submitted hymselfe vnder the Popes table Christe neuer taught the Pope that lesson to make the Citie of Venice frée and to bryng the Venetians from bondage to lybertie But you woulde fayne submitte your selues to the Pope and kisse hys foote to bryng this your famous Countrey from libertie to thraldome and your Countreymen from fréedome to be bondslaues King Alured once a worthye King in this Realme for the safegarde of his people and Countrey chaunged hymselfe from a King to a Minstrel and endaungered himselfe to goe among the Danes his enemies and played before them in their Campes whereby he perceyuing their negligence and weakenesse returned priuily to his armie then with a chosen company sodainely in the night he did set vpon the Danes and so slew a great number of them And will you then contrarie being subiectes liuing here in your own Countrey at pleasure safetie quiet wish or deuise wayes or meanes to bring in our enemies to spoyle your Prince hir louing people and Countrey Marke wel weigh aduisedly I beséeche you that when King Alured did thus daungerously hazard his life for hys Countrey then thys Realme was vexed and scourged with thrée maruellous plagues that is with their enemies the Danes wyth great mortalitie of men and with murraine of beasts but now when you séeke or wish for y e spoile and confusion of your Countrey God hath blessed vs with thrée special blessings that is with the pure preaching of y e Gospell with a great plentie of al things and a wonderfull peace such as this Realme had neuer so long before Consider therefore the good case that now we are in and y e euil case our auncesters haue bin in for this our Realme was gouerned once vnder diuerse Kings at one time but by the great policie worthinesse of our former Rulers as Mulmutius Dunwallo Aluredus K. Adelstane or rather by Gods power and prouidence this Realme was brought from the rule gouernment of seauen Kings at one time to one Monarch vnder the gouernment of one Prince but you if you myght haue your will or wishe would haue vs to loose our one most quiet and mercifull gouernour to bée ruled gouerned and to bée in bondage and slauerie vnder many tyrants Therefore I may iustly compare you to Uipers for as they are conceiued by the deuouring of their fathers and brought forth by the destruction of their mothers and at laste are destroyed themselues euen so you goe about as much as in you lyeth to deuoure your fathers that begot you to murther your mothers that did beare you to destroy your wiues that do loue you to bring your childrē to thraldome that obey you to burne your brethren that benefite you to suppresse your Prince that defendeth you to consume your Countreymen that should ayde you to spoyle your whole Countrey that doth nourish you which if you should bring to passe as God forbid then looke to haue the rewarde of Uipers your selues which is short life and destruction If you cannot sée the good case you are in I feare you shal féele the euill case you shall be in for you are like to a foolishe seruant that dwelleth with a good Maistresse who being gently reproued not sharply corrected for hir fault and therefore weary of hir welfare gets hir a shrewd husbande in al the hast who doth not only then lead a sorrowful life but also would be right wel content with the scrappes she was wonte with hir Maistresse to throw away and would be glad of simple clothes that before she disdayned so you being gouerned vnder a merciful Quéene and louing Mistresse not séeing your great plentie quietnesse and peace you haue by hir would faine chaunge hir for a cruel champion of the Popes whose traine woulde make you their slaues spoyle you of your substance rauish your wiues deflower your daughters and cause you to fight against your own friends murther you and treade you vnder their féet for if their maister the Pope hath trode vppon an Emperours necke do you thinke that his seruaunts wil sticke to trample on your backes and bellies And thus you are far worse to youre selues thoughe I haue proued you euil ynough to vs than the fonde mayde is to hir selfe for she for a good mystresse gets but an euil husband who may by law be compelled to vse hyr better but you for one moste milde and mercifull Maistresse woulde haue a thousande euill and cruell Maisters of whom you shal haue no redresse Now to auoyde all these mischiefes before mentioned cleaue vnto GOD and his worde cast off the Pope and his Lawes feare to haue Gods curses care not for the Popes curses for euer since the Pope hath curste vs the Lorde God hath blest vs with quietnesse plentie and peace and they that the Pope hath blessed it séemes that God hath cursed them with troubles wars scarcitie and many other euils for so the Prophet said I wil curse your blessings If our forefathers that estéemed the Popes blessings so greatly and dreaded his curses so much had thought that they should haue bin so happy and fared so wel as we haue with his curses and to be so troubled and molested haue such mischiefes as other haue daylye with his blessings they wold neuer haue obeyed him nor feared him so much they did Therefore séeing God doth blesse where the Pope doth cursse and also cursse where the Pope doeth blesse it is a very manifest thing that Gods lawe and the Popes lawe are contrarie and are not all one but contrary the one to the other and so if the one be true the other muste néedes be false But I trust you wil not say that the law or worde of God is false then you must néedes be compelled to say that the Popes lawe is false Now séeing it is so manifestly proued that the Popes lawe is false I hope you wil not be so wilfull and witlesse to forsake the true word of God follow still the false law wicked Religion of the Pope Consider I beséeche you how Christ became curssed to make you blessed and will you to be blessed of the Pope bée curssed of God and séeing Christe was curssed for our sakes to leade vs to heauen will you be curssed of God for the Popes sake that would bring vs to Hell Truely whosoeuer beléeueth that Iesus Christ by his death hath performed the whole law for vs as well as though we had kept it perfectly our selues and that our saluation is by and through him whosoeuer I say beléeue this faithfully and repent their sinnes vnfainedly without all doubt they are sure to be saued But whosoeuer thinke that they may merite heauen by their owne workes or hope to bée saued by some other meanes than by Christ as by Masses Trentals Dirges Popes pardons such trumperie which the Popes doctrine dooth teach you let all such be assured that they shall
to England And thus I trow I haue proued that you are English enimies Mark again Christ sayth who is to be beléeued No maÌ„ can serue two masters for either he shal hate the one loue the other or else leane to the one and despise the other By these words of Christ who caÌ„not ly though the Pope may erre al English persons that loue the Pope and his religion must néeds hate the Quéen hir religioÌ„ or if they leane to the Pope and his religion then they despise the Quéene and hir religion Therfore if it be construed to the best all you that are Papists for that you do leane to the Pope and his religion do dispise the Quéene and hir religion And I thinke you owe no great loue where yée dispise And so if you hate or despise the Quéen whose life as I saide is the prosperitie of England then you caÌ„ not be friends to EnglaÌ„d but enimies to England And thus by Christs own words you must néeds whether you wil or no be english enimies I grant there are many other English enimies yet al that may properly be called English enimies are not enimies to England for al they that are born in England that hate the diuell wickednes sin that are enimies to them that are enimies to England may in a right sense be called English enimies of whom I neither mean neither haue I any iust cause to write for though they may be called English Enimies yet they are friends to England But I meane y t they are English enimies y t are hurtful to England wherof there are many besides you but not such as you Our théeues are English Enimies whereof many steale for necessitie Unthrifts are english enimies both to themselues to other for that they spend wastefully on theÌ„selues that other haue néede of Drunkards are english enimies but are most of al their owne foes vnlesse they kil or hurte anye in theyr drunkennesse besides many other such like enimies yet al these with many other are not suche english enimies vnlesse they be Papists withall but y t they loue their Prince obey and followe hir godly procéedings wish hir a prosperous raigne and would fight if néede were for hir grace and helpe to defend this their countrey from hir foes which may be counted as friendes in comparison of you that are such papisticall enimies For though there are many Englishe enimies as théeues murtherers pyrates coyners clyppers of mony and counterfayters of the Quéens seale with diuers other yet you that