them the more because of our corrupted nature they find themselues subiect vnto them and especially heretikes in whome God punisheth one sinne with another by with-drawing from them more and more the assistance of his holy grace to the end that their Pryde may either be humbled thereby or els confirmed And thus much for the first Catholike motiue expressed in the Creed vnder the signification of the word Holy which as I thinke you will graunt is most sufficient to persuade any well disposed mynd to imbrace the Catholike Faith by means whereof all men are inabled to resist sinne to obserue the Law and to preserue their loue and friendship with God And as all Christians belieue that very many in former ages haue attayned thereby to wonderfull sanctity holynes and perfection of life so none can deny but that this age of ours hath affoarded sundry the like examples Whereas on the other side experience teacheth that through the want therof many Christian Countreys and ours among the rest haue lost their ancient practise of good workes their former exercises of piety and deuotion and their exemplar disciplyne of Christian conuersation and insteed of these things changing the liberty of the spirit into the liberty of the flesh they are fallen into such corruption dissolution and prophanes of life manners that their owne Maisters and Doctours are ashamed of them SECTION XXII The force of the second Motiue signifyed by the word Catholike in the Creed of the Apostles is declared IT followeth to declare the second Catholike motiue comprehended vnder the name Catholike and contayned in the Apostles Creed which signifyeth the vniuersality of the Church in tyme and place and that the Catholike Faith was to be spred ouer all the world and to contynue in all ages vntill the day of iudgment which as in it selfe it is sufficient to moue any man of iudgement to follow this vniuersall and eternall Truth so is it set downe so clerely and aboundantly in the Scriptures themselues which prophesy thereof that a man would wonder if any blyndenes were to be wondered at in those that are obstynate how it is possible that such as professe to be much coÌ„uersant in the reading of them should not see and discerne them A stone (b) Dan. 2.34 cut without hands from the Mountayne was made a great Mountayne and filled the whole earth All (c) Esa 2.2.60.5 nations shall flow into it Thou (d) Esa 60.10.11 shalt see and abound thy hart shaÌ„lbe astonied and inlarged because the multitude of the sea shal be conuerted vnto thee The Iles expect thee their Kings shall minister vnto thee thy gates shall be continually open neither day nor night shall they be shut that men may bring to thee the riches of the Gentiles (g) Esa 49.23 Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and Queenes thy Mothers (h) Esa 54.2.3 The place is strait for me giue roome that I may inhabit Inlarge the place of thy tents spread out the Curtaynes of thy habitation for thou shalt increase on the right hand and on the left thy seed shall possesse the Gentiles These and infinit others like to these are the Prophesies of the extension of Christs Church vniuersally to all Kingdomes and Nations according whereunto our Sauiour compared his Church to a little Mustard-seed Matt. â—3 31 Mar. 16.15.16 Acts. 1.8 which after should come to be a great tree bidding his disciples to preach to euery creature to go forth into all the world to teach all Nations from Hierusalem to Samaria and so forward euen to the ends of the earth The continuance therof was likewise foretold that their watchmen or Pastors should not be silent (k) Esa 62.6 That their Priests should not want to offer Sacrifice all the dayes That Gods (l) Ierem. 33.18.20.22 couenant with them should be like his couenant with the day and night that is to say to contynue foreuer That they should be multiplied like the starres of heauen and the sand of the sea which you know can neuer fayle Ministring (m) Esa 66.21.23 to him euen from moneth to moneth and from Sabbaoth to Sabbaoth that is to say allwayes In (n) Dan 2.44 the dayes of those Kingdomes God shall rayse the Kingdome of heauen which shall neuer be dispersed and his Kingdome shall not be giuen to any other people and it shall consume all those other Kingdomes and it shall stand for euer from generation to generation (o) Psal 85.30.31.32.3 Gods Couenant therewith shall not be broken for any offence committed by her children but shall contynue like the Sunne and the Moone for euer According whereunto our Sauouir also sayd that the Gates of hell should not preuaile against it and that he himselfe would be with it to preserue it all the dayes vnto the consummation of the world From the which as you see no tyme nor any one day can be excepted From these two propertyes is euidently deduced the visibility of the Church for it being