were decayed in the Countrey where he dwelt And on a time as he was at his laboure a companie of tall fellowes that had beene théeues and were condemned to be hanged were by the Officers brought that way towards the Gallowse to bee executed When Frauncis sawe them he was moued with pittie and besought the Officers to staie the execution whilst hee might goe to the King who lay then not farre off and begge their pardon and so it was doone When Frauncis had obtained pardon for these men hee clothed them in such apparell as the Gray Fryers doo nowe weare and girded those Garments to them with the halters wherewyth they should haue béene hanged The Garment is very commodious for it is long and large and may be tucked vp short let down to the foote as occasion shall serue and require for the commodity of the wearer of it It hath a hoode that may hang on the backe and not be any let in labour and when néede is it may couer and defend the head and face from the iniuries of the wether These men being thus apparailed fell to their laboure lustily in short space brought their masters worke to such forwardnes that hee thought méete to trauaile into some other part of the Countrey to sée where other decayed high wayes were that he might kéepe his newe men and himselfe in worke still But to be briefe he was from them so long that they hauing finished the worke that he left them in had gotten them a house in the next Towne and had perswaded the people thereof that by rysing at midnight and making of continuall prayers vnto God for that people that shoulde séede and maintayne them without laboure they should be much more beneficiall to the Common weale then they could be by any sore laboure of their bodies in emending the high wayes that should be decaied But when Frauncis came and found them thus occupied hee vtterly misliked with them and sayd vnto them Théeues I found you and theeues I leaue you And so departing from them he would haue no more to doo with them If this be not true then blame them that haue made this report of Frauncis whom the Gray Fryers take for their Patron If it be true then you may sée what beginning the Order of the Gray Friers had and howe acceptable that rysing at midnight and singing of Mattens and masses was to that Frauncis of whose holines the Gray Fryers doo make so great bragges And so by good consequence what account good and wise men shold make of the great paines that you and your Brethren doo take in your rysing and singing both by day and by night Whether thys Frauncis were your Frauncis of Paula or not I leaue to be discussed by your selfe with the helpe of the chiefe Pryor or Prouintiall of your Order at your best leasure Thus much for the second part of your vowe The third part of your vowe or as you doo terme it your third vowe was obedience to be obedient to the Pryor and to your superiors If you had considered well of that triple vowe that was made for you in Baptisme and your selfe confirmed when you answered me in my Church at Creplegate in London I thinke you would haue thought this newe triple vowe altogether vnnecessarie except you meant to reuoke your first triple vowe made to GOD and in stéede thereof to make a newe triple vow to man For what haue you vowed héere in substance that was not vowed before in your first triple vowe Except this onely that you vowe nowe to liue without a wise so long as you shall liue which is not in your power to performe neither haue you the example of anie Patriarke Prophet or Apostle that made this vowe or taught anie other to make it nor yet any promise of assistance at Gods hand in the performance of it You promised in the first vowâ—d keep your bodie in temperance sobernes and chastitie You promised to renounce the world which is to be in the world not as of y e world as hauing all things and vsing all and yet possessing nothing not as a Lord of things héere on earth but as a steward that looketh continually to be called to his account You promised also obedience to your Prince and to all in authority vnder your Prince c. but that vowe you haue vtterly renounced and are now shrewded vnder the shield of Antichrist and holde by an immunitie wherby you are exempted from the power of all Princes and doo owe obedience to none but to that great Antichrist and your graund Pryor and such superiors as be of that sort The Lord open the eyes of your vnder standing that you may sée whose seruiâ—e you haue forsaken and to whom you haue made your selfe a slaue and what wylbe the ende if you repent not Well you procéede and you say The Fryer Our life is as foloweth We neuer eate fleshe nor egges nor butter nor cheese nor milke nor any thing els that commeth of flesh except in great sicknes So that being in good health we eate Fysh Oyle and fruites when they be giuen vs. We eate not to fill our belly but to sustaine nature VVeâ— also speake not one to another at dinner and supper except there be great necessitie We fast eating but once a day from the day of all Saintes to Christmas day except Sondayes The like from Shrouesunday to Easter day Likewise euery Friday in the yeere and wednesday except the Wednesdaies betweene Christmas and Shrouetide and betweene Easter and Whitsontide All other wednesdayes we fast We touch no money We rise euery night Winter and Somer hote colde at midnight to sing Mattins before the blessed Sacrament of the Alter the precious body and blood of our Lorde and Sauior Iesus Christ which is there kept ouer the high Alter VVe sing two or three high Masses euery day Crovvley And héere you haue set downe in the margine of your Letters a note to be as it were a caueat for your mother and Father and all other that may séeme to mislike with your Religion and thus you say Fryar You thinke that we be foles because that we light wax candles at day light and because of other our Ceremonies You thinke that we be fooles our Religion folly But heare what you may reade in the booke of VVisedome Chap. 5. where it is written that the damned in the latter day bewayling their foolishnes shall speake these words These be they whom in times past wee haue had in derysion and in the similitude of mockery We being fooles esteemed their â—ife to be madnes and their ende without honour But now how are they numbred amongst the sons of God and amongst the Saints their Lot is fallen VVe haue erred from the way of truth the light of iustice hath not shined vpon vs so forth Take heede I pray you that you be not one of them that shall so
or example of good man For where hath God commaunded men to refrayne the necessary and honest vse of his good creatures And where hath he commanded men to be their owne formentors What one man or woman can you name amongst the Patriarks the Prophets or Apostles that formented themselues as you doo torment your selues if your owne report be true In the Lawe we reade that if a man had deserued to be chastised with strypes and were condemned by the Judge to be chastised yet the number of stripes might not in anie case excéede the number of fortie Deut. 25. Chap. But you say that euery Frydaie from our Ladie day in Lent to May day you doo whyp your selfe for your Parents sake doo gyue your selfe 400. stripes at euerie time as I thinke for you say it is an easye thing with you nowe so to doo Well whyp on still till you shal heare me say whoe And if you shall not haue whipping chéere enough at Nigeon in Fraunce steppe ouer the water into Englande and at your request I wyll helpe you to some of our whypping chéere in Bridewel where one lashe that our whypping Bedles doo giue is worth a whole hundred of yours in Nigeon But to returne to our purpose You say that we came from you not lyking your kinde of life It is very true and so long as you leade such a kinde of life as you doo which is hypocriticall wee minde neuer to returne to you againe But where you doo charge vs with pryde deuillish suggestions and heades full of fantasies I must vse an English prouerbiall spéeche and say Take your selfe by the nose and saie foole I haue caught thée The harts of those men that you speake of and are departed this life were well knowne vnto God so are ours that doo yet remaine in this vale of misery We shall