the Fathers and Elders which did apperteine to the well ordering and gouernmēt of outward discipline Yet euen in these was such a moderation consonauncy obserued as should nether extinguishe the glory of the Gospell nor entāgle consciences with combersome charge but serue onely for preseruation of necessarye orders For due obseruation of the which was graunted to the Church a certayne authoritye and power to dispose and determine according to the nature of places and necessitye of tymes such thinges as might seéme most agreéable and couenable for their assemblies But this authority hedged in as it were within her certein limits and boundes as was but humaine so forced it not such a necessitye of obseruance as did those other commaunded immediately from God For lyke consideration may not be taken of humaine precepts commaunded by men onely as must be had of thordinaunces of God Hereof commeth it that the breach or not performaunce of that one being done without arrogant cōtēpt or reprochful disdayn is not punishable as mortall deadly sinne In lyke maner the godly ministers of the Church were not without their due honor and authority yet such it was as exceéded not the appointed lymittes and measure For as then function ecclesiasticall was a Ministery and seruice not a Maistry or Lordshippe which consisteth in two thinges chiefly In preaching the worde and ministring the Sacraments and in directing outward discipline and ordering maners and misdemeanours In which kinde of ministery although cōmaundement be geuē to yeald due obediēce vnto the pastors yea though we heare these wordes spoken of Ministers He that heareth you heareth me Yet tend they not to this end that they may after their owne wittes and pleasures make new innouations frame new fashions of doctrine and coyne new Sacraments thrust in new worshippings and new Gods or thereby to erect a kingdome in the Church But their whole power and authoritye is restrayned to the prescript rule of the Gospell not to dispence and dispose thinges after their owne luste but to be the dispensors and disposers of the misteries of God Wherevpon in matters appertayning to Gods Lawe conscience is bound to yealde due obediēce to the pastoures according to this saying He that refuseth you refuseth me In other thinges that concerne the Tradicions of men or that haue no assurance of their creation by any principle of doctrine herein ought speciall regard to be had First to what end they are commaunded then also by what authoritye they are brought into the Church For the ordinaunces which are thrust in vnder such maner and condition as may enfeéble true confidence in the Mediator as may dispoyle cōsciences of their freédome and ouerthrowe the maiestie of gods grace or are linked together with a vayne opinion of righteousnes of worshipping of remission of sinnes of merites of Saluation or of vnauoydable necessitye Such I say ought without all respect to be hauished and abandoned as pestilent batches from the communion and congregation of the Church Consideration also must be had of the difference betwixt these thinges which the Church doth charge mens consciences withall by mans authoritye onely and the thinges which are established and proclaimed by the expresse word and commaundement of God For although the Church may of duety require a certein subiuection to the ecclesiasticall ministers as that we ought to obey the ordinaunces that are instituted for preseruation of ciuill societye and couenable decency Yet must the ministers be well aduised least vnder pretence and colour of ecclesiasticall authoritie they eyther commaund the things that are not expedient or oppresse the simple people with vnmeasurable Burdeines or thinke with them selues that the Church is tyed of neccessity to any Lawes established by men Euen so and the same that hath bene spoken of mēs Constitutions may in effect be applyed to Iudicall Courts Iudgementes For although authoritye be committed to the Church to iudge and determine of doctrines and outward misdemeanours although the resolution of doubtfull cōtrouersies the discouerie and opening of matters obscure the declaring and debatyng of matters confuse the reformation and amendement of matters amysse be left ouer to the Censure and iudgement of the Church many tymes Yet is not this ordinary authoritye so arbitrary and absolute but is also fast tyed to the direct rule of the worde So that in matters of controuersie this Authoritie came conclude commaunde nothing but that which the word of the Gospel must make warrantable Neither hath this authoritye any such prerogatiue to make any alteration of Gods Scriptures or to forge false and vntrue interpretations which may auaile to establishe an authoritye of men or of orders or to make any new articles of fayth or to bring in straunge Inuocations which are directly repugnant to the manifest authoritye of the Scriptures And therfore we creditt the Church as a Mistres and a teacher foreshewing the truth yet after an other maner altogether then as we be bound to obey the word of the Gospell preached in the Church by the mouth of Gods faythfull ministers which authoritye when they put in execution according to the authoritye of Gods word we doe beleue them yet so neuerthelesse beleue them as that our creditt is not grounded now vpon the testimonie of the Church nor vpon men but vpon the worde of God namely because their iudgemēt is agreable and consonant with the rule of the sacred scriptures and with a free confession of the Godly iudging directly accordyng to the voyce and worde of God The Church therfore hath authoritie in decyding controuersies of doctrine Yet so that it selfe must be ouerruled by the authoritie of the word Otherwise the Church hath neither authoritye nor iudgement contrary to the consonancy of the Scriptures In lyke maner in discipline and reformation of maners the Church may determine and iudge But here also consideration must be had of the differēce For the censures ecclesiasticall are of one kinde but Iudgements temporall of an other kinde For in forinsicall and temporall causes when Iudgementés are geuen although they receaue their authoritie from the word of God yet are they in force in respect of the authoritye of the Prince and the Magistrate And therefore they minister correction with punishment corporall according to the qualitye of the trespasse But the iudgements of the Church are farre vnlyke For in those maner of offences which appertayne to the ecclesiasticall Consistorye the Church hath her proper iudgements and peculiar punishments Wherewith it doth not afflict or crucifie mens bodyes notwithstandyng nor pursue vnto death but cutteth of from the congregation onely and common society of men such as doe wilfully and stubburnely sett themselues agaynst the Ministerye and such as doe harden themselues and obstinately perseuer in wickednes agaynst order and conscience and continue in errors and other notorious crimes contrary to the prescript rule of sound doctrine
like equitie and patience of minde to admitte our confutation thereof into your presence whereby eche partie beyng discouered according to truth your highnes may more certeinly determine of the cause There is a notable Law and an othe established in the Iudgementes of the auncient Athenians To heare with both eares that indifferent eares should be open to eche partie But what maner of custome is vsed now a dayes in this perplexitie and coÌ„bate of opinions where Byshops armed with the aucthoritie of Princes doe stand raunged in mayne battell agaynst the manifest veritie and doe so bende the whole coÌ„sent of their fayth to the one partie that all libertie once to mutter is vtterly cutte of from the other partie But here may some contrary doubtfullnes paradueÌ„ture trouble your Royall thought not so much proceedyng from your gracious nature as whyspered into your godly eares by the subtill and slaunderous practizes of glaueryng glosers who vnder the counterfaict vysour of this glorious couÌ„terfaict Church haue wonderfully bewitched the eyes and eares of many noble personadges vnder preteÌ„ce of succeeding course of many yeares do make glorious bragges that this new-fangled Church wherein the Romish Byshopp in enthronized is the onely Catholicke Church and the supremacy thereof to be onely obeyed alleadgyng the same Church to be the Empresse and gouernesse of all other Churches and which of right ought to be esteemed aboue all Kinges Emperours as ouer the which Christ hath substituted the Byshopp of Rome his sole Vicar and Vicegerent earth and therfore that all degrees ought and may safely submitt themselues to the aucthoritie and determination of that Churche as which beyng continually vpholden by the power and blessing of the holy Ghost was neuer seene hitherto to haue erred ne yet could by any meanes swarue one title from the right lyne and knowen trade of the true fayth taught in holy Scriptures And that all other persons whatsoeuer sequestering theÌ„selues froÌ„ the prescript Rules and Cannons of that Churche cann not chuse but runne headlong into wandryng errours amazed blindenes and extreme maddnes Wherefore those Lutheranes and Hugonoughtes are worthely to be expelled from the vnitie of that Church and deseruedly adiudged to fier and fagottes as most dampnable heretiques not worthy of any fauorable protection no not their writinges so much as to be touched with any maÌ„s handes bycause they dare presmouÌ„te once to quacke agaynst the supremacy of that Angelicke Ierarchy As touchyng which slaunderous surmises albeit nothyng cann be more falsely and shamefully imagined then those Sorcerous enchauÌ„tementes it is wonder how much this poysoned Dolldreanche hath betyppledd the sences of many great personadges and hath so long preuailed in great admiration with sundry estates through the onely ignoraunce of learnyng and ouermuch credulitie of godly Princes vntill of late by the incomprehensible prouidence of Almightie God the worthy Arte of Emprintyng was erected by meanes whereof good Letters and Bookes came to the Marte and Printers shoppes discouered the foggy and darkened cloudes of this olde mothe eaten barbarousnes Hereby it came to passe that the tedious deepe doungeons of lothesome ignoraunce beyng surprised with a certein new and cleare dawnyng day of purer doctrine as also of all other liberall Sciences beganne to shyne abroade nor will leaue I trust to ouerspread his brighte glisteryng beames dayly more and more vntill with the inaccessible brightenes thereof it do either thoroughly vanquishe the whole kyngdome of darkenes or at the least chauÌ„ge the same into some better countenaunce And to the ende we may conceaue assured hope of good successe herein two thynges do minister vnto vs especiall comfort Wherof the one consisteth in the mearcy of the Lord the other remayneth in your handes that be Kynges and Princes next vnder the God being the Lordes watchmen For the first we haue an infallible Argument which cann neuer deceaue the assured testimony of Iesus Christ who hath prophecied in his holy Scriptures that the same shal be brought to passe the greater part whereof we haue allready experimented to be accomplished in these our dayes That the Lord with the breath of his mouth shall confounde the pride of the Beast so arrogantly vaunting him selfe in his holy Temple For the next That other is of no small force I meane your vigilant wisedomes and singuler godlynes which causeth vs to coÌ„ceaue well of you that are Princes whom the Lord of his infinite mearcy hath ordeyned to exercize chief rule and gouernemeÌ„t next vnder him vpon the face of the earth especially whenas him selfe hath pronounced out of his owne mouth in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn That he will lende his helpyng handes hereunto saying And the tenne hornes sayth he which thou didst see vpon the Beast are those â—enne Kinges which shall abhorre the Babylonicall Strampett and shall make her desolate and naked and shall deuoure her fleshe and burne her Carkasse in flames of fire for the Lord hath inspired into their hartes to bring this to passe euen as it hath pleased him Apocal. 17. Wherfore awake you noble Princes and Christian Captaines march on in Gods name Atchieue an exployte worthy your noble Race and be no longer trayned with the trayterous sleightes of subtill sycophaÌ„tes but pursue with the power the godly guidyng of the Lord of hostes Emongest whom I most humbly call vpon your highnes most singuler Paterne of Princely Royaltie not to the ende to teaze you to exercize cruelty agaynst that viperous generation Onely my petition is that for the loue you beare to Iesus Christ and your owne soules health ye vouchsafe to deliuer simple innocentes from the bloudy iawes of those rauenyng Wolues and horrible blouddsuckers That enterchaunge of thynges beyng made the true and pure word of God may be heard what it teacheth And that ye lett lowse the reynes of their licentious insolency no longer so that they do not hereafter abuse you as the Iewes did handle our Lord Iesu Christ whose faceÌ„ when they had blindefolded they beate his body with whippes There hath bene to many broyles allreády emongest vs Christians to much Christian bloud hath bene spilte to much crueltie and horror hath bene exequuted whiles you in the meane space in whose power rested the staye of this outrage either wincked at their bootchery or at the least left poore innocentes succourlesse in their slaughter houses How long shall this Romishe Nymrod vaunt in his throne how long shall he make a scorne of your patience most excellent Princes when will your Royall hartes and noble courage daunte his pride when will you resume into your handes the whole sword of Iustice the better part whereof the Romishe Russian hath bereft you when will you surcease to be bondeslaues vnto them whom the mighty God hath made vassalles to your lawfull RegimeÌ„t how long will ye suffer your mouthes to be mooseled and your eyes muffeled with such blynde errours contrary to the manifest light of the Gospell If
Peter particularly yea and in earnest will you vrge and defende stoutly the very same senteÌ„ce wherein Mathew Iohn by manifest proofe do coÌ„uince you who expresly do protest that the very same power of byndyng and loosing was geuen by our Sauiour Christ to the other Apostles in generall what will you not dare to do in the darcke good Syr that practize to defraude vs of the cleare shynyng sunne how will you peruert and wrest the fathers that will so craftely iuggle with the expresse wordes of the Scriptures truely you must either bewray your pestilent â—eger de mayne in this place or confesse your grosse errour Your thyrd place is this I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth saynte not and thou beyng at last conuerted confirme thy brethren And what hereof Can any man bee so witlesse to say that those wordes of our Sauiour Christ were not aswell spoken to the rest of the Apostles as to Peter by name I will therfore first scanne the wordes of the Euangelist in order that they may be more apparaunt But you are they which haue perseuered with me in all my temptations And I do prouide for you euen as my Father hath prouided for me a kingdome that you may eate and drinke at my table in my kingdome and may sit on seates iudging the xij Tribes of Israell And the Lord sayd Symon Symon behold Sathan hath desired to sist you as wheate but I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth faint not and thou at length being coÌ„uerted confirme thy brethren In this parcell of Scripture is nothyng particular to Peter but the same is common to all the Apostles That they perseuered with Christ was common to them all The reward likewise is common to them all videl to sit at the heauenly table Agayne the thyrd parcell had relation to them all Symon Symon Sathan hath desired to sift you as wheate Sithence the whole processe of the Text therfore was referred to them all by what Argument may it be applyed vnto Peter onely Namely sithence our Lord Iesus goyng a whiles after suffer death and makyng preparation for his Ascention into heauen poured out most earnest prayers vnto his Father with a long and vehement repetition of wordes not for Peter particularly but for all the rest of the Apostles in generall whiche last and generall prayer of Christ to the Father who so aduisedly considereth shall easely conceaue that our Lord Iesu Christ made not intercession for Peters faith alone but for all the rest of the Apostles And hereof will also maruell much how great learned Clarkes dayly exercised in the Scriptures can Iudge therof otherwise Truly the most notable of the auncient Fathers do constantly affirme that the very same sentences wherewith Supremacie is challenged vnto Peter are commoÌ„ to