sides and thornes in your eyes vntill you perish out of this good land which the Lorde your God hath giuen you c. Therefore as all good things are come vppon you whiche the Lorde your God promised you so shall the Lorde bring vpon you euery euil thing vntil he hath destroyed you out of this good lande which the Lorde your God hath giuen you when ye shall trangresse the couuenant of the Lord your God which he commauÌ„ded you and shall go and serue other Gods and bow your selues to them then shall the wrath of the Lorde wax hot against you and ye shall quickly perishe out of the good land which he hath giuen you This was the lesson that Iosua a little before his death gaue vnto the Israelites his people And thus may you sée that al the charge that God and the godly giueth is to harken to the voyce of the Lord and obey his law which is his word and he wyl defend prosper and fight for vs no longer than we abide in the same So that the prosperous successe victories and other great blessings of Kings and Rulers that knowe Gods worde and professe the same is a manifest Argument that they walke rightly in his wayes and that he is wel pleased with them And such Kings Princes and Rulers as haue troubles warres euill successe and are ouercome in battell of their enemies thoughe they say they haue the true doctrine of God and that they follow it and obserue it most truely of all other yet it is an infallible token that they do offend their Lord God that they doe not walke rightly nor obserue his lawes and word as they ought and that he is not wel pleased with them And thus as God did blesse prosper Iosua and all other before him that hearkned to his voyce obeyed his worde euen so he did to other that did likewise after him For God gaue such wonderfull successe to Iudah the Captaine of the Israelites who feared God obeyed his worde against Adoni-Bezek the Cananites as he gaue to Iosua And Iudah did cut off the thumbes off his handes and off his féete according to the iust iudgement of God for his great tyrannie vsed to other for the sayde tyrant Adoni-Bezek confessed that he had vsed seauentie Kings before in like manner and they gathered bread vnder his table And then hée was compelled to say thus As I haue done God hath rewarded me God also blessed the sayde Iudah and the Israelites and gaue them many wonderfull victories after that againste their enimies the Cananites and heathen Idolators But when the Israelites hearkened not to the voyce of the Lorde and disobeyed his worde and worshipped the Gods of the Cananites and did wickedly in the sight of the Lorde then the Lordes furie and wrath kindled and waxed hote against them so that he suffered them to be ouercome and he deliuered them into their enemies handes that spoyled them and he solde them into their enemies handes so that they coulde stande no longer before their enemies and whether soeuer they went out the Lord was against them according as before he had promised And God suffered the king of Aram to preuaile against them and to carry them away wiâ—â— him And so serued him were captiues vnder him eight yéeres Consider also howe wonderfully Gedeon the Capitaine of the Israelites that hearkened to the voyce of the Lorde with thrée hundreth men through Gods power and might did ouercome the huge armie of the Madianites that were as Grassehoppers in number What a victorie did God giue to little Dauid his seruant against the mightie Giant Goliah his enemie howe did he prosper him blesse him and fight for him against the Philistines whose Images he burnt which pleased God And as God hath and doeth daylye giue victorie to such Princes Kings and Rulers that hearkened to his voyce and obeyed his worde so he hath giuen and doth giue maruellous quietnesse and peace to such Kings Princes and Rulers as do the same For God did prosper and blesse king Asa King of Iudah which hearkned to his voice and obserued his law making him raigne in a maruelous quietnesse and peace the space of fiue and thirtie yéeres bicause he tooke away the Sodomites out of the lande and put away all the Idols that his father had made and tooke away the Aultars of strange Gods and the high places and brake downe the Images cut down the Groues and commaunded Iuda to séeke the Lorde God of their fathers and to doe according to the lawe and the commaundement And he tooke awaye out of all the Cities of Iudah the high places the Images therfore the kingdome was quiet before him and the Lord gaue him rest on euery side And as the Lorde did prosper and blesse King Asa wyth suche a quietnesse and peace for breaking downe the Aultars of the straunge Gods and destroying the Images set vp by Abija his father euen so he hath blessed and prospered our most gratious Quéene with a most plentifull peace al the time of hir raigne which is thrée and twentie yéeres beséeching God to triple it with the quiet raigne of King Asa for plucking downe the Aultars for breaking and destroying the Images for abolishing the most Idolatrous Masse the Popes inuented sacrifice committed and done on these Aultars for the extirping and rooting vp the abhominable law religion of the Pope erected planted by hir sister Quéene Marie to the great dishonor of God the derogation of the passion of our sauior Iesus Christ setting forth in steade thereof not onely in euery Citie but also in euerie towne and village throughout hir whole Realme of England the pure and perfect word and lawe of God And thus it is plaine that the cause of the quiet raigne of King Asa and the peaceable and quiet raigne of our Quéene Elizabeth is all one Which is for the putting away of Idolatrie which God doth most abhorre for the setting forth of his law word which he doth chiefly desire But thoughe King Asa had peace al this while bicause he abolished Idolatrie and hearkned vnto the voice of God yet after wheÌ„ he did slide froÌ„ God put not his whole trust in him the case was then cleane altred for the Lorde tooke his peace awaye and God sent to him the Prophet Hanani who spake vnto King Asa as followeth Bycause thou hast rested vpon the King of Aram and not rested in the Lorde thy God therefore is the hoste of the King of Aram escaped out of thine hande The Aethiopians and Lybyanes were they not a great host with Chariots and horsmen exceeding many yet bycause thou didst rest vppon the Lorde he deliuered them into thine hande For the eyes of the Lorde beheld al the earth to shewe himselfe strong with them that are of perfect heart toward him Thou hast then done foolishly in
Iudah if we forsake the word of God commit Idolatrie receiue againe Papistry worship Images sette vp aulters crouche and knéele to an Idol in the Masse and force and coÌ„pel with threatning punishing emprisoning racking famishing killing and burning the people of England so to do Also what a mightie king did king Iotham become and howe did God blesse him make him victorious ouer his enimies bicause he walked vprightly according to y e lawe of God What good successe and prosperous raigne had that godly king Hezekiah and what a wonderful victorie did God giue him against the blasphemous king Sanneherib hys huge mightie host by sending his angel to fight for him bycause he hearkened to the voyce of God and did walke rightly in his sight But nowe if GOD did blesse and giue victorie plentie quietnesse peace and prosperitie to these godly kings Rulers before mentioned besids many other for hearkning and cleauing to his word and for setting forth and obeying his law that was deliuered by Moses the prophet then it is not to be doubted but that he wil and doth giue victorie plentie prosperity quietnesse and peace to al godly kings and rulers that shal put down idolatrie superstition and al heretical religions and shal plant in steade thereof the pure word of God and the Gospel which was preached and deliuered to vs by our sauiour Iesus Christ the only and very son of God And if God did sende troubles wars huÌ„ger vncurable diseases thraldome and captiuity with many other curses and plagues aswel to these kings before mentioned as also to king Saule king Salomon Rehoboam Ieroboam Baasha Elah Omri Ahab Ahaziah Ioash and Ahaz with diuers other and to them that they gouerned being the chosen people of God for committing of idolatrie reiecting y e law of God deliuered to them by Moses the Prophet Then we must néeds thinke that God wil send troubles wars hunger vncurable diseases thraldome and captiuitie with other plagues and curses vpon al those kings and their people that were not his chosen people but once gentiles and heatheÌ„ that commit idolatrie worship Images and embrace Papisticall superstition and despise and obstinatly and wilfully withstand the very true and pure word of God the gospel that at the first was taught deliuered by our sauiour Christ y e very soÌ„ of God which is more thaÌ„ ether apostle or prophet Therfore if you be not blind dumb deafe altogither senselesse you will with all spéed flée from your Papistrie superstition and idolatrie on the professors and followers wherof the aforsaid curses and plagues do dayly light and embrace the true word of God and the comfortable Gospel of Christe whiche bring the greate blessings of God as quietnesse peace plentie prosperity and victorie in this world and endlesse ioy in heauen after this life to the professors and followers therof I hope you are not foolishe but that you haue some vnderstaÌ„ding not so blind but y t you haue some glimmering and not so senselesse but that you haue some reason Shut not therfore your eyes purposely bycause you will not sée If you knew how swéete our law the Gospel is as I know how sowre your papistical law is if you knew what certaintie of saluation is in our lawe the Gospell of Christe as I know what certaintie of damnation is in your law of Papistrie the doctrine of Antichrist and if you knewe and felt how this our law the Gospel of Christ doth make the wicked to be godly and to be the children of God as I know that your law of Papistrie makes the godly to be wicked and to be the children of the Diuell you woulde then I thinke embrace our Gospel and forsake your Papistrie vnlesse you loue darknesse better than light the diuel better than God hel better than Heauen which I truste you do not Perhaps some wil saye if they that get the victorie ouer their enimies are blessed of God so they are the people of God Then y e Heathen Idolaters are blessed of God are Gods people for they haue had haue dayly good successe victory ouer their enimies yea haue many times ouercome the people of God y t had his law his word I graÌ„t it as before it appeareth but therfore they were not Gods people and blessed For the heathen and Idolatrous people bicause they haue good successe doe ouercome are not blessed and godly but the children of God are scourged and ouercome by them bycause they are euill and wicked and forsake the law of God The rodde is not good bycause it doth beate the childe but the rodde doth beate the child bycause the childe is euil It is manifest before that the children of Israel were ouercome and carried away Captiue of King Aram an Heathen Idolatour yet King Aram his people was not blessed of God nor yet wer the people of God neyther their law was the law of God althoughe they got the victorie But God deliuered the people of Iudah into their hands and suffred them to be carried awaye Captiues by them bycause they did forsake the Lord disobeyed his worde and committed Idolatrie for so God did promisse The scriptures are ful of the like examples It is most manifest throughout the whole Scriptures that God hathe chieflye blessed those Kings and countries with wealth prosperitie and victorie which mightily and spéedily pluckte down Images and false Gods and did extirpe and destroy Idolatrie and set forth earnestly and zealously the worde and lawe of God though they in some other particular things somtimes offended as King Dauid did â—n numbring of his people and committing aduoutrye and murther as King Asa for putting confidence in the King of Syria and leand not wholy vpon the Lord and as King Iehoshaphat did in going to fight with King Ahab diuers other committing such like whose faultes thoughe God punished yet he neuer therefore deliuered them into their enimies hands nor to be caryed away captiues But those Kings that cast away Gods word and hearkned not to his voice but fel to Idolatrie and worshipped Idolles and strange Gods thoughe they were neuer so godly before immediatly the Lords wrath kindled against them and stirred vp enimies to fight with them and sold and delyuered them into their enimies hands suffred them either to be killed woÌ„derfully to be plagued or to be caryed awaye prisoners and captiues So that hereby it plainely appeareth that the most safetie quietnesse prosperitie and victorie of a Prince and his people and to be moste assured to haue God on their side and to defende them is to sette forth and maintaine the true lawe of God and the Gospell of Christe and to plucke vp put away deteste and abhorre all Idolatrie superstition and all religions whatsoeuer that are contrary to Gods word But as al the Kings and people that did set forth and obey Moses lawe and
prison as is before sayde Thys notable and rare example is sufficient I thinke to proue that the Gospel our religion is most true and that only in it y e Lord is pleased for shewing his heauie wrath and vengeance on this Priest that did reuolte shrinke frō and deny the same and also in that the holy ghoste did so miraculously speake in this worthy Philbert continuing so firmely and stoutely in the same Gospell which s◠wonderfully and truely prophesied and foretolde of the sodain ende and desperate deathe of the sayde wicked reuolting Priest This is so manifest and so apparaunte that it wil enforce you to embrace the Gospell and to flye from Papistry if you be not determined and purposely bēt to withstand God and the truth Also one Berry the vicker of Aylsham and a Commissarie was a cruell tyraunte he killed two wyth striking of them and he was a cruell persecutor of the professors of the Gospell but GOD rewarded hym therfore or else the Diuell that sette hym on worke for as he was going homewarde from the Churche he fell downe sodaynelye to the grounde with a heauye grone and neuer styrred after neyther shewed hée anye token of repentaunce Likewise at that time one Dunning Chauncellour of Lincolne and a mercilesse Tirant against the professors of the gospel died in Lincolneshire of as sodain a warning as this Berry dyed One William Mawlden that was of this our religiō and professed the Gospell in the latter ende of Quéene Maries raigne and dwelling at Grenwich with one mayster Hugh Aparry lacking a booke to reade on looked about and foūd a Primer in English whereon he read being in a Winters Euening Whiles he was reading there did sit one Iohn Apowel that hadde bin a seruingman aboute thirtye yeares of age borne towardes Wales to whome the sayde Hugh Appary gaue meate and drinke til he could get him a seruice as the sayd William Mawlden red on the booke the sayde Iohn Apowel mockt him after euerye word with contrarie gaudes and flouting wordes vnreuerently insomuche that the sayde Mawlden coulde no longer abyde hym for griefe of heart but turned vnto him and saide Iohn take héede what thou doest thou dost not mocke me but thou mockest God for in mocking of his worde thou mockest him And this is the worde of God though I bée simple that reade it therfore beware what thou dost then Mawlden fel to reading againe and still the other procéeded in hys mocking And when Mawlden