in the iudgement of all men But hee neuer instructed more nor was more to bee maruelled at than in publike disputations For if anie disputers were to be moderated hee shewed himselfe so equall a iudge and was mooued with those reasons onely which were of force to perswade as no man coulde euer suspect him to bee parciall he depressed not the sounde argumentes of aduersaries he winked not at the errors false argumentes of friends if they would wander out of the bounds of disputation he reuoked thē courteously to the matter propounded but if the matter proceeded to braules he quieted them by his authoritie And he so finished those incounters that alwayes at the first hee repeated the thinges that were most necessarie and then at the last pronounced of the whole cause that both trueth might haue the victorie and that thereby also might redounde to the hearers no small commoditie And if so he it came to his part to dispute he alwayes so behaued himselfe both in propounding and aunswering as there was no suspition of anie desire either of chiding or of carying away the victorie from an ouerthrowen aduersarie but his minde being free from affections hee rather taught that which was the trueth than contended with anie about wordes And therefore when oftentimes afterwarde he encountered with the stout defenders of the Popes Religion neither was hee mooued to anger at anie time by their rayling speeches neither yet by the acclamations and prayses of our side was he made anie thing the loftier by vayne glory but he perpetuallie kept one and the same modestie equalitie of mind And what perspicuitie of speaking he vsed in publike readings the same did he followe much more diligently in disputing For he iudged that a darkenesse of speech and ambiguitie of wordes is the cause of verie manie contentions And hereof doe his writinges giue a manifest testimonie For whereas he wrote manie things of the iustification of man of Gods predestination not a litle verilie he wrote most of all of the Supper of the Lorde in the explication whereof verie manie learned men vse a certaine affected obscuritie but in his writinges there is nothing read but that which is proper plaine and manifest And when Bucer whom he honoured and greatly esteemed woulde oftentimes exhort him that in the question of the Lordes supper he woulde vse some certaine obscure and doubtfull kinde of speaking which hee himselfe therefore vsed because the good man perswaded himselfe that by this meanes might be taken away the great controuersie which is about this matter and so the long desired peace to be restored to the Church at the length he gaue place to him and vsed the selfe same formes of speaking that hee did But perceyuing within a while the daunger that woulde ensue he chaunged his minde for hee sawe that they coulde not be satisfied by this meanes which affirme the grosse and carnall presence of the bodie of Christ in the supper vnlesse that also their grosse kinde of speech be receaued with a full and grosse interpretation And againe hee had tryed that the weaker brethren by this doubtfulnesse of speech were in part greatly offended and in part so intangled troubled as they scarcely knew what they were to iudge in this matter Wherfore leauing to Bucer his owne phrase of speech he folowed also in this doctrine the selfe same perspicuitie which he did in other things and yet neuerthelesse betweene them remained a firme and constant friendship for neither did Bucer disallow of Martyrs iudgement neither was Martyr ignorant of Bucers meaning although he vsed doubtful speeches so that although the maner of their teaching in this matter was diuerse yet was there a ful consent of them in al the doctrine of Religion and a perpetuall friendshippe and coniunction of life which if I woulde expresse and rehearse all the pleasures whereby they declared their mutuall loue rather wordes woulde frayle than matter Wherefore leauing these thinges I will come to priuate matters and speake of his domesticall life For at Strasborough hee first beganne to haue a house and familie And first he liued without a wife all in one house with his friendes that followed him out of Italie being content with a meane or rather a verie small stipende which neuerthelesse was afterwarde augmented For since he left his countrie and great riches and high honours for Christ his sake hee thought it woulde not become anie to bee agreeued at the increase of his stipende speciallie since he was of so spare a life that this which hee had was not onelie sufficient for himselfe but that there also remained somewhat for the helping of friendes Nowe since for diuers causes hee disallowed of single life by the counsell of his friends he betrothed himselfe to an honest and noble Virgin Catherin Dampmartin who liuing at Metes and louing true religion was sent for to Strasborough by godlie men and afterwarde was married to Martyr This woman died afterward in Englande without anie issue when shee had liued viii yeares with her husbande Vnto this woman all that knewe her gaue such prayse as is due to a good and excellent Matrone For first shee was one that feared GOD loued her husbande wise and industrious in gouerning of her domesticall affaires bountifull towardes the poore who not onelie ayded them with her substance but also with all the counsell and helpe she could Moreouer in the whole course of her life she was godlie modest and sober It is reported that the common sort in Oxford loued her not onely as a benefactor and as it were a mother of the needie but that they also woondred at her as though shee had bin indued with some diuine power because that in sicknesses and especiallie in childbirth their wiues by her counsell and helpe obtained for the most part vndoubted safetie The dead bodie of this woman Cardinall Pole commaunded to be digged vp and to be cast into a dunghill and that he might seeme to deale iustlie when he had no other thing to accuse her of he ascribed this cause to wit that she was buried hard by the bodie of S. Fridesuide and that she was the wife of an Hereticke Verilie this Cardinall which was sometime a speciall friend of Martyr after his departure out of Italie not onelie forsooke his friendship but he vtterly cast awaie the care of true Religion which for a time he had fained and became an earnest enemie and persecuter of our professors Therefore sith he could not burne Martyr himselfe as he desired and with greater pleasure would haue seene it he shewed his crueltie vpon a dead carkasse which had bin Martyrs wife But after that England vnder the most excellent Queene Elizabeth had receiued the former light of the Gospell to abolish this note of infamie the bodie by the commandement of the Bishops was againe digged out of the filth and dunghill and in a great assemblie of people was solemnlie buried
all meanes to haue me tarie here Howbeit what he shal bring to passe I know not This neuerthelesse must I shewe you that my purpose was in my iourney to goe to Geneua and to bee there for a while in your companie But the winter which is nowe at hande hath terrified me from anie further iourney doubtlesse that which I haue nowe deferred I hope the next spring I shal bring to passe And if you think that I be able to doe you anie pleasure here onelie giue we warning and it shall suffice I wish you well to fare in the Lorde and that you maie long remaine in safetie to the Church of Christ At Strasborough the 3. of Nouember 1553. To Maister Iohn Caluin ABout the feast of Easter I wrote letters vnto you right worthie sir but it was by a yong gentlemā of Hungarie who was slaine not farre from Selestade Wherfore since there happened so sorrowful a mischaunce they could not be brought vnto you And those thinges which I then knewe and wrote since I doubt not but that you had knowledge of them by some other meanes I thinke them not fit to be repeated There is a verie fearefull newes reported of out of England namelie that there the Parliament as they call it hath assented to restore vnto the Pope his most tyrannicall gouernment The popish kingdome restored in England And Philip is and is accounted king of Englande The good men on all partes flie frō thence as much as they can And I can not expresse howe great a disturbance there is of all thinges And nowe amongest vs there bee thrée excellent knightes namelie Morisin Cheeke and Cooke no lesse famous in godlinesse than in learning who I thinke within fewe daies will come vnto you These thinges I therefore write to the intent that you together with your Church will pray for that state not onelie afflicted but in a manner ouerthrowen Doubtlesse nowe are the Bishoppe of Canterburie and the rest of the Bishoppes in extreame daunger We here liue in peace and quietnesse as touching outwarde matters and nowe we perceiue we are deliuered of feare touching our French Church whereas manie before suspected that something woulde bee chaunged in doctrine and administration of the Sacramentes Which neither is nor I hope shal be doone I would to God that the cōtention of some against their pastor might be taken awaie But yet doe I trust that at length it will be quieted and as I iudge wil easilier be quenched by dissembling our iudgment than if men resist by violence and power And this euill hath also néede of prayers Finallie I would haue you vnderstande that this doeth greatlie gréeue me together with other good men that against the trueth against your good name they spread verie foule and false reports as touching the eternall election of God and that heretikes ought not to bee put to death But it maketh no matter since as wee heare in these thinges which they write they dare not confesse their names I saide as we heare because there is not one of those namelesse bookes brought hither to Strasborough Wee that be here and especiallie Zancus and I doe defende your part and the trueth so much as in vs lieth But how Maister Alasco was ill intreated through out Denmarke and the Churches of Saxonie you maie vnderstande by this man