all the other Apostles together with Peter And this haue I most manifestly proued by the selfe same places which your selfe vouched And albeit we passe ouer all these geue eare to the holy Ghost speakyng vnto vs by the mouth of the sacred Scriptures yet all this Monarchie of Peter which you do so exquisitely aduaunce aboue the Moone and the seuen Starres shal be founde to haue bene vsurped by the inordinate ambition of Byshops of Rome and not by any authoritie grosided vpon the doctrine of the auncient Apostolicke Church I will begyn with our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ who hauyng spoken these wordes Thou art Peter c immediately after calleth Peter Sathan and commaunded him to departe from him bycause hee knew not the thynges that apparteined vnto God How did Christ then I beseéch you erect the supremacie of his Church in the person of Peter whom immediately almost with one breath he rebuked bytterly by that most execrable name of Sathan and that not without cause for hee dissuaded him from goyng to Ierusalem Moreouer if Christ made intercession to the Father for Peter onely that his fayth should not faynt how came it to passe that within a few dayes after Peter onely with open mouth denyed forsware Christ his Lord and Maister But I doe much miscontentedly make mention of the fall of so notable an Apostle whoÌ„ I do acknowledge the most excellent amongest the famous Apostles Onely this I would to be knowen that he was ordeined to no seuerall supremacie in the Churche of Christ by any authoritie of the Scriptures We haue heard Christ let vs come now a litle lower to his Apostles and namely vnto Paule who laboured in the Churche of God as hee reporteth of him selfe more then they all he therefore doth playnly and constantly affirme that he had receaued as great authoritie from Christ to be an Apostle ouer the Gentiles as Peter had ouer the Iewes and addeth further that he had conference with Iames Cephas and Iohn whom he nameth Pillers of the Church as the chief of all the rest Yet in the meane whiles hee acknowledgeth no singular prerogatiue of prheminence in Peter Nay rather he vseth great libertie of speach agaynst Peter him selfe without all respect of Principalitie or mention of dignitie But why seéke we other testimonies Peter is a good witnesse concernyng him selfe I beseech the Elders whiche are amongest you sayth heé that am also an Elder and a witnesse of the Passion of Christ and partaker of the same glorie which shal be reuealed c. Behold here the dignitie behold the Supremacy and Monarchie of this reuerend father He is an Elder amongest Elders A witnesse amongest other witnesses of the Passion of Christ partaker with the rest of the same glory to be reuealed Here is a Triple Crowne truely yea a most precious Crowne not made of goldâ— nor beset with precious stones A most honorable Ambassadour of the heauenly glory to bee reuealed not of any Temporall or earthly dominion Lastly a most Reuerend Father not in any singular Lordlynes but by especiall ordinary power of his fellow brethren Who so will throughly sift the doctrine the ordinaunces the lyfe and conuersation of the Apostles shall finde a most perfect patterne of vnchaungeable consent but shall not smell any tast no not one sparke so much of this Lordly Monarchie wherof this ghostly Prelate doth so subtlely and largely dispute Unlesse perhaps he will driue vs to friuolous gesses as to picke vp children kyckesses together As that Peter went before That hee spake oftentymes first that hee looked into Christes Sepulchre before Iohn But if we shall hunte after such gnattes The honour geueÌ„ to Iames is of more substaunce Namely when in their publicke assembly the rest of the Apostles did subscribe to the ordinaunce that he made And that other also to wit when Peter was desirous to know who should betray our Lord Sauiour Iesu Christ to the Iewes him selfe did not enquire therof but beckened to Iohn whiche did leane vpon the breast of our Lord that hee might demaunde the question But howsoeuer these
of perdition in the place of our Lord Iesu And as though Paule had spoken so in deéde can you so beastly proceéde to the confirmation of that your Babylonicall Empire with a sentence of Paule pestilently peruerted Is this the profession of a Byshop is this the Diuinitie of Osorius Downe with that Pecockes tayle away with this arrogancie be no more so collhardy and write hereafter more aduisedly and take better regard to your penne lest you bryng your name into odious contempt with all Christendome Take your pleasure in my wordes wrest them as ye list but handle Paule more discreétly But you are learnedly plentyfull in examples heaping together Iohn Husse Ierome of Prage Martin Luther and many others Who as you do affirme haue reuolted from this your Romishe Monarche of set purpose bycause beyng exempt frō his Iurisdiction they might be more freely licentious in writyng and speakyng Why doe ye coniecture so vayne Southsayer They were men of laudable conuersation voyde of all maner ryotte not culpable in any notorious or haynous crime Therefore how may they be duely charged of any suspition of dissolute behauiour that lyued alwayes discreétly and soberly But this is but a trifle with you to defame a fewe persons by name you rushe vpon all England with open mouth As though after the abolishyng your Romishe Monarche it were forthwith caried violētly into all vnbridled lust This is a false suggestion by your leaue Syr for assoone as we had shaken of the foreine yoke from our shoulders and yelded our selues to the lawfull authoritie of our souereigne Prince all thynges went better and more peacibly with vs especially in this later age of the Gospell renewed which beyng cōpared to those elder yeares wherein your Romish Prelate did insolently treade vpō triumph ouer vs may wel be adiudged to haue enioyed most blessed prosperitie Then which heauēly benefite our victorious Ilād doth most thākefully cōfesse neuer to haue receaued greater at the hands of God God for his inestimable mercy graunt that it may be permanent vnto the worldes end and that weé most humbly submittyng our selues to our naturall and liege souereigne vnited together in this most duetyfull amitie may most be estraunged from your extraordinarie Babilonicall Idoll turnyng the same ouer to you and your fraternitie for euer And now ye runne foreward with more lyes Rehearsing a rable of sectes and these you doe imagine to haue entred sithence the Banishmēt of the Pope As though in the old time were not great swarmes of sectes wherof Paul doth so oft premonish vs or as though they raged not wonderfully in the tyme of that godly Father Augustine whose hart did so boyle against them that he wrate great volumes against their pestiferous errours Or as though that sacred father Peters successour Pope Liberius were not a mainteyner of that poysoned canker of Arrius Or as though Celestine and Anastase the second were not stoute champions of that horrible Scorpion Nestorius Can you obiect sectes when as no age euer wanted some Dare you so boldly name sectes when as threé of your Romish graundsiers were mighty patrones them selues of two most pernitious errours But you affirme that these godly Fathers are maliciously belyed Call forth your own Alphonse who being a Moncke and a Spanyard borne ought to bee of some credite with you beyng a Prelate of Portingall O worthy successours of Peter O excellent pillers of Christs Church This it is forsooth to cōmit sheépe vnto Wolues This is it to deliuer the people of God to bloudy Butchers Yet you blush nothing at this to blame factions of sectes in vs whiche you reporte to exercise perpetuall warre one against an other in diuersitie of contrary opinions and the same to proceéde hereof pardy bycause they are not in seruitude to Libertines and Celestines that is to say to Arrians and Nestorians But be it so as you would haue that some contrarietie were amongest the later sort of our writers Is there or can there bee any more monstruous dissention then hath burst out amōgest your Friers and Monckes hath euer sharper stormes bene raysed then betwixt your Schoolemen brawlyng oftentymes about moates in the sunne You rush vpon Lutherans and Zuinglians by name First you doe this besides the matter bycause I do not defend them I stand for my countrey I do defende England I vndertake the cause of litle Britaine against you wherein I will abide whiles breath is in my body If you prouoke enemyes els where I doubt not but that you shall easely finde them Yet in the meane space I will recite your wordes whereby men may know the manifest iniuries that you vomite agaynst the soules of these sweéte personages and how vsually you blunder out at all aduenture whatsoeuer your franticke braynes doe imagine For this you proceéde in accusation The Zuinglians doe inueighe agaynst the Lutherans and the Anabaptistes keepe continuall warres with the Zuingliās Why do not I here thrust in also Coelestianes and Interemistes and other names of Scismes First of all there is no contradiction betwixt Luther and Zuinglius in the principall pointes of Christian Religion They doe differ in the Sacrament of the Eucharistie not in the substaunce thereof but in the maner of the presence of Christ. And yet perhaps this quarell is more about wordes then matter But you haue not onely wickedly transubstātiated to speake like a Schooleman our Sauiour Iesus Christ into bread with most monstruous deuises but also thrust vpon vs vj. hundred lyes euery one contrary to other whiles you amaze the eares and myndes of Christians with this absurde and newfangled doctrine And therfore your graund captaine of Schoolemen Peter Lōbard in this doubtfull conflict broyling and turmoyling him selfe and throughly wearied with your mockeries doth conclude at the last That Transubstantiation ought to bee inuiolable for the autenticke authoritie of the Church of Rome but that it cā not be founde in the Scriptures As for the Anabaptistes you did name them without all reasons For you are not ignoraūt that the vniuersall consent of all Churches haue condemned them vnto whom Luther and Zuinglius were as earnest enemies as your Maistershyp or any of all your brotherhoode Surely in our common wealth they can reteine no footyng nor in any other coūtrey that I know or cā heare of What maner of men those Celestianes be I would fayne learne of you of your durtie cōpanion of Angrence bycause you haue geuen that name first as farre as I can perceaue The other sortes are Interemistes by this name as I gesse notyng those men which to make a certeine qualification in Religion haue patched vp a certeine booke of peéuishe Romish dregges and haue entituled it by the name of Interim If this be true what came into your braynes to reckon two of your souldiours or graund-captaines vnder our Banner That Commentarie of Interim is yours I say your owne These were
ceremonies of chief Priest vsed of old amongest the Iewes Sithence therfore these thynges are so apparaunt either you doe wickedly dissemble the truth or you bee shamefully ignoraunt in all Diuinitie when as in the meane time you being an old man and a Bishop will neédes be accoumpted a most passing Deuine Here our Ierome tosseth and tumbleth to and fro and snatcheth after Sophisticall shadowes but the more he trauaileth to get out the more he is entangled in perplexities He sayth that we defende the title of kyngs not the authoritie bycause many are foūde aswell in Portingall as in England which do exercise kyngly authoritie without the name of kyng and those a Gods name he thinkes must be called petty kynges Truely I am not able to speake any certeintie of your vsage in Portingall But of Englād I dare affirme that no mā as of him selfe doth presume vpō authority royall further thē he is thereunto authorized by the kyng neither doe we know any such pettye kynges but of your shamelesse custome in lyeng we are most assured the same can not choose but abhorre in respect of your person Like idle tyme ye bestow vpon debatyng of your Monarchie As though it were as necessary that there should bee one chief supreme Byshop ouer the vniuersall Church of Christ as we defende in England the supreme power of the kyng O most senselesse Sophister Perceaue ye not how your comparison is wrested to thynges that are meére contrary eche to other Can you not seé that the one part of your comparison cōcerneth the particular Churche of England the other part indirectly altogether all the whole Churches of Christendome And yet sufficeth it not that you play the foole mōstruously your selfe vnlesse with your supposall ye make me partener also of your errours which all and euery of my senses doe vtterly abhorte and detest nay rather your cōparison ought to haue bene framed contrarywise As bycause in all seuerall cōmon weales seuerall kynges haue the principall and chief preheminence so in all seuerall Churches seuerall Priestes should gouerne who ought to haue singular authoritie in matters of Religion After this maner should your cōparison haue proceéded if you had followed herein the aduise of Philosophie But sithēce we argue now as Deuines settyng Philosophie apart we must enforce onely the testimonies of holy Scriptures wherein bycause we finde cōmaūded by expresse wordes that it is the will of God That we must honour the king that we must obey the king that we must be subiect to the king that we must feare the kinges sword that we must pay Tribute to the king that we must make our supplication and prayers to God first and chiefly for the king We can not choose but acknowledge reuerēce this chief royall kyngly authoritie so oftē in so many sondry maners mētioned in the Scriptures As for your high chief Byshop we will make no more accoumpt of then of a straunger vntill ye can iustifie his supremacie by the authoritie of the holy Scriptures And yet in the meane tyme shall you finde amongest vs all degreés of Iurisdiction Ecclesiasticall by the which all matter apperteining to the Church is duely and orderly executed Which albeit can not cōtent our troublesome Prelate yet we doubt not but will throughly satisfie all vertuous wise well disposed persons I did write that the garmēt of Christ was not cut in peéces amongest our Deuines as you seémed to conster of vs but that the Byshop of Romes Pall peraduenture was somewhat scratchte What do you say to this Do you make any demonstration by holy Scriptures that we have deuided or rente asunder the vnitie of the Church I meane alwayes the Catholicke Apostolicke church do you alledge any argumēts hereunto do you proue it with exāples you do nothyng lesse What do ye then truly euē as you are wont and as you haue accustomed to doe as ye haue learned of your father the deuill that is to say you doe continually throw out of that foule mouth most noysome poyson of slaūderous lyeng Wherein though ye be so nooseled that hee haue stuffed vp the greater part of your Inuectiues with false venemous accusations Yet bycause this place doth bewray your mōstruous insolēcie by singular demōstratiō I will set down here your own wordes as you haue pēned thē that the Christiā Reader may by the same discerne the meékenes of a Byshop the modestie of an aunciēt Deuine and with what spirite also ye were inspired when ye vomited out this foule filthy cholericke baggadge And these are your wordes When as ye do dayly behold swarmyng rounde about you such pestiferous dissensiōs of sectes and so horrible diuisions whereas you haue no sure fayth no agreement in Religion whenas dayly almost you bryng in newe confessions Articles of the Creede amended old places blotted out and new places propte vp in their places when as many sundry sectes growe and encrease and the auncient Churche is rent and cut in so many gobbettes dare ye yet say that this fallyng awaye hath not cut the garment of Christ in peeces When as also ye see with your eyes insolencie arrogancie rebellion lauishnes of toung slaunderous backbyting lust wickednesse vncleanesse tumultes and vprores to attempt all thynges in all places boldly wheresoeuer your maisters take once footyng with what face dare ye affirme that your maners and conuersatiō of lyfe hath bene well ordered amiddes all this rebellion The matter declareth it selfe euidently dayly examples make good profe therof the places of publicke gouernemēt yea the most secret closettes do bewray the same Behold here good Reader the liuely paterne of Osorius his eloquence Behold a mighty vnconquerable champion of the Romish Seé is not this felow worthie to be made a Cardinall suppose you that in so many choloricke sharpe venemous and Scorpion-like wordes hath vttered nothyng but that the most Rogishe Rascall commyng out of some Brochellhouse would haue bene halfe ashamed of hath hee not made a trimme speake agaynst vs proued thereby that we haue most haynously scattered abroad and torne in sunder the vnitie of Christes Churche in this that he doth nothyng els but exclaime agaynst vs backebiters insolent slaunderous lecherous wicked vncleane and rebelles O franticke and mischieuous raylour of whose cursed speach bycause I haue deliuered this litle tast I will from henceforth as much as I may in silēce despise passe ouer his infinite accusatiōs will deale with his pretty poppet Argumentes briefly I dyd cite out of Paule One God one Fayth Now sayth he neither one God nor one Fayth is receaued amongest the Ministers of your Gospell First of all I did not signifie of what opinion euery of vs were particularly but I shewed what ought to be receiued of all Christiās generally Then where you affirme that we do not worshyp one God onely nor professe one fayth onely how can you persuade so incredible
