a Fox in all things and to deal sincerely in nothing I shall allege the words of the Authors that write of this matter Certain Heretics say they to the number of Eighty were burned in Argentina in Switzerland for that they denied Fornication to be any sin at all for that it is a natural act and that it was as lawful to eat flesh in Lent as at any other time c. 26. Behold what holy Martyrs these were and whether it be likely they were burned by Pope Innocentius seeing they were burned in Argentina Consider also that of Eighty he there maketh a Hundred by the art of Exaggeration and Multiplication Add likewise to these saith he Waldenses or Albigenses with a great number more to which number belonged Raymundus Earl of Tholose Marsilius Patavinus Gulielmus de Sancto Amore Simon Tornacensis c. Here if John Fox do take the Waldenses and Albigenses to be all one Sect as it seemeth he doth by his using the word or and adjoyning the Earl of Tholose as belonging to them both then is it both false and great ignorance also in him For that the Waldenses otherwise called the poor men of Lyons began about the year of Christ 1160 or 1180 as other men write before Innocentius III. came to be Pope Their beginning was by one Waldo a rich Citizen of the Town who giving all his Wealth to a certain Community or Brotherhood of Men whom he called the poor men of Lyons made a Society of them with certain Rules after the form of a Religious Confraternity as Aeneas Sylvius describeth pretending Holiness at the beginning and with that pretence went afterward to Rome and demanded an Approbation of that Society from Pope Lucius as testifieth also Vrspergensis who was then present in Rome and saw them But the Pope seeing certain Superstitions among them refused the same Wherewith they being offended began to cry out against the Pope and therewith to defend divers Errors and most absurd Heresies whereof as some are held at this day by the Protestants so divers are not nor will John Fox I presume defend them As for Example these that follow noted generally by all Authors that write of them 27. I. That all Carnal Concupiscence and Conjunction is lawful when Lust doth burn us II. That all Oaths are unlawful unto Christians for any cause whatsoever in this World because it is written Nolite jurare Do not swear Mat. 5. Jac. 5. III. That no Judgment of Life and Death is permitted to Christians in this life for that it is written Nolite judicare Mat. 7. Luc. 6. IV. That the Creed of the Apostles is to be contemned and no account at all to be made of it V. That no other Prayer is to be used by Christians but only the Pater Noster set down in Scripture VI. That the power of Consecrating the Body of Christ and of hearing Confessions was left by Christ not only to Priests but also to Lay-men if they be just VII That no Priests must have any Livings at all but must live on Alms and that no Bishops or other Dignitaries are to be admitted in the Clergy but that all must be equal VIII That Mass is to be said once only every year to wit upon Maundy-Thursday when the Sacrament was instituted and the Apostles made Priests For that Christ said do this in my remembrance to wit say they that which he did at that time IX Item That the words of Consecration must be no other but only the Pater Noster seven times said over the Bread c. X. By all which and other Articles to the number of thirty three Condemned by the Church which Prateolus and others do recount a man may see that as these Heretics agreed with Protestants in some Points so did they dissent in many more Yea held divers points of Catholic Religion against Protestants together with these Errors And consequently I see no reason why these men should be gathered up by John Fox as choâ—en Members of that Protestant Church but for that they have no other and yet will needs seem to have some And thus much for the Walâ—enses 28. The Albigenses were another Sect of Heretics rising some thirty or forty years after the Waldenses under Innocentius III. Anno Domini 1216. And their beginning was at a Town called Albigium in the Province of Tholosa Who albeit in some points they agreed with the said Waldenses yet as all Sects are wont to do they differed greatly in many other Articles and grew so fast in number as Caesarius saith that in a little time they infected a thousand Cities and great Towns round about and had an Army of 70000. fighting Men to defend their Heresie For which Cause also they called help from the Moors in Barbary but yet were overcome by the Catholic Army that was not above 8000. as Historiographers do write the Captain whereof was the most Christian Prince Simon of Momfort And after this Battel given the most part of those Heretics were Converted by St. Dominicks Preaching 29. The Points that these Men held besides the denial of the Popes Supremacy Purgatory Prayer for the Dead and some other such Articles wherein they agreed with the Protestants of our days they held also many other Articles wherein they disagreed both from the Protestants and us As for Example I. They held with the Manichees that then were two Gods one good and another evil and that as the good God created the Soul so the evil created the Body II. They denied all Resurrection of the Body And that it was in vain for Christians to use any kind of Prayer at all or to have Churches for that purpose Seeing it profiteth nothing all things being irrevocably determined by Gods Providence III. That external Baptism was an idle Ceremony and to be rejected as superfluous IV. That mens Souls did pass from one to another yea through Beasts and Serpents And that God Created no new Souls from the beginning of the World but changeth them only from Body to Body c. 30. These and many other such like Beastly absurdities of theirs are recorded by the Writers of those times and namely by those here quoted And more then this their soul wicked behaviour is related to have been so abominable as Christian modesty doth scarce permit to be repeated as for Example of doing their easement upon the Altar and making themselves clean with the â—all and Corporals thereof Their abusing the Body of a Strumpet upon a high Altar in despight of a Crucifix that stood there whose Ears Nose and Arms they cut off and then tying a Haltar about his Neck they drew him most scornfully about the Streets of Tholosa c. and other like And these are the Saints gathered up by John Fox to frame his new Church 31. And for that all the rest that do ensue in his Catalogue of particular Men of his
