reproches and lyes 1. Nowe a daies thei crie euery where that all we are Heretykes that we are departed from the faithe that we with oure newe perswasions and wycked doctrine haue brokē the cōsent of the Churche That we do raise as it were out of Hell and restore to life againe olde Heresyes such as longe agoe were condemned We sowe abroade newe sectes and furious fansies that neuer before were hearde of Also that we nowe are deuided into contrary factions opinions could neuer agree by any meanes among our selues That we ar wicked mē make war after the māner of y e Giauntes as the fable is against God himselfe do liue altogither w tout care or reuerence of God That we do despise al good dedes and vse no discipline of vertue maintaine no lawes no customes no equitie no iustice no right That we loose y e bridel to al mischiefe allure the people to al kynde of licence and luste That we go about and seke how al the states of Monarchies kingdomes might be ouerthrowen and that all thynges might be broughte vnto the rashe gouernment of the people to the rule of the vnskilful multitude That we haue rebelliouslye withdrawen our selues from the catholike Churche and shaken the whole world with a cursed schisme haue troubled the cōmon peace the general quietnes of the Churche and that lyke as in tymes paste Dathan and Abiron seuered themselues from Moses and Aaron so we at this daye departe from the Pope of Rome without any sufficient iuste cause As for the authoritie of the auncient fathers and olde Councelles we do set at naught All auncient ceremonies suche as of oure grandfathers and great grandfathers nowe many ages paste when better manners and better daies did florish were approued we haue rashely and arrogantly abolyshed haue broughte into the Churche by our owne priuate authoritie without any commaundement of any holy and sacred generall Counsell newe rites and ceremonies And that we haue done all these thinges not for any respecte of religion but onely of a desire to maintaine strife and contention As for them they haue changed vtterly nothinge at all but all thinges euen as they receiued them from the Apostles were approued by the moste auncient fathers so they haue kepte them from age to age vnto this daye But now least thei shoulde seme onely to picke quarels and to speake euell of vs in corners onely to the intent to brynge vs into hatred the Romyshe Byshops haue prouided themselues of certaine men eloquente ynoughe and not vnlearned for to vndertake this desperate cause and to set it forth with bokes and long orations to the intent that the matter being cōningly handled after the best fasshion the simple and ignorant man might suppose there were somwhat in it for truely thei sawe how their cause began to decline in al places how their sleights wer now espied and therefore lesse set by and that their Garrysons decaied euery daie and therfore their cause to be such that it had great nede of helpe Now as touching those thinges whiche thei do obiecte against vs parte of them are manifestly false and euen by the iudgment of the selfe same persons that do obiect them condemned for lies parte of them although they bee as false as the other yet in asmuche as thei carrye a shewe and a counterfeat of truth in suche the symple reader if he take not hede specially if vnto the probabylitie of the matter the painted delicate speache of these fellowes be cunningly applied may easilie be entrapped and caried out of the waie part of thē againe ar such as we oughte not to decline from them as crimes but as thinges right well and aduisedly done to acknowledge to professe them and euen to tell you at a word how the matter goeth these men do slaunder all our doings euen those thinges whiche them selues can not deny to be wel and ordrely done and as thoe it were not possyble that any thinge should be other done or spoken wel of vs so all oure sayinges and doinges thei moste malitiously depraue No doubt it hadde been their part to haue gone more simply and more playnely to worke yf thei had ment to deale truly whereas now nother truly nor courteouslie nor Christianly but couertly craftily thei assault vs with lyes abusinge the blindnes of the people and the ignoraunce of Princes to bringe vs into hatred and to oppresse the truth this is the power of darkenes proprety of men that for the furtherance of their cause haue more confydence in the blockishnesse of the vnskilfull multitude in darkenes then in truth and light as S. Ierome saith of such as with closed eyes do barke against the manifest truth But we gyue thanks vnto the almighty God that our quarel is such that euen these men woulde thei neuer so faine can say nothing in reproche therof