as was declared before And this was to cleare him selfe Osorius not to purge cleanse the Gospell with like submission humblenesse he testified his innocencie and vttered his conscieuce before the Emperour freély standyng then in perill of his owne life rather then making any bragge or vaunt of him selfe Phil. Mclancthon beyng Sommoned to appeare before the Councell rendered a Confession of his Fayth not so much of any hope to do any good as enforced by necessary constraint of obedience to make aunswere for him selfe beyng in no lesse hassard of his life then Luther The same in his common places of Diuinitie what vaunting or bragges hath he vttered Bucer and before him then Huldricke Zuinglius also after them both Iohn Caluine many other Deuines besides those for the earnest desire they had to know the truth applyed their wittes industry to the readyng of holy Scriptures For what could they do more coÌ„meÌ„dably wherein wheÌ„ they had well trauailed read and vnderstoode them immediately began the couert conueyaunces of fraude and desceipt to be made manifesâ— none otherwise then as thynges that lurcke before in darknesse do at the enlightenyng of a candle or torche immediately discouer them selues Now let Osorius tell vs what he would haue these faythfull Pastours do should they be mumme and say nothyng their coÌ„science would not permitte them For this had bene not to teach the flocke of Christ but to forsake it not to guide but to beguile it not to play the Shepheardes but wolues Theéues should they truly then and freely vndertake to defend the forlorne estate of the Veritie EueÌ„ this is it this is the very thyng they vndertooke if you be ignoraunt thereof Osorius and besides this nothyng els Whereas you say that this was a great and a hard enterprise you speake herein but the truth For whereas Veritie is a matter of great importaunce and doth commonly engeÌ„der to it selfe hatred surely they could not haue attempted any one thyng with more perill of their owne liues nor more daungerous for that present tyme yea I caÌ„ not well tell whether the Apostles them selues professing the Fayth of Christ first or the Prophetes when theâ— reproued mens traditions superstitious obseruatioÌ„ of ceremonies to much affiaunce in Sacrifices and the blind and preposterous opinioÌ„s of their people did euer enter vpon matter of more difficultie or daunger And therfore as touchyng the substaunce of the matter I do confesse that it was a perillous and an hard enterprise when they vndertooke the defence of the Veritie And yet they neuer attempted it of any such courage or confidence as to dare to promise any good successe of their labours to any others For neither was the state of that tyme so appliable as would permit them to promise any thing of theÌ„ selues though they would neuer so fayne wherein if they could escape without losse of life albeit they atchieued nought els yet they might well iudge that they had done a notable exploite So farre was it of that they could euer imagine or dreame of so great a renewyng of the Church of the vtter ouerthrow of the pope and Idolles and the like successes that ensued thereupoÌ„ the which thyng Luther shameth not to confesse simply without all dissimulation as that he could neuer so much as hope for the hundreth part of those thynges which God of his meare mercy and goodnesse brought to passe in them Whereby we do you to vnderstand Osorius that these matters were not begon by mans power or pollicie nor through any lightenes or braggyng of men but performed perfitted by the onely worke of the holy Ghost doubtles And therefore this Tertullus makyng his foundation with a manifest lye doth with like deceaueable falsehoode proceéde to the rest of his declamation that so he may seéme neuer vnlike him selfe You sayth he haue afflicted the Authoritie of the Bishop of Rome c. O affliction O cruell tormentes O holy Martyrdome O greéuous passions and woundes which this Godly Pope doth suffer for Christes sake Whiles I was readyng these wordes of yours Osorius I began to be sodenly in some doubt whether this were an ouerscape of your penne or the ouersight of Theobald your Printer whenas in steade of the Pope afflicted You would haue sayd the Lutherans afflicted or at least you should haue sayd so Certes if you indifferently and vprightly render a iust accompt of all the imprisonmentes setters gibbettes burning plates pyles of flaming woode recaÌ„tatioÌ„s beheadings boocheries fiers repeales armies tortures hostes rackynges and persecutions by fier and fagot it will easily appeare whether part hath afflicted and doth dayly afflict the other But bycause mention is made here of the afflictions of the Romish Authoritie it were neédefull for me to enquire of Osorius first what kinde of Authoritie Osorius doth define vnto vs For if he meane that Iurisdiction which the Byshop of Rome hath ouer his owne Seé of Rome and the other Prouinces aunexed to the same limited him by the Councell of Nice no man will striue agaynst him for this Authoritie But if by this name of Authoritie he will haue to be signified that hygh and vniuersall Authoritie which the Pope doth exercize and vsurpe equall with God him selfe ouer all Churches Prouinces Pastours and Byshops and aboue all generall Coâ—â—cels This Authoritie for as much as the true written Veritie doth not geue vnto him in any place yea rather oppugneth it very mightely and doth call it the See of the Beast to the which also it threateneth a vyall of vtter darkenes it can by no meanes be auoyded but one of these must neédes come to passe either that this vnmeasurable Authoritie of the Pope must geue place to the Scriptures of God or that this vniuersall Byshop shall triumphe and haue the victory the Scriptures of God beyng vtterly vanquished and put to sciâ—ence For as much as these two Authorities beyng so directly contrary eche to other can not stand together For if Christ would not permitte any superioritie amongest his owne Apostles will he suffer it amongest Byshoppes If the Lord himselfe came for this purpose as the scriptures do witnesse to become a minister to others to wash the feét of his disciples if he refused to be a king being sought vpon earnestlye for the same will there be any so proude a Disciple of Christ that will with his heéles treade vpoÌ„ the neckes of Emperours and will blaze abroad Scepters and Diademes of S. Peter in the poore and base Church of Christ what although the Pope of Rome will take vpon him more then the Authoritie of the Scriptures will allow him shall it not be lawfull therfore for godly Pastours learned Deuines to professe freély by the testimonies of the holy Scriptures that which they seé with their eyes and feéle with their handes but that they must be accounted scourgers of the Seé Apostolick But how much more wisely
but sturred vpp by the flaming fyrebrandes of the furyes of hell and that they applyed themselues not to teach men but to peruert men Of the discention and variable opinions of Deuines and Churches hath bene spoken of before so that it shall be but neédeles to repeate the same agayne onely I will aunswere here to the argument God is not the Author of discention but of peace I doe know this and confesse it to be most true So also is the same God the fountayn of all righteousnes and father of all consolation The same is also Author of Matrimony and of all good thinges Go to now where can you finde in all the estates courses and actions of this transitory lyfe that fulnes and absolute perfection of righteousnes of consolation or of peace yea in the most holy estate of matrimonye as may be aunswerable to that absolute patterne of perfection Lett it suffice vs to haue receaued the first fruits thereof though we possesse not the Tenthes There will come a day and a place when as no darkened cloud of discention shall ouershadow this perfect peace betwixt vs. In the meane space whiles we lyue in this vale of misery men with men we shall neuer be destitute of one thing or other that will alwayes argue vs to be men dwelling in the tabernacle of Imperfection And therefore if Osorius will be so nyce as to exact of vs so precise a knitting together of vnvariable minds as may in no poynt swarue frō ech other lett himselfe become a president hereof in his owne Coūtrey and shew himselfe an Angell emongest his owne people And what maruell is it if in so great varietie of Iudgemētes and amongest so many men two men onely dissent somewhat in matter of so small importaunce whenas in this your so vniforme a Church whereof ye boast so proudly there is no parcell of Religion almost or order in profession wherein Schoole agaynst Schoole Uniuersitie agaynst Uniuersitie Colledge agaynst Colledge Councell agaynst Councell Canon agaynst Canon doe not mainteine continuall iarryng How is it then Osorius that with shuttevppe eyes ye can so lightly ouerlooke and not looke vpon so many and so monstruous Beames ouerspreadyng your Churches and not passe ouer one litle moate in our Church without controllyng your brethren but that ye must burst out into such whotte fury of hellish firebrandes With the Spirite of God say you is no dissensiō This is most true And so it is true also that Luther Zuinglius be not taken for Gods which can not erre nor dissent eche from other in some pointes Neither doth it therfore follow hereupon that bycause they do not reteigne a mutuall constaunt cōsent of myndes in all thyngs that therfore they were not raysed vppe by God Otherwise after this Logicke how many auncient and godly Fathers will you banish out of all Churches was there neuer any iarryng betwixt Moyses and Aaron That contention betwixt Paule Peter about the mainteynyng of the libertie of the Gospell and agayne that separatyng a sunder of Paule from Barnabas is well knowen to all mē It whiles the Lord him selfe lyued vpon the earth the Disciples them selues could be at variaunce about preéminence and superioritie what maruell now if his Disciples do not so well agreé together in all pointes sithēce Christ is not present emongest them who were more familiar then Basile and Gregory Nazienzene and yet in this marueilous consent of qualities and studies wanted not a certeine offence and breache of that mutuall amitie Victor did not of all partes agreé with Policarpus How earnest a conflict deuided Iohn Byshop of Constantinople and Epiphanius Byshop of Cypres Neither did Augustine in all thynges agreé with Ierome And yet I thinke you will not say that these men were not raysed vppe by the grace and Deuine inspiration of God Well now Let vs seé what this so great dissention was betwixt them which as you say proceéded from Luther What a brable was there betwixt them say you about wordes what varietie and inconstancy of opinions how disorderly how intricately and ouerthwartly do they speake in how many sondry matters and Argumentes do they not onely not agree with others but also disagree eche from other Forsooth if you will know Osorius and sith you require the same I will shew you in few wordes what and how monstruous this cōflict was betwixt thē First they do all togethers with one voyce confesse one God they doe all with one Fayth acknowledge the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost They do all with one mynde agreé togethers in the Articles of the Christian Creede with the true auncient and Catholicke Fayth of the Church of Christ. Of this Church they do all acknowledge the authoritie of the Scripture to be chief next vnder Christ the second place and dignitie they do yeld to the Church to the auncient and approued Councels The godly and auncient Fathers they do all with one consent allow and yeld vnto so farreforth as euery of them is founde to agreé with the expresse word of God Heresies and false opiniōs reproued by the authoritie of holy Scripture and the sacred antiquitie of the Church they do all generally oppugne besides this authoritie of Scripture the most couenable proportion of Fayth whatsoeuer hath priuily crawled and crept in by stealth into the profession of Fayth and true worshyppyng of God they do all vtterly and worthly abhorre whatsoeuer is most aunciēt in Fayth and most approued by cōstaunt allowaunce of antiquitie the same is had amongest thē in greatest admiration In the acknowledgemēt of one onely Mediatour in heauen one onely Sacrifice for Sinnes which is resiaunt not in the earth but in heauen in confessyng one onely generall head of the vniuersall Church in all these is there no discention nor brawlyng about wordes or Sentences Moreouer in this they agreé together all be of one mynde and iudgement all namely that the Pope of Rome is the very Antichrist whereof they haue assured and vndoughted proofe by the certeine and infallible Rules and forewarnynges of the holy Scripture and by his horrible persecution of the word of God Besides this also that all Idolles and Images ought to be abolished out of the Church of God That those choppyng chaungyng of Pardons ought to be abhorred That all affiauce of righteousnes of God ought to be settled in the onely Fayth of Iesu Christ and in nothyng els That superfluous vowes and Traditions of men which do yoake fast and clogge Christian libertie and well disposed consciences ought vtterly to be abolished That Ceremonies and Constitutions which are ioyned with an opinion of righteousnesse of worshyppyng of Saluation merityng ought worthely to be banished abandonned that Priestes Concubines ought to be conuerted into lawfull Matrimony that those mōstruous vpstartes of disguised professions rules and orders ought be rooted out that all thyngs may be reduced and leuelled