I know my self to have been ignorant in that which indeed I knew not And finally S. Paul to the Hebrews maketh this plain when giving a definition of Faith he writeth thus Est autem fides substantia sperandarum rerum argumentum non apparentium Faith is the substance or ground of things hoped for in the next life and an argument of such things as be not apparent or manifest to humane sense or reason Thus teach they And the matter is clear in it self and confoundeth the politic vain heads of our days who will believe no more than they see or feel or can comprehend by their own understanding 21. But now concerning the causes of this difficulty or obscurity in matters of belief the same Fathers do assign 2 or 3 for principal The first is the heighth and sublimity of the the articles and mysteries themselves that are to be believed which being of God's Secrets do surpass the base capacity and reason of man. As are for example the creation of the world of nothing the trinity of persons in one nature of divinity the incarnation of the Son of God and his birth without violating his mothers virginity the resurrection of our bodies the being of Christ in the Sacrament and the like which human reason cannot reach unto tho' they be not contrary to it but above it Another cause is as S. Ambrose noteth the Majesty of Almighty God who will be believed at his word without being asked for proof or reason for the same For if saith he a grave honorable personage in this life especially if he be of high authority and our superior will take it in disdain to be asked a proof for that he affirmeth how much more ought God to be credited without proof of human reason when he proposeth unto us a matter above our reach or capacity 22. The third cause is that which before I touched that Man might merit more by believing that which he seeth not evident according to the Saying of Christ to S. Thomas Quia vidisti Thoma credidisti beati qui non viderunt crediderunt Because thou hast seen Thomas thou hast believed but happy are they that have not seen and yet have believed And for all these causes if we consider the matter well we shall find that God hath proceeded strangely to man's eye from the beginning of the world in revealing the mysteries of our Faith unto us discovering his will on the one side with infinite testification of his love and desire that we should know them and yet on the other side with such reservation in those revelations as the matter might still be difficult hard or obscure in some respect and this for the greater merit as hath been said of the believer As for example before the flood he appeared to divers Patriarchs from time to time causing them to preach and open to others his will and the truth of that Faith which they were bound to believe but yet he appeared not to all in those days which he might have done if he would and thereby have made the matter more clear and out of doubt but he would have them believe others by words and tradition And the like manner of proceeding he used after the flood with Abraham Isaac and Jacob for instruction of their posterity And then again four or five hundred years after that when he determined to bring the Hebrew people out of Egypt and to give them a written Law he appeared not evidently to all the people but chose Moses to send unto them in his name and spake to him out of a fiery bush at the beginning and at other times out of a cloud on the top of a hill All which things had still their doubts and difficulties for him that would wrangle or had not good will to believe and credit them 23. And finally when the Son of God came himself in flesh to preach tho' he used many and sufficient Arguments to draw men unto him and believe the Mysteries revealed by him as in the next Point shall be shewed yet used he the same course notwithstanding that had been used before for neither appeared he to the whole world as he might have done by his Divinity and Omnipotency but to those of Jewry only nor there to all nor did he work Miracles in every place but where he thought expedient Nor when he rose again from death which is a Point principally in this matter to be considered did he appear to all men or publickly in the Streets of Jerusalem as he might have done and thereby have made his Resurrection clear and out of controversie but he appeared only to his Apostles and Disciples which he expresseth in these words Hunc Deus suscitavit tertia die dedit eum manifestum fieri non omni populo sed testibus praeordinatis à Deo nobis qui manducavimus bibimus cum ilio postquam resurrexit à mortuis Et praecepit nobis praedicare populo testificari c. God hath raised up this his Son from death the third day and gave him to be made manifest not to all the people but unto such as were pre-ordained beforehand by him to be witnesses thereof that is to say us that did eat and drink with him after his Resurrection and to us he gave commandment to preach and testifie to the people c. 24. Behold here the reason why Christ after his Resurrection did not appear to the whole people in Jewry but to his Apostles and Disciples only who were his appointed witnesses to testifie and preach the same to others to the end their Faith might be of more merit according to his former speech to S. Thomas Happy are they who have not seen and yet do believe And for the self same causes we may not doubt but that these his apparitions and manifestations which are recounted in Scriptures to have been made by him at divers times in sundry places and upon different occasions during his abode on earth for the space of forty days after his Resurrection which apparitions arrive to the number of 13 or 14 were made in such particular manner by him as the Scripture recounteth them First to those godly women then to the Apostles then to the disciples going to Emaus and after that to others All I say were so made as still remained place for our free will to merit in believing them and divers did doubt at the beginning as the Scripture saith and Christ was often forced to reprehend their coldness and backwardness in belief as when he said O stulti tardi corde ad credendum O you foolish and slow of heart to believe And at his last departure from them Exprobravit illis saith S. Mark incredulitatem eorum duritiem cordis quia iis qui viderant eum resurrexisse non crediderunt He did exprobrate unto them their incredulity and
