vs see how they prooue that they say That they who ordained our Ministers in the beginning of the alteration of Religion had no power so to doe thus they prooue No Bishop may be esteemed and taken as lawfully ordained vnlesse he be ordained of three Bishops at the least and they such as haue beene ordained in like sort and so ascending till we come to the first whom the Apostles did constitute by their Apostolike authority receiued immediatly from Christ the Sonne of God whom the Father sent into the world But the Pastors and Bishops of the reformed Churches had no such ordination therefore they wanted that calling which should make them lawfull Bishops and Pastours It is true that the auncient Canons regularly admit no ordination as lawfull wherein three Bishops at the least doe not concurre But Bellarmine and his fellowes doe not thinke this number of Bishops imposing hands to bee absolutely and essentially necessary For they confesse that by dispensation growing out of due and just consideration of the present occasions and state of things one Bishop alone may ordain assisted with Abbots which are but Presbyters and no Bishops nay which by the course of their profession and originall of their order are lesse interessed in the government of the Church than the meanest Presbyter hauing care of soules Monachus plangentis non docentis officium habet A Monke is a mourner hee is no teacher in the Church of GOD. The Romanists thinking therefore that in some cases the ordination which is made by one Bishoppe alone assisted with Presbyters is lawfull and good cannot generally except against the ordination of the Bishops and Pastours of all reformed Churches For in England Denmarke and some other places they which had beene Bishoppes in the former corrupt state of the Church did ordaine Bishops and Ministers though perhaps precisely three did not alwayes concurre in euery particular ordination But they will say whatsoeuer may bee thought of these places wherein Bishoppes did ordaine yet in many other none but Presbyters did impose handes all which ordinations are clearely voyde and so by consequent many of the pretended reformed Churches as namely those of France and others haue no ministerie at all The next thing therefore to be examined is whether the power of ordination bee so essentially annexed to the order of Bishops that none but Bishops may in any case ordaine For the clearing whereof we must obserue that the whole Ecclesiasticall power is aptly divided into the power of order and jurisdiction Ordo est rerum parium dispariumque vnicuique sua loca tribuens congrua dispositio that is Order is an apt disposing of things whereof some are greater and some lesser some better and some meaner sorting them accordingly into their seuerall ranckes and places First therefore order doth signifie that mutuall reference or relation that things sorted into their seuerall ranckes and places haue betweene themselues Secondly that standing which each thing obtaineth in that it is better or worse greater or lesser then another and so accordingly sorted and placed aboue or below other in the orderly disposition of things The power of holy or Ecclesiasticall order is nothing else but that power which is specially giuen to men sanctified and set apart from others to performe certaine sacred supernaturall and eminent actions which others of another rancke may not at all or not ordinarily meddle with As to preach the word administer the Sacraments and the like The next kind of Ecclesiasticall power is that of Iurisdiction For the more distinct and full vnderstanding whereof wee must note that three things are implyed in the calling of Ecclesiasticall Ministers First an election choyce or designement of persons fitte for so high and excellent imployment Secondly the consecrating of them and giuing them power and authority to intermeddle with things pertaining to the seruice of God to performe eminent actes of gracious efficacie and admirable force tending to the procuring of the eternall good of the sonnes of men and to yeeld vnto them whome Christ hath redeemed with his most precious blood all the comfortable meanes assurances and helpes that may set forward their eternall saluation Thirdly the assigning and diuiding out to each man thus sanctified to so excellent a worke that portion of Gods people which hee is to take care of who must be directed by him in things that pertaine to the hope of eternall saluation This particular assignation giueth to them that had only the power of order before the power of Iurisdiction also ouer the persons of men Thus then it is necessary that the people of God bee sorted into seuerall portions and the sheepe of Christ diuided into seuerall flockes for the more orderly guiding of them yeelding to them the meanes assurances and helpes that may set them forward in the way of eternall life and that seuerall men bee seuerally and specially assigned to take the care and ouersight of seuerall flocks and portions of Gods people The Apostles of Christ and their successours when they planted the Churches so diuided the people of God conuerted by their minsterie into particular Churches that each Citty and the places neere adioyning did make but one Church Now because the vnity and peace of each particular Chuch of God and flock of his sheepe dependeth on the vnity of the Pastour and yet the necessities of the many duties that are to bee performed in Churches of so large extent require more Ecclesiasticall Ministers then one therefore though there bee many Presbyters that is many fatherly guides of one Church yet there is one amongst the rest that is specially Pastor of the place who for distinction sake is named a Bishop to whom an eminent and peerelesse power is giuen for the avoiding of Schismes and factions and the râ—…st are but his assistants and coadiutours and named by the generali name of Presbyters So that in the performance of the acts of Ecclesiasticall Ministry when he is present and will do them himselfe they must giue place and in his absence or when being present hee needeth assistance they may doe nothing without his consent and liking Yea so farre for orders sake is he preferred before the rest that some things are specially reserued to him onely as the ordaining of such as should assist him in the worke of his ministerie the reconciling of Penitents confirmation of such as were baptised by imposition of hands dedication of Churches and such like These being the diuerse sorts and kinds of Ecclesiasticall power it will easily appeare to all them that enter into the due consideration thereof that the power of Ecclesiasticall or sacred order that is the power and authority to intâ—…ddle with things pertaining to the seruice of God and to performe emiâ—…t actes of gracious efficacie tending to the procuring of the eternall good of thâ—… sonnâ—…s of men is equall and the same in all those whom we call Presbyters
their faith and profession before they were receiued and allowed one of another and before tehy were accounted and reputed for lawfull Patriarches Wherefore presupposing that the gouernment of the Church is not Monarchicall in respect of any one supreame Pastour on earth but mixt and hauing seene how notwithstanding the diuersitie of many Pastours the Church may be preserued in peace and vnity let vs more exactly and distinctly consider what the auncient forme of Church policie and gouernment was If we looke into the monuments of Antiquity wee shall finde that there were aunciently three Subordinations in the Church For the actions of the Bishoppe of each particular Church of a citty and places adjoyning were subject to the censure and judgment of the rest of the Bishops of the same prouince amongst whom for order sake there was one chiefe to whom it pertained to call them together to sit as moderator in the midst of them being assembled and to execute what by joynt consent they resolued on The actions of the Bishoppes of a prouince and a prouinciall Synode consisting of those Bishoppes were subject to a Synode consisting of the Metropolitanes and other Bishoppes of diuerse prouinces This Synode was of two sorts For either it consisted of the Metropolitanes and Bishoppes of one kingdome and nation onely as did the Councels of Africa or of the Metropolitans and Bishoppes of many kingdomes If of the Metropolitanes and Bishoppes of one kingdome and state onely the chiefe Primate was mederator If of many one of the Patriarches and chiefe Bishops of the