of God you wil scantly like The Popes Doctors say auouch it for truth that if the Priest say thus when he doth Baptise a childe Ego te Baptiso in nomine patris filij spiritus sancti diaboli that is I Baptise thee in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and of the Diuell yet the forme of Baptisme is very good and the child is rightly christned I remember that Christ bad his Apostles Baptise in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost but that he bad them Baptise any in the name of the Diuel I neuer heard If they be rightly christned that are christned in the name of the Diuel according to the Popes law then I hope they are not falsely christned that are christned in the name of God without naming the Diuell accordyng to Gods lawe If wée shoulde allowe such Baptizing to bée good and that they were rightlye Baptized that were Baptized in the name of the Diuell you that call vs nowe Sathans broode woulde then call vs as you myght well the chyldren of the Diuell Must not this Churche of Rome bée a holy Church that hath such goldy doctrine and diuine Doctours if they bée curst that take any thing from the worde of God then they are not blest that adde the Diuell to the Baptizing of the children of God Euerye one that haue an affection to the Popes Religion woulde scantly beléeue that there is such handsome doctrine belonging to his religion This is not much vnlike other of the Romish Doctors doctrine for in the Defence of the Apologie which the learned Bishop of Sarisburie wrote against the confutation of Doctor Harding are these wordes Petrus Asotus Hosius sticke not to affirme that the same Counsell wherein our Sauiour Iesus was condemned to die had both the spirite of Prophesie and the holy Ghost and the spirite of truth And that it was no false saying when the Bishop sayd we haue a lawe and by our lawe he ought to die and that they so saying did light vpon the very truth of iudgemēt and that the same was a iust decree whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die Thus the Popes Prelates take part with Annus Caiphas against Christ. If that were a good true iudgement that most shamefully wrongfully condemned the sonne of God to death then where shal we finde any false and wicked iudgement by this meanes the Popes sentences iudgements in burning the members of Christ for professing of y e Gospel cā not be false wicked or euill I feare they y t say they had the holy ghost the spirite of truth y t iudged Christ to death and that the same was a iust decrée wherby they pronounced y t Christ was worthy to die I feare I say y t they are none of them that Christ dyed for and as they y t iudged Christ most wrongfully did it not by the spirit of God Euen so Asotus Hosius and all other that say y t their iudgement was true that their decrée was iust whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die spake and vttered the same by the spirit of y e diuell for if they gaue true iudgement against Christ then Christ was an offendor and deserued to die The Lorde blesse euery man from beléeuing the doctrine of such that either say or beléeue that Christ the Sonne of God that neuer offēded nor sinned was worthily or rightly condemned to die If our Bishops Preachers and Doctors shoulde preach teache or write such blasphemous doctrine you might then iustly cal vs Heretiks as we may wel cal them al other y t take their partes blasphemers the disciples of Antichrist But Caiphas sayd it is good that one man die for the people least all the people perishe Ergo sayth M. Harding Caiphas had the spirit of God To whom that learned and worthie M. Iewel late Bishop of Sarisburie replyes with these wordes But that ye may the better M. Harding espie your ouersight like as ye saye Caiphas prophesied blindly himselfe not vnderstanding what he sayd Ergo he had the holy Ghost S Paule sayth no man can say the Lorde Iesus but in the Spirit of God hereof by your Logicke you may reason thus the Diuell sayd vnto Christ I knowe that thou arte Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Ergo the Diuell had the Spirit of God c. If Caiphas had the spirit of God then he had y e holy ghost that wrote this note vpon the Popes decrée that the Iewes had committed mortall sinne if they had not nayled Christ to the Crosse. Now open your eyes and beholde whether this be good sound doctrine or not y t these Papisticall Doctors do teach They that worship God aright follow Christes Gospel wil do detest such diuellish doctrine Therefore flie from this Romish Church that taketh the Pope to be hir heade and that refuseth to be tried by the Scriptures and spéedily become members of that Churche that taketh Christ to be hir heade and is content to bée iudged by the Scriptures For they that are of Christ will heare his voyce which is the Gospell which true Church wherof Christ is the head can not be knowne but by the Scriptures Chrisostome saith now can no mā know the Church but by the scriptures S. Augustine saith Whether they haue the Church or no let them shewe by the Canonicall Bookes of the holy scriptures we must know the Church euen lykewise as we know Christ which is the head of the Churche in the holy Canonicall Scriptures Againe he saith the holy Scriptures shewes the Churche without any doubtfulnesse Againe the question or doubt is where the Churche shoulde be what then shall we doe whether shall we seeke the Churche in our owne wordes or in the wordes of hir heade which is our Lorde Iesus Christ In my iudgement wee ought rather to seeke the Churche in his wordes for that he is the trueth and best knoweth his owne body And agayne he sayeth Let vs not heare these wordes this say I This sayest thou but these wordes let vs heare Thus sayth the Lorde there let vs seeke the Churche there let vs discusse our cause And Saint Ambrose sayeth the Church shineth or is knowne not by hir owne light but by the light of Christ which is the word of God These learned holy and auntient fathers wordes are sufficient to proue vnto vs that y e Church of Christ is known and is chiefely to be discerned by the word of God But what if these auncient and learned Doctors had not written thus shoulde wée then haue taken that for the Churche of God which the Popes doctrine doeth allowe then we shoulde haue a trimme and holy Church as by the premysses doth appeare And nowe bicause nothing can describe which is the true Church better than Christ