had redde certayne Englishe prayers in the ende he redde Lorde haue mercie vppon vs Christe haue mercie vppon vs c. And as Mawlden was recyting these wordes the other with a starte sayde Lorde haue mercie vppon me wyth that Mawlden turned and sayd what aylest thou Iohn he said I was afrayde wherof was thou afrayde saide Mawlden nothing nowe sayde the other and so he woulde not tell him after this when Mawlden and he went to bed Mawlden askt him whereof he was afrayde then he sayd when you read Lord haue mercie vppon vs Christe haue mercie vpon vs me thought the haire of my heade stoode vpright with a greate feare that came vpon me Then sayd Mawlden Iohn thou mayst sée the euil spirite coulde not abyde that Christe shoulde haue mercye vppon vs wel Iohn said Mawldē repent and amende thy life for God will not be mocked if we mocke and iest at his worde he wil punishe vs c. But after that as he lay almoste a day and a night his tong neuer ceased but he cryed out of the Diuel of hel saying O Diuell of Hel now the Diuel of Hel I would see the Diuel of Hell thou shalt see the Diuel of Hel there he was and there he goeth c. This I trowe maye be a worthye warnyng for all mockers scorners and deryders of Gods most holy word Marke the ende of Morgan Bishoppe of Sainte Dauids a Papisticall persecuter that sat vppon the condemnation of Bishop Farrare beyng after burned for the Gospell not long after the sayd Morgan was stricken with Gods hand after such a straunge sorte that his meate woulde not goe downe but rise picke vp againe sometime at his mouth sometime blowne out at his nose most horrible to beholde and so he continued till his death What a stroke of Gods hand was brought vpō Bishop Thorneton Suffragane of Douer a cruell Papisticall persecutor of the Saints of God for professing his word who after he had exercised his cruell tirannie vpon many godly men at Canterburie at length comming vppon a Saterday from the Chapter house at Canterburie to Borne there vpon a Sunday following looking vpon his men playing at boules fel suddenly into a palsie and so was had to bed and then was willed to remember God yea so I do sayd he and my Lorde Cardinall to An other Suffragane of Douer who not long after he was made Bishop or Suffragane of Douer brake his neck falling down a paire of stayers in the Cardinals Chamber at Grenewich as he hadde receyued the Cardinalles blessing You may sée here that God dothe not alwaies blesse where the Pope his Cardinalles and his Bishops blesse as here it is manifest But rather cursses vnlesse sudden death and breakyng of neckes be blessing Doctor Ieffrey a greate Papisticall persecuter beyng Chauncellor of Sarisburie stricken by the mightie hand of God died suddenly who was determined the next day followyng but that he was preuented by sudden death by Gods prouidence to haue called before hym foure score and tenne or mo to examine them by inquisition vpon religion Marke here also the ende of a Papiste that was a louer of the Masse and diligent and hastie in setting of it vp in Quéene Maries time one Burton the Baylife of Crowland in Lincolneshire sone after King Edwarde was dead he came into the Churche on a Sonday in the morning at which time the Curate was beginning the Englishe seruice for there was no lawe as yet to the contrarie when he came to the Curate in a great rage and sayde like a pure charitable Catholike and full of deuotion sirra wyll you not say Masse buckle your selfe to Masse you knaue or else swearing by a great othe I shall sheath my dagger in your shoulder The poore Curate for feare not so constant in the Gospell as Curates should be settled himself to Masse Not long after this the Bailife roade from home accompanied with one of his neighbours and as they came riding togither vpon the fenne banke homeward againe a Crowe sitting in a Willow trée tooke hir flighte ouer his head and spake to him in hir language aswell as she coulde and called him by his name as Crowes are wont to doe and withall let fall vpon his face so that hir excrementes ranne from the toppe of his nose downe to his bearde The poysoned smell and sauour whereof so noyed his stomacke that he neuer ceased vomiting vntill he came
most necessarie as true tokens and signes of a perfecte faythe they crye out againste sinne they perswade the Quéenes subiectes to obey loue hir maiestie all which I am sure agrées with the worde of God but if your preachers that you should heare preache contrarie that is that you maye be saued by some other meanes as by Masses Trentals Dirges or by the Popes pardons and if they wil animate and bolden you to disobey your lawful Quéene and soueraigne and wil preache remission of sinnes to all men that will fight in the Popes quarrel whether it be right or wrong yea thoughe it be against their owne King or countrey you may cal it y e word of God but I am out of doubt it is the doctrine of the Diuel Therefore the premisses well wayed and considered if you shoulde require at the Quéenes hande to vse fréelye the Romishe religion without checke or controlemente truely you know then no more what you aske of hir grace than the sayd Pyrates or théeues do know what they aske of theyr kyng or the fonde Schollers of theyr Schoolemaister But if the Quéenes maiestie could not haue your loue but vppon that condition then she were better to haue your hatred in denying you than your loue in graunting you But what if a king shoulde graunt such a libertie to Pirats and théeues as Mogallus did once king of Scots and the scholemaister to his schollers might not wise men iudge that the one were more méete to be a Cobler than a King and the other more fitter to be a Crow-kéeper than a Scholemaister yes truely But though you would moste gladly haue such a libertie yet at hir graces hands you are neuer like to haue it which you know wel ynough for hir grace is too wise and too goodly to grant for vncertain loue a certain mischiefe For if hir highnesse should graunt you this libertie y t is to vse your Romish religion fréely only to haue your good wil and loue would you then loue hir vnfainedly I hardly beléeue it for it wil skant stand with your religion to loue faithfully a pure Protestaunt who euer he be which loues gods word yea though he liue neuer so godly nay perhaps therefore you wil hate him the more for if he be a Papist indéede that is a sound perfect Papist he wil not stick to carry fiâ—e faggots thrée or four myles yea and further if néede be to burne a Protestant though it be his brother sister or the nearest kinne or beste friend he hath or else an haulter to haÌ„g him withal Therfore you may say what you wil but surely I thinke that you wil neuer loue hir hartily vnlesse she should become a Papist whiche the Lord forbidde or vnlesse you become Protestants which I beséech God to graunt Is not this a godly religion trow you that bréedes such charitie in your brestes making your harts so warme that you can finde in your hartes so to warme your Christian brother that neuer after he shall féele any cold That same religion is it that hath taught you neyther to care for king nor Countrey that religion is déepe in your breastes that hath wrought this in you is it not worthy to be embrased followed and honored that teaches true subiects to be vntrue to their prince and that perswades men to be foes to their Countrey you may loke a good while in gods worde or therby you can learne any such lesson Therefore howe can youre doctrine bee good that maintaines suche mischiefe Wherfore I beséech you be not wilfully blind but open your eyes and willingly sée flie vnto gods worde that will only teache you truely and cleane not to the Pope for he wil teach you falsely I remember that Christ sayeth that we must forsake father and mother sister and brother and cleane vnto our wife but I neuer reade in any part of the Scriptures y t we must disobey our prince refuse hir laws hate our country wish or procure our Princes death and cleane to y e Pope whose law is as cleane contrary to Gods word as black is too white euil to good and as the diuel is to God King Dauid was no Papist as appeared by hys obedience for if he hadde bene so King Saule when he was priuily with him in the caue I beléeue had not escaped so as he did but he being a pure Protestante be not angrye bycause I call him so for he fauoured Gods word wold not lay his hands on him or hurt the Lords annointed yet he was as heire apparaunt then to the croune and was King after the death of King Saule Nowe if worthy Dauid being such a great estate woulde not hurt a wicked King being his enimie and one that sought his death but honored and obeyed him then why shoulde any of you to him farre inferior procure or wishe any harme or disobey your most louing mercifull and peaceable Princes that tenderly loues her subiectes and carefully defendes them being the chiefe and onely proppe staye and pyller of our safetie quietnesse and florishing common wealth I beséeche God kéepe hir from being in such a snare with some of you as King Saul was with his seruant Dauid For then your close meaning would be openly spyed I feare hir grace should not finde then halfe the fauour at your handes as you haue founde mercie at hir handes for you that are of the Popes Religion would not thinke it an offence as godly Dauid did to hurt the Lordes annoynted For the Pope is so farre in your Bookes that you thinke there is no offence but that he can pardon and that nothing is an offence that woulde please him So that to please him withall where he bids you strike you will not sticke to kill and to kill where he commaundes you woulde thinke you did a godly Acte yea if it were the ruler of a Realme As though he had a commission to kill Kings and others at his pleasure Marke how the Pope and king Dauid differs The Pope will blesse you pardon forgiue you though God will not and reward you for killing them that neuer did him harme But King Dauid caused him to bée killed that killed his mortall enimie King Saule yea and that at King Saules request Now which of these two were of the better Religion thinke you the Pope or King Dauid which of them wyll you choose though you loue the Pope neuer so well yet I hope you will not vtterly cast off king Dauid Gods Prophet Therefore by Christes doctrine choose the better of them who saith you shall knowe them by their workes Nowe it plainely appeares that herein the doings of king Dauid is better than the Popes vnlesse murther be better than mercie then if Dauids doings bée better then Dauid himselfe is better and thus to conclude if you would followe the better and leaue the worse then you must followe Dauid and forsake the
change that you desire and hope for must néedes be warres troubles penurie aduersitie crueltie and such like as before is mentioned Now if you will not beléeue me beléeue y e word of God that cannot lye which plainely declares what prosperitie and blessings they shall haue that followe his worde and kéepe his commandements and also the plagues that shall happen to them that chaunge and turne from his worde which are written by Moyses the Prophet the seruant of God as followeth If thou shalt obey diligently the voyce of the Lorde thy GOD not the voyce of the Pope and obserue and do al his commandements which I do coÌ„mand thee this day then the Lord thy God will set thee on highe aboue all the nations of the earth and al these blessings shal come on thee ouertake thee if thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord thy God Blessed shalt thou be in the Citie and blessed in the fielde blessed shall be the fruite of thy bodye and the fruite of thy grounde and the fruite of thy Cattell the encrease of thy Kine and the flockes of thy Sheepe blessed shal be thy basket and the Dough blessed shalt thou bee when thou comest in and blessed also when thou goest out The Lord shal cause thine enimies that rise againste thee to fal before thy face they shal come out against thee one way and shal flye before thee seuen ways The Lord shal coÌ„mand the blessings to be with thee in thy storehouses in al that thou seâ—st thy haÌ„d vnto wil blesse thee in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee The Lord shal make thee an holy people vnto himselfe as hee hath sworne vnto thee if thou shalt kepe the commandements of the Lord thy God walke in his wayes TheÌ„ al the people of the earth shal see that the name of the Lord is called vpon ouer thee they shal be afraid of thee And the Lord shal make thee pleÌ„teous in goods in the fruite of thy body and in the fruite of thy Cattel and in the fruite of thy ground The Lorde shal open vnto thee his good treasure eueÌ„ the heaueÌ„ to giue thee rayn vnto thy land in due season and blesse al the workes of thy handes And thou shalt lende vnto many nations but shalte not borrow thy self and the Lord shall make thee the heade and not the taile and thou shalt be aboue onely and shalte not be beneath if thou obey the commaundementes of the Lorde thy God which I commaunde thee this day to keepe and to doe them But thou shalt not decline from anye of the wordes which I commaunde you this day eyther to the right hande or to the lefte to goe after other Gods to serue them But if thou wilt not obey the voyce of the Lorde thy God to keepe do all his coÌ„mandements his ordinaunces which I commaunde thee this daye then all these curses shall come vpon thee and ouertake thee Curssed shalt thou be in the Towne and curssed also in the field curssed shal be thy basket and thy Dough cursed shal be the fruite of thy bodie and the fruite of thy land the encrease of thy kine the flockes of thy sheepe cursed shalte thou be when thou comest in and cursed also when thou goest out The Lorde shall sende vpon thee cursing trouble and shame in all that whiche thou settest thy hande to do vntil thou be destroyed and perish quickly bicause of the wickednesse of thy works whereby thou hast forsaken me the Lorde shall make the pestilence cleaue to thee vntill hee hath consumed thee c. The Lorde shal smite thee with a consumptioÌ„ and with the feuer and with a burning ague and with feruent heate and with the sword and with blasting with meldew they shall pursue thee vntil thou perish And thine Heauen that is ouer thyne head shall be brasse and the Earthe that is vnder thee Iron The Lord shall giue thee for the raine of thy lande dust and Ashes euen from the Heauen shall it come downe vpon thee vntil thou be destroyed And the Lorde shal cause thee to fall before thine enimies thou shalte come out one way against them and shalt flee seauen ways before them And shalt bee scattered through al the kingdomes of the earth And thy carcasse shal be meate to all the foules of the ayre and vnto the beastes of the earthe and none shall fray them away The Lord wil smite thee with the botche of Egipt and with the Emrods and with the scab and with the Itche that thou canste not bee healed And the Lorde shal smite thee with madnesse with blindenesse with astonnying of the heart Thou shalt also grope at the noone days as the blinde gropeth in darknesse and shalt not prosper in thy wayes Thou shalt neuer but be oppressed wyth wroÌ„g be polled euermore no man shal succour thee Thou shalt betrouth a wife and another man shal lye with hir Thou shalt build a house shalt not dwel therein thou shalt plant a Vineyarde and shalt not eate the fruite Thyne Oxe shal be slaine before thine eyes and thou shalt not eate thereof Thine Asse shal be violently taken away before thy face shal not be restored to thee Thy sheepe shal be giueÌ„ vnto thine enemies and no man shall rescue them for thee Thy sonnes and thy daughters shal bee giuen vnto another people thine eyes shall still looke for them euen till they fall out and there shall be no power in thine hand the fruite of thy land and all thy labors shal a people eate which thou knowest not Thou shalte neuer but suffer wrong and violence alwaye so that thou shalt be madde for the sight that thine eyes shall see The Lorde shall smite thee in the knees and in thy thyghes with a sore botch that thou canst not be healed euen from the sole of the foote to the toppe of thine head The Lord shall bring thee and thy King which thou shalt set ouer thee vnto a natioÌ„ which neither thou nor thy Fathers haue knowne there thou shalt serue other Gods euen wood stone thou shalt be a wonder a prouerb a common talke among all people whether the Lord shall carry thee Thou shalt carrie out much seede to the fielde shalt gather but little in for the Grassehopper shall destroy it Thou shalt plant a Vineyard dresse it but shalt neither drinke of the Wine nor gather the Grapes for the wormes shall eate it Thou shalt haue Oliue trees in al thy coasts but shalt not annoint thy selfe with the oyle for thine Oliues shall fall Thou shalt beget sonnes and daughters but shalt not haue them for they shal go into Captiuitie c. Here you may sée the great blessings of God promised to his people that hearken to his voyce and obey his lawes and commaundementes so that they decline neither to the right hand nor
