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
wine to a muche excellenter condition than they were before but so as they shoulde lose none of their former vertues but that they shoulde haue stil their colour thicknesse waight tast and all other their accidents And these their accidentes forsooth were the thinges that Maister Harding saieth that Christe came to saue Oh that euer a man that hath learning and knowlege discretion wit or vnderstanding and that professeth himselfe to be a Christian shoulde either in earnest or in bourde write or affirme any such thing for Christ came to saue mans soule that was lost But now let vs weigh to what more excellent condition or state y e bread wine is brought more than they were before vnlesse he ment they were changed into a sacrament which is not the marke he here shootes at they haue the same colour taste weight bignesse smel fashion nature vertue of bread and wine as they had before And this he saith Christ came to saue for feare belike they should al else haue flowne or gon away But would al these haue remained stil if y e substance of bread wine had bin gone can a man take a pot leaue the weight y e colour the bignesse y e thicknesse the length y e bredth the fashion behinde this passeth all Aristotles learning no no if you take away the fire you take away also y e brightnesse heate of the fire For if the brightnesse colour and heate of the fire remayne theÌ„ the fire remaynes also Call you this changing of theÌ„ bread and wyne into a more excellent condition or as you meane into a more excellent matter of substance this your changing of the bread wine into the body of Christ and as you say into a much more excellent condition is lyke as thoughe one shoulde saye to a poore lame leane cryple sytting in the colde with nothing but a shirte on his backe sirra by that time I haue sayde certaine words ouer thée thou shalt be a goodly strong faire and well liking King and when he hath spoken the wordes yet the colour length bredth weight proportion fashion lamenesse leanesse and the shirt and all to sée to of the lame cryple is there as was before doe you thinke the man is gone and left all these things behynde hym you may make fooles beléeue so if you wyll but I thinke if one aske all these accidentes whether the lame cryple were gone or no they woulde aunswere him and saye that the same criple is there as he was before Yea and woulde bée angrye with hym that made him such a King He myght well say to him that made him such a King but for the name of a King he were as good be a poore lame leane cryple as hée was before and myght also say that he coulde make such a King himselfe Euen so the least childe that is may quickly make suche a bodye of breade as you make Therefore thinke not but that the substaunce of breade and wyne remaynes still though as Saint Augustine sayeth they are changed into an other thing which is into a holy Sacrament which is a signe of Christes death and a pledge lefte vs of Christ that he will come agayne at the laste daye and yet the verye substaunce of breade and wyne remaines still A garland of Iuie before it be hanged out of a tauerne is nothing else but a garlande of Iuie but when it is once hanged on a pole out of the Taruerne then it is chaunged into an other thing than it was before for it is a signe that there is wyne to sell. Notwithstanding it is styll a garland of Iuie But if one woulde bée so fonde as to saye that the same garlande of Iuie that hanges out of the Tauerne is the verye wyne it selfe that is in the Tauerne there is none woulde beléeue hym that is wise Euen so I muste counte you most fonde and foolishe that take the Sacramentall breade and wyne to bée the verye bodye and bloud of Christe which are signes and tokens of the bodye and bloud of Christ. But some of you haue sayde so fayne you woulde haue a Christe of a Cake what dyd not Christ at a marryage turne and chaunge Water into Wyne and why myghte not he then turne the Sacrament into his bodye forsooth and well sayde you haue broughte such an argument for the prouyng of your Christ of breade as I wyll desire none other for the ouerthrowing of your Christ of bread Christ you say turned Water into Wine Ergo Christ turned the Sacrament into his bodye If you coulde proue the one aswell as wée can proue the other wée shoulde agrée better herein than wée doe but marke howe your owne weapon y t should wound your enemie doth kill your selfe Christ by a wondeful myracle at a marriage in Cana of Galile turned water into wine but the Pope and euery one of his Chapleynes tagge and ragge by your sayings doe a greater myracle than Christ did for they turne a péece of bread into the body of Christ. Nowe you shall sée whether Christes myracle and the Popes myracle are