are obstinate disobedient and determined Papists are the most earnest enimies to England of al other for if the Quéenes Maiestie shoulde enrich set in authoritie or promote the said théeues murtherers pyrats coyners clippers of mony counterfaiters of hir highnesse seale vnlesse they be Papistes withall they would thanke hir loue hir obey hir obserue hir lawes so of English enimies become English friends whiche you that are peruerse and determined Papistes woulde neuer do though hir Grace should do so to you For as Harlots that loue other better thaÌ„ they loue their husbaÌ„ds though their husbands loue them neuer so well set al their whole mind deuises and studies how to be rid of their husbaÌ„ds Euen so you that are obstinate and determined Papistes that are spirituall fornicators though the Quéenes Maiestie should giue you great liuings set you in aucthoritie or highly promote you yet for all that youre chiefe minde and studie would be how to be rid of hir Grace howe to displace hir and how to haue a Papist to rule in hir roome whereby you might at your owne libertie commit spiritual whordom with Idols Images the Masse which you loue better than youre owne louing husbande Christe the sonne of God And thus let the Quéenes Maiestie doe for you neuer so much yet you wil not be Englishe friendes but vtter enimies to hir Grace and to England youre â—wne natiue country vntil of peruerse Papists you become perfect Protestants whiche is altogither my drifte Yet I beséeche you marke this and consider it well thoughe verye néed compel the aforesaid for the most part to be théeues murtherers pyrats coyners of money and such like to bée English enimies which may and do dayly become english friends yet there are such lawes for them as therfore they are put to death But for you that are obstinate disobedieÌ„t papists that are so great enimies to England without néed and that nothing can reclame to be friends to England our most milde and merciful Quéene as yet hath made no such law to put you to deth nor gréeuosly to punish you though you deserue deth a gret deale more al things wel weighed considered than any of the other english enimies do For if one that clippeth or diminisheth y e Quéenes coyne wheron hir Image or picture is but printed or stampte is worthily called a Traytor by law therfore is hanged drawn quartred Then are not you worthy to be called Traytors deserue death which procure wish or desire by any meane the displacing of your Prince the destruction of hir person the alteration of our most quiet happy state the calamitie of your countrey men the confusion of the common wealth and the ruine of this oure worthy reaime of England If he that counterfeteth the Quéenes Maiesties seale for some priuate profit breaking thereby but one parte of hir laws is a traytor is therefore put to death then are not you that are obstinate and disobedient Papists traytors deserue death that hate your Prince without any cause that withstand disobey al hir godâ—y laws procéedings in the louing and obeying of whom the kéeping obseruing of whose laws orders hir Graces safetie the preseruation of hir person the conseruation of the common wealth and the prosperous state of this realme doth chiefly depend If hereby you wil not willingly sée what you are I feare againste youre willes you will féele hereafter what you are Open youre eyes therefore and sée what a mercifull Quéene you haue that euer since she began to raigne hath rather mercifully without law sought to winne you than cruellie by law to enforce or wound you Thinke not bycause she suffereth you that therfore she cannot punish nor execute you which if some of you sticke not to say openly many of you I beléeue thinke the same priuily Thinke not bycause she hath made no lawe for you that therefore she can make no law for you for the Quéens Maiestie hath as great power to punishe the Idolatrous Papistes in hir Realme as King Iosia had to burne the Priests of Baal in his realme King Asa and his people made a couenant and swore not onely to séeke the Lorde to cleaue vnto hym and to hearken vnto his voice but also that who soeuer didde not so shoulde be slaine whether he were small or great man or woman which couenant
yea and thou shalt accuse thy father and mother if they professe the Gospell to the holy inquisitors of the church of Rome that they may be burned for Heretikes if thou be an Emperors son or a Kings son thou shalt rise against thy father and put him downe place thy selfe in his roume as Henry the Emperour was serued by his son if he loue embrace the Gospell and do any thing against the Popes wil and pleasure And whereas God saith Thou shalt do no murther now the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged therfore God hath likewise chaunged his iudgement so that thys commaundement must now be turned thus quite contrary Thou shalt murther kil and burne thy brother mother father sister or else any other whatsoeuer he be if he professe the Gospel and followe Christes lawe And whereas God saith Thou shalt not commit adultry nowe the iudgement of the Pope and the Churche of Rome is chaunged and therfore Gods iudgement is chaunged so that this lawe by the iudgement of the Churche of Rome must now be thus Thou shalt not marry but thou maiest haue a Concubine or a Harlot to commit aduoutrie or fornication withal and thou shalt haue a licence for money of the Pope to doe so and so he shall allowe thée to commit aduoutrie or to playe the whoremonger or Harlot but take héede thou marry not according to the law of God for then thou shalte loose all thy lyuing thou shalte be taken for an heretike and the Pope wil not dispence with thée therfore And wheras God saith Thou shalt not steale now y e iudgement of y e Popes church is changed so Gods iudgement is changed therefore this law must now be after this sort thou shalt steale and rob God of his glorie thou shalt giue the glorie that is due to God vnto his Saints nay vnto stockes and stones yea and if thou chaunce to steale anye mans good care not for the Pope shal pardon thée therfore for the Pope by his power is able to dispence with all the lawes both of y e olde Testament of the new Testament And whereas God said Thou shalte not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour nowe forasmuch as the iudgement of the Romishe Church is changed the iudgement of God is changed therfore this lawe muste be turned an other way and thus it muste be taken thou shalt beare false witnesse against God his word say there is no saluation without the Church of Rome and that the death of Christ is not a sufficiēt sacrifice for our sins if thou chance to bear false witnes against one that professes the gospel thou shalt be heard the Pope shal giue thée his blessing for it thou shalte haue no harme therfore And if thou chance to beare false witnes against any for a little mony thou shalt haue y e Popes pardon for it therfore beare false witnesse and spare not for y e pope the holy church of Rome do giue thée leaue And whereas God sayd Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house thou shalte not couet thy neighbours wife nor his seruant nor his maide nor his Oxe nor his Asse nor anye thing that is his Now this is not Gods commaundement bycause the Churche of Rome doth not allowe it and Gods iudgement is therein changed bycause the Church of Rome hath now chaunged hir iudgement therfore you must turne this lawe vpside downe take it thus thou maist be bolde to couet any thing that is thy neighbors for if thou steale anye thing from hym or take it by vyolence or take thy neighbors wife or his maid lye w t them or lye with thine owne sister and marry hir the Pope wil dispence with thée and pardon thée for money as Pope Martin didde dispence with one that marryed his owne sister Thus this vile and viperous generation haue by their authoritie whiche they say is aboue the Scriptures allowing the scriptures whatsoeuer they list and taking from the same what they thinke good haue turned cleane contrary the commaundements of God into the commaundementes of the Pope whiche you maye plainelye perceiue by their doings and dispensations before mentioned to be the very doctrine of the Diuel And further this Carnal Cardinal sayeth Scripturae ad tempus adaptantur c. Scriptures are applyed to the states of diuerse times so are taken in diuerse senses so that at one time they are expounded according to the current order of the Church but the order being chaunged the sense of the Scripture is likewise changed Howsoeuer they would haue the Scriptures to be chaunged in their meaning the wicked Pope and his presumptuous Prelates are chaunged from al goodnes and truth both in their sayings liuings for according to the time they make the Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ agrée with their doings but they wil not frame their liuings to make thē agrée w t y e scriptures And bycause the Popes conditions and the iudgemente of the Church of