whiche might not be tourned in reprofe of the fathers of the Prophets of the Apostles of Peter of Paule and of Christe himselfe Now then in case it be lawfull for these men in railinge and speaking euil to be thus lowde and eloquent truly we in our iuste quarell answeringe for the truth ought not to be dumme and specheles for thei that haue noe regarde what is saide of them selfe or of their quarell althoe it be falsly slaunderously spoken specially when it is suche as thereby the maiestie of God and the state of religion is blasphemed thei surely declare them selfe to be dissolute men and suche as carelesly and wickedly do winke at the iniuries done to y e name of God For albeyt many times other greate and greuous iniuries of a sobre and a Christian man may be borne withal and dissembled neuerthelesse who that paciently can endure to be accounted an Heretike suche a one Ruffine was wont to denie to be a Christian. Wherfore we will now do that thinge whiche all lawes whiche the very voyce of nature commaundeth to be done and whyche Christ him selfe being in the like matter in like sort railed vpon did before vs y t is to say we wil giue a repulse to the accusations of these men and modestly and trulie defende oure cause and oure innocency For Christ what time he was accused by the Pharises of sorcery as one that had familiaritie with Deuills and did many thinges by their helpe I saith he haue no Deuill but I glorifie my father and you haue dishonored mee And Paule what time as Festus the leutenante contemned him as a madde man I saith he noble Festus am not mad as thou thinkest but I speake the wordes of truth and of sobrenesse And the Christians of the primitiue Churche what time as thei were iniuriously slaundered vnto the people as murderers of men adulterers incestuous persons and troublers of commō wealthes and sawe that by such slaunders the religiō which thei
professed mighte bee broughte in question specially if thei should seme by their silence in manner to acknoledg the fault least I say this silence sholde hinder y e course of the Gospell thei made orations thei wrote supplications spake before Emperours and Princes in the open defence of them and of theirs As for vs inasmuche as within these .20 yeares laste paste so many thousandes of our brethrē in the middest of their extreme tormēts haue borne witnes to y e truth Princes coueting to bridel y e Gospell in moyling many waies haue lobored all in vaine and that the whole worlde in manner beginneth now to open their eies to beholde y e light we thinke that our cause is already sufficiently pleaded defended and that wheras the matter it selfe speaketh inough for it self there is no great neede of words For if the Popes themselues would or rather if thei coulde consider wyth them selues the whole matter the beginnings and the māner of the encrease of out religion how that their trasshe in manner euery white when no man touched it withoute all helpe of man sell downe to the grounde againe how our profession at the first not withstandinge the continual resistence of Emperors of so many Kynges of Popes Bishops of all men in māner hath encreased and by litle litle spred ouer al the earth and now also at the length is entered in to the Courtes and Palaces of kings euen these things onely might be sufficient tokens wherby to vnderstand that God himself doth fight in our defence and skorneth from heauen all their endeuours that so mighty is the power of truth y t no force of man nor yet Hel gates can withstand it For be ye sure so many free cities so many kings so many Princes as at this day haue abandoned the sea of Rome and adioyned themself to the Gospel of Christe are not become madde And albeit peraduenture hetherto the Popes haue had no leisure to thinke aduisedli earnestly vpō these matters or if now at this day they be letted encombred w t other busines or if thei take these kinde of trauails to be base light matters to appertaine nothing to the maiestie of a Pope yet our cause oughte to seeme therefore neuer a whit the worse Nother if perhaps thei wil not see these thinges whiche thei do see but rather fighte against the knowne truthe ar we therefore by and by to be taken for Heretikes whiche do not apply our selues to their will Truly if Pope Pius had ben the man I saye not whiche he desiereth to be taken for but if he were at the least suche a one as had accounted vs to be other as his brothren or at the leaste as men he woulde fyrste haue diligently waied oure reasons bothe what we haue to saye for vs and what may be saide againste vs not so rashely onely with a blinde sentence determined afore hande in that Bul of his wherin of late he made a counterfaite shewe