like or not nay in all wyse mens eyes it shall appeare that Christes turning of the water into wyne was a great myracle but the Popes turning of bread into y e body of Christ is no myracle for the water that Christ turned into wyne was very pure and good wine in colour taste and smell and had all the qualâ—ties of perfect and excellent wine but the bread after the Priestes as they say haue turned it into the body of Christ is very bread still in colour in smell and in taste and is neuer a whit changed and hath all the qualities of bread as it had before So that if Christ had turned the water no better into wine than the Priestes doe turne their bread into the body of Christ the Iewes would haue drunke none of Christes wine they woulde haue bidde hym drinke it himselfe and might haue sayd but for the name of wine one were as good to drinke faire water But if the Priestes did turne the bread into the verye body of a man with head face body armes legges and féete as all men haue and that we might sée it and féele it as the Iewes did the wine that Christ made of water then many woulde a great deale the better beléeue them For séeing manye doe nowe beléeue them a great sorte moe woulde then beléeue them Which if they shoulde doe yet for all that no godly or wise man woulde beléeue that it were the verye bodye of Christ but y t it were some other fantasticall body wrought by the power of the Diuell For thoughe by myracle one creature may be changed into an other contrarie creature as Christ turned water into wine which were two contrarie creatures yet a creature by any meanes can not be turned into Christ our Creator both God and man But whereas Christ turned water
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
impossible Therfore as the Iewes were worthily plagued for going from the word of the Lorde in committing suche wicked Idolatrie to a golden Calfe euen so assure your selues for your contemning and refusing the Gospell and for committing this moste detestable Idolatrie to a Cake of bread making it your Christe that you shal receiue the gréeuous plagues before rehearsed or greater in this world and after your deaths euerlasting torments in hel fire suche as no tong can expresse or hart can thinke vnlesse you repent vnfainedly flye from your Romish doctrine moste spéedily and embrace Christes Gospel right thankfully whiche is the pure doctrine of Christ and law of God thoughe many of you moste blasphemously call it Heresie Therefore right earnestly I desire you and most humbly beséeche you to cease from worshipping a Cake on earth and fall to the honoring of Christ in heauen Thus you maye sée if you wil sée that youre Popishe Masse and your Transubstantiation or turning or chaunging of the bread into the body of Christe by Gods worde is confounded by the Doctors confuted and by naturall reason cleane ouerwhelmed which you counted y e most truest and holyest parte of the Romish religion besides that it is a most diuelish detestable and damnable doctrine which robbes God of his glorie Christe of his merites and you of youre saluation Hitherto you may perceiue that the Popes and their doctrine doe not muche differ for as the Popes were moste wicked and diuelish so their religion is most erronious and pernitious So that howe can you thinke well of your selues and how can you take your selues to be méete members of Englande that for to haue this abhominable Idolatrous and monstrous Masse againe planted here you seeke or wish the supplanting of our prince the ouerthrow of our Nobilitie the sorrowe of our Communaltie the confusion of our Country and the ruine of the whole realme of England wherefore with all spéede of English enimies becom English friends to be defeÌ„ded by the power of England and to be nourished in England And séeing that I haue proued vnto you that your Masse is a gugaw not a Iewell a poyson not a preseruatiue a confusion not a consolation and a guyder to Hel not a leader to Heauen Nowe you shall heare what proper things the Popes pardons are to please you withall as your yong children are pleased with Babies but I would to God his pardons did hurte you no more than the Babies doe the children for the Babies doe stil them when they crye and make them mery hurte them not but the Popes pardons please you here for a while to displease you euer after I may compare the Popes pardons to a counterfaite Priuiledge as if a false suttle fellowe to get mony withal should write a large Priuiledge from the Prince counterfayting the Kings seale wherein he sheweth that the King hath giuen hym licence and whome hée shall allowe to steale without daunger of any lawe and to haue no harme therefore thoughe they be taken with the manner where vppon many giue him money to be priuiledged thereby to