THE SPEECH OF Nicholas Heath Lord Chancellor of England Lord President of Wales Bishop of Worcestor And afterward Archbishop of YORK and Ambassadour into Germany delivered in the Upper House of Parliament in the Year 1555. On occasion of the Supremacy Proofs from Scripture That Christ left a True Church and that there is no Salvation but in the Catholick and Apostolick Church Proofs from the Fathers That there is no Salvation to be expected out of the True Catholick and Apostolick Church Certain Principles of the first Authors of the Reformation not so well known to many of their followers The Principles of the Catholick Apostolick Church Testimony of the Fathers touching the Real Presence LONDON Printed for the Author 1688. TO THE READER I Cannot but admire to see most Protestants so negligenn in their search of Truth so seemingly secure and so indifferent in the buying and reading Controversial Books which abound now a days more than ever when yet in their Hearts they know they may be in Errour for even by their own Principles they dare not so much as affirm they are Certainly in the right The swarms of Books about Religion that have these two last years fill'd the Press render it impossile to say any thing New on this Occasion and therefore farther indeavours to write Controversy may seem vain and unnecessary and indeed if all the Catholick Books that have been lately Publish'd were read by the Protestants with the same Spirit of Humility with which they were wrote all prejudice passion and interest laid aside there would be abundantly enough to open the eyes of the people and satisfie all discerning Men that Popery is not that Antichristian Monster which it has for so many years been painted in England but that it is indeed the true Antient Catholick and Apostolick Faith which our Saviour deliver'd and taught his Apostles and which has continued since and been believed in the Church in all succeeding Ages But since we find too many stop their ears against all the charms of Truth since we find still such mighty numbers of Men continue in entertaining their old barbarous conceits of the Catholick Religion and either through malice or negligence very slow in Reading what might Inform their judgements and settle their Consciences it cannot be esteemed improper for every honest Man to contribute his Mite and endeavour what he may to rouse up some by a third or fourth call who have refused the first and second and for as much as many are discouraged by the length and some by the dearness of the Book I have resolved to remove these two Impediments an hours reading with the expence of two pence is all the time and the charge that needs be spent upon this Pamphlet It must not be expected I should launch out into those prolix Disputes that have almost at this day tir'd the Pens of Schoolmen I intend only to establish two or three most important Truths on which the Catholick Faith does more immediately depend What I may beside insist on shall only be in general so as to give the Reader an occasion of seeking elsewhere more particular Information and that with as much brevity as Y can or the nature of the thing will admit I shall take the liberty to suppose in as much as many Protestants own as much that there has been in all Ages since our Saviour Christ planted the Gospel a true Church on Earth or to express my self more in the Protestant Phrase that there has been in every Age since Christ a company of Men who have retained that Orthodox Faith deliver'd in the Gospel I dare not think there is a Protestant living will deny this because he would by so doing first maintain there was an Age since Christ where in all the Articles of the Creed were not true viz. that there was no Holy Catholick Church seconly he would make Christ a false Prophet who has declared he would never depart from his Church but that he would be with her even unto the end of the World and that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against her Matt. 16.18 I will in the second place make bold to suppose that his true Church or this company of Orthodox Men has been visible in all Ages If there be a Protestant in the World so weak as to imagine the true Church was not visible in all Ages I desire him to consider that so much is implyed in the very nature and essence of a Church as to Preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments which even in his own notion are Visible Signs without which a Church can no more subsist than a Man without a Head or a House without a Foundatian And Secondly seeing Preaching the Gospel and Administring the Sacraments are Actiors Visible and Conspicuous the Church that does these things must by necessary consequence be Visible and Conspicuous likewise there is no Sophistry in this but what any one that pleases may reduce to a plain and easy Syllogism And indeed is there any thing in Nature more absurd and contradictory than to affirm the true Church was at all times and yet not at all times Visible What the Church daily does and what she must of necessity do to deserve that name are things