you and suffer you vnplagued and vndestroyed that are but Bastards and as wilde Oliues whiche cruellye murther Christes members or reioice in the same whiche is as much as though you had killed Christ himselfe or reioyced in his death And if God spared not the Aungels in Heauen whyche serued hym day and night not for hurting of hym and hys members but for their Pride in that they would haue bin higher not content wyth their estate that God called them vnto doe you thinke then that he wil spare you that are vile earthly wretches whyche regarde not his lawes and burne spoile and murther the innocent members of Christ for the professing of Christs Gospell no no I warrant you Yet Lucifer and his fellowe Aungelles looked and hoped for as fayre a day as you hope for for they thought to be equall with God whyche you looke not to be thoughe you had your fayre hoped day but their hope was aslope and for their faire â—ndlesse daye they gote an euerlasting fowle darke and stormy night for the glorious and ioyful kingdome of Heauen they haue got the moste dolefull sorrowfull and paineful kingdome of Hell where the moste furious flames of fire shall neuer go out and where shal be wayling wéeping howling and gnashing of téeth for euer worlde without ende Thus you may sée what a faire day the tyrannicall Emperours that persecuted tormented and killed Christs innocent members the true Christians and the Iewes that put Christ to death and also the Aungels of Heauen haue got which they hoped and looked for Therefore if you hadde vppe your Masse and the Papisticall religion againe and thereby burnte youre brethren killed your countreymen and embrewed your armes vp to the shoulders in their bloud and drunke so much therof vntil your bellies burste what other daye could you looke for but onely for suche a day as the Iewes that killed Christe the tyrants that murthered Christes members and as the prowde Aungels of Heauen had that resisted God whyche in stead of a fayre day is turned into a darke terrible and stormy night Wherefore I beséeche you abhorre and forsake the Masse and the Popes doctrine which will not bring you a faire warme calme and bright daye as you thinke but a moste darke stormie and tempestuous night as we know and not a ioyfull day as you beléeue but a moste sorrowfull and doleful night as we are moste certaine I woulde you should not thinke that eyther the Quéens Maiestie doth feare you or that we dread you bycause so vehemently I do persuade you neyther lette this my exhorting you cause you to be more hawtie that oughte to make you more humble to encourage you to be more obstinate that teacheth you to be more obedient and procure you to rebellion that persuadeth you froÌ„ treason for the Quéenes Highnesse and hir louing and obedient Subiectes are most assured that as God hitherto hathe blessed and defended hir Grace for the setting forth and maintayning of his holy gospel so he wil hereafter blesse and defend hir against you and al hir enimies that shal goe aboute to resist or fight againste hir to suppresse the Gospel If you that are hir subiects do hope that the Pope wyll blesse you for disobeying your Prince Then hir Grace being your Quéene may be wel assured that God wil blesse hir Highnesse which is as good as the Popes blessing for obeying of him in setting forth maintayning and defeÌ„ding the doctrine of Christ the lawe of God You may perceiue if you wil perceiue by the reasons arguments examples and proofes before mentioned that if the Popes souldiours that you procure or wishe to come fight against our Prince to aide and helpe you vp with your Masse and y e rest of the Popes paltry should get the victorie whyche the Lord forbidde yet they would spoile you kil you murther you as they woulde vs though you be of their religion and woulde neyther trust you nor suffer you to beare any rule or be in aucthority for they would thinke as they might wel ynough that you that are false and rebellious to your lawfull naturall and most mercifull Princesse and Quéene that suffreth you to enioy quietly all that you haue and that dothe preserue you in suche prosperitie quietnesse peace as neuer any Subiectes enioyd before in England would not be true and obedient to them being forrain vnlawful and more straighter rulers that woulde dayly exact on you poll and pill you and your liuings to bring you vnder and in thraldome to them Whiche when you shoulde féele then their crueltie would teach you what our Quéene Elizabeth was whome nowe hir mildnesse and mercie cannot learne what our Quéene Elizabeth is And on the other side if the Quéenes Maiestie shoulde vanquishe you and them then manye of you shoulde be knowne for open Traytors that nowe are not surmysed to be hir priuie enimies and so therfore to be executed as you were well worthy This were but a verye foolishe and an vnwise matche made of you for whiche side soeuer should win you should be sure to loose and which side soeuer got the victorie you should be sure to haue the ouerthrow Therefore giue ouer your wilfulnesse