Rome is chaunged therefore the meaning and sense of the Scriptures must be chaunged as is before sayde For whereas Christ sayd Blessed are the mercifull for theirs is the kingdome of heauen nowe the meanyng and sense therof ought to be chaunged quite contrarie and say thus blessed are the vnmerciful for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen or else thus vnhappye are the merciful for theirs is the kingdome of Hell And whereas Christe sayde Blessed are the peace makers for they shall bee called the children of God Now according to the time the sense of the Scripture is chaunged bicause the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged and therefore not to be expounded as it was in Christs time So that now it ought to be turned thus Blessed are the peace breakers and they that set men togither by the eares as the Pope doeth and blessed are the rebels that fighte againste their Prince and Country in the Popes quarrel for they shal be called the children of god and the Pope wil giue them the kingdome of heauen And wheras Christ sayth Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorify your Father in heauen Now the meaning thereof is chaunged according to the time therfore now it is thus let not your light shine before men but worke the déedes of darknesse wherby you may please the Diuel your Father And wheras Christ saith Whosoeuer puts away his wife except it be for fornication and marryeth with another cōmitteth aduoutry now for as much as the iudgement of y e Church of Rome is chaunged therfore according to y e time y e meaning of this saying must be changed therfore vnderstand it now thus what Priest soeuer kéepeth his wife and puts hir not away from him though she be neuer so honest shal be coūted
passe from me but god sayde then neuer a word of y e Masse to his son in y e gret agony yet then was the time for God to haue spoken of it if euer he would speake of it therefore it is most manifest that the Masse hath no suche power to release vs of our sinnes as the Pope and his Prelates would make vs beléeue For if it would deliuer vs from our sinnes then God at this special time wold haue heard the earnest prayer and request of Christ his deare and only sonne and would haue kept him from that cruell death that after he suffered and would or might haue answered his sonne thus oh my louing sonne be merry and glad thou shalt not dye for the sinnes of the people for I haue deuised another easier way to saue thē wherby thou shalt not néede to dye and this it is the Pope and his Priestes shal say and celebrate the Masse whiche is not onely the most highest and honorable seruice that can be done to me but also it shal be a sufficient and perfit sacrifice for sinnes both of the quicke and dead and therby they shal be deliuered from Hel as well as though thou had dyed for them and it shal be a ladder for them to climbe vppe to heauen If God had said thus to his son our sauiour Christe when he prayed so earnestlye to his Father for the sauing of hys life I would haue liked you Masses a great deale better but bycause Christ saide to his Father if it be possible let this Cup of deth passe frōme yet God suffred him to die for al his request therfore it is most manifest true y t it is impossible for vs to be saued by any thing but only by the passion death of Christ. This is so sufficiēt an argument to make you forsake most spéedily y e most detestable Masse y e robs Christe of his merits to take hold on Christ to embrace his gospel as none cā be more sufficiēt probable But for that manye of you doe thynke and beléeue that the bread in the Masse after the Priest hath consecrated it is the verye bodie of Christe bycause Christe sayde This is my bodye you shall nowe heare playnely by the auntient and learned Fathers and Doctors what Christ ment by these wordes But firste before I rehearse them you shall sée what Christe ment by conferring of his owne wordes Christe tooke breade and gaue thankes and brake it and gaue it to hys Disciples saying this is my bodye whiche is giuen for you this doe in my remembraunce now thys latter sentence doe thys in my remembraunce doth shew the meaning of the first sentence For if Christ hadde lefte hys owne bodye wyth vs then he woulde not haue sayde doe thys in my remembraunce For what néede one be wylled to remember that thing that hée séeth Saint Paule likewise sayeth That whiche I deliuered vnto you I receyued of the Lorde for the Lorde Iesus the same nighte in whiche hee was betrayed tooke breade and gaue thankes and brake it and sayde Take yee and eate yee this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembraunce of me After the same manner hee tooke the cup when supper was done saying this cup is the newe Testament in my bloud yet the cuppe wherin was the wine was not the new testament though the very words are so this do as ofte as yee drinke it in remembraunce of me for as ofte as yee shall eate this breade and drinke this cup not meaning that they shoulde drinke the Cuppe thoughe he say so but the Wine in the Cuppe yee shall shewe the Lordes deathe till hee come Here Saint Luke and Sainte Paule differ from Sainte Matthew and from Sainte Marke for here they saye This Cuppe is the newe Testamente in my bloude but Marke and Matthew sayth This is my bloud of the new Testament c. wherby it appeares that therein S. Luke and S. Paule doe open the meaning in this place of y e other two Euangelists So y t therby Christ mēt not that the Wine was the bloud but that the Wine doth signifie his bloud and is a newe couenaunt or witnesse of his bloud that was shed for manye and so he meant of the bread And Saint Paule sayth further Ye shall shew the Lordes death vntil he come So that by his words it plainelye appears that in eating of the Lords supper we chiefly ought to remember Christ in his absence and shewe and remember his death and to be thankeful to him therefore vntil he come again at the last day for these words vntil he come do signifie plainely that he is absent in his body and will come at length And nowe you shall heare whether the auntiente Doctours and writers were of the same iudgemēt or not Tertullian expoundeth these wordes of Christe hoc est corpus meum hoc est figura corporis mei which is This is my bodye that is to say this is the figure of my body likewise Saint Augustine sayth Non dubitauit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cùm daret signum corporis sui Our Lord saith he doubted not to say this is my body when he gaue a signe of hys bodie And he sayth Christ receiued Iudas vnto his banket whereat he gaue to his Disciples the figure of his body and bloude here by these auntient and learned writers it appeares that the breade that Christe brake and gaue to hys Disciples was not his body but a figure and signe of hys body Sainte Cyprian sayeth The cuppe is offered in the remembraunce of Christe by the wine the Lordes bloude is shewed or signified therefore Wine is vsed that by Wine we maye vnderstande the Lordes bloude c. Sainte Augustine sayth in this sacrifice is a thankesgiuing and a remembraunce of the fleshe of Christe that hee hath offered for vs and of the bloude that hee shedde for vs And if you refuse all these learned authors aforesaid yet you wil not refuse I hope y e Popes own glose y t expoūdeth it thus vocatur corpus Christi id est significat corpus Christi It is called the body of Christ that is to say it signifieth the bodye of Christ. De consecra dist 2. hoc est quod in glossa A great sort moe of learned Authors write of the Sacrament to this effect but these are sufficient to proue that the Sacramentall breade and wyne are fygures and sygnes of the bodye and bloud of Christ and not the verye bodye and bloud of Christ. If it be a Sacrament as you call it then it can not be the body of Christ for Saint Augustine sayth Sacramentum est visibile signum inuisibilis gratiae A Sacramēt is a visible signe of an inuisible grace Now if it be a signe of an inuisible grace then it is not the inuisible grace it selfe So that the Sacrament
