in Christ and not of their owne inherent righteousnesse or through their owne merits or workes in anie sort An example whereof we have in S. Bernard himselfe who though hee lived in the times of Poperie and was himselfe an Abbot yet in the extremitie of his sickenesse and the end of his dayes this was his refuge I confesse saith hee I am not vvorthy neyther can I obteyne the kingdome of heaven by mine owne merits But my Lord obtayning it by a double right by inheritance from the father and by the merit of his Passion he being content vvith the one giveth me the other and clayming it by the gift vvhich he hath made me thereof I shall not be confounded Againe he saith My merit is the Lords mercie I am not poore in merits because he is rich in mercies I have greatly sinned but I vvill remember the vvounds of my Lord c. Contarenus a Cardinal did also in that time hold justification by faith in Christ and so did sundry others in those dayes Now so long as a man holdeth the foundation though he erre in other points that be not fundamentall he may be saved as S. Paul sheweth and S. Augustine Gregory Nyssen doe also declare But thirdly if it were so that some of our forefathers and ancestors were in their life time as likely enough it is that too manie of them were horribly polluted defiled with the corruptions of those times yet who can tell how they dyed For sundrie live wickedly who neverthelesse may dye verie godly and penitently as did that good Theefe at Christ his Crucifixion It is therefore no good argument to say They lived in the profession of Poperie Ergo they died so for diverse we see die otherwise then they lived and God was as well able to give them a right faith and repentance and to convert them unto himselfe before their death or at the instant of their death as anie others Yea I thinke that few or none that be well advised or considerate persons whatsoever they professe at other times will dare to dye Papists that is in a beleefe and confidence to be saved by their owne workes and merits or by a righteousnesse inherent in their owne persons but that they will then at that time of their death relye wholly and altogether upon Gods mercie and Christ his merits renouncing utterly their owne as S. Bernard did For even Bellarmine himselfe also writing in these late times notwithstanding whatsoever he had said before in defence of merits yet concludeth against them and teacheth that Tutissimum est fiduciam totam in sola Dei misericordia benignitate reponere It is the safest vvay to put our vvhole confidence onely in the mercy of God and his bounty But fourthly manie and sundrie living in those times and being much grieved and groning under the Popes tyrannie made hold to utter their complaints and to cry out as loud as they could or at least as they durst against both Pope Poperie Amongst whom was the forenamed S. Bernard who calleth the Popes doctrines or pastures Daemonum potius quam ovium pascua Pastures rather for Divels then for sheepe where hee further inveigheth against the Pope and his Clergie saying Omiserandam sponsam talibus creditam paranymphis O miserable spouse vvhich art committed to such Leaders or such Overseers And againe he saith O good Iesus all Christendome seemeth to have conspired against thee they are chiefe in persecuting of thee vvhich seeme to hold the Primacy and to beare principality in the Church Iniquitie is come from thy Vicars even from those that seeme to governe thy people They have possessed the Fort of Sion seised upon the munitions and they burne vvith all their power the vvhole City Miserable is their conversation and miserable is the subversion of thy people c. They doe wickedly against Christ and there be many Antichrists in our times A stinking infection this day creepeth over all the body of the Church and the Deeper it is so much the more desperate and the more Inward that it is so much the more perillous for if it vvere an open Enemy he might be cast out and he vvould wither or if it were a violent Enemy a man might hide himselfe from him But vvhat is now to be done vvhither shall the Church drive him or vvhere shall she hide her selfe from him All friends and yet all enemies all kinsfolkes and yet all adversaries They are in pretence the Ministers of Christ and yet they serve Antichrist VVoe saith he to this generation because of the leaven of the Pharisees vvhich is Hypocrisie If yet it be to be Termed Hypocrisie vvhich is not able to hide is selfe it is so abundant nor yet seeketh to conceale it selfe it is so impudent And in another place he saith further That the Beast spoken of in the Revelation cap. 13. to vvhich a mouth is given to speake blasphemies and to make vvarre with the Saints of God is now gotten into Saint Peters chayre as a Lyon prepared to his prey 4 You see then that manie hundreth yeares before the daies of King Henry the eight and before Luther or Calvin were borne the Pope of Rome and his Clergie were complained of and exclaimed against But this shall yet further appeare for your better satisfaction For under the raigne of Hugh Capet in France about the yeare of our Lord 1000 there was held a Nationall Councell at Rhemes wherein was President Arnold that famous Bishop of Orleance It was there handled and proved by the Canons of former Councels That the Bishop of Rome had nothing to doe in France That a Councel vvas more to be respected then his Sea That the time was vvhen Rome brought forth good or tolerable Bishops but now alas saith this Arnold in place of these shee bringeth forth nought else but Monsters And there reckoning up diverse wicked Bishops of Rome and among the rest one Boniface a Monster exceeding in wickednesse and having his hands imbrued in his predecessors bloud he addeth And must so many the good servants of God over all the world needs be subiect to such Monsters and then concludeth Reverend Fathers vvhom doe you thinke this man to be which sitteth upon the high Throne glittering in gold and scarlet For vvhom doe you take him Verily if he be vvithout the love of God and be puffed up and extolled for his knowledge onely he is Antichrist sitting in the Temple of God shewing himselfe as if he vvere God But if he be neyther founded in love nor set up for knowledge he is an Image and as an Idoll in Gods Temple and to goe to him to aske counsell or for answers is to aske counsell of a stone And therefore he cryeth out O Lugenda Roma O Rome to be lamented Againe about the yeare of our Lord 1100 the whole Church of Liege uttered the like voice For where Pope
letters doe testifie unto this day For all Ilands of ancient right are said to belong to the Church of Româ— by the donation of Constantine who founded and endowed the same But will you see what a goodly title here is in the meane time First the Donation of Constantine hath beene long since discovered to be a notorious forgerie and is rejected by all men of judgement as a senselesse fiction Secondly in the whole context of this forged Donation I finde mention made of Ilands in one place onely where no more power is given to the Church of Rome over them then in generall over the whole Continent by East and by West by North and by South and in particular over Iudaea Graecia Asia Thracia and Aphrica which use not to passe in the account of S. Peters temporall patrimonie Thirdly it doth not appeare that Constantine himselfe had anie interest in the kingdome of Ireland how then could he conferre it upon another Some words there be in an oration of Eumenius the Rhetorician by which peradventure it may be collected that his father Constantius bare some stroke here but that the Iland was ever possessed by the Romanes or accounted a parcell of the Empire cannot be proved by any sufficient testimonie of antiquitie Fourthly the late writers that are of another minde as Pomponius Laetus Cuspinian others do yet affirme withall that in the division of the Empire after Constantines death Ireland was assigned unto Constantinus the eldest sonne which will hardly stand with this donation of the Ilands supposed to be formerly made unto the Bishop of Rome and his successors Pope Adrian therefore and Iohn of Salisbury his soâ—licitor had need seeke some better warrant for the title of Ireland then the Donation of Constantine Iohn Harding in his Chronicle saith that the Kings of England have right To Ireland also by king Henry le fitz Of Maude doughter of first King Henry That conquered it for their great heresie which in another place he expresseth more at large in this maner The King Henry then conquered all Ireland By Papall dome there of his royaltee The profytes and revenues of the land The domination and the soverayntee For errour which agayn the spiritualtee They held full long and would not been correct Of heresyes with which they were infect Philip Osullevan on the other side doth not only denie that Ireland was infected with any heresie but would also have us beleeve that the Pope never intended to conferre the Lordship of Ireland upon the Kings of England For where it is said in Pope Adrians Bull Let the people of that land receive thee and reverence thee as a Lord the meaning therof is saith this Glozer Let them reverence thee as a Prince worthy of great honour not as Lord of Ireland but as a Deputie appointed for the collecting of the Ecclesiasticall tribute It is true indeed that King Henry the second to the end hee might the more easily obtaine the Popes good will for his entring upon Ireland did voluntarily offer unto him the payment of a yearely pension of one penny out of every house in the countrey which for ought that I can learne was the first Ecclesiasticall tribute that ever came unto the Popes coffers out of Ireland But that King Henry got nothing else by the bargaine but the bare office of collecting the Popes Smoke-silver for so wee called it here when wee payed it is so dull a conceit that I do somewhat wonder how Osullevan himselfe could be such a blockhead as not to discerne the senselesnesse of it What the King sought for and obtained is sufficiently declared by them that writt the historie of his raigne In the yeare of our Lord MCLV. the first Bull was sent unto him by Pope Adrian the summe wherof is thus laid downe in a second Bull directed unto him by Alexander the third the immediat successor of the other Following the stepps of reverend Pope Adrian and attending the fruite of your desire we ratifie and confirme his grant concerning the dominion of the KINGDOME of Ireland conferred upon you reserving unto S. Peter and the holy Church of Rome as in England so in Ireland the yearly pension of one penny out of every house In this sort did Pope Adrian as much as lay in him give Ireland unto King Henry haereditario jure possidendam to be possessed by right of inheritance and withall sent unto him a ring of gold set with a faire Emerauld for his investiture in the right thereof as Iohannes Sarisburiensis who was the principall agent betwixt them both in this businesse doth expressely testifie After this in the yeare MCLXXI the King himselfe came hither in person where the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland received him for their KING and Lord. The King saith Iohn Brampton received letters from every Archbishop and Bishop with their seales hanging upon them in the maner of an Indenture confirming the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres and bearing witnesse that they in Ireland had ordayned him and his heyres to be their KINGS and Lords for ever At Waterford saith Roger Hoveden all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England and received him for KING and Lord of Ireland swearing fealtie to him and to his heyres and power to raigne over them for ever and hereof they gave him their Instruments The Kings also and Princes of Ireland by the example of the clergie did in like maner receive Henry King of England for Lord and KING of Ireland and became his men or did him homage and swore fealtie to him and his heyres against all men These things were presently after confirmed in the Nationall Synod held at Casshell the Actes whereof in Giraldus Cambrensis are thus concluded For it is fit and most meet that as Ireland by Gods appointment hath gotten a Lord and a KING from England so also they should from thence receive a better forme of living King Henry also at the same time sent a transcript of the Instruments of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland unto Pope Alexander who by his Apostolicall authoritie for so was it in those dayes of darkenesse esteemed to be did confirme the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres according to the forme of the Instruments of the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland and made them KINGS thereof for ever The King also obtained further from Pope Alexander that it might be lawfull for him to make which of his sonnes he pleased KING of Ireland and to crowne him accordingly and to subdue the Kings and great ones of that land vvhich would not subject themselves unto him Whereupon in a graund Councell held at Oxford in the yeare of our Lord MCLXXVII before the Bishops and Peeres of the kingdome he constituted his sonne Iohn KING of Ireland according to
Secondly I must crave leave to say that I find not Popery how subtill or sophisticall soever it be to be of anie such puissance but that a man of meane learning armed with the strength of the divine Scriptures may easily ruinate and overturne it Thirdly those that oppugne the Religion His Majesties Supremacie what doe they else but oppugne therewithall as they must needs at least inclusively the Lawes and Statutes of the Kingdome whereby they are both established And what reason then can bee shewed why hee that is a Lawyer by profession may not defend and maintaine the Lawes and Statutes of the Realme in those two great points especially wherein they be so unjustly and causelessely oppugned But when I consider my selfe further to be a servant though unworthy to his most excellent Majestie and that in so high and eminent a Court as His Maiesties Bench is beside my profession the duetie of my place also tyeth mee to defend his Maiesties Supremacie as being a thing properly appâ—rtayning to his verie Crowne and Regall dignitie And doth not moreover the Oath of Supremacy to His Majestie which I have taken necessarily binde mee hereunto Yea even for this verie cause that I am a subiect to his Maiestie though there were no other reason doe I hold my selfe in duetie tyed to my power to uphold and maintain that his Regall Supremacie For if everie good childe will maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Father and everie good servant the right and Authoritie of his Lord and Master ought not everie good subiect to maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Soveraigne Lord and King And as touching the Religion if there were no other reason but this that I am a Christian by profession though no professed Divine doe I hold it for that verie cause not onely well beseeming mee but my duetie likewise according to such measure of knowledge and abilitie as God hath given mee to defend and maintaine the true and Christian Religion I professe against that which is untruly called the Christian and Catholike and is indeed the false erroneous and Antichristian For whereas some have a conceit that not Lay men at all but Clergie men only and such as be of the Ecclesiastical Ministerie should meddle with the Scriptures and matters of Religion it appeareth to be a verie vaine conceit and an untrue opinion because S. Paul directly requireth even of Lay Christians as well as of others that the Word of Christ should Dwell in them and that not poorely or in a small or slender measure but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is richly plentifully or abundantly Whereupon Primasius saith that Hence wee learne that the Lay people ought to have the knowledge of the Scriptures and to teach one another not onely sufficiently but also abundantly And therefore are they further expressely charged to admonish exhort and edifie one another yea to contend and not onely to contend but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnestly to contend for that faith which was once given unto the Saints And doth not God himselfe also command thus Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but Thou shalt in anie wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sinne to be upon him Agreeably wherunto would not S. Iames likewise have all Christians to labour the conversion of such as be in error and goe astray telling them for their better encouragement in this matter that if any doe erre from the truth and another convert him let such a one know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soule from death and cover a multitude of sinnes You see then what duties in respect of the good of others as well as of himselfe be required even of a lay person in matters concerning God and his religion And indeede verie strange it were if lay Christians should be tyed in charitie to take care of mens bodies and yet should in no sort be permitted to have anie care or to shew anie Christian charitie or affection in respect of their soules and the good and safetie of them It is true that no man may take upon him the office and function of Bishops Pastors or other Ministers of the Word without a lawfull calling or ordination first had and obtayned but although a lay man may not therfore preach minister the sacraments nor do anie such acts as be proper and peculiar to those that be Ecclesiasticall Ministers yet in such things as be not proper and peculiar unto them but be acts and duties common with them to other Christians a Lay man may lawfully intermeddle It is likewise true that the knowledge of Gods Word and consequently of Divinitie doth in a more exact and more plentiful and fuller maner and measure and chiefly belong to those that be professed Divines and of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery but thereupon it followeth not that therefore it belongeth onely to them As also although those of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery are to teach and instruct the Lay people out of the Scriptures and that the Lay people are to learne what they rightly teach from thence yet neither doth it thereupon follow nor is that anie argument or impediment but that the Lay people may neverthelesse reade and get knowledge in the Scriptures and thereout learne what good they can also even by their owne industry diligence and endevour We reade of Aquila and Priscilla his wife that they were by their Trade Tentmakers and that Apollos was a man eloquent and mightie in the Scriptureâ— yet so skilfull learned expert were those two nameâ—ly not onely Aquila but Priscilla also his wife in the Word of God as that they tooke unto them the same Apollos and expounded unto him The Way of God more perfectly All men know that Kings Princes and such like civill Magistrates be none of that Order of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery and yet of them it is specially required that they reade the Scriptures Book of God and that they be verie diligent and conversant in it For God expressely requireth of a King that When hee shall sit upon the Throne of his Kingdome He get him the Book of his Law and chargeth him to reade therein all the Dayes of his Life that he may learne to feare the Lord his God and to Keepe All his Words and ordinances not turning from them eyther to the right hand or to the left That so he may prolong his Dayes in his Kingdome Hee and his Sonnes after him And to Iosuah a civill Magiâ—â—â—ate hee likewise giveth this charge and commandement saying Let not This Booke of the Law depart out of thy mouth but Meditate therein Day and Night that thou maist Observe and Doe according to All that is written therein for then shalt thou make thy Way prosperous and then shalt thou have good successe Was not the Treasurer to Candace Queene of the Ethiopians also a Lay man and not