be all iudged one day by him that will iudge iustlie And what art thou that iudgest another mans seruaunt But héere by the way I must tell you of your ingratitude towards M. Fyelde whose purse penne and hand haue béene helping to you so that if you had regarded either christian duety or charitie yea or ciuile honestie you would not haue so harkened to a false report that you would haue noted him before all others for coyning of so manie newe Religions where he neuer coyned any Staie your stile therefore I aduise you yet once againe and pester not that page that you threaten to publish with lyes eyther learned by report or cast in your owne moulde For if you doo But hauing ended your long Parenthesis you goe on with your matter and saie thus My intent is onelie c. A pestilent intention To withdrawe turne the harts of your father mother from the beléefe of the Gospell of Christ the word of saluation that is graffed into vs and is sufficient to saue our soules which you most blasphemouslie call damnable heresie And for habilitie to bring this intended mischeefe to passe thou moste vile wretch darest open thy most blasphemous mouth to craue helpe at hys hande that in iustice may yea must and I doubt not shortlye wyll confounde thée and all such as thou art But nowe you goe lustily about your busines and you gyue so fierce an assault euen at the first that you séeme to be perswaded that you are in possession of the Forte before you come in place where you may plant your batterie yea and before you haue or doo know how to come by anie such péeces of Ordinaunce as may be able to batter the walles and make them saltable You say thus to your Parents I trow for your Letters are directed to them The Fryar You say that we are fooles to pray for the deade you denie good workes to be meritorious of our saluation affyrming that by faith onely we are iustified And which is most horrible detestable and abhominable You vnshamefastly and most irreuerently deny the reall presence of the moste precious bodye and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ to be in the blessed Sacrament of the Altare You say that there be but two Sacraments An heresye condemned long a goe Many other opinions not onelie foolish but also execrable and damnable you holde which leade you the right way to eternall damnation in hell fire Crowley Héere is a meruailous péece of Ordinaunce Who could hope that a poore Showmaker and his wife altogether vnlettered and vnlearned and therefore naked and vnarmed and vnprepared to withstand so puissaunt an assaltant as Frier John Frauncis is should not at the first summons come foorth euen with Halters about their necks and offer the keyes of their Forte to this valiant Captaine and submit themselues to his mercy Yea where shall we finde one amongst the learned on the Protestants parte that dare encounter with this monstrous Golias that hath so boldly defied the whole Armie of Israell But least Frier John should thinke that I write Ironice I wil staie my stile for a space that I may sée how this couragious Captaine wyll enforce hys so sharpe an assault The Fryar For the first sayth he that is to say prayers for the dead because you admit not the words which the holy Docters of the Catholike Church haue spoken I wyll turne you to the Byble it selfe Which if you dare either plainly deny or interprete falsely you are nowe no longer heretickes but playne Infidels Looke therefore I beseeche you in the 12. Chapter of the seconde booke of Machabees towards the ende of the Chapter you shall there finde howe a Captayne of the Iewish Armie named Iudas made a collection of money to be offered at Ierusalem for the sinnes of those Souldiours which for a good and iust quarrell were slayne in battaile Furdermore if you wyll take the paynes to reade the latter words of the same Chapter you shall finde the conclusion of the same Chapter to be this Sancta ergo et salubris est cogitatio pro defunctis exorare vt a peccatis soluantur It is sayth he therefore a holy and a wholsome thought to pray for the dead that they may be released from their sinnes Tell me not nowe I pray you a tale of a tubbe with a quote in the margnet saying That the foresayd place of holy Scripture was not written by the holy Ghost For if so be that you be come to that point as to belye the holy Scripture well may it be sayde of you which is written by holye Esay in his booke of prophecies Chap. 6. Aure audietis et non intelligetis You shal heare with your eares but you shall not vnderstande Seeing you shall see shall not perceiue for your harts are hardened Wyth your eares you haue heard vnwillingly and you haue bent downewardes your eye sight least you shoulde peraduenture see with your eyes heare wyth your eares and vnderstand with your harts and so being conuerted God should heale you Crovvley In vewing
them they are false Prophets destruction hangeth ouer their heads and hell gapeth for them They robbe Christe of his glory They rob Christians of their greatest comfort They suppresse and holde vnder true Religion They sette vp and maintaine Idolatry and superstition And to speake all in one worde they vpholde Antichrist and his whole kingdome But to returne to our purpose You say that we say that there be but two Sacraments an heresie condemned long agoe But you tell vs not when where nor by whom Therefore as we haue sayd so we doo say and so we wyll say by Gods helpe til you can prooue the contrary that Christ hath ordeined but two sacramēts to be vsed by Christians Your saying that it is an heresie condemned long agoe is but a flashe of false fire giuen to a péece of Ordinaunce vncharged and therefore can not hurt the Bulwork wherin we stande and doo denie that Christ hath ordeined any moe sacraments then two namely Baptisme and the supper of y e Lord. In his thyrd booke of Christian doctrine and in the 9. Chap. there of S. Austen wryteth thus concerning this matter Hoc verò tempore posteaquam resurrectione domini nostri Iesu Christi manifestissimum iudicium nostrae libertatis illuxit nec eorum quidem signorum quae iam intelligimus operatione graui onerati sumus sed quaedam pauca pro multis cademque factu facillima et intellectu angustissima obsernatione castissima ipse dominus apostolica tradidit disciplina sicuti est Baptismi sacramentum celebratio corporis sanguinis domini Quae vnusquisque cum percipit quo referantur imbutus agnoscit vt ea non carnali seruitate sed spirituali potius libertate veneretur Vt enim litteram sequi et signa pro rebus quae ijs significantur accipere seruilis infirmitatis est ita inutiliter signa interpretari male vagantie erroris est But in these dayes sith by the resurrection of our Lorde Iesus Christ a most manifest signe or shewe of our liberty hath appeared wee are not loaden with the heauye working of those signes that we doo already vnderstande But in stéede of many the Lorde and the Apostolicke discipline hath giuen vnto vs a certain small number and the same very easie to be doone and most excellent in signification and most pure in obseruation as is the Sacrament of Baptisme and the celebration of the body and bloud of the Lorde which euery man that is instructed doth when hee receiueth them knowe to what ende they are referred that he may reuerence them not in a carnall seruitude but rather in a spirituall liberty For euen as to followe the Letter and to take the signes for those thinges that be signified by them is a poynt of seruile infirmity euen so to enterpret y e signes vnprofitably is a point of error that wandreth euill fauouredly or wickedly In these wordes of S. Austen we haue occasion to note two thinges especially One is that hee did not knowe of moe Sacraments then two instituted by our Sauiour Christ and commaunded by him and his Apostles to be vsed in his Church The other is that it is a poynt of fleshly seruitude and not of Christian liberty for a man to follow the letter or litterall sence in those spéeches in the Scriptures that doo concerne those two Sacraments in such sorte that he wyll take the signes that are spoken of for the thinges signified by them A man may meruell that any of your sorte that knoweth these words of S. Austen can allowe him