ouerwhelmed the glorious Maiestie of the Grace of the Gospell did of an incomparable shamelesse excessiue Impudencie extoll aboue Moone and Starres yea beyond all compasse of reason the force of mans Freewill in such wise that nothyng might beare palme besides mans merites onely and the workes of Freewill the mercy of God beyng vtterly banished and exiled Or if they did at any tyme admitte Grace to be cape marchaunt as it were with Freewill least they might seéme vtterly to exclude Grace Yet did they so admitte her as they dyd the Article of Iustification Wherein as they did with most vayne practize enforce this one point cōtinually to witte That fayth onely without workes could not Iustifie euen so and in lyk◠maner in this question of Freewill they would neédes haue this to bee graunted that the Grace of God was not the onely foundresse of good workes and of our Electiō but a seruaūt rather or at the most a companion of Freewill Whose vnmeasurable errour forced Martin Luther to that vehemet sharpnesse of speach and not without good cause And yet in all that his heate of wordes what can any man I pray you finde beyng not otherwise lead by corrupt affection that is cōtrary to the naturall truth of thyngs or that is not in all respectes faithfully agreable with the very spirite wordes of Gods Scriptures Freewill is denyed to be of any value not bycause it is of it selfe nothyng if you respect the substaunce of it but in respect of the operation therof it is sayd to be altogether vneffectuall to that worke whereunto it is supposed to be conducible not much vnlike to that figuratiue phrase of speach wherewith Paule doth esteéme of Circumcision and Uncircumcision to be nothyng worth wherewith Esay the Prophet doth tearme Idolles and Idollmakers to be nothyng and wherewith Ieremy beholdyng the earth with open eyes was sayd hee saw nought Or as a man might say that Osorius doth say nothyng at all when as otherwise he is ouer lauishe of toung if you regard his wordes and sillables but nothyng at all to the purpose if ye cōsider his Argumentes Semblably Freewill is called a fayned deuise amongest thynges or a tittle without substaunce from whence ariseth no preiudice to mās nature onely the corruption of nature is discouered hereby For it is vndoubted as Augustine truly teacheth that we do will when we will and that we doe worke when we worke But to be able to will and to be able to worke bee bringeth to passe in vs of whom it is sayd God is hee that worketh in vs both to will and to doe geuing most effectuall power to our will whiche sayd I will bring to passe that you shall doe Aud agayne in other place Thinking sayth he we do beleue thinking we doe speake thinking we doe all whatsoeuer we doe c. Loe here you haue the tittle of Freewill And forthwith in the same Chap. But to the attaining the way of righteousnesse and the true worshipping of God we are altogether of our selues insufficient for all our sufficiencie herein proceedeth frō God c. Where you may easily conceaue the substaūce it selfe which Augustine acknowledgeth to be none at all in Freewill but affirmeth boldly to cōsiste wholy in God Albeit neither doth Luther him selfe when he tearmeth Freewill to be a fantasie or deuise in thyngs simply and barely affirme the same to be so but annexeth thereunto an addition namely Post peccatum ante gratiam That is to say After Sinne and before Grace Whereby the godly Reader may vnderstand that those persones are not noted here whom either the Grace of Christ hath vouchsafed into Freédome or whō after Grace receaued Christ will crowne in glory to come For there be certeine distinct differences of tymes and persons if you know them not Osorius whiche ought chiefly to be obserued wherein if you be as yet vnskillfull ye may repayre to your M. Lumbard who will lead you to a descriptiō of Free-will deuidyng it into foure braunches as it were Wherof the first is The same that was created ioyntly with mans nature at mans first creation sounde and perfect The second whiche after mans fall was throwen downe in them that were not regenerated The third whiche is proper and peculiar to the godly after their conuersion vnto Grace The last which shal be accomplished in those that shal be glorified As touchyng the first and last whereof the Deuines make no question at all as I suppose Agayne if you will assigne Freewill to the thyrd braunche Luther will nothyng gaynsay you whose disputation concerneth those persons chiefly who after Sinne before their conuersion beyng wounded with originall Sinne haue not as yet recouered health in Christ Iesu through the triacle of better Grace In which sort of people if you be of opinion that the state of Freewill ought by any meanes to be defended I would fayne learne of you first whether ye will inueste those persons with Freewill playnly perfectly whole and not diminished or otherwise If you will attribute such a freédome vnto them it remayneth then that by way of definition ye expounde the difference betwixt the state and condition of the first man before his fall and this latter state and condition after his fall But if you will dismember it and will graunt vnto them certeine vnperfect dregges thereof onely neither will Luther vary much from you herein so that ye will yeld some distinctiō thereunto and vtter playnly and distinctly what kynde of libertie you meane in what thynges you settle it and how it ought to be taken what this word Freewill emporteth and to what actions of mans lyfe it ought to be referred and withall will vnlose those crabbed knottes of equiuocatiōs wherewith ye seéke to entrappe the truth For whereas the actions of mans lyfe are not all of one sort or kynde some wherof proceédyng from nature it selfe be naturall others altogether faultie and corrupt others politique and apperteinyng to maners are morall called good Agayne some other spirituall and consiste in the worshyppyng of God It behoued you here to make manifest vnto vs whiche of those actions you do meane If you speake of the first kynde certes euē vnto these by the very law of cōmon nature it selfe we are all fastened boūde of necessitie wherby we are bereft of the greatest part of our freédome For what freédome can bee so mighty in mans wil as to preserue mā so that he neuer neéde to sleépe but be alwayes watchfull that he neuer be sicke but alwayes healthy neuer receaue sustenaūce not to disgest the foode receaued not to prouide for his houshold not to be carefull for him selfe his family not to be busied abroad not to rest at home not to enioy the commō ayre not to lyue not to dye not to performe the other dueties apperteinyng to mans lyfe whereunto we are forcibly drawen by course of
which might haue endued him with the fayth of Christ what profite had he gotten towardes the attaynement of righteousnesse by all those helpes and aydes of pitie What shal be sayd of the riche yoūg man in the Gospell who beyng commaunded to keépe the cōmaundementes made aunswere that hee had obserued the same all the dayes of his lyfe What shall I recite the example of the Pharisaé prayeng in the Temple who vauntyng him selfe proudly vppon trust of his workes gaue thankes to God that he was not as others were that he lyued not of the spoyle did not fraudulently deceaue any man by contractes nor prodigally cōsume his owne goodes nor defile his neighbours wife committed not adultery was not murtherer or wrong doer to his neighbours neither was of that sorte like vnto the Publicane but fasted twise in the Sabboth gaue the tenth of his goodes to the poore c. What neéde I to produce Nathanaell whom Christ him selfe did both acknowledge to be a true Israelite and praysed him for his vnfained simplicitie Do ye not perceiue that these persons besides their duetyfull obseruaunce of the Ceremoniall law did in vtter shewe expresse a certeine resemblaunce of good workes and studious endeuour in the Morall law all which notwithstandyng they were not the valewe of one myte more regarded in the sight of God Albeit I do not alledge these things to the end I would extenuate the fault of the Iewes whom S. Paule affirmeth to be inexcusable But Osorius doth not seé the groūde of Paules accusation agaynst them First of all the Apostle did very well forseé that the law of God is of all partes most perfect and that it requireth an exquisite full and absolute obediēce to the same which as he conceaued could not possibly be performed by any industry of mā Neither was he ignoraunt of the vnmeasurable and arrogaunt pride of that Nation lynked with lyke vanitie which beyng by a wonderfull farre way distant from the meane obseruation of the law did yet swell and were puft vp with a most false glaueryng conceite of their owne excellency and perfection as though they had left no part therof vndone persuadyng vnto thēselues saluation thereby wherein they had much rather deserued vtter destruction And so did incurre double offence First bycause they did sundry wayes horribly dishonour and defile Gods most sacred law Then as though it were not materiall that they had not perfitely accomplished the whole law a man might iustly marueile how wonderfully they flattered them selues and as though they had trimmely behaued them selues at all assayes seemed in their owne conceite to bee prety holy men despising with a certeine Pharisaicall hautines all other Nations besides them selues Wherfore the Apostle indifferētly tenderyng the miserable errour of eche Nation aswell Gentiles as Iewes doth earnestly debate threé thynges chiefly in that place First that he might conuince the Iewes as also the Gentiles indifferently that they were sinners before God Then that he might remoue from them all false opinion of Affiance Lastly that hee might emprinte into them the true way of Confidence And in this last purpose of the Apostle Osorius doth openly bewray his blockishe ignoraunce swaruyng and varyeng altogether from the entent of the Apostle For although his Iudgement bee sounde and agreable with the Apostle in this that the trust whiche the Iewes reposed in the law of Moyses was no lesse vayne and voyde of reason then the Confidence of the Gentiles who framed their life after the law of nature yet when question is moued touchyng the assignyng of true righteousnesse Paule will teache one thyng but Osorius an other For whereas Paule doth bende the whole force of his disputation to this onely marke that excludyng all other deédes workes and endeuours whether they apperteine to the Ceremoniall or Morall law or to the rule and doctrine of maners hee might referre the summe of our Iustification and hope of Saluation wholy and onely in the fayth of the sonne of God What other thyng els doth this Ciceronian Tertullus discourse in those bookes entituled ` De Iustitia Wherein he playeth so much the Philosopher as though he were in the Schoole of Morall Philosophie what els doth he breath practize and and so greédely mainteine then to persuade vs that wheresoeuer S. Paule doth exclude workes from Iustification he doth exempt nothyng els but the Ceremoniall law And so for conclusion that true righteousnesse is not that righteousnesse in the sight of God whiche Christ doth Impute to the beleuers through fayth but that righteousnesse which euery man doth properly procure and make peculiar to him selfe through his owne vertue sinceritie innocencie and good conuersation Offryng the combate pardy to Paule whether in this quarell of Iustification S. Paule shall with more probable Arguments exclude Confidence from workes or Osorius driue fayth into vtter exile vnto the which fayth in all his bookes he leaueth no maner of place truly yeldeth very litle credite thereunto Neither is it any maruell For if the matter be as Osorius doth reporte That we ought to be iuste before God and not Iustified before God And if righteousnesse onely doe procure the fauour of God and Reconcile God to mākind wherein onely we ought to settle all our sauety and worthines And if no man an be righteous but hee that keepeth the lawe That is to say if the iuste mā shall now liue but by workes and not by Fayth Iudge I beseéche theé gentle Reader redeémed with the bloud of Iesus Christ of what efficacie either Christes bloud shed for theé may be or of what estimation thy fayth towardes Christ must be Truly by this meanes Osorius with his glorious eloquence may aswell plucke downe Christ out of heauen banish Fayth out of the earth snatche Paule out of our handes roote the Gospell out of our hartes and all comfortable consolation from our consciences Finally despoyle the world of the light of the Sunne that we may all together lumper and groape in darkenesse after this blynde guide and Capteine of darkenesse But here are one or two places of Paule obiected agaynst Paule him selfe whereby Osorius may the better mainteine his challenge agaynst Paule with Paules owne weapons What had not Paule sayth he a most sharpe cōflict with the Iewes alwayes touchyng the Ceremonies What hereof thē Doth he not in his Epistle to the Galathians protest in this wise If ye be Circumcised Christ doth nothyng profite you I confesse this to bee true In lyke maner writyng to the Hebrues doth he not say that the lawe doth auayle nothyng to perfection meanyng the Ceremoniall law Conclude at the length therfore Osorius in despight of Logicke though she be neuer so angry Ergo wheresoeuer Paule doth make mētion of abandonyng the law in the treatie of our Saluatiō there we must of necessitie interprete the same to be spokē onely of the Ceremoniall law and in
the Gospel a visitour as he reporteth of him selfe and an Inquisitour of heretiques O pleasaūt parasites O delicate deuises Tully hath a pretie sentēce worthy to be noted in this place which sayth That hee can not but wonder to ése how two Southsayers talkyng together can refrayne frō open laughter when they make mentiō of their blind superstitious opinions Euen so do I much marueile truely how you two worshipfull Prelates cā keépe your countenaunces when you meéte together vsing such fonde dotyng ceremonies touchyng the reiectyng of our bookes When I name you I comprehend you two alone your selfe and your sweéte brother Emanuell of the rest bicause I know no certeintie I conceaue frendly as reason requireth After this superstitious nycetie you begyn to declare the causes that moued you to inueigh against my poore defence And here you note if especiall causes wherof the one you assigne to the holynesse of Religion which beyng defiled by me you must of necessitie purifie agayne As though I accused your Religion and did not rather defend our owne or as though I moued this cōtrouersie first and not rather prouoked by you did vndertake the defence of my coūtrey agaynst your malicious snarling except perhaps ye be of opinion that a Porting all borne may with greater reason cauil agaynst Englād then an English man stād to succour the same But we will see hereafter whereunto this tendeth Your second cause you say proceéded of dutiefull charitie that so you might depraue me for some lacke of modestie in that to your iudgement my writinges doe represent I know not what arrogancie so that I seeme to you in some places to ouer reache so much as standyng still amased in myne owne cōceite I seéme to gape after my frendes cōmendations This is a new kinde of charitie truely with such viperous rācour of wordes to charge your Christiā brother of that horrible crime of arrogancie whom you neuer saw nor knew S. Paule doth detest this charitie pronouncyng that man inexcusable whiche iudgeth an other And therfore redreth a reason Bicause saith he in that he iudgeth an other he cōdemneth him selfe In this therfore Osorius being hym selfe a most vayne arrogant mā bewrayeth his owne beastly canckred stomacke vpbraydyng hawtines to Haddō especially sithēce the demeanour of Haddon by the testimonie I trust of such as doe know him doth as farre differre from all hawtines as the poysoned Pamphlet of Osorius is voyde of all ciuilitie shamefastnesse But what shall I say to this babler who is so captious that he will not admit one good