be borne of a virgin If theÌ„ the Prophet had knowledge of her dareye say he wanted due deuotion and yet one of these you must say and for want of one of these you must condemne him who names none but Christ or else your selues who dare mixe her milke with his bloud But is this all No Illa mihi ad pestem Ista mihi ad febres One can heale spirituall pestilence the other spirituall Feuers see what difference there is by their religion betwixt her milke and his â—loud are not these men great and deuout honorers of Christ and his suffering that can finde other helpes to heale their soules besides his bloud But if it be thus that both can heale so wel how comes it to passe they haue so many sick soules in Popery euen sick of all spirituall diseases especially seeing by their owne doctrine and dayly practise it is apparant they can neither want the one nor the other of these 2. simples for first they say they make Christs bloud euery day then they haue bloud at hand continually If they say that the Laytie may not haue that but only their Priests who indeede drinke it vp all yet then they may take their Ladies milke whereof if themselues say true they haue so much in seuerall places as some that liued 100. yeares agoe doe write that Erasinus and others haue spoken more plainely and fully then I doe in those dayes it was more then a woman vpon one child can giue out though the child sucked none at all If that that is kept and shewed and worshipped in so many Cities of Italy France Spaine Germany bee not her milke then where is the truth and honesty of that Religion so to deceiue the world if it bee then why are their soules so full of spirituall diseases why are they not healed seeing this Iesuite teacheth that it will heale as well as Christs bloud as well as Christs bloud wil some say why do you them that wrong they are neuer so wicked to speake such blasphemy No then iudge by that which followeth Ira vomit flammas fumat que libidinis Aetna Suffocare queo Sanguine Lacte queo Liuor inexpleta rubigine saeuit in artus Detergere queo Lacte cruore queo Vanus honos me perpetua prurigine tentat Exaturare queo Sanguine Lacte queo That is Let Ire belch fire and lust like Aetna flame Choose either milke or blood doth quench the same Let Enuies rust canker my heart about This milke that bloud either will fetch it out Or do vaine glorious passions stuffe me still Either with milke or bloud the same I le kill Heere iudge and spare not without all partiallity whether that I said be not true that her milke will heale as well as Christs bloud and this they affirme not in generall tearmes but in plaine particulars if saith he Anger swell if Lust inflame me bloud will quench them so will milke are there two stronger passions two more conquering corruptions two more raging and raigning sinnes then Anger and Lust yet euen these two are quenched conquered by her milke as well as Christs bloud hearken ye Children of the Romish Sinagogue hearken I say what instruction your father giues you heare I pray but learne it not a creatures milke will clense your Soules from sin as well as your Sauiours bloud O spirit of error and blasphemy whether wilt thou goe O Romish impiety when wilt thou make an end wilt thou not cease till thou hast puld downe the fire of Gods fury from heauen vpon thee O Babilon we would haue healed thee but thou wilt not be healed Io 51. 9. for who can heale him that will needes kill himselfe so who can heale thee whose blasphemy hath wounded yet benummed thy heart gone ouer thy head is ascended vp to heauen in the presence of God crieth vengeance vpon thee as for you seduced soules my deare couÌ„try-men you who are deceiued with shewes of holinesse and deuotion behold heere a peece of Popish holinesse and of the doctrine of their deuotion that the sinnes of the soule are clensed and taken away as well by a creatures milke as by Christ his bloud is this the catholike Doctrine they brag so much of is this the catholike Church that teacheth such diuinity is this the chaire of St. Peter the seate that cannot erre If it be so then what didst thou meane thou St. Iohn Euangelist to teach that it was Iesus Christ that faithfull witnesse Reuel 1. 5 that first begotten from the dead that Prince of the Kings of the earth euen hee and not any creature who hath loued vs and washed vs from our sins in his bloud sure either must you recant this Doctrine els they that boast themselues to beâ— successors of thy brother Peter may be ashamed of theirs who tell vs that our sinnes are washt away in her milk as wel as by his bloud and you that are the dutifull and deuoted children of that Romish seate be Iudges euen your selues in this case what can be said heereunto how can it stand with scripture or with the tenor of true catholike faith or how can it any way be defended that a creatures milke can quench the fire of sinne in the soule as well as Christ his bloud Can ye say that heere is onely ascribed to her and her milke a deriued vertue from another and that the originall and fundamentall power is onely and wholy in Christ and his bloud if it were so it were lesse euill though Christ Iesus may not nor will not bestow the prerogatiues of his Mediatorship on any creature but looke and weigh ouer the words again and againe expound them with any fauour that the words may beare and you shall not see the least difference Suffocare queo Sanguine Lacte queo Detergere queo Lacte Cruore queo If Lust burne and Anger boyle Enuy fret vaineglory swell I can helpe it with bloud so can I with with milkâ— I can helpe it with milke so can I with bloud there can be no greater equality made betwixt any two things in the world then heere they make betwixt this Bloud and Milke Can it be said that the Author is a Poet and said thus but to make vp the Verse which otherwise would not haue falne so fitly surely no for a yong versisier can soone shew how the verses might haue run aswell as they doe if hee had not purposely laboured to sort his verse to his matter and not the matter to his verse For thus he might haue said Detergere queo sanguine Christe tuo with very little altoration And so of the rest but hee as truly endeuoured to magnifie the milke as the bloud and therefore without any necessity of the Verse gives the same power place preheminence in euery respect to the milke as to the bloud but had he beene as sound and sincere a Christian as he is