so great as that morally it may be sayd to fill the earth and also of such emynent glory as to haue so many Kingdomes Nations subiect vnto it according to the former prophesies thereof no man can be ignorant where it is nor what people they are who are members of it Also the Priests therof being compared by the Prophets for their number and quality to the starres of heauen their Sacrifices their Lawes and executions of them their Sacraments and the administration of them their preachings and teachings and to let passe many other things their continuall and glorious fight against heretiks and Infidelles and wicked Christians must needs be so well knowne that no man dwelling neere the most inhabited and best part of the world possessed by them can be ignorant therof For as the Assyrians Persians Grecians and Romans in respect of the greatnes force and fame of their dominions were morrally sayd to haue conquered the world and to haue possessed the Empyre therof in which respect it can be no lesse then madnes to affirme that they were inuisible so also the Kingdome of Christ in respect of the extension inuincibility eminent apparence and great fame which it hath euer enioyed aboue any other sects of Religion whatsoeuer may be said more properly to fill the earth and to be the only Catholike or vniuersall Religion diffused through the world as you shal heare anone out of S. Augustine And for this cause God himselfe sayd Esa 61.9 that he would make an euerlasting Couenant with them that their seed should be knowne among the Nations And that all who did see them shall know them to be the seed which our Lord hath blessed And the prophets hauing fortold that it should be a mountayne Matt 5.14 prepared in the top of Mountaines exalted aboue other hills our Sauiour accordingly sayd of it That being a Citty placed vpon a Mountayne it could not be
quidem Episcopo Romano parilis mos est which Bellarmine sheweth very well that it can beare no other sense but only this That the Bishop of Alexandria ought to gouerne those prouinces because the Roman Bishop hath been so accustomed that is to say because the Roman Bishop before this tyme hath alwayes permitted the Bishop of Alexandria to gouerne those Countreyes or because he hath alwayes vsed to gouerne them by the Bishop of Alexandria And so Nicolas the first in his Epistle to Michael vnderstood the same Vpon the reading of which Canon of the Councell of Nice the Iudges in the Calcedon Councell began and sayd That they had well considered perpendimus all Primacy and chiefe honour to be consirued according to the Canons vnto the most beloued of God the Archbishop of old Rome Where you see the Primacy of the Pope acknowledged not only in the Nicen but also in the Calcedon Councells which was another of the foure first wherein this Canon was recyted and allowed as hath been sayd Also in the third booke of the Nicen Councell in the three first Canons taken out of the Epistle of Pope Iulius the first are found these words Councells ought not to be celebrated ConÌ„ Nic. l. 3. Socra l. 2. c. 13. Zozom l. 3. cap 9. Nicepho l. 9. cap. 5. Synod Alexand without the sentence of the Roman Bishop And againe Bishops in more weighty causes may freely appedle to the Apostolike Sea and sly thereunto as to their Mother And lastly While the Bishop of the Apostolike Sea doth iudge againe that is to say vpon appeale the cause of any Bishop no other may be ordayned in his place that is then vpoÌ„ his tryal And the reason is giuen because it is not permitted to end or define such causes before the Roman Bishop be consulted withall For our Lord sayd vnto Peter whatsoeuer thou shalt bynd c. By which words you see that the Pope is acknowledged to be the head of all Councells without whose sentence they cannot be celebrated or confirmed and that he is the supreame head of the Church vnto whome it is lawfull for all other Bishops to make their appeales Which last poynt of appellation is also more fully expressed and confirmed in the foruth and seauenth Canon of the generall Councell of Sardis which was celebrated a very short tyme after the Nicen Councell and is accompted to be as one therwith because the same Fathers for the most part were present in both nothing concerning Faith was added of new in the latter And therefore not only Sozimus but also Iulius Innocentius and Leo seeme to cite these Canons vnder the name of the Canons of the Nicen Councell Lastly in the 39. Canon of those of Nice translated out of Greeke Arabick it is sayd in this mannor A Patriarch is so aboue al those that are vnder his power as he that holdeth the Sea of Rome is head and Prince of all Patriarches because he is the first as Peter was to whome was giuen power ouer all Christian Princes and ouer all their people as he that is the Vicar of Christ our Lord ouer all people the vniuersall