and sufficiencie of hys word that haue coyned false heresies abated true doctrines so do publish and vtter them Also if corrupting and counterfaityng of Princes seales and geuing out or annexing his seales to false charters of theyr owne in the Princes name be hye treason are they not hye traitors to God that corrupt his seales his Sacramentes and set forth new priuate institutions of their owne as Masses and such bagages in stede of them I meane not onely the inuenters and forgers but also the receiuers publishers vtterers and cariers abrode of such abhominable vntruthes Also what greater offense agaynst Maiestie can be than to commaunde the Princes subiectes not to beleue the Princes word or writyng nor any thyng that shall passe by his authoritie without such offenders confirmation and allowance And that the Princes word and writyng suffiseth not to direct the subiectes dutie without such offenders explication and addicions And that such offenders may adde at their pleasure And that such addicions are to be holden equal with the Princes word And that the Princes word must euer be so taken as such offenders expound it none otherwise Then must the Papistes in theyr discredityng the word of God in their dishablyng it as not sufficyng to the instruction of our fayth for the saluation of our soules ▪ in theyr clayming false and vndue authoritie to theyr traditions and in their restrayning the word of God to their expositions though directly against the word against the spirite of God nedes be accompted hye traitors agaynst Gods maiestie Also the greatest honor and dignitie that God hath and chalengeth ielously to hym selfe among men is the redemption and iustification of man The Papistes which draw that from God to man from grace to workes as they are most haynous and blasphemous traitors to God in denying his frée graciousnesse therin so are they most arrant theues to Christian men in robbyng them of the benefite therof Also if to deny that the Prince ought to enioye the stile kyngly name and dignitie of the realme with al preeminences to they same belongyng be hye treason are the not hye traitors to God that take from God the name of our onely Iustifier and from Christ the title of our onely redemer and Aduocate and from the holy ghost the office and stile of our onely true and sufficient Instructer Also seing that to defile the kynges wife is hye treason wherby the succession of hys crowne may growe to dishonor and oncertaintie are not Papistes then hye traitors that haue made the church the spouse of God to commit so many fowle spirituall whoredomes with idolatries heresies and yeldyng her selfe to be abused of strangers So appeareth it euidently that if violatyng of maiestie if denyng the kyng to be the onely kyng and hed of hys owne realme if vsurpyng supreme gouernance without the kynges assignement if makyng and receiuyng lawes and proclamations in the kynges name without hys warrant if destroyeng and defacyng in contempt the kynges charters if leuyeng warre agaynst the kyng within the realme and murderyng hys subiectes if counterfaityng the kynges coyne or seales if annexyng hys seales to false writynges if abatyng hys coyne by clippyng or otherwise if vtterance of such forged or abated ware if discredityng the Princes word and authoritie and auauncyng their owne aboue it if denyeng the kinges right to hys kyngly office if takyng from him hys royal stile name dignitie if corruptyng hys wife with adulterie if any of these if all these together be hye treason Papistes are hye traitors to the maiestie of almightie God But these parhappes may be thought to be but allegoricall or figuratiue treasons so litle the matters of God do moue vs and in the eye and consideration of the law of the realme they are none other yet are they in very dede truely treasons offenses agaynst the hyest maiestie euen the same maiestie by whom kynges do reigne and are vpholden and the same maiestie for which kynges ought to be carefull if they will haue hym to prouide for theyr maiesties Yea they are the very sedes of ciuil temporall treasons For vndoutedly as no man breaketh out into actuall sinne agaynst men that hath not first yelded to an assent to offend God so no man procedeth so farre as to commit treason agaynst the Prince that hath not first conceiued a traiterous minde to rebel against God And as of ordinarie course and naturall necessitie it foloweth that full and strong sedes throwen in ground fit for them cherished with conuenient moisture and comfortable heate of norishyng sonne must rankly growe and bring forth herbes or wedes of theyr propre kynd so these traitorous sedes layed vp in fat soile of Papistes bosomes if they be watered with welth and indulgence and shyned vpon with the cherefull glimses of opportunities will surely bryng forth the frutes of theyr owne qualitie treasons agaynst princes And for this respect other offenses that haue in tymes past ben wrongfully supposed to be of this nature haue ben also punished by the lawes of the realme In ancient order of Letes and other courtes they haue ben enquired vpon before treasons done to the prince They haue had theyr seuerall formes of punishmentes yea in some cases they haue ben and in some places and causes they yet be exempted from the Princes power to pardon They haue bene termed by speciall names of heresies and blasphemies and theyr punishementes byside temporall peynes haue ben extended in opinion to the further reuenge of the