steale and think it to be no counterfaite but a true priuilege from the Kyng whereby they steale boldelye but are hanged therefore sodainely and though they alleage for themselues at the gallowes and shewe their aucthoritie to steale from hym that had the counterfaite Priuiledge and say that hée had money of them for it yet al that wil not serue but they are hanged for their stealing Euen so the Pope maketh you beléeue that he by his power and auctoritie from God may pardon whom he list for whatsoeuer offence they commit but whatsoeuer he say he hath no such Priuilege from God therfore his is but a counterfaite Commission which he like a false harlot hathe inuented onelye to get money whose wordes you so credite that you beléeue that God himselfe solde his Commission wherevppon you thinke that Commission from God is so cocke sure that you gyue hym mony for his pardons whereby you thinke you are not onely pardoned of all your sinnes and as cleane as when you were newe borne but also that you maye fréely commit what sins you wil assuring your selues for money therfore at anye time to be pardoned at the Popes handes yet we must not say but that your religion doth restraine men from sin and our religion of the Gospell doeth giue libertie to sin but how true it is herein you may sée if you be not blinde but when you are deade if before you haue not a better pardon of God without money than you haue of the Pope for money you are like to be hanged in hell with the Popes pardons about your necke And then the Pope bringeth you into a worse case than they that were hanged for stealing by a counterfaite Priuiledge But marke the mischieuous crafte of the Pope all the wares that he selleth you as his Masse Trentalles Dirges and pardons and al other his trumperie are such that by iust tryall in this life you cannot comptroll them or say they haue not pleasured you excepte you looke in Gods worde whyche hée kéepeth safe ynoughe from you for the tryall of hys wares whether they do you good or not is after your death whereby he is sure you can not come backe agayne to chyde or checke him for selling to you such deceitfull wares He promiseth and selleth you great and woÌ„derfull things that are to be tryed after your death but he doeth not promise and sell you things of smaller force and waight that maye be tryed duryng youre life I warrant you he wil not sell you any Pardons or Priuiledges that steale as ofte as you wil you shall neuer bée hanged or putte to death therefore that eate as muche as you will you shall neuer surffet or be sicke of it drinke as much as you wil you shal neuer be drunk and spend what you list you shal haue neuer the lesse mony in your puâ—â—e and yet these are easier things for him to promise and perform than to giue vs the kingdom of heauen y t deserue the kingdom of hel thaÌ„ to saue vs from our spirituall hanging in Hel though we neuer so much robbe God of his glorie and though we offend neuer so much yet still to be pardoned and cleane clensed from sinne Wherfore you may wel suspecte nay firmely beléeue that his pardons and other wares that he so boldly sels you are naught bycause they are such as you can not reproue before you be dead and for that he neuer offers to sel you any thing that you may trie whiles you are aliue For he knowes full well that if hée should sell you a priuiledge that though you eate neuer so much or what meate soeuer you eate you shoulde neyther be sicke or surfet thereby yet when you were sicke or did surfet by eating of it wherof you should be sure then you would say that his priuiledges were naught not
and hée sayde yea and if you thynke it be not wel then mend it Then Rose Allen sayd mend it nay the Lorde mend you and gyue you repentaunce if it bée hys wil. And nowe if you thinke it good beginne at the féete and burne to the head also for he that set you a worke shal pay you your wages one day I warrant you And so she went and carryed hir mother drinke as she was commaunded The saide Rose Allen being asked of one howe she coulde suffer the painefull burning of hir hand she saide at the first it was some griefe but afterward the longer she burned the lesse she felte or wel néere none at all Thus you may wel perceiue that the Gospel that shée professed was and is the true religion and that she tooke Gods quarrel in hand or else the Lord would not haue giuen hir this wonderfull patience and haue strengthned hir and mitigated hir paines in the burnyng of hir hande as he did Byshop Bonner he mighte be called Bishop Burner wel ynoughe caused a blinde Harpers hande to be burned with a hote burning coale whiche blinde man saide that if euery ioynt of him were burned yet he trusted in the Lorde not to flye Marke here agayne I beséeche you a wonderfull and straunge