contemplation of the deity as to a poore child sucking his Mother brests such conceits are common and such words and writings rise with thm of our blessed Sauiour who neuer speake of the Virgin Mary but with the Title of Queene of heauen Lady of Angels the gate of Paradise the fountaine of mercy or some such other titles fitting none but him that is God or at least shee is alwayes a commaunding Mother and he an Infant gouerned and an obedient child But let vs consider his words a little better Paruule c youngling saith he thou pretty babe thou playest in thy mothers armes and sometimes suckes her brests till they be emptie and againe stayest till they bee full c. Is this good and sound Diuinity that Christ our Redeemer is now this present yeare at Halla in Brabrant an Infant playing in his mothers armes and sucking her brests If it bee so then sure St. Paul was much to blame to teach vs that euen the man Iesus Christ after he had Heb. 10. 12 offred one sacrifice for sinnes sitteth for euer not in his mothets armes but at his Fathers right hand and what doing not playing in her armes nor sucking her brests but there he euer liueth to make intercession for vs. Heb. 7. 25. Intercession to whom not to her in whose armes they will make him play but to him at whose right hand he sitteth for euermore And much more to blame St. Peter who not foreseeing it seemes what doctrine his pretended successor would teach after him teacheth vs that Iesus Christ is at Gods right hand gone into heauē to whom Angels powers 1. Pet. 3. 22. and might are subiect Are Angels powers might subiect to him must he be subiect to a mortall humane creature Nay is he now an Infant playing in his mothers armes and hanging on her brests is not this good Catholike Romish doctrine and is not this good pure Romish deuotion to pray to him who is God of glory whose manhood is now at Gods right hand Angels and powers subiect to him in such words as these Thou pretty Child that playest in thy mothers armes and hangest at her brests Is this a salutation fit for the son Heb. 7. 28. Heb. 1. 23 of God who is the Sonne consecrated for euer the heire all things the brightnesse of Gods glory and the ingrauen forme of his person or is this a Christian like description of him who hauing by himselfe purged our sinnes sitteth at the right hand of the Maiesty in the highest places But this is naturall to Popish Religion to disgrace the mediator they care not how so that they may aduance some creatures and magnifie their owne deuises but though they neuer so much abuse most of Gods ordinances and nullifie the very Offices of the Mediatour Yet me thinks they should be a little fearefull how they touch the Person it selfe of the Mediator and sonne of God and should shrinke and shame to expose the person of Iesus Christ to the base conceit of the vngodly for what can the carnall man much more the Atheist the Turke and the Iewe imagine of Christ when he that is hi◠pretended Vicar suffers his followers to speake and write of him and pray to him as a playing child and sucking Infant and to describe him in his behauiours as a very child greeuing and crying that any should touch his mothers Paps but onely himselfe alas what will this Religon of Rome do at last the word of God and Sacraments and other his holy ordinances they haue prophaned the officer of the Mediator haue they nullified and yet no◠content heere they labour to make ridiculous to all irreligious men the very person of Iesus Christ himselfe could this bee done by any but those that are the Children of that Mother of fornication that sits vpon the beast full of names of blasphemy Reuel 17 3. arise Lord mainetaine thine owne cause deliuer thy holy Name from that pollution and thy Religion from that contempt which they bring vpon it To conclude it may not be amisse heere to obserue the opposition betwixt God in his holy Scripture and and the Pope in this his Religion The Scripture saith Popery saith Christ Iesus is no more to bee knowne after the 1. Cor. 5. 16 flesh Christ is yet to be knowne and worshipped as a child The Scripture saith Popery saith Christ beares vp all things Heb. 1. 3. by his mighty Word Christ is now borne in his mothers armes The Scripture saith Popery saith Christ sitteth for euer at the Heb. 7. 10 right hand of God Christ is playing in his mothers armes The Scripture saith Popery saith Christ tarrieth at his Fathers Psal 110. Heb. 10. 12 13. right hand till his enemies bee made his footestoole Hee is in Heauen till it please the Pope to allow a Picture at Hall or Sichem The Scripture saith Popery saith Without Controuersye 1. Tim. 3. 16 great is the mistery of godlinesse that Iesus Christ is receiued vp into glory Without controuersie that it is no such mistery for Christ is still in his Mothers armes The Scripture saith Popery saith Christ must suffer and so Luke 24. enter into his glory Christ after all his suffrings must againe bee subiect to the infirmities of an Infant Out of all this followeth a conclusion of good vse It hath beene often obiected to the Romish Church that they haue not true Christ left amongst them but an Idoll of their owne rearing erected in their owne carnall fancies now that this is no flaunder no cauill no hyperbolicall or figuratiue speech nor an accusation forced vpon them against their wills is apparant by their owne doctrine and practise in this place for the Christ of God and of his Church is God equall to the father and can do all things himselfe the Christ of the Romish Church is a Child inferiour to his mother and may deny her nothing The true Christ being man grew in stature and wisedome and being growne a man so liued and dyed rose againe and was glorified and neuer decreased but theirs is now become a child againe and a playing Infant the true Christ sitteth at the right hand of God his Father theirs is borne in the armes of Mary his mother Hence the conclusion is euident that therefore the Romish christ is not the true Christ of God and of the true christian Church This conclusion I demonstrate thus the Title of these verses is this To our Lady of Hal and the Child Iesus this child they speake of is either Iesus Christ indeed or it is not if not then they proclaime themselues lyers and impostors if it be then my conclusion stands good for this Iesus in all the forenamed respects and many more differeth from the true Iesus and Sauiour of Christian men let them take whether they will the better is to bad But now let vs see what is that