whole world euery Church being subordinate to some one of the Patriarchicall Churches and incorporate into the vnity of it Thirdly the actions of the Bishops of a whole kingdome and Patriarchship were subject to an Oecumenicall Synode consisting of all the Patriarches and the Metropolitanes and Bishops subject to them Touching prouinciall Councells to the censures whereof the actions of particular Churches are subject they were by the auncient Canons of the Church to be holden in euery prouince twice euery yeare It is very necessary say the Fathers of the Councell of Nice that there should be a Synode twice euery yeare in euery prouince that all the Bishops of the prouince meeting together may in common thinke vpon those thinges that are doubtfull and questionable For the dispatch of Ecclesiasticall businesses and the determining of matters in controuersie Wee thinke it were fit say the Fathers in the Councell of Antioche that in euery prouince Synodes of Bishops should be assembled twice euery yeare The first councell of Constantinople decreeth the same and the Fathers assembled in the Councell of Chalcedon complaine that in some prouinces the Synodes of Bishops are not holden and that thereby many Ecclesiasticall matters needing reformation are neglected and therefore they appoint that the Bishops of euery prouince shall assemble euery yeare twice at that place which the Bishoppe of the mother Citty shall thinke fit to amend all thinges that shall be found to bee amisse in the prouince Here we see the necessity of holding these Synodes and by whom they were to bee called and moderated Wherefore let vs now proceede to see of whom they consisted what causes they examined and determined what the power of the Metropolitane originally was and what in processe of time by positiue constitution vpon due and just considerations it grew to be Touching the persons that prouinciall Synodes consisted of it is cleare and euident that not onely Bishops but Presbyters also were present in these Assemblies and had decisiue voyces whereupon the Councell of Antisiodorum sayth Let all the Presbyters being called come to the Synode in the Citty The Councell of Tarracon Let letters bee sent by the Metropolitane to his brethren that they bring with them to the Synode not onely some of the Presbyters of the Cathedrall Church but also of each Diocese And the fourth Councell of Toledo describing the forme of celebrating prouinciall Synodes hath these words Let the Bishops assembled goe to the Church and sit according to the time of their ordination and after all the Bishops are entred and set let the Presbyters be called and the Bishops sitting in compasse let Presbyters sit behind them and the Deacons stand before them In the first Councell of Toledo we find these words Considentibus Presbyteris astantibus Diaconis caeteris qui intererant Concilio congregato Patronus Episcopus dixit c. that is The Presbyters sitting together with the Bishops the Deacons standing before them and the rest which were present in the Councell assembled Patronus the Bishop said c. The like we reade of a Synode holden by Gregory the Pope The words are these Gregorius Papa coram sacratissimo corpore Beati Petri Apostoli cum Episcopis omnibus Romanae Ecclesiae Presbyteris residens assistentibus Diaconis cuncto Clero dixit c. that is Gregory the Pope sitting before the most sacred body of blessed Peter with all the Bishops of the Romane Church and the Presbyters also the Deacons standing before them and all the Clergie said c. And that Presbyters were not only present in Provinciall Synodes but had decisiue voyces as well as Bishops it appeareth by their subscribing to the Decrees of such Synodes in the very same forme and manner that Bishops did So that it will be found most false and vntrue that Bellarmine hath that Presbyters haue no voyces in Synodes and the auncient forme of our Convocation here in England wherein not onely the Arch-bishops and Bishops but sundry Presbyters also as well out of Cathedrall Churches as Dioceses at large are present and haue decisiue voices will clearely refute the same The causes that were wont to be examined and determined in the meeting of the Bishops of the prouince were the ordinations of Bishops when any Churches were voyd and the depriving and reiecting of all such as were found vnworthy of their honour and place and in a word any complaint of wrong done in any Church was there to be heard Let the prouinciall Synodes be holden twice euery yeare saith the Councell of Antioch and let the Presbyters and Deacons bee present and as many as thinke they haue beene any way hurt or wronged there expect the determination of the Synode The power of the Metropolitane was in calling the rest of the Bishops to the Synode in appointing the place of their meeting and in sitting as President in the midst of them and so were things moderated that neither the rest might proceede to doe any thing without consulting him nor hee to doe any thing without them but was tyed in all matters of difference to follow the maior part and if hee neglected his dutie in convocating his brethren that so things might bee determined by common consent hee was by the Canons subiect to censure and punishment Thus at first all matters were to be heard determined and
lawfull Marriage which though they preuailed not at the first according to the wishes of the wicked Pope yet caused the most horrible confusions in the Westerne Church that euer had been for Lay-men taking occasion hereupon despised their Priests medled with the Ministration of Holy thinges ministered the Sacrament of Baptisme annoynted men with the filthe which they tooke out of their eares in steade of oyle did many things most disorderly and committed sundry intollerable outrages And therefore it is most strange that Bellarmine should so forget himselfe as he doth For whereas all stories impute these confusions prophanations and contempts of sacred things to the restraint of marriage and the disgracing of it so hard is his forhead that he blusheth not to write that the marriage of Ministers would hinder the due and reuerent administration of Sacraments and that experience shewed it in that in Germany in the time of Gregory the Seauenth when Priests began to marry wiues there grew so great contempt of the Sacraments that Lay-men beganne to administer them as Nauclerus and others report In which speech of his there is no word true for neither did Priests begin to marry in Gregories time but had beene ordinarily married long before as Nauclerus testifieth saying it was an old confirmed custome that was not easily to bee altered which Gregory sought to take away when hee went about to forbid the marriage of Priests So that they did rather cease to marry in his time then beginne Neither doth any story impute the confusions prophanations contempts of Sacraments and sacred things in those times to the marriage of Priests which was publickely allowed long before without any such euill ensuing as Aventinus and others doe testifie but to the restraint of it And therefore it was not the beginning as Bellarmine vntruely saith but the ending of Priests marriages in Gregories time that brought in so many and hideous euills into the Christian world Thus hauing seene with how bad successe Gregory the Seauenth beganne this restraint in other partes of the Christian world let vs take a view of our owne countrey and see what footing it had here Henry Huntingdon an auncient Historian and of good creditte reporteth that before the time of Anselme Bishoppe of Canterbury the marriage of Presbyters and other Ministers of the Church was not forbidden in England that when he forbad it howsoeuer hee pleased some for that there seemed to bee greater purity in single life then in the state of Marriage yet this his prohibition seemed to other to be very dangerous fearing that whiles he sought to bring men to that which is aboue the reach and without the compasse of humane frailty hee would occasion many greeuous and scandalous euills But howsoeuer this his endeauour tooke not place by and by for the same authour reporteth that after that time one Iohn Cremensis a Cardinall came into England and went about to restraine the Marriages of Church-men So that it appeareth that Anselme had effected nothing This worthy Cardinall as hee reporteth held a Synode at London and in the same made a vehement and bitter speach against the marriage of Presbyters asking if it were not an impure and