preferre the deuine Scriptures before the Chaos of mans doctrine to embrace your most godly proceedings and to performe in all things towardes God your Maiestie and my countrie the part and dutie of a true subiect In token pledge wherof I haue aduentured in moste humble wise to dedicate these fewe leafes vnto your highnesse most imperiall protection beseeching of God to saue keepe and defend your Maiestie Your Maiesties most humble Orator Lewys Euans Romanes 1. I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for vnto all such as beleue it is the power of God vnto saluation Ephes 6. Put on the armour of â—od that you maye stande stedfast against the craftie assaults of the deuill For we wrestle not agaynst fleshe and bloude but against rule agaynst power and against worldly rulers of the darknesse of this world agaynst spirituall wickednesse for heauenly things 1. Coloss 2. Beware least any man come and spoile you through philosophy and deceitful vanitie through the traditions of men and ordinaunces after the worlde and not after Christ To his louing Friendes wheresoeuer Lewys Euans wisheth as vn to himselfe WHen Jweygh that frendship is nothing else louing friendes but an especiall agremeÌ„t with good wil and loue betwene mankinde as well in matters diuine as humane I do then somewhat doubt whether I were best to publish this smal booke or not The thing that seemeth to let me is the familiaritie friendship and amitie which hath bene and now yet is betweene vs. For I cannot but feare so loth am I to lose olde friends least by this mine alteration in iudgement you also though you haue no such cause will alter your loue and so withdraw your good willes In dede you your selues doe well know that I was neuer chargeable vnto you that I neuer sought friendship for gaine and that at no time I fawned vpon any for prayse estimation or profite Onelye did I accept the faithfull harts of my friends and I greatlye esteemed the gentle willing mindes and affability of mine acquaintance And this is it that maketh me the more sorowful wheÌ„ I feare to lose their good willes whose friendship I delighted in but of whose wealth and goodes I neyther had nor desired On the other side my duetie towardes God mine obedience due vnto the Queenes highnesse and the vnfeyned good will that I beare towardes my countrie these do in dede now coÌ„pell me to professe the truth that I see to renounce obstinacie to knowledge the right way and to bid defiance vnto Idolatrie I haue therefore in this treatise though not eloquently yet faithfully brought forth reason authoritie and Scripture and that to defende the Catholike fayth and to chase away the smoke of hell the mist of Antichrist and the false long mayntayned merchandise of Satan I treade herein I trust the path of our perfite forefathers I defende the Church I giue a foyle to pride I commende prayers penance and fasting I cut down peruerse hypocrisie deceite and blind iugling I extoll honorable mariage and chastity I the cause that I labour indifferently you shal plainly perceiue that I speake nothing against holinesse but that I endeuour to doe what I can to further deuotion and godlynesse Why then shoulde our friendship cease why should it not these thinges considered increase yet some I know there are whose breasts be stopped with such pelting disdaine and ignorancie that hauing a sounde of the Catholike fayth in their mouthes they neyther know what faith nor fidelitie meaneth Some others there are who thoughe they be worldly wise and learned yet they so leane vnto self will and estimation that they leane not in a maner but altogither besides their profession These be not father Adams children they are made as they thinke of a finer moulde they carie such a toye in their heads and yet know not they what whereby they suppose themselues to passe all other men Alas is it not knowen what they are bee they not terrigeni fratres bee they not of an earthlye moulde is not the trade ouer earthly that they leade yea and to vtter them further touching manners be they not intollerable and concerning religion are not their errors in a manner palpable they will haue no man to be like vnto them they thinke that in comparison of them there is none worthie to be looked vpon none meete to be hearkened vnto they adiudge their owne persons their owne dreames and fantasies to excel surmount to passe all Who can away with such Pryde who can suffer suche selfe will such disdayne suche arrogancie But to omitte these I shall craue of you deare friendes if for nothing else yet for olde familiaritie that you will reade ouer these fewe leaues before you doe infringe our amitie and that you will reade as friends and then iudge indifferently And for my part this promise I make though we disagree in Religion and that but for a time vntill you receyue the grace that God offereth you the light which shineth before you and the Gospell which is preached vnto you yet in friendship Orestes shall find me Pylades Damon shall trie me to be Pythias Theseus shall not misse Perithous Patroclus shall not want hys Achilles Nisus shall not lacke Eurialus Lelius shall be assured of his friende Scipio Dauid shall trie me to be Ionathas This seing I speake from the heart and faithfully shew your good natures performe the part of friends vnfeynedly And thus taking you al to be my friends whose friendshippes though I can not deserue yet will J during life desire I bid you vnfeinedly well all to fare From London the iiij of Nouember FINIS ¶ A plaine demonstration of the erring estate of the Romaine Church LEWYS DVKE of Bauiere Christian Reader is for his constancie and that not w tout good cause had euer sithence in memorie For being prisoner and required to graunt some great matter he vtterlye denying it