yee cannot so much as shew the points of your religion wherein yee differ from us by the testimonie of the sacred and Canonicall Scriptures to have beene in the Apostles times and taught or approved by them as wee can doe ours And as touching Perpetuitie your Church hath it not but ours verie clearely hath it as having beene not onely in the times of the Apostles but in all succeeding ages also and posterities as is before sufficiently and plainely declared in the first part of this booke Chap. 2. For the true Church is builded upon so strong and invincible a Rocke namely upon Christ Iesus himselfe whom Peter confessed as that the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it If all the power of hell and divels as is here manifest cannot prevaile against the Church of God that is the companie of Gods Elect and the number of his true and right Worshippers It is evident that this Church that is a companie of right and true worshippers of him must be granted to be perpetuall and to have continued throughout all ages and generations especially considering what God himselfe further speaketh saying thus I will makâ— this my covenant with them my spirit that is vpon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy Seede nor out of the mouth of thy Seedes seede saith the Lord from henceforth even for ever Yea that our Church was in Esse and had continuance even during the hottest rage of the raigne of that Romish Antichrist besides all other arguments this is a manifest one namely because the Popish Church still molested pursued and persecuted our Church under the names of Berengarians VValdenses Albigenses VVickâ—evists Lutherans Calvinists Lollards Heretickes Scismatickes and such like And yet very true it is that such may be sometime in some place the state of the Church by reason of rageing persecution against it as that even a right godly man and true worshipper of God may thinke himselfe to bee left alone without anie followers or copartners with him there in the right service of God As for example Elias complained in his time and of that place where he then lived that hee was left alone and That they sought to take avvay his life also And yet for all that was not Elias left alone although he so supposed and spake for God told him that he had even there namely in Israell where Elias then was reserved unto himselfe Seven thousand right worshippers of him which had not bowed their knee to Baal If the Companie of Gods chosen Church and elect people and right Worshippers of him be as is here evident sometime in some place unknowne even to a right godly man and Prophet of God no marvell is it though they sometimes lye hid and be unknowne to their enemies and persecutors to whose devowring pawes and bloodie hands without urgent cause they had no reason to shew themselves It is therfore no good argument which Papists make when they say that at some times during the raigne of Poperie they neither saw nor knew nor could heare of anie Protestants for if it were so as they say that they could finde none nor knew of anie at sometimes yet even then might there bee and were there also some such true and right worshippers of God albeit they lay hid from them and kept themselves as they had reason from their knowledge and mercilesse crueltie The reason then which they make against the continuance and perpetuitie of our Church because it was not as they say at all times seene of the world nor had their exercises of Religion at all and singular times publikely knowne to the world appeareth to be verie idle and of no force As for the answer which the Rhemists make to the former complaint of Eâ—ias that the faithful in his time were forced to keep close by reason of the persecution of Achab Iesabel which was onely in the Kingdome of the ten Tribes that is in Israell and yet neverthelesse that at the verie same time in Ierusalem and in all the Kingdome of Iudah the externall worship and profession of faith was openly observed well known even to Elias himselfe Admit all this were true which is not proved yet what will they then say to this that the Church at other times hath beene so hidden that there was no open or publike exercise of Religion to be sâ—ene no not in Iuda or Ierusalem it selfe no more then in those ten Tribes of Israell as namely in the daies of Ahas the sonne of Iotham King â—f Iuda of whom it is said that hee walked in the way of the Kings of Israâ—ll yea and made his Sonne to goe through the fire after the abhominations of the Heathen and in whose time the Altar of God was removed and an Idolatrous altar by the high Priests consent 〈…〉 Yea in the daies also of Hoseah King of Israell it is testified that not onely Israell but Iuda also kept not the Commandements of the Lord their God but walked according to the fashion of Israel vvhich they vsed How was the Church then visible in that sort and sense that wee speake of that is to say was it such a Church as had publike exercises of Gods religion splendently seene and openly apparant to the world Againe in the daies of Manasseth King of Iuda when Hee did evill in the sight of the Lord after the abhomination of the Heathen and erected altars for Baall and worshipped all the hoast of heaven and served them and when hee also built Idolatrous altars in the house of the Lord yea when it was recorded that this King Manasseh led the people out of the way to doe more wickedly then did the heathen and made Iuda also sinne vvith his Idols I say when Iuda became thus corrupted and Idolatrous aswell as Israell Had then the Church her outward practise of Religion according to Gods commandement and appointment to bee openly seene of the world And was it not so likewise in the daies of Amon King of Iuda Sonne and successor to Manasseh vvho did evill in the sight of the Lord as his father Manasseh did for he walked in all the waies his father walked in and served the Idols that his father served and worshipped them Thus you see that the Church of God was sometimes not openly seene but lay hidden and that as well in Iuda and Ierusalem as in the ten Tribes But perceiving this Church of Iuda and Israell to make against them then they flie to another devise and say that the Christian Church hath better promises then the Church of the Iewes Howbeit they can shew none as touching this point better for the one then for the other Yea for the Church of the Ievves to continue untill the first comming of Christ there be as strong as good promises to be seene as for
White field among whom there was contention about the order of Easter For Lasreanus the Abbot of the monastery of Leighlin unto whom there were subject a thousand and five hundred monkes defended the new order that lately came from Rome but others defended the old This Lasreanus or Lazerianus is the man who in other Legends of no greater credite then this wee now have in hand is reported to have beene the Bishop of Romes legat in Ireland and is commonly accounted to have beene the first Bishop of the Church of Leighlin His principall antagonist at this meeting was one Munna founder of the monastery which from him was called Teach-munna that is the house of Munna in the Bishoprick of Meath who would needs bring this question to the same kinde of triall here that Augustin is said to have done in England In defence of the Roman order Bede telleth us that Augustin made this motion to the Brittish Bishops for a finall conclusion of the businesse Let us beseech God which maketh men to dwell of one minde together in their fathers house that he will vouchsafe by some heavenly signs to make known unto us what traditiō is to be followed by what way we may hasten to the entry of his kingdome Let some sick man be brought hither and by whose prayers he shall be cured let his faith and working be beleeved to be acceptable unto God and to be followed by all men Now Munna who stood in defence of the order formerly used by the Brittish and Irish maketh a more liberall proffer in this kinde and leaveth Lasreanus to his choyce Let us dispute briefely saith he but in the name of God let us give judgement Three things are given to thy choyce Lasreanus Two bookes shall be cast into the fire a booke of the old order and of the new that wee may see whether of them both shall be freed from the fire Or let two Monkes one of mine and another of thine be shut up into one house and let the house be burnt and wee shall see which of them will escape untouched of the fire Or let us goe unto the grave of a just Monke that is dead and rayse him up againe and let him tell us after what order we ought to celebrate Easter this yeare But Lasreanus being wiser then so refused to put so great a matter to that hazzard and therefore returned this grave answer unto Munna if all be true that is in the Legend We will not goe unto thy judgement because we know that for the greatnesse of thy labour and holinesse if thou shouldest bid that mount Marge should be changed into the place of the White field and the White field into the place of mount Marge God vvould presently doe this for thy sake So prodigall doe some make God to be of miracles and in a maner carelesse how they should fall as if in the dispensing of them he did respect the gracing of persons rather then of causes In what yeare this Councell of the White field was held is not certainly known nor yet whether S. Munna be that whited wall of whom we heard Cummianus complaine The Synod of Strenshalch before mentioned was assembled long after at Whitby called by the Saxons Streanesheale in Yorkeshire the yeare of our Lord DCLXIIII for the decision of the same question Concerning which in the life of Wilfrid written at the commandement of Acca who in the time of Bede was Bishop of Hangustald or Hexham in Northumberland we reade thus Vpon a certaine time in the dayes of Colman metropolitan Bishop of the citie of Yorke Oswi and Alhfrid his sonne being Kings the Abbots and Priests and all the degrees of Ecclesiasticall orders meeting together at the monastery which is called Streaneshel in the presence of Hilde the most godly mother of that abbay in presence also of the Kings and the two Bishops Colman Aegelberht inquiry was made touching the observatiō of Easter what was most right to be held whether Easter should be kept according to the custome of the Brittons and the Scottes and all the Northren part upon the Lords day that came from the XIIII day of the Moone untill the XX. or whether it were better that Easter Sonday should be celebrated from the XV. day of the Moone untill the XXI after the maner of the See Apostolick Time was given unto Bishop Colman in the first place as it vvas fit to deliver his reason in the audience of all Who with an undaunted minde made his answer and sayd Our fathers and their predecessors who were manifestly inspired by the holy Ghost as Columkille was did ordayne that Easter should be celebrated upon the Lords day that fell upon the XIIII Moone following the example of Iohn the Apostle and Evangelist who leaned upon the brest of our Lord at his last Supper and was called the lover of the Lord. He celebrated Easter upon the XIIII day of the Moone and we with the same confidence celebrate the same as his disciples Polycarpus and others did neyther dare we for our parts neyther will we change this Bede relateth his speech thus This Easter which I use to observe I received from my elders who did send me Bishop hither which all our fathers men beloved of God are knowne to have celebrated after the same maner Which that it may not seeme unto any to be contemned and rejected it is the same which the blessed Evangelist Iohn the disciple specially beloved by our Lord with all the Churches which he did oversee is read to have celebrated Fridegodus who wrote the life of Wilfride at the command of Odo archbishop of Canterbury expresseth the same in verse after this maner Nos seriem patriam non frivola scripta tenemus Discipulo eusebij Polycarpo dante Iohannis Ille etenim bis septenae sub tempore Phaebae Sanctum praefixit nobis fore Pascha colendum Atque nefas dixit si quis contraria sentit On the contrarie side Wilfride objected unto Colman and his clerkes of Ireland that they with their complices the Pictes and the Brittons out of the two utmost Iles and those not whole neyther did with a foolish labour fight against the whole world And if that Columb of yours saith he yea and ours also if he were Christs was holy and powerfull in vertues could he be preferred before the most blessed prince of the Apostles unto vvhom the Lord said Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevayle against it and I will give unto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heaven Which last words wrought much upon the simplicitie of King Oswy who feared that when he should come to the doors of the kingdome of heaven there would be none to open if he were displeased who was proved to keepe the keyes but prevayled nothing with Bishop Colman who
dissented from the Church of Rome in the celebration of Easter and manie other things made no scruple to prefixe this loving respectfull superscription to their letters To our Lords and most deare brethren the Bishops or Abbots throughout all Scotland Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus Bishops the servants of the servants of God For howsoever Ireland at that time received not the same lawes wherewith other nations were governed yet it so flourished in the vigour of Christian doctrine as Abbot Ionas testifieth that it exceeded the faith of all the neighbour nations in that respect was generally had in honour by them It now remaineth that in the last place we should consider the Popes power in disposing the temporall state of this kingdome which either directly or indirectly by hook or by crook this graund Usurper would draw unto himselfe First therefore Cardinall Allen would have us to know that the Sea Apostolick hath an old claime unto the soverainty of the countrey of Ireland and that before the covenants passed betweene king Iohn and the same Sea Which challenges saith hee Princes commonly yeeld not up by what ground so ever they come What Princes use to yeeld or not yeeld I leave to the skanning of those unto whom Princes matters doe belong for the Cardinalls Prince I dare be bold to say that if it be not his use to play fast and loose with other Princes the matter is not now to do whatsoever right he could pretend to the temporall state of Ireland he hath transferred it more then once unto the Kings of England and when the ground of his clayme shall be looked into it will be found so frivolous and so ridiculous that wee need not care three chippes whether he yeeld it up or keep it to himselfe For whatsoever become of his idle challenges the Crowne of England hath otherwise obtained an undoubted right unto the soveraintie of this countrey partly by Conquest prosecuted at first upon occasion of a Sociall warre parâ—ly by the severall submissions of the chieftaines of the land made afterwards For whereas it is free for all men although they have beene formerly quitt from all subjection to renounce their owne right yet now in these our dayes saith Giraldus Cambrensis in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland all the Princes of Ireland did voluntarily submitt and binde themselves with firme bonds of faith and oath unto Henry the second King of England The like might be said of the generall submissions made in the dayes of King Richard the second and King Henry the eighth to speake nothing of the prescription of diverse hundreds of yeares possession which was the plea that Iephte used to the Ammonites and is indeed the best evidence that the Bishop of Romes owne proctors doe produce for their Masters right to Rome it selfe For the Popes direct dominion over Ireland two titles are brought forth beside those covenants of King Iohn mentioned by Allen which hee that hath anie understanding in our state knoweth to be clearly void and worth nothing The one is taken from a speciall grant supposed to be made by the inhabitants of the countrey at the time of their first conversion unto Christianity the other from a right which the Pope challengeth unto himselfe over all Ilands in generall The former of these was devised of late by an Italian in the raigne of King Henry the eighth the later was found out in the dayes of King Henry the second before whose time not one footsteppe doth appeare in all antiquitie of anie clayme that the Bishop of Rome should make to the dominion of Ireland no not in the Popes owne records which have beene curiously searched by Nicolaus Arragonius and other ministers of his who have purposely written of the particulars of his temporall estate The Italian of whom I spake is Polydore Vergil he that composed the booke De inventoribus rerum of the first Inventers of things among whom he himselfe may challenge a place for this invention if the Inventers of lyes be admitted to have anie roome in that companie This man being sent over by the Pope into England for the collecting of his Peter-pence undertook the writing of the Historie of that nation wherein he forgatt not by the way to doe the best service hee could to his Lord that had imployed him thither There he telleth an idle tale how the Irish being moved to accept Henry the second for their King did deny that this could be done otherwise then by the Bishop of Romes authority because forsooth that from the very beginning after they had accepted Christian religion they had yeelded themselves and all that they had into his power and they did constantly affirme saith this fabler that they had no other Lord beside the Pope of which also they yet do bragge The Italian is followed herein by two Englishmen that wished the Popes advancement as much as he Edmund Campian and Nicholas Sanders the one whereof writeth that immediatly after Christianitie planted here the whole Iland with one consent gave themselves noâ— only into the spirituall but also into the temporall Iurisdiction of the See of Rome the other in Polydores own words though he name him not that the Irish from the beginning presently after they had received Christian religion gave up themselves and all that they had into the power of the Bishop of Rome and that untill the time of King Henry the second they did acknowledge no other supreme Prince of Ireland beside the Bishop of Rome alone For confutation of which dreame we need not have recourse to our owne Chronicles the Bull of Adrian the fourth wherein he giveth libertie to King Henry the second to enter upon Ireland sufficiently discovereth the vanitie thereof For hee there shewing what right the Church of Rome pretended unto Ireland maketh no mention at all of this which had beene the fairest and clearest title that could be alledged if anie such had beene then existent in rerum natura but is faine to flie unto a farre fetcht interest which he saith the Church of Rome hath unto all Christian Ilands Truly saith he to the King there is no doubt but that all Ilands unto which Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse hath shined and which have received the instructions of the Christian faith doe pertaine to the right of Sainct Peter and the holy Church of Rome which your Noblenesse also doth acknowledge If you would further understand the ground of this strange clayme whereby all Christian Ilands at a clap are challenged to be parcell of S. Peters patrimonie you shall have it from Iohannes Sarisburiensis who was most inward with Pope Adrian and obtayned from him this verie grant whereof now wee are speaking At my request saith he he granted Ireland to the illustrious King of England Henry the second and gave it to be possessed by right of inheritance as his owne
by making lawes for Christ but they may also command and externally compell their subiects if they stubbornly be Reâ—â—sants and wilfull to become obedient in that behalfe For so did the godly and religious Kings of Iudah as for example King Asa King Manasseth and king Iosiah The Donatists were the first that denied this authoritie of Kings in matters Ecclesiasticall Against whom therefore S. Augustine disputeth at large in sundry places VVhy doe the Donatists saith he acknowledge the force of the laws to be iustly executed against other malefactors and deny the same to be done against heretickes and schismaticks seeing that by the authoritie of the Apostle they be alike reckoned with the same fruits of iniquity yea if a King should not regard such things why then saith he doth he beare the sword Againe hee saith Mirantur quia commoventur potestates Christianae adversus detestandos dissipatores Ecclesiae Si non ergo moverentur quo modo redderent rationem de Imperio suâ— Deo They marvaile that these Christian Powers be moved against the detestable wasters of the Church If they should not be moved against such how should they render an account to God of their rule or governement Thinkest thou saith he to Vincentius that no man ought to be forced to righteousnesse vvhen as thou readest that the Master said unto his servant Compell all that you finde to come in c. Where is now saith he to Bonifacius that vvhich these Donatists harpe at so much viz. That it is free for a man to beleeve or not to beleeve what violence did Christ use whom did hee compell Behold Paul for an example Let them marke in him first Christ compelling and afterward teaching first striking and then comforting Let them not mislike that they be forced but examine whereto they be sorted And cyting that part of the second Psalme Be vvise ye kings understand yee that iudge the earth Serve the Lord in feare hee saith thus How doe kings serve the Lord in feare but when they forbid and punish vvith a religious severitie those things which be done against the commandements of God As Ezechias did serve him by destroying the groves and Temples builded against the precept of God As Iosiah did in like maner As the king of Nineveh also did forcing the vvhole City to please God As Nebuchadnezar likewise did restraining all his subiects from blaspheming God with a dreadfull law 3 As for the reason of Gaudentius that the peace of Christ invited such as were willing but forced no man unwilling the same S. Augustine again answereth it speaketh on this manner VVhere you thinke saith he that none must be forced to truth against their wils you be deceived not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God vvhich maketh them willing afterward vvhich were unwilling at the first Did the Ninivites repent against their will because they did it at the compulsion of their king VVhat needed the kings expresse commandement that all should humbly submit themselves to God but that there were some amongst them vvhich never vvould have regarded nor beleeved Gods message had they not beene terrified by the kings Edict This princely power and authoritie giveth many men occasion to be saved vvhich though they vvere violently brought to the feast of the great Housholder yet being once compelled to come in they finde there good cause to reioyce that they did enter though at first against their wills And when Petilian also obiected that no man ought to be forced by lawes to godlinesse S. Augustine still answereth and saith Preposterous vvere discipline to revenge your ill living but vvhen you first contemne the doctrine that teacheth you to live vvell And even those that make lawes to bridle your headinesse are they not they that beare the sword as Paul speaketh not in vaine being Gods ministers and executors of wrath on him that doth ill Yea S. Augustine teacheth further directly that it is the office dutie of Kings and Princes to compell their subiects although not to faith yet to the outward meanes of faith which is comming to the Churches and assemblies of Gods people there to heare the word of God read and preached and to doe other Christian dueties there used For howsoever it be granted that God only worketh faith in mens soules and not Men nor the power of Kings yet thereupon it followeth not but that Kings may neverthelesse command and compell them to external obedience and cause them to present their bodies in those Churches and assemblies where the ordinarie meanes of faith and salvation is to be had And as for Gods inward working upon their soules and his blessing upon that outward meanes when they be in those Assemblies Kings and Princes doe and must leave those things unto God alone as being things not included within their power to give nor within the power of anie earthly creature whosoever Some of the Donatists in ancient time rather then they would be forced from their fancies were so wilful unnaturall and impious as that they slew themselves yet did this nothing hinder the Church of God but that Donatists for all that were compelled by vertue of Princes lawes to their due obedience without anie respect or regard had to such their wicked and desperate doings I vvas once so minded saith S. Augustine that I thought no man ought to be forced to Christian unity but that vvee should deale by perswasion strive by disputing and conquer by reasoning lest they proved dissembling Catholickes vvhom we know to be professed Heretickes But afterward as himselfe sheweth he altered this opinion upon better advisement teaching That as it is fit that men that be in error touching Religion should be admonished instructed and dealt withall by perswasion so if they neglect scorne or contemne admonitions and instructions or doe grow wilfull stubborne perverse and obstinate upon no ground of reason they are iustly worthie to be punished according to the lawes For what a vaine idle thing is it for anie to say It is against their conscience to come to our Churches there to heare Gods word read and preached to pray unto God with us to thanke him for all his benefites to be present and partakers of his Sacraments and of other godly and religious exercises there used and yet can shew no reason at all for this their doing A blinde conscience such as this and every other is that hath not anie good reason to shew for it selfe is to be corrected and reformed and not to be followed And therfore doth S. Augustine yet further say expresly touching this matter That it is enioyned Kings from God ut in Regno suo bona iubeant mala prohibeant non solum quae ad humanam societatem pertinent verum etiam quae ad Divinam Religionem that in their Kingdomes they should command good