to witte That the Church is a multitude of people such as is bounde to obey the Pope of Rome seuered from other Nations by certeine Ceremonies which the Popes haue ordeyned fast tyed to the ordinary cōtinued course of Succession of Byshops and to that onely interpretation of Scriptures which the Byshops and Councels doe deliuer And this is the true proportion and full Definitiō of your Church if I be not deceaued But this Definitiō the learned in Logicke will deny to be good sounde where the thyng defined is not of all partes equiualēt with the Definitiō Which rule is not obserued here For to admitte this vnto you that in the true Church of Christ must be Popes Byshops who must be obeyed who also must haue an ordinary outward succession and who may challenge vnto them selues a speciall prerogatiue in the interpretation of the holy Scripture yet is not this by and by true that all Popes Byshops which are entituled by the name of Popes and Byshops which do pretende a continuall succession which do carry the countenaunce of consentes which do challenge a right in the interpretatiō of Scriptures are the true sheapherds of the Lordes flocke And why so forsooth bycause that thyng wāteth which makyng specially for the purpose you haue specially left out namely the truth of sounde doctrine which may be able to treade downe and crushe in peéces errour and hypocrisie That is to say That Byshops do truly and vnfaynedly become the same in the sight of God which in vtter shew they would fayne seéme in the sight of men Agayne that Succession be not of persons onely but a speciall Succession of Fayth vertuous lyfe that the obedience of the people may not proceéde so much of feare of punishment as of harty affection and willyngnesse of mynde that the interpretation of scriptures be not wrested to the maintenaunce of errour and mens sensualitie but be directed and aunswerable to the meanyng of the holy Ghost and the true naturall sense of the Scripture For these be the true markes Osor. whereby a true Church is discernable from a false not the title and name of a Church not the authoritie and Succession of Byshops not the opinion of a multitude besides the truth of Gods word But the very Rule of the word must be kept which will so describe vnto vs a true Church by true markes tokēs boundes and foundations That it be a Congregation dispersed abroad euery where ouer the face of the whole earth vnited agreéyng together in soūd◠doctrine of Fayth and the true worshyppyng of God which beyng sanctified by the holy Ghost and admitted by partaking the Sacramentes do truly beleéue in God through the Sonne of God Iesu Christ accordyng to the doctrine of the Gospell although some be enlightened with more spiritual graces gifts and some with lesse By this standard and Rule let vs measure now the Argumentes of Osorius Luther and Melancthon are fallen away from the Pope of Rome and his Cardinalles Ergo Luther and Melancthon haue rent in sunder the vnitie of the Church The onely Church of Rome hath an ordinary succession from Peter Ergo The onely Church of Rome is the true Church The great part of Christendome doth acknowledge the Church of Rome Ergo The Churche of Rome is the Mother Churche and Queene of all Churches The Churche of God hath a promise that it shall neuer erre Ergo He that doth interprete the Scriptures otherwise then after the meaning of the Church of Rome or that doth not acknowledge him selfe obedient to the Romish Decrees in all thynges is an heretique and doth sequester him selfe from the boundes and communiō of the Church To this aunswere shal be made briefly and logically These be meére fallacyes and deceites of the Equiuocation deriued from a false description of the Church and the succession thereof and from false markes For as touching the names and Tytles as touching the long pedigreés of neuer interrupted course of Succession as touching the consent of the multitude and the promises made by God if the other tagges were tyed to these poyntes and made suteable namely sound doctrine true godlynesse surely it would seéme somewhat to the purpose that Osorius mayntayneth But now whatsoeuer they bragge and vaunt of tytles and other reliques without the especiall coupling and cōioyning of the Euangelicall and Apostolicall doctrine is altogether nought els but smoake and winde nothing auayleable to establish the true vnity of the Church First as concerning the name of the Church we do heare Christ himselfe speaking Many shall come in my name Touching Successiō we heare out of Ierome Not they that sitte in the places of Sainctes c. Touching the multitude Augustine doth teach vs. That the consentes of voyces must be weyed and measured not numbred Touching Gods promise made for perseuerance in the trueth harken what Iohn Baptist speaketh Do not say we haue Abrahā to our Father For God is of power to rayse vppe sonnes to Abraham out of these stoanes If Osorius will argue after this maner why should not these arguments be of as great force The high Priest of the old law in the Iewish Regiment did beare the face and name of the Church with full allowaunce and cōmon consent of all the multitude yea euen in the tyme of Esay Ieremy Amos Elias and Christ. The same also did conuey theyr Succession from the priesthood of Aaron And did vouch also theyr authority seat lawe and the promise agaynst Ieremy agaynst the Prophettes and agaynst Christ. The Law say they shall not perish from the Priestes Ergo Those high priestes did enioy a true Church nor coulde possibly erre at any tyme. But if Osorius shall thinke with him selfe that these Argumentes were not forcible enough in the olde Church why should they be more effectuall in the new Churche In the olde lawe it was lawfull to examine the very prophettes themselues if they spake the word of the Lord yea certayne infallible tokens were set downe whereby they might be discerned In like maner euen in the new testament we are commaunded to proue the Spirites if obey be of God being forewarned by the spirite of God that we beleue not euery spirite And what kinde of people then be these Popes and Cardinals of Rome which of a more then Imperious Lordlynesse doe commaund and require all men to receaue and reuerence their Satutes Ordinaunces Ceremonies opinions and all theyr wordes and deédes ingenerall without exception and contradictiō vpon greéuous paynes and Penalties that shall ensue agaynst him whosoeuer dare presume to make a question of the right of their authoritye or to make any doubt of any theyr deuises and imaginations And so geuing the slippe to all those he commeth downe againe to our Church with a maruailous blaff of windy words but with no reason at all imagining to proue
alwayes commend the person but yf the person be good he doth alwayes commend the place otherwise yf he be euill he doth shame the place And what yf Peter did receaue the keyes from Christ did he alone therefore receaue them was it not also spoken indifferently to all without exception Receaue ye the holy ghost whose soeuer sinnes you louse or binde vpon earth c. Could Peter be sent by any greater authoritye then by the authoritye of Christ himselfe Finally was not this spoken to all thapostles indifferently by Christ himselfe As the liuing father sent me euen so doe I send you Peter therefore did binde Peter did louse I doe perceaue you so did also Paule louse the Corynthian and reteigne Hermogenes and Alexander Iohn the Euangelist did louse the theéfe once or twise as Eusebius doth recorde in his 3. booke Cap. 17. Other Apostles did louse lykewise others euen by the same authoritye receaued from Christ himselfe and not from Peter at all What then because Peter did before the rest of thapostles confesse his fayth and because the keyes were first geuē to Peter doth this argue forthwith that the keyes were geuen to Peter alone But to goe foreward Putt the case that the keyes were deliuered to Peters custody both first yea in respect of his confessing of fayth besides this also to him alone sith you will haue it so yet what kinde of chopplogick is this The keyes were deliuered to Peter cōfessing Christ with a true and sincere fayth Ergo. The Popes of Rome onely be the successors of Peter and are inuested in the possession of the same power of binding and lousing by the expresse worde of God A trymm conclusion surely very Catholick Wherein neither the Antecedent is true and the consequent much more false Forasmuch as neither this force of binding and lousing was geuen to Peter alone their assumption hereof surmised that the Popes of Rome onely are Peters Successors is altogether as false The reason is because the simplicitye and natiue humilitye of the Gospell doth no where acquaint it selfe with any such carnall successions which are applyed to places persons and tymes as neither Christes philosophye doth acknowledge or regard carnall Fathers Sonnes affinities and kinreddes as the which doth mount on high and doth enter by farr more excellent meanes Goe to yet for example sake lett vs imagine that Peter hadd a sonne borne vnto him by his lawfull wyfe and an other Cephas resembling the father and by discent and course of nature next heire What shall we say that this Sonne shall clayme the priuiledge of his fathers Portershippe because he is his next heyre Not so you will say And will you so flattly deny that priuiledge to naturall discent which you yeld to place and to a rotten outward Chayre If Christ did neither acknowledge mother brethren nor sisters vpon the earth but those onely which yelded their due obedience to his fathers commaundements will the same Christ vouchsafe any other successors or vicars of Peter then such as present themselues with the same cognifizaunce and badge that he did acknowledge in Peter And admitt also the very best that maketh for you that the Byshoppe of Rome doth with neuer so good a face pretend this authoritie from Christ what and be not other Byshopps of other Churches endued with semblable fayth what prerogatiue hath he then in this office and keéping of keyes now as to challenge any superioritye ouer other Byshoppes and Presidēts of the Churche The Scripture doth in a certein place deny that he which hath not the spirite of Christ is of Christ. Now this spirite of Christ wheresoeuer it resteth is humble and meéke regardeth not the thinges of the earth seéketh not her owne suffereth the iniuries of others offereth iniury to none neither reuengeth any iniury offred to himselfe haleth no man to the slaughter-house thyrsteth after euery mans sauetye yea prayeth also for his enemies earnestly doth receaue the weake in fayth doth oppresse no man endureth many thinges becometh all in all to all persons that he may winne all vnto Christ accompteth other mens chaunces good or badde as his owne lyueth not to himselfe but to the publique benefite of many doth amend that is amisse addresseth that which is out of order recouereth the lost recomforteth the dispeired estates finally doth not breake in peéces the shieuered Reéde For in very deéde the spirite of Christe canne not be vnlyke to Christ himselfe And therefore hereof we may well conclude that wheresoeuer this spirite doth plant his Seate there doughtles is the successor of Peter there be the true keyes of the Church I doe not presume here to iudge of the spirite of the Pope he hath his Iudge and shall haue his daye of iudgement which shall display abroad into open light secrets of all darkenes In the meane space touching the Popes Pardons whereof these praters preach so presumptuously this is most certen and sure That thorough the whole scriptures or aūcient Fathers one sentēce so much cann not be found to make those their Pardons Iustifiable or coulorable First touching their whole allegation of Succession it is playne fraude and deceipt their bragge of the singuler prerogatiue of Peter is false The power of the keyes doth no more belong to the Seé of Rome then to the vniuersall Church of Christ. For if by those keyes power of binding and lousing be figured as hath bene allready spoken these keyes though Peter receaued first in deéde yet did not he alone receaue them nor did euer at any tyme exercise the power of the same otherwise then as he did enioye them together with thother Apostles which for asmuch as is confirmed by very many infallible profes and established by the cōtinuall vnbrokē course of auncient Antiquitye as also witnessed euidently by the testimony of the Cannons in the Councels of Ancyra and Nice whereof we made mencion before where it is sayd that the custome of the Church was then such as that euery Byshoppe should haue the order and ouersight of euery his peculiar Prouince and vpon due consideration of the behauiour of the Penitentiaries might lawfully either mittigate shorten or cutt of the tyme of their penaunce or prolong the same according as they should thinke in necessary and neédefull for reformation and correction So that it was shamelesse presumption and most arrogant insolencye of Pope Innocent the 3. to make this vndiscreéte decreé in the Councell of Laterane in the yeare 1215. Because sayth he through vndiscreate and superfluous Pardons which certē Prelates of the Church are not affrayd to graūt both the keyes of the Church are despised and penitentiall satisfaction is weakened we doe decree that when the feast of dedication of Saynt Peters Pallaice shall be solemnized Pardon shall not be graunted aboue one yeare and so foorth in the feast of the yearely dedication the tyme of appoynted Pardons
without any proofe at all I returned the same into your owne bosome with approued circumstaunces of tyme and persons But hereunto our new vpstarte Pythagoras maketh none aūswere but that my examples are counterfaite and reiected of approued writers Of whom I pray you where how what booteth it to enquire further my Lord Byshop doth affirme it we must needes beleue it Herein yet your companion of Angrence is somwhat more tractable who rather then he will leaue the matter vnconfessed will set two Monkes by the eares and confute the one with the testimonie of the other O gay payre of Byshops which are so intangled in two examples onely that the one is enforced vtterly to disclayme the other to take such witnesses whom no wise man will admit But Osorius forsooth hath gottē an other couert to play boe peépe in where he shrowdeth him self alwayes when he is narrowly chased I force not sayth hee what rules of lyfe our Monkes obserued for such haynous offences as are committed in common weales by men not altogether endued with heauenly wisedome should haue bene cured or vtterly abandoned by the sinceritie of your most holy discipline by the wholesome medicine of this Gospell and by that excellēt remedy which your Doctours haue deliuered vnto the world O notable Diuine is this speach meéte for a diuine and a Byshop is it lawfull for you to be murtherers māquellers bloudsukers vnpunished Is there not one baptisme onely one profession one onely Lord father of all one onely redeémer Iesus Christ what prerogatiue then cā your sect chalenge more vnto your wickednes then ours We allow no amendement of maners but such as that authoritie of the Gospell sacred Scriptures do approue none other integritie of life but that whiche the Gospell doth exact if you be exempt from this discipline the world goeth well on your side lōg may you enioy that your freédome a Gods name But if there be but one profession one name one bonde of peace why do you so dismēber this vnitie or rather rend it in peéces as though it were nothyng materiall in what sorte you behaue your selues bycause we haue an especiall profession and regard of innocencie and vprightnes of life If this were so as you do most absurdely confesse what could this auayle to your Monkes how could they be cured of their festered vlcers beyng aboue an hundred yeares old by these our newly vpstarte lieches as you tearme them You see here how you rubbe your selfe on the gall where soeuer ye touch so hard it is to finde a startyng hoale for such frameshapen cauils And yet beyng altogether vnlucky in handlyng your matters you hauke after tiltes of wordes that so at the least ye may fease vpon gnates I affirmed that you dwelt nearer the worke maister of poyson then I You demaunde what I meane by that whether I note your person your countrey or any other nation Whereunto I demaunde agayne whether the wordes be not Latin wordes and playne enough But they note nothyng of certeintie say you This is your owne fault who vse to chop of the head of the sentence and slyly huddle the rest And I otherwise accusing no man willingly am ashamed to depraue any whole Natiō Wherfore though you haue endited Englād by name it shal be lawfull for me to vse more modestie for more arrogācie and impudencie I can not You snatch at an other vocable which is Perpessa Printed for Persparsa But yet at the last you release me of this quarell cōfesse that it might be the ouersight of the Printer as though you or any other hauyng any smatch of learnyng could doubt that I had written the seédes of warres to be scattered abroad But you are an immoderate brabbler that can scarcely admitte that which your selfe do seé must of necessitie seéme to be true Here you play hickscorner concernyng the reformation of our maners after the rules of the Gospell Where you sportyngly promise that you will sayle ouer vnto vs to learne this notable discipline of life Come not at vs I pray you except you throw away your hypocritical visour and cal to your memory the saying of the Propheticall kyng Thy worde O Lord is a lanterne to me feete which sentence lyeth drowned amongest you in so deépe a dongeon of bald ceremonies and mens traditions that like night owles you are starke blynd in the midday and are not able to endure the bright beames of the cleare shynyng Gospell Now to the end I might more sensibly disclose the ouglinesse of your fonde superstitions I noted two speciall botches of your lothsome customes Whereof one consisteth in that vnbridled licēcious Bulles of Pardons The other entreateth of prayers ouerunne and mumbled vp without feélyng sence or vnderstandyng These two forlorne matters you ouerskip in the playne field succourles without touch of breath wherein surely you deale very discreétly for your Schoolemaister Cicero him selfe if he were now aliue could not perswade this blacke to be white the matter beyng so absurde And yet you haue here illfaudredly prouided for your honestie that so playnly deny that men were not accustomed to assigne the affiaūce of their saluation to those two plaisters aboue mentioned For as touchyng those leadden Bulles what prerogatiue they obteined how wyde and how farre they stretched with how cruell bondage they had cramped mens consciences not onely the auncient age and receaued custome of many yeares most truly recordeth but the rotten carcasses also buried in graue will beare sufficiēt witnes against you Amongest a great number of whom were foūde caskettes full of pardons safely folded and lapt together in the bottome of their graues Which I suppose would neuer haue chaunced vnlesse vnmeasurable superstitious affiaunce had bene attributed to this peltyng leadē pilfe Now if the liuely authoritie of the holy scriptures haue so vtterly quasshed blurred out this bald ceremonie that at length you confesse now that all confidence of saluation ought to bee ascribed to the onely bountie and mercy of Iesu Christ as your selfe protest in the selfe same wordes Uerely I do hartely reioyce in the behalfe of Spayne But as I haue no quarell with that famous Natiō at all so haue I very great agaynst you whose communicatiō is so wonderfully variable that a man may scarse trust you in this matter For if it be true that our righteousnesse doth partly depend vpon good workes agayn if it be meritorious to pray to the virgine Marie which both you do verifie and likewise earnestly auow that she hath bene oftentymes founde mercyfull to your petitions of these then proceédeth a good consequente that all the hope of our iustification ought not to be ascribed to Christ onely But these thyngs shal be better cōsidered hereafter in place fit for them in the meane tyme call to your remembraūce what a thyng it is to speake honorably and largely of the