eternall Maiestie whoes crowne and dignitie they haue ben thought to violate And surely if in discernyng which were heresies and blasphemies they had not erred if they had not mistaken and executed the true man for the traitor the generall care which was pretended to mainteyne truth and the church stode well with the dutie of Christian Princes as viceroyes and deputies iustly zelous for theyr superior or rather supreme Lord king of kynges and Lord of lordes the true monarch of whole vniuersalitie And though the same late new deceiued antiquitie swarued from true iudgement of the persons and causes I can not well sée howe that should be a warrant to disburden Princes of imitation of that zele when it is ones ioyned with right vnderstandyng no more than the wrongfull hangyng of a true man by mistakyng hym for a thefe or a murderer ought to be a discharge for the very thefe or murderer when he is afterward taken in dede And without doubt more holesome and profitable it were for these hereticall traitors agaynst God I meane the Papistes them selues to be in this lyfe by some sharper law and execution driuen to repentance than to be repried or reserued to arrainement before the last iudge whoes knowledge can not be deciued whoes iusties can not then be entreated whoes execution hath neither end nor measure and so a litle more hardnesse with them a while would
blowen vp in Christendome that can not yet be quieted and all because the Pope hath instilled an opinion into his Papistes that Princes if he dispense with them are not bound to kéepe fayth and promise no not the word of a king wherby no peace can yet be assured Whereof yet riseth one good admonition to trust them no more and to be well ware of them and specially to thinke of this one particular that wicked persons which haue geuen occasion of dangerous rebellions against the Quéenes maiestie their chiefe and onely succour and refuge will neuer be witholden by any respecte from attempting or procuring to be attempted any most hie and hainous treason and mischiefes against our soueraigne Ladies safetie if auantageable opportunitie may serue them so long as such persons are infected with Papistrie and can thinke the Pope hable to pardon or rather willing to reward them yea so farre as they shall suppose them selues not onely to winne the kingdome of England therby but also the kingdome of heauen It is perilous to thinke what traitorous rage may do being armed with dronken superstition It is a sore thing to consider the impotentie of ambition specially when it is ioyned with the furie of reasonlesse loue The common experience is how dangerous those knottes of théeues be where there is a woman in the companie Thus is it plaine that for as much as the Pope claimeth such wrongfull vsurpation and tyrannie ouer kinges and realmes and sith Papistes holde that he saith true and claimeth but his right and can not erre in discerning it all such Papistes are traitors to all kinges and kingdomes As for the second conclusion which accuseth English Papistes of treason to the Quéenes maiestie it is sufficiently proued for that it is as a particular within a generall included in the former Yet for the speciall confirmation of it it hath certaine priuate and seuerall reasons It is well knowen how they sought her graces death in her sisters time what practises what fetches were vsed for it what examinations what searchinges were to finde color of her destruction yea if it be true which is credibly sayd how farre without color they proceded if God had not miraculously kept her to the preseruation of this Realme and the comfort of whole Christendome But to make some demonstration of their hatred to her maiestie by reason and after to descend to the examples and practises let vs examine the causes Whereas the Papistes holde that the Pope is head of Gods vniuersall Church and that such authoritie as the Quéene claimeth in England ouer ecclesiasticall persons and in ecclesiasticall causes as due to her highnesse in right of her crowne is not due to her but belonging to the Pope in so saying they must say that her maiestie claimeth an vniust tyrannicall power And whosoeuer shall so say though not in the same sillables is an vniust and an errant traitor and can not loue her that hath pulled downe him whom they call head of their Church Also where Papistes affirme the Chirch of Rome to be the true Catholicke Chirch of God and that as out of Noes Arke there was no safetie from drowning so out of the Romane Church there is no escape of damnation is there any hope that they so thinking can or do loue her highnesse that hath dismembred them from the body of that Chirch and plucked them out of that Cocklorelles boate Where Papistes holde the heresie of transubstantiation and the bread to be Christes naturall bodie the blasphemie of Popishe Masse to be an auailing sacrifice for quicke and dead the Popes pardons to be hable to deliuer them from hell and damnation is it likely that they loue her whom they thinke to depriue them of so great treasures Where the Papistes holde our whole forme of seruing of God which forme the Quéenes maiestie hath prescribed and deliuered to her subiectes to be schismaticall our lawes in spirituall thynges no lawes our sacramentes no sacramentes our Bishops no Bishops our Clergie no Clergie surely they thinke our Coronations no Coronations our Quéene no Quéene or at least they are sory she is so Where Papistes beleue a Purgatorie and that Masses