that deliuereth you my letters Fare you well and pray for vs. Zancus saluteth you verie much I in like maner pray you salute in my name Martinengus and also Galeatius the Marques and N. From Strasborough the 9. of Maie To Maister Iohn Caluin SIr I lately receiued letters from Vienna that I shoulde sende them vnto you which before I did not because I had no sooner a conuenient messenger And nowe I write partly vppon this occasion and partly because it séemeth now lōg since I saluted you Which duetie though I haue slacked for a time yet will I not suffer it wholie to cease And besides this my good wil there hath happened another thing namely that a fewe dayes past I read with great pleasure the worke which you set foorth in defence of the wholesome eternall predestination of almightie God Wherefore since I was greatly delighted with the reading thereof I thought it iust and my part to giue you thankes And I doubt not but that vnto your labour will come a iust and aboundant fruite as touching them which bee chosen and predestinate vnto eternal life by GOD vnto whose glorie it was taken in hand And I also haue gathered manie things for the confirmation of this matter in my Commentarie vppon the Epistle to the Romanes which certaine monethes past I sent vnto Basill to Peter Perne to be imprinted which Booke neuerthelesse could not at this Mart be finished which nowe I let you vnderstand to assure you that euen for good cause and with all my heart I am glad of your writing We haue here no newes but that your selfe knowe The inauguration of the newe Emperour after an vnusuall forme and manner and hitherto not heard of hath bread an incredible woonder For by this Coronation as they terme it the authoritie of the Romane Antichrist séemeth more to bee ouerthrowen than euer before And by what meanes the Archbishops which be Electors coulde bee brought to consent vnto this maner of inauguration no man in a maner can tell But howsoeuer it is we will expect the workes of God Hither came two from Vienna the one of which is a preacher but the other is an Earle young in déede of age but yet well exercised in learning and one that much fauoureth Religion He was a Counsellour to the newe Emperour but nowe he dwelleth with Maximillian the King of Bohemia hens well inclined to the Euangelicall Churches and indeuoureth to shew that the Lutherans and wee iudge one thing as touching the matter of the sacrament but yet hitherto he could not make this plaine vnto some He iourneieth to Tubinge and Hedilborough from thence to Philip into Saxony who he saith that hee for a certaintie knoweth to be now constrained to write testifie what his opinion is touching the question of the sacrament God graunt him such constancie as becommeth his learning and godlines Both of these men affirme that king Maximilian is enclined to the religion of the Gospell and wisheth that the Church of Vienna should be altogether reformed These were the things which I had to write vnto you I beséeche God the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ that he will long preserue you in health to his Church From Zuricke the 21. of Aprill I pray you salute in my name our fellowe Ministers To Maister Iohn Caluin TRuelie sir it was neither griefe nor maruell vnto mée that a fewe daies since when you sent letters to our friende Maister Bullinger by whom you would make the excuse you wrote nothing vnto mée But this was verie grieuous vnto me before to heare that you were sicke and
There be vsed no vehement affections neither is there any thing doone earnestly or from the heart but all things are rather doone of a certaine ceremonie and custome Let no man make excuse that these things belong onely vnto Bishops and vnto pastors Col. 3. 16. séeing vnto the Colossians Paul admonisheth euerie man as well that the word of God should dwell in vs plentifullie as also that our spéech shoulde alwayes be gratious and powdered with salt Col. 4. 6. that wée may know how to answere euerie man And Peter woulde haue vs to be readie to giue a reason of that hope which is in vs. 1. Pet. 3. 15. But forasmuch as I perceiue the time is past I will make an end and bende my selfe vnto prayer as vnto a most sure hauen to craue the aid and assistance of Gods helpe And as holy Moses when he had nowe ruled the people of God the space of 40. yeares on this wise prayed Deut. â—2 2. A Prayer That my doctrine may droppe as doth the raine and my speech flowe as doth the deaw So I good Lord most earnestly desire of thée that those thinges which I shall teach thy children may not be any stormes of errours but desired and fruitfull raines of the trueth and that my interpretations may be no waters that shoulde wast the Church and ouerthrow coÌ„sciences but a deawie consolation a profitable edification of soules And I beséech thée also that thou wilt hearken and graunt vnto my prayer that all those which be héere present may heare the holie séede of thy word not as the high way nor as the thornes nor as the stonie ground but as the good lande and fielde prepared by thy spirite they may out of the scriptures which shall bee committed to the furrowes of their hearts bring foorth fruite thirtie sixtie and an hundreth fold An Oration concerning the studie of diuinitie made to the Vniuersitie of Strasborough after his returne out of England THose debters ye diuines which meane good faith are greatly troubled with sorrow and care of minde when they sée themselues hindered by any occasion that they be not able to pay those thinges which they knowe they doe owe neither doeth this happen vnto them without great reason For mortall men haue nothing that they may in right preferre before a stedfast faithfulnesse Whereupon Paul that notable Apostle of Christ the heart of the worlde and most famous publisher of the doctrine of the Gospell when among other nations he knew himself debter also vnto the Romanes Rom. 1. 10. besought God with continuall desires and most instant prayers that he might once at the length come vnto them that euen out of their riche fielde he might carie into the heauenly barne a large haruest and abundance of fruite And because that noble mindes desiring excellent things doe not satisfie themselues vnlesse they ioyne with their desires no lesse indeuours therefore he testifieth that he did often attempt to come vnto them but that he was hindered by Sathan Which hinderaunce as I am perswaded did with great griefe disquiet his most godly minde For with an incredible desire he wished faithfully to doe those things which in preaching of Christ he euer and fréely confessed to be his duetie to doe vnto the wise and vnwise vnto the Gretians and barbarous Wherefore séeing this affection doeth beare so great stroke in honest mindes and in godly men if ye shall thinke me all the while that I haue bin absent from hence to haue bin forgetfull of the duetie which these many yéeres by bond I owe to the schoole or Church of Strasborough ye bereaue me of an honest heart and godly minde But beleeue me the case did not so stand but euen as Homers Vlisses when he was in the Orchardes of Alcinous in the caues of Calipso among the songes of the Syrens in the inchauntements of Circe and violence of the great Giants of Sicill neuer laide aside the swéete remembrance of his owne Countrie Ithaca though it were but rude and as the Israelites so many of them as were godly did during the space of fortie yéeres in the desert continually with themselues thinke of the lande promised them by God so your Martyr did neuer at any time forget this Schoole or by any occasion of this absence ceased to bee carefull of his chiefe and speciall calling and of this perpetuall remembraunce and good will I not onely haue God to be my witnesse and searcher of my heart whom I pray and beséeche for his seuere iustice sake not to leaue me vnpunished if I doe lie but also many notable and woorthie men in Englande doe well knowe howe earnestly I sued to the King that as he had called me from hence so he would send mée hither againe Which neuerthelesse I might not obtaine For that King being verie much giuen vnto godlinesse King Edward the 6. was desirous to cal thither out of Germanie many men of my vocation rather than to suffer me to depart whom he had alreadie with him Wherefore hauing on this wise a repulse I was constrained whether I would or no to be absent from hence And vnlesse ye your selues consider of it by your selues I cannot expresse howe grieuously I tooke it to depart from my place which I had so long inioyed and how sorrowfull I was when I perceiued that I was cut off from al hope of my returne Yet did I comfort my selfe because I thought you were not ignoraunt what the manner of the worshippe of God is For God must not be worshipped after our will but according to his owne pleasure Neither doe those thinges which wée haue purposed to our selues to be doone please him but what his prouidence day by day appointeth to euerie man either to be taken in hand or to be indured Without doubt it séemed pleasant vnto me and most delectable to returne to Strasborough but GOD in whose power I was and now am commanded another thing to be determined And maruell not if I say that he commaunded for ye are not ignoraunt that in all those thinges that are not repugnant vnto the Scriptures of God Rom. 13. c. we must obey Princes euen as we doe God and most auncient is that common saying Osee 6. 7. that Obedience is farre to be preferred before sacrifice And besides this the fruite of the worke which GOD through my ministerie wrought in that most noble kingdome was a let of my comming Howbeit contrarie to the expectation of all men was King Edward of Englande the bright light of Christian kingdomes the verie nurse of godlynesse and a stoute defender of the Gospell of Christ by cruell and lamentable death taken away The light was turned into darkenesse impietie succéeded pitie and most cruell Woolues inuaded the newe and late restored Churche good men are wickedly oppressed from whose perils and misfortunes howe I by the prouidence of God haue bin deliuered I cannot