your owne Doctours and their whole doctrine is yours They were tractable for a tyme in the mariage of Priestes in the receauyng of the Sacrament vsing the necessitie of the present tyme but in all the rest as much as in them was they did gorgiously garnishe their Romish kyngdome And therefore in this last place you were fondly foolishe to affirme that your owne chieftaines displayed banner vnder your enemyes enseignes Truly either your memory is very slipperie or your wittes went a wollgatheryng when you were ouer earnest in your slaunderous imagination Yet are you much miscontented with these men likewise bycause they seéme to varie amongest them selues For they correct I will vse your intricate wordes by your leaue they alter they turne in and out they blotte out the old and make new places c. When you name places I suppose you meane common places of Scriptures or litle bookes of common places If it be so you ought to haue remembred the Grecian Prouerbe The secoÌ„d determinations are accoÌ„pted wiser then the first Neither can any thyng resemble the Christian modesty more nearely then if we amend our selues as neéde requireth We haue a notable example hereof Aurel. Augustine who made a booke of his errours entitled a Retractation But you are in an other predicament That is to say you are apprentices and so addicted bondslaues to these drowsie dreames the dayly practize whereof hath so betwitched your senses that no streÌ„gth of the truth caÌ„ mollifie your harts cloyed altogether in that phantasticall puddle of schoolemyre But howsoeuer you shall remaine stiffenecked your selues you ought not yet reproue the modestie of others whiche fashion them selues nearest to Christian simplicitie Neither was any exaÌ„ple at any tyme more coÌ„mendable in the Church of Christ then this of Augustine was You seé now what a stinckyng reward you haue gotten for this pursuyte of Sectaries and yet as if you had besturred your stumpes haÌ„dsomely you triumph in these wordes What can you Replie to this was there a generall consent betwixt them that sprang out of Luther no disagreement no contradiction in opinions But how much better had it bene for you to haue reuerenced that lead whereat you scorne so much then to haue opened such a gappe to so moÌ„struous pestiferours errours I aunswere that these your metie questions concerne me nothyng at all For I am an English man not a Lutherane I stand for England and not for Luther agaynst you Yet do I pronouÌ„ce this also that there was a generall consent amongest the Lutherans no disagreément no contradiction in opinions For they all sticke fast to Augustines coÌ„fession nor will suffer them selues to be drawen from it But that confession say you I do not allow Neither is this matter now in question what maner of confession that was for howsoeuer that be it is most certeine that the Lutherans did perseuer stedfastly therein As for the rest whiche you heape together are either fayned or coyned by you or banished from all men as well from vs as from you Or els they be your owne sweéte sworne brethren sauyng that they haue somewhat more modestie discretion then you Therfore this is but a slender ArgumeÌ„t to enduce me to reuerence your lead except I were too too leaddish by nature But sithence you haue shronke from your tackle and forsaken the leaden Bulles of your Monarche in so succourlesse a shipwracke without helme or cable in such dispayred perplexitie you are to be esteémed not onely a leadden and woodden but a durtie aduocate also of your Romish Monarchie if at the least any thyng may be more filthy then durte Yet that ye may the better proceéde you spitte on your handes and take hold of my wordes which are these But there came a thundercracke into our eares out of the heauenly authoritie of the sacred Scriptures that made our consciences afrayde and compelled vs to abandonne and forsake all mens Traditions and too putte our whole confidence in the onely freémercy of God Well I acknowledge this speache to be myne owne yea and gladly also And I finde nothyng therein blameworthy But what sayth Osorius to this grace Doe ye not say gramercy to Luther sayth hee that linked you so fast with such a singular benefite to abandonne all fearefulnes from you What is the matter my Lord what Planet hath distempered you I haue nothyng here to do with Luther nor with his doctrine of fayth I shewed that our consciences were terrified with the authoritie of sacred Scriptures and constrained to fleé to the freé mercy of God you say Luther hath written erroniously touchyng fayth forsooth these two hang together like a sicke mans dreame As if a man would argue in this wise Osorius is a most impudent rayler Ergo his companion of Angrence is a perfect Logician Are you not ashamed to cite whole sentences from an other writer beyng vnable to frame any probable obiections agaynst any one of them For as concernyng Luther albeit I haue not vndertaken to defende him as I haue oftentymes protected yet this doe I suppose that neither he nor any other interpretour of that Scriptures ought to bee admitted vpon euery particular Assertion but to haue relation to the whole discourse and meanyng of the Authour If this especiall regard bee had vnto Luther as in deéde it ought he shal be founde a profounde scholemaster both of fayth and a good workes and so farre to excell you in learnyng that ye shall not be worthy to beare his bookes after him howsoeuer you delight your selfe to gnaw vpon a few wordes of his vnaduisedly throwen out in some heate of disputation But by the way you stuÌ„ble also at an other straw of myne bycause I wrate that we haue forsaken and reiected the traditions of men And with many iâ—gglyng wordes challenge vs that we are beholdyng herein to Luther Zuinglius Melancthon Bucer Caluin and Peter Martyr O my ouer tedious and toylesome lucke that hoped to dispute with a learned and discrete Diuine who would without good grounde haue blamed nothyng nor vsed any cauillatioÌ„s but now finde all contrary For I am pestered with a fonde brabblyng clatterer which delightyng altogether in vncessaunt chatteryng snatcheth and snarleth at thynges ratified and approued by all men I am therfore constrayned now to play the child agayne in the principles of Diuinitie as he doth and those questions must be debated wherof no man hauyng any skill can be ignoraunt In the same maner therfore we haue cast away traditioÌ„s of men as our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ hath pronounced in the Gospell vnder the person of Esay the Propet But in vayne they worshyppe me teachyng the doctrine and traditions of men And as our Lord Iesu a litle before rebuked the Phariseis You haue made frustrate sayth he the commaundement of God through your owne traditions We geue eare vnto men as they be men but if they ones teach contrary
for their defence also as appeareth playnly by their bookes but I enterlaced this withall that if our writers had vsed scriptures onely they had followed herein the example of Iesu Christ and his Apostles What sayth our graue father to this Forsoth he Preacheth much of the Diuine power of Christ our Sauiour how that he was the mynde and wisedome of the father and the accomplisher of the Law and did make new ordinaunces of our Religion which were not expressed in the whole course of the old Law First of all this vnweldie old man perceiueth not how hee hath ouerthrowen him selfe in his owne turne for if Christ be the mynde and wisedome of the father as he hath most truely sayd hereupon consequently followeth that all the particular testimonies of Christ are speciall Oracles of the truth and that all his particular sayinges ought to be engrauen in our harts as heauenly Oracles This did our heauenly Father pronounce vnto Moyses and Moyses declared the same vnto the people in these wordes The Lorde thy God will rayse vp a Prophet lyke vnto me from among you ouer thy brethren him shall ye barken vnto Wherfore if we must harken vnto Christ as vnto Moyses then are we bounde as necessarely to his preceptes as to the ordinaunces of Moyses Behold the same more playnly yet in the Gospell Iesus beyng baptised came forth of the water and behold the heauens were opened and he saw the spirite of God descendyng as a Doue and standyng ouer him and loe there came a voyce from heauen This is my welbeloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Therfore sith the authoritie of Iesu Christ is sealed vnto vs by the mouth of almighty God what greater Maiestie of Scriptures may be pronoūced in the Scriptures taught or imagined more excellent then this doctrine Iames doth recorde That our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ is the onely Lawmaker which can saue and destroy Wherfore in his onely right and interest he did partly establishe new lawes partly amend the old partly expoūde the obscure partly restore them that were worne out of mynde and partly abolishe them that were receaued But what maketh this to your purpose when our Lord Iesus doth vse Scriptures doth he alledge any other then the sacred testimonies of the old Testament it could not otherwise bee say you doth he vouche any other interpreters then the holy Ghost sent downe from heauen he neéded not say you For he whom God hath sent speaketh the wordes of God for God doth not geue him the Spirite by measure The Father loueth the Sonne and hath yelded all thynges vnto his hand This is a true saying of Iohn concernyng Christ which beyng so in deéde that must bee also true whiche I enterlaced That Iesus Christ beyng contented with the testimonie of the holy Scriptures alleadged none other interpretour besides him selfe This is also vndoubted true at the last That you are a very vnskilfull and blockishe Deuine whiche professing the knowledge of God do wauder so erroniously in the nature and power of God If I should sift out the examples particularly that you haue taked together for this purpose I should finde them altogether voyde of all maner probabilitie stuffed full with grosse errours Two onely will I shake out amongest all the rest which shall condemne you of your disguised maskyng You deny that this sentence can be founde in the Law in the Prophets or in the Psalmes that the way is narrow that leadeth to saluatiō or that we must turne the left checke to him that hath striken on the right If you exact wordes you play by that Sophister If you require substaūce or sentence I do affirme it to be found euery where both in the Law in the Prophetes and in the Psalmes The old law hath an expresse commaundement That we shall not bow to the right hand nor the left hand nor adde to the Law nor diminishe there from Is it not apparaunt therfore that we are placed in straightes Truly Dauid perceaued it well who beyng a kyng and a Prophet chosen by that singular prouidence of God to gouerne the people of Israell yet doth greuously complayne that hee was partly placed in narrowe straightes partly forsaken in the darke and sometymes maketh most humble supplication to God to direct his feete in the right way but very often confesseth that the word of the Lord is a Lanterne to his feete and a light to his pathes But what neédeth a Lanterne but in combersome and narrow straightes where a man may easely goe amasked if you be ignoraunt in all those places what doe ye vnderstand that is requisite in a Deuine and Byshop or if ye know them and dissemble them what can be more wayward then you Likewise you obiect that saying of geuyng a blow on the cheékes which wordes do employ nothyng els but that we are commaūded to be patient But patience is most learnedly conteined in that first and speciall commaundement of God Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe There is no mā that will offer iniurie to him selfe in any matter wherfore he ought not to wrong his neighbour at all cā you haue any thyng more plainly spoken The vngratefull people of Israell did exclame and rage agaynst their good mild paynfull guide Moyses sometyme with secret conspiracies sometimes with open exclamations many tymes with threatnynges and very oftē with wicked cursinges What might this gentle Captaine doe in the meane space Beyng stricken yea and buffeted also vpon the cheéke doth hee not turne ouer his other cheéke What els I pray you is meant hereby that he doth often pray vnto God for such cursed caytiues his enemies when he doth so earnestly and vehemently cry out to God either to forgeue them or to blotte his name out of the booke of life if you require yet a more notable example of patience Behold our Lord Iesus Christ is prefigured vnto vs in Esay the Prophet drawen vnto death as a Lambe to be slayne who beyng rayled vpon on euery side vexed by the Iewes and buffeted with fistes on the face held his peace and as a sheepe before the Shearer neuer opened his mouth what may be thought of the whole history of Iob but a conquest of patience and in most miserable calamitie a most ioyfull Triumphe thereof And yet this veépe Deuine is so voyde of common sense that he vtterly deuyeth any sentence to be founde in the Scriptures touchyng patient sufferaunce of our enemyes wronges You say that you haue passed ouer many thyngs It had bene better for you truely that you had passed ouer all thynges then in all thynges with malice and foule speakyng so to turne the catte in the panne that your wordes can neither finde head nor foote to stand vpon can explane nothyng soundly cōclude nothyng duely proue nothyng effectually but raūge in rayling brawle with bare affirmatiues and with pratlyng past measure pester and