been warily watcht followed by the footesteps and taken euen in the manner they had not left one booke allowed in the world that had not spoken for the Pope Such worthy workemen are the Iesuits that those good worthy men which preached and wrote against the Pope whilst they liued their Sermons writings shall testifie for him long after they are dead But why doe I offer to discerne or or discouer Iesuites practises alas I am too silly and too shallow I confesse I know them not and yet I am sorry I know so much my hope is that their beginning their breeding their feeding their growth their greatnesse their rules and religion their plots and practises their murders and massacres being such as makes England banish them Denmarke detests them Venice wil none of them Italy is weary France is sick of them and Spaine it selfe is iustly iealous of theÌ„ My hope I say is that a perfect discouery of all these will be atteÌ„pted by some that may make perfect that small beginning foundation which in 2. little bookes is already laid in that kind k Aphorismi doct Iesuitie De abstrusioribus studijs Iesuitarum meane time for the better vncasing of this Foxe and vnmasking this Hypocrite let me come to that which is neerer to my Element consider a little of their doctrines which is the third meanes by which they haue deserued so well of the Papall state concerning which I will say nothing but what I know and what I dare referre and do submit to your iust and iuditious censures I say therefore that whereas the Romish Church is that scarlet whore l Reu. 17. 1 2. c. and her Idolatries and superstitions the spirituall abominations with which she makes drunk the inhabitants of the earth and that in this latter age her cup of abominations was almost drunke vp and emptied euen to the dreggs in this exigent and extremity these like Locusts flye out of the bottomlesse pit to repaire the ruines of the Romish state and to fill her Reuel 9. 2. golden Cup with a new supply of spirituall fornications to which end they haue first reuiued many diuellish doctrines halfe dead and damned in the former ages and what in former times were scarce muttered in corners by the worst of their Predecessors is now by them preached on the house tops And secondly not so content the better to fill her cup with the very quintessence of most refined abominations they haue hatched many horrible doctrines and hellish opinions neuer heard of in the elder ages which are such excellent and exquisite infections to a mans soule that the purple Whoore hath willingly throwne away m Popery is much altred since the Iesuites both in their seruice as may bee seene in their Missals breuiaries in their ceremonies as appeares in their pontificale and ceremoniale comparing the old and new together a great part of her older druggs to make roome for the new and more precious poysons confected by the Iesuites Of the first sort and so of the second I dare be bold to giue you a taste though they bee mortall poysons because I know you are armed with Antidotes and precious preseruatiues against them Of the first sort are these 1 That an Image of God or Christ is to be worshiped with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is with the same same worship as God himselfe n So teach Gretser Gregory de Valent and say it is the common receiued opinion 2 That God hath deuided his Kingdome with the Virgin Mary keeping iustice to himselfe but committing mercy to her 3 That a man may appeale from Gods iustice to the mercy of the Virgin Mary o These two Biel and Bernardine de Bust doe teach and Posseuine the Iesuit highly coÌ„mends those very bookes 4. That the Pope is superior to the Emperor not only in spiritual but euen in temporall things ought to haue place and predence afore him p â—o teacheth liber sacrarum ceremoniarum Romane Ecclesie which is highly commended by Bellarmine as Posseuinus also confesseth These and many others which scarce durst peepe out in former times are now by the Iesuits made publike and plausible doctrines and being almost burâ—ed and forgotten are by them againe reuiued Of the second sort 1 That God hath made the Virgin Mary partaker of his diuine power and maiesty q So teacheth Horasius Tursellinus a Iesuit as farre as he may 2 That a man shall oft time bee sooner heard at Gods hand in the mediation of the Virgin Mary then of Iesus Christ r So teacheth Chrisostomus a Visit a Cistertian and is allowed by Posseuinus 3 That a man may equiuocate before a Magistrate Å¿ So teach Azorius Tollet and all Iesuits 4 That Heresie makes a man vncapable of a Kingdome and makes him an Vsurper that is otherwise a lawfull King t So teach Marianus Simancha Bozius and others allowed by the Iesuits 5 That the Pope hath power not only to pronounce what is heresie but after that to depriue him of his Kingdome and to dispose of it as he thinkes best u So teacheth Rosseus and others allowed by the Iesuits With many other not conuenient heere to bee perticularized which the former times neuer heard of at least in such manner as now they be holden But seeing they be all of two sorts either touching the crowne of Christ himselfe or the crownes of Kings his deputies on earth I will desire you to be contented with one example of both sorts Concerning not such Kings as make not themselues slaues and harlots to the purple whore thus teacheth a Iesuit too well knowne in Eglnand x See the book called Andrea Philopatris responsio ad Edictum Elizabethae ann 91. sect 2 artic 157. pag. 109. editionis aug 1592. This man is Arthur Creswell the Iesuite It is the iudgement of all Catholike Diuines and Lawyers and it is certaine and de fide that what Christian Prince soeuer doth apparantly fall from the Catholike Religion and would also draw others with him doth Ipso facto forthwith fall from all right title place and power of their Kingdomes or Dominions by force both of Gods and mans law and this before any sentence be pronouced against him by the Pope and that all his Subiects are free from the Oathes they haue made to him And they may nay they ought if they be able to put him downe and cast him out from all gouernment as an Heretike an Apostate and an enemy of God and the commonwealth c. And this doctrine is certaine vndoubted and resined c. Alas that we should liue to heare such doctrine taught especially by an Englishman I but whereas he stiles himselfe a Diuine and a Priest of Rome wee thence conclude that he carried no such learning with him out of England but found it at Rome Concerning Christ that
