bewayle themselues in the day of â—udgment Crovvley Thus farre goeth your merginall note To this note of yours I say thus There is good cause to moue you to thinke that we doo think that you are fooles for you can not but know that we doo know that there is no wisedome in theÌ„ that doo so waste the good creatures of God as you doo that waxe which you doo burne in the day light when there is no vse of that artificiall light because the naturall light dooth then serue the turne of euery creature that néedeth y e vse of light And that madnes of yours is so much the greater for that you set those lightes before stocks and stones that are fashioned like men and women and haue the forme of eyes but not y e sence of sight Yea and the Prophet Dâ—â—iâ— in the Psalme 115. Doth account you no wiser then those stocks and stones be when he sayth thus They that make them are like vnto them and so are all they that repose trust in them You say that your other Ceremonies doo cause vs to thinke that you are fooles and your Religion folly In truth you coniecture right For wee know that no wise man in the world would vse such Ceremonies as you doo nor professe such a Religion wherin there is in maner nothing but méere madnes As I hope I shall make manifest to al wisemen in my discourse vpon the seuerall points thereof But first wée must lende you our eares a while tyll you haue tolde vs what we may reade in the Booke of Wisedome Chapter 5 Where it is written that the damned in the latter day be wayling their foolishnes shal speake these words c. as aboue First of all I must say vnto you that wee did knowe and did vnderstande the meaning of those words of wisedom before you were Frier John yea and before you were Samuell Debnam If you had asked câ—unsell of Nicholaus Lycanus which was a Fryer Minor hâ—â— would haue tolde you another meaning of the wisemans words thâ—n that which you doo gather He writeth thus Siabiâ—t iustâ—in magna constantâ—â— quia perfecti â—um Christo indicabunt A duersos â—os qui se angustiauerunt inferendo eis noeumentum in personis â—t qui aâ—stulerunt labâ—res corum eis nocendo in rebus possessis The rightecus shall stand in great constancie for the perfect men shall sit in indgment with Christ against such as haue distressed them in dooing them hurte in their persons And such as haue taken from them theyr labours in hurting them in those things that they possessed If these words of the wise man must be applied to you so that you shoulde bée the Just men that shouid stande foorth with so great constancie then must you also be the damned that in the latter day shall bewayle their owne foolishnes for that none doth disâ—resse you in your owne persons but your selfe You are they that doo punish your selues by going and lying woolward by abstaining from flesh by rysing at midnight and by whypping and scourging of your sâ—lues and who dooth or can hurt you in those things that you possesse â—ith you haue voâ—â—ed neuer to possesse any thing no not so much as the garments that belong to your owne bodies And who can take from you anie fruits of your labours séeing that you neuer laboure and therefore can not reape any fruites of any laboure that is doone by you but are fedde and haue professed that you wyll and must still be fedde by the labours of other But wyll you know what Saint Austen writeth against the second Epistle of Gaudentius that was Bishop of the Donatistes In the 27. Chapter of that booke Tom. 7. S. Augustine writeth thus Agnoscite scelus vestrum nolâ—te vobis vsurpare no men alienum Scriptura dixit Tunc stabunt â—usti in magna constantia aduersus eos qâ—i se angustiauerunt qui abstulerunt labores eorum Non dixit stabunt omâ—es qui â—ala passi sunt sed stabuntâ—iâ—sti Sicut dominus cum dixisset Beati qui persecutâ—â—nem patiuntur â—isâ— addidisset propâ—er iustitiam non solos significaret qui pro sâ—a in domino patientia coronantur sed etiam illos qui iâ—stis legibus puniâ—ntur Quapropter siad vos put at is haec iustonum verba quae scripta sunt pertinâ—re prius an iusti sitâ—s â—stendite Acknowledge sath S. Austeâ— your owne wickednes and doo not vsurpe a name that belongeth not to you The Scripture hath sayd Then the iust shall stand in greate câ—nstancie against them that haue distressed them and haue taken away their labours It hath not sayd as many as haue suffered euill shall stand but the iust shall stand Euen as when the Lorde had sayd Blessed are they that suffer persecution except hee hadde added for righteousnes he should haue meant not theÌ„ alone which are crowned for their suffering in the Lord but them also that are punished by iust lawes Wherefore if you doo thinke that these words that are written doo appertaine vnto you shewe first whether you be righteous or no. And in y e same place it foloweth thus In déede you haue amongst you righteousnesses y t you brag of great matters as y e deuiding of Christ the cutting off of the Sacraments of Christ y t for saking of the peace of Christ war against y e meÌ„bers of Christ accusations against the spouse of Christe the denying of the promises of Christ These are your righteousnesses for which forsooth you shall stand in great constancie Thus farre Augustine Nowe if I may be so bolde with you let me sée whether these latter words of S. Austen may not be rightly applied vnto you Minime Fryers and such other Religious personnes Doo you not deuide Christ when you ascribe your saluation partâ—y to faith in him and partly to your owne workes and to the merits of Saints and when in the Office of mediation you ioyne with him his blessed mother and such other as liued holily in this transitory life Do you not cutt off the Sacraments of Christ and after a sort you abrogate them when you minister Baptisme to belles Churches and Churchyardes and shyppes which you call the hallowing of these thinges and when in your conâ—urations you christen Cattes and such other creatures to deceiue the deuill withall when you haue promised to giue him a christened creature And when you teache that in the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ there remaineth no substance of bread and wyne and so you make it no Sacrament For as you once learned and did openly confesse in my Church euery Sacrament must consist of two parts that is both of earthly and of heauenly matter and not of the one matter onely And when you giue it that newe name calling it the Sacrament of the Altare and when you doo reserue it hanging it ouer your Altar carrying it abroade to shew it to the people teaching them