of a Councell haue condemned a good part of the worlde so many learned godly men so many commō weales so many Kynges so many Princes the persons vnheard the cause not pleaded But inasmuche as he hathe now openly slaundered vs after this sorte leaste that by silence we might seeme to confesse the faulte and specially bicause that in the open Councell wherein he will suffer no man but onely suche as are sworne and addicted vnto his vsurped power to haue authoritie to gyue a voyce or to declare his minde we can in no wise be hearde for therof in the laste assemble at Trente we had ouer muche experience what time the Embassadours and diuines of the Princes and of the free citees of Germany were vtterly excluded out of all their assembles nother can we yet forget how that Iulius the 3 tenne yeares past in his bul strayghtly did forbid that no man of oure proffessyon shoulde be hearde in the councell onlesse paraduenture there were any that woulde recante and chaunge his opiniō euen for these causes specially we haue thought it good to render a reason of oure faithe by writinge vnto suche thinges as are openly obiected againste vs truly openly to answer to the entēt the whole worlde may see the partes and the foundation of that doctrine whiche so many godly men haue preferred before their owne liffes that all men may vnderstande what māner of men thei be and what thei do thinke of God of religion whome the Byshop of Rome not wel aduised hathe condemned for Heretiks yea before thei were called to pleade their cause without lawe without example onely bicause he hearde say thei differed from him from his in some parte of Religion And although in the suspicion of Heresy S. Ierome will haue noe man to be pacient neuerthelesse we wyll demeane our selfe nother bitterly nor tantingly w t many wordes nor yet be caried into any chauffe with anger although in dede he ought not to seeme bitter or tātinge that speaketh truth But this kynde of eloquence we are content to leaue to our aduersaries who what soeuer thei speake against vs thoe it be neuer so bytterly or slanderously spoken yet it is modestly spoken and to good purpose how truly or falslye therof thei make no great account Suche kinde of sleights we haue no nede of that defende the truth But in case we doe proue that the sacred Gospell of God and the auncient Bishops together with the primitiue Churche dothe make for vs and that we haue vpon iuste cause bothe departed from these men and also retourned now againe vnto the Apostles and olde catholike fathers and that we do it in dede not couertly or craftely but with a good conscience before God truly frankly clerely plainely if thei them selues which flee oure doctrine and will be caled Catholikes shal euidently se al those tytles of ātiquitie wherin thei glorie so much wrounge out of their handes that ther is more pith in our cause then euer thei coulde imagine we trust no man amongest them wil be so negligente of his saluaciō but that he will at some time take in hande to bethynke hym selfe vnto whether parte it were best for him to sticke vnto and truly no man except suche a one as hath hardned his hart and wil not heare shal repent him selfe of his laboure to haue geuen eare vnto oure defence and to haue marked bothe what we do say and how agreably vnto y e whole course of Christiā religiō For wher as thei cal vs Heretikes truly the fault is so great y t vnles it be seene vnles it be felte vnles it be gryped with handes and fingers it ought not easily to be beleued of him that is a Christian mā For Heresie is a renouncing of saluation a casting awaie of the grace of God a departing from the bodi and spirit of Christ. But this thing was neuer
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
slaunderousely agaynste vs yet thys one thynge they can not saye that wee haue aparted our selues either from the word of God or from the Apostels of Christ or from the primityue Churche But we haue alwayes estemed the firste age of the Church to be catholyke y e which was in tune of Christ and of the Apostles and of the holy fathers Nor wee doubt not to call y t Church the arke of Noe the spouse of Christ the piller and perfect stay of the truth or vpō the same to repose the whole course of our saluation It is doutles an odyous thing for any man to forsake y t felowship whereunto he hath accustomed himselfe but specially of those men which although they be not yet at the least seeme to be are called Christiās And to say truth concerning their Church euen for the names sake bicause y t in time paste of what sorte so euer it be now the Gospell of Iesus Christ was truly purely set forth in it we doe not so greatly contemne it nor would not