your selfe taken in the manner wherfore I will returne in a word to the iustifying of D. H. assertion It will bee verie tedious to set before you the whole summe of that pithie answere to Campians fifth reason De patribus Ab ouo vsque ad mala Which if you iudiciallie peruse you shall see he had good reason after so great promises and small performances on his aduersaries part to conclude as he did In the entrance of that subiect Campian would faine make the world beleeue that our Church had quite deposed the most ancient Fathers and doctors and that if we would make triall by them our cause were instantlie gone Omnes nostri sunt saith he in effect All the ships on the Attique shore all the Fathers are ours The day is ours Vnto this challenge our D. returneth this answere Nos horum patrum auctoritatem solummodò veneramur nos ad horum Synedrion sacro sanctum prouocamus They alone shall bee our Iudges wee will appeale to them And againe Verè ac propriè nostros patres in terris vocamus Prophetas Apostolos patres non à patre patrato sed à patre patrum delectos Wee account them our fathers whom the Father of heauen hath set ouer vs. All the exception he maketh against the challenge is this Jncipit saith hee ab aureae aetatis heroibus à patribus maiorum gentium sed mox ad alios vel aenei vel ferrei seculi homines descendit quos in vnum quasi globum sine vllo discrimine coniungit This is our D. resolution hee is willing to stand to the iudgement of the Prophets Apostles and Primitiue fathers adding only this that hee maketh a difference betweene those of the g Jnter patres paterculos golden age and those which succeed in the brasen and iron age of the world which the leauen and leprosie of Romish superstition hath sowred and infected Now how farre your Challengers right commeth short of his claime the conference of both their writings will more fullie declare then the breuitie of a letter will permit And in this behalfe I had rather referre you to a knowne h Printed at London 1608. Sermon yet so farre as I can learne vnanswered that was preached at Pauls Crosse Febr. 13. 1607 wherein it will appeare at least in twentie points how little countenance you haue from those holy fathers with whose names your frothie discourses are so stuffed and your controuersies bombasted I am not now an opponent to vrge the particulars wherein you proue destitute of those Fathers who are still at your pens end I shall hold it sufficient if I can at this time assoile that worthie father from your wrongfull imputations First for his euasion Campian had obiected The inuisibilitie of our Church and that we stood only at the reuersion of Aërius Vigilantius c. for some pestiferous fragments Now D. H. not knowing how to winde himselfe out of this difficultie is driuen as you say to slip collar thus VVherein Aerius did erre we reiect it wherin he held any thing agreeable to the Scripture we receiue it And consequently in this point of prayer for the dead we and our Church will not digresse from Aërius I would wish none of my friends to open his mouth against the least Retainer to Purgatorie Belzebub himselfe shall finde more fauour at your hands then such a man What Because the Diuels i Mark 3.13 confessed that Iesus was the Sonne of God will you therefore abiure it and blot it out of your Creed If Aërius howsoeuer otherwise erroneous doe ioyne with the Primitiue Church in nullifying oblations for the dead will you therefore haue our Church so nice as in a stomack to maintaine the contrarie Had D. H. said Aërius disliked them Ergo wee will not entertaine them then had he giuen the question to his aduersarie in the debate of our Churches Antiquitie this had bin indeed to picke the crums that had fallen from his table But because Aërius an Heretique was of this opinion that therfore it is a new coined doctrine and a disgrace for our church to hold it our D. thought it no good consequēce In matters of this kind wee are not to consider Quis but Quid not VVho it is or by whom this or that point is professed but Quid what it is that is held If the person be an k Galath 1.8 Angell we haue our warrant to refuse him if he bring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any thing besides that which the word warranteth on the contrarie if the doctrine be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is written or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 agreeable to that which we haue receiued though the person be an infernall spirit that vttereth it yet he is not to be refused What were this but with the l Pag. 76. Anabaptists and Brownists as you say to frequent no Church because there is some blemish in euerie Church were he not a wise minter that refuseth gold because there is much drosse though there be much chaffe in the heape yet will not the husbandman forsake his wheate shall the Arian heresie of Aërius make those other