your holy father the Popes holines would soothe you in it The Diuines doo by a generall consent say that because the burden of sinne and the damnation due vnto it is so great and horrible in the sight of GOD that the wrath of God for sinne could not otherwise be appeased nor his iustice satisfyed then by the cruell and bloodie death of that man that neuer had sinned neither was by any meanes spotted or defyled with sinne and therefore had not any way deserued to die And heerevpon they conclude that of necessitie the onely begotten sonne of God in whome there coulde be no sinne must take mans nature of the substaunce of a blessed virgine prepared before of GOD for that purpose that the nature of man taken of her substaunce might not haue in it any part of mans sinne and that that sonne of God béeing both God and man might die in his mans nature that blooddie death that mans sinne had deserued and so Gods wrath myght be appeased and his iustice satisfyed which could neuer haue béene brought to passe by any other meane Héereof wee may conclude that in some sort our sinnes were the cause of the death of our Sauiour Christ This lesson you had once learned and did repeate it openlie in my Church at Creplegate of London in the presence and hearing of a great multitude of Christians which conceiued no small hope that you béeing borne of such Christian Parents as you were and brought vp vnder such masters as had so instructed you in Christian Religion that beeing but of tender yeeres you were so perfect in the principles of that our Religion woulde haue prooued an excellent Minister in the house of God to the great ioye of such as had béene at charge in your education and to the furthering of Christes glory in the Realme of Englande your natiue Countrey But sée howe â—athan hath bewitched you You are nowe become apyssing potte in the Chamber of Antichrist Thys commeth of thy pryde Samuell GOD gaue thée good gyfts that thou shouldest haue vsed them to his glory but thou hast pryded thy selfe in them and hast euery way abused them and art fallen into the handes of God which is a thing most horrible Heb. 10. The Lord for his mercie sake open the eyes of thyne vnderstanding that thou maist sée the greatnes of thine owne misery and acknowledge the great fault of thine Apostacie and craue helpe at the hande of our heauenlie Father whose mercy is as great as him selfe and is alwaies ready to receiue euery Prodigall sonne that returneth home againe vnto him and séeketh after euery sheepe that is gon astray Returne therefore Samuell returne to our heauenly Father Be no longer called by that hypocriticall name of Fryer Iohn Frauncis Thy name Samuell which was giuen to thée in thy Baptisme is not yet blotted out of our heauenly Fathers Register neyther shall be before the day of thy departing out of this life Return in time séeke God whilst he may be founde call vppon him whylst he is at hande and hath his cares open to heare all such as call vpon him faithfully Make not so light a matter of sinne as to thinke that Iohn Baptistes féeding vpon Locusts and wylde honney c. could be any helpe to take away anie part of the damnation due to our sinnes Be ashamed of that fonde perswasion that mooued you to say thus Consider this I pray you If another suffer for my sinnes shall not I my selfe suffer You séeme to be perswaded that of necessity we must suffer for our owne sinnes because Christ hath suffered for them alreadie Whereas in verie déede the contrarye is most true Because Christe hath already suffered for our sinnes therefore we néede not to suffer for them For his suffering for our sinnes is sufficient and is a full satisfaction for the sins of y e whole worlde And there remaineth nothing to be doone by vs but onelye by faith to take the benefite of that his suffering and to shewe our selues thankfull to him for that it hath pleased him to suffer for vs and by his suffering to restore vs to the fauour of the heauenly maiesty againe Which thankes we render when wee mortifye our fleshlie affections and make our bodies â— Sacrifice to God lyuing holie and acceptable For this is our reasonable seruing of God as wryteth S. Paule Rom. 12. This is that sounde doctrine that in your yonger dayes was taught you you learned did once openly confesse in my Church at Crâ—plegate Doo you therefore I pray you consider better of this matter and be perswaded that for as much as another which is Christ the sonne of the lyuing GOD hath suffered for your sins you are by his suffering redéemed from your sinnes and from euer lasting damnation due to your sinnes and by his resurrection iustified and made righteous in the sight of the heauenly Maiesty and discharged of your sinnes past for euer Rom. 4. And when you shall by the frailty of your flesh fal and commit sinne follow the counsell of Christes déere Disciple Iohn that wrote the history of the Gospell and those thrée Epistles that are called Canonicall In the second Chapter of the first