and be persuaded by reason cease from your diuelish deuises your wicked attemptes and priuie conspyracies against our most milde and merciful Quéen and forsake your doctrine of the Pope and embrace the gospell which wil teach you to feare GOD to beléeue and hope in Christ to obey your Prince to loue your brethren and to be true to your countrey Thus I haue sufficiently prooued you specially you that are wilfull obstinate and determined Papistes to be not onely English enimies but also the worst enimies to England that can be and how the Pope is moste wicked and his doctrine false that you so muche loue and followe and that our religioÌ„ is most true which you abhorre and withstande that you hate your Prince enuy hir happy estate contemne our concorde desire our destrustion and therefore séeke your owne sorrow for that thereby you shal procure God to powre his plagues and cursses on you before mentioned Al which I haue done by sensible similitudes by tryed testimonies by infallible arguments by euident examples by ineuitable reasons and by the sacred Scriptures whyche if you be wise you wil wegh if you be Christians you wil consider and if you be of God you wil regarde But some of you are so addict to your holy Father the Pope that be a thing neuer so plainelye proued by arguments reasons proofes similitudes examples learning by learned Doctors and Writers yea and by the moste holy Scriptures yet you wil not beléeue it vnlesse it bée allowed or confirmed by the Pope who you think can not erre nor lye and therefore of all other to be trusted and al other besides him and his Chaplains to be mistrusted Wherfore to satisfie you withal I wil bring a Pope that
to the left hand to goe after other Gods or to serue them which blessings most plentifully he hath poured on this Realme of England euer since our gracious Quéene put downe Idolatrie and Papistrie and set forth the Gospell and word of God And also here you may plainely perceiue and vnderstand the maruellous curses and plagues promised and threatned to them that will not obey the voyce of the Lord our God and kéepe his commaundementes and ordinaunces which plagues and cursses haue aboundantlye lyghted on those Countreys and Kingdomes that embrace and maintayne Idolatrous Papistrie reiecting the Gospell and persecuting the Professours thereof Which is a manifest argument that this Religion that we haue is the true Religion wherewith God is well pleased and your Papisticall doctrine is a false and wicked religion wherewith God is highlye displeased For as God did prosper and blesse the Iewes his people to whome Moyses pronounced the sayde blessings so long as they hearkened to his voyce and obeyed and followed his word and commaundements and as hys sayde plagues and cursses fell vpon them when they harkened not to the voyce of the Lord but committed Idotrie euen so euer since he hath and doeth blesse and prosper the professors and followers of his worde and poures his sayde plagues and cursses on them that despise his worde that are enimies to the Gospell and persecute the professors of the same Marke well and you shall sée that in all ages God guided protected and blessed the Kings and Rulers that clensed their Countreys of Idolatrie and that did set forth and obeyed his law What famous victories did he giue to Iosua the Duke and Captaine of the Israelites which obeyed God and harkened to his voyce to whom God spake as followeth Moyses my seruant is deade nowe therefore arise goe ouer this Iorden thou and all thy people vnto the lande whiche I giue them that is to the children of Israell euerye place that the sole of your foote shall treade vppon haue I giuen you as I sayd vnto Moyses from the Wildernesse this Libanon vnto the greate riuer Perath all the lande of the Hettites euen vnto the great Sea towarde the going downe of the Sunne shal be your coaste There shall not a man bee able to withstand thee all the dayes of thy life As I was with Moyses so will I be with thee I will not leaue thee nor forsake thee Be strong of a good courage for vnto this people shalt thou deuide the land for an inheritaunce which I sware vnto their Fathers to giue them onely be thou strong and of a most valiant courage that thou mayest obserue doe according to all the law which Moyses my seruant hath cōmaunded thee Thou shalt not turne awaye from it to the right hand nor to the lefte that thou mayest prosper whersoeuer thou goest let not this booke of the law depart out of thy mouth but meditate therein day night that thou mayest obserue and do according to all that is written therin for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou haue good successe These were the wordes that God spake to Iosua Therfore marke y e promises of God to him if he follow do according to the law of God then his way shold be prosperous he should haue good successe none should withstand him al the dayes of his life God would be with him which in déede God performed wonderfully and kept promise with him for that he hearkned to y e voyce of the Lord and directed al his wayes according to the law of God For was not God with Iosua when miraculously he departed the water of Iorden and the children of Israel went drie ouer the same straight towardes Iericho did not God wonderfully deliuer Iericho to Iosua and his people when after the sounding of the Trumpettes the walles thereof fell downe through his power and so Iosua and all his people went into it and tooke the Citie and so they destroyed all the Idolatrous people the enimies of God that were in the same But sée howe sodainely the Lorde went from them and suffered the men of Ai to kill .xxxvj. of the Israelites and made the rest of thrée thousande of them fearefully to