Albert then Marques of Brandenburgh in whose handes he at that time was threatned to deliuer him ouer into the handes of a Prince which was very cruell and the Dukes most enimie But the valiant courage of so noble a man coulde therewith be nothing moued in so much that he thus aunswered aske sayth he that thing at my hands now being thy prisoner which thou shouldest demaunde of me if I were at libertie else though my bodye bée in thraldome yet shall my minde haue still his fréedome it shall serue and obey me and not thée This is a great and a right worthy example of much constancie it was the saying of a valiant hart and the courage of a mind vnconquered Hereby we be admonished that we consent vnto no vnlawfull thing through feare for liuing for libertie or for life but remembring the office of our bodies what they are and wherevnto they serue that we kéepe our mindes free from all vnhonest subiection that we doe things lawfull with consent of conscience and
who can doe it fyner if to maintaine the slewes who kéepeth a more sturre if to fauor fornication they haue no fellowes Good Orators I warrant you they are But in the defence of the Pope what is their reasons Marrie say they as in a Citie ought to bee one chiefe Mayor or Magistrate as in a shippe ought to bée one Maister as ouer a houshold ought to be one husbande and as in a Realme ought to be one ruler or Prince so in the Church amongst Christians ought to be saye they one head Uicar one Uicegerent or Regent vnder Christ Consider gentle Reader indifferently the strength of the example wey it with thine owne conscience vprightly Is it reason bicause a Prince without the assistance vnder God of others as of his counsaylers and officers can not rule well and orderlye his realme that therefore Christ without the ayde and helpe of man may not guide and rightly order his Church shall Gods infinite power bée so pinched and brought into that straightnesse as to bee compared with the miserable estate and impotencie of man shall the argument bée good bicause man maye not therefore God can not What shoulde we speake of the mutabilitie of mans hart or else of the stedfastnesse of the Lords counsell Fie vppon that man and fie vpon that spirituall man which woulde chalenge to rule the whole earth and that woulde abuse the name authoritie and power of GOD to maintaine such pride Fie vpon that tyrannicall tryple crowne chaire diademe scepter and the carying of vpon mens shoulders Fie in déede with dolor of hart I speake vpon all such popish pompe and pompeous poperie If I be earnest beare with me the cause requireth it What reason is it as though GOD were vtterly absent as though he could not be euery where present for a sinfull man to vsurp the maistrie and such a supreme maistrie ouer all ouer Princes Kinges and Emperors but we shall sée euen with our eyes this pride soone to decaye For the prowde is resisted of GOD and to the humble he graunteth his grace He putteth downe the mighty from their seats and exalteth them of low degree Whosoeuer exalteth himselfe shalbe brought lowe The bishop of Rome exalteth himselfe what then followeth therfore he must nedes be brought low And that hée doth exalt himselfe you shall sée that most euidentlye proued Christ woulde not haue neither his Apostles nor disciples to be called kings or Lords For know ye not sayth he that they which seeme to beare rule among the Gentiles doe raigne as Lordes ouer them and they which bee great among them exercise authoritie ouer them So shall it not be among you c. If that then the bishop of Rome doth contrarie vnto this contrarie vnto Christ contrarie vnto the Apostles doth he not exalt himselfe he doth not onely chalenge to be supreme in causes Ecclesiasticall but also to haue royaltie ouer the Christen people He will bée called Lorde of Lordes King of Kings yea the Pope hath saith his defender a kingly power ouer his subiectes euen in temporall things Where is Iames and Iohn the sonnes of Zebede where is your mother why come you not and craue to sit the one on the right hand of the Pope the other on the left in his glorie good God that the eyes of Christen people were once opened that they might equally discerne what it is for one and the selfe same man to be called the seruaunt O hypocrisie of the seruants of God and contrarie vnto that to vse a temporall power a kinglye maiestie ouer all to haue his sworde his scepter to haue his guilt sturrops fye to put in his holy féete and in all defyance of humilitie to haue kings and Emperors to be his footemen What reason is this Pride sayeth Ambrose hath caused angels to become deuils Pride sayeth all the worlde hath caused the Byshop of Rome to be called Pope and of a Pope to procéede further in all the degrées of Antichrist Let neither Cardinall Councell nor Doctor say who is like vnto the Pope who is like vnto the beast who is able to warre with him For as sure as God liueth Babilon that great Citie must fall the walles of Hierusalem will be raised vp falshoode must flie truth will ouercome darknesse must down the light beginneth to shine the deuil maugre his head must yeeld God will haue the field Let vs therfore neuer abuse eloquence to defende pryde to maintaine the Pope For who toucheth Pitch shall bee filed withall and he that will communicate with the prowde shall cloth himselfe with pride Neuer felt our cuntriemen neuer felt learned men greater reprofe than when by shewe of skill they haue sought to defende shadowes to defende dreames and to defende the filthie abhominable abuses of Rome Oh it was not without good cause that the Christian Poet then thus spake of Rome of the Prelacy I say vnder y e name of the Citie Si quid Roma dabit nugas dabit accipit aurum Verba dat heu Romae nunc sola pecunia regnat If we haue anye