the second at Constantinople was called by Theodosius the elder the third at Ephesus by Theodosius the yonger the fourth at Calcedon by Valentinian and Martian And this is so manifest a truth that Cardinall Cusanus confesseth and affirmeth that the first eight generall Councells were called by the Emperors And so also witnesseth Socrates that Since Emperors became Christians the businesses of the Church have seemed to depend upon their vvill and therefore the greatest Councels saith he have beene and still are called by their appointment But here Bellarmine steppeth in and would perswade that howsoever Emperors did call Councels yet it was done authoritate Papae by authoritie of the Pope A verie strange assertion and untrue for even Leo himselfe Bishop of Rome in his time made supplication to the then Emperor Theodosius the yonger Supplicationi nostrae dignetur aâ—nuere That hee vvould be pleased to yeeld to his Supplication for the calling of a Councell in Italy But the Emperor for all that contrarie to the Popes will and desire and notwithstanding that his humble petition caused the Councell to bee called and assembled not in Italy as the Pope desired but at Ephesus Afterward againe the same Leo Bishop of Rome made a second supplication alledging withall the sighes and teares of all the Clergie for the obtayning of a Councell in Italy He sollicited the Princesse Pulcheria to further his supplication to the Emperor He wrote to the Nobles Clergie and people of Constantinople to make the like supplication to the Emperor and yet for all this he could not obtaine it this second time neither For although then a Councel were granted yet it was not in Italy as the Pope would have had it but at Calcedon It is then more then manifest by this example of Leo that Councels in those times were assembled and convocated not by the commandement and authoritie of the Popes but of Emperors Yea by the subscription also to those constitutions you may further discerne that the Pope in those times had no authoritie to command the Emperor but contrariwise the Emperor had to command the Pope for thus saith the same Leo to the then Emperor Because saith he I must by all meanes obey your sacred and religious vvill I have set downe my consent in writing to those Constitutions If then there were no other evidences or proofes doe not these three former examples viz. of Miltiades Leo and Gregory all Bishops of Rome in their severall times make plaine demonstration and openly proclaime to the world that in those dayes the Bishops of Rome were without all question or contradiction inferior obedient and subiect to the Emperors and not superior to them But yet further ye know that King Solomon removed the high Priest Abiathar and put Zadoc in his place The Emperor Theodosius the elder did likewise nominate and appoint Nectarius to be Bishop of Constantinople Honorius also appointed Boniface to be Bishop of Rome And other Emperors did the like Is it not then lawfull for King IAMES our Soveraigne Lord likewise to nominate appoint a Bishop of a Diocesse or Province and upon iust cause againe to remove and displace him For as touching the sacration or consecration of Bishops or other Minister ecclesiasticall otherwise called the ordination of them by imposition of hands the King medleth not but leaveth those kind of Acts to be done by Bishops and such to whom they belong Yea King VVilliam Rufus likewise in his dayes nominated appointed Anselmus to be Archbishop of Canterburie And before him King VVilliam the Conqueror used the like authority nominating and appointing Lanfrancus to be the Archbishop as is also testified by the same Author And even before the Conquest King Edward the Confessor appointed one Robert first Bishop of London and afterward an Archbishop And before that King Alfred nominated and appointed Asserio Bishop of Sherborne and Denewulfus Bishop of Winchester And more then 200. yeres before that Edelwalk King of the South Saxons appointed VVilfred to an Episcopall Sea Grantzius speaking of the ancient times saith thus The Emperor placed a Bishop in Monster And mervaile not saith he that a Bishop vvas appointed by the Emperor for this vvas the Custome of those times vvhen Emperors had power to place and displace Popes And further he saith That vvhomsoever the Prince did nominate that man vvas to be consecrated a Bishop by the next adioyning Bishops And he addeth further That concerning this Iurisdiction there vvas a long contention betweene the Papacy and the Empire This vvas the Iurisdiction vvhich the Two Henries the father and the sonne and vvhich the Two Fredericks likewise the grandfather and the grandchilde sought long to Defend and maintaine but the sword of the Church saith he prevayled and forced the Emperors to relinquish their right to the Church Thus you see how namely That partly by fraude and partly by force the Popes after much striving and contending prevayled at last against the Emperors and made them to loose their rights And therefore worthily is that Statute which giveth these rights againe to our Kings and Princes entituled An Act restoring to the Crowne the ancient Iurisdiction over the state Ecclesiasticall and Spirituall and abolishing all forraine power repugnant to the same The premisses then well and advisedly considered what is there in all the authoritie concerning Ecclesiasticall causes attributed or belonging to the King that can iustly offend anie of you For I doubt not but such authorities in Ecclesiasticall causes as were in ancient time yeelded to the godly Kings of Iudah or unto the godly Christian Emperors yee will well allow as in all right and reason ye ought unto Christian kings Princes within their dominions And amongst the rest of their rights and authorities this also was one that the Emperors approved ratified and confirmed even the Constitutions and Decrees of Councels before they were promulged or put in execution For so did Constantine that Christian Emperor confirme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Decrees of the Councell Againe Rogamus clementiam tuam saith the Councell to the Emperor Theodosius ut per Literas tuae pietatis ratum esse Iubeas confirmesque Concilij Decretum Wee beseech your clemencie that by your Letters you will ratifie and confirme the Decree of the Councell Sacro nostrae Serenitatis Edicto saith also Martian the Emperor venerandam Synodam confirmamus We by the sacred Edict of our Serenity doe confirme the reverend Synod This then is a right which must likewise be acknowledged due and to belong to King IAMES our Soveraigne Lord. What obiection then or exception can be taken against his Maiesties Supremacie in any point or why should not all his subiects most readily and willingly acknowledge it and in testimonie thereof take the Oath concerning the same whensoever they bee thereunto lawfully required For if anie suppose as
some have done that the King is therein called Supreme head of the Church they are deceived The words of the Oath at this day to take away all offence that any might conceive in that point being not supreme HEAD but supreme GOVERNOR And as touching this Title of Governor within his owne Dominions none can with anie reason gainesay it inasmuch as beside that which is before spoken King Alfred reigning long sithence was likewise called Omnium Britanniae Insulae Christianorum Rector The Governor of all the Christians vvithin the Isle of Britanny The Councell also held at Mentz in Germanie the yeare 814 in the time of the Emperor Charles the great and Pope Leo the third calleth likewise the Christian Emperor Carolus Augustus Governor of the True Religion and Defendor of the holy Church of God c. And a little after they say thus VVee give thankes to God the Father almighty because he hath granted unto his holy Church a Governor so godly c. In the yeare 847. there was also held another Councel at Mentz in the time of Leo the fourth and Lotharius the Emperor where they againe call the Emperor Verae Religionis strenuissimum rectorem a most puissant Governor of the true Religion The like was ascribed to King Reccesumthius in a Councell held at Emerita in Portugale about the yeare 705 in these words VVhose vigilancie doth governe both secular things vvith very great piety and ecclesiasticall by his vvisedome plentifully given him of God Where you see it expressely acknowledged that the King is a Governor both in causes secular and ecclesiasticall And this Councell of Emerita had also good allowance of Pope Innocent the third in his Epistle to Peter Archbishop of Compostella as Garsias witnesseth So that the Title of Governor even as touching matters ecclesiasticall as well as civill or secular attributed to the King he governing in them after a Regall manner and not in that Ecclesiasticall manner which Bishops and Clergie men use can no way justly be misliked but must in all reason be well approved and allowed Howbeit I grant that King Henry the eight and King Edward the sixt had that Title of Head in their times given unto them but not of the universal Church upon earth as the Pope hath but of the Church onely within their owne Dominions and not within their owne Dominions neither in such sort and sense as the Pope taketh upon him to be Head over all the Churches in the world that is to rule and governe them at his own pleasure and as he lift himselfe Indeed Stephen Gardner Bishop of Winchester when he was in Germanie upon the Kings affaires was there a very ill Interpretor of that Title Supreme head of the Church vvithin his owne Dominions given to King Henry the eight reporting that the King might thereby prescribe and appoint new ordinances in the Church concerning faith and doctrine as namely forbid the marriage of Priests and take away the use of the Cup in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and in things concerning Religion might do what he listed This manner of declaring the Kings power and authoritie under that Title did so much offend the reformed Churches that Calvin and the writers of the Centuries did complaine of it and that iustly and worthily bearing that sense but in no other sort or sense did they dislike it Yea even that Title of Supreme head being rightly understood needed not to have offended anie for they had iâ— in no other sort or sense then the King of Israel likewise had the title of Head of the Tribes of Israel of which Tribes the Leviticall Tribe was one Or then Theodosius that Christian Emperor had the like within his Empire of whom Saint Chrysostome saith that non habet parem super terram He hath no peere or equall upon earth and affirmeth moreover of him that hee was summitas Caput omnium super terram hominum the Head and one that had the Supremacy over all men upon earth Yea by the Title of supreme Head attributed to King Henry the eight and King Edward the sixt was no more meant but the verie same that was afterward meant to the late Queene Elizabeth of blessed memorie or to King Iames our now Soveraigne Lord under the title of Supreme Governor for that they are both to be taken intended in one the selfe same sense is verie manifest even by a direct clause in an Act of Parliament viz. the Statute of 5. Eliz. cap. 1. in which also is declared how the Oath of Supremacie is to be expounded And the words of that Statute be these Provided also that the Oath viz of Supremacie expressed in the said Act made in the said first yeare of her raigne shall be taken and expounded in such forme as is set forth in an Admonition annexed to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions published in the same first yeare of her Maiesties raigne that is to say to confesse and acknowledge in her Maiestie her heyres and successors none other authoritie then that vvhich vvas challenged and lately used by the noble king Henry the eight and king Edward the sixt as in the said Admonition more plainly may appeare Where first you may observe the Authoritie attributed to King Henry the eight and to King Edward the sixt and to Queene Elizabeth as touching this point intended and declared to be all one And secondly you see it enacted how the Oath of Supremacy is to bee expounded namely that it is to be taken expounded in such forme as is set forth in an Admonition annexed to the Queens Majesties Iniunctions published in the same first yeare of her Raigne The words of which Admonition therefore as more amply conteyning the explanation of the same Oath I have here thought good to adde for your better and most full satisfaction in this matter The Title whereof is this An Admonition to simple men deceived by the malicious HEr Maiesty forbiddeth all her subiects to give eare or credite to such perverse and malicious persons vvhich most sinisterly and maliciously labour to notifie to her loving subiects how by the vvordes of the Oath of Supremacy it may be collected that the Kings or Queenes of this Realme possessioners of the Crowne may challenge authoritie and power of Ministery of Divine offices in the Church vvherein her said subiects be much abused by such evill disposed persons for certainly her Maiestie neyther doth nor ever vvill challenge any other authority then that vvhich vvas of ancient time due to the Imperiall Crowne of this Realme that is to say under God to have the Soveraignety and rule over all maner of Persons borne vvithin these her Maiesties Dominions and Countries of vvhat estate eyther Ecclesiasticall or Temporall soever they be So as no forraine Power shall or ought to have any superioritie over them And if any person that hath conceived any other sense of the
signes or vvonders wee say that those which were done by Christ and his Apostles and in those ancient and primitive Churches be sufficient for the confirmation of that most ancient primitive Christian and Apostolicke faith and religion conteined in the booke of God which wee professe Yea now in these daies saith S. Chrysostome the vvorking of miracles is ceased and they be rather counterfeit miracles saith he vvhich be found amongst them that be false Christians Againe he saith There be some that aske vvhy men vvorke not miracles novv in these dayes If thou bee beleeving saith he as thou oughtest to be and if thou lovest Christ as he should be loved thou needest no miracles for signes be given to unbeleevers and not to beleevers Againe S. Cyrill saith that to vvorke miracles maketh not a man one iot the more holy seing it is common to evill men and to such as he obiects or reprobates For so the Lord himselfe witnesseth saying Manie shall say unto mee in that day Lord Lord have not vvee prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out divels in thy name done manie great vvorks And yet will he neverthelesse professe unto them I never knevv you depart from me ye vvorkers of iniquitie And on the other side working of no miracles hindereth not a mans holinesse for Iohn wrought neither signe nor miracle and yet was this no derogation to his holinesse for amongst them that are borne of vvomen arose there not a greater then hee as Christ himselfe testifieth Yea that miracles signes or wonders may be done by false Prophets and false teachers is further manifest for even Christ himselfe saith that There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and they shall shevv great signes and vvonders so that if is vvere possible they should deceive the very Elect. S. Paul also directlie testifieth that in the Antichristian Church there shall be the vvorking of Sathan vvith all power and signes and lying VVonders Which saith S. Augustine be called lying signes and VVonders for this cause that either mens senses be deceived thinking that to be done which revera is not done or else because if they be done in deed they draw men to beleeve that they could not be done but by the power of God whereas they know not the power of the Divell For S. Iohn in the Revelation mentioneth spirits of Divels vvorking Miracles to deceive those that be of the Antichristian Church By all this then you see that the Miracles wrought in Poperie be no argument or proofe that therfore it is the right or true Church or that the Teachers therein be the right and true Teachers for they may be false Prophets and false Teachers and the Popish Church may be as indeed it is the false and Antichristian Church all these their Miracles notwithstanding But hereof I shall have occasion to speake more fullie afterward when I come to speake of Antichrist and his Miracles In the meane time concerning this point thus much may suffice CAP. III. Of Iustification by Faith onely The right sense and meaning of that position and of the truth of it And that being rightly understood it excludeth not good workes nor importeth anie licentiousnesse at all in it but the cleane contrarie IT is a thing well knowne how busie and earnest Popish Teachers be not only by word of mouth but by their books writings also to perswade you all that ever they can against ours the most ancient most pure and only right Religion and amongst other their bad devises which they plot contrive for their owne advantage and behoofe this is not the least that they accuse our Religion to be a doctrine and religion of much licentiousnesse and that in sundrie points which therefore must be answered And manie there be also that be too hastie and over credulous to beleeve them as if all that they speake and write were to be held for undoubted truth and oracles without further enquirie or examination But howsoever they thus boldly presume they for all that be not able to take anie iust exception against our Religion or to shew or prove it in anie point whatsoever to be an allower of anie the least impietie or licentiousnesse if it be rightly understood It is true that sundrie that professe Protestancie live licentiously and wickedly and so doe manie also that professe Poperie likewise live wickedly licentiously If therefore they allow not this for an argument sufficient to convince their religion of wickednesse licentiousnesse which is taken from the wicked lives manners and conversations of men Why will they be so unequall as to make it of anie force against our religion Wise men can easily distinguish inter vitium rei personae betweene that which is the fault of the thing and the fault of mens persons For the religion may be good though some persons that professe it live not answerably thereunto yea the Protestant that is the Christian Religion which we professe is so good godly divine holy and pure as that it neither alloweth nor tolerateth the filthie Stewes nor anie other impuritie nor anie treasons or rebellions nor perjuries nor lying or deceitfull equivocations nor anie other wickednesse or impietie whatsoever but utterly condemneth them all So that for true pietie puritie integritie and all manner of good life and godly conversation the religion of Poperie commeth farre short of it and is in no sort to be compared with it If then anie professing our religion live wickedly or licentiously as too manie do it is the fault of the men that live so dissolutely and not of the religion which requireth and commandeth the cleane contrarie at their hands But for all that they persist and say that even the Protestants religion it selfe is licentious because it teacheth and holdeth that men are justified in Gods sight and before his Tribunall onely by faith in Iesus Christ which doctrine say they maketh men licentious and carelesse of doing good workes Howbeit both they and you must understand that when the Protestants doe say or have said at anie time that Faith onely iustifieth in Gods sight it is and ever was meant and intended howsoever some seeme purposely to mistake it not of anie dead faith which hath no life in it to bring forth anie good workes but of a true and lively faith which is accompanied with good works and is fruitfull and working by love as S. Paul and S. Iames and S. Peter and the rest of the holy Scriptures cleerly declare Whilst therefore they teach both in their Sermons writings with S. Iames and the rest of the Scriptures That the faith that is vvithout vvorks is dead and that such a faith cannot save or iustifie a man but that it must be a true and lively faith that is such a faith as produceth bringeth forth good workes I hope you sufficiently perceive that the doctrine of