flée away bicause Achan in the spoyle of Iericho tooke that for a praye which the Lorde directly commaunded to the contrarie Thus you may easily perceiue that the harkening to the voyce of God following of his worde is the cause of good successe and victorie and the disobeying of his worde and following of their owne fansies was the cause of euil successe and ouerthrowe But God blessed Iosua still bicause he was not cōsenting to Achans fact who stoned him therfore to death for after y t the Lord made Iosua to vanquish and ouercome the fiue Kings of the Amorits in which conflict the Lord threw stones from heauen vpon his enimies and at Iosuas bydding the Sunne and Moone did stand still a whole day togither that he might haue time to ouercome his enimies These wonders did the Lord for his seruant Iosua and his people that harkened to his voyce and obeyed his worde Many other kings did Iosua ouercome through the strength of the Lord that fought for him and his people And when Iosua waxed olde then he called all Israel their elders their heades their Iudges and their officers before him giuing them then the same warning that Moyses and God gaue him to hearken to the voyce of the Lorde saying I am old and stricken in age also you haue séene all that the Lorde you God hath done vnto all these nations before you howe the Lorde hath fought for you Behold I haue diuided vnto you by lot these nations that remaine that as yet were not ouercome to bée an inheritaunce accordyng to your Tribes from Iorden with all the nations that I haue destroyed euen vnto the great sea Westward And the Lord your God shal expell them before you and cast them out of your sight And ye shall possesse their lande as the Lorde your God hath sayde vnto you Bée ye therefore of a valiant courage to obserue and doe all that is written in the Booke of the lawe of Moyses that ye turne not ther from to the right hande nor to the lefte c. But sticke faste vnto the Lorde your God as yée haue done vnto this daye for the Lorde hath cast out before you great nations and mightie and no man hath stande before your face hitherto One man of you shall chase a thousande for your Lorde your God hée fyghteth for you as he hath promysed you Take good héede therefore vnto your selues that yée loue the Lorde your GOD Else if yée goe backe c knowe yée for certayne that the Lorde your God will cast out no more of these nations from before you but they shall bée a snare and destruction to you and a whippe on your
Pope knewe that it was a good way to bring him in credite For if kings rulers and Lords of the earth which may be deceiued do chose as nie as they can their most dearest and trustiest friendes to bée their presedents and deputies then I am sure that Christ the sonne of God and the King of all Kings that can not be deceiued if he had ment to haue had a general vickar on the earth woulde haue made one of his dearest and trustiest friendes his vickar and not his mortal enimie And therfore the Pope may saye what he wil but al wise men do sée that Christ neither takes him for his vickar nor yet for his Curate Can he or his chaplaines be the children of God that prefers ignorance before knowledge I think not some of them haue affirmed that ignorance is the mother of deuotion O Lord how contrarie are these mē both to God and to his son Christ nay ignorāce of Gods word is rather the mother of mischiefe the father of falsehoode the sister of sinne the son of sedition the daughter of disobediency the coosin of conspiracie and the Captaine of crueltie Ful wel the Diuel knew that ignoraunce was the next way to bring the Pope to promotion and the people to destruction for their ignorance made them thinke that none but the Pope or his Prelats did know the truth And their blindnesse did make them beléeue that none did sée perfectly but he and his pretious Prelates So that for wante of knowledge of Gods word which of purpose they kept frō them they beléeued that al they spake was true and that it was the very right way that they did lead them So that the peoples ignoraunce was the occasion of the Popes credite his credite the cause of his gaine his gaine the cause of his power his power th◠cause of his pride his pride the cause he made Emperours and Kings his seruauntes or rather slaues and thus the ignoraunce of Gods worde brought the Pope to promotion the Princes to subiection and the people to destruction And if you mark wel you may perceyue that the Popes suppressing and the keeping of Gods worde from the people is a manifest argument that he is neither Christs vickar nor his deputie nor that he loues Christe For Christe sayde to Peter louest thou mee to whome Peter sayde yea Lorde thou knowest that I loue thee then Christ saide to him againe Feede my sheepe c. So that Peters loue to Christ appeared by féeding of Christes shéepe whiche was not by féeding their bodies with meate and drinke but by féeding their soules through preching to them the Gospel Now if they loue Christe that féede his shéepe then they must néedes hate Christ that starue his shéepe neuer preching to them at all And such a one is the Pope for he neuer preacheth therfore he neuer féedes Christs shéepe Nay besides that he doth not only trouble molest hurt burne and kill suche as do or would féede Christes shéepe but also hideth kéepeth backe and burnes the Bybles and Testaments leaste the people shoulde loke on them and féede themselues So that here it is manifeste that the Pope loues not Christ bycause he féedes not Christes shéepe And he that loues not Christe muste néedes hate Christe and therefore the Pope being Christes enimie can not be the vickar of Christ. And here also is a great contrarietie betwéene Peter the Pope though