thing from Rome they be trifles It receyueth our gold and deceiueth vs. Alas onely mony nowe there raigneth And what is further sayd thereof little praise I warraunt you and lesse it deserueth Quo magis appropias tanto magis omnia sordent The neerer you come to Rome the worse you will like it the more you loke on it the filthier it shall appeere What should I speake of their briberie ambicion poysoning fornication and euil liuing lothsome is the life if all were disclosed of their chiefe pastor the thing can not bée denyed his déedes be detestable Shall we graunt then by reason shall we be so vnreasonable that such a monster should be a maister and that ouer Gods annointed ouer Kinges and Princes how reuerently doth the scripture speake of Emperours and rulers how vnreuerentlye doth the bishop of Rome abuse and abase them and yet shall we followe the Pope Papam imitari debemus such is the reason that they vse Gregorie in reprouing the pride of the Bishop of Constantinople vseth this reason There were sayth he of the Bishops of Constantinople some that were great heretikes therefore if the bishop there should be called the vniuersall Patriarch the estate of Christes Church shoulde decaye Here if this reason be good we maye frame the like if it be not it is Gregorie and not I that framed it There were of the Bishops of Rome some which were great heretikes and verie lewde men therefore if the Bishop there should be the chiefe then the estate of Christ his Church shoulde decaye This is the Popes owne reason let him sée vnto it Aske of them what Anastasius Sisinnius and Iohn the twelfth of that name were They were Popes of Rome the one was an heretike the seconde was a wicked man and the thirde was a monster and a
speake it to our owne confusion to hurt our brethren to displease God Beware sayth Christ least ye iustifie your selues before men to bee praysed of them For else you lose the rewarde at your father his handes If in the defending of dreames in maintayning mans doctrine and in shadowing the truth we did so deale as we might seeme in mans sight to deserue great praise yet weying our owne workes to be weake séeing how fond it is that we defende howe hollowe is the grounde and how soone it maye be shaken what shoulde we abuse learning anye longer why séeke we to defend with eloquence with wit with subtiltie the suburbes of iniquitie the houses of harlots the shoppes of trumperie the pallaice of vanitie it is no rebuke no slaunder to turn vnto the Lord it is for our profite to get our fathers fauor againe for in steade of Acornes he offereth to féede vs with most deintie dishes in stead of cloutes and ragges he hath for vs newe clothes I say againe let vs not be ashamed S. Paule began euill yet ended he well of a persecutor he became y e seruant of God he professed he embraced he preached Christ he died in the defence of the faith God grauÌ„t that all we renouncing foolish dreames and light legendes retracting fonde assertions and rightlye adiudging of mens doinges may so doe Well to the intent it maye euidently appeare whether I am thus nowe mooued to write through feare or by a frée motion whether I am perswaded thervnto through the desire of gaine of frendship of fauor or rather in hope of a rewarde at Gods hands to be receiued with others for the knowledging and setting foorth according vnto my small talent of the truth I thinke it not amisse here this much to protest That were my iudgement at hande the place of execution appointed the maner of death determined were I already condemned yea were I warned to prepare my selfe yet shoulde feare make mee graunt no further than I would doe of frée minde no torment should enforce me to write against my faith against the thing I vndoubtedly beléeued It is true that I meaned before as I wrote I followed alwayes my conscience I hated flatterie I loued to vtter what I thought that fréely I folowed as néere as nede were my former example I woulde not graunt nor did to any thing being a prisoner whervnto I would not agree or doe not and that willingly being at liberty Let no man therfore reprehende mée in that I haue written before in one manner and now in another yea though the one be contrarie vnto the other For therein the matter being rightlye weyed is no inconstancie there is no euill meaning in neither a zeale there is in the one although not according to knowledge and a zeale there is in the other confirmed by authorities by conscience by Scripture Touching the offence in the one thoughe I might remoue the fault and laye the same in others yet to haue offeÌ„ded I knowledge I confesse I graunt Neyther yet ought any to obiect it vnto my reproche the déede was not so haynous as the repentaunce for the same may be gracious What sayth Cyprian herein what sayth S. Paule ignosci potest simpliciter erranti sicut de seipso Paulus Apostolus dicit qui primus fui blasphemus persecutor iniuriosus sed misericordiam merui quia ignorans seci He that sinneth not hauing an euill meaning may be the rather forgiuen â–ª â—…s the Apostle S. Paule speaketh of himself when before I was a blasphemer a persecutour and one that did wrong but I obtained mercy bicause I did it through ignorance No man therfore that I may vse S. Augustines words except he be rash will finde fault and reprehend me bicause I rebuke and blame mine owne faults What should I be so arrogant as to confesse that I was neuer ignorant or shoulde I in well doing bée ashamed to do that which Augustine and others haue done Let him sayth he that might not attaine vnto the chiefe and first point of wisedome endeuor to obtaine though the seconde part of modestie that hauing spoken some thinges to be repented he may be sorie and knowledge that such things ought not to haue bene sayde S. Augustine