possesse and inhabit yf they be brought vp in popry they wil alter marre as muche in one yere as your grace shal make and amend in forty The good educacion of them in trew religion shall be a fortresse to all your graces most godly procedynges The euel deducacion of that brood of England in popry and supersticion shall inconclusion be an ouerthrow to all your graces most godly procedynges Wherfor for Gods loue and the welth of this your realme moost noble prince I wishe that they should be remembred The stewardes of the courtes abrode in the contrey hange vpon the sleues of the iudges and iustices of the peace and other gentelmen in the countrey So that they dare doe none other but as they see and here there elders and chefe capitayns in the lawe doe before them And as the stewardes of courtes lerne ther lesson at the sessions so doth the popyshe prest at the Synod When he getteth once a poer symple man in the contrey vnder his benedicite O lord what stuf he whistelleth in to his eare ther lacketh no treadword talk I wil warrant you he hath all in a redines and more to He wanteh none of these communicacions wherby the simple peopell be seduced when thys confessioner hath hym ther vpon his knees he handleth him as him lystith maketh him beleue that the laynge of his hand vpon his hed is a sufficient recompence for his sinnes Yea and they bere the poer man in hand that that laynge of his hand vpon their hed is ther quytaunce Oh pestylent generacion What shall I say by the throtes of these people Forsote I wyl say as the prophet Dauid sayth as Saint Paule recyteth Ro. 3. Sepulchrum apertum est guttur eorū linguis suis ad dolū usi sunt uenenum aspidum sub labijs eorum Quorum os execracione amaerulentia plenum est ueloces pedes eorum ad effundendum sanguinem Contritio calamitas in uijs eorū uiam pacis non cognouerunt non est timor dei ante oculos eorum The throte of suche slanderouse talkers of such iudges iustices byshopes and ther officers of suche Scholemaysters stuerdes confessioners and so forth Ther throt I say is an open sepulcher They haue vsed there tonges to disceyt the poyson of serpentes is vnderneth ther lyppes Their mouth is full of cursinge and bitternes ther feet are swyft to shed blud They are very wretches in ther doynges they know not the way of peace the feare of god is not before their eyes These be they that tread downe the good seed of gods most holy woorde with their talke through out this realme moost noble prince Some also tread this sead down with ther vnamended lyfe For when they be told and cryed out vpon for ther adultery they lyue in adultery styll when they be cryed out vpon for ther popery they be popishe styll When they be cryed out vpon for their extorsion and oppression of the poore they contynewe in ther extorsion and oppression styll Whan they be cryed out vpon for there disobedience they norishe rebelliouse hartes in there brestes styll When they be cryed out vpon for their slanderose tonges they leaue not ther slander their blasphemy These be they that tread the sead of Gods moost holy word vnderneth their feet wyth ther vnamended lyfe I beseche almyghtie God amend all our talkes and lyues that the seed of his moost holy woord be not cast away vpon vs as the seed whiche is cast by the wayes syde is lost deuowred and cast away troden and destroyed wyth the burds of the ayer and the feet of the people That almyghty God may be glorifyed with the Godlynes of our talke and with the amendement of our lyues vnto whom be all honor glory world without ende Amen A prayer agaynst the pope and Turkes whiche be the mortall enemies of Christ hys word and hys churche HEuenly father full well haue we deserued to be corrected of the. But correcte vs Lorde thy selfe accordinge to thy mercy and not after thy fury It is better for vs to geue oure selues into the correction of thy handes than into the handes of men which be the enemyes of thy worde as Dauid prayed also For great is thy mercy We haue synned against the haue transgressed thy commaundementes But thou God almighty father knowest that we haue not synned agaynst the deuill Pope or Turkes And y t they also haue no authoritie nor power vs to correct Howe be it thou canst and mayest vse thē as thy fearful scourge against vs which against the haue offended deserued all michief Yea deare God heauenly father we haue done no synne agaynst them wherefore they might lawfully punish vs. but much rather would they that we with them most abhominablye shoulde synne agaynst the. For they regarde it not if wee to the were disobediente blasphemed the vsed all maner of Idolatry as they do and went about with false doctrine false fayth and with lyes and committed against the aduoutry vnclenlynes murther thefte robbery Sorcery and al maner of euil But this is our trespasse against them that we preache beleue and knowledge the God the father to be the onely true God and thy wellbeloued sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ the holy ghost to be one onely God yea this is the sinne that we committ against them but if we shoulde denye the then should the deuill worlde pope and Turke fulwel leaue vs in rest according to the saynge of thy deare Sonne if ye were of the world the worlde wold loue her sone