for a Catholicke and yet condemne vs as Heretickes in thys poynt wherein we doo both affyrme and denie euen as he hath doone manye hundrethes of yéeres before vs. But let vs sée yet one other place of S. Austen In an Epistle that he wrote to one Ianuarius which is in number 118. S. Austen wryteth thus Primò itaque tenere te volo quod est huius disputationis caput Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum sicut ipse in Euangelio loquitur lent iugo suo nos subdidisse sarcinae leui Vnde sacramentis numero paucissimis obseruatione facillimis significatione praestantissimis societatem noui populi colligauit sicuti est baptismus trinitatis nomine consecratus communio corporis sanguinis ipsius si quid aliud in canonicis scripturis commendatur exceptis ijs quae seruitutem populi veteris pro congruentia cordis illorum prophetici temporis onerabāt quae et in quinque libris Mosis leguntur Fyrst of all therefore my wyll is that you shoulde vnderstande what the chéefe poynt of thys disputation is That is that our Lorde Iesus Christ hath as himselfe speaketh in the Gospell made vs subiecte to his owne easie yoke and light burden Whereby he hath syed together the society of the newe people with Sacraments that are fewest in number easiest in obseruing and most excellent in signification as is Baptisme consecrated in the name of the Trinity and y e communion of his body and bloud and if there by any other sacrament that is in the Canonicall Scriptures commended except those sacraments which did encrease the weight of bondage of the olde people as was méete for theyr hartes and for the propheticall time and which are reade in the fiue Bookes of Moses In these wordes of S. Austen we haue occasion to note that his meaning was to certifie Ianuarius to whom he wrote this Epistle of that thing which our Lord Iesus Christ taught in that which standeth written in the eleuenth of saynt Mathewes Gospell concerning the easines of the yoke and the lightnes of the burden that Christ Iesus hath layde vpon Christians And for the explaning of hys meaning he sayth that our Sacraments are very fewe in number very easie to be obserued and most excellent in signification And hee nameth onely Baptisme and the supper of the Lorde which he calleth as we commonly doo the communion of the body and bloode of our Sauiour Christ And furder hee referreth him to the Canonicall scriptures as aduising him to receiue no moe Sacraments then he shall finde to be commended in them And least he might take occasion by those words to thinke that Christians ought to be circumcised and to obserue the sacrifices and ceremonies of Moses Lawe he excepteth all such Sacraments as were layde vpon the people of the olde Lawe by any thing that is wrytten in any of the fiue bookes of Moses So that by these wordes of thys learned Father saynt Austen it appeareth as by the other afore rehearsed that he was not perswaded that Christ Iesus our Lord hath layde vpon vs Christians that heauye burden of seauen Sacraments which your holy father the Pope layeth vpon you and vpon all hys Antichristian flocke Confirmation Order Repentance or as you call it Penaunce Matrimonie and the Visitation of the sicke which you call Extreme vnction we vse as good profitable and necessary vsages in
knoweth them to be Traytours to GOD to our Prince and Countrey and to all such simple Christians as doo hearken to them Her stâ—dfast purpose therefore is to confesse her sinnes to God euerie day bothe in sicknes and in health She doth continually craue at Gods hande the grace of continuall and vnfained repentaunce Of full and frée pardon of all hâ—â— sinnes by the mediation of Christ Iesus she craueth a full and perfect assuraunce With all popish Priestes pepish shriâ—t and with all maner of popery she is and styll wylbe at defiaunce But you procéede with your exhortation and thus you say The Fryer Beleeue without doubting all that the holy Catholicke Romaine and Apostolicke Church doth belceue although that they surpasse and excell mans vnderstanding To be briefe say euery day these wordes O sweete Iesus I doo stedfastly beleeue all that my Sonne Saâ—â—uell beleeueth And in that fayth in which he is I will liue and die Be mercifull vnto me a moste wretched sinner for thy names sake Holie Marie mother of GOD pray for me thyne vnworthy handmayde nowe and in the hower of my death Say thys prayer onely euerie day And if you can goe to shrift confesse your sinnes and receiue the bodie and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Crovvley Your mother hath iust cause to musâ— what you meane by this part of your exhortation wherein you will her to beléeue all y e the holy Catholick Romane and Aposâ—â—lick Church doth beléeue For there is no such Church as that in any part of the world There is indéede a Romaine Church but that Church is neither holy Catholick nor Apostolick Holy shee is not because she renounceth that holines that is fréely giuen in Christ and cleaueth to an holines that she imagineth to be in her owne workes wherein no holines at all either is or can be before God The case of this Romaine Church is as euill or worse then the case of the Church of the Jewes was when they béeing ignorant of the righteousnes of God sought to establish their owne rightâ—ousnes and so neyther were nor could be subiect to the rightcousnes of God Rom. 10 Euen so these Romaines which you call the Romaine Churche beeing ignoraunt of that holines that is fréely giuen in Christ and is therefore the holines of GOD and not of men doo séeke to sette vppe and aduaunce their owne holines which is no holines indeede and so are not neither can be subiecte to that holines that God giueth in Christ and so by good consequence there is in them no holines at all Catholicke that Romaine Church is not for that she holdeth not that fayth which Christ in his owne person taught in Jerusalem and in other parts of the lande of Iewrie and at the time of his Ascention into heauen commaunded his Apostles to teache Catholickly that is all the worlde ouer according to the signification of the worde Catholicè That is Catholickly or vniuersally In his owne personne our Sauiour Christ did preache this fayth as appeareth in the first Chapter of S. Marke PostquaÌ„ autem tradiâ—us est Johannes c. After that Iohn was imprisoned Iesus came into Galile preaching the Gospell of the kingdome of GOD and saying The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God draweth nigh Repent and beléeue the Gospell To beléeue the Gospell is that fayth which is called Catholicke And whosoeuer beléeueth the Gospell is a Catholicke And on the contrary he that beléeueth not the Gospell is no Catholicke To beléeue the Gospell is to bâ—léeue Gods word For in our olde Englishe spéeche Gods worde was called Gods speale and nowe corruptly we doo call it Gospell This Gospell or Gods speale is that promise that GOD made firste to Adam the firste man when he promised that the womans séede shoulde breake the Serpentes heade Gen. 3. This promise was renued to Abraham when GOD sayd to him In thy séede shall all the Nations of the earth bee blessed Gen. 22. And this Gospell is by the Grecians called Euangelion which worde dooth by interpretation signifie a gladde tydinges This Glad tydings dyd our Sauiour declare first to the lost shéepe of the house of Israell both in his owne personne and by the ministerie of his Apostles And at y e time of his ascending into heauen he gaue commaundement to those Apostles to declare the same Catholickly that is to say generally all the worlde ouer For thus he sayd vnto them then Euntes in mundnm vniuersum praedicate Euangelium omni creaturae Goe into all the world and preach the Gospell to euery creature Vnderstanding by creatures all Nations and sortes of men By thys meanes thys Gospell or Gladde tydinges which at the first was made knowne but to few in comparison of all was made knowne to the whole worlde and was therefore called Catholicke And when in the primitiue time of the preaching of thys Gospell certayne fantasticall heades beganne to teache doctrines contrary to thys Catholick doctrine and to drawe disciples after them then the Fathers that held taught thys doctrine