to the left hand to goe after other Gods or to serue them which blessings most plentifully he hath poured on this Realme of England euer since our gracious Quéene put downe Idolatrie and Papistrie and set forth the Gospell and word of God And also here you may plainely perceiue and vnderstand the maruellous curses and plagues promised and threatned to them that will not obey the voyce of the Lord our God and kéepe his commaundementes and ordinaunces which plagues and cursses haue aboundantlye lyghted on those Countreys and Kingdomes that embrace and maintayne Idolatrous Papistrie reiecting the Gospell and persecuting the Professours thereof Which is a manifest argument that this Religion that we haue is the true Religion wherewith God is well pleased and your Papisticall doctrine is a false and wicked religion wherewith God is highlye displeased For as God did prosper and blesse the Iewes his people to whome Moyses pronounced the sayde blessings so long as they hearkened to his voyce and obeyed and followed his word and commaundements and as hys sayde plagues and cursses fell vpon them when they harkened not to the voyce of the Lord but committed Idotrie euen so euer since he hath and doeth blesse and prosper the professors and followers of his worde and poures his sayde plagues and cursses on them that despise his worde that are enimies to the Gospell and persecute the professors of the same Marke well and you shall sée that in all ages God guided protected and blessed the Kings and Rulers that clensed their Countreys of Idolatrie and that did set forth and obeyed his law What famous victories did he giue to Iosua the Duke and Captaine of the Israelites which obeyed God and harkened to his voyce to whom God spake as followeth Moyses my seruant is deade nowe therefore arise goe ouer this Iorden thou and all thy people vnto the lande whiche I giue them that is to the children of Israell euerye place that the sole of your foote shall treade vppon haue I giuen you as I sayd vnto Moyses from the Wildernesse this Libanon vnto the greate riuer Perath all the lande of the Hettites euen vnto the great Sea towarde the going downe of the Sunne shal be your coaste There shall not a man bee able to withstand thee all the dayes of thy life As I was with Moyses so will I be with thee I will not leaue thee nor forsake thee Be strong of a good courage for vnto this people shalt thou deuide the land for an inheritaunce which I sware vnto their Fathers to giue them onely be thou strong and of a most valiant courage that thou mayest obserue doe according to all the law which Moyses my seruant hath cōmaunded thee Thou shalt not turne awaye from it to the right hand nor to the lefte that thou mayest prosper whersoeuer thou goest let not this booke of the law depart out of thy mouth but meditate therein day night that thou mayest obserue and do according to all that is written therin for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou haue good successe These were the wordes that God spake to Iosua Therfore marke y e promises of God to him if he follow do according to the law of God then his way shold be prosperous he should haue good successe none should withstand him al the dayes of his life God would be with him which in déede God performed wonderfully and kept promise with him for that he hearkned to y e voyce of the Lord and directed al his wayes according to the law of God For was not God with Iosua when miraculously he departed the water of Iorden and the children of Israel went drie ouer the same straight towardes Iericho did not God wonderfully deliuer Iericho to Iosua and his people when after the sounding of the Trumpettes the walles thereof fell downe through his power and so Iosua and all his people went into it and tooke the Citie and so they destroyed all the Idolatrous people the enimies of God that were in the same But sée howe sodainely the Lorde went from them and suffered the men of Ai to kill .xxxvj. of the Israelites and made the rest of thrée thousande of them fearefully to flée away bicause Achan in the spoyle of Iericho tooke that for a praye which the Lorde directly commaunded to the contrarie Thus you may easily perceiue that the harkening to the voyce of God following of his worde is the cause of good successe and victorie and the disobeying of his worde and following of their owne fansies was the cause of euil successe and ouerthrowe But God blessed Iosua still bicause he was not cōsenting to Achans fact who stoned him therfore to death for after y t the Lord made Iosua to vanquish and ouercome the fiue Kings of the Amorits in which conflict the Lord threw stones from heauen vpon his enimies and at Iosuas bydding the Sunne and Moone did stand still a whole day togither that he might haue time to ouercome his enimies These wonders did the Lord for his seruant Iosua and his people that harkened to his voyce and obeyed his worde Many other kings did Iosua ouercome through the strength of the Lord that fought for him and his people And when Iosua waxed olde then he called all Israel their elders their heades their Iudges and their officers before him giuing them then the same warning that Moyses and God gaue him to hearken to the voyce of the Lorde saying I am old and stricken in age also you haue séene all that the Lorde you God hath done vnto all these nations before you howe the Lorde hath fought for you Behold I haue diuided vnto you by lot these nations that remaine that as yet were not ouercome to bée an inheritaunce accordyng to your Tribes from Iorden with all the nations that I haue destroyed euen vnto the great sea Westward And the Lord your God shal expell them before you and cast them out of your sight And ye shall possesse their lande as the Lorde your God hath sayde vnto you Bée ye therefore of a valiant courage to obserue and doe all that is written in the Booke of the lawe of Moyses that ye turne not ther from to the right hande nor to the lefte c. But sticke faste vnto the Lorde your God as yée haue done vnto this daye for the Lorde hath cast out before you great nations and mightie and no man hath stande before your face hitherto One man of you shall chase a thousande for your Lorde your God hée fyghteth for you as he hath promysed you Take good héede therefore vnto your selues that yée loue the Lorde your GOD Else if yée goe backe c knowe yée for certayne that the Lorde your God will cast out no more of these nations from before you but they shall bée a snare and destruction to you and a whippe on your
submitted hymselfe vnder the Popes table Christe neuer taught the Pope that lesson to make the Citie of Venice frée and to bryng the Venetians from bondage to lybertie But you woulde fayne submitte your selues to the Pope and kisse hys foote to bryng this your famous Countrey from libertie to thraldome and your Countreymen from fréedome to be bondslaues King Alured once a worthye King in this Realme for the safegarde of his people and Countrey chaunged hymselfe from a King to a Minstrel and endaungered himselfe to goe among the Danes his enemies and played before them in their Campes whereby he perceyuing their negligence and weakenesse returned priuily to his armie then with a chosen company sodainely in the night he did set vpon the Danes and so slew a great number of them And will you then contrarie being subiectes liuing here in your own Countrey at pleasure safetie quiet wish or deuise wayes or meanes to bring in our enemies to spoyle your Prince hir louing people and Countrey Marke wel weigh aduisedly I beséeche you that when King Alured did thus daungerously hazard his life for hys Countrey then thys Realme was vexed and scourged with thrée maruellous plagues that is with their enemies the Danes wyth great mortalitie of men and with murraine of beasts but now when you séeke or wish for y e spoile and confusion of your Countrey God hath blessed vs with thrée special blessings that is with the pure preaching of y e Gospell with a great plentie of al things and a wonderfull peace such as this Realme had neuer so long before Consider therefore the good case that now we are in and y e euil case our auncesters haue bin in for this our Realme was gouerned once vnder diuerse Kings at one time but by the great policie worthinesse of our former Rulers as Mulmutius Dunwallo Aluredus K. Adelstane or rather by Gods power and prouidence this Realme was brought from the rule gouernment of seauen Kings at one time to one Monarch vnder the gouernment of one Prince but you if you myght haue your will or wishe would haue vs to loose our one most quiet and mercifull gouernour to bée ruled gouerned and to bée in bondage and slauerie vnder many tyrants Therefore I may iustly compare you to Uipers for as they are conceiued by the deuouring of their fathers and brought forth by the destruction of their mothers and at laste are destroyed themselues euen so you goe about as much as in you lyeth to deuoure your fathers that begot you to murther your mothers that did beare you to destroy your wiues that do loue you to bring your childrē to thraldome that obey you to burne your brethren that benefite you to suppresse your Prince that defendeth you to consume your Countreymen that should ayde you to spoyle your whole Countrey that doth nourish you which if you should bring to passe as God forbid then looke to haue the rewarde of Uipers your selues which is short life and destruction If you cannot sée the good case you are in I feare you shal féele the euill case you shall be in for you are like to a foolishe seruant that dwelleth with a good Maistresse who being gently reproued not sharply corrected for hir fault and therefore weary of hir welfare gets hir a shrewd husbande in al the hast who doth not only then lead a sorrowful life but also would be right wel content with the scrappes she was wonte with hir Maistresse to throw away and would be glad of simple clothes that before she disdayned so you being gouerned vnder a merciful Quéene and louing Mistresse not séeing your great plentie quietnesse and peace you haue by hir would faine chaunge hir for a cruel champion of the Popes whose traine woulde make you their slaues spoyle you of your substance rauish your wiues deflower your daughters and cause you to fight against your own friends murther you and treade you vnder their féet for if their maister the Pope hath trode vppon an Emperours necke do you thinke that his seruaunts wil sticke to trample on your backes and bellies And thus you are far worse to youre selues thoughe I haue proued you euil ynough to vs than the fonde mayde is to hir selfe for she for a good mystresse gets but an euil husband who may by law be compelled to vse hyr better but you for one moste milde and mercifull Maistresse woulde haue a thousande euill and cruell Maisters of whom you shal haue no redresse Now to auoyde all these mischiefes before mentioned cleaue vnto GOD and his worde cast off the Pope and his Lawes feare to haue Gods curses care not for the Popes curses for euer since the Pope hath curste vs the Lorde God hath blest vs with quietnesse plentie and peace and they that the Pope hath blessed it séemes that God hath cursed them with troubles wars scarcitie and many other euils for so the Prophet said I wil curse your blessings If our forefathers that estéemed the Popes blessings so greatly and dreaded his curses so much had thought that they should haue bin so happy and fared so wel as we haue with his curses and to be so troubled and molested haue such mischiefes as other haue daylye with his blessings they wold neuer haue obeyed him nor feared him so much they did Therefore séeing God doth blesse where the Pope doth cursse and also cursse where the Pope doeth blesse it is a very manifest thing that Gods lawe and the Popes lawe are contrarie and are not all one but contrary the one to the other and so if the one be true the other muste néedes be false But I trust you wil not say that the law or worde of God is false then you must néedes be compelled to say that the Popes lawe is false Now séeing it is so manifestly proued that the Popes lawe is false I hope you wil not be so wilfull and witlesse to forsake the true word of God follow still the false law wicked Religion of the Pope Consider I beséeche you how Christ became curssed to make you blessed and will you to be blessed of the Pope bée curssed of God and séeing Christe was curssed for our sakes to leade vs to heauen will you be curssed of God for the Popes sake that would bring vs to Hell Truely whosoeuer beléeueth that Iesus Christ by his death hath performed the whole law for vs as well as though we had kept it perfectly our selues and that our saluation is by and through him whosoeuer I say beléeue this faithfully and repent their sinnes vnfainedly without all doubt they are sure to be saued But whosoeuer thinke that they may merite heauen by their owne workes or hope to bée saued by some other meanes than by Christ as by Masses Trentals Dirges Popes pardons such trumperie which the Popes doctrine dooth teach you let all such be assured that they shall
