A LERNED EPISTLE OF M. IOHN FRASER BACHLER OF DIVINITIE TO THE MINISTERS OF GREAT BRITANIE Wherin he sheweth that no man ought to subscribe to their confession of faith And that their presumed authorite to excommunicate anie man especially Catholiques is vaine and foolish Permissu Superiorum 1605. TO THE â—VRITAINE MINISTERS OF GREAT BRITANIE HIS COVNTREYMEN Iohn Fraser vvisheth vpright mynd tovvarde bothe God and Prince HEARING of your extraordinarie dealing according to the nature of your extraordinarie calling in outward shew onely gainst Catholique men In very deed against o the God Prince I thought it my duetie or the publike good to write some thing ouching that subiect where by ye might nderstand how ye deceaue your selues and buse others in that mater which is this â—e labour by al meanes to constraine men â—ho at Catholique for as to others men ye â— not very careful to approue sweare and â—bscribe your confession of faith and in case they refuse ye take vpon you to excoÌ„municat them Wherefore with Godds grace we shal latt you see that no honest man true subiect or good Christian with safe conscience can approue sweare or subscribe your forsaid confession that ye haue no power at al to excoÌ„municat any man and although ye had yet could ye not excommunicat Catholique men 2. As a plaine dealer without further preface I wil enter in the matter TheÌ„ to the first head it is certaine that whosoeuer wil sweare and subscribe your new confession contrarie to the duetie of an honest man putteth him self in hazard to be mensworne and that in the very entrie of his othe for thir be your words if I rightly remember vve al and euerie one of vs vnder vvritten protest that after long and devv examination of our ovvne consciences in maters of true and false religion ar novv throughly resolued in the trueth by the vvord and spirit of God Many faltes in fewe wordes if men would long tyme and duely examine them in their consciences before they approue subscribe or sweare them to be true for first euery man here answereth for his companion fellow saying vve al euerie one of vs c. where if any of the noÌ„ber hath spoken against the veritie or his conscience al the rest ar lyers Nixt what examination can be long in so weghtie a matter certainely not fourtie dayes yea not fourtie yeares When these thinges cometh in controuersie we may wel say without reprehension Deliberandum est diu quod statuendum est semel Thirdly how can any man duely examine his conscience in matters of true and false religion seing that his conscience or iudgement can not be a iust square of religion because it surmounteth al humaine reason is comprehended onely by faith not of our owne forgeing but of Goddes free gift or how can he duely iudge vpon true and false religion who neuer hath seene heard or reade the reasons of al parties For as a teÌ„poral iudge not without great reason may be thought to iudge very rashly if he pronunce his sentence decreit before he heare bothe the parties not withstaÌ„ding the matter be of smal importance and value and that he haue iudged according to the right because he hath iudged before he knew the ground of the matter and so if he hath done wel it was more by happe then good reason So the spiritual iudge may be esteemed rash and foolish if in matters of religion and faith he decreit any thing except al reasons be wel discussed Wherefor he who would duely examine his conscience in maters of trâ—w and falsâ— religioÌ„ seing he takeâ—h vpoÌ„ him the charge place of a iudge should with great discretioÌ„ quyet spirit humble mynd without any passioÌ„ trye both the true false read al books touching that subiect weighing the reason diligently because the profit is great to them that goeth right and the danger likewise to them who goeth wronge Now how the greater part of your sweares and subscribers can do or execute this charge truely I see not yea can not gesse seing that a good nomber of your selues who ar ministers and should be best armed at destitute bothe of bookes and good learning Certainly ye can not iustly aske of gentilmen or others of meaner degree making profession of armes or housbandry that which ye your selues who do make profession of letters can not do ye may easely iudge that gentilmen and commone people for lacke bothe of learning and bookes can not duely and for lacke of tyme can not long and vvorthly examine their conscience in sic things their affaires ay holâ—ing them occupied otherwise meikilles to sweare that they haue done that which neither haue they done nor could they do at any tyme. Albeit there were no othere reason but this yetafter my iudgement it were most iust sufficient for any man to refuse your subcription and swearing and should moue you not to vrge men there to except perhapes ye seeke only their vtter ruine and damnation for doubtles they ar mensworne who sweareth that to be true which in their coÌ„science they knowe to be false or ar not assured if it be