Glasconiam irradiat Be glad England for that Rome sendeth Health to thee and Apostolical Brightness doth lighten Glastonbury Which could not well be spoken if the coming of these Saints and first Inhabiters there had not some relation to Rome and to the Apostles that sent them 3. Moreover I find in the ancient Chronicles of the Helvetians and sundry Authors as B. Rhenanus in his Story of Germany yea and Pantaleon an Heretic and others do testifie That one Suetonius a Nobleman's Son of Britanny being converted in Britanny by such Christians as first planted the Faith there and called after his Baptism Beatus was sent by them to Rome to St. Peter Apostolorum Corypheo as the Story saith that is to the chief Head of the Apostles to be better instructed and confirmed who returning backward again from Rome towards Britanny through Switzerland found such flocking of People unto him and such propension to Christian Religion as he stay'd continually among them and built himself an Oratory to exercise a Monastical Life there near unto a Town called in their Language Vndersewen not far from the Lake of Than where he dy'd about the year of Christ 110. And for that this man apply'd himself to a Monastical Life and brought the same purpose with him out of Britanny as it seemeth the conjecture is not improbable but that he was converted and sent to Rome to St. Peter by St. Joseph and his Fellows that followed the same Life in Britanny and that they had particular correspondence with the said Apostle in that behalf 4. And thus much being added for confirmation of that which was said and discussed in rhe former Chapter about the first Preaching and Receiving of the Faith in Britanny there remaineth now that we see the Objections which Sir Francis and his Men and Masters do bring against this to prove that the first Teachers of Christian Faith in Britanny were rather Grecians and of the East Church in Asia than of the West Roman Church For which Assertion having no Author at all that ever wrote thereof nor any man living or dead that hitherto ever affirmed it beside themselves or before Luther's days they are forced to build their whole imagination I mean Sir Francis and his Master Sir John Fox and Fox his Masters again Illyricus Vigandus Judex and Faber that make the Quadrillio or Round-Table of the Magdeburgtans in Saxony upon this bare Conjecture and fond Inference That for so much as in Bede's time some in Britanny observed the day of Easter after the fashion of some East Churches for all did not so use it therefore it was like that the first Preachers of that Island came not from Rome which these men cannot abide to hear but from the East as though forsooth this abuse might not have entred after those first Preachers though they had come from Rome But let us hear their words about this matter 5. First Sir Francis writeth thus Bede our Country-man doth testifie that in his time this Land kept Easter after the manner of the East Church by which may be gathered that the first Preachers came hither from the East-parts of the World and not from Rome Mark I pray you the Knight's good gathering Might not a man as well argue thus That divers Reliques of the Pelagian or other ancient Heresies were found in some parts of Britanny in Bede's time Ergo The first Preachers in Britanny were Pelagians or other Heretics But let us hear John Fox who taught Sir Francis this Argument though the other were not so grateful a Scholar as to name him I take saith he the Testimony of Bede where he affirmeth that in his time and almost a thousand years after Christ here in Britanny Easter was kept after the manner of the East Church in the Full of the Moon what day of the Week soever it fell on and not on the Sunday as we do now whereby it is to be collected that the first Preachers in this Land have come out from the East-part of the World where it was so used rather than from Rome 6. Here you see the Argument more fully set down and the same foolish Collection made that was before For except it could be proved that this Error of keeping Easter-day with the Jews had begun and endured in Britanny from the Apostles time downward which cannot be shewed but rather the contrary is certain as after you shall hear this Collection is not worth a rush And it is to be noted by the way that as Fox cannot tell any Tale lightly without some notorious Lye so here be two very manifest The first that St. Bede affirmeth this Custom of keeping Easter with the Jews to have been here in Britanny in his time as though all Britanny had used it whereas in divers places he doth attribute the same to the Scots that dwelt in the Island of Ireland principally as also to some of them that dwelt in Britanny and to some Britans themselves but all the English Church was free from it So as John Fox his Speech of Britanny in general is both false and fraudulent But the other clause That St. Bede testifieth this for almost 1000 years after Christ is foolish and impudent seeing it is notorious that St. Bede dy'd in the year 735 which is almost 300 years short of Fox his Account and consequently could not testifie a thing so long after his death But this the Reynard juggleth to make St. Bede seem to be a late Writer whom they cannot abide for that he setteth down the Beginning and Progress of our Church far different from theirs 7. But I think good to put down also the words of the Magdeburgians about this matter out of whom Fox took his Argument and the Knight of the Fox to the end it may appear how one Heretic teacheth another though of different Sects to cavil lye and cogg and do agree all in one Spirit of Malignity though they differ in Opinions Thus then these Captain Lutherans do write of this matter in their famous lying and deceitful Centurial Story Quis fuerit qui primùm in Britannia Evangelium docuer it c. Who was the first that taught the Gospel in Britanny is not clear the thing that seemeth nearest to the Truth is that the British Church was planted at the beginning by Grecian Teachers and such as came from the East and not by Romans or other of the West-Church And to this we are moved by two Conjectures First That Peter Abbot of Cluniack writing to St. Bernard saith That the Scots in his time were wont in old time to celebrate Easter-day after the manner of the Grecians and not of the Romans And secondly for that Geffry the Cardinal who lived about the year of Christ 700 doth testifie in his Story of Britanny lib. 8. cap. 4. That the Britans would in no wise admit the younger Augustin Legat of Gregory the Great