and a godly Pope of whom you may learne suche humilitie as Christ neuer taught he was called Hildebrande who suffered Henrie the Emperour his wife and his child barefooted and bareheaded in the cold frostye wether at the gates of Canusium thrée dayes before he could be suffered to come in And this holye Fathers wrath woulde not be pacified nor suffer y e Emperour to rule as Emperour but vpoÌ„ most vnreasonable conditions which were vnméete for such a worthy Emperour to graunt vnto such a proude presumptuous prelate thus you maye knowe these holy Fathers whom they follow by their fruites This Hyldebrand who might well be called for his deuilish doings a fyrebrand of hell was a notable Sorcerer and a Necromancer who on a time had forgotte behinde him hys familiar Booke of Necromancie which hée was wont to carrie commonly alwaies with him wherevppon remembring him selfe entring the port of Laterane he called two of his most familiar friendes so fetch the Booke charging them at no hande to looke within it But they being so restrayned were the more desirous to open it and to peruse it and so dyd After they had red a little the secretes of the Sathanicall Booke sodaynely there come aboute them the messengers of Sathan the multitude and terrour of whom made them almost out of their wittes At length they comming to themselues the sprites were instant vpon them to know wherfore they were called vp and wherefore they were vexed quickely sayde they tell vs what you woulde vs to doe or else wée wyll fall vppon you if ye retaine vs longer Then spake one of the young men to them bydding them goe and plucke downe yonder walles poynting to certaine high walles there nye to Rome which they dyd quickly The young men crossing them for feare of the Spirites scarce recouering themselues at length came to their maister the Pope Here you may perceiue this holy Pope was a Coniurer of Deuils some say the Pope hath the holy Ghost at commaundement but here it appeares that this Pope had rather the Deuill at his commaundment This holy Hyldebrand hyred one to laye great Stones ouer the place where the Emperour vsed to pray and so to throwe them downe vppon the Emperours head when hée was a praying and so to kyll him but God so wrought that the Emperour escaped and the wicked hyred wretche was killed himself for as he was busie in remouing a gret and heauie Stone to the place euen ouer the Emperours head it broke the planke whereon it lay the saide wicked fellow standing on the said planke fell downe with the said stone from the Roofe to the Pauement of the Churche and with the same stone was dasht all in péeces Was not this a pretie practise for a Pope he neuer learned it in the newe Testament nay if hée had applyed that Booke well he should thereby rather haue vnlearned it This Hyldebrand on a time asked an answere of the Sacrament his Christ of Bread thinking bycause it was the body of Christ as he tooke it it shoulde haue resolued hym of the thing hée asked but it woulde not speake a good cause why bycause it coulde not for it had bene a verye straunge thing to heare a Cake speake and then therefore he threwe it into the fire and burned it Thus these holy Fathers can make Christ and burne hym when they haue done but if it had bene the bodye of Christ it would haue leapt out of the fyre and saued hymselfe It is no maruell though they burne the holy and spirituall members of Christ that burne Christ himselfe Marke further what a true Prophet this holye Hyldebrande was he sayde openly in the Pulpet before diuerse Cardinals and Bishops that the Emperour shoulde dye or be put from the Empire and that he shoulde not be able to make aboue the number of sixe Knightes and thereof hée made hymselfe so sure that then hée spake also these wordes following neuer accepte mée for Pope any more but plucke me from the Altar if this Prophesie be not fulfilled before the feast of Saint Peter next ensuing But for as much as the sayd Emperour was neither deade nor deposed by that day but contrarie to this Popes Prophesie the same Emperour deposed the sayde Pope and placed an other Pope in his roome called Clement The sayde Pope Hyldebrand therefore séeyng he woulde néedes bée a Prophet he was but a false Prophet and so not Prophet of God but the Prophet of the Deuill So that hereby it plainely appeares that Popes may not onely erre but also that they haue erred and lyed falsely yea and are assuredly the Deuils Prophets Also this holy and vertuous Father Pope Hyldebrand iudged to death thrée men before they were conuicte or founde or approued guiltie and caused them to be hanged without delay contrarie to all Lawe And further this vnmercifull Father for the Popes may not be called cruell dyd torment one Centius almost to death in a vessell thicke set with sharpe Nayles which Centius after tooke the Pope before he was deliuered he pardoned the said Centius al them that were on his part but for all his pardon he hanged the said Centius after and nine of his men If the Popes pardoÌ„s be so slender y t he giues on his owne behalfe then the pardons y t he giues on Gods behalfe must néedes be of small value Therefore you were not best to trust to the Popes pardons too much least after you be hanged in hell as Centius and his men were hanged on earth This Pope Hyldebrande dyd an other déede of mercye There was at the apprehension of this Pope a certayne widdowes Sonne to whom and other moe for their pennaunce the Pope enioyned a yeares banishment which tyme beyng â—â—ded the widdowe in token of a more ample satisfaction thinking thereby to haue appeased the more the Popes furie put a halter about hir sonnes necke and drawing hir Sonne by the rope to the foote of the sayde holy Hyldebrand sayd my lorde Pope at your handes will I receyue agayne my Sonne which one whole yeare hath endured banishment and other pennaunce by your holynesse enioyned Then the saide Hyldebrand for that instant bycause of those that were with him in companye dissembling his wrath deliuered hir sonne churlishly saying get thée hence woman I byd thée let me bée in rest After this he sent his officers and apprehended the sayde widdowes sonne gaue commaundement to the Iustices to put him to death who altogether making answere saide that they coulde no more condemne or meddle with him for that hée had for his crime committed appealed once to the Pope and abidden the banishment and done the pennance by him enioyned Herevpon this glorious Hyldebrand being displeased with the Iudges caused y e foote of the said widdows sonne to be cut off notwithstanding he had fulfilled all that was enioyned him by the saide Pope before And thus
of God you wil scantly like The Popes Doctors say auouch it for truth that if the Priest say thus when he doth Baptise a childe Ego te Baptiso in nomine patris filij spiritus sancti diaboli that is I Baptise thee in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and of the Diuell yet the forme of Baptisme is very good and the child is rightly christned I remember that Christ bad his Apostles Baptise in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost but that he bad them Baptise any in the name of the Diuel I neuer heard If they be rightly christned that are christned in the name of the Diuel according to the Popes law then I hope they are not falsely christned that are christned in the name of God without naming the Diuell accordyng to Gods lawe If wée shoulde allowe such Baptizing to bée good and that they were rightlye Baptized that were Baptized in the name of the Diuell you that call vs nowe Sathans broode woulde then call vs as you myght well the chyldren of the Diuell Must not this Churche of Rome bée a holy Church that hath such goldy doctrine and diuine Doctours if they bée curst that take any thing from the worde of God then they are not blest that adde the Diuell to the Baptizing of the children of God Euerye one that haue an affection to the Popes Religion woulde scantly beléeue that there is such handsome doctrine belonging to his religion This is not much vnlike other of the Romish Doctors doctrine for in the Defence of the Apologie which the learned Bishop of Sarisburie wrote against the confutation of Doctor Harding are these wordes Petrus Asotus Hosius sticke not to affirme that the same Counsell wherein our Sauiour Iesus was condemned to die had both the spirite of Prophesie and the holy Ghost and the spirite of truth And that it was no false saying when the Bishop sayd we haue a lawe and by our lawe he ought to die and that they so saying did light vpon the very truth of iudgemēt and that the same was a iust decree whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die Thus the Popes Prelates take part with Annus Caiphas against Christ. If that were a good true iudgement that most shamefully wrongfully condemned the sonne of God to death then where shal we finde any false and wicked iudgement by this meanes the Popes sentences iudgements in burning the members of Christ for professing of y e Gospel cā not be false wicked or euill I feare they y t say they had the holy ghost the spirite of truth y t iudged Christ to death and that the same was a iust decrée wherby they pronounced y t Christ was worthy to die I feare I say y t they are none of them that Christ dyed for and as they y t iudged Christ most wrongfully did it not by the spirit of God Euen so Asotus Hosius and all other that say y t their iudgement was true that their decrée was iust whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die spake and vttered the same by the spirit of y e diuell for if they gaue true iudgement against Christ then Christ was an offendor and deserued to die The Lorde blesse euery man from beléeuing the doctrine of such that either say or beléeue that Christ the Sonne of God that neuer offēded nor sinned was worthily or rightly condemned to die If our Bishops Preachers and Doctors shoulde preach teache or write such blasphemous doctrine you might then iustly cal vs Heretiks as we may wel cal them al other y t take their partes blasphemers the disciples of Antichrist But Caiphas sayd it is good that one man die for the people least all the people perishe Ergo sayth M. Harding Caiphas had the spirit of God To whom that learned and worthie M. Iewel late Bishop of Sarisburie replyes with these wordes But that ye may the better M. Harding espie your ouersight like as ye saye Caiphas prophesied blindly himselfe not vnderstanding what he sayd Ergo he had the holy Ghost S Paule sayth no man can say the Lorde Iesus but in the Spirit of God hereof by your Logicke you may reason thus the Diuell sayd vnto Christ I knowe that thou arte Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Ergo the Diuell had the Spirit of God c. If Caiphas had the spirit of God then he had y e holy ghost that wrote this note vpon the Popes decrée that the Iewes had committed mortall sinne if they had not nayled Christ to the Crosse. Now open your eyes and beholde whether this be good sound doctrine or not y t these Papisticall Doctors do teach They that worship God aright follow Christes Gospel wil do detest such diuellish doctrine Therefore flie from this Romish Church that taketh the Pope to be hir heade and that refuseth to be tried by the Scriptures and spéedily become members of that Churche that taketh Christ to be hir heade and is content to bée iudged by the Scriptures For they that are of Christ will heare his voyce which is the Gospell which true Church wherof Christ is the head can not be knowne but by the Scriptures Chrisostome saith now can no mā know the Church but by the scriptures S. Augustine saith Whether they haue the Church or no let them shewe by the Canonicall Bookes of the holy scriptures we must know the Church euen lykewise as we know Christ which is the head of the Churche in the holy Canonicall Scriptures Againe he saith the holy Scriptures shewes the Churche without any doubtfulnesse Againe the question or doubt is where the Churche shoulde be what then shall we doe whether shall we seeke the Churche in our owne wordes or in the wordes of hir heade which is our Lorde Iesus Christ In my iudgement wee ought rather to seeke the Churche in his wordes for that he is the trueth and best knoweth his owne body And agayne he sayeth Let vs not heare these wordes this say I This sayest thou but these wordes let vs heare Thus sayth the Lorde there let vs seeke the Churche there let vs discusse our cause And Saint Ambrose sayeth the Church shineth or is knowne not by hir owne light but by the light of Christ which is the word of God These learned holy and auntient fathers wordes are sufficient to proue vnto vs that y e Church of Christ is known and is chiefely to be discerned by the word of God But what if these auncient and learned Doctors had not written thus shoulde wée then haue taken that for the Churche of God which the Popes doctrine doeth allowe then we shoulde haue a trimme and holy Church as by the premysses doth appeare And nowe bicause nothing can describe which is the true Church better than Christ
Pope knewe that it was a good way to bring him in credite For if kings rulers and Lords of the earth which may be deceiued do chose as nie as they can their most dearest and trustiest friendes to bée their presedents and deputies then I am sure that Christ the sonne of God and the King of all Kings that can not be deceiued if he had ment to haue had a general vickar on the earth woulde haue made one of his dearest and trustiest friendes his vickar and not his mortal enimie And therfore the Pope may saye what he wil but al wise men do sée that Christ neither takes him for his vickar nor yet for his Curate Can he or his chaplaines be the children of God that prefers ignorance before knowledge I think not some of them haue affirmed that ignorance is the mother of deuotion O Lord how contrarie are these mē both to God and to his son Christ nay ignorāce of Gods word is rather the mother of mischiefe the father of falsehoode the sister of sinne the son of sedition the daughter of disobediency the coosin of conspiracie and the Captaine of crueltie Ful wel the Diuel knew that ignoraunce was the next way to bring the Pope to promotion and the people to destruction for their ignorance made them thinke that none but the Pope or his Prelats did know the truth And their blindnesse did make them beléeue that none did sée perfectly but he and his pretious Prelates So that for wante of knowledge of Gods word which of purpose they kept frō them they beléeued that al they spake was true and that it was the very right way that they did lead them So that the peoples ignoraunce was the occasion of the Popes credite his credite the cause of his gaine his gaine the cause of his power his power th◠cause of his pride his pride the cause he made Emperours and Kings his seruauntes or rather slaues and thus the ignoraunce of Gods worde brought the Pope to promotion the Princes to subiection and the people to destruction And if you mark wel you may perceyue that the Popes suppressing and the keeping of Gods worde from the people is a manifest argument that he is neither Christs vickar nor his deputie nor that he loues Christe For Christe sayde to Peter louest thou mee to whome Peter sayde yea Lorde thou knowest that I loue thee then Christ saide to him againe Feede my sheepe c. So that Peters loue to Christ appeared by féeding of Christes shéepe whiche was not by féeding their bodies with meate and drinke but by féeding their soules through preching to them the Gospel Now if they loue Christe that féede his shéepe then they must néedes hate Christ that starue his shéepe neuer preching to them at all And such a one is the Pope for he neuer preacheth therfore he neuer féedes Christs shéepe Nay besides that he doth not only trouble molest hurt burne and kill suche as do or would féede Christes shéepe but also hideth kéepeth backe and burnes the Bybles and Testaments leaste the people shoulde loke on them and féede themselues So that here it is manifeste that the Pope loues not Christ bycause he féedes not Christes shéepe And he that loues not Christe muste néedes hate Christe and therefore the Pope being Christes enimie can not be the vickar of Christ. And here also is a great contrarietie betwéene Peter the Pope though he claime to be Peters successor for Peter loued Christ for that he fed Christs shéepe but y e Pope hateth Christ bycause he sterueth his shéepe yea and also kils his shéepe So that the Pope doth not succede Peter in any thing vnlesse it be in denying of Christ. Here it plainely appeareth that the Pope maye