ChristiaÌ„ Church And whosoeuer shall coÌ„tradict it is excoÌ„municated by the Synod See the notes vpoÌ„ this Canon in the first Tome of the Councells especially in Binnius And so much for the Nicen CouÌ„cel The second Councell was that of Constantinople where in the 3. alias 5. Canon it is said that the Bishop of CoÌ„stantinople should haue the Primacy of honour after the RomaÌ„ Bishop wherby it is supposed as a thing most certayne and a thing out of question that the RomaÌ„ Bishop had the Primacy not only in honour but also in Gouerment and Iurisdiction wherof the Councell speaketh in that place as appeareth out of the second Canon next preceding The other part of this Canon was not receiued for many hundred yeares after because it was not coÌ„firmed by the Bishop of Rome which also proueth his Primacy vntill at last the Roman Church consented then it began to take offect as is manifest in the CouÌ„cell of Lateran Theod. l. 5. hist c. 9. Also the same Councell in their Epistle to Pope Damasus which is extant in Theodoret do say that they met togeather at Constantinople by the commandement of the Popes letters sent vnto them by the Emperour wherein they further acknowledge the Roman Church to be the head and they the members The third generall Councell was that of Ephesus the Fathers whereof in their Epistle to Pope Celestine acknowledge the Popes care of them for fincerity in matter of Faith to be most gratefull and pleasing vnto the Sauiour of all And say that they imbrare it with all a miration and reuerence and that it was the custome of those in that high place Vobis tam eximijs in more positum to be renowned in all things and to moke their studdyes the solide stayes and grounds of Churches Wherein also they sayd that necessity required they should declare to his Holynes all things which had passed in that Councell shewing thereby their dependance of the Roman Bishop And when the whole Councell had applauded the Popes letters and followed his instructions and that the Legates comming in afterwards had vnderstood the same one of them Tomo 2. cap. 15. called Philip thanked them that with there pious voices and acclamations they had submitted themselues as holy members to their holy head For sayth he your happynes is not ignorant that the Blessed Apostle Peter was the head of the whole Fayth and of all the rest of the Apostles And further he saith that Peter was the Vicar of Christ constituted by him and that he yet liued in his successour and that his successor and holy Vicar was the Roman Bishop which speaches the sacred Synode was so far from detesting that shewing conformity in the same fayth they subscribed with them Euag. lib. 1. hist c. 4. Also the same Councell as Euagrius recordeth affirmed that it deposed Nestorius ex mandato by a commandement of the Popes letters And the Fathers thereof in their Epistle to the Pope do write that they presumed not to determine the cause of Iohn Patriarch of Antioch which was more doubtfull then the cause of Nestorius but that they reserued the same to the Pope himselfe The fourth generall Councell was that of Chalcedon which confirmed the sixth Canon of the Councell of Nice concerning the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome as you haue heard The superscriptions of the letters or petitions to the Councell all or many were in this forme To the most holy and the most Blâ—ssed the vniuersall Archbishop Patriarch of great Rome Leo whereby he was acknowledged the head of the Councell and those superscriptions were recorded by the Notaries togeather with the acts of the sayd Councell In the beginning wherof Paschasius said in this manner we haue in our hands the precepts of
Bishop against the Pope â—â—erthroweth the principall grounds of the Protestant Religion pag. 259. SECTION XXXII Wherin is declared how the Bishop in all aâ—ging the example of S. Cyprian and S. Stephen falsifieth the truth of the story against himselfe p. 264. SECTION XXXIII Wherein the Bishop is manifestly conuinced of Schisme out of the Authority and example of S. Cyprian alleadged by himselfe and the same authority for as much as it seemeth to concerne the Pope is sufficiently answered pag. 269. SECTION XXXIIII Many testimonyes plaine places are produced out of S. Cyprian whereby the Bishop is euidently conuinced both of Schisme Heresy p. 274. SECTION XXXV The conclusion of the Bishops booke togeather with a short Conclusion of the whole Treatise p. 277. THE DALMATIAN BISHOP DISCOVERED By C. A. to his Friend P. R. Student of the Lawes in the Middle Temple WORTHY SYR I haue receaued your Letter The Occasion of this Treatise togeather with a little Lattin Booke or rather a Preface to our fugitiue Bishop dated at Venice printed in London In my mynd you wil be able to make no other vse of him but only to shew him for a tyme vp and downe