the first an earnest Lutheran the other two Zwinglians 14. All these demonstrations I say King Henry made this year of his Catholic Opinion and Judgment in all points except in matter of Supremacy which was his own Interest And for the other six years which he lived afterwards he vary'd not from this but rather confirm'd the same as we may see by his burning of Anne Askew for denying the Real Presence in the Sacrament not many months before his death and by his own hearing of Mass in his bed and receiving the blessed Sacrament on his knees when he was not able to stand on his feet but especially by that which Bishop Gardiner testified while he lived and preached the same in a public Sermon at Paul's Cross that the said King not long before his dying day when he sent him Embassador to a Diet in Germany gave him special Commission in secret to procure by the means of some Catholic Princes and of the Pope's Legat and Nuntio there some honorable condition for his Majesty's reconciliation with the Pope and See of Rome again which tho' God of his secret Judgment permitted him not to effectuate by the shortness of his life yet appeareth it by this what his sense in matters of Religion was 15. So then now we have that Catholic Church and Religion continued in England during King Henry's Reign both in Prince and People tho' much turmoil'd by Faction Schisms and Heresie wherein notwithstanding she no more lost her possession and continuance than she did in time of the raging Arians Donatists or other Sectaries that prevailed in power for the present time either generally or in some particular Provinces as Lutherans and Zwinglians also did in King Henry's days in divers places or do at this day which yet was and is so as they are easily distinguished from the other not only by the Divisions and Differences among themselves but also for that the Union of the Catholic Religion doth ever shew it self in some Regions adjoyning yea commonly also even in those very places where these Sects do range and bear most rule some Catholics do remain to contradict them openly and to plead for their old possession and the greater the Persecution is the greater and more eminent is this Catholic contradicting part stirred up and increased by the very Power and Vertue of the Cross of Christ in Persecution as before hath been noted 16. And this was the state of Catholic Religion in King Henry's Reign to wit that it was held and defended publicly except only the Article of Ecclesiastical Supremacy denied to the Pope whereunto notwithstanding many thousands of the Realm never agreed and consequently were truly Catholics Heretics also were punished especially those three Sects that principally ranged at that time to wit Lutherans Anabaptists and Zwinglians all three taking their Origin from Luther so as of all these three Sects King Henry burned many and albeit of the fourth sort of men that opposed themselves against him to wit Catholics he put divers also to death under the name of Papists yet both this very Name as also the different manner of their Deaths but above all the nature of their Cause doth evidently distinguish them from the other and shew that their Deaths were true Martyrdoms and the others due Punishment for their Wickedness 17. For first the name of Papists that signifieth them to hold with the Pope as Supreme Head of their Church importeth no more hurt or offence than if any Sedition moved within any Realm those that hold with the King should be called Kinglings or those for example that hold part with the Mayor of London when any Apprentices would raise Rebellion against him should scornfully be called Mayorists and generally for a man to hold with his Lawful Superiour cannot be termed a Faction and much less an Heresie 18. Secondly the very difference and manner of punishment used by King Henry towards both parts the one by Fire the others by Beheading and Hanging doth evidently shew what difference he made of them the one as of Heretics and the other as of men offending against his State and Person after he had made the Supremacy Ecclesiastical to be a matter of his State and of his Royal Dignity whereby also he shewed that he was no Gospeller 19. But now for the third point which is the most important of all the rest to shew the difference in these mens Causes and that the Catholics suffered innocently for their Conscience and consequently were true Martyrs and that the other sorts of Sectaries were punished deservedly as Malefactors it is not hard to prove to him that is of any mean consideration or indifferency in matters For first who will not grant but that he that is an honest and good man when he goeth to bed for example cannot easily be made an evil man in his sleep without any motive of his affection or free will at all And again He that is a good and true Subject towards his Prince and Countrey this day how can he well to morrow be judged a Traytor the highest sin of all other if in the mean space he change not his mind nor do any act of word or deed contrary to that he did before And yet this was the Cause of the Catholics put to death under King Henry for the Supremacy 20. As for Example Sir Thomas More was Prisoner in the Tower of London upon some displeasure in the year 1534 where he attending only to his Prayers as himself testifieth and to the Writing of some Spiritual Books pertaining to the contempt of this present transitory World there passed in the mean time a Statute in the Parliament-house appointing that whomsoever did not believe the King's Majesty to be Supreme Head of the Church of England in causes Ecclesiastical should be a Traitor and suffer death for it which seeming a new and strange thing unto him and contrary to the belief of all his Forefathers he could not so soon conform himself thereunto and consequently refused when he was demanded to subscribe to the Statute and to make so great a change in his Faith upon the change of others for which soon after he was put to death not for that he had attempted altered or innovated any thing as you see but for that he would not alter and make innovation And this was the proper true cause of all Catholics that suffered for the Supremacy under King Henry VIII 20. But on the contrary side the others that were put to death by him as Sectaries did wickedly and presumptuously alter and innovate of their own heads many things about Belief and Doctrin different from that which they had received and contrary to the Belief of all their Forefathers ancient Christians for many Ages together and that with such obstinacy as no Reason Authority Discipline or Order no Witness Human or Divine could prevail with them and albeit for this obstinacy
