see more eloquence then diuinity and we will no other proofe hereof then that place which saith that the Martyrs if there remained any sinnes vnto them they purged them by their bloud what is there lesse agreeing with the Gospell then to thinke that any Martyrs haue beene without sinne and that which is worse that a man may wash away and blot out his sinnes by his owne blood For the holy scripture doth giue vs no other labor for our sinnes then the blood of Iesus Christ Apoc 1.5 To Iesus who hath loued vs and hath wasted away our sinnes by his blood And in the 7. Chapter The Saints do wash their garments in the blood of the lambe and to the end that no man should deuise any other clensing Jdeo ad Regem per tribunos aut Cometos itur quia homo vtique est Rex nescit quibus debeat Remp. credere Ad Deum autē promerendum saffragatore non opus estsed mente deuota Saint Iohn 1. Epist 1. saith that the blood of Iesus Christ doth clense vs from ALL sinne yea Saint Ambrose himselfe hath not perseuered in this error But vpon the first Chapter of the Epistle to the Romanes he disputeth against those who said that they did as those who goe to the King by his offices and hee calleth it a miserable excuse and addeth Therefore men goe to a King by his Collonells and Nobles because the King is a man and knoweth not to whom to commit the Common-weale But to be receiued into grace and fauour with God we need no spokesman but onely a deuout Spirit Himselfe in the oration vpon the death of Theodosius Et tamen tu solus Domine inuocandus es tu rogandus Thou ONELY O Lord oughtest to be inuocated and prayed vnto Let this be noted in generall vpon all the passages that the King of great Britaine demaunded authorities from the first fower ages But all these allegations are but about the end of the fourth age we must then helpe Coeffeteaus memorie and bring him a little higher In the first age we haue the Apostles who did not only not inuocate the Virgin Mary nor any other of the Saints deceased But who doe expresly forbid vs to inuocate any other then God alone 1 S. Paul Rom. 10. How shall they cal vpon him in whom they haue not beleeued He is of opinion then that a man cannot call vpon any but him in whom he beleeueth Now we beleeue in God onely The Creede doth teach vs to beleeue in the Father and in the sonne and in the holy Chost but not to beleeue in any creature And Iesus Christ Ioh. 14.1 You beleeue in God beleeue also in me If any man will here bring forth vnto vs two sortes of Religious worship he must be pleased to proue them vnto vs by the word of God 2 The same Apostle Rom. 14.23 sayth that whatsoeuer is done without faith is sinne And cap. 10. he saith that faith commeth by hearing the word of God Prayer therefore to Saints being not founded vpon the word of God it is without faith and consequently is sinne 3 S. Peter Act. 1. calleth God searcher of the hearts agreeable to that which Salomon saith 2. Chr. 6.30 that God ONLY knoweth the hearts of men If then the Saints know not our hearts what an abuse is it to call vpon them Must a man cry high And how shall they know whether thou be an hypocrite or no If it be so that they see all things in the face of God as some say then should they haue an infinite knowledge and by consequent should be infinite and should know the day of iudgement * marc 13. which is vnknowne to them And their spirit in one onely moment should apprehend and behold infinite diuersity of things which is a thing incompatible with the nature of the creature whose life and being and consequently whose actions are fleeting by acontinuall succession of parts That is to say that as the parts of their duration succeede one another so their thoughts and action successiuely follow one another They doe not then apprehend infinite things in one moment Thus is their imaginary looking-glasse broken wherin nothing doth appeare but the temerity of these men who affirme things that they cannot know who speake of heauen and yet haue their nose in the ground describing what is done there as if they came but lately from thence I further adde that this is greatly to trouble the felicity of the Saints to make them spectators of mens affaires An holy woman that inioyeth the glory of heauen would she no feele an extreame greefe if she beheld from heauen one of her children tormented in Hell another broken vpon the wheele at the Greue in Paris another giuen to Art-magicke or bowing his knee before an Image or adoring a God made and set vp by men 4 The Apostle S. Paul 1. Tim 2. There is one God and one Mediator betweene God and men the man Christ Iesus In the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnicus Deus vnicus mediator Seeing that these things are thus coupled together it is certain that as there is but one God so is there but one Mediator It is a coy nicenesse to say that he is the only Mediator of Redemption but not of Intercession But this distinction is not found in the Gospell and indeede it doth contradict it selfe for Iesus Christ is not the mediator of intercession but so farre forth as he is our Redeemer whence it followeth that in Iesus Christ to be mediator of redemption and mediator of intercession is one and the same thing And that which is more the same Apostle Rom. 8. doth teach vs that euen as touching the intercession he is our onely mediator For he saith Christ is he who died nay rather who is risen againe who also is set at the right hand of God who maketh request for vs. Now he died onely for vs he rose onely for our sakes and onely is set downe at the right hand of God and he alone then also it is which maketh request for vs for the course of the wordes and the drift of the place doth necessarily so require it And that which is more by this Distinction they condemne the Church of Rome who maketh Saints also to bee mediatours of Redemption as Bellarmine teacheth in the fourth Chapter of his first booke of Indulgences and indeede the Church of Rome doth holde that their sufferings doe turne to our aduantage and the Priest in the Masse doth euery day craue saluation of God not onely for their prayers but also for their merites as if by their good workes they had merited saluation Quorum precibus meritisque rogamus c. and the grace of God for vs Let a man read all the Letanies and publicke prayers of the Church of Rome and he shall finde that they say Petre Ora pro nobis S. Nicholae Ora pro
regard the whole company of the Apostles she seeketh no Mediator but insteed of all these shee taketh Patience for her companion which holdeth the place of her aduocate and commeth directly to the first fountaine For this ende came he down from heauen for this end did he take flesh and was made man to the end that I might speake vnto him There are found in this Father some passages wherein he recommendeth the intercession of the Saints but it is of the liuing Saints for the scripture in a hundred places doth so call the faithfull But our aduersaries produce those places for inuocation of the dead being falsaries in this point as in others Adde that we haue neuer denyed but that the Saints doe intercede for the Church in general but it doth not follow thervpon that we ought to inuocate them or to serue them God hauing not commaunded it yea hauing forbidden it and they not knowing our hearts and besides Iesus Christ calling vs vnto himselfe Saint Ierome in the Epitaph of Nepotian holdeth for a thing assured that he is in the heauenly glory g Scimus Nâ—potianâ— nostâ—um esse cum Chrâ—sto sanctorum mixâ—â— choris We know saith he that our friend Nepotian is with Christ and mingled among the quier of Saints And neuerthelesse he holdeth that Nepotian neither vnderstood nor saw the things which were said or done in the earth For he saith h Quicquid dixero quia illâ— no audit mutuÌ„ videtur Whatsoeuer I shall say vnto him will seeme dumbe because he heareth it not i Cum quo loqui non possumus de eo loqui nunquaÌ„ desinamus Againe let vs not cease to speake of Nepotian with whom we can no longer speake Againe k Felix Nepotianus qui haec non videt qui haec non audit happy Nepotian who neither heareth nor seeth these thinges Thence it came that many of the auncients did pray those who were about to die to haue them in-remembrance when they should be in Paradise because they thought it would be to late to pray vnto them after their death The same Ierome l Lib 4 cap. 14. Quod si in aliquo fiducia est in solo Domino confidamus Maledictus enim omnis homo qui spem habet in homine quaÌ„uis sancti sint quaÌ„uis prophetae vpon Ezechiell if there be confidence in any let vs put our confidence in God alone for cursed is the man who trusteth in man albeit they bee Saints albeit they be Prophets Agreeable to Origen in the 4. Homilie vpon Ezechiell towards the end m Ad cos qui in sanctis fiduciam habent non incongrue profertur exemplum Maledictus homo qui spem habet in homine To those who put their confidence in Saints this example may fitly be applyed cursed is the man who putteth his hope in the Saints There is among the workes of Saint Ierome a commentary vpon the Prouerbs which whether it be of Beda or of Ierome it conteineth this sentence n Lib. 1. cap. 2. Nullum inuocare id est in nos orando vocare nisi Deum debemus We ought not to inuocate that is to say to cal towards vs by prayers any other then God Saint Austine in his twenty two tract vpon Saint Iohn o Hoc tibi dicit Saluator tuus Non est quo eas nisi ad me Non est quá eas nisi per me This is it which thy Sauiour saith vnto thee thou hast not whether to goe saue onely to me neither cannest thou goe saue onely by me And vpon the Psalme 118. p Oratio quae non sit per