was not ashamed so to doe and shoulde I if all the Prophetes if all the Apostles if all the Doctors haue so done were it not a thing insolent yea a thing impudent for vs so not to doe Let others estéeme their credite as they sée cause I will saye what I thinke by the meanes of man I will neuer bee smothered in ignorancie I will fréelye speake my conscience no terror no threatnings no death shal let me Were I enclosed vp with Pantaleon or shot into y e hart with Praxaspis sonne yet dreames shall be dreames truth shall be truth a spade shall be a spade I can giue it none other name I neuer laboured for gaine I neuer looked for glorie what I did was done fréely it was and it is done of a good meaning and voluntarily For mine owne part I beare euill will to none I wish well to all and that faithfully vnfeynedly Though I think otherwise than they doe if I thinke the truth and if good causes doe moue me therevnto why shoulde anye blame mée why shoulde they rebuke him which yeeldeth vnto truth and giueth place to reason authorities and holye scripture But what was the cause and how came to passe wil some say this sodeine conuersion obiections I know will be deuised flowts will be framed iestes toyes for ydle walkers idle dreamers there are inough will be inuented The conuersion sir is not so sodain as of such who say Masse in y e one day subscribe to the contrary in the other And yet I speake it not to reprehend them for S. Paule I knowe was conuerted in a moment sodainelye going by the way to Damasco Whether they be likewise coÌ„uerted in déede or no betwene God and them I leaue it I will be no iudge But what I coulde hereof saye and what I knowe for some causes I will omitte What made me to alter my mynd and how it happened you shall briefely heare Heare me then I pray you without parciallitie Hauing alwayes from my childhood detested this way which to doe well we must tearme the reformation and cleansing of Christianitye from vnprofitable cloddes from wéedes and bryars wherewith the house of God was in a maner ouergrowne hauing oft heare in talke as to many can witnesse resisted the same hauing passed ouer the Seas moued with a vayne zeale to chunne it and hauing at the length by translations toyes wrytten against it I returned priuilie as occasion serued me into Englande againe of that minde to depart hence as soone and as secretly as I coulde In the meane tyme I was aprehended and so committed to prison Being then there and looking for some extreme kinde
very Epicure Liberius likewise was an horible heretike an Arrian yet B. of Rome I report of them as I finde it in the bookes written by the Popes owne friends Thus for my parte touching reason they finde me so reasonable that I answere and yet vse their owne reason But shall we nowe sée what authoritie they haue for reason wée perceyue they haue none and who the chiefest champions be that defende this primacie you may not thinke but that there are many of them yet what they are that is to be considered They be no Apostles nor yet disciples of Christ they bée the Popes of Rome themselues their Cardinals their Bishops their Doctors their dearlings their hirelings they be those whose necks were vnder the yoke either therevnto allured through gifts faire promises and flatterie or forced throughe feare or through ouermuch simplicitie blinded and seduced who so drewe forth and vphelde the pompous chariot of iniquitie And that I sée me not to vtter vntruth that the thing may appeare they were Stephanus Iulius Pelagius Symmachus with such like all being bishops of the Sée of Rome The case in controuersie is their owne they maye not bee their owne iudges in that their owne lawe is against them For I am sure indifferent Reader that in a controuersie betweene thée an other thou wouldest not willingly be tried by the defendant thine aduersarie And could the Pope except he were his owne iudge maintaine his primacie No. And therefore being better aduised they make this law that the Bishop of Rome may iudge all but he may be adiudged of none And who made it Innocētius Antherius Gelasius And what were they Bishops of Rome If therefore they prouided for their owne preferment coulde you blame them Naye you may in no wise blame them though they carie these bée their owne wordes an innumerable sort of people with them by heaps into hell And why bicause they doe iudge al but none maye iudge them I vse Christen reader no deceit they be their owne words wey thē with indifferencie I aske no more it shall doe thée good so to doe Doubtlesse it is both a pleasure and also a great griefe vnto him that hath eies and vnderstanding to sée their lawes to beholde their authorities a pleasure it is for that he seeth their fonde iuglinges being himselfe free from their filthie bondage and trumperie A great griefe it is to see men and those men which be our brethren and are called Christians to be so much giuen to blindenesse addicted to follye and so further such subiectes vnto the seruitude of so intollerable a wickednesse Wel consider we more of their lawes and let vs consider them indifferentlye For at the first beginning of their pontificall prowde kingdome they thought good to ordeine lawes that so vnto vs at this time their aunswere for lacke of reason and scripture might yet be Nos legem habemus c. We haue a law ▪ and by this law we defend our doings and fréedome by this we rule by this we raign And what be their lawes ouer vile to abhominable I warrant you They be these The Pope be he neuer so euill yet must you coniecture and ghesse him to be good Though we know him to be lewd yet lo we must ghesse that he is not so O execrable blindnesse The Pope graūteth the authoritie of the sword that is of a Princely gouernement Is not this a passing pride The Pope is not