called themselues Catholicks and those other Schismatickes and Heretickes The first Romysh Christians were right Catholicks as appeareth by that Epistle that the Apostle Paule wrote to them and so the Christians of that Cittie continued many yéeres after saynt Paules time as appeareth in the Histories of the Church But for the space of a thousande yéeres last past almost that Church that hath béene and is in Rome hath béene and is styll schismaticall and therefore the name Catholick is no méete name for that Romyshe Church They denie the frée iustification by fayth which S. Paule taught the first Romysh Chrystians and they beleeâ—ed hys doctrine They glory in theyr owne wysedome ryghteousnes holines and redemption presuming to redéeme theyr owne sinnes and the sinnes of others also by theyr fastings their prayers theyr whyppings and other workes that they haue deuised whereby they thinke and perswade as many as they can to think that satisfaction may be made to God for sinne committed in breaking the commaundements of God whereas by the Catholicke fayth we are taught that as there is but one God so there is but one mediator betwixt God and man which is the man Christ Iesus â— Tim. 2. And this Mediator had none other meane wherby hée might worke our reconciliation but onely the shedding his of own hart bloude for vs. That death which our sinnes had deserued was and of necessity must bee suffered by him y t purchased our peace with God I conclude therefore that the Romish Church taking vpon it in some sorte the Oâ—â—yce of the Mediatour is not Catholicke but Antichristian And therefore your mother béeing a Catholicke Christian indéede may not harken to her sonne Samuell when he wylleth her to beléeue all that the holye Catholicke Romaine and Apostolicke Church dooth beléeue c. And whereas you name the Romaine Churche Apostolicke you doo great wrong to that
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
blood that nowe they be in him and through him a glorious spouse vnto him not hauing spotte or wrinkle or any deformity of sâ—me The promises of Christ you denie in that you say that not euery one that beléeueth and is baptised shall be saued no not though they make their beléefe knowne vnto men by their obedience to Christ in folowing the Rule that he hath prescribed and endeuouring to doo as their heauenly Father hath commaunded But he that wyll be saued must liue in obedience to your holy father the Popes holines Thus much for y e applying of those words vnto you and other Popish Religious that Saint Austen wrote against the Donatistes Nowe to the Rule of your Religion which is as you say neuer to eate flesh c. In his first Epistle to the Corinthians and the 8. Chapter S. Pauls writeth thus Esca autem nos non commendaâ— Deo Meate doth not make vs more acceptable to God Neither are we the better if we eate nor the worse if we eate not And againe in the sixt of the same Epistle Esca ventri venter escis Hunc has destruet Dens Meats is appointed for the belly and the belly for the meate but God wyll destroy both the one and the other By these places and diuers other it appeareth that Christians haue liberty to vse all Gods good creatures and that they are not the better or more acceptable in Gods sight When they doo vse them nor lesse acceptable when they refuse the vse of them except the refusall doo procéede of an opinion of some holines or vnholines in the vse or refusall of them If you féede not to fill your bellyes but to sustaine nature with thankes to God for his creatures you doo well But you are iâ—â—greater danger to excéede in eating when you féede vpon delicate fishes and fruites then if you did féede vpon such kindes of flesh as the common sorte of people are accustomed to féede on It is the moderate vse of Gods creatures and our thanks giuen to him for them that doo make our eating or abstayning acceptable vnto him Your eating but once in a day from the day of All saintes to Christmas day and from Shroâ—â— sunday to Easter which you call fasting is nothing For you may eate as much at one meale as might suffice you at two or thrée The like is to be thought of all your wednesdayes fastings for they are but a diuersity in eating or féeding Your refrayning the touching of money may be thought to be a toy to mocke an Ape with all And your rysing at mydnight may be opposite to your sléeping at noone You say that you doo at midnight sing your Mattins before the blessed Sacrament of the Altar the precious bodie and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Christ which is there kept ouer the high Altar What pleasure you doo or can doo to that SacrameÌ„t by singing your Mattins before it I can not vnderstand for I think it can not heare any one word that you doo either sing or say and so it can not be delighted with the hermonie of your musicke I put you in minde of these thinges because your greatest Clerkes haue written that Christ is not in that blessed Sacrament of yours with his dementions and liniaments of bodie neither with his Organs of sences but meruailously with out the distinction of parts I thinke therefore that in the cold wether it were more wisedome for you to kéepe your selues warme in your beddes that when you be waking you may sing and make melodie in your harts to God then to rise out of your bedds and sit quyuering and quaking in your wyde and cold Quyer to pleasure him with musicke that hath not one eare to heare your harmonie For vndoubtedly you can not but wysh that you had doone before you haue well begunne And what thankes can you looke for at the handes of that Sacrament that you sing your Mattins before And in the hotte or warme wether I thinke it shoulde be more profitable for you to be in your studies if you haue any at a conuenient houre endeuouring to learne the meaning of y e Prophete in those Psalmes that you vse to sing in your Mattins for the most parte without vnderstanding Well you sing two or thrée high masses euery day I thinke you mistake your termes For in such Churches as yours there is but one high masse whether it be sayde or songe the other though they be songe are not called high masses for they are not that masse that is appointed for that day but of our Lady of S. George of S. Dionice S. Frauncis or some other But what masses soeuer you sing or say the moe the worsse and the fewer the better For the best is but Idolatry derâ—gation to the glorye of Christes passion and seducing of Christians and a méere mockerye of Christes holy institution You procéede now in the declaration of the straightnes of your Order and thus you say The Fryar Wee lye in our clothes in bedde without sheetes and yet we keepe our selues cleane We goe to bedde at 8 a clock and rise at halfe an hower past a leuen We returne to our bedd at halfe an houre past 2 or most commonlie at three and rise againe at sixe When we haue doone or when any one of vs hath doone a misse he that hath offended must doo penaunce Our penaunces are to fast bread and water to sit and dine vpon the earth to kisse our bretherens the Fryers feete to whyp our selues the space of halfe a quarter of an houre more or lesse according as the cheefe father thinketh good we dare not speak one to another in the night time except necessity coÌ„straine vs. We dare not strike one another in iest or in earnest Our whips are made some of whyp corde the length of mine arme with long knots cuÌ„ningly wrought Other of our whyps are made of yron chaines such as women are wont to hang their keyes vpon Other haue their whips with siluer pins to the intent that the backe canker not My whyp is made of whypcorde I had another made of the foresaid chaines which I haue vsed manie times I haue be it spoken to the honor of God whipt my selfe often times I think forty times aboue In which whipping as I feele often times extreame paine so also I haue heauenly coÌ„solations in so much that it is an easie thing with me now to giue my self 400. stripes at once before that I leaue God knoweth I lye not when we whip our selues either for deuotion sake in remembraunce of the bitter passion of our Sauiour or els when wee whyp our selues for penaunce we doo put of our garments to the reynes of our backe and turne our hood aside so that our backe armes and shoulders are naked being so naked with a discipline as we call it or a whip in our hande one of the Fryers beginneth the 50. Psalme of