doctrine in those dayes had he liued in these he must haue beene taught that a part of the glory and praise of God may dayly be giuen to grauen Images and yet the glory of God not at all thereby impeached but rather augmented Loe what Idols of indignations and abhominations lye hid vnder the mistery of iniquity And yet good Reader as God saith vnto the prophet turne thee a little and thou shalt see greater abhominations Ezeth then these It is yet scarce 3. yeares agoe since the tale of our Lady of Hall was forged by some Iesuit and published by Lipsius when withall a faire Picture grauen in brasse was prefixed vpon the first Page before the booke of our Lady holding her Sonne in her armes And behold the Iesuits as though the Mother were a woman and the Sonne but an Infant or as though they had gained enough by Christ a ready and would now see what they could get by the Mother began to call in question his merits and mediation and the dignity of his wounds and suffrings and at last pronounce that his wounds and her paps his bloud and her milke are either all one or else that the milke is better And yet before we enter into the particular let the Reader obserue that though the Image be both of our Lady as they call her and of her Sonne Iesus our Lord yet notwithstanding the miracles are all ascribed to her and her Picture and none to Iesus Christ for the colouring of which impiety what they can say I see not vnlesse they dare affirme that the sonne will doe no miracles in the presence of his Mother to which end it may well be noted and generally in all places where the Mother and the sonne the Virgin Mary and our Lord Iesus be pictured together in their Churches shee is alwayes set forth as a woman and a Mother and hee as a Child and Infant either in her armes or in her hand that so the common people might haue occasion to imagine that looke what power of ouerruling and commanding the Mother hath ouer her little child the same hath she ouer her son Iesus and that seeing the sonne is but an infant in his mothers armes therefore they might not wonder why her picture doth all the miracles and his none for its like Christ did no miracles whilst he was a child into these superstious and euen blasphemous concelts do they indeauour to driue their people not caring what they derogate from Christ so they giue it to their Saints Is it not admirable that still they will make him an Infant still in his mothers armes still vnder her power and still all miracles must be wrought by her and at her picture as though either he could not or in his mothers presence would not or at the least as though she had many enemies and therefore needed miracles and Christ none But alas who seeth not that the Athisme prophannesse of the world causeth euen the name and religion of Christ to be blasphemed that if miracles might lawfully be expected wee should thinke them as needefull as euer since the first planting of the Gospell it is therefore a strange piece of Popish doctrine that there is more cause that the Virgin Mary and her Picture should haue miracles for them then Christ and his Religion But yet this and all other their suspitious and impious speeches and practises against the honour of Christ his Religion are in my iudgement inferiour and may all stoupe to this new impiety of the Iesuits whereby the Mother is compared to the Sonne not as being a child or a man but as the Sauiour and mediator the pappes of a Woman equalled with the wounds of our Lord and her milke with his bloud If this were written by Protestants some might say we might report partially or if it were a matter of old the age might yeeld suspition that it were made worse in the carriage But when it is a matter of yesterday and comes from themselues partiallity it selfe cannot cauill against it And the particular is this Clarus Bonarscius a Iesuit or the Iesuits Patron published this present yeare to the world a volume large enough in defence of the whole order of Iesuits the booke beares this title Clari Bonarscij Amphitheatrum Honoris In quo Caluinistarum in societatem Iesu criminationes Iugulatae Editio altera libro quarto auctior Palaeopoli Aduaticorum apud Alexandrum Verheidon 1606. This volume he erected as a Theater yea an Amphitheater of Honour in defence of the Iesuits wherein after he had assaied with much sleight of wit and in a strange stile to wipe away many foule blots with which that Atheisticall broode hath stained the holy name of Iesus and adorned it selfe for generally that which dishonors God adornes them and after he had ranged ouer all the former Churches and raked vp all rotten slaunders and reuiued the callumniations that were answered dead and buried 40. 50. and 60. yeares agoe and rayled vpon the liuing and dead Caluin Beza Pareus Stenius Tossanus Faius and many other holy and learned men with that bitternesse and virulency as neuer was before him yea moreouer after that hee had laid high and horrible imputations vpon this whole state of England and like a true Iesuits Impe slandred the whole gouernment with foule iniustice and monstrous cruelty in many perticulars and See for these perticulars of our Queen state lib. had in Iesuiticall pride dared to defile the name and honour of renowned Queene Elizabeth whose memory for euer will bee blessed with words vnworthy the mouth of man if hee were not a Iesuite at last from the defence of Iesuits hee falls to defend Lypsius a good friend of theirs and his two stories of our Lady of Hall and our Lady of the craggie Rock and not only labours to to make good all his fancies and fables but further to shew that a Iesuit hath one trick of impiety beyond all and is anointed by the Diuell with the oyle of mischiefe aboue all his fellowes addeth a number of verses directed to that Picture which he calleth our Lady of Hall fraught with so many blasphemies against the bloud and merits of the Mediator as no Christian eares to this day did euer heare and doubtlesse no Christian heart can patiently endure and certainely if the blessed Virgin Mary to whose picture he hath cōsecrated them may be his Iudge without doubt both hee and his blasphemy will bee condemned to hell and she whose soule reioyced in God her Sonne and Sauior Luke ◠47. her soule I say will reioyce in the iust damnation of him who shall match the milk of her a creature with the bloud of him her Sauiour But shall we heare them no will some say let blasphemy rather bee buried in the depth of obliuion darken not the Sunne defile not the heauens poyson not the ayre burden not the earth with it amaze not the