spake such Latine or out of such Latine made suche English if you can shewe vs no better Author wee muste needes thinke it is your owne c. but that representare should signifie eyther to make Christes bodie or to make it present no man I trowe euer durst to say so but Maister Harding In these woordes doe this you say is conteyned make this doth Christ bid you to make this in deede Maister Harding and what this I pray you would you make ye will say Christes bodie but Christes bodie as we beleeue is made already and needeth no newe making at your handes But you will say you will make Christ in remembraunce of Christe All this is meere follie for euery way yee tell vs you make Christ. Presume not Maister Harding to make him that made you it is inough for Stella clericorum to say qui creauit me c. he that made me hath gyuen me power to make him a Priest is his makers maker by this meanes the Prieste was before he was and God was not God when he was oh abhominable doctrine But God hath made Hell fire to the destruction of all them that yeelde their mouthes to speake suche blasphemie Thus Maister Iewell answeared and confounded Maister Harding that so foolishly and falsly did expound and wrest the wordes of Christe for the making of Christ of a péece of bread Marke further howe learnedly and truely Maister Harding commendes and extolles the Masse vpon whose wordes Maister Iewell wryteth as followeth M. Harding sayth he maketh as though in their Masse the Lords banket is so purely finely truely and so delicately drest and that it is such a feast for the people as the lyke is not in any thing else saying let this banket be dight as it ought to be let the best dishe be made readie c. Good Christian reader sayth Maister Iewell the best the wholesomest the most pleasant and most comfortable dish at this table is the death of Christ that lambe of God that hath taken away the sinnes of the world Thus Christ himselfe the maister of this feast hath willed vs to dresse this dinner Do this saith he in the remembraunce of me Likewise Saint Paule sayth as often as ye shall eate of this bread and drink of this cup yee shall shewe forth and publish the Lordes death vntill he come This banket therefore is not the outwarde or bare Sacrament And as it is alleaged out of S. Ambrose this banket is not the bread of the Sacrament that passeth into the belly but the bread of euerlasting life which relieueth the Substance of the Soule c. Likewise Saint Augustine sayth hee that is blinde in his harte within seeth not Christe that is our bread And is he blessed no man will so saie vnlesse he be one as blinde as he And so Maister Iewell goeth on and sayth But what maner of feast is it that M. Harding prepareth for the people how is it seasoned how is it drest firste by vncurteous and vnciuile dealing he withdraweth the one halfe that is the cup of the new Testament and reserueth it seuerally to him selfe And yet he woulde make the people beleeue they haue the whole And this doth he when he hath the greatest companie to sup with him when his feast is best furnished otherwise he suffreth his guestes to stand aloofe he consumeth all his prouision himselfe alone Neither hath hee any thing to set before them sauing onely a cold surcharge of dead shewes and dumbe Ceremonies The poore people heareth nothing vnderstandeth nothing eateth nothing drinketh nothing tasteth nothing they publish not the Lords death they know not the Lords supper To such a bāket Pasetes the Iugler vsed sometimes to cal his friendes there was great varietie and plentie of all maner of meates and drinkes the table full but when anye of the guestes would haue touched any thing it vanished sodainly away and was turned to nothing and so when their eyes were ful they put vp their kniues rose an hungred Euen thus M. Harding feedeth and feasteth the people of God with shewes and Ceremonies suffers them in the meane while to sterue for hunger Euen as the Prophet sayeth it shall be like a dreame of a hungrie man beholde he eateth and maketh merrie but when he is awakte his soule is emptie Thus excellently and most truelye hath that famous learned Bishop M. Iewell compared your great and worthie feast in the Masse whiche M. Harding so highly commendes and maintaines to the feast of Pasetes the Iugler Your Romish religion is so fond childishe false that it bewrayeth it selfe and hir champions that séeme to defende hir doe wounde hir and quite ouerthrowe hir and the more they approue hir the more they disproue hir for though M. Harding doth praise his Masse to be such a maruellous and godlye feast yet it appeares that the maister of the feast is but a very churle for as M. Iewell sayeth he hath none to his feast or dinner but himselfe but Christes Supper though M. Harding commendes it not was more like a feast than your Masse for he did not eate his Supper by himselfe but he bad all his Apostles to it yea Iudas his enimie that betraide him and all and they did eate drinke with him and he deuided both the breade and wyne among them but the Priest at the Masse though he breake the bread yet he eates and drinkes al himselfe Therfore if the Masse be a feast it is not onely a churles feast but also it is quite contrarie to Christs feast as before is well proued Therefore in all things the Papistical religion and doings be quite contrarie to the doings of Christ. And for that in many places before it appeareth that your Romish religion doth ouerthrowe it selfe euen so I will nowe by your Doctors owne doctrine ouerthrow your Christ of bread It is concluded in a Booke called Antididagma lately set forthe by the Chapter of Colain that the bare wordes of Christes institution without the wordes of the Canon of the Masse are not sufficient to make consecration If this bée true then Christ dyd not consecrate the breade and wyne bycause the Cannon of the Masse was not then nor of a good whyle after And you saye that before the consecration the breade is not the body of Christ so that for want of consecration Christ dyd not make the breade his bodye and bycause your Priestes makyng of Christes bodye dependes wholly of Christes making the breade his bodye for that they claime to do as he did and by the wordes that he spake therefore they doe not make the breade Christes bodye bycause Christ made not the bread hys bodye and thus by your owne doctrine your changing of the breade into the bodye of Christ is cleane ouerthrowne and therefore it must néedes bée breade still and so they teache you falsely and you beléeue falsely that the Sacrament after it
make Christe and eate Christe and if he once be past mans meate burne Christe who hath as great authoritie so to do as Iosias had shée might likewise saye their fleshe nor bodies were not burned nor hurte but their Accidentes as their length breadth thicknesse thinnesse weight and colour and such like but if they were thus handled though they woulde make vs beléeue that nothyng of the Sacrament is burned but the Accidentes they woulde then both beléeue and féele that their bones fleshe skinne sinewes and all their whole bodies were burded aswell as their Accidents Marke this also if the bread bée chaunged into the bodie of Christe by the Priestes consecrating it then why was the Emperoure Henrie the sixth poysoned by eating the bodie of Christ and why was Pope Victor poisoned in his Chalice by drynkyng the bloude of Christe is the bodie of Christe nowe so farre contrarie to it selfe to that it was before and is nowe become a destroyer and killer of menne whiche before was a helper and healer of men a meruailous matter when Christ was here on earth and his bodie not glorified he raysed Lazarus from death to lyfe that had bene foure dayes dead and now that he is in Heauen and glorified his bodie hath poysoned and killed men that had lyued aboue thirtie yéeres and so brought them from lyfe to death Therefore how soeuer you haue vsed Christ amoÌ„g you he is woÌ„derfully changed A man would thinke it had bene more likely that Christes bodie being so full of vertue and power as it is that it should haue turned the poyson mixt with it to the good nature and vertue of it selfe and to haue preserued mens bodies and not the poyson to turne Christes bodie into poyson and so to poyson or kill men Perhaps you will saie that it was not Christes bodie that the poison was mixt withall truely if you say so I beléeue you I allow his wit the better that he tarried not it was time for him to be gone for if he had tarried he had bin poisoned But I pray you what was it then that the poison was mixt withall you will not now for shame say that it was the accidents of Christes bodie least you make Christ to haue such a strange bodie or rather no bodie at all as is before mentioned Belike then it was the bread that was there before for the one it must néedes be for what soeuer the Popes Doctors saie al learned and wise men affirme that there can be no Accidentes without a Substance and yong children that are but in the beginning of their Grammer can tell you that an Adiectiue must néeds haue a Substantiue truly if the bread being the bodie of Christ and exalted to so high a degrée did vnchriste himself was content to become bread again to be poisoned to saue the bodie of Christ froÌ„ poisoning then it was the louingst bread the friendliest bread a bread of the greatest consideration that I euer heard of well in so doing I muste néedes saie that the bread shewed Christ a verye friendly part for if the bread had not come againe then Christ himself had bin poysoned and then he had dyed twice then the professors of the Gospell had bin vtterly vndone for the Pope beyng â—opercioner with Christ hauing both one consistorie or seate of Iudgement would haue claimed all by suruiuor and so he woulde haue sit alone and thereby he might haue sent the Diuels and the wicked to heauen and the Angels and the godly