truthes which hee held to be of lesse esteeme By this reason we should not haue had one article of our faith left many hundred yeares ago if because of mens errors in some points we should therfore dissent from them in all What cause is there then why I should not highly extol this worthie saying of that Venerable man VVee are not ashamed to ioyne with Aërius saith he where Aërius ioyneth with the Scriptures Obserue this I pray you hee beleeueth it not because Aërius saith it is true but because that is true which Aërius saith therefore he beleeueth it Yea should a hūdred Councels of Romish Pharasaicall Scribes condemne him as an Heretique yet were he no whit lesse to bee followed in that wherein he followeth the VVord Call you this an Euasion to hold that which is agreeable to the written word Indeed whatsoeuer distasteth your quaint humors is an euasion Wel all the aduantage you get by such euasions you may put into your eie and see neuer a whit the worse Neither is the Collusion with which he is charged of any more moment then the former the words of our D. are these Non improbamus nos quod sensit Aërius Augustinus retulit non oportere nos orare vel oblationem offerre pro mortuis quia nullo Scripturae dicto continetur quod Aug. significare videtur quando hanc commendationem mortuorum dicit veterem esse ecclesiae consuetudinem We do not disproue that which Aërius taught and Augustine hath related that we ought not to pray nor offer oblation for the dead because this is not contained in any precept of the Scripture which Augustine also doth seeme to signifie when he saith that this commendation of the dead was an ancient custome
c. Wherein had you not bin an b Lamiae domi caecae foris oculatae ouer partiall beholder of the ofspring of your owne fantastical wit you could not but haue seene that the deformitie thereof deserued rather to haue it troden vnder the c Proles viperea pedibus conculcanda non manibus gestanda feet then hatched or harboured in the bosome of those therin vnfortunate Ladies vnto whom it was by your factious factors so cunningly vented Such is the mishapen * Vnus in omnibus nullus â—…a singulis rudis indigestaque moles disproportion therof that your former d Imprinted at London 1608. Scholasticall examination of mans iniquitie and Gods iustice taketh it in foule scorne to haue it reputed for her sister And indeed of that you may say with the e Of his faire pictures and foule children Painter Luce pinxi of this Nocte finxi there is such beautie in the one and blemish in the other For my owne part hardly could I be induced to beleeue but that the namelesse Printer did much wrong in fathering it vpon a man borne of parents so religious in the raigne of a Queene so pious bred in an f Oxford Vniuersitie of that fame and graced by a g Of London Bishop of that reuerend esteeme But since your own claime doth chalenge it h Peut Heut de lib. hom Nat. Partus ventrem sequatur you must looke to maintaine it or else it will lie vpon the parish of Romish Jesuites To bee sure to disburthen our selues as soone as it was brought before me I dispatched this paper as my Borsholder to conuey it from text to text from argument to argument from Father to Father vntil it come to the first motiue where it was first farrowed And haue you any reason to look for any further or extraordinarie kindnesse at my hands Do you thinke I can possiblie forget what sparkes haue flowen out of that forge where you now are become a needie Vulcanian apprentice Can the horror of that dismal proiect that Gunpowder plot i Iudgement of a Catholike Eng. § 1. howsoeuer smoothed ouer with Parallels the eternall staine of your murtherous profession but still liuely represent before me euen in my dreames and imprint in my most serious thoughts that furious k Vna dies dabit exitio multâ—…sque per annos sustentata ruet moles machina regni Lucret. Blast which my selfe my poore selfe should haue sensiblie felt or my good friends at least bewailed No no Mr. Theomisus for ill doth l E Paulo Saul Theophilus fit you I should register it among my capitall and dreadfull sinnes if I do not my vtmost with sword and pen to reuenge it Oft haue they been employed in causes of lesse moment and therfore seeing m Velleius Paterc ineuitabilis fatorum vis the diuine prouidence of my God hath reserued me from the Bedlome violence of your rage I hold the little remainder of my Pilgrimage most worthily spent in freeing all poore weak inueigled Ladies and other my deare countrimen from your Syrenicall deceit Neuer can the most superlatiue Parliament seueritie be accounted extremitie in the prosecuting or sharpest research of that viperous brood those mercilesse helhounds among whom you are now matriculated Quibus ipsa misericordia me viuo nunquam ignosceret whom mercy it selfe should be thought cruell euer to forgiue n Stulta est clementia perituro parcere funi