47 in him her Sauiour so farre was she from making her selfe in any part a Sauiour of her selfe yea rather if a Saint in heauen doth heare a blasphemy on earth then doubtlesse that blessed soule of hers that magnified her Sonne and reioyced in him as her Sauior will neuer cease to cry and call vpon him to reuenge so high impiety which is so much more hainous in as much as they make the mother the dishonourer of the sonne And if her prayers bee as powerfull with him as their Doctrine teacheth assuredly she will net cease to prouoke his iustice against them til she haue laid their tottering kingdome flat on the earth for erecting vp her as an Idoll against her son and for mixing the vertue of her milke with the the merits of his precious bloud Thus then if neither God the Father nor Christ Iesus nor the Holy Ghost nor Moses nor the Prophets nor the Apostles nor the blessed Virgin her selfe did any of them prescribe this portion nor make this mixture It followeth that either the Diuell was the deuiser of it or else that they framed it out of their owne braines and therefore to be iudged Mountebankes and spirituall deceiuers who make shew to the world they haue a confection of miraculous vertue when indeed it is a perfect poyson to all that take it for if St. Paul say true that if we ioyne circumcision to Christ Christ shal profit Galath 5. 2. vs nothing then without all controuersie if we mixe the milke of a creature with the blood of the Mediator that blood of his hath lost the vertue and shall profite vs nothing And thus the Church of Rome hath spunne a faire threed she will needes haue both the sonne and the mother to be hers in such a manner as she hath lost them both and made them both her enemies the mother to be her bitter accuser and the sonne to bee her angry Iudge But thus hath God in Iustice blinded her that whereas for these 2. or 300. yeares past she came to this height of blasphemous deuotion as This is ordinary in many of their books especially Bernar. de Bus to his mariale and reuelationes Brigeâ— others to trust more the piety of the Mother then the merrits of the sonne often to appeale from him to her Now ar last by this dealing they haue taken the direct course to turne her against them also and to make her curse and abhor them and their superstition who dare make her name and her Milke to bee the disho nourers of her Sonne her Sauiour and his precious bloud Thus we haue heard and seene the strangest peece of Physicke and most vnequall mixture that yet was euer heard of The bloud of God and milke of a woman are mixed to make a cordiall potion But now what will this potion do what is the operation of it hearken to the Mountebancks proclamation and he will tell you Thus he cries Vulnera restituent turpem vlceribus mendicum Testa cui saniem reddere sola potest Vbera reficient Ismaelem sitientem Quem Sara non patitur quem neque nutrit Agar Illa mihi ad Pestem procul procul expungendam Ista mihi ad long as eua litura febres That is These wounds the sores do clense and cure full well Which none can dresse but scrape them with a shell These brests the fainting Ismael well would cherish Whom Sara would not and Hagar could not nourish The first from me expels all pestilence The second driues all lingring Feauers hence Now he tells vs what his Physicke will doe and that particularly in both his simples the bloud and the milke and as for the one of them that is the bloud and wounds of the Mediator if hee had ascribed much more vnto them he might haue past with praise for vs for hee cannot sufficiently extoll the merit vertue of them but as for the other that is the milke of a woman tho it be the blessed virgin or a confection of both there he sheweth himselfe both impious in making such a mixture as also a vaine deceiuer proclayming great and soueraigne power in that which is nothing worth for I say againe if it bee true that to him that ioyneth circumcision to Christ Christ is no Sauiour then we dare boldly say To him that ioyneth a creatures milke in equallity Galath 5 with Christs bloud that bloud of Christ is of no vertue for circumcision is of the fathers nay it was Gods owne ordination But her milke is meerely apart and no essentiall part of her body which is a creature and Gâ—n 17 as for the mixture of it with his bloud it is an impious deuice of prophane pollititians not derogating from the dignity but euen quite abollishing the glory of the mediator then if his passion may not bee ioyned with circumcision may his bloud be mixdd with her milke But what is that hee proclaymeth vulnera restituent c. Christs wounds wil restore heale the spiritual sores of a sinful Lazar we beleeue it will they will do so much more yet for not his sake that saith so for wee know that deuils themselues for a vantage would beare witnes Mat. 8 to Christ But for his sake that said He was wounded for our transgressions He was broken for our iniquities the chaâ—isement Esay 53. of our peace was vpon Him with his Stripes are we healed and for his owne sake especially who said it and did it I lay downe my life for my sheepe Thus he hath said well and truly of the wounds but the wounds of Iohn 10. Christ will not serue his turne He therefore addeth Vbera reficient c. The Pappes will quench and refresh thirsty soules And will they so who taught you this Diuinitie will a creatures Paps quench and satisfie that soule that hungreth and thirsteth after righteousnesse Say yee children of iniquity haue you not read Esay the Prophet who tels vs He was despised He was afflicted Hee was Esay 53. broken He was plagued and all for vs His stripes healed vs and not a word of her nor her Milke but all of Him his stripes and his wounds what will yee say wanted he knowledge of her worthinesse or deuotioÌ„ to her deserts Indeed the Papists haÌ„ue taught so informer times as sâ—ith theiâ— mariale Can yee say the first without blaspemy to God or the second without iniury to the Prophet could it bee he knew not her who knew her sonne could hee foresee him and not her or could any such mistery be kept froÌ„ him who spake and wrote as hee was inspired by Gods spirit and to conclude was it not he that saith Behold a Virgin shall conceiue and bring forth a sonne euen Emanuell Iesus Christ so that its plaine as the Prophet knew a Messias should come and should saue his people by diing for them so also he foresaw and knew he should