the streets and after that he may serue you for a stale to publish more Bookes in his name For giuing him his diet and some other small contentment you may do with him what you please In which respect I thinke he may be fitly surnamed Monsignor fate voi wherof euery one that hath been in Italy may be able to giue you the reason by recounting vnto you the Originall story of this application But if you suffer him to write himselfe or that the Booke he promiseth come forth as it came from him though it were as big as the horse of Troy coÌ„tayning in it an innumerable number of our errours besides the Confutation of them as he pretendeth and though it were longer a making Pag. 4.14.21 then the warre of Tray indured as himselfe confesseth yet in my opinion as he hath shamed himselfe already by leauing his Countrey so will he shame you also by his comming thither Which I am bold to say because in this his first peece which he hath exposed to your view like a greene Bush for the sale of his new wyne euery body may easily see the Diuell sitting And in those few degrees which he maketh of the course of his Conuersion he discouereth so many vices that it cannot be denyed the way he tooke could no more bring him to the knowledge of the truth then the fall of Lucifer could end in heauen Which to giue you some tast of the mans wyne and some knowledg of that which hereafter may be expected from him I will take the paines to shew vnto you out of his owne words and out of the seuerall passages of the booke you sent me which for this time I will suppose to be his owne without any addition or alteration by such a speciall priuiledge as now a dayes is not vsually giuen or permitted in that Kingdome His meaning therfore and scope therein is only to proue as he professeth that his sodayne flight from Venice which he calleth his Profection The argument of the Bishops booke and change of place in going for England was vndoubtedly the vocation of Almighty God intending by this discourse to preuent in time those stormes of false imputations as he saith that are like to come vpon him Not that he feareth any thing if yee will belieue him but least it might hinder the fruit of good edification in some and occasion some others to take scandall therat Wherfore he is now pleased to reueale the Secrets of his Counsells and writeth this booke to iustify the same and to make it so manifest vnto the world that God himselfe was the Authour of it as that no indifferent Reader shal be able to doubt therof and they that will presume to write against it being so fully answered before hand shal be wholy confounded by this Apology The old Prouerb saith it is good to expect the lame Post and the last newes are euer truest In the meane time the Bishop excusing himselfe before he be accused which is an ill signe setting that good face vpon the matter which you haue seene and knowing as he saith that we ought not to belieue euery spirit but that spirits must be tryed according to S. Iohn he putteth himselfe to the tryall of his spirit 1. Ioan. 4. and seemeth to proue his Vocation and Profection to haue proceeded from the Spirit of God First Negatiuely because it could not proceed from any other And secondly Affirmatiuely by some other reason His Negatiue proofes are two The first begineth in his probationibus pag. 4. and endeth with Curergo pag. 5. And briefly it is this in effect Continuing in this probation and triall of spirit full ten yeares togeather I neuer aduised nor spake with any mortall man about it nor euer read any Authour against the Roman doctrine whome I detested all that while supra modum aboue measure and therefore this change of mynd neuer came from man But on the other side during all this long space of time I gouerned my thoughts by those rules of spirit which the holy Ghost hath set downe in Scripture and by the Fathers Therfore I haue no cause to suspect it came from an euill spirit And therfore it came from the spirit of God I will not stand to shew the insufficiency of the consequence But I would haue you begin to obserue how contrary to that which he pretended he seemeth now altogeather to neglect his Reader who should haue been edified and as you will perceiue more plainely anone he laboureth as it were to satify himselfe And which is a strange thing seemeth to haue published a Book to persuade himself alone of the truth of the matter Marke therfore I beseech you how with this first argument of his consisting of 2. parts as he sets it downe he so concludeth as he leaueth his Reader altogeather a stranger to the truth of either For who knoweth but himselfe with whome he spake what he read and what rules he obserued And if the rest of his proofes be such as these surely in my opinion it had been better for him that men should haue trusted him still with their courteous construction of the cause of his comming rather then by meanes of this Booke first to bring the matter in question and afterwards for iustification therof to take vp in great all that he saith vpon the courtesy of his Readers credit and to set the truth of this whole booke vpon his score of Trust But especially in the latter part of his argument he was much to blame wherein he proueth that his change proceded from the spirit of God because he obserued those rules for the triall of spirit which the holy Ghost hath left in Scripture For if his proofe be not all one it is