the earth so are my vvayes higher then your vvaies and my thoughts then your thoughts Yea what are they else but superstitious vvorkes which are done by the will and pleasure of men without the Commandement of God or his rule and direction for so Isidorus giveth the Etymologie of that word superstition to be a thing done supra-statutâ—m more then is appointed by the law of God upon mens pleasures and devisings May not God say in these cases as sometime he spake Quis requisivit haec de vobis VVho hath required these things of you A good Intention therefore is not sufficient to prove or make the worke to be good in Gods sight unlesse it bee a worke or action commanded from God or by his word approoved For King Saul had a good intention or meaning when being sent against the Amalâ—kites and commanded from God to kill both man and woman infant and suckling oxe and sheepe camell and asse hee neverthelesse spared some of the Cattell suffering the people to take Sheepe and Oxen to this intent to sacrifice to the Lord. But notwithstanding this his good intention the fact was odious in Gods sight and because he had thus reiected the vvord of the Lord not suffring his actions to be thereby squared and ruled therfore also did the Lord reiect him from being King over Israel So likewise had Vzzah a good meaning or a good intention when driving the Cart wherein the Arke of God was and the Arke being shaken and in danger of falling hee put forth his hand to the Arke and tooke hold of it to keepe it from falling yet because it belonged not unto him so to doe with the Arke and that he therein did an action not commanded nor warranted unto him from God or his word therefore notwithstanding this his good intention God was offended with him and hee smote Vzzah there for his error and there hee died by the Arke of God The workes then which men doe of their owne heads and devisings without Gods commandement or approbation by his word be not to be accounted amongst the number of good workes in Gods censure what faire shew soever they make amongst men or what good meaning or intention soever they have For that which is highly esteemed amongst men is oftentimes abhomination in the sight of God as Christ himselfe also teacheth and affirmeth 2 But yee have further in the Papacie workes preparative or workes or merits de Congruo as yee call them such as bee done by a man before faith received which ye also account good workes But first How can a man that is not himselfe as yet made good bring forth any good vvorks for The tree must first bee good before it can bring forth good fruit as Christ himselfe teacheth Yea good workes and a sanctified course of life be the fruites of righteousnesse as S. Paul declareth and therefore before that a man be made righteous and iustified by faith hee cannot possibly bring forth these fruites of righteousnesse Againe the Scripture witnesseth expresly that VVithout faith it is impossible to please God How then can the workes of anie man before faith received please God be accepted of him or merit anie grace or favour at his hands The Heart is the fountaine of all mens actions and by faith it is that mens hearts be purified and cleansed as S. Peter witnesseth Vntill such time therefore that mens hearts bee thus clensed and purified by faith in Christ they can bring forth no good cleane or pure vvorkes but works like themselves that is most impure and uncleane For to them that be uncleansed and unbeleevers nothing is pure but even their minde and conscience is defiled as S. Paul also directly affirmeth And so hee saith againe of all the corrupt naturall men in the world untill they bee regenerated converted and iustified in Gods sight by faith they be such as have all gone out of the way they are all become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Not without good cause therefore hath S. Augustine before told us that all the workes of Infidels and Heathens and even the Morall vertues of the Philosophers as they were done and performed by them that had no beliefe in Christ were no good workes in Gods sight but Splendida peccata glittering sinnes Yea hee hath told us expreslie that Good vvorkes do follow him that is before iustified and doe not goe before him that is aftervvard to be iustified And againe he saith that faith goeth before that good vvorkes may follow neither are there saith he anie good vvorkes but those that follovv faith going before And therefore touching Cornelius the Centurion whose praiers to God and Almesdeâ—des be much commended before he was baptised whose example the Rhemists and other Papists alledge in this case the same S. Augustine giveth a sufficient answere thereunto saying That hee did not give Almes and Pray without some faith So likewise testifieth Beda and that out of Gregorie that Non virtutibus ad fidem sed fide pertingitur ad virtutes c. Men attaine not to faith by vertues but to vertues by faith as S. Gregorie expoundeth it For Cornelius saith he vvhose almes before baptisme as the Angell witnesseth be praised came not by vvorkes to saith but by faith to vvorkes And againe he saith Hee had faith vvhose prayers and almesdeeds could please God So that at this verie time of his Prayers and Almesdeedes hee beleeved in the Messias albeit most true it is that hee did not then so well know Christ or so firmely beleeve in him as hee did afterward by the ministerie of Peter 3 The merits also de Candigno as the Popish Church calleth them be not to be reckoned in the number of good works yea this conceit and opinion of Merit is it that poysoneth and marreth the vvorkes so that they are not reputed in Gods sight and censure to be good but bad and odious vvorks that be done with that affection and to that end For even those good workes that be done after grace and faith received and by a man regenerate and Iustified doe not merit or deserve salvation or eternall life because in the best works that men regenerate or sanctified persons doe is some humane frailtie defect or imperfection intermingled for which defects they are to crave pardon at Gods hand and not to stand upon the merit of them VVee are all saith Esay as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse is as filthy raggs If thou O Lord shouldst straitely marke iniquitie saith the Psalmist O Lord vvho shall stand But there is mercie vvith thee that thâ—u maist be feared In many things vvee all offend saith S. Iames And therefore well saith S. Augustine Vae universae iustitiae nostrae si remota misericordia Iudicetur VVoe to all our righteousnesse if it be iudged mercie being laid
before the fall and transgression of Adam it was possible and the Impossibilitie that is now of it is not through anie default of the Law or of God the giver of it but through the imbecillitie and weakenesse which men have brought upon themselves by meanes of that Transgression Neither was the law afterward given to anie such end that men should be able exactly and perfectly to fulfill it and by such fulfilling of it to have eternall life but to shewe us how farre wee are fallen from that ability and puritie wee received in our first Creation and to discover and make knowne our sinnes and transgressions both originall and actuall and the wrath and curse of God due unto us for the same and so to drive and bring us unto Christ the Saviour and Redeemer This is one chiefe use of the Law as S. Paul hath before declared Another use of the Law as touching the tenne Commandements is that wee should walke in the obedience of it to the uttermost of our power although we shall never be able during this life fully and absolutely to keepe and performe it by and in our owne persons In all this I am sure there is no crueltie tyrannie or iniustice Yet we must as I said before endeavour to the uttermost of our powers to walke in it and to doe all manner of good workes although not to that end to expect Iustification or salvation by that meanes yet to other ends and purposes as namely first to shew our obedience dutie and thankefulnesse to God for all his favours and benefits bestowed upon us For as S. Paul saith God hath ordained good workes that vvee should walke in them Secondlie that by those good workes and a Godly conversation VVe may make our calling and election sure to our selves as S. Peter teacheth Thirdly that Other men seeing our good workes may thereby be also occasioned and moved to glorifie God our heavenly father as Christ himselfe declareth So that there bee as you see other good ends why men should observe so much as is possible Gods Law and Commandements and why they should doe all manner of good workes though they repose no confidence of merit or hope of Iustification or salvation therein Howbeit the Rhemists endeavour to prove workes of Supererogation First by that which was laid out over and beside the two pence for the recovery of the vvounded man in Luk. 10.35 but the doing of that was cleerely a worke and dutie of Charitie and therefore commanded and consequently could not bee a worke of Supererogation And as touching the other Text of 1. Cor. 9 which the Rhemists likewise alledge where S. Paul would not bee burthensome or chargeable to the Church of Corinth for preaching the Gospell unto them which neverthelesse he might have charged himselfe sheweth the reason why he did forbeare and abridge himselfe of the use of that power and libertie amongst them namely because hee vvould not give anie hindrance to the Gospell of Christ. Vers. 12. and because hee vvould not abuse his povver in the Gospell vers 18. and because a necessitie vvas also put vpon him to preach the Gospell vers 16. whether he had allowance of the Church or no allowance This therefore was also a dutie in S. Paul the Apostle in this case to preach the Gospell thus frankely and freely rather then it should not be preached at all or rather then the Gospell should be hindred or receive obloquy anie way and consequently they appeare to bee intolerable and super-arrogant vvorkes of Supererogation which bee maintained in the Papacie CHAP. VII Concerning Predestination and assurance of Salvation and that being rightly understood they Inferre no manner of Licentiousnesse or Impietie but the cleane contrary BVt they proceede challenging our Religion further to be a religion tending to licentiousnesse for that it teacheth Predestination and assurance of Salvation in some persons which they also call Presumptuous Doctrine But first even the Papists themselves aswell as the Protestants doe teach that there is a Predestination Secondly in the Doctrine of Predestination it being rightly and discreetely delivered there is no danger or inconvenience but much conveniencie sweetnesse comfort and profit comprised Yea why hath God revealed published it in his word but to the end it should be knowne And that no man might carpe against it S. Paul sheweth that which all reason as well as Religion alloweth namely that God the maker of us all hath at least as much authoritie and power over all men his Creatures to doe dispose and ordaine of them at his pleasure as the Potter hath over his Pots or over the clay whereout he frameth or maketh them especially after that the whole lump of mankind was fallen in the transgression of Adam Hath not the Potter saith he povver of the clay to make of the same lumpe one vessell to honour and another to dishonour And hee further addeth saying VVhat if God vvilling to shevv his vvrath and to make his povver knovvne suffer vvith long patience the vessels of vvrath fitted to destruction and that he might declare the riches of his glorie upon the vessels of mercie vvhich he had before prepared unto glorie In which words yee see that some upon the fall of Adam were left in their sinnes and so bee vessels of vvrath fitted to destruction through their owne sin and corruption and that other some be vessels of mercie and such as God notwithstanding their fall and corruption hath prepared to glorie But to shew this matter further and withall to cleare it of all licentiousnes and impietie doth not S. Paul say thus VVhom God hath predestinated them also hee called and vvhome he called them also he iustified and vvhom he iustified them also he glorified Here you see expresse mention made of Predestination of some unto glorie and withall you see that those which be thus predestinated unto glorie bee the men that be afterward at some one time or other of their life effectuallie called and Iustified and consequentlie sanctâ—fied and at last come to be glorified and therefore they bee and must needs be such as live not a wicked dissolute and licentious but a good godly and holie life after that they bee once so effectually called But yet further S. Paul speaketh thus to the chosen people of God Yee are all the children of light and the children of the day vvee are not of the night neither of darkenesse Therefore let us not sleepe as doe other but let us vvatch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that be drunken be drunken in the night but let us that are of the day be sober putting on the brestplate of faith and loue and the hope of salvation for an helmet For saith hee God hath not appointed us unto vvrath but to obtaine salvation by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ vvhich died
to be an High Priest only to the house of God 7 But against this is obiected that of S. Iohn where hee saith thus of Christ Behold the Lambe of God vvhich taketh away the sinnes of the vvorld Howbeit you are to understand that the word vvorld as it is sometimes taken for the Reprobates in the world as in that speech of Christ before going where he saith I pray not for the vvorld and in other places likewise so it is sometimes also taken in the Scriptures to signifie Gods elect in the world As for example in the Gospel according to S. Iohn it is said thus God so loved the world namely the Gentiles as well as the Iewes that he gave his only begotten Sonne that vvhosoever whether Iew or Gentile beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for God sent not his Sonne into the vvorld that he should condemne the world but that the vvorld through him should be saved Here by the World which is to be saved cannot be understood anie Reprobates but Gods elect onely for they onely be those that are to be saved through him For as for such as be Reprobates all men know that they are to be damned and not to be saved And therefore also doth S. Augustine so expound that place Againe S. Paul saith that God vvas in Christ reconciling the vvorld unto him not imputing their sinnes unto them and hath committed unto us the vvord of reconciliation Where likewise by this word World are meant onely Gods elect in the world inasmuch as they onely be those blessed ones which be reconciled unto God which have not their sinnes imputed to them For as for the Reprobates they are the accursed ones and were never reconciled unto God but have their sinnes imputed unto them and charged upon them and for which therefore they are condemned in the end to everlasting torments And so doth S. Augustine expound that place also Againe S. Iohn saith thus Hereby know vvee that vve dwell in him and he in us because hee hath given us of his spirit and vvee have seene and doe testifie that the Father sent the Sonne to bee the Saviour of the vvorld Here likewise by the World that is to be saved cannot be understood Reprobates but Gods Elect onely because to these onely is Christ a Saviour and to these onely doth salvation belong And so againe S. Iohn saith that Christ is the Reconciliation for our sins and not for our sinnes only but for the sinnes also of the vvhole world that is not only for the sinnes of Gods people which then lived in the daies of S Iohn whereof himselfe was one but for the sinnes of all Gods elect wheresoever or whensoever living from the beginning of the world to the end thereof And so doth S. Augustine againe expound that place likewise And in this sence it is that the word vvorld is used by S. Iohn in the place before obiected where he saith that Christ is the Lambe of God that taketh avvay the sinne of the vvorld that is to say of all Gods Elect in the world at what time or age soever they lived from the beginning of it to the end Neither in this case can the reprobates complaine of anie iniustice offered them from God because Mankinde being fallen from that integritie wherein he was created it was in Gods power and pleasure to provide a suertie and Saviour for whom hee would and to shew mercie to whom he would and to withhould his mercie also from whom hee would As likewise if divers have committed treason or rebellion in a kingdome against their King it is in the power of the King to shew mercie and to give a pardon to whom he will and to withhold his mercie and pardon from such as he pleaseth and to leave them in their offences unto condemnation and to be executed 8 Now then the former point being cleared let me returne and come to answere more succinctly to that text before alledged where S. Paul saith VVhom God foreknevv them he predestinated c. First it is evident that he with approbation foreknevv the Elect in Christ Iesus their appointed Saviour but the reprobate he never knew in that manner but as being extra Christum out of Christ and consequently as they were in their transgression by and after the fall of Adam wherein they bee liable to condemnation having no suertie or Saviour for them prepared or appointed Secondly when he there teacheth that Men were predestinated according to Gods foreknowledge The same S. Paul to declare and expound those words saith in another place that they vvere predestinate according to his purpose by conferring of which places together you may easily perceive that by Gods foreknovvledge his purposing to predestinate those whom he did predestinate is understood For saith hee in this place to the Ephesians Men vvere predestinate according to the purpose of him that doth all things by the counsaile of his owne will And againe he there saith that they were predestinate according to the good pleasure of his owne WILL. Gods foreknowing of them then in this case appeareth to bee his fore-purposing to approove of them and to account of them as of his Elect and predestinate people to eternal salvation Which may yet further appeare by the contrary namely by the Reprobates whom hee never so foreknew or knew at all with that approbation and therefore will hee say unto them in the last day Nunquam novi vos c. I never knevv you Sicut enim quos reprobat Dominus nescire dicitur Ita quos ad salutem praedestinavit praeordinat cognoscere rectè dicitur For as the Lord vvhom he reprobateth is said not to knovv so those vvhom hee hath predestinated and preordained to salvation hee is rightly said to knovv saith S. Cyril And so saith Thomas Aquinas that Quos praescivit scientia approbationis hos praedestinavit VVhom God foreknevve vvith his knovvledge of Approbation them hee did also predestinate To come then to the point Sunt praesciti ut crederent Men vvere foreknovvne that they might beleeve saith Iustin Martyr Non eliguntur qui◠credituri sed eliguntur ut credant Men vvere not elected because they did aftervvard beleeve but they vvere elected that they might beleeve saith S. Augustine And so saith S. Paul also expresly that they were predestinate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the adoption of Sonnes vvhich adoption or being made the Sonnes of God is by faith in Iesus Christ as himselfe in another place directly witnesseth And so S. Peter also saith that men vvere elected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. unto obedience and unto the sprinkling of the blood of Iesus Christ. Againe S. Paul hath before told us That God hath chosen or elected us in Christ before the foundation of the vvorld that vvee should bee holy and vvithout blame before him in