were at that tyme no nor deéme your selfe more holy theÌ„ Aaron Therfore where you seé so manifest Idolatry in them why make you so proude bragges of the innocencie of your Nation But you will happely say that those dayes are out of memory no such matter sticketh now in your fingers will ye therefore that I bryng you home and euidently disproue the ignorauÌ„ce and vnaduised follie of you your people by the testimonies of your owne fraternitie Truly I am contented so to doe and I will paint out your Idolatry so playnly in the sight of all men that can seé and be willyng to seé that no well disposed persons may doubt thereof hereafter Peraduduenture your eyes will dazell through corruption of dayly custome as it happened to Cerberus the dogge of hell sodenly drawen out of his darcke doungeon into the bright sunne shyne First you will graunt me this as I suppose which all your Papisticall Godmakers will yeld vnto that in that your transubstantiated white Wafers is inclosed a certeine Diuine essence and the onely substaunce of bread flowen quyte away I know not whither but that the accidents of bread remayne as at the first to witte the roundnes white colour and such like Hereof then followeth of necessitie euen by your owne Argument that who soeuer doth worshyp the white colour or any externall thyng therof subiect to the senses spectible view is a manifest Idolatour Aunswere me to this place my Lord I beseéch you if there be any sparckle oftene fayth in you Tell me when your simple vnlettered people cluster in heapes together to your Altares heaue vppe their handes knocke their brestes reuerently behold and humbly worshyp that your white rounde singyng Cake holden betwixt your fingers and lifted ouer your heades as if it were our Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesu him selfe when I say this seély rude multitude doth so humble them selues and are moued in affection can they discerne betwixt the accidentes of the bread and the substaunce if they can surely your nation is deépely seéne in Logicke But if they cannot Then we may rightly conclude vpon the suppositions of your owne Deuines that they commit open Idolatry bycause they do worshyp not onely the essence of God farre hidden within wholy remoued from their senses but also the outward signes which they behold and seé with their eyes You are taken here Osorius neither can you escape me for either you must serape out your Decreés and CanoÌ„s which will procure you mortall hatred or els you must neédes coÌ„fesse the dayly Idolatry of your people except ye deny that the outwarde forme of bread is worshypped by them wherein they will witnes agaynst you if neéde shall require And therfore if your fayned God may euidently be founde culpable of euideÌ„t Idolatry Your errour is much more apparant in worshyppyng of Images I did set downe before the wordes of our Sauiour Iesu Christ vsed to the woman of Samaria touchyng the true worshyppyng of God Aboue alledged also the auncient custome of the Primitiue Church when as no grauen or paynted Images were permitted to be worshipped In this most assured testimonies and ordinaunces of our Religion this our great Deuine and Maister is altogether mumme but that hee cauilleth a litle I know not what about the Images of the Crosse to witte That the fame was deepely emprinted in the harts of meÌ„ in that auÌ„cient and florishing age of the primitiue Church but that pictures were needelesse sith that tyme. The same doe we also confesse franckly For there be two notable rules very true prescribed by God as Principles whereby the auncient vse and rule of Christian Religion and dueties of Christian lyfe may be dayly enured preserued The one is that we apply our myndes to read the holy Scriptures The other is that we yeld atteÌ„tiue eare vnto them For all Scripture sayth Paule is geuen by inspiration of God and is profitable to teache to admonish to improue to amende and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be perfect and prepared vnto all good workes If we bee made absolute and perfect by the holy Scriptures what neéde we any helpe of your pictures In those holy Scriptures is the liuely Image of God the Father the liuely picture of Iesu Christ our Sauiour the true Crosse true worshippyng true Religion to bee founde But you are fouly fallen away from this auncient veritie you haue wickedly buryed in darkenesse the Testament of Iesu Christ you haue treacherously discredited the authoritie of holy Scriptures and in place of these pure and knowen founteines of our true Religion ye haue in your Churches planted a wonderfull rabble of woâ—meeaten pictures and portraictes of dead bodyes to be worshipped you haue instructed the rude and vnlettered people with mens traditious and haue vtterly drowned the holy Scriptures beyng the most pleasaunt and plentyfull foode of the soule with ouerflowyng puddles of stinckyng Ceremonies This is very true Osorius yea it is to true And you beyng a Byshop and a distributer of the holy misteries of God shall to your intollerable anguish of mynde feéle this to be true which you shal be sommoned before the dreadfull Iudgement seate of the Lord From whence you shal be throwen into euerlasting tormentes if ye amende not in tyme. But there is no droppe of sounde or sober witte in you for amyddes your disputation touchyng the worshyppyng of God you sodenly skippe from the matter and returne to your wonted shiftes and demaunde of vs. If wee haue founde our selues more inclinable to praye sith the abolishyng of Images then before First of all This concerneth not the controuersie anythyng at all Then who hath authorised you beyng a Portingall to be Iudge and Inquisitour ouer vs Englishmen Enquire ye for the demeanours of your owne people of Siluain and let vs alone with our owne Byshops It greéueth you much that the Reliques of Thomas of CauÌ„terbury are defaced whom it pleaseth you to call a most holy man beyng in very déede an exectable Traytour O goodly Doctour of the Church that require vs to worshyp the rotten stinckyng carkase of a pielde trayterous Priest Persuade that els where for in England women children and naturall fooles do detest the stincking Rames crauyne and Idolatrous Shryne of that Rebellious traytour Neither are you pleased bycause I rubbe your Schoolemen on the gall a very sacred societie if we credite you most pure pillers of Christian ReligioÌ„ agréeyng consentyng with the auncient Apostles but if they be tryed by their owne trinckettes they wil be founded a pestilent generation of Uipers full of vnsauory brabbles corrupt doctrine altogether boyde of witte addicted to all superstitioÌ„ And there is no discréet person amongest our aduersaries that hath any smatche of founde learnyng except a very fewe but doe vtterly detest and reiect this filthy puddle of SchoolemeÌ„ And yet you sir Ierome suppose to
his name Christ teacheth farre otherwise of him selfe Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any maÌ„ heare my voyce and opeÌ„ vnto me the gate I will enter vnto him and will suppe with him and hee with me O sweéte and most comfortable voyce of our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ which if once may be throughly rooted in the inward partes of our soule will easely rase out abolish that priuy blind buzzyng in the eares of those Massemongers and Friers But Osorius sticketh fast to his substitution and mainteineth earnestly that the Apostles were assigned to be Christes Uicares on earth whiche should supply his iurisdiction and should enterlace their owne definitiue sentences with his These are both false God is a ielous God and will not geue his honour to any other Hee hath appointed no Uicare and the holy Scripture doth acknowledge no such word neither was it his will that the Apostles should entermedle in his Iurisdiction Your surmise is false quite contrary to his heauenly prerogatiue For Christ onely hath the keyes of hell and death Christ onely is the slayne Lambe and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda the roote of Dauid which openeth the booke and louseth the seuen seales therof neither was there any besides him in heauen in earth or vnder the earth that could open the booke and looke into it Our Lord Iesus beyng raysed from death and appearyng vnto his Apostles spake vnto them in this maner All power is geuen vnto me in heaueÌ„ and in earth Of this power was neuer iote empaired in any respect and neuer shal be What was the Commission of the Apostles then Christ him selfe doth open it in the selfe same place Goe ye therfore and teach all nations Baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to obserue all those sayings which I haue commauÌ„ded you This was the Embassie of the Apostles this was their CommissioÌ„ Iurisdiction or to speake more playnly bluntly this was their function this was their office To this authoritie the keyes of heauen and remission of sinnes and whatsoeuer els of the same kynde must be applyed S. Paule doth comprehend all these briefly in these wordes Let men so esteeme vs as Ministers of Christ and Stewardes of the mysteries of God You be not Uicares theÌ„ Osori you be Ministers ye be not iudges to constitute Lawes as you do wickedly take vpoÌ„ you but ye be Stewardes to dispose the mysteries of God or at the lest you ought to bee But how belongeth this doctrine of Christ and his Apostles to your Massemongers Confessours They haue an other Romishe doctrine whereby they doe receiue the seély rude people runnyng in heapes vnto them rehearsing their sinnes priuily and in some close corner superstitiously when they haue vttered what them listeth they pronounce ouer them of their own power an absolution in a strauÌ„ge language in steade of Satisfaction they do enioyne them some fastyng dayes or some long pilgrimages and to make an ende of the play they pike from them a few peÌ„ce for their labour This is your vsurped power of CoÌ„fessioÌ„s Osorius which you affirme was geuen first to the Apostles afterwardes to you by a certâ—ine title of Succession Tell me now did you euer read that any thyng was whispered into the Apostles eares priuily or that sinnes were seuerally repeated or the people absolued by their owne absolute power or any thyng done in a language not vnderstanded or any penauÌ„ce as you tearme it enioyned or at the last any reward taken What vnshamefastnes is this what impietie is it to defend this close superstitious and mercenarie eare confession vnder pretence of the authoritie of our Sauiour Christ example of his Apostles especially wheÌ„ as none of these was euer instituted by Christ or frequented of his Apostles But your braynes are so be witched and intoxicated with eare confessions that ye shame not to alledge other stuffe yet whiche is most absurde of all the rest You say that it is daungerous for men to bee left in their owne libertie wheÌ„ they should confesse them selues to God For if it were so we would not willingly yeld to that embacing and throwyng down of our selues which Dauid named to bee the most acceptable sacrifice to God You do heare and acknowledge your owne wordes my Lord then the which I neuer heard any thyng vttered more blockish The matter shal be made manifest by the same example of Dauid which your selfe do alledge Dauid beyng a Patriarche a Kyng and a Prophet and a maÌ„ accordyng to Gods hart to vse the wordes of the Scripture was notwithstandyng continunually exercized in this kynde of Confession whiche is betwixt God onely vs in whom there is such store of sorowyng sighyng lamentyng weépyng afflictyng and bewayling as the like hath neuer bene in all your seâ—â—et whisperyngs no not sith the first whelpyng of the same For 〈◊〉 els is there in all that heauenly golden Psalmes of Dauids pâ—ayer then a mournefull and lamentable confession of sinne ioyned with hartie repentaunce sure hope of pardon Be mercyfull to me O Lord sayth hee accordyng to thy manifold mercies wash me throughly froÌ„ my wickednes and clense me froÌ„ my sinnes for I do acknowledgâ— my faultes and my sinne is â—â—er before me Agaynst thee onely haue I sâ—â—ed and done wickedly in thy sight Loe here a true and souÌ„de forme of CoÌ„fession fully described in Dauid whoÌ„ you haue alledged In this coÌ„fession we do exercize our selues In this we remaine in this we do dwell We do also poure out publicke Confessions of sinnes in our Churhes where the godly Minister is harkened vnto which may minister an wholesome plaister to our wounded consciences some sentence 〈◊〉 of the authoritie of the Scriptures These be the keyes wherewith he doth opeÌ„ the kyngdome of God to theÌ„ which do vnfaynedly repent pronounceth vs that are bouÌ„de with the chaines of our sinnes freély loosed and deliuered from them in the name of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. These Confessions as well priuate as publicke these keyes this power of byndyng loosing we doe acknowledge appointed by the Scriptures and practized in the tyme of the Apostles Neither was any thyng done with Iohn in a corner touchyng Confession nor yet with the Disciples of Christ. This matter was referred and ended also to and before God wherof we haue a most manifest example in the Gospell which ought not onely enter the eares but also pearce the very hartes of all well disposed persons When the lost and prodigall sonne had riotously consumed and wasted all his substaunce in so much that he was driuen to eate Peascoddes with hogges he begynneth at the last to call him selfe home and earnestly to deuise how he might be reconciled to his father herein he prayeth no ayde of any Leuite nor sittyng in a
deuise no lesse wicked then false To witte that the auncient Churche is peruerted by our Deuines and a new Church fashioned after our owne phantasies Whiche doe you call the auncient Church Osorius truly you name the Catholicke and Apostolique Churche to be auncient or so you ought to say founded in the Patriarches and Prophetes enlarged by our Lorde Iesu and his Disciples with vndefiled doctrine and vprightenesse of conuersation Haue we peruerted this holy Church Osorius haue we erected a new nay rather the matter is quite contrary We do most reuerently embrace this blessed Churche sealed vnto vs by the finger of our Lord Iesu and ordered by the pure ordinaunces of his Disciples we do appeale vnto this Church the same Church do we urge agaynst you and the same we do oppose agaynst you we combate agaynst all your filthy corruptions with the decreés of this Churche Herein we do persiste and cleaue fast vnto this Church and fight agaynst you in her defence directly with her owne weapons You are fallen away by litle and litle from this auncient Churche the inuincible fortresse of all truth and haue set your trust vpō the whyueryng reéde of the Romish Seé Then also you are so whirled vp downe as it were with whirlewyndes with the whirlyng and vnsauory Constitutions of Schoolemē ech contrary to other that ye cā finde no ankerhold any where Out of these tempests and whirlewindes of vpstart doctrines out of this immoderate gulfe of your idle braynes so manifold routes of fayned Gods peéped abroad so many sundry sortes of prayers made vnto them so many and so tedious pilgrimages to dumme blockes so many impieties of offrynges inuocations massinges adorations Finally so many blasphemous markets and fayres of pardons and redeémyng of soules out of Purgatory pickpurse are made To this beadroll may bee linked superstitious swarmes of Friers Mōckes Nunnes sproutyng and dayly buddyng one out of an other in infinite droues and innumerable factions This euen this is the true Image of your Church Osorius wherupon you doe bragge so much increased with the ofscombe of rascall brothells made dronken with the drousie dregges of Schoolemen and so farre estranged from the right trade of the auncient and Apostolicke Church that there is scarse any hope that it wil euer haue any regarde to her former duetie or euer returne frō whence it is estrayed In this your new Churche or rather Conuenticle of lozelles which you haue newly erected vnto your selues with the motheaten mockertes of your Schoolemen you moyle and wallow after your accustomed maner We are desirous to renewe the auncient dignitie of the Catholique Church as much as in vs lyeth Hereunto we do employ all our endeuoures to this we doe direct all our thoughtes that siftyng through and throwyng away all the dānable darnell whiche the enemy hath scattered abroad at this present in these newe Churches we may at the lēgth be vnited and gathered agayne into the true and auncient worshyppyng of God prescribed vnto vs by Iesu Christ in his Gospell And here our old peéuish wayward piketh a new quarell agaynst me bycause I will not acknowledge any other chief Bishop but Iesus Christ and that I do also by the name of a Byshop call him a kyng Truly I hartely confesse that our Lord Iesus was both a Byshop and a Kyng but that the name of a kyng is cōteined vnder the tearme of a Byshop is false as you haue set it downe as all other your doynges are for the most part Osorius But our vnconquerable Logiciā goeth onward demaūdeth Why we do admit any other kyng besides the Lord Iesus and yet abandone the chief Byshop whereas both dignities are conteined in the person of our Lord Iesu and in this place our glorious Peacocke pounceth out his feathers and the same question repeateth agayne and agayne very boyeshly in other wordes and sentences If it be lawfull sayth he that ye may haue vpon earth an other Kyng Vicare of that great kyng what reason is there that ye will not haue an other most holy Byshop Vicare of that hygh Byshop Will ye know why we do acknowledge a kyng vpon earth Uicare of that great and heauenly kyng The holy Ghost shall most euidently and expressely aunswere for vs and shall aunswere by the mouth of Peter from whom you deriue your clayme of supreme Byshop Bee ye subiect sayth hee to euery humane creature for the Lord whether it bee to the king as chief ouer the rest or to the Magistrates whiche are appointed by him to the punishment of the euill doers and the commendation of well doers for this is the will of God c. Behold how playnly how distinctly and how plētyfully Peter doth aunswere you which by expresse speache hath settled the Maiestie of kynges in the highest place aboue all vnto whom hee commaundeth vs to be subiect for the Lord. Then next vnder that authoritie he placeth other Magistrates whom notwithstandyng he ordeineth to be Ministers of his highe power Besides this heé instructeth vs withall how commodious this authoritie of kynges is and whereunto it ought to belong Lastly to take away all doubt he concludeth that this Is the will of God If you had any droppe of shame at all in you Osorius You would not haue moued this question so malapertly Why we doe acknowledge a kynges authoritie vpon earth When as ye can not be ignoraūt of this doctrine of Peter nay rather of the holy ghost being so euidēt so firme so notable so plētyful and so of all partes defensible When as also Peter a litle after cōmaundeth in this wise Feare God honor the king When as Paule likewise doth pronounce that A king is the Minister of God to whom he commaundeth euery soule to bee subiect to whom hee geueth the sword and willeth Tribute to be payde in euery of which thynges most royall and principall souereignetie is conteined And to the end the sentēce of Paule should stand firme out of all controuersie he commaundeth That prayers intercessions petitions thankesgeuynges be frequented for kinges and all others that are set in authoritie What say you now brablyng Sophister what cā you hisse out agaynst so many so strong and so notable testimonies approuyng the authoritie of kynges What shal be done vnto you brablyng Sophister that will so maddely so proudly so blasphemously kicke agaynst the doctrine of the holy Ghost But ye allowe of the authoritie of a kyng say you in some respect so that we will likewise admit the supremacie of the hyghe Byshop We haue already iustified the authoritie of a kyng by the inuincible testimonies of the holy scriptures if you can in lyke maner coyne vnto vs out of the same Scriptures a chief Byshop we will yeld But you can not for there is not one sillable of chief Byshop to bee founde in the Gospell besides our Lord Iesus alone and besides that question moued of the rites and