of those thrée Epistles he writeth thus My little babes I writ thus vnto you that you should not sinne but if anie man doo sinne we haue an Aduocate with God the Father euen Christe Iesus the righteous he is the obtainer of mercy for our sinnes The words of Iohn in the Latine are these Ipse est propitiatio I thinke I can not translate them better for the vnderstanding of the meaning by the Englishe Reader then as I haue that is He is the obtayner of mercy for our sinnes We néede not therfore to séeke for a ghostly father that may heare our confession and giue vs penaunce and absolution Christ hath alreadie suffered penaunce for our sinnes and hath absolued vs. We néede not to runne to Rome for pardon For GOD hath alreadie pardoned all our sinnes past and repented because we beléeue that promise of pardon that he hath made in the death and blood shedding of his onelie begotten sonne our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ And when we sinne by frailtie wee haue an open way in vnto the mercie seate of God by and through our Sauiour Christ who is the way the truth and the life Iohn 14. You procéede and thus you say The Fryar We reade in the fift of Leuiticus how our Lorde commaunded the children of Israell to doo penaunce when they had committed any offence Iudg. 21. Vniuersus Israel valde doluit egitque poenitentiam super hoc quod fiebat All the Children of Israell were very sorry and they did penaunce for that which they hadde doone Holie Iob in the 24. Chapter of his booke sayeth Dedit eâ—s Deus locum poenitentiae God of his wonderfull mercy gaue man place to do penaunce Dissimulas saith Salomon peccata hominum propter
S. Iohn saith in the same Epistle Cap. 4. Hée doth there teache you howe to knowe Antichrist and so consequently Antichristians Omnis spiritus qui soluit Iesum ex Deo non est hic est Antichristus de quo audistis quoniam venit iam nunc in mundo est Euery spirite that loseth or dissolueth Jesus or the Sauiour for so dooth the name Jesus signify is not of God and the same is Antechrist of whom you haue heard that he commeth and he is euen nowe in the worlde Who be they that may be sayd to lose or dissolue Jesus which is the Sauiour but they which doo as you doo That is asscribe one part of your saluation to Jesus Christ and another to your owne workes and merites If you can find any better interpretation of this place let vs at your leasure sée it If not leaue your dissoluing of Jesus and ioyne with vs in ascribing your whole saluation to the mediation of Jesus Christ as we doo But perhaps you wyll héere â—lée from your olde allowed translation and for an aduantage take holde of the Gréeke text which is thus Euery spirite that denyeth or doth not confesse that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God c. But what can that helpe your cause Jesus Christe came in the flesh that he might treade the wine presse of Gods wrath alone and not to haue any one to helpe him Esay 63. Hee came in the flesh that he might be wounded for our iniquities broken for our great and wicked sinnes that the correction wherby we might be reconciled myght fall vpon him that we might bée made whole by the brwsing of his stripes Esay 53. Agayne S. Paule 1. Tim 1. Thys is a true saying and méete to be receiued of all men that Christ Jesus came into this world to saue sinners And in Math. 1. Hée shall saue his people from their sinnes And in S. Iohns Gospell 1. Beholde him that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde By all these places it is plaine that whosoeuer ascribeth any parte of our saluation to any other then to Christ Jesus alone denyeth him to bée come in the flesh and is of that Antichrist that S. Iohn speaketh of 1. Epistle 4. You are therefore Antichristians and we are for good cause come from you because we were not Antichristians and therefore not of you We are returned to that Romish Catholicke Church that was in Johns time from whom you came out because you were not of them And we doo now beléeue as they beléeued then They beléeued then that there is but one God that hath made all creatures and him they glorifyed in the vse of hys creatures and they gaue thankes to hym alone for those creatures and studyed to serue him onely in spyrite and and with spiritual seruice fléeing from the example of the Heathen Nations that presumed to counterfayte his maiestie by Images Rom. 1. And so doo wée They beléeued and confessed that all men are sinners and that man can not iustify himselfe before God because no man can so kéepe the Lawe but that his own conscience shall condemne him as a transgressor therefore they dyd cleaue to the mercy of God and so doo we They beléeued that they were iustified that is discharged of their sinnes fréely by fayth wythout the déedes of the Law and yet they thought themselues bound to doo all that God had and should make them able to doo in obseruing and fulfilling the Law and so doo we Rom. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. They beléeued that God making choyse of them had in mercy made them his owne children by adoption inheritours of his kingdome and heyres annexed with his onely begotten sonne Christ Jesus and héere of they were assured by the spirit of Christ which was gyuen to them and cried in their harts Abba Pater Father Father and so doo we They beléeued that this election and choyse was made in the fore knowledge and purpose of GOD before them selues were and so consequently before they eyther had or coulde doo good or euill and so doo we Rom. 9. They beléeued that as they were by frée mercy of God adopted predestinated called iustified and acquitted of their sinnes and in Gods predestination glorifyed and made like to the Image of his onely begotten sonne Christ Jesus Rom. 8. So their duety was to be carefull to leade a righteous life before men and not be bolde to commit sinne because God had in mercy discharged them of sin but to liue in awe and a reuerent childlike feare of his iustice as they that would shewe themselues continually thankfull for his mercy in making their owne bodies a Sacrifice to God lyuing holy and acceptable vnto God as theyr reasonable seruing of God Rom. 10. 