he claime to be Peters successor for Peter loued Christ for that he fed Christs shéepe but y e Pope hateth Christ bycause he sterueth his shéepe yea and also kils his shéepe So that the Pope doth not succede Peter in any thing vnlesse it be in denying of Christ. Here it plainely appeareth that the Pope maye wel be the Uicar of the Diuel for Christes Uickar sure he can not be I am moste certaine that it was Christes wil that hys word should not be kept from any though it be the Popes will it should be rightly knowen of any For would Christ haue vs kepe that we neuer heard of and would he haue vs searche we know not what no Christe was neuer so vnreasonable For Christ sayth vnto vs all If you loue me keepe my commaundements that is whatsoeuer he hath willed by his word But how can we knowe what is his commandements y t we should kéep if none declare thē vnto vs neither read thē our selues nor yet haue thē red vnto vs Therfore if our louing of Christ depēd on y e kéeping of his cōmandements thē how cā we loue him séeing we can not knowe his commaundements So that y e Popes kéeping or hurding of Gods word from the people is the cause they can not kéepe Gods commaundementes And their not kéeping of Gods commaundements is the cause they doe not loue him and their not louing of him is the cause that he hates them and his hating of them will be the cause of their dampnation And thus the Pope is the first worker of the ignorant peoples damnation Christ saith also Search the Scriptures for they are they that witnesse of me but how can they search the Scripturs that haue not the Scriptures to search neyther know how to come by them now if the Scriptures witnesse what is Christes wil and pleasure and if their searching and looking therein wil shew them how to performe his wil and please him and the pleasing of him would be the cause of their saluation Then the Popes hiding and kéeping the Scripturs from them is the cause they cānot heare read or search the Scripturs and not hearing reading or searching of the Scriptures is the cause they cannot know the wil of Christe and the not knowing the wil of Christe is the cause they can not please him and their not pleasing of him is the cause they please the Diuel and the pleasing of y e Diuel is y e cause of their dānation And thus once again y e Pope is the chief cause of the ignorant peoples dānation Christe saith also Blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it so that they that heare the worde of God and kéepe it not are vnhappy Nowe if all they that heare the worde of God are not happy then all they that heare not the worde of God muste néedes be vnhappy for there are none happy but they that kéepe or folow the word of God but howe can they kéepe the word of God that neither heare it nor reade it Nowe if the hearing of Gods worde is the cause that they kéepe it and their kéeping or following of it is the cause they are happye or blessed then the Popes restrayning of Gods word frō the people is the cause they doe not heare it and their not hearing it is the cause they cannot kéepe or followe it and their not kéeping or following of it is the cause they are vnhappy and theyr vnhappinesse is the cause of their damnatiō
according vnto Christes teaching in their vulgare tongue or whiche they vnderstande if they aske in faith they shall be sure to haue that they lacke But nowe if euerye one that prayes in a knowne tong and knowes what they aske do not aske in faith and therfore obtaine not their desire nor haue that they lacke then all they that pray in the Latine tong and know not what they say or aske can not praye in faith and therefore muste néedes goe without that they lacke And so your prayers in the Latine tong which you vnderstand not must néedes bée a most friuolous and vaine prayer whereby you bothe anger God and deceiue your selues therfore if you would haue God to graunt your prayer then you muste knowe what you say to God and wherefore you make your prayer If one shoulde come to a Noble man aboute a sute and make a babbling to him with his tong neyther knowing himself what he saith neither y e noble man vnderstandeth what he woulde haue do you thinke he were like to spéed of his sute at the Noble mans hands Nay would not the Noble man thinke he were mad and therefore bid him go out of hys sight yes certainely euen so when you come thus babbling to God not knowing what you say or aske do you thinke to obtaine any thing at Gods hand No I warrant you but he wil be angry with you for misusing his Maiestie in such an vndecent maner and bycause you pray not in that order to him as Christe appointed you But haply you wil say the comparisons are not like for though the Noble man doth not know our mind yet God knoweth our meaning I know well y e God both knowes oure mindes and our harts But what if you know not certainely your own meanyng would you haue God to grant your vncertaine meanyng As I said before God doth not grant to euery one y t they aske though they know what they aske and do you thinke then he wil graunt you that knows not what you aske Elias prayed vnto God for a widowes son that was deade whose prayer God hearde for God restored him his life but Elias did not only knowe what he askt but also he prayed with a feruent faith Iudith when she prayed to God for the deliuering of the Bethulians she prayed not in Latine but in hir own tong that she vnderstoode spake with hir mouth y t she ment in hir hart wherby she obtained hir petition at Gods hands so must all true Christians know what they say require of God that would obtaine y t they aske of God Truely if Christe would haue had vs pray in any one tong and bound vs to one language he would then haue rather commanded vs to pray