example not only of the great constancie and patience of one Thomas Hawkes that was burned for his professing the gospel of Christ but of the manifest proofe therby that the cause he died in was iuste and true and that God did myraculously assiste him and mitigated his torments in the flames of the fire This worthy member of Christ Thomas Hawkes was burned for witnessing the worde of God at a Towne in Essex called Coxhall A little before whose death certayne of his friends priuily desired that in the mids of the flames he woulde shewe them some token if he coulde whereby they might be more certaine whether the paine of suche burning were so greate that a man might therein kéep his minde quiet and pacient whyche thing he promised them to doe And so secreatlye betwéene them it was agréede that if the payne myghte bée suffered then hée should lifte vp his handes aboue his head towardes Heauen before hée gaue vppe the Ghost And when hée was broughte to the stake to be burned there mildely and paciently hée addressed himselfe to the fire hauyng a straighte chaine caste about his middle after whose feruent prayers made vnto God the fire was set vnto him in the whiche when he continued long and when his spéeche was taken away by violence of the flame his skinne also drawne togither and hys fingers consumed with the fire so that al men had thought certainely he hadde béene dead sodainely and contrary to expectation the saide blessed seruaunt of God beyng mindfull of his promisse before made reached vppe hys handes burnyng on a light fire which was maruellous to behold ouer hys head to the liuing God and with greate reioysing as it séemed stroke or clapped them thrée tymes togither At the sight whereof there followed suche an outcrye of the people and especially of them whiche vnderstoode the matter that the like commonly hathe not béene hearde And so this blessed seruant of God strait way sincking down into the fire gaue vppe his spirite Thys myraculous burning of the saide Thomas Hawkes was in the yere of our Lord. 1555. These wonderful examples of the Gospellers suffring so patiently of their dying so willingly of the holy Ghoste speaking in them so abundantly of their maruellous constancie of Gods strengthning them so mightilye and hys working in them so myraculouslye that if before I had not sufficiently proued the Pope to be the childe of Sathan and your Romishe religion to be the Diuels Doctrine is sufficient to winne you to God to allure you to Christe and to embrace the Gospel our heauenly and true religion to obey your Prince to loue your Countrey and nowe with great desire to become english friends But if there be any of you so deluded by the diuel so incensed by Sathan and so bewitched with papistrie that neither any thing before written can moue you nor these maruellous examples of Gods mercifull and wonderfull protecting boldening teaching strengthning fauouring comforting assisting and defending of his seruauntes the professors of the Gospell cannot allure you then I beséeche you for I can goe no further let these fearfull faithlesse horrible dolefull and desperate deaths of the persecuting and murthering cruell Papists with their mockers and scorners of Gods word and reuolters and shunners from the Gospel that folow feare and terrifie you any longer to persiste in youre erronious and most pernitious Papisticall doctrine least you be made the instrumēts of his wrath as they were Now therfore marke them well and as you like their deaths so followe their liues And as I saide before that the Martyres of the Primitiue Churche and our persecuted Protestantes suffered all alike were patient all alike and were loued ayded and strengthned of God all alike and therfore all of one religion So the tyrannous persecutors of the Martyres long since and the Papisticall persecutors of the professors of the Gospel since that time haue died desperately horribly diuelishly and dolefully all alike and haue hadde Gods wrath and vengeaunce all alike and therefore were all of a wicked and diuelish religion And for that you shall not thinke that the Papisticall murtherers and persecutors died more godlye than they you shal sée the godly ends and deaths of some of them both And firste I will shewe you some examples of the tyrannous persecutors in the olde time of the professors of the Gospell Herod that murthered Iohn Baptist and condemned Christ was condemned to perpetuall banishement where hée dyed miserably Pylate vnder whome Christe was crucified was apprehended and accused at Rome deposed then banished to the Towne of Lyons who at length dyd kil himselfe Antiochus a tormentor of the Christians fell downe from his iudicial seate crying out whose bowels burned within him and so he dyed Decius that cruell persecutor