amongest these kinde of mē or to their fathers before them any thinge newe or strange that in case there were any y t wolde complayne of their errors and desire the restitution of true religiō suche by and by as inuentors of new thyngs as factious persons to be condemned for Heretiks For Christ was called for none other cause a Samaritane thē for that he was supposed to haue declined vnto a certayne new religion and vnto Heresy And Paule the Apostle of Christe was called before the Iudge aunswer for himselfe vpon Heresy I saith he do worship the God of my fathers accordinge to this waie whiche they cal Heresy beleuing al things that are written in the lawe and the Prophets To be short this whole religiō which Cristiā mē do professe at this daie in the first beginnings therof was called of Heathen men a sette an Heresye thei w t these voyces alwaies filled the eares of Princes to the entēte that thei being ones broughte vpon an opinion conceiued before hande to hate vs to take whatsoeuer shold be said on our behalfe to be factious and Heresy might be caryed from the matter it selfe and from hearinge of the cause But the greater and y e horribler the faulte is so muche ought it to be proued wyth greater and more euident arguments specially in these daies nowe that men haue begonne to giue lesse credite vnto these mens dreames and more diligently to examine their doctrine then afore thei were accustomed For the people of God is otherwyse instructed now then they were when all thinges that were set forth by the Popes of Rome wer taken for the Gospell al religion depended onely vpon their authoritie The holy scriptures are now abroade the writings of the Apostles and Prophets ar abroad out of the which bothe all truth and catholike doctrine may be proued and all Heresye confuted But wheras of all these authorities these men bring not a worde against vs neuerthelesse to be called Heretikes that haue not declined nother from Christe nor frō the Apostles nor from the Prophets it is very iniuriouse and to to greuous With this sword Christ repulsed the Deuill when he was tempted of him with these weapons all loftynesse that auaunceth it selfe agaīst god must be ouerthrowē vāquished For al scripture saith Paul inspired of God is profitable to teach to confute to instruct to reproue y t the mā of God may be perfecte furnished vnto all good workes Thus alwais y e godly fathers fought against Heretiks w t none other weapons but out of y e holy scriptures Augustine when he disputed againste Petylyan the Donatiste heretike Suffer not saith he to be hearde these words amongst vs I saie or y u saiest rather let vs speake thus This saith the Lorde ther let vs leke the Churche there let vs trie out our cause And Ierome saith All those thinges whyche withoute the testimonie of the Scriptures are affirmed as thoe thei were deliuered from the Apostles are beaten downe with the swordde of God Ambrose also vnto Gratian Let the Scriptures saith he be asked the questiō let the Apostles be asked let the Prophets be asked let Christe be asked for the Catholike fathers Byshops in those daies doubted nothing that oure religion myght be sufficiently proued oute of the Scriptures of God Nor at any tyme durste they accounte any man for an Heretike whose errore they coulde not plainely and euidently reproue out of y e selfe same scriptures We therefore do saye for to answer w t S. Paule that according vnto this waye whiche they call Heresy we do worship God the father of our Lorde Iesu Christ we receiue al things y t are writē other in y e law or in the Prophets or in the bokes of y e Apostles Wherefore if we be Heretikes if these men be as they will be called Catholikes why do thei not that thynge whiche thei se the Fathers trew Catholike men in dede alwaies did Why do thei not conuince vs out of the holy scriptures Why do thei not cal vs to be tried by thē Why doe thei not make it appeare that we haue seuered oure selues from Christe from the Prophets from the Apostles frō the holy Fathers Why stagger they why flee thei it is Gods cause Why doubt thei to commit it to Gods worde But if we be Heretikes whiche referre all oure controuersies vnto the holy Scriptures and make oure appeale vnto the selfe same wordes whiche we knowe are sealed by God him selfe and doe preferre them before all thinges that may be deuised by manne what shall we saye to these men what manner of men or by what name were it conuenient to cal these that ar afraide to stand to the trial of the sacred scriptures that is to saie the iudgment of God himselfe and preferre before them their owne dreames and moste colde inuentions and for their owne traditions sake nowe manye yeares haue broken the ordinances of Christ and of the Apostles Sophocles the Poet when he was accused beinge an olde man to the Iudges of his sonnes for a dotarde and a foole and as one that fondely consumed his goodes and therefore seemed to haue neede of a tutor for to purge himselfe of this slaunder came into the courte after he had reade Oedipus Coloneus a tragedie which euen in the selfe same time that he was accused in he had writen wyth great diligence and very elegantly by and by he asked of the Iudges whether that verse seemed to be the verse of a dotinge man Euen so we bicause that vnto these men wee seeme to be madd and are slaundered of them as Heretiks as who woulde say we hadde now nothinge to do nother with Christe nor w t the Churche of God haue thought it shoulde not be vnconuenient nor vnprofytable if wee did plainely and freely declare vnto the worlde that faith wherin wee stande and all oure hope whiche wee haue in Iesus Christ that al men may see what we do holde touchinge euery parte of Christian religion and maye iudge with themselues whether that faith whiche they shall see confirmed with the wordes of Christ with the writinges of the Apostles with the testimonies of the Catholike fathers with the examples of many ages be only a raginge of madde menne and a conspiracie of Heretikes WEe beleue therfore that ther is one diuine nature power which we do cal GOD the same is distincted into thre equa persōs the Father the Sonne the holy Ghoste al of one power of one maiesty of one eternitie of one diuinitie of one substance And all be yt those three persons bee so distincted that nother the father is the sonne nother the sonne is the holy ghoste or the father yet that there is but one God and the same onely to haue created heauen and earthe and all things that are contained within the compasse