Execution in these cases were better then disputation How gladly I would see the one may appeare by my forward attempt of the other And were it not that Protestant charitie giueth a restraint to my pen I would vow neuer to forgiue the immanitie of those matchlesse miscreants o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 12.32 id est Ante leues ergo pascentur in aethere cerui c. vntill I heare their absolution pronounced by the mouth of the most supreame Iudge Let him make the case his owne that censureth me of too much bitternes Satan himself could not deny p Iob. 2.4 Pellem pro pelle that all that euer a man hath hee would giue for his life I must confesse I did euer before suspect the cariage but then did I begin q Nam quis iniquae tam patiens Romae tam ferreus vt teneat se Iuuen. irreconciliablie to detest all the Incendiaries of your Romish forge Thus you see Mr. Theomisus vbi meus me calceus vrget Iudge you if I haue not iust cause to be an eternall opposite to all of your coate I meane to al such English fugitiues as haue been borne since the blessed raigne of our late euer deare Angelicall Q. Elizabeth and fallen from the Apostolicall Catholique r Rom. 1.8 As it theÌ„ stood vnpolluted by the Bishop of Rome Romane faith by her established I am not I confesse a Minister nor Å¿ S. Dunstons London Lecturer as you were yet must I according to the small measure of my indowments shew my selfe a t Etiam cum sanguine sudore Christian in withstanding the most insolent oppugners of that faith into which I was Baptised and whereof King James my most Dread Soueraigne Lord and Master is Defender And albeit I am not in holy orders my selfe yet will I do my best to order you and the rather that you may no longer be a reproch to Christs Church whereof you were once a member in that famous Vniuersitie wherein by their vndeserued fauour I was M. of Arts and absit inuidia verbo Senior of the Act before your mothers wombe did beare so monstrous a burthen as your selfe In summe my desire is to reclaime you that you perish not my purpose is to confute you or at least to discouer you that you seduce not and my readines is alwaies prest to answere you or any Fugitiue Romified Renegado whomsoeuer In this my discusse albeit I can hardly stay my selfe from encountering the seuerall particulars and cutting off all the heads of your Hydra yet because there are many valerous and worthie Champions Qui seuertores Musas colunt u D. Morton Deane of Glocester D. Field whom it doth nearer concerne as being yet aliue to answere for themselues whose learning is no whit appayled nor courage daunted to iustifie the trueth and cleere your pretended deprauations in their owne writings I will omitting whatsoeuer concerneth them confine my selfe within this list My whole discourse shal consist of six Paragraffes In the first The cause of your Alienation shall be sifted In the second Your maine reason for Purgatorie disproued In the third your Prime father answered In the fourth your Prime Protestant D. Humfrey defended In the fift The contrarie Position maintained And in the last A friendly retreate sounded So that by that time I haue done obstinacie it selfe shall I hope confesse that our x Psalm 48.2 Sion is faire in situation the ioy of the whole
beholding vnto you But that I may merit to be kalendred by you among those that are of a e Pag. 22. more candide and honorable disposition I wil not presse you so neere God knoweth I haue no pleasure to diminish the venerable esteeme of their sacred pens Wherfore for the place cited out of the f Pag. 28. incomparable worke of that holy S. Augustine with whom you first consulted giue me leaue I pray you to put you in minde of what your owne Viues hath formerly told you writing vpon these words which you haue heere alleaged he saith thus g Super Aug. de ciuitat Dei lib. 21. cap. 24. In antiquis libris Brugensi Coloniensi non leguntur isti decem aut duodecim qui sequuntur versus neque in exemplaribus Friburgi excusis And it is true hee saith They are not in any our knowne Copies to be found Thus hath your owne man Viues tripped vp the heeles of your grand authoritie and laid your first Motiue in the dust But I must doe you no wrong he goeth a step further and saith Forsan non desunt in alijs Perhaps other impressions haue them And so your Ponderous resolution both for this interpretation of S. Augustine as also for the said Fathers iudgement concerning Purgatory hangeth vpon a weak thred vpon a Forsan Perhaps which is as good as a new nothing to hang vpon your sleeue Thus as you haue but one Ground and that wrested so it appeareth your Prime father may be supposed to be forged Which may giue vs iust cause to mistrust the like double dealing with the rest Hauing hitherto busied my pen in sounding the depth of your hypocrisie in cleering your first scripture from your Sophistrie in defending your Prime Father from your forgerie I must now shew my selfe a dead-mans Champion in freeing your Prime Protestant Doctor from your Calumnie §. 