vnfitting thing for a Minister of the Church to rise vp from the side of an harlot for so it pleased him to terme the lawfull wiues of Church-men and to goe to the Altar to consecrate the Sacrament of the Lords Body and Blood But see the judgement of God saith Huntingdon The Impure Cardinall that had thus inveighed against Marriage the night following was taken in bed with an Harlot though hee had said Masse and consecrated the blessed Sacrament in the morning which thing was so euident that it could not and so foule that it was not fitte to be concealed and hee addeth that if any Romane Prelate or other dislike this his most true reporte hee were best to take heede hee follow not the example of Cremensis least the like dishonour come vnto him as did vnto Cremensis who being at first receiued in very glorious manner was in the end cast out with disgrace and vvho despising lawfull marriage feared not to commit most filthy vvhoredome Hereupon it seemeth the matter of restraint of Presbyters marriage had no good successe at that time which appeareth also in that after this time in a Councell it was referred to the King hee vvas authorised appointed to punish such Presbyters and ministers of the Church as he should find married but he notably deceiued the Popes Agents that thus authorised him for hee tooke money of such as vvere found to be married and suffered them so to redeeme their liberties vvhich grieued them not a little yet did they in the end so farre forth obtaine their desires and the tyranny of Antichrist so farre prevailed that Presby ters durst no longer bee knowne publickly to be married but were forced to take another course for as it appeareth by the Decrees of Otho in the time of Henry the Third many contracted matrimony secretly and when in processe of time children were borne vnto them for their good when they saw it fit they would take order it might be proued they were married and their children borne in mariage either by witnesses or publicke instruments either while they liued or after their death Whereby it is evident that howsoeuer the impure Romanists sought to keep Cleargy-men from marying and to force them by the censures of the Church and other extremities to put away their wiues yet at that time they durst not pronounce their mariages voyde nor their children illegitimate for if they had these men would not so carefully haue provided to bee able to make proofe of their mariages for the good of their children So that though there wanted not instruments set a worke by the Pope some hundreds of yeares past that sought to restraine the mariage of Cleargy-men yet was not their restraint like vnto that of the Romanists at this day for they did not so restraine Cleargy-men from marying or liuing with their wiues as to pronounce their mariages to be voyde neither did they separate those that God had joyned together but if they would marry or continue with their wiues which they had formerly maried they permitted them so to doe and onely put them from the minstery Presbyters in former times saith o Duarenus if they tooke wiues in those places where mariage was forbidden were put from the ministery or perhaps where more severity was vsed were excommunicated but their mariage was not voyded yet is it not to be denyed but that Syricius and Innocentius spake very vnreverently of the state of mariage indeavouring to proue that Presbyters are not to bee suffered to marry because to liue in mariage is to liue in the flesh they that liue in the flesh cannot please God How absurd and inconsiderate this kinde of reasoning is euery man I
thinke will easily discerne for whereas the Apostle and after him Paphnutius in the Councel of Nice pronounce that mariage is honourable among all and the bed vndefiled and Chrysostome affirmeth that it is so honourable that men may be lifted vp into the Bishops chaires with it with what face can these men say that to liue in mariage is to liue in the flesh in such sort as not to please God Bellarmines evasion that they speak not of mariage simply but of forbidden mariage such as that of Priests is when they say to liue in mariage is to liue in the flesh that therefore they say only they who liue in vnlawfull forbidden mariage liue in the flesh cannot please God will not serue the turne For they speak not of vnlawfull forbidden mariage but goe about to proue that mariage is to be forbiddē denied to Presbyters by a reason taken frō the nature of it something in it or consequent of it in respect whereof it cannot stand with the holinesse of the degree and calling of Presbyters and Ministers So that they say simply to liue in mariage is to liue in the flesh and that therefore the holy Ministers of the Church who may not liue in the flesh must bee forbidden to marry their words being a reason mouing them to prohibite mariage and not taken from the prohibition as it will easily appeare to any one that will take the paines to view the Epistles of the Romane Bishops if yet they haue not beene corrupted as many other things of like nature haue But how-so-euer wee censure these sayings of the Popes it is most certaine that those particular Bishops of the West who vpon misconce it sought to restraine Presbyters from liuing with their wiues yet neuer proceeded so far as either to pronounce their mariages vnlawful or to dissolue them till of late And therefore they were most contrary in their judgments to the lewde assertions of Papists who thinke and teach that the mariages of Church-men are adulteries and feare not to say that it is worse for a man to take a wife to liue with continuallie then to joine himselfe vnto harlots which prodigious assertion all men in former times euen they who were most averse from the mariage of Cleargy-men would haue detested If a Presbyter saith the councell of Neocaesarea will marry a wife let him be put from his order but if hee commit fornication or adultery let him bee driuen further and put to pennance Whereunto the councell of Helliberis before-mentioned agreeth prescribing that such as commit adulterie shall be put from the communion of the Church for euer and likewise the councell of Arverne Some other indeede there were that proceeded a little further and put them from the communion of the Church that would liue in Matrimoniall society but the Bishops in the Councell of Turon thought good to moderate that extremity and onely to keepe them from further promotion and sacred imployment and with them the Bishops in the fifth Councell of Orleans agree So that these Bishops though inconsiderately restraining marriage yet durst not pronounce the marriages of Church-men voyde as our Aduersaries now do neyther did they for ought I can read force men to make any vow of continence For though some of them required a promise of liuing single yet was it no vow seeing a promise made to men is farre different from a vowe which is a promise made to God And many of them as it may seeme vrged such as they admitted into the Ministery to no such promise at all but receiued them in such sort that they should so lōg be imployed as they would refraine that if they pleased to marry they should still injoy the Communion of the Church but should not be imployed in sacred function any longer Touching the promise which some required the second Councell of Toledo prescribeth that at eighteene yeares of age they of the Cleargy shall resolue to marry or promise to containe that at twenty they shall be made Subdeacons The Councell of Ancyra prouideth that if Deacons shallprotest when they are ordained that they will not liue single but will haue wiues they shall be permitted to marry and yet keepe their places But if professing that they will containe they betake themselues to former or new marriages they shall inioy the Lay-communion but shall be put out of the Ministery and Cleargy Whereby it appeareth that there was no vniforme obseruation in the promise of continencie that was required seeing the one of these two Councels requireth it at eighteene yeares of age of such as were not yet Subdeacons and the other leaueth such as were to bee Deacons to their owne choyce at the time of their ordination nor that this promise was thought to make voyd the ensuing mariage seeing such as contrary to promise returned to the state of mariage were permitted to enioy the communion of the Church as Lay-men though in some places they were put out of the Ministery and Cleargy I say in some places because it appeareth by the Councell of Toledo appointing