haue forsaken it but only of very necessitie and y t very much against our willes But what if an Idole be raised vp in the Church of God that same desolation whereof Christ did prophecy shoulde stande openly in the holy place What if a strong theefe or a pyrate get the possessiō of y e Arke of Noe Doubtles these mē as often as they preach vnto vs y e Church they make themselfes onely to be the Church and all those tytles they chalenge to themselfes and so they triumphe euen as they did in tymes paste that cryed The temple of the Lord The temple of the Lord or as the Pharasies and Scribes did when they boasted themselfes to be the sonnes of Abraham Thus they deceiue the simple w t a vaine apparance of gay thinges and seke vtterly to oppresse vs with y e very name of the Church euen lyke as if a theefe when that he had entered vpō an other mans house and had other violētly thrust out or murdered y e owner therof should afterwardes chalenge it for his owne and keepe out of possession the right heire or if Antichrist after y e he had goten himselfe into possession of the temple of God should say afterwardes that it were his owne that it appertained nothing vnto Christ. For these mē wheras in the Church of God they haue left nothing lyke to gods Churche yet they will seeme to be maintainers and defenders of the Church euen altogether as Gracchus in tymes paste defended the treasure of Rome what time as with launching out of large gifts and vndiscreat expenses he vtterlye consumed cast it away There was neuer nothing so wicked or so farre against reason that vnder the name of y e Church might not easily be couered and defēded For euen the waspes also doe make honycombes and the wicked haue theyr assembles and fellowshyppes together lyke vnto the Church of God But not whosoeuer are called the people of God are by and by the people of God Nor all that are descēded from their father Israell ar all Israelytes The Arryans y t were Heretiks boasted themselues that they only were Catholykes for the reste they called them al sometyme Ambrosyans sometime Athanasians sometyme Iohannites Nestoriās as Theodoret saith although he wer an Heritike yet he couered himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 y t is to say with a certain apparance cloke of the right faith Ebion although he agreed in opiniō with the Samaritanes yet as Epiphanius saith he would be called a Christian. And the Mahometans although it be euident out of all hystories and can not deny themselfes but that they came of Agar the bondwoman yet they had rather as though they were descended out of the stocke of Sara a free woman and the wife of Abraham be called Sarracens for the reputation of the name and of the stocke Thus the false Prophetes of all ages which did withstand the Prophets of God as Esay as Hieremy as Christ as y e Apostles had nothing more rife in their mouthes then the name of the Church Nether for any other cause did they so bitterly turmoile them or call them runnawaies and forsakers of their profession thē bicause they had gone from their fellowship and obserued not the ordiānces of the elders And in case we wil folow the iudgement of those men onely by whom the Church was gouerned at that time haue no respect other to God or to his woorde or to any other thinge doubtles it cā not be denied but that the Apostles in as much as they declined away from the high Byshops priestes that is to say from the catholyke Church and contrary to their willes cried they neuer so much brought in an innouation a change of many thinges in religion were rightly condemned and according to law Wherfore like as thei writ of Hercules y t in wrastling with Anteus the Gyaunt he was faine to hoist him vp from the earthe his mother before he could ouercome him so our aduersaries must be lifted vp frō this mother of theirs that is to say from this counterfait shape and shadow of the Church which they mass themselues w tall for otherwise they can not giue place to y e word of God Wherfore Ieremye saith Boast not your selues so much that the temple of God is amongst you that is but a vaine confidence for these be saith he y e words of lies And y e Angel in the reuelatiō Thei say saith he thei be Iewes but thei be the Synagoge of Satan And Christ what time the Pharasies bosted themselues of the stock and kinred of Abraham You sayth he are of your father the Deuill for you doe nothing resemble your father Abraham As thoughe he shoulde saye thus You are not the men which you desire so much to be taken for you deceiue the people w t counterfait tytles and abuse the name of y e Church to the ouerthrowing of the Church Wherfore this they ought first euidently and truely to haue