seauen golden candlesticks are y e seauen Congregations Yea we say with saynt Paul 1. Cor. 10. Calix benedixionis cui benedicimus nonne communicatio sanguinis Christi est Panis quem frangimus nonne participatiò corporis Domini est The Cuppe or as you call it the Chalice that we blesse is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread that we breake is it not the partaking of the bodye of the Lord Quoniam vnus panis vnum corpus multi sumus Omnes quidem de vno pane de vno calice participamus For we being many are but one loafe of breade and one body And we doo all take part of one loafe of bread and of one cuppe If you therefore would deny that the Sacramentall cuppe is the Communion of the blood of Christ or that the sacramentall breade is the partaking of the bodie of the Lorde we would say that you doo lie and doo make the Apostle Paule a lyar and so consequently God himselfe for the spéeche that Paule vseth is not his but Gods that spake in him We doo beléeue that the body and bloud of Christ are giuen taken eaten and drunken of the faithfull in the Lords supper after a heauenlie and spiritual manner but yet verily and indéede Yea and that faith is y e meane whereby the bodie and bloud of Christ are receiued in the Supper All this we beléeue and confesse and your selfe Frier John had once learned this and did confesse it in my Church without Creplegate of London before many witnesses You doo vs open wrong therefore in that you say that we make God a lyer and say that he gaue not his body to his disciples but bread onely which is fully contrarie to the foresaid texts of Scripture And as touching the sentences that you cite out of the sixt Chapter of S. Iohn we acknowledge Christ to be that bread that came downe from heauen And that whosoeuer shall eate of that bread shall liue for euer And he that eateâ—h not the flesh of the sonne of man and drinketh not hys bloud shall not haue life in himselfe But he that eateâ—â— the flesh of Christ and drinketh his bloude shall haue life euerlasting and Christ will rayse him vppe in the latter day But héere you must gyue vs leaue to sale as S. Austen dooth and we must request you to thinke no worse of vs then you doo of him so long as we shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him For hee is a Catholick docter and I thinke you doo take him so to be If we therefore shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him I hope you will take vs for Catholickes also First I must tell you that in the place that you cite the words be thus Ego sum panis viâ—â—s and not panis vâ—tae That is the liuing bread and not the bread of life I note this because the meaning of our Saâ—â—our Christe was as you haue said to bring the Jewes to the knowledge of his diuinity by considering that the Manna which fell from heauen and was accounted to be the bread of life was not that liuing bread that liueth and hath life of it selfe and is the fountaine of life to al liuing creatures y t they might be occasioned to sée that the Manna was to the Fathers as our Sacrament is to vs a visible â—â—gne representing vnto theÌ„ this liuing bread as â—ur Sacrament dooth represent the same vnto vs. Concerning this matter saynt Austen wryteth thus in his 26. treatise vpon the Gospell of saint Iohn Patres vestri Manna manducaueruÌ„t mortui sunt noÌ„ quia maluÌ„ erat MaÌ„na sed quiamale maÌ„ducaueruÌ„t Hic est panis qui de coelo desceÌ„dit Hunc paneÌ„ significauit manna Hunc paneÌ„ significauit altare Dei SacrameÌ„ta illa fueruÌ„t in signis diuersa sunt sed in re que significatur paria sunt ApostoluÌ„ audi Nolo enim vos inquit ignorare fratres quia patres nostrâ— omnes sub nube fueruÌ„t omnes mare traÌ„sieruÌ„t omnes per Mosen baptizati sunt in nube in mari omnes eandeÌ„ escaÌ„ spiritu alem manducauerunt Spiritualem vtique eandeÌ„ nam corporalem alteraÌ„ quia illi Manna nos aliud spiritualem veroâ—quam nos Sed patres nostri non patres illorum quibus nos similes sumus non quibus illi similes fuerunt Et adiungit Et omnes eundem potum spiritualem biberunt Aliud illi aliud nos sed specie visibiliquidem tamen hoc idem significante virtuâ—e spirituali Quomoâ—o enim eundem potuÌ„ Bibebant inquit de spirituâ—li sequeÌ„te pâ—tra petra autem erat Christus Indepanis inde potus Petra Christus in signo verus Christus in verbo in carne That is to say Your Fathers did eate Manna and are deade not because Manna was an euill thing but because they did not eate it aright This is the bread that came downe from heauen Manna did signifie this breade The Lordes Altare did signifie thys breade Those thinges were Sacraments in signes they be dyuers but in the thing that is signified they are alike Gyue care to the Apostle For he sayth Brethren I would not haue you ignorant that all our Fathers were vnder the Clowde and that they did all passe thorow the Sea and that they were all baptized by Moses in the clowde and in the Sea and that they did all eate one and the same spirituall meate The same spirituall meate indéede for the corporall was another for they did eate Manna and we an other thing but the spirituall was