11. 12. And euen so doo wée They beléeued that theyr duety was to submytte themselues to all such as God had sette ouer them in authoritye and to obey them not onelie for feare of punishment but for conscience sake also knowing that whosoeuer resisteth power resisteth the ordinaunce of GOD and doth purchase to himselfe damnation And they beléeued that their duety was to giue euery man his owne and to vse louing behauiour towards all men knowing that loue is the fulfilling of the Lawe And that béeing baptised they had put vpon themselues Christ and ought to walke and continue their liues in honesty not making prouision for the fleshe to satisfy the lustes thereof Rom. 13. and euen so doo we They beléeued that although God had gyuen them liberty in the vse of al his creatures yet their duety was to haue a continuall regarde to the infirmitie of their brethrenâ—â— and not to vse any of those creatures to the offence of any of them Rom. 14. 15. and euen so doo we They beléeued that they together with all other Christians els where in any part of the worlde were fellowe members of one bodye in Christ and vnder Christ alone acknowledging no vniuersal heade of that body but onely Christ Jesus alone Rom. 12. And euen so doo we Thus you may sée that we are not departed from the Catholicke Romaine Church which was in the time of S. Iohn but from you that departed from them more then 1000. yéeres before this day You put many of Gods creatures in the place of God in reposing trust in them in calling vpon them and crauing helpe at theyr handes in rendring thankes vnto them in honouring them in and by their Images in seruing theÌ„ and in consecrating daies Temples and Altars to their honour You presume vppon your owne power as they that are able either to fulfill the Law or els hauing broken the Lawe to satisfie to God for your sinne in breaking the Lawe and to that end you fast from flesh you goe and lye woolwarde you rise at midnight you sing mattins and masses you whyp your selues with your disciplines or whyps not following therein any commaundement of God
tantum You sée that man is iustified by works and not by faith onely Iames. 2. Wée doo rather choose to be anathematized of your holy father the Popes holines and of all those fathers that were gathered together in the Tridentine Councell then of father Paul whose holines doth surmount the holines of your holy father the Popes holines Father Paul hath written thus in his Epistle to the Galathians Chap. 1. Licet nos aut Angelus de coelo euangelizet vobis praeterquam quod euangelizauimus vobis Anathemasit Although I my selfe or an Angel from heauen should preache vnto you anie other Gospell then that which I haue preached vnto you holde him accursed The Gospell that S. Paul had preached to the Galathians and others was and is the Gladtydings of frée iustification or discharge of all their sinnes onely by the mediation of our onely Mediator our Lord Sauior Jesus Christ Take héede Fryer John that you be not within the reache of this Anathematization if you be 4000. whyskes with your whip wil not brushe it away from your naked and scuruie shoulders I terme them scuruy because I suppose that whipping your selfe so often and so sore as in your Letters you haue reported the skynne of your shoulders and backe can not be without skabbes Well let vs nowe consider your other péece of Ordinaunce which is a part of the xxv Chapter of S. Mathewes Gospel First you haue sayd thus The Fryar As concerning your opinion that by fayth onelye we are iustified I referre you to the Epistle of the holye Apostle S. Iames as also to those words of our Sauiour Iesus Christ written in the Gospell after S. Mathew Cap. xxv Where it is written that our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ in the latter day giuing the finall and euerlasting sentence as well vnto the saued as vnto the damned shall vtter these wordes Venite benedicti patris mei c. That is to say Come ye blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the worlde Nowe hauing spoken these wordes he sheweth the cause of thys ioyfull sentence For sayth he when I was hungry you fed mee when I was a thyrst you gaue me to drinke when I was naked ye clothed me but what are these things if they be not good works Therefore and by this place of Scripture good workes are meritorious to our Saluation Reade likewise I pray you the second Chapter of the Epistle of S. Paule to the Remaines a little way of from the beginning You shall there finde howe God will reward all men according to their workes The same also if you wyll search you shall find in the xvi Chap. of S. Mathew and in many other places of the Scripture I doo not conclude by these partes of the Newe testament that by good workes onely wee are saued but mine intention is to proue that neither by faith without good workes nor by good workes without fayth we are iustified or saued Crowley As I haue explaned vnto you the meaning of the Apostle Iames in that which he wrote touching the iustifying of men by workes in such sort I hope that your selfe doo sée that you are much deceiued in your iudgment touching the meaning of the Apostle So I hope I shall explane the meaning of our Sauiour Christ in the wordes which you cite out of the xxv Chapter of S. Mathewes Gospell And first because you haue said before that we admitte not the