proued that the Church of Rome is y e true and the right beleuing Church of God and that the same according as it is gouerned by them at this day doth agree with the primitiue Church of Christ of the Apostles and of the holy fathers which no mā doubted to bee the Catholike Church True it is in deede in case we could haue beleued that ignorāce error superstition worshipping of Idols mans inuentions such as many times are contrary to the holy Scriptures either pleased God or were sufficiēt to the obtaining of euerlasting saluation or if we coulde haue perswaded our selues that the worde of God was writē only for a fewe yeares and then to be put out of all authoritie or that at any time the saiynges and ordinances of God shoulde stande at the discretion of the will of mā that whatsoeuer God sayde or commaunded
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
adiudged to be more glorious and more heauenly Euen so these men to the ende that their religion which they themselues haue hatched and that not so long agoe to themselues might be the eassier and better set forth vnto men that eyther were fools in deede or little cōsidered what they did and where about they went are wont to say that it came vnto their handes from Augustine from Hierome frō Chrisostome frō Ambrose from the Apostls from Christ himselfe For right wel thei know that ther is nothing more plausible vnto the people thē these names or better accepted of y e common sortes of men But what if those thinges which these men would haue accounted to be new be founde to be most auncient Againe what if those thinges in maner all which these men so hyghly set forth with the name of antiquitie after that they haue been well and diligently syfted shall be founde at the last to be but grene and new Truely the lawes and Ceremonies of the Iewes although that Aman did accuse them of nouelty yet vnto any man that considered them truly and vprightly thei coulde not appeare to be new for thei were written in most auncient tables And Christe although many supposed that he did declyne from Abraham and from the olde fathers and that he brought in a new Religiō of his owne heade yet he answered truely If you beleued Moises you should beleue mee also for my doctrine is not so new as you take it Moises a most auncient aucthor whom you doe esteme aboue all men did speake of mee And. S. Paule Although the Gospell of Iesus Christ be reputed of many to be new yet it hath saith he a most auncient testimony of the law and the Prophetes As for our doctrine the which we may cal more rightly the Catholike doctrine of Christ is so far of from all nouslty that the olde God of all ages and the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ hath commended it vnto vs in moste auncient monuments euen in the Gospell and in the bookes of the Prophetes and of the Apostles So that now it can not seeme new vnto any man except there be any to whom either the fayth of the Prophetes or the Gospell or Christ himselfe seemeth to be newe But in case their Religion bee so auncient and so olde as they woulde haue it to appere wherefore doe they not proue it oute of the examples of the primitiue Church out of the auncient fathers out of the olde Councels Why lyeth so olde a cause abandoned so longe tyme wythout a defender as for Sworde and Fyer they haue had alwayes at hande but of olde Councels and Fathers no worde at all And surely it had been altogether against reason to begin at these bloody and cruell reasons if they could haue founde any gentyler and mylder argumentes But if they haue in deede such truste in Antiquitie wythout any maner of counterfeiting why did Iohn Clement a Countrie man of oures not many yeares paste in the syght of certaine honest men and men of good credit teare and cast into the fyer certaine leaues out of a most auncient Father and a Greeke Bysshop called Theodoret in the which he dyd euidently and expressely teache that in the Sacrament the nature of bread was not taken away And that at such tyme as he thought no other example coulde be founde in anye place why dothe Albert Pighius denye that Sainct Augustine that olde Father dyd holde a right opinion of Originall synne or of such mariages as are contracted after a vowe professed And where as Augustine affirmeth it to be perfecte Matrimonye and can not be reuoked why sayth he that he dothe erre and is deceiued that he vseth no good Logike Why did thei now of late in y e printing of y t aunciēt father Origene vpō y e Gospel of Iohn leaue out y e whole sixt chapter wherin it is very credible or rather certain y t he taught many things touching the Sacramēt cōtrary to their doctrin so had rather set forth y e boke in maner maimed