the yeare of oure Lorde 1538. where he lykewyse rebuketh those busye braines which styrr vp many stryffes aboute free wyll the folishe ymaginations of Valla who taketh away all libertie from oure wyll because God ruleth gouerneth all thinges More ouer in his later commentaries vpon the epistle of Saint Paule to the Romanes he caused those thynges to be scraped oute which he wrote when he was one and twenty yeare olde that euell workes were as wel the proper workes of God as the adultery of Dauid and that the trayterdome of Iudas was as well the proper worke of God as the vocation of Paule Also expounding that place God gaue them vp to the lustes of theire owne hartes God saythe he nether willeth nether alloweth nether worketh syn And because the same Philipp was the autor of the confession of Augusta thys also forsoke Luthers opinion concerning the article of free wyll the which for all that he helde so styffly to the end of his lyffe that he offred hym selffe rather to dye then that he wold reuoke it In the which what greate confidence he dyd put he playnelye declared bothe in the beginning as a lyttell before I haue shewed and in the end of that boke which he dyd wryte agaynst Erasmê For allmoste at the end he thus speaketh vnto him In this I highely coÌ„mend you that you olone aboue all other haue sett vpon the matter it selffe that is the cheife poynte and grounde of all oure coÌ„trouersie and that you haue not weried me with by questions of the papacie pardones purgatory and suche other tryfles rather theÌ„ causes in the which other haue hetherto bayted and hunted me all in vayne You therefore and none other haue espyed the pythe of the matter and haue lept lustely at my throte Therefore Philipp with his fellowes which be of the confession of Augusta durst sequester hym selffe from hys master Luther in openly disagreing from hym aboute that which is the cheife hinging of all matters in coÌ„trouersye In doing of which thyng what dyd he ells but condemne him of wyckednes and heresie The doctrine of Luth. is founded vpon the denying of free wille And in very dede the cheife fondation on which the whole buylding of Luthers learnyng is stayed is the opinioÌ„ of free wil which can not synck or fall downe but euen at the same tyme all those thinges must decaye and come to ruine whiche he dyd wryte especially of iustification and of other thinges thereto belongyng Caluin as yet defendeth the opinion of Luther in this behalffe Pericope a circuÌ„cision or paring of and standeth styfflye in it And Brentius dothe seme not vtterly to disproue it in his fyrst pericope which he dyd wryte agaynst the Reuerend learned maÌ„ named Petrus a Soto I haue sene also a booke of a certayne Frenshe man in the which he sharpely handleth his M. Melancthon for that he swarueth from his M. Luther in suche a weyghtye matter In the which boke he also layeth to hys charge that he croweth lyke one of Caluine his cockrells Nowe then we haue six heades of thys Lutheran monster of the which the six is a heade in dede For it concerneth the cheife ground of religion
wolde haue men beleue that to be the worde of God which he dyd teache and not that which Philipp dyd teache seing he toke himselffe to be as good in euery poynte as Philip So that there was no cause why hys saying sholde not as well be receaued for the worde of God as Philip his saying Especially seing Philip as in many other thinges Tuentie opinions of the confessionistes cōcerning iustification so in the docttyne of iustification was neuer stayde in one opinion He sayth that there be twentie diuerse opinions of Melancthon concernyng this one artcle and he reciteth fouretene sundrie opinions of his scollers in that boke which he dyd wryte agaynst one Niericorar For saythe he so sone as they spied one place of scripture in the which there was any mention of Iustice by by of it they made a newe Iustice For an example one did reade Abraham beleued it was imputed to hym for ryghteousnes by and by he gathered oute of this one place .ij. kyndes of righteousnes one of this worde beleued so that he sayde that faythe was oure Iustice an other of the worde was imputed so that he sayde that God dyd impute his iustice to vs to accoumpt vs iuste all thoughe we were not and that this was oure ryghteousnes An other dyd reade we be iustified by his blood strayght way he gathered that the pretiouse blode of Christ is oure ryghteousnes An other dyd reade as by the disobedience of one we were made manye synners so by the obedience of one many shall be made ryghteousne by and by he taught that the obedience of Christ was oure ryghteousnes An other did reade he dyd ryse agayne for oure iustification the Resurrection sayth he of Christ is oure iustification An other dyd reade the holy ghost shall reproue the worlde for iustice because I go to my father he affirmed by and by that the goyng of Christ to his father is oure iustice An other dyd reade that we be made ryghteouse withoute desertes by the grace of God he doubted not to holde that the grace and mercye of God was oure iustice An other did reade to shewe his iustice for the remission of many synnes before cōmitted Forthewith he taught that Remission of synnes was oure iustice An other dyd reade by his blue stripes we be made hole he defended oute of hand that the woundes of Christ was oure ryghteousnes Nowe therefore he saythe that he hathe