c. Here shewe thy mercye O mercifull father ouer vs and earnest iudge ouer our enemies for they are more thine enemyes then ours Because that when they persecute stryke vs then do they persecute and stryke thy for the word which we preache beleue and knowledge is not oures but thyne and the worcke of thy holye ghost in vs. The deuill will not suffre suche thinges but in steade of the he wyl be our god in stede of thy word he wil stablishe lyes in vs. The Turke wyll sett hys Marchometh in the rowme of thy deare sonne Iesus Christ For he speaketh euyl of him and sayth That he is no ryght God and that hys Machomet is hyer and better then he If it be synne that we hold knowledge and boast and father and the Sonne and the holy ghost for the true onely God Then arte thou the synner thy selfe whiche workest this in vs and commaundest vs to do it Therfore do they hate stryke and correcte thy selfe when they for such matters do hate stryke or punyshe vs. Wherefore awake O Lorde God and sanctyfye thy name whome they blaspheme strengthen thy kyngdome whyche they distourbe in vs and lette thy wyll be done whyche they wyll quenche in vs and suffer not thy selfe so to be troaden vnder fete for oure synnes sake of them that doo not correcte ouresynnes in vs but woulde quenche in vs thy holy worde name and worcke to thyntent that thou shouldeste be no God and haue no people to preache bileue and knowledge the. Uouchesafe O Lorde gratyouslye to heare thys our peticion do according to oure beleue and truste By the deare Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ which lyueth and raigneth with the and the holye ghoste worlde wythout ende Amen Imprynted at London for Gwalter Lynne dwellynge on Somers Kaye by Byllynges gate In the yeare of oure Lord. 1550. ¶ And they be to be solde in Paules churche yarde nexte the great Schole at the signe of the sprede Egie Cum priuilegio ad Imprimendum solum Matthe xiij a. Marce. iij. a. Luke viij a. Ioh. vi Matthe xxij a. Luke xiiij b. Apoca. xix b. Nota. Ro. iij. b vij Gal. iij. Heb. vij i. Co. xiij Iac. i. c. Ro vij b Ro. v. b. vi c. Deut. xxvij c. xxviij b. Ie. xi a. Gal. iij. Ro. vij Mat. v. i. Reg. xxviij i. Ioh. i. Psal. xiij Ioh. vii Mat. v. Luk. vi Mat. v. Amos. viij Esai lv Eccls. lv Luk. i. v 〈…〉 Ioh. vij Apo. xxi Ioh. iiii God the father speaketh to the solue of man Phil. i Oze xill i. Cor. xv Ioh. xix Nota. Ioh. vi mat viij Luk. v Ioh. vi Ioh. iii. v. xi Ioh. vi Ro. xiij i. Cor. xi Act. iij. Epla ad Dardanum lvij Io. xxi Act. x. August tract L. in Io. de uerbis apostoli sermone xv Ambro. 1. Cor. x. Psal. 1. a Iere. xvii Ioh. xv Mat. xxi Mat. xx Luc. xiii Libro l. dist xi Act. xvij Ioh. iiij Rom. iij Psal. v. Eccli ij Dan. xiij Susan v ij Regū xxiiij Ioh. xv Gen. iij. Ioh. viij Mat. vi Luk. xi Ps. iiij v xvij
or els at some such time in the yere whē as y e pleasantenes of the bloud increaseth see whether he can pacify God the father by that meanes for that thing wherwith the law doth charge his conscience or not But the law replieth vnto hym and telleth hym that that abstinēce whiche he now vseth wil not satisfie and make amēdes for his former offendyng almighty God And y e law telleth him that in absteining now he doth no more but his duty For if absteining from this or that kynde of meate were acceptable in the sight of God for it self then shoulde man bee alwayes bound to asteine from this or that kinde of meate because y t man is alwaies bound to doo that thinge whiche is acceptable in the sight of God And so man doing that thyng whiche semeth to hym acceptable in the sight of almightie God doth nothing els but his dutie So that this abstinence now can not bee a recompense for his former offenses Then the soule of man beyng thus thwartid and charged by the law doth remayne and stande still in her former feare thynkynge verely that she shallbe dāpned not withstandinge al here abstinence Well when it wil not be this way thē peraduenture this soule of man moueth hym to weare a shirte of hayre or to weare no lynnen next his body or to lye w toute a bed vpon the ground eyther in straw only or vpon y e harde stones or elles to forsake the company of men and to go into wyldernes or elles to wyppe and beat wyth roddes and scourges that body whyche hath offended hath brought hym in to suche distres and misery All thys notwythstandinge the lawe layeth dampnacion to mennes charge and telleth man that he is a sinner thoughe he haue committed but one synne And that he is not onely bounde to haue so muche care for him selfe onely and for hys owne saluacyon but he must haue the lyke care for the saluacyon of the soule of hys brother yea euen of hys very enemy by meanes whereof man standeth still in hys comfortles estate consyderynge his negligence eyther in that or elles in sum other poynt When all thys wyll not serue then falleth man to aske counsell and here almightye God knoweth that it is most mennes chaunces to lyghte vpō naughty counsellares for when man commeth to hys ghostly father as they cal him haue hys conscyence loused from those boundes wherein the law hath boūd it The byshopp person vycar paryshe prieste or other vsuall mynisters therevnto appointed commonly hath not the keye of knowledge wherewith to open and lose theresaied