the same that we doo eate But these were our Fathers not theirs They to whom we are like not they to whom they were like And hée addeth to this And they did all drinke of one spirituall drinke but in the visible kind they did drinke one thing and we another and yet signifying the selfâ— same thing in spirituall vertue But howe was it the same drink They dranke sayth he of y e spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rocke was Christ Hence was the bread and hence was the drinke In a signe the Rocke is Christ but Christ indéede is in the word and in the flesh Can any man wryte or speake more plainly on our side in this matter then S. Austen hath doone in these wordes that I haue héere â—ited Doth he not plainly affirme that the Manna was to the faithfull Fathers in the wilderâ—es euen the selfe same thyng that the sacramentall breade in the Lordes supper is to vs nowe And that the Rocke in the Wildernes was vnto them the same thing that the cuppe in the Lords supper is vnto vs nowe And what wyll you haue vs to grant you a reall presence of Christes bodie and bloode in the Manna and in the Rocke And howe can you then require vs to grant it in the sacramentall bread wine S. Austen sayth that they and
Dauid saying Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam And all the while that he sayeth the Psalme the other whippeth himselfe In the meane season whilst that one doth say the foresaid psalme I haue giuen my selfe for deuotion sake because that Christ was whipped for me foure hundred stripes Euery Friday from our Ladies day in Lent to May day I whip my selfe for your sake And I pray for you vnto the inteÌ„t that it may please God to turn your harts saue your souls Crowley Procéeding in the declaration of the straightnes of your life you say that you lie in your clothes in bed without shéetes and yet you kéepe your selues cleane It may be so for you haue leasure enough to knacke your créepers when they begin to molest you and Staâ—â—sacre is a soueraine thing to destroy that cattell that is accustomed to bréede in the beddes and bosomes of such lasye Lubbers as doo accustome themselues to lye in their clothes If it bée a point of holines to lye in bedde without shéetes then are the common sort of people in diuers parts in England as holy as you for they neuer lie in any yet they putt of their clothes when they goe to bedde And I my selfe hauing béene in some of those parts of the Realme haue taken such lodging as the Country vseth but I haue not lyen in my clothes as you say that you doo I doo know by that little experience that I haue had therein that after a man is acustomed for some space to lie in blankets he will chose rather to continue that kind of lodging then to change it But let this matter passe for a Louse bredde in blankets is not more holye then that Louse that is bredd in shéetes And this Epitheten lousie hath bene thought méete for a Fryer euer since I could remember You say that you got to bedde at eight of the clocke c. I know diuers Artificers in London and I think such may be found in Paris also that labouring sore all the day long doo not sléepe before eleuen of the clocke and yet ryse againe at foure or fyue at the furdest so y t they sléepe not aboue 6 howres in one night where as by your own confession you doo commonlie sléepe 7 houres and doo no labour at all but loyter all the day long The Religion therefore of those labouring Artificers is in that point straighter then yours When you doo or when anie of you dooth a misse hee that hath offended must doo penaunce If this be true theÌ„ must you all doo penaunce euerie day For as the Psalmist saith 19. Delicta quis intelligit Who can be able to tell how oft he offendeth And Salomon saith Prouerb 24. Septies cadet iustus And as your sort doo reade his words Septies in die cadet iustus The righteous person shall fall seauen times in a day But I am sure your meaning is not of such offences as Salomon speaketh of That is of déedes that are doone words that are spoken and thoughts that are conceiued contrary to Gods commaundements but your meaning is of offences coÌ„mitted against the Rules of your Religion As when you lust or long after anie kind of fleshe when you be slacke in arysing to sing your Mattins before your blessed Sacrament of the Altar when being drowsye you singe not lustilie when you passe by anie of your Idoles and doo not dowke lowe enough to them when you lowte not lowe enough to your Prior and other your auncients in Religion when you thinke not so reuerently of euery point of your Religion as you haue béene taught to doo when you behaue not your selfe so deuoutlie in singing your Mattins and high masses as you should doo when you speake to anie of your fellowe Fryers either at dinner or at supper or in the night and when you thinke well of or wishe well to anie of those Heretickes that haue had the bringing vpp of you and haue béene too carefull for you I coniecture that these bee the misdéedes that you must doo penaunce for As for the breaking of Gods commaundements that is no offence amongst Minime Fryers Well