Diriges and such other gainfull marchandise of the Popish Clergie be beneficiall for their frendes soules and their owne and do in the meane time imagine that theyr fathers grandsires grandames wiues and other frendes soules lie frying in vnexplicable tormentes and the Quéenes maiestie holdeth from them the onely meane to release them thinke you such persons grudge not at her excéedingly Where the Pope hath accursed the Quenes maiestie as an heretike and schismatike all those Papistes which suppose that the Pope hauing the disposition of Gods sentence and the thunderbolt of excommunication in his hand can not erre do also suppose that the Quenes highnesse our Quene Elizabeth I meane is not lawfull Quene of England for so must all Papistes hold that hold the Pope to say true for the Pope doth not so accept her And true it is that the refusall of the othe for the acknowledging her Maiesties supremacie ouer ecclesiasticall persones and in ecclesiasticall causes is for very good reasons to be suspected that for the most part it is but coloured with pretense of conscience for ecclesiasticall causes and to be thought that in very deede it dependeth chefely vpon this poynt that sith her Maiestie hath bene suspended excommunicated and declared out of the church by the Pope they thinke her Maiestie not lawfull Quene of England For the like example or preiudice haue the like Papistes geuen heretofore at many times and namely when Elizabeth Barton that hipocriticall harlot sometime called the holy mayde of Kent with whose false traitorous practises were fowly spotted and entangled More and Fisher the new Romishe Saintes published as a reuelation from God a traytorous article suggested vnto her by popishe Priestes and Monkes with whom she carnally and filthily liued that the Queenes Maiesties most noble father after a time by them limited was not King of England one houre in the sight of God The like interpretation did Papistes make of king Iohn And Papistes haue published that Gospellers whom they call heretikes ought not to haue any office among Gods people much lesse a kingdome And this poynt is well to be considered that they which take from the Quéenes maiestie the supremacie ouer ecclesiastical persones and causes do transferre the same iurisdiction to the Pope for they neuer yet bouch saued to geue it to any other ▪ and I am sure that after so many parables and examples of bées and beastes and other thynges they will not now haue any particular church hedlesse and destitute of a supreme gouernor either vniuersall like a monarch as they wold haue it or speciall vnder God of eche kingdome or dominion as Gods good disposition hath sorted it If then the Pope haue in theyr opinion any ecclesiasticall iurisdiction in
flowing in vntrue defacing the clergie of the realme their liues examples mariages doctrines some tell of the liberalities of times past some of the old mery world And all this is but to this end to driue into subiects a lothing of present gouernment a misliking of the state wherin our good prelates preachers are mainteined An other spitefull dangerous sort being placed or rather left in places of good countenance and credit either in Colleges houses of studie offices in the greatest houshold in Courtes in Cathedrall churches worshipfull roomes in the countrey and such like with the very shew of their countenance with their liking or disliking pulling forwarde or pressing down open preferring or secret pinching so handle the matter that many times it is more safe or at least more commodious and auantageable to be taken for a Papist than for a Christian For well you wot how men will smell men of their owne faction And sometyme by these meanes vnconstant Gospellers for necessitie or profites sake become yelders and dissemblers till at length by Gods grace forsaking them and by his iust plage ordinarilye lighting vpon yelders and halters they slide by degrées from hypocrites to playne apostataes which are in déede the most desperate kinde of Papistes And if this be not redressed in vaine the Preacher preacheth in vaine the Prince and Counsell setteth forth true doctrine For this they can say when the Preacher hath sayd he hath done but continuall execution carieth away the power credite and people Trow ye these be good meaning men to her Maiestie that so persecute vndermine the religion whereof her Maiestie is vnder God and by Gods prouision the great base and meane of stay in this Realme But aboue all other dothe it not plainly appeare what hartes papistes beare to her maiestie when papistes them selues and notorious open traitors and rebelles made their plaine accompt that to rebel against the Quene to practise the alteration of her gouernement the ouerthrow of her estate the displacing of her counsell the foysting in of a farre worse in her stead whosoeuer it be and the destruction of her persone is the very naturall humor affection and desire of papistes Consider the rebellious Earles loke vpon their companie and assistantes viewe them wel note their ensignes of woundes and crosses the inscriptions about them In hoc signo vinces in this signe thou shalt ouer come abusing the wordes of Constantine to encoragement of their false hipocrisie Note their procedinges their tearing and burning the booke of God their breaking the Communion table their prophaning of Churches with vile Idolatrie their erecting of abhominable Masse their chaplens leud and seditious sermons and chefely rede their first