consciences and delyuer them from the charge of the lawe And therfore of custome such blind counsellars which men cal confessors send man being in this agony to fasting praiyng and geuing of almes to other workes of mannes owne handes But allwaye the lawe is at hande and telleth man that thys can be no satisfaction for y e former offenses For in so doing he doeth nothinge els but his dewtye if it stand with Goddes glory When all thys wyll not serue man is so afraid of almightye God that he dareth not goo immediatly vnto him for help but thinketh that he shall find more mercy at S. Peter his hand or S. Paules hande or S. Iames hād or S. Iohns hand or at the blessed virgin Maries hande then at the hande of allmightye God by meanes whereof man falleth on callinge vpon some or many of them trustynge to haue some help that way But whē man perceaueth not that way to be alowed in scripture but in consyderyng fyndeth that thys comminge fyrst to sayntes before he commeth to god semeth rather to include a distrust in allmightie god then to be a frut of a suer belefe in him still she remaynet in hys former agony vnquietnes and harkeneth to the saynge of Saint Iohan. Si dixerimus quia peccatiū non habemus mendaces sumus ueritas in nobis non est Yf we say that we haue no synne we belyars and ther is no truth in vs. Thus mans soule travellith from one devise to another devise and so to the thyrd so to the fourth and so forth serchinge if she can helpe herself or not And in conclusion she perceaueth well y t she can not helpe her self with all y e wittes that she hath Euen as a man who by chaunce is fallen into a deepe drye pyt farr frō succor cā not by any meanes possible help him selfe out onles some mā come with some ladder or other instrument to help him out desiereth to be deliuereid oute of the pit but by his own wit he can not tell how euen so y e soule of man desiereth to be deliuerid of this sorowfull agony but she cā not tell how This earnest desier y t the soul of man hath to be made rightuouse again when she is fallē from god by synne is the .iiij. office working of the lawe And it is called in scripture y e hungring thurstinge of the soule And y t thing which doth satisfye that desier and doeth comfort the soule in this agony is called in the scrypture meate and drynke because of the symylytude and lyklyhod that it hath wyth meate and drynke For euē as that thing which comforteth the desyrefull body in extreme hunger and thurst is callid meate and drinke Euen so y e same thinge whych comforteth the desierfull soule in this extreme agony and miserie is called meat and drinke So doth our sauiour Christ him self in the fift of Mathew in the sixt of Luke Terme and name the desyer of the soule calling this desyer hungryng and thursting in these wordes Beati qui esuriunt sitiunt iustitiam quoniam ipsi saturabuntur Happy be they that hunger and thurst for rightuousnes for they shalbe fylled By the whyche wordes it is euydent y t Christ calleth the desyering of the soule for rightuousnes a hungring and a thurstynge So is this desier called hungringe and thurstinge in sundry other places of the scrypture As the desier to heare Gods words is called hunger in the .viij. of Amos. Mirtam famem in terram non famem panis neque sitim aquae sed audiendi uerbum Domini I will send a hunger into the earth not a hunger for bread but a hunger for hearing of the word of the lorde Here ye see that the desier to heare Goddes worde is called hunger And in the 55. cha of Esai Omnes sitientes uenite ad aquas Venite emite absque argento Al ye y t be thyrsty come to the waters come bey it wythout money Thyrsting in this place is a desier of comforte saluation And also in the first of Luke in the hymne of the blessed virgin Mary Esurientes impleuit bonis diuites dimisitinanes He fylled them that were hungry with good thinges That is to say he satisfied the desier
Notwythstandynge for the confutacion of there tread worde talke I will vse there generall diuision of the churche whyche is thys They deuide the churche into the Greke and into the Latyn churche Nowe if I can proue that bothe these members of the church haue erred then haue I proued that suche as saye they will beleue as the church beleueth meaninge eyther the greke or the latinchurch may be deceaued Fyrste then touchynge the Greke churche it is manifeste that it dyd erre in saiynge that the holy ghost proceaded from the father onely and not from the father and the sonne as it apperyth by the maister of the sentence bysundry places in Basill and Nazianzen and especially by the creed which was made in the Nicen counsell whereas these wordes be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And I beleue in the holye ghoste the lord and geuer of lyfe whiche procedeth from the father This opinion is vtterly condempned and Nicen Creede is amended with an addicion that the holy ghost procedeth from the father the sonne So that it can not be denied but that the Greeke churche was in a manyfeste error in thys poynt Now as touchyng the latyn church whosoeuer sayth that it can not erre lett hym consider well the scriptures which geue iustly and truelye vnto the kinges Maiesty hys tytle of the supreme hed of the church and he shall perceaue that he is