your holy father the Popes holines would soothe you in it The Diuines doo by a generall consent say that because the burden of sinne and the damnation due vnto it is so great and horrible in the sight of GOD that the wrath of God for sinne could not otherwise be appeased nor his iustice satisfyed then by the cruell and bloodie death of that man that neuer had sinned neither was by any meanes spotted or defyled with sinne and therefore had not any way deserued to die And heerevpon they conclude that of necessitie the onely begotten sonne of God in whome there coulde be no sinne must take mans nature of the substaunce of a blessed virgine prepared before of GOD for that purpose that the nature of man taken of her substaunce might not haue in it any part of mans sinne and that that sonne of God béeing both God and man might die in his mans nature that blooddie death that mans sinne had deserued and so Gods wrath myght be appeased and his iustice satisfyed which could neuer haue béene brought to passe by any other meane Héereof wee may conclude that in some sort our sinnes were the cause of the death of our Sauiour Christ This lesson you had once learned and did repeate it openlie in my Church at Creplegate of London in the presence and hearing of a great multitude of Christians which conceiued no small hope that you béeing borne of such Christian Parents as you were and brought vp vnder such masters as had so instructed you in Christian Religion that beeing but of tender yeeres you were so perfect in the principles of that our Religion woulde haue prooued an excellent Minister in the house of God to the great ioye of such as had béene at charge in your education and to the furthering of Christes glory in the Realme of Englande your natiue Countrey But sée howe â—athan hath bewitched you You are nowe become apyssing potte in the Chamber of Antichrist Thys commeth of thy pryde Samuell GOD gaue thée good gyfts that thou shouldest haue vsed them to his glory but thou hast pryded thy selfe in them and hast euery way abused them and art fallen into the handes of God which is a thing most horrible Heb. 10. The Lord for his mercie sake open the eyes of thyne vnderstanding that thou maist sée the greatnes of thine owne misery and acknowledge the great fault of thine Apostacie and craue helpe at the hande of our heauenlie Father whose mercy is as great as him selfe and is alwaies ready to receiue euery Prodigall sonne that returneth home againe vnto him and séeketh after euery sheepe that is gon astray Returne therefore Samuell returne to our heauenly Father Be no longer called by that hypocriticall name of Fryer Iohn Frauncis Thy name Samuell which was giuen to thée in thy Baptisme is not yet blotted out of our heauenly Fathers Register neyther shall be before the day of thy departing out of this life Return in time séeke God whilst he may be founde call vppon him whylst he is at hande and hath his cares open to heare all such as call vpon him faithfully Make not so light a matter of sinne as to thinke that Iohn Baptistes féeding vpon Locusts and wylde honney c. could be any helpe to take away anie part of the damnation due to our sinnes Be ashamed of that fonde perswasion that mooued you to say thus Consider this I pray you If another suffer for my sinnes shall not I my selfe suffer You séeme to be perswaded that of necessity we must suffer for our owne sinnes because Christ hath suffered for them alreadie Whereas in verie déede the contrarye is most true Because Christe hath already suffered for our sinnes therefore we néede not to suffer for them For his suffering for our sinnes is sufficient and is a full satisfaction for the sins of y e whole worlde And there remaineth nothing to be doone by vs but onelye by faith to take the benefite of that his suffering and to shewe our selues thankfull to him for that it hath pleased him to suffer for vs and by his suffering to restore vs to the fauour of the heauenly maiesty againe Which thankes we render when wee mortifye our fleshlie affections and make our bodies â— Sacrifice to God lyuing holie and acceptable For this is our reasonable seruing of God as wryteth S. Paule Rom. 12. This is that sounde doctrine that in your yonger dayes was taught you you learned did once openly confesse in my Church at Crâ—plegate Doo you therefore I pray you consider better of this matter and be perswaded that for as much as another which is Christ the sonne of the lyuing GOD hath suffered for your sins you are by his suffering redéemed from your sinnes and from euer lasting damnation due to your sinnes and by his resurrection iustified and made righteous in the sight of the heauenly Maiesty and discharged of your sinnes past for euer Rom. 4. And when you shall by the frailty of your flesh fal and commit sinne follow the counsell of Christes déere Disciple Iohn that wrote the history of the Gospell and those thrée Epistles that are called Canonicall In the second Chapter of the first of those thrée Epistles he writeth thus My little babes I writ thus vnto you that you should not sinne but if anie man doo sinne we haue an Aduocate with God the Father euen Christe Iesus the righteous he is the obtainer of mercy for our sinnes The words of Iohn in the Latine are these Ipse est propitiatio I thinke I can not translate them better for the vnderstanding of the meaning by the Englishe Reader then as I haue that is He is the obtayner of mercy for our sinnes We néede not therfore to séeke for a ghostly father that may heare our confession and giue vs penaunce and absolution Christ hath alreadie suffered penaunce for our sinnes and hath absolued vs. We néede not to runne to Rome for pardon For GOD hath alreadie pardoned all our sinnes past and repented because we beléeue that promise of pardon that he hath made in the death and blood shedding of his onelie begotten sonne our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ And when we sinne by frailtie wee haue an open way in vnto the mercie seate of God by and through our Sauiour Christ who is the way the truth and the life Iohn 14. You procéede and thus you say The Fryar We reade in the fift of Leuiticus how our Lorde commaunded the children of Israell to doo penaunce when they had committed any offence Iudg. 21. Vniuersus Israel valde doluit egitque poenitentiam super hoc quod fiebat All the Children of Israell were very sorry and they did penaunce for that which they hadde doone Holie Iob in the 24. Chapter of his booke sayeth Dedit eâ—s Deus locum poenitentiae God of his wonderfull mercy gaue man place to do penaunce Dissimulas saith Salomon peccata hominum propter
not doubt to say this is my bodie when he gaue the signe of his body If there were no more but this one place of S. Austen it might suffice for the turning about of these foure péeces of Ordinaunce and the making of them ready to be shot off against Frier John and his fellowes For the force of them all consisteth in this one assertion When our Sauiour Christ tooke breade and gaue thankes or blessed and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples saying Take eate this is my bodie He did deliuer vnto those Disciples his owne body And when he did after supper take the Cuppe or Chalice saying thys Chalice is the Newe testament in my bloud c. He did deliuer hys owne bloâ—d Which thing S Austen denieth when he saith The Lorde doubted not to saie this is my bodie when he deliuered the signe of his body For the signe and the thing signified are Disparata thinges seperated the one from the other The thing therefore that is the signe of another thing can not by anie meanes be that thing whereof it is a signe As the Juâ—e or other matter that is hanged out to be a signe of Wyne to be solde can in no case be saide to be that Wine that is to be solde but a signe thereof onely Yea though wine indéede were setforth to be a signe of wyne to be solde or breade indéede were set forth to be a signe of bread to bee solde yet that wine and that breade could