Christum non solum non potest delere peccatum sed etiam ipsa sit in peccatum the prayer which is not made through Iesus Christ cannot onely not blot out sinne but it selfe is turned into sinne and against the Epistle of Parmenian q Lib 2. cap 8 Nam si esset mediator Paulus essent vtique caeteri Apostoli ac sic multi mediatores essent Nec ipsi Paâ—lo consta retratio qua dixerat Vnus Deus Vnus mediator c. if S. Paul were mediator so should the rest of the Apostles be and by that meanes there should be many Mediatours and so Saint Paul should haue mistaken himselfe in saying there is one onely God and one onely Mediatour Now it is to be noted that he doth not speake in that Chapter but of Mediator of intercession for he disputeth against Parmenian who had called the Bishop Mediator betweene God and men howbeit Parmenian did not vnderstand that the Bishop was the Redeemer of the people The same Doctor hath made a booke of the care to be had of the dead wherein he disputeth at large that the dead know not that which is done here beneath neyther doe they intermeddle with the affaires of the liuing his reasons are that if that were so his deare mother Monica who had followed him by Sea and by Land would not haue forsaken him but would haue stood by him euery night That Abraham himselfe father of the Israelites knew not his posterity which also complayneth thereof in Esay that God himselfe promised to Iosias for a great blessing that he should not see the euils denounced against that people but that he should die before whereupon he concludeth r Ibi ergo sunt spiritus desanctorum vbi non vident quaecunque aguntur aut eueniunt in ista vita hominibus Quomodo ergo vident tumulos suos aut corpora sua vtrum abiecta iaceant an sepulta The spirits then of the deceased are in place where they see not all the things which are done or which happen vnto men in this life How then should they see their graues or their corps whether they lie cast out and abandoned or whether they be buried And in c. 15. Å¿ Proinde fatendum est nescire quidem mortuos quid hic â—gitur dum hic agitur postea vero audire ab eis qui hinc ad eos moriendo pergunt We must confes that the dead know nothing of that which is done here whilst it is a doing but that they vnderstand it aftewards from those who dying goe from hence vnto them Yet doubtlesse not all things but that which is permitted them to declare vnto those to whom it is granted to haue it in remembrance and that which is expedient for them to know They may also learne something of the Angels who haue intercourse while things are done here below I make the Reader Iudge how we can call vpon the Saints departed if we must stand till some one of our friends die to report our prayers vnto them or if it be necessary that an Angell should goe from hence below to aduertise them aboue Obserue also that this good Doctour neuer bethought himselfe of that looking-glasse forged of late for indeede he neuer tooke his degrees in the faculty
Non verbum verbo curabit reddere fidus Interpres Horat. in Art poet but retayning the strength and sinew of the Sentence I haue rendred it as best fitted the property of speech in our owne language Where the Kings words were to be inserted I haue chosen rather to follow his Maiesties owne Coppy then the French Translation which sometimes varyeth from it neyther haue I therein wronged mine Author Wherefore omitting those smaller mistakes which the discreete will passe ouer with an easie censure whether they bee wordes redundant as in or the twice repeated Or Syllables disioyned as often for often or letters transposed as villaines for villanies or wordes ill orthographized as Epostle and daceiue in one page for Apostle and deceiue Likewise Alminacke Letonies terent for Almanacke Letanies torrent c. Those other which are represented in the end of the booke I leaue to thy courtesie necessarily to be amended being such as import the matter and in which the Composers omitting or not well reading the wordes interlined wherein I sometimes corrected my selfe haue thrust in their owne coniectures Farewell TO THE READER MAy it please thee gentle Reader to vnderstand that after we had finished our worke and that the booke was now ready to come forth there came to my hands certaine corrections and amplifications of some points from the Author himselfe earnestly intreating to haue them inserted which because they could not conueniently be brought in in their proper places the booke being already printed yet that we might doe him right against the malice of his captious Aduersaries I thought it good to bestow them in this page requesting thee of thy charity which couereth a multitude of sinnes at once to pardon both our faults Page 30.14 reade the last Canon 45.25 r. as though he affirmed it without knowledge and spake it onely vpon trust 80.23 r. iudged to be vniust 181.7 r. the earth is almost full of the chips and pieces thereof Page 338.16 after the word men leaue out the whole sentence ending with the word Saluation then adde as followeth Onely we must note that this word Dulia hath a double and doubtfull signification and that there be two sorts of Dulia The one is a Religious action the other is onely a seruice an humane respect which is yeelded also to the liuing As for that kinde of Dulia which is a Religious worship the holy scripture forbiddeth it to be giuen to any saue onely to God alone as 1. Sam. 7.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prepare your hearts to the Lord and yeeld Dulia or Seruice to him alone And S. Austin Quaest 94. vpon Exodus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debetur Deo tanquam Domino Doulia is due to GOD as to him who is MASTER And de Ciuit. Dei lib. 10. cap. 1. Religio non est nisi Dei cultus Religion is nothing else but the seruice of God plainly shewing that the seruing of the Creatures is not an action of Religion But if we take the word Dulia for a respect and seruice done vnto men and not for a religious action our aduersaries doe amisse to say that they serue the Saints or other Images with Dulia seeing they yeeld them a religious seruice and a voluntary worship tending to the attainment of saluation Againe ibid line 29. reade that then no miracles were wrought by their Images Page 367.13 r. the whole earth is full of the peeces of it 399.27 Modicum quodque delictum mora resurrectionis illic luendo Page 425.27 r. in the 9. Distinction and the 9. Canon of the Councell of Antioch and the 17. Canon of the Councell of Chalcedon These wordes of the Canon of Antioch are for a marginall note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 433. blot out the 8. last lines and the first line of the next page Page 440.21 read So in the 6. generall Councell Pope Honorius is condemned as an Hereticke and cast out of the Catholicke Church in the 13. Act and the same Councell assembled in the palace in the 13. Act doth by name condemne the Church of Rome c. Page 441.17 reade the 11. Homily of S. Chrysostome vpon Matthew Page 454.14 reade that Christ is an head more absolute and greater then the Pope and that the Pope is of lesse vertue then the holy Ghost Page 470.12 reade vpon the foundation layd by another Apostle The fame and good report and the mutuall communication of the strangers that were Christians with the Romanes had planted the Christian Religion at Rome but the Church of Rome required the presence of some Apostle for her full establishment A Table of the principall matters contained in this worke THE FIRST BOOKE ¶ Of the Vsurpation of Popes ouer Kings CHAP. 1. The occasion why IAMES the first King of Great Brittaine wrote his Booke together with a iudgement vpon Doctor Coeffeteaus Booke Pag. 1. CHAP. 2. Remonstrations of D. Coeffeteau with his iudgement touching the Treasons and attempts vpon the life of the King of England Pag. 16. CHAP. 3. Of Cardinals Pag. 23. CHAP. 4. Of Iesuites Pag. 39. CHAP. 5. Of the power of the Pope ouer the Temporalties of Kings and that he cannot take from Kings their Crownes nor free Subiects from the Oath of fidelitie and thereupon the reasons of Bellarmine are examined Pag. 45. CHAP. 6. Of the Clergie and their Exemptions Pag. 88. CHAP. 7. Of the Authoritie of Emperours and Kings ouer the Bishops of Rome that they haue chosen them punished them and degraded them That Princes haue had power ouer Bishops and their Temporalties The first seede of Poperie in England Pag. 105. CHAP. 8. That they who haue written against the King of Great Brittaine his Booke haue vniustly called him Apostata and Hereticke Pag. 128. THE SECOND BOOKE ¶ A defence of the Confession of IAMES the first King of great Britaine ARTICLE 1. Of the Creede Pag. 133. ART 2. Of the Fathers in generall Pag. 134. ART 3. Of the authority of the Fathers each apart by themselues Pag. 135. ART 4. Of the authority of the holy Scripture Pag. 143. ART 5. Of the Canonical and Apocrypha books Pag. 145 ART 6. Of the memory of Saints and of their Holy-dayes Pag. 154. ART 7. Of the Virgin Mary Pag. 164. ART 8. Of the suffrages of Saints and of the seruice due vnto them Pag. 173. ART 9. Of the Masse without Communicants or Assistants and of the Sacrifice of the Masse Pag. 202. ART 10. Of the Communion vnder one kinde Pag. 246. ART 11. Of Transubstantiation Pag. 258. ART 12. Of the Adoration of the Host Pag. 271. ART 13. Of the eleuation of the Host that it may be adored Pag. 274. ART 14. Of carrying their God in Procession Pag. 275. ART 15. Of workes of Supererogation and of super abundant Satisfaction and of the Treasury of the Church Pag. 276. ART 16. Of the baptizing of Bels. Pag. 308. ART 17. Of the Reliques of Saints Pag. 311.