words of y e holy Doctors of the Catholicke church I wyll let you sée certaine words that one of them hath written euen vpon these very wordes y t you haue cited out of the xxv Chap. of S. Mathewe Iohannes Chrysostomus Homelia 80. in Mat. John Chrysostome in his 80. Homelie vpon S. Mathewes Gospell hath written thus His igitur rationibus isti non iniurâ—a puniuntur illi etiamsi mille talia fecerint per gratiam tamen coronantur Gratiaenamque omnino illa benignitas est vt pro rebus minimis vilissimis coeleste regnum tantus honor tribuatur That is to say For these causes therefore both the one sort are without iniury punished and although the other sort haue doone a thousand such workes yet it is by frée mercy that they are crowned For that bountifulnesse whereby the kingdome of heauen and so great an honor is gyuen for the smallest and most vils thinges is altogether of frée mercy Thus hath Chrysostome wrytten as the conclusion of all that hée hath written before in commendation of those that feede the hungry giue drinke to the thirsty clothe the naked c. and in discommendation of them that leaue those workes vndoone The one sort sayth he that is they which leaue those works vndoone are iustlie punished And the other are crowned and yet not for the worthines of the workes although they worke them neuer so often but that bountifull liberality wherby the kingdome of heauen and that great honour of being crowned in that kingdome are gyuen for so small and vile matters as our workes are commeth altogether of Gods frée mercy and not of any worthines that eyther is or can be in vs or in any workes that we can worke This Chrysostome is not onely in this part of his wrytings but in all his workes a very earnest mayntainer of the merites of good workes and yet sée howe he co 〈…〉 udeth In this conclusion he ioyneth with vs and we ioyne with him We holde that good workes such as GOD hath commaunded and prepared for vs to walke in are acceptable in the sight of God and that God doth and wyll reward them both in this lyfe and also in the life to come And we craue of GOD that we may kéepe still in minde the wordes of the Apostle Heb. 13. To doo good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Yea we craue of God that we doo neuer forget the saying of the Apostle Paule to Timothe 1. Chap. 4. Exerce teipsum ad pietatem nam corporalis exercitatio ad modicum vtilis est pâ—etas autem ad omnia vtilis est Promissionem habens vitae quae nunc est futurae Exercise thy selfe to godlines saith S. Paul for bodily exercise is profitable but to a small matter but godlines is profitable to all thinges Hauing a promise of the life that nowe is and of the lyfe that shall be Thys we holde this we teache and this we are willing to practise And for a further explanation of the meaning of Chrysostomes conclusion aboue mentioned marke I pray you what he wryteth in his 53. Homelie to the people of Antioche Omnia quae fâ—cimus agimus debitum implentes proper hoc ipse dicebat Cum omnia feceritis dicite quia inutiles serui sumus quae enim debebamus facere fecimus I gitur siue charitatem exhibuerimus siue dederimus pecunâ—asegenis debitum implemus non
knoweth them to be Traytours to GOD to our Prince and Countrey and to all such simple Christians as doo hearken to them Her stâ—dfast purpose therefore is to confesse her sinnes to God euerie day bothe in sicknes and in health She doth continually craue at Gods hande the grace of continuall and vnfained repentaunce Of full and frée pardon of all hâ—â— sinnes by the mediation of Christ Iesus she craueth a full and perfect assuraunce With all popish Priestes pepish shriâ—t and with all maner of popery she is and styll wylbe at defiaunce But you procéede with your exhortation and thus you say The Fryer Beleeue without doubting all that the holy Catholicke Romaine and Apostolicke Church doth belceue although that they surpasse and excell mans vnderstanding To be briefe say euery day these wordes O sweete Iesus I doo stedfastly beleeue all that my Sonne Saâ—â—uell beleeueth And in that fayth in which he is I will liue and die Be mercifull vnto me a moste wretched sinner for thy names sake Holie Marie mother of GOD pray for me thyne vnworthy handmayde nowe and in the hower of my death Say thys prayer onely euerie day And if you can goe to shrift confesse your sinnes and receiue the bodie and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Crovvley Your mother hath iust cause to musâ— what you meane by this part of your exhortation wherein you will her to beléeue all y e the holy Catholick Romane and Aposâ—â—lick Church doth beléeue For there is no such Church as that in any part of the world There is indéede a Romaine Church but that Church is neither holy Catholick nor Apostolick Holy shee is not because she renounceth that holines that is fréely giuen in Christ and cleaueth to an holines that she imagineth to be in her owne workes wherein no holines at all either is or can be before God The case of this Romaine Church is as euill or worse then the case of the Church of the Jewes was when they béeing ignorant of the righteousnes of God sought to establish their owne rightâ—ousnes and so neyther were nor could be subiect to the rightcousnes of God Rom. 10 Euen so these Romaines which you call the Romaine Churche beeing ignoraunt of that holines that is fréely giuen in Christ and is therefore the holines of GOD and not of men doo séeke to sette vppe and aduaunce their owne holines which is no holines indeede and so are not neither can be subiecte to that holines that God giueth in Christ and so by good consequence there is in them no holines at all Catholicke that Romaine Church is not for that she holdeth not that fayth which Christ in his owne person taught in