according to that I haue prayed for thee c. Agatho likewise in his Epistle to the Emperour Constantine which was read and and approued in the 6 generall Councell sayth This is the rule of the true Faith which the Apostolike Church of Christ both in prosperity and aduersity hath liuely held c. because it was sayd to Peter I haue prayed c. here our Lord promised that the Faith of Peter should not fayle and admonished him to confirme his brethren which the Apostolike Bishops the predecessours of my littlenesse as all men know haue alwayes fulfilled Simplicius Epist 1. in his Epistle to Zeno the Emperour calling him sonne and exhorting him to defend the Faith he sayth for the same rule of Apostolicall doctrine doth abyde fast in his successours speaking of Pope Leo to whome our Lord inloyned the care of his whole flock where you see he acknowledgeth tho doctrine of the Pope to be a rule of Faith which was to remayne according to the institution of our Sauiour And els where he saith notably as followeth The doctrine of the holy memory of our Predecessors being extant against the which it is not lawfull to dispute whosoeuer doth seeme to be rightly wise hath no need of new instructions Eusebius in his Epistle to the Bishops of Tuscany and Campania sayth Epist 3. that the sentence of our Lord Iesus Christ cannot be pretermitted which sayth thou art Peter c. And those words which were then spoken are proued true by the effects of things because in the Apostolike sea the Catholike religion hath alwayes byn kept without spot Gelasius likewise sayth That the Apostolicall sea is very carefull not to be stained with any contagion of prauity or false doctrine because the glorious confession of the Apostle Peter is the roote For sayth he If any such thing should happen Epist ad Anastas August which we assure our selues can neuer be how should we presume to resist any errour c. Where you see he proueth that the Apostolike seat is priuiledged from errour being grounded vpon the confession of S. Peter whereunto our Sauiour promised that stability which is fit for the roote and rocke of truth Felix the 2. in his answere to Athanasius and to the Aegyptian Bishops vnderstandeth likewise the words of Christ Matthew 16.23 to be meant of the Roman Sea Lib. 4. ep 32. cont Ioan. Ep. Constant Gregory the Great sayth That it is manifest to all that know the Ghospell that vnto S. Peter the prince of the Apostles the care of the whole Church was committed to whome it was sayd Feed my sheep Lib. 6. indict 15. c. 37. alias 201. I haue prayed for thee c. thou art Peter c. And els where he relate than epistle of Enlogius the Patriarch of Alexandria acknowledging the Chayre of Peter to be the sea of Rome and then he addeth Who is it Lib. 7. ep 125. that knoweth not the holy Church to be founded on the solidity of the prince of the Apostles For the which cause he teacheth also that those things Lib. 3. ep 41. which haue beene once decreed by the authority of the Apostolike sea do need no other confirmation And he admonisheth Bonifacius in one of his epistles to take heed that his soule be not found deuyded from the Church 〈◊〉 Blessed Peter least he being despised heere in this worth should shut the gate of life against him in the next And to adde one or two more of some what latter tymes Nicolaus 1. in his epistle to Michael the Emperour sayth The priuiledges of that 〈◊〉 the Roman are perpetually rooted and planned by God they may be thrust at they cannot be transferred they may be pulled they cannot be placked vp The same which were before your raigne remaine God be thanked hither to vntouched and shall remaine after you and as long as the name of Christ is preached they shall not leaue to subsist To conclude Leo the 9. auoucheth That by the sea of the Prince of the Apostles the Roman Church and as well by S. Peter himselfe as by his successours the deuices of all Heretikes haue beene reproued conuicted beaten downe and the harts of the brethren haue beene confirmed in the fayth of Peter which hitherto hath not fayled nor shall euer sayle hereafter SECTION XIII The Popes supremacy in Iudiciall authority is proued out of the testimonies of the Popes themselues THVS far we haue alleadged the authority of the Popes themselues for their supremacy in matters