tumultuarily and in hast hath not had this curiosity It remaineth to examine the place of S. Austin of which euery one that hath a quicke smell will acknowledge the corruption and falsification First of all because it is not credible that this holy Personage would oppose himselfe single to the whole Church of his time and to all the Doctors that went before him and namely to the Councell of Carthage whereat himselfe had beene a present assistant Secondly because it is not credible that S. Austin would contradict himselfe for in the sixe and thirty Chapter of the eighteenth booke of the Citie of God he speaketh thus The supputation of these times since the building vp of the Temple is not found in the holy Scriptures which are called Canonicall but in other bookes among which are the Maccabees Is it possible to say in more plain and expresse termes that the Maccabees are not holy Scriptures nor Canonicall bookes But heere wee admire a pretty pleasant folly and stupidity of a taile handsomely fastened and sowed on by some Monke for after all this they make S. Austin to adde Which bookes not the Iewes but the Church boldeth for Canonicall O grosse Imposture After that hee had simply set downe that the Maccabees are not holy nor Canonicall Scriptures would hee say that the Church receiueth them for Canonicall By the same fraude this other place of S. Austin which Coeffeteau alleadgeth hath beene falsified Let vs adde hereunto that S. Austin cap. 23. of his second booke against Gaudentius answereth thus vnto Gaudentius who serued himselfe with the example of Razis who killed himselfe whereof mention is made in the second booke of the Maccabees The Iewes do not hold this booke in the same rancke with the law the Prophets and the Psalmes to which Iesus Christ beareth witnesse is they that beare record of him But this booke is receiued by the Church not vnprofitably if men read it soberly principally because of the sufferings of certaine Martyrs Who feeth not that he doth weaken the authority of these bookes in that Iesus Christ doth giue no testimony vnto them And if these bookes haue not beene reckoned for holy Scripture amongst the faithfull of the olde Testament I maruell when they became holy Scripture It is also a poynt very considerable that in this place of S. Austin produced by Coeffeteau Ecclesiasticus is put among the Canonicall bookes in which booke it is said cap. 46. Samuel prophesied after his death and declared vnto King Saul his death lifting vp his voyce out of earth An opinion which S. Austin doth condemne in his booke of Questions on the old Testament in the 27 Question saying Porrò autem hoc esi praestigium Satanae quo vt plurimos fallat etiam bonos se in potestate habere confingit that it is a great indignity to beleeue it and maintaineth that it was an illusion of Satan who to deceiue many faineth to haue good men in his power And in his booke of the care that men ought to haue of the dead after hauing spoken doubtfully he saith that men * Huic libro ex Hebraeorum Canone quia â—n eo non est contradicâ—tur controule the booke of Ecclesiasticus because it is not in the Canon of the Hebrews And in his booke of the eight Questions to Dulichius Quaest 6. he canuasseth this Question by way of Probleme leaning notwithstanding to the opinion that it was a meere fantasme or vaine apparition See hereupon the Canon Nec mirum in the Cause 26. Quest 6. where also S Austin is alleadged maintayning that this was done by enchantment Whence I conclude Caietan in fin-Commentaâ—oruÌ„ ad Historiam vet Test Ne turberis No uities si alicubi reperis libros istos inter Canonicos supputari vel in Sacris Con cilijs vel in Sacris Doctoribus Non. nâ—sunt Canonici id est regalares ad probandum ea quae sunt fidei possunt tamen Canonici dici ad aedificationem fidelium that S. Austin should contradict himselfe if after hauing refuted the opinion of Ecclesiasticus he should afterwards put him in the role of the Canonicall bookes These falshoods hauing not beene acknowledged by Cardinall Caietan droue him to finde out another euasion Be not astonished or troubled O thou who art but a Nouice in Diuinity if somtimes thou find eyther in the Councels or in the Doctors these bookes to be counted among the Canonicall For they are not Canonicall to proue the points of faith Notwithstanding they may be called Canonicall for the edification of the faithfull ARTICLE VI. Touching the memory of Saints and of their Feasts and holy dayes AS for the Saints departed I honour their memory The KINGS Confession and in honour of them doe wee in our Church obserue the dayes of so many of them as the Scripture doth Canonize for Saints but I am loath to beleeue all the tales of the Legended Saints Here Coeffeteau beginneth to skirmish without neede Fol 13. He complayneth for that the King speaketh onely of solemnizing the memory of those Saints of whom mention is made in the Scripture He saith that the Church of Smyrna did celebrate the feast of the Martyrdome of Polycarp That Basil did recommend the Feasts of S. Iulitta and of the forty Martyrs That Gregory Nazianzene did solemnize with the other Christians the Feast of S. Cyprian and S. Gregory of Nissa that of the Martyr Theodore That Cyprian commanded that they should marke out the dayes of the Passion of the Martyrs to the end that they mighcelebrate their memories That S. Austins twentieth booke against Faustus Manicheus cap. 21. saith that the Christian people did celebrate the memories of the Martyrs And yet that S. Polycarpe S. Iulitta c. are no Saints of whom there is any mention in the Scripture Hee addeth notwithstanding that the Church of England is in that lesse irreligious then the Caluinists of Fraunce who haue cut off all sorts of holy-daies of Saints aswell Apostles as others As touching the Legends We are saith hee no more credulous of them then you He saith he doth not receiue miracles vnlesse they be approued by the publique testimony of the Church and that euen in the first ages they suggested and foysted in false actes of Martyrs These passages which he alleadgeth are in part false partly they are of no vse to proue the Question Let vs begin with the falshood First in alleadging out of Eusebius the example of the Church of Smyrna who buried the bones of Polycarpe with honour and celebrated his memory Anniuersarily euery yeare there is no mention made of his Feast or Holy-day but onely of a day dedicated to the commemoration of his Martyrdome Ignorantes nos ChristuÌ„nunquam relinquere qui pro totius seruan dorum mundi salute passus est nec alium quenquam colere posse Nam hunc quidem tanquaÌ„ filium Dei adoramus Martyres verò
called Corpus Christi day to giue him contentment For seeing that euery Saint had his Feast it was iust and reasonable that God should haue his also 6 Then they sung no Masses in honour of the Saint whose Feast they celebrated And these Masses carry now a dayes the name of the Saint There is the Masse of S. Geneuiefue the Masse of S. Roth the Masse of S. Anthony c. Amongst which Masses we see in the same rancke the Masse of the Holy Ghost to testifie that the rest are not of that stampe 7 Then they did not diuersifie the furniture and preparation for their Masses in singing great or lesser Masses according to the greatnesse of the Feast Men were ignorant also of the distinction of high and low Masses Drie Masses and running Masses Masses in white or in greene There is nothing so pie-bald and new-fangled The Apostles vnderstood nothing in a manner in all this 8 Also in those times men knew not what it was to ground Feasts vpon an Allusion of Sillables As now adayes the Feast of the Mat-makers which they call Nattices is the day of the Natiuity of our Lady the Feast of Fel-mongers is Magdalen tyde La Magdalaine because they make L'amas de Laine an heape of wooll the Feast of Cooke-rosters is the Assumption of our Lady because assum is Latine for rosted The Feast of the Tylers or Slatters is Ascension day because they ascende and climbe the tops of houses Because Alga alludeth to Algeo which is to quake with colde So in the Physicke Alga aduersus querquerum as Apuleius speaketh You must giue Sea-weede or Sea-ore to one that is in a shiuering colde fit of the Ague Or to giue to a man that is hard bound a bunch of Keyes because there is nothing more opening Oh what a good time haue my Masters the Prelates had and how haue they dallied with Religion at their idle howers 9 But I would willingly know how it commeth to passe that those auncient Patriarkes such excellent personages Abraham Moses Dauid Daniel to whom there will not any be found comparable of all that haue liued within these fifteene hundred yeares how they notwithstanding all this haue no Feasts in the Church of Rome that no man prayeth in particular to Moses nor Samuel c. that no Temple beareth their name that it would indeede seeme a thing ridiculous to say S. Moses or S. Daniel or S. Iosaphat seeing that for a man but to beare the name of Isaac or Daniel or Abraham is enough to make a man to be suspected as a marke of Heresie If a man demaund whence commeth this great multitude of Feasts I say that auarice hath hatched them and that ambition hath bred them vp for the more Festiuall holy-dayes that there be the more often men goe to the offering and the pardons are more frequent when artisans and tradsemen shut vp their shoppes then the Priests open theirs The Prelates also are herein much honored for it is a great honour to these great Masters that at their commaundement the trafficke ceaseth the shops are shut vp the Sessions of the Iustices and of the Priuy Councell are by them broken vp And therefore when they are among themselues they gaude and mocke at the simplicity of the people For indeede they liue vpon their blindenes Let them then set vp the auncient simplicity againe let them restore to the Churches the liberty of gouerning themselues heerein according to the exigence of the