not rightly be sayd to be the same wyne or bread that is to be solde whereof that wyne or breade so set forth is but a signe And yet neither S. Austen nor we doo denie but that the name of the thing signified by a Sacrament may be giuen to the Sacrament because Sacraments haue a certaine similitude of those thinges whereof they be sacraments S. Austen writing to Bonifacius Epistola 23. saith thus Si enim Sacramenta quandam similitudinem earum rerum quarum sacramenta sunt non haberent omnino sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerumque etiam ipsarum rerum nomina accipiunt Sicut ergo secunduÌ„ quendaÌ„ moduÌ„ sacramentuÌ„ corporis Christi corpus Christi est et sacrameÌ„tuÌ„ sanguinis Christi sanguis Christâ— estâ—ita sacramentuÌ„ fidei fides est c. If sacraments had not a certaine similitude of those thinges whereof they be Sacraments they were indéede no Sacraments And of the same similitude they doo for the most parte take also the names of those thinges whereof they be sacraments Therefore as after a certaine manner the sacrament of the body of Christ is the body of Christ and the Sacrament of the bloude of Christ is the bloud of Christ euen so the sacrament of fayth is fayth c. Thus you may sée and as I thinke you doo sée that these words This is my body doo not proue any other presence of Christ in the Sacrament then that which may be called sacramentall mysticall heauenly and spirituall And to make this matter more plaine vnto you I wyll let you sée certaine places of Scripture where the like spéeche is vsed and in the like meaning Ezechiell the Prophet is commaunded to shaue of the hayre of his heade and beard to deuide it into thrée equall partes c. As it is written in the fiâ—t Chapter of his booke of Prophecies and then to say Thus sayth the Lord God This is JerusaleÌ„ c. By the circumstaunce of this text it is manifest that the meaning of that sentence This is Jerusalem was not that the dooing of those thinges that there were doone was the Ciâ—ty Jerusalem really but that the miserable estate of that Cittie was signified thereby In the 12. Chapter of Exodus concerning the eating of y e Pasouer it is written thus After this manner ye shall eate it Ye shall gyrde vp your loynes and yâ— shall haue yoâ—r shooes vppon your â—éete holding staâ—es in your handes and you shall make hast in eating of it for it is Phase â—d est transiâ—us domini That is the Lordes Pasâ—â—er or passing by of the Lord. These wordes are not the words of Moses but of God himselfe spoken by Moses at the commaundement of God Neuer did any man as I thinke conceiue any such opinion of these wordes as you and your sort doo shewe your selues to haue conceiued of those wordes that our Sauiour Christ spake at his last supper which you woulde haue to be of such force that whensoeuer they shalbe breathed out by anie of your Priestes ouer breade and wyne Cum intentione conficiendi as you haue it in the cautiles of your masse that is with purpose or intent to make the bodye of Christ then of necessity the substance both of the breade and of the wyne must be turned into the substaunce of the body and bloud of Christ And whosoeuer shall deny this must néedes be accounted as one that maketh God a Lyer Agayne in the 15. Chapter of S. Iohns Gospell Ego sum vitis vera Pater meâ—s agricoia est I am the true or right vyne and my father is the husband man or vine tyllar And in the same Chapter Ego sum vitis voâ— palmitâ—s I am the vine and you are the braâ—nches And in the tenth Chapter of the same Gospell Ego sum ostium I am the doore Ego sum Pastor bonus I am the good shéephearde And in the 14. Chapter Ego sum via I am the way In all these spéeches you are contented to admit a figure and to confesse that the spéeches are figuratiue But in Hoc est corpus meum Thys is my bodie you may not abide to heare of any figure at all And why Because the admitting of a figure there wold marre all your market All your Cloysters of Monks Chanons Fryars Nunnes Colliges of Cannons and massing Priestes Chauntries Obbets Anniuersaries Trentalles Monthes mindes and masses of Requiem are builded vpon thys foundation Hoc est corpus meum This is my bodie in plaâ—ne speech without any manner of figure But if you once admit a figure in that spéeche downe goe all these goodly buildings and Frier John Fraunces and his fellowes must learne to eate their bread in the sweate of theyr owne faces as other poore men doo You must stick to it therefore and tell these â—ereticke Protestants that in denying the Reall presence in the blessed sacrament of the Altare they make God a lyer We denie not but doo confesse that the breade and the wyne in the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christe are the body and bloud of Christ euen as the Pascall Lambe was the passing by of the Lorde as the Rocke in the Wyldernes was Christ Petraerat Christus The Rocke was Christ saith Saint Paule 1. Cor. 10 and as the seauen starres spoken of in the firste of the Reuelations of S. Iohn are the seauen Angels of the seauen Congregations And as y e
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
but in your hart and minde also To followe their precepts and examples of life patientlie to take correction at their handes and to make continuall and hartie praiers to God for them To relieue and nourish them in case they should fal into pouerty or decay And in all points by shewing your selfe an obedient and good child to mooue them to be louing and good to you All this you confessed in my Church before many witnesses which shall in the day of iudgment be a testimonie against you to condemne you of wilfull Apostacie and a witnes to discharge your father and mother and all others that haue had the education of you of all maner negligence in enstructing you in the knowledge of your duety both towards God and towards man So that if you perish your blood shalbe vpon your owne head alone You procéede in your answere and thus you say The Fryar You write furthermore vnto me that you haue made great enquirie after me I know it well I was in feare great enough by reason of that enquirie as long as I was in Englande although that God be thanked I haue though hardly escaped your handes Crowley In these wordes you make knowne to as many as shall reade this your answer both the dutiful care that your good parents had to preserue you their wicked sonne from destruction bothe of body and soule and also your owne wilfull determination to caste your selfe headlong into that Gulfe of perdition that you are nowe fallen into Yea and that you are of that number that Esay y e Prophet bewayleth when he writeth thus in the 5. chap V aequidicitis malum bonum bonum malum ponentes tenebras lucem lucem tenebras ponentes amarum in dulce dulce in amarum Alas for them that call euill good and good euill Affirming darknes to be light and light to be darknesse turning sower into swéete and swéete into sower The bright shining light of the knowledge of y e truth which dooth nowe shine in England you call the darknes of ignorance and errour and the hellike darknes of Poperie wherein you doo nowe wander groping after the way of Saluation you call light shewing your selfe to be one of them that are noted by our English Prouerbe They that be in hell doo perswade themselues that there is none other heauen Moreouer you say thus The Fryar You heard that I was at Rhemes it is verie certaine I was there the reason also wherefore I writt not vnto you was partly the scarsitie of messengers and partlie other thinges which here I can not well rehearse Againe I could not write vnto you conueniently because I doubted whether you were aliue or dead Crovvley The report of your béeing at Rhemes you say was true which argueth y t it was rather y e lacke of good wyl in you to comfort your sorrowfull parents by your duetifull Letters then the lacke of messengers that stayed your penne What the other lets were which héere you can not well rehearse I hope you will tell vs at some other time more conuenient and when it shall not bee so daungerous for you as nowe it is And béeing by these Letters that you confesse you haue receiued certifyed that your Parents are lyuing that doubt that you