only in spirituall causes the chiefe but also in temporall O mightie ioly Monarch The Pope hath all lawes O hollow place and not holie conteyned within his breast No man maye hate him Take héede of that you may not mislike him He may dispense in things contrarie vnto the Apostles No maruaile for that is the right propertie of Antichrist All questions concerning faith he must determine And must he be the very touchstone shall holye scripture be so excluded His mynde is to bee preferred before all the bishops In déede that is the next waye to reigne Of manslaughter or adulterie he may in no wise be accused No though he be neuer such a whoremonger though he murther neuer so many Yea and that we should go into hell in déede there to beare him companie their law is that we must follow him we must kill if he kill we must do as he doth Et sperent te tartararegem Must wée serue him in hell He may not looke for Rhadamanthus place he is no such Executor of iustice Let him take heede that he come not vnder Tisiphones handes With the rest of their lawes what shoulde I trouble thée they are if it maye be than these a great deale worse I will not much scan vppon their impietie there is no person that can reade the thing vprightlye considered but will and may regarde them accordingly Onely thus much I say if pride if couetousnesse if desire alone and onelye to raigne hath bene the grounde and was the verie cause why such lewd lawes were made if Sathan was the subtile secretary therin why trouble we our selues why torment we our consciences why care we ought for them we see his authoritie let his pardons alone haue not to doe with his dispensations Papa quandoque nimium papaliter dispensat The Pope thus saieth his owne Lawyer doth sometimes too popishly dispense What authorities the bishop of Rome hath specially to maintain his estate you haue heard Now what authorities be against him let his friendes be contented to heare I will be briefe I wil not be partiall To begin I néede not with the primitiue estate of Christ his Churche wherein we can finde no such primacie no superiority amongst the Apostles who then all hauing receyued the holye ghost alike did preache the Gospell and so faithfully did set forth the truth without pride without chalence of the highest roome or once mention of any supreme heade to be had or exercised among them Let the Popes owne authorities preuayle let his euidences be seene are not the wordes thereof these Although Peter Iames and Iohn were preferred by our Sauiour in a maner aboue the rest yet claymed not they any glorie or title of primacie and shal then the Pope claime that which Peter neyther would nor could not In the time first of Cyprian we reade that certaine lewde Priests being worthily condemned by the Bishops of Aphrica ranne to Rome that by the Bishop there they might haue the matter farther discussed Ciprian findeth great fault with the hearing of them and writeth thereof vnto Lucius then bishop of Rome saying that vnto euery bishop a portion of Christes flock is committed who shall render accordingly an account for the same and that therefore these men ought to be tried as in dede they were in Aphrica and that by and vnder their owne bishops he writeth likewise at large concerning the same and
much reprehending it vnto Cornelius Now what authoritie or what grounde of supremacie a fewe disobedient and conuict Priestes coulde purchase vnto the Sée of Rome iudging vprightly I sée not But if they be either s ignorant or s arrogant as to frame vppon these runnagates their right and vsurped title let them then and wyth good indifferencie consider how Dioscorus their Pope of Rome being excommunicated and yet touching no matter of faith did appeale for so they thēselues name him vnto the Pope the Patriarch of Constantinople Here we finde another Pope and vnto whome their Pope of Rome hath appealed Touching the time of Constantine it was he not Siluester it was the Emperour and not the bishop of Rome that made lawes in defence of the Christians it was the Emperor that condemned the writings of Arrius it was he that called from banishment Porphyrius and it was onely he that then made an edict against heretikes But if they will haue it that Constantine did ordeine y e bishop of Rome to be the chiefe then let them goe forward in their historie wherein they shall finde how at that time this voyce was hearde hodie venenum ecclesiae est immissum nowe doth poyson enter into the Church And that this voyce was true you shall well proue if you examine throughlye the whole doings of Siluesters successours For O Lord what crueltie was amongst them what ambition what symonie what disobedience what heresie was amongst them Come wée then vnto the Emperour Iustinianus his time For concerning Marcellus and Anacletus if the decrées in their names set forth be theirs as in déede they seme not to be they were bishops of Rome and therefore is their authoritie contrarie vnto the scripture in aduauncing themselues nothing worthie of anye reasonable man or of anye indifferent Christian to bée estéemen And before we speake of Iustinianus you must vnderstande that there were in his time and vnder him among others fiue especiall Cities that is Rome in Italy Constātinople in Thrace Alexandria in Aegipt Antioch in Siria Hierusalem in Iudaea ▪ Of these fiue there were fiue chiefe fathers or Patriarches euery one hauing a 〈◊〉 and a seuerall authoritie in causes spiritual such I meane as Archbishops should haue euery one within his owne and proper Prouince Neither did anye one Patriarch either intermedle with the iurisdiction of the other or clayme a Primacie the one aboue the other They were seuerall Cities seuerall Prouinces seueral Patriarches seuerall in authority equall in dignity And that this