rekoned vp nyne kyndes of iustifications gathered oute of the scriptures disagreing one from an other and yet for all that he hathe not recited all He reherseth afterward what euery one deuised of hys owne heade Some saythe he say that ryghteousnes is the work of God the whiche he worketh in Christ Other that God receaueth vs to euerlasting lyffe other that the meritte of Christ other speake of an other certayne meane ryghteousnes but they can not tell what it meaneth So Osiander rehearseth fourtene opinions of iustification that which he hym selffe is Author of is the fyftene But accordyng to the rekoning which he maketh in hys confutation of the boke which Philip set oute agaynst hym they shall be in all one and twentie Now iudge you most excellent Kyng for so muche as they do so bycker among them selues Howe perillouse a thing it is to beleue sectaries stryuyng about great matters not aboute the moue shyne in the water as the common saying is but by theyr owne confession aboute the cheife article of Christian doctrine which contayneth the whole sum of the Ghospell iudge you I say what a perillouse thing it is to put any of these men in trust with oure soules which being start vp of late do not only swarue from the chefe masters of theyr congregation but also disagree in them selues as we see howe many tymes Melancthon hath turned his cote in this one opinion of iustification Luther sayth it is a sure argumēt that the doctryn of the Sacramētaries proceded from the dyuel because he tolde seauen or eyght sectes of them and for because that euen in the begynnyng it was dispersed in to so manye heades But we haue rekoned vp not seauen but twyse seauē sectes that of Lutherās cōcerning one article of iustificatiō which conteyneth the whole sum of the Ghospell In all there be foure tyme seauen sectes lackyng but one contrarye one to the other aboute other matters One Gespar Querchamer a lay man Citezin of Hallis Six thirtye cōtrary opinions aboute receauing vnder bothe kyndes or vnder one gathered together six and thirtye contrary places vpon one only article which is of the receauing vnder one or bothe kyndes in the Sacrament of the Altar If any man wyll add these six thirtie opinions to the other seuen and twentye there shal be in all three score three And yet howe many sectes be there whiche we haue not rekoned and wyl any man doubt that the dyuell was the author of this doctryne Take hede moste Godly Prince that you thinck not that these men striue for God his cause or that they busye theyr braynes to further and enlarge the worde of God There is nothing further oute of they re thought Glorie is the marke which sectaries shote at but this is the marke the which moste of them pryck at that they may aduaunce theyr owne glory that they maye vtter to the rude people theyr worde in stede of the worde of God they haue called theyr names sayth the prophet vpon yearthe Psal 48. To this end they wrest all they re wytte the they may make all the world ring with theyr name that it may be sayde this is the confession of Melancthon this of Brentius this of Osiander for I wyll now say nothing of the Zuinglians whome they take to be as greate heritykes as the Anabaptistes my talke is only of the Lutherans whome they also iudge to be heritykes no other verdicte do all other Christians gyue of them Of them therefore speake I that euen they be they neuer so lapped in shepe skynnes yet euery one of them hathe theyr hand on theyr halffe penye not regarding the thinges appartayning to Iesu Christ The cōfession of Augusta pleaseth not all the Lutherans euery one of them hūteth after their owne honoure and not after the glory of Christ Wherefore euē they allthoughe chekens hatched in one nest of Luther yet all of them haue not one confession For it is as cleare as the daye that none receaued the confession of Augusta but the churches of Saxonie No it was not receaued so muche as in the citie of Augusta where it was fyrst presented to the Emperoure for that citie semeth rather to weyghe more with the Zuinglians The Citie Augusta hathe mo Suenckfel feldiās the Lutherans and it is sayde that there be founde mo of the confession of Suenefelde then of the confession of Augusta Whiche I think was a cause that for so much as Philipp
kyngdome he dyd not only shewe greate reuerence to the Bishop as Paulus Diaconus wryteth but also was obedient to his coÌ„maundimentes See for God his sake what a thing this is Those to whome Barbarouse kynges being very deadly ennimyes dyd think it theire dutie to do so greate honoure that they wolde fullfyll theire commaundimeÌ„tes no otherwyse then if they had taken them to be theire Masters the very same Brentius who in God hys name wyll be counted a Gospeller wolde not haue them in any honest reasonable roume of seruauntes but be accompted boÌ„dslaues and pesauntes Dothe not he here go beyond all barbarians sauage people with thys his barbarousnes Act. 10. I myght here speake of Petre whome Cornelius dyd worshippe of the godly honoures gyuen to Paule and Barnabas but I wyll graunt you that which you wolde haue me M. Brentius Byshoppes in respect of they re dutye be paynefull seruantes that we Byshoppes be seruauntes nether is there any kynde of seruauÌ„tes that taketh greather paynes that is more set to his taske the suffreth greater trobles of body and mynde For what carking caryng haue not Bishoppes whilst they watche for the soules of them which be coÌ„mitted to their charge for the whiche they knowe they shall gyue accoumpt for so muche as it is sayde to euery one of them take hede to this man who if he shal miscarry thy soule shall be punished for his 3. of the kynges cap. â—0 Ezech. 