thē being perfect it shold reproue their errors Is this to trust to ātiquiti to teare to suppresse to māgle to burne the bookes of the auncient fathers It is a worlde to beholde how wel these men doe agree in Religion with those fathers of whom they are wont to bragge to be on their side The olde Councell called Eliberinum decreed that nothing that y e people worshipped should be painted in Temples An aunciēt father Epiphanius saith that it is an horrible wickednes and an offence vntolerable If any man should set vp so much as a painted Image though it were of Christ himselfe in the Churches of Christian men These mē as though there were no Religion without them haue filled their Church and eueri corner of them with painted and grauen Images The olde fathers Origen and Chrysostome do exhorte the people to the reading of y e holy Scriptures to bye bookes to reason of matters pertaining to religion among themselues in their own howses the husbandes with their wiues the parentes with ther Childrē Cōtrariwyse these mē do condemne the Scriptures as dead elementes and by all meanes they can possibly restraine the people from them The auncient fathers Cyprian Epiphanius and Hierome say that if any hath made a vowe to liue an vnmaryed lyfe and afterwardes leadeth his lyfe in vncleanes and can not restraine the flammes of his lustinge that it is better for him to mary a wyfe and to liue chastely in wedlock And the selfe same Matrimony the olde father Augustine determineth to be lawful and good nor ought not to be reuoked These men contrariwise such as haue once bounde themselues by now although afterwardes he burne in lusting although he hunt after Hores although neuer so filthely damnably he defile himselfe yet they will not suffer him to mary or if perchaunce he do marry they deny it to be matrimony affirming y t it is much better and more godly to keepe a Concubine or a Harlot then to liue in that state That auncient father S. Augustine did complain of y e multitude of vaine Ceremonies by y t which he sawe how euen in those daies mens mindes and consciences were oppressed These mē as though God delyted in nothing els haue encreased ceremonies so out of al measure that now in their Churches holy seruice they haue left in maner nothing els Augustine an olde father denyeth y t it is lawfull for a sluggishe monke to liue in ydlenesse vnder a colour pretence of holines to liue vpon other mens labours such as liueth after y t sort an old father Apollonius saith they be like vnto theeues These men haue shall I say heardes or flockes of monkes whych albeit thei doe vtterly nothing neither trouble themselues so much as to counterfait or to beare any face of
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
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
of truth from the whiche the holy scriptures receaue their authoritie The doctrine sayth he of the Churche of Rome is the vnfallible rule of fayth from the whiche the holy Scriptures fetcheth her strength And pardonnes sayeth he ar not come to our knowlege by the authoritie of the scriptures but thei ar knowne vnto vs by the authoritie of the Churche of Rome and of the Romane Popes the whiche is a greater authoritie Pighius also is not afrayde to saye that we ought not to beleue any texte of the scripture be it neuer so playne vnlesse we haue our warrant from the Churche of Rome Muche like as if any of these that can not speake good and pure Latine and yet can bable somwhat after the māner of Scholemens Latine very roundly and redily woulde needes maynteyne that all other mē also ought to speake such Latine now in these times as many yeres past Mammetrect or Catholicon did speake and suche as at this daye is vsed amongest themselues in their common scholes for so both that whiche is spoken maye be well inough vnderstanded and also mens mindes wel satisfied and that it were a mockery now after so longe cōtinuāce to trouble y e world with a new kinde of speach and to cal home againe the olde purenes and elegācy in speakyng whiche Cicero or Cesar vsed in their dayes Such is the duety forsoth that these men doe owe vnto the ignorance and darknes of the times paste Many thinges as a certaine man sayth ar ofte times in good estimatiō only bicause they had bene ones dedicated to the temples of Heathen Gods Euen so we see that these menne at this daye doe allowe many thinges and highly esteeme them not bicause they iudge them to be so much worthe but only bicause they haue bene receyued by coustume and dedicated after a certayne māner to the Churche of God But our Church saye they can not erre the whiche thing I suppose they speake much like as in time paste the Lacedemonians were wonte