that Christian charitie mooueth mée to fauour them your request also shall cause mée that I will pleasure them any waie that either they themselues shall desire of me or that Iohn Vlmer shall desire in their behalfe That Hooper is deliuered of all his troubles I thinke you nowe vnderstand by others I neuer failed him and I alwayes hoped well of his cause He is nowe in his Bishoprick he exerciseth his function faithfully and earnestly God graunt him that he may plentifully reape the fruites which he most desireth Also Christopher Froschouer behaueth himselfe well for your sake I will neuer forsake him so farre as in me lyeth and I hope so well of him as I thinke hee will well aunswere your expectation I bid you and all yours fare well in the Lorde From Oxford the 25. of Aprill 1551. To Ralph Gualther IF I shoulde not my learned Friend giue you thankes for the paines which you haue taken in the perusing and correcting of my Booke when it was in Printing both I shall be vngratefull and shall not deserue hereafter to haue any benefite bestowed vpon mee by any other Truely I sée that you haue taken no small toyle therein For in copying out the Booke which I sent vnto you there was no such diligence vsed as had bin requisite But I will prouide hereafter that the matter may bee more diligently handled when I shall sende any thing to you to be Printed Wherefore I beséech almightie GOD to requite the paines which you haue taken for mee Your carefulnesse hath brought to passe that the worke is come forth well ynough amended But looke how much you haue furthered the impression so much lesse hath fortune fauoured the carriage of the bookes For to this day there could be conueyed hither but thirtie Coppies wherefore many séeke them in vaine since they are not to bee solde any where in this kingdome Birkman who promised me xx Coppies hath not sent one which I will not thinke to bée doone of ill will but rather that it hath happened through some mischaunce As touching our matters I cannot certifie you of much more than this our carrier I meane your Froschouer is able to shewe who vndoubtedly is an honest and godly young man and all the while he taried here liued moderately and religiouslie wherefore it appeareth that he was not rashlie commended of you at the beginning God increase his godlinesse and graunt you to procéede as ye doe in the instructing of your children and young men Great newes is here spread out of Germanie but yet so vncertaine and variable as we cannot wel assure our selues what to beléeue We are desirous to knowe whether the Switchers which professe the Gospell haue determined to send any of the Ministers of their Churches to the Councell of Trent But to enquire much of these things perhaps will not be thought conuenient since Christes cause is chiefely to bée commended to Christ himselfe Howbeit as the members of the bodie of Christ which is the Church are ioyned one with another by a most sure bonde of the spirit so is it requisite that they shoulde be carefull one of another I bid you farewell in the Lorde Salute in my name Maister Pellican Maister Bibliander together with the rest of our fellowe Ministers Giuen out of the house of my Lorde of Canterburie the 6. of Marche 1552. To the Lords of Polonia Professors of the Gospel and to the Ministers of the Churches there I Am fullie perswaded right honorable and louing brethren in Christ that you so abounde in the grace of God and his plentifull spirite and be so replenished with heauenlie doctrine and wisedome that you are able not onelie to teach and instruct your selues in the waie of God but can also admonishe and teach others yet am I bolde to write these things vnto you that you maie knowe as a certaine testimonie of my minde what coniunction I haue with all the members of Christ what most ready will towardes the holie renewing of the kingdome of Christ and what a certaine singular affection towardes the kingdome of Polonia Polonia embraâ—ed the Gospel First then I giue thankes vnto God the father through our Lorde Iesus Christ that your newe profession of the gospell is with great praise of the godlie spread in a manner euerie where For what can happen more acceptable or more ioyfull vnto them than that the Gospell of God maie be ministred euen in the vttermost parts of the worlde that the oblation of the Gentils where it was least to be looked for maie bee accepted of God and most aboundantlie sanctified by his spirite Verilie they which haue but a sparke of godlinesse in their brest and are touched with anie indeuour of the worshippe of God do not onelie make great account of your indeuours which you bestowe in the reformation of Christes religion but also doe weigh the same as the greatest pleasure and singular delight Procéede therefore as you haue begunne forasmuch as you are nowe become a most ioyfull spectacle vnto God vnto the Angels 1. Cor. 4. 9. and vnto men and for your sakes doth euerie good man from all partes reioyce Verilie I my selfe who am woonderfullie afflicted for the harde misfortunes of the Church of Englande The afflicted state of the Church of England who dailie lament the newe slaughters of holie men and continuallie sorow for the fires wherewith the most holie members of Christ are burned cannot but recreate my selfe by reason of the determination of godlinesse that you haue begunne For with you is increased and amplified that which elsewhere is by the extreme power of Antichrist abated and diminished Howbeit that our thankes giuing maie be the fuller and you receiue more ioyfull aboundant and long lasting fruite of that which you haue taken in hand this must you speciallie prouide that ye ioine with innocencie and purenesse of life that trueth of God which he hath vouchsafed to open vnto you The knowledge of God without integritie of life is hurtfull otherwise it profiteth nothing yea rather it doeth excéeding much harme to haue the knowledge of God to haue the reuelation of his will and to vnderstand the secrets of the Scriptures when wee shall in déedes and life denie all these thinges For what other thing I beséech you should that be Rom. 1. 18. than as Paul saith to detaine the trueth of God in vnrighteousnesse Assuredlie it is the first steppe vnto godlinesse rightlie to knowe those thinges whereby God will be worshipped of vs but herein to labour for performance thereof which we haue nowe by the grace of GOD knowen it is a most certaine fruite of that faith which indéed being taken awaie what soeuer knowledge went before though it were lightened by the spirit of God yet did it make vnto most gréeuous condemnation Wherefore my most déerelie beloued brethren we must take héede that our light be not without heate that the leaues bee not without
that of a daungerous disease Neither doeth it nowe any lesse grieue mée when I perceiue that your sickenesse which troubleth you is a quarten ague I for my part am able to say much of the vntowardnesse and as it were rebellious obstinacie of this disease against medicines and Phisitians as he that hath two sundrie times striuen therewith The chiefest thing is that they which are in this state must vse great long pacience which I am sure you are not to séeke in matters without séeing it is aboundantly ynough planted within your minde by the spirite of Christ But I together with many others haue two causes to sorrowe for this your sicknesse The one is because you your selfe are broken and weakened which cannot otherwise be especiallie in a slender bodie now in a manner dried vp with labours And the other cause is that your labours in preaching and writing are discontinued to the great detriment of all Christians For there is nothing so much enemie vnto this disease as are studies and cares These be the things which disquiet not onely mée but all that be true godlie men Howbeit since the case so standeth it is our part to pray as earnestlie as wee can that you may spéedilie be restored to your former health And it is your part with all diligence to forbeare from all thinges that may doe you hurt especiallie from earnest studie and care of weightie matters whereby the humour of Melancholie from whence this feuer is stirred vp is so forced and striken as it setleth euen into the Marowe of the bones Verilie it is to be wished that since it hath so séemed good vnto God you should much rather quiet your selfe for certaine dayes or monethes than either to die which God forbid to the great griefe of the godly or else to the incredible hinderance of the Church to liue the rest of your life altogether with a féeble and consumed bodie and minde Wherefore take héede you offende not either against your selfe or against the Church of Christ Yesterday there came hither certaine messengers sent from the English gentlemen which liue at Strasborough which do certifie that their Quéene died the 16. day of Nouember The death of Quéene Marie and that the most noble Elizabeth is succéeded in the kingdome that with a full consent of all states For by chaunce they were gathered together at this time from all the partes of England to the assemblie which they commonly call the Parliament Nowe must we desire GOD that this alteration of the state may turne happilie to the honour of Christ and his holy Gospell I knowe that you and your godly Church will not faile to doe what in you lyeth Perhaps the time is now wherein the walles of Ierusalem shall be builded vp againe in that kingdome that the bloud of so manie Martyrs may séeme not to haue bin spent in vaine Other newes than this I haue not sauing that my Booke is vnder the presse Gardiners booke confuted by Peter Martyr wherein I haue discouered and confuted all the false arguments and shiftes of Stephen Gardiner somtime Bishop of Winchester touching the matter of the Eucharist Which as I hope hath happened in verie good season For it will be profitable especiallie at this time that the English Papistes may vnderstande that that booke is not inuincible as hitherto they haue bragged