word of my mouth For hee vtterly disdayneth the prayses that I do geue hym as where I denounce him to be artificiall in his wordes and phrases hee thinketh I mocke him or els that I doe so commende his vtteraunce in stile as otherwise I doe discommend him for lacke of iudgement and knowledge You are to to nyce Osorius to prye so narrowly into your own prayses And yet to cōfesse the truth simply you are not to be reprehended for it For thus I iudged at the first and euen the same I iudge of you still that you are plentifully flowyng in very apt wordes but are so drowned in them that you haue very slender or no vnderstandyng at all in science Neither shall I neéde any long search to discouer the same for in your gallant writyng euen at hand is there a very exquisite discourse vpon this worde Priuate the whiche I will so expresse by peéce meale that all the world may discerne how much skill and wit is in Osorius First you repeate my wordes in the whiche I seéme to reprehend your saweynesse that beyng a Priuate man a meére straunger to our common wealth so farre distaunt by land and sea would yet so malapertly write to the Queénes Maiestie And forthwith you moue a deépe questiō and desire to know what I thought this word Priuate might signifie There is no Carter but knoweth it and you if you doubt therof must be sent to women and childrē to schoole Then you demaūd whether it be a word of reproche As though you do at any time doubt hereof wherein you doe erre very childishly For this name Priuate doth alwayes signifie a difference in degreé but is neuer named by way of Reproche But you are not yet contented and require to be taught farther whether all persons that be not Maisters of Requestes ought to be restrained from their Princes presence Whom euer heard you say so And how came this into your braynes vayne Tritler As it seémely for an old mā yea and a bishop to daunce thus in a net And doth Osorius so openly shewe him selfe so vnskilfull in all mēs sight hearyng But at the last you come to the pricke that seémeth most to rubbe you on the gal Ye do vpbraide me say you with this name Priuate as though ye iudged it a word of Reproche This is your owne dreame Osorius very fitte for so rotten a mazer Did I name you to be a Priuate mā And what if I did were you not so in deéde Truly all mē knew this to bee true For when you wrote your letters to the Queénes Maiestie you had not yet purchased the dignitie of a Byshop as you are now yea long time after the receipt of your famous Epistle it was reported that you were a bishop elect But I did obiect this name Priuate as in Reproche ye say how I pray you whē as this name Priuate is in no respect contuinelious nay rather is many tymes applyed as your selfe doe know to most honest and honorable Personages That you may therfore know playnly what my meanyng was therein and withall learne some witte of me By this word Priuate I had respect to your estate onely as whē being a Priuate person scarse peépyng out of your cowle and not yet credited with administration of any publicke functiō it was nothing sitting for your personage to be an entermedler in fore in Princes causes such especially as were already established and most firmely ratified by expresse Edict and agreable cōsent of all Estates meanyng hereby to call you home from your vnaduised rashnes nothing seémely for your degreé This was my purpose This I thought and by this meanes of frendly aduise I supposed you would the better bee reclaymed to some modestie beyng otherwise vndiscreét by nature And yet ye make no end of your triflyng for immediatly you proceéde on this wise As though you would say that I came of some clownes race and fostered in some base Villadge and neuer beheld any kyng in the face and therefore had committed some haynous offence worthy of punishmēt that durst presume to write to Queene Elizabeth whom for the honor due to Princely Maiestie I alwayes name Gracious Are ye not ashamed of so many lyes couched into one sentence As though I tooke any exception to your birth or parentage or that I could be ignoraunt
a M. Cicero playeng the Rhetoriciā in his Tusculane walkes but the very sonne of God him selfe from out the bosome of the Father who beyng sent downe into the earth may teach vs not the hidden secretes of mans Philosophye but make discernable the will of his Father vnto vs not define by reason distinguish by Arte and propose in order the Morall principles of prophane Phisolophye albeit he doth describe the same many tymes as occasion is offred but commeth forth with farre higher mysteries instrustructing vs of the kyngdome of God of eternall life and of true and euerlastyng felicitie neither instructyng vs onely but by his doctrine powryng also the same blessednesse into vs obteyned it by his death confirmed it with his rising agayne doth dispose it by his dayly raignyng ouer vs doth enseale it vnto vs by his Sacraments and promiseth it in his word To conclude doth geue the same felicitie of his owne liberatie without all respect of reward freély to all that beleue vpon his name Now therfore since the tyme is altered the Schoolemaister chaunged the order of doctrine must likewise neédes be chaunged not bycause we reiect those things in meane whiles as vtterly false which the auncient Philosophers did in tymes past deliuer vnto vs teachyng the preceptes of orderly liuyng wherof you debated earst concerning good maners and godly actions But bycause the Euangelicall Philosophye doth call vs higher to farre deéper mysteries the doctrine whereof consisteth in greater and better rudiments Our study therfore must haue regarde to an other marke That is to say We must not onely learne seriously to know how to direct the course of this transitory lyfe but also by what meanes we may attayne euerlastyng lyfe not how much our righteousnesse auayleth in the sight of men but what thyng doth Iustifie vs in the sight of God You beyng addicted altogether to the rules of your old Maister of Ethnicke Philosophy heape together many good and commendable preceptes of perfect righteousnesse wherein you are not so much to be misliked But in that ye doe nothyng els but the selfe same thyng whereof they haue treated much more cunnyngly and plentyfully before your tyme as Cicero in his bookes of Offices Aristotle in his Ethickes Plato in his bookes De Legibus and many other learned men in their bookes likewise herein surely you cā not be excusable nor voyde of blame not bycause you agreé with them in those good preceptes whereof they dispute well but bycause you are so fast tyed to their opinions that ye skippe away from Christ and obstinately resist his Gospell not bycause you Imitate them whom we accompt to be learned the ensuyng of whole studious industry we do not neglect but for that you do so much Imitate the prophane writers as that ye seéme to doe nothyng els then Imitate thē as though with Paganes you would become a professed Pagane for that disputyng so carefully of righteousnesse and good workes ye make stay and rest your selfe wholy there from whence you ought haue stept a degreé further and pursued the better way to higher mysteries and matters of greater importaunce And as though there were no difference betwixt Morall Philosophy and Christian Diuinitie ye so racke all thynges to the practize of vertue and pursuyng the perfect plotte of righteousnesse and with I know not how huge a heape or wordes blaze out vnto vs a certeine absolute portraite of innocencie whereof happely ye can painte some shewe or shadowe in your bookes better then expresse in your conuersation And yet are we not so much displeased with that imaginatiue deuise howsoeuer deuised and engrauen by you For we know and doe confesse together with you Osorius all the whole secte of auncient Philosophers that there is nothyng more beautyfull amongest all the actions of mans lyfe then vertue and nothyng of more estimation then righteousnesse and do withall as hartely and earnestly as you wishe and desire that this integritie of life might be throughly emprinted in all mens maners and conuersation whereof you finde so great a mayme and want in these new Gespellers But will you heare agayne Osorius This integritie of innocent and vndefiled lyfe whiche you require so earnestly yet performe nothyng lesse will we will we is lost long agoe not in you or in me onely but in the whole nature of mankynd generally also and so altogether lost that it can neuer by any meanes be restored with good life but by beleéuyng onely But you will say That this righteousnesse though altogether lost in vs may bee restored through the grace and boūtie of Christ and so many times is restored in the faithfull Ueryly I would graunt vnto you as much as ye speake Osorius if you would either aptly define that Grace whereof ye make mention or rightly distinguish that rigthteousnesse For it is not to be doubted but that the comfortable Grace of Christ doth purchase vnto vs perfect Righteousnesse But this Righteousnesse if ye will know it good Syr consisteth not in that which we doe procure by well doyng but in that which by onely forgeuyng is not Imputed Wherefore all that Righteousnesse and blessednesse whatsoeuer is in vs is grounded rather vpon the remission of sinnes then vpon any vertuous workes Will you heare the summe of all your felicitie described vnto vs and knit vp in few wordes in the mysticall Psalme and mentioned by the recitall of the Apostle Blessed are they sayth he whose sinnes are forgeuen and whose Iniquities are couered blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not Imputed his offences Psal. 31. Furthermore whō that Mysticall melodious Psalmiste doth call blessed the same man onely Bernarde doth denounce to be blessed meanyng thereby the same thyng in deéde which is most true that there is no meane nor ayde from whence mā may hope for eternall felicitie besides this onely and alone Why so Ueryly bycause the whole Nature of mankynde is so ouerwhelmed with sinne that vnlesse the continuall mercy of God dyd preuent vs winkyng at our wickednesse who I praye you could stand in Iudgement not I. No nor yet your selfe Osorius For we haue all sinned and we all haue neede of the glory of God And yet notwithstandyng through his onely mercy pardoning vs our offences are in the case as though they neuer had bene committed wherein if you beyng an old raynebeaten souldiour dare not geue credite to our new Gospell Let it not loathe you yet at the least to heare Bernarde him selfe a witnesse both of our Gospel and of our Iudgement herein who albeit is reported not to haue seéne all things yet did discerne this perfectly enough For thus he speaketh Whatsoeuer he hath decreéd not to Impute is as though it neuer were hereunto addeth an other saying which I would wish you to note aduisedly Not to sinne is the Righteousnesse of God but the righteousnesse of man is the
feareth that if God behold his workes he shall finde more offences then merites and if he shall deale with vs accordyng to our desertes he shall finde nothyng in vs but damnable Ierome doth so call vs backe froÌ„ all confidence in our deédes that he boldly pronounceth that if we coÌ„sider them in their own nature we should vtterly dispayre What and may it not be lawfull for Luther to vtter his mynde with Christ with the godly Prophetes with the holy Apostles with the learned auncient Fathers Are they commeÌ„ded in the old Gospell for that they spake well and shall Luther Melancthon Bucer and Caluinâ— be reproched in scoffyng wise with a new fouÌ„de name of new Gospellers bycause they thinke and speake the selfe same thyng that they did If Luther were such a kynde of felow as would take part with Epicure and would practize to let louse the reynes to voluptuousnes turning mens myndes vpsidowne and carry them away quyte from vertuous endeuour from loue of godlynesse from their duetie and honest trade of godly lyfe to lust and licentiousnesse and would place all mans felicitie in this corruptible body and the vayne ticklyng delightes therof it were not altogether from the purpose that ye speake Osorius nor you should be much blamed for makyng him companion with Epicure neither would I refrayne my penne so Christ helpe me but would inueigh agaynst him with all my power as sharpely as your selfe But peruse now all Luthers bookes searche sift consider and ponder all Luthers writynges all his exhortations his doctrine his Lessons his Sermons and all his imaginations yea prye narrowly into his lyfe and conuersation if you can shewe out of all these I will not say one place or example but one worde or sillable so much which doth sounde agaynst the loue and practize of vertue which may seéme to rende the sinowes of righteousnesse and holynesse or breéde dislikyng to the embracyng therof or which doe bruyse the fruites of good workes weaken serious trauaile breake of honest industry or hinder godly enterprises from doyng well or by any maner of meanes doe extenuate the feare due to the lawes of God and man Finally where he may seéme to thinke lesse then may bee seéne a perfect Deuine or behaue him selfe more dissolutely in his maners theÌ„ he resembleth in honest iudgement Nay rather if he do not employ all the care possible to rayse vp all men in euery place to the dewe feare of Gods law to true obedience and to all honest conuersation and earnestly emprinte into the sight and myndes of all men the renowne dignitie and worthynesse of vertue picâ—e and godlynes you shall haue the Conquest But euen the same thyng say you Epicurus did I confesse that to be true Osorius which ye reporte of Epicurus and which you haue very finely pyked out of your M. Cicero Who doth deny in his thyrd booke of Tusculane questions That Epicurus was Authour of any voluptuous sentences and with all sayth that he vttered many and soudry notable sayinges seémely enough for a true Philosopher But what doe ye conclude hereof Epicurus doth commende vertue in some place Luther doth also the lyke Ergo Luther is an Epicurean Why doe ye not also conclude agaynst S. Paule that hee is an Epicurean bycause he doth also the selfe same thyng O rare and singular sharpe witted Chrisippus whiche if had not altogether beéne nooseled in his old Gospell could neuer haue knitte such knots together of meére particular propositioÌ„s neither would this woÌ„derfull Logician haue euer coupled Luther with Epicurus But bycause Osorius hath borowed this Argument out of Cicero we will open his iugglyng boxe in fewe wordes and first of all shew what Cicero speaketh next how west this CiceroniaÌ„ doth agreé with Cicero And first as concernyng Cicero Whenas he maketh meÌ„tion of Epicurus senteÌ„ces he doth not reprehend the quicknesse and nymblenes of his witte but rather prayseth him therfore onely he noteth the scope and end of his doctrine Neither doth he condeÌ„ne those senteÌ„ces which Epicurus spake well but bycause he did so define chief Felicitie as though it coÌ„sisted onely in voluptuousnes herein he founde fault with him and not without cause For Epicurus amongest other his sayinges wrate in this maner That mans lyfe could not be pleasaunt if it were not ioyned with vertue he denyed that fortune was of any such force as to apall the courage of a wise man That the meane lyfe of the poore was better then the riche He denyed also that there was any wise man but the same was also happy Truely all those sayings are worthely spoken by him as Tully him selfe reporteth Now let vs see what Argument our Ciceroes Ape will shape out of all this And Luther sayth hee doth offer the same order perhappes exhorte his Auditory in his writyngs and Sermons to the same dueties of lyfe c. If Luther doe so Osorius he doth very well What then will you finde fault with this No but as Epicurus disputyng sometymes gloriously of vertue did notwithstandyng with his preceptes vtterly wipe away vertue euen with lyke craftie conueyaunce Luther doth subuerte and ouerthrowe all dueties of vertue and godlynesse Speake out Parrotte in what place doth Luther subuerte the dueties of vertue Where doth hee blotte out honesty and godly carefulnesse of good men May this be tollerable in you with slauÌ„ders and lyes to deface the good name of a man that neuer deserued it who is also dead to condemne his writynges after you haue geuen him a most cruell wounde to be so voyde of all reason as to be vnable to alledge one Title one place one sillable so much of iust accusation wherfore ye should so do Nor make your slaunderous reproches to carry any shew of truth let vs throughly peruse the begynnynges of Luthers doctrine the proceédyng and dayly increasinges therof let vs sift out the ende and the whole course and purporte of his proceédyng what doth he forth with plucke vp the rootes of vertue which abateth the Affiaunce of mans workes and ascribeth all our saluation to the onely bountie and mercy of God Which doth likewise affirme that the workes of the Saintes in this world if they be examined to the vttermost pricke are not able to counteruaile Gods wrath nor satisfie his iudgement but preacheth that of all partes they neéde mercy directyng vs in the meane whiles to the true marke of assured Confidence is this man to be coupled with Epicurus as though hee should be Authour of the ouerthrow of all honesty or rather shal he be adiudged a good Phisition of the Soule as one that doth minister wholesome medicine agaynst poysoned errours But you will inueigh to the contrary That if that maner of doctrine be admitted wherof Luther is Authour then will all studious care of pietie decay and hauocke will bee made of all godly endeuour and licentious liberty will be
