of this then a moste wofull Realme whose princely persone before had tasted of so greate daunger that the verie walles doe yet recorde her dolefull posie sicut ouis c. The God of heauen whose only hand was then and yet is her helper and ours bee for euer and euer extolled and the name of his mercy be neuer forgotten amongste vs. But now when I should rest my selfe in the performance of this portion namely in the delyueraunce from thraldome and the proclaiming of peace to the whole lande outwarde in the repose of the Lande inwarde in the freedome of Conscience whereas from the woe I should passe on to the welfare and from the mournfull face of calamity I should descend or rather ascende to the ioyfull apparaunce of our blessed felicitye miserably Naye deuilishly nay dampnably am I interrupted with the oppositions of Traytors the ouerthwartinges of Rebells the enchaunting of Witches the charmings of Sorcerers the presagings and foretellings of Sooth sayers the seducings of Iesuites and Seminaries the conspyrings of domesticall Hypocrites and Traitors the bandings of popish foreyne Princes and the cursings of the Pope himselfe that Antychrist most accursed What should I say Swéet peace had no sooner discouered the bountye of her glorious face and the blossomes of godly tranquility were no sooner séen sprouting forth to the gladding of the harts of trew Christians but presently anon these Caterpillers were ingendred presently and anone these Cockaatrices were hatched presently and anone these Tyrantes were prouoked yea presently and anone this Antichriste of Rome the father of all mischiefe and sonne of Perdition was furiously enraged so that now I saye when as by the order of my deuision I shoulde speake vnto you of Ioye and of nothing else but ioye these enemies of our ioye and these enuiers of our happines as much as in them lyeth haue so ministred matter to the clogging vp of my passage that thereby they haue interrupted my proceeding and not a lyttle hindred my discourse But thancks be to God for he againe of his aboundant mercies and endlesse fauour hath so leuelled my way by the ruin of their inuentions and so smoothed my passage by the total confusion of their Stratagemmicall platts as on I may goe and on I will goe by the goodnes of God and your attention to deliuer vnto you some taste of the blessed exchaunge that by and through our Elizabeth hath bin wrought and brought to passe within this lande since her Maiesties gouernment And to begin withall what greater obiect of our ioye can I take vnto me then that which the common enemie hath intended to bee the matter and onelye obiect of our confusion namely and especially the deuine but yet expresse and visible deliuerances of our soueraigne frō time to time since her comming to the Crowne as before from all the deuices all the Treasons and all and euery the plats practizes and attempts whatsoeuer murtherously nay traiterously intended against her royall person so as yet in sauety shee liueth and as yet to the eternall prayses of our omnypotent God she sitteth a Queene a prepotent Quéene mighty and preuayling I saye preuayling againste all and singuler the attempts and attemptates that eyther haue bine or are at this present within the Realme or without at home or abroade And that longe maie shee so sitte the Lorde of his glorious mercie graunte we beseeche him To recken vp vnto you the particulers of the manifolde discouered attempts against her maiestie with the perticuler ouerthrowes of the same since her firste comming to the Crowne time as now will not suffer me What open Rebellions there haue bine begonne who were the ringleaders thereof what were their pretences what their power how farre they proceded and in what sorte they were stopped and that for the moste parte without effusion of bloode and finally howe and in what maner the chiefe attemptaes therof haue bine surprised namely and notably in the Rebellion of the North where the one of the two Leaders was putte as I maie saie into her Maiesties handes to receaue the due rewarde of his Treason and the other when as hee thought by his escape out of the Realme to haue escaped also the punishment of his most vile and trayterous offence was by the iust hande of God taken holde of and euen in the place of his hoped security as I haue heard brought to penury and want Againe to deliuer vnto you how oft and oft and euen nowe of late the murthering of her Maiesties person my hart trembleth and abhorreth to expresse the terme and the deuesting of her from her royall possession hath not onely bene contriued but euen in the instant also dessigned to haue bene performed By whom and in what sorte when and in what place and thereuppon also the moste miraculous discoueries therof somtimes by the parties themselues sometimes by the discouerie of others but alwaies and from time to time by the extraordinary and very expresse hand of God These thinges I say to stand vpon them in discourse to reckon vp vnto you the particulers therof so far foorth as to vs may be knowne considering the time is well spent the generall knowledge therof is rife common to all I should but lengthen the time therin beyond compasse and ouer largely presume of your borrowed patience I will nowe therefore briefely procéede to other benefites By the blessing of this so blessed and miraculous preseruation of her Maiesties royall person howe great and inestimable the blessinges are