time and place and we will not condemne their Feasts For indeede we doe not condemne this celebration of the memory of Martyrs and of Saints We like well the custome of the English Churches who haue certaine dayes affected and applyed to the commemoration of the Apostles for they are done without imposing necessity of keeping strict Holy-dayes and without opinion of merite without commandement of the Pope and without condemning the French Churches who hitherto haue feared to assigne any Feasts to any man because that liuing in a Countrey where superstitions doe swarme their people would easily be drawne into abuse and attainted with that running and ouer-spreading contagion which is to attribute that to the creature which belongeth to the Creator Meane while we let not to celebrate in our Churches the memory of the Saints and Martyrs but without any set day And we hold this rule for inuariable that God hauing said in his law in expresse termes Sixe dayes shalt thou labour he opposeth himselfe against God who saith Thou shalt not worke sixe dayes but thou shalt keepe holy those Feasts on the weeke dayes which I commaund thee Now if in the old Testament there be found any solemnities or Feasts besides the Sabboth day they are very few in number and ordayned by God himselfe who as he can giue the rules so also can he giue the exceptions Or if there be any feast found that was instituted by men you shall neuer be able to prooue that it was held vnlawfull to trauell vpon that day There should yet remaine to speake somewhat of Legends but I see that Coeffeteau is ashamed of them and would cast the blame vpon some particulars Legends neuerthelesse which haue beene for a long time yet are both in Italy and Spaine the subiect of Sermons yea very Fraunce is not exempt And those very miracles of which Coeffeteau is ashamed are those which we see painted on the walles and in the hangings of the Church As at Paris in the Cloyster of S. Geruase an Asse worshippeth and adoreth the Hoste neere thereto adioyning the Bees build a Chappell of waxe for an Hoste which they found in the fieldes In the Temple of S. Paul behinde the Quire on the left hand after the miracles of S. Roche painted promise is made vnto the people that they shall be healed of the swelling of the plague by adoring his pretious body at S. Benedict or S. Benets Cloyster wee see the said Saint tumbling himselfe starke naked amongst thornes and stopping the dogges with the signe of the Crosse In the forefront of the Church called Des Billettes an Hoste being pricked and stabbed by a Iew bleedeth with great droppes and being cast into a seething Caldron became a man in his visible greatnesse that is to say Iesus Christ boyling in a Caldron An infinite company of such things are so publick that Coeffeteau cannot condemne them without opposing himselfe to the whole Church of Rome Fictions that were built vp by the fauour of the night whiles they put the holy Scripture the onely light of our soules vnder a bushell And indeede very lately there haue beene composed two great Tomes of the Chronicles of S. Frauncis which challenge all the Legends and giue place to none of them for lies Insomuch that S. Dominicke Coeffeteaus Patron will henceforward be nothing in comparison of S. Frauncis ARTICLE VII Touching the Virgin Mary The KINGS Confession AND first for the blessed Virgin Mary I
yeelde her that which the Angell Gabriel pronounced of her and that which in her Canticle she prophesied of her selfe that is That she ¶ Luc. 1.28 is blessed amongst women and * Ibid. ver 48. That all generations shall call her blessed I reuerence her as the Mother of Christ whom of our Sauiour tooke his flesh and so the mother of God since the Diuinity and Humanity of Christ are inseperable And I freely confesse that she is in glory both aboue Angels and men her owne Sonne that is both God and man onely excepted But I dare not mocke her and blaspheme against God calling her not onely Diua but Dea and praying her to commaund and controule her Sonne who is her God and her Sauiour Nor yet can J thinke that she hath no other thing to doe in heauen then to heare euery idle mans suite and bufie her selfe in their errands whiles requesting whiles commanding her sonne whiles comming downe to kisse and make loue with Priests and whiles disputing and brawling with Diuels In heauen she is in eternall glory and ioy neuer to be interrupted with any worldly businesse and there I leaue her with her blessed Sonne our Sauiour and hers in eternall felicity Here Coeffeteau playeth the sugitiue and that little which he murmureth in flying are partely falsehoods partely disguisings of the beliefe of his Church He graunteth to the King that she ought not to be called Goddesse and reiecteth with him a thousand ridiculous things and the false honours which superstition hath inuented Now I cannot diuine what Religion it is that giueth to the holy Virgin ridiculous or excessiue honours saue onely the Romane Religion It is onely the Romane religion that calleth her Queene of heauen the gate of Paradise Regina coeli pâ—rta paradisi Domina mundi hauing rule and dominion ouer the world they are the Titles which are giuen to her in the prayer that Sixtus the fourth hath willed to be said before the Image of our Ladie of Loretto with graunt of eleauen thousand yeares pardon I my selfe haue seene in the great Missâ—lles of Paris before the late Popes new plastered them ouer these Sapphicke verses barborously elegant O fellix puer pera Nostra pians scelera Iure matris impera Redemptori It is also in the Church of Rome that throughout all the Churches the Virgin Mary is painted lifted vp and assumed into heauen in body and solemnly crowned Queene of heauen and of all the world without being able to produce any witnes of worth for the same Seeing there is none that euer came backe from heauen that had said that he had seene it to be so And God saith nothing of it in his word neither doth the Auncient Church speake of it It is the Church of Rome also which maketh the Virgin Mary much more inclined to procure our good then Iesus Christ euen so farre as that shee must appease the wrath and indignation of her sonne against vs as they sing vpon the Feast of Alhallowes or Al-Saints Christe redemptor gentium Conserua tuos famulos Beatae semper Virginis Placatus sanctis precibus And so Pope Innocent the third speaketh in the Hymne of Christ and the Virgin to which hee addeth great indulgences Precor te regina caeli Me habeto excusatum Apud Christum tuum gnatum Cuius iram pertimesco Et furorem expauesco This Church of Rome who in her houres Rosaries and Letaines calleth the Holy Virgin Mother of mercie Gate of Heauen our Saluation She that hath bruised the head of the Serpent as also Genesis 3.15 this propertie of bruising the Serpents head which is there giuen to the seede of the Woman in the vulgar translation is attributed to the Woman by a wicked falsification In a word for the toppe of all abuses there are in the Church of Rome two Psalters of our Ladie one of which is called Saint Bonauenture Psalter which is nothing else but the one hundred and fifty Psalmes of Dauid in which they haue taken away the name of God and in it's roome haue put the name of Mary which hauing beene printed an infiuite number of times in Latine hath since beene translated into French and printed at Paris a At Paris by Claudius Chappelet in S. Iames his street at the signe of the Vnicorne 1601. Printed at Paris by Nicolas du Fosse in S. Iames his streete at the golden pot 1601. with priuilede and approbation of the Sorbonne The other Psalter is digested into fifteene Demaunds with like approbation of the Doctrines In which the Virgin Mary is called the first cause of our saluatioÌ„ the finder out of grace that turneth away the indignation of Iesus Christ by vncouering her paps vnto him The Rose by whose smell the dead are raised vp who by the faire Lillies of her face made the King of Heauen in loue with her who at the last day shall moderate the sentence of the Iudge euen so far haue they proceeded as to place her before Iesus Christ in these wordes Glory be to you O Virgin and to Iesus Christ c. It would doe well to report the wole booke Moreouer euery one knoweth how in Italy they speake with much more respect of La madoma then of God whom they call by a terme full of mis-regard Messer Domene Dio Lect. 80. Confugimus primo ad beatissiman vir ginem coelorum reginam cui Rex regum pater celestis dimidium regni sui dedit Quod significatum est in Ester regina Sic pater coelestis cum habeat institiam misericordiam iustitia sibi retenta misericordiam matri virgini concessit Of whom also Gabriel Biel a famous Doctor saith in his exposition of the Canon of the Masse That God hath diuided his Kingdome at halfes with the Virgin Mary hauing reserued Iustice to himselfe and left mercy vnto her Now these things are not drawne out of any obscure authours but out of their owne Missalles Letonies and publicke prayers out of the writings of their Popes and Psalters publickly allowed to the end that Coeffeteau may know that in condemning these things hee warreth against the whole Church of Rome and commeth no longer with a cold dissimulation to disguise his owne priuate beleefe Which shall serue for an answere to that place of Cyril which he alleadgeth where the virgin Mary is called the singular ornameÌ„t of the world A lampe that neuer goeth out the Crown of Virginitie c. For in all this there is not any one of these titles wicked such as are those which we haue before represented no nor the title which Coeffeteau giueth her calling her the Spouse of the Father which is a title which the Scripture giueth to the whole Church not to the Virgin Mary It is not for vs in things of so high nature out of iollity to forge new terms which are to the weake occasion of error or of stumbling The passage which hee alleadgeth