much as in vs lyeth all his cauillations Sophisticall subtelties For thus would I wish theé to be persuaded frendly Reader that besides naturall scoldyng and meére cauteles of wordes voyde of all substaunce of truth there is els nothyng of all whatsoeuer he doth brabble in all this discourse yea that also stroakyng him selfe rather with vayne conceipt of his own opinion then of any grounded knowledge or Iudgement at all And first as touchyng Freewill In steéde of a proofe testimonie of Luthers owne workes and yet the same also neither doth he alledge whole as they be nor fully nor doth hee couple the first with the last nor directeth to any certeine place of the Authour But goe to What maner of haynous crime is this a Gods name wherewith this Portingall Inquisitour doth charge Luther so greéuously cruelly Forsooth it is this That he did dare mutter against Freewill Saying that it was a thing in tittle onely and whiles it followeth his owne nature it doth nothyng but sinne deadly And where is this written In the volumes of Luther I suppose or els in Sybilles leaues Seéke there Reader or els where if thou wilt For as our Reuerēd Maister Inquisitour assigneth no place to the Reader so I thinke he neuer did read in Luther the thyng whereat he cauilleth nor thinketh that it concerneth his credite at all to vtter whatsoeuer him listeth in what sense with what phrase of speache by what authoritie or with what testimonies it bee bolstered so that somewhat bee suggested whereat hee may frame some quarell But proceéde on and what followeth Then afterwardes the same Luther correctyng him selfe what sayth he farther I haue erred sayd hee I spake vntruely that Freewill is a thyng in name onely before the tyme of grace but I should haue sayd simply That Freewill is a fayned deuise or a tittle without all substaunce Luther in his Assertions written to Leo the tenth the 36. Article Well and what is it at last that this Maister Inquisitour will frame vnto vs out of this Ergo Luther is an heretique who dispoyleth man of all his Freewill and traueileth chiefly to this end to affirme that mans mynde is alwayes holden captiue his will fast bound all power of workyng taken away in so much that we can do neither good nor euill nor cā thinke a thought so much by any meanes And this doth not Luther teach onely but Melancthon also aboundauntly yea much more plentyfully Caluine doth debate the same I not heare you Osorius do aunswere not I for Luther but Luther shall aunswere fully for him selfe And first touchyng that whiche we terme mans choyse whether ye conster it to be reason or will surely Luther did neuer deny The same dare I boldly affirme in the behalfe of Melancthon and Caluine also Certes these men were neuer so reasonably madde as to despoyle man whom they define to be endued with reason of reason and of will For by no reason cā the operation of will be sequested from that part where the vse of reason resteth Howsoeuer nature was corrupted through the first originall of Sinne yet remaineth neuerthelesse that thyng after a certeine sort within vs still which we receaued of the treé of knowledge of good and euill but thus must be noted chiefly in what wise it remayneth not that it can auayle any way to saluation but that it hurteth rather thereunto And therfore as concernyng those naturall properties of will Luther was neuer so foolishe nor any of all the Lutheranes as to exclude that will from nature by any meanes which nature it selfe had engraffed into men Let this therfore remayne vnshaken in this cōtrouersie as touchyng the substaūce of Freewill that the essenciall substaūce therof vnited together with sensible reason doth alwayes cleaue inseparably to nature which neither Luther deny nor any of all the Lutheranes did euer deny What is it then will you say that Luther did deny in Freewill I will tell you so that your vnderstandyng be able to conceaue it It is out of all controuersie that Adam in his first creation was endued with wonderfull and absolute freédome of will to the vpholdyng of which freédome of will the grace of God was not wantyng at that tyme without the which he could not stand fast in that good will wherein he was created though he would now to haue a will to stand fast was not geuen him but was left in the power of his Freewill and so left that if hee would haue stoode fast hee had neuer bene euill if he would not bene euill And yet neither could he bee good through the force of his owne Freewill without Gods speciall grace But what did he Beyng thus left in the power of his owne Freewill when he neither would stand fast nor could fall without sinne By Sinnyng abusing his owne freédome he brought to passe that he both lost and cast away him selfe and his freédome withall and yet not in such wise as that there remained in him neither sense nor feélyng nor vse of will but he so lost it that whereas he was before immortall and freé now hath he both lost his freédome and also his immortalitie and righteousnesse withall Whereby it came to passe that the wretched man by losing that pure freédome of good will which he receaued in his first creation purchased to him selfe and all his posteritie most miserable and lamentable bondage Now therfore beyng clogged and fastened to this state of bondage as it were cloyed in claye albeit after a certeine sorte we reteine still that power of vnderstandyng and appetite whereby the mynde of her freé motiō is able to discerne betwixt sensible obiectes yet can we neuer of our selues aspire agayne to that vprightenesse and immortalitie which we haue lost for beyng now fast yoaked and sold vnder this yoake of seruitude we doe serue such a seruile thraldome in this fleshe that we can turne our selues to no one side through any force of freédome but we shall alwayes be the bondslaues of sinne death vnlesse the grace of Christ do helpe vs and set vs at libertie Whereby you may easily perceaue Osorius what is the state and condition of Freewill to witte that in one sense it may be taken not altogether freé and agayne in an other sense not otherwise but freé For if ye call backe the nature of mankynd to her first creation and then will demaunde generally whether there be no freé will in nature I doe aunswere That nature it selfe was created vpright at the first that God the good Creatour endued it with Freewill but that man him selfe became enemy to that freédome destroyed the same in nature vtterly But if you will proceéde make a further question demaūde what kynde of will after sinne entred once was in man towardes naturall euill thyngs and towardes deceitfull good thynges I do aunswere that mās will which they call
Freewill is altogether prone and enclined to wicked and euill thynges And here you haue the bare title of Freewill But if you demaunde how maÌ„s will is affectioned to good and godly thynges Luther doth affirme that it is neither freé nor effectuall of it selfe or inclinable thereunto will boldly confesse that it is bond seruile altogether captiuate vnlesse it be hoipen Not bycause maÌ„s will is vnable to will or to atteÌ„pt any thyng of it selfe but bycause of her owne power it is not able to will well or do to well in those thyngs that apperteine vnto God Where agayne you may seé the name of Freewill but voyde of vse or substaunce But as concernyng the proper qualitie or operatioÌ„ of freédome albeit it reteine the name of Freewill in the Church in respect of the title bycause it seémeth alwayes freé either to righteousnes or free from sinne yet ought it alwayes to be holden in such sorte freé as not beyng alwayes good yea rather neuer good in deéde vnlesse it be gouerned by the goodnesse of the almightie God Which thyng Augustine doth notably expresse saying Freewill sayth he is nothing worth vnlesse God doe gouerne the same And immediately after To this effect is thy will whiche is called free apt and sufficient that by doing ill it becommeth a damnable bondmayde c. Harken Osorius If it be a bondmayde now is it not freé theÌ„ If by doing ill it bee damnable for that as Augustine reporteth of it selfe it can do nothyng but euill Wherefore is Luther condemned for saying that Freewill doth sinne deadly when it worketh what it caÌ„ of it selfe c. or what can your selfe Osorius discerne other then a title voyde of substaunce in that Freewill wherein you caÌ„ finde nothing effectuall to the purpose that is to say to the worke of Saluation For as much therefore as it so what request is it that this accuser maketh who contendeth so friuolously agaynst Luther for the Mooneshyne in the water and for a title onely whether is it bycause hee taketh away will from men or freédome from will As touchyng the substaunce of the matter there is no quarell agaynst Luther The whole controuersie ariseth then about the forme and qualitie of will Well then Luther doth not deny the will of man as I do vnderstaÌ„d but the freédome of will onely Be it so Osorius yet this may not suffice in the accuser that he which is quilty shall make a simple denyall onely But it behaueth to consider diligently in what sense with what wordes deny all is made what libertie hee meaneth in what maner of persons and in what thyngs that libertie may be knowen to be For neither doth Luther so vtterly abandone from nature of maÌ„ all freédome as though there were no freédome at all or as though it were so fait chayned with yron roapes that it could moue it selfe to no vse Albeit I say he do deny that will is freé and confesse it to be a thyng of name and title onely yet doth he not affirme this so to bee simply a title as though man had no will at all or as though it were neuer or neuer was and neuer should be freé And therefore in the same Article he doth very learnedly annexe these wordes of restrainte Post peccatum After sinne whiche wordes of Luther our Osorius doth very craftely dissemble and skippe ouer Besides this also is added thereunto an exception of tyme to witte Ante iustitiam gratiam .i. Before righteousnesse and grace By whiche playne wordes you might as you are otherwise sharpewitted enough haue easely discerned that Freewill is not so simply nor altogether taken away neither from all men nor out of all order of nature seyng as the state of Adam before sinne was most perfect in that integritie of Freewill also seyng as after grace receaued Freewill is mighty in those persoÌ„s which are made freé through Christ. As for the rest who as yet stickyng fast cloyed in that old puddle of Sinne are not yet come to bee regenerated by grace in these persons if question be moued what Freewill is in them and of what efficacie in her owne nature Luther doth auÌ„swere truely that it is a thyng of title onely and that it sinneth deadly when it worketh what it can of it selfe though she endeuour the best that she can meanyng hereby that albeit Freewill continue to bee called Freewill after her first deâ—â—â—mination and state yet that she hath vtterly lost the very substaunciall operation thereof and so lost the same that whatsoeuer enterprise it attempt yet can it not auayle one iote so much to the very substaunce of the matter vntill the first nature beyng renewed by fayth be fashioned a new into a new creature Well then and what haynous matter at the length conteineth this senteÌ„ce that may prouoke you to barke so cruelly or what haue you espied in this Freewill that may auayle you or any other person to God-ward If there be any thyng declare it I pray you If there bee nothyng wherein then hath Luther offended who perceauyng as truth is that Freewill is altogether vneffectuall to profite vs doth therfore make small accompt therof But your Catholicke stomacke is somewhat queysie perhappes at the sounde of that Hyperbole of Luther not vsually frequented in your Schooles whereby he doth so embase Free-will to be nothing els but a title and a forged fantasie amongest naturall causes As touchyng Luthers frequentyng of Hyperbolicall speaches Admit I would somewhat yeld vnto you yet sithence the Scripture it selfe doth not altogether vnacquaynte it selfe with such kynde of figures reseruyng alwayes the truth of things what waywardnesse is this of those men not to vouchsafe in Luther to expresse certeine wordes with some sharpe vehemencie of speach whenas they them selues meanewhiles either for very blockyshnesse doe not marke or for very malice do not reforme not onely the most friuolous barrennes of words but also the most outragious excesse of speaches wherewith their whole doctrine swarmeth euery where And what maruell is it then if Luther inueighyng agaynst those so monstruous outrages of doctrine waxe somewhat whotte sometymes after a certeine more vehement maner of speakyng But if any man adiudge him worthy to be reprehended in that respect I would fayne haue the same man required if hee will not vouchsafe to Impute that his heate to the vehemeÌ„cie of Gods Spirite which after the purpose of his good pleasure directeth his Instrumentes as him lysteth that hee will yet at the least bethinke him selfe of how great Importaunce the cause was wherein Luther trauayled at that tyme weighe aduisedly the manifold darkenesse and errours of that season and withall enter into a deépe consideration of the vnmeasurable iniuries of his aduersaries Luther did then mainteyne the most iust quarell of Gods grace mercy agaynst the innumerable droues of drousie Monckes who hauyng