wel be the Uicar of the Diuel for Christes Uickar sure he can not be I am moste certaine that it was Christes wil that hys word should not be kept from any though it be the Popes will it should be rightly knowen of any For would Christ haue vs kepe that we neuer heard of and would he haue vs searche we know not what no Christe was neuer so vnreasonable For Christ sayth vnto vs all If you loue me keepe my commaundements that is whatsoeuer he hath willed by his word But how can we knowe what is his commandements y t we should kéep if none declare thē vnto vs neither read thē our selues nor yet haue thē red vnto vs Therfore if our louing of Christ depēd on y e kéeping of his cōmandements thē how cā we loue him séeing we can not knowe his commaundements So that y e Popes kéeping or hurding of Gods word from the people is the cause they can not kéepe Gods commaundementes And their not kéeping of Gods commaundements is the cause they doe not loue him and their not louing of him is the cause that he hates them and his hating of them will be the cause of their dampnation And thus the Pope is the first worker of the ignorant peoples damnation Christ saith also Search the Scriptures for they are they that witnesse of me but how can they search the Scripturs that haue not the Scriptures to search neyther know how to come by them now if the Scriptures witnesse what is Christes wil and pleasure and if their searching and looking therein wil shew them how to performe his wil and please him and the pleasing of him would be the cause of their saluation Then the Popes hiding and kéeping the Scripturs from them is the cause they cānot heare read or search the Scripturs and not hearing reading or searching of the Scriptures is the cause they cannot know the wil of Christe and the not knowing the wil of Christe is the cause they can not please him and their not pleasing of him is the cause they please the Diuel and the pleasing of y e Diuel is y e cause of their dānation And thus once again y e Pope is the chief cause of the ignorant peoples dānation Christe saith also Blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it so that they that heare the worde of God and kéepe it not are vnhappy Nowe if all they that heare the worde of God are not happy then all they that heare not the worde of God muste néedes be vnhappy for there are none happy but they that kéepe or folow the word of God but howe can they kéepe the word of God that neither heare it nor reade it Nowe if the hearing of Gods worde is the cause that they kéepe it and their kéeping or following of it is the cause they are happye or blessed then the Popes restrayning of Gods word frō the people is the cause they doe not heare it and their not hearing it is the cause they cannot kéepe or followe it and their not kéeping or following of it is the cause they are vnhappy and theyr vnhappinesse is the cause of their damnatiō
East Church haue offended that they may not be dispenced withall to marry as wel as the Priests of the Weast Church belike the Pope thinkes that God hathe appointed the Easterne Priestes to liue in whoredome and the Westerne Priests to liue in marriage sureâ—y this your Romish religion is the fondest the vnreasonablest and most coÌ„trary to it self of al other Thus I trust you are satisfied for the marriage of Priests and Ministers which I haue not onelye proued to be lawful by Gods lawe by the ancient Doctors by reason but also haue manifested what mischiefe and wickednesse this vowed chastitie of Priests hath wrought besides the Popes abhominable lawes and shameful suffring nay rather maintaining and procuring of whordome and most vitious liuing of his Prelates and Priestes And nowe as I reproued the forbidding of Priestes marriage and other of the doctrine of the Churche of Rome manifesting the same to be moste wicked and vngodly and against the word of God euen so I will proue that your Masse is moste wicked detestable and that the Sacrament as you vse it is bothe moste abhominable Idolatrie and not the body of Christe as your Romishe religion doth teach and as you beléeue though you thinke Gods worde can not confounde it no doctrine disproue it no writers ouerthrowe it nor no reason condemne it And now to beginne therein whereas many of you are persuaded that this youre Masse was vsed of Christe and his Apostles and so came from them your opinion therein is moste vntrue false for if Christe hadde instituted it and the Apostles had vsed it then assure youre selues that Christe woulde haue made mention thereof in the Gospell or Saint Luke would haue shewed it in the Actes of the Apostles or the Apostles woulde haue written of it in their Epistles or else GOD would haue reuealed it in the Reuelations whereby Saint Iohn woulde haue vttered it in the Apocalips and therefore forasmuche as there is no mention at al in any of those places eyther of the Masse or of any part of it as you haue it wée muste néedes thinke and are moste assured that it is not to be receiued allowed vsed nor estéemed but rather to be eschewed and contemned of all true Christians for whatsoeuer is necessarye for vs Christe and hys Apostles haue vttered in the Newe Testament And therefore this that I haue alreadye sayd is sufficient to ouerthrowe and quyte to confound your Masse For where shoulde we Christians looke for Christe oure Capitaines lawe but in Christes Booke and what other Booke hath Christe but onelye the Newe Testament therefore hys lawe and wil is there to be founde and no where else and so whatsoeuer is not to be found in that booke is not the law of Christe and bycause your Masse is not to be found in the Newe Testament therefore it is not Christes lawe nor commaundement and séeyng it is not Christes lawe nor commaundement what shoulde Christians doe with it this me thinke were sufficient for you vtterly to refuse and forsake the Masse bycause it is not mentioned by Christe nor his Apostles Perhappes some of you wyll saye thoughe it be not in the Gospell yet therefore it is not to be reiected for that Christe lefte many things oute of the Gospell that hée woulde haue vs to follow whych you would séeme to proue by these wordes of Christe which he spake to his Apostles I haue many things to saye vnto you but you are not able to beare them yet c. if this be the best foundation to build your Masse on it wil be quite ouerthrowne at the firste I can tel you that this is the text whereby the Pope would proue his Purgatorie and pardons with much of his other trashe I muse that any wil be so fonde as once to thinke that a text wil proue that thing wherof it makes no mention you are very hard driuen for your Masse when you muste be faine to trye it by a sentence that neither names it nor meanes it He is harde bestadde that is enforced to go to one for the tryal of hys honestie that neyther knows him nor euer sawe him Bycause Christe saide I haue manye things to say vnto you but you are not able yet to beare them therefore you muste knéele to the Masse whiche is a Sacrifice both for the quicke and the dead Is not this a good proofe thinke you what if the Quéenes Maiestie should say to one of hir seruantes sirra I haue many thinges to saye vnto thée but bycause thou canst not nowe remember them al I wil tell thée my minde when I come againe Nowe when the Quéene is gone if the same fellowe shoulde saye that hir Grace by these wordes did giue him one of hir greatest Parkes and Lordships that he woulde choose and so hée therevppon pluckes downe hir Pales and houses putting oute hir tenauntes and buildes what he listeth vppon hir ground do you thinke therfore that this was the Quéenes meaning or doe you thinke that she will be well contente with his doynges I thinke not Nowe looke what authoritie this man had by these hir wordes to haue one of hir beste Parkes and Lordshippes and to plucke downe hir houses and Parke pales and thereon to build what he list euen so by like aucthoritie of the saide wordes of Christ the Pope hath entred and taken possession of Christes Church plucking downe his ordinaunces taking away the Scriptures whiche is the wal and defence of his Churche and putting out the Preachers of Gods worde building and setting vp insteade therof in the same this your monstrous Masse with all the Idolatrie belonging to the same which Christ neuer thought nor meant by these his words if euery seruant might construe take his Maisters wordes in this order spoken in like sorte and shoulde by aucthoritie haue it performed the Maisters within a while should become seruants the seruants would be Lords Maisters as the Popes be who make the scriptures to meane what they list But Christe to hedge you out of this libertie and that you shoulde not build your Masse nor other dreames out of these aforesaide wordes written in the 16. chap. of S. Iohn he shewes more plainely in the 14. chap. of S. Iohns gospel what things they are y t they are not yet able to bear away or remember And these are the words But that comforter the holy ghost whome my father will sende in my name he shall teache you all and bring al to your remembraunce whatsoeuer I haue tolde you Hereby it plainly appéeres y t neither the Pope nor any other can imagine out of their own brains any thing by y e same words of Christ but only such thiÌ„gs as Christ had told his disciples before al which throughe their fleshly weaknessâ— they coulde not remember vntill they had receiued the holy Ghoste who dyd then putte them in remembraunce of al thynges that Christ had tolde
passe from me but god sayde then neuer a word of y e Masse to his son in y e gret agony yet then was the time for God to haue spoken of it if euer he would speake of it therefore it is most manifest that the Masse hath no suche power to release vs of our sinnes as the Pope and his Prelates would make vs beléeue For if it would deliuer vs from our sinnes then God at this special time wold haue heard the earnest prayer and request of Christ his deare and only sonne and would haue kept him from that cruell death that after he suffered and would or might haue answered his sonne thus oh my louing sonne be merry and glad thou shalt not dye for the sinnes of the people for I haue deuised another easier way to saue thē wherby thou shalt not néede to dye and this it is the Pope and his Priestes shal say and celebrate the Masse whiche is not onely the most highest and honorable seruice that can be done to me but also it shal be a sufficient and perfit sacrifice for sinnes both of the quicke and dead and therby they shal be deliuered from Hel as well as though thou had dyed for them and it shal be a ladder for them to climbe vppe to heauen If God had said thus to his son our sauiour Christe when he prayed so earnestlye to his Father for the sauing of hys life I would haue liked you Masses a great deale better but bycause Christ saide to his Father if it be possible let this Cup of deth passe frōme yet God suffred him to die for al his request therfore it is most manifest true y t it is impossible for vs to be saued by any thing but only by the passion death of Christ. This is so sufficiēt an argument to make you forsake most spéedily y e most detestable Masse y e robs Christe of his merits to take hold on Christ to embrace his gospel as none cā be more sufficiēt probable But for that manye of you doe thynke and beléeue that the bread in the Masse after the Priest hath consecrated it is the verye bodie of Christe bycause Christe sayde This is my bodye you shall nowe heare playnely by the auntient and learned Fathers and Doctors what Christ ment by these wordes But firste before I rehearse them you shall sée what Christe ment by conferring of his owne wordes Christe tooke breade and gaue thankes and brake it and gaue it to hys Disciples saying this is my bodye whiche is giuen for you this doe in my remembraunce now thys latter sentence doe thys in my remembraunce doth shew the meaning of the first sentence For if Christ hadde lefte hys owne bodye wyth vs then he woulde not haue sayde doe thys in my remembraunce For what néede one be wylled to remember that thing that hée séeth Saint Paule likewise sayeth That whiche I deliuered vnto you I receyued of the Lorde for the Lorde Iesus the same nighte in whiche hee was betrayed tooke breade and gaue thankes and brake it and sayde Take yee and eate yee this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembraunce of me After the same manner hee tooke the cup when supper was done saying this cup is the newe Testament in my bloud yet the cuppe wherin was the wine was not the new testament though the very words are so this do as ofte as yee drinke it in remembraunce of me for as ofte as yee shall eate this breade and drinke this cup not meaning that they shoulde drinke the Cuppe thoughe he say so but the Wine in the Cuppe yee shall shewe the Lordes deathe till hee come Here Saint Luke and Sainte Paule differ from Sainte Matthew and from Sainte Marke for here they saye This Cuppe is the newe Testamente in my bloude but Marke and Matthew sayth This is my bloud of the new Testament c. wherby it appeares that therein S. Luke and S. Paule doe open the meaning in this place of y e other two Euangelists So y t therby Christ mēt not that the Wine was the bloud but that the Wine doth signifie his bloud and is a newe couenaunt or witnesse of his bloud that was shed for manye and so he meant of the bread And Saint Paule sayth further Ye shall shew the Lordes death vntil he come So that by his words it plainelye appears that in eating of the Lords supper we chiefly ought to remember Christ in his absence and shewe and remember his death and to be thankeful to him therefore vntil he come again at the last day for these words vntil he come do signifie plainely that he is absent in his body and will come at length And nowe you shall heare whether the auntiente Doctours and writers were of the same iudgemēt or not Tertullian expoundeth these wordes of Christe hoc est corpus meum hoc est figura corporis mei which is This is my bodye that is to say this is the figure of my body likewise Saint Augustine sayth Non dubitauit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cùm daret signum corporis sui Our Lord saith he doubted not to say this is my body when he gaue a signe of hys bodie And he sayth Christ receiued Iudas vnto his banket whereat he gaue to his Disciples the figure of his body and bloude here by these auntient and learned writers it appeares that the breade that Christe brake and gaue to hys Disciples was not his body but a figure and signe of hys body Sainte Cyprian sayeth The cuppe is offered in the remembraunce of Christe by the wine the Lordes bloude is shewed or signified therefore Wine is vsed that by Wine we maye vnderstande the Lordes bloude c. Sainte Augustine sayth in this sacrifice is a thankesgiuing and a remembraunce of the fleshe of Christe that hee hath offered for vs and of the bloude that hee shedde for vs And if you refuse all these learned authors aforesaid yet you wil not refuse I hope y e Popes own glose y t expoūdeth it thus vocatur corpus Christi id est significat corpus Christi It is called the body of Christ that is to say it signifieth the bodye of Christ. De consecra dist 2. hoc est quod in glossa A great sort moe of learned Authors write of the Sacrament to this effect but these are sufficient to proue that the Sacramentall breade and wyne are fygures and sygnes of the bodye and bloud of Christ and not the verye bodye and bloud of Christ. If it be a Sacrament as you call it then it can not be the body of Christ for Saint Augustine sayth Sacramentum est visibile signum inuisibilis gratiae A Sacramēt is a visible signe of an inuisible grace Now if it be a signe of an inuisible grace then it is not the inuisible grace it selfe So that the Sacrament