Arundel Shrewsbury Paget and others they all died Catholicly and most of them in this Queens days when with much favour of the State they might have shewed themselves Heretics 40. And thus much for the Reign of King Edward after whom Queen Mary succeeding restored Catholic Religon to her seat and ancient possession again which having endured only five years it pleased God to give another trial and probation to his Servants by a new alteration in the beginning of her Majesty's Reign that now is but yet not so forsaking them nor their Cause but he left sufficient testimony in our Realm at that time what Religion had born rule unto that day and how and when the change began For first of all the Bishops and chief Prelates of the Realm not only resisted this mutation but most of them suffered Imprisonment or Banishment for the same as London Winchester Durham Carlisle Worcester Lichfield Ely Lincoln Peterborough Asaph Chester tho' some few other were not at first put in Prison but detained only in Custody and deprived as York Exceter Bath and Wells I will omit other principal men as Deans and Archdeacons of Churches as Dr. Cole of London Dr. Steward of Winchester Dr. Robinson of Durham Dr. Setland of Worcester Dr. Rambridge of Litchfield Dr. John Harpesfield of Norwich Dr. Joliff of Bristol Dr. Boxall of Windsor Dr. Nicholas Harpesfield of Canterbury Dr. Dracott of York Dr. Peter of Buckingham Dr. Cheasey of Middlesex and many others which were over-long to rehearse all I omit also Dr. Fecknam Abbot of Westminster and the two learned Priors of the Carthusians Chasey and Wilson and many other Religious Men that left their Livings and the Realm not to be forced to yield to this change Which multitude of learned Witnesses not to speak of infinite others of less degree being the chief throughout all Shires of England where they dwelt did well shew by their constant profession unto their dying days what root and foundation Catholic Religion had in England at that time and hath yet I doubt not as after shall be shewed 41. And albeit in these forty years and more that have endured since the beginning of this change the Temporal State of our Realm hath for our sins been opposite and enemy to this Religion with full intent to extirpate and extinguish the same yet such is the everlasting force of Truth and so faithful is the holy Providence of Almighty God for defence thereof in times of most need and pressure that the Catholic Faith and Profession thereof hath never been more eminent and illustrious in England than in this time of so grievous affliction there having been above an hundred Priests not to speak of others of other Degree that have made profession thereof at the Bars and Benches of most of all the Tribunals and Judgment-seats of England and have sealed also their Confession with most willing offering of their Blood. 42. And indeed that which is most rare and worthy noting in this affair is that most of them were born and bred in England during the time of her Majesty's Reign and were brought up in the Religion that now is professed within the Realm divers of them also had study'd at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge where they had heard the adverse Part alledge for themselves what they could and themselves had read and examined with no small diligence what grounds the Protestants had for their Opinions which being done they went over the Seas to hear and see the Catholic Party and so resolve themselves more substantially in such matters as nearest concerned their eternal Salvation wherein being throughly satisfied in all their doubts they passed further and became Priests and so returned into England again to impart to others the hidden Treasure of Truth which themselves had found out And albeit divers of them were of that Kindred and Parentage and so qualified also in themselves that they might have lived both wealthily and at their ease if they would have followed the World and present course of Times yet made they choice rather to fall into manifold Dangers Imprisonments and Death it self than to forsake the truth of Catholic Religion or forbear to communicate the same to others which is another manner of ground and foundation for their Constancy than John Fox recounteth in many of his Martyrs who upon toys became Protestants and of meer ignorance and obstinacy went to the Fire for the same as namely Joan Lashford a married Maid as he saith of twenty years old that took aversion from the Mass when she was but eleven years old upon very good grounds you must imagin in those years of her Age as also Agnes Potten and Joan Trunchfield the Wives of a Beer-brewer and Shoe-maker of Ipswich resolved to go to the Fire upon a certain Vision that one Samuel a Minister told them that he had in the Prison with them And upon the same ground it seemeth another Wench called Rose Nottingham embraced the said Minister and kissed him in the street as he went towards burning 43. Andrew Hewit in like manner an Apprentice of London of nineteen years old determined to die with John Frith then in the Tower of London for the Opinions that he would die for tho' yet he did not know what his Opinions were William Hunter also another Apprentice of London and of the same age of nineteen years running away from his Master and finding an old English Bible lying in the Chappel of Burntwood fell to reading thereof and thereby presently became a Protestant in divers Opinions and would needs burn for the same Rawling White likewise is recounted by Fox to have been an old poor Fisher-man in Wales and hearing of a certain new fresh Doctrin to be had out of the Scriptures in English and grieved that himself was not able to read them he put his little Boy to School to learn to read who being somewhat instructed in that Art he caused him to read Scriptures unto him and profited so much therein within a little time that the old Fisher-man began to be a Preacher and so leaving his Occupation went up and down Wales with his Boy after him bearing the Bible out of which he took upon him to preach at every Town and Tavern thereof seeking thereby to pervert such as were no wiser than himself nor could he be restrained from his wilful folly until the Bishop of Cardiff apprehended him whom afterward also he was forced to burn for that he stood obstinate in his fantastical Opinions which were such as scarce agreed with any Sect whatsoever And finally Laurence Sanders a famous scarlet Martyr of theirs being a married Priest and seeing a little Bastard of his brought to him in Prison by the Woman that bare it he was so tenderly affected thereunto as in great vehemency of spirit he said to the standers by What man of my Vocation would not die to