nature not so much by allurement of will as by very constrainte of necessitie I come now to the vse and handlyng of Ciuill trades and forreine disciplines and to other dutiefull actions and considerations of the same kynde which are dayly frequented in mans lyfe In the whiche albeit Luther will confesse many thynges to be conteined that are subiect vnto Freewill yet will he not otherwise graunt thereunto but that euen in the selfe same the vnderstandyng mynde is many tymes deceaued will defrauded and freédome altogether ouerthrowen And yet doe we not for that cause vtterly extinguishe will or freédome nor wrappe vp and entangle the mynde nor spoyle reason of coūsell nor dispossesse mā frō his aunciēt inheritaunce of choyse or will howsoeuer the cruell outrage of Sinne hath weakened and wasted the sinewes and strength of nature beyng well created at the first yet remayneth neuerthelesse that naturall power of the soule not onely in those that are renewed in spirite but in them also that are not regenerate in respect of those actions especially wherof I made mention before But if the question be remoued to those actions which do not belong to the naturall and common conuersation of life but apperteine to the spirituall worshyppyng of God and concerne the kyngdome of Christ who can not here easily discerne that Freewill before it receaueth Grace though it be garnished with neuer so gorgeous a tittle hath besides a glorious tittle onely nothyng els whereby it may defende it selfe from seruile bondage or rayse it selfe vp to attaine the true freéedome of Saluation I doe not speake here of that freédome Osorius which is properly opposite to constrainte and compulsary violēce wherof we vaunte all in vayne nor of that naturall power of the reasonable soule whiche we seéke not to shake of ne yet of mans will beyng regenerated which we do not disable finally nor yet of those actions wherewith this sensible lyfe is beautified but I speake of those affections which are ascribed to the spirituall lyfe of the person that is regenerate in Christ. Whereupon accordyng to those fiue distinctions afore mentioned as many seuerall kyndes of questions do arise which for auoydyng confusion must be seuerally distinguished First if a question be moued of the freédome of nature being pure and sounde as was before the fall of Adam who doth not know that the state of that will was most pure and freé And it is not to bee doubted that mans Freewill was absolutely perfect in his first creation But that man by sinne lost the same freedome altogether August Secundarely if the question bee remoued ouer to the substaunce and to that part of man wherewith the mynde is endued with vnderstandyng and appetite as if this be the questiō whether mans will which is called freé were after the fall of Adam vtterly extinct and of no substaunce we do aunswere here with Ambrose that the Iudgemēt of will was corrupted in deede but not vtterly taken away And agayne The deuill did not spoyle man of his will vtterly but bereft him of the soundenesse and integritie of will For although mans will and the vnderstandyng parte of his soule was miserably corrupted through originall Sinne yet was it not so altogether abolished but that there remayneth some freédome to doe freé I call it in respect of those thynges which are either naturally carryed to motion without Iudgement as brute beastes or whiche are forced by coaction agaynst nature as stones By this therefore that is spoken it appeareth that will wherewith we are naturally endued in respect of the essentiall and naturall disposition thereof doth alwayes remayne in mans nature how corrupt soeuer it be yea and remayneth in such wise as hauyng alwayes a freé and voluntary operation in naturall causes without all forreine coaction vnlesse it be hindered and a naturall sensibilitie also and capacitie as Iustine tearmeth it in heauenly thynges if it be holpē And this is it that Augustines wordes seéme to emporte to my Iudgement where speakyng in the defence of Freewill vseth these wordes Beleeue sayth hee the holy Scriptures and that will is will and the grace of God without helpe whereof man can neither turne vnto God nor profite in God Agayne in his secōd Epistle to Valentin The Catholicke faith doth neither deny Freewill applyable to good life or badd life nor doth esteeme therof so highly as though it were of any value without the grace of God either to turne frō euill to good or to perseuer stedfast in good or to attaine to euerlasting goodnes whereas it feareth not now left it may fainte and decay c. And agayne in an other place I confesse sayth hee that will is alwayes free in vs but it is not alwayes good But the maner how it is sayd to bee alwayes freé must be learned of the same Augustine It is either free from righteousnesse sayth he when it is the bondslaue of sinne and than is it euill or it is free from Sinne when it is handmayd to righteousnesse and then is it good c. It appeareth therefore by this twofold freédome of Augustine that mans will is alwayes freé both in good thynges and in euill thynges But we ought to conceaue of this freédome in this wise not that she hath power of her owne strength to make choyse of good or euill namely in spirituall matters as our aduersaries doe dreame But accordyng to Augustines interpretation whē will is naught it is of her owne disposition naught when it is good then is it guided by grace not vnwillyngly but voluntaryly without compulsion yet freé notwithstandyng alwayes whether it be good or bad bycause it is alwayes voluntary neuer constrained And this much touchyng the propertie naturall disposition of mās will which who so will deny seemeth in my conceite to do euen all one as if he should deny that man is a reasonable creature for I seé no cause why reason may be more sequestred from man then will ought to be seuered from reason Which two thynges are so vnited together with a certeine naturall affinitie are so mutually linked together with an inseparable knot in the reasonable soule that Reason cā neither performe any exployte without will nor will enterprise any thyng aduisedly without the guidyng of Reason Therefore as Iudgement belongeth properly to Reason so to will and to worke apperteineth properly to will whether it be to good or to euil The one wherof respecteth the substaūce of will the other is peculiar to the disposition therof But as this liuely Reason being enclosed within her certeine limittes boūdes hath her proper peculiar obiectes so that she is vnable to rayse it selfe beyond the cōpasse of naturall vitall causes vnles it be enlightened euē so will beyng straighted wtin the same limittes boūdes of naturall causes hath no power at all in it selfe either to attēpt or to
Sinne do reteyne still that force and strength of freédome in those spirituall thyngs before rehearsed as that it be effectuall of it selfe before Grace or beyng holpen by Grace could preuayle so farreforth inspirituall thynges as that through grace and the naturall force of Freewill workyng together it might become sufficient cause of it selfe to enterprise spirituall motions and with all to put them also in practize For all those thynges must be duely considered Osorius If we will shew our selues vpright and hādsome disputers of Freewill in debatyng of which question if ye will permit our Cōfession to be coupled with the authoritie of the most sacred Scripture we must of necessitie hold this rule fast whiche teacheth that albeit mans nature is fallen from the integritie of that excellent and absolute freédome yet it is not ouerthrowen into that miserable state of seruilitie whiche is proper to brute beastes neither that it is so altogether dispoyled of all the power of the first creation as hauyng no sparkes at all of her aūcient dignitie remaynyng For the nymblenesse of the mynde deuiseth many thynges with vnderstādyng digesteth with Reason comprehēdeth with memory debateth with aduise gathereth in order with wisedome inuenteth Artes learneth Sciences Recordeth thinges past obserueth thynges present and prouideth for thynges to come Semblably will doth chuse and refuse the thynges that seéme either agreable to reason or profitable to the senses So that by those qualities appeareth sufficiently I suppose the difference that is betwixt vs and brute beastes and vnsensible creatures Which actions beyng naturally engraffed within vs yea without grace albeit proceéde from the voluntary motion of the vnderstandyng mynde yet bycause they extende no further then to this present lyfe and perishe together with this mortall body serue but to small purpose yea euen then chiefly when we make our best accompt of them Moreouer although they bee after a sort freé of their owne nature yet stand they not alwayes in such an vnchaūgeable integritie but that reason is many tymes deluded by great errours will ouercharged with waywardnesse the power of the mynde suffereth many defectes Almightie God many tymes by secrete operation communicatyng his handy-worke to gether with these actiōs doth apply the willes of men hether and thether whereunto it pleaseth him confoūdeth their deuises aduaunceth their endeuours not after the freé Imagination of men but according to his own freé decreé and purpose And this much hetherto concernyng those obiectes and externall operatiōs onely which concerne the common preseruation of this present lyfe and which perish together with the same But yet truely as concernyng either the enterprising or accomplishyng of those spirituall motions and operations for as much as they do farre exceéde the capacitie of mans nature the Scripture doth vtterly deny that man beyng not as yet regenerated is naturally endued with any force or abilitie of will sithence the first creatiō but that all those giftes are vtterly lost through the greatnesse of Sinne and that by this meanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imbecillitie and weakenesse of nature is by propagation discended vpon all men and nature it selfe corrupted with miserable faultinesse yea and not with faultynesse onely that doth exclude vs from those euerlastyng good thynges but besides this also that through this corruption of nature hath succeéded in steéde of that auncient integritie a certeine rebellious contumacie and filthy infection of Diabolicall seéde which doth depriue vs of all heauēly knowledge and carry vs headlong into all maner of abhomination whereupon the doctrine of Luther is not vnfitly confirmed wherew t they do conclude with Augustine most truly as agaynst the Romish Doctours that Freewill is not onely weakened in vs but vtterly extinct also and so thoroughly defaced that if we bee any tyme enlightened with any sparcle of Regeneration the same ought wholy be ascribed to the grace of God and not to Freewill nor to any strēgth of ours and to speake the wordes of Augustine neither wholy ne yet of any part For vpon this point chiefly dependeth the whole variaunce betwixt vs and the Papistes touchyng Freewill These thyngs therfore beyng in thus sort discouered which ought in deéde haue bene distinguished at the first for the better demonstration of the manifold diuersitie of questiōs I will now returne agayne to Luthers position who doth professe that Freewill is a thyng of Title onely and a Name or Title without substaunce Wherein if Osorius shall Iudge any worde to be misspoken and blameworthy in him hee must then first aunswere me to this question For as much as Freewill is not all alike in the persons that are regenerate and in them that are not regenerate and for as much as libertie also is to be construed in humane actions after one sort but taken after a contrary cōstruction in spirituall exercizes hee must I say tell me which sorte of Freewill or what maner of actions he doth treate of If he meane that Freewill which is now gouerned by the Spirite of God Surely Luthers position maketh therof no mention at all Or if he meane those naturall obiectes whiche proceéde of common nature or whiche are vsually frequented in the dayly practize of common conuersation after the conduct of Morall reason either in doyng right or executyng wrong So doth not Luthers position tende to these actions in any respect But if the question bee after this maner Of how much force and efficacie the bare choyse of man may be of her owne naturall abilitie either in enterprising or performyng those thynges which doe obteine Gods grace for vs or make an entrey for vs into heauen then will Luther aunswere most truly That there is scarse any substaunce at all in Freewill auayleable to the purchassing of the kyngdome of heauen except a glorious visour of Title onely no more substaunce veryly then is in a dead man who besides the onely shape and denomination of a man hath nothyng in him whereby hee may receaue breath and recouer life to the dead carcasse For of what force is mans Freewill els towardes the thynges that apperteine vnto God before it haue receaued grace then as a dead man without lyfe And for this cause the Scripture in many places expressing our natures in their most liuely and natiue colours calleth vs darkenesse blinde to see deafe to heare vncircumcized of hart wicked in the deuises and imaginatiōs of our conceites stonie harted cast awayes enemies in respect of our fleshly thoughtes Rebelles against the Spirite vnprofitable Seruauntes bondslaues sold vnder Sinne dead vnto iniquitie vnexcusable subiect to wrath S. Paule describyng the callyng of Gods Elect in the first Chap. of his first Epistle to the Corinthes And those thinges whiche were not sayth hee God hath called c. If Paule doe affirme that the thynges which are were not so at the first and that truely How can Osorius Iustifie that will was any thyng worthe in
whiche it is Of this Necessary Aristotle hath seâ— downe two principall begynnynges the one internall the other externall Then also distinction is made of this Necessitie which is moued force of the internall cause and inward proprietie of Nature So that some thynges may be called simply and absolutely necessary as God and those thynges whiche beyng chaunged do emply contradiction as if a man would say that foure were not an euen nomber that foure and threé were not seuen in nomber And this is called Geometricall Necessitie which will not admitte any chaunge by course of nature There is an other Necessitie called Naturall Necessitie Which albeit bee of her selfe the begynnyng of her owne motion yet it consisteth not in so simple and absolute an estate but followeth onely the vsuall course of her owne nature And after this manerâ— fier is sayd to bourne of Necessitie The Sunne is continually carried about in his course of Necessitie whiche can not chuse but doe as they doe accordyng to the proprietie of their naturall disposition yet doe they not follow their naturall inclination so absolutely and vnauoydeably but that God may hinder and alter their dispositioÌ„ or make them cease from their naturall operation Such a kynde of Necessitie to Sinne we say that man is clogged withall sith the fall of Adam if the holy Ghost and Grace be absent For of them selues they can not but sinne albeit there is no let in their nature but that they may bee holpen or chaunged and otherwise altered as we seé come to passe in those that are regenerate in Christ. That Necessitie therefore whereby wicked men are sayd to bee lead to sinne is not so absolute and vnaduoydable that they can not chuse but sinne for assoone as the holy Ghost and the Grace of Christ commeth this Necessitie is vtterly cut of And thus much of that internall Necessitie But the Necessitie that spryngeth from externall causes is also deuided two maner of wayes Whereof the one is violent and is called Compulsary Necessitie As when a thyng is forced to moue or to styrre agaynst her own nature And this Necessitie can by no meanes fall into mans will for it is impossible that will shall will any thyng vnwillyngly The other is stable and infallible or of the Hypothesis or by reason of the Consequence which Logicians do take to be in Sensu composito not in Senfu ` Diuiso Now this Necessitie called of the ConsequeÌ„ce is on this wise As when a thyng may be true by occasioÌ„ of the Necessary couplyng together of one proposicion with an other though the thyng that is concluded for true bee not Necessary of it selfe And in this respect we do affirme that all our actions are done of Necessitie not by the force of the inwarde cause or els their owne nature that is to say if they be considered apart referred to their next cause to witte vnto will Euen so will beyng considered apart in her owne nature from the externe begynnyng to witte Gods prouidence and foreknowledge it is sayd to be freé in his certeine kynde so that it is endued with a certeine facilitie to encline it selfe to whether part it will although it bee not able of her selfe to moue and encline at all but vnto that part which God did foreknow Whereby you perceaue Osor. in what sense this Necessitie which we do affirme is not alwayes absolutely tyed to our actions as farreforth as they doe proceéde from our owne will but through the couplyng conioynyng of Gods Predestination with our workes Which thing