spake such Latine or out of such Latine made suche English if you can shewe vs no better Author wee muste needes thinke it is your owne c. but that representare should signifie eyther to make Christes bodie or to make it present no man I trowe euer durst to say so but Maister Harding In these woordes doe this you say is conteyned make this doth Christ bid you to make this in deede Maister Harding and what this I pray you would you make ye will say Christes bodie but Christes bodie as we beleeue is made already and needeth no newe making at your handes But you will say you will make Christ in remembraunce of Christe All this is meere follie for euery way yee tell vs you make Christ. Presume not Maister Harding to make him that made you it is inough for Stella clericorum to say qui creauit me c. he that made me hath gyuen me power to make him a Priest is his makers maker by this meanes the Prieste was before he was and God was not God when he was oh abhominable doctrine But God hath made Hell fire to the destruction of all them that yeelde their mouthes to speake suche blasphemie Thus Maister Iewell answeared and confounded Maister Harding that so foolishly and falsly did expound and wrest the wordes of Christe for the making of Christ of a péece of bread Marke further howe learnedly and truely Maister Harding commendes and extolles the Masse vpon whose wordes Maister Iewell wryteth as followeth M. Harding sayth he maketh as though in their Masse the Lords banket is so purely finely truely and so delicately drest and that it is such a feast for the people as the lyke is not in any thing else saying let this banket be dight as it ought to be let the best dishe be made readie c. Good Christian reader sayth Maister Iewell the best the wholesomest the most pleasant and most comfortable dish at this table is the death of Christ that lambe of God that hath taken away the sinnes of the world Thus Christ himselfe the maister of this feast hath willed vs to dresse this dinner Do this saith he in the remembraunce of me Likewise Saint Paule sayth as often as ye shall eate of this bread and drink of this cup yee shall shewe forth and publish the Lordes death vntill he come This banket therefore is not the outwarde or bare Sacrament And as it is alleaged out of S. Ambrose this banket is not the bread of the Sacrament that passeth into the belly but the bread of euerlasting life which relieueth the Substance of the Soule c. Likewise Saint Augustine sayth hee that is blinde in his harte within seeth not Christe that is our bread And is he blessed no man will so saie vnlesse he be one as blinde as he And so Maister Iewell goeth on and sayth But what maner of feast is it that M. Harding prepareth for the people how is it seasoned how is it drest firste by vncurteous and vnciuile dealing he withdraweth the one halfe that is the cup of the new Testament and reserueth it seuerally to him selfe And yet he woulde make the people beleeue they haue the whole And this doth he when he hath the greatest companie to sup with him when his feast is best furnished otherwise he suffreth his guestes to stand aloofe he consumeth all his prouision himselfe alone Neither hath hee any thing to set before them sauing onely a cold surcharge of dead shewes and dumbe Ceremonies The poore people heareth nothing vnderstandeth nothing eateth nothing drinketh nothing tasteth nothing they publish not the Lords death they know not the Lords supper To such a bāket Pasetes the Iugler vsed sometimes to cal his friendes there was great varietie and plentie of all maner of meates and drinkes the table full but when anye of the guestes would haue touched any thing it vanished sodainly away and was turned to nothing and so when their eyes were ful they put vp their kniues rose an hungred Euen thus M. Harding feedeth and feasteth the people of God with shewes and Ceremonies suffers them in the meane while to sterue for hunger Euen as the Prophet sayeth it shall be like a dreame of a hungrie man beholde he eateth and maketh merrie but when he is awakte his soule is emptie Thus excellently and most truelye hath that famous learned Bishop M. Iewell compared your great and worthie feast in the Masse whiche M. Harding so highly commendes and maintaines to the feast of Pasetes the Iugler Your Romish religion is so fond childishe false that it bewrayeth it selfe and hir champions that séeme to defende hir doe wounde hir and quite ouerthrowe hir and the more they approue hir the more they disproue hir for though M. Harding doth praise his Masse to be such a maruellous and godlye feast yet it appeares that the maister of the feast is but a very churle for as M. Iewell sayeth he hath none to his feast or dinner but himselfe but Christes Supper though M. Harding commendes it not was more like a feast than your Masse for he did not eate his Supper by himselfe but he bad all his Apostles to it yea Iudas his enimie that betraide him and all and they did eate drinke with him and he deuided both the breade and wyne among them but the Priest at the Masse though he breake the bread yet he eates and drinkes al himselfe Therfore if the Masse be a feast it is not onely a churles feast but also it is quite contrarie to Christs feast as before is well proued Therefore in all things the Papistical religion and doings be quite contrarie to the doings of Christ. And for that in many places before it appeareth that your Romish religion doth ouerthrowe it selfe euen so I will nowe by your Doctors owne doctrine ouerthrow your Christ of bread It is concluded in a Booke called Antididagma lately set forthe by the Chapter of Colain that the bare wordes of Christes institution without the wordes of the Canon of the Masse are not sufficient to make consecration If this bée true then Christ dyd not consecrate the breade and wyne bycause the Cannon of the Masse was not then nor of a good whyle after And you saye that before the consecration the breade is not the body of Christ so that for want of consecration Christ dyd not make the breade his bodye and bycause your Priestes makyng of Christes bodye dependes wholly of Christes making the breade his bodye for that they claime to do as he did and by the wordes that he spake therefore they doe not make the breade Christes bodye bycause Christ made not the bread hys bodye and thus by your owne doctrine your changing of the breade into the bodye of Christ is cleane ouerthrowne and therefore it must néedes bée breade still and so they teache you falsely and you beléeue falsely that the Sacrament after it
impossible Therfore as the Iewes were worthily plagued for going from the word of the Lorde in committing suche wicked Idolatrie to a golden Calfe euen so assure your selues for your contemning and refusing the Gospell and for committing this moste detestable Idolatrie to a Cake of bread making it your Christe that you shal receiue the gréeuous plagues before rehearsed or greater in this world and after your deaths euerlasting torments in hel fire suche as no tong can expresse or hart can thinke vnlesse you repent vnfainedly flye from your Romish doctrine moste spéedily and embrace Christes Gospel right thankfully whiche is the pure doctrine of Christ and law of God thoughe many of you moste blasphemously call it Heresie Therefore right earnestly I desire you and most humbly beséeche you to cease from worshipping a Cake on earth and fall to the honoring of Christ in heauen Thus you maye sée if you wil sée that youre Popishe Masse and your Transubstantiation or turning or chaunging of the bread into the body of Christe by Gods worde is confounded by the Doctors confuted and by naturall reason cleane ouerwhelmed which you counted y e most truest and holyest parte of the Romish religion besides that it is a most diuelish detestable and damnable doctrine which robbes God of his glorie Christe of his merites and you of youre saluation Hitherto you may perceiue that the Popes and their doctrine doe not muche differ for as the Popes were moste wicked and diuelish so their religion is most erronious and pernitious So that howe can you thinke well of your selues and how can you take your selues to be méete members of Englande that for to haue this abhominable Idolatrous and monstrous Masse againe planted here you seeke or wish the supplanting of our prince the ouerthrow of our Nobilitie the sorrowe of our Communaltie the confusion of our Country and the ruine of the whole realme of England wherefore with all spéede of English enimies becom English friends to be defeÌ„ded by the power of England and to be nourished in England And séeing that I haue proued vnto you that your Masse is a gugaw not a Iewell a poyson not a preseruatiue a confusion not a consolation and a guyder to Hel not a leader to Heauen Nowe you shall heare what proper things the Popes pardons are to please you withall as your yong children are pleased with Babies but I would to God his pardons did hurte you no more than the Babies doe the children for the Babies doe stil them when they crye and make them mery hurte them not but the Popes pardons please you here for a while to displease you euer after I may compare the Popes pardons to a counterfaite Priuiledge as if a false suttle fellowe to get mony withal should write a large Priuiledge from the Prince counterfayting the Kings seale wherein he sheweth that the King hath giuen hym licence and whome hée shall allowe to steale without daunger of any lawe and to haue no harme therefore thoughe they be taken with the manner where vppon many giue him money to be priuiledged thereby to steale and think it to be no counterfaite but a true priuilege from the Kyng whereby they steale boldelye but are hanged therefore sodainely and though they alleage for themselues at the gallowes and shewe their aucthoritie to steale from hym that had the counterfaite Priuiledge and say that hée had money of them for it yet al that wil not serue but they are hanged for their stealing Euen so the Pope maketh you beléeue that he by his power and auctoritie from God may pardon whom he list for whatsoeuer offence they commit but whatsoeuer he say he hath no such Priuilege from God therfore his is but a counterfaite Commission which he like a false harlot hathe inuented onelye to get money whose wordes you so credite that you beléeue that God himselfe solde his Commission wherevppon you thinke that Commission from God is so cocke sure that you gyue hym mony for his pardons whereby you thinke you are not onely pardoned of all your sinnes and as cleane as when you were newe borne but also that you maye fréely commit what sins you wil assuring your selues for money therfore at anye time to be pardoned at the Popes handes yet we must not say but that your religion doth restraine men from sin and our religion of the Gospell doeth giue libertie to sin but how true it is herein you may sée if you be not blinde but when you are deade if before you haue not a better pardon of God without money than you haue of the Pope for money you are like to be hanged in hell with the Popes pardons about your necke And then the Pope bringeth you into a worse case than they that were hanged for stealing by a counterfaite Priuiledge But marke the mischieuous crafte of the Pope all the wares that he selleth you as his Masse Trentalles Dirges and pardons and al other his trumperie are such that by iust tryall in this life you cannot comptroll them or say they haue not pleasured you excepte you looke in Gods worde whyche hée kéepeth safe ynoughe from you for the tryall of hys wares whether they do you good or not is after your death whereby he is sure you can not come backe agayne to chyde or checke him for selling to you such deceitfull wares He promiseth and selleth you great and woÌ„derfull things that are to be tryed after your death but he doeth not promise and sell you things of smaller force and waight that maye be tryed duryng youre life I warrant you he wil not sell you any Pardons or Priuiledges that steale as ofte as you wil you shall neuer bée hanged or putte to death therefore that eate as muche as you will you shall neuer surffet or be sicke of it drinke as much as you wil you shal neuer be drunk and spend what you list you shal haue neuer the lesse mony in your puâ—â—e and yet these are easier things for him to promise and perform than to giue vs the kingdom of heauen y t deserue the kingdom of hel thaÌ„ to saue vs from our spirituall hanging in Hel though we neuer so much robbe God of his glorie and though we offend neuer so much yet still to be pardoned and cleane clensed from sinne Wherfore you may wel suspecte nay firmely beléeue that his pardons and other wares that he so boldly sels you are naught bycause they are such as you can not reproue before you be dead and for that he neuer offers to sel you any thing that you may trie whiles you are aliue For he knowes full well that if hée should sell you a priuiledge that though you eate neuer so much or what meate soeuer you eate you shoulde neyther be sicke or surfet thereby yet when you were sicke or did surfet by eating of it wherof you should be sure then you would say that his priuiledges were naught not