you say that your penaunces are to fast breade and water c. By this I coniecture that your common drinke is wine Manie honest men that laboure sore haue water for their common drink I haue heard of an Abbot in England that inioined his horse such penaunce because he felt him too lustie sturring vnder hym Syrra said the Abbot to his horsekéeper sée that you giue not thys horse any thing for the space of these tenne dayes but onely breade and water Was not this great pennance for the poore horse to endure thinke you The quality and quantity of your bread may bee such that it shall rather be a pleasure then a punishment to bee put to that pennaunce But graunt that your breade which you eate when you be put to penanuce be such as King Achab commaunded to be giuen to Michaeas the Prophet 3. Reg. 22. The bread of tribulation and the water of sorrow Yet what a satisfaction is this for so haynous an offence as the transgression of the leaste of Gods commandements Adam was inioyned much greater penaunce theÌ„ this and much longer time then for the space of one day For it was sayd to him by God himself In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eate thy breade all the daies of thy life till thou shalt be turned againe into the earth c. And yet all this penaunce could not satisfy for that one sinne that he committed when he tasted of the forbidfruite Yea although all his posterity euen vnto this day had doone and we our posteritie should doo such penaunce as you speake of continually euen to the end of the world yet all this long penaunce could not reuerse this sentence pronounced by God himselfe Morte morierâ—s Thou shalt die the death Onely the death of him in whom there neuer was any sinne is sufficient to satisfy for all sinne Your dyning vpon the earth with bread and water the kyssing of your brethren the Friers féete the whipping of your selues for the space of halfe a quarter of an howre more or lesse at the discretion of the chéefe father may be some outward signe of inward sorrow conceiued for some offence committed and some argument of detestation thereof inwardly in the heart But an Hipocrite may doo as much as all this and yet delight in his wickednes still Reade the 58. Chapter of Esaies prophesies Nunquid tale est â—eiunium quod elegi per diem affligere hominem animam suam c. Is this the fast that I haue chosen saith the Lord by the Prophet for a man to afflicte his owne soule for the space of a day to bowe downe the heade like a Bulrush to lye in sackcloth wylt thou call this a fast and a day acceptable to the lorde c. But when
I pray you what shall be sayde then to you that are Minime Fryers and all others that are altogether vnable eyther to féede or clothe others or themselues shall not the contrarye sentence trowe you be gyuen agaynst such Goe ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the deuill and his angels For I was hungry and you fedde me not I was thirsty and you gaue mee no drinke I was naked and you clothed mee not c. Beléeue me Fryer John if those wordes that you cite out of the 25. of saynt Mathewe should meane as by your writing you séeme to vnderstand theÌ„ the case of you of al such as doo either by vow or otherwise make theÌ„selues vnable to doo those good workes y t you speake of shalbe very hard Your voluntary vowe wil not then excuse you In the 7. Chap. of S. Mathew our sauiour Christ sayth Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem Depart from me all ye y t worke iniquity and doo not you worke iniquity When you hauing receiued from God good gifts by the vse whereof you might be able to féede and clothe your selfe and to helpe to féede and cloth others haue bounde your selfe by a vowe to leade such a kynde of life that of necessity you must either be fedde and clad by others or els perish by the lacke of thinges necessary Doo not you worke iniquity when you doo not onely robbe your naturall Parents your Prince and Countrey of that helpe that both by the Lawe of nature and by the Lawes of God and of your Country all these ought to haue at your hands but also of that reléefe helpe and seruice which all these might and ought to haue out of the labours of others but are by your hypocriticall meanes drawne from them that you may be thereby maintained in idlenes I knowe that such as haue not such gifts or be by any meanes naturall or casuall as we may terme it made vnable both to helpe other themselues must be sustayned by the labour of others and shall not be reiected as they that doo not féede and clothe Christ in his members but yet so that they haue mercifull hartes and doo pitty the case of the néedy when they shall sée them in misery But this is not your case Take héede to your selfe in time Fryer John for I feare there is no place in heauen for purgatory Fryers And thus much for that great double Cannon that you haue brought out of the 25. of saynt Mathewes Gospell with the reste that you haue tolde vs of and we haue viewed and séene The recoyle of them hath hurte you much more then the shott hath anoyeo vs. Nowe let vs sée what great Ordinaunce you haue bent