make this little Boy legitimate and prove his Mother to be no Whore 44. And of this I might give infinit Examples out of John Fox what substantial grounds and motives many of his Martyrs had to run to the Fire or rather how without all ground or probable reason in the world but only wilful Pride and Obstinacy most of them thrust themselves to death no less than in old times did the Massilians Montanists Circumcellians and Martyrians most famous Heretics upon the like madness as after we are to shew more at large in the third Part where I am to treat of these matters more particularly and to give you if I be not deceived large matters of laughter or rather of compassion in this behalf Now this shall be sufficient to shew both the great number and respective quality of domestical Witnesses for the Catholic Faith and continuance thereof in our Countrey during the time of this sharp Persecution under her Majesty and that never more than in this time hath the Catholic Church been perspicuous honorable and eminent in our Realm which is altogether contrary to that which John Fox ascribeth to his Church whose Invisibility Obscurity and lurking from the eyes of men he both granteth and excuseth by the presence of Persecution against her whereas we hold on the other side that the true Church and consequently Ours is ever more visible and notoriously known in time of Affliction and Persecution than in Peace 45. And so we have shewed by Example of our English Church especially in this present Age wherein not only domestical sufferings at home have come by Fame Books and Writings to the knowledge of Foreign Nations and thereby also the notice of so many worthy constant Catholics that are within the Realm but whole Troops also both of English Men and Women in Exile for their Consciences do represent the same daily to their eyes as it were by a lively spectacle to the wonder of the Christian World. But above all the rest they must needs be greatly moved with the sight of whole Companies Families and Communities of English of both Sexes of tender Age and those for the most part of very principal good Birth and Parentage that have come forth of our Countrey for the love of Religion and lived with great Edification in other Nations partly in Colleges and Seminaries partly in Religious Convents and Monasteries yielding great admiration to strangers for their rare Vertues of Piety Patience Contentment and Devotion And as for Colledges and Seminaries those of St. Omers and Doway in Flanders of Rhemes in France of Rome in Italy of Valliadolid Sevill and St. Lucars in Spain and of Lisbon in Portugal do sufficiently testifie And as for Monasteries both of Men and Women they are not unknown as that venerable Company of English Carthusians in Mechlyn the honorable Religious Houses of English Noble and Gentlewomen in Bruxells Lovain and Lisbon whose rare Vertues do singularly edifie all those that know them and greatly illustrate the Name of our Countrey for Religious Piety with Foreign Nations All these I say do bear witness at this day to the whole World and to us also that God be thanked the fire and fervor of Catholic Religion which Christ came to plant upon Earth is not extinguished by so long and grievous Persecution in our Countrey but rather increased at least in Intention as Philosophers do speak tho' not in Extension 46. And truly when I consider the matter more seriously with my self I doubt much whether England if it had continued Catholic had ever enjoy'd such excellent Education for their Youth at home as by occasion of this Tribulation God hath given them abroad in Foreign Nations Certainly the Example is rare and never heard of in former times and at this day the like is seen in few other Nations besides Us but in none of those that have suffered for Catholic Religion is this Blessing found so abundantly as in Ours God make us grateful for it for if our Ingratitude turn not the course of his Mercies hitherto used towards us it seemeth evident that he will not suffer the Seed of Catholic Religion to be extinguished in England having conserved the same so potently and strangely unto this day which is from the first preaching of the Apostles and Apostolic-men to the Britans unto the time of Pope Gregory I. under whom our English Nation was converted as hath been declared and from thence again downward unto Us which is more than a thousand years and so I doubt not but he will to the Worlds end if our sins deserve not the contrary And this shall serve for this first Part containing the Deduction and Continuance of Catholic Religion in England without interruption for more than fifteen hundred years together Now will we pass to the second Part to examin the same Succession in Protestants Religion throughout all these Ages if it may be found making our Conclusion as after you shall see That as our Religion entred first and hath never left England unto this hour so the Religion of John Fox in the form that he would have it was never yet admitted into England publicly by any Prince or Potentate whatsoever until this present day nor ever like to be And this shall serve for the first Part of our Treatise The End of the First Part. The Second PART of this TREATISE CONTAINING The SEARCH after the Protestants Church From the beginning of Christendom to Our Days The ARGUMENT HAving declared in the former Part of this Treatise how the Faith of Christ was first preached to the Britans at two several times and then to the English Nation and all by Roman Preachers and that the same Faith hath continued from Age to Age in a visible conspicuous Church until our days there remaineth now that we examin in this second Part Where the Protestants Church was in all this time and whether they had any at all And if they had of what sort of men it consisted and whether it were the same with the Church before-described or partly the same partly different or whether they could stand together being opposite in any one point of Faith Moreover whether the one did persecute the other or might be reconciled or agreed together And finally what is the state of the one and the other at this day For examination of which points we shall have occasion to run over again with more advice all the former sixteen Ages from Christ downward and therein to see and consider What Church either flourished or prevailed throughout every Age either Ours or that of John Fox and which of them is likeliest to have come down from the Apostles As also Whether that Church which was visibly founded by the Apostles and put on foot by them and theirs could perish or vanish away to give place to another And these are the principal Points of this second Part discussed in the Chapters following
