An Apologie of priuate Masse spred a broade in writing without name of the authour as it seemeth against the offer and protestacion made in certayne Sermons by the reuerent father Bisshop of Salsburie with an answer to the same Apologie set foorth for the maintenance and defence of the trueth Perused and allowed by the reuerent father in God Edmonde Bisshop of London accordynge to the order appoincted in the Quéenes maiestes Iniunctions LONDINI Mens Nouemb. 1562. ence before God and you to discouer certeine vanities of yours that the catholike church once your mother misliketh in you And so much the rather because god of his infinit goodnes hath called me backe againe from all suche lewde fansies by the godly instruction of the learned in the whiche I was ones so fully perswaded by euil bookes that all that time I neither regarded God nor good religion nor any good conscience besides And therfore trustynge to doo some good with suche as simplicitie without malice hath perswaded to stay consciens pricked me to giue the aduenture nothyng doubting but that God will bring that to a good ende the beginnynge whereof had no euill meanyng 1. Cap. â—gainst his refusall in the first Epistle to Dâ— Cole And to make mine entrie with you maister Iewell whiche are counted the greatest clarke on your side I meruell not a litle why you beyng reputed a man of such learnyng vtterly refuse to proue the doctrine you teache A. Allegyng very slender causes of your refusal that serue the contrarie side rather then yours Your vocation to so highe a rome the place where you taught the honorable estate of the audience which hard you the doctrine you taught auctorised by the realme as you alledge doo not vnburden you from the proufe of your doctrin but rather bourden you more to proue the same because your estate is now suche that is bounde to rendre accompte of that you teach Nor it is any dishonour to the realme if you be able to certiuÌ„e that by learning that they as you say haue passed by lawes nor want of discretion at all in you to teache them that wold so gladly learn at your hande For if a man may proue by conference of scriptures any article therin comprised either in the letter or by argument boulted foorth without anie dishonour to God or blemish to him that taketh the matter in hande as a man in déede may shall you counte the Realme dishonoured or want of discrecion in your self to proue suche doctrine as your selfe doo publishe because it is auctorised by man and by thassent of the Realme whiche in time of your baptisme assented to the contrarie as al other christian realmes did without any contradiction at all amongest the learned whereas in this assente as many learned clarkes well knowen to the worlde said nay and more to then hitherto hath sayd yea And if the chief proufe of your doctrine be the assente of this realme shall not other christian realmes that teache quite contrarie vnto you rest in doctrine auctorised by them and al christian realmes besides Here you ar driuen if you rest so stoutly vpon thassent of realmes to confesse that the doctrine taught here is trew because this realme hath auctorised it and the doctrine in straunge realmes is â—rew beyng quite contrarie to yours because by like reason the realmes ther hath auctorised it You haue no refuge in this case but to say that this realme folowed the scripture in suche doctrine as they aucthorised and that other realmes folowed not the scripture in auctorisinge the contrarie I am wel contented with your answere But where be the scriptures wherby the realme auctorised your doctrine You may not say it shall be greate dishonour to the realme to haue such scripturs knowne for want of discrecion in you to vtter them as you séeme to say in your letters Let vs know suche scriptures as your trust is most vppon to proue your doctrine by and we wil depart quietly And as all wise men will counte it the office of a discrete man either to stay such as stagger or to perswade suche as verily thinke otherwise So shall I not onely so thinke but also if you giue me good cause why yelde you greate thankes and my poore seruice to In your silence herein if you haue ought to saie you shall doo nothyng els but hide the candell vnder the busshel where as the order is to set it vpon the candelsticke to light all suche as are within the house If you haue no scriptures to lay for you then trouble our mother the holy catholike churche no longer You stande in negatiues you saye against priuate Masses and certaine other which as you pretende cannot be proued Haue wée not here good cause to maruell that you whiche studdie so maruelous reformacion of all doctrine to the touche stone of scripture will openly professe bearyng suche a personage in suche places of honour suche doctrine as can neither bee proued by scripture nor any other substancial record and all because it standeth in negatiues May not children in this sort deuise negatiues conteinyng false doctrine and when they are called vpon to proue it B. say they are not bounde to proue their assercions because they are â—egatiues This dare I be bolde to say Agaynst his stayinge vpon the negatiue â—f you had sentence or halfe sentence woorde or halfe woord in the scriptures â—lde doctoures generall counsels or example