which we haue receiued and doe enioye by the same would now in a worde be considered First therfore and aboue all we haue and enioy by her Maiesty the most glorious of all glorious Iewels the true and sincere worde of God with the free open and vniuersall preaching and professing thereof By the which the errors of mans life are disclosed the affections of mankinde relieued the knowledge of sin procured the forgiuenes of sinne proclaimed and againste all sin and errour whatsoeuer the assurance of faith ingendered confirmed as by the which and through the which come death come life come what wil or can come in the world the pledge and earnest of our saluation in Christe Ihesus is surely setled and sealed vp in our soules euen vntill the day of Iesus Christ and of our redemption And let all the Justiciaries of workes in the earth magnifie to the vttermost of their power and skil the vertue of whatsoeuer they can or doe blasphemously imagine to be propitiatory for sin I appeale vnto the Consciences of al that haue tasted in any measure of the good word of God and how swéete the lord is whether one dram of true faith in Christ his death and bloodsheading rightly grounded vppon the promise of his word this worde which I speake of be or haue not bin found vnto them more auaileable to the pacifying of their afflicted soules and consciences then any thing in
Heauen or earth that coulde bee offered vnto them In which behalfe I will require no further witnesse then the aduersaries themselues who haue bin often knowne in the instant of their death to haue left all and to haue flyne onely to the Lord Iesus estéeming all other propitiations to be helpelesse and vaine And thus much for the blessing of the woorde of God which by her Maiesties meanes and propugnation wee enioye The nexte blessing as the effecte of Faith and of Gods woorde that falleth out in order to bee spoken to is worldly and externall peace From which well vsed springeth plentie And where the abuse of these hath wrought among vs namely in disordered persons Pride and dissolution these things haue notwithstanding by a great blessing of godly gouernment bin so moderated with such mixture of those foure chiefe and cardinall vertues Prudence Fortitude Iustice Clemencie besides all other Heroicall vertues shining in her Maiesty vpholding vnto vs the former spirituall and temporall blessinges that of them all seuerally both I should and would haue spoken but how I am ouertaken with the short proportion of time you sée and I perceaue it And therefore for this instant drawing to a conclusion I will bende my speeche and that but in fewe to the domesticall enemies of our peace I meane the enemies of her Maiestie by whom God hath powred all those blessings vpon vs the moste peacefull milde and gentle Soueraigne that euer raigned in this lande Against which enemies me thinkes I sée how euery of you that loue Gods truth and her Maiesties safety doe with mee euen rowse your selues and in the iust indignation of your minds vpbraid and challenge them with this Expostulation O you vnkinde of all vnkinde Subiectes that euer were but why shoulde you bee called Subiectes who as one truelye saith of you suppose your selues not to liue vnder her Maiestie as Subiectes but to be holden as Captiues and so you yéelde her a seruile and involuntary reuerence you englishe Aliens therefore I terme you you Italienated English Tell mee I praye you what hath your english Soueraigne what hath our gracious Elizabeth so much offended you except your selues be the cause of your offence Hath she dispossessed you of your goodes Hath shee disinherited you of your landes Hath she taken from you your dwellinges Haue you sowed and she reaped Haue you planted and she gathered the fruite Doth she denie you the protection of her writtes or doe you not enioye the benefite of her lawes Surely surely her handes yea I may say her heart moste gracious of all Princes liuing are cleane and innocent of all these thinges in the presence of the Lorde and of his people You sowe and reape the croppe you plant and eate the fruite You builde and inhabite the houses you purchase and enioy the landes What is it what is it amongst the faithfullest Subiects of the Realme that you participate not with equall benefit or do not enioy with the vtmost freedom of a Subiect vnlesse in wilfull maner and in the malice of your heartes you will depriue your selues of the same O good god and will you yet conspire against the life and helth of so benigne and merciful a Soueraigne Wil you take from her a Crowne will you deueste from her a dyadem who taketh not from you any the least Iot or portion of your possessions O harts not of men but of Tygres O handes not of trewe Subiects to defende but of rancke Traitors to destroie O broode of vipers O inhumane o pestylent o viperous generation Is not euen the Sexe that you so violentlie conspire againste atender Sexe Is not the person whome you woulde so Traiterouslie murther vnto this your Countrey and ours a Princely Parent Is not this Parent a Queene And is not this Queene your Queene and lawfull Soueraigne Hath not this your Soueraigne ours euen to this day bin roially and really iustly fully possessed in this her Kingdome Hath not her highnes prosperously raigned Hath not al the Realme except your selues onely and such as you are faithfullie acknowledged and dutifullie obaied her And hath not god himself confirmed and