Jerusalem and in other parts of the lande of Iewrie and at the time of his Ascention into heauen commaunded his Apostles to teache Catholickly that is all the worlde ouer according to the signification of the worde Catholicè That is Catholickly or vniuersally In his owne personne our Sauiour Christ did preache this fayth as appeareth in the first Chapter of S. Marke PostquaÌ„ autem tradiâ—us est Johannes c. After that Iohn was imprisoned Iesus came into Galile preaching the Gospell of the kingdome of GOD and saying The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God draweth nigh Repent and beléeue the Gospell To beléeue the Gospell is that fayth which is called Catholicke And whosoeuer beléeueth the Gospell is a Catholicke And on the contrary he that beléeueth not the Gospell is no Catholicke To beléeue the Gospell is to bâ—léeue Gods word For in our olde Englishe spéeche Gods worde was called Gods speale and nowe corruptly we doo call it Gospell This Gospell or Gods speale is that promise that GOD made firste to Adam the firste man when he promised that the womans séede shoulde breake the Serpentes heade Gen. 3. This promise was renued to Abraham when GOD sayd to him In thy séede shall all the Nations of the earth bee blessed Gen. 22. And this Gospell is by the Grecians called Euangelion which worde dooth by interpretation signifie a gladde tydinges This Glad tydings dyd our Sauiour declare first to the lost shéepe of the house of Israell both in his owne personne and by the ministerie of his Apostles And at y e time of his ascending into heauen he gaue commaundement to those Apostles to declare the same Catholickly that is to say generally all the worlde ouer For thus he sayd vnto them then Euntes in mundnm vniuersum praedicate Euangelium omni creaturae Goe into all the world and preach the Gospell to euery creature Vnderstanding by creatures all Nations and sortes of men By thys meanes thys Gospell or Gladde tydinges which at the first was made knowne but to few in comparison of all was made knowne to the whole worlde and was therefore called Catholicke And when in the primitiue time of the preaching of thys Gospell certayne fantasticall heades beganne to teache doctrines contrary to thys Catholick doctrine and to drawe disciples after them then the Fathers that held taught thys doctrine called themselues Catholicks and those other Schismatickes and Heretickes The first Romysh Christians were right Catholicks as appeareth by that Epistle that the Apostle Paule wrote to them and so the Christians of that Cittie continued many yéeres after saynt Paules time as appeareth in the Histories of the Church But for the space of a thousande yéeres last past almost that Church that hath béene and is in Rome hath béene and is styll schismaticall and therefore the name Catholick is no méete name for that Romyshe Church They denie the frée iustification by fayth which S. Paule taught the first Romysh Chrystians and they beleeâ—ed hys doctrine They glory in theyr owne wysedome ryghteousnes holines and redemption presuming to redéeme theyr owne sinnes and the sinnes of others also by theyr fastings their prayers theyr whyppings and other workes that they haue deuised whereby they thinke and perswade as many as they can to think that satisfaction may be made to God for sinne committed in breaking the commaundements of God whereas by the Catholicke fayth we are taught that as there is but one God so there is but one mediator betwixt God and man which is the man Christ Iesus â— Tim. 2. And this Mediator had none other meane wherby hée might worke our reconciliation but onely the shedding his of own hart bloude for vs. That death which our sinnes had deserued was and of necessity must bee suffered by him y t purchased our peace with God I conclude therefore that the Romish Church taking vpon it in some sorte the Oâ—â—yce of the Mediatour is not Catholicke but Antichristian And therefore your mother béeing a Catholicke Christian indéede may not harken to her sonne Samuell when he wylleth her to beléeue all that the holye Catholicke Romaine and Apostolicke Church dooth beléeue c. And whereas you name the Romaine Churche Apostolicke you doo great wrong to that
you wryte thus The Fryar And forasmuch as you haue written to me that you will not giue credite to word of mouth or to written Letters except that I write your name being my mother and the place of my birth let these suffice to set your hart at rest I was borne as you haue tolde me in Essex brought vp and nourished in heresye in London or in the suburbs Your name is Catharine Maipeston by reason of mariage you are called Catherine Debnam I had a brother named Nathanaell as you told me and he is dead being an infant Moses and Tobias are also dead with both my sisters Abigael Christian vpon whose soules Christ Iesus haue mercy Aaron was a liue wheÌ„ I departed from you vnto whom as also vnto you my mother to my father John Debnam I beseeche Christ giue life euerlasting Thus much for the answere of that Letter which you sent me written as I thinke by Master Kings man the Scriuener Crowley The carefull hart of your mother desired certaine knowledge of the case of her fugitiue son supposing it had not béene possible for a nie natural son being a liue in anie part of y e known world to hide himselfe so long from so louing a mother as she hath béene to you and therefore she wished to be certified in such sorte as nowe she is by these your Letters But sir the consideration of duety towards your mother should haue mooued you to haue vsed more duetifull spéeches then you haue doone in this parte of your aunswere Set your hart at rest sauoureth of contempt of that personne that you write vnto whom God commandeth you to honour and of an