that such shall haue but the places of Lectors only that they were not wholy depriued of the honour of Cleargy-men in all places Afterwards indeed in the Ninth Councell of Toledo the Bishops finding that all their former indeauours preuailed not though they voyded not the mariages of Cleargy-men nor iudged them to be adulteries as our Aduersaries do yet they adjudged such as should be borne of such marriages to a kind of bondage and depriued them of that possibility of inheritance which formerly they might haue had But this was but the particular Decree of that prouinciall Councell and soe could binde none but those fewe Churches in those partes Neyther did it For long after heere in England as I haue shewed the Ministers of the church were publikely maried without any such wrong done eyther to them or their children And long after the restraint of Gregory the seauenth when this Decree of single life had in some sort preuailed they did still secretly marry and when they saw cause for the good of their children made proofe of their mariages Neither is it to be maruailed at that some particular Synodes in the west set on by the Bishops of Rome went about in some sort to restraine the lawfull Mariages of church-men lawfull I say both by the lawe of God and the resolution allowance practice of the greater part of the Christian Churches seeing they forbade those which euen in the iudgement of our aduersauersaries themselues I thinke cannot bee denied to haue beene lawfull If the widdowe or relicte of a Presbyter or Deacon shall ioyne herselfe to any man in mariage sayth the first Councell of Orleans let them after chastisement bee seperated or if they persist in the intention of such a crime let them be excommunicated Wherewith the
Canons prouided that Bishops and other Cleargy-men might make their last Will and Testament and giue to whom they pleased that which came to them by inheritance the gift of their friendes or which they gained vppon the same But that which they gayned vpon their Church-liuings they should leaue to their Churches But the Church of England had a different custome neither were these Canons euer of force in our Church And therefore her Bishops and Ministers might euer at their pleasure bequeath to whom they would whatsoeuer they had gained either vpon their Church liuings or otherwise And surely there was great reason it should be so for seeing The labourer is worthy of his hire why should not they haue power to giue that which was yeelded vnto them as due recompence and reward of their labours to whom they please And how can it bee excused from iniustice and wrong that men spending a great part of their owne Patrimonie in fitting themselues for the Ministery of the Church which conuerted to the best aduantage and benefitte might greatly haue enriched them should not haue right and power to dispose of such thinges as they haue lawfully gayned out of those liuings which are assigned to thē as the due reward of their worthy paines Yet are there some that are much more iniurious to the holy Ministery For Waldensis out of a Monkish humour thinketh that Cleargy-men are bound to giue away whatsoeuer commeth to thē by inheritan ce or by any other meanes that they ought not to possesse any thing in priuate and as their owne And alleageth to this purpose the saying of Origen Hierome and Bernard that the Cleargy-man that hath any part or portion on earth cannot haue the Lord for his portion nor any part in heauen But Cardinall Bellarmine answereth to these authorities That these Fathers speake of such as content not themselues with that which is sufficient but immoderately seeke the things of this world and proueth that Cleargy-men may haue and keepe lands and possessions as their owne First because the Apostle prescribeth that such a one should be chosena Bishop As gouerneth his owne house well and hath children in Obedience which presupposeth that he hath something in priuate and that is his owne Secondly hee cofirmeth the same by the Canons of the Apostles the Councell of Agatha Martinus Bracharensis in his Decrees and the first Councell of Hispalis and further addeth that a man hauing Lands Possessions and Inheritance of his owne may spare his owne liuing and receiue maintenance from the Church for proofe whereof he alleageth the Glosse and Iohn de Turrecremata a Cardinall in his time of great esteeme and confirmeth the same by that saying of Christ The Labourer is worthy of his hyre and that of the Apostle Saint Paul Who goeth to warfare at any time at his owne charge FINIS AN APPENDIX CONTAYNING A DEFENSE OF SVCH PARTES AND PASSAGES OF THE FORMER foure bookes as haue bin either excepted against or wrested to the maintenance of Romish errours Diuided into three partes THE EPISTLE TO THE READER SINCE the time I presumed good Christian Reader to offer to thy view what I had long before for my priuate satisfaction obserued touching certaine points concerning the nature definition notes visibility and authority of the Church much questioned in our times first there came forth a Pamphlet intituled The first part of Protestant proofes for Catholique Religion and recusancie After that a larger discourse bearing the name of A Treatise of the grounds of the old and new religion thirdly the first motiue of one Theophilus Higgons lately minister to suspect the integrity of his Religion The Author of the first of these worthy workes vndertaketh to proue out of the writings of Protestant Diuines published since the beginning of his Maiesties raigne ouer this Kingdome that his Romish faith and profession is Catholique The second endeauoureth to make the world belieue that Protestants haue no sure grounds of Religion And the third hauing made shipwracke of the faith and forsaken his calling laboureth to iustifie and make good that he hath done Euery of these hath beene pleased for the aduantage of the Romish cause amonst the Workes of many worthy men to make vse of that which I haue written the first seeking to draw mee into the defence of that hee knoweth I impugne and the other two taking exceptions to certaine parts and passages scattered here and there Such is the insufficiencie and weakenesse of the idle and emptie discourses of these men that I almost resolued to take no notice of them But finding that the last of these good Authors fronteth his booke with an odious title of Detection of falshood in Doctor Humfrey Doctor Field and other learned Protestants and addeth an Appendix wherein hee vndertaketh to discouer some notable vntruethes of Doctor Field and D. Morton pretending that the consideration thereof moued him to be come a Papist I thought it not amisse to take a little paynes in shewing the folly of these vaine men who care not what they write so they write something and are in hope that no man wil trouble himselfe so much as once to examine what they say yet not intending to answere all that euery of these hath said for who would mispend his time and weary himselfe in so fruitlesse a labour but that which concerneth my selfe against whom they bend themselues in more speciall sort then any other as it seemeth because I haue treatised as Maister Higgons speaketh of that subiect which is the center and circumference in all religious disputes And b◅cause Mr Higgons is pleased to let vs know his name whereas the other cōceale theirs it being no small comfort for a man to know his Aduersary I will do him all the kindnesse I can first begin with him though he shewed himselfe last and from him proceed to the rest What it is that maketh him so much offended with me I cannot tell but sure it is he hath a good vvill to offend me for hee chargeth mee vvith trifeling egregious falshood collusion vnfaithfull dealing abusing the holy Fathers and I knowe not what else But such is the shamelesse and apparant vntrueth of these horrible imputations that it is altogether needelesse to spend time bestow labour in the refutation of them Yet because in the suspicion of heresie falsehood and vfaithfull dealing in matters of faith religion no man ought to be patient I will briefely take a view of his whole booke And though his beginning bee abrupt and absurd his whole discourse confused and perplexed and all that he doth without order or method yet to giue satisfaction to all I will follow him the same way hee goeth I was vnwilling good Christian Reader to trouble thee with such discourses but the restlesse importunity of our aduersaries setting euery one a worke to say something against vs forceth mee thereunto Read