to the worde of God and that the Churche of Rome is the Sinagoge of Sathan and that all you that loue honoure and reuerence the Pope and fauour folowe estéeme and embrace his Papisticall abhominable doctrine are English enimies and that such enimies as you excéede all other Englishe enimies For as I haue before probably declared you are enimies to God to his Gospell to our Sauiour to our Soueraigne to our Superiours to hir louing Subiectes to your selues yea and to your owne Soules And can you thinke to reap any commoditie by being enimie to all these if you thinke so the Diuell doth bewitch you it is he that doth blind you and he only will destroie you Therefore if you be wise be no longer English enimies to please the Diuell but become English friends to please God And if all this will not suffice to make you abhorre the Pope and detest this diuelish doctrine then I beséeche you for I wil leaue no way to wyn you let these sewe examples chosen out of many of the pacient suffering ioyfully dying and myraculous ending of the professors of the Gospell and of this our religion persuade and allure you And though this first and rare example was long since yet the blessed Martir was persecuted and tormented for the professing of Christ and his Gospell as our late persecuted brethren were and as they were all of one Religion so the same one God did strengthen them and myraculously wrought in them Therefore I beséeche you marke them diligently and consider them aduisedly A worthy man whose name was Romanus through whō many were persuaded that they should not doe sacrifice to Idols nor worship them was brought before the Emperour being bound as a shéepe to the slaughter to whom the Emperour said with wrathfull countenaunce art thou the author of this sedition art thou the cause why so many shall loose their liues by the gods I sweare thou shalt smart for it And first in thy fleshe thou shalt suffer the paines c. To whom Romanus answered thy sentence O Emperour I ioyfully embrace I refuse not to be sacrificed for my brethren and that by as cruell meanes as thou maiest inuent bicause it lay not in Idolaters and worshippers of Diuels to enter into the holy house of God and to pollute the place of true prayer Then Asclepiades inflamed with this stoute answere commaunded him to be trussed vp and his bowels drawne out But that was not performed but he was scourged with whippes with knaps of leade at the endes And in his scourging he sung Psalmes and required them not to spare him And he spake vehemently by the spirite of God but it was not regarded And the Tormentors by the Captaines commaundement stroke out his téeth that he might pronounce hys wordes the worse and all his face was pittifully defaced Thē this méeke Martyr said I thanke thée O Captaine y t thou hast opened to me many mouths wherby I may preach my Lord and sauiour Christ looke how many woundes I haue so many mouthes I haue lauding and praysing God The Captaine astonyed with his constancie threatned him with fire saying blasphemously thy crucifyed Christ is but a yesterday God the gods of the Gentyles are of most antiquitie Then Romanus made a great Oration of the eternitie of Christ c. And then he said giue me a childe O Captaine but seuen yéeres of age c and thou shalt heare what he wil say And then a pretie boy was called out of the multitude and set before him Tel me my boy quoth the Martyr whether thou thinke it reason that we worship one Christ and in Christ one father or else that we worship infinite gods vnto whom the babe answeared That certainly whatsoeuer it be y e men affirme to be God must néeds be one which with one is one the same And in as much as this one is Christ of necessitie Christ must be the true God for that there be many gods we childrē can not beléeue The Captaine hereat cleane amazed said thou yong villen traitor where and of whō loarnedst thou this lesson of my mother quoth the childe with whose mylke I sucked in this lesson that I must beléeue in Christ. The mother of the child was called she gladly appeared The Captaine commaunded the child to be scourged euery one wept that sawe this pittilesse déede but the ioyfull mother stoode by with drie chéekes yea she rebuked hir swéete babe bicause it craued a draught of cold water She charged him to thurst after y e cup that the infants of Bethlē once dranke of forgetting their mothers milke paps c. Whiles she gaue this counsel the butcherly Tortor pluckt the skin from the childes head heare al. The mother cried suffer my childe now thou shalt passe to him that will ordeine for thy naked heade a crowne of eternall glory And the babe receiued the stripes torments with smiling countenance The Captaine perceiuing y e child inuincible and himself vanquished cōmitteth y e séely soule the blessed babe to the stinking prison without any drink or any other cherishing and commaunded the tormentes of Romanus to be renued and increased Thus was Romanus brought forth againe to new stripes and punishments to be renued receiued vpō his olde sores in so much the bare bones appeared the flesh al torne away wherin no pittie was shewed Then the tyrant sayd is it painefull for thée saide he to tarrie so long aliue a flaming fire doubt thée not shall bée prepared for thée by and by wherein thou and that boy thy fellow of rebellion shal be consumed into ashes Then Romanus and the childe were led to the place of execution And as they laide handes on Romanus he looked backe saying I appeale from this thy tyrannie Iudge vniust to the righteous throne of Christ that vpright iudge Not bicause I feare thy cruell torments mercilesse handling but that thy iudgements may be knowne to be cruell and bloudie Now when they were come to the place y e tormentor required y e child of his mother for she helde it in hir armes and she onely kissing it deliuered the child to the tormentor and said fare well my swéete childe and as the executioner applyed the sworde to the childes necke she did sing in this maner All laude and praise with heart and voyce O Lorde we yeelde to thee To whom the death of all thy Saintes we know most deare to be The Innocents head being cut off the mother wrapped it vp in hir garment laid it to hir brest On the other side a mightie fire was made where into Romanus was cast who said that he should not burne Wherwith a great shoure arose quenched the fire Then the Captaine commaunded that his tongue should be cutte out and it was plucked out by the hard rootes Neuerthelesse he spake saying he that speaketh Christ shall neuer want a tongue Thinke not that the
wonderful sicknesse and an incurable disease for he hadde a sore risen in the nether parte of his belly which consumed his priuie partes from whence swarmed greate plentie of wormes whyche disease coulde not be helped with any surgerie or phisicke according to the promise of God wherefore he confessed that it happened for his crueltie towarde the Christians who slew hymselfe not able to abide the stenche of his owne sore Suche hathe béene is and wyll be the gaine and ende of them that persecute Gods people Beholde here a wonderful example of God shewed vpon thrée periured persons for falsely accusing the aged and reuerend father Narcissus the seruaunt of God and a pure professor of Christes Gospell whiche Narcissus was of the age of a hundreth thrée score and thrée yeares and Byshop of Ierusalem The one of them that were hys accusers wished to be destroyed with fire the other to be coÌ„sumed with a grieuous sicknesse the third to lose both his eies if he did lye whereby the godly and guiltlesse man went and liued in a solitarie and desert place a great while But God that is a iuste reuenger of wickednesse and a defender of his innocent seruants punished them al thrée according to theyr owne wordes The first by casualtie of one little sparke of fire was burned with his goods and al his family The second was taken with a greate sickenesse from the head to the féete and deuoured by the same The thirde hearyng and séeyng the punishement of the other confessed his fault But through great repentance powred oute suche feares with wéeping that he loste bothe hys eyes And thus as God iustly punished them for their periurie against the innocent seruant of God So God of late dayes hathe maruellously punished a great sorte of the Papists that cruelly killed murthered and misused Gods true and simple seruaunts for professing the Gospell And nowe as I haue shewed you howe God hath powred his vengeaunce on the tyrantes and persecutors of the holye Martyres that were persecuted long since before the wicked Popes so also I will expresse vnto you the miserable endes and deaths of some of the Papisticall persecutors since the tyme of the wicked Popes whose terrible and fearefull endes I beséeche GOD maye bée a sufficient warning for you A cruel wretche called Iohn de Roma a Monke hauing a coÌ„mission to examine suche as professed the gospel whom they call Heretikes vsed great crueltie towardes them He filled bootes with boiling grease and so put them vpon their legs tying them backward to a fourm with their legs hanging downe ouer a small fire so he examined them Thus hée tormented verye many and in the ende moste cruellye putte them to death c. But the sayde holye Monke as holynesse goeth with Papists by the iust iudgement of God fel sicke of a moste horrible disease straunge and vnknowne to any Phisition whose paines and tormentes being moste extreame coulde not be eased one minute of an houre with any ointment or any thing els whose steÌ„ch and sauor was so greate that came from hym that none coulde abide it neyther would anye of hys owne fréendes come neare hym wherefore hée was carryed to an Hospitall to be kept but the stenche and infection so encreased and was so greate that no manne there durste come neare him no more he hymselfe was able to abide the horrible smell that issued from hys bodye béeyng full of vlcers and soares and swarming with vermyne and so rotten that the fleshe fell awaye from the bones by péece meale And whyles he was in these tormentes he cryed oute often in greate rage Oh who wil deliuer me who wil kill and rid me out of these intollerable paines which I knowe I suffer for the euilles and oppressions that I haue done to the pore men he wente dyuers tymes aboute to destroy himselfe but he had not the power to doe it In these horrible tormentes and feareful despaire this blasphemer and moste cruel vexer tormentor and murtherer of the poore professors of Gods worde most miserably ended his curssed life Here you maye plainely vnderstande that this wicked Monke thoughe he were of the Popes religion hée was not of Gods religion for that the Lord thus plagued and tormentâ—d him shewing his verye cursse béefore mentioned euen an incurable diseaâ—e as hée didde to wicked Iehoram the sonne of good King Iehoshaphat And as the Monkes tormentes and end was like to the ende of Iehoram So he was like in crueltie and also in Idolatrie forsaking the lawe of God for the wicked deuises of men Also the Lord of Reueâ—â— chief President of the Parliament of Aâ—aâ— cruellye vsâ—d the professors of the Gospell and putte them to death who after was stricken with such an horrible sickenesse of furie and madnesse that hys wife nor any durst come neare him and so he dying in hys furie and rage was iustely plagued of GOD for hys vnmercifulnesse and crueltie shewed and done to the children of God The Commendator of Saint Anthonie of Vienna that gaue sentence of condemnation on the seruaunt of GOD Wolfgangus fel sodainely downe and dyed And the Abbot of Clarilocus his fellow stricken with sodaine feare at the cracke of guns fel downe and dyed Thomas Arundale Archbishop of Canterburie a persecutor of the Gospellers y t gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham for professing the word of God was plagued of God that hys tongue dyd swell that he could swallow no meat and so dyed And althoughe he gaue sentence on the Lorde Cobham yet gods iudgemeÌ„ts were suche that he died two or thrée yeares before him A certain Bishop of Hungarie did runne about starke mad so rauing dyed miserably that tyed Hares Géese and Hennes about a Priest and then put dogges to him who chased him about the Citie snatching and catching at him what they coulde get whereof he dyed And thus the Priest was martyred for saying that the eating of fleshe is not forbidden by the Scriptures but this Bishop gayned nothing by thus martyring of him vnlesse Gods wrath be a gayne A Priest reuolting from the Gospel was sodainely killed by two gentlemen that oughte him euill will by the iudgemeÌ„t of god immediately after he weÌ„te out of prison from one Philbert that after was strangled and burned for the word of God To which Priest Apostata the sayd Philbert sayde oh vnhappie and more than miserable is it possible for you to be so foolishe as for sauing of a fewe dayes which you haue to liue by course of nature so to start away and deny the trueth know you therefore that althoughe you haue by your folishnesse auoyded the Corporal fire yet your life shall be neuer the longer for you shall die before And God shall not giue you grace that it shall be for his cause and you shal be an example to al Apostles And immediately the reuolting Prieste was slaine as soone as he went out of
Lambe at the Townes side a certayne Butcher within the Towne was as busie in slayinge of a Bull whiche Bull hée had faste bounde in ropes readie to knocke hym in the head But the Butcher belyke not so skylfull in hys arte in killyng of beastes as the Papistes be in murthering Christians as hée was lifting the Axe to stryke the Bull fayled in hys stroke and smitte a little to lowe or else howe he did smite I knowe not but this was certaine that the Bull somethyng grieued with the stroke but yet not stricken downe put his strength to the ropes and brake lowse from the Butcher into the stréete the very same tyme as the people were comming in very great prease from the burnyng of the godly woman Who séeing the Bull commyng towardes them and supposing him to be wilde as was none other lyke gaue way for the Bull euery man shifting for him selfe aswell as hée might Thus the people gyuing backe and making a lane for the Bull he passed through all the throng of them touching neyther man woman nor childe till hée came whereas the Chauncellour was Against whome the Bull as pricked with a suddaine vehemencie ranne full but with hys hornes and taking him vpon the paunche gored him through and through and so killed him immediatly carrying his guttes and trayling them with his hornes all the stréete ouer to the great wonder of all them that sawe it Although the carnall sence of man be blinde in considering the workes of the Lorde imputing many times to blinde chaunce the thinges whiche properly perteyneth to Gods onelye prayse and prouidence yet in this so straunge and so euident an Example what man can be so dull or ignoraunt whiche séeth not herein a playne myracle of Gods mightie power and iudgement both in iust punishyng of this wretched Chauncellour and also in admonishing all other lyke persecutours by this example to feare the Lorde and to abstaine from the lyke crueltie These wonderfull and myraculous examples with a great number mo to the great comfort and consolation of the persecuted Gospellers and to the fearing and terrifying of the cruell vnmerciful murthering Papists the worthy godly and learned M. Foxe with his great trauell studie and labour hath set forth at large in his Booke of the Acts and Monumentes of the Churche commonly called the Booke of Martyrs I feare there are some of you so farre drowned in that abhominable Romishe Religion and so farre in loue with the Pope and with all things whatsoeuer he or any of his cruell crue doe or commaunde to do that if a mad man had chaunced to haue runne on this wicked Whittington the Chauncellour and had killed him hurting none of all that great throng and number of people but onely him woulde haue sayde that the man had made himselfe madde for the nonce and that some of the hereticall Gospellers had hyred him to doe it But I trowe none of you will saye that the Bull made himselfe mad for the nonce that the Gospellers hyred him to runne onely on the Chauncellor kill him and to let all the rest of the people goe away safe and vnhurt Wherefore it can not be denyed nor by any way be auoyded but that it was the Lordes wrathe and vengeance that lighted on this cruel and persecuting Papist and murthering Chauncellor And as the Diuel procured this wicked Chauncellor to be his slaughter man on the sayd godly woman the seruaunt of God So God sent this Bull to be his slaughter man on the wicked Chauncellour the seruant of the Diuel Therefore as I said before if the pacient constant ioyfull and myraculous endes and deathes of the professors of the Gospell can not allure nor persuade you from Papistrie to the Gospell from the Pope to Christ from the Diuell to God yet let the fearefull horrible desperate and dolefull deathes of the Papisticall persecutors murtherers of the professors of the Gospell enforce feare and terrifie you to flie with all spéede from the Popes daungerous detestable and Diuelish doctrine What made Iudas to say I haue sinned betraying the Innocent bloud but that he was pricked in conscience and that he was enforced through Gods might to vtter y e truth and that hée had falsely and wickedly betrayed Christ his Maister What made Iulianus the Apostata that once professed the Gospell and turned from it to saye Vicisti Galilee that is O thou man of Galilee thou hast ouercome meaning Christ but that he yéelded to Christ and that he graunted that Christes Gospel was the true religion that he most wrongfully persecuted the seruants of God What made y t cruell persecutor of the Gospellers Iohn de Roma to say in his maruellous paines tormentes as is before mentioned I know I suffer for the euils and oppressions that I haue done to the poore mē but y t he was pricked with the sting of Gods iudgement that they that he had so tormented were the seruauntes of God and that he was the minsster of Sathan What made that rigorous Rockwood to cry out beyng at the point of death and to say I am damned all to late all to late for I haue sought maliciously the deathes of a number of the honest men in the Towne c. but that God enforced him to confesse the truth when it was too late to haue mercie and that he knewe then in his conscience y t the Romishe Religion was false and wicked and that the professors of the Gospell were the seruauntes of God that he did persecute for the Pope What made Bishop Gardiner to say at his death I haue denyed with Peter but neuer repented with Peter but that he knewe in his conscience beyng stung with the wrathe of God that he wickedly and wrongfully resisted the truth and most vniustly persecuted the professors of the Gospell the seruantes of God Why did the Sherifs seruaunt before mentioned saye that Iames Abbas that was burned for professing of the Gospell was the seruaunt of God and was saued and that he himselfe was damned but that he was procured through the power of God to acknowledge and open the trueth that thereby euerye one that then heard him or afterwards shoulde heare of it myghte playnely perceiue that the Gospell is the true Religion wherein GOD is chiefely pleased and that they that are persecuted for professing of the same are the seruauntes of God and that the Papistes that murther and persecute them are the children of the Diuell Learne therefore to confesse willingly your errours and to recant and refuse your diuelishe Papisticall doings and doctrine in tyme whyles you may repent recant obtaine mercie by these wofull wretches that compelledly confessed their errours and recanted their diuelish doings and doctrine out of time when they coulde not repent neither obtaine any mercie at all If you could shewe vs but one of your Papistical Religion that died so willingly chéerefully constantly Christianly