Fare you well and long may you liue vnto Christ and to his Church I salute all the Ministers and also Beza and the Marques From Zuricke the first of December To a certaine friend IT is euen in déed as you write right woorthie man and déere beloued friend in Christ and I am euerie day taught more and more by experience it selfe that the death of the bodie of that most godly yong man Edward king of England belongeth vnto manie partes of the Church and bringeth greater harme than many doe now perceiue But God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ graunt that within a while they féele it not to their great sorrowe But I which after some sort haue bin partaker of these matters if I should not bitterlie lament for the miserable case of our excellent brethren and for their most constant daungers aswell of minde as of bodie and should not euerie day shed iust teares for the mishappe of that people verilie I should be as a stone and péece of leade While they be now grieuouslie afflicted laid open on euerie side to offences burned euerie houre with the fires of temptations while with extreme vngodlinesse of hypocrites that Church is suppressed and trodden vnder foote how may it be that I and such as I am can sorrowe temperatlie and moderatlie While I taught in that countrie there were verie manie learners of the holie scriptures and verie toward scholers in Diuinitie whose haruest was welnéere ripe whom now against their willes I sée either miserablie wandering in vncertaine habitations or else most vnhappilie subuerted if they tarie There were in that kingdome a great sort of most sincere and learned Byshops who are shut vp in most straite prison euen now readie to be plucked away as théeues vnto death In that nation were laid the foundations of the Gospell and of a noble Church and with a fewe yéeres labour the holie building was in good forewardnesse and better and better was euerie day hoped for But now finallie vnlesse God put to his helping hand it is like to come to passe that not so much as a steppe of godlinesse in outward profession will be left These and other thinges suffer not my heart to be at rest nor my minde at quiet Wherefore I beséech God with all my heart that he will remitte some part of the punishment and for Iesus Christ his sake wil forbeare to powre out his great wrath otherwise we shall be oppressed with the heape of infinite euils And that which I doe so earnestlie wish I beséech you that you in like manner will desire of God that yet at the length he wil take pitie of afflicted England which I verie well know did before this calamitie verie much fauour you and other godlie men and good learning And whereas you admonishe me that I should here séeke and maintaine concord with them that teach I iudge that you speake the same of loue and good will and I assure you in déede that so much as in me lyeth peace and charitie shall remaine inuiolate I haue bin alwayes of milde nature and haue verie much loued peace and tranquillitie Wherefore I minde not especiallie now in my olde age to change my nature Welnéere all the professors of good artes and learning doe make much of me and I in like manner doe loue them In the same wise dooth the case stand towardes the Ministers of the Church sauing that I perceaue some of them beare me not so good will yet neuerthelesse I cease not to haue them in the same estimation that is due vnto the holie
sacrament And if a man doe diligentlie weigh his words scant any age shall be fit for baptisme For that he thinketh it to be denied to young mē also to them that be vnmaried as persons subiect as yet to temtation and faults as if albeit old men be lesse with lust inflamed yet they be not vexed with gréeuous kinds of temptations Neither was Tertullian so néere of one time to Higinus as you suppose For Higinus was bishop in the yeare of our Lorde 140. but Turtullian florished vnder Eleutherius in the yeare 210. Nowe whereas Higinus doth onely decrée of the Godfathers to infants it appeareth they were woont to be baptised before that For he that ordaineth the manner of a thing doth surely deale in a matter that was extant before I denie not that in the primitiue times baptisme was sometimes differred for all were not baptised in their infancie Yet none of right beliefe denied baptisme to infants if they were offered to receiue the same Which if you thinke not so to be it were conuenient you should shew some one who withhelde children from the sacrament of regeneration There was indéede one among them who gaue aduise that baptisme should be differred till thrée yeares end if it might be in respect of the childrens strength which happily he supposed because children of thrée yeares old begin then to remēber somwhat But he in any wise denied not that they should be baptised before thrée yeares if they were in daunger of life or if it séemed good otherwise to their parents In sum the time of baptisme at the beginning was not preciselie set yet was it neuer denied to children that were offered Concerning Origen it is certaine he saith that the baptisme of children is a tradition of the Apostles And this reason he alledgeth because euen they also haue their corruption to be washed away and your allegations are found in his commentarie vpō the Epistle to the Romanes and are to be vnderstoode of them that be of riper yeares For in those dayes many of elder yeares were conuerted vnto Christ and many that were borne of Christians differred their baptisme for certaine yeares when as we haue alreadie saide no time was prescribed Of such then doeth Origen complaine that in that age the sacrament of baptisme was not so plainly and cléerelie declared as in the Apostles times and that the Apostles began baptisme at them that were of riper yeares there is no question But that they did not baptise children withal by what scriptures will it be prooued To Ludouicus Viues vpon the 26. Chapter of the first booke De ciuitate Dei what else should I answere but that he is deceiued when he saieth that none but of ripe yeares were baptised of old For Cyprian who was after Tertullian about 40. yeares resisted them in the Councell who thought that the eight day was to be tarried for in baptising of children whereby nowe you sée that euen then children were baptised and that the question of the time onely was disputed of Wherefore both Viues and Erasmus might in this matter haue spoken more warily But where you séeme to denie baptisme to infants for my part I doe contrariwise by al meanes affirme and beléeue the same as a thing which out of the scriptures is cléere ynough vnto me Now if you admit Originall sinne to be in children and yet will not permit them to be baptised you are not of Origens iudgement whom I cited before vpon the Epistle to the Romans But that Ruffinus rather than Origen should be authour of those thinges that there bee read howe shall we knowe So the same might be saide of his Commentaries vppon Genesis Exodus and other bookes Truely I am faine to reade Origen as he is translated sith the Gréeke coppies are not commonly extant And as you alledge for your opinion Origens testimonies both out of these Commentaries vpon the Epistle to the Romans and out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus so shoulde you likewise admit those thinges that we take from thence Which neuerthelesse whether you haue gathered them out of his Commētaries or out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus or vpon the Numbers they make but to this that verie manie at those dayes of ripe yeares were admitted to the Sacrament of Baptisme And the like woulde at this day come to passe if God would graunt that the Turkes shoulde receiue Christ This déere friend in Christ is that which now I would shortlie runne ouer Which I pray God you may at the length acknowledge with me to be true Certaine it is that Paul had no power but to edification Nor doe I who do easilie acknowledge the meanenesse of my giftes thinke my selfe to haue receiued any thing of the Lord which is not due to the edification of the Church of Christ The cause of religion I am for my part readie to further in all things which I shall iudge agréeable to holie writ But if you be not yet of the same mind that I am God may bring to passe that one day you will thinke as I doe The question of childrens baptisme hath béene once or twise disputed of héere for scholasticall exercise sake not that God bée thanked I haue founde anie héere who déeme otherwise thereof than the Church at this day beléeueth To write vnto you what foundations in the scripture our faith of childrens baptisme dependeth vppon I haue thought superfluous partlie for that I discoursed them vnto you at large when you talked with me partlie for that you may reade them in bookes published by men most notable aswell for their learning as for their Godly iudgement I wish you in the Lorde well to fare From Oxforde the first of December 1550. For Martin Borhaus his salutations I thanke both him and you Of your saluation in Christ most desirous Peter Martyr Here followe letters of M. Peter Martyr to certaine Englishmen To a certaine friende of his 35. SYr your Letters full of courtesie which you wrote vnto me were so welcome as I do giue you excéeding great thankes for them Vndoubtedly herein I receaued most comfort by them that I vnderstande you are so mindefull of me and doe perceiue that this is doone for no other cause but that you haue a verie great loue of godlinesse and to the holie scriptures Therefore since you loue God in me and the labour though it bee verie small which I bestowe vppon the Church I reioyce in this your good wil and affection And I pray and beséech almightie GOD againe and againe that he wil daily more and more increase the studie of godlinesse holie doctrine wherwith he hath hitherto adorned you I sorrowe vnspeakeablie that there is euerie where in England so great a penurie of the worde of God and since they which are bounde to féede the shéepe with the doctrine of Christ are of such faint courage as they vtterlie refuse to doe their duetie I knowe not with what teares and