such grosse Idolaters as to worship a peece of â—read for God Yea even that Heathen man Cicero could say Quem tam amentem esse putas qui id quo vescâ—tur Deum creda esse VVhom doe you thinke to be so mad as to beleeve that which he eateth to be God Is it not then high time for all that love their owne salvation utterly to forsake that monstrous and Idolatrous Church of Rome which is become thus extreamely degenerate and deformed 6 But the Popish Church hath yet further mangled and maimeâ— this sacrament of the Lords supper most audaciously and Sacrilegiously in that contrarie to the Institution of Christ and practise of the Apostolicke primitive Church it depriveth the Laie people of receiving anie consecrated wine As though the Laie people might not receive aswell the consecrate wine as the consecrate bread Did not Christ say Drinke yee all of this and doth not S. Paul shew directly that the Laie people in his time did aswell drinke of that Cup as eate of that Bread Yea the late Councell of Constance doth confesse that in the Primitive Church the Laie people did communicate in both kindes and received aswell the wine as the bread and yet for all that doe they there decree against it Must not this needs bâ— the spirit of Antichrist which dareth thus in their Councells to contradict and decree against the Institutions of Christ and the manifest and confessed practise of the primitive Church For feare of spilling some of them say the Laie people may not receive the consecrated wine As though the Priest might not also sometimes spill it upon some accident aswell as they or as though the like inconvenience of letting fall of the consecrated bread by some accident might not aswell bee feared But how commeth it to passe that the Popish Councell and Church taketh upon them to bee herein wiser then Christ and all his Apostles and then the Primitive churches For Christ ordained and so the Apostolicke and Primitive churches practised and observed that the Laie people should aswell drinke of the consecrated wine as eate of the consecrated bread without anie such feare of inconvenience or inconveniences as the Popish church hath sithence that time found out devised But they say that per concomitantiam by a concomitancie forsooth the blood is included in the bodie of Christ so that if the lay people receive the bread which say they after consecration is the verie natural bodie of Christ they do therein withall receive the blood of Christ because in the bodie say they the blood also is included And thus hath one error begotten another with them as is indeed the fashion of all errors to do for Vno absurdo dato sequuntur infinita But if this their doctrine of concomitancie be true then by the same reason also it may suffice the Priest to receive likewise the consecrated bread onely without the wine And why then doth the Priest drinke of the consecrated wine for is not the blood of Christ per concomitantiam by their concomitancie aswell included in the bread which they say is the body of Christ to him as to the lay people Can anie tolerable or allowable reason be yeelded by your Priests or Church for these things May they not then all bee ashamed thus grosly to abuse and delude the world But now if that which is confessed to bee the Primitive and Apostolike Church administred the Lords supper to Laie people in both kinds namely aswell in wine as in bread How can anie suppose the Popish church which hath decreed and observeth the cleane contrarie to be herein like unto that Primitive and Apostolicke Church And if that primitive and Apostolicke Church were as questionlesse it was guided by the holie Ghost the Spirit of Truth must not your Priests Teachers and Church observing teaching and decreeing the contrarie needs bee supposed â—o be led not by that but by another spirit And what other spirit then can it be but the spirit of Error of opposition to Christ even the spirit of Antichrist Yea farre degenerate even in this point also is the Church of Rome from that it was in the daies of Pope Gelasius in whose time it was decreed that All they should be excommunicated that would receive but in one kinde 7 But yet a further wound also hath the Papacy given to this Sacrament of the Lords Supper by diverting and turning it from a communion of the faithfull into a private Masse or into such an action as wherein the Priest eates and drinkes alone without anie Communicants with him the people onely looking on Did Christ thus celebrate his Supper alone and did the rest that were his Disciples onely looke on and not communicate Wee know that Christ willeth them both to eate and to drinke at that Table and not to bee lookers on onely And so in the Primitive and Apostolicke Churches not the Pastor alone but the people also together with him did communicate And in verie deede what is more absurd then to bid men to a Supper to looke on onelie and neither to eate nor drinke S. Chrysostome complaineth of this corruption beginning to creepe in in his time O custome saith hee O presumption In vaine is the daily Sacrifice offered in vaine doe wee stand at the Altar seeing no bodie communicateth And a little after hee saith thus The Lord saith these things to us all who stand by heree unwisely and rashly for everie one that partakes not of the Mysteries is unwise and rash in standing by And hee addeth further saying Tell mee If a man that is bidden to a feast wash his hands aâ—d be placed at the table and yet eates not doth hee not wrong him that â—ad him vvere it not better that such a one were not present So thou art present thou hast sung the Hymne and in that thou hast not retyred thy selfe with them that are unworthy thou hast made profession that thou art of the number of those that are vvorâ—hie Hovv then dost thou stay and not partake ef the Table thou art therefore unvvorthy also to partake of the Prayers Yea the rule even of the Church of Rome it selfe in ancient time said to bee Pope Agapets which is Dist. 2. de Consecra Can. peracta is delivered in these words VVhen Consecration is finished all that vvill not bee put out of the Church dore must Communicate for so the Apostles ordained and so the Church of Rome observeth Marke well these words for thereby you see how farre differing at this day the deformed and new Church of Rome is in this point also from that it was in former and ancient time But againe can anie be so besotted as to thinke that onely by looking on hee communicateth or that by the eating and drinking of another as namelie of the Priest himselfe can bee fed or nourished Can the eating or drinking of another preserve your life if
a peremptory power in religion it selfe VVhat more remaineth wherein ye migh further encroach except yee will go about to bring the very Angels also under your subiection c. Now how should all this pomp pride in the Pope and Popish Clergie so much licentiousnes withall permitted to the people of their Church be maintained and upheld without this covetous and greedie kinde of merchandizing Who then doth not see that this Rome mentioned in the Revelation to be such a one as did merchandize the soules of Men must needs be intended of Popish Rome and not of Heathen Rome For all men know that the Heathen Rome never used this kinde of Trade namely of merchandizing mens soules Seventhly the Rome there mentioned is shewed to be such a one as caused or made the Kings and inhabitants of the earth to drinke of the vvine of her fornication that is of the pleasant seeming but indeed filthie and poysoned Religion and so to take upon them the Marke of the Beast But the Heathenish Rome where she conquered and prevailed and brought people in subiection under her urged not nor enforced her religion upon those nations or people which shee subdued but gave leave unto them still to retaine and hold that religion of their owne which formerly they had as even Leo Bishop of Rome himselfe declareth and as is apparant by the countrey of the Iewes and by other countries also which shee brought into subiection Whereupon followeth that not the Heathenish Rome which allowed the religion of other countries beside her owne but the Papal Rome which alloweth no other religion but her owne is must needs be there intended Eightly the Babylon that is the Rome there mentioned is such a Rome that shall be so desolated and destroyed as that it shall never be builded againe or inhabited anie more as is verie fully evident by the 18. chapter of the Revelation And this is so cleere that Suarez himselfe confesseth and teacheth it But the Heathenish Rome governed by Heathen Emperors was never yet so destroyed yea after that the citie of Rome was destroied by the Gothes and Vandals and others yet it was rebuilded againe and reinhabited and as yet it continueth a citie builded and inhabited to this day The Rome therefore that is here described and shewed to be such a Rome as shall be so desolated and destroied as that it shall never be inhabited anie more by men cannot possibly be imagined to be Heathen Rome but contrariwise must needs be supposed that which is now the Papal or Popish Rome for there is no Heathen Rome remaining so to bee destroyed I hope therefore by this time ye fully perceive that it is not the Heathen Rome as Bellarmine and some other of your Teachers would blindfold the world but the Papal or Popish Rome which in that place of the Revelation of S. Iohn is intended and described Yea further if yee would have Heathen Rome to be there described then must ye make Antichrist to bee come in the daies and times of the Heathen Emperors which is contrarie to your owne positions and opinions who say and hold though most untruly that hee is not yet come Lastly remember that these things which be mentioned concerning the Whore of Babylon be brought in and mentioned after that the seventh Angel had blowne his Trumpet and therefore also were long after the time of the Heathen Emperors An Appendix to the former Chapter NOw because Popish Rome is so directly affirmed to be an VVhore and a great VVhore and the mother of whoredomes and abominations of the earth not to speake anie more of her grosse bodily whoredomes filthinesses wherein she doth excell give me leave here to speake a few words of some of her spiritual whoredomes and adulteries that is to say of some of her Idolatries that so the truth of this matter may the better appeare First then as touching her most detestable Idolatry committed in adoring and worshipping of a peece of bread I meane their consecrated bread in stead of the true God that made heaven and earth I have before spoken and I doe here only put you in remembrance of it againe that yee may for ever hereafter tremble and feare to commit it For whereas ye say that yee take it not for bread anie longer after consecration but for Iesus Christ his verie natural bodie by way of Transubstantiation consider that that will not be sufficient to cleere you yea it is before shewed unto you that in so taking it yee doe utterly and most grossely mistake contrarie not onely to all sense and reason but contrarie to all right faith and true religion also And therefore your sinne of a most abominable Idolatry cannot be so execused but is rather so much the more aggravated by such an untrue and a most ungodly construction and supposition Ea demum est miserabilis animae servitus signa pro rebus accipere That is saith S. Augustine a miserable servitude of the soule to take the signes for the things signified by them 2 A second Idolatrous point in the Popish Church is the making of Images or visible formes of God For what Is not God a spirit How then can anie fashion him by anie bodily shape or visible likenesse Is hee not also an eternal and invisible Spirit What man then can make an Image and visible similitude of him that is eternal and whom he never saw Againe is not God incomprehensible and infinite Doe not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord And doth not King Solomon say That the heaven of heavens are not able to conteyne him And yet will silly men in the vanitie of their foolish thoughts presume to comprehend so almightie and incomprehensible a Maiestie within the narrow compasse of an Image made by themselves S. Paul sheweth it to be the error of the Heathen to take upon them to make Images of God and calleth them fooles for their labour VVhen they professed themselves to be wise they became fooles saith hee for they turned the glory of the incorruptible God to the similitude of an Image of a corruptible man and of birds and of foure footed beasts and of creeping things If the Heathens were counted and called Fooles as yee see they were for taking upon them to make Images or visible similitudes of the invisible and incorruptible God and iustly did deserve to be so called and reputed for that high indignitie and dishonour offered to so great and incomparable a Maiestie what ought Papists to thinke of themselves in this case Notwithstanding they say they doe it for a remembrance and to put them in minde of God and notwithstanding whatsoever devotion or good intent or meaning they pretend For no doubt even those Heathens likewise pretended a devotion and a good intent and meaning in this matter aswell as Papists otherwise they would never have done it But yet further
even God himselfe doth expressely dislike that anie should be so bold as to attempt to make anie Image or visible shape of him at all reproving the Iewes for so doing saying for that end and purpose thus VVho is like unto mee And againe hee saith To vvhom vvill yee make me like or make me equal or compare mee that I should be like him All they that make an Image saith he are vanitie and their delectable things shall nothing profit And againe he saith All that are of the fellowship thereof shall be confounded for the vvorkemen themselves are men In vaine therefore is that distinction yee have betweene an Idoll and an Image saying That an Idoll is of a false or fained thing or which revera is not or hath no being at all and that an Image is of a true thing or of such a thing as revera is For you see by the premisses that even the portraiture or fashioning of a true thing as namelie even of the true God by anie similitude or likenesse whatsoever made by men is utterly coÌ„demned Yea S. Stephen also confuteth that distinction for even the golden Calfe which the Israelites made althogh they made it to worship the true God by is by him expresly called an Idoll Act. 7.41 Againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 graecè formam sonat ab eo per diminutionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deductum aeque apud nos formulam facit Igitur omnis forma vel formula Idolum se dici exposcit Idos in Greeke saith Tertullian signifieth a forme or figure from whence the diminutive Idolon is derived vvhich signifieth a little forme or figure Every forme therefore or figure requireth to be called an Idoll Howsoever then in French or English speech the words Idol and Image may by reason of use and custome sometime differ yet in the Greek tongue from whence the word Idoll is originally derived there appeareth to bee no such dâ—fference But hereof there needeth not to be anie further dispute because God himselfe hath directly forbidden not only Idols but all Similitudes also or Likenesses whatsoever made and erected by men in the way of Religion Thou shalt make thee saith he no graven Image nor any similitude of things that are in heaven above nor that are in the earth beneath nor that are in the vvaters underneath the Earth Thou shalt not bow downe thy selfe to them nor serve them In which words you see two things directly enioined the one that no man presume to make anie Images or similitudes of God the other that if he have made anie such Image or similitude that he proceed not further in sinning by bowing downe to them or serving them Agreeably whereunto is likewise that which Moses spake as it were expounding that Commandement unto the Israelites and saying thus unto them The Lord spake unto you out of the middest of the fire and yee heard the voyce of the vvords but saw no similitude save a voyce Then hee declared unto you his Covenant vvhich he commanded you to doe even the Ten Commandements and vvrote them upon two Tables of stone And the Lord commanded me that same time that I should teach you ordinances vvhich yee should observe in the land vvhither yee goe to possesse it Take therefore good heed unto your selves for yee saw no Image in the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire that yee corrupt not your selves and make not a graven Image or representation of any figure vvhether it be the likenesse of male or female the likenesse of any beast that is on the earth or the likenesse of any feathered soule that flyeth in the ayre or the likenesse of any thing that creepeth on the earth or the likenesse of any fish that is in the vvaters beneath the earth Marke well this reason of Moses that because they onely heard a voice of God but saw no Image or Similitude of him therefore they should take heed that they be not so presumptuous as to make anie visible Image or similitude of him Theodoret also saith Deus ab ijs fieri qui uâ—lâ—us creaturae imagine effingunt Creatorem that they make gods vvhich fashion the Creator by the image or likenesse of any creature And S. Augustine saith likewise that Dei praecepto prohibetur aliqua in figmentis hominum Dei similitudo By Gods commandement is forbidden any similitude of God devised by men Although therefore yee alledge and say that God in ancient time appeared in the similitude of a Man and that the Holy Ghost also appeared upon Christ in the similitude of a Dove all this maketh nothing for you for God might appeare in what similitude he pleased and who shall or can forbid him by anie law to doe whatsoever he pleaseth But he hath given a law and a commandement to us his creatures whereby wee stand bound though hee be free thaâ— wee shall not make anie Image or similitude of him and therefore our dutie is and accordingly our care must be to doe as he hath enioined and commanded us and not licentiously in matters concerning him and his religion to devise invent and doe as we list our selves 3 But they not onelie make Images or visible shapes of the everie where present invisible and incomprehensible God but they proceed further in this their boldnesse and do also worship God in or by those Images after that they have made them It was one great wickednesse to be so audacious as to make an Image or similitude of God and it is another to worship him after that sort in or by an Image after it is made So this is a third point of Idolatrie wherein the Popish Church is intolerablie faultie For God will be worshipped as himselfe hath prescribed in his word and not according to mens fancies and devises Yea S. Paul expressely condemneth all ethelothreskeian that is vvill-worship or worshipping of God according to mens pleasures and conceits And therefore Vetuit Deus non solum Imaginem aliquam adorari sed etiam seipsum adorari in Imagine God hath forbidden not onely an Image to be vvorshipped but himselfe also to be vvorshipped in an Image saith Abulensis Agreeably whereunto S Ambrose also saith Non vult se Deus in lapidibus coli God vvill not have himselfe to be vvorshipped in stones For as Christ himselfe also teacheth God is a spirit and they that worship him must vvorship him in spirit and in truth Yea their doings in this point be as grosse Idolatrie as was that of the Israelites in the time of Moses when they together with Aaron the high Priest made the golden Calfe and worshipped God in that Image which themselves had made For yee must not thinke them to be so senselesse or sottish as that they did beleeve that verie Image it selfe to be God I hope yee will suppose that Aaron