of the primatiue churche against priuate Masses al England had runge of it ere this day But you haue none as your silence importeth It were either great folly to kéepe that secret the whiche without any damage may doo good to many or meruelous enuie to enclose that without gaine which law and reason woulde haue to be commen Quicquid dando non deficit saieth sayncte Austin Quamdiu habetur non datur non dum habetur quomodo habendum est All that decay not by bestowynge as long as they are had and not bestowed they are not yet had as they ought to be had The lawes may in diuers speciall factes not restrained to time and place teach perhappes that a negatiue can not be proued But to say that a negatiue in doctrine as yours is can not be proued vpon only consideracion that it is a negatiue as your shifte is that I am well assured no learned man hitherto euer taught either in law or in any other science besides Ye the contrarie rather appereth in Logicke the whiche teacheth the generall groundes of all disputacions Where wée haue in euerie figure negatiue conclusions And for other short kinde of argumentes there are as many places dialectical of the negatiues to destroy as there are affirmatiues to builde on So that shifte of descant can not serue your turne Doeth not the scripture many times ioygne issue in the negatiue and proue the same Wée are not iustified by Moses law and so the like
Doeth not the Apostels proue it at large But for as much as you are not able to proue the negatiue I will no further trouble you therwith Yet when there is an affirmatiue imploied in the negatiue as there is here thoughe I discharge you of very gentilnes from the proufe of th one order of schooles will driue you to proue the other though it were in factes muche more in doctrine Your negatiue was 2. Cap. that there was no priuate Masse at all in the primatiue churche thus you say and shewe no cause why This terme priuate A distictioÌ„ of priuate whiche you in this place first inuented I meane Luthers schoole may be taken concerning this matter diuers waies One way priuate is contrarie to common A. to many And in this significacion wée neuer saied that any Masse was priuate For the catholike church euer taught that the Masse is a common or publique sacrifice restrained to none so but that the whole churche or any liuely membre therof had thereby great commoditée and might beyng prepared and well disposed bee partaker not onely of the common Praier and Suffrages offered vp to God in the Masse but also of the holy sacramente of Christes body and bloud therin consecrated and offered Wée neuer yet prisoned vp the holy Sacrifice of the Masse or the sacramente therin receiued or the vse of ani of them from any that disposed them selues godly If you had harde vs preache that the Masse is onely auailable to the priest or to princes or to vs of England or to them of Italie or to men and not to women or to such as are aliue and not to suche as are dead or to say that none ought to receiue the Sacrament but the priest you might haue charged vs that wée wente aboute to enclose that to some one sorte of priuate profit that ought to remaine in common for all sortes of people And in this wise wée neuer taught that any Masse was priuate But you haue the other significacion of this terme priuate B. That is the soole receiuynge of the Sacramente by the priest imbarrynge none to communicate with him yea rather reioysing if any would be so wel disposed to receiue with him And lamentynge when he séeth the people so euill disposed that none will order theim selues so that they may worthely receiue with him And yet not forsying theim to receiue when they are not disposed nor readie And in this meanyng of priuate the catholike churche doeth teache that the priest may receiue the Sacramente at Masse alone when none other is disposed to receiue with him Now if you be able wee require you to proue thaffirmatiue included in your negatiue Whiche is this That euery priest or any other ought when he receiueth the sacrament to haue companie to receiue with him in the same time and place vpon payne of Gods high indignation and then wee will yelde vnto you If you be able to proue neither the negatiue nor the affirmatiue storme not so sore against the doctrine of the catholik churche the whiche falsehed many times assaulteth and was neuer yet able to ouerthrow As you say 3. Cap. there was no priuate Masse in the primatiue church and say vntruly so may you say and say truly there was no christian kynge in the Apostles time That all thynges shuld not be brought to the forme of the primatiue churche There was no christian man that then counted any thinge his owne of suche thynges as he possessed but all were common There was then no doctrine taught but it was confirmed by miracles There was no woman that might come with open face to the churche There was no Bisshop indewed with temporaltées There was no distinction commonly of parishes There was nothyng eaten that was mingled with bloud There was no whole realmes turned to the fayth There was no receuyng of the Sacrament but after supper There was no infant but was housled And thus may wée rolle in a greate sorte suche there was not truly as you rolle in diuers of yours falsly And will you I beséeche