professed mighte bee broughte in question specially if thei should seme by their silence in manner to acknoledg the fault least I say this silence sholde hinder y e course of the Gospell thei made orations thei wrote supplications spake before Emperours and Princes in the open defence of them and of theirs As for vs inasmuche as within these .20 yeares laste paste so many thousandes of our brethrē in the middest of their extreme tormēts haue borne witnes to y e truth Princes coueting to bridel y e Gospell in moyling many waies haue lobored all in vaine and that the whole worlde in manner beginneth now to open their eies to beholde y e light we thinke that our cause is already sufficiently pleaded defended and that wheras the matter it selfe speaketh inough for it self there is no great neede of words For if the Popes themselues would or rather if thei coulde consider wyth them selues the whole matter the beginnings and the māner of the encrease of out religion how that their trasshe in manner euery white when no man touched it withoute all helpe of man sell downe to the grounde againe how our profession at the first not withstandinge the continual resistence of Emperors of so many Kynges of Popes Bishops of all men in māner hath encreased and by litle litle spred ouer al the earth and now also at the length is entered in to the Courtes and Palaces of kings euen these things onely might be sufficient tokens wherby to vnderstand that God himself doth fight in our defence and skorneth from heauen all their endeuours that so mighty is the power of truth y t no force of man nor yet Hel gates can withstand it For be ye sure so many free cities so many kings so many Princes as at this day haue abandoned the sea of Rome and adioyned themself to the Gospel of Christe are not become madde And albeit peraduenture hetherto the Popes haue had no leisure to thinke aduisedli earnestly vpō these matters or if now at this day they be letted encombred w t other busines or if thei take these kinde of trauails to be base light matters to appertaine nothing to the maiestie of a Pope yet our cause oughte to seeme therefore neuer a whit the worse Nother if perhaps thei wil not see these thinges whiche thei do see but rather fighte against the knowne truthe ar we therefore by and by to be taken for Heretikes whiche do not apply our selues to their will Truly if Pope Pius had ben the man I saye not whiche he desiereth to be taken for but if he were at the least suche a one as had accounted vs to be other as his brothren or at the leaste as men he woulde fyrste haue diligently waied oure reasons bothe what we haue to saye for vs and what may be saide againste vs not so rashely onely with a blinde sentence determined afore hande in that Bul of his wherin of late he made a counterfaite shewe of a Councell haue condemned a good part of the worlde so many learned godly men so many commō weales so many Kynges so many Princes the persons vnheard the cause not pleaded But inasmuche as he hathe now openly slaundered vs after this sorte leaste that by silence we might seeme to confesse the faulte and specially bicause that in the open Councell wherein he will suffer no man but onely suche as are sworne and addicted vnto his vsurped power to haue authoritie to gyue a voyce or to declare his minde we can in no wise be hearde for therof in the laste assemble at Trente we had ouer muche experience what time the Embassadours and diuines of the Princes and of the free citees of Germany were vtterly excluded out of all their assembles nother can we yet forget how that Iulius the 3 tenne yeares past in his bul strayghtly did forbid that no man of oure proffessyon shoulde be hearde in the councell onlesse paraduenture there were any that woulde recante and chaunge his opiniō euen for these causes specially we haue thought it good to render a reason of oure faithe by writinge vnto suche thinges as are openly obiected againste vs truly openly to answer to the entēt the whole worlde may see the partes and the foundation of that doctrine whiche so many godly men haue preferred before their owne liffes that all men may vnderstande what māner of men thei be and what thei do thinke of God of religion whome the Byshop of Rome not wel aduised hathe condemned for Heretiks yea before thei were called to pleade their cause without lawe without example onely bicause he hearde say thei differed from him from his in some parte of Religion And although in the suspicion of Heresy S. Ierome will haue noe man to be pacient neuerthelesse we wyll demeane our selfe nother bitterly nor tantingly w t many wordes nor yet be caried into any chauffe with anger although in dede he ought not to seeme bitter or tātinge that speaketh truth But this kynde of eloquence we are content to leaue to our aduersaries who what soeuer thei speake against vs thoe it be neuer so bytterly or slanderously spoken yet it is modestly spoken and to good purpose how truly or falslye therof thei make no great account Suche kinde of sleights we haue no nede of that defende the truth But in case we doe proue that the sacred Gospell of God and the auncient Bishops together with the primitiue Churche dothe make for vs and that we haue vpon iuste cause bothe departed from these men and also retourned now againe vnto the Apostles and olde catholike fathers and that we do it in dede not couertly or craftely but with a good conscience before God truly frankly clerely plainely if thei them selues which flee oure doctrine and will be caled Catholikes shal euidently se al those tytles of ātiquitie wherin thei glorie so much wrounge out of their handes that ther is more pith in our cause then euer thei coulde imagine we trust no man amongest them wil be so negligente of his saluaciō but that he will at some time take in hande to bethynke hym selfe vnto whether parte it were best for him to sticke vnto and truly no man except suche a one as hath hardned his hart and wil not heare shal repent him selfe of his laboure to haue geuen eare vnto oure defence and to haue marked bothe what we do say and how agreably vnto y e whole course of Christiā religiō For wher as thei cal vs Heretikes truly the fault is so great y t vnles it be seene vnles it be felte vnles it be gryped with handes and fingers it ought not easily to be beleued of him that is a Christian mā For Heresie is a renouncing of saluation a casting awaie of the grace of God a departing from the bodi and spirit of Christ. But this thing was neuer
they to consider howe iuste the cause of our departing is For in case they wil saye it is lawefull for thee by no means to departe from that fellowship wherein thou haste ben brought vp Thus they maye easily in oure personnes cōdemne both the Prophetes and the Apostles and also Christe him self For why doe they not likewise finde fawte at this that Loth departed from Sodome Abraham out of Calde the Hebrewes out of Egypte Christ from the Iewes Paule from the Pharisees For onlesse there maye be some iuste cause of suche departynges we see not why they also maye not in like sorte be accused as factious and seditious men Nowe if we ought to be condemned for heretikes bycause we doe not al thinges whiche these menne doe commaunde vs whoe I praye you or what maner of men shall we account them to be which doe despise the commaundementes of Christe and of the Apostles If we be Schismatikes that haue disseuered our selfs frō these fellowes by what name I pray you shal we call them that haue departed from the Grekes at whose hādes they receyued the faith frō the primitiue church from Christ him self from the Apostels euē as it were from their owne parentes For as for the Grekes such as at this daye doe professe the religion and name of Christ althoe they haue many thinges that ar corrupted yet they retaine to this howre a great part of those thinges which they receyued of the Apostles Therfore nother haue they priuate Masses nor their sacramētes mangeled nor purgatory nor pardonnes As for the Popes titles and proude names so muche they doe regard them that whosoeuer doth take them vpon him and wil needes be called either the vniuersal Byshop or heade of the whole Church of him they will not sticke to saye that he is bothe