the Article which followeth ARTICLE VIII Touching prayers to Saints and the seruice that is due vnto them The KINGS Confession T S for prayer to Saints Christ I am sure hath commaunded vs to Come all to him that are loaden with sinne and he will relieue vs and S. Paul hath forbidden vs to worshippe Angels or to vse any such voluntary worship Math. 11 28. Col 28.28 that hath a shew of humility in that it spareth not the flesh But what warrant we haue to haue recourse vnto these Dâ—j Penates or Tutelares these Courtiers of God I know not I remit that to these philosophicall neotericke Diuines It satisfieth me to pray to God through Christ as I am commaunded which I am sure must be the safest way and I am sure the Safest way is the best way in points of saluation Hereupon Coeffeteau confounding the Kings whole discouery he beginneth by a complaint that his Maiesty calleth Tutelary and familiar Gods those lesser Saints to whom many of the people do vow themselues in particular and of whom they set the Images vpon their Cupboords or ouer their Chimneyes But his Maiesty doth not intend to call the Saints familiars nor Tutelarie Gods neyther doth he say that in the Church of Rome they call them so onely he meaneth that the Church of Rome hath substituted them in place of the Tutelarie and domesticall gods and that hee doth entertaine them after the same fashion For the Paynims had their tutelarie gods ouer euery town and ouer euery Countrey Iuno was Lady-gardian of Carthage Venus of Cyprus and of Paphos Pallace of the Countrey of Attica Mars and Quirinus of Rome c. so the Church of Rome hath Saints that are Patrons of Cities and Countries Saint Marke of Venice S. Geneuiefue of Paris S. Iames of Spain S. Dennis of France c. and as the Paynims did distribute charges amongst their gods so in the Church of Rome euery Saint hath his charge apart The hunters did inuocate Diana now adaies they haue recourse to S. Eustace S. Nicholas who now is called vpon by the Pilots and Sea-faring men hath taken the place of Castor and Pollux The good Goddesse Lucina who was assisting to women that trauelled in childe-birth hath now giuen place to S. Margaret for so her Legend saith that the Dragon hauing swallowed her downe she made the signe of the Crosse in his belly wherewith he burst asunder and she came forth through the breach which was a kinde of lying in S. Christopher with his huge body hath succeeded Hercules for so they make him also to carry a clubbe There wanted yet a Queene of heauen in the place of Iuno and this holy and glorious Virgin hath beene dishonoured with so prophane a title yea the very habites and furniture of the gods haue beene transported to the Saints The Genij or Penates household gods had a dogge by their side and so hath S. Roche The Image of Iames carried a Key so doth that of S. Peter Iupiter a man had hornes on his head such doe they giue to Moses Isis carried a Timbrell and S. Gennasius a Violin Those circles which you see about the head of the Saints in picture are those Arches and shaddowes wherewith they couered their gods to fence them from the dust In like manner are the Officers distributed in Paradise in a goodly order and with diuersity of furniture and prouision For his Holines and the Church of Rome haue taken order for it We are ashamed to produce these things whiles they are not ashamed to doe them and we blush at that of which they haue no shame at all If we would prolong this Discourse we would easily shew that a good part of these Patrons and Tutelary Saints are Saints which neuer were they liue without hauing euer beene borne and are entred into the Church without euer entring into the world the painters are wonted to make characters pictures in a manner speaking as when they paint Iustice with a paire of ballances Time like an olde man winged The Fryer like a lame god because the wood doth susteyne him so the auncients did figure the faith of a beleeuing man by a woman swollowed vp of Sathan but who did get forth againe victoriously and trample the Diuell vnder her feet And of this Image they haue made their Saint Margaret so the Christian was painted as passing ouer a violent land-flood but hauing Iesus Christ with him Praesertim cum sit manifestum in omnem Italiam Galliam Hispaniam Africam nullum instituisse Ecclesias nisi eos quos Apostolus Petrus aut successores eius constitueruÌ„t Legant autem si in his prouincijs alius Apostolus inuenitur aut legitur docuisse c. who did burden him indeede but yet did conduct him This Image hath produced a new Saint whom they call S. Christopher Of the launce which pierced the body of our Lord they haue made S. Longis because that Lonchi in the vulgar pronunciation of the Greeke tongue signifieth a Launce Men runne with incredible zeale to S. Iames of Compostella in Spaine where they say that hee preached and that his bones remaine there and yet in the meane time it is well knowne that S. Iames was neuer in Spaine Pope Innocent in the twelfth distinction in the Canon Quis nesciat doth stoutly and stiffely maintaine that there was neuer any Apostle in Spaine and that neyther in Fraunce nor in Affrica nor in Spaine any planted Church saue they whom S. Peter and his successors sent thither The Story also of his life recyted by Iohn Beleth and Iacobus de Voragine great personages saith that he came into Spaine before he was put to death by Herod Act. 12. It must needes bee then that he came into Spaine almost about the time that Iesus Christ suffered for S. Iames suruiued Christ but a while after his death His body being put on Ship-boord went of it selfe without Pilot or any guidance into Spaine Queene Lupa raigning then in Spaine Now it is well knowne that at that time there was neyther King nor Queene in Spaine and that it was wholly subiect to the Romane Empire The same is to be said of S. Denis the Areopagite whom men say to haue planted the Gospell in Fraunce and hauing suffered Martyrdome vnder the Emperour Domitian as saith Methodius he carried his head betweene his hands from Mont-Martre as farre as S. Denis where he lyeth interred The reuiuing of learning and good letters hath discouered the falshood of such inuentions For the most auncient Christian Historian that euer was in Fraunce Sub Aurelio Antonini filio persecutio quinta agitata ac tunc primum inter Gallias martyria visa serius trans alpes religione transgressa is Sulpitius Seuerus who in the second booke of his story sheweth that there were no Martyrdomes in Fraunce vnder Domitian nor a long time after and that the first Martyrdomes which were seene in
Fraunce were vnder Marcus Aurelius the sonne of Anthony that is to say in the yeare of our Lord 162. threescore and fiue yeares after the death of Domitian whosoeuer shall calculate the times shall find that Denis the Ariopagite was then Iudge in Ariopagus at the time when S. Paul conuerted him whence it is to be presumed that he was at least thirty or fiue and thirty yeare olde which time if you extend as farre as to the raigne of Marcus Aurelius he should haue liued some hundred and fiftie yeares and also should die by torment before that he was broken by olde age We could produce others in this point but this sufficeth to iustifie the King of great Britaine who though he should haue called the Saints that neuer were Tutelary gods yet should there not bee iust cause to reprehend him After this Caeffeteau comes to the authorities of the Fathers surely this matter should well deserue some commaundement from God One Ordinance of God had cut off al difficulty and had been more of value then a thousand testimonies of men But Coeffeteau could finde none for indeede there is none Being not able then to draw out of the Diuine spring he seekes heere and there for the Cesternes of men Our aduersaries tell vs that they receiue the Fathers for interpreters of the Scripture but the passages are drawne out of phrases of the Fathers in which they doe not interprete the scripture but what will become of the matter if these quotations be to no purpose if indeede they be false And that is it which we are to shew Basill in his oration of the 40. Martyrs saith indeed that some in their necessity had recourse vnto them but he doth nor commaund to doe it as Bellarmine will haue it in b Where he pâ—â—â—teth confugiat for confugit and oret for orat falsifying this place Aliud est quod docemus aliud quod sustinemus donec emendemus tolarare compellimur a man must not maruaile if a people newly crept out of Paganisme did retaine something of their owne Custome and oftentimes the Bishops caryed away with the terrent of popular zeale were constrained to tollerate these abuses Saint Austine in his twentieth booke against Faustus the Manichee Chap. 21 confesseth that many dranke drunke ouer the Sepulchres of the dead but withall he addeth it is one thing that we teach another that we tollerate it is one thing that which we are commaunded to teach another thing we are commaunded to correct and which we are constrained to beare withall vntill that it bee amended And in the first booke of the manners of the Catholicke Church Chap. 24. I know many saith hee who doe adore the Sepulchres and pictures I know many who drinke most excessiuely ouer the dead The good Bishops saw these maladies in their flockes which being desirous to amend they haue beene often hindred by the sedition of the people as appeareth by the Counsell of Carthage where the Bishops of Affrica being desirous to abolish the abuse which was committed at the sepulchres of the Martyrs they feare to be hindred by the tumult of the rude people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If say they men be hindred to doe this by the vprore of the people at least wise let the multitude be admonished not to assemble in these places Coeffeteau then had alleadged this to purpose if he had the generall custome of the Church of those times or some prayer to Saints made in the publicke seruice instead of producing the misguided deuotion