ye reforme al thynges to the very state of the primatiue churche now Will you suppresse al christian kyngê which were not in the Apostels time A. Wyll you alter the state now and make all thinges to be common Wyll you disgrace all preachers that woorke not miracles Wyl you inforce women to hoodwinke them selues in the churche will you rayle against bisshoppes that kéepe any temporalties Wyll ye set men at liberty to doo their duty at what churche they will Wyll ye inhibit the folkes to eate bluddynges or Pigions or Capons suche as are killed by stiffilyng Will you inforce vs to be houseled after supper Wyll you housell all babes and infantes againe B. To call suche thynges to the state of the Apostels time The primatiue churche the state of infaÌ„cie and of the primatiue church againe is nothyng els but to enforce a taule man to come to his swadlynge clothes and to crie alarme in his cradel again I trust when you say there was no priuate Masse in the primatiue churche not withstandinge you disalowe priuate Masse yet you wil alowe Masse to bee in the primatiue churche or els wisdome would haue sayed more generally there was no Masse at all nor priuate nor common c. And yet there is an open difference betwéen these two sentences there was no priuate Masse at that time and there ought to be no priuate Masse at any time In the one wée conceiue the vse of that age not withstandynge the law of the churche euen then might stande indifferently to the contrarie vpon circumstances and good consideracions And in the other wée precisely conceiue what the lawe doeth determine either lawfull or vnlawfull The constant faith C. the pure life An argumente of the coÌ„parison of the times the feruent charitée the contempte of the worlde that then florisshed so amongest such as professed Christ might cause perhappes that no Masse was celibrated but that diuers christians and specially lookyng for continuall persecucion would be houseled there at and be alwaies sure to haue their viaticuÌ„ as it is termed in the olde Cannons that is to say their vâ—age prouision In that state of burnynge charitée and of contempt of the worlde and al the pleasures therof some of the people perhaps of their owne accorde did alwaies willyngly and gladly prepare theim selues at euery Masse to be housled with the priest And will you now in the state of keycolde charitée D. when the people are nothyng willyng to dispose theim selues to receiue their housill E. plucke the priest from the aulter whose office as to offer that dayly sacrifice for the people vnlesse ther be that wil receiue Will you imbarre him that is bounde to offer vp the dayly sacrifice of dutie because they will not dispose theim selues to receiue their housill Who as concernyng so
commonly of hym that hee was a deceiuour to purge him selfe of that suspicion witnessed that hee spake not of him selfe because he spake out of the lawe and prophetes euen so if any man sayinge that he hath the holy ghost speaketh of hym selfe and not out of the gospele wee must not beleue him For as Christ said the holy ghost shall not speake of him selfe but shall declare vnto you those thinges that it hathe hearde That is those thinges that I haue spoken he shal confirme These wordes of Chrisostome cleane ouerthroweth the ground of all your vnwriten verities beside the worde of god much more such doctrines as be expresly against the same as is your sole receiuinge and communion vnder one kind Wherfore neither your multitude of sundry nacions and great learned clerkes neither the continuance of .ix. C. yeres if it were so neyther the name of your holy mother the churche which you so often repete can bee any sure proufe of your doctrines without the expresse testimonies of the scripture to witnes the same For the holy ghoste whiche you assure your churche of doth not speake of himselfe saith Chrisostom but confirmeth that Christe spake before After that you haue at your pleasure in sundry partes of your treatise charged him that you write against with folly rashnes arrogancie and impudency euen in those pointes that the same crimes may bee more iustly retourned to your selfe and yours in this place also you indeuour to debase and imminishe his estimation extenuatinge his age continuance in study of holy scripture and maner of life in comparison of your late holy fathers which you doo greatly extolle Such is your shiftes when the matter will not healpe it selfe to transferre your talke to the persons by scorneful disdeining of other to procure your self aucthoritie What your opinion is of him your writing declareth but they whiche haue bene of longer and better acquaintance with him then you are doo right well know and in his behalfe doo protest that .xx. yeres sence he was able fully to haue answered stronger argumentê for these matters then any that you haue brought at this time But whatsoeuer hee is to you god bee praised in him he so liueth as the most malicious of your parte cannot iustly blame him and his learnings is suche as when the matter shal be tried I doubt not but it wil fal out that he with his .xl. yeres age and such other whom in like maner you disdaine shal shewe more true diuinitie then a many of your hoare heades and greate reading clerkes as you thinke whose aucthoritie