differ as much in iudgement as wee doe from the Papists at this day so that these Cardinals that opposed themselues against the furious purposes of the Pope intending to proceed against Grosthead for resisting his tyrannicall vsurpations and iustified Grosthead as a good man and the thinges hee stood vpon as right and iust and told the Pope of a departure from him which hee must looke for and by these ill courses intended by him he might hasten may be thought not to haue beene members of the Antichristian faction but of the poore Church oppressed and wronged by the same as Grosthead also was Neither is it so strange that Cardinalls who are so neere the Pope should bee auerse from his Antichristian courses For Cameracensis then whom that age had not a worthier man either for life or learning and Cusanus no way inferiour to him howsoeuer they were not free from all errours of Papisme yet wholly condemned the Papacie as wee doe at this day denying the Popes vniuersality of iurisdiction vncontroulable power infallible iudgement and right to meddle with Princes states making him nothing but the first Bishoppe in order and honour amongst the Bishops of the Christian Church And Contarenus as all men know condemned sundry errours of the Papisme and seemed no lesse to dislike the Papistes wilfull and obstinate maintayning of grosse errours abuses and confusions then the temerity of those that disorderedly as he thought sought to haue an alteration Thus is Master Higgons his great demaund easily answered Onely one great and vnexcusable fault I haue committed in that I say these Cardinals opposed themselues against the Pope when hee intended to proceede violently against Bishoppe Grosthead whereas I should haue said they interposed themselues The poore man it seemeth is very weake in his conceipt and therefore saith hee knoweth not what for did not the interposing of themselues in such sort as they did imply a contrariety of iudgement in them opposite to that of the Pope and was not their hindering crossing and stopping of him by all the meanes it was fitte for them to vse an opposing against his rash purpose and resolution Surely Master Higgons in this passage sheweth himselfe as very a babe as euer suckt a bottle For all men know that one may oppose himselfe vnto another as well by way of perswasion and entreaty as of authority or violence But to leaue these trifleling fooleries and to come to matter of substance because he saith I expresse not the matters of quarrell and differences betweene the Pope Bishop Grosthead particularly enough and that I conceale the correspondence hee held with the Romane Church in matters of faith I will relate the whole storie at large of such things as fell out betweene the Pope and this worthy Bishop whereby I doubt not but it will appeare that if Grosthead were now aliue he would detest such smattering companions as Higgons is that labour so carefully to reconcile him to that Antichrist with whom hee had warre both while he liued and after hee was dead The Popes in the time wherein Grosthead liued not contenting themselues with the preheminence of being Patriarches of the West which stood in confirming Metropolitanes by imposition of handes or by mission of the Pall and in calling Patriarchicall Synodes in certaine cases to heare and determine matters of greater consequence then could be ended in Prouinciall Synodes but taking vpon them as if the fulnesse of all Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction had rested in them alone admitted appeales out of all partes of the West not of Bishops only but of Presbyters inferiour Cleargy-men and Lay-men also reserued a great number of cases to their owne cognisance debarring the Bishoppes and Metropolitanes from medling with them exempted whom they pleased from the ordinary iurisdiction of their Bishoppes and challenged the right to conferre all kinde of dignities Ecclesiasticall whether presentatiue or electiue not onely when they were voyd but before whence came their expectatiue graces and prouisions and which much offended and grieued all good men bestowed the dignities of the Churches abroad in England and other places vpon strangers that neuer came to those Churches they were intitled to so that at one time a survay beeing taken it was found that strangers carried yearely more then threescore thousand Markes out of England which was more then the bare reuenew of the Crowne at that time Amongst others Bishoppe Grosthead receiued the Popes letters for the placing of certaine strangers in his Church of Lincolne which he refused to doe and wrote backe to the Pope to lette him know hee was opposite to Christ a murtherer of soules and an Hereticke in these his courses Vpon the receipt of which letters the Pope was halfe madde with anger and calling his Cardinals together sware by Peter and Paul that if it were not that he were ouercome by the goodnesse of his nature hee would cast downe this Bishoppe into the pitte of all confusion which thing hee said hee could easily doe for that the King of England was his Vassall and Slaue and hee could commaund him vnder paine of his high displeasure to cast him into prison or otherwise to proceede against him but that howsoeuer hee would make him an example to all such as should dare in like sort to disobey his Mandates Some of the Cardinals more aduised then the Pope sought to pacifie him what they could and to stoppe these his intended violent courses telling him Bishoppe Grosthead was in faith a Catholicke in life a most holy man of great learning and euery where much respected that the thinges hee stood vpon were iust and right and that therefore it was not safe for him to proceede against him least some tumult should follow which they besought him the rather to thinke of for that there must be a departure from the Church of Rome which they would not haue him to hasten by this meanes These perswasions prevailed so farre that Grosthead was not accursed nor deposed but dyed Bishop of Lincolne yet after his death it being easier to insult vpon a dead Lyon then a liuing dog the Pope tooke heart and was resolued to accurse him and to commaund his dead body to bee taken vp and to be buried in a dunghill But the night before this vile act should haue bin done Bishop Grosthead did appeare vnto him with his crosier staffe in his hand and so rebuked the wicked Pope for fauouring the wicked and persecuting the righteous and besides strooke him in such sort with his crosier staffe that he neuer enjoyed his Papall dignity after it This apparition happily was nothing else but the apprehension of his guilty conscience representing to him the person of him whom hee intended to wrong and terrifying him euen vnto the death Howsoeuer it appeareth by Mathew Paris that this worthy Bishop for so will I call him not-with-standing any thing prating Higgons can say to the contrary finding that the
satisfied in any thing vnder God And so generally and absolutely denie that the Image of God can bee lost or blotted out These make a difference betweene the Image of God thus restrained to the largnesse and and admirable perfection of the naturall faculties of the soule and the similitude or likenesse of God which appeareth in the qualities and vertues of it making him that possesseth them partaker of the diuine nature which they confesse to be lost Now this similitude is all one with the Image of God in the second consideration set down by Aquinas and therefore in this matter Caluin erreth not but writeth that which is consonant vnto the truth Touching the second part of this imputation it is true that Origen erred thinking hell to be nothing else but horror of conscience But he that looketh in the place in Caluin cited by the Iesuite shall see that he saith no such thing but the cleane contrary So that the Reader shall finde Bellarnne to be constant and stil like himselfe adding one calumniation to another CHAP. 25. Of the heresie of the Peputians making women Priests THe fourth Heresie imputed vnto vs by our adversaries is that of the Peputians who gaue women authoritie to intermeddle with the sacred ministerie of the Church That we doe so likewise they indeavour to proue by misreporting the words of Luther There are two things therefore which Luther saith in the place alleadged by them First that in absolution and remission of sinnes in the supposed Sacrament of Penance a Bishop or ordinary Presbyter may doe as much as the Pope