spake of can no longer bee any let at all Procéeding in your answere you say thus The Fryar You write againe vnto mee that all my freendes are in good health to tell you the troth I knowe not any one freende amongst you Crovvley Bona verba queso Good sir be good to Watkin What not any one fréende amongst vs all There are many yet liuing y t haue béene your fréends I am sure of it As your father your mother my selfe my wife your Godmother Master Moncaster sometime your Schoolemaster Master Fielde Master Doctor Fulke master Paule Swallow and many moe that were your Mecaenates in Cambridge and howe happeneth it that all these be nowe blotted out of your Cataloge of fréends By all likelihoode all the benefites y t haue béene bestowed vpon you haue béene written in duste and not in Marble Your Grandmother that being your mothers mydwyfe lapped you in the first swadling clowâ—s that euer you bepyssed and did vnto you all the offyce of a mydwyfe was she not your fréende your mother that yet liueth and during the time of your infancie gaue you sucke of her owne breste and fedde you with foode meete for you when sometimes she spared it out of her owne bodie was she not then your fréende when she continued your Nursse and did vnto you all that is to be doone by a Nursse and when by your wraling and crying you had gotten a Rupture in the nether part of your belly she sought and procured meanes to ease and remedy the same by trusses and otherwise was she not then your fréende I coulde put you in minde of much more fréendship shewed vnto you by vs a boue named and by many moe but all is buried in obliuion so déepe that it is not possible that the same canbe digged vp againe in such sort that you can be moued to acknowledge the same Your newe Fréendes are so setled in your conceyte that all the olde are blotted out of memorie for euer You regarde not the Counsell of Syrach who wryteth thus Cap. 9. Ne derelinquas amicum antiquum nouus â—nim non erit similis illi Forsake not an olde fréend for the newe wyll not be like him c. Well you procéede in your answere and thus you say The Fryar As for my brother Aaron I beseeche our Lord sauior Iesus Christ by the merits of his bitter death and passion to haue mercy vpon his soule as also vpon yours and to saue you all at the day of iudgement Crovvley I doo like well of this your charitable wishe and doo wishe the like saluation to you and to all the rest of your newe fréends But now you doo vse a spéech by the figure Apostrophe And thus you write in the margine of your Letters The Fryar Brother Aaron leaue the Religion wherein you were at my departure from you and if that you can by anie meanes come on this side the seas come to Paris in Fraunce and aske after the Minimes Fryers at Nigeon so shall you finde me If that you come to me leaue your naughty Religion care for no more And counsell also my father and mother to do as you do or as I hope wyll doo Crowley This gostlie counsel that you giue to your brother Aaron and doo wish that he should giue y e same to your father and mother will not I hope be followed in haste That Religion that you call naughtie and will your Brother Aaron to leaue shall I hope be prooued in this my discourse the right Religion of Christe and your Romaine Religion méere Antichristian Now to put your mother out of doubt that you are her sonne Sammuell in déede
were for that Apostacie conquered by the Assyrians and the remnant of them carryed into strange landes farre off Of thys conuerting or turning of the posterity of this people the Prophet Ieremie dooth write after this manner Audiens audiui Ephraim transâ—igrantem or as it is in the Hebrewe plangentem Castigastime Domine et eruditus sum or as it is in the Hebrew castigatus sum quasi iteuencus indomitus Conuerte me conuertar quiatu Dominus Deus meus Postquam enim conuertistime egi poenitentiaem postquam ostendistimihi per cussi femur meum Confusus sum erubui quoniam sustinui opprobrium adolescentiae meae c. I haue in verye déede sayth the Lorde heard Ephraim flytting out of his Country or as the Hebrewe hath it making great or pittifull lamentation saying after this manner O Lord thou hast corrected mee and I am thereby instructed or as the Hebrewe hath it I am chastened like an vntamed Bullocke Doo thou turne me and then I shall bée turned for thou art the Lord my God And after thou haddest turned me I repented And after thou diddest she we vnto me that is after thou diddest let me sée the filthines of myne owne life I dyd strike my thigh I was confounded I was ashamed for I did beare the reproche of mine owne youth Is not Ephraim a sonne that I estéeme much off Is he not a Ladde in whom I am delighted For since I haue spoken of him I will still remeÌ„ber him And therfore the bowels of my compassion are mooued towardes him and in pittie I wyll haue compassion vpon him sayth the Lord. The due consideration of these wordes might haue moued you to doo the contrary of that which you say you were by them mooued to doo Ephraim had forsaken the right Religion of GOD and hee had embraced the Religion of Baall which was a wrong Religion he had forsaken the precepts and commaundements of God and embraced the precents and commaundements of men He had refused to hearken to the voyces of the true Prophets of God and had gyuen eare to the Prophets of Baal which were false Prophets Hée had left of to walke in those right and high wayes that the Lorde had taught his own people to walk in he had choseÌ„ theÌ„ to walk in by waies such as y e Lord forbad his people to walk in And haue not you doone y e like You were baptised in the right faith of Christ Jesus which your Godfathers your Godmother confessed at y e time of your baptising and desired for you that you might be baptised in that Fayth which they did then confesse And you were baptised in that fayth and were named Samuel But nowe you are called John Frauncis as your selfe haue written and therefore I feare you haue renounced your first Baptisme and haue béene rebaptized in the Romysh Catholike fayth professing and promising to beléeue and to doo all that that Antichristian Church teacheth and commaundeth You were brought vp in the knowledge of your duety towards God and your duety towards man but nowe you call that knowledge heresie and such as haue béene your instructors therein heretikes You haue and doo styll refuse to heare the voyce of the Preachers of the Gospell of Christ which are the true Prophets of this time and your eares are open to the voyces of the preachers of popysh ceremonies fayned and false miracles and all manner deuises of men which are the false prophets of this time You haue left the way of truth wherein God requireth his owne people to walke seruing him in spirite and truth that is in true holines righteousnes and you haue chosen to walke in by waies euen such as the Lord hath forbidden his people to walk in Namely the hearing of masses and therein gyuing diuine honour to creatures that is to bread and wine therein vsed and holden vp and shewed that they may be worshipped by such as be present In kyssing the Reliques of Saints in the supersticious refrayning of the vse of Gods good creatures wherein God hath giuen liberty to all men that will reuerently vse them and be thankfull to him for them In making inuocations and prayers to Angels to deade men such as be called Saints not knowing whether they can hear you or whether they can helpe you or no. In praying for the deade not knowing whether they doo stand in néede of your praiers or no. Yea not knowing whether your prayers may profite them or no. In honouring God and hys Saints by Images directly contrary to hys expresse commaundement Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image c. In vowing performing the vow of wyuelesse chastitie and yet with this causion Si non castè tamen cautè If not chastlie yet warily In performing the vowe of wilfull pouertie and yet enioy all thinges necessary in great plenty In taking vpon you y e yoke of obedience to such as God hath not commandèd you to obey but shaking of that yoke of obedience that God hath layd vpon all mens neckes Namely to naturall Parents Princes and al maner of Gouerners In dooing