in the Hebrew tong y t was his natural spéeche and mother tong than in the Latine tong but he regardes not the tong but the prayer that is made with the tong not the babling of the tong but the feruent prayer that is pronounced with the tong Yet maister Harding sayth Some fruite there is alwayes had euen by secrete and vnknowne prayer whom maister Iewel aunsweareth thus But what fruite or how muche or how ye know it or can assure it ye tel vs not Yet Saint Augustine sayth what profit is there in speeche be it neuer so perfect if the vnderstanding of the hearer can not attayne vnto it for there is no cause why we should speake at al if they vnderstande not what wee speake for whose sake wee speake that they may vnderstand And again he sayeth my minde is without fruite this the Apostle Saint Paule saith when the thing that is spoken is not perceiued And again set apart the vnderstāding of thy mind no mā hath fruit or profit of that thing he perceiueth not And againe what needeth vs to sing if we vnderstand not what we sing or to sing with our voyce and not with our hart for vnderstanding is the sound or voyce of the hart Yet maister Harding telleth vs sadly that the deuout people is edified by the latine prayer though he vnderstand not one word that is spokē But S Au. saith by that thing that he vnderstādeth not no man is edified Maister Harding sayeth there is alwayes some fruit euen by secrete and vnknown prayer But S. Au. sayth there is no fruite in speeche be it neuer so perfecte if the vnderstanding of the hart can not attaine it so properly S. Au. and M. Harding agrées togither thus much sayth M. Iewel but bycause S. Au. is both antienter and of better credite we were best to sticke to his iudgement therein let M. Hardings goe But if one maye be edified by the latine prayer though he vnderstand neuer a word that he speaks then the créede or beléefe may profit one y t can say y e words though he vnderstande them not so by this meanes the Popingey of Cardinal Ascanius that was taught to saye could say al the Articles of the Créede from the beginning to the ende had some profit or was edified by hir vttering or speaking of the same But I thinke few are so foolish as to beléeue it No more are they that prayes in y e latine tōg that vnderstand not what they say S. Au. sayeth It is possible that a man pronounce the whole words of the Creede and yet not to haue the right faith Now if they that cā pronounce their whole Créede and knowe what they saye and yet may not haue the right faith then howe can they haue the right fayth that say the Créede in a strange tong and knowes neuer a word what they say thus you maye sée what a pretious kinde of praying your latine prayers are that the Pope doth allow you But yet you shall sée further how he hath and doth delude you in your prayers and how far he hath wrested your praying from the prayers and manner of praying that Christ hath taught you Christe willed his Apostles not onely to praye in theyr own vulgar tongue but also he taught them a prayer and to whom they should pray Which was that they shoulde only praye vnto God our Heauenlye father but the Pope not contented with the doctrine of Christe but thinkes he can teach and set out a better forme of prayer than he hathe taught you that you muste praye in none other tong but in the latine tongue thoughe you vnderstande neuer a worde thereof besides he doth teach you to praye vnto Saintes and to Marie the virgin and mother of Christe yea and to deade Images of stockes and stones that can neyther sée you heare you nor graunte you that you require It may be that some of you wil say that as you like not praying to Images so you mislike not to praye vnto oure Lady or vnto Saints that they maye praye vnto God for you for if one would speake with a King or
plain words that he had a wife But perhaps some of you wyll say as you haue sayd what though some of the Apostles were marryed yet they vsed not the companie of their wiues after they were Apostles but did forsake them when you haue proued that wée will credite you the better but vntill then we will not beleue you But as it is sufficiētly proued they were married so can you neuer proue y t after they were Apostles they did vtterly forsake their wiues after neuer vsed their cōpany You thinke belike bicause S. Peter hath not told you that he kept his wife still and vsed hir companie that therefore he did forsake his wife This is no sufficient proofe that he vsed not hir companie for euerie one that kéepe companye with their wiues doe not vse to tell abroade that they lye with their wiues and so S. Peter might kéepe his wife and vse hir company sometimes though he neuer tolde it abrode or wrote of it in his Epistles I thinke that Saint Peter whom you take to bée one of Christes chiefe Apostles did not breake Christes his masters decrée so soone after Christ had made him his Disciple For Christ saith For this cause shall a man leaue his father and mother and sticke to his wife and so they are nowe not twaine but one fleshe Therefore what God hath coupled let no man separate And thus séeing Peter was a man by Christes doctrine he ought not to separate himselfe from his wife And againe Christ saith Whosoeuer putteth away his wife except it be for fornication causeth hir to playe the harlot So that by this it must néedes fall out that eyther Peter did expressely against his maisters doctrine and so was a false seruant to Christ in forsaking his wife or else his wife playde the harlot for that he put hir awaye or else he kept his wife still and did not forsake hir But bicause I am sure you will not say that Peter was a false seruant to his maister in breaking of his doctrine and for that you cā not proue that