an intolerable arrogant man and a personne that iniuriously defaceth all other Byshoppes his bretherne and also an heretike Now then sins the matter is plaine can not be denied y t these fellowes ar gone back frō those of whom thei receiued the gospel of whom thei receaued y e faith of whome the true religion the Churche what cause is there why they shuld not be cōtent to be called home againe euen vnto the same personnes as it were to the fountaines of religion Wherfore ar they so afrayde as thoe al the Apostles old fathers sawe nothing to folow the exāple of their times for doe they trowe ye see more or be thei more careful ouer the Churche of God then they y t first deliuered these things And now to returne to our selfs we haue departed frō that Churche wherin nother the worde of God could be hearde purely taught nor the Sacramentes rightly administered nor the name of God as it ought to be called vpō and whiche they themselues doe confesse to be corrupted in many thinges and wherin to say the truth there was nothing that could staye any man that was wise and that had any consideration of his owne saluation To conclude we haue departed from that Churche that is now founded not from that Church that was in time past and we haue departed in such sorte as Daniel did out of the denne of Lions as the thre childrē out of the fier yea rather caste out by them with their cursinges and banninges then departed of our selfs Agayne we haue adioyned our selfes vnto that Church wherin they them selfs in case they wil speake truely and according to their owne consciences can not denie but all thynges ar soberly and reuerently handeled and so farre forth as we were able to attayne most neerely vnto the order of the olde time For lette them compare their Churches and oures together they shal see bothe that they moste shamefully haue departed frō the Apostels and we moste iustly haue forsaken them For we after the exāple of Christe of the Apostles and of the holy fathers doe giue the whole sacrament vnto the people These men contrary to all the fathers contrary to al the Apostels and cōtrary to Christ him self not without as Gelasius sayth hygh sacrilege doe deuide the sacramentes and plucke the one parte awaye from the people We haue restored the Lordes supper accordyng to the institutiō of Christ and desire to haue it asmuch as maye be and to as many as may be most common and as it is called so to be in very deede a Cōmunion These men haue chaunged all thinges frō the institution of Christ of the holy cōmunion they haue made a priuate masse so that we present vnto the people a holy Supper they a vayne pagent to gase vpon We doe affirme with the moste auncient Fathers that the bodye of Christe is eaten of none other but of godly and of faithfull menne and suche as ar endued with the spirite of Christe these fellowes doe teache that the very bodye of Christe maye in very deede and as they terme it really and substantially be eaten not only of wicked and vnfaythfull men but also it is horrible to speake it of myse and dogges We doe praye in oure Churches after suche sorte that accordyng as Paule dothe admonishe vs the people may know what we doe pray and with one minde answere Amen These men powre out in the churches vnknowne and straunge wordes like vnto the noyse of soundyng brasse without any vnderstanding without sense without iudgement and this is their only endeuour that the people should not be able to vnderstande any thing at all And bycause we will not reherse all the differences betwene vs and them for they ar in maner infinite We translate the Scriptures into all languages these men wil scantly suffer them to be abroade in any tonge We doe exhorte the people to heare and reade the worde of God these menne driue them from it We woulde haue our cause hearde before all the worlde these menne flee al iudgement and triall We leane vnto knowlege they vnto ignorance We truste to the light they vnto darknesse We haue in reuerence as reason is the wordes of the Apostles and of the Prophetes these men do burne them To conclude we in Gods cause wil stande to the iudgement of God only these men will stande to their owne But if they will consider all these thinges with a quiet minde and a prepared purpose to heare and to learne thei shal not only allow our doyngs which leauing all errours haue folowed Christe his Apostles but also they themselues shal fal away from thēselues and of their owne accorde encline themselues to ioyne with our felowshippe But they will saye that it was an vnlawefull attempt to goe aboute such matters without an holy generall Counsell for therein is the whole powre of the Churche there Christe hathe promised that he will alwayes be ready at hand And yet they themselues haue broken the commaundementes of God the decrees of the Apostles and as we sayde a litle before haue scatered and torne
in pieces in maner all not onlye the ordinances but also the certaine principles concernyng doctrine of the primitiue Church and that without tariyng for any generall Councell But where as they say that it is not lawful for any man to appoint any new order without a Coūcel who I praye you hath prescribed these lawes vnto vs or where haue they founde this decree It was folishly done of Agesilaus the kynge who beyng ones acertained of the minde and pleasure of the hyghe Iupiter woulde needes present the whole matter agayne vnto Apollo for to know whether he were of the same minde that his Father was But we should doe more foolyshlye a greate deale in case that when we doe heare God him selfe speakynge moste playnely vnto vs in the holye Scriptures and vnderstande his will and pleasure if I saye afterwardes as though al this were nothing we would refarre the whole matter to a councell The whiche is nothing els but to searche whether menne be of the same minde that God is and whether menne will allow by their authoritie the commaundementes of God What I praye you shall not the truthe be truthe or shall not God be God except a councell will and commaunde it so to be If Christe would haue handeled the matter so frō the beginnyng that he woulde haue taught or sayde nothing without the consente of the Bysshoppes and woulde haue referred ouer hys whole doctrine vnto Annas and Cayphas where should the fayth of Christ be at this day or who shoulde euer haue hearde of the gospell Peter forsothe of whome the Pope is wonte to speake more often and with more reuerence then of Iesus Christe did boldely withstande the sacred councell and sayde it was better to obeye God then men And Paule what time he had ones receyued the gospell into his minde and that not of men nor by man but only by the wil of God did not counsell with flesh and bloud nor dyd not referre the matter vnto his kinsemen or brothern but went by and by into Arabia for to publishe by the authoritie of God Gods misteries We surely doe not despyse Councels or assemblies and conferences of Bysshoppes and learned menne Nother haue we done those thinges that be done altogether without Bysshoppes or without a coūcell The matter was handeled in full parlament with long deliberation and in a greate assemblie But as touchyng this councell whiche Pope Pius dothe at thys tyme counterfetly set forthe wherein men beyng nother called nor hearde nor seene ar so lightly condemned what we maye loke or hope to gette thereby it is not harde