as manifest and evident to humane sense as teaching a School or the Rule of a Commonwealth and will any man affirm that a School can be Taught or a State Governed in an invisible Manner Surely no neither then may any Protestant be so absurd as to believe the Church of Christ was at any time Invisible and not rather Visibly Apparent in her Rites and Sacraments as well as in her Assemblies on those occasions Taking it then for granted that there has been a true Church at all times since Christ and that this Church has been at all times visible it follows by an easie Consequence which every body can infer that what ever Church is not able to prove her Being since Christ and her being visible all that time cannot be the True Church But neither the Church of England nor that of Luther or Calvin nor any Protestant Reformed Church have been Visible in all Ages since Christ therefore neither the Church of England nor any other Protestant Church is the True Church I would fain see to this a plain and possitive answer given 't is what has not yet been given by any defender of the Protestant Cause nor I suppose will ever be to the end of the World. How ridiculous is it and how unbecoming any reasonable Creature what Protestants urge in this matter that their Principles were taught and believed in the Primitive Church till she fell into Idolatry and Superstition where she lay buried for above 1000 years till God rais'd up Luther and Calvin and the other Reformers to remove the Errors and raise up a new Glorious Orthodox Church I have often admir'd how such palpable Nonsence and such gross Contradictions came to
culled out of them Aid this year was sent to assist the Rebels in Scotland against their Lawful Queen The Presbyterians seeing Episcopal Government settled begin to play their Game The Bishops being thus settled begin the next year to make Laws and to compose Articles of Religion and to exact a Conformity to them Upon which they find great opposition from the Presbyterians In her fourth year she was solicited by Pope Pius to send her Orators to the Council of Trent which she refus'd to do The Emperour also writ to her to desist from these Alterations of Religion and to return to the Antient Catholick Faith of her Predecessors In her fifth year the Articles of Religion were agreed on in the Convocation In her sixth year she would have Married the Earl of Leicester to the Queen of Scots Calvin dies this year and Cartwright the great promoter of Presbytery retires out of England upon a discontent to Geneva In her seventh year the Calvinists began first to be called Puritans Dr. Heylyn In her eighth year the Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops was Confirm'd And for this we are beholding to Boner the late Bishop of London Who being call'd up to take the Oath of Supremacy by Horn of Winton refus'd to take the Oath upon this account because Horn's Consecration was not good and valid by the Laws of the Land. Which the insisted upon because the Ordinal Establish'd in the Reign of King Edward the VI. by which both Horn and all the rest of Queen Elizabeths Bishops received Consecration had been Repealed by Queen Mary and not restor'd by any Act of Parliament in the present Reign which being first declar'd by Parliament in the Eighth of this Queen to be Casus Omissus or rather that the Ordinal was look'd upon as a part of the Liturgy confirm'd in the First year of this Queen They next Enacted and Ordain'd That all such Bishops as were Consecrated by it in time to come should be reputed to be lawfully Consecrated Baker In her Eleventh year there arose a Sect openly condemning the receiv'd Discipline of the Church of England together with the Church Liturgy and the very Calling of Bishops This Sect so mightily encreas'd that in the Sixteenth year of her Reign the Queen and Kingdom was extreamly troubled with them In the same Sixteenth year were taken at Mass in their several Houses the Lord Morley's Lady and her Children the Lady Gilford and the Lady Brown Who being thereof Endicted and Convicted suffer'd the Penalties of the Laws In her Twentieth year the severe Laws against Roman Catholicks were Enacted In her Twenty third year a Proclamation was set forth That whosoever had any Children beyond Sea should by a certain day call them home and that no Person should harbour any Seminary Priest or Jesuit At this time also there arose up in Holland a certain Sect naming themselves The Family of Love. In a Parliament held the 26th year of her Reign the Puritan Party labour'd to have Laws made in order to the destroying of the Church of England and the setting up of their own Sect. In her Twenty eighth year the Queen gave a special Charge to Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury to settle an Uniformity in the Ecclesiastical Discipline which lay now almost a gasping And at this time the Sect of Brownists deriv'd from one Robert Brown did much oppose the Church of England In her One and Thirtieth year the Puritan-Flames broke forth again In her Thirty sixth year the Severity of the Laws were