3. And that also in Ezechiel sone of man I haue set the in watche ouer the howse of Israel if when I say vnto the wycked thou shalt dye the deathe and thou neglect to tell my sayinges vnto hym that he may returne from his wycked waye that wycked man shall die in his owne wickednes but his blood wyll I requyre at thy handes Ezech. 38. For so muche as Byshopes be not ignorant of these and suche lyke sayinges with which God threatneth euell pastoures assuredly their labour is greate and the troble of the mynde greater then any man can beleue for so muche as euery man knoweth that the tyme shall once come when it shall be sayde vnto hym Hiere 13. where is thy flocke which was gyuen the where is thy noble cattel What wilt thou say for thy selffe when he shall come and visite the for thou doste teache agaynst thy selffe thou doste instruct to thine owne distruction Shal not sorrowes come vpon the as vpon a woman trauayling of chylde Beleue me o Brentius that when a good Byshop careful for his owne healthe and the healthe of the people Heretykes do greatly encrease the laboure of Byshopes calleth these thinges in to his mynde he feleth incredible stinges of sorrowe in his hart specially in these dayes wherein you haue made thys yoke of bondage ly more heauily vpon oure neckes whilst one of you say behold here is Christ an other nay he is there the third tushe he is in the priuie parlers Mat. 24. the fourthe no loke yonder he is in the wyldernes With that which youre waueryng wordes you haue so bewitched the sely shepe that nowe in many places they knowe not were Christ is especially in those places where contrary to the playne and euident worde of God you haue taught them not be ruled by theire shephardes Whereby it is nowe come to passe that many be growen to suche boldnes and madnes that they say they be the Bishopes and Pastors of their owne soules that they shal gyue accompt for them not the Bishoppes what losenes of lyfe sectaries haue brought the people vnto to So that they arre become vnto them selues in stede of doctoures in stede of Pastoures in stede of couÌ„celles they bynde them selues they lose theire owne consciences as they please and because you gyue them powre to iudge of doctrine what so euer boke cometh in to theire handes they followe suche faythe as that boke teacheth them This man is of the Confession of Augusta an other of Brentius belefe an other of Ostanders an other of Tigurine an other of the Anabaptistes or the Citie of Munster an other of the brethern Waldenses or Picardes an other of the Seruetian confession To be shorte Hilar. to Constan laste boke that which Hilarius dyd wryte of his age may be also verified of oure age There be nowe so many faythes as they re be fansies there be so many doctrines as there be manners there bud out so many causes of blasphemy as there be vyces whilst faythes ether be ordayned as we wyll or be vnderstanded as we wil. And whereas there is but one faythe as there is but one God one Lorde one Baptisme we go a stray from that fayth which is one only and whyst manye faythes be forged they be come from naught all to none at all To this poynte haue you brought the worlde Brencius whilst euery one of you studie to deuise a sundry Confession of youre faythe you arre cause of this miserable and perillouse state of the Churche and if the Byshopes were loden with anye burden of bondage before you haue holpen to make it weyghe much more heauye But loke how much more heauie the yoke of theyr seruitude is the greater they re trauayle is the more honoure is due vnto them Therefore lyke as all wayes vnder wycked tyrauntes whether they were suche as dyd openlye persecute Christ or being fayned fauourers of Christ dyd vtterly race out the fayth of Christ they were no better estemed then seruauntes they were vexed with the same or rather greater punishmentes then naughtie seruauntes were so howe many so euer good Kynges Emperoures reyned they dyd gyue vnto them hyghe honoure and reuerence euen as among all other we reade that Constantinus worthily called great was wont to do FINIS DEO GRATIAS AMEN ORATIO R. SHACKLOCKI PRO REGINA REGNO ET toto Christianismo MAGNE DEVS qui magna facis qui pectora Regum Flectere celsa potes teneraeque similima caerae Reddere Reginam diuino flamine nostram Imbue flexibilemque illi concedito mentem Mentem quae dubiae fidei nouitate relicta Antiquum repetat fontem fluuiumque salubrem Qui viua de rupe fluit petraque perenni Faece carens omni nam pura Ecclesia Christi Virgo manet semper Christo dignissima sponsa Igneus ille tuus demissus ab aethere status Concremet errores omnes sub tegmine veri Occultos nostros confirma pace Britannos Hostibus oppressis omnes errore sepultos Ad superos reuoca cunctos Pax alma tumultus Comprimat positis vigeat Concordia bellis Sacra Tridentini valeant Edicta Senatus Quae Patres sanxêre pij Regesque potentes Rata volunt optata bonis inuisa malignis Sit tandeÌ„ propriae memor Anglia nostra salutis Partibus omissis toti consentiat orbi Turca tumet iam Turca fremit nunc Turca minatur Christe tuam defende fidem fideique patronos