established yea and from time to time mightily blessed her I mighte saie more Hath not this your Soueraigne and ours the moste rare ornaments and Princely excellencies that euer had King or Queene within this Realme And what then will you aunswere me Lette me reason with you a little as heretofore you haue bin reasoned with Tell me I praie you to conspire againste this our moste gratious soueraigne is it as if you conspired againste an vsurper a Nero a Commodus a despoiler of his people and Countrie No no no such matter but a Conspiracy against a most lawful and righteous Prince againste our Queene Elizabeth a Prince considering the infirmities of her Sexe so farre aboue all praises as Englande had neuer a more happie gouernour among al that haue bine Princes of this lande nor whole Christendome matcheth her at this daie And to auouche these thinges in particuler looke vpon this Ladie beholde this your owne deere Soueraigne whome you woulde destroie withdrawe your sighte I instantlie intreate you for a little season from beholding that glorious Hierarchie of Rome and from fixing your eyes to deepelie vpon the partialities of foreyne Princes See if you finde not in this your Princely Soueraigne a life both knowen and seene to be voide of all enormious abuses See if there be not in this her gratious Maiesty a mirror of excelling vertues as it were a lodge of heauenly graces Constant firmnes innocent hands from corruption highe equitie clement and mercifull behauiour faithfulnes of minde zeale and tender harte Princelie Magnanimitie and in briefe a nature enritched with all admirable ornaments of deuine and heauenly blessinges And touching the thing you would most of al beare the world in hande with to the deceauing of your owne soules namely with the note of seuere execution in her Maiestie I woulde to God your termes were no worse Take an accompte of the multitudes that haue offended againste her royall person See if of an hundred ten haue bin taken holde off If often that haue beene brought to tryall three haue receaued the rewarde of their offence And albeit vppon tenne or moe at anye one time vppon high and daungerous respectes Execution hath bin done Yet way therwithall how manie participants haue escaped howe fewe familiers haue beene sifted and how greate and heinous purposes haue beene lefte without prosecution and in a manner wholy past ouer The good Emperour Nerua as pitifull as he was yet when he felt himself but touched and that with the onely contempt of his Subiects he tooke pen in hande and wrote this reuengefull Poesie to Traiane that shoulde succeede him Phoebe tuis telis lachrimas vlciscere nostras And the holie Emperour Constantine as milde as hee was as zealous in Christian profession yet when he saw the tirannous
afore Nay if we Englishmen in the viewe therof shall be able to saye vnto our selues that not with any Nation vnder the Cope of heauen at this daye God hath so delt as with vs good Lorde what should folowe hereupon but that our very soules shoulde breake forth with thankesgiuing and our hartes bee for euer resolued to continewe and resounde his prayses to the ende of our liues yea if we coulde as we hope we shall without ending But what shall I beginne with Where there hath kin no stinte nor measure of receiuing how can there be any entrance or choyse of begining If to sette forth the ioye I should first beginne with the sorowe that ouerwhelmed the face of this Land If to sette forth the blessing I should beginne as I may say with the curse that before did threaten vs. Or if to descipher the good thinges that this our Elizabeth our souueraigne brought with her to the Crowne of England I should first delyuer vnto you what Seas of miseries possessed and wel neere ouerflowed this little but moste noble Ilande As both these I muste needes saye in opposition were not vnneedfull to bee spoken of so yet leaste the dilating of the one might be cause of the abridging of the other I will for the helpe of a iust proportion in the one of these namely in the Churches persecution praye in ayde of the moste famous Historiographer of our tyme who briefly handling the miseries that imediatly preceded the raigne of our souueraigne after this sorte compendiously reporteth them Now sayeth he after these so great afflictions falling vppon this Realme from the firste beginninge of Queene Maryes raigne wherein so many men women and Children were burned so many imprisoned and in prison starued dyuers exiled some spoyled of goodes and possessions a great number dryuen from howse and home so many weeping eyes so many sobbing hartes so many Children made fatherlesse so many fathers bereft of their wiues and Children so many vexed in Conseyence and diuâ—rs against Conscience constrayned to recante and in conclusion neuer a good man almoste but suffred something during the tyme of this bloody persecution After all this sayeth the Historien there was reste to the persecuted members of Christe Thus you see one waye what an heape and generall deluge of wofull miseries had pitifully ouertaken naye rather ouerwhelmed a chief portion of this Realme of England I meane the Churche of England Religion defaced Godlynes hated Truth oppressed Trew professors persecuted PersecutioÌ„ blody To be shorte none spared all pursued euen to the death in whome there was any Conscyence of the Faythe or regarde of holy profession And as it fared with the Churche of England so