to be euen so the Deuines did seéme to signifie ` Per Sensum Compositum and Necessitatem Consequentiae ¶ A Description of Freewill and the thynges apperteinyng thereunto after the rules of Diuinitie taken out of August P. Lombard anâ— others Fiue thyngs chiefly to bee coÌ„sidered in Free-will 1. What Free-will is Will. Is a thyng properly perteinyug to reason whereby man doth liscerne good froÌ„ euill what is to be desired or what to be eschewed Free Freedome is a thyng properly perteinyng to will whereby of voluntary appetite without foreine coaction it may either will good or euill but to will good coÌ„meth of Grace which maketh to will and to doe ¶ The desâ—â—â—ption of Freewill talen out of Argâ—na 〈◊〉 lâ—b 2. Dist. 24. Freewill is an â—â—â—initie of reaâ—on and will whereby good is chosen through the assistauÌ„ce of Grace or euill if Grace bâ— absent or thus Freewill is a facuine of the Soule which can will good or euill discernyng them both 2. In what thyngs Freewill doth consiste In God first and chiefly Whose wiâ—l is of it selfe simply and absolutely most 〈◊〉 froÌ„ all boÌ„dage of 〈◊〉 and all infeccion of sinne for God can â—ot of his own nature sinne not bycause any force restrayneth him but bycause of his own nature he caÌ„ not so will so that God is both holy of necessitie and yet this necessitie 〈…〉 Freewill from God in whoÌ„ all â—ccessitie ioyned with all freedome is reliaunt In blessed Angels Whose state and condition is this that their will is made stedfast and vnchaungeable in all goodnes not of them selues but through Grace In mans nature and that foure maners of wayes according to the fourefold diuision of mans state 3. In what respect it is called mans Freewill Not in respect of things present nor thyngs past bycause present thyngs and thyngs past be of this qualitie that beyng done they caÌ„ not be vndone nor thynges paâ— can be reuoked But is called Freewill in respect of thyngs to come And these be the thynges that our Lombardines do affirme are in 〈◊〉 power but vntruely for maÌ„s habilitie to confesse truth is directed by gods euerlasting decree neither is it in maÌ„s habilitie to order chauÌ„ceable thynges at his pleasure 1. In the state of innocencie Whose freedome was once such which could both sinne not sinne And in this sense the auncient writers must be vnderstanded as often as they speake of mans Freewill that is to say of the Freedome of mans nature 2. In the state of blessednesse or of his heauenly couÌ„trey as scholemen terme it where man shal be endued with a freedome that can not Sinne by any meanes 3. In the state of life after sinne before regeneration by Grace In which state man hath no Freewill to do any thyng but to Sinne deadly as Lombard sayth and of this state meaneth Luther writyng of bonde will 4. In the state of life after sinne after regeneration by Grace In whiche state man hath freedome not to Sinne except veniall Sinâ—e as sayth Lombard But although Augustine and Luther doe yeld an habilitie not to Sinne after a certeine sorte Yet in respect of actuall Sinne they doe not except man either from veniall or deadly Sinne. Bycause was neuer any man yet found Christ onely excepte endued with such 〈◊〉 of Grace that had not in all his lyâ—e Synned yea and that
deadly 4. Of what thynges Free-will taketh his denomination 1. From necessitie or coaction whiche is called the Freedome of nature This Freedome the scholemen do attribute to meÌ„ in all states But this necessitie must bee distinguished proportioned by his principall causes whereof Some be called internall As be the thynges whiche are moued of their own nature and of inwarde operation And those Are either simply and absolutely necessary as God and his holynesse and as those thynges which bâ—yng chauÌ„ged emply contradiction whereof the one partie mâ—st needes bee true the other needes false as foure is not an equall noÌ„ber foure three are not senâ— in noÌ„ber and this is called Geometricall Necessitie which alteration nature doâ—h not admitte and this Necessitie perteyneth nothyng to Luthers Disputation of Freewill Or be noâ— simply and absolutely necessary but after the common course of nature as â—â—er doth burne of Necessitie The Sinne is alwayes moued and other such lyke beyng naturall thynges whiche yet are not of such Necessitie but may bee â—indered by God and so cease from operation Some haue externall begynnynges and of these there is two maner of Necessities Either violent Whiche is called the Necessitie of externall coaction as whâ—â— thynges are constreyned to moue or to do contrary to their nature as stones and heauie thyngs as the schole men call Necessitie in respect of the consequence not of the consequence or it Sensu Diuiso and not in Sensu Composito and froÌ„ this Necessitie the freedome of mans will is vtterly exeÌ„pted Or stable and infallible by reason of the consequence not of the consequent or in Sensu Composito not in Sensu Diuiso This Necessitie of the consequence not of the consequent is to be vnderstanded when a thyng may bee true in respect of the necessary affâ—â—tie of proposition from proposition although the thyng concluded be not necessary of it selfe or true in Sensu Composito which otherwise is false in Sensu Diuiso or false in Sensu Composito which otherwise is true in Sensu Diuiso as if a man say that white may bee blacke by distinction of contrary tymes it may bee true but ioynyng the tymes and in Sensu Composito it can not be true 2. From sinne or from bondage of sinne whiche is called freedome of Grace And this freedome is attributed to them onely which are made free by Grace Wherein if they meane of the imputation of Sinne it is true but if they meane of actuall Sinne it is false 3. From miserie which is called the freedome of Glory and this freedome had free will in the state of innoceÌ„cie once and shall haue the same much more perfect hereafter in the state of glory 5. How much Freewill is empayred in man through sinne It is wouÌ„ded in her naturall qualities to witte in Reason in vnderstaÌ„dyng in memory witte c. Dispoyled altogether in thynges as bee heauenly and apperteynyng to God And this much well agreeth with the doctrine of Luther Lombard Lib. 2. Dist. 25. Sithence we haue now layd this foundation for our better furniture to be able to make aunswere We will now addresse our selues to our aduersaries Argumentes Wherein although he obserue no course nor forme of coÌ„mon DisputatioÌ„ let vs yet helpe his lame Logicke as well as we may And first of all touchyng the ouerthrow of Lawes wherewith bycause it lyketh Maister Osorius to vrge this point chiefly before the rest let vs geue our attentiue eares to his wordes and marke well how cunnyngly he argueth But I say sayth he that by this doctrine of Luther whereby he doth teach that things are directed to their end by Necessitie that Lawes are subuerted Decrees put to silence and right and wrong confouÌ„ded together And why doth he not adde this much more also that whole common weales are ouerthrowen Well go to I do heare very well what you say Osorius But I haue not heard yet any substaunciall ArgumeÌ„t whereby you proue this that you say to be true Certes there be at this present within Christendome many NatioÌ„s many Prouinces many Kyngdomes many Dukedomes many Cities and common weales that fauour Luthers doctrine Wherein I appeale to your owne conscience speake it if you can haue you euer heard amongest all these I say not of any one commoÌ„ wealth or Citie but of any one litle Uillage or Ciuill familie that hath bene any one iote defrauded of the benefite of their Lawes or become lesse prouident for the coÌ„mon quyet of their countrey by followyng Luthers doctrine Although we haue not yet receaued froÌ„ Spayne and Portingall into our common wealth your bloudy lawes of Inquisition embrued with Chriscian bloud and do suppose also that no discrete common wealth will euer receaue them Yet through Gods inestimable prouidence we bee not destitute of politique Lawes nor of honest sciences nor of vigilaunt Counsellours Wherein albeit our grosse capacities may seéme vnworthy to bee compared to the fine and pregnaunt wittes of Portingall yet howsoeuer they seéme we are by their direction sufficiently enough instructed to discerne betwixt the limittes of right wrong not to confounde theÌ„ neither haue we euer confounded theÌ„ as farre as I know what maner of hotchpot you make of them in Portingall I know not For as much therefore as common experience teachyng the contrary doth most manifestly conuince you of open lyeng with what face dare you so boldly affirme that through this doctrine of Luther Lawes are subuerted Counsels put to silence and confusion and disorder of right and wrong to haue entred in Whereof you neuer saw any proofe ne yet can tell a dreame so much of any attempt practized in any common wealth And therfore I marueile what kynde of lesing you will coyne at length to make this cauillation of yours to carry some shew of truth I suppose veryly that beyng disfurnished of proofe and recordes and founde an open lyer in matter so euident you will shrowde your selfe vnder some close couert of Pelagius To witte That where the vse of the law consisteth of two pointes principally that is to say in aduancyng vertue and in punishyng vyce hereupon Osorius will frame an Argument after this maner and forme Lawes are ordeined in vayne vnlesse there be habilitie to performe them But there is no habilitie to performe by the doctrine of Necessitie which Luther do threache Ergo Lawes are ordeined in vayne by Luthers doctrine of Necessitie I do aunswere the Maior proposition were true if this bondage or Necessitie which doth preiudice habilitie were naturall and not of it owne faultynesse that is to say If we had bene created without this habilitie by nature and had not throwen our selues into this inextricable Laberinthe of yelding through our owne default But as now hauyng heaped vpon our selues this Necessitie of sinnyng voluntaryly by our owne purchase and hauyng made Necessitie as Augustine sayth of a penall offence for good cause therefore lawes are of
Necessitie established which may by some lawfull meane reduce vs to nature or at least reteyne vs in some couenable order of lyfe not ouerpassing this also withall that where the Maior treateth of the obedience of mans lawes in the Minor that Necessitie which Luther doth teach ought not be referred to maÌ„s lawes nor the discipline of externall lyfe but to the obedieÌ„ce of Gods law onely Moreouer for that I haue promised to helpe to vnderproppe Osorius Logicke which is of it selfe very ruinous and ready to fall to the grounde I will not refuse to frame by some order and forme the remnaunt of his allegations into Argumentes that the Reader may more easily be instructed what aunswere to make to euery of them particularely The freedome of mans will beyng takeÌ„ away the force of lawes preceptes and rules of good lyfe and all ordinaunces of Ciuill discipline and statutes do cease The Necessitie which Luther teacheth doth abolish all freedome of mans will Ergo This doctrine of Necessitie being allowed Lawes decay good statutes and ordinauÌ„ces and all endeuour of good and godly lyfe is extinguished First in your Maior proposition this word Freedome must be distinguished namely to be taken either as opposite to coactioÌ„ or opposite to bondage if in the Maior you vnderstaÌ„d of coacted freédome then is the Maior true For whosoeuer taketh away freédome from man doth also dispoyle him of will But if you vnderstÌ„ad of bonde freédome then euen by this meanes is your Maior cleane false Next we deny your Minor with Augustine wherein also this word Necessitie must be distinguished Whiche beyng deuided into two partes the one whiche is called CoÌ„pulâ—ary Necessitie the other whiche is sayd to be of the Consequence or ex Hypothesi wherof the first â—euer any of our Writers dyd deny the other can none of all your Doctours deny whiche consistyng of the foreknowledge of God by a certeine vnmoueable coniunction of causes and byndyng Necessitie to thyngs fore-ordeined by God doth vtterly abolish fortune and chaunce but doth not take away will nor withstandeth the freédome therof as there is no contradiction but one selfe thyng may be called both Uoluntary and Necessary also For freédome of will is not taken away through Necessitie but through coaction As for example when we say that God liueth euerlastyngly and ordereth all thynges vprightly we doe confesse that both these are peculiar to Gods nature of Necessitie and not by any forreine coactioÌ„ After this maner in the booke of Exod. Whereas Pharao did endeuour to stay the children of Israell from departyng out of Egypt we must neédes confesse that he did it of Necessitie in respect of Gods secret appointemeÌ„t in deéde he neither could will nor do otherwise But in respect of his owne inclination which was the very peculiar nearest cause that moued him to stay theÌ„â—o Necessitie of coactioÌ„ forced his will to this vnwillingly but that which he did he did uoluÌ„taryly and with no lesse earnest willingnes of mynde did he bring to passe the thing which his greédy affection had willed before Although a man may be constrayned to do somethyng many tymes agaynst his will yet can he not be framed by any meanes to will a thyng that he would not For the will which willeth not is not now called will but vnwillyngnesse nay rather nothyng at all And for the same very cause bycause there is no such thyng at all in the course of nature nor to be founde any where therfore hath it no denomination nor vsuall name of speache whereby it may be expressed in Latine of the same sorte also are the other Argumentes touchyng Artes and Sciences whereof he cauilleth so much after this maner If all thynges that happen bee referred to the power of God and are done of Necessitie according to Luthers doctrine which byndeth all the actions of men to Necessitie It would hereupon follow that all Sciences should be ouerthrowen all endeuour of maÌ„ vtterly frustrate nor any industry of meÌ„ were it neuer so skilfull employed in husbandry to byeng and sellyng to traffique to prouision for the familie to Surgery and Phisicke or any other actions of mans lyfe whatsoeuer shall profite nor be auayleable I do aunswere this to bee most true that the operation of all thynges ought to be referred to the will and prouidence of God as to the chief and principall cause by whiche prouidence all thynges are ordered of very Necessitie But this Necessitie taketh not away habilitie to endeuour from men but causeth onely that mens actions are not chaunceable For albeit the thyngs that God willed doe necessaryly come to passe yet doth mans will neuertheles yeld her diligent endeuour which will the prouidence of God doth not take away but gouerneth In deéde maÌ„s will doth worke yea and freély worketh that is to say worketh voluntaryly not coactly yet it worketh so as if God helpe it worketh well if God doe not helpe it worketh ill And yet whether it worke well or ill it alwayes worketh of Necessitie neither doth will employ her habilitie any ioâ—e lesse beyng gouerned by God but rather is encouraged to worke so much the more earnestly bycause the thynges come to passe necessaryly whatsoeuer Gods will hath foreordeined to bee done by the industry of man Certes this saying of Luther is vndoubtedly true that nothyng happeneth in all the actions of mans lyfe either well or euill either without Gods knowledge or without his will or els without his direction And yet bycause the successes of those thynges are vncerteine vnto vs therefore followyng the rule of our will and reason and withall obeyeng the will of God who coÌ„maundeth vs to do our endeuour we do apply all our diligeÌ„ce earnestly to worke coÌ„mending in the meane whiles both our selues the successe of our trauaile to the tuitioÌ„ of almighty God at whose especiall commaundement all thynges come to their end necessaryly obey his direction of very Necessitie Wherby you perceaue that our endeuours and trauailes doe nothyng lesse decrease or waxe more dull to worke bycause they are foreknowen and directed by God but our will is by so much more encouraged to worke bycause we will obey Gods will who coÌ„maundeth to worke And therefore that Sophisme of yours is altogether Sophisticall deceauable not much vnlike to that whiche we read in Origine in his second booke agaynst Celsus where the Sophister to dissuade the sicke body from counsell of Phisicke frameth this ArgumeÌ„t If thou be Predestinate sayth hee to recouer health thou shalt surely be hoale whether thou take Phisicke or no but if thou be Predestinate to dye the Phisition shall both loase his labour and thou cast away thy money to no purpose Whom the sicke person perceauyng to be towardes Mariadge with the lyke Sophisme driuyng out as it were one nayle with an other aunswereth after this maner If it be thy destiny to haue