to hell But if one shoulde aske you howe many bodyes Christ had I am sure you will say he had but one if you say truely then if the bread were changed as you say yet coulde it be but a péece of the body of Christ or else Christ hath had at one time twentie thousand bodyes at the least for I am sure there haue bin so many Masses at the least saide in one day Though this be sufficient that I haue alreadie spoken to any ChristiaÌ„ godly wise or reasonable man that the bread is not neither by any meanes can be changed into the body of Christ yet I will go further with you Suppose y t Christ at his last Supper by these wordes this is my bodye dyd turne the bread into his very body which before is proued he did not both by the scriptures auncient Doctors and naturall reason yet therefore the Priestes are neuer a whyt the neare for the turning or changing of the breade into the body of Christ. For if he had done it yet he gaue them no warrant nor commission to doe it For where can you finde that Christ said as often as any Priest shal pronounce and say these wordes ouer a white little cake this is my body and shall blesse and consecrate it that straight way the little cake shall be turned and transubstantiated into my very body and the substance of the bread from thence forth shall be cleane gone and my very bodye fleshe bloud and bone that was borne on the virgin Marie my mother shall remaine there in the steade of bread If you coulde shewe vs these wordes or such like spoken by Christ then it woulde séeme that they had Christes commission so to doe but they haue from Christ no such commission or warrant so to doe if Christ had done it as he did it not Therefore all the racking glosing and expoundyng of the some wordes of Christ serue your turne neuer a whyt all that Christ said therein to his Apostles was doe this in my remembrance So that neyther Pope nor Priest can haue anye more authoritie therein than the Apostles had themselues Therefore the Priestes doe not onely most wickedly to make you beléeue that the Sacramentall breade is the body of Christ which is but a signe or remembraunce of Christ and his death but also both they and you committe moste horrible and abhominable Idolatrie in knéeling to it and worshipping of it If a great Lorde that loues me wel being my maister should deliuer me his painted picture which were somthing more like him than a cake is like Christ say to me when you looke on this my picture in my absence remember me and then if I should when he were gone shew the same picture abroade say to euerye one that sées it that the same picture is my Lord maister himselfe that left it with me and so make curtesie to it and reuerence honor it for the said Lorde all that should sée me doe so woulde not onely thinke I were starke mad but also my said Lord maister that loued me so much would not be very wel content with me for taking and honoring that dumbe dead and sencelesse picture for himselfe that he did leaue with me for a signe to remember him withal in his absence besides that I thinke he would dismisse me as I were wel worthy out of his seruice Euen so all wise men may
this most fonde and fantastical opinion rather by the perswading of your father mother or some other of your speciall friends at these death than for any trueth you know in it or for any learning you haue to defende it at whose earnest request perhappes you haue made eyther a vowe or sworne vnto thē that you would beléeue it as long as you liue and that nothing shoulde allure you from it If any of you haue done so as I thynke some of you haue done so yet you ought rather consider the thing wherefore you sweare or make your vowe than the partie to whom you sweare or make your vowe and the trueth and goodnesse of the matter not the affection you beare to the person Bycause your father mother or some other of your dearest friends beléeued all their liues and their Fathers before them that the breade after the consecration is the verye bodye of Christe yet that makes not that therefore it is the bodye of Christe the heathen and their Fathers grandfathers and greate greate grandfathers before them doe and haue moste wicked worshipped Idolles yea and perhappes some of them at their deathes haue made their children or other whome they loued to vowe or sweare vnto them that they shoulde neuer forsake or refuse to worship theyr Gods or Idols and that they shoulde by no meanes become Christians yet this is not a sufficient argumente to proue that therefore their Idols were Gods and oughte to be worshipped or saye that therefore they shoulde kéepe their othe or vowe to take their Idols for Gods and worship them and not to become Christians If one that hath bene a théefe all his life shoulde at his death saye thus to his sonne come hither my childe and marke well my wordes I haue bene a théefe all my life I haue founde it a verye good trade and I haue liued plentifullye and pleasauntlye withall therefore my sonne I charge thée on my blessing that thou vse the same trade all thy life shall this théeues childe thinke that thefte is a good and honest trade bycause his Father vsed it all hys life and play the théefe and steale as long as he liues for feare of loosing his fathers blessing that were not méet no more ought you to beléeue that a Cake of breade is the verie bodie of Christ and to knéele to it and worship it for Christ thoughe youre Father or mother beléeued so and worshipped it and though they at their death charged you of their blessing so to doe it is better for you to lose youre Father and mothers blessings to haue the blessings of God than to loose the blessings of God to haue the blessings of your Father and mother neuer feare to breake your vowe or promise made to your earthly Father if the kéeping of them will displease your heauenly Father regarde not mans doctrine vnlesse it agrée wyth Gods doctrine care not for mans commaundemente vnlesse it agrée with Gods commaundement and wey not what man doeth charge you as long as GOD doeth not charge you Therefore how farre wide are you howe bewitched are you howe daungerously walke you and as Saint Augustine sayeth In what a miserable bondage of the Soule are you that take the thing that doth signify for the thing signified that take the Sacramente for the thing that is signified by the Sacramente and that take a deade earthy péece of breade for the heauenly and liuing body of Christ And also what horrible Idolatrie doe you committe how derogate yée the merits of Christ and how greatly do you offende the Maiestie of God that knéele too honoure and reuerence a Cake of breade in the stead of Christ the very son of God Did not y e children of Israel highly displease God which immediately after he had so wōderfully deliuered thē out of Egipt frō their enimies did make a golden Calfe and daūst about it saying These be the Gods that brought thee out of the land of Egypt yes truely and Gods wrath being kindled againste them he worthylye therefore plagued them And whosoeuer thinkes that they therefore dyd not iustly deserue the plagues curses y t god sēt vpō them are more sencelesse than swine more brutish thā beasts And I thinke that none of you to whom I write this perswasion but wyl saye that they deserued the same yea if they had bin greater and moe for that they did forgette God so quickly that miraculously deliuered them so lately committing suche wicked Idolatrie to a deade image of a dumbe and senselesse beaste that coulde doe them no good in steade of honoring the liuing God that had done so muche for them and bycause they did attribute theyr deliueraunce out of thraldome which they suffred in Egipt to the Image of a Calfe which none but their liuing and louing God did or could do And further I thinke you wold not be content with them that shoulde say you like wel of their worshipping of that golden calfe And as you thinke not wel of their doings therein So we can not like well of your doings herein for as those wicked and rebellious Iewes moste falselye and abhominably did attribute the wonderfull deliueraunce out of Egypt to a molten image of mettal and did worshippe the same which had neither life nor soule So you most wickedly and Idolatrouslye do worship and honor a péece of breade that hath neither life nor soule and do say this is the verye body of Christe the sonne of God that was borne on the Uirgine Marie which hath brought vs out of the spirituall bondage vnder y e wicked Pharao the Diuel and that hath saued vs by his death from endlesse damnation Doe not you here make a cake or a péece of breade that hath neither life nor soule to be Christ the sonne of God y t hath deliuered you out of Hel as these fond foolish Iews did make a dumbe and dead golden Calfe to be the liuing God that brought them out of the land of Egipt Yes verily and thereby you make that the cake hath done more for you than the golden calfe did for them for their bodies onlye were deliuered out of a shorte thraldome in Egipt but bothe youre bodyes and soules are deliuered oute of the endlesse tormentes in Hell So that hereby you approue that the Cake whiche you say is the very body of Christ and Christ is our onely redéemer out of hel hath done more for you than the Iewes coulde attribute that the golden Calfe hadde done for them And as they honored the golden Calfe for their God so you honor the cake of bread for your Christe O howe witlesse and senselesse are you can any of vs that are liuing soules and made to the Image of God bée equall wyth Chryste the sonne of God no truly and then can a péece of breade be Christ that is a dead and senselesse creature and that God hath made for vs to eate no it is