himselfe which Alphonsus à Castro writing against Heresies confesseth to bee true The second that when and where no Presbyter can be found to performe this office a Lay man yea or a woman in this case of necessitie may absolue which our adversaries neede not to thinke so strange seeing themselues giue power to women to baptise in case of necessitie which I thinke is as much a ministeriall acte as to absolue the penitent in such sort as absolution is giuen in the Church of Rome And yet they would thinke themselues wronged if from hence it should bee inferred that they make women Priests and Bishoppes But Bellarmine reporteth the wordes of Luther as if hee should say absolutely that a woman or childe hath as much power and authority from God in these things as any Presbyter or Bishop wherein hee is like himselfe Absolution in the Primitiue Church was the reconciling and restoring of penitents to the peace of the Church and to the Communion of the Sacraments from which during the time of their penitencie they were excluded This in reason none could doe but they to whom the dispensation of the Sacraments was committed and who had power to deny the Sacraments The Popish absolution is supposed to bee a Sacramentall acte Sacramentally taking away sinne and making the party absolued partaker of the remission of it This is a false and erronious conceite LVTHER thinketh it to bee a comfortable pronouncing and assuring of good to the humble penitent and sorrowfull sinner which though ordinarily and ex officio the Minister bee to doe yet may any man doe it with like effect when none of that ranke is or can be present Thus when the matter is well examined it is meerely nothing that Bellarmine can proue against Luther But that which hee addeth touching our late dread Soueraigne ELIZABETH of famous memorie that shee was reported and taken as chiefe Bishop within her dominions of England c. is more then a Cardinall lye and might beseeme the father of lyes better then any meaner professour of that facultie For the Kings and Queenes of England neither doe nor haue power to doe any ministeriall act or act of sacred order as to preach administer Sacraments and the like But that power and authority which we ascribe vnto them is that they may by their princely right take notice of matters of Religion and the exercise of it in their kingdomes That they may and in duty stand bound to see that the true Religion bee professed and God rightly worshipped That God hath giuen them the sword to punish all offenders against the first or second Table yea though they be Priests or Bishops That neither the persons nor the goods of Churchmen are exempted from their power That they holde their Crownes immediatly from God and not from the Romish Antichrist That it was the Lucifer-like pride of Antichrist which appeared in times past in the Popes wheē they shamed not to say that the Kings of England were their villanes vassalls and slaues Thus then the fourth supposed heresie we are charged with proueth to be nothing but a diuelish slander of this shamelesse Iesuite Wee say therefore to silence this slanderer that we all most constantly hold the contrary of that he imputeth vnto vs And that wee thinke there is no more daungerous or presumptuous wicked boldnesse then for any man not called set a part and sanctified therevnto to intermeddle with any part of the sacred ministerie of the Church CHAP 26. Of the supposed heresie of Proclus and the Messalians touching concupiscence in the regenerate THe fift heresie which hee endevoureth to fasten vpon vs is he saith the heresie of Proclus of whom Epiphanius maketh mention But what was the heresie of Proclus Let Bellarmine tell vs for our learning It was sayth he that sin doth alwayes continue and liue in the Regenerate for that concupiscence is truely and properly sin which is not taken away by Baptisme but only allaied stilled and brought as it were into a kind of rest and sleepe by force thereof and the working of faith In this Bellarmine sheweth his intolerable either ignorance or impudence or both For Epiphanius in the place cited by him refuteth the heresie of Origen who denied the resurrection of the bodies of men as thinking such bodily substances which we see are continually subject to alteration here in this world not capable of immortality And that God did put these bodies vpon Adam and Eue after their sin at that time when he is said to haue made them coates of skinnes This Epiphanius refuteth shewing that God who only hath immortality made man though out of the earth yet by the immediate touch of his owne hands that he breathed into him the breath of life for that he meant he should be immortall that man had flesh and blood and a true bodily substance before his fall as is prooued by that of Adam concerning Eue This is now flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone that there was no euill found in the World such as death is in the beginning that man voluntarily sinned against God and therevpon God brought in death that euen as the Schoolemaster vseth correction not for any delight he hath in it but for that thereby he intendeth to bring his Schollers to forsake their negligent and disordered courses and to
and prouisions Touching the first Matthew Paris noteth that about the yeare of our Lord 1246 the Preaching Fryers obtained great priuiledges from the Pope to preach to heare confessions and to do other ministeriall acts euery where disgracing the ordinary Pastors as ignorant and insufficient to gouerne the people of God This new found order of Fryers he sayth seemed to many discreet and wise men to tend to the ouerthrow of the order of Pastors and Bishops setled by the blessed Apostles and holy Doctors and that not hauing beene aboue thirty yeares in England they were growne more out of order then the Monkes of S. Austine and Benedictes order were in many ages For such was their impudent and shameles boldnesse that they came to the Synodes of Bishops Prelates Arch-deacons sitting as Presidents in the middest of their Deanes Rectors and other worthy men requiring their letters of commission and priuiledge to be read and themselues to be admitted and commended to preach in their Synodes and Parish Churches as Embassadors and Angels of God with all honour In this insolent sort went they vp and downe from place to place and asked of euery man though of a religious profession to whom he confessed himselfe and if any one answered that hee made his confession to his owne Priest they asked againe what Ideot that was they told him hee was neuer hearer of Diuinity that hee neuer studied the Decrees and that he was not able to discusse any one cōtrouersy adding that such Priests wereblind guides of the blind willed all men to come vnto thē as to men knowing to discern betweene Leprosie and Leprosie to whom the hard and obscure things were knowne and the secrets of God reuealed whereupon many especially Noble-men and Noblewomen betooke themselues to these contemning their owne Pastors soe that the ordinary Ministers grew into great contempt which grieued them not a little nor without cause But of these Fryerly people no man hath written better then Armachanus who excellently deciphereth their intollerable hypocrisie iniustice and couetousnesse joyned with all cunning and coozening practises and deuises Their hypocrisie he discouereth in that though they pretended pouerty yet they had houses like the stately pallaces of Princes Churches more costly then any Cathedrall Churches more and richer Ornaments then all the Prelates of the world more and better bookes then all the Doctors and great learned men of the world cloysters and walking places so sumptuous stately and large that men of armes might fight on horsebacke and encounter one another with their speares in them and their apparell richer then the greatest and most reuerend prelates Their iniustice he sheweth in their iniurious intruding into other mens Churches charges depriuing thē of their authority honor maintenāce their couetousnes in that they sought only to do those things that might bring gaine and insinuated themselues into the fauour and liking of the great ones of the world little regarding those of meane condition Whereupon hee warneth all men to take heede of them as wicked seducers that enter into houses and lead captiue simple women laden with sinnes bringing in sectes of perdition and in couetousnesse making merchandise of men by crafty and fained words of flattery This is that