whom though some may bee of opinioÌ„ to excell in the knowledge of the Ciuill Law yet will not forthwith vnder that title yeld vnto me the lyke commendation in the interpretyng of holy Scriptures All this matter is resolued at a word O counterfait GrammariaÌ„ For if accordyng to the doctrine of Peter and Paule certaine degreés bee limited in eche dignitie and by the same doctrine likewise determined that the royall dignitie of a Kyng doth excell aboue all other power Then is it manifest by the same decreé that the authoritie of the kyng must be honored without all coÌ„parison as chiefest But after your wonted guise ye runne at raundon with many wordes concernyng the meanyng of Paule and of a distinction to bee made betwixt the ciuill and Ecclesiasticall authoritie First of all no maÌ„ can so snaffle that vnbridled touÌ„g but that it will roue and raunge triflyngly whether it lusteth And yet the meanyng of Paule and Peter can not bee vnknowen to any men that will haue but a will to vnderstand it for they doe make a diuision or speciall distinction of Magistrates by certaine degreés and in the same doe precisely and manifestly ascribe chief rule and highest authoritie to kyngs And albeit ye triumphe iolylye in your differeÌ„ce of tymes yet this will nothyng preuayle you For ye beleue that this speache of the Apostles ought not to be applyed to ChristiaÌ„ kynges bycause it was written in the tyme of wicked Emperours which were enemies to Christian Religion Consider the sayings of the Apostles more aduisedly peéuish Prelate and acknowledge once at last your owne vnskilfulnesse Peter writeth in this maner Submit your selues to euery humane creature for the Lord whether it be to the king as to the most excelleÌ„t or to the Rulers as vnto them who are sent by him to punishe the wicked doers and to aduaunce the well doers Now therfore I demaunde this question of you Osorius whether God did send Nero that sauadge and beastly cruell Tyraunt as you know an horrible bloudsucker of Christian professioÌ„ to punish the wicked aduaunce the well doers if ye affirme that he dyd you are madde if ye deny it then all your former AssertioÌ„ lyeth in the durte Let vs seé likewise what Paule sayth Whose sentence herein is much more plentyfull Princes sayth he are not fearefull to well doers but to the wicked wilt thou not feare the power doe well then and thou shalt haue prayse of the same for they be the ministers of God appointed for thy wealth But if thou doe euill then feare thou for they beare not the sworde in vayne For they bee the ministers of God to take vengeauÌ„ce on them that do euill What say you now could this speach of Paule touch Nero in any respect whiche embrued his sword in the bloud of innumerable ChristiaÌ„s who alwayes oppressed the innocentes who wallowed all his lyfe long in all maner of outrage and crueltie No discreét or sober person will thinke so But albeit the Apostles beyng enspired with the holy Ghost gaue these preceptes in the time of tyrannous Emperours yet they had relation thereby to Christian and godly kynges because they should vndertake the defence of their subiectes and should be nurses of the congregation of Christ accordyng to the Prophecie of Esay And yet due obedience is not thereby forbidden to be geuen vnto kynges in Ciuill causes though they bee inâ—idels as appeareth manifestly both by the example and doctrine of our Sauiour Christ. You are contented that kinges should be placed aboue the Nobilitie Ciuill Magistrates and other officers in temporall causes accordyng to the saying of Peter but not to be aboue the holynesse of Churches nor the profession of Religâ—ous persons ne yet to reconcile the fauour of God Paule commaundeth euery soule to be in subiection to the hygher power amongest whom the kyng is chiefest And therfore all ye Byshops together with all other what soeuer Ecclesiasticall orders are holden subiect vnder the authoritie of the kyng vnlesse ye bee without soules as perhappes your maistershyp is if then ye be subiect to kynges ye ought to obey their commaundementes vnlesse they prescribe agaynst God And yet they beare no function in your Churches nor â—it in your Churches as rulers of them nor administer the Sacramentes but they may and ought to chastize you reduce you into good order if happely ye neglect your dueties or behaue your selfe vnseémely in your function which is to be approued by the authoritie of both the old and new Testament as it is ofteÌ„times repeated before To coÌ„firme your AssertioÌ„ you bryng for example Core Dathan and Abyron of a singular blockishnesse and ignoraunce For they made Rebellion agaynst Moses and to vse the very wordes of the holy Scriptures They were gathered together agaynst Moses and Aaron and sayd vnto them Ye take enough and to much vppon you seyng all the multitude are holy euery one of them and the Lorde is amongest them Why lifte you your selues vppe aboue the Congregation of the Lord Behold here in this their execrable speach ouer and besides a most pernitious rebellion we heare also in the same one onely equabilitie in all degrees For asmuch therefore as they did abrogate all maner of authoritie from Magistrates beyng appointed by God as the Anabaptistes of our age do practize they were accordyng to their desert swallowed vp of the gapyng gulfe prouided by God for that purpose But why do ye thrust these persons into the stage who caÌ„ occupy no part of the play For we doe neither entreate of any Rebellion nor of any trayterous suppression of Magistrates but our coÌ„munication tendeth to this ende whether kynges haue any lawfull gouernement ouer Ecclesiastical persons No lesse foolishly haue ye patcht to your purpose Oza Ozias and Balthesar whom ye do affirme to haue bene greuously plagued of the Lord bicause they did rashly handle holy thynges and thus ye say was done accordyng to their deserte Likewise should our kynges be worthely punished of the Lord if they would vndertake to minister Baptisme to infantes or would in their owne persons distribute the Lordes Supper or clymbe vp into pulpittes and vsually preache For they should entrude into other mens functions namely Ministers and Elders whom God hath peculiarly chosen to execute those orders in Ministerie Euen so the Lord hath aduaunced kynges in hyghest superioritie bycause they should commauÌ„de and prouide that all matters should be executed by others their subiectes in due conuenient order This doctrine beyng both â—ounde and profitable approued by the testimonies and examples of the purest ages and most applyable to the ordinauÌ„ce of holy Scriptures yet this our pelting Prelate seémeth so squeymishe at it that he spareth not to curse vs to the pitte of hell bycause we will not agreé with him in his most friuolous Assertions Ye maruell much why I am so hatefully bent agaynst the Byshop of Rome why
forgeuen but through the merites of Iesu Christ. What then doth not Paul affirme truly that Iewes and Gētiles are all cōcluded vnder sinne Doth not the Propheticall kyng Dauid likewise lōg before him pronoūce truly There is not one righteous person no not one there is not one that will vnderstand not one that will seeke after god All are gone out of the way they are all together become vnprofitable there is not one that doth good no not one If there be not one righteous mā no not so much as one what shal be come of the worthynes of your workes then yea euen amōgest the most perfect and godly If there bee no man that will vnderstand then also the best workes of the godly are of no value If no mā seéke after God what can be duly performed of any person If all haue declined out of the way where be they that haue walked perfectly in the right way Lastly if there be no person that doth good whether then are all your excellent workemaisters vanished a Gods name if all I say all as well Iewes as Gētiles that is to say if all generally are concluded vnder sinne where can those pretie holy men bee founde of whom ye will neédes haue some but Paule vtterly none at all Through the sinne of one man sinne is poured vpon all fleshe to condemnation These be the expresse wordes of Paule which will not admitte any startyng hole yet your Mastershyp notwithstandyng will vrge a certeine perfection of our workes contrary to the manifest authoritie of sacred Scriptures But this Prelate doth make more accompt of the wordes of Christ our Sauiour saying Not he that sayth Lord Lord but he that doth the will of my Father shal enter into the kingdome of heauen And then hee demaundeth If the yoke of sinne bee so alwayes fastened vnto our shoulders that it can by no meanes be remoued how we may then obteine the state of righteousnesse through the grace and goodnesse of Christ Your selfe haue told it wise man truely euen through the very same grace and goodnes of Christ which you haue named And therfore Dauid being full of the holy Ghost lifting his hādes vp vnto God cryeth out in this maner Wash me throughly from my wickednes and clense me frō my sinne for I knowledge my faultes and my sinne is euer before me Why should we desire to bee washed if we did not welter in the filthy puddle of sinnes and why should we require to bee clensed and throughly purified if we were not corrupted wholy defiled with the stinckyng dregges of sinne As by the fall of one mā sayth Paule sinne is deriued by way of propaganaciō vpon all men vnto condēnation euen so by the righteousnesse of one good is extended vnto all men to iustification of life Agayne The same Paule God hath shut vp all men vnder vnbelief that he might haue mercy vpon all Frō our selues therfore proceédeth euill vnto damnatiō And from God commeth Iustification vnto lyfe Of our selues riseth vnbelief but mercy issueth from God But let vs heare our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ him selfe most sweétely cōfortyng vs with these wordes Come vnto me all ye that doe trauaile and be heauy laden and I will refresh you And therfore all anguish and grief of sinne all burden of trespasses wherewith we are ouerladen and haled down not onely to the groūde but euen to hell gates spryng out from our owne selues euen so the asswagyng of all sorrowes and ease of all our importable burdens come from Iesu Christ onely If you bee ignorant of these sentences good Syr wherewith the holy scriptures doe euery where swarme so plentyfully what is it I pray you that you vnderstand in the Gospell if you doe know them why doe ye so maliciously inueighe agaynst those learned men and singular seruauntes of God without cause especially being as now departed this life agaynst whom if they could speake for them selues ye durst not mutter one worde For what are you beyng compared with them But to let them passe whom I did not vndertake to defend what extreme amazednesse is this in you to rehearse my wordes and cull them out of purpose to carpe at them and from them to glaūce away to Luther and Caluin if your quarell be to me why do you not let them alone if ye liste to striue with them then also cauill not with me Doth not reason require this and is not my request allowable Surely it is extreme maddenesse to challenge me vnto the Barriers and then to sckyppe ouer away to others and to pursue them with your venymous toung You say further that it seemeth by my maisters doctrine for so it pleaseth you to tearme thē that the force of sinne is not as yet extinguished in vs through the bloud of Christ. Truely you and I both may acknowledge those men whose names you did recite before to be our maisters not in Diuinitie onely but in practize of pietie also But whereas ye would haue them to teache that the force of sinne is not as yet extinguised through the bloud of Christ I doe expresse here your owne wordes This is onely your horrible and most shamelesse slaūder agaynst them For vnto this marke alwayes they bent their whole endeuour to expresse vnto you Iesu Christ liuely before your eyes the same also crucified to emprint throughly in the very bowels of your soules the most precious bloud of Iesu Christ shed for vs vpon the Crosse to preach vnto vs remission of sinnes through his bitter death and passion to beate into the blind and deafe eares of the world this glad tydyngs of the Gospell beyng ouerwhelmed oppressed by your couled generatiō massemongers confessours and mens traditions altogether choaked buried vnder grounde through the silence of holy Scriptures and to disclose agayne abroad into the open light and put miserable captiues in remembraunce of the sayd doctrine beyng vtterly subuerted by the tyrannous trechery of your gallauntes And therfore in all their sermons lessons and writynges they vsed these and such like speaches The bloud of Iesu Christ doth clense vs frō all sinne You do know that you were redemed from your vayne conuersation which you receaued by the traditiō of your forefathers not with transitorie thyngs as gold and siluer but with most precious bloud as of an vndefiled lambe c. neither whoremōgers nor worshippers of images nor adulterers c. shall inherite the kingdome of God And such ye were but you are clensed but you are sanctified but you are iustified through the name of Iesu Christ and through the spirite of our God You heare men clensed from all sinne redeémed from their vayne conuersation washed sanctified and iustified through the bloud of Iesu Christ Ye know likewise that these men did take vpon them alwayes infinite labours and trauaile about the establishyng and enlargyng of the Gospell of Christ