him as did but contrarie to the Pope he promised little performed much The Centurions seruaunt that laye grieuously payned of the palsey was healed by Christ at the same houre when the Centurion did require him and yet Christ did not say y t he would heale him but sayd Go thy way as thou beleeuest so be it vnto thee When Christe had touched Peters wiues mothers hand that was sick of a feuer straight way y e feuer left hir and she arose When they that were possest with Diuels came to Christ for helpe with his words immediately he caste out the Diuelles in déede out of them he made the lame to go the blind to sée the death to heare and the dumbe to speake When one that was sicke of the palsie was broughte on his bedde to be healed of Christ Christe did not onely heale him but also gaue him hys pardon saying son be of good chéere thy sinnes are forgiuen thée also sayd vnto him arise take vp thy bed go home to thy house Yet after that Christ had giueÌ„ him his pardoÌ„ I neuer heard or red that he eyther hanged himself drowned himself or brake his necke died sodainly or desperately as many of them haue done that haue had the Popes pardon Christ layde his hands vppon yong children and blessed them which was as good and a litle better than the Popes or Cardinals blessings but none of the same Children did breake their necks y t euer I herd as the B. of Douer did after he receyued the Cardinals blessing Therfore none but fooles or mad men wil refuse Gods pardons and blessings which wil make vs dye the seruaunts of God for the Popes pardons and blessings that wil make vs dy the children of the Diuel Thus I haue not only proued that the Popes whom you so reuerence and estéeme are not only wicked mischieuous the impes of Sathan and euen the very Antichrist himselfe but also that his religion and doctrine and the Church of Rome is most false abhominable and detestable and cleane contrarie to y e Church of Christ and his doctrine the holy Gospel Therefore I beséeche you refuse the Pope and his doctrine whiche hathe made you English Enimies and embrace Christe and his Gospell which wil make you English friends And further you shal perceiue that the Church of Rome hath one especial mark that shewes perfectlye that she is the Synagog of Sathan and not the Church of Christe whiche is hir persecuting murthering killing of such as wil not obey hir law for y e encreasing maintayning setting of hir vp Chrisostome writes thus Nunquid Ouis lupum persequitur aliquando Non sed lupus ouem c. What doth the sheep persecute the Wolfe at any time no but the Wolfe doth persecute the shepe for so Cain persecuted Abel not Abel Cain so Ismael persecuted Isaac not Isaac Ism so the Iews persecuted Christ not Christ the Iewes so the Hereticks persecute the Christians not the Christians the Heretickes Therfore yee shall knowe them by their fruites Thus farre Chrisostome And now bycause the Papists persecute y e Protestantes therfore Chrisostom cals the Papists wolues the Protestantes shéep and the Papists Heretikes and the Protestants Christians Here may you sée that they that are of the Church of Rome y t persecute are the Diuels wolues and the Gospellers that are persecuted are Christes shéepe Tertullian sheweth who are the true Christians who are not The proper office sayth he of the true Christians is to pray for al meÌ„ to loue their enimies neuer requiting euill for euill when as all other doe loue but onely their friendes and scantly them Now if they are not to be counted Christians that loue but onelye their friendes then what is the Pope his holy Prelates that hate trouble torment murther burne and kille the friendes of Christ hereby it must appeare that you that are of y e Popes persecuting religion are no true ChristiaÌ„s and so you haue not the true religioÌ„ of Christ. For none but the true Christians haue the true religion And as the Pope is the very Antichrist so they that are of his religion are Antichristians therefore continue no longer in the Popes doctrine for so long as you embrace hys doctrine so long muste you néedes bée Antichristians and no true and perfect Christians Therfore deceiue not your selues but persuade your selues that if you murther kyll persecute you are not of Christs folde nor any of his shéepe For Christ was persecuted and his Apostles were persecuted Now if Christ y t was persecuted was and is the sonne of God and Christs Apostles y t were persecuted his shéepe then they y t persecuted Christ and his Apostles and you that persecute now must néedes be the children the Gotes of the Diuell It is not y e propertie of shéepe to bite or deuour but of dogs wolues such like Therfore whosoeuer doth bite douour or kill certainely though he looke neuer so like a shéepe he is no shéepe he maye well haue the coate of a shéepe but he hath the heart of a Wolfe And so as Christ saieth they come to you in sheepes clothing but inwardly they are rauening Wolues Therefore you especially that are bloudie and persecuting Papistes bicause you are rauenours therfore you are Wolues and not of Christes flocke And the professors of the Gospell are Christes shéepe bycause they are kylled and deuoured Though you of the Popes religion kyll vs yet we doe neyther kyll you wishe your death but amendment saying with Saint Hierom Would God wee may rather kyll the children of Heretikes and of all them that be deceiued with spirituall arrowes that is to say with the testimonies of the Scriptures And with S. Augustine would God thou wouldest kill them O Lorde with the two edged sworde that is with thy holye worde that they maye lyue vnto thee And agayne God so reuenge our cause against you that he maye kyll your errour in you that yee may reioyce together with vs of the trueth Thus wée wishe you to bée kylled and not to murther you in your errours and so from one fire to sende you to an other fire the fire of Hell as you séeme to doe to vs wée deale not thus with you but suffer you to lyue and praye for you that you may turne but you burne vs whereby if wée were in errour wée shoulde not turne and some of you haue sayd that we ought not to bée prayed for If you be so blind that you can not sée your crueltie and our mercy then I beséeche God to open your eyes to sée it But some of you make but a iesting and scoffing at them y t died and were burned murthered in Quéene Maries time saying that they died stubbornly wilfully and in most damnable heresie Though they died in your heresie yet they died in Gods veriâ—ie though you haue
peaceably godly and myraculously as these professors of the Gospell before described and thousandes of such moe haue done then you woulde reioyce and clap your handes noysing abroade thereby that your Religion were true and most godly But bycause you can not shewe vs one suche I haue shewed you diuerse and coulde shewe you manye moe of your cruell persecuting Papistes that most desperately and dreadfully haue kylled and hanged themselues and that through the great and iust iudgement of God haue bene strucken with the Lordes mightie hande and so haue dyed most horribly dolefully diuelishly desperately to the great terror and feare of all them that either sawe it or hearde thereof Therefore if there be any sparke of Gods grace in you at all then the godly pacient and chéerefull suffering and myraculous and tormenting deathes of the professors of the Gospell will not onely allure you with all spéede to lay holde on Gods worde and to embrace the Gospell our religion but also the dreadfull dolefull horrible and most desperate deathes and endes of the cruell persecuting murthering Papistes will terrifie and feare you any longer to holde with the Pope or to followe his detestable and damnable doctrine Many of the Heathen haue onely bene wonne to become Christians by séeing the constant and pacient suffering of the Martyrs and will you that professe to be Christians be wonne to Papistrie by their crueltie and tyrannie and by their dreadfull horrible and desperate deathes I beséeche you therefore for the loue of God as you professe your selues to bée Christians so heare dayly and followe the lawe of Christ by whom you are called Christians But some of you haue saide that we may haue too many Sermons and too much talking of the Scriptures if wée may haue too