awaie That custome haue I alwayes most allowed of all other as that which is the purer most sauoreth of the Apostles Church And I beséeche the immortall God that both in that place it may euermore be preserued and that at the length it may bee receiued wheresoeuer the church of Christ is restored You sée therefore that in the chiefe and principall point I doe not disagrée from you but doe earnestly desire that the same which you indeuour to bring to passe may take place My desire is kindled partly for that in Ceremonies I would come as néere as might be vnto the holie Scriptures and would continue in the imitation of the better times of the Church and partly that I perceiue the Popes followers indeuour still by these reliques to renew at the least wise some shewe of the Masse and doe more cleaue vnto these things than the nature of things indifferent can require But yet neither these things nor yet the reasons alleaged by you doe bring me to that passe that I shoulde affirme the vse of such garments to be verie wicked or that in their owne nature they be contrarie to the worde of God which in any wise I thinke to bee a matter indifferent being not ignoraunt that those things which be indifferent may sometimes be vsed and sometimes ought to be remooued To eate a thing strangled is an indifferent thing but yet it behooueth sometimes to set aside the vse thereof and another while it is in the frée choise to eate the same And by this meanes although I saide that I thinke a diuersitie of garments ought not to be retained in holy seruices yet neuerthelesse woulde I not say that it is a wicked thing so as I would be so bold to condemne whomsoeuer I shoulde perceiue to vse the same Certainelie if I were so perswaded I would neuer haue communicated with the Church héere in Englande wherein there is as yet kept still such a diuersitie For although as I haue saide I allowe but a litle héereof yet doe I sée that sometimes in these things indifferent some things although they be grieuous and burthensome are to bee borne withall so long as it cannot otherwise bee least if wee contend for them more bitterly than behooueth it may both be a hindrance to the procéeding of the Gospel and those things which in their owne nature be indifferent may be taught by our vehement contention to be wicked Which things vnlesse I be deceaued bring with them two most grieuous discommodities For if we woulde first suffer the Gospell to be spread abroade and to take déepe roote perhaps men woulde better and more easilie be perswaded to remooue awaie these outward attires A similitude While a man is sicke and is some what vppon the mending hande he grieuouslie suffereth certaine light and vnfit things to bée remooued from him aswel in meate as in drinke but yet the very same man hauing recouered health doeth euen of himselfe reiect them as things vnacceptable and vnprofitable If England were first wel and diligently instructed and confirmed in the chiefe and most necessarie points of Religion so farre as mee thinkes I sée it wil not at the length take in ill part that these things in some sort superfluous shoulde bée remooued But nowe when there is brought in a change in the chiefe necessarie points of religion and that with so great disquietnesse if wée shoulde also declare those things to bée wicked which be things indifferent al mens mindes in a manner woulde be so alienated from vs as they woulde no more shewe themselues to be attentiue and pacient hearers of sounde doctrine and necessarie Sermons Greatly beholding doubtlesse is your England vnto you for so much as you haue laboured verie earnestly in teaching and preaching and on the other side you haue wun to your selfe by the same England great fauour and authoritie whereby you may profitablie bring many things to passe to the glorie of God Onelie beware of this least by vnseasonable and ouer sharpe Sermons you be a let vnto your owne selfe Howbeit doe not gather hereby that I iudge we should neuer contend by the Ministerie of the Gospell for assuring the trueth of the scriptures and doctrines This doe not I affirme who continuallie oppose my selfe in disputations both publike and priuate and in the greatest controuersies for Religions sake but this I say that these things which be of lesse importance ought not to be a let through our contention Neither is there any great account to be made of them either if they be brought in or being brought in be confirmed Further if we procéede in disswading from these indifferent things as being pernicious and wicked wée condemne manie Churches which are not straunge from the Gospel and too earnestly reprooue innumerable Churches which in times past were celebrated with singular great praise I am not ignoraunt that the authoritie of Churches whether they be present or past ought not to be of such force as by them the trueth of Gods worde shoulde be pressed for that must remaine firme and vnshaken although the whole world shoulde faile in his foundation but this I stande to prooue that for thinges indifferent I holde we may not worke that either they be condemned or that we speake otherwise than well of them And because I perceiue that you iudge not these to be indifferent things perhaps it will bée profitable to examine the reasons whereby you perswade your selfe hereof Wherefore to contriue them in briefe as you doe I will gather them chiefely into principall pointes First you say that the Priesthood of Aaron whereunto this diuersitie of garments séemeth to belong must not be restored For since wee haue Christ for the Priest the ceremonies of Aaron are abrogated neither ought they with the safetie of godlinesse bee called againe Another foundation of your reasons is that these are the inuentions of Antichrist and since that wee ought to bée straunge not onelie from the Pope but also from all his false inuentions you woulde that the diuers apparellings and attirings of ministers should be abolished Since these be your two principall Arguments we will first consider of them and then will we adde what we shall else remember to be brought by you for the confirmation of your opinion In the lawe or Priesthood of Aaron there were sacraments by which it pleased GOD to seale the promises of Christ to come A distinctiō of the ceremonies of the old Fathers all which I knowe were abrogated and wee must beléeue that Christ is alreadie giuen not to be giuen and séeing there bee other pledges giuen by the Lorde himselfe vnder the Gospell I meane breade wine and water we ought not to renewe againe the olde tokens Neuerthelesse some thinges were there so appointed as they cannot properly bee called Sacraments for they serued vnto comelinesse vnto order and vnto some commoditie the which as things agréeable vnto the light of nature
thinke that I will euer for this diuersitie of opinion which is not great either loue or honour you any thing lesse than I did before c. To a verie honourable Prince in England 43. FOr manie and great causes am I verie much bounde vnto your highnesse most noble Prince For I being but a poore silie man and of lowe degrée whom you saw scarcelie once in England you heare such affection towardes mee as you haue with singular courtesie and good will intertained Iulius which dealeth in my affaires and haue shewed him not small but verie great fauour in the perfourming of his businesse for the which cause I giue your Honour excéeding great thankes and besides this for that you haue sent letters vnto me letters doe I say yea rather praises and commendations both of my learning and vertues which although I doe not acknowledge to be in me yet could I not but reioice in your iudgement because I vnderstoode it to bee a most certaine testimonie of your loue and good will towardes me Neither doe I thinke my selfe to be loued of you for any other cause than for godlines and religions sake I will not rehearse the singular desire that you shewe to haue mée returne againe into England Peter Martyr called againe into England which you also affirme that the godlie and learned men doe desire together with you But how great a fauour is that that you haue put the Quéenes Maiestie in minde that there must be some consideration had of my calling and haue put mee in her Maiesties fauour Finally you haue promised to doe mee all the pleasures and commodities you can and you haue declared the causes and those verie singular of this your affection namely the loue of your Countrie and the excéeding care of setting forward the worde of God Such a Prince who can but loue Vndoubtedly if I should euer be forgetfull of this so great a good will and of so many benefites I shoulde not onely be voide of godlinesse but of humanitie Wherefore I will indeuour and that by all meanes I can that they may neuer slip out of my minde But nowe as touching my returne into England and if I am not able to answere that which I would earnestly desire I beséeche your honour that you will of your courtesie take in good part the answere which I write vnto you First I would not haue you to thinke that I desire any thing more earnestly than the sound saluation of England in the Lorde Wherefore I haue desired now also no lesse than in times past to further the commodities and building thereof and to doe that which might be as well acceptable as profitable to your kingdome and Church But at this day it standeth thus with mee that I am appointed to the Citie and Church of Tigure and therefore I am not at my owne libertie Wherefore as touching this matter I sought the iudgement and good will both of the Magistrate and of the Ministers And certainlie I founde in them a singular indeuour and readie minde to satisfie your desire For thinke not that any thing is more acceptable and deare vnto them than the trueth of the Gospell to be most largely spread But on the other side they no lesse prudently than louingly consider of the constitution of my bodie my state and age and they are somewhat