Executed upon Henry Barrow and the Sectaries for condemning the Church of England as no Christian Church Thus Sir Rich. Baker Here is an End of this Work. Wherein I hope there is full satisfaction given concerning the Alterations of Religion which have been made by Publick Authority in the Reigns of these Kings and Queens With a sufficient discovery of the Actings of the Presbyterians in this Nation and the ground of multiplying other Sects Here ends of Historical Collections Gentlemen of the Reformation this following Discourse I assure you is not intended to make any Reflection upon your Tenets but meerly out of zeal to your good and desiring the Almighty to give you his Grace not to be deluded by the Principles of the first promoters of the Reformation For it may well be that every one of you does not know the Principles of those first Authors of the Reformation therefore out of Charity and zeal to you and the good of your Souls I declare them here The Preface to the Children of the Reformation BE not concern'd to know whose Hand it is which holds the Link but follow the Light it gives directing you to a view of the Principles upon which the Reformation supports it self asserting a Holy Liberty to each Person and to act as he pleases with a safe Conscience according to the Principles of our Reformation to grant any humane Power can oblige our Consciences against our Judgements in matters of Religion is but an imaginary Remedy for a real Evil. Our common Reformation is cemented and was first rais'd upon this Holy Liberty that every one should read Scripture Interpret it for himself and believe what he though was the true Sense of it without any compulsion or constraint and not to believe either Church State Vniversity or Doctors if he did not judge by Scripture his Doctrine was true Considering the Infancy of the Reformation our blessed Reformers taking to themselves and giving to others this Holy Liberty for to Teach and Believe whatever they judg'd to be the Doctrine and true Sense of Scripture though it should be against the received Opinion of the Councils Church Vniversities and Doctors Look into the Reign of Edward the VI. then did our Reformation flourish in England and was miraculously propogated by the Liberty of Martin Bucer Cranmer Ochinus Peter Martyr and others in teaching Calvinism Lutheranism Zuinglianism by Scripture as every one understood it Descend to the Reign of Queen Mary then the light of the Gospel was ecclipsed in the sense of the Reformers because the flock was again Popishly compell'd to believe not what every one judg'd by Scripture to be true but what the Church judg'd was such Come down a step lower to Queen Elizabeth's time then the flock recovering their holy Liberty to believe what each one though was the Doctrine of Scripture the Reformation gain'd ground and our Protestancy was establish'd the Religion of the Land which others were not totally suppress'd Step down a degree lower to King James his time the Reformation held its course because their Consciences were not oppress'd Look down a step lower to King Charles the I's Reign His Majesty carried with a Godly Zeal of restraining the diversity of Opinions would by new Laws and Ordinances force the flock to an Uniformity of Doctrine then those of the Reformation pleaded for the Evangelical Liberty to believe nothing nor use any Rites or Ceremonies but
Church and that the Bishop of Rome is Patriarch of the West is acknowledged by King James and T. Bishop of Winchester Now for a part to set up against the whole for a few Bishops of one National Church to Reform the Church of all Nations and for a National Synod to condemn all the General Councils at once is what all the Learning in the World can not justifie I would fain know why bâ— the same reason might not the Metropolitan of York Reform the National Church of England if he should pretend gross intollerable errours or the Diocesan of Carlile Reform the Metropolitan of York on the same score and any single Presbyteâ— again his Diocesan of Carlisles which indeed happen'd in the fundamental Reformation when Luther first Revolved and though but a single Presbyter yet took up on him boldly to Reform not only his own Superiour or Diocesan but even no less than the five Proto-Patriarchs at once The Church of Christ is surely an Established Government with power sufficient to chastise her Rebellious Subjects and certainly our Saviour never meant that every Presbyter should be Independent or that ever Bishop should be so or that every Province should be so nor that any Rational Church should be independent of the Whole For our Saviour expresses himself clearly that all his Sheep should be fed by one visible Head that all the Christians in the whole world should be subject to one Law and he gave sufficient Authority for the putting of it in execution If any private Gentleman here in England should declare he found gross intolerable Errours in the Government that he absolutely disliked Monarchy and should stir up a Party in the Nation to a Rebellion against the King. Suppose a Peer