many Preachings of the word of God which will guide vs to Heauen then you maye haue too many Masses which will leade you to Hell And if you thinke it is good to heare twentie Masses in a daye which worke your damnation then we thinke it is godly to heare one or two Sermons in a day that will worke our saluation Therefore if you will be Christes shéepe then muste you heare Christes voyce and his voyce is no where else to be heard but in his Gospell There is no lawe can teache vs Christs will better then his owne lawe that he spake and gaue vs hym selfe As no lawe can teache the Popes wyll and pleasure better then the Popes lawe so no lawe can teache vs better to please Christ and to performe his will then his owne lawe the Gospell If we ment to be Papistes wée woulde not followe the Gospell but the Popes lawe then if you meane to be Christians followe not the Popes lawe but the Gospell But howe can you followe the Gospell when you refuse to reade it or howe â—an you heare Christs voyce when by no meanes you wil heare the Preachers of Gods word that vtter Christes voyce That is such a fault in you that hath kept you in errour and will kéepe you still in blyndnesse Perhappes you will say that our Preachers doe preache heresie and therefore you will not heare them But how do you know they preache heresie before you doe heare them it were méete you shoulde heare them before you doe blame them But suppose that you had the true doctrine and that our Preachers should preach false doctrine then what néede you refuse to heare them preache or to reade their workes or writings for you shoulde sooner confute their heresie with your true doctrine than they shoulde allure you from your true doctrine to their heresie What néede a true man feare to heare a lyer speake of that thing he knoweth he shall sooner take the lyer in a trip than the lyer can make him beléeue his lie why should a wise man doubt to heare a foole talke for the wise man should rather deride the fooles folly than therby be allured to be a foole Therefore if your Religion be the launterne of light as some haue not sticked to call it and our religion the doctrine of darknesse then the light of your doctrine would soone bewray the darknesse of our doctrine And so the more you shoulde heare it the more you would despise it and the more you shoulde reade it the more able you would be to confute it As he that is in a faire goodly swéete beautiful bryght house néede not doubt to goe into a darke euill fauoured stinking dungeon least he shoulde be allured to tarrie there still and to forsake the faire and trim house euen so if your doctrine be good and true and the beautie and light of all other religions then you néede not feare to heare our Preachers of heresie and reade our bookes of false doctrine least you should be seduced thereby and forsake your owne true doctrine for as the vyle darke and stinking dungeon would rather enforce him that is in it to abhorre it and quickly to goe from it making him further in loue with the trymme bryght and swéete house so woulde our wicked and false doctrine if it were so make you further in loue with your owne true and godly doctrine But for that disdainefully obstinately and wilfullye you refuse to heare our Preachers and to reade our bookes it shewes that you doubte your owne doctrine that you are determyned to dwell styll in your errour and that purposely you wyll not come from darknesse to lyght nor from falshood to trueth But bycause we are most sure that our Religion of the Gospell is right and true and your Papisticall religion is most erronious and false wée willingly reade your bookes without anye feare to bée allured from our doctrine Nay we reade them desirously for that we are sure to confounde you with your owne bookes and writings And therfore Iulianus the Emperour and Apostata commaunded that the Christians should not be trained vp in good letters saying that he the Philosophers were wounded with their owne feathers as the Pope would haue vs not to be brought vp in the knowledge of gods word least we should pearce him and his Prelates with their owne pykes But séeyng wée haue Gods worde whiche is the tryer of trueth and confounder of falshoode wée desire none other arrowes to wounde you wythall than the same you shoote at vs for wyth your owne dartes wée destroy your doctrine Your Popishe Religion is so erroneous so false so foolishe so childishe so vayne so ridiculous so tyed together wyth rotten thréedes so farre out of square so contrarie to Christes doctrine so wyde from the Apostles teaching so farre from the auncient Doctors meaning so repugnant to reason and so farre disagréeing with it selfe as before it doeth appeare that vtterly it doeth bewray it selfe A lyer had néede to haue a good memorie or else he wyll soone be taken in a trippe let a théefe premeditate his matter before hande neuer so well and cast
rebels in Ireland or not And whether you were sorie that the Quéenes Maiestie and hir subiects did vanquishe them or not And if you be suche English enimies then why shoulde England harbour hir enimies why should Englande foster hir foes why should England maintain them that mean hir mischiefe And why should our Quéene defend them that desire hir destruction Nay rather why doth she not cutte them off that woulde be a confusion to hir and to hir countrey The fewer such were in England the happyer were Englande the sooner they were rid out of Englande the better it would be for England And if there were none suche in England then God would be wel pleased with England Therefore they that wil not be true to the Quéenes Maiestie and to England God send them short life or soone out of England for England were better haue their roume than their throÌ„g their absence than their presence their death thaÌ„ their life Therfore to you I chiefly write that the diuel hath bewitched with Papistry that fond and ridiculous Romish religion whose blindnes I bewaile and whose follie I lament Consider I beséeche you if you be suche as before I haue described are you not then English Enimies your practises haue proued it your murmurings do manifest it youre disobediencie declares it youre obstinacie doth open it and some of your treasons haue tryed it Therfore how can you thinke wel of your selues that enuy the prosperous raigne of so peaceable a Prince that wishe the sorrowe of youre Soueraigne your selues and of al hir subiects that to haue your péeuish pleasure performed would haue the quiet state of your couÌ„try subuerted and that would prefer plant papistrie and displace the pure worde of God But if you be so wilful which is incideÌ„t to your religion y t you wil not yéeld y t you are English enimies yet I trust you will not deny y t you are English Romanists which is y t you haue English bodies and Romish harts wishing rather you had Romish bodies English harts so that it appéers though youre bodies be in EnglaÌ„d your harts are at Rome Therfore we shold be in good case to trust to such fellows to fight againste oure foes if néed were that haue their harts bodies so far asunder for if a souldior be in the field his hart at home he wil fight but faintly so I thinke we should find but faint-harted souldiors of such of you if it came to fighting nay I pray God you change not then your cowardly harts into couragious stomacks become furious fighters on our enimies sides against thys your owne country Wel thoughe oure Quéenes quiet gouerning of you hir merciful vsing of you hir longsuffring of you can not allure you to loue hir yet I thinke you would like hir a great deale the better vppon condition that she woulde giue you leaue to vse the Romish religion and to haue your Masses Trentalles Dyrges and Pylgrimages and suche trumperie without controllment Yea but that were as though Pyrates and théeues should say vnto their King or Prince if your grace wil giue vs leaue to spoyle whome we wyl to xoaue where we list and to steale what we can we wyll loue you and obey you or else we wil not or as thoughe schollers shoulde say to their scholemaister sir if you wyll giue vs leaue to play when we liste then we wil take you for our scholemaister or else we wil not do you not thinke that these are reasonable conditions for Pyrats and Théeues to make to their Prince or for schollers to make to their scholemaister of trueth as reasonable and more reasonable than yours that you would in this case require of thée Quéene and more méete to be graunted For if men did know that Pyrates and théeues had such a plackard of their prince then merchauntes would purposely prepare themselues to withstand them with strong ships wel furnished with men and munition and woulde goe in greate fléetes togither And also true men would make theÌ„ strong houses hauing guns and crossebowes to withstande the théeues whereby the Pyrates and théeues might come to there cost and be killed and the most harme that Pyrates and théeues could do were but to take their worldly goods