agaynst that Bulworke of ours wherein we stande and denie the reall presence of Christ in the blessed Sacrament of the Altare Thus you say The Fryar Nowe as touching that which you deâ—y concerning the reall presence in the blessed Sacrament of the Altare Looke I pray you in the xxvi of S. Mathewe where these wordes are written Caenantibus autem eis accepit Iesus panem et benedixit ac fregit deditque discipulis suis aiâ— Accipite commedite Hoc est corpus meum c. That is to say why lest the rest were at Supper Iesus tooke breade blessed it and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples and saide Take and eate this is my body The same altogether we reade in the 14. Chapter of the Gospell of S. Marke sauing onely that he sayth Sumite hoc est corpus meum where as the foresayd Euangelist sayth Accipite commedite Agayne in the 22. Chapter of S. Luke we reade the same in wordes as it sâ—emeth more plaine then the before written words are For hee sayth Accepto pane gratias egit et fregit â—t dedit illis diceus Hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis datur Similiter calicem postquam caenauit dicens Hic est calix nouum Testamentum in sanguine meo qui pro uobis fundetur The English of these Latine wordes is thys Iesus Christ hauing taken bread gaue thankes and brake it gaue it to his disciples saying This is my body In like manner also the chalice after that he had sâ—pped saying This chalice is the newe Testament in my blood which shalbe shedde for you Or as Saint Marke in his Gospell sayth Accepto calice c. That is to say Hauing taken the chalice he gaue it to his disciples saying Thys is my bloud of the Newe testament which shalbe shed for many Thus you see howe that all the three Euangelists agree in thys poynt howe that our blessed Sauiour gaue to his disciples in hys last supper his most precious body and bloude I haue not shewed this vnto you by the savings of holie doctors but by the wordes of our Sauiour himselfe vnto the intent that you may beleue me We reade in the 6. Chapter of the Gospell after S. Iohn how that our Sauiour endeuouring to bring the hard harted Iewes vnto the knowledge of his diuinitie spake these wordes I am the bread of life which came downe from heauen If any body eate of this breade he shall liue for euer and the bread which I wil giue is my flesh for the life of this worlde Againe in the same Chapter If you eate not the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke hys bloude ye shall not haue life in you Verely verely I say vnto you he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud shall haue lyfe euerlasting and I wyll rayse him vp from death in the latter day You say the contrary nowe you make God a lyer you say that he gaue them not his body but onely breade which is fully contrary to the foresayd texts of Scripture Crovvley These foure double Cannons that this valiant Captayne Frier John hath planted against y e Forte of our faith are of excéeding great force but he hath so ouercharged them that when he shall put fire to them they must of necessitie recoyle with such force that the Captaine with all his company are like to bée in verie great daunger For off they will not goe against our Forte and breake they can not Yea we are in good hope that we shall haue such ayde at the hands of S. Austen and his companie that this great Ordinaunce shalbe turned against the whole Armie of the Romish Catholickes and shotte of so freshlye that they shall hardlie escape the losse of the Romane honour for euer And first let vs sée what may be doone with the first of these Cannons called CaenaÌ„tibus autem eis c. Whylst that the rest were at supper c. S. Austen in that booke that he wrote agaynst Adimantus and in the 12. Chapter of that booke wryteth thus Non enim dominus dubitauit dicere â—â—â— est corpus meum cum signum daret corporis sâ—i The Lord sayth S. Austen did
we differ not in the thing signified although we differ in the signes Theyr signes were Manna and the Rocke or water that ishewed out of the Rocke and our signes are the Breade and the Cuppe or the wyne vsed in the Lords supper But the spirituall meate and drinke that both they and wee doo eate and drinke is the very body and bloud of Christ that innocent Lambe that hath béene slaine for the sinnes of the world euen from the beginning of the world And to giue vs occasion to consider that not euery one that receiueth the Sacrament dooth also receiue the body and bloud of Christ S. Austen sayth thus Oâ—r Fathers not their Fathers They to whom we are like not they to whom they were like That is to say the faythfull not the vnfaithfull did then and doo nowe eate the body and drinke y e bloode of Christ our Sauiour But wyll you see more out of S. Austen in the same 26. treatice vpon Iohn Qui maâ—â—ucat carnem meam bibit meum sanguinem in me manet et egâ— in illo Hoc est ergo manâ—ncare illam escam illum bibere potum in Christo maâ—â—re illum manentem in se habere Ac â—er hoc quâ— non manet in Christo in quo noÌ„ manet Christus proculdubio nec manducat spiritualiter carnem eius nec bibit etus sanguinem licet