alas it fared with the common wealth of Englande The lande possessed of straungers those straungers most turbulent most prowde moste insolent most aspyring and as Englande and the bordering peoples about vs at this daye haue cause to saye nay rather by their lamentable experience to complaine straungers moste cruell moste blodie most vnsufferable as by whome the sweete peace of this Realme was so interrupted so mangled so defaced that besides the daylie and continual threatened tumultes at home our welth of England the men of England the munition and forces of England were wholy imploied nay constrayned to wait vpon the wars I say vpon the vnnecessary warres of these so daungerous strangers yea to be wasted and consumed euen about the quarelles and ambytions of these so pernytious guests so that trulie it was then and is yet to bee affirmed that Englande whiche at that tyme had no cause of warres or breach of league with other Nations was enforced or rather violentlie haled to beare armes against them euen against Fraunce if I may speake it for the ambytious seruice of Spayne And whiles these thinges were thus sorted whiles men money munition and Armour were in this wise expended what was the sequel thereof I pray you what was the prosperity and successe of the same Caleys was loste Caleys the Kaye of England Caleys the very Doore and passage into France Caleys the honour of this Realme and the ouerlooker of the french Nation with the welth and habundance of England which 216. yeares togither had bine in the quiet possession of England I saye Caleys with all this altogither all at one instant at the least with in the compasse of iiij daies was miserablie lost and vtterly forgone To conclude Caleys being lost what ensewed thereupon After the losse of Caleys the losse of all securitie and freedome the losse of all prosperity and welfare came russhing vpon this lyttle Iland euen as it had bine an armed man vpon him that is naked and despoyled of comfort Such Impositions suche loanes such taxes newe Inuentions and deuises to drawe away the remaynder of the perticuler welth of Englande the common Treasury thereof being wholly exhausted and consumed to the maintenaunce of the vnprosperous warres of Kinge Philippe as surely if you will but looke into the Chronicles of that tyme you shall see and saye that if God of his myraculous and extraordinary power and great mercy had not shortened those dayes there had wanted verie lyttle of vtter desolation to this our Countrey this I saye our auntient and florishing Country of England then euen then at the instant to fall into such miserable seruitude and bondage as all those Countreyes are oppressed with all that in times past haue bine famous Kingdomes and other florishing estates and are now languishing and spoyled Prouinces subdued to the thraldome of the Spanyards But of all that euer happened or which in those dayes was deuised suffred or neglected against the safety of this Realme there was neuer mischief so desperat or Treason so vile or villany so greate or so deepe as was the platte purpose and intention to make away and destroye the sacred persone of our Elizabeth now our happie souueraigne who then and in those dayes in that moste myserable and perillous tyme was reckened and accompted as spes alit miseros the onely creatur of the earth by whom and through whom God had reserued vs any hope of restauration or comforte of recouerye to that desolation then approching This then shalbee sufficient for the former parte of my present purpose namely to haue touched vnto you after a plaine and brief manner what miseries what troubles and pitifull calamities occupied the whole state of this Realme both Churche and Comon welth at such tyme as our moste gratious soueraigne her Maistie that now is tooke vppon her the possession of the Crowne thereof at such tyme I saie as God in his great mercy looked vppon vs as he did vpon the Israelites in Egipte and their Captiuities sending vnto vs in highe tyme this his holy handmayden as it were another Moses saued from the same waters of affliction that wee were plunged in to be our helper aduanced her and that by iust tytle to the Scepter and Dyadem
namque fides affectus eorum quorum est diuersa fides I hasten to an ende with you you Catholiques what is there now then I pray you that may further be thought of or deuised for the pacification of your malcontented stomackes Would you wish that her Maiestie inasmuche as now perhappes you are ashamed to require of her in flatte termes to abandon her owne profession for thr aduauncement of yours and forasmuch also as you are or maie bee stopped to saie there is sauetie in permitting two contrary Religions within this her lande would you now wish I saie that her highnes contenting herself with her owne particuler choyse in Religion and that for her owne gratious person onely should establish a contrary Religion wholy all-only amongst her Subiects Most deuilish would that be to be wisshed but most gracelesse to be thought that euer her Maiestie would be so vnnaturally enclined towards her so deere and louing people Hath her most gratious Maiesty so manie yeres in the highest care of her Subiects sauety and that chiefly in the regarde of their Soules health exposed herself to perilles beyond the compasse and proportion of mannes accompt and hath she for the generall mainteyning of the Gospell of Christ amongst al her whole people