a good Poet hee might in as good verses haue giuen all the honour to Christ as he deserueth Therefore my deare country-men bee no longer seduced by a Religion so fraught with Atheisme blasphemie impiety doe but looke into the Scriptures Counsels or Fathers yea aske the honestest learnedst of your owne Religion or any except Iesuits or such other like them who frame a religion to their owne purposes If this be tollerable Diuinity that the milke of the Virgin doth clense mans soule from sin as well as Christ his bloud If it bee not Diuinity but Blasphemy no Christian Doctrine but impiety and yet suffered yet approued in the Romane Church both by doctrine and practice then returne to that truth and holy Religion which out of Gods word and according to the purest antiquity is established amongst vs and with heart and voice ioyne with vs to imbrace and say Amen to that holy doctrine of blessed St. Iohn who saith it is Iesus Christ Reuel 1 56. that loued vs and washed vs from our sins in his own bloud to him be glory for euer and euer Amen This was his Religion this is ours oh that it were yours also he sucked this diuinity out of that blessed brest of Gods Sonne whereon he leaned and if hee had Iâ—h 13. 23. sucked thence this diuinity of the Iesuites that the virgin Mary washed vs from our sinnes by her milke surely he would neuer haue concealed it from vs nor haue depriued her of the honour nor vs of the comfort that thereby might accrew both to her and vs for he was her sonne by her owne adoption yea her Sonne by the gift and nomination of her sonne and Sauiour yea her Sonne in loue duty and all respectiuenesse could hee then or would he in any sort obscure her due glory would he giue too much to her sonne and too little to her would he giue all that to her sonne which in part was hers can this may this or dare this be immagined by any Iesuit If not then how dare they extend their deuotion beyond his ascribe that to her which he neuer did yea that to her which he appropriates to Iesus Christ If they thinke that Peter had more deuotion then Iohn hearken then what he saith Iesus Christ his owne 1. Pet. 2. 24. selfe bare our sinnes in his body on the tree let the words be Pondered Iesus Christ saith hee bare our sinnes true say they but so did the Virgin Mary also No saith Peter he himselfe his owne selfe bare them yea in his body he bare them in his body say they that is true but hee beares them in his mysticall body in his members much more therefore in his mother which is more then many members of his body nay saith St. Peter hee bare our sinnes his owne selfe in his body but what body euen that body that was on the Tree therefore if St. Peter preach true diuinity then is this doctrine of your teacher hainous blasphemy All that may bee imagined for their defence at the best is this that all this is but poeticall hyperbolicall or proceedes from the passion height of deuotion but that in truth and earnest he ascribes all to Christ to his bloud makes his prayers to him and puts the confidence of his heart in him alone but least any man should haue the least suspition of him this way or thinke so good a thought of him he deales yet more plainely and to preuenr all such thoughts and obiections he makes his prayer both to the Mothâ—r and the Sonne without any difference in the world to the one for her milke to the other for his bloud for thus hee saith Ergo parens et nati meis advertiâ—e votis Lac peto depereo sanguinem vt rumque volo That is Mother and Sonne giue eare to what I craue I beg this milke that bloud and both would haue Heere is plaine dealing it is not the Sonne and his bloud that will serue his turne hee must also haue the Mother and her milke is not this good catholike doctrine and deuotion but further is not this strange to see how he marshalls them in the order of his iudgement and affection he prayeth to the mother and the sonne but first to the mother hee will haue both milke and bloud but first milke thus Mary hath the precedence of Christ and her milke of his bloud But you will say it is not that hee so esteemes them in his iudgement but only for the necessity of of the verse the answere is that a grammer scholler can soone shew how the verse is as good and giue Christ his precedence as it is doing him this wrong Ergo Nate parensque meis aduertite votis But he still keeping Christ in wardship and vnder age held it not fit that he should haue the place before his Mother onely and therefore without all necessity euen wittingly and wilfully he puts Christ in the second place But now let vs hasten to an end of this if it be not endlesse and bottomlesse impiety Vpon these fearefull premises thus he proceedes Paruule maternis medius qui ludis in vluis Et tua iam comples vbera iam vacuas Quid me respectas obliqua tuentibus hirquis Roboris in Coelum pilhabet inuidia Saepe quidem dixti noxis offensus iniquis Tune me as mammas Improbe tune me as Nolo tuas ô nolo tuas puer auree mammas Non sunt tam duri tam grauis or is homo Sed tantum lateris pluat vnica vnica stilla Et saltem a dextrae vulnere gutta pluat Se nihil è dextra vis impluere implue laeuâ— Si nihil è laeua de pede sanguis eat Si tibi non placio vulnus mihi vulnera danto Mercedem danto vulnera si placeo That is Youngling that in thy mothers armes art playing Sucking her brests sometimes and sometimes staying Why dost thou view me with that looke of scorne It s forcelesse Enuy that gainst thee is borne Oft hast thou said being angry at my sinne Darest thou desire the teates my foode lies in I will not oh I dare not Noble child Duty from me is not so far exild But one euen one poore drop I doe implore From thy right hand or side I aske no more If neither from thy left hand let one fall Nay from thy foote rather then none at all Dost thou dislike me let thy wounds me wound But pay my due if I in grace be found Now from blasphemy he proceedes to plaine Atheisme not fearing to expose the greatest mysteries of Christian faith and euen our blessed Sauiour himselfe to the rediculous scornefull contempt of prophane men Speaking vnto Christ God câ—aequall with the father and whose very humanity raineth now in glory at Gods right hand as to a seely Infant in his mothers armes and to him whose very humanity is fedde with the glorious presence and