vnprofitable and most dangerous and damnable generation of disguised and masked hypocrites which like Locusts are come out of the bottomlesse pitte in these last ages of the world eating vp and deuouring whatsoeuer is greene and flourishing vpon the earth The Monkes in their beginning were a people of a farre other sort For they tooke not on them to preach or minister Sacraments but were a kind of voluntary penitents according to that of Saint Hierome Monachus Plangentis non Docentis officium habet that is a Monke is a mourner hee is no teacher And againe Alia Monachorum est causa alia Clericorum Clerici pascunt ones Ego pascor Illi de Altari viuunt mihi quasi infructuosae arbor◅ securis ponitur ad radicem si munus ad Altare non defere that is The condition of Monkes and of Clearkes is very different Clearkes feede the sheepe but I am fedde they liue by the Altar but if I bring not my gift to the Altar the Axe is lifted vp against mee and layd as to the roote of an vnfruitfull tree And therefore as Duarenus noteth in ancient times Monkes were meere Lay-men neyther were there any Priestes or Clearkes found in Monasteries but they came all as other of the people did to the common Temples and Churches to bee taught to pray and to receiue the Sacraments Which thing hee sayth Iustinian the Emperour plainely enough expresseth and with him agreeth Bishoppe Lindan who sayth that in ancient time all Monkes were Lay-men and that they were all excluded and shut out of the Quire when they came into the Temple and house of God sometimes they did send for a Priest to do Ministeriall actes among them and in the end some of them were ordained Priests that soe they might haue the Ministration of Sacraments among them and make as it were a certaine Church among themselues and so neither be forced to go to other Churches nor to borrow Priests from other And to the same purpose Hugo de Sancto Victore sayth that by speciall fauour and indulgence the diuine orders of Ministery are granted to Monkes that they might liue more quietly within themselues not that they should exercise Prelacie in the people of God but that they might celebrate the communion of God within their owne priuate retiring places which yet they say in the beginning was not so For Monkes and men dwelling in the wildernesse are sayd to haue had Priests assigned vnto them But as Duarenus noteth hereby the passage was opened and all Monkes began to bee ordained Priestes though they had no gouernement of the Church that they might procure the more dignity to themselues the order and degree of Cleargy-men being more high and honourable then that of Monkes Neyther did they long containe themselues within these bounds after they had attained to be Priestes but gotte authority and iurisdiction ouer Churches abroad eyther because they were founded within their lands or for that it pleased the Pope to take them from Bishops and subiect them to these Monkes At the first as the same Duarenus noteth they liued apart in certaine abiding places which they had in the mountaines and deserts whence they were called not onely Monkes but Heremites and Anchorites though at certaine houres and sette times they mette Afterwards they beganne to liue together and the places where they liued were called Caenobia of the communion of life And when certaine Ecclesiasticall persons remaining in cities and places of resort and teaching the people tyed themselues to like obseruations though haply not altogether so strict as these had done they were called Canonici that is
contenting themselues with their owne Church left the administration of other Churches free to their owne Bishoppes as rather thinking themselues Bishoppes of that one cittie then of the whole world which thing haply moued a certaine Bishoppe of whom Paulus Aemylius maketh mention to answere somewhat peremptorily to Gregory the Eleuenth asking him why hee went not to his Church for whereas Gregory satte at Auinion and not at Rome hee said vnto him If one should aske thee why thou goest not to Rome that hath beene so long forsaken of her Bishoppes thou wouldest haue much lesse to answere then I haue But the latter Bishoppes of Rome contented not themselues herewith neither did they thinke it enough to bee Bishoppes of Rome and prime Bishoppes amongst before the rest but they would needes bee vniuersall Bishoppes and therefore thought it no robbery to concurre with all other Bishoppes and to preuent them if they could in giuing voyde Benefices before them And because it was not easie to preuent the Bishoppes in this sort in Prouinces and Kingdomes farre remote therefore they found out a more certaine and ready way whereby to take from them their right and power for a custome grew in and preuayled vnknowne to former times of certaine Papall graunts wherein Benefices not voyde were commaunded to bee bestowed and conferred when they should be voyd vpon such as the Pope should thinke fit and specially vpon strangers These were called Gratiae expectatiuae and Mandata de prouidendo and hereof the whole state of England complayned to Innocentius the Fourth affirning that by vertue of these Prouisions there were so many Italians beneficed in England that the reuenues which they had from hence was 60000 markes which was more then the bare reuenue of the Kings and yet as if this had not beene enough there came one Martine with Commission from the Pope to wrong the poore Church of England a little more This man conferred certaine Benefices actually voyd of the value of thirty markes by the yeare vpon strangers and when they dyed hee put in others without the priuity of the Patrons and went about to assure to such as hee pleased the like Benefices not yet voyde whensoeuer they should bee voyde besides many other most vniust exactions wherewith hee vexed the poore English putting all such as resisted against him vnder the sentence of excommunication and interdiction taking more on him then euer any Legate did though he came not as a Legate to the great preiudice of the Crowne of England seeing no Legate was to come hither vnlesse he were desired by the King The Messengers that the State of England sent to the Pope to make knowne their greiuances and complaintes were greatly disliked by the Pope and their message no way acceptable to him and therefore though dissembling the matter hee gaue them some good words as if there should be no more such Prouisions made but onely for some particular persons and they not aboue twelue in number yet such was the good nature of the man as Matthew Paris noteth that he would not suffer the poore English though sore beaten with many stripes once to cry or complaine But because they published these their complaints in the Councell of Lyons which was holden at the time of their comming hee was exceeding angry and dealt with the French King to make warre against the King of England and eyther to depriue him of his Kingdome or to make him wholy to stoope to the pleasure of the pope and the Court of Rome which the French King vtterly refused to do After these things thus past betweene the Pope and the English he did worse then euer before Whereupon there was a new meeting of the States of England wherein these grieuances were made manifest and complained of First that the Pope was not content with his ordinary reuenew of Peter-pence but exacted other contributions without the Kings knowledge Secondly that the Patrons of Churches were not permitted to present Clearkes but Romanes were put into them who neyther vnderstood the Language nor euer meant to liue here but carried away the money out of the Realme So that neyther was the people instructed hospitality kept the Churches repaired nor any good done and beside the Originall Patrons were depriued of their right one Italian succeeding another in the Churches founded by them without their knowledge and that vnwelcome Messenger Non obstante too often sent vnto them These their complaints the King the Bishops Abbots Lords and Commons made knowne by their letters and messengers to the Pope with earnest desire of reformation and redresse but could receiue none other answere from him but that the King of England had his Counsell and so had he that the king began to kicke against him and to play the Fredericke And such was his displeasure that all English were repelled and driuen away as Schismatickes After this new letters were againe written to the Pope and in the end a priuiledge was graunted that noe Prouisions should be made