the people in the world may aptlie be divided The Vnchristian people be those that make no profession at all of Christ or Christianitie of which sort be Iewes Turkes and other Infidels of the world The Christian people revera and indeed of which in this distribution I speake be those that professe Christ and beleeve in him and addict themselves onelie to his religion and the rules and waies of it as it is described and set downe in the sacred and canonical Scriptures The Antichristian people be those that professe Christ in words in outward shewes and semblance but yet neverthelesse denie or oppugne him in deeds or in doctrine or in both Whence is concluded that neither the Turke nor Mahomet as I said before nor anie of the rest of the Infidells of the world can properly and according to the Scripture phrase and sense bee tearmed Antichrists or Antichristians fith they make no profession of Christ at all but such are properly to be termed Vnchristian and not Antichristian people and consequently it remaineth that Antichrist and Antichristian people bee onely to bee found within Christendome and amongst those that professe Christ. And who these be within Christendome is easily to be discerned for that the Pope of Rome and his followers be this kinde of covert masked and disguised adversaries and opposites to Christ and that under the name and profession of Christ his church and religion I thinke there is none but doth or may verie readilie perceive But would you know it further and in some particulars For you must indeed come to particulars with them inasmuch as otherwise in general termes and words they will make great profession of Christ and of the rights honors prerogatives to him his Church belonging and yet in the meane time in particulars and indirectlie and by consequent they will oppugne him Inasmuch therefore as he hath the name of Antichrist chiefelie by reason of his opposition unto Christ in this covert and disguised manner let us see how that is verified in the Pope and Papacie For which purpose let us consider our Lord Iesus Christ as he is to be considered namelie in respect of his person and in respect of his offices committed to him from his Father In respect of his person he is both God and Man in respect of his offices he is a Prophet a Priest a King unto us Now in everie of these respects doth the Pope and Papacie oppugne Christ. For first what a God doe they make Christ to be when they preferre the Virgin Mary above him and acknowledge authoritie in her to command him For thus they speake unto her Iube natum Iure Matris Impera redemptori monstra te esse Matrem That is Command thy Sonne and by thy motherly authority command the Redeemer and shew thy selfe to be a mother Is he God and the creator and supreame commander of all things that is thus made subiect to the authoritie and commandement of a creature But doe they not further oppugne his Godhead verie manifestlie when they hold that everie Priest of theirs after breathing of a few words out of his mouth can create and make Iesus Christ his maker for so they say as is before shewed that Sacerdos est Creator creatoris sui The Priest is the Creator or maker of his maker Now then is he a God that can be thus made by men And what doe they else but oppugne his Manhood also verie manifestlie whilest they make his bodie to be multi-present that is present in manie places at one time For they say it is both in heaven and in earth at once yea in so manie places as their Masse is celebrated or their Host reserved at one and the selfe same time which is contrarie to the nature and propertie of a true bodie which we are sure Christ Iesus hath Yea as they hold his Body to be carnallie eaten in the Sacrament with the bodily mouth so doe they hold it also to be void of dimensions and quantitie and to be uncircumscribed and invisible and no way sensible which is likewise as much as to make him to have no true bodie at all When againe they hold that his bodie is made out of the substance of a peece of bread for so much that their verie word of Transubstantiation importeth which was indeed not so made but of the substance of the Virgin Mary doe they not verie cleerelie oppugne his humanitie and the veritie of his bodie You see then how they doe oppugne the person of Christ both in respect of his Deitie and also of his humanitie verie apparantlie Let us now likewise briefelie consider how they oppugne Christ in his three offices namelie as he is a Prophet a Priest and a King unto us The Prophecie of Christ whose voice and instruction as of a Prophet and Teacher all-sufficient we are commanded to heare and obey they oppugne first by teaching that the sacred and Canonical Scriptures be imperfect and insufficient for a Christian mans instruction and salvation without their Traditions secondlie by adding not onlie their owne Traditions but the Apocryphal Bookes and Decretal Epistles also to the Canon of the Bible and stablishing them to be of equall authoritie reverence with the Canonical Scriptures themselves thirdlie by equaling also the determinations of their Popes and the Decrees of their Councels and Church which they say cannot erre unto the divine and canonical Scriptures they holding them to be as undoubtedlie the voice oracle of the Holie Ghost as anie thing is which is contained in those Scriptures fourthlie not onlie in equaling but which is more and much worse in preferring magnifying and advancing of their Pope and Church and their authoritie above the authoritie of the Scriptures and therefore doth Silvester Prierias Master of the Popes Palace affirme that Indulgences bee warranted unto us not by the authoritie of Scripture but by the authoritie of the Church and Pope of Rome which saith hee is a greater Authority Againe hee saith Whosoever resteth not on the doctrine of the Roman Church and Bishop of Rome as the infallible rule of God à qua sacra Scriptura robur trabit authoritatem from which the sacred Scripture draweth her strength and authoritie hee is an Heretick And so saith Eckius likewise that Scriptura nisi Ecclesiae authoritate non est authentica The Scripture is not authenticall but by the authoritie of the Church and sundry such waies doe they oppugne the all-sufficient written word doctrine and instruction of Christ our Prophet His Priesthood they also oppugne which consisteth chiefly in these two things viz. in sacrificing himselfe once for all his people upon the Crosse to take away their sinnes and in making intercession for them Now this his onely-propitiatory and only-bodily and all-sufficient Sacrifice they oppugne by erecting of another Sacrifice in their abominable Masse wherein they say their Priests
see that hee here teacheth 1290 daies to be the time allotted to Antichrist a part of this time namely 1260 daies he sheweth that the two VVitnesses lived together with Antichrist and the residue of that time which is 30 daies more that is one moneth after the death of those VVitnesses he saith that Antichrist lived If then those two Witnesses did accompanie Antichrist that is came when he came and did prophesie 1260 daies that is iust three yeares and an halfe before they died and that after their death Antichrist still lived and that by the space of a moneth how can it be shifted but that Antichrists raigne must be granted to continue longer then that time aforesaid of iust three yeares and an halfe If you answere as one Master Christopherson in defence of Bellarmine doth that this last moneth is not to be accounted of because Antichrist during that his last moneth raigned not so strongly and firmely as hee did before and that his kingdome was then weake and declining This hindreth not but that his raigne and kingdome did for all that still continue even during that moneth aswell as during anie of those former moneths daies or later times wherein he was in his declination For a man ceaseth not to be a King because he at some time ruleth and raigneth more feebly and weakely then at other-some times And therefore even this last moneth aswell as anie of the rest of the later moneths or daies is to be reckoned accounted part of Antichrist his raign for else you may as well exclude the sixt moneth or at least some part of it or the last day of the sixt moneth as the seventh moneth or the first day of the same seventh moneth because in those daies also Antichrist was declining But what Shall not the raigne of Antichrist or of anie King whosoever be said and supposed to continue so long as he liveth whilest hee is neither deposed nor surrendreth nor yeeldeth up his kingdome to anie other nor hath done nor suffered to be done anie act to the contrarie yea Bellarmine himselfe doth expressely account this last moneth aswell as anie of the former as a part of Antichrist his raigne using the verie word and saying that he is Regnaturus mille ducentis nonaginta diebus to Raigne 1290 dayes Here then you see by this incurable contradiction and repugnant doctrine of Bellarmine and other Papists that the long reteined opinion of Antichrist his raigning iust three yeares and an halfe is either utterly uncertaine or utterly untrue And that you may yet better perceive the uncertaintie or rather untruth of that opinion consider that the Prophet Daniel also mentioneth 2300 daies which text time diverse also of the ancient Fathers as S. Hierome witnesseth did applie unto Antichrist Which opinion of those ancient Writers if a man should hold then must Antichrists raigne be yet of much longer continuance then either 1260 daies or then 1290 daies that is much longer then either three yeares and sixe moneths or three yeares and seven moneths Such uncertaintie there is even in ancient Fathers as well as in other writers when they goe by coniectures or suppositions without sufficient warrant of the divine Scriptures But Bellarmine yet further proceedeth and saith thus that The Prophet Daniel after he had said cap. 12.11 that Antichrists kingdome should endure 1290 dayes addeth vers 12. Blessed is hee vvhich expecteth and commeth to 1335 dayes that is to 45 dayes after Antichrists death for then vvill our Lord come to iudgement and render the crownes of righteousnesse to the Conquerors Observe this well also for if this opinion of his concerning Antichrist were true namely that hee shall raigne iust three yeares and an halfe and yet that hee shall continue one moneth longer consisting of 30 daies to make up the full number of 1290 daies and that 45 daies after shall be the time of Christs comming to iudgement and of eternal Blessednesse as he there teacheth who seeth not that anie man living in that time of the raigne of Antichrist may before hand by this reckoning certainely know the verie Day of the end of the world and of Christ his comming to iudgement But of That day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only saith Christ and therefore that opinion cannot possibly be true But moreover sundrie learned men doe say that the Prophesie of Daniel touching the little horne there mentioned and the times ascribed to him concerneth not Antichrist at all directly properly but onely Antiochus Epiphanes that cruell tyrant and great persecutor and afflicter of those Saints and ancient people of God the Iewes in vvhom and vvhose history they affirme that all those several times mentioned in Daniel received their full and due accomplishment But you alledge that even some Protestant Writers doe also expound the Time and Times and halfe a Time mentioned in Daniel as also the 1260 dayes mentioned in the Revelation there otherwise called 42 moneths and a Time and Times and halfe a Time to belong to Antichrist Howbeit you should remember withall that even those Protestants that so expound it doe teach that those daies and times for all that are not to be taken literally as you take them but mystically and Prophetically and namely not for so manie common and natural daies but for so manie yeares that is to say for 1260 yeares accounting everie day for a yeare for so they say that in the Scripture it is sometimes used as in Ezechiel where God saith thus unto him Thou shalt beare the iniquitie of the house of Iudah forty dayes I have appointed thee a day for a yeare So in the Booke of Numbers God speaketh thus After the number of the dayes in vvhich yee searched out the Land even forty dayes every day for a yeare shall yee beare your Iniquity for forty yeares and yee shall feele my breach of promise So againe doth the Scripture mention a weeke of daies and a vveeke of yeares According whereunto the seventie weekes mentioned in Daniel be also expounded not of seventie weekes of daies but of seventie weekes of yeares that is to say seventie times seven yeares which make 490 yeares everie day being reckoned for a yeare for according to this computation and reckoning of a day for a yere is it that that Prophecie had his accomplishment Whereupon they conclude that Antichrists persecution and raigne being limited to a time and times and halfe a time expounded by 1260 daies everie day being to bee reckoned for a yeare as they take it is to have continuance for much longer time then you suppose namely for 1260 yeares which is farre from your exposition and opinion who hold that Antichrist should raigne but iust three yeares and an halfe But if this exposition of reckoning a day for a yere seemeth as to some it doth to search too neere into Gods secrets and to
say that in the manuscript books which I have met withall here in S. Brendans own countrey one whereof was transcribed for the use of the Friars minors of Kilkenny about the yeare of our Lord 1350. there is not the least footstep thereof to be seene And this is a thing verie observable in the ancienter lives of our Saints such I meane as have beene written before the time of Satans loosing beyond which we doe not now looke that the prayers and oblations for the dead mentioned therein are expressely noted to have been made for them whose soules were supposed at the same instant to have rested in blisse So Adamnanus reporteth that S. Colme called by the Irish both in Bedes and our dayes Colum-kille caused all things to be prepared for the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist when he had seene the soule of S. Brendan received by the holy Angells and that hee did the like when Columbanus Bishop of Leinster departed this life for I must to day saith S. Colme there although I be unworthy celebrate the holy mysteries of the Eucharist for the reverence of that soule which this night carried beyond the starry firmament betwixt the holy quires of Angells ascended into Paradise Whereby it appeareth that an honourable commemoration of the dead was herein intended and a sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation rather then of propitiation for their sinnes In Bede also wee finde mention of the like obsequies celebrated by S. Cuthbert for one Hadwaldus after he had seene his soule carried by the hands of Angells unto the joyes of the kingdome of heaven So Gallus and Magnus as Walafridus Strabus relateth in the life of the one and Theodorus Campidonensis or whosoever else was author of the life of the other said Masse which what it was in those dayes wee shall afterward heare and were instant in prayers for the commemoration of abbat Columbanus their countreyman frequenting the memory of that great Father with holy prayers and healthfull sacrifices Where that speech of Gallus unto his deacon Magnus or Magnoaldus is worthie of speciall consideration After this nights watch I understood by a vision that my master and father Columbanus is to day departed out of the miseries of this life unto the joyes of Paradise For his rest therefore I ought to offer the sacrifice of salvation In like maner also when Gallus himselfe died Iohn Bishop of Constance prayed to the Lord for his rest and offered healthfull sacrifices for him although he were certainly perswaded that hee had attained the blessing of everlasting life as may be seene in Walafridus And when Magnus afterwards was in his death-bed he is said to have used these words unto Tozzo Bishop of Ausborough that came to visite him Doe not weepe reverend Prelate because thou beholdest me labouring in so manie stormes of worldly troubles because I beleeve in the mercie of God that my soule shall rejoyce in the freedome of immortalitie yet I beseech thee that thou wilt not cease to helpe me a sinner and my soule with thy holy prayers Then followeth that at the time of his departure this voice was heard Come Magnus come receive the crowne vvhich the Lord hath prepared for thee and that thereupon Tozzo said unto Theodorus the supposed writer of this historie Let us cease weeping brother because wee ought rather to rejoyce having heard this signe of the receiving of his soule unto immortalitie than to make lamentation but let us goe to the Church and be carefull to offer healthfull sacrifices to the Lord for so deare a friend I dispute not of the credite of these particular passages it is sufficient that the authors from whom wee have received them lived within the compasse of those times whereof we now doe treate For thereby it is plaine enough and if it be not it shall elsewhere be made yet more plaine that in those elder dayes it was an usuall thing to make prayers and oblations for the rest of those soules which were not doubted to have beene in glorie and consequently that neyther the Commemoration nor the Praying for the dead nor the Requiem Masses of that age have anie necessarie relation to the beleefe of Purgatory The lesson therefore which Claudius teacheth us here out of S. Hierome is verie good that while wee are in this present world we may be able to helpe one another eyther by our prayers or by our counsailes but when vvee shall come before the judgement seat of Christ neyther Iob nor Daniel nor Noah can intreate for any one but every one must beare his owne burden and the advise which the no lesse learned then godly abbat Columbanus giveth us is verie safe not to pitch upon uncertainties hereafter but now to trust in God and follow the precepts of Christ while our life doth yet remaine and while the times wherin we may obtayne salvation are certaine Vive Deo fidens saith he Christi praecepta sequeÌ„do Dum modò vita manet dum tempora certa salutis Touching the worship of God that I may now come to that point Sedulius delivereth this generall rule that to adore any other beside the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost is the crime of impietie and that all that the soule oweth unto God if it bestow it upon any beside God it committeth adultery More particularly in the matter of Images he reproveth the wise men of the heathen for thinking that they had found out a way how the invisible God might be worshipped by a visible image with whom also accordeth Claudius that God is to be knowen neyther in mettle nor in stone and for Oathes there is a Canon ascribed to S. Patrick wherein it is determined that no creature is to be sworâ—e by but onely the Creator As for the forme of the Liturgie or publick service of God which the same S. Patrick brought into this countrey it is said that he received it from Germanus and Lupus and that it originally descended from S. Marke the Evangelist for so have I seene it set down in an ancient fragment written wellnigh 900. yeares since remayning now in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton my worthy friend who can never sufficiently be commended for his extraordinarie care in preserving all rare monuments of this kinde Yea S. Hieroms authoritie is there vouched for proofe hereof Beatus Hieronymus adfirmat quòd ipsum cursum qui dicitur praesente tempore Scottorum beatus Marcus decantavit which being not now to be found in anie of S. Hieroms workes the truth thereof I leave unto the credite of the reporter But whatsoever Liturgie was used here at first this is sure that in the succeeding ages no one generall forme of divine service was retayned but diverse rites and maners of celebrations were observed in diverse parts of this kingdome untill the Romane use was brought in at last by
Gillebertus and Malachias and Christianus who were the Popes Legates here about 500. yeares agoe This Gillebertus an old acquaintance of Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury in the Prologue of his booke De usu ecclesiastico directed to the whole Clergie of Ireland writeth in this maner At the request yea and at the command of manie of you dearely beloved I indevoured to set downe in writing the canonical custome in saying of Houres and performing the Office of the whole Ecclesiasticall Order not presumptuously but in desire to serve your most godly command to the end that those diverse and schismaticall Orders wherewith in a maner all Ireland is deluded may give place to one Catholick and Romane Office For vvhat may bee said to be more undecent or schismaticall then that the most learned in one order should be made as a private and lay man in another mans Church These beginnings were presently seconded by Malachias in whose life written by Bernard wee reade as followeth The Apostolicall constitutions and the decrees of the holy Fathers but especially the customes of the holy Church of Rome did he establish in all Churches And hence it is that at this day the canonicall Houres are chanted and song therein according to the maner of the whole earth whereas before that this was not done no not in the citie it selfe the poore citie of Ardmagh he meaneth But Malachias had learned song in his youth and shortly after caused singing to be used in his owne Monasterie when as yet aswell in the citie as in the whole Bishoprick they eyther knew not or would not sing Lastly the work was brought to perfection when Christianus Bishop of Lismore as Legate to the Pope was President in the Councell of Casshell wherein a speciall order was taken for the right singing of the Ecclesiasticall Office and a generall act established that all divine offices of holy Church should from thenceforth be handled in all parts of Ireland according as the Church of England did observe them The statutes of which Councell were confirmed by the Regall authority of King Henry the second by whose mandate the Bishops that met therein were assembled in the yeare of our Lord 1172. as Giraldus Cambrensis witnesseth in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland And thus late was it before the Romane use was fully settled in this kingdome The publick Liturgie or service of the Church was of old named the Masse even then also when prayers only were said without the celebration of the holy Communion So the last Masse that S. Colme was ever present at is noted by Adamnanus to have beene vespertinalis Dominicae noctis Missa He dyed the midnight following whence the Lords day tooke his beginning 9º viz. Iunij anno Dom. 597. according to the account of the Romanes which the Scottish and Irish seeme to have begunne from the evening going before and then was that evening Masse said which in all likelyhood differed not from those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by Leo the Emperour in his Tacticks that is to say from that which wee call Even-song or Evening prayer But the name of the Masse was in those dayes more specially applied to the administration of the Lords Supper and therefore in the same Adamnanus we see that Sacra Eucharistiae ministeria and Missarum solemnia the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist and the solemnities of