is most true the wordes of Iustinian himselfe shall testifie who hauing next vnder Christ a kinde of supreme authoritie made certaine Ecclesiasticall lawes to gouerne and rule them all So that some lawes being made concerning the Clergie for the due execution of the same he sendeth his especiall commaundement vnto the sayd fiue Patriarches in these wordes Iubemus igitur beatissimos Archiepiscopos patriarchas hoc est senioris Romae Constantinopoleos Alexandrinae Theopoleos Hierosolymorū c. we wil therfore that the most holy archbishops and Patriarches that is to say of old Rome Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Ierusalem c. He writeth not to one alone least that one shoulde chalenge a superioritie Where was then therfore of Rome the supremacie certaine bisshops he had vnder him so had the rest this was all his authoritie Iustinian his style vnto the bishop of Rome was this Ioanni viro beatissimo ac sanc̄tissimo Archiepiscopo Patriarchae veteris Romae To Iohn the most blessed man and most holy Archbishop Patriarch of old Rome And here least any may gather any thing by these wordes most blessed most holy you shall heare in what order he writeth vnto the Bishop of Constantinople weygh both the styles and you shall sée Constantinople to haue the greater reuerence his wordes vnto him be these To the most holy Epiphanius and most blessed Archbishop of this holy royall Citie and vniuersall Patriarch Yea Iustinian in playne words sayth that Constantinople Est sanctissimamaior ecclesia is the most holy worthier Church Iustinian no man can well denie it was then vnder Christ in earth if they will terme it so the supreme heade he then and none other made lawes and the same aswel spirituall as temporall Unto the Clergie these were his words we commaund we will not suffer we ordeine we streightlye prohibite we appoint we will we bidde These be wordes of greater authoritie than the bishop of Rome ought to vse they be wordes by authoritie commaunding him And that the Pope ought not to vse them Gregorie in manifest words beareth witnesse for writing vnto the Bishop of Alexandria thus sayth he Which word of bidding I woulde to bee farre from my hearing for I know who I am and who you are In calling you are my brethren in maners my fathers therfore I badde not but endeuored to shew what things seemed profitable Princes maye vse these words bidding c. in them they be tolerable and therefore the same Gregorie writing vnto the Emperor sayth Quantum ad me attinet serenissimis iussionibus obedientiam praebeo In that which appertayneth vnto me I yelde render due obediēce vnto your maiesties most roial biddings cōmaundements I would to God in hart I wishe it that as the Pope did here vnto the Emperor so al we would do vnto our most gracious souereigne and most royall Princesse the Queenes Maiestie and so vnto hir successors You see that there is no cause but we shoulde doe it there is no reason no authoritie to the contrarie Let any indifferent man reade the Chronicles yea let him reade their owne writings and it shal be euident that the Bishops of Rome had not the title of any such Primacie vntill at length thorow pride and ambicion contrarie vnto all custome and good order they vsurped that authoritie Symmachus and Laurentius being both at one time chosen Bishops of Rome tantaest discordia fratrum after much strife and controuersie were faine to go vnto Rauenna there to abide the iudgement as in déede they did of Theodoricus the king Pelagius the second how was he chosen absque decreto Principis contra consuctudinem without the decree of the Prince agaynst all custome Here they see that it was contrarie vnto all former example that the byshop of Rome shoulde be chosen against the decrée and will of the Prince Bonifacius the third did will that the election of the B. of Rome shoulde consist and be determined by the iudgement of the Prince of the Clergie and of the Laitie that for good causes But Phocas they saye marke well when their kingdom began cōmaunded at the request of the B. of Rome that all Churches should be obedient vnto y e Romain church And yet was the authoritie of y e bishop notwithstanding so smal y t he should be suffred to do nothing without y e
How say you now what speake you of the chiefe and Rulers as for the learned I will confesse the truth there are in the ministerie men verie simple and of small vnderstanding I knowe of thē a number I wil not denie it the thing may in time be remedied but to speake indifferentlye if we examine the ministerie with the former prelacy they are as learned now yea better learned than euer they were For in times past what say you vnto Priestes what say you vnto Bishops that coulde not speake anye true Latine Let none thinke that I slaunder them they were such and therfore to excuse themselues thus they say If the Bishops or Preistes doe speake amisse through ignorance in Grammer they maye not bee therefore despised of schollers no marrie bicause the faultes are rather to bee aduoyded in maners than in wordes A proper matter and an arche argument be ye assured The faultes in a mans life are to be rather aduoyded therefore such Bishops or Priestes as can not speake true Latine are not to be dispraised I pray thee of felowship christen reader findest thou herewith anye fault if a poore Minister had made any such shoulde he not haue bene flowted is this their learning O learned fathers Fie vpon such an ignorant time it was to darke it was intollerable Non est deponendus aliquis propter imperitiam no spirituall man say they should be depriued for ignorancie Why speak they then of the learned they themselues being not only ignorant but also the defenders of ignorancie what talke they of learning the effect of their whole glosaicall studie is this