he saith to this child Iesus Quid me respectas c. Why saith he doest thou frowne on me thou prety child art thou angry with me for desiring thy milke doest thou châ—d me that I dare presume to aske the milke of thy mothers teates this is all the cause hee layeth of Christ his anger what should a man say to this what would a Iew say what will an Atheist thinke of it surely they will deride and laugh at that Religion that allowes it if our Christ bee such a one as is angry at such a cause But say I pray thee thou Romish Iesuite thou wantest neither wit nor learning to giue answere speakest thou in iest or earnest if in Iest then knowest thou with whom thou iestest considerest thou that it is Iesus of Nazareth the great one the holy one of God of whose kingdome there shall be no end hee that is the brightnes of Gods glory the engrauen forme of his person he at whose remembrance the diuels tremble and to whom all knees bow in heauen earth and hell and darest thou exercise thy wit and whet thy stile practise thy poeticall vaine vpon him and vnto him that now hauing conquered sinne death and hel sitteth now at the right hand of Maiesty in the highest places darest thou present such a Petition as this O pretty child doe not enuy mee that I should touch thy mothers paps with which I perceiue thou wilt suffer none to play but thy selfe oh be not angry that I long for that which is thine namly for the milk of thy mothers teates didst thou euer find in Scriptures or sound antiquity that any holy man did euer conceiue of him or speake to him on this fashion no for its rather a sporting speech â—it to be spoken to a playing child then a salutation sit to be tendered to the Son of God and Sauiour of the world But if thou say thou speakest in earnest according to the truth of Religion and soundnesse of diuinity then tell me I pray thee in earnest is this any part of christian faith or is it catholike deuinity that Christ Iesus is offended with that man that shall desire to touch the Virgin Maries paps or to taste of her milke not in this regard that its a thing not possible and therefore indeede not to be wished by a Christian but because they be peculiarly propperly his paps and his milke still as they were when hee was an Infant If this bee Romish diuinity alas for the sheep that are fed in such pastures and â—ild with such doctrine for this is fundameÌ„tally both false impious false for if it be true that the holy scriptures teach that Iesus Christ is now no more to be knowne nor conceiued of according to the flesh that is as a meere and mortall man but as a glorified Man a spirituall conquerour of his enemies and spirituall head of his Church If this I say be true that hee is no longer to be knowne as a man as hee was vpon earth then it is false that he is still to bee conceiued of and spoken vnto as a playing child Besides it is impious and irreligious and a step to Atheisme to imagine that Christ our God Sauior is offended for such an imaginary toy as this is to touch his mothers paps or to desire her milke what enemies of our religioÌ„ would not loudly laugh at this our Christ whom we so magnifie that we make him the rest and comfort of our soules to beâ— such a one as hee is heere described namely one that chides him that dare touch his mothers paps for so saith the verse Tune meas Mammas improbe tune meas That is Darest thou desire the teates my foode lies in Alas how shall the mouthes of Turkes and Iewes be stopped from blaspheming and saying Is this your Christ is this the glory of Christianity Is this he whom you make a God are these the sins he is offended withall Surely no wayes can such and fowler blasphemies bee preuented but that the Christian world publikely renounce condemne and curse this damned doctrine as being the priuate and impious blasphemy of the Machiuillian Iesuits but not the Catholike doctrine of Christianity For we cannot deny but there is a generation of vipers bred of the corruption and putrifaction of an old and sinfull world calling themselues Iesuites or Priests of the society of Iesus who as they come neerest to God in their mouthes so are they in their hearts if their courses can discouer them the furthest from him With these fellowes it may bee it is a doctrine or a peece of deuotion that its a great sin for a man to desire from Iesus some of his mothers milk but if they be asked who made this a sin they must answere themselues if what law euen their owne fancies But as for the catholike and christian Church she doth renounce it But to proceede is it not strange that a witty and learned Iesuite should frame such a speech as this vnto Iesus Christ for thus to begin Oh blessed Child why art thou angry at me and offended with me oft hast thou said to me being angry at my sins c. would put a man in hope that some great matter followed for vpon so good a beginning would not a man presume that some good confession of sinnes should follow as this I must confesse O Lord I haue sinned in ignorance in selfe loue in security in hardnesse of heart in incontinency in mallice in hatred in couetousnesse in omisâ—ion of my duties in commission of euill c. for these O Lord and for any of these thou mightest say vnto mee thou miserable wretch how darest thou thus pollute my name and as farre as in thee lyeth crucifie me againe by these thy sins how darest thou dust and ashes thus vilifie my eternall Law the curse whereof thou hast hereby incurred how darest thou beare my Name or looke mee in the face whom thou hast thus prouoked See Watson the Priest his iudgement of the Iesuit often in his Quidlibets Costerus in Euchiridio cap de â—alebaâ—u sacerd Sacerdos si fornâ—catur aut demi concubinam foueat tamet si grauâ— sacriligio se obitringet Grauâ—us tamen peccat si maliâ— monitum contrahat Oh that our eares might haue heard a Iesuite saying thus and then in reason a man would haue expected some good conclusion from such a beginning But why should we looke for either reason or religion from a Iesuit if that be true which their brother Watson the priest hath written of them To haue supposed Christ to be angry with him for breaking the Morrall Law had beene good diuinity and no poeticall immagination but these holy Fathers haue no such faults nay see how innocent Lambes the Iesuits be that when Christ is most angry with a Iesuit and rebukes him for sinne he hath none to lay to his charge nor finde any whereof This is