and name alone ye iudge sufficient to beare downe whatsoeuer shall bee brought against them Towarde the ende you shewe your opinion of reall presence of Christes 13. Cap. Of reall presence body in the sacramente and in that parte blame vs as though we had more acquainted our selfe with Ismael and Agar as you say then with Abraham and Isaac thereby signifâ—yng that we misdoubted the almightie power of god in bringinge that to passe whiche he promiseth or speaketh in the institution of his sacramentes But I muste néedes iudge this to bee in you eyther ignorant blindnes or hatefull malice Blindnes if you doo not vnderstande and sée that in this controuersie wée stay not vpon gods omnipotency malice if you know it and vpbrayde vs with the contrary We graunt as fréely as you with Abraham and Isaac That god is able to performe whatsoeuer he both promise Wee graunt as freely as you with the Angell Thâ—â— no worde it 〈…〉 to god We graunte as fréely as you with Dauid That god hath done whatsoeuer his 〈…〉 We grauÌ„t with the holy fathers that 〈◊〉 greate and merueilous mutation and change is made in this sacrament by the power of gode worde Wee detest euen as muche as you all such as sée no more but common bread or a bare signe in this holy supper neither can wee thinke well of you when you doo so falsely charge us with that assertion But how can you shew that it was gods holy wil to haue so many miracles wrought as you without necessitie doo make in this sacramente Yea and of such sorte as be contrary to the maner of all those miracles that the holy scrinture mencioneth to bee wrought by his diuine power Moyses turned his rodde into a serpent but all that were presente sawe that it was a serpent He made water miraculously to come out of the rocke but al the children of Israell saw and tasted of the water Christe tourned water into wine but all the company dranke and felte it to be wine The same is to bee saide of all the residew of merueylous workes And when gods power had miraculously tourned these thinges that into the whiche they were tourned reserued and kepte that nature that was agreable to suche a thinge The serpent had the very nature of a serpent the water was of such nature as it behoued water to be the wins lost not the right nature of wins Otherwise it may séeme rather a iudglinge then miraculous workinge You neuer reade in all the course of the scripture that gods power tourned the substance of any thinge and left the qualitées of the other thinge that it was before sauing onely in this case that you imagine it God is able to turne darkenes into light and light into darkenes but it were madnes to require at gods almightie power to make lighte and not to haue a shininge that is to make lighte to be light and not to be light all at ones or to make light darkenes all one This were nothing but to peruert the order of gods wisedome Doo you not this in the sacramente when you apoint the body of Christ to be without quantitée proportion and figure or to be in a thousand places at ones which is proper only to his diuinitie Is not this to take away the nature of a body from his body and in déede to affirme it to be no body And yet wee say not but that god is able to worke that also if it be his pleasure But we say it was not gods wil and pleasure in ordeining the sacrament to haue it so For neyther is there any necessitie that should constraine him to it nor doth his word teach vs that ouer hee did the like Oh ye wyll say we muste beleue Christes wordes This is my body which be of as great power now as they were in the parlour at Hierusalent to make the very body of Christe really and carnaly present and so the Catholike church say you doth teache vs. Wherefore vpon this veritie once setled diuers other thinges must of necessitie followe by drifte of reason although they bee not expressely mencioned in scripture as the adoration of the sacrament the turninge of the substance of bread and wine the beinge of Christes body in many places at onâ—â— c. In déede in such is the vanitie of mans reason in gods
the sacrament the whiche are nothinge els but very accidentes the alteracion wherof doo lie in the discrecion of spirituall gouernours without damage or hurte doone to the substance of the sacrament or the vse there of and are to be compted amongest suche thinges as saincte Paule speaketh of when he wrote Cetera cum venero disponam I wil set the other thynges in order when I come But the greate matter you harpe on to haue companie together in one place to receiue at any time with the priest is because that in the vse of this sacrameÌ„t ther ought to be a coÌ„munioÌ„ 7. Cay And I pray you is not there a coÌ„munion among all christians in praier A. For in our praier we say our father not my father which arte in heauen thy wil be doon in earth as it is in heauen not in mée as it is in heaueÌ„ geue vs this day our daily bread wée say not geue mée this day my daily bread forgeue vs our trespasses wée say not forgeue mée my trespasses c. Whereby wée know that wée communicate in praier with all christendome beyng members of one misticall bodie of Christe And will you inhibite mée to say my Pater noster when I am alone in my chaumber voyde of companie to say with mée or will you shutte vp al christendome