of some particular men In the second place he aleadgeth the oration of Gregory Nyssen in the praise of the Martyr Theodore which we haue heretofore evicted of falsehood After this he produceth the oration of Grogory Nazianzen vpon Saint Basill And here againe his vnfaithfull dealing appeareth for hee dessembleth the wordes going before which serue for a solution where Saint Gregory sheweth that that which he saide to Saint Basill being deceased is onely by opinion and by coniecture These are his wordes And now Basill is in the heauens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 offering as I thinke sacrifices for vs and praying for the people hee speaketh as being assured thereof we know also that the custome of Orators who speake in praise of any man is to make Rhetoricall appellation to the dead and to speake to the absent as to men present The Bookes of the Paynims are full of these examples See how Plinie speaketh to Ciciro long before deceased in his seauenth booke and thirtyeth Chapter Salue primus omnium parens patriae appellate To Gregory Coeffeteau addeth the Catechisme of Cyrill which are falâ—ely attributed vnto him Gesner in his Bibliotheca witnesseth that this booke is found in written hand vnder the name of one Iohn of Ierusalem Gretzer a Germiane Iesuit in his booke for Pilgrimages page 354. witnesseth the same Harding in his Treatise of Accidents without subiect Section the 6. saith that in his time this booke was not fouâ—d but manuscript and knowne to a fewe And the foolery which is found in the 24. Catechise when he saith that the wood of the Crosse doth increase and multiply in such fort that the earth is full thereof sheweth that this booke was written many ages since doubtlesse by this Iohn of Ierusalem an aduocate for Images who liued in the yeare 767. See the Ecclesiasticall Stories of Vigner in the yeare 767. Afterwards commeth a place of Saint Austine It is iniurie to pray for a Martyr by whose prayers wee on the other side ought to be recommended This place is found indeed in his 17. Sermon De verbis Apostoli but not in the 80. Tract vpon Iohn as Coeffeteau alleadgeth it who spake by other mens report Now this place is not to the purpose for hee saith onely that the Saints pray for vs which thing wee haue neuer denyed we doe out of Godly considerations presume that albeit they know not the necessity of particular men yet they pray for the Church in generall But that wee should for this cause inuocate them or yeeld them any religious seruice Saint Austine doth not avouch Lastly Coeffeteau addeth Saint Ambrose who in his booke of Widdowes exhorteth Widdowes to pray to the Angells and Martyrs whom he calleth beholders of our liues and actions Here a man may see the humour of our Aduersaries which is to passe by the vertues of the Fathers and to set forth nothing but their vices and blemishes like Flyes who cast themselues vpon gaules and botches of bodies rather then vpon the sound parts The Reader then shall be aduertised that Saint Ambrose was chosen Bishop before he was baptised Hauing thus cast himselfe at the first iumpe into a charge to the which hee was no way prepared no man ought to maruaile if in his beginnings he said somthings for which he afterwards corrected himselfe The booke of Widdowes is one of his first works wherein you may
say that he can doe that which hee cannot doe Iesus Christ himselfe neuer loued his Father more then with al his strength And here the truth is so strong that Bellarmine in the thirteenth Chapter of his booke of Monkes § Quod autem after that he had a long time labored and sweated therupon is constrained to correct this commaundement of God affirming that when God will be loued with All our heart and with all our strength by this word ALL we must vnderstand a part as if I should say that the right side signifie h the left or that white signifieth blacke Though this Prelate made no conscience to iest in this manner in the explication of so holy a sentence and the most important of all the worde of God and such as is an abridgement of the whole law at least he should haue beene affraid to bring in the diuell into partage with God for if God be content with one part of our heart it followeth that a man may giue the other parte to the diuell 7 Adde hereunto the Commandement of the Apostle S. Paul Philip. 4. Furthermore Brethren whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are pure whatsoeuer things pertaine to loue whatsoeuer things are of good report if there be any vertue and any praise thinke on those things I demaund then of these our Masters whether the workes of Supererogation be things iust or whether they be vertuous or things worthy of praise if they be not we must not employ our selues about them if they be iust and praise-worthy then are they demaunded by the Apostle They be not then workes not commaunded or ouer and aboue the commaundement of God For he doth not say doe nothing which is not iust as Bellarmine speaketh lewdly corrupting the wordes of the Apostle but he commaundeth vs to giue and apply our selues to whatsoeuer is iust and vertuous 8 Now if we cannot accomplish the law how much lesse shall wee be able to doe more then it commaundeth If Saint Paul Rom. 7 confesse that sinne dwelleth in him and that hee doth the euill which he would not doe and therefore calleth himselfe miserable man If S. Iames acknowledge that in many things we offend All. Iam. 3 â— 1. Ioh. 2. If Saint Iohn saith thâ—t If we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues If Iesus Christ haue commaunded all the faithfull to say euery day forgiue vs our trespasses If Dauid a man after Gods owne heart say Psalme 143. That in Gods sight no man liuing shall be iustified How can we doe any thing ouer and aboue seeing that we faile in that which is necessary That man is very ill aduised who being not able to pay his debts doth yet offer great gifts 9 But I would willingly aske of these Monks who doe more then God requireth and workes more then due whence they haue receiued the strength and ability to doe them They answere from God Then say I that if God hath giuen them this power it is not that it should remaine idle and vnprofitable but to the end to employ it Then are they bound to doe more then the law seeing that God giueth them strength thereunto otherwise they should bury the graces of God and should frustrate him of his end Now if they be bound it is no longer a Counsell they are no longer workes of Supererogation For indeede how could they do more good then they owe to God seeing that they owe themselues vnto him and haue nothing but of his liberality and that the good which they doe doth not profite God any thing Luc. 17.10 For if he who should doe all that God hath commaunded him is notwithstanding called by Iesus Christ an vnprofitable seruant let some man tell me wherein and how those men are more profitable vnto God who do many workes of Supererogation 10 For this cause also we shall neuer finde that the Apostles or their Disciples euer made any reckoning of their workes of Supererogation and not commaunded this is that Pharisaicall Leauen which puffeth vp the hearts and sowreth the spirites of men with hypocrisie and presumption For see here the wordes of the Pharisie Luk. 18. I am not like other men I fast twise in the weeke I giue tithe of al that I possesse Workes not commaunded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voluntarie deuotions traditions counsels of perfections 11 And indeede that we may not remooue all this meniall trash of workes of supererogation as it were to make a longer Lent then other men doe or to turne ouer our Pater-noster beads oftner or to haue more graines then ordinarie or to carrie great beads like Tennis balls after the manner of Hermites or to liue by going from dore to dore and in the day time to haue the street for his house or to carrie the wallet vpon the shoulder full of slices and gobbets halfe gnawen iust after the auncient manner of the Priests of the Syrian goddesse described by Apuleius in his 8. Booke of the golden Asse let vs speake onely of those workes which seeme the most specious They place in this ranke single life or perpetuall virginitie But they mistake themselues greatly Stipes aereas immo vere argenteas multis certatim offerentibus finu recepere patulo nec non vini cadum lactem caseos-auidis animis corradent es omnia in sacculos huic quaestui de industria praeparatos farcientes for there be two sorts of single life one which is with continencie and without being tickled with any vnchaste desire which hath no necessity of marrying The other which boyleth inwardly with heate hauing much adoe to containe This so farre is it from being meritorious that contrariwise it is a demerite to condemnation So farre is it that such a Virginity should be ouer and aboue the commaundement that it is indeed against the commandement for the Apostle S. Paul 1. Cor. 7 commaundeth such to marry Epistola ad Eustochium It is better to marry then to burne And S. Ierome who confesseth that amidds his Abstinencies did yet feele within himselfe the fewell of lust as an incentiue to whoredome was doubtlesse bound to marry But as touching continent Virginity the Apostle S. Paul doth counsell vs to continue in that estate as being more free and hauing lesse trouble and fitter for the seruice of God and to study to please him But for all that hee doth not recommend Virginity as a worke of Supererogation but as a condition of life more commodious to a beleeuing man for the time present So if I should counsell some one man in a corrupt age and in a place wherein vices are contagious and vertue is become odious to liue apart and not to entermeddle with the publique affaires to the end that he may serue God with more facility and to adde liberty to his innocency should it follow thereupon that I should esteeme a priuate life were a worke of