was hanged drawne and quartred for treason in the saide towne of Callais Now if the holy Ghost be the teacher of trueth then the holy Ghost did teach this persecuted member of Christe to prophecie truely and if the spirite of Sathan be the teacher of lyes then the spirite of Sathan did instruct Pope Hildebrand that prophecied falsely as is before mentioned of the deposing of the Emperour Wherefore if you woulde by this notable example and by manye other consider what trueth the holy Ghoste dothe vtter by the persecuted professors of the Gospell thoughe simple and vnlearned And againe on the other side what lyes and falshoode the spirite of the Diuel doth vtter by the great learned Pope himselfe his Catholike Cardinalles and hys proude presumptuous Prelates you woulde if you loue trueth as you say forsake them and all their falshoode and lyes and embrace the Gospell of Christe the Touchstone of trueth Marke also howe maruellously the spirite of God dyd speake in another persecuted professor of the Gospel One Patricke Hamleton a godly and learned professor of y e Gospel in Scotland was condemned to be burned who in the fire did cite and appeale the Black Frier called Campbel that accused him to appeare before the high God as generall Iudge of al men to aunswere to the innocencie of hys death and whether his accusation was iust or not betwéen that and a certaine daye of the nexte moneth whiche he the sayde Hamleton then and there named And after it was verie manifest that the sayde Frier dyed immediately before the sayde day came that the saide Hamleton dyd cite him to appeare without remorse of conscience that hée had persecuted the innocent By this example so strange rare diuerse people did not only muche muse thereat but also firmely beléeue the doctrine of the sayde Hamleton to be good and iust Behold here a glasse most cleare that whosoeuer lokes in the same can not choose but both sée and say that youre Church of Rome is the Captaine of crueltie and without all pitie and mercie and so by no means can be the church of God There were thrée women condemned in Garnesey the mother and two daughters bycause they did not come to the Church whereof one of them was named Peretine great with child they were tyeâ— to thrée stakes the mother to the middle stake the eldest daughter on the right hand and the yonger daughter on the left hand they were firste strangled but the rope brake before they were dead and so the women fel in to the fire Peretine who was then greate with child did fal on her side 〈◊〉 hapned a ruthful thing not only to y e oyles of al y t stooâ— ther but also to al other true harted Christians y t heare or read y e same or as y e belly of y e womaÌ„ brust asunder by vehemencie of y e flame y e infante being a faire maÌ„ child fel into y e fire being taken out of y e fire by one William House was layde vppon the grasse Then was the Child had to the Prouost from him to y e Bayliffe who gaue iudgement that it shoulde be carryed backe againe and caste into the fire And so the Infant baptized in his owne bloude to fill vp the number of Gods innocent Saints was both borne burned and dyed a Martyre leauing behinde to the worlde whiche it neuer sawe a spectacle wherein euery one maye sée that hathe any eyes at all the Herodian crueltie of this gracelesse generation of Catholike tormentors neuer to be forgotten Yet for all this greate and many other of the Papists more than heathnish cruelties many of you are so blinded ano bewitched that you can not perceiue the vnmercifull time of your Quéene Mary nor can consider the mercifull time of our Quéene Elyzabeth If the Quéenes Maiestie shoulde vse all you that refraine from the Church bicause you wil not heare Gods worde as these thrée séely women were bycause they wente not to the Churche to committe Idolatrie you woulde then saye she were a cruell and tyrannous Prince But suffering you without any crueltie yet you wil not saye that shée is a mercifull Quéene Beholde here an other wonderfull and rare example howe God dydde strengthen a yong maide that professed the worde of God oure religion One Maister Tyrrell and other didde beset the house of one William Mount and willed to haue the dore opened whiche being done the saide Maister Tyrrell with certaine of his companye went into the Chamber where the saide father Mount and his wife did lye willing them to rise for saide he yée muste goe with vs to Colchester Castle Mother Mounte hearing that being very sicke desired that hir daughter mighte firste fetche hir some drinke for she sayde she was verye euill at ease Then he gaue hir leaue and bad hir goe So hir daughter called Rose Allen tooke a stone potte in the one hande and a Candle in the other and wente to drawe drinke for hir mother And as shée came backe againe throughe the house Mayster Tyrrell met hir and willed hir to giue hir father and mother good councell and to aduertise them to be better Catholike people To whome the saide Rose sayde Sir they haue a better instructâ—r than I am for the holye Ghoste dothe teache them I hope whyche I trust wil not suffer them to erre Then sayde Mayster Tyrrell why art thou stil in that minde thou naughtie huswife Mary it is time to looke vppon suche heretikes indéede Then saide Rose Allen Sir wyth that whych you call Heresie do I worshippe my Lorde God I tell you truth Then saide Maister Tyrrell I perceyue you wil burn gossip wyth the reste for company sake Then sayde she no sir not for companyes sake but for Christes sake if so I be compelled And I hope in his mercies if he call mée to it he wil enhable me to beare it Then Mayster Tyrrell turnyng to hys company sayde sirs this gossip will burne doe you not thinke it Marry sir quoth one proue hir and you shall sée what she will doe by and by Then that cruell Tyrrell taking the Candle from hir helde hir wreaste and the burning Candle vnder hir hand burning crosse wise ouer the backe thereof so long till the very sinnes crackte asunder In whych time of hys tyranny hée said often to hir why whoore wylt thou not cry thou yong whoore wilt thou not crye Unto whyche alwayes she aunswered that she had no cause she thanked God but rather to reioice you haue more cause to wéepe sayde shée than I if you consider the matter well In the ende when the sinews brake that al the house hearde them he then thrust hir from him violently and sayde Ah strong whoore thou shamelesse beaste thou beastly whoore and with suche like vile wordes but she quietlye suffering hys rage for the time at the laste sayde Sir haue you done what you wyll doe
and hée sayde yea and if you thynke it be not wel then mend it Then Rose Allen sayd mend it nay the Lorde mend you and gyue you repentaunce if it bée hys wil. And nowe if you thinke it good beginne at the féete and burne to the head also for he that set you a worke shal pay you your wages one day I warrant you And so she went and carryed hir mother drinke as she was commaunded The saide Rose Allen being asked of one howe she coulde suffer the painefull burning of hir hand she saide at the first it was some griefe but afterward the longer she burned the lesse she felte or wel néere none at all Thus you may wel perceiue that the Gospel that shée professed was and is the true religion and that she tooke Gods quarrel in hand or else the Lord would not haue giuen hir this wonderfull patience and haue strengthned hir and mitigated hir paines in the burnyng of hir hande as he did Byshop Bonner he mighte be called Bishop Burner wel ynoughe caused a blinde Harpers hande to be burned with a hote burning coale whiche blinde man saide that if euery ioynt of him were burned yet he trusted in the Lorde not to flye Marke here agayne I beséeche you a wonderfull and straunge example not only of the great constancie and patience of one Thomas Hawkes that was burned for his professing the gospel of Christ but of the manifest proofe therby that the cause he died in was iuste and true and that God did myraculously assiste him and mitigated his torments in the flames of the fire This worthy member of Christ Thomas Hawkes was burned for witnessing the worde of God at a Towne in Essex called Coxhall A little before whose death certayne of his friends priuily desired that in the mids of the flames he woulde shewe them some token if he coulde whereby they might be more certaine whether the paine of suche burning were so greate that a man might therein kéep his minde quiet and pacient whyche thing he promised them to doe And so secreatlye betwéene them it was agréede that if the payne myghte bée suffered then hée should lifte vp his handes aboue his head towardes Heauen before hée gaue vppe the Ghost And when hée was broughte to the stake to be burned there mildely and paciently hée addressed himselfe to the fire hauyng a straighte chaine caste about his middle after whose feruent prayers made vnto God the fire was set vnto him in the whiche when he continued long and when his spéeche was taken away by violence of the flame his skinne also drawne togither and hys fingers consumed with the fire so that al men had thought certainely he hadde béene dead sodainely and contrary to expectation the saide blessed seruaunt of God beyng mindfull of his promisse before made reached vppe hys handes burnyng on a light fire which was maruellous to behold ouer hys head to the liuing God and with greate reioysing as it séemed stroke or clapped them thrée tymes togither At the sight whereof there followed suche an outcrye of the people and especially of them whiche vnderstoode the matter that the like commonly hathe not béene hearde And so this blessed seruant of God strait way sincking down into the fire gaue vppe his spirite Thys myraculous burning of the saide Thomas Hawkes was in the yere of our Lord. 1555. These wonderful examples of the Gospellers suffring so patiently of their dying so willingly of the holy Ghoste speaking in them so abundantly of their maruellous constancie of Gods strengthning them so mightilye and hys working in them so myraculouslye that if before I had not sufficiently proued the Pope to be the childe of Sathan and your Romishe religion to be the Diuels Doctrine is sufficient to winne you to God to allure you to Christe and to embrace the Gospel our heauenly and true religion to obey your Prince to loue your Countrey and nowe with great desire to become english friends But if there be any of you so deluded by the diuel so incensed by Sathan and so bewitched with papistrie that neither any thing before written can moue you nor these maruellous examples of Gods mercifull and wonderfull protecting boldening teaching strengthning fauouring comforting assisting and defending of his seruauntes the professors of the Gospell cannot allure you then I beséeche you for I can goe no further let these fearfull faithlesse horrible dolefull and desperate deaths of the persecuting and murthering cruell Papists with their mockers and scorners of Gods word and reuolters and shunners from the Gospel that folow feare and terrifie you any longer to persiste in youre erronious and most pernitious Papisticall doctrine least you be made the instrumēts of his wrath as they were Now therfore marke them well and as you like their deaths so followe their liues And as I saide before that the Martyres of the Primitiue Churche and our persecuted Protestantes suffered all alike were patient all alike and were loued ayded and strengthned of God all alike and therfore all of one religion So the tyrannous persecutors of the Martyres long since and the Papisticall persecutors of the professors of the Gospel since that time haue died desperately horribly diuelishly and dolefully all alike and haue hadde Gods wrath and vengeaunce all alike and therefore were all of a wicked and diuelish religion And for that you shall not thinke that the Papisticall murtherers and persecutors died more godlye than they you shal sée the godly ends and deaths of some of them both And firste I will shewe you some examples of the tyrannous persecutors in the olde time of the professors of the Gospell Herod that murthered Iohn Baptist and condemned Christ was condemned to perpetuall banishement where hée dyed miserably Pylate vnder whome Christe was crucified was apprehended and accused at Rome deposed then banished to the Towne of Lyons who at length dyd kil himselfe Antiochus a tormentor of the Christians fell downe from his iudicial seate crying out whose bowels burned within him and so he dyed Decius that cruell persecutor of the Christians bothe hée and his sonne were slaine of enimies in battell The Emperour Valerian a cruell persecutor of the Christians wente not without hys rewarde therefore for Sapores the King of the Persians tooke him prisoner and vsed him for his blocke when he got vpon his horse Maxentius that greate persecutor of the Christians fell off on a bridge wyth his horse and his harnesse whyche brydge he had made for Constantine the Christian Emperoure and so be was drowned Marke the endes and death of these persecutors of the Christians Dioclesian poysoned himselfe Maximinian was hanged Seuerus was slayne by Maximinian Lucinus was slaine by Constantine Thus these persecutors of the professors of Christes Gospel neuer liue quietly nor yet dye godly Galerius the Emperour of the East parts a great persecutor of the Christians was therefore plagued of GOD wyth a