carnaliter visibâ—liter premat dentâ—bus sacramentum corporis sanguinis Christi sed magis tantae rei sacramentuÌ„ ad iuditium sibi manducat bibit He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloode dwelleth in me and I in him To eate that meate therefore and to drinke that drinke is this For a man to dwell in Christ and to haue Christ dwelling in him And héereby it appeareth that who so dwelleth not in Christ neither hath Christe dwelling in him the same no doubt doth neither â—ate his fleshe spiritually nor drinke his bloude although he doo fleshly and visibly presse with his téeth the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christ but rather he dooth eate and drinke the Sacrament of so excellent a thing to be a condemnation vnto him self Thus you may sée Master Fryer John how rashly you haue written in that you haue sayd thus If any bodye eate of this breade meaning I am sure of that Sacrament that is kept ouer your high altar he shall liue for euer And the bread that I wyll giue is my fleshe for the life of this worlde You say If any body eate of this breade c. S. Austen sayth No body but such as dwell in Christ and haue Christ dwelling in them eyther doo or can eate the flesh of Christ but doo by the receiuing of the Sacrament of so excellent a thing eate and drinke to their owne condemnation Nowe I leaue you to try this matter with S. Austen If you can entreate him to recant so it is If not your best way is to recant your selfe And yet one other sentence of S. Austen in the same treatice vpon Iohn Nonne buccella dominica venenum fuit Iudae tamen accepit cum accepit inimicus in eum intrauit non quia malum accepit sed quia bonum male malus accepit Was not the Lords soppe a poysonne to Iudas and yet he receiued it and when hee receiued it the enimie entred into him not because he receiued an euill thing but because he being euill did receiue a good thing after an euill sorte Much more might be saide to this effect but I leaue you as I sayd before As touching the other sentence that you cite out of this sixt of S. Iohn which is thus If you doo not eate the flâ—sh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloode you shall not haue life in you I would wyshe you to looke on that which S. Augustine wryteth in the 16. Chapter of his thyrd booke De doctrina christiana Nisi manducaâ—eritis inquit carnem fiâ—ij hominis sanguinem biberitis non habebitis vitam in vobis Facâ—nus vel â—â—agitium videtur iubere Fâ—gura est ergo praecipiens passioni dominicae esse communicandum suauâ—ter aâ—que vtiliter recondendum in memoria quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa vulneraâ—a sit Except saith he you shall eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you shall not haue life in you He séemeth to commaund an heynous or horrible facte It is therefore a figure commaunding that we should be partakers of the Lordes passion or suffering and that we should swéetely and profitably laie vp in memory that his flesh was crucified wounded for vs. Immediatly before these wordes S. Augustine hath written thus Si praeceptiua locutio est aut flagitium aut facinus vetans â—ut vtilitatem aut benefiâ—entiam iubens non est figurata Si autem flag tium aut facinus videtur iuberâ— aut vtilitatem aut beneficentiam vetare figurata est If the spéeche be a commaundement that forbiddeth an heynous or horrible fact or that commaundeth profitablenes or beneficence then the spéeche is not figuratiue But if it be a spéeche that séemeth to commaunde an heynous or horrible fact or to forbidde profitablenes or beneficence then it is a figuratiue spéeche By this Rule all these places that you haue alledged out of the 26. of s Mathew The 14. of s Mark The 22. of s Luke the 6. of S. Iohn are siguratiue spéeches For vnderstanding them after the Letter as you doo they séeme to commaund an heynous and horrible fact that is To eate the fleshe and to drinke the bloude of a man But taking them for figuratiue spéeches as we doo and as they are indéede they doo commaunde a very profitable thing that is as S. Austen hath saide to be partakers of the passâ—on or suâ—fering of the Lord and swéetly and profitably to lay vp in memory that his fleshe was crucified and wounded for vs. If you haue not vowed neuer to reade ought that either is or can be written by anie of vs that are Protestants or if you will with a duetifull reuerence reade the workes of thys auncient and learned Catholick Father saint Austen I doubt not but that you wil eare long time be past doo as the Prophet Ieremie writeth of Ephraâ—m in the â—1 Chapter of his prophesiâ—s which place you haue cited for another purpose that is strike your selfe vpon your thigh and say I am confounded I am ashamed that euer I went out of England following the counsell of a blinde ghostlie father When that blind buâ—â—arde had abused my tender yéeres and had put into my heade that I had béene brought vppe in heresie I might haue imparted this with my gray headed instructors which had béene able to instruct me as nowe one of them hath doone If our merciful father shall sâ—e that in you that he did then sée in Ephraim vndoubtedlie this wyll come to passe to