of the Christians bothe hée and his sonne were slaine of enimies in battell The Emperour Valerian a cruell persecutor of the Christians wente not without hys rewarde therefore for Sapores the King of the Persians tooke him prisoner and vsed him for his blocke when he got vpon his horse Maxentius that greate persecutor of the Christians fell off on a bridge wyth his horse and his harnesse whyche brydge he had made for Constantine the Christian Emperoure and so be was drowned Marke the endes and death of these persecutors of the Christians Dioclesian poysoned himselfe Maximinian was hanged Seuerus was slayne by Maximinian Lucinus was slaine by Constantine Thus these persecutors of the professors of Christes Gospel neuer liue quietly nor yet dye godly Galerius the Emperour of the East parts a great persecutor of the Christians was therefore plagued of GOD wyth a
wonderful sicknesse and an incurable disease for he hadde a sore risen in the nether parte of his belly which consumed his priuie partes from whence swarmed greate plentie of wormes whyche disease coulde not be helped with any surgerie or phisicke according to the promise of God wherefore he confessed that it happened for his crueltie towarde the Christians who slew hymselfe not able to abide the stenche of his owne sore Suche hathe béene is and wyll be the gaine and ende of them that persecute Gods people Beholde here a wonderful example of God shewed vpon thrée periured persons for falsely accusing the aged and reuerend father Narcissus the seruaunt of God and a pure professor of Christes Gospell whiche Narcissus was of the age of a hundreth thrée score and thrée yeares and Byshop of Ierusalem The one of them that were hys accusers wished to be destroyed with fire the other to be coÌ„sumed with a grieuous sicknesse the third to lose both his eies if he did lye whereby the godly and guiltlesse man went and liued in a solitarie and desert place a great while But God that is a iuste reuenger of wickednesse and a defender of his innocent seruants punished them al thrée according to theyr owne wordes The first by casualtie of one little sparke of fire was burned with his goods and al his family The second was taken with a greate sickenesse from the head to the féete and deuoured by the same The thirde hearyng and séeyng the punishement of the other confessed his fault But through great repentance powred oute suche feares with wéeping that he loste bothe hys eyes And thus as God iustly punished them for their periurie against the innocent seruant of God So God of late dayes hathe maruellously punished a great sorte of the Papists that cruelly killed murthered and misused Gods true and simple seruaunts for professing the Gospell And nowe as I haue shewed you howe God hath powred his vengeaunce on the tyrantes and persecutors of the holye Martyres that were persecuted long since before the wicked Popes so also I will expresse vnto you the miserable endes and deaths of some of the Papisticall persecutors since the tyme of the wicked Popes whose terrible and fearefull endes I beséeche GOD maye bée a sufficient warning for you A cruel wretche called Iohn de Roma a Monke hauing a coÌ„mission to examine suche as professed the gospel whom they call Heretikes vsed great crueltie towardes them He filled bootes with boiling grease and so put them vpon their legs tying them backward to a fourm with their legs hanging downe ouer a small fire so he examined them Thus hée tormented verye many and in the ende moste cruellye putte them to death c. But the sayde holye Monke as holynesse goeth with Papists by the iust iudgement of God fel sicke of a moste horrible disease straunge and vnknowne to any Phisition whose paines and tormentes being moste extreame coulde not be eased one minute of an houre with any ointment or any thing els whose steÌ„ch and sauor was so greate that came from hym that none coulde abide it neyther would anye of hys owne fréendes come neare hym wherefore hée was carryed to an Hospitall to be kept but the stenche and infection so encreased and was so greate that no manne there durste come neare him no more he hymselfe was able to abide the horrible smell that issued from hys bodye béeyng full of vlcers and soares and swarming with vermyne and so rotten that the fleshe fell awaye from the bones by péece meale And whyles he was in these tormentes he cryed oute often in greate rage Oh who wil deliuer me who wil kill and rid me out of these intollerable paines which I knowe I suffer for the euilles and oppressions that I haue done to the pore men he wente dyuers tymes aboute to destroy himselfe but he had not the power to doe it In these horrible tormentes and feareful despaire this blasphemer and moste cruel vexer tormentor and murtherer of