nothus de passione Clauis sacros pedes terebrantibus It is a thing also to be wondred how the nailes were found in the same place with the Crosse Seing that the custome of the Aunciens was to burie togither with the bodies of malefactors Inueniuntur ossa inserta catenis implicita the chains and yrons wherewith they suffered as appeareth in Plinies Epistles lib. 7. Epist. 27. where he reciteth the stories of a Ghost that appeared to the Philosopher Athenodorus And in Chrysostome in his Oration against the Gentils And Welserus * In coÌ„mentarijs rerum Vindelicarum coÌ„firmeth it in his seauenth booke of his Commentaries of Ausbourge In the meane time it appeareth by the place of Athanasius heretofore alleaged and by the simplicity of Constantine that this abuse began from that time to slide on and increase which was so farre growne in some places 400. yeares after Christ Noui multos esse sepulcrorum picturarum adoratores Noui multos esse qui super mortuos luxuriosissimè bibant that S. Austin in his first booke de Moribus Eccles doth greatly complaine of it I know saith he that there are many that adore Sepulchres and Pictures I know that there are many that drinke at large ouer the dead The same Austin in the 28. chapter of his booke of the labour of Monkes for in those daies they had each man his trade complaineth of some gadders vp and downe Membra martyrum Si tamen martyrum carriers about of reliques which they reported to be the limmes of Martyrs Yea saith he if so be that they be members of Martyrs The auncient Christians in the three first ages were wont to warme their zeale by the imbers of the Martyrs And because they had no Temples they assembled together in the Church-yardes where the Tombes of the Martyrs serued them for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tables to administer the Lords Supper This being at the first done onely as occasion and the present opportunity would permit was afterward made a law For in the fift Councell of Carthage the Altars are called Monuments or Tombes Where is to be noted that the Councel complaineth that many such false monuments were erected vpon dreames and vaine illusions and commaundeth to plucke them downe if the tumult of the people shall not hinder them which sheweth that superstition was already growne strong in this point Gregorie Bishop of Rome in the first booke of his Dialogues chap. 2. speaketh of one called Libertinus who alwaies carried about a hose of S. Honorate In those times our Kinges planted their whole Religion in founding of Monasteries and getting Relikes together thinking by these means to be saued King Dagobert tooke away all the Reliques from the other Saints to enrich the Temple of S. Denis S. Rusticus and S. Eleutherius whereupon there fell out great strife and debate among the Saints if wee beleeue the Chronicles of France For the Saints whom he had robbed and riffled as S. Hilarie S. Fremin c. adioyned themselues to the Deuils See this Story in Nicolas Gilles anno 645. and it is taken out of Turpin craued their helpe to carry the soule of this good King to hell But hee cal ed to the Saints whom he had enriched for succour who so valiantly resisted the other Saints and the Deuils that they plucked away his soule from them and carried it into Paradise Now a daies many superstitious persons are ashamed of their reliques and mocke at them And yet for all that it is held for an absolute and inuiolable Decree that euery Altar must haue his Reliques vnderneath it otherwise they cannot consecrate For after the Introite of the Masse the Priest bowing himselfe ouer the Altar asketh of God pardon of al his sins through the merits of those Saints whose bones lie hidde vnder the Altar This greatly auaileth to strike the people with a superstitious horrour and astonishment of hart and with a trembling deuotion it being done out of singular wisdome and vpon great consideration For it is credible that when Christ did administer his last supper that he closely conueighed vnder the table some bones of Samuel or some tooth of Sampsons Asses law bone And if Christ did not seeke saluation throgh their merits it was because those old Saints were worse stored and prouided of merits then they whom the Pope hath Canonized for Saints as S. Iuniper or S. Thomas of CaÌ„terbury defender of the crowne of England Concerning the Fathers whom Coeffeteau opposeth hereunto Chrysostome Ambrose and Austin are of the minde that the bodies of the Saints ought indeede to be honored and their sepulchres beautified and adorned But what is this against the King of England who saith asmuch As for those miracles which were done at those Sepulchres of which S. Austin speaketh God by them did authorize the doctrine of the Gospell which his faithfull seruants had vttered in word and signed with their bloud Such were the miracles wrought by the touch of Elizeus his body and by the Kerchiefes of S. Paul But it followeth not thereupon that they adored or yeelded any religious seruice to those Reliques Vnlesse perhaps we must adore the shadow of S. Peters body as Bellarmine will haue it Bell. lib. de reliquijs cap 4 §. Ad tertium Scriptura approbat cultuÌ„ vmbrae Petri. of which shadow doubtlesse some peece may bee found stored vp among the Reliques aswell as at Cour-chiuerni neare Blois they keepe the Labour of S. Ioseph when hee cleft wood for hee was a Carpenter Howbeit there be two thinges which I will not here dissemble the one is that Heretikes at that time Doctores haereticos maximè doctrinae suae fidem onfirmasse mortuos suscitasse de bilâ—s reformasse futura significasse vt Apostoli crederentur Nunquid non Africa sanctoruÌ„ Martyrum corporibus plena est Et tamen nusquam hic scimus talia fieri did more miracles as Tertullian witnesseth lib. 3. against Marcion cap. 3. and in his 44 chapter of his Prescript where he saith that the Heretikes did raise the dead heale the sicke foretell thinges to come The other is that the place in S. Austin De Ciuitai Dei lib. 22. cap. 8. is to be suspected For he speaketh of miracles done in Africa and neare vnto Hippo where he was Bishop by touching the Reliques of Saints Whereas himselfe Epist 137. saith that in some places of Italie as at Nola and at Millan such miracles were done neare vnto the monuments of the Saints but that in Africa there were not any wroght in any place And that which is more to be obserued is that this Epistle was written to the people and clergie of Hippo who would easilie haue controuled him if such miracles had beene wrought in Africa What shall we now beleeue Here is S. Austin who saith in one place that many miracles were done in Africa neare vnto the place of
whom we see and consider c. Tertullian in the vnderstanding of these thinges is not inferior to any of the auncients and yet he takes and Image and an Idoll for the same thing in his booke of Idolatrie cap. 3. Idos in greeke signifies a figure or representation whence comes the diminutiue Idolon which signifies a little forme or fashion and therefore euery little representation or figure must be called an Idoll If then it be absurd in French to call the Cherubins Idols in Greeke it shall be no absurditie at all But what neede we dispute whether we ougth to say Thou shalt not make any grauen Image or Idoll seing it is added nor any likenesse or resemblance what soeuer And that it is also forbidden to kneele or bow downe before it or at all to worship it and consequently this Dulia is forbidden which signifieth nothing else but worship Therefore neither had the Israelites the pictures of Abraham or Iacob or Dauid in the Temple or in their Synagogues being men that deserued to bee worshipped and adored at least aswell as S. Dominicke or S. Guerlicon or their good S. Francis They being farre from yeelding them worship or adoration Neither had the primitiue Christians anie of them and when in the fifth age they began to haue them in Church-yardes in some places they made nothing but painted hystories without any worshipping of them We haue heretofore seene that Tertullian condemneth alike all kindes of painting yea without any reference to religion Clement of Alexandria hath the like in his Protrepticon where speaking of Painting and Caruing he saith We are altogether forbidden to practise this deceitfull Art And hee discourseth very largely thereof in his sixth Booke of his Stromata Irenaeus * Frenaeus lib 1. Cap. 23. 24. Etiam imagines quasdam depictas quasdam de reliqua materia fabricatas habent dicentes forman Christi factam à Pilato reckons it among the abuses of the Gnostickes That they had certaine Painted Images and others made of other stuffe saying that it was the Picture of Christ made by Pilate Epiphanius saith the same Lib. 1. Tom. 2. Haeres 27. Origen in his eight Booke against Celsus Wee ought to Dedicate vnto the Lord not Images made by the hands of Craftesmen but framed by the word of God which are vertuous examples In the Dialogue of Minutius Faelix Caecilius a Pagan doth aske of the Christians e Cur nullas aras habent Christiani Templa nulla nulla nota simulacra Whence it comes that the Christians haue no Altars no Temples no Images that are obserued The testimonie of the Historian Lampridius in the life of Alexander Seuerus is remarkeable who saith that in fauour of the Christians f Quod Adrianus factitasse fertur qui Templa in omnibê° ciuitatibê° sine simulacris iusserat fieri quae hodie idcirco quia non habent numina dicuntur Hadriaâ— quae ille ad hoc parasse dicebatur Sed probibitus est as his qui consulentes sacra repererunt omnes Christianos suturos siad optatato euenisset The Emperour Adrian commanded that in euery Citie Churches should be built without Images which at this day are called Adrians Churches because they haue no Gods in them which they said he made for that end to wit to pleasure the Christians Saint Austen in his Booke of Heresies cap. 7. speaking of the Carpocratian heretickes a Colebanâ—â—â—magines Iâ—â—â—â—â—â—as adorando inâ—ensum ponendo