force of the fire of Gods spirit which in hys good time wyll trye all that men haue builded vpon thée which art that foundation that all the builders which wyll buylde the Temple of GOD must needes builde vppon because there is none other foundation to builde vppon 1. Cor. 3. O swéete Iesus thou haste commaunded mee to searche the Scriptures Iob. 5. And thy holy Euangelist saynt Luke reporteth that in Berroaea such as receiued the doctrine of the Gospell gladly dyd searche the Scriptures daily Acts. 17. But my sonne Samuell forbyddeth mée the vse of the Byble in English And hée knoweth that I vnderstande none other language Hys meaning therefore must needes bée to forbydde that which thou hath commaunded O swéete Iesus suffer mée not to be seduced by my sonne Samuels flattering and hypocriticall spéeches Hée teacheth mée to beseeche thee to bée mercifull to mée a most wretched sinner for thy name sake A better lesson then this no man can teache O swéete Lorde Iesus doo thou imprint thys lesson in my harte that I doo neuer forgette it And worke thou in my hart by thy holye spyrite that I may haue a ready good will dayly to vse it But alas he beléeueth that thy blessed Mother Mary is able to helpe such as call vppon her and therefore hée teacheth me to pray vnto her to helpe mée But thou hast taught me a lesson contrary to that When you pray you shall say O our Father which art in heauen hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy wyll be doone in earth as it is in heauen c. O swéete Iesus let me neuer forgette that forme of prayer Gyue mée grace I beséeche thee to vse it nyght and day to craue continuallye at the handes of thy heauenly Father which through thee is become my heauenlye Father all those thyngs that in that forme of Prayer thou haste taught mee to craue Let mee not so hearken to my Sonne Samuell as that following hys counsell I shoulde doo contrary to thy commaundements Blessed Lorde Iesus I doo knowe that thy blessed mother is a most blessed creature But thou with thy Father and the holye Ghoste art her Creator and mine and the Creator of all creatures Wée must say of her as the Prophette Esay sayde of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Abraham neuer knewe vs Israell is ignoraunt of our case but thou art our Father thou art our deliuerer Esay 63. Thinkest thou oh thou blynde Fryer Iohn that thy mother that bare thee is so blinded with affection towardes thee that shee wyll turne her backe vppon Christe Iesus to follow thee Thou teachest her to vse daily a forme of prayer which in the first words is swéeter then honnie to the taste of a faithfull Christian but in all the wordes that followe it is full of most pestilent and deadlye poyson She wyll none of it therefore She wyll pray to the heauenly Father in such sorte as Christ Iesus the sonne of God hath taught her and not to creatures as thou doost exhort her Though she coulde yet she wyll not goe to shryft to make confessyen of her sinnes to a Priest Shée knoweth who it is against whome shée hath sinned To him alone she wyll confesse all her secrete sinnes At his handes onely she wyl aske forgiuenes of her sinnes because she knoweth that he onely is able to forgiue them And when she shall sinne against men she wyll confesse those sinnes to those men agaynst whom she shall committe them Shee will doo all that shée shall bee able to doo in making satisfaction to them Shée wyll craue forgiuenes at their handes and beséeche them to pray to GOD for her that she may obtaine forgiuenes at hys handes also The blessed body and bloude of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christe shée will receiue as often as shée may but not after so bloudy a manner as you imagine that you doo Shee hath learned to receiue an outwarde Sacrament into her mouth and stomache and by fayth to receyue spirituallie into her soule the thing that is signified by that outwarde Sacrament Shée knoweth that if shée dwell in Christe and haue Christ dwelling in her shée dooth at the Lordes Table receiue eate and drinke the Lordes bodye and bloude in the Sacrament exhibited to her and to the reste of the faithfull But if shée shoulde intrude herselfe into the companye of Christians not dwelling in Christ neyther hauing Christe dwelling in her she knoweth that though she shoulde receiue the Sacramentall breade and drinke the Sacramentall wyne neuer so often yet shée shoulde neither eate the bodye nor drinke the bloude of Christe but the Sacrament of so excellent a thing to her owne condemnation August in sermone de Sacramentis fidelium Feria 2. Paschae Thys is the iudgment of saynt Augustine in hys Sermon that he made of the Sacraments of the faythfull the seconde day of Easter And Fryer Iohn I must aduise you to call to remembraunce that dealing of yours when you presumed to bée partaker of the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christe in company wyth your mother the morrowe after you hadde béene at shryfte and were as your selfe haue in these your Letters