obstinate purpose and determination neuer to haue anie such regard vnto her as christian children ought to haue vnto their Parents so long as they shall be in this transitorie life It séemeth to me that you haue forgotten all that you learned in the Schoole of Christ and haue learned a newe lesson in the Pharisaicall Schoole at Rhemes that is as it maie be thought to shake of all curtesye both in spéeche and behauiour towards Parents and currishly to answere Corban Mark 7. You were borne in Essex but will you know by what occasion Your father and mother dwelt then in the suburbs of London but the house that they then had was not furnished with things néedefull for a woman in the trauell of childe and therefore your Grandmother being a Mydwife tooke your mother home to her house at Waltam in Essex And y t as I suppose by Gods prouidence that the babe that then was borne might rightly be termed an Essex Calfe and that our English Prouerbiall spéeche might rightlie be applied vnto him As wyse as Waltams Calfe that ranne nine miles to sucke a Bull You heard tell of the Popes Bull that Felton fyxed to the Bishop of Londons gates and like a Waltams Calfe you ranne to Rhemes and by your owne confession would haue runne to Rome if you had not béene letted by I knowe not what meane but by Gods prouidence I am assured that your follie might the more easilie bee made knowne vnto vs out of Fraunce and that you may in shorter space and with lesse daunger returne to England againe when God shall open your eyes and let you sée howe vnwiselie and like a Waltams Calfe you haue dealt You were brought vp and nourished you say in Heresie in London or in the Suburbs thereof As touching this heresie that you say you were brought vp and nourished in I say with S. Paule Acts. 24. Confiteor autem hoc tibi quod secundum sectam quam dicunt haeresim sic deseruio patrio Deo meo credens omnibus quae in lâ—ge Prophetis scripta suâ—t spem habens in Deum quam et by ipsi expectant resurâ— rectionem futuram iustorum iniquorum In hoc ipse studeo sine offendiculo conscientiam habere ad Deum ad homines semper I confesse this vnto you that according to that sâ—ct which men call heresie I do humbly serue the God of my fathers beléeuing all that is written in the Law and the Prophets hauing hope in God which hope euen they themselues doo looke for that a resurrection shalbe bothe of the iust and of the wicked And héerein I my selfe doo endeuoure to haue alwaies a conscience both towards God and towards men This is that heresie that you were brought vp and nourished in in London and in the Suburbs therof But I pray you good master Fryer Iohn was S. Paule an Hereticke Are your father and mother Heretickes Was Robert Smith that first taught you to knowe Letters and is nowe gone to God an Heretike Am I an Heretike that first taught you to knowe the Rules of Grammer and taught you and fedde you at mine owne charges more then seauen yéeres first and last Are all our Rulers and wee of the English nation Heretikes and our whole kingdome hereticall because we refuse to fall downe with you and worship the purple whore of Rome that rideth vpon the Rose coloured beaste When God shall make your gréene witt ryper and your fléeting iudgment déeper I hope you iuyll recant that rash saying of yours I was brought vp and nourished in heresie Your mothers Surre name before mariage you mistake for she was not daughter to Maipeston but to Myllis and is now by marriage called Catherine Debnam Your brethren and sisters were as you haue written and are all departed thys lyfe sauing onely Aaron And as many as know you haue iust cause to wysh that as you were the first borne so you had béene the first buried But God hath otherwise appointed it we doo therefore refer all to his will béeing well assured that the ende shall be to his glory although we feare to your euerlasting confusion But what meane you to craue mercy for the soules of your brethren and sisters departed doo you thinke that God tooke them out of this miserable life so spéedilie that he might cast them into your holy father the Popes scalding house which you call Purgatorie Did you neuer reade the wordes written in the 3. Chap. of Wisedome I ustorum animae in manâ— Dei suâ—t et non tanget illos tormentùm mortis The soules of the righteous are in the hand of God and the torment of death shall not touch them Againe in the fourth Chap. I ustus autem si morte praeoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit If the iust person shall be preuented by death he shalbe in a place of refreshing And againe in the same Chap Raptus est ne malicia mutaret intellectuÌ„m eius aut ne fictio deciperet animamillius He was taken away violently leaste mallice should change his vnderstanding or least counterfeited holines shold deceiue his soule If you will consider well those sayings of y t wyse man you shall haue cause to thinke that your brethren and sisters departed are not in such case now