for a time Brentius as appeareth in his Confession of Wittemberg and some others of that Sect. But this Opinion of Luther did not long please his Followers for that Ph. Melancthon his chief Scholar did soon after teach the contrary viz. That the Church was visible to the eyes of men also And the Magdeburgians do hold the same defining every-where the Church to be a visible Company of Men. Which going back of the principal Lutherans in this point it being done by a certain Consultation had thereof among themselves as Fredericus Staphylus the Emperor's Counsellor that had been one of them affirmeth was some Cause perhaps that Calvin coming presently after them took upon him to defend the same Doctrin again saying Nobis invisibilem c. We are forc'd to believe the Church to be invisible and to be seen only by the eyes of God. Lo Calvin putteth necessity in this point of Belief 13. The Causes that moved the chief Lutherans to go back from their first Opinion about the invisibility of the Church were principally the apparent Evidences and Demonstrations which Catholics do alledge both out or Scriptures Fathers common sense and reason for overthrow of that most fond and ridiculous Paradox And first out of holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament these men being not able to alledge any one place where the Name of God's Church is applied to an Invisible Congregation the Catholics on the contrary side pressed them with many most evident Texts of Scripture where it was and is used for a visible Company of Men as that in the Book of Numbers ch 20. Cur eduxisti Ecclesiam Domini in solitudinem Why hast thou brought the Church of God into the Desart And again in 3 Kings ch 8. Convertitque Rex faciem suam benedixit omni Ecclesiae Israel omnis enim Ecclesia Israel stabat c. The King turning his face about did bless all the Church of Israel for that all the Church of Israel was present c. Which places and many the like cannot possibly be understood of an Invisible but of a Visible Company 14. And much more if we consider the speeches of Christ and his Apostles in the New Testament as these words of Christ Dic Ecclesiae si Ecclesiam non audierit c. Tell the Church and if he hear not the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen or Publican But if the Church were invisible neither could a man complain to the Church nor hear the Church Moreover St. Paul exhorteth the chief Pastors of the Ephesians to attend diligently to their charge Acts 20. In quo vos Spiritus Sanctus posuit Episcopos regere Ecclesiam Dei In which the H. Ghost hath placed you as Bishops to govern the Church of God. But how could they being visible men govern a Company that was invisible not to be seen 15. And yet further when St. Paul and St. Barnabas went up from Antioch to Jerusalem the Scripture saith Deducti sunt ab Ecclesia c. They were brought on their way by the Church of Antioch and when they came to Jerusalem suscepti sunt ab Ecclesia they were received by the Church And yet further ascendit Paulus salutavit Ecclesiam Paul went and saluted the Church c. All which places cannot agree possibly to an invisible Church and yet that this was the true Primitive Church of Christ no man can deny 16. And finally when St. Paul doth teach Timothy his Scholar 1 Tim. 3. Quomodo oporteat conversari in Domo Dei quae est Ecclesia c. How he should converse and govern the House of God which is his Church Columna Firmamentum Veritatis the Pillar and Firmament of all Truth Ibid. All this I say had been spoken to no purpose if the true Church of Christ were invisible for how can a man converse in a Congregation which he cannot see or know or how can the Church be a Pillar and sure Firmament of Truth to resolve all Doubts and Questions that may fall out about Scriptures Articles of Belief and Mysteries of Christ's Religion if it be an invisible Congregation that no man seeth discerneth or knoweth where or how to repair unto it nor who are the persons therein contained 17. And lastly not to stand longer upon this matter that is so evident in it self and plain to common sense and reason if the true Church of Christ be a Society not of Angels Spirits or Souls departed but of Men and Women in this life that must be governed or govern therein how can they be invisible And if they must have Communion together in external Sacraments and namely in Baptism and participation of the Body of Christ if they must profess the Name and Doctrin of Christ externally to the World as also to be persecuted and put to death for the same if all men must repair unto them and those that be out of the Church to enter and be received therein and those that be in her to be resolved of their doubts to lay down their complaints to be governed and directed by her and finally to obey her under pain of Damnation how can all this be performed if she be invisible to man's eyes and only seen by the eyes of God 18. To alledge Fathers and Doctors in this behalf were both endless and needless for that all of them every-where almost are occupied in setting forth not only the Visibility but the Splendor also and Greatness yea the multitude and external Majesty of Christ's Church throughout the World in their days and only St. Augustin may serve for all who dilateth himself every-where in this Argument shewing how the little Stone prophesied by Daniel was grown to be a huge Mountain and terrible to the whole World and that the Tabernacle of Christ which is his Church was placed by him in the Sun to be seen of all and that it was a City upon a Mountain which none could be ignorant of and other like Discourses founded on evident Scriptures Whereby is refuted not only the first shift of Luther and Calvin making the true Church of Christ invisible but also the second of these latter Lutherans who tho' overcome with the former proofs do grant the Church to be a visible Company yet do they deny it to be that external conspicuous Succession of Bishops and Councils which have been most eminent in the known Christian Church from the Apostles downward but rather to be some few obscure and contemptible people which they call the Elect that have lived or lurked from time to time in shadows and darkness and known to few or none 19. But this second device is more fond than the former for where shall a man seek out these hidden Fellows to treat with them or to receive Sacraments at their hands how shall they be known how may they be trusted whence have they