should do so or suppose a Province as for Instance that of Kent should pretend to discover these Errours and Revoult from their Sovereign what think you would not that Gentleman that Peer or that Province deservedly fall under the punishment of the Law and be thought by all the World guilty of Treason The Aplication is obvious and I defie any Man living to shew the disparity for the National Church of England was at least as much and as unavoidably subject to the Western Patriach Church as any one Province of England to the Laws of the whole Kingdom I never yet saw this objection answer'd nor any plausible reason given for the Grounds and Motives of the English Reformation And indeed the Schism is so obvious the Defection so apparently inexcusable and the Motives that induc'd Henry the VIII and those that prevailed with Edward thee VI. and Q. Eliz. so notoriously scandalous as Blood Divorce Perjury Sacriledge the maintainance of an Usurped Title that it seemeth to me little less than a Miracle how considering Men who have regard to their Eternal wellfare should be able to persuade themselves into a Belief that they may safely venture in the Communion of a Church sprung out of the Ruins of Churches and Religious Houses begun with the Divorce of Queen Catherine reveled with the Blood of Mary Queen of Scots made an Engine of state to support the Precatious Title of an Usurper and which has continued ever since in force by vertue of Sanguinary Penal Laws This subject has given occasion and vent to many Volumes and I might easily have extended it to a far greater length but I hope the Brevity will recommend it to the Perusal of all those who will not lose themselves and the Question in reading prolix Discourses I hope the old way of Answering will be no more taken up by Protestants to confute this or any Paper of the same Nature For when they can find no Reasons nor Arguments that may pass with Discerning Men to justifie the defection of the English Church or satisfie the people that the Roman is not the Catholick Church they still fly from the point in hand into Harangues and Rhetorical Digressions falling foul on some Doctrine of the Romish Church which they endeavour with Tropes and figures to paint out in the colours of Idolatry and Superstition Thus when hard pressed with the Sin of Schism and not able to justifie their Seperation they fall a railing at Transubstantiation Purgatory c. I would caution every Man that searches after Truth not to be put of with this Sophistry If the English Church can not shew Persuasive Arguments for her deserting her Mother the Church of Rome she fails in what is expected from her 'T is enough to fall foul on particular Doctrines she ought to shew that no subjection was due from her to the Western Patriarchal Church In treating of particular Controversies as Purgatory c. the Roman Church is very well able to satisfie all reasonable and impartial Men but she knows 't is the trick of Protestant Writers to wheedle Men into the Labyrinth of Controversial points and then dezle their eyes with fine words and elaborate Expressions I will Insert a Speech made in Parliament against Supreme Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Authority granted to Queen Elizabeth The Person that spake it was Nicholas Heath who was first Bishop of Worcester and Lord President of Wales Afterwards Arch-bishop of York and Embassador into Germany And made Lord Chancellor of England by Queen Mary in the year of our Lord 1555 and continued until he did surrender it up in Queen Elizabeth's time to Sir Nicholas Bacon The Person from whom I had this Speech is yet living who told me That he found it in Manuscript amongst Papers and Notes of his great Grandfather George Parrey who had been High Sheriff of Hereford-shire in the second year of the said Queen A Speech Made in the Vpper House of Parliament against the Supemacy to be in Her Majesty by Nicholas Heath Lord Chancellour of England in the first year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth above an 100 years fince In the Original Copy it is stiled A Tale told in Parliament For Oaths the Land shall be Cloathed in Mourning My LORDS WIth all humble submission of my whole Discourse to your Wisdoms I purpose to speak to the Body of this Act touching the Supremacy that so what this Honourable Assembly is now adoing concerning the passing of this Act may thereby be better weighed and considered by your Wisdoms First When by the Virtue of this Act of Supremacy we must forsake and fly from the See of Rome it would be considered what matter lies therein and what matter of danger or inconvenience or else whether there be none at all Secondly If the intent of this Act be to grant or settle upon the Queens Majesty a Supremacy it would be considered of your Wisdoms what this Supremacy is and whether it doth consist in Spiritual Government or Temporal If in Temporal what further Authority can this House give Her more than what She already hath by right of Inheritance And not by your Gift but by the Appointment of God Being our Sovereign Lord and