penaunce as you terme it by fasting bread and water by dyuing vpon the earth by whypping your selfe with a discipline of whypcords or chaynes of wyar or with pynnes of siluer taking vpon you by these meanes to redéeme your owne sinnes and the sinnes of others also And so consequently entruding your selfe into the Office of Christ which is to be the onelie mediatour betwixt God and man and the onely propitiator to obtaine mercy for the sinnes of the world If you had considered these words of Ieremie aright and as you shoulde haue doone applying them to your selfe as I hope nowe you wyll doo then you would haue cryed with Ephraim as I hope you will nowe crye Turne me and I shalbe turned for thou art the Lord my God And when the Lord shall turne you as I hope he will at the last turne you so that you shall from the bottome of your harte repent that euer you left the highe way of righteousnes to walke in these by wayes of wickednes you will not as you terme it do penaunce in whypping your selfe with your discipline as you call your whip wherwith you haue giueÌ„ your self so many hundred lasshes but you will submit your selfe vnder the mightie and mercifull hand of our heauenlie father to be chastined at his hande according to his good pleasure that by his fatherly corrections you may be brought to sée the greatnes of your owne folly wherein you haue walked And so with Ephraim strike your selfe on the thigh and say I am confounded and ashamed I haue borne the rebuke of my youth And then vndoubtedly the Lord wil say of you as he did of Ephraim Is not Samuel a sonne that I make greate account of Is he not a ladde in whom I am delighted Sith I haue spoken of him I wyll still remember him And
tantum You sée that man is iustified by works and not by faith onely Iames. 2. Wée doo rather choose to be anathematized of your holy father the Popes holines and of all those fathers that were gathered together in the Tridentine Councell then of father Paul whose holines doth surmount the holines of your holy father the Popes holines Father Paul hath written thus in his Epistle to the Galathians Chap. 1. Licet nos aut Angelus de coelo euangelizet vobis praeterquam quod euangelizauimus vobis Anathemasit Although I my selfe or an Angel from heauen should preache vnto you anie other Gospell then that which I haue preached vnto you holde him accursed The Gospell that S. Paul had preached to the Galathians and others was and is the Gladtydings of frée iustification or discharge of all their sinnes onely by the mediation of our onely Mediator our Lord Sauior Jesus Christ Take héede Fryer John that you be not within the reache of this Anathematization if you be 4000. whyskes with your whip wil not brushe it away from your naked and scuruie shoulders I terme them scuruy because I suppose that whipping your selfe so often and so sore as in your Letters you haue reported the skynne of your shoulders and backe can not be without skabbes Well let vs nowe consider your other péece of Ordinaunce which is a part of the xxv Chapter of S. Mathewes Gospel First you haue sayd thus The Fryar As concerning your opinion that by fayth onelye we are iustified I referre you to the Epistle of the holye Apostle S. Iames as also to those words of our Sauiour Iesus Christ written in the Gospell after S. Mathew Cap. xxv Where it is written that our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ in the latter day giuing the finall and euerlasting sentence as well vnto the saued as vnto the damned shall vtter these wordes Venite benedicti patris mei c. That is to say Come ye blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the worlde Nowe hauing spoken these wordes he sheweth the cause of thys ioyfull sentence For sayth he when I was hungry you fed mee when I was a thyrst you gaue me to drinke when I was naked ye clothed me but what are these things if they be not good works Therefore and by this place of Scripture good workes are meritorious to our Saluation Reade likewise I pray you the second Chapter of the Epistle of S. Paule to the Remaines a little way of from the beginning You shall there finde howe God will reward all men according to their workes The same also if you wyll search you shall find in the xvi Chap. of S. Mathew and in many other places of the Scripture I doo not conclude by these partes of the Newe testament that by good workes onely wee are saued but mine intention is to proue that neither by faith without good workes nor by good workes without fayth we are iustified or saued Crowley As I haue explaned vnto you the meaning of the Apostle Iames in that which he wrote touching the iustifying of men by workes in such sort I hope that your selfe doo sée that you are much deceiued in your iudgment touching the meaning of the Apostle So I hope I shall explane the meaning of our Sauiour Christ in the wordes which you cite out of the xxv Chapter of S. Mathewes Gospell And first because you haue said before that we admitte not the words of y e holy Doctors of the Catholicke church I wyll let you sée certaine words that one of them hath written euen vpon these very wordes y t you haue cited out of the xxv Chap. of S. Mathewe Iohannes Chrysostomus Homelia 80. in Mat. John Chrysostome in his 80. Homelie vpon S. Mathewes Gospell hath written thus His igitur rationibus isti non iniurâ—a puniuntur illi etiamsi mille talia fecerint per gratiam tamen coronantur Gratiaenamque omnino illa benignitas est vt pro rebus minimis vilissimis coeleste regnum tantus honor tribuatur That is to say For these causes therefore both the one sort are without iniury punished and although the other sort haue doone a thousand such workes yet it is by frée mercy that they are crowned For that bountifulnesse whereby the kingdome of heauen and so great an honor is gyuen for the smallest and most vils thinges is altogether of frée mercy Thus hath Chrysostome wrytten as the conclusion of all that hée hath written before in commendation of those that feede the hungry giue drinke to the thirsty clothe the naked c. and in discommendation of them that leaue those workes vndoone The one sort sayth he that is they which leaue those works vndoone are iustlie punished And the other are crowned and yet not for the worthines of the workes although they worke them neuer so often but that bountifull liberality wherby the kingdome of heauen and that great honour of being crowned in that kingdome are gyuen for so small and vile matters as our workes are commeth altogether of Gods frée mercy and not of any worthines that eyther is or can be in vs or in any workes that we can worke This Chrysostome is not onely in this part of his wrytings but in all his workes a very earnest mayntainer of the merites of good workes and yet sée howe he co 〈…〉 udeth In this conclusion he ioyneth with vs and we ioyne with him We holde that good workes such as GOD hath commaunded and prepared for vs to walke in are acceptable in the sight of God and that God doth and wyll reward them both in this lyfe and also in the life to come And we craue of GOD that we may kéepe still in minde the wordes of the Apostle Heb. 13. To doo good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Yea we craue of God that we doo neuer forget the saying of the Apostle Paule to Timothe 1. Chap. 4. Exerce teipsum ad pietatem nam corporalis exercitatio ad modicum vtilis est pâ—etas autem ad omnia vtilis est Promissionem habens vitae quae nunc est futurae Exercise thy selfe to godlines saith S. Paul for bodily exercise is profitable but to a small matter but godlines is profitable to all thinges Hauing a promise of the life that nowe is and of the lyfe that shall be Thys we holde this we teache and this we are willing to practise And for a further explanation of the meaning of Chrysostomes conclusion aboue mentioned marke I pray you what he wryteth in his 53. Homelie to the people of Antioche Omnia quae fâ—cimus agimus debitum implentes proper hoc ipse dicebat Cum omnia feceritis dicite quia inutiles serui sumus quae enim debebamus facere fecimus I gitur siue charitatem exhibuerimus siue dederimus pecunâ—asegenis debitum implemus non
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