that they should stand in néede of greater mercy then Christ Jesus hath already shewed vnto them But more of this when I shall come to speake of these wordes of yours You say that we are fooles to pray for the deade Your Brother Aaron you say was liuing at that time when you did so vnduetifullie depart from your mother but he is nowe dead to whom as to your Father and mother you béeséeche Christ to giue life euerlasting A good and charitable petition I wysh the same to you and to all others whatsoeuer knowing that none can haue euerlasting life otherwise then by Gods frée gyft thorowe Jesus Christ our Lord. But your selfe and men of your sorte may not acknowledge anie such free gyft for that you doo by your often and long prayers your holines and austerity of life and your continuall fastinges and often scourging of your selues with your holie whyppes deserue this life euerlasting both for your selues and for others So that you are become sauiours of your selues of as many as doo or will beléeue as you doo teache others to beléeue And thus you conclude your answer to the Letter which your mother sent you written as you think by Master Kings man the Scriuner As touching y e writer of that Letter your coniecture is right You procéede and say Fryar I am now to certify you of my state welfare abyding how I am likely to liue First of al therfore I beseech Iesus Christ giue you the grace of his holie spirit vnto the inteÌ„t that this which I write may be to his honor to your coÌ„uersioÌ„ your souls health Crowley Wee shall nowe bee certified of your estate welfare c. You beséeche Jesus Christe to giue the grace of his holye spirit to your mother c. I hope she hath already receiued so large a measure of that holy spirite y t whatsoeuer you haue or shall write shall not be able to remooue her from that foundation whereon shée is builded which is the Rocke Christ that notwithstanding anie assaults that you can make she shall remaine still setled vppon that Rocke to her soules health And that your writings and mine together shalbe to the honor of Christ Jesus either in your returning againe from your Apostacie or els in your vtter confusion Nowe you enter into your discourse concerning your departing your trauell and dangers that you endured and escaped before you were brought to this blessed rest wherein you nowe remaine the manner and holines of the life that you leade there and haue vowed and so purpose to leade so long as GOD shall giue you life vppon earth Last of all you vse an earnest and as you think a pithie Oration to mooue your mother to be at destance with that Religion that she nowe holdeth and with all the teachers thereof As Crowley and the rest to burne her Bookes of Sermons to vse the English Bible no more to goe no more to the Sermons of Protestants but to praie to our blessed Ladie and to hang her faith vpon her son Samuels sléeue And thus your discourse beginneth The Fryar My departure from you was vpon the Monday as I remember after Lowe Sundaie in the after noone That night I was lodged not farre from London Two or three nights after that I went by night a mile from London The Saterday before that I departed from you I went to shrift as wee call it in Englande or in other words I was at confession in a place where I confessed my sins to a Priest who gaue me absolution penaunce The Mondaie after that I departed from you vnder pretence of the Hebrewe Lesson which the mischieuous Hereticke Barber taught me The Fridaie after that I went by night a mile from London where I remained in great feare the space of two or three weekes There I heard the first masse that euer I hearde Crovvley Concerning the time of your departing from your mother your going to shrift the Saterdaie before your lodging so nighe London for the space of two or thrée nights after your departing your going by night a mile of from London your tarrying there for the space of thrée wéekes in great feare and hearing the first masse that euer you hearde the Fridaie after you were gon from your mother I must passe ouer as matter more to be mused at then to bee entreated of in this my discourse But this séemeth something straunge to me that your ghostlie father would absolue you before he had giuen you penance By like he was some vnskilfull penitancer or els you being yet but a Nouice in Popery haue vsed the Fygure Hysteron Proteron in making the report I perceiue that I my selfe was at your age a much more skilfull Papist then you bée and was much more able to defende Popery then you are or are like to bee In poprie Contrition and confession goe before satisfaction and both must be voluntarie full and vnfained and then the ghostly father the ghostly childe must agrée vpon penance For no Popishe ghostly father will or may enioyne his ghostlie childe any other or greater penance then himself will acknowledge y t he is centented to take and to do And this séemeth to me yet more strange that hauing confessed your sinnes and receiued absolution and penance béeing reconsiled on the Saterdaie you could be partaker of our Communion on the next daie in companie of your mother whose prayers as you haue said before are nothing worth because shée is not of that societie that you were by that ghostlie father receiued into Haue Papistes nowe such a priuiledge that they may simulâ—re dissimulare counterfait and dissemble at their pleasure Christ hath said thus Whosoeuer shall denie me before men I will deny him before my heauenlie father and before all his holie Angelles You haue not therefore taken vp your Crosse to followe Christ as you séeme to be perswaded that you haue doone but you haue dissembled with Christ and Christians that you might with lesse daunger of bodie â—â—ippe from them and followe Antichrist If I might talke with you mouth to mouth I would desire to know of you what manner of sinnes they were that you confessed to that Prieste your ghostlie Father I suppose they were not the stubburnesses points of disobedience that you from time to time haue vsed in all your behauiour towards your father and mother and all other your Gouernors and betters Neither can I thinke that they were the subtill sleights that you haue vsed in deceiuing your father and mother me and your Godmother my wife others your Tutors freends and fellowes or the false lyes that you haue made and sâ—outlie faced out when due proofe of that which you had doone coulde not be made You know what I meane If you were present I woulde be more plaine and plentifull in spéeches then in writing I doo thinke if méete to bée To be briefe I