to gesse Nazianzenus longe agoe when that in his tyme he sawe menne that came to suche assemblies to bee so blinde and so obstinate that they were caryed after their owne affections and foughte rather for victorie then for truthe pronounced in playne wordes that he neuer sawe good ende of anye councell What woulde he saye nowe if he were a liue at this daye and shoulde vnderstande what these menne wente aboute For in that tyme all though they were gyuen to partes yet bothe mennes causes were hearde and manifeste errours by the common consente of all partes were taken awaye These menne agayne neyther will suffer the cause to bee freelye debated nother will endure to haue anye thyng chaunged howe many errours so euer there be For that is a thyng whiche they ar wonte often and with out all shame to boaste of that their Churche can not erre that in hit there is no blemyshe that there is nothyng to be graunted vnto vs or yf there be anye thyng that the iudgement thereof appertayneth vnto Bysshoppes and Abbots they be the directers of those matters they be the Churche of God Aristotel saythe that bastardes can not make a citie But whether the Churche of God maye be made of these fellowes or no let them consider for surely nother be they lawfull Abbots nor right Bysshoppes But let them hardely be the Churche lette them be hearde in coūcels let them only haue authoritie to giue a voyce Neuerthelesse in times paste when the Church of God if it be compared with their Churche was resonably wel gouerned as Cipryan sayth bothe Elders and Deacons some parte also of the common people were called to the hearyng of Ecclesiasticall causes But what if these Abbotes and Bysshoppes haue no knowledge What yf they vnderstande not what religion is and what opinion they oughte to haue of God What if law be loste of the preeste coūsel of the Elders What if the night as Micheas saythe be vnto them in stede of a vision and darkenes in stede of forseyng thynges to come What if all the watchemen of the Citie as Esaye sayth ar become blinde What if the salte hath loste his strēgth and his taste and as Christ sayth is good for nothyng not so muche as to be caste out vpon the dunge hill Forsothe they will committe all thynges to the Pope whoe can not erre But that to beginne withal is a folishe deuise that the holy ghost should flie away in haste from the holy Councell to Rome to the intent that if he doubte or sticke in anye thyng and not be able to winde him selfe out he mighte take counsell of some other spyrite I wote not who better learned thē him self For if the case stande so what needed it that so many Byshops should in this time at so great charges and through so long iorneys be summoned to come to Trent It were yet a much more wiser better way sure I am it were bothe shorter and more commodious for them rather to put of all thynges to the Pope and to repayre at the firste dasshe to the heauenly determination of hys sacred breaste Moreouer it is agaynste equitie to put ouer oure cause from so manye Bysshoppes and Abbottes to the iudgemente of one man speciallye of hym whoe standeth accused by vs of moste weyghtye and greuous offences and as yet hath not brought in his answer who also hath condēned vs without iudgement before wee were once called to bee iudged What trow ye that these be things of our own deuise Or is not this y e order of their Councels at this day Or be not all thinges committed ouer from y e holy Councels vnto the Pope alone in such sort that as though so many voices and subscriptiōs serued to no purpose he alone may adde chaunge diminish take away alow release and againe restraine what him lyfteth Then I pray you of what maner of men were these words spoken Or why did the Bishops and Abbots not long agoe in the last Coūcell of Trente decree after this manner at thende of their constitutions Sauing alwaies in al things the Authorite of the Apostolicall seat Or why doth Paschale the Pope write of himselfe so arrogantly As though saith he any Coūcels had prescribed a lawe vnto the Church of Rome wheras all Councels both are made by
as though forsoothe that nowe also the whole worlde myght not perceiue that this is a very conspiracy and not a Coūcell and that these Byshops which the Pope hath called vnto him at this time are not by their othe and affection vtterly addicted vnto his name and wil neuer do any thing but that which they shal perceiue to agre with his pleasure to make for the aduaucement of his power and to be according to his will or that amongest them euery mans reason and sentence were not rather nūbered then wayed or that the better parte were not ofte times oppressed with the greater Whereupon we know that ofte times it hath come to passe y t many good men and Catholike Bysshops what time such Councels were summoned wherin factions and parts were openly maintained knowing that they should only leese their labour in as much as the mindes of their aduersaries were bent vpon euill and therfore not possible to doe any good haue tarried at home Athanasius beyng called by Themperour to the Councell of Cesarea when he saw that he shoulde present himselfe to y e deadly hatered of his aduersaries he refused to come The same man afterwardes being come to the Councell of Syrmin when his minde gaue him by reason of the fiersenes and hatred of his enemies to what ende y e matter would come he trussed vp his baggage went his way Iohn Chrysostome although the Emperour Constātius had sent for him by fower letters to come to the Councell of the Arrians yet he kept himselfe at home What time as Maximus the Bysshop of Hierusalem sate in the councell of Palestine the olde man Paphnutius taking him by the hande ledde him out of the dores saying it is not lawefull for vs to sit in councell of these matters amongest these wicked men Unto the councell of Syrmin from which Athanasius did conuey himselfe away the Bysshops of the Weste countries woulde not repaire Cyril appealed bi his letters from the councell of those that were called Patropassiani Pauline the Bysshop of Trier diuers others when they saw the practise and power of Auxentius refused to come to the councell of Millane For in vaine they saw they should go vnto y t place where no reason but faction was hearde and where al causes were determinable not according to iudgemēt but according to fauor And yet they albeit they had neuer so greuous and obstinate aduersaries neuertheles if they had come at the least they shoulde haue had free liberty to speake to be hearde in the councell But as for vs in as much as it is not lawful for ani of our sort once to sitte or so much as to be seene in the assemblie of these men much lesse to be hearde freely to speake and on the other side for as much as the Popes Legates the Patriarches the Archbyshops the Bysshoppes the Abbots all coniured together al fettered in one faute al bound with one othe only haue place to sit only haue aucthoritie to giue their voice and in cōclusiō as though thei had done nothing to submit al their iudgements to the Popes wil and pleasure alone euen to the intent that he who ought rather to haue pleaded his own cause at the barre should giue sentēce of himself in as much I say as that olde and Christiā liberty which in all Christian Councels ought chiefly to be maintained is now in coūcel vtterly takē away no good and godly man ought to maruaile if wee