They worshipped the Images of Christ adoring and burning incense vnto them Amphilochius Bishop of Iconia reporteth in the second Synod of Nice b Non enim nobis sanctorum corporales vultus in tabulis coloribus vultus in tabulis coloribus effigiare curae est quoniam his opus non habemus sed politiae illoruÌ„ virtutum memores essedeb emus We take no care of colouring in Tables the corporall visages of the Saints for wee haue nothing to doe with them but we ought to call to remembrance their vertuous conuersations Saint Austen vpon the hundred and thirteene Psalme expounding these words of Dauid that Idols haue a mouth and speake not eyes and see not that they are the worke of mens hands makes this obiection that the Church hath also instruments made with mens hands but hee answers that this is true * Et sanè profecto ista instrumenta vel vasa quid aliud quam opera manuum hominum veruntamen nuaquid os habent non loquuntur c. But haue these instruments mouths and speake not Or eyes and see not Doe we addresse our Prayers to them c. Surely he could not haue spoken thus if hee had had Images in Churches or if Images had beene a part of the Churches mooueables The same Father in his first Booke Noui multos esse sepulchrorum picturarum adoratores De moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae cap. 34. complaining of the superstition of certaine Christians that in Churchyards did kneedle before the Tombs of the Martyrs and before the Painted Histories of their sufferings saith I know some who worshippe Sepulchres and Pictures I know many that drinke largely ouer the dead It is not credible that these Christians thought these Images to be Gods for Christians neuer called a Saint God and much lesse his Image this is the reason why Bellarmine cap. 16. saith that S. Augustin was as yet but a nouice in Christianitie when he wrote this and that afterward he changed his opinion when he was better instructed Placuit picturas in Ecclesia esse non debere ne quod adoratur in parietibus depingatur The Eliberin Councell held at the same time as was the first of Nice in the thirtie and sixe Canon saith It is ordained that there be no Pictures in Churches for feare least that which is worshipped and adored be Painted in the Wals. The Iesuite Sanders in the second Booke of the worship of Images cap. 4. saith That then it was necessarie but that now the matter is without danger as if mans nature were now adayes not so prone vnto Idolatrie Others say that this Councell forbids the Painting of Pictures vpon wals but not the hauing of them in Frames with which conceite the Councell meetes not onely forbidding Painting in wals but ordaining also that there should bee no Painting in Churches It hath beene ordained saith the Councell that there bee no Painting in the Church but if Painted frames be fastned to the wals are they not in the Church In the second Tome of S. Ieromes Epistles there is an Epistle of Epiphanius which Ierome himselfe hath vouchsafed to Translate into Latine whereof obserue these words * Cum ergo hoc vidissem in Ecclesia Christi contra authoritatem scripturarum hominis pendere imaginem scidi illud Et magis dedi consilium custodibâ—eius loci vt pauperem mortuum eo obuoluerent Et deinceps praecipere eiusmodi vela quae contra religionem
nostram veniunt non appendi As I was in a Village called Anablata seeing as I walked along a burning lampe and perceiuing that it was a Church I went in to pray and found in the porch a veile hung vp coloured and painted hauing in it the picture as it were of Christ or some Saint for I doe not well remember of what hauing then seene that in the Church of Christ there was hung vp the Image of a man contrarie to the authority of the Scriptures I rent it and aduised the keepers of the place to burie some poore dead bodie in it He addeth that hee sent another veile without any Image for recompence of that which he had torne to content the keepers that murmured at it after that he saith I pray you that in the Church of Christ such veiles be no more hung vp which are opposite to our religion And this same Epistle is in the same wordes alleaged in the Councell of Paris held vnder Lewes le debonaire in the yeare 824 that none may thinke it a peece of new forgerie Gregorie of Tours speaking of the Baptisme of King Clouis and his children witnesseth that the adorning of Churches was to hang the Church with veiles or white linnen Of which S. Ambrose speakes Epist 33. and this custome doth yet continue in Lent An euident proofe that then they had no Images for to what end should they then keepe them couered and this was about the yeare of our Lord fiue hundred Out of Monsieur Pithou his librarie who was a man rarelie learned we haue the Councell of Paris against Images wherein King Lewes le debonaires and the French Bishops doe make remonstrances vnto Pope Eugenius who defended Images tooth and naile For the Popes laide handfast vpon this occasionn to shake off the yoke of their master the Emperour of the East vnder a coulour that he puld downe Images Not long before in the yeare 794. Charlemaigne assembled the Councell of Franckford against the worshipping of Images Adonis Chronicon in an 795. Abbas Vspergensis in anno 793. Hinemarus Remensis lib. 20. coÌ„tra Episc Iandunensem Matth. WestmonasterieÌ„s in hyst an 793. Auentinus Annonius Regino Vignier c. wherein the second Nicene Councell was condemned before which Councell of Nice a generall Councell was held at Constantinople in the yeare 750 where there were three hundred and thirty eight Bishops some parts of which Councel are alleaged in the secoÌ„d Councell of Nice howsoeuer maymed yet stronger then that which those Nicence Bishops opposed against it About the yeare 600. Serenus Bishop of Marsilia puld downe all the Images found in Churches because the people worshipped them Greg. Epist 109. ad Serenum Episc Massiliensem lib. 9. Epist 9. and it is not by any meanes credible that the Christians accounted Images for Gods or worshipped them as God Nor doe we find that the said Serenus erected them againe notwithstanding hee was controuled by Gregorie Bishop of Rome Petrus Pithoeus in praefatione in hystorias Miscellas à Paulo Aquilegiensi Diacono collectas Nuper admâ—dâ—m nostri homines imaginosi esse coeperuÌ„t And indeede Monsieur Pithou hath good ground to say that the French-men beganne verie soone after to be addicted vnto Images For Anastasius keeper of the Librarie one superstitiously giuen in the preface to the second Councel of Nice saith that the Gaules had not yet receiued Images because the truth was not yet reuealed vnto them that is to say more then eight hundred yeares after Christ And Nicetas Choniates in the second booke of the raigne of Augustus Angelus saith that the Armenians did gladly receiue the Almaines because Apud Alemannos Armenios Imaginum adoratio aequè interdicta est among the Almaines and Armenians the worshipping of Images was forbidden alike For Charlemaigne had so farre reiected the worshipping of Images that hee himselfe wrote a booke against it which is yet extant And soone after Agobardus Bishop of Lyons compiled a great volume against Images which is also extant and newly printed at Paris To conclude whosoeuer shall diligently reade the scornefull inuectiues of the primitiue Christians flouting the Images of the auncient Pagans shall finde that their reprehensions had beene ridiculous if the Christians had then had Images in their Churches as when Lactantius lib. 2. cap. 4. doth call the Statues in the Pagan-temples Grandes puppas great babies and when cap. 2. he saith that the Images of the Gods are of no vse if they be present and that if they be in heauen then we should rather direct our prayers toward heauen And when S. Austin vpon the 113. Psalme saith that they draw the deuotion of the people in that they haue a humane shape and are set in some high roome And doubtlesse the Infidels would haue returnde the reproofe and reproach to the Christians and to their Images of the Saints and the worshipping of their Statues which they doe not But we haue heretofore heard that they aske the Christians for what cause they haue no Images that any could see ARTICLE XIX Of the Image of God The KINGS Confession YEa the Image of God himselfe is not only expresly forbidden to bee worshipped but euen to bee made The reason is giuen that no eye euer saw God and how can we paint his face when Moses the man that euer was most familiar which God neuer saw but his backe parts Surely since he cannot be drawne to the viue it is a thankelesse labour to marre it with a false representation which no Prince nor scarce any other man will be contented with in their owne pictures Let them therefore that maintaine this doctrine answere it to Christ at the latter day when he shall accuse them of Idolatrie And then I doubt if he will be payed with such nice sophisticall Distinctions For answere whereunto Coeffeteau saith that the Images of God are not made to represent his essence but onlie to expresse the formes wherein he hath appeared That none is so brutish to beleeue that any can paint an essence immortall infinite c. I expected that M. Coeffeteau would haue produced some commandement of God for his ground of the Images of God or some place to shew that God was pleased to haue his Images made seing they are not made to represent his essence at least some auncient example either true or false after his old manner But here is none of these he only saith that Images doe not expresse his being I answere that this may bee said aswell of the Images of men yea of beastes for their pictures doe not represent their essence and neuer was any man so vnreasonable as to thinke that the essence of anie thing could be expressed in a picture Then in like manner doe I say that if these Images be not the Images of God because they represent not his essence then the Images of Saints are not their Images because they represent not