proclamation Find you not there in their proclamation where their trust was reposed forsothe in men of that sort which they call the old and Catholike religion to whome their proclamation was directed Finde you not there in their proclamation the summe of their complaint â–ª the cause and color of their rebellion forsothe that euell disposed persones about the Quéene haue ouercome the old and catholike religion within the realme Finde you not there in their proclamation the declaration of their intent purpose forsothe to restore old customes and liberties to the Churche of England If these be true pretenses then is papistrye being the ground thereof plainely flatly and truely treason If they be not true but false and vaine colors abused by these rebels to deceiue and drawe moe subiectes to take their partes then sée what foloweth then must it nedes consequently be euident that they them selues yet supposed knew papistrie to be the very likely and apt color and meane to allure men to rebellion and treason against the Quéene as the very kindely baite and as their naturall affection daily gaping for such opportunitie howsoeuer at this time inconuenience of season vnripenesse of matter vntowardnesse of aide vnredinesse of prouision unfitnesse of guides preuenting of counsels stay of their heds colors with other good meanes of gods merciful prouidence repressed their vnhappy courages which yet daily lâ—ke for new time circumstances of lesse encombrance But in the meane time as God gathereth his glory out of al things yea euen out of sinnes so let vs out of this great euell yet gather some good a good example and a good lesson to learne to know that papistrie is treason and he that is infected with treason is a traitor and so to prouide agaynst them thereafter Whense come I pray you the prophesies commonly talked of in the beginning of her most gratious and blessed reigne how many yeares and how many months her maiesty should continue Whense came the leude coniurers conference with the deuill how long the Quéenes highnesses gouernement and this religion should endure Commeth not this geare from traytorous affections of those well disposed persons Commeth it not from the same fountayne of treason from whense did flow the supplications which the late monster Gardiner penned and preferred in Quéene Maries time for restitution to the heyres of the northen rebelles that rose in her most noble fathers daies yea and adding the consideration of theyr restitution to be because they were in armour agaynst the king her father for defense of religion meaning Papistrie and for reuenge of iniuries and dishoners as they sayd done to her mother Commeth it not from the same affections that haue raysed the great and lamentable tumultes in the realme And trow you the same affection still lodgeth not with the same opinion I am halfe afrayd that out of this fountaine should also spring a few blinde demie prophecies enterlaced in prognostications as Nestradamus and others pretie bywordes and this that lately hath written Alas the Moone shall be called in the house of enemies and prison wherby is like to happen to vs specially to the common people much aduersitie c. and some other such toyes to fill the peoples heads with buzzes But let the best of such be construed Yet I would for frendshippe and learninges sake tell those authors if I were acquainted with them that such vanities might be spared and onely so much out of that art would be set out to the people as is commodious and fitte for them to sée and lawful standing with good discretion for the writers to publish Such a writer might happe to be a man so holden suspected of Papistrie as he mought so encrease the misdemyng agaynst his owne person shrewdly I speake nothing of the prognosticating toy of a mariage sent vp to be printed But let vs sée moe examples Remember I pray you Gardiners sermon at Paules crosse in Quéene Maries time vpon this text Hora est iam nos è somno surgere It is now time for vs to rise out of sléepe There he shewed how God dispenseth eche thing and eche successe in conuenience of times he declared what wayes had
haue spent theyr bloudes to kepe wrong from hym and hys and dyd serue agaynst Papistrie it selfe till theyr treason and Papistrie was rype to be aduaunced Are not the great doers of thys last rebellion and conspiracie those of whom her Maiestie hath most well and bountifully deserued And yet while they were in her presence they were as desirous as any that be now about her to haue her Maiestie thinke of them as of good and faithful subiectes Yea when they were nere the execution of theyr treasons beyng suspected and examined therof denyed it and made vehement hye protestations with great othes of theyr purpose to the contrarie and theyr readynesse to subdue them that should breake the peace as in her Maiesties proclamation appeareth The successe of whoes doynges so shortly folowyng amounteth to as much as if they had playnly sayd what soeuer viser of faith whatsoeuer promysse of true allegeance what soeuer assurance of wordes what soeuer employeng them selues agaynst theyr owne partes till perfect readinesse what soeuer iudgyng and condemnyng of theyr owne faction beyng not yet strong enough Papistes do pretend it is to no other end but to insinuate them selues into fredome from mistrust and to draw her Maiesties eyes to looke an other way to bryng her into a securitie till the danger be vnauoidable as I trust it neuer shalbe if