the Masse are taken for the same thing So likewise in the relation of the passages that concerne the obsequies of Columbanus performed by Gallus and Magnoaldus we finde that Missam celebrare and Missas agere is made to be the same with Divina celebrare mysteria and Salutis hostiam or salutare sacrificium immolare the saying of Masse the same with the celebration of the divine mysteries and the oblation of the healthfull sacrifice for by that terme was the administration of the sacrament of the Lords Supper at that time usually designed For as in our beneficence and communicating unto the necessities of the poore which are sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased we are taught to give both our selves and our almes first unto the Lord and after unto our brethren by the will of God so is it in this ministerie of the blessed Sacrament the service is first presented unto God from which as from a most principall part of the dutie the sacrament it selfe is called the Eucharist because therein we offer a speciall sacrifice of praise thankesgiving alwayes unto God and then communicated unto the use of Gods people in the performance of which part of the service both the minister was said to give and the communicant to receive the sacrifice as well as in respect of the former part they were said to offer the same unto the Lord. For they did not distinguish the Sacrifice from the Sacrament as the Romanists doe now adayes but used the name of Sacrifice indifferently both of that which was offered unto God and of that which was given to and received by the communicant Therefore we read of offering the sacrifice to God as in that speech of Gallus to his scholler Magnoaldus My master Columbanus is accustomed to offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brasen vessels Of giving the sacrifice to man as when it is said in one of the ancient Synods of Ireland that a Bishop by his Testament may bequeath a certain proportiō of his goods for a legacie to the Priest that giveth him the sacrifice and of receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister as in that sentence of the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life how can it helpe him after his death and in that glosse of Sedulius upon 1 Cor. 11.33 Tarry one for another that is saith he untill you doe receive the sacrifice Whereby it doth appeare that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like unto the new Masse of the Romanists wherein the Priest doth eate and drinke alone the people being only lookers on but unto our Communion where all that are present at the holy action do eate of the Altar as well as they that serve the Altar Againe they that are communicants in the Romish sacrament receive the Eucharist in one kinde onely the Priest in offering of the sacrifice receiveth the same distinctly both by way of meate and by way of drinke which they tell us is chiefely done for the integritie of the Sacrifice and not of the Sacrament For in the Sacrifice they say the severall elements be consecrated not into Christs whole person as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven but the bread into his body apart as betrayed broken and given for us the wine into his blood apart as shed out of his body for remission of sinnes and dedication of the new Testament which
to be by others abroad notwithstanding the Pope doth now by his Bulls of dispensation take upon him to make a faire matter of it may easily be perceived by this censure of Giraldus Moreover saith he which is very detestable and most contrarie not onely to the faith but also unto common honestie brethren in many places throughout Ireland doe I say not marry but marre rather and seduce the wives of their deceased brothers while in this sort they filthily and incestuously have knowledge of them cleaving herein not to the marrow but to the barke of the old testament and desiring to imitate the ancient in vices more vvillingly then in vertues Thirdly touching divorces we reade in Sedulius that it is not lawful according to the precept of our Lord that the wife should be put away but for the cause of fornication and in the Synod ascribed to S. Patrick It is not lawfull for a man to put away his wife but for the cause of fornication as if he should say for this cause he may Whence if he marry another as it were after the death of the former they forbid it not Who they were that did not forbid this second marriage is not there expressed that S. Patrick himselfe was of another minde would appeare by this constitution following which in another ancient Canon-book I found cited under his name If any mans wife have committed adulterie with another man hee shall not marry another wife as long as the first wife shall be alive If peradventure she be converted and doe penance hee shall receive her and she shal serve him in the place of a mayd servant Let her for a whole yeare doe penance in bread and water and that by measure neyther let them remaine in the same bedd together Fourthly concerning single life I doe not finde in anie of our records that it was generally imposed upon the Clergie but the contrarie rather For in the Synod held by S. Patrick Auxilius and Isserninus there is a speciall order taken that their wives shall not walke abroad with their heads uncovered And S. Patrick himselfe confesseth at leastwise the Confession which goeth under his name saith so and Probus Iocelinus and others that write his life agree therewith that he had to his father Calpurnius a Deacon and to his grandfather Potitus a Priest True it is that for the most part the Clergie here did live unmarried but the speciall reason thereof was because almost all the prelates of Ireland were chosen into the Clergie out of monasteries not because that secular Priests were by any law debarred from marriage For our monasteries in ancient time were the seminaries of the ministerie being as it were so many Colledges of learned divines whereunto the people did usually resort for instruction and from whence the Church was wont continually to be supplied with able ministers The benefite whereof was not onely contayned within the limits of this Iland but did extend it selfe to forraine countries likewise For this was it that drew Egbert and Ceadda for example into Ireland that they might there leade a monasticall life in prayers and continencie and meditation of the holy Scriptures and hence were those famous monasteries planted in England by Aidan Finan Colman and others unto which the people flockt apace on the Lords day not for the feeding of their body but for the learning of the word of God as Beda witnesseth Yea this was the principall meanes whereby the knowledge both of the Scriptures and of all other good learning was preserved in that inundation of babarisme wherewith the whole West was in a maner overwhelmed Hitherto saith Curio it might seeme that the studies of wisedome should quite have perished unlesse God had reserved a seed in some corner of the world Among the Scottish and the Irish something as yet remayned of the doctrine of the knowledge of God and of civill honestie because there was no terrour of armes in those utmost ends of the world And we may there behold and adore the great goodnesse of God that among the Scotts and in those places where no man would have thought it so many great companies should be gathered together under a most strict discipline How strict their discipline was may appeare partly by the Rule partly by the Daily penances of Monkes which are yet extant of Columbanus his writing In the later of these for the disobedience of Monkes these penances are prescribed If any brother be disobedient he shall fast two dayes with one bisket and water If any say I will not doe it three dayes with one bisket and water If any murmure two dayes with one bisket and water If any doe not aske leave or tell an excuse two dayes with one bisket and water and so in other particulars In his Rule these good lessons doth hee give unto his Monkes among manie others That it profited them little if they were virgins in body and were not virgins in minde that they should daily profite as they did daily pray and daily reade that the good things of the Pharisee being vainly praised were lost and the sinnes of the Publican being accused vanished away and therfore that a great word should not come out of the mouth of a Monke least his great labour should perish They were not taught to vaunt of their state of perfection and workes of supererogation or to argue from thence as Celestius the Pelagian monke sometime did that by the nature of their free will they had such a possibilitie of not sinning that they were able also to doe more then was commanded because they did observe perpetuall virginitie which is not commanded whereas for not sinning it is sufficient to fulfill the precepts It was one of the points which Gallus the scholler of Columbanus delivered in his sermon preached at Constance that our Saviour did so perswade the Apostles and their followers to lay hold upon the good of virginitie that yet they should know it was not of humane industry but of divine gift and it is a good observation which we reade in Claudius that not only in the splendor of bodily things but also in mournefull abasing of ones selfe there may be boasting and that so much the more dangerous as it deceiveth under the name of the service of God Our Monkes were religious in deed and not in name only farre from the hypocrisie pride idlenesse and uncleanenesse of those evill beasts and slouthfull bellies that afterward succeeded in their roome Under colour of forsaking all they did not hooke all unto themselves nor under semblance of devotion did they devoure widdowes houses they held begging to be no point of perfection but remembred the words of our Lord Iesus how he said It is a more blessed thing to give rather then to take When King Sigebert made large offers unto Columbanus and his companions to keepe
them within his dominions in France he received such another answer from them as Thaddaeus in the Ecclesiasticall historie is said to have given unto Abgarus the governour of Edessa We who have forsaken our owne that according to the commandement of the Gospell we might follow the Lord ought not to embrace other mens riches least peradventure we should prove transgressors of the divine commandement How then did these men live will you say Walafridus Strabus telleth us that some of them wrought in the garden others dressed the orchard Gallus made netts and tooke fish wherewith he not only relieved his owne companie but was helpefull also unto strangers So Bede reporteth of Cuthbert that when he retired himselfe unto an anchoretical life he first indeed received a little bread from his brethren to feed upon and drank out of his owne well but afterwards hee thought it more fit to live by the worke of his owne hands after the example of the Fathers and therefore intreated that instruments might be brought him wherewith he might till the earth and corne that he might sowe Quique suis cupiens victum conquirere palmis Incultam pertentat humum proscindere ferro Et sator edomitis anni spem credere glebis The like doth he relate of Furseus and Bonifacius of Livinus and Theodorus Campidonensis or whosoever else wrote that book of Gallus Magnoaldus and the rest of the followers of Columbanus that they got their living by the labour of their owne hands And the Apostles rule is generally laid down for all Monks in the life of Furseus They vvhich live in monasteries should worke with silence and eate their owne bread I passe by a like sentence which we reade in the life of S. Brendan A Monke ought to be fedd and cloathed with the labour of his owne hands that is more memorable which others do write of the same Brendan that he governed three thousand Monkes who by their owne labours and handy-worke did earne their living Such was the monasterie of Magio founded in this countrey by Bishop Colman for the intertainment of the English where they did live according to the example of the reverend Fathers as Bede writeth under a rule and aâ— canonicall abbot in great continencie and sinceritie with the labour of their owne hands Such also was the monasterie of Mailros planted by Bishop Aidan and his followers in Northumberland where S. Cuthbert had his education who affirmed that the life of such monkes was justly to be admired which were in all things subject to the commands of their Abbot and ordered all the times of their watching praying fasting and working according to his direction Excubiasque famemque preces manuumque laborem Ad votum gaudent proni fraenare regentis As for their fasting for of their watching and praying there is no question made and of their working we have alreadie spoken sufficiently by the rule of Columbanus they were every day to fast and every day to eate that by this meanes the enabling of them for their spiritual proficiency might be retayned together with the abstinence that did macerate the flesh Hee would therefore have them every day to eate because they were every day to profite and because abstinence if it did exceed measure would proâ—e a vice and not a vertue and he would have them to fast everie day too that is not to eate anie meate at all for other fastes were not known in those dayes untill evening Let the food of Monkes saith he be meane and taken at evening flying satietie and excesse of drinke that it may both sustaine them and not hurt them This was the daily fasting and feeding of them that lived according to Columbanus his rule Such as followed the instructions of Bishop Aidan observed this kinde of fast on Wednesdayes Fridayes only upon which dayes they forbare eating of anie meate untill the ninth houre that is to say untill three of the clock in the afternoone according unto our account So Bishop Cedd who was brought up at Lindisfarne with Aidan and Finan keeping a strict fast upon a speciall occasion in the time of Lent did every day except the Lords day continue his fast as the maner was untill the evening and then also did eate nothing but a smal pittance of bread one egge with a little milke mingled with water Where by the way you may note that in those dayes egges were eaten in Lent and the Sondayes excepted from fasting even then when the abstinence was precisely and in more then an ordinarie maner observed But generally for this point of the difference of meals it is well noted by Claudius out of S. Augustin that the children of wisedome doe understand that neyther in abstayning nor in eating is there any vertue but in contentednesse of bearing the want and temperance of not corrupting a mans selfe by aboundance and of opportunely taking or not taking those things of which not the use but the concupiscence is to be blamed and in the life of Furseus the hypocrisie of them is justly taxed that being assaulted with spirituall vices doe yet omit the care of them and afflict their body with abstinence who abstayning from meates which God hath created to be received with thankesgiving fall to wicked things as if they were lawfull namely to pride covetousnesse envy false witnessing backbiting And so much for that matter Now concerning the Catholick Church our Doctors taught with S. Gregory that God hath a vineyard to wit the universall Church which from just Abel untill the last of the elect that shall be borne in the end of the world as many Saints as it hath brought forth so many branches as it were hath it budded that the congregation of the just is called the kingdome of heaven which is the Church of the just that the sonnes of the Church be all such as from the beginning of mankinde untill now have attayned to be just and holy that what is said of the body may be said also of the members and that in this respect as well the Apostles and all beleevers as the Church it selfe have the title of a pillar given them in the Scriptures that the Church may be considered two maner of wayes both that which neyther hath spot nor wrinkle and is truly the body of Christ and that which is gathered in the name of Christ vvithout full and perfect vertues which notwithstanding by the warrant of the Apostle may have the name of the Church given unto it although it be depraved with errour that the Church is sayd not to have spot or wrinkle in respect of the life to come that when the Apostle saith In a great house there are not only vessels of gold c. but some to honour and some to dishonour 2. Tim. 2.20 by this
great house he doth not understand the Church as some have thought which hath not spot nor wrinkle but the world in which the tares are mingled with the vvheate that yet in the holy Church also the evill are mingled with the good and the reprobate with the elect and that in this respect it is resembled unto the wise and foolish virgins as also to the Kings marriage by which this present Church is designed wherein the good and the bad doe meet together So that in this Church neyther the bad can be without the good nor the good without the bad whom the holy Church notwithstanding doth both now receive indifferently and separate afterwards at their going from hence They taught further that the Church sometimes is not only afflicted but also defiled with such oppressions of the gentiles that if it were possible her redeemer might seeme for a time utterly to have forsaken her and that in the raging times of Antichrist the Church shall not appeare by reason that the wicked persecutors shall then exercise their cruelty beyond all measure that in those times of Antichrist not onely more often and more bitter torments shall be put upon the faithfull then before were wont to be but which is more grievous the working of miracles also shall accompany those that inflict the torments as the Apostle witnesseth saying Whose comming is after the working of Satan with all seduction signes and lying wonders namely juggling ones as it was foretold before They shall shew such signes that if it were possible the very elect should be deceived by such a phantasticall power as Iamnes and Mambres wrought withall before Pharao What unbeleever therefore say they will then be converted unto the faith and who is hee that already beleeveth whose faith trembleth not and is not shaken vvhen the persecuter of piety is the worker of wonders and the same man that exerciseth crueltie with torments that Christ may be denyed provoketh by miracles that Antichrist may be beleeved And vvhat a pure and a single eye is there need of that the way of wisdome may be found against which so great deceivings and errors of evill and perverse men doe make such a noyse all which notwithstanding men must passe through and so come to most certaine peace and the unmoveable stabilitie of vvisedome Hence concerning Miracles they give us these instructions First that neyther if an Angell should shew himselfe unto us to seduce us being suborned with the deceipts of his father the Divell ought he to prevayle against us neyther if a miracle should be done by any one as it is sayd of Simon Magus that he did flye in the ayre neyther that signes should terrifie us as done by the Spirit because that our Saviour also hath given us warning of this before hand Matth. 24.24 25. Secondly that the faith having increased miracles were to cease forasmuch as they are declared to have been given for their sakes that beleeve not and therefore that now when the number of the faithfull is growen there be many within the holy Church that retayne the life of vertues and yet have not those signes of vertues because a miracle is to no purpose shewed outwardly if that be wanting which it should worke inwardly For according to the saying of the Master of the Gentiles Languages are for a signe not to the faithfull but to infidells 1. Cor. 14.22 Thirdly that the working of miracles is no good argument to prove the holinesse of them that be the instruments thereof and therefore when the Lord doth such things for the convincing of infidels hee yet giveth us warning that vvee should not be deceived thereby supposing invisible wisedom to be there where we shall behold a visible miracle For he saith Many shall say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophecyed in thy name and in thy name cast out Divels and in thy name done many miracles Matth. 7.22 Fourthly that hee tempteth God who for his own vaine glory will make shew of a superfluous and unprofitable miracle such as that for example was whereunto the Divel tempted our Saviour Matt. 4.6 to come downe headlong from the pinnacle of the Temple unto the plaine every miracle being vayne vvhich vvorketh not some profite unto mans salvation Whereby wee may easily discerne what to judge of that infinite number of idle miracles wherewith the lives of our Saints are everie where stuffed manie wherof we may justly censure as Amphilochius doth the tales that the Poëts tell of their Gods for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fables of laughter worthy and of teares Yea some of them also we may rightly brand as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnseemely fables and Divells documents For what for example can be more unseemely and tend further to the advancement of the doctrine of Divels then that which Cogitosus relateth in the life of S. Brigid that she for saving the credite of a Nunne that had been gotten with childe blessed her faithfully forsooth for so the author speaketh and so caused her conception to vanish away without any deliverie and without any paine which for the saving of S. Brigids owne credit eyther Hen. Canisius or the friars of Aichstad from whō he had his copie of Cogitosus thought fit to scrape out and rather to leave a blanke in the book then to suffer so lewd a tale to stand in it But I will not stirre this puddle anie further but proceede on unto some better matter And now are we come at last to the great point that toucheth the Head and the foundation of the Church Concerning which Sedulius observeth that the title of foundation is attributed both to Christ and to the Apostles and Prophets that where it is said Esai 28.16 Behold I lay in Sion a stone etc. it is certaine that by the rock or stone Christ is signified that in Ephes. 2.20 the Apostles are the foundation or Christ rather the foundation of the Apostles For Christ saith he is the foundation who is also called the corner stone joyning and holding together the two walls Therefore is he the foundation and chiefe stone because in him the Church is both founded and finished and we are to account the Apostles as ministers of Christ and not as the foundation The famous place Matth. 16.18 whereupon our Romanists lay the maine foundation of the Papacie Claudius expoundeth in this sort Vpon this rock will I build my Church that is to say upon the Lord and Saviour vvho granted unto his faithfull knower lover and confessor the participation of his own name that from petra the rock he should be called Peter The Church is builded upon him because only by the faith and love of Christ by the receiving of the sacraments of Christ by the observation of the commandements of Christ vve come to the inheritance