the poore professors of Gods worde most miserably ended his curssed life Here you maye plainely vnderstande that this wicked Monke thoughe he were of the Popes religion hée was not of Gods religion for that the Lord thus plagued and tormentâ—d him shewing his verye cursse béefore mentioned euen an incurable diseaâ—e as hée didde to wicked Iehoram the sonne of good King Iehoshaphat And as the Monkes tormentes and end was like to the ende of Iehoram So he was like in crueltie and also in Idolatrie forsaking the lawe of God for the wicked deuises of men Also the Lord of Reueâ—â— chief President of the Parliament of Aâ—aâ— cruellye vsâ—d the professors of the Gospell and putte them to death who after was stricken with such an horrible sickenesse of furie and madnesse that hys wife nor any durst come neare him and so he dying in hys furie and rage was iustely plagued of GOD for hys vnmercifulnesse and crueltie shewed and done to the children of God The Commendator of Saint Anthonie of Vienna that gaue sentence of condemnation on the seruaunt of GOD Wolfgangus fel sodainely downe and dyed And the Abbot of Clarilocus his fellow stricken with sodaine feare at the cracke of guns fel downe and dyed Thomas Arundale Archbishop of Canterburie a persecutor of the Gospellers y t gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham for professing the word of God was plagued of God that hys tongue dyd swell that he could swallow no meat and so dyed And althoughe he gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham yet gods iudgemeÌ„ts were suche that he died two or thrée yeares before him A certain Bishop of Hungarie did runne about starke mad so rauing dyed miserably that tyed Hares Géese and Hennes about a Priest and then put dogges to him who chased him about the Citie snatching and catching at him what they coulde get whereof he dyed And thus the Priest was martyred for saying that the eating of fleshe is not forbidden by the Scriptures but this Bishop gayned nothing by thus martyring of him vnlesse Gods wrath be a gayne A Priest reuolting from the Gospel was sodainely killed by two gentlemen that oughte him euill will by the iudgemeÌ„t of god immediately after he weÌ„te out of prison from one Philbert that after was strangled and burned for the word of God To which Priest Apostata the sayd Philbert sayde oh vnhappie and more than miserable is it possible for you to be so foolishe as for sauing of a fewe dayes which you haue to liue by course of nature so to start away and deny the trueth know you therefore that althoughe you haue by your folishnesse auoyded the Corporal fire yet your life shall be neuer the longer for you shall die before And God shall not giue you grace that it shall be for his cause and you shal be an example to al Apostles And immediately the reuolting Prieste was slaine as soone as he went out of
God could not abide to heare that the Bible should be in Englishe who said in the presence of one Edward Hall a writer of the English storyes the reporter hereof swearing a great oth that if he thought the kings highnesse would set forth the Scriptures in English and let it be read of the people by authoritie rather thaÌ„ he would liue so long he would cut his owne throte But he brake promise saith Hall for he did not cut his throte with a knife but with an halter did hang himselfe One Doctor Foxforde Chauncellour to the Bishop of London a cruell persecutor and a common Butcher of the professors of the Gospell who was the condemner of all those which were put to death troubled and absured vnder Bishop Stokesley through all the Diocesse of London died suddenly sitting in his chaire his bellie being burst and his guâ—â—es falling out before him Thus you may plainely sée that God doth reuenge the wronges done to his children that paciently suffer all their tormentes deliuering them out of their enimies handes by death or other waies and paies them home at length for their hyre that so persecute and torment them But these cruell Papistes that wreake their malice themselues on the professors of the Gospel that do them no harme there is none to take their partes nor that can deliuer them hereafter when the Diuell shall torment them in Hell fire Marke well and consider the ende of that hautie proude Papisticall persecutor of Gods seruants in Quéene Maries time Steuen Gardiner then Lord Chauncellor of England who after so long professing of the doctrine of papistrie when there came a Bishop to him on his death bed and put him in remembrance of Peters denying his Maister he answearing againe sayd That he had denied with Peter but neuer repented with Peter and so both stinkingly and vnrepentantly died he knew then full well on his conscience that he had denied Christ and his Gospell in following