afraide least I being loaden and as it were broken with age cannot abide the trauell of iourney which is somewhat long variable not euerie where easie They sée moreouer that in diuers places are like to come no small daungers Further they consider that I am called abroade to much more painefull labours than I doe here abide For which cause they easilie coniecture that I shall bee able to serue neither them nor you So as they iudge it much better that I should here tarie that by teaching writing and publishing that which I haue commented I maie to my power be a helpe vnto them to you and to others But in these two kindes of answere the first part séemes to haue a likenesse of trueth For I my selfe also doe feare that I should not be able to endure iourneies and labours But in the other I doubt that they themselues be deceiued which thinke that I by tarying and resting here can profite so manie for they make more account of my workes than they deserue Verilie for my part vnto whom the slendernesse nakednesse and simplenesse of my learning is knowen agrée vnto them to tarie for the first cause onelie For I am easilie perswaded to beléeue that by iourneying and labours I shall soone bee weakened and cast downe so as I shall bee made altogether vnprofitable Wherefore I first of all beséeche your honor secondly those godlie learned men that they will accept of my good will where they cannot because of my weaknes obtaine the thing it selfe which they wish to be doone For necessitie is a harde weapon against which to striue séemes to bee no other thing than to tempt God But this in the meane time I woulde haue you right honourable to remember that wheresoeuer I shall bee in the worlde I will alwaies thinke my selfe most bounde vnto you And on the other side I desire you that you will not onelie retaine the loue of your Countrie and the care of furthering religion but that you will indeuour euery day more and more to increase the same in your Christian heart whereby the Feathers sometime cut off from the Gospell of the sonne of God maie growe againe and so growe as it may with a fruitfull course goe through all your prouinces Cities and townes Assuredly if you shall perpetually as you haue begun be inflamed with this double care both almightie god will like of you and all discrete and godly men will honour you as a good Citizen and a profitable Prince God through Christ maintaine you long in health and felicitie Giuen at Zuricke the 22. of Iulie 1561. To Maister Iewel Bishoppe of Salisburie 44. BY the Bishoppe of London his indeuour most worthie Prelate and my verie good Lorde An Apologie of the Church of England was brought a copie of your Apologie for the Church of Englande the which had not béene séene before either of me or of our companie Doubtlesse in your last letters you rather gaue an ynkling that it shoulde come foorth than plainelie signified the same Howbeit so great was the iournei hither as it came not vnto vs before the Calendes of Iulie Hereby you may weigh in your minde howe great a losse wee often times sustaine by the distance of places Verilie the same hath not onelie satisfied by all meanes and respectes me who allowe and maruellous well like of all your doinges but it also appeared vnto Bullinger and his sonnes and sonnes in Lawe and vnto Gualter and Wolphius so wise maruellous and eloquent as they neuer cease praysing of the same neither doe they thinke that anie thing in
childe I haue sinned but speake it from the heart Wéepe ye with Ezechias Esa 38. 3. but wéepe with faithfull and syncere teares Prostrate your selues before Christ with the sinfull woman Luke 7. 37 Wéepe yee bitterlie with Peter with prayers and fastinges procéeding from a true faith Mat. 26. 75 Crie you out vnto God with the Niniuites Ionas 3. 5. Acts. 2. 37. Bée ye conuerted with those Iewes of whome Christ was crucified whome if ye spared no doubt but hee will also spare you For this doe I promise you by the authoritie of the word of God so that this repentance which I laie before you be firme and effectuall But and if ye demaund what I meane by a firme and effectuall repentaunce I will shewe you the cause and effectes thereof that it maie be discerned from a vaine Effectuall repentance feigned and hypocriticall repentaunce The originall mother thereof is of necessitie true and perfect faith For what soeuer is doone of vs without the grounde of the worde of God is vnfruitfull and hurtfull But wee haue not the worde of God for anie grounde but so farre foorth as we beléeue Therefore if ye sorrowe if ye lament if ye bewayle the fall that is past ye must néedes be mooued by the worde of God If a man beléeue it he reuealeth aboundaunt fruites for it cannot be idle in the heart of the faithfull Beholde therefore vnto you the beginning originall and fountaine of true repentance Nowe let vs consider the effectes True and effectuall repentaunce suffereth not sinne to goe vnpunished and without iust amendement But you will say coulde it euer bée brought to passe that the thing which is doone might bee vndoone That indéede cannot be vndoone which is doone but yet afterwarde the contrarie vnto that which before was doone maie be doone Vnto the deniall of the trueth made before the confession of the same is contrarie It behooueth therfore that by your testimonie you affirme whatsoeuer by abiuring yee haue denied And this maie be doone two maner of waies First if ye will in that place where ye committed the crime boldly confesse that ye haue erred wil by a liuelie contradiction testifie that ye hold no such opinion as the forme of the abiuration sheweth But in verie déede because this kinde of remedie requireth fortitude constancie and a singular valiantnes of minde because the waie is welnéere most certaine vnto Martyrdome which all men haue not the gift to suffer therefore dare I not require so great a matter of euerie one of you Let euerie man measure the strength giuen him by God and let him consider whether he bee able to performe this excellent and laudable worke If he haue confidence enough let him goe forwarde in the name of the Lorde for he shall doe no new thing in the Church of Christ Mat. 26. 69 Peter when hee had denied Christ he for Christes sake suffered the death of the crosse The renued constancie of the godly Marcellinus Bishoppe of Rome hauing first doone seruice vnto the Idols hee being led with repentance preached that which hee had denied and being made a martyr hee by his bloude gaue a testimonie vnto the trueth Holy Cyprian in his Sermon De Lapsis maketh mention of Castus Aemilius which when they were ouercome with the bitternesse of persecutions were humblie afterwarde conuerted to repentance and were so strengthened by Christ as the fight being renewed with the aduersary they gate the victory being made stronger than the fire and mightier than the flames confessing in the meane time with great constancie whatsoeuer they had before denied Howbeit thankes bee to God there is no néede to recite olde examples Some such thing within our age hath happened at London in England A certaine Priest being ouercome through cruell tormentes and long captiuitie did abiure The Bishoppe not content with his abiuration requireth his hande writing It is giuen him whereuppon the poore wretch goeth home and there is mooued and stirred vppe with so great sorrowe with such remorse and with such true and effectual repentance as when he coulde inioye no comfort rest nor anie quietnesse of minde nor could anie longer indure the sharpe threates of the conscience he commending him selfe to God returneth home to the Bishoppe and desireth to sée his hande writing which hee a fewe dayes before had deliuered and being shewed him he takes it violentlie and teares it blaming himselfe that he had béene so disloyall and notable a traytour vnto the Lord Iesus Christ adding moreouer Beholde here I am handle mee at your owne pleasure I saie I iudge and I affirme contrarie vnto those thinges that I first wrote Which when he had so boldlie and notably confessed hee was againe taken and within a while after burned I woulde to God that at the leastwaie so much valiant courage might happen to each one of you from the father eternal that by this meanes the truth of Christ may be made famous in you and that they which through you are made the weaker and haue suffered offence might be confirmed and returne againe into the way of God and goe forward in the purposed iourney But if that the weakenesse of your strength be such as hauing shewed the forme of repentance it cannot bring foorth fruite wee must come to an other kinde of remedie which consisteth in this that yée make voide your abiuration by your flight and departure otherwise the same doth yet burne before God and men For how shall it by repētance be extinguished or blotted out while yee remaine in the selfesame state while there appeareth in you no signification of a contrarie opinion doe not you by tarying and holding your peace plainlie confirme that which yée haue doone Depart yée at the least way I beséech you from this kind of intolerable death For your departure shal be a certaine kinde of martyrdome and confession So often as I consider in my minde the state of your affaires if happily there be left in you any féele of Godlinesse if anie sparke of light if any small droppe of the holie Ghost as I verilie thinke there is some left I maruell yea I am amased that ye so staie your selues For I sée not how you can liue what quietnesse of minde yée can inioy with what confidence yee can pray nor what communication yee can haue one with another Can any thing be it neuer so good whether the same belong vnto the spirit or vnto the body be swéete and delectable vnto you or refresh you Are yée not all whollie shaken with feare when yée go vnto masses in making no account of the commaundements of God but in seruing of men and as witnesses consenters in crucifying againe the sonne of God Is not this torment more bitter vnto you than a thousand deathes By this one idolatry yée communicate with antichrist in all things I maruel how it comes to passe that yée there