good subiectes sticke well together to her hyghnesse which shalbe so long as her Maiestie shall as she doeth sticke well to God her good subiectes not to suffer them to be dishabled to defend her Surely when Papistes are come so far that the wyfe can procure the murder of her husband the father of hys sonne the mother of her child the frend of hys dearest frend and so in all degrées of coniunction shall her Maiestie looke to haue clemencie and liberalitie requited with loyaltie at theyr hands that already bost that they receyue no clemencie or goodnesse of her but by theyr owne cunnyng meanes or by a superior enforcement And truly of this theyr great vnkyndnesse there is one great reason while Papistrie remayneth in them Earthly thynges must geue place to heauenlie and transitorie to eternall They esteme the voyce of the Pope as the voyce of the eternall God Whyle her Maiestie actually reigneth ouer them they suppose not them selues to lyue vnder her hyghnesse as subiectes but to be holden as captiues and so with all theyr fained shewe they beare to her a seruile reuerence euen altogether such as the bond Mores haue done to the Spanyardes and as Gardiner and hys fellowes dyd beare to kyng Henry the viij and to kyng Edward and my Lordes of Northumberland and Westmerland and theyr companie with these that haue dropped to them since or shall hereafter shrinke lykewise from her do beare to her selfe They are ready further at theyr God the Popes voyce whensoeuer they may be hable to shake of her yoke and gouernement with opinion of meritoriousnesse as the vyle Monke that tempered a tode for hys naturall kyng and as doctor Mackerell in tymes past and some other both then and since haue openly vttered Agayne where they suppose theyr auncesters and frendes soules for lacke of the helpe which the Quéene kepeth from them to lye in vnspeakeable peynes where also they suppose their owne soules to lacke their ghostly comfortes them selues to be cut from Gods church beyng seuered from the pope the hed thereof chiefly where they thinke not onely them selues but also theyr children and posteritie for euer to be by the settyng forth of this Religion which the Quenes hyghnesse auaunceth drawen into a continuall dangerous streame and vnrecouerable state of damnation And where all this whyle they are further persuaded as they must nedes be if they think the Romane church catholike the Pope the hed therof and the catholike church and the hed thereof to be preserued from possibilitie of error that by force of the Popes sentence and for schismaticall and vnrepentant swaruyng from hys church her Maiestie is not in Gods sight iust Quene of this realme with remembring how farre they thinke they may or ought when they dare to shonne her as a person excommunicate and to withdraw from her all ayde relief seruice and obedience is it trow you to be thought that such benefites as they receiue in clemencie and otherwise which yet they impute to Gods preseruing them for the holynesse of theyr cause or to theyr owne policies in deceiuyng her are hable to weye downe those depe and eternall considerations of miseries which they beleue them selues to sustayne by her meanes It is not possible beyng so persuaded of her right to the croune and of the Popes power ouer her croune and person as they be Whyle they thinke them selues true Israelites the chosen people of God and the Pope theyr Moses or rather Christ what accompt make they of the prince whom they serue other than as of Pharao or make they any more conscience of withdrawyng all duties from the Prince and theyr whole contrey than the Israelites dyd of robbyng the Egyptians how fayre soeuer they spake promysed or bound them selues when they borrowed theyr iewelles Many such examples haue ben seen in her Maiesties most noble progenitors dayes but most chiefely and most euidently in her owne Of lyke truth it is that Papistrie being an heresie or rather a bondle made vp of an infinite nomber of heresies must nedes haue the propertie of heresie to florish with indulgence and lenitie We sée the lyke example in the sect of Arrians which vnder hereticall Emperours excedingly encreasced and beyng ones condemned restrayned by punishment hath worne away to a few So farre as kyng Henry the viij went in reforming religion which was to abolish the primacie of Rome out of this realme a noble conquest with certaine grosse idolatries dyd not the seueritie of hys lawes the awe of hys person the dred of due execution so hold downe those partes of Papistrie which he suppressed that they durst not ones shew them selues in hys dayes and yet in the same tyme the greuous law of sixe Articles made agaynst Gods truth and sinisterly procured by Popish clergie nor yet the earnest inquirie nor cruell executyng of it by Byshops other could hold downe the truth of the Gospell but that it brake out more and more vpon them The reason is that Papistrie and Christian truth haue two seuerall endes truth respecteth heauen and Papistrie the world Wherby theyr aduentures enterprises are commonly diuerse the Papist dare boldly set vpon any mischief where he hath hope to auaunce hys falsehode The Christian dare constantly abyde any torment to geue witnesse of Gods truth And such qualitie of Gods truth haue the auncient fathers described when one of them calleth the bloud of Martyrs the water to water Gods garden an other sayth that they encreace with cuttyng downe and other in other maner haue expressed the same