the Pope and his Religion Therefore denie the Pope and repent with Peter least in denying of Christ you die vnrepentant with Gardiner Consider further the miserable end of one Twy ford a busie and diligent doer by Bonners appointment in setting vp of stakes for the burning of the seruants of God who when he sawe the stakes consume awaie so fast yea sayd he will not these stakes hold I will haue a stake I trowe that shal hold and so he prouided a big trée and cutting off the tops did set it in Smithfield but thankes be to God ere euer the trée was all consumed God turned the state of Religion And the same Twyforde fell into a horrible disease rotting aboue the ground aliue before he died Hofmaister the great Archpapist and chiefe maister piller of the popishe Churche as he was in his iourney going towardes the Counsell of Ratispone to dispute against the defendors of Christes Gospell suddenly not farre from Vlmes was preuented by the stroke of Gods hand and there miserably died with horrible roring and crying out His death doth shewe that the cause was not very good that he went to maintaine Fraunces Spiere fell into a maruellous desperation after he had recanted the worde of God as may appeare by his wordes death who could not be perswaded of Gods mercie by any man though many learned meÌ„ with Scriptures mightly moued him to repent but it could not preuaile but still cried when he heard any testimonie of the Scripture that nothing could saue him that had offended against the holy Ghost and in that manner pittifully died Marke also the end of a yong Gentleman called Maister Smith that first was a Protestant and an earnest professor of the Gospell and after allured to Papistrie who went to Louaine a fit nest for all Owles that hate the light where he was so noozeled that he became a perfect Papist And after returning into England he brought with him froÌ„ thence Pardons a Crucifixe an Agnus dei whiche Agnus dei he coÌ„monly did weare about his necke which when he wore he thought then he was false inough that neyther deadly sinne desperation nor Diuell had any power to hurte him But hée was deceyued as all other are that putte their trust in such trashe and refuse Christe and his holy worde For he notwithstanding his Pardons Crucifixe Agnus dei the Images before which he vsed to pray hanged himself in his chamber Consider I beséech you that this is not the end of such as turne froÌ„ Papistrie to the Gospel but it is the end or such like as appeare before as depart from the Gospell to Papistrie or shrinke from or denie the Gospell Therefore if Gods worde nor any other persuasions can win you let this and the other dreadfull examples feare you The burthen of conscience and desperation of mind happens chiefly to such as haue first embraced Gods word and the Gospell of Christe and do fall from the same to any other Religion or committe some grieuous and notable sinne learning by the same worde of God that it deserueth the great wrath of God so driueth them to desperation As may appeare by Iudas one of Christes Apostles who after he had betrayed Christe for moneye agaynst his owne conscience despayred of Gods mercie and so hanged himselfe And as may appeare by Fraunces Spiere and Maister Smith before mentioned who first professing the Gospell and after reuolting or shrinking from the same died moste desperately daungerouslie and dreadfully Besides many other whereof diuerse at laste haue notwithstanding bene comforted with the grace of God and so haue died very paciently and godly But I haue not redde nor heard that they that haue turned from Papistrie or any other Religion and receyued and followed this our Religion of the Gospell continuing in the same did euer fall into despaire or died desperately Which is a most infallible argument that this our Religion is true and your Papisticall religion and all other are false Marke wel I pray you what end William Swallow and Richard Petto came to that were troublers persecutors of one George Egles a true and constant professor of Gods worde The same William Swallow was shortly after so plagued of God that all the haire of his head and the nayles of his fingers and toes went off hys eyes were well neare closed vp that hée coulde scant sée the other Richard Petto vpon a certaine anger or chaufe with his seruantes was so suddenly taken with sicknesse that falling vpon his bed like a beast there he died and neuer spake worde Behold further and marke well for here is such a glasse for you to looke in that vnlesse you winke purposely or turne your faces backwarde bycause you will not sée you muste néedes whether you will or no graunt and yéelde that our religion is most true and that your Romish religion is moste false and that our doctrine doth worke our saluation