neuer receaued grace as men who through their own Freewill haue made frustrate the Grace of God once receaued by their owne wickednesse But if they be not regenerate yet is that damnable originall sinne worthely punished that will through anguish of punishment may conceaue desire to be regenerate if at least the man that is so chastized be the child of promise That God by outward vsing this meane of scourge vexation and chastizement may by secret inspiration fashion and frame the will to obedience c. And thus much hetherto coÌ„cernyng lawes and ordinauÌ„ces for rewardyng vertue and punishyng vyce in Ciuill gouernement There followeth now an other absurditie to witte where he sayth that by Luthers doctrine man is altogether dispoyled of vnderstandyng depriued of Iudgement bereft of reason and driueÌ„ to that extremitie as to be no better then a naturall stoane throwen out of a mans hand Osorius Argument Whosoeuer do attribute the orderyng of all thynges to absolute Necessitie exemptyng freedome from will doe spoyle men of their vnderstandyng depriue them of Iudgement and bereue them of reason and do traÌ„fforme them into brute beastes and stoanes Luthers doctrine doth bynde mens actions and willes to Necessitie Ergo Luthers doctrine doth dispoyle meÌ„ of their senses and turneth them into stoanes I deny the Maior of this Argument In the Minor I distinguish this word Necessitie Lastly the Argument is altogether vicious and that for two causes Either bycause Osorius thinketh That no Necessitie at all byndeth thynges to be directed by the eternall prouidence and ordinaunce of God or els he supposeth this Necessitie to he such as must neédes exclude all freédome of will Both which are false And first touchyng Necessitie Luther other auÌ„cient writers do learnedly affirme That the actions of mans lyfe are not subiect to fortune but herein they do acknowledge the prouidence of God which they assigne to be the onely and principall gouernesse and guide of maÌ„s lyfe as which directeth maÌ„s purposes boweth and bendeth his will and ordereth all the enterprises thereof Moreouer they teach the same prouidence to be such as whiche is not whirled about through blynd and sudden motions wherein no place is left to the happenynges of fortune nor such a prouidence as must neédes depend vpon inferiour causes or vpon a necessary couplyng together of causes wherein destiny is excluded nor such a prouidence as is vnaduisedly vncerteinly tossed to fro accordyng to the wandryng chaunces of fortune wherein fortune chaunce is taken away but such a prouidence as consisteth in a certeine assured stedfast permanent order workyng so in the meane whiles by inferiour and mixte causes neuerthelesse not as though it were tyed to those causes with any such necessary bonde of couplyng that it may not possibly doe otherwise by her owne absolute and most freé motione neither as though those causes could not possibly doe otherwise but must of Necessitie follow the direction of the same prouidence whereunto they be subiect Whereby it commeth to passe that Freewill beyng occupyed in these meane causes neither ceaseth to be altogether freé as being forced by no forreine constraint but guided by her owne accord nor yet remayneth so absolutely freé but that it is constrayned whether she wil or no to yeld to the direction of Gods prouidence voluntaryly notwithstandyng not coactly Wherupon amongest the learned this Necessitie is called Necessitas immutabilitatis aut certitudâ—nis whiche though doe not vrge thynges with violent coaction yet for as much as nothyng is in al the creation of nature of so small substance as can be without the coÌ„passe of Gods knowledge therfore albeit many things seéme accordyng to our capacities to be done by chaunce yet in respect of Gods prouidence if wee duely consider the originall and principall cause of thynges that are done wee shall finde nothing done but which could not but be done of very Necessitie I make hast to the other absurdities to witte to Osorius his most friuolous brabblynges For in this sorte he crawleth from mans lawes and ciuill gouernement to Gods lawes arguyng as it were in this sort If will be nothing auayleable to good lyfe nor of it selfe can do nothyng but Sinne then are Gods lawes commaunded in vayne in vayne also are exhortatioÌ„s and aduertisementes ministred in vayne are blessinges and cursinges set downe in the Scriptures But no man wil say that these are coÌ„mauÌ„ded in the Scriptures in vayne Ergo this doctrine of Luther is false execrable whereby he leaueth none other habilitie to Freewill but onely to sinne whereby he bindeth all things to necessity This Maior must bee denyed beyng nothyng els but a most manifest cauillation to witte tendyng to this effect as though God commaunded vs to doe nothyng but that we might of our owne selues performe whereunto Augustine aunswereth in this wise O man in the commaundemeÌ„t learne what thou oughtest to doe in the punishment learne thy weakenesse through thyne owne default In the prayer learne from whence thou mayest obteyne c. By the law of commaundyng and forebyddyng therefore accordyng to Augustine we come to the knowledge of our Sinne and infirmitie not of our owne strength power yet is not the law therfore coÌ„maunded in vayne For to vs that aske in the Sonnes name and acknowledge our infirmitie is Grace promised which worketh in vs both to will and to doe accordyng as the same Augustine doth recorde in the same place Let vs remember that hee doth say make vnto your selues a new hart and nâ—w Spirite who hath sayd I will geue you a new hart and I will geue you a new Spirite How is it then that he that sayth make vnto your selues a new hart fayth also I will geue you a new hart Why doth he commaunde if him selfe will geue Why doth he geue if maÌ„ be the worker but bycause he geueth the thyng that he commaundeth and helpeth him whom hee hath commaunded that hee may do it For through grace it commeth to passe that man is endued with a good will which was before of an euill will c. Therfore by this Argument of Augustine appeareth that this word of admonition exhortation or of rebukyng vsed in the Scriptures is as it were a certeine meane or instrument which the holy Ghost doth vse in conuertyng the will of such as are not yet regenerate and in beautifying the first issues of his good giftes in such as are regenerate that they may grow to a more rypenesse through Repentaunce through Fayth and through Prayer And by what wrest of Logicke doth Osorius gather habilitie of Freewill out of the holy ordinauÌ„ces seyng Augustine doth in so many places so directly gayne say him but especially in his 2. booke agaynst the two Epistles of Pelagius writyng in this wise I can see nothyng in the whole Scriptures geuen by God in commauÌ„dement to man to proue that
of God do loue do wish and earnestly desire to be saued But yet we do call these the effectes not the causes of mercy who beyng now made the Uessells of mercy could neuerthelesse not haue bene able of thēselues to bryng to passe that they should haue attayned the first primitiue Election of God August sayth that men are worthely cast away for sinne Ergo On the contrary if men are reiected for their sinnes why should they not aswell be predestinate for their good workes Augustine doth not meane here that reprobation that is cōtrary to predestination but vnder this reprobation he doth vnderstand the last end effect of Reprobation namely damnatiō And in this sence it is true that men are dāned for their sinnes not forsaken as they are neyther predestinate for their good works Luther and Caluine doth deny that it is in mans power before grace receaued to seeke and desire it But Augustine affirmeth the contrary Nay rather what is more common in Augustines mouth then these speaches Couldest thou be conuerted vnlesse thou were called Did not he that called thee back agayne bring to passe that thou shouldest be cōuerted And agayn do not presume vpō thy cōuersion for vnlesse he had called the back agayne thou couldest not haue bene conuerted And in an other place God doth not onely make willing of the vnwilling but maketh also obedient of such as are stifnecked and stubborne The doctours of the popish faction although deny not that nature is very much corrupted in originall sinne yet yeald they not thys much that man can do nothyng els but sinne Neyther that any thing els is taken away from Nature besides the supernaturall gift onely whereby Nature might haue bene made more perfect if it had not fallen And therefore that Nature was beautified with those supernaturall giftes of the which she is now spoiled the naturall power and abilitie of will remayning in her force notwithstanding This is most vntrue whereas Nature and will it selfe not by alteration of Substaunce but by accesse of sinne and disposition is so depraued and reuolted from God so weakened and spoyled through it own operation as that it may be not conuerted but by the onely grace of God hauing of her self no part in thys work but as farre forth as it is preuented by God Whereupon Augustine doth witnes That will doth not goe before but is handmayd to well doyng Wherefore the same Nature and substaunce of will remayneth still not chaunged into a new shape by Gods creation but defiled with the corruption and filthe of Nature The same affections also do remayne that were before in respect of their substaūce but in respect of their disposition they be so putrified and stincking that nothing can be found in them now that bringeth not with it some matter of filthines Who soeuer is holpen he doth worke somewhat together with hym that helpeth hym and suffereth not him self to be applyed meerely passiuely Will beyng not renued is holpen of Grace Ergo Freewill euen sithence the first creation seemeth to bring much to passe and not to be altogether applyed passiuely In the Maior proposition should haue bene added perse by it selfe For what soeuer worketh by it selfe hauing the help of an other is not altogether plyed passiuely but with this exception the Minor must be denyed for freedome of choyse when as it selfe neuer preuenteth grace following her but is altogether holpen of Grace goyng before according to the testimony of Augustine what can it bryng to passe at all of it selfe Or if it can do any thing at all by it selfe that whiche it is able to doe it doth in morall good thinges externall and ciuill exercises certes to deserue eternall lyfe to purchase the fauour of God Saluation Iustification and the euerlasting kingdome Freéwill is altogether vneffectuall but is a meere sufferer onely nor hath any thing but that which it hath receaued and is altogether vnprofitable yea when it hath done all that it can possibly do And this is it that Luther seemeth to stand vpon Let hym be accursed that will say that God commaundeth thynges impossible Melancton doth aunswere what soeuer were the occasion of this saying surely those wh vouch the same so busily vrge it seéme voyde of vnderstanding in the causes why the law of God was geuen worldly wisedome supposeth that lawes are published onely because they should be obserued But the Lawe of the Lord was ordayned for this cause chiefly that the Iudgement and wrath of God should be layd open agaynst sinne that it should conuince vs of wickednes and increase the horror therof that wickednes might be restrayned from to much licensiousnes that putting vs in remēbraunce of our own weakenes frayltie it should in steed of a schoole master enstruct vs to Christ as it is declared before And there was no lye found in their mouthes Apoc. 14. to this August maketh aunswere aduertising vs how man may be in this sorte sayd to be true of hys worde through the grace and truth of God who otherwise of hym selfe without all doubt is a lyer As is that saying You were sometymes darcknesse but now are ye light in the Lord when he spake of darcknesse he added not in the Lord but when he spake of light he annexed by and by in the Lord. But Osorius will vrge agaynst vs here Ergo Nature beyng holpen through grace sayth he may eschew all lying and sinning To aunswere hereunto agayne out of Augustine he that will speake so let hym be well aduised how he deale with the Lords prayer where we say Lord forgeue vs our Trespasses which we needed not to say except I be not deceaued If our consents neuer yelded to false speaking nor to the lust of the flesh Neyther would the Apostle Iames haue sayd We are trespassers all in many thinges for that man doth not offend but he whom flattering lust hath allured to consent contrary to the rule of righteousnes Thus much Augustine Out of the wordes of Ieremy If I speake of any Nation that I may destroy them and they do repent them c. And if I say the word that I may plant them and they tourn away from me c. vpon this the Romanistes do build as followeth Euen as men behaue themselues such shall the potters vessels be afterwardes Ergo it is false that the Lutheranes teach that the regard of worke doth fight agaynst Freedome and the power of God in chusing or refusing The Prophet doth treate here properly of the punishment rewardes which do follow mens workes at the last Iudgemēt and not of the maner of eternall Electiō which doth preceéde all our workes either goyng before as August reporteth which were none at all or comming after which were not as yet If the aduersaries of Luther shall wrest these words of the Prophet to the cause of Electiō as though