doe now at this time that thing which thei see the fathers and Catholike Bysshops did afore time whē like cause was offered so that bycause in the councell we cā not be heard Princes Embassadors ar laughed to scorne and we all as though the matter were already dispatched and concluded ar before iudgement condempned if I say we had rather tary at home cōmit the whole matter vnto God then to go to y e place where we shall neither haue any place nor yet any thing preuaile at al. But as touching our own iniuries we can beare them paciently quietly ynough But wherfore I pray you doe they exclude Christian Kinges and godly Princes from their councels Why doe they either so vncurtesly dispatche them out of their company or reiect them w t such reproche when that as though they were no Christian men or were not able to iudge they will not suffer them to sit in counsell in causes of Religion nor to knowe the state of their owne Churches Or in case they doe entermedle at any time by their aucthoritie doe y e thing which thei may do which thei are cōmanded to doe which they are bounde to do and which we know Dauid Salomō other good prīces haue done and take vpon them other whiles the Byshops be a sleepe or whiles they doe rebellyously resist to bridle y e raging lustes of priestes and both driue them to the doing of their duty and kepe them from disorder moreouer if they plucke downe Idolls withdraw superstition set vp the true worship of God Why crie they by and by that they turne all things vpside downe that they breake into other mens offices and behaue themselues lewdely and arrogantly What Scripture hath at any time forbidden Christiā Princes from y e hearing of such causes Whoe did euer make these lawes but these fellowes onely But they will say Ciuile princes haue learned how to manege the common welthe and to exercise armes as for the misteries of Religion they vnderstande them not Then I pray you what other is y e Pope at this day but a Monarche or a prince What be the Cardinals which degree it is now scantly lawfull for any others to haue then Kinges and Princes sonnes What be the Patriarches what Archbisshops for the most part what Bysshops what other be the Abbots at this day in y e Popes kingdome but worldly Princes but Dukes but Earles wyth stately gardes about them whersoeuer they go and decked also many times w t collers and chaines of Golde They haue in deede sometime a peculier apparell Crosses Pillers Hattes Myters Palls the which kinde of pompe the auncient Bysshops Chrysostome Augustine and Ambrose had neuer Now besides these things what teache they what say they what do they what liue they in any point that is comlye and commēdable not onely for a Bysshop but also for a Christian man Is it so great a matter to cary a counterfait title and for onely chaunge of garmentes to bee called a Bysshop Surely y t the waight of all gouernement should be assigned ouer vnto thē only which nether do know nor will know what appertaineth to these thinges nor set not a halfpeny by any part of Religiō further thē as it toucheth the kitchin the belly y t they onely shoulde be made iudges and be appointed as it were blind men to keepe the watche towre on the other syde to haue a Christian prince
did sett an order for all the roumes in purgatory and for al kindes of punishment as for the poore vnhappy soules some he assigned vnto punishement some againe for money he toke out by and by at his pleasure also that he toke order for priuate masses that they should be said in euery corner That he whispered the holy misteries wyth a lowe voice and in a strange tonge set vp the Sacrament in all Churches and vpon euery altare caried it whersoeuer he went with lightes and sacring belles before him vpon an ambeling Genet that hee consecrated Oyle Waxe Woolle Belles Chalices Churches Alters with his holy brethe that he solde Iubilees graces licences expectations preuentions Annates Palles the vse of Palles Bulles pardons charters y t he called himselfe the head of the Church the chief Bysshop and Byshop of Bysshops and the only Most holy y t by vsurpation he tooke vpon hym a right and aucthorite ouer other mens Churches exempted himselfe frō vnder all ciuill power y t he made warres set Princes together by the eares and y t hauing his crown garnished w t goldē pendantes his pompous apparell comparable w t the Persians hys royal Sceptre hys golden diademe glyttering with precious stones he rode in a chayre of golde caried vpon noble mennes shoulders these thynges forsoothe dyd Peter when he was at Rome and the very same he deliuered as it were from hande to hande vnto his successours For these thinges be done by the Popes at this daye in Rome and be so done as though nothing else ought to be done Or excepte paraduenture they had rather aunswere thus that the Pope at this daye doth all those thinges which we knowe Peter did in time paste that he trauaileth heare and there in to all Coūtries preaching the Gospell not only in opē assemblies but also priually from howse to howse y t he plieth his businesse in season oute of season in time out of time that he doth the duty of an Euāgelist accomplisheth the ministery of Christ becommeth a watchman ouer the howse of Israell receiueth y e scriptures and worde of God and as he hath receiued them so deliuereth them againe to y e people that he is the salt of y e earth the light of the world that he fedeth not himselfe but hys flocke that he dothe not entangle hymselfe with worldly buisines appertaining to this life nor vsurpeth no dominion ouer the Lords people y t he seketh not to be serued himself of others but rather himself to serue others that he accoūteth all Bysshops for his fellowes and equalles that he is a subiect vnto Princes as vnto those that are sent of God giueth vnto Cesar that which appertaineth to Cesar and that according as the auncient Byshops of Rome did without exception he calleth the Emperour his Lorde Now onles the Popes doe these thinges at this day and except Peter doe those thinges which we spake of before there is no cause why they should bragge so much of the name of Peter and of this succession and lesse a great deale why they should complaine of our departing cal vs home againe vnto their faith and felowship It is said that a certaine Lacedemonian called Cobilo what time he was sent Embassadour to make a league with the Kinge of Persia and founde by chaunce certaine courtyers playing at the dise by and by without further consideration of his busines retourned home againe and when he was asked wherfore he had so little regarde to the doing of those things which he had in commission by common aucthoritie for to doe he answered that he thought it shoulde haue tourned to the slaunder of the common welth if he should haue made a league w t diseplaiers But if we should dispose our selues to retourn againe vnto the Pope and to his errors and make a league not onli with diseplaiers but also with men of much lewder condition then disers this shoulde be not onely slaunderous towardes our good name but also towardes the procuring of gods wrathe against vs and the oppressyon and vtter ouerwhelming of our owne consciences full of presente myschyefe For wee surelye departed from hym whom we sawe had blynded the worlde nowe manye yeares together from hym that was wonte ouer arrogantelye to auaunte hymselfe that hee coulde not erre and what soeuer he dyd that hee myght not be iudged of any mortall man not of kinges not of Emperours not of the whole clergye not of all the worlde together no not if he shoulde carye with hym a thousande soules to Hell from him that toke vpon him to commaunde not only men but also the Angels of God to goe to come to leade soules into purgatory to bring them back againe when it liked him whom Gregory did most plainly affirme to be the Uaunteurrer and standerdberer of Antichrist and that he had renounced the catholike Faith frō whom not long agoe those countrie men of oures that be the ringleders of such as bende themself against the Gospell and against the knowne truth did of their owne choyse and gladly euery one of them disseuer themself neither yet would they be vnwilling to doe it at this day were it not that that the blemishe of inconstancye and shame and their estimatiō amongst the people did let them To cōclude we haue forsaken him to whom we were not bounde and who had nothing except it were onely a certaine fonde ymagination of preeminence of the place and succession that he coulde saye for hymselfe And yet we of all other nations had most iust cause to departe from him for our Kinges euen those also which most carefully inclined themselfe to obey the Authorite and faith of the Bishops of Rome haue felt sufficiētly now long agoe the yoke tiranny of the Popes kingdome For both from our king Henry the second of that name the Romaine Bysshops did plucke the Crowne from his heade commaunding him all his Maiestye laide a parte and in a priuate arraye to the intent he shoulde be a laughinge stocke to all hys people to present himselfe as an humble petitioner and suter before his legate And also against oure king Ihon armed the Byshops and Monks and some parte also of the nobilitie and discharged all his subiects of the othe of their allegeance wherby thei were bound vnto him and last of all moste wyckedly they spoyled hym by trayterous meanes not onely of his kingdome but also of his lyfe And vpon king Henry the eight of y t name a most noble Prince thei thundered out their curses and lightnings of excommunication and stirred vp against him sometimes the Emperoure somtimes the Frenche king so much as was in them gaue ouer the whole Realme to the praie and to y e spoyle doubtles very madde and foolished men that could beleue that either so great a kyng might be made a gaste with bugges and with clyckets or that so mighty a kingdome might be so easily deuoured as
it were at one morsell And as thoughe all these thinges had not been ynoughe they woulde haue had the whole Realme also to be tributary vnto them and out of it moste vniustly they did exacte an yerely rent So costlye forsooth was the frendship of the Citie of Rome vnto vs. But in as much as by crafty meanes and with lewde sleightes thei wrested out these things from vs there is no cause why the same againe by lawefull meanes and good lawes might not be taken from them Yea if our kings in those times of darknes ledd by some opinion of their coūterfet holines of their owne accorde and liberalitie gaue them those thinges for Religion sake yet afterwardes when the errour is espied of other kinges that haue the same aucthoritie they may be taken away for that gift is of none effect that is not approued by the will of the gyuer but that can not seeme to be a will which is darkened and empeched with errour Thou haste heard Christian reader that it is no new thing y t at this day Christian Religion being restored to his former estate and as it were newe borne againe be slaulderously and shamefully spoken of For the same thing happened vnto Christ himselfe and to the Apostles Neuertheles least thou shouldest suffer thy selfe to be ledde out of the waye and to be deceiued with these outraging clamors of our aduersaries wee haue sett forth before the the whole course of our Religion what wee dooe beleue of God the Father what of his onely sonne Iesus Christe what of the holye Ghoste what of the Church what of the Sacramēts what of the Ministery what of the holy Scriptures what of Ceremonyes and what of euery parte of a Christian mans profession We haue declared how that we doe detest al olde Heresies the which other the holy Scriptures or the auncient Councels haue condemned as pestilences and poysons of mens soules and that as much as we can possiblie we doe call home againe the discipline of the Church the which our aduersaries haue vtterly brought to nothing and doe punishe according to the auncient lawes of our forefathers all losenes of lyfe and licencious manners and that with such seueritie as the cause doth require and so farre as our power will stretche that we doe vpholde the state of kingedomes in the same condition that we founde them without empairing or chaunging any thing and doe maintaine to the best of our power the Maiesty of our Princes safe and sounde that wee haue forsaken y t Church which these men had made a den of theeues and wherein they had left nothing sounde or sauering of the Church of God and which by their owne testimony had erred in many thinges none otherwise then as Loth in time past wēt out of Sodoma or Abrahā out of Chaldey not of a desire to cōtend but by y e commaundement of God himselfe and y t we haue sought out of the holy Scriptures which we knowe can not deceiue vs a certaine constant forme of Religion and are now retourned vnto the primitiue Church of the Apostles and of the auncient fathers y t is to say to the first originall and to the beginnings and as it were to the very fountaines of Christes Church True it is in dede y t for the accomplishemēt hereof we haue not attended vpon the aucthoritie or consent of the councel of Trente in which we coulde not hope to see any thinge vprightly and orderly done specially where all mē are sworne to one man where our Princes Embassadors ar cōtemned where none of our diuines mai be heard where men ar euidently enclined vnto partes and to ambition but according as the holy fathers in tyme past and our predecessors haue done oft time we reformed our Churches by a councel gathered in our owne prouince and that as touching the yoke and tirannye of the Bysshop of Rome vnto whome wee ought no dutye and in whom there is no resemblance either of Christ or of Petre or of an Apostle or in any point of a Bysshop according as it behoued vs we haue shakē of and cast away And last of all how y t we doe agree amongest our selues in all the principles and articles of Christian Religion and with one mouthe and one spirit doe worshippe God and the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ. Wherfore good Christiā reader in as much as y u seest the reasons causes both of our doings touching the restitutiō of Religiō amōgst vs also of our departing from the fellowship of these men thou oughtest not to maruaile if y t we had rather obey our Iesus Christ then men Paule dyd admonishe vs that we shoulde not suffer our selues to be caried out of the way with these variable doctrines and thal specially wee should flye from them that woulde sowe any dissension from that doctrine which wee had receiued from Chryste and from the Apostles Their iuggeling toyes euen as the owle at the rysing of the Sunne beginne alredy to fall and flye away at the presence and light of the Gospell And although they were pyled and heaped vp euen to the highe