confessed reconciled to the Romish Catholicke Church If Christe did then dwell in you vndoubtedly bothe Christ and Antichrist may dwell together which is knowne to bée a thing impossible You were reconciled to Antichrist therefore hée dwelt in you and not Christ You presumed with Iudas to eate the Lordes breade against y e Lord as Iudas did when he had before bounde himselfe by promise for money to deliuer the Lorde into the handes of the high Priestes and Elders of the people Euen so had you compacted with your new fréendes and made promise to forsake the Protestants Religion as you terme it and to embrace the Romish Catholicke Religion during the whole time of your transitory life And howe durst you then thrust your selfe into our Communion the next day after you hadde made thys promise to your ghostly father that had béene the meane and instrument of your reconciliation and so dissemble both wyth your newe and your olde fréendes as a Newter or Iacke on both sides But it may be that your ghostly Father had some large Commission from the holy father of Rome to disspence in such cases For such doo account our Sacrament to bée but a péece of breade and a cuppe of wyne and that therefore there is no danger in the receiuing of it in such manner as you did then receiue it But that dispensation can not helpe you for it was Panis Domini the Lords breade as well to you as that other was to Iudas And you receiued it Contra Dominum against the Lord as Iudas did euen to your owne condemnation because you made no difference of the Lordes body To your mother and to other the faithfull that dyd at that time receiue that Sacrament it was Panis Dominus The breade which is the Lorde
and it did nourishe them to euerlasting life although it were to you a condemnation But hasting to an ende of your exhortation and so of the whole matter you thought méete to impart to your mother in these your Letters you say thus as followeth The Fryar If you be persecuted reioyce with S. Paule in your persecutions remembring that sentence which our Lorde hath spoken saying VVhosoeuer wyll come after me let hym deny himselfe let him take vp hys Crosse and follow me Saint Paule sayth that the Passions and tribulations of thys world are not worthy of that glory which GOD wyll gyue vs. Thus I commend you to God From our Fryery at Nigeon a myle from Paris the seauenteene day of Marche 1586. Your sonne carefull for your soules health Fryer Iohn Frauncis And then you write thus in the margine I haue changed my name I am no more called Samuell Debnam but Fryer Iohn Frauncis If you sende any Letter to mee wryte on the backe of it A frere Jehan Francoys Minime a Nigeon aupres de Paris ces Lettres soyent donnees Crowley To comfort your Mother against persecution you put her in minde of the words of our Sauiour Christ in the ninth Chapter of Luke And of the wordes of S. Paule in the 8. to the Romaines I hope shée wyll remember these sentences when you shall come into Englande as you say your hope is shortly to doo and shall there sette vp that Order of Bone homes which you haue professed and bée an Inquisitor there that shee may stande constantlie to the professyon of that auncient Catholike and Apostolick fayth which shée hath by hearing learned and by the assystaunce of Gods spirite professed and practized before and euer since she bare you a babe of whom shée hoped to haue had such ioy as naturall Parents doo naturally hope to haue in their naturall Children But nowe that you are degenerated and become an Apostata forsaking that right Religion wherein you were baptized and Catechized shée hath iust cause to wysh that she had neuer nourished you with the milke of her breasts if the Lords will hadde béene so but rather that her wombe hadde béene your graue It is true as you say that whosoeuer will come after Christ must take vppe theyr Crosse and followe him It is true also that the passyons and tribulations of thys worlde are not woorthye of that glory which GOD wyll giue vnto vs. But sir if your mother should hearken to you and by going to shrift and hearing of masses and professing of Popery pull such a Crosse vpon herselfe as they doo beare which willingly and wittingly doo put theÌ„selues into the danger of y e iust Lawes of our Country she should beare a heauy Crosse indéede but not after Christ For not Christ but Antichrist calleth men and women from their due allegiaunce to Princes and dispenseth with theÌ„ for their lawfull othes of faythfull obedience which they haue taken to be true to theyr princes The passyons tribulations that your Seminary men and such as follow them doo suffer are not persecutions but iust executions euen such as GOD commaunded to be executed vpon false Prophets and Idolators Deu. 13. If you may haue your wished hope I doubt not but you wyll put both your Father and mother and all others that haue béene your fosterers to their tryall for yeeare become an hungry whelpe of that bloudie Butchers curre that ruleth in Rome and thyrsteth after the bloude of the English Nation But that God that hath the hartes of all Princes in his hande wil I