Hoper and in the Court also gentlemen and noble men Anthonie Cooke Iohn Cheeke Richard Morison and other more which shall not bee needefull to name these not onelie liked Martyr but also loued him But yet among them all the most reuerend man Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterburie and primate of England most singularlie embraced our Martyr who being himselfe verie well learned yet did he attribute so much vnto Martyr as in the greatest causes he vsed his Counsell And therfore how often soeuer as Martyr had any vacation frō the publike labours of teaching he sent for him and imparted with him his counsels touching most weightie matters And after that the charge of writing lawes Ecclesiasticall was committed by the King first to xxxij and then to xvj persons he brought to passe that Martyr was one of them and againe at the length when the whole charge was committed by the king to the Archbishop of Canterburie alone he onely taking three associates for this purpose namelie Gualter Haddon and Rouland Taylor Doctors of the ciuill lawe the thirde he woulde haue to bee Martyr Being aided by the helpe of these he prescribed to the Church of England those lawes which euen nowe deserue great praise among all the godly and learned Nowe did all England inioy peace and tranquillitie and was happie in Religion and in lawes wel instituted And in so great a happinesse of the whole kingdome Martyr coulde not chuse but seeme to be happie and blessed who inioyed the friendship of good men and godlie Bishops But all these things were sodenlie chaunged and subuerted by the troublesome time of Queene Maries raigne For pure Religion was banished out of the Churches the syncere policie of the Church extinguished the lawes thereof abrogated and all good men cast into prisons In so great an alteration of all things Martyr was forbidden his function of teaching and was threatened moreouer that without commandement of the Magistrate he should not mooue a foote nor that he should carie away from thence any part of his goods vnder grieuous paine if he should so doe He obeyed the Edict but when he sawe that there was a delaie made he wrote of his estate vnto the Counsell He desired that his accuser might bee brought before him and his cause examined Who when they could not determine any thing against him they gaue him leaue to depart Wherefore he went directly to London and there finding the Archbishop of Canterburie did verie much comfort him by his comming The Bishop was then come to London that he might refell those things which his aduersaries had falsely spred against him among the common people For in so much as he was of great authoritie with all men the Papistes by their preachers published among the common people that by his commaundement Masse was restored at Canterburie and that himselfe also promised the Queene that he would say Masse at the kinges funerall and therewithall they cast out certaine speeches of a disputation that shoulde bee had As soone as he was priuie hereof he purged himselfe by a writing published Also he testified that he was readie in publike disputation to defende the Religion instituted by King Edward If saieth he the Queenes Maiestie will giue mee leaue I with Peter Martyr and other foure or fiue which I will choose to mee trust by the fauor of God to prooue woorthie to bee allowed of all men not onelie the common Ecclesiasticall prayers and holy administration with the rest of the rites and Ceremonies but that the whole doctrine and order of Religion appointed by our high soueraigne Lord King Edward the vj. to be more pure and more agreeable to the word of God than any thing that we haue knowen to be vsed in England these thousand yeares past onelie so that all things may bee iudged by the worde of God This protestation and counsell of his he declared to Martyr who allowed thereof and shewed that he was readie for the disputation and that he would not auoide any perill for Religions sake Howbeit while they are in attending for this disputation the Archbishops of Canterburie and Yorke and also the Bishops of London and Worcester were cast into prison for by these kinde of meanes the aduersaries meant to dispute with them Then stoode Martyr in great daunger aswell for the same Religion as also for the familiaritie and friendship that he had with these men Neither was he himselfe ignorant hereof but trusting in his owne innocencie and that he had committed nothing against the lawes of the Realme he meant not to depart without obtaining a Pasport Wherefore he againe propounded the matter to the Counsell and shewed that he came not of his owne accord into England but was called by King Edward his Maiestie and was sent by the most honorable Magistrate of Strasborough and he shewed both their Letters Patents but nowe since there could bee no vse of his trauell he desired leaue to depart Which after he had obtained yet his friendes scarcelie beleeued that although he had receiued the Queenes Letters that he could depart away safe For his aduersaries said that so great an enemie of the Popes Religion should not be suffered to scape out of their hands but should be plucked euen out of the ship to prison and punishmēt and he was also bidden to beware of lying in waite for him which if he passed the Occean Sea yet the same were prepared for him in Flaunders and Braband Neuerthelesse by the goodnesse of God he after a woonderfull manner escaped all these daungers and vndoubted snares laide for him For whereas of straungers some depart into Friseland and some into Denmarke he gat the Maister of a ship which was a godlie man and one that feared God who vppon the sea coast of England kept him priuilie xiiij dayes together in his owne house and now all aswell his friendes as enemies thought that he was sayled awaie with the rest of the straungers whereas he at the last tooke shipping out of England and the Maister of the ship ariuing for his sake at Anwarp in the night was brought by him vnto his friendes and being set in a waggon by them before day came safe vnto Strasborough through the Countries which were most enemies vnto him and chiefely by the goodnesse of God and then by his owne expedition he auoided all the snares of his aduersaries At Strasborough his olde friendes excellent and learned men Sturmius Sleidan Zanchus Herlinus Dasipodius Sapidus Hubertus and the rest did receiue him with great ioy For in the greater daunger that they knewe him to haue bin so much the more his safetie and sudden comming brought ioy vnto them Also the Senate since they verie well knewe his vertue and doctrine commanded that straightwaie should bee restored vnto him his auncient place which he had before his departure into England But in the meane time some which wished him not well spread sinister rumours of him namely that
disputation which we shewed before that he made openly of this controuersie hee first published in Englande And at the same time he woulde haue the Commentaries vpon the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians to be printed with vs at Zuricke a worke without doubt for the plaine exposition of manie darke and harde questions most worthie to bee reade And after that hee was returned out of Englande to Strasborough from thence was called to Zuricke hauing gotten amongst vs not onely some leasure but also that libertie of writing which he desired he reuiewed manie of those things which hee had written before he finished them and put them in print And first the Commentaries vppon the Epistle of Paul to the Romanes which hee publikely interpreted before in Oxforde Of which booke this onely will I say that hee performed the same with great learning and diligence so as all men confesse that after so manie verie learned interpretors olde and newe which haue written vppon this Epistle yet this booke maie bee reade with great and peculiar fruite At the same time was set foorth by him a defence of the auncient and Apostolike doctrine touching the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist against the booke of Stephen Gardiner For hee a fewe yeares before had published a venimous and pestiferous booke of the Eucharist vnder the name of M. Antonius Constantius wherein by meere sophisticall and most crooked Argumentes he indeuored to ouerthrowe the true and sounde professed doctrine which we hauing receaued of Christ and the Apostles and most auncient fathers of the Church doe followe and professe at this daie And to the compiling of this booke verie manie of the Papistes applyed their trauell and deliuered all their Arguments vnto Gardiner that hee out of that heape might choose what hee woulde and of this booke they triumphed and gloried that there was no man which durst incounter with this their Goliath wherewith beeing mooued that most learned and godlie man Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterburie who oftentimes before incountered with Winchester went awaie with victorie and with singular praise hee tooke this matter vppon him But he being held in most straite prison and had neither store of bookes about him not so much as paper to write and afterwarde being taken awaie by cruell death which for the confession of the true faith hee constantlie suffered was constrained to leaue off the workes which were now in his handes begunne Wherefore manie Englishmen which were louers of godlie true religion desired Martyr oftentimes both in his presence and by letters that hee would succeede in this burthen and that hee woulde not suffer the mindes of the simple to be infected with venim of this booke nor the Popes adherentes so impudently and arrogantlie to triumph against our men Therefore being stirred vp at the desire of friendes and with the equitie of the thing it selfe hee tooke this worke in hand and hauing ouercome diuers and manifolde impedimentes hee finished it at Zuricke and committed the same vnto printers to be dispatched And first of all