Beholde the deceitfull pen of the Scribes hath set foorth lyes What learning what wisdome then can be amongst thē An other obiection is this we sée say they the iniquitye of the time this doctrine cannot be good there is such vngodlinesse euery where In dede we cōfesse that y e world is naught yea and that we are naught we neither wil nor may iustify our selues silētio culpa crescit we hide not our faults we confesse thē vnto God of him we craue mercie And what is y e cause of this mischief let vs be indifferent let vs tell troth Satan forsooth of a long time hauing the world vnder his clawes was quiet without care he was negligent Then loe though most horrible vices raigned yet had they eyther the title of vertues or else had the people no eies to discerne them so that Satan was animi securi homo one that feared nothing he néeded not to be busie a better trade than he had coulde he neuer haue For Superstition had put on the name of Religion hawtinesse was termed holynesse tyrannie was called a zeale vnto iustice whoredome was named chastitie and as Gregorie sayth vitia virtutes se esse mentiuntur vile vices reported thēselues to be vertues suche was the wretchednesse O miserie of the time But in these days Satan being pinched mens eyes opened darkenesse remoued vices defected and the deuill in a maner naked howe on euery side besturreth he himselfe he bloweth abrode his poyson he scattereth euerye where hys newes he calleth vnto him his mates it standeth him vpon he maketh all the troubles that may be And what of all this is it a thing straunge or is not a thing always séene that when the Gospell is preached then Satan is most moued For the deuill hearing that the sonne of god descended into this world hearing the fayth of Christ preached he made great haste against him to shut vp mens harts in sinne and infidelitie thinking that he coulde destroye as much as Christ was able to saue For example therof what should I speake of the persecution in the primatiue Church it shal suffice if I set before you but a péece of the wickednesse and of the lamentable estate of y e Romaine Empire beginning anon after Marcus Commodus the Emperour you know caused most cruelly all his good fathers friends to be slaine he liued in moste detestable whoredome and murther he him selfe was in thende after other great daungers poysoned and strangled Next him succeded Pertinax a verye good man yet was he slaine and murthered of his owne souldiors What shoulde I speake onely of murther what wickednesse raigned not These cut throte souldiours after the death of Pertinax solde the Empire vnto a couetous Carle one Iulianus But what came thereof the whole estate of y e Empire was troubled thrée at one time claymed the authoritie Iulianus Niger and Seuerus Againe of the death of Antoninus and of Iulia his mother what should I saye go thorow the whole historie and you shall finde almost nothing but méere impietie And yet at this time the Gospell was preached wée may not say that the doctrine was not therfore good bicause the time ouer flowed with iniquitie Consider this Christen Reader wey it with thine owne conscience and then iudge vprightly They obiect also that y e life of the Ministers is naught that they be vicious lewde and I knowe not what Their lewdenesse I will not defende if they be euill God amende them I knowe hereof more thā for some causes I will yet write I know there be within y e Ministerie a number of the Popes friendes in Protestantes skins I know their trades I know them If in the Church now there be some lewde men I maruaile not So was amongst and of the twelue a Iudas there was one naughtie person amongst eight within the arke of Noe in the house of Abraham in the house of I saac of Iacob of Dauid there were offenders and men altogither vnfaithfull in the heauen it selfe many of the Aungels were faultie What then thoughe some yea euen of the Preachers be peruerse There are some which be lewde I wil graūt it Were they not so in S. Paules time I haue no man sayeth he which with a like affection will care for your matters with me for all doe seeke that is their owne and not that is Iesus Christ What saye you to this how saye you vnto that time Touching the Pope and his Prelacie who can accuse them for though they be neuer so lewd of themselues though they offende in most detestable filthinesse though the Pope doe not one good déede yet the vertues of his Predecessors maye suffice him These be their owne words wey them I aske with indifferencie In this their owne Doctor their owne Pope is against them I meane Gregorie Grace sayth he and not the place doth saue the soule Surelye had I here time to set forth their lewde and fonde Canons had I leysure cōuenient to lay out before you their foule fornication their naughtinesse and abhomination you woulde doubtlesse abhorre them we should altogither defie them But would you thinke vnto their friendes I speake that they defended whoredome would you beleue that these were their wordes One hauing no wife that hath