blasphemy for all the learned Papists in the world may be chalenged to proue if they can out of Gods word and the grounds of religion that she was any more theÌ„ another holy woman sauing this prerogatiue that she was his mother according to the flesh or any more then a Saint of God sanctified by the spirit and saued by the bloud of Iesus Christ whose mother shee was in regard of his flesh or that her milke had any vertue in the world but to nourish the body as doth the milke of other women their children for was not hee a man like vnto vs in all things sin excepted and if Christ take it no preiudice to himselfe to be like vnto men shall it be a wrong to her to be like to other women Nay we dare goe further and aske them if God haue vouchsafed once in the whole new Testament so much as to name the milke of the Virgin Mary whereas almost in euery Chapter hee extolleth the bloud of Christ and is euer magnifying the vertue merits and efficacy of the same if this bee so then what shall we say to that Religion and to those men who make it as questionable whether Christ Iesus his bloud excell the bloud of other men as whether the Virgin Maries milke exceede the milke of other women is this Romish religion is this popish diuinity then see what followeth But it cannot be proued either to reason or to faith that her milke excelleth other womens in any spirituall or corporall vertue or operation therefore it is not to be prouâ—ed that Christs bloud is more precious then other mens See here my deare countrymen how you are mis-led see what doctrine you are fed withall by your teachers open your eyes and bee no longer deceiued offer not this iniury to him that gaue his life for you to make this vnequall comparison if they will not teach you holy and sound diuinity then hate them and learne from vs or rather with vs from the holy scriptures that his bloud is the price of our redemptioÌ„ but as for her milke wee know no such thing since shee liued on earth acknowledge with vs that it is a fundamentall ground of Christian faith that his bloud is more worth then ten worlds but that her milke is now of any vallue can nether bee perswaded to reason nor beleeued by saith and yet dare this malignant sinagoue make that as likely as probable as certaine as the other If enemies of Religion take hold heere and say that therefore the ground of our Christianity are vncertaine and so blaspheme the blessed bloud of our Sauiour we can say no more but our Church is innocent our hearts are free our hands are cleere of it woe be to them by whom the offence commeth But now let us see how the Iesuite concludes and whether his end be any beter then his beginnning O quando lactabor ab vbere vulnere pascar delitijs que fruar mamma latus que tuis Parce Deus magno si te clamore fatigem non potis imperio non poti arte regi Exagitante siti Patientia perdit habenas clamores si vis tollere tolle sitim Pluris ego clauis saturasti sanguine clauos lanceaque erubuit sanguine tincta tuo Pluris ego pannis maduerent vndi que panni natia vulneribus Matris ab vberibus That is Ah when shall I with these be satisfied when shall I swim in ioyes of brest and side pardon O God mine eager earnestnesse If I thy lawes and reasons bounds transgresse Where thirst ore-swayes Patience is thrust away stay but my thirst and then my cryes will stay Better am I then nayles yet did astreame of thy deare bloud wash both the Launce and them More worthy I then clouts yet them a floud moystned of Mothers milke and of Sonnes bloud Now comes he to his conclusion but alas his iniquity is as much at the last as at the first for still hee persists in his impiety without repentance without remorce without sorrow or sence of the euill hee hath done for still he sings his old song O when shall I suck the milke of these brests when shall I drinke the bloud of these wounds His soule thirsteth but for what for milke and for bloud but first for milke and then for bloud If this be tollerable diuinity nay if this bee holy deuotion then what did our blessed Sauiour meane to cry out to all weary and thirsty soules If any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke I wish the Iesuits would tell vs what they thinke whether he did well or no to leaue out the Virgin Mary for if this diuinity of theirs bee good then he ought to haue said If any man thirst let him come to my mother or to me to drinke and surely if her milke be thus equall in vallue price and merrit to his bloud then wee doe no longer maruell that they teach how the Virgin Mary did rise from the dead and was assumed into heauen corporally that as Christ rose ascended to apply make good the merrit of his death so did she also to make effectuall the merrit of her milk But then good Paul how farre art thou to blame that esteemest all things in the world dunge and drosse and only that thou mightest know the vertue of the resurrection for then it seemes thou wilt giue little â—or nothing to know the vertue of her assumption But it may bee thou art halfe an Heretike and beleeuest not any such assumption but if thou couldest bee taken within the reach of the holy inquisitioÌ„ thou shouldst pay well for such thy hereticall incredulity If now thou wert aliue thy better and more holy brethren the Iesuites could reprooue thee for many indiscreete passages and teach thee better diuinity then thou seemest to know for whereas thou durst say thou esteemedst to know nothing Phil. 3. 8 9 10 but Iesus Christ and him crucified they can tell thee thou art farre short in thy duty and but cold in zeale in respect of them for they stand in doubt whether to esteeme now the bloud of his wounds or the milke of her Paps and whereas thou wilt giue all to know the vertue of his resurrection they can but wonder at thy ignorance who carest not to know the vertue of her resurrection ascention also Be thou content to know the one they for their parts will know both and if thou be so precise for thy Master that thou canst not be coÌ„teÌ„t to say that he purgeth our sins but must exclude all other and say that he by himselfe purgeth our sins know thou that they dare be so bold as to put out that word by himselfe out of the text and when they reade Heb. 1. 3 thy Epistles they are halfe ashamed to see what a bloudy man thou art for thou art all in bloud bloud insomuch as twenty times at least thou art still vpon bloud as