to divert these Prophesies from the true Antichrist and apply them to certain Bishops of Rome do beat their heads how to devise out some new Expositions of these numbers never heard or thought of before And namely John Fox more fondly than the rest will have the number of 42 Months to import 294 years that is every Month to signifie seven years or as fantastically he calleth it a Sabbath of Years For proof whereof having neither Authority nor any one Example of Scripture he confirmeth it by a Revelation of his own as after you shall hear 10. His device therefore is That the 1000 years wherein Sathan is said in the Ayocalypse to be ty'd up must begin as you see after the said 294 years of Heathen Persecution were ended So that the loosing out of Sathan against the Church again must fall in the year of Christ 1294 when Bonifacius VIII was chosen Pope or as the Monks Prophesie was upon the year 1260 when Antichrist was born Which is both contrary to that he said before that he was loosed about the year 900 as also that the Popes Gregory VII and Innocentius III. by Sathan's help no doubt overthrew the Church about the year of Christ 1080 or 1215 For if that Sathan was bound and not loosed until the year of Christ 1294 how could he overthrow the Church before 11. Wherefore all these new Interpretations of the words of the Apocalypse are but fantastical devices of wrangling Heretics seeing the ancient Fathers do interpret all these things far otherwise And first they put the binding up of Sathan for 1000 years there mentioned before the other number of 42 Months given to Antichrist to work his will and do say that the said loosing of Sathan began from the very Death and Passion of Christ when the power of Sathan was bound according to the saying of Christ himself in St. John's Gospel drawing near to his Passion Now the Prince of this World shall be cast forth And secondly they do interpret these 1000 Years not to signifie any certain time but generally to signifie all the whole course of time between the death of Christ and the coming of Antichrist three years and a half before the Day of Judgment according to the ordinary phrase of Scripture As for Example Quod mandavit Deus in mille generationes God hath commanded his Precept to be kept for a thousand Generations that is to say to the Worlds end and not for any certain time And again in Job If a Just man should contend with God he cannot answer him one for a thousand 12. This then is the ancient Interpretation of holy Doctors quite contrary to these new fancies of John Fox whose Expositions are both contrary to himself as in part you have seen and opposite to the words and sense of Scripture it self For whereas first these 42 Months importing by his Account 294 years were given to Sathan to work his will against the Saints of God the Scripture saith they were given to the Beast that is to say to Antichrist by the Dragon and not to the Dragon himself And secondly whereas he would needs have the 42 Months to signifie 294 years the Scriptures do expound them by 1260 days which make just three years and a half as hath been said 13. Thirdly Fox shall never find any place or example in Scripture where the word Month either in Greek or Latin doth signifie seven Days Weeks or Years as in Daniel the Greek word Hebdomada doth and may by its proper signification And yet is John Fox so fond and resolute in his device as all other proofs and probabilities failing him he will needs confirm it by a Revelation from God which he recounteth in these words following 14. Because the matter saith he being of no small importance greatly appertaineth unto the public utility of the Church and lest any should misdoubt me herein to follow any private Interpretations of my own I thought good to communicate to the Reader that which hath been imparted unto me in the opening of these Mystical Numbers in the foresaid Book of Revelation contained by occasion as followeth c. 15. As I was in hand with these Histories c. being vexed and turmoiled in spirit about the reckoning of these Numbers and Years it so happened upon a Sunday in the morning lying in my Bed and musing about these Numbers suddenly it was answered to my mind as with a majesty thus saying inwardly within me Thou Fool count these Months by Sabboths as the Weeks of Daniel are counted by Sabboths The Lord I take to witness thus it was Whereupon thus being admonished I began to reckon the 42 Months by Sabboths first of the Months and that would not serve and then by Sabboths of Years and then I began to feel some probable understanding Yet not satisfied herewith eftsoons I repaired to certain Merchants of my acquaintance of whom one is departed a true and faithful Servant of the Lord the other two yet alive and Witnesses hereof to whom the number of these foresaid Months being propounded and examined by Sabboths of Years the whole Sum was found to surmount to 294 years containing the full and just time of the foresaid Persecutions neither more nor less c. 16. And thus you have the Revelation made to John Fox which he saith that he relateth unto us for that we shall not misdoubt the truth thereof nor think that he followeth any private Interpretation of his own but that it came from God immediately And this is the first Dream of John Fox in his Bed. And the second ridiculous point is that he went to three Merchants to confer this Revelation and that they approved the same The third point is open Folly where he saith that this number of 294 containeth the full and just time of the first Persecution of Christians under Pagan Emperours neither more nor less which before hath been confuted and is evident in it self seeing that from Christ to the Victory of Constantine against Maxentius there are assigned by Eusebius 318 years and yet did not this Persecution of Christians cease then neither but continued under Licinius and other Tyrants for divers years after See then how just these Numbers fall out neither more nor less All which being considered I find no one thing so true or credible in all this Revelation as those words of the Spirit unto him saying Thou Fool for that this maketh him a Fool indeed by Revelation And so much of him and of this whole matter of binding and loosing Sathan and Reign of Antichrist Now let us return to the continuation of our Conference with John Fox about his Church 17. The deduction of the Catholic Roman Church from William the Conqueror downward unto John Wickliff's time is no less easie and clear but rather more than the former deduction from Christ to the Conquest for that the Church was now more spread and