true of which nature ar theis thinges which ar conteined in your confession seing they proceede of men who ar subiect to errour and false opinion and so can gif no good assurance where vpon men may establish their faith Which cannot be certaine and firme except it haue an infallible ground and fondament free frome all suspicioÌ„ of errour I may with many weightie reasons proue that honestie could not stand with sic maners and shall bring them if it be needfull 3 For the feconde head it is â—ar against the duetie of a true subiect towardes his Prince and liege lord to whom he is obliged from the first moment of his birth to his last breath wherefor can not gif his band of maÌ„red noâ— othe of fidelitie to any other but with exceptioÌ„ of his soueraigne which notwithstanding ye desire of your subscribers for speaking of the worde of God for so ye call your interpretations and doctrine of your reformed kirk ye say thus to the vvhich vve ioyne ourselues vvillingly in doctrine faith religion discipline and vse of th holie sacraments as liuely meÌ„bers of the same in Christ our head promising and svvearing by the Great name of the Lord that vve shall continue in the obedience of the doctrine and discipline of this kirk and shall defend the same according to our vocation and povver all the dayes of our liues vnder the paines conteined in the lavve and danger bothe of body and soule in the day of Goddes fearfull iudgement There be here an absolute othe and without any exception made to you and your reformed kirk not onely in matters of religion and doctrine but also in gouerment and discipline It is not my intent at this present to examine the manyfold absurdities of this new forme of othe in passing I
say onely that it shal be very hard to any of your swearers to behaue him selâ—e well with other protestant kiâ—kes who are bothe in doctrine and discipline far different from you shall he enter incontinent in desence of your reformation shall he trouble all states where he doeth come Truely all men haâ—e that opinion of your religion that it bringeth euerie where seditions with it as the most turbulent sect that euer yet was inuented in our contrey Ne longe exempla petantur Betonio primi maduerunt sanguine muri Or shall he following the maxime of your faith call all in doubt not withstanding of his othe â—ecause ye are but men and may erre except â—e may gif some good and sure reason why â—e onely say true and all the rest of the world false and that nothing can procede out of your mouth but veritie for your othe importeth no lesse with it And certainely without that pretogatiue of assured veritie bound to your heads and tounges to astrict men to your doctrine and discipline formed or reformed by you neglecting the authoritie of your reformed kirk in generall may seeme somewhat against reason and very preiudiciable to the Prince and common wealthe For by this othe all must depend vpon you as vpon the soueraigne magistrat the solemne othe absolute promise beinge made in fauour of your doctrine discipline which ye haue in your hands and ministration This may be easely seene by the othe made to the Kinges Maiestie or rather against him which ye sett downe in this forme And because we perceaue that the quyetnes and stabilitie of our religion and kirk doeth depend vpon the safetie and good behauiour of the Kinges Maieste as vpon a confortable instrument of Goddes mercie graunted to this countrey sor the mainteining of his kirk and ministration of iustice among vs. VVe protest and promise with our heartes vnder the same othe handwrit and paines that we shall defend his persone and Authoritie vvith our geir bodies and liues in the defence of Christes Euangell libertie of our countrey ministration of iustice and punishment of iniquitie against all enemies vvithin this realme or vvithout as vve desire our God to be a strong and mercifull defender to vs in the day of our death and comming of our lord Iesus Christ to vvhome vvith the father and the holie spirit be all honour glorie eternally Aiâ—â— Lat vs consider the partes of this new othe Because say ye vve perceaue that the quyetnes and stabilitie of our religioÌ„ and kirk doeth depeÌ„d vpon the safetie and good behauiour of the Kinges Matie c. Well begoune truely that ye mistak not your selues ye lay downe the cause why ye will do or at lest appeare to do some seruice to his Maiestie as long as ye perceaue thinges that please you that is as long as al thinges at donne according to your fantasie ye wil be good and obedient subiects or rather maisters seing ye prescribe conditions to him who truely is your Maister and reasons why ye will bestow any thing vpon him What if any reformed imaginations take you or some extraordinarie zeall of your heauenly discipline trouble your braine and make you perceaue according to your passion as drounken men doeth see two candels where there is but one any other thing in his Maiestie What if ye find not that good