for the most perfect men and most purely catholicke towardes the attayning of perfect Religion Because mans minde hath alwayes some familiarity and acquayntaunce with transitory thinges of this worlde Which if be not poolished with this most excellent skanning of mysteries waxeth of her owne nature very dull quickly and is ouerwhelmed with forgetfulnesse And no maruell For as much as this new and wonderfull light of the Euangelicall knowledge which hath transsigured those Lutheranes hath not yet shined so brightly in the eyes of those meÌ„ nor are as yet so throughly carried away from this corporall familiarity as that they caÌ„ waÌ„t these signes of heaueÌ„ly things without great perill as these Celestial and Diuine men can do For with this skoffe doth he note them whom Luthers doctrine hath enstructed by a certayne figure called Sarcasmus But to auÌ„swere your pleasaÌ„ut scoffe good maister Bishop First what acquaintauÌ„ce familiarity you haue with the state of murtall men let other men iudge Surely I could hartely wish that you Massemongers and Shauelinges would take lesse acquaintaunce of your neighbors wiues and daughters with câ—Ì„cubynes and drenches of Baudrye to stay here and to rippe vp no more of your horrible dealinges But if you be not as yet estrauÌ„ged froÌ„ the assaults of the flesh as you do affirme nor haue yet so mortiffed the flesh but the generall ftaylty of nature will violently carry you away typsituruy as well as other men now and then into the naturall infirmities of the flesh what meaneth theÌ„ that rash temeraryous rushing rudely into vowes wherewith very solemnely you sweare sacred and perpetuall virginity both to God and vnto men As though there were nothing to be feared in you of that naturall and general disease of imbecillitye and weakenesse that is otherwise common to all men ingeneral Which if you doe as faythfullye performe as you doe rashlye sweare and vow beyng a matter aboue the reach and capacityâ— of humayne ability I cann seé no cause to the contrary but that we may reply these Surnames vpoÌ„ you much sooner to witt to call you Celestiall men and more then Diuine For as concerning Luther and others of his profession howsoeuer it pleaseth you to mockemeary being a very merry man tricke and trym altogether for holydayes all kind of pleasureablenes yet did they neuer challenge to themselues so Celestiall Deuine natures but that as men compassed about with weake and frayle bodies as all other mortall men are they waÌ„ted their introductions yea and enured themselues to the same not vnwillingly For both Religion and the Church of Christ hath her rudymentes hath also her ceremonyes and introductions not onely profitable to say as you say but very nacessary also I speake of those rudimentes and ceremonies chiefly which Christ himselfe deliuered to his Church in number but very few but in vse of greatest force and effectualnesse Namely Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord the one whereof Christ did institute as a pledge of our profession the other as aperpetuall memoryall of himselfe For other rudimentes of piety which are practised in externall actions Christ left none besides these of any expresse commaundement And yet if there be any other ceremonies profitable and appliable for the present time the Lutheranes doe not altogether abolish them But the matter doth bewray that these ceremonies rytes Gamboldes holidayes and new fangled ceremonies which your Clergye doth daylye patche vpon the olde are for the more part not onely fruitles but also verye Botches and Cankers of the pure and true Religion And thys much hetherto of the holy and sweét mother church of Rome and of the vniuersall Regiment of her fayth ceremonies and holydayes Of the which because Osorius seémeth to himself to haue spoken sufficiently returning at the length to the Lutheranes bendeth his declamation against them raked and skraped from out of the very bowels of Rhetoricke wherein he thrusteth himselfe vpon the stage to play the part and to expostolate with Luther in such wise as that in all that notable furniture of words skarcely ought can be found els then was sometimes especially noted in Anaximenes by one on a time to witt to haue whole fludds of words but not a dropp of good matter It were great pitty to rehearse the whole speéch a fresh then the which nothing can be more ouerlauish and babling The effect thereof as briefly as may be compiled together tendeth to this end These Lutheranes do seeme to haue taken vpon them a very great and labour some burthen Who seing the Church of Christ lameÌ„tably entaÌ„gled in such dissolute liceÌ„tiousnes of maners doctrine almost ready to fall to the grouÌ„d could not onely be coÌ„teÌ„ted to be agreeued thereat with bare prayer well wishing hartes helpe to vnderpropp it but that they would attempt to put their handes therto also by their industry practise the reformation of that which was past al recouery and because they saw that the inueÌ„tioÌ„ of man was not able to couÌ„teruayle so great an incoÌ„uenience by any meanes they vndertook the matter by the onely word of God renouncing all humaine pollicy and industry Go to and to what end are all these so farre fetche and false also Osorius at length our Tertullius goeth forward But because the efficacy of Gods word doth consist not in brauery and braggery of wordes but in vertue in the duetyes of lyfe and the workes of righteousnes He doth desire therfore that some president of this deuine workemanship may be shewed him wherein some shew at the least of this recouery and preseruation of the Church may shew it selfe But forasmuch as there could not possibly be a ReformatioÌ„ vnlesse those obstackles were vtterly takeÌ„ away which gaue the first occasion of this generall craze euen as in Phisicke wholesome potiones are not ministred before superfluous and noysome humors be throughly purged in buildings like as vnlesse the olde walles and rotten postes be first plucked downe no new building is supplied euen so and after the same maner the Lutheranes did purpose with themselues to proceed with theyr worke Which Osorius mislyketh nothing at all For he thinketh it expedieÌ„t that superstitions be vtterly cut of because vertue commoÌ„ly hath not greater Enemies then her owne counterfaytes Moreouer where he seeth many abuses taken away scattered abroad krusht in pieces neither doth Osorius reproue this in theÌ„ so long as this alteration is profitable for the Christian coÌ„mon weale and that in stead of these which be remoued some supply be made of better Nowe what is throwne downe he doth see playnely but what is new builded he seeth not yea it is apparaunt enough what thinges are moyled vppe by the Rootes but what is planted in that place he confesseth he caÌ„not as yet discerne But this he doth see namely the authority of the Byshoppe of Rome to be afflicted Monasteries and Nooneries rooted
natures yet shall you neuer be able to raze out the remembraunce of them from the posterity so long as this world doth endure And as for theyr vertuous liues and cōmendable monumentes of their godlynesse left behinde them all the packe of your popish prelacy priestes and parasites will neuer be able to reach vnto Let me be so bolde to annexe somewhat of Luther himselfe Reported euen of him who is so much the more to be beleued as he seémed to be wholly seuered from partaking his doctrine For after this maner Erasmus writing to Thomas Arch. of Yorke in a certayne Epistle concerning Luther doth constātly affirme that his life was irreproueable by all mens iudgement and addeth furthermore which he confesseth to be no smal argument of his commendation That he was of such integrity of maners and common conuersation of life that his enemies could finde nothing whereat they might cauill And albeit the credite of this testimony seéme but of small estimation with you as appereth by your writing Yet whoseuer is endued with sound iudgement shall easily perceiue that in respect of theyr age and countrey wherein they were both borne he was better acquaynted with the whole life and cause of Luther then you were I could also recite vnto you the testimony of Fisher Byshoppe of Rochester touching the same Luther out of an Epistle of his written to Erasmus who although was more outragiously bent agaynst Luthers doctrine then beseémed him yet made he much more honest and commēdable report of Luther then you do The words of Roffensis as I finde them are these Luther of whom you wrate vnto me is a man endued with singuler dexterity of witte and hath the scriptures at his fingers endes For I haue readde ouer his writinges very earnestly And as willingly would I haue some conference with the man if I might with out any preiudice to my person that I might debate many matters with him which trouble me c. Agayne in an other Epistle to Erasmus I doe heare say that Luthers Commentaries vpon the Psalmes and vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians shall shortly come forth in print I am maruey lously delighted with the mans witte and his wonderfull knowledge in the scriptures Truely I could wish that he had quallified his speeches agaynst the high Byshoppe and masters appertayning to the See Apostolicke c. But go to if this be your reason Osorius that the soundnes of the doctrine shal be aportioned according to the liues of the teachers I beseech you forgette a whiles that your collericke passion of your blinde affection vouchsafe to aunswere vprightly What fault finde you in the liues of Phil. Melancthon Mart Bucer Oecolampadius Zuinglius Peter Martyr and Iohn Caluyne For their liues were not led in hugger mugger nor theyr conuersations so closely cloystered but that there be yet eye witnesses liuing Recordes by whome this question may easily be decided betwixt vs whether I doe Imagine or flater more in praysing then you erre more monstrously in slaundering them And where are now those horrible wickednesses mōstruous sacrileges murthers lust outrages and Treasons Surelye wheresoeuer they be they are not in Luther nor euer published by his doctrine sithēce his doctrine is none other maner of doctrine then is of all true Christiās therfore let Osorius him selfe looke out who these be and what Auditory of what Gospell they be whom he accuseth guilty of such horrible crimes whatsoeuer they be surely they are neither Lutheranes nor Gospellers And forasmuch as there is none so holy a profession but doth shrowd oftentymes many such persons as in deéd are nothing lesse then they seéme in outward countenaunce Osorius doth argue skarse Clarkly like a doctor herein that valueth the dignity of the doctrine by the quallity of the Auditory Logitians call it Fallax consequentis For whereas Signes are not all of one nature but some called accidentes some likely hoodes many perpetuall and necessary he learned Logitians therefore teach that an argument can not lightly be deduced from Signes except it be from snch Signes onely which in their owne nature appropried to the thinges it selfe haue alwayes a perpetuall and necessary cause of consequence coupled with them For Parentes are not alwayes to be adiudged wicked though their childrē be vnthrifty and go out of kinde Nor is the scholemayster to be blamed alwayes if his schollers profitte not in learnyng accordingly Nero was enstructed by a very godly Mayster in all godly and vertuous preceptes of learning and life yet what man was euer more wicked The soundnes of doctrine doth not alwayes appeare in the maners of the Schollers And sometimes also the matter fareth quite contrary as that vnder the veyle of vertuous maners may lurcke perilous poyson of most contagious doctrine Doctrine therefore ought alwayes to be measured by her owne principles and groundes chiefly from whence it taketh her Roote Otherwise whereas all those are accounted Christians in name and profession which are infected with semblable vyces and corruptions It should follow vpon this rule of Logick that Christian doctrine were in this respect worthy to be blamed because many Christians at this day do abuse the name of Christians to cloake and couer theyr wicked and abhominable lustes I haue aunswered all the partes of Osorius Inuectiue reasonably well Wherein he bringeth himselfe expostulating with the Lutheranes by a figure called Apostrophe or a Rhethoricall sleight rather but in such wise as that you may not so easily discerne Osorius as that old witch called Slaunder it selfe speaking in the wordes of Osorius This quarrell therefore being now throughly canuassed which seémed to pinch Haddós maisters most He remoueth his camp bendeth his whole force now agaynst his opposed enemy Haddon whom he determineth to assayle on euery syde First touching the most auncient profession of the Church next concerning a comparison made betwixt both Churches to seé whether of thē do resemble the Apostles Church nearest In which part many things are discoursed of all partes of the ordinaunces of both Churches of manners and lyfe of preaching of Masses of the communion of the variablenesse of opinions of the Papane of Images of praying to Sayntes of sacrifice and of Purgatory For these be almost the chiefest furniture of this wiffeler And first as touching Prescription of Antiquity Osorius perpleding demaūdeth of Haddon in what wise he defendeth that his innouation or new gospell If Haddon were present this matter could not be destitute of a sufficient Aduocate And because Haddon can not now come I will by your patience aunswere not so artificially peraduenture as him selfe could haue done yet as effectually in his behalfe as shall satisfie the cause though can not stopp your ianglyng which cause neuerthelesse remaineth vnuāquishable not so much by any my defēce as fortified thoroughly with her owne strength and force of the truth And that I may know first
scripture especially when mētion is made of Christ hymselfe or when Chryst hymself would vouchsafe to expresse hys great and inestimable benefittes towardes vs and the euerlasting efficacy of hys death and passion I know not how it had rather vnder certayne shadowes and mystycall resemblaunces as vnder Allegoricall cloudes to speake as Ierome doth signyfye the same more modestly rather then to proclayme it openly in wordes By meanes whereof we ought many tymes to consider That in the Propheticall Scriptures Christ our Lord Sauiour is called by sondry and seuerall names accordyng to the diuers seuerall operation and effectuall power and workyng of his Diuine Maiestie and pleasure towardes vs. For in that he doth enlighten the Darckenes of our mindes he is called the light of the worlde In respect of his wonderfull might and power surmounting all power whatsoeuer he is called the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda In respect that he guideth vs he is called the way In respect that he leadeth in he is called the dore In respect that we are none otherwise engraffed then in him he is called the Vine and we the Braunches And so according to the nature of his Innocency and our deliueraunce he is called the Lambe of God in respect that he loueth his Church with more thē an husbandly loue doth cherish it endow it cloath it beutyfy it he is called an husband he is called also the Rock sometime a grayne of Corne dead in the earth many times a Serpent set vppe vpon a Crosse sometymes a wellspring gushing out into life euerlasting And so in diuers and seuerall respectes he is called by diuers seuerall names In like maner bycause he feédeth and defendeth vs he is called A good Shepherd and bycause he feédeth vs with none other thyng thē with the death of his owne body shedding of his bloud He is also called our meate our bread and our drinke Moreouer bycause this bread and this drinke is of the Lordes owne mouth cōmaunded to be receaued to renew the remēbraunce of him for this cause those elementes do put on the nature of a Sacramēt and so vnder this very couer and mystery of a Sacrament are called his owne body and bloud Whiche least I shall seéme to iustifie of myne owne proper knowledge Let vs heare the testimony and agreable consent of Augustine Who reasonyng of Sacramentes and of the likenesse of thyngs wherof they be Sacramentes doth vtterly deny the Sacramentes can be in any respect Sacramentes at all vnlesse they haue a likenesse of some things and for that cause in respect of the likenesse of the thyngs them selues he affirmeth that they are many tymes called by the name of the thynges them selues So an Argumēt may be framed out of August on this wise The Sacrament of the last Supper hath a likenesse of the body of the Lord. No likenesse is the thing it selfe wherof it is the likenesse Ergo The Sacramēt of the Eucharist is not the body of Christ. But if Osorius be of opinion that Christes wordes ought to be taken simply accordyng to the bare letter of the flesh let him harken agayne to the same Augustine This is a Mystery sayth he that I tell you which if it be vnderstoode spiritually will quicken and geue life And the same Augustine in an other place opening playnly the figure of the same wordes doth witnesse directly on this wise The lord doughted not to say This is my body when he gaue the signe of his body I could vouche many other graue and auncient Testimonies witnessing the same namely Tertullian Origene Ierome Chrisostome Theodorete Gelasius and others But of this matter I do not meane to make any curious discourse as now There shal be hereafter more fitte place for the same more at large by Gods grace In the meane space for my learnyng I would fayne learne one Questiō of Osorius who albeit hath not bene ouer much studied in Augustine yet hath at the least bene busied amongest the Rhetoriciās Let vs therefore consider the matter by the circumstaunces of Rhetoricke And to graunt this much first that Christ is omnipotent which accordyng to the power of his Diuine omnipotency can and is able to do all thyngs in heauē and in earth what matter should moue him now both to take away his owne body from hence which was but one onely body from vs yet withall should leaue the selfe same body behynde him with vs which though could not be done accordyng to the nature of humanitie yet to graunt that it might be done miraculously what profit then or what necessitie was there to worke a miracle herein You will say bycause the spouse the Churche could not lacke the presence of her owne husband Christ. And wherfore I pray you For this is the thyng wherein I desire to be taught of you chiefly Osorius sithence it is not credible that miracles which are wrought agaynst nature should be wrought rashly without some singuler or especiall consideration I am now therfore desirous to know what cause you will alledge To feede vs with his body you will say What to feéde our bellyes or our soules Surely our soules he hath fed already sufficiently enough long sithence in that very day wherein he washt away the Sinnes of the whole world and pacified all thynges both in heauen and in earth once for all What to feéde our bellyes then But he doth aboundauntly feéde vs with other foode dayly Moreouer neither cā Augustine nor yet the Scripture it selfe disgest this that man shal be fed with mans flesh and drinke mans bloud Do not prepare your teeth sayth he but your hart And agayne in an other place as many tymes els also inuityng vs to a spirituall eating of Christ Why doest thou make ready thy teeth and thy belly sayth he beleeue and thou hast eaten Agayne to beleeue in him sayth he is to eate that liuely bread Moreouer annexe hereunto That whenas Christ hath accomplished all the partes and duties of his holy office which neéded the vse of his flesh to performe the worke of our redemption In the which flesh he satisfied all the partes of the law pacified the wrath of his Father ouercame Sinne and death and the Deuill him selfe beyng the authour of death hath troden vnder foote for euer euer In which flesh he rose agayne and ascended into heauen like a most triumphaunt Conquerour Frō whence he doth euen now also miraculously nourish preserue and comfort his Church here on earth through the vnspeakeable power of his excellent omnipotency so that now to the full accomplishment of our Saluation seémeth no one thyng at all to remaine vnperformed but that onely last day of Iudgement These matters therfore beyng vndoughted true what thyng may that be now Osorius wherein his fleshly presence may seéme in any respect necessary from hence forth and not rather his absence in the flesh
herein Let euery man that list compare examples with examples new with old present with tymes past what doth all this whatsoeuer you doe resemble els then like a certein skippyng and trippyng gesture of some Stagelike Comedy rather thē a Supper of the Lord wherein first you chaunged the Sacrament into a Sacrifice you haue altered the Table into an Altar transposed mysteries into Masses and translated eatyng into Adoration participation into Religion banquetyng into gazing tootyng The substaunce of bread you haue with a playne Poeticall Metamorphosis trāsubstanciated into the substaūce of flesh finally you haue brought the matter to this passe that there is no fourme of a Supper no nor so much as the name of a Supper remainyng For what is he that will euer name that to be a Supper where neither bread nor drincke nor any kynde of meate besides mās flesh and bloud onely is sett before the guestes to feéde vpō which is horrible for any mā to eate that will either follow the rule of nature or the prescript commaundement of the Scriptures What then will you abandone Christ say you from vs out of the Eucharist altogether and will you leaue no more but bare Signes onely in this most holy Sacrament For such is the question that Hosius maketh in a certein place the selfe same now doth Osorius thrust out agaynst the Lutheranes Whose accusation bycause I purpose to refute behold ye good Catholick mē that which I must speake both truly and necessaryly First this quarrell toucheth the Lutheranes very litle For others I doe aunswere on this wise That this doth not exclude Christ out of the Eucharist but you do banish Christ out of heauē altogether whiles by the same rule you force the nature and substaunce of his body into so narrow streightes as it were thruchte into a Geometricall chynker wherein what do you els then hale him out of heauen For one and the selfe same bodely nature in one the selfe same body can not be here and there at one tyme. In deede you confesse it can not be by nature but it may be be say you by miracle But cursed be that miracle whereby the true humanitie of our Christ is denyed and whereby our cōioyning together with him is broken a sunder For what partakyng shal be of our natures with his body or what agreable proportion of body betwixt vs If we be seuered ech frō other in the whole propertie substaunce of nature But Augustine a reasonable Catholicke Deuine enough I suppose will not consent vnto this that the Diuinitie of Christ ought so to be affirmed is that his humanitie shall by any meanes be defaced Therfore that rayling of Osorius agaynt vs as though we did dispoyle the holy banquet of Christes Diuinitie is some drowsie dreame of some dronckard for who did euer seclude the Diuinitie of Christ from this mysticall Supper So is also the cauilation of Hosius in eche respect as slaunderous where he chargeth vs that we sequester the body of Christ wholy from the Eucharist Which is also as vntrue For albeit we do affirme that the body of Christ is naturally in his owne propertie in heauē we do not so exclude him from the holy mysteries as that we would not haue him present therein at all but consideration must be had in what maner he is present He that doth acknowledge a true presence of Christ after a Sacramentall maner and vnder a mysticall coueryng doth not abanddon Christ out of the Sacrament but he that reiectyng the mystery doth acknowledge no presence but such as must be beleéued to be present naturally and in deéde the same if he abyde by his wordes must neédes ouerthrow all the substaūce of a Sacrament of very necessitie For whereas they do assigne the whole materiall part of the Sacrament to consiste in this that the flesh of Christ included within those mysteries must appeare discernable to the beholders not in his proper and naturall forme but in an other shape it is a friuolous deuise boulted out of the forgeshoppe of Lumbarde Which by this euident demonstration of Augustine is easily ouerthrowen All Sacramentes do represent a necessary likenesse of the same thinges whereof they be Sacramentes The outward formes of bread and wyne doe by no maner of likenesse represent any agreablenesse with the body of Christ. Ergo No materiall part of a Sacrament can be applyable to those outward formes of bread and wyne And yet this notwithstandyng we do confesse that Christ is present neuerthelesse in his mysteries But it is one thyng for Christ to be present in a mystery an other thyng to be present naturally enclosed as it were within a certein place It is one thyng to beare the name of a thyng whereof it is a remēbraūce an other thyng to be the very same thyng wherof it taketh denommatiō It is one thyng to haue a likenesse an other thyng to be in the very same substaunce Neither is it a good Argument that is fetcht from the word or letter to the substaunce Where in the one the very matter of a Sacrament is to be seéne in the other the truth of the substaunce is discerned Wherein is concluded a fallax A secundum quid ad simpliciter In a Comedy or Enterlude he that cōmeth forth vpon the Stage cladd in Kingly Roabes crowned with the Diademe of a King the same is not by and by the Kyng in deéd whose persō he doth represēt And yet is there no cause to the cōtrary but duryng the time of the Enterlude he may be after a certein sort called a Kyng to witt after the same maner as Signes similitudes of thyngs do many tymes obteine to be called by the name and title of the very thynges whereof they be representations Therefore for as much as the action of this sacred Cōmunion is of this nature as the which doth no lesse minister the body of Christ to be receaued by fayth then the bread to be eaten by the mouth these men therfore do not seclude Christ from this sacred banquet as you seé but you and your Catholickes rather whiles you do sequester the Allegory from the wordes of Christ refusing all maner Type of resemblaunce and likenesse whiles you do rende a sunder the spirite which doth quickē from the letter that doth kill whiles you banishe quite away all bread out of the Sacrament whiles you teare abroad the subiect from the accidentes Whiles ye make a miserable myngle mangle and hochepott of the thynges that are seuered by nature and agayne dissolue the thynges that are naturally ioyned together Whiles with most abhominable Idollworshyp you doe most filthyly defile the most pure and chaste Church of Christ to the intollerable discomfort and sorrow of all godly hartes you haue brought this to passe by your crafty cōueyaūce that the people now can neither partake of any bread
Fryth that excellent learned young man and his companion imediately after committed to prison and suffred iust plague for their vniust crueltye And to passe ouer other what end Eckius and Iames Latomus came vnto I suppose you be not ignoraunt Mary Queéne of England after she had consumed so many godly Martyrs to Ashes being first forsaken of her husband and afterwardes raught away so quickly with such an vntymely death shall we thinke the same came to passe without some great iudgement of God Can you tell vs of nothing happening in your owne Countrey of Portingall after the horrible tortures and execution of William Gardiner which might haue bene a manifest token of Gods vengeaunce agaynst you But why doe I stay vpon these when as besides these infinite lyke presidentes be manifestly extaunt which ought worthely to terrify you and others also in the lyke For as for those Englishmen whom Haddon doth make mencion of there is no cause why you should be discouraged Especially sithence this litle Island is as your selfe doth confesse replenished with so many notable godly men excellent of witt of learning and of pietye who will neuer molest you as you say because they doe wonderfully agree and consent with you in Religion c. Surely Osorius in this you lye nothing at all wherein yet you haue forgotteÌ„ somewhat your olde wont For this is to true that you speake that here be ouermanye companyons and confederates of your errors in this Realme whereof some are roonne away of late more afrayd a great deale then hurt There be behind yet many tarryers I will not say Traytors to the Common weale whose witt and learning as we doe not despise so also doe we not feare any harme they can do vs for there is no question to be made at all of their witt nor of their learning but of other matters the direction and disposition whereof resteth wholy in the power of the Lord and not in any pollicye or force of men Lett these therefore whosoeuer they be whom you prayse so much haue their deserued prayse for their excellencye of learning and actyuitye of witt as much as you will who if they be of your sect may happely be learned doughtlesse godly they can not be Agayne if they be godly I am sure they will neuer agreé with you in thys Doctryne But as for mens agreément in opinion is not so much materiall Neyther is any part of our coÌ„trouersye at this present touching matters determinable by common consent multitude or wittes of men but must be decided by the infallible and vnchaungeable rules ordinaunces of the sacred Scriptures whereunto if your opinions be consonant as meéte is we will all together lykewise consent and agreé with you If otherwise what shall it preuaile you to be lincked in any vniforme consent of those men though they be neuer so excellently well learned but onely that you may seéme to become a raunging rouer emongest straggling Starters From thence you proceéd leauing them whom you say be of your minde and turne backe agayne to these Lutheranes and Haddonistes Who if would contend with you as you say with reasons with argumentes or with Testimonies you promise that you will not refuse the conflict But if they will brawle with cauntes and cursed speaking you will not be persuaded by any meanes to make them any aunswere c. Loe here a very pleasaunt panion and Maister of his Arte After that your gaye goodly choler had cought vpp as many slaunderous reprochfull croomes as it could eueÌ„ to the casting vpp of your gorge to the poysoning and infecting of godly and learned personages now at the last you prohibite them for pleading their causes least happely some one or other in making his purgation will sâ—â—t somewhat neare your holy Reuerent skirtes or least with some corrysiue in auÌ„sweryng he frett to much vpon the skabbe of your delicate conscience For that your Nature is of that complexion as will not lightly be offended with any slauÌ„derous touÌ„ges nor accompt it any ioate prayseworthy to exceede by any meanes in so filthy a kynde of contention Moreouer that it is no wisedome to spend your tyme so vnprofitably whereof you haue skarse any breathing from other more weighty afâ—ayres And therefore if HaddoÌ„ or any other of that Crew shal be so disposed as to rush vpon you with snatching and taunting more rigorously then shall beseeme them you will geue them free skoape to chauffe foame and exclayme agaynst you as much as they list and as much as they can And that it is not conuenient for your personage in respect of the charge that is committed vnto you that either you ought to be distempered with rayling or that you should aunswere to all cursed speaking If to these wordes and speéches all his other doinges and writinges were in eche respect correspondent what siner man might any man finde in this world what more noble mind what more excellent nature which hauing so throughly mortified his affections will not suffer him selfe to become impatieÌ„t with any iniuries or rayling raging agaynst him But if his doinges be called to an accompt before strickt Inquisitors and if they will examine his wordes by his deédes I beseéch you gentle Syr where was this mildnesse of spirit so gloriously commended by your selfe where was this lenity of nature where was this contempt of reproches exiled at that time whenas your reuerence being neuer prouoked with any iniury offered of our natioÌ„ nor so much as euer molested by word could not measure your insolent malice and wrath nor make any end of slaundering backbiting and rayling in so excessiue outrage agaynst the godly and learned Preachers of Christ both altogether vnknowen vnto you and withall neuer deseruing to be thought ill of at your handes Euery man must suffer the penalty of the breach of Law that himselfe maketh sayth Ausonius You require vs to cutt of all contentious brawling and to deale with you with sound Argumentes and Testimonyes We do like well your law For what can be more seémely for discreét Deuines then a calme and peaceable modesty in disputation not disquieted with any naturall motions nor waxing wroth with other mens rayling But who doth obserue this order that you doe prescribe worsse then your selfe good Syr If waÌ„t of time which you alleage in excuse or consideration of your function as you say be such an estoppell vnto you that you haue no leysure to aunswere to all mens raylinges how is it theÌ„ that in this your auÌ„swere to HaddoÌ„ be so many slauÌ„ders heaped vpp vpon slauÌ„ders so muche rayling in such skorpionlike nipping bitternesse wherein how vnmeasurably lauish you seéme beyond all coÌ„sideratioÌ„ of your personage all this your owne whole discourse remayneth a sufficient witnes against you wch doth breath out bray out and spew out nothing els but flames fierbraÌ„ds furyes botches madnes frensies outrages drouÌ„kenes feuers childishnes