4. EGregiam vero laudem spolia amplatulisti Tuque liberque tuus Alas what will become of our Religion our poore Church must needs totter the a Pag. 168. and 140. Pillars thereof being so miserablie shaken Had you the Jaw-bone of an Asse in your hand who were able to stand before you our best worthies being so deadly wounded with your Goose-quill Amongst the rest Barbam vellis Leoni Mortuo You trample vpon dead D. Humfrey as if you would crush him to peeces They that suruiue had need to looke to themselues your furie is so enraged toward the dead And is it possible that that holy man should spend so many yeeres diue into so many learned Authors read so many memorable Lectures and now come to bee taxed by an obscure Neoterique of * Vide ad Lector pag. 38 82. 168. 169. 172. 1 malignitie,2 artificiall collusion 3 insolent madnes 4 egregious falshoods 5 Rhetoricall florishes 6 vnprofitable Rhetorique 7 vnfaithfull courses 8 obscure and vncertaine oracles for 9 delusion in his ambiguities 10 vnfaithfulnesse in his relations 11 digressions from his matter 12 and generall imbecillitie in his discourse Bona verba quaeso You must not thinke to carrie it away with your big lookes If your currish pen be so shamelesse as to dare Mingere in patrios cineres be you assured the good fathers demerits will not permit any true Oxonian to leaue his Orphane works to the wild world Let others do as they shal see cause Far is it from my thoughts that this my short rude Letter should suppresse anie other more solid supplie As he did benefit many being aliue so is it fit he should bee defended by manie being dead It is fit I say that the debt which the Church oweth to his reuerend memorie should be paid by men of the Church Neither yet are priuate men to burie his particular fauours with his breathlesse corps in one same Graue It is vsuallie seene amongst base minds Cum quis Domo effertur aufertur Gratia But still shall he lie intombed in my best thoughts who ripened the buds of my yonger studies with the gladsome raies of his best encouragements Or shall I be so meale-mouthed as to suffer anie railing Rabshekah to sooth himselfe in his disgrace Then might my worthie learned and religious c Elizab. La. Russell Dowager 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. Mother thinke my time and her cost altogether mispent if in all that time I did not learne to maintaine his repute by whom shee understood I was so much honored And if your superstition teach you to pray for the dead you cannot I hope blame my generous disposition to patronize the d Eccle. 7.37 Mortuo non prohibeas gratiam Dead Full well may I vndertake this combate without any feare of the foile I haue perused his booke examined his assertions and weighed his arguments vpon which view I find you must be driuen to offer a paire of golden eies to the Ladie of e Sichem or Hal is nearer S. Omers Loretto that you may recouer your sight which you haue so weakened with ouerstudying your selfe in the seeking out of Purgatorie that you cannot see the VVood for trees You crie out let him be condemned for delusion deprauation c. yea but first by your leaue Mr. Theomisus there must be enquirie Quid mali fecit VVhat euil hath he done Vpon this triall I doubt not but this sentence will be giuen by an indifferent Iudge J find no fault in the man of these things wherof he is heere accused The first grieuance taken against this worthie Doctor which is made your first warrant for the triall of your cause by the Fathers is this that he draweth his answere to Campian to a conclusion with this sentence f Pag. 12. Trasilaus in a mad humour tooke all the ships which he beheld in the Attique hauen to be his owne though hee possessed not any vessell Such is the frencie of the Romanists yea greater also because they see and yet seeing they dissemble that they are destitute of all defence from the Fathers This you terme a vast and a notable vntruth If your words might passe for oracles it were so indeed But is it possible you should so soone forget what issued from your owne pen not foure leaues before How did you there plaie Trasilaus vaunting like a second Thraso of S. Aug. authority in the exposition of your groūd Wel what was the issue Did not D. Humfrey prophesie right your own Viues as I shewed you bloweth all away with a Non leguntur Where is now the ship you challenged for your owne It hath but a Forsan a verie thinne planke to keepe you from sinking If you a Nouice haue learned this tricke alreadie what shall we thinke of those that haue been seuen nay twice seuen yeares apprentises to the trade By that time you haue been so long a Practitioner you will haue twentie such iugling trickes at your fingers ends It is vnpleasing to you I dare saie to see