in this booke he defended the reasons of our men whatsoeuer they were that Gardiner had gathered and confuted Then also hee defendeth against such false accusations the rules which hee himselfe had set foorth in the treatise of the Eucharist Thirdly hee defendeth the answers whereby the argumentes of the aduersaries are wont to be confuted in this disputation Lastlie hee approueth the iust and true interpretations of certaine places which Gardiner with his sort brought out of the fathers for himselfe And in all this whole worke whatsoeuer is vttered aswell in the holie scriptures as in the monuments of the auncient fathers Councels he hath so plentifully diligently comprehended and hath examined all thinges so exactly and perfectly as this worke is helde in admiration euen of them which bee great learned men After this defence against Gardiner there followed an other defence against the two bookes of vnmaried life of Priestes and monasticall vowes written by Richard Smith an Englishman sometime professor of the Diuinitie lecture at Oxford For when Martyr interpreted at Oxford the first Epistle to the Corinthians in the 7. Chap. where the Apostle writeth many things of virginity matrimonie had also disputed largely of vowes Smith in whose place Martyr by the Kings commandement was appointed to reade the Diuinitie lecture was continually present and not onely gaue great heede to those thinges which Martyr saide but did also diligently put them in writing and afterwarde going to Louane he set foorth two vaine but yet venemous bookes against Martyr as touching the sole life of Priests and of Monasticall vowes This man could not Martyr in his Commentaries of the Epistle to the Corinthians answere For his friendes vrging and earnestly desiring the edition of that booke he might not deferre the same but yet in the ende of his seuenth Chapter hee promised this answere and shortly after hauing gotten leasure he answered him but for certaine causes weightie and of great importaunce he finally after certaine yeares published this answere when he was at Zuricke And he confuteth not onely Smithes argumentes but he diligently and throughly examined in a manner all things that may bee saide in this matter Which all they can testifie that haue not slightly perused the same Furthermore at Strasborough after he was returned thither out of England he interpreted the booke of Iudges and as ye knowe did set foorth amongst vs Commentaries vppon the same wherein he expounded many questions of Diuinitie not common euerie where and that verie golden booke which neuerthelesse many by reason of the difficultie and great darkenesse haue shunned hee made verie plaine by bringing a light of interpretation Lastly when Iohn Brentius had set foorth a litle booke as touching the personall vnion of the two natures in Christ wherein hee for assuring of the carnall corporall and reall presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the holy supper tooke vpon him to defende a newe and monsterous doctrine of the vbiquitie of Christes bodie Martyr at the request of his friendes setting foorth a Dialogue confuted his booke And because hee knewe that Brentius did in other writings not altogether deserue ill of the Church he woulde not put thereunto his name and expressely defame and speake ill of him especially since this nothing furthered the cause but largely confuted his arguments least they shoulde bleare the eyes of the ignoraunt And further which was the chiefe point of the question he prooued by most assured testimonies of the scriptures and most auncient fathers that the humanitie of Christ is not euerie where With this writing Brentius being mooued indeuoured at one push to ouerthrowe both Martyr and Bullinger by setting foorth a vehement and stinging booke Which booke when our Martyr sawe being a man otherwise most milde of nature yet was he somewhat angrie that Brentius dealt in an ill cause and with so great vnfruitefulnesse
2 426 a Forbidden to the Iewes which liued vnder the Romane Empire 2 424b Arguments and reasons to prooue that it is not lawfull 2 422a b c. The inconueniences that come by it 2 423 ab 424 a Of Lamech inueighed against of Ierom. 2 423 a 423 b What troubles insued the breaking of the Romane law made for the disanulling thereof 2 428 b Whether the fathers vnder the law committed adulterie thereby or no 2 427 b 428 a 492 b 423 a 425 a The originall thereof referred vnto Lamech 2 421 b Two serues therof and whether of them is lawfull 2 420 b Vsed ouerallth East partes 2 425 a 426 b Lawefull for the man but not for the woman 2 460b A decree of a generall councell against Polygamie 2 424 b Christ was no lawe maker he ought not therefore to haue taken it away 2 427 ab Ph. Melancthons opinion touching it 2 426. v Pe. Martirs iudgement in that case 2 427 a Pope Whether the Pope bee heade of the Church 4 38 a 2 632 ab Whether he be vniuersall Bishop 4 36 b 93 b Prooued to be Antichrist 4 36 b 2 472 a Why he must obey the Church 4 40 b Adorned 4 24 b 2 441 ab 307 b Quite contrarie to Christ 4 38 a 39 b 40 b Hee gouerneth the councell 4 46 b What titles his flatterers haue giuen him 4 40 b That he is excommunicated frō the Church 4 61 a Whether he may erre in matters of faith 4 75 b 76 a Whether he be Peters successor 4 78 b He will be called the spouse of Christ 4 84 a What things in Peter are appliable vnto him 4 76 a Whether he being now made a Monarch ought to bee remooued 4 38 b Whether and what ministeriall head he hath vpon earth 4 94 b Whether all that haue liued hitherto vnder him haue perished 4 91 a His vsurped power cut off in England 4 38 b Whether he alone may excommunicate 4 61a Who brought subiection vnto him first into England 4 5a Disagreement touching his supremacie 4 3 b An vnsatiable gulfe of possessions 4 31 a The cause of so great darkenesse in his gouernment 4 7 a What cases he reserueth to himself his Bishops 3 220 a He taketh vppon him to dispense with othes 2 537 b He maketh vniust gaines of harlots 2 472 a He hath erred two wayes touching the lawes of marriage 2 450 b 451 a A mainteiner of vsurers 2 471 b Whether he is to bee iudged of no man 4 237b In what respect the pope is not free from Bauderie 2 472 b He vseth not the sworde of the worde 4 235b Why he amendeth not the lawes for suffering of harlots 2 472 b He decreeth that he must be obeyed of necessitie to saluation 4 230b A peace breaker 4 329 a Appeales from him to the Emperour in matters of Religion 4 144b Reasons why he will bee iudged or gouerned by no man 4 230 a He preferreth himselfe aboue all kings princes 4 229 ab 230. It is in his power onely to preferre bastards to spirituall promotions 2 478 a A cunning and togging flatterer 4 87 b Arguments inferred for maintenance of his supremasie 4 39 b 37 ab Against the same 4 35 b 36 ab 39 ab 79 b 80 a 232 ab 238 ab 237 a 248 ab A grieuous constitution of a Pope 4 34 a Recantation of a Pope 3 376 b 76 a Pope Paul 2. vsed to paint his face 2 508 b Alexander the first inuented holy water 4 138 b 139 a Syricius excluded all married men from the office of the ministerie 3 192 b Popedome An examination of the succession in the Popedome 4 81 ab No mention thereof in Scriptures 4 80 a Whether the primasie thereof were giuen vnto Peter 4 82 a Boniface the 3. author of the same 4 91 a 80 ab In what trifles it standeth at this day 4 84 b Conuicted of whoredome 4 87 b Poore Why the flesh is not bent to doe good to the Poore 2 521 a A law for their reliefe 2 521 a and how they should be prouided for 520b Whether they must bee holpen before their extreme necessitie 2 521 b Possible Many thinges are Possible which neuer shal be 3 37 a Pouertie Why GOD suffereth his seruants to be in Pouertie 3 269 b 270 a No let vnto felicitie and how that is prooued 1 149 a Examples of pouertie patiently sustained 3 277 b Power This worde Power expounded 3 114 b 115 a Taken for right and prerogatiue 3 80 a Whether we haue power to bee made the sonnes of God 3 114 b 73 a Of the most mightie power of God and wherein the same appeareth 1 16 b Whether the more in dooing of miracles 1 65 a Confessed by the wicked how 1 13 b In the sacraments 4 182 b 183 ab Errors aboue it 3 337 b We must distinguish betweene Gods power his will 2 563 a Aphrodyseus opinion touching a certaine diuine power spread ouer the whole world 1 78 ab The power of the Loadstone 1 77 b Of melancholie 1 77 b 78 a Of the phantasie 1 77 b Of things exceeding common sense 1 77 b Of celestiall bodies 1 77 b The power of spirits distinguished and howe 1 85 b 81 b Why Art is called Power according to Aristotle 1 7 b 8 a Whether it doeth exclude art 3 114 b Despasian by a secret power healed a blinde man and a lame 1 77 b Powers Two maner of powers in God the power of vnderstanding and the power of willing 1 170 b An order in renewing of mans decayed powers 4 27 ab Of powers superiour and inferiour and whether they may suffer the faithfull to bee conuersant with Infidels 2 324 a Howe farre foorth the superiour are to be obeyed of inferiour prooued by examples 2 326 b 327. Of inferiour and howe they are distinguished 2 326 a Whether inferiour shoulde resigne their roomes if the superiour powers constraine them to wicked things 2 327 ab ¶ Looke Magistrates Pr. Pray For whom we must pray and for whom we must not pray 2 400 a Whether for things indifferent 3 303 b Whether for the end of the world 2 398 a Not to be pressed with aduersities and why 1 211 b Why in times past they did for the dead 3 322 b Why God will haue vs to pray for that which otherwise hee is readie to giue 3 301 a It is lawfull to pray for punishment to light vpon some and why 2 398 a Why God oftentimes when we pray deferreth our requests 3 301 a When we doe it we speake vnto God 3 300 b Thomas Aquinas his error that it is not of necessitie that we should pray peculiarlie for our enemies 2 403 a Basils reason why wee shoulde pray towards the East 3 306 b Against what temptations the godlie doe pray by the example of Christ 1 212 ab Whether the Saints in heauen doe