and perhaps their liues from them hauing no power to hurt their soules And the schollers that should haue suche a license of their scholemaster should themselues haue the worst which when they were men woulde bewayle that for vain vnprofitable play that lasted but a while they had lost most profitable learning which they mighte haue had all their liues But if the Quéenes maiestie should graunt your condition that is to vse Papistâ—ie and Idolatrie at your pleasure that were such a commission for the Diuell against you hir subiectes that thereby he woulde destroy you both body and soule for euer Whose guns Ingins and dartes you were neuer able to resist and all for wante of Gods word which is our chiefest armor and defence against him And so of hir grace you woâ—lde demaunde your owne destruction If hir maiestie had graunted that condition in the first beginning of hir raigne to all that would haue required it I am sure that thousandes at this day had bin blind and ignorant Papists that ar now perfit protestaÌ„ts profâ—ssors of the Gospell and hir most faithfull and louing subiects for though hir godly orders and restraint hath not brought all from Papistry yet I am certaine that of them it hath diminished a great sort For as some of you are altogither wilful and obstinate and wil not heare the word of God so some againe are more tractable and come to the Church wher they hearing the word of God are brought from their blindnesse And further if the Quéene shoulde grant you this libertie and suffer you not to haue or heare the word of God according to your desires then hir grant would be the cause that you should be vnhappy for Christe sayeth Blessed are they that heare the worde of God and keepe it nowe if all they that heare the worde of God are not happye but they that kéepe it then all they that heare not the word of God must néedes be vnhappy and so your desire of your Prince is to be vnhappye and they that are vnhappy are not the children of God then they must néeds be the children of the Diuel and thus you woulde loue or like wel of your Quéene so that she would giue you leaue to be the children of the Diuel But perhaps you wil saye that you doe not despise the word of God nor disdaine to heare it but you would heare it of such as you like of and not of our Prechers is that al you can saye verye well I am sure that our Preachers appointed by the Quéens maiestie do preach saluation only by the death of Iesus Christ to such as do beleue in him they teach that good workes are
most necessarie as true tokens and signes of a perfecte faythe they crye out againste sinne they perswade the Quéenes subiectes to obey loue hir maiestie all which I am sure agrées with the worde of God but if your preachers that you should heare preache contrarie that is that you maye be saued by some other meanes as by Masses Trentals Dirges or by the Popes pardons and if they wil animate and bolden you to disobey your lawful Quéene and soueraigne and wil preache remission of sinnes to all men that will fight in the Popes quarrel whether it be right or wrong yea thoughe it be against their owne King or countrey you may cal it y e word of God but I am out of doubt it is the doctrine of the Diuel Therefore the premisses well wayed and considered if you shoulde require at the Quéenes hande to vse fréelye the Romishe religion without checke or controlemente truely you know then no more what you aske of hir grace than the sayd Pyrates or théeues do know what they aske of theyr kyng or the fonde Schollers of theyr Schoolemaister But if the Quéenes maiestie could not haue your loue but vppon that condition then she were better to haue your hatred in denying you than your loue in graunting you But what if a king shoulde graunt such a libertie to Pirats and théeues as Mogallus did once king of Scots and the scholemaister to his schollers might not wise men iudge that the one were more méete to be a Cobler than a King and the other more fitter to be a Crow-kéeper than a Scholemaister yes truely But though you would moste gladly haue such a libertie yet at hir graces hands you are neuer like to haue it which you know wel ynough for hir grace is too wise and too goodly to grant for vncertain loue a certain mischiefe For if hir highnesse should graunt you this libertie y t is to vse your Romish religion fréely only to haue your good wil and loue would you then loue hir vnfainedly I hardly beléeue it for it wil skant stand with your religion to loue faithfully a pure Protestaunt who euer he be which loues gods word yea though he liue neuer so godly nay perhaps therefore you wil hate him the more for if he be a Papist indéede that is a sound perfect Papist he wil not stick to carry fiâ—e faggots thrée or four myles yea and further if néede be to burne a Protestant though it be his brother sister or the nearest kinne or beste friend he hath or else an haulter to haÌ„g him withal Therfore you may say what you wil but surely I thinke that you wil neuer loue hir hartily vnlesse she should become a Papist whiche the Lord forbidde or vnlesse you become Protestants which I beséech God to graunt Is not this a godly religion trow you that bréedes such charitie in your brestes making your harts so warme that you can finde in your hartes so to warme your Christian brother that neuer after he shall féele any cold That same religion is it that hath taught you neyther to care for king nor Countrey that religion is déepe in your breastes that hath wrought this in you is it not worthy to be embrased followed and honored that teaches true subiects to be vntrue to their prince and that perswades men to be foes to their Countrey you may loke a good while in gods worde or therby you can learne any such lesson Therefore howe can youre doctrine bee good that maintaines suche mischiefe Wherfore I beséech you be not wilfully blind but open your eyes and willingly sée flie vnto gods worde that will only teache you truely and cleane not to the Pope for he wil teach you falsely I remember that Christ sayeth that we must forsake father and mother sister and brother and cleane vnto our wife but I neuer reade in any part of the Scriptures y t we must disobey our prince refuse hir laws hate our country wish or procure our Princes death and cleane to y e Pope whose law is as cleane contrary to Gods word as black is too white euil to good and as the diuel is to God King Dauid was no Papist as appeared by hys obedience for if he hadde bene so King Saule when he was priuily with him in the caue I beléeue had not escaped so as he did but he being a pure Protestante be not angrye bycause I call him so for he fauoured Gods word wold not lay his hands on him or hurt the Lords annointed yet he was as heire apparaunt then to the croune and was King after the death of King Saule Nowe if worthy Dauid being such a great estate woulde not hurt a wicked King being his enimie and one that sought his death but honored and obeyed him then why shoulde any of you to him farre inferior procure or wishe any harme or disobey your most louing mercifull and peaceable Princes that tenderly loues her subiectes and carefully defendes them being the chiefe and onely proppe staye and pyller of our safetie quietnesse and florishing common wealth I beséeche God kéepe hir from being in such a snare with some of you as King Saul was with his seruant Dauid For then your close meaning would be openly spyed I feare hir grace should not finde then halfe the fauour at your handes as you haue founde mercie at hir handes for you that are of the Popes Religion would not thinke it an offence as godly Dauid did to hurt the Lordes annoynted For the Pope is so farre in your Bookes that you thinke there is no offence but that he can pardon and that nothing is an offence that woulde please him So that to please him withall where he bids you strike you will not sticke to kill and to kill where he commaundes you woulde thinke you did a godly Acte yea if it were the ruler of a Realme As though he had a commission to kill Kings and others at his pleasure Marke how the Pope and king Dauid differs The Pope will blesse you pardon forgiue you though God will not and reward you for killing them that neuer did him harme But King Dauid caused him to bée killed that killed his mortall enimie King Saule yea and that at King Saules request Now which of these two were of the better Religion thinke you the Pope or King Dauid which of them wyll you choose though you loue the Pope neuer so well yet I hope you will not vtterly cast off king Dauid Gods Prophet Therefore by Christes doctrine choose the better of them who saith you shall knowe them by their workes Nowe it plainely appeares that herein the doings of king Dauid is better than the Popes vnlesse murther be better than mercie then if Dauids doings bée better then Dauid himselfe is better and thus to conclude if you would followe the better and leaue the worse then you must followe Dauid and forsake the