behauiour ye looketh for Must he dresse all his actions to your fantasies and good pleasure will ye be censours and comptrollers of his doings if he vse not your counsell and aduysâ— If your perceauing of thinges to you agreable be the ground cause of your promise protestation how soone ye preceaue in your fantasie the contrarie ye ought him nothing I meane according to your opinion sublata causa â—ollitur effectus if I serue you because ye nurish me if ye cease to nurish me I am no further obliged to serue you what shall become here of your hearty promises and protestations when your sight shal be changed to what state shal the coÌ„men wealth be brought when your foolish affections shewe a rule to the Kinges Maiestie and honorable conâ—ell to gouerne his realme many thinges appeares to vs otherwise then they ar and reasons being knowen they ar found good that seemed ill before we say coÌ„monly there should no hyndman half work see ye do many things in your house perhapes well honestly which were neither expediet nor decent to be deuulgated to euery man as also ye haue some secret counsell touching your affaires which ye should loosse if your intention were publikly knowen Think also that Kingâ—s Princes according to their great rankes haue secrets which should not nor can not be published without preiudice of bothe Prince state the which can not be coÌ„serued sometymes without the euident domage and hurt of some particulare men as by the losse of one member some tyme we preserue the rest of the body by which we should not esteeme mesure the princes actions but by the publik vtilitie which they procure better then we can see or vnderstand because their authoritie and experience gifeth them the wisdome knowledge which we can not haue Caesaribus virtus contigit ante diem There be certaine arcana imperij whereto we can not penetrate therefor lyke fooles oft tymes we do iudge rashly condemne thinges which we vnderstand not Wherefor we should do well not to enter in iudgement of so high matters Quam quisque nouit artem in ea se exerceat but your extraordinarie calling maketh you maisters in all craftes and your new discipline will not suffer you to haue so long patience Ye who enter in Goddes cabinet when ye list must know all things at the first instaÌ„t nothing should be hid to you ye haue receaued the spirite of discretion nothing should be donne without your approbation Ye ar in the chaire of veritie ye may speak what ye will iudge whom ye please comptroll whome ye list approue or improue as ye think good or ill ye haue taken the power ye haue receaued the othe all men ar your subiects so the Prince is subiect to your perceauing the principall rule of your new populaire tribunaâ— But ye will say that my coÌ„clusion followed not vpoÌ„ your antecedeÌ„t I wold be glad it were so that I were deceaued in my opinioÌ„ so willing I am to heare that there were no traittour in our countrey But if we will consider the solemne othe passed before in fauour of your new reformatioÌ„ to defend and obserue the doctrine and discipline thereof vnder so horrible a promise or rather imprecations execrations as we haue noted before it followed very necessarily for ye may extend as ye do when it pleased you the borders of your discipline as far as it seemed good to you and interpret your doctrine as ye thinke most expedient and so perceaue what ye please where ye shall acknowledge or not his
gifin to Caluin and you farre different from the commission gifin to Luther and his â—ollowers for the Lutherians according to this saying hade only charge to beginne the matter and ye to end it but beginning and ending should agree to gether and not like aegri somnia or worse They should agree I say if they be of one spirite except they come of that spirite who neuer yet could agree with him selfe The holie spirite who is the spâ—â—ite of vnion and concorde could not haue condemned by your mouth which he hath approued by Luthers or Lutherians mouthes I doubt not but ye trust al that ye haue the holie spirite yet the diuersitie of your opinions assure me the contrarie seing that the spirit who approueth and authoriseth the one and his doctrine condemneth and dischargeth the others and their doctrin If ye say that the errours hade takin so deepe roote that it was not possible to take them out of mens hartes in short space and therefore we should not maruell if there be many â—hingis in Luthers doctrine not agreable with the veritie But I pray you hade it not beene more seemely and as easie to Luther if he was sent by God whose asistence he could not want in that case to haue told the veritie at the beginning as to haue preached new errours so detestable as ye say and so contrarie to Godds worde and our saluation what spirite moued him so to doe If he â—ad winked at some or many of these poinctes that ye call errours which he found in the kirk before him because of the inueterate opinion coÌ„fiâ—med by long vse there might