in some narow roome that thei may be togethers at one time to say the Lordes praier Or will you graunte that there may be a Communion in praier amongest all christians without any respecte to haue them together at one time in any one place and that there can be no communion in the vse of the Sacrament vnlesse all the communicantes be together in one place and at one time Haue you any scripture to leade you to say that the communion in the vse of the sacrament must of necessitée haue all the communicantes in one place at one time closse vp more then the coÌ„munion in praier One of the articles of the Créede is B. Credo sanctorum communionem I beléeue the communion of sainctes I beléeue wée haue communion in Baptisme in penance in confirmacion in extreme vnction in praier in fastyng in almes déedes And must all they that practise any of these be driuen to doo it at one place in one season or els to haue no parte of such a communion as there is comprised in these holy sacramentes Is this your doctrine Wher haue you these in scripture There is an olde doctour called Dionisius that teacheth vs why it is called a communion Not because it requireth vnitie and idemptitée of time and place in the communicantes but because al christians therby beyng liuely members of one body first are brought to an vnitée with Christe their head and then euery member with the misticall body and then euerie member with other So that in the workynge of this meruelous vnitée number time and place are no principall dooers but foreners and very strangers in déede And the place of Saincte Paule meaneth no lesse in the first to the Corinthes QuoniaÌ„ vnus panis vnuÌ„ corpus musti sumus omnes quideÌ„ de vno pane de vno casice participamus wherby wée here the christians are pertakers of one lofe and yet there is no one particular place able to receiue theÌ„ nor yet no one particular lofe able to serue theÌ„ Surely as touchinge your fancie to haue of necessitie the communicantes closed vp in one place there to be serued at one especial time C. or els to be no partakers of the communion it wil fal in processe of reasoning to so many follies that we must know how large the place muste be and how longe you wil appoinct the time apperteining to one communion And as for the place when the multitude of the communicantes are verie greate whether may be a communion betwixt him that receiueth at the Aulter in our Lady chapell in Paules and him that receiueth in the lowest place of the west ende of Paules church It there may why are they not partakers of one communion that receiue in twoo diuers churches in London not so farre distante the one from the other as our Ladie chappel is from the west ende of Paules And if they can not let vs knowe why and haue some scripture for proufe therof If they may why may not the communicantes be partakers of one communion in thrée churches and why not be partakers of one coÌ„munion in foure or fiue churches no further distant If not limit you then the furthest distance that a communion may be had in and bringe in scriptures doctours or any counsels to proue the limitacion and wée wil crie creake And in like maner wée may reason for the appoinctmente of time Appoincte you the longest time that a communion may be had and shew some good euidence for your limitacion And likewise we wil crie creake You driue men to these trifels that the worlde may know you hange in nifels Erasmus Roterodamus in his epistle that he wrote against false gospellers 8. Cap. reporteth how they were wonte in the olde time in the primatiue churche A. to deliuer euery one the sacrament in their handes to beare home with them and receiue it when their deuocion serued Obim saieth he corpus domini dabatur in manu vt domi cum vellent sumerent qui accepissent The Lordes body in olde time was deliuered into folkes handê to the entente that they who hadde taken it might receiue it when they woulde When diuers people tooke the Lordes body in their handes to receiue it at home in their seuerall houses when their deuocion serued them to receiue it are any yet so vnwise to thinke that they that so receiued it were either in one place coÌ„sidering their houses werâ— seuerall or at any one time consideringe the varietie of their deuocions willes purposes and trade of life Do you not se in these few wordes that the partakers of any one communion were not-wonte to be clogged to receiue it in any place or at any one especiall time Do not you manifestly heare a reseruacion of the sacramente confessed here And where as it was deliuered in their handes as wine is not vnderstande you not thereby a communion vnder one kinde But you will say it was but Erasmus reporte But I say he reported it as he founde in auncient writers And Erasmus pardie was wont to be a great man amongest you and do you so litle estéeme him now You haue ouerrun him I graunte as you haue doone Luther that was once your God B. Erasmus is not the first father of this reporte But Tertulian him selfe whiche florisshed not long after the Apostles time in his seconde â—ooke that he wrote to his wyfe reporteth no lesse How that the christian wife kepte it close from hir husbande beyng a Panime that she receiued euerie mornynge secretly before meate And if it so happed that he espied