skyes yet they fall downe againe vpon the least occasion and in manner of their owne accorde For thou oughtest not to imagine that al these things are happened at a blind auenture or by chaūce for it was goddes will that maugre the malice in maner of all men the Gospell of Iesus Christ shoulde be spredde in these dayes throughout the worlde Wherefore men beyng admonysshed by gods worde haue of their owne accorde applyed themselues to the doctrine of Christe Wee surely haue not sought to wynne vnto our selues either glory either riches either pleasure eyther ease thereby For all these thinges our aduersaries haue in great aboundance and we also what time we were amongest them had such thinges more largely and more plentifully Neither doe we abhorre from peace agrement but for conseruation of worldly peace we will wage no warres w t God Doubtles saith Hylarius the name of peace is sweete but peace saith he is one thing and thraldome is an other For to assent which is the thyng that these men doe seeke for that Chryste shoulde bee commaunded to sylence that the truthe of the Gospell shoulde bee betrayed that wicked errours should be dissembled that the eyes of Christian menne shoulde be blered that men should manifestly conspire agaynst God is not an establyshment of peace but a moste horrible couenant of thraldome There is saythe Nazianzene a certayne kinde of peace vnprofitable ther is a profitable discorde For we muste allowe peace with an exception so farre as it is laweful and so farre as we may For otherwise Christ himself brought not peace into the world but a sword Wherefore yt the Pope will haue vs to be friendes agayne with him lette him firste reconcile himselfe with God For hereof saythe Cyprian scismes doe aryse bycause the head is not sought for
I tell you Hilles Forestes Lakes Prisonnes and Whorlepooles seme more safe a great deale for in them the Prophetes eyther remayning of their own choyse or violently dryuen prophecyed wyth the spyrite of God Gregory euen as though he had seene and perceyued aforehand the ruine of things writing vnto Iohn the Byshopp of Constantinople who first of all men toke vpon hym to be called by a name that neuer was hearde of before the vniuersall Byshop of the whole Church of Christ said thus If y e Church shall depēde vpon one man the whole shall fall to grounde And who is it that hath not seene this thing done longe agoe It is now long agoe that the Bysshop of Rome hath brought to passe that the whole Church shoulde depend vpon him alone wherefore it is no maruaile if the same now longe agoe be wholy fallen to grounde Bernarde y e Abbot writing foure hundred yeares past There is nothing saith he pure and soūde in y e Clergy onely there remaineth that the man of sinne shoulde be discouered vnto the worlde The same man vpon S. Paules Conuersion It semeth saith he that persecution is now cessed no rather nowe beginneth persecution euen at their handes which beare chiefe rule in the Church Thy frendes thy neighbours hath drawen neere and stande vp against thee From the sole of the foote vnto the crowne of the head there is no soundnes at all Iniquitie hath issued out from the Elders Iudges thy vicares which seeme to gouerne thy people We can not now say As the people are so is the priest for the people are not in y e state as y e priest is Out alas O Lord God thei be in persecuting of thee the Cheefe that seme to loue y e cheefe preheminence in thy Church and to beare the cheefe rule The same vpon the song of Salomon All frendes are becomme all enemies al familiars all aduersaries the seruants of Christe serue Antichrist Beholde in my peace is my moste bitter bitternesse Roger Bacon a man of great fame after that w t a sharpe oration he had reproued the miserable state of his time These heapes of errors saith he do seeke after Antichrist Gerson complaineth that in his time al the fruite exercise of the sacred study of Diuinity was brought to an ambitious contention of wittes and to a mere Sophistrye The Friers of Lions which as touching the maner of their liuing were no euill men were wont boldly to affirme y t the Church of Rome from which onely at y t time the certen resolution of al doubtful matters were fetched was that same whore of Babylō wherof in the Reuelation of Iohn there be so many euident prophecies and the assemble of helhoundes I know well ynough that they make light of these mennes aucthorite but what if I bring them for witnesses whome they are wonte to haue in great honour What if I saye that Adrian the Bysshop of Rome hath francklye confessed that all these euilles beganne to fall hedlonge from the toppe of the Papall dignitie Pighius dothe confesse that in this point they haue erred bicause that in to the Masse which for all other respectes he woulde haue to be accounted holye many abuses are brought in Gerson also bicause y t through the multitude of trifling Ceremonies the whole vertue of the holy Ghoste which ought to be stronge in vs and true deuotiō is altogether quenched Al Grece and Asia lykewise bycause the Popes of Rome wyth the marchandise of theyr Purgatory and pardonnes both haue oppressed mennes consciences and robbed their purses Touching the tirannie of the Byshoppes of Rome and intollerable pryde to passe ouer such as they bycause they haue freely franckly reproued their vices account paraduenture as enemies euē thei which leade their life at Rome in the holy Citie vnder the nose of the most holy father and might se al his secrets neuer forsoke the Catholike Faith as Laurens Ualla Marril of Padoa Francis Petrarche Hieronymus Sauanorola Iochym Abbot Baptist of Mantua before thē al Bernarde the Abbot Al these I say haue greatly and often complained In so much that sometimes they declared the Pope himselfe to be Antichrist whether they spake truely or falsly we leaue it vnto others but doubtles they spake it plainely Neither is there any cause that any man should obiect that they were y e dysciples of Martin Luther or of Zuinglius For they were not onely manye yeares but also dyuers ages before these mennes names were hearde of Yea they did see also euen at that time that errours were crept into the Church and wished for y e amendment of them And what meruaile I pray you if the Church were lead away with errors specially in those dayes what tyme neither the Bishopp of Rome who had the whole rule in his owne handes nor any other mā in māner either did hys duty or did at al vnderstād what hys duety was For it is not easye to bee beleued that the Deuill whilest they were ydle and slept that in all y t tyme was alwaies either a sleepe or ydle For howe they in the meane time demeaned thēselues and with what vprightnesse they gouerned the house of God though wee say nothing let them be content at the least to heare Bernarde a man of theirs The Byshops sayth he vnto whome the Church is cōmitted at this daye ar not doctors but deceauers ar not shepeheardes but shepeweriers ar not Prelates but Pilates Thus sayd Bernard of the byshoppe that called him selfe the chiefe byshop and of the byshoppes whiche at that time helde the sterne He was no Lutherane he was no heretike he forsoke not the Church yet was he not afrayde to cal the byshops that liued in those dayes seducers deceauers and Pylates Now thē what time the people was opēly seduced and the eyes of Christian men manifestly deceaued and when Pylate sittyng in court of Iudgemēt adiugged Christ and his membres to sworde fier in what case o Lord was the Church in those dayes But of so many and so grosse errors what error haue these menne purged at any time Or what error at the leaste would these mē euer acknowledge or confesse But for asmuche as these men doe affirme that they doe stande in full possession of the catholike Churche and call vs bicause we doe dissent frō them heretikes marke I praye you what note or token this Churche hath of the Churche of God Neither is it so harde a matter in case thou wilt earnestly and diligently seeke it to finde out the Churche of God For it standeth vpō an highe and a stately place euen on the toppe of a hill that is to say it is buylded vpon the foundation of the Prophets the Apostels There sayth S. Augustine let vs seeke the Church there let vs trie oure cause and as he saythe in an other place The Churche ought to be tried