the Archbishop vvas dead Calomagnus the King of Scotts and the troupe of his Officers with the under-courtiers and the concourse of all that countrey with the same affection of heart cryed out that the holy Priest Livinus was most worthily to be advanced unto the honour of this order The King more devoute then all of them consenting thereunto three or foure times placed the blessed man in the chayre of the Archbishoprick with due honour according to the will of the Lord. In like maner also did king Ecgfrid cause our Cuthbert to be ordayned Bishop of the Church of Lindisfarne and king Pipin granted the Bishoprick of Salzburg to our Virgilius Duke Gunzo would have conferred the Bishoprick of Constance upon our Gallus but that hee refused it and caused another upon his recommendation to be preferred thereunto As the Pope intermedled not with the making of our Bishops so neyther can we finde by any approved record of antiquitie that anie Visitations of the clergie were held here in his name much lesse that any Indulgences were sought for by our people at his hands For as for the Charter of S. Patrick by some intituled De antiquitate Avalonicâ wherein Phaganus and Deruvianus are said to have purchased ten or thirtie yeares of Indulgences from Pope Eleutherius and S. Patrick himselfe to have procured twelve yeares in his time from Pope Celestinus it might easily be demonstrated if this were a place for it that it is a meere figment devised by the Monkes of Glastenbury Neyther doe I well know what credite is to be given unto that stragling sentence which I finde ascribed unto the same author for I will still deale fairely and conceale nothing that I meet withall in anie hidden part of antiquitie that may tend to the true discoverie of the state of former times whether it may seeme to make for me or against me If any questions doe arise in this Iland let them be referred to the See Apostolick Onely this I will say that as it is most likely that S. Patrick had a speciall regard unto the Church of Rome from whence he was sent for the conversion of this Iland so if I my selfe had lived in his dayes for the resolution of a doubtfull question I should as willingly have listened to the judgement of the Church of Rome as to the determination of anie Church in the whole world so reverend an estimation have I of the integritie of that Church as it stood in those good dayes But that S. Patrick was of opinion that the Church of Rome was sure ever afterward to continue in that good estate and that there was a perpetuall priviledge annexed unto that See that it should never erre in judgement or that the Popes sentences were alway to be held as infallible Oracles that will I never beleeve sure I am that my countreymen after him were of a farre other beleefe who were so farre from submitting themselves in this sort to whatsoever should proceed from the See of Rome that they oftentimes stood out against it when they had little cause so to do For proofe whereof I need to seeke no further then to those verie allegations which have beene lately urged for maintenance of the supremacie of the Pope and Church of Rome First Mr. Coppinger commeth upon us with this wise question Was not Ireland among other countries absolved from the Pelagian heresie by the Church of Rome as Cesar Baronius writeth then he setteth downe the copie of S. Gregories epistle in answer unto the Irish Bishops that submitted themselves unto him and concludeth in the end according to his skill that the Bishops of Ireland being infected with the Pelagian errour sought absolution first of Pelagius the Pope but the same was not effectually done untill S. Gregory did it But in all this the silly man doth nothing else but bewray his owne extreme ignorance For neyther can he shew it in Cesar Baronius or in anie other author whatsoever that the Irish Bishops did ever seek absolution from Pope Pelagius or that the one had to deale in any businesse at all with the other Neyther yet can he shew that ever they had to doe with S. Gregory in anie matter that did concerne the Pelagian heresie for these be dreames of Coppingers own idle head The epistle of S. Gregory dealeth onely with the controversie of the three chapter◠which were condemned by the fifth generall Councell whereof Baronius writeth thus All the Bishops that were in Ireland with most earnest studie rose up jointly for the defence of the Three Chapters And when they perceived that the Church of Rome did both receive the condemnation of the Three chapters and strengthen the fifth Synod with her consent they departed from her and clave to the rest of the schismaticks that were eyther in Italy or in Africk or in other countries animated with that vaine confidence that they did stand for the Catholick faith while they defended those things that were concluded in the Councell of Chalcedon And so much the more fixedly saith he did they cleave to their error because whatsoever Italy did suffer by commotions of warre by famine or pestilence all these unhappy things they thought did therefore befall unto it because it had undertaken to fight for the Fift Synod against the Councell of Chalcedon Thus farre Baronius out of whose narration this may be collected that the Bishops of Ireland did not take all the resolutions of the Church of Rome for undoubted oracles but when they thought that they had better reason on their sides they preferred the judgement of other Churches before it Wherein how peremptorie they were when they wrote unto S. Gregory of the matter may easily be perceived by these parcells of the answer which he returned unto their letters The first entry of your epistle hath notified that you suffer a grievous persecution which persecution indeed when it is not sustayned for a reasonable cause doth profite nothing unto salvation and therefore it is verie unfit that you should glory of that persecution as you call it by which it is certaine you cannot be promoted to everlasting rewards And whereas you write that since that time among other provinces Italy hath beene most afflicted you ought not to object that unto it as a reproach because it is written Whom the Lord loveth hee chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that he receiveth Then having spoken of the booke that Pope Pelagius did write of this controversie which indeed was penned by Gregory himselfe he addeth If after the reading of this book you will persist in that deliberation wherein now you are without doubt you shew that you give your selves to be ruled not by reason but by obstinacie By all which you may see what credite is to be given unto the man who would beare us in hand that this epistle of S. Gregory was sent
as an answer unto the Bishops of Ireland that did submit themselves unto him whereas the least argument of anie submission of theirs doth not appeare in anie part of that epistle but the whole course of it doth clearely manifest the flat contrary In the next place steppeth forth Osullevan Beare a wilde Beare indeed rather then a Christian man who in his Catholick Historie of Ireland for so he stileth his trayterous and barbarous Collections lately published would have us take knowledge of this that when the Irish Doctors did not agree together upon great questions of faith or did heare of any new doctrine brought from abroad they were wont to consult with the Bishop of Rome the Oracle of truth That they consulted with the Bishop of Rome when difficult questions did arise wee easily grant but that they thought they were bound in conscience to stand to his judgment whatsoever it should be and to intertaine all his resolutions as certaine Oracles of truth is the point that we would faine see proved For this he telleth us that when questions and disputations did arise here concerning the time of Eâ—ster and the Pelagian heresie the Doctors of Ireland referred the matter unto the See Apostolick Whereupon the error of Pelagius is reported to have found no patron or maintayner in Ireland and the common course of celebrating Easter was embraced both by the Northren Irish and by the Pictes and Britons as soone as they understood the rite of the Romane Church Which saith hee doth not obscurely appeare by the two heads of the Apostolick letters related by Bede lib. 2. cap. 19. But that those Apostolick letters as he calleth them had that successe which he talketh of appeareth neither plainly nor obscurely by Bede or anie other authoritie whatsoever The error of Pelagius saith he is reported to have found no patron or maintayner in Ireland But who is he that reporteth so beside Philip Osullevan a worthy author to ground a report of antiquity upon who in relating the matters that fell out in his owne time discovereth himselfe to be as egregious a lyar as anie I verily thinke that this day breatheth in Christendome The Apostolick letters he speaketh of were written as before hath beene touched in the yeare of our Lord DCXXXIX during the vacancie of the Romane See upon the death of Severinus Our countreyman Kilianus repayred to Rome 47. yeares after that and was ordayned Bishop there by Pope Conon in the yeare DCLXXXVI The reason of his comming thither is thus laid downe by Egilwardus or who ever else was the author of his life For Ireland had beene of old defiled with the Pelagian heresie and condemned by the Apostolicall censure which could not be loosed but by the Romane judgement If this be true then that is false which Osullevan reporteth of the effect of his Apostolicall Epistle that it did so presently quassh the Pelagian heresie as it durst not once peepe up within this Iland The difference betwixt the Romanes and the Irish in the celebration oâ— Easter consisted in this The Romanes kept the memorial of our Lords resurrection upon that Sonday which fell betwixt the XV. and the XXI day of the Moone both termes included next after the XXI day of March which they accounted to be the seat of the Vernall aequinoctium that is to say that time of the Spring wherein the day and the night were of equall length and in reckoning the age of the Moone they followed the Alexandrian cycle of XIX yeares whence our golden number had his originall as it was explained unto them by Dionysius Exiguus which is the account that is still observed not only in the Church of England but also among all the Christians of Greece Russia Asia AEgypt and AEthiopia and was since the time that I my selfe was borne generally received in all Christendome untill the late change of the Kalendar was made by Pope Gregory the XIIIth The Northren Irish and Scottish together with the Pictes observed the custome of the Britons keeping their Easter upon the Sonday that fell betwixt the XIIII and the XX. day of the Moone and following in their account thereof not so much the XIX yeares computation of Anatolius as Sulpicius Severus his circle of LXXXIIII yeares for howsoever they extolled Anatolius for appointing the bounds of Easter betwixt the XIIII and the XX. day of the Moone yet Wilfride in the Synod of Strenshalch chargeth them utterly to have rejected his cycle of XIX yeares from which therefore Cummianus draweth an argument against them that they can never come to the true account of Easter who observe the cycle of LXXXIIII yeares To reduce the Irish unto conformitie with the Church of Rome in this point Pope Honorius the first of that name directed his letters unto them Exhorting them that they would not esteeme their owne paucitie seated in the utmost borders of the earth more wife then the ancient or moderne Churches of Christ through the whole world and that they would not celebrate another Easter contrary to the Paschall computations and the Synodall decrees of the Bishops of the whole world and shortly after the clergie of Rome as we have said upon the death of Severinus wrote other letters unto them to the same effect Now where Osullevan pardon me if I honour the rake-hell too much in naming him so often avoucheth that the common customeâ— sed by the Church in celebrating the feast of the Lords resurrection was alwayes observed by the Southerne Irish and now embraced also by the Northren together with the Pictes and Britons who received the faith from Irish Doctors when they had knowledge given them of the rite of the Church of Rome in all this according to his common wont hee speaketh never a true word For neyther did the Southerne Irish alwayes observe the celebration of Easter commonly received abroad neyther did the Northren Irish nor the Pictes nor the Britons manie yeares after this admonition given by the Church of Rome admit that observation among them to speake nothing of his folly in saying that the Britons received the faith from the Irish when the contrarie is so well knowne that the Irish received the same from the Britons That the common custome of celebrating the time of Easter was not alwayes observed by the Southerne Irish may appeare by those words of Bede in the third booke of his historie and the third chapter Porrò gentes Scottorum quae in australibus Hiberniae insulae partibus morabantur jamdudum ad admonitionem Apostolicae sedis antistitis Pascha canonico ritu observare didicerunt For if as this place clearely proveth the nations of the Scotts that dwelt in the Southerne parts of Ireland did learne to observe Easter after the canonicall maner upon the admonition of the Bishop of Rome it is evident that before that admonition they did observe it after another maner The word jamdudum which Bede
for the feare of his country as the ancient author of the life of Wilfride writeth contemned the tonsure and the observation of Easter used by the Romanes and taking with him such as would follow him that is to say such as would not receive the catholick Easter and the tonsure of the crowne for of that also there was then no small question returned backe againe into Scotland In his roome was Wilfride chosen archbishop of Yorke who had learned at Rome from archdeacon Boniface the course of Easter vvhich the schismaticks of Brittaine and Ireland did not know so goe the words of the ancient writer of his life and afterward did brag that he was the first which did teach the true Easter in Northumberland having cast out the Scotts which did ordayne the Ecclesiasticall songs to be parted on sides and vvhich did command S. Benetts rule to be observed by Monkes But when he was named to the Archbishoprick he refused it at the first as William of Malmesbury relateth least he should receive his consecration from the Scottish Bishops or from such as the Scotts had ordayned vvhose communion the Apostolicke See had rejected The speech which hee used to this purpose unto the Kings that had chosen him is thus laid downe by the writer of his life O my honourable Lords the Kings it is necessary for us by all meanes providently to consider how with your election I may by the helpe of God come to the degree of a Bishop without the accusation of catholick men For there be many Bishops here in Brittayne none of whom it is my part to accuse ordayned within these foureteene yeares by the Brittons and Scotts whom neyther the See Apostolick hath received into her communion nor yet such as consent with the schismaticks And therefore in my humility I request of you that you would send me with your warrant beyond the Sea into the countrey of France where many Catholick Bishops are to be had that without any controversie of the Apostolick See I may be counted meet though unworthy to receive the degree of a Bishop While Wilfride protracted time beyond the Seas King Oswy ledde by the advise of the Quartadecimans so they injuriously nicknamed the Brittish and Irish that did celebrate Easter from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the moone appointed a most religious servant of God and an admirable Doctor that came from Ireland named Ceadda to be ordayned Bishop of Yorke in his roome Constituunt etenim perverso canone Coeddam Moribus acclinem doctrinae robore fortem Praesulis eximij servare cubilia sicque Audacter vivo sponsam rapuere marito saith Fridegodus This Ceadda being the scholler of Bishop Aidan was farre otherwise affected to the Brittis◠and Irish then Wilfride was and therefore was content to receive his ordination from Wini Bishop of the West-Saxons and two other Brittish Bishops that were of the Quartadeciman partie For at that time as Bede noteth there was not in all Brittaine any Bishop canonically ordayned that is to say by such as were of the communion of the Church of Rome except that Wini onely But shortly after the opposition betwixt these two sides grew to be so great that our Cuthbert Bishop of Lindisfarne upon his death bedd required his followers that they should hold no communion with them which did swerve from the unitie of the catholick peace eyther by not celebrating Easte◠in his due time or by living perversely and that they should rather take up his bones and remove their place of habitation then anie way condescend to submit their neckes unto the yoake of schismatickes And among the decrees made by some of the Saxon Bishops which were to be seene in the librarie of Sir Thomas Knevet in Northfolke and are still I suppose preserved there by his heyre this is laid downe for one Such as have received ordination from the Bishops of the Scotts or Brittaynes who in the matter of Easter and Tonsure are not united unto the Catholick Church let them be againe by imposition of hands confirmed by a Catholicke Bishop In like maner also let the Churches that have bin ordered by those Bishops be sprinkled with exorcized water confirmed with some service We have no licence also to give unto them Chrisme or the Eucharist when they require it unlesse they doe first professe that they will remaine with us in the unitie of the Church And such likewise as either of their nation or of any other shall doubt of their baptisme let them be baptized Thus did they On the other side how averse the Brittish and the Irish were from having anie communion with those of the Romane partie the complaint of Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus before specified doth sufficiently manifest But above all others the Brittish Priests that dwelt in West-wales abhorred their communion beyond all measure as Aldhelme abbot of Malmesbury declareth at large in his Epistle sent to Geruntius king of Cornewall where among manie other particulars he sheweth that if anie of the Catholicks for so he calleth those of his own side did go to dwell among them they would not vouchsafe to admit them unto their companie and societie before they first put them to fortie dayes penance Yea even to this day saith Bede who wrote his historie in the yeare DCCXXXI it is the maner of the Brittons to hold the faith and the religion of the English in no account at all nor to communicate with them in any thing more then with Pagans Whereunto those verses of Taliessyn honoured by the Brittains with the title of Ben Beirdh that is the chiefe of the Bardes or wisemen may be added which evidently shew that he wrote after the comming of Austin the monke into England and not 50. or 60. yeares before as others have imagined Gwae'r offeiriad byd Nys angreifftia gwyd Ac ny phregetha Gwaeny chèidw ey gail Ac ef yn vigail Ac nys areilia Gwae ny cheidw ey dheuaid Rhac bleidhie Rhufeniaid A'i ffon gnwppa which Humfrey Lhoyd doth thus English VVo be to that priest yborne That will not cleanly weed his corne And preach his charge among VVo be to that shepheard I say That will not watch his fold alway As to his office doth belong VVo be to him that doth not keepe From Romish wolves his sheepe VVith staffe and weapon strong By all that hath beene said the vanitie of Osullevan may be seene who fayneth the Northren Irish together with the Pictes and the Britons to have beene so obsequious unto the Bishop of Rome that they reformed the celebration of Easter by them formerly used as soone as they understood what the rite of the Romane Church was Whereas it is knowne that after the declaration thereof made by Pope Honorius and the clergie of Rome the Northren Irish were nothing moved therewith but continued still their owne tradition And therfore Bede