she was an harlot then it must néedes bée that he did not forsake hir but kept hir still as his wife and so likewise all the rest of the Apostles that were named did not forsake their wyues if they followed the doctrine of their maister Christ. But suppose that none of the Apostles had bene married should that be sufficient to bind al Bishops Ministers and Priestes from marriage Then I may aswell say bicause none of the Apostles were Cookes therfore no Byshoppes Priestes or ministers ought to play the Cookes or in time of necessitie dresse their own dinners Christs Apostles did not ride in their iourneis that euer I heard for their maister Christe did ride but once in all his life shall the Bishops Priests and ministers therfore neuer ride The Pope and his Prelates would not lyke that Christs Apostles neuer kept any Grammer scholes shal Priests and ministers therfore neuer teache children grammer or the latine tong that wer not méete Therfore Bishops Priestes and ministers are not bounde to refuse that which Christ forbad them to do And thus though the Apostles had not bene married as the moste of them were yet that were not a sufficiēt cause to make all Bishoppes Pristes and Ministers liue vnmaried Marke how Saint Chrisostome extols marriage Excuse not thy selfe saith he by thy marriage thy Lord was at the marrying feast and honored marriage with his presence yet dost thou blame marriage And sayst thou that mariage is a hinderaunce to godlinesse I tel the mariage is no hinderance to godlinesse Wilte thou know that it hindereth not to haue wife and children had not Moses wife and children Behold Peter a piller of the Church he had a wife therefore finde no fault with marriage And also the said Chrisostome writing vpon Esay saith who speaketh these words Esaye the beholder of the celestial Seraphins who notwithstanding that he had companie with his wife yet he quenched not the grace of God and moreouer Esay had a sonne and a wife that thou mayst vnderstand that marriage is not euill but that fornication is euil Saint Augustine sayth most holy Samuel begat children and yet nothing abated the merits of righteousnesse Zacharias the Priest a iuste man in his olde age begat a childe Iohn Baptist. Wherfore then is that thing accused that is proued to do no maner of harme Thus you may sée that marriage is much commended of these learned godly Doctours of the prophets Priests and of the Apostles Tertullian was a married Priest Spiridion the Bishop of Cyprus was marryed and had children S. Hilarie the Bishop of Poyters had a wyfe and liued with hir Gregory S. Basiles brother the Bishoppe of Nysa and Gregory Nazianzum father to Gregory Nazianzene and Prosper the Bishop of Rhegium were maryed with manye other Now if Moyses and his brother Aaron and the other priestes of the olde lawe also the holy prophetes of God and the Apostels of Christ and many holy Fathers Bishops and priestes since of the newe lawe haue béene maryed and haue estéemed and allowed it and also proued that it is lawfull and not hurtfull for them in their godlye liuing Then why is it not lawful for our Bishops priests and ministers nowe to marry as well as they And why shoulde it hinder the godly liuing of vs more than the godly liuing of them But Pope Hyldebrand whose holy and vertuous doīgs is before something set forth did first of all establish as is before sayd the lawe for disanulling Priestes marryages therby to make them his chaste Chaplaines about fiue hundereth years ago which the other Popes haue allowed and defended euer since more to get monye than to make them liue chastly and more to séeme godly than indede to liue vertuously which diuelish lawe doth shewe whose disciple he was that deuised it whose Children they were that procured it whose Chaplaines they were that established it and whose Prelates they were that did practise it Therfore y e Pope by the meanes of y e Diuel for Pope Hyldebrand was a coniurer of Diuels that first establisht it hath put downe the marryage of Bishops and Priests that they may get mony to lycence them to kéepe Harlots knowing they are not able to liue chast Marke how God the Pope do agrée God forbids whordom alows maryage but the Pope forbids mariage and allows whordome clean cōtrary to God God appoynteth maryage as a remedy against whordom the Pope taketh away that remedy bicause he woulde haue whordome God sayes thou shalt not steale but he allows worke and labour But if the Princes should make a law that none of their subiects should labour or worke which is the chiefe remedie against theft as the Pope hath made a lawe that no Priests shal marry which is the best remedie againste whoredome then the most of their subiects
wonderful sicknesse and an incurable disease for he hadde a sore risen in the nether parte of his belly which consumed his priuie partes from whence swarmed greate plentie of wormes whyche disease coulde not be helped with any surgerie or phisicke according to the promise of God wherefore he confessed that it happened for his crueltie towarde the Christians who slew hymselfe not able to abide the stenche of his owne sore Suche hathe béene is and wyll be the gaine and ende of them that persecute Gods people Beholde here a wonderful example of God shewed vpon thrée periured persons for falsely accusing the aged and reuerend father Narcissus the seruaunt of God and a pure professor of Christes Gospell whiche Narcissus was of the age of a hundreth thrée score and thrée yeares and Byshop of Ierusalem The one of them that were hys accusers wished to be destroyed with fire the other to be coÌ„sumed with a grieuous sicknesse the third to lose both his eies if he did lye whereby the godly and guiltlesse man went and liued in a