for Italians Cardinalls or the Popes Nephewes before the King were first earnestly intreated to be content with thē only to abuse such as would be abused For the Pope went forward still in his prouisions as formerly hee had done as appeareth by his letters to the Abbot of Saint Albons and by the worthy letters of the Bishoppe of Lincolne written to the pope about these matters and his speeches against the Pope a little before his death And here by the way it is worth the noting that Matthew Paris hath that in the time of Gregory the Ninth vppon complaint of onde Robert Tewing Patron of the Church of Lathune the popes Graunt made in preiudice of his right was reuersed because it was not knowne that the Patrone of that Benefice was a Lay-man when it was giuen by the pope Soe that if it had beene in the gift of a Cleargy-mam it must haue stood so ready was the head of the Church to oppresse Church-men and their possessions of all other were most fitte for spoyle So little respect was there had to religion in those dayes and soe were all things returned to their old Chaos againe Whence it came that the heartes of all men went away from the pope and the Church of Rome whereof the one sought to bee esteemed a Father and the other a Mother to all Churches but the one of them proued a step-father and the other a step-mother Neyther did the pope like a wilde Bore make hauocke only in the Vine-yard of the Lord of Hosts planted in this Island which lay open to be spoyled by all passengers but he playd his part also in all other Kingdomes of the West though some resisted more against his intrusions then others Touching France wee read in the booke intituled Pro libertate Ecclesiae Gallicae aduersus Romanam aulam defensio Parisiensis Curiae Ludouico vndecimo Gallorum Regi
Pope sought to ouerthrow the order of the Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie to encroach vpon all Bishoppes and guides of the Church and to vsurpe such an illimited vniversall and absolute authority as no way pertained to him feared not to call him Antichrist to compare him and his Courtiers to that Behemoth that putteth his mouth to the Riuer of Iordan thinking he can drinke it vp to pronounce that it is most true that before his time was said of him and his execrable Court Eius avaritiae totus non sufficit orbis Eius luxuria meretrix non sufficit omnis That the Church was holden in Babylonicall captivity by this Antichrist and that her deliuerance would neuer be wrought but by the edge of the sword that must be bathed in blood This is the true report concerning Grosthead in all which there are neither fictions nor exaggerations as Higgons pretendeth by which it is evident that there was as little Communion between the Pope challenging as he did then and doth now infallibility of judgement vniversality of illimited and vncontrouleable power right to dispose the Kingdomes of the World as there is betweene light and darknesse the Temple of God and Idols CHRIST and Antichrist So that he was no Papist seeing he ouer-threw the Papacie and if in any thing he erred as liuing in corrupttimes it is not to be marvayled at neither did his errour in some particular thing so much prejudice his piety and sanctity as that he may not bee called a worthy and renowned Bishop seeing hee held the foundation and stroue for the truth as farre as hee knew it euen to death And therefore the exceptions of the Author of the booke of the Three Conversions against Master Foxe touching this Bishoppe and some other mentioned by him and recorded in the number of Martyrs and Confessors are little to be regarded for that men might be members of that true Church whereof we are holding the foundation and carefully seeking out and maintaining the truth as farre as they knew it though they were otherwise perswaded in some things then either Master Foxe or we are which need not to seeme strange to Master Higgons nor any other of that side seeing they thinke many to haue beene members of their Church and Catholiques that dissented from them in all the questions concerning the Pope to which all other as Master Higgons telleth vs are subordinate and besides in the questions of originall sin free-will justification merite satisfaction the number of the Sacraments and sundry other like things Thus wee see how zealously Grosthead the worthy renowned Bishop of Lincolne opposed himselfe against the tyrannicall vsurpations and incroachments of the Pope and feared not to call him Antichrist for the same Neither was he alone in this opposition but we shall finde that the whole state of England after many complaints against the Popes incroachments vsurpations and tyrannicall intermedling in things no way pertaining to him to the ouerthrow of the Hierarchy of the Church told him in the end that if these courses were continued they should bee forced to doe that which would make his heart to ake Thus faith Mathew Paris at last the poore Church of England that had bin long vsed as an Asse to carry the Popes burdens in the end grew weary opened her mouth as Balaams Asse did to reproue the folly of the Prophet that not without just cause in the judgement of all the world for howsoeuer the church of Rome challenged to be the Mother of all churches and the Popeto be the Father of all Christians yet the one proued a cruell stepmother the other an vnkind vnnaturall Father so that they both lost the hearts of all men But what did the Pope vpon the complaints of so great a church nation as this of England did he ease her burthens or any way listen to her most reasonable suits no verily but was so vnmercifull as the same Paris testifieth that hauing so sore beaten vs he beate vs againe in more cruel sort then euer before onely because we cryed therefore let him not be angry with vs because we haue kept our word with him that neuer kept any with vs haue indeed done that which maketh his heart to ake as our fore-fathers threatned him long before these groanes of our wrōged Mother her often renewed bitter complaints before any was found to worke her deliuerance doe iustifie that which we haue done to be no more then in duty we stood bound to do neither is there any better proofe of the goodnes of our cause then that that which we haue done in the reformation of the church was long before wished for expected fore-tolde by the best men that liued in former times in the corrupt state of the church But because Mr Higgons is pleased to tell vs that if there be no better proofe the cause is bad the patrons worse because these best men we speak of will not speake for vs I will take a litle paines to shevv the goodnes of this proof vvhich I doubt not but the Reader vvill find to be better then that Mr Higgons or any other of his Romanists shall euer be able to vveaken it All that vvhich vve haue done in the reformation of the church cōsisteth in 3 things the first is the condemning of certain erronious opiniōs in matters of doctrine the 2d the shaking off of the yoake of Papall tyranny the 3 the remouing of abuses superstitious observatiōs Novv then if it be proued that the best best learned in former times thought as vvee doe in matters doctrinall that they complained of the heauie yoake vvhich the Pope laide on them and desired the remoouing of such abuses as vvee haue remooued I thinke this proofe vvill bee found very strong and good I vvill therefore first beg◅ vvith matters of doctrine and so proceede to the other points not intending to run through all the controversed points of doctrine but some onely for example and because the question is onely of the judgment of men liuing in latter times in the corrupt state of the Church vnder the Papacie I will passe by the Fathers and speake of such as liued since their time Touching the Canon of Scripture which is the rule of our faith wee deny the bookes of Tobit Iudith Ecelesiasticus Wisdome Machabees the song of the three Children and the story of Bell and the Dragon to bee Canonicall Scriptures So did Hugo de Sancto Victore Richardus de Sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Lyranus Dionysius Carthusianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Waldensis Richardus Armachanus Picus Mirandula Ockam Caietan and Driedo to say nothing of Melito Bishop of Sardis Origen Athanasius Hilarius Nazianzen Cyrill of Ierusalem Epiphanius Ruffinus Hierome Gregory and Damascen Here wee see a cloud of witnesses deposing for vs. And what better proofe of the goodnesse of our cause canne there be then that so