of Fayth and for the infallibility of their doctrine It followeth now to produce the like restimonyes of Popes for their Supremacy in some speciall poynts of Iurisdiction and gouernement ouer the Church of God â—â—rst therfore concerning their authority in calling and confirming of Councells besides that which hath beene sayd already out of the first foure generall Councells Marcel Marcellus who dyed about the yeare of Christ 310. in his epistle to the Bishops of the prouince of Antioch affirmeth that â—o Synod or Councell can be lawfully made without authority of the Roman sea Iulius Iulius the first in his epistle ad Orientales calling the Roman sea the first sayth That vnto it belongeth the right of assembling Synodes of iudging Bishops and of reseruing the greater causes vnto it selfe because it is preferred before the rest not only by the decrees of Canons and holy Fathers but also by the voice of our Lord and Saniour Leo. Epist 47. Leo the first in his epistle to the Calcedon Councell signifyed that it was the will of the Emperour that the Councell should be assembled sauing the right and honour of the most blessed Peter the Apostle And further he sayth That by his vicar he was the President therof And in his epistle to Putcheria the Empresse speaking of the decrees of that Synod concerning the honour of the second seat to be giuen to the Church of Constantinople he sayth that by the authority of Blessed Peter the Apostle with a generall definition he did vtterly disanull them and make them voyd Gelasius likewise Gelasius in his epistle ad Dardanos doth auouch that the Apostolicall seat confirmed all Synods and that no Bishop can auoyd his iudgment More in particuler concerning the Iurisdiction of the Roman sea ouer Bishops and in greater causes Anicetus in his Epistle doth say Anicetus That it belongeth to him to determine the iudgments of all Bishops The like hath Elcutherius in his epist cap. 2. Eleutherius Victor And Victor in his epistle to Theophilus sayth that to do the contrary is nothing els but to transgresse the bounds of the Apostles and their successours to violate their decrees Felix likewise sayd Felix ep 1. that the greater causes of the whole Church were reserued vnto him Melchiades in his epistle to the Bishops of Spaine saying that it appertayned vnto him to iudg of Bishops addeth these wordes
you by this subscription POSTSCRIPTVM TRVTH is the daughter of tyme and as I obserued in the beginning it is good to expect the lame post and the last newes is euer truest Hauing ended this my Treatise there came to my hands a short information of the life and manners of this our Dalmatian Bishop whome before out of his owne words I had sufficiently discouered taken authentically and iuridically vnder the oathes and testimonyes of many lawfull witnesses Whereby it appeareth that he had no lesse cause to feare the manifestation and publication of his former lewdnesse then he discouereth in diuers places of his booke to be exceeding iealous of such a matter many of the particulers related therin being so foule and abhominable that modesty and good manners do not permit me to set them downe For hauing byn lewdly brought vpin his youth before he entred into Religion which it is very probable that he concealed after his Apostacy he returned to his vomit againe and his old gift according to the words of our Sauiour bringing seauen more with him worse then himselfe entred into him and the last of this man was made farre worse then his foule beginning And assure your selfe that nothing doth so much saue his good name if he haue any among you as the turpitude of his former life wherein all men had rather it should be buryed still then defile their pennes themselues and the world with the discouery of it except they be inforced to it But because among other heads of his information there is a poynt or two which will declare by what meanes he attayned to those titles of Ecclesiasticall dignity wherof he vaunteth so much and from whence doth flow all the grace and particuler respect which is giuen vnto him of those that do not know him I thought it expedient to adde this short addition to the end they be not longer ignorant what a Saint they haue gotten to honour their cause and what a pillar he is like to proue to support their Religion You shall therfore vnderstand that Segnia which was his first Bishopricke is a little Citty but most impregnable vpon the Confines of Germany Italy the people wherof commonly called Iscocehi do neither plow nor plant for their sustenance nor card nor spin for their cloathing nor trade with other Nations by way of merchandize but liue altogeather vpon spoyle either of the Turkes which is their profession or els of Christians when they please to mistake the one for the other In which respect it is easier to find those that would refuse