out by the holy and canonical Scriptures and y t which can not abide the trial of thē is not y e Church Yet these men I can not tell howe whether it be of reuerence or of cōscience or for dispayre of the victory doe alwayes abhorre and flee Gods worde euen as a thief dothe the gallous Nother is it any maruell at al. For like as it is sayde of the golde worme that in the ioyce of Balsme an ointment to all other respectes of moste sweete and delicate sauour he is sone dispatched and killed so they in Gods worde doe see theyr cause as it were in poyson to be vtterly dispatched destroyed Wherefore to the intent they might the more easily driue the people from the scriptures as from a moste daungerous and a hurtful thing the whiche neuerthelesse our sauiour Iesus Christ did not only vse in al his cōmon talke but also at the laste sealed them with his bloud thei ar wont to cal thē a colde an vncertaine an vnprofitable a dumme a killing a dead lettre Which vnto vs semeth to be asmuche as thoe they had sayd they be no scriptures at all But they sticke not to adde thereunto a similitude not al together of the beste making that thei be in maner as it were a nose of waxe that maye be fashioned and turned into all manner of shapes and serue euery mans purpose Trowe ye the Pope is ignorant that these thinges ar spoken euen by his owne derelinges Or dothe he not vnderstande that he hath such Champions Let him heare therefore how deuoutly how godly one Hosius writeth of this matter a Poloniane as he him self sayth a Byshop doutles an eloquent man not vnlearned and a very earnest and stoute defender of his cause He wil maruel I suppose that any man fearyng God coulde other thynke so wickedly of those wordes whiche he knoweth to haue proceded from the mouthe of God or write so slaunderously and that specially in suche sorte as that he would not haue it to be taken for his own iudgement alone but as the cōmon iudgement of them all In deede I doe not denie but he dothe dissemble his owne personne doth so propoūde the matter as thoe not he nor mē of his sorte but y e heretikes called Zuenkfeldians did speake after y t māner We sayth he as touchyng y e very scriptures wherof we see brought in now a daies so many interpretatiōs not only diuerse amōgst them self but also cōtrary one to an other wil bidde Away with thē And wil rather heare God speake then turne our selfs towardes these beggerly elementes in them repose y e hope of our saluatiō It is not requisit to be cūning in the lawe in y e scriptures but to be taught of God It is but vaine labour y t which is bestowed vpō y e scripture for y e scripture is a creature and a certain beggerly elemēt These be y e wordes of Nosius writē no doubt w t the same spirite minde wherw t Montanus in time paste Marcion did speake of whome it is sayd y t they were wōte to say at what time they would contemptuously reiect the holy scriptures that they knewe many bothe moe better thinges then euer other Christ or his Apostles did knowe What shall I saye therefore in this pointe O ye pillers of Religion o ye prelates of the Church of Christ is this the reuerence that you giue vnto Gods worde Dare you so deale with the holy Scriptures the whiche S. Paule sayth ar deliuered vnto vs by inspiraciō from God the whiche God hath adorned and set forth with so many miracles in the which the most euident footesteppes of Christes passage ar certainely imprynted whiche all the holy fathers whiche the Apostles whiche the Angels whiche Christe him selfe the sonne of God when neede required did call to witnes Dare you I say abide away with thē as though they were vnworthy to be hearde of you Is not this to commaunde God him self whoe most euidently speketh vnto you in the scriptures to kepe silence or will you call that worde by the whiche onely as S. Paule saythe we ar reconciled vnto God and whiche Dauid saith is holy and pure and shall endure for euer by the name onely of a beggerly and a dead element or will you saye that to bestowe our labour about that thing whiche Christe commaunded vs diligently to serche and alwayes to haue before our eyes is a vayne labor and to none effect And that Christ and the Apostles what time they did exhorte the people to the redyng of the holy scriptures that out of them thei might become plentifull in all wisdome and knowlege did goe about to abuse menne with lies It is no meruaile thoe these men despise vs and all that we doe or say whiche make so litle accounte of God him self and of his moste holy worde Yet was it but a folish deuise of them in seking to hurte vs to commit so haynous an iniurie agaynst the worde of God But Hosius will crie out we doe him iniurie and that these be not his but Zuinkfeldius wordes But what if Zuenkfeldius also crie that they be not his but Hosius wordes For wher did Zuinkfelde euer write thē or if he did write them and Nosius iudged them to be wicked why did he not at y e least speake one worde to cōfute them how so euer the matter goe Althoe peraduēture Hosius wil not allow the wordes yet he dothe not disallow the meanyng For in all controuersies almost and namely touchyng the vse of the holy cōmunion vnder bothe kindes although Christes wordes be most plaine yet he cōtemptuously reiecteth them as colde and dead elementes and woulde haue vs beleue certain newe deuises prescribed by the Church and certain reuelations I know not what of the holy ghost And Albert Pighius saieth we ought not to beleue the wordes of the scripture althoe thei were moste manifest vnlesse the same be allowed by the interpretation and authoritie of the Churche Neuerthelesse as though this were but a smal matter they sticke not also to burne vp y e sacred scriptures as in time paste wicked kyng Aza did or as Antiochus or Maximinus did and these they ar wonte to cal heretikes bookes wherein they seeme to intende the same practise whiche Herode in time paste for the mayntenāce of his estate went about in Iury. For he wheras he was an Edomite a very straunger to the stocke and kinred of the Iewes and neuerthelesse couetid to be taken for a Iewe to the intent he might the rather establish for him and his posteritie his kingdome ouer thē the which he had before obtained at the handes of Augustus themperour commaunded all their enrolments of petigrees whiche euen from the time of Abrahā vnto that daye had bene diligentlie kepte amongest their recordes and by the which it might with out al error easily be