solitarie and desert place a great while But God that is a iuste reuenger of wickednesse and a defender of his innocent seruants punished them al thrée according to theyr owne wordes The first by casualtie of one little sparke of fire was burned with his goods and al his family The second was taken with a greate sickenesse from the head to the féete and deuoured by the same The thirde hearyng and séeyng the punishement of the other confessed his fault But through great repentance powred oute suche feares with wéeping that he loste bothe hys eyes And thus as God iustly punished them for their periurie against the innocent seruant of God So God of late dayes hathe maruellously punished a great sorte of the Papists that cruelly killed murthered and misused Gods true and simple seruaunts for professing the Gospell And nowe as I haue shewed you howe God hath powred his vengeaunce on the tyrantes and persecutors of the holye Martyres that were persecuted long since before the wicked Popes so also I will expresse vnto you the miserable endes and deaths of some of the Papisticall persecutors since the tyme of the wicked Popes whose terrible and fearefull endes I beséeche GOD maye bée a sufficient warning for you A cruel wretche called Iohn de Roma a Monke hauing a coÌ„mission to examine suche as professed the gospel whom they call Heretikes vsed great crueltie towardes them He filled bootes with boiling grease and so put them vpon their legs tying them backward to a fourm with their legs hanging downe ouer a small fire so he examined them Thus hée tormented verye many and in the ende moste cruellye putte them to death c. But the sayde holye Monke as holynesse goeth with Papists by the iust iudgement of God fel sicke of a moste horrible disease straunge and vnknowne to any Phisition whose paines and tormentes being moste extreame coulde not be eased one minute of an houre with any ointment or any thing els whose steÌ„ch and sauor was so greate that came from hym that none coulde abide it neyther would anye of hys owne fréendes come neare hym wherefore hée was carryed to an Hospitall to be kept but the stenche and infection so encreased and was so greate that no manne there durste come neare him no more he hymselfe was able to abide the horrible smell that issued from hys bodye béeyng full of vlcers and soares and swarming with vermyne and so rotten that the fleshe fell awaye from the bones by péece meale And whyles he was in these tormentes he cryed oute often in greate rage Oh who wil deliuer me who wil kill and rid me out of these intollerable paines which I knowe I suffer for the euilles and oppressions that I haue done to the pore men he wente dyuers tymes aboute to destroy himselfe but he had not the power to doe it In these horrible tormentes and feareful despaire this blasphemer and moste cruel vexer tormentor and murtherer of the poore professors of Gods worde most miserably ended his curssed life Here you maye plainely vnderstande that this wicked Monke thoughe he were of the Popes religion hée was not of Gods religion for that the Lord thus plagued and tormentâ—d him shewing his verye cursse béefore mentioned euen an incurable diseaâ—e as hée didde to wicked Iehoram the sonne of good King Iehoshaphat And as the Monkes tormentes and end was like to the ende of Iehoram So he was like in crueltie and also in Idolatrie forsaking the lawe of God for the wicked deuises of men Also the Lord of Reueâ—â— chief President of the Parliament of Aâ—aâ— cruellye vsâ—d the professors of the Gospell and putte them to death who after was stricken with such an horrible sickenesse of furie and madnesse that hys wife nor any durst come neare him and so he dying in hys furie and rage was iustely plagued of GOD for hys vnmercifulnesse and crueltie shewed and done to the children of God The Commendator of Saint Anthonie of Vienna that gaue sentence of condemnation on the seruaunt of GOD Wolfgangus fel sodainely downe and dyed And the Abbot of Clarilocus his fellow stricken with sodaine feare at the cracke of guns fel downe and dyed Thomas Arundale Archbishop of Canterburie a persecutor of the Gospellers y t gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham for professing the word of God was plagued of God that hys tongue dyd swell that he could swallow no meat and so dyed And althoughe he gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham yet gods iudgemeÌ„ts were suche that he died two or thrée yeares before him A certain Bishop of Hungarie did runne about starke mad so rauing dyed miserably that tyed Hares Géese and Hennes about a Priest and then put dogges to him who chased him about the Citie snatching and catching at him what they coulde get whereof he dyed And thus the Priest was martyred for saying that the eating of fleshe is not forbidden by the Scriptures but this Bishop gayned nothing by thus martyring of him vnlesse Gods wrath be a gayne A Priest reuolting from the Gospel was sodainely killed by two gentlemen that oughte him euill will by the iudgemeÌ„t of god immediately after he weÌ„te out of prison from one Philbert that after was strangled and burned for the word of God To which Priest Apostata the sayd Philbert sayde oh vnhappie and more than miserable is it possible for you to be so foolishe as for sauing of a fewe dayes which you haue to liue by course of nature so to start away and deny the trueth know you therefore that althoughe you haue by your folishnesse auoyded the Corporal fire yet your life shall be neuer the longer for you shall die before And God shall not giue you grace that it shall be for his cause and you shal be an example to al Apostles And immediately the reuolting Prieste was slaine as soone as he went out of