great their gadding vnto pilgrimages was horrible their hearing and bewraying of secretes their presumption in pardoning of offences was intollerable So farre were they from true repentance that they had pointed it in wordes onelye outwarde meanes and in dayes For did not a thousand thinke if they had gadded to this or that Pilgrimage that then they were perfite if they fasted certain dayes thought they not their sinnes to bée forgiuen if they had confessed their faults vnto the Priest thought they not thēselues wholy discharged yea and which is most abhominable bought they not repentaunce with money was it not solde them had they it not for twentie pence for ten pence for twoo pence some receiued twentie dayes pardon some thirtie some fortie O filthye merchandise Well What was further taught by ignoraunt and vnlearned men touching penance I neede not to say Onely this I dare auouch that therein the Pope himselfe was deceyued and that he deceyued others or deceitfully abused them The confession sayth Leo which is first offered vnto god and then vnto the Priest is sufficient vnto a repenter What the only confession the bare wordes and no compunction O how childish how foolish howe false is this doctrine is it inough with our lips to confesse our sinnes is it sufficient to tell them vnto the Priest is not repentance to be sorie for our sinnes past and afterwards to commit none to be sorie for Here is no telling vnto the Priest no secret whispering no auricular confession Poenitentia vera est dolor amaritudo animae pro malis quae quisque commisit vel consensit True repentaunce is the griefe of the hart and bitternesse of the soule for such euilles as one hath eyther committed or consented vnto This is sayth Ambrose the true repentance we sée what it is truly to repent and that we maye the better sée it we shall herein consider what S. Augustine sayth He speaketh of thrée kindes of repentaunce the one in them which before being heathens haue a mynde to be baptised The second is after baptisme the whole life of one led in prayers charity humilitie and such like vertuous laudable déedes the thirde is the repenting for those sinnes which through mās frailty we haue howsoeuer committed as the breaking of any of al the commaundements We sée here our whole life set forth and how we should at all times repent But let vs come vnto the holy Scriptures vnto whome confessed the Prophete Dauid his sinnes I will knowledge sayth he mine offence and accuse my selfe vnto the Lord. If we bée contrite in hart then is the Lord nye vnto vs if we be humble in spirite he will helpe vs. Repent sayeth our Sauiour for the kingdome of God is at hande And can we not repent except we shewe it vnto the Priest was not auricular confession condemned was it not abolished and that for good causes more than twelue hundred yeres past did not Nectarius the Bishop reprehend put it down what Unto whō I pray you shewed Daniel his grief I turned me sayth he vnto God the Lorde I prayed before the Lord my God What shoulde any moue vs therefore with mediators can we haue any more than one doe the Scriptures allow any more There is sayth S. Paule one God and one meditour betwene God and man which is the man Christ Iesus who gaue himselfe a raunsome for all men S. Paule sayth there is but one mediatour the Pope sayth there are more whome we shoulde credit I referre that Christian reader vnto thine owne conscience All herevnto that they can obiect is this there are of the Doctors saye they that defende auricular confession What is this else I pray you than to say there are men there are of their own companie that defende it with a good meaning I speake it I woulde to God that wée weyed the writings of men as they be and that wée woulde preferre none before the Prophetes and Apostles of Christ I would to God that men would consider what men were and what they haue written Else religion shall be hindered great absurdities shall growe S. Hierome I knowe was a good man yet if they will stand in all things vnto his iudgement then will I manifestly proue that y e Pope that now is is not of the church of Christ No man sayth Hierome that is spotted with any vncleannesse is of the Church of Christ But the Pope is spotted with some vnclennesse therefore he is not of the Church of Christ Here is a heauie thing they must eyther denie Hierome or deface the Pope You sée what it is to stande so much vppon the Doctors What néedeth manye wordes the repentance that is allowed by Scripture the penance that is approued by the Apostles the same that is set forth by the Propetes and by Christ the same allow we the same we embrace and followe This if they as they doe will reprehende then carpe they not vs but the Scriptures of God Go we then further to sée their almes Wherein what they gaue is to be considered and also howe they gaue it is to be noted Neyther may we omit howe they came by the money which they gaue They came by their riches not rightly they got it by the meanes of Purgatorie If then the foundation bée naught nullius boni operis est supereaeficium no good worke can be builded thereon Yea it is not to bee accounted sayth Gregorie almes deedes if we giue vnto the poore of that which is vnlawfully gotten You sée it then playne that if they defende not Purgatorye their almes was no almes their deedes did nothing auayle them Why will some say haue they not builded houses of religion Colleges and Hospitalles and what of that I will not aunswere with mine owne wordes but with the authoritie of Gregorie Gregorie disprouing the almes giuen of goods vnlawfully gotten saith thus vnde etiam certum est quia si monasteria vel xenodochia vel aliquid aliud ex pecunia quae pro sacris ordinibus datur construatur non proficit mercedi whence it may euidentlye appeare that though Monasteries hospitalles or any such like thing be builded with mony giuen for holye orders such yet doth nothing auayle But peraduenture one will thinke and say there are many Christians which are rich niggardes and couetous I shall not sinne if I take from them and giue vnto the poore such thought sayeth Augustine commeth through the suggestion of the deuill For be it that he woulde giue all vnto the poore which he had taken yet doth he rather encrease his sinne than diminish it If then the Priestes tooke monye for Dirges Trentals Prayers Pardons and Masses which euen by their owne law is vnlawfull and by Gods law is wicked how maye they saye that they gaue almes or had if we iudge indifferently anye deuotion but if they list