both an heretyque and a traytor And that may be proued by two reasons which be of such strenght that they can not be auoyded And this kinde of reasoninge the Logicians call Syllogismus it was my chance to vse them ones in a lyke argumente at Paules crosse The fyrste of them is thys Who soeuer concluded that the kynges mayestye is not supreme hed of the churche he is a traytor but whosoeuer saith the latine church can not erre concludeth that the kynges mageste is not supreme hed of the churche Ergo. Whosoeuer sayth that the latyn churcche can not erre he is a traytor And agayne Whosoeuer concludeth the bushop of Rome to be supreme hed of the churche he is an heritique but whosoeuer sayth that the latyn church can not erre concludeth that the bushop of Rome is supreme hed of the churche Ergo. Whosoeuer sait that the latyn churche can not erre is an heretique The partes of thys Sylogisme be so trew and the consequentes doth folow insuche a dialecticall forme that al the Sophistry in christendom cannot reproue them Then good Christian audience let not this carnal saiynge and Anthechristian talke diuisyd by romyshe mynisters any more blynd yow No it is not enoge for yow to say that ye beleue as the churche of the electes and chosen of god doth beleue oneles ye know and feele in your hertes what thynge it is that the churche beleueth Your fayth must not be grounded vpon any other mans fait but vpon Christ only Yet is necessary for euery man to haue eyes of hys own whereby he may discerne the true churche from the false and the good doctryne from the bad the spyrytuall preacher from the carnall Christian learninge from Papystry and Christe from Antychrist Wherfore serche the scriptures your selues that ye be not deceaued and trye whether your fayth be a true fayeth or not Use youre owne eyes in readyng vse your own knowledge in iudginge lean not vpon anye other mans fayeth and so shall ye not be deceaued Doe ye as the people of Berrheadyd as it appeareth in the actes Erant quotidie scrutantes scripturas in templo num haec ita se haberent They dyd daylye searche the scriptures in the temple to trye Paules doctrine whether it were true or not Beleue not the doctryne because I or anye other preacher doth preache it vnto you but beleue it to be true because your own fayth doth assuer you it to be true as the people of Samaria sayed to the woman Iam non propter tuam orationem credimus ipsi enim audiuimus scimus quod hic uere est saluator mundi Now sayd they we beleue that Christ is the sauior of the worlde not because thou hast said so but because we know it our selues to be true These and suche lyke talke cause the people to contempne to tread the seed of goddes most holy word vnderneth ther feet wherfore they muste be shunnyd of all them that mynde to be true folowers of Christe and to receaue the sede of Goddes most holy word according to the intent of our Sauiour Christ. And here is a question By what meanes chiefelye hath these talkes bene sowen abrode and bruted amongest the people Forsothe by the iudges in there circuites and the iustices of peace that be popishely affected By byshoppes and there officers in there synodes and other metinges of ecclesyastycall parsons by Schole Masters in their grammer Scholes be stuwardes when they keepe their courtes by preestes whē they sytte to here auriculare confession and suche lyke as mynde nothynge els but the playn subuersion of the kyngdom of Christ and all Christyan doctryne and settynge vp agayn of the doctryne and kyngdom of the romishe Antichrist to Gods greath dishonor The iudge in his circute in tymes past when the people hath been assembled hat perswaded the people to doe as ther forefathers hath done before them And to doe as the most men doth and so they shall be most in quiet And to be content with such godly doctrine as was conteined in the sixe articles and so forth The byshop and his officers perswade the priestes of the contrey that they shal also folow aunceant customes and vsages in the churche and to beleue and doe as the church beleueth and hath thaught them meanynge by the church the church of Rome thoughe they saye not so expresly Now here hath all the iustices of peace and gentell men and other whiche were at the cessions and all the priestes and other that were at the sinod learned ther lessons how they shal talke to their neyghbors when they come home In so muche that the Scholemaster in the grammer schole herynge of it wyll power this talke into the eares of his scholars Oh what hurt these popish Scholemasters doth They will sharsly suffer any good doctrine to be talked on in their Scholes Yea yf ther be a chyld that haue his father honestlye and godly affected towarde gods woord they wyl pyk sum such matters agaynst hym that he shall be suer to be thryse breched against his felowes once They marre all most noble prynce poysining the childers eares with popry in their youth For redresse wherof I would whish most noble prince that ther might be a Cathechisme made in the Latten tonge which shuld be red by cōmandement in al grammer Scholes through out your noble realme and so should the broode of this most noble realme not be brought so popishely vp as tey be They shal lyue and enioye thesame land whiche we now