if they were either wise or honest then such as would willingly accept the Ecclesiastcall gouerment of this Martiall people Wherefore to come to our purpose it appeareth by the information aforsayd that the Bishop of Segnia being slaine in some enterpize of warre amoÌ„g certaine soldiars of the Emperour with whom he was in company Marcus Antonius de Dominis who was then a Iesuit in profession though not in purpose but desirous to be at liberty forged letters from the friends and kindred of the late Bishop to himselfe as to their kinsman which as it seemeth he was not signifying that the Bishop was not slayne but taken prisoner and entreating him to come to Segnia from whence he might worke some meanes to set him at liberty Vpon the credit of which letters his Superiours as it should seeme gaue him leaue to go thither where first he obtained to supply the place of the late desceased Bishop afterwards to be made Bishop himselfe Which Episcopall function as he got by forgery and Apostasy from his owne Order so he behaued himselfe accordingly in the administration therof For he had his part if not his hand in the prey with the souldiars of that place became a pot companion with them and in how sing and got mâ—ndiâ—ing nothing behind them Being then their Pastour and spirituall Father he defrauded them of foure or fiue hundred Crownes which beget from them vnder pretence of building a Quire in their Church but conuerted the mony to his owne vse And taking occasion to go to Venice he wrot backe to the Iscocchi his gostly children that he had made their peace with the VenetiaÌ„s that they might safely sayle in the Venetian seas vpon which assurance fourty of them sayling to wards Turky were intrapped and slaine by the Venetian souldiars at a certaine 〈◊〉 where they fell into the snare which their reuerend Father in God had layd for them Of which bloudy treachery this audacious Prelate being come to the prefoundnes of iniquity Prou. 1863. was so little ashamed as he was accustomed to boast of his seruice therein done to the Commonwealth of Venice saying that if the Iscocchi could lay hands of him they would make a bagge of his skin as they are accustomed to make of Swines skins for wine and oyle in those countryes and that he expected the first good Bishopricke which might fall in the State of Venice should be giuen him for his desert And so as it seemeth in recompence of this his seruice and expectation of the like when occasion should be offered for policy of State the Church of Spalato was giuen him which though poore in reuenews yet in respect of the Metropolitan dignity was fit to satisfy his ambition By this you may see how truly and litterally that saying is verified of the Church of Segnia vnder his Cure which falsely and impudently he applyeth to the Church of Christ vnder the Pope affirming that it was become a vinyeard to make Noe drunke and a flocke which the Pastour did ouermilke and not only sheer and shaâ—e but also flea and slea for so it is testified against him as you haue heard that he liued a drunken life and not only fleesed his flocke and imbezelled their money but betrayed his sheep into the bloudy hands of their enemyes Wherein the greiuousnesses of his sinne may be compared to the sinne of Iudas Iudas betrayed the innocent bloud of Christ vnder the shew of peace for a little money this second Iudas betrayed in the same maÌ„ner the innocent bloud of fourty Christians his spiritual children not for mony but for spiritual preferment which of all other things being most opposite to the sheeding of innocent bloud was a far fouler Symony more damnable price therof then any money could be And whereas Iudas repented him of his sinne and threw the money from him this other Iudas did glory in his cryme and as yet boasteth of his dignity being the vniust reward of so barbarous a treachery This man notwithstanding his forgery apostasy sacriledge gluttony murther in the foulest and ambition in the highest degree that may be imagined besides his other sinnes not to be named without any amendement or satisfaction to the world for his former life with incredible hypocrisy and impudency Pro. 30.20 only wiping his mouth with the shamles woman in Salomons Prouerbes as if he