throughout her dominions from yere to yere nay almost from moneth to moneth endured the succession of so many so horrible so determined so imminent attempts of Treason against her royall persone her Crowne her life and would she now think you be so satisfied with the loue of her Subiects or rather with louing her Subiects whome her highnes séeith most insatiable in the loue of her and of her life and raigne that now louing or rather seeming to loue her self only shee should so highly neglect in this principall degree of loue and care the sauety of the Soules of her so louing and true harted people The lord forbidde there should be any so wicked as in this sort to think of her Maiestie But I wil abruptly turne my selfe from you you irreligious of the land for you haue tourned your selues from the Lord and haue lifted vp your Hornes againste his annoynted your Prince and Soueraigne Not I therefore but the Lorde shall further expostulate with you the cause of your Ingratitude Of which sort of vnnaturall english I hope there is none here present yet this spech to them as present is not vnnecessarie that if any light in company of any such they may the better arme them selues in thus challenging and reprouing them And now to you my louing brethren who reioyce to see y e daies euen this present daye of her Maiesties prosperity and Peace The chiefe exhortation I haue to commend vnto you is the same of the Apostle Reioyce in the Lord and againe I saye reioyce Let your softnes be knowne vnto all men The Lord is euen at hand be carefull for nothing but in all prayers and supplications let your petitions be manifest vnto god with giuing of thanks The time is spent and it is more then time I had ended And yet if I durst farther presume of your Honourable and worshipful patience I would speake somthing more that should not altogether be vnprofitable for your hearing and sith your coūtenances do promise me attention I wil go to it as briefly as I can For as much as it standeth cleere vnto the view of the whole worlde that this long continued peace of ours with all the other blessings whatsoeuer wherewith our English state gouernment hath for so many yeres now passed bin established as I might say amply enriched hath had none other existencie but in the great power and hand of our God openly manifesting it selfe in the Ministery of her Maiestie and of her prudent and most faithfull Counsailers How great an indignity therefore would it be vnto vs the Subiectes of this Lande if that whereas her Maiestie with her most honourable priuie Counsaile euen from the beginning of her raigne to this day hath gouerned vs by none other rule then by the rule of Gods most holy word nor by any other lawe then by the lawe of this lande nor by any other order or manner of administration then as maie best serue to sustayne and beare vp the common with the particuler and the particuler with the common in a mutuall regard and reciprocation the one to the other We againe for our partes should bee so farre from a dutifull acknowledgment hereof as that in stead of our readines and zeale towards her Maiestie and those her most honorable Counsaylours wee should yeeld them murmuring and repining and in steade of our thanckfulnes wee shoulde yeeld them hard speaking misconceiuing and which worse is bitter detraction O my brethren howe hard a case would this be And least any man being misled eyther by the error of his owne iudgement or by the secrete insinuation of the malicious malecontented in these troblesome times and yet hitherto thankes be to God more troublesome to our eares then to our eyes when as they see that by the déepe foresight of our graue and godly gouernours actions are otherwhiles to be vndertaken whether it be for repelling and resisting of knowne attempts or for the holding far of or keeping aloofe from vs the troubles abroade which otherwise woulde approche vs and that for the performance hereof some charge more then ordinary is betwixt while to be raysed They either little considering or of purpose not acknowledging how in a maner miraculous a thing it is that while the whole world as I mighte say euen the kingdomes and Countries rounde about vs to vs a worlde stand at this day garboiled and oppressed with troubles and sturres we euen we alone here in this our England as it were in a little Goshen neither feeling dint of sword nor hearing sounde of droomme nor fearing either slaughter or depilation of the oppressour sit vs still euery man in his owne home hauing freedome at the full to praise God in his Sanctuary and safety at the full to follow our affaires in the common wealth I say least any ignoraunt or seduced Subiect not so sufficiently pondering these blessinges as he ought to doe and as I would to God euery one of vs did should in the vniust discontentment of his minde eyther murmure and repine or otherwise speake euill of such as be in authority for some charge that may happen vnto him for the continuaunce heereof I would haue such a one to be taught that as he is vnable with all the Substaunce he hath to procure peace vnto himselfe if warre should come vpon him So to preuent war is not y e wroke of a Subiect it is the onely worke of a Soueraign and that by the alone deliberation of a prudent and Honourable Counsaile which may often fall out to bee with the very purchase of peace wherein as a Subiect standeth no further interested but to obey to be ready if neede