to say y t in the whole state of their common welth it was not possible to finde an aduouterer wheras in deede they were rather al aduouterers in asmuch as thei cupled thēself in vncertain mariages occupied their wifes together in cōmon Or as the Canonistes for their bealies sake ar wōte to speake nowe a dayes of the Pope That he in that he is lorde ouer all benefices although he doe sell for money Bysshoprickes Abbeys personages and suffereth nothing freely to departe from him neuerthelesse bicause he saythe that all is his thoe he would neuer so fayne he can not commit symonie But howe this argument should be good and how the wordes maye agree with reason we can not as yet surely perceiue except peraduenture like as the aūcient Romanes in time past dealt with Lady Victorie so these mē after that truth came fliyng vnto them they pulled of her winges that neuer after she should be able to flie from them But what if Ieremie say vnto them accordyng as we sayde before that these be the wordes of lies What if the same man saye agayne that euen they whiche ought to haue manured the vineyarde haue wasted and destroyed the Uineyarde of the Lorde What if Christ saye that they whiche chyeflye ought to haue bene carefull ouer the Temple of the Lordes temple haue made a denne of thieues But in case the Church of Rome can not erre then muste it needes be that the happynes thereof is greater then the wisedome of these menne For suche is their lyfe doctrine and diligence that the Churche maye full well for all them not onely erre but also perishe vtterly and come to nothyng Doubtles if that Churche maye erre whiche hath vtterly gone astraye from the worde of God from the commaundementes of Christe from the ordinances of the Apostles from the examples of the primitiue Church from the constitutions of the olde fathers and auncient Councels and from the verye decrees of theyr owne makynge and whiche will not be kepte in order with no lawes nother olde nor new nother of theyr owne nor of others nother of God nor of manne then is it moste certaine not onely that the Churche of Rome mighte erre but also that moste lewdely and shamefully it hath erred But you were ones saye they of our felowship but now you ar become Apostatas rūnegates haue separated your selfs frō vs. True it is y t we haue disseuered our selfs from thē and for that cause we bothe giue thankes to our moste mercyfull and mightie God and also on oure owne behalfes we doe moste hyghlye reioyce But we haue not departed at all from the primitiue Churche from the Apostles nor from Christe We can not denie but we were brought vp amongest them in darkenes and in the ignorance of God euen as Moyses was in the discipline and in the bosome of the Aegyptiās We were sayth Tertullian of your fellowshippe I cōfesse and no marueile for men ar made and not borne Christians But let these men tell me wherefore they ar come downe from these seuen hils wherupon afore time Rome did stande and haue chosen rather to dwel vpon the playne whiche is called the fielde of Mars They will say peraduēture bycause the conduytes of water that were in those hils without the whiche they could not wel liue ar now decayed dried vp Then lette them giue vs that same leaue touchyng the water of euerlastyng life whiche they will haue to be graunted vnto them in this case of material water Amongest thē this water fayled longe a goe the elders as Hieremy sayeth sent theyr yoūgelings to y e waters but they when thei could finde nothing brought home theyr empty vessels beyng in great miserie and vtterly loste for thirste The needy sayeth Esay and the poore sought after water but they founde none in no place theyr tongues were now euen dried for thyrst these mē had broken vp all their water courses and theyr conduytes these had choked all theyr springes and had filled with myre and durte the fountayne of the water of life And like as Caligula in time paste by closing vp of all mens barnes brought vpon the people a generall hunger and famine so these men in chokyng vp of all the foūtaynes of Gods worde haue brought the people into a miserable thyrste They brought as Amos the Prophete sayth hunger and thirst vpon men not a famine of bread not a thirste of water but of hearyng the worde of God The poore wretches wandered vp and downe sekyng after some litle sparke of that light of God wherwith they might chiere their consciences but it was cleane quenched out they coulde finde none at all Suche was the very state suche was the pytifull condition of the Church of God Moste miserably men liued therein without the gospell without lighte without all comforte Wherefore although our departyng be somewhat greuous vnto them yet ought