be some apparent excuse in your answere but to bring in errour for errour or to put out one to take in two the people being so docill to â—eceaue what so euer impression at that tyme Luther wold or cold haue giuen them or to confirme obstinatly an ancient errour is no worke of the holie spirite who should haue guided your extraordinatâ—e prophete and new sent pastour Or was the holie spiâ—ite so weake in Luthers mouth that he could not teach him the veritie or Luther so hard harted â—hat he could not receaue nor conceaue the veritie mekilles teach it to others or hade the holie spirite since that tyme found Caluin a more proper instrument to instruct the world truely and plainely in all thinges Then why was he a lying spirite in Luthers mouth seing it was oâ— him ye haue your extraordinarie calling which now is so ordinairie and established that no man may preach without it 10. I see not what can be answered here or shal we tourne baâ—ke againe to the first foundament of Luthers extraordinarie vocation where of the marke was the true doctrine which ye ar constrained to denye and disauow if ye wold proue your owen good for he condemneth you and your doctrine and ye condemne him and his doctrine which if ye denye obruam vos aduersarum vesâ—rarum partium voluminibus scriptisque contrarijs what shal become here of your vocatioÌ„ for lack of true doctrine it wil be null either in him or you or if ye say bothe true in your mutuall accusation in you both what shal become of your ministerie if this false thunder be shaken out of your hands ye will haue hard escapping out of this snare wherein ye haue feltred your selues fleing frome the Catholik kirk For if ye say that it is ynough that ye agree in the groundes and foundaments of faith and religion which ar necessarie altogether for mans saluation and in these ye agree with Luther and Lutherians they with you I wolde gladly vnderstand what ar these groundes and foundaments of faith and religion necessarie for mans saluation Is it to beleeue that there is but one God Iesus Christ to be God Gods Sonne That our saluation coÌ„sisted in Godes mercy other sic thinges as sayeth Caluin Or in the Creed Lordes prayer ten commands as thinketh Beza Or shal they be in the inuocatioÌ„ of our lord Iesus Christ as teacheth du Plessis Or shal these foundaments be the negation and detestation of the Catholik doctrine or as ye call it papistrie according to your meÌ„swearing of the true faiâ—h If ye wil hold you at your owen grouÌ„d I say onely that a negatiue faith is no faith properly and so your negations wil neuer open the heauens to you except that ye think that the Iewes gentils Turkes and heretikes oâ— all sects and at heiâ—ts may haue place as well there as ye seing they can deny heads of religion professed by the Catholiks with noth lesse assurance then ye a great part of the same with you If ye will say any of theâ—s thinges which the others hade said I ask you wherefore came Luther seing theis thinges as ye can not denieâ— were beleeued in the Catholik kirk before that euer Luther blew the trompette of sedition or as ye wold call it reformation if that honour had not beene reserued to you if the puritie of theis pointes was requesit why came Luther seing he teacheth not that puritie For that was reserued to you onely as we haue said often tymes It were out of purpos to say that God hade sent him to bring in new errours and confirme ould vnder pâ—etext of some few that he hath taken away where by an other might be sent Was it needfull that your Caluin should as an other Sainct Iohn the Baptist Parare viam Domini In the meane tyme I will conclude if there was so many errouâ—s in Luthers doctrine that it was needfull to send another in his place to teach the trueth that his extraordinarie vocation was not good or els yours who at come vpon a false token to gif him the lie But Domini moderatores why shall we beleeue Luther in some heads of religion as hauing commission of God and not in others because ye say it According to your Euâ—ngell ye at all equall not one greater theÌ„ an other why shall we gif you more credit then him or if we refuse to credit Luther why shall we not reâ—use to credit you also that ye may remaine euer Pares or why shall we beleeue your when ye improue some thinges and approue others is it not needfull here to haue a new extraordinarie calling to iudge with discretion and to our saluation and if in any thing ye be gone wrong should there not be another extraordinarie prophete to correct you as ye haue corrected others And seing that the true kirk according to your reformed opinion may erre when shâ—ll we haue lawfull pastours ye put the true doctrine the certaine mark of lawfull calling yet it can not be hade because euery man bringeth errour with him and the kirk is vncertaine and subiect to errour and so we can not trust hir And certainely as to Luther I credit you when ye accuse him of false doctrine and his followers because he