had done nothing amisse setting a brasen face vpoÌ„ the matter and telling before hand that he should be caluÌ„niated by his aduersaryes thinking by this deuice to make that his purgation and defence which he had cause to feare as the condemnation and punishment of his former wickednesse he dispatched himselfe from Venice in the shape of a Saint See his own booke pag. 10. 28. compareth himselfe to Abraham and to S. Paul and speaketh of his great zeale as if it had brought him into a consumption and of his Charity as if it put him in danger to burst with crying And this he doth with such coÌ„fidence of his owne worth with such authority as one may plainly see that he assureth himself not only to be able to deceiue you in the opinion of his honesty but to giue rules of beleef and a law of Religion like a new Prophet sent from God to all the world about you Wherein you may choose whether you will admire his strange impudency vnaccustomed boldnesse or the supposition he brought with him of your credulity and simplicity in beleeuing But the iudgment of God hath ouertaken him and that which he feared is come vpon him For not only he is become reprobate in sense but also the little wit and learning he had seemeth to be taken from him And as in his booke he discouereth himselfe to be nothing els but an arrogant Impostor and an irreligious sycophant so also this other Iuridicall testimony which is brought against him being aboue all exception and perchance more authenticall then was euer produced against any other Heretike doth set his abominations against his face in such manner as though it be of brasse it cannot defend him from extreme confusion according to that of the Psalmist God hath sayd vnto the sinner Psal 49.26 c. why doest thou declare my Iustice and takest my Testament into thy mouth thou hast hated discipline in forsaking thy Order and thou hast cast my words behind thee which thou hadst learned therein If thou sawest a theefe in Segnia thou didst run with him and thou didst put thy portion with adulterers liuing in all vncleanesse Thy mouth abounded with malice iustifying thy sinne and thy tongue contriued fraud betraying the innocent bloud Sitting thou didst speake against thy brother writing bookes against the Catholike Religion didst giue scandall to the senne of thy mother and the Children of the Church These things thou hast done and I haue held my peace Wherupon thou didst thinke o wicked man that I would become like vnto thee not punishing thee for thy offences but I will reproue or confound thee and bring forth thy sinnes to plead before thy face against thee Vnderstand these things you that forget God least suddainly he take you away and there be none to deliuer you To conclude considering that such as forsake our Church to come to yours wax coÌ„monly worse then they were before which as I haue noted your owne Authors haue obserued I doubt not but this mans life hereafter if it be looked into but a little especially when his new maske of strangnesse and grauity which he thought good to put on at his first comming among you with tyme and familiar custome shall be worne away will make him to be no more knowne then hated and no lesse contemned then abhorred In the meane â—â—me the infamous shipwrack wherinto he is fallen first of all Vertue which is the merchandize and secondly of Fayth which is the shippe of eternall life lastly of all good name and common honesty without the which this present life is farre worse then any temporall death hath made him a perpetuall and a most dreadfull example for all Religious men to take heed how they breake their first fayth and depart from their Order whereby this miserable man first entred into the way of perdition and for the whole Clergy to beware of ambition which was the morsell wherewith the Diuell entred into him for euery good Christian of the Catholike Church that they haue care aboue all things to keep a good conscience which he neglecting made shipwrack of his Fayth and was therfore giuen ouer by Almighty God into impenitency and hardnesse of hart to heape or store vp wrath to himselfe against the day of wrath and to increase the waight of his owne damnation against the tyme of the reuelation of Gods iust iudgement who shall render vnto euery man according to his workes And thus wishing him no more hurt then I do to your selfe whose good I specially intend by this discourse and making my humble prayer vnto God that once againe he may awake out of the infernall slumber in which he now lyeth and receiue new grace to follow the example of the poore Capuchin his Predecessor who notwithstanding his former Apostasy from vs to you is lately returned from you to the Catholike Church againe â— bid you as before most hartily farewell FINIS Faults escaped in the Printing Page Line Fault Correction 3. 30. in his In his 11. 28. permitting pretermitting 14. 22. one owne 54. 27. to easy to be easy 110. 3. any an 116. 8. infallable infallible 120. 19. purchast purchase 122. 6. the English of the English 126. 5. these those 137. 19. foward forward 149. 25. contemne condemne Ibid. 29. commounded commaunded 38. 30. immiâ—â—nt eminent 179. 12. mortally morally 195. 19. beleeue borrow 197. 10. mortall morall 212. 28. ages age 216. 17. his this 216. 20. arrogancy Not arrogancy not Ibid. 21. deceaued what deceaued What 226. 32. imminent eminent 266. 30. S. Stephen S. Cyprian In the margent pag. 69. the citation is misplaced