hope worke so in the hart of that Noble Prince that nowe raygneth in that noble Realme of Fraunce or in the hart of some of hys surcessors that all the Romysh rabble shall by them be rowsed out of theyr dennes as in the dayes of our noble King Henry the eight they that then were in England were rowsed And then that hope of yours will be at an ende But sir what meane you by thys that you say that God wyll gyue vs that glorie whereof the passions and tribulations that wée suffer héere are not worthy Howe standeth this with that which you haue written before by occasion of the wordes of our Sauiour in the xxv of S. Mathewe where you say that the féeding of the hungry c. are the cause of that ioyfull sentence Come ye blessed of my Father c. For there you say that thys glorye is due to those and such like workes and nowe you affyrme that it is Gods gyft God wyll giue it say you Mendacem memorem esse oportet A lyer must not bée forgetfull You lyed before but now you affyrme the trueth For that glorye which you speake of is indéede the frée gyfte of GOD through Iesus Christe our LORDE and canne not bée deserued either by our working or by our suffering And that was the meaning of the Apostle Our workes though they be neuer so many neuâ—r so good neuer so orderly doone yet can they not be worthy of that glory Our passyons and tribulations although they be neuer so greate neuer so vndeserued yet they can not bee woorthy of that glory which GOD hath prepared for them that loue him And thus you commende your Parents to GOD in as courteous manner as you saluted them at the firste That is euen as though they had béene some of your companions and not your Parents Such is the Arrogancy of Fryer Iohn Frauncis But yet hée is the sonne of those ouermeane Parents and careful for their soules health It were well if you had a care for your owne soules health which you can not haue so long as you haue no care to doo any duety either to your naturall Parents or to your natiue Country or to any others to whom you doo owe duety both by the Lawe of GOD and of nature You haue renounced that obedience that GOD hath commaunded all naturall Children and Subiects to shewe towardes theyr naturall Parents and Princes and you haue chosen a new obedience and vowed to obserue that Your Pryor and your Subpriors in the Minimes Religion must be obeyed The holye Father the Pope must haue his commaundements obserued You may not doo that which GOD commaundeth to bée doone except the same be commaunded by your holy Father the Pope the Pryor and your Subpriors If the Popes holines your father Pryor and your Subpriors commande any thing that you may and must doo and you may not mooue any question at all whether God haue not commaunded the contrary Yea though you know that GOD hath forbidden the dooing of it yet you must néedes doo it for you haue vowed obedience c. You know that GOD hath forbidden the worshypping of Images and all vse of Imagry in the exercise of Religion Exo. 20. And yet you must néedes haue them and worship them because they to whome you haue vowed obedience doo commaund it Christ hath sayd Patrem nolite vocare vobis super terram vnus est enim Pater vester qui in coelis est Call no man your Father vpon earth for one is your Father which is in heauen Mat. 23. But you must haue a most holy father which is the Popes holines And he must bée called Papa That is Pater pâ—trum Father of Fathers If your eyes bée not altogether blinded your eares stopped your vnderstanding doubled and your hart hardened you can not but sée perceiue and vnderstand into what miserable case you haue brought your selfe Repent therefore betime receaue againe your first name leaue Fryer Iohn Frauncis in Nigeon Let Samuell DebnaÌ„ come ouer into England againe Iohn and Catherine wyll embrace their Prodigall and lost sonne All theyr and your fréendes wyll reioyce together with them when they shall sée Samuell Debnam that was lost founde and brought home agayne Your fall hath caused greate gréefe your rysing agayne shall cause greater ioy The meanest seruaunt in your Fathers house is in better case then the happyest amongst your superiors in Nigeon You thinke your selfe to bée in the way of saluation but in very déede the ende of your way is destruction Come vnto Christ that calleth Math. 11. Open vnto Christ that knocketh Apoc. 3. Forsake the whore of Babilon Defie Antichriste and his whole Religion From London the sixt of August 1586. ⸪ Your instructer euery way carefull for your soule health Robert Crowley ⧠Faultes escaped FOlio 3. B. line 13. Reade to bée the right Religion Fol. 6. A. line â—1 Reade Papistes Fol. 7. B. line 16. Reade after Fol. 22. A. line 4. Reade did bidde B. line 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 23. A. line 19. Reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 23. B. line 33. Reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 24. B. line 2. Reade and had chosen to walke in Fol. 32. A. line 11. Reade Gorgias Fol. 34. A line 12. Reade dilectionem Fol. 52. B. line 9. Reade haue her to confesse Fol. 55. A. line 11. Reade Arrogating