mercyfull indulgence of God And the same sentence hee doth reiterate agayne in an other place in the selfe same wordes or at least doth cōfirme it with wordes not very much differēt from the same For the sinne sayth he that is committed can not be vndone and yet if God doe not Impute the same it shal be as though it neuer were done c. Surely if the sinne shall not be accompted sinne that hath bene committed no more shall the Sinner bee taken for a Sinner that hath committed the sinne And so it followeth necessaryly hereupon that he must neédes be righteous and blessed Whereby you do perceaue I suppose from whence all this sappe or iuyce of our Righteousnesse and Saluation springeth not out of the workes of our righteousnesse which is none at all but from the onely meére mercy of Gods freé pardon as hath bene declared by the testimony of Bernarde Or if the authoritie of Bernarde cā not obteine so much credite with you yet let the Fayth of Basile Augustine Origene and Ierome persuade you or their auncientie moue you for I perceaue that you are much delighted with antiquitie And first what cā be more notable then the wordes of Basile For he that trusteth not to his owne good wordes neither looketh to be iustified by the deseruyng of good deédes all his hope of saluation he reposeth onely in the meéte mercy of almightie God I will adioyne vnto him a companion of the same iudgemēt and auncientie that notable Clarcke Origene Bycause all thynges sayth he are concluded vnder sinne therfore mans saluation consisteth not in merites of workes but in the freé mercy of God Neither doth S. Augustine differre from them who treatyng of the ende of the last Iudgement seémeth to haue setled all the hope of our sauetie in the onely mercy of God God will crown vs sayth he in the end of the world with mercy and compassions Yeldyng the same in the Latine toung almost which Basile before him dyd expresse most manifestly in the Greéke toung in this wise There is Iudgemēt not without mercy bycause here is no such man to bee founde pure and immaculate without some spotte of sinne yea though hee be an Infante dyeng the same day that he is borne And agayne the same Augustine in his booke De Ciuitate Dei 19. booke and 27. Chapter purposing to declare what accompt may be made of our righteousnes in this transitory life affirmeth it to be such as ought rather to be valued by the forgeuenesse of sinnes then by perfection of vertues And agayne the same Augustine in his first booke of Retractations 19. Chap. All the Commaundementes sayth hee are then reputed to be performed when that whiche is left vndone is pardoned And I know not whether Ierome haue declared the same more euidently who referryng all thyngs to the freé mercyfulnesse of God forgeuyng vs speaketh in this wise In Christ Iesu our Lord in whom we haue our hope accesse and affiaunce by the faith of him not by our righteousnes but by him through whose fayth our sinnes are forgeuen vs. But why doe I stand so long vpon a matter that ought to be without all cōtrouersie when as the generall consent and agreément of all learned Authours and antiquitie can not be founde more constaunt nor for the more part more consonaunt in any one thyng so much as in this The matter therefore beyng so playne it remayneth that of two meére contraries we allow the one and vtterly forsake the other that is to say either that which you doe cauill touchyng righteousnesse or els that which they doe teache vs touchyng Gods gracious forbearyng For these two are farre different eche from other and can not be admitted both for it righteousnesse be obteyned by integritie of workes then what neéde haue we of any further forgeuenesse But if this come vnto us by the onely freé benignitie of the forgeuer I beseé you then for the loue ye beare to your Myter where is now that integritie of workes that vprightenesse that may make our righteousnesse perfect For as farre as I can gesse pardon is not geuen to well deseruynges but reward rather offred as of duety Neither can it be truely sayd That pardon must be craued where no offence is committed But ye will say paraduenture that some imperfections doth lurcke secretly in our deédes though they be wrought by the grace of God which yet wanteth the mercyfulnesse of God It is well sayd truely And why then doth your darkyng penne so cruelly rage agaynst Luther Who franckely of his own accorde doth professe the selfe same thing though in other wordes which you are driuē by force to yeld vnto whether ye will or no. That is to say That our deédes are vnperfect lame blynd naked and so altogether barren and hungry that vnlesse they bee clothed and vpholden by the mercy of freé pardon no defence wil be pleadeable before the Iudgement seate of God and shal be accompted rather in place of sinnes then seéme to deserue any reward of vertue If ye be not satisfied with these testimonies but will obstinately persiste in this your opinion still that our workes may be so absolutely perfect as to deserue I beseéch you make proofe therof by some reasonable authoritie either vouched out of holy Scriptures or out of some approued auncient Authours And if ye can make no soūd proofe in that behalfe deale yet somewhat more soberly with vs. For these your reproches rebukes lyes scoldynges outcries spyttynges cursinges glorious hauty speaches and triflyng wordes make nothyng to the purpose On the other part if ye can neither make proofe vnto vs of this perfect Righteousnesse of workes by any demonstration of your owne workes nor any mā els besides you dare presume to offer him selfe in iudgement to tryed by his workes what els doe ye in chargyng Luther so sharpely when ye so condemne him for a franticke and braynesicke mā Then Tertullus did sometyme accusing Paul to bee a seditous person sauyng that he accused Paule but at one tyme once and your penne vomityng out nothyng els besides furies frensies and madnes of Luther doth so continually crawle in ragyng by degreés as will seéme neuer to make any ende at all thereof vntill ye bryng your selfe amongest the Iewes at the last and crye out as they did Crucifige vpon him Crucifige vpon him Iob a most vpright lyuear did stand in doubtfull feare of all the workes of his life Esay the Prophet doth cōpare all our righteousnesse to a foule menstruous cloth Christ him selfe doth pronounce that all our endeuours and workes are vnprofitable Paule as it were loathyng the remembraunce of his owne righteousnes how glorious so euer his works appeared yet did adiudge them so farre distaunt from true righteousnesse that hee esteemed them no better then doung Dauid durst not presume to enter into Iudgement with God Augustine
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
Iudgement shall procure vs lyfe or death as Osorius writeth Pag. 145. Agayne if the righteousnesse onely which consisteth of well doyng doth purchase Gods fauour to mankynde Pag. 142. What soppe I pray you shal be left for mercy here to deale withall or what shall remayne at all wherein the Grace of God may be exercized If these be not your owne wordes Osorius deny them if you dare but if they be with what artificiall Argumēt will you persuade vs not to accōpt you for an enemy of Gods grace whiles ye sight so much vnder the banner of his Iustice Yet will not I be so captious a cōptoller of your wordes as to call you by the name of an enemy of Grace though in very deéde I dare scarsely thinke you to be in any respect a sownde frende thereunto hetherto veryly as yet haue you declared your selfe no better And the same euen your owne writings do more then sufficiently denounce agaynst you in that which it is a wonder to seé how lauish prodigall you be in the aduauncyng of the prayses of Iustice for the amplyfieng whereof you can scarse finde any end but in the meane tyme towardes the commendation of Mercy so sparyng a niggard and hardelaced that ye seéme either not to conceaue of the wonderfully Maiestie therof sufficiētly or els very vngratefully not to be acquainted therewith sauyng that ye begyn now at the lēgth to preach somewhat of the excellency therof also takyng occasion of these wordes of Paule What shall we say then Is there vnrighteousnesse with God God forbid for he sayth to Moyses I will haue mercy on him to whom I do shew mercy and I will haue compassion on him on whom I haue compassion In that which place say you Paule doth render a Reason Wherfore no man cā by any meanes accuse God of vnrighteousnesse And doe annexe hereunto a conclusion agreable enough to your defence For the defence of Iustice say you cōsisteth wholy in mercy And agayne But the mercy of God doth acquite his Iustice free from all reproche Whiche reason of yours Osori although perhaps might be allowed in some respect yet doth it not exactly and substauncially enough discusse the naturall meanyng of the Apostle nor sufficiently aūswere the Apostles question Which will euidently and playnly appeare either by the Apostle him selfe or by Augustine the Expositour of the Apostle if we will first note before the marke and state of the question diligently and truely The scope wherof Augustine affirmeth to be this That the Apostle may lay open before vs that the Grace of fayth ought to be preferred before workes not to the end he might seéme to abolish workes but to shew that workes do not goe before but follow grace and to make the same more apparaunt he alledgeth amongest others the example of Iacob Esau Who beyng not as yet borne into the world hauyng done nothyng worthy either to be fauored or to be hated but that equabilitie of estate had made eche of them equall with the other and betwixt whō was no difference of natures or deseruyngs which might procure aduaūcement of the one before the other Finally whenas by orderly course of byrthe and right of first byrthe the elder might haue challenged the prerogatiue of honour before the younger Almighty God vsing here his vnsearcheable Electiō did make this difference betwixt them whereas was no difference of workes or merites as that for sakyng Esau who by no merite after the rule of Iustice had deserued to bee reiected he gaue the preheminēce to the younger turnyng the common order of nature vpsidowne as it were that whereas the younger are wont to be subiect to the elder now contrary to kynde the elder should become seruaunt to the younger Whereupon whē the Apostle sawe what scrupule might arise in the imagination of the hearer or Reader therof he putteth a question vnder the person of one that might argue agaynst it whether God had done any thyng herein agaynst equitie and right or any thyng that he could not iustifie accordyng to Iustice distributiue whereunto him selfe aunsweryng immediately doth with wonderfull vehemency detest that slaunderous cauill and withall acquiteth God freé from all accusation and suspition of vnrighteousnes this not wtout lawfull authoritie of the Scripture What sayth he do we not read spokē vnto Moyses on this wise I will haue mercy on whō I do take mercy and I will haue cōpassion on whō I haue compassion Besides this also addyng forthwith the example of Pharao he doth conclude at the length on this wise Therfore he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth But if our captious accuser will yet persiste in his obstinacie as though it sufficed not for God to do what it pleased him he doth cōfute him with a most manifest Argument of lyke comparison on this wise The Potter fashionyng his vesselles either vnto honour or to dishonour or to what purpose seémeth him best doth not offend at all And shall it be lesse lawfull or God to shew his power vpon his owne creatures then for the Potter vpon his Chalke or Clay Therfore whether God be willyng to haue mercy or to indurate any man he doth nothyng herein but that which is most lawfull and most agreable with equitie You perceaue therfore Gods Iustice sufficiently enough desended I suppose which in all his workes ought by good right be mightly defēded But how it is defēded is now to be seéen Osorius vrgeth stoughtly that Gods Iustice standeth not otherwise to be defended but onely in respect of his Mercy which albeit might be graunted after a sorte yet is not altogether simply and absolutely true and the reason therof is pyked out of Osorius credite rather then out of any Argument of S. Paule Whereas Paule seémeth to referre all this whole defence of Iustice not to mercy but to onely will of God Saying God taketh mercy on whom he will and hardeneth whom he will Albeit I will not in the meane whiles deny but that the Election of the faythfull doth consist vpon mercy alone yet surely the defense of Election is not vpholden but through the will of God onely Likewise also albeit the castyng away of the Reprobates do proceéde from the onely Iustice of God yet will no man say that the defence of this reiection consisteth in Mercy but in the onely will of God And therfore it is the onely will of God which doth defende Mercy in Election and Iustice in reiection For otherwise how could this come to passe that the onely Mercy of God should defēd his Iustice either in the Reprobate in whō scarse one sparckle of Mercy is discernable or els in the Predestination of the faithfull wherein appeareth no execution of Iustice therfore what is it then that may defend Iustice in these Mercy in those other but onely the purpose of Gods will onely wherof S. Paule maketh
the Lord and there let the Church be sought out Now what the experience of Osorius doth seé let him selfe looke thereto Sure I am that Cyprian seémeth to haue experimented an other kynde of experimeÌ„t where he writeth Hereupon grow all maner of Scismes sayth he bycause the head is not sought for meÌ„ come not to the wellspring it selfe neither are the ordinaunces and rules of the heauenly Maister kept nor obserued Wherein I thinke you seé matter sufficieÌ„t enough by how much the testimony of this Martyr doth differre from you whereas you do racke all thynges to humaine authoritie onely he calleth all men backe to the very founteines of the Scriptures rather And yet doe I not deny but that humaine authoritie doth many tymes auayle very much to bridle the vnruly raungyng of sectes if Osorius would limitte this authoritie humaine within certeine measurable boundes But he raketh all thynges now to the authoritie of the Romishe Seé onely as though there were none other authoritie elles that might stay sectes and Schismes besides this Romishe Pope onely Which Assumption is altogether vntrue And therefore to make the same appeare more euidently Let vs note the wonderfull Logicke of Osorius somewhat more aduisedly The Authoritie of the Romishe See beyng taken away sayth he will be an occasion that heresies will grow in vse How shall this be knowen bycause Osorius doth seé it for such are the strongest pyllers of Osorius buildyng for the more part Thus sayth Osorius Thus is well knowen to the world who doth not see this Experience teacheth all men this But what if some meéry conceipted Carneades of the Academickes schoole will deny your bare Affirmatiues to your teéth what if he will geue no credite to your opinions no nor yet to your wapper eyes that are bleared dimme with raÌ„cour malice as it is a kynde of Philosophers you know well enough very hard laced scarse applyable to credite any maner of bare Affirmatiues Nay rather what if some other hauyng bene enured to contrary experieÌ„ce will contend with you on this wise say That he doth seé with his eyes that this Romish Seé wherof you speake is the chief Metropolitane of all sectes and heresies what shall become of this your notable defeÌ„ce The thyngs which are seene with the eyes say you whiche are knowen which are notorious in all mens mouthes which experieÌ„ce witnessing also doth ratifie to be true which are sensibly felt with eares and eyes to call these thynges in question whether they be true or no is meare ignoraunce but to deny them is a point of most shamelesse impudency Not so Osorius we do not deny the thynges that men do seé with their eyes But the thyngs that you do Assume falsely for thinges certeine concludyng false and slaunderous cauilles for meére truth those thynges we do constantly deny to be true not bycause we trust not mens senses which be of souÌ„de IudgemeÌ„t but bycause we geue to credite no Osorius lyeng But goe to Let vs moue forewardes a litle that we may seé the thyng at the length that this sharpe sighted Lynx doth so easily seé Forsooth he doth see sayth he that noysome sectes and troublesome controuersies would forthwith raunge in the Churche if the authoritie of the Romishe see should be cleane put downe I beleéue it in deéde But with what eyes doth he seé this with that left eye I thinke which is couered with a pynne and webbe of desire to slaunder But if he would vouchsafe to open agayne that right eye I would not dought but that experience wherof he speaketh would teach him a new lesson For if this Romish authoritie were vtterly abolished he shall by experience proue that this will forthwith ensue which many of vs through the inestimable benefite of God haue proued to be most true in all places namely that common weales shall recouer their auÌ„cient priuiledges consciences shall possesse their wonted freédome men shall be restored to the sauetie of their lyues all Christendome shall enioy peace and tranquilitie he shall seé horrible fiers quenched whole pyles of Fagottes and fier coÌ„sumyng â— bodyes of Christians to Ashes to be extinguished stockes to be set wyde open imprisonmentes rackynges recantations and Fagottes to be shaken from mens shoulders he shall seé the lyues and goodes of many thousands to be saued out of the â—awes of death and froÌ„ the bloudy bootchers knife he shall seé pilladge polladge confiscations of goodes Popish exaction deceiptfull buyng and sellyng of Pardons fayres and gaynefull marketts of dispensations taxes of Citizens spoylinges of the CoÌ„mons tenthes first fruites of benefices yearely contributions of Byshops great impositions of Monasteries payementes of pentions for Palles for mysters for ringes for liberties for exemptions Finally for whores and concubines to be diminished and vtterly abolished he shall seé their drousie superstitions and ceremonies and their triflyng traditioÌ„s geue place to the Orient bright Sunne shynne of the truth Temples cleansed agayne from filthy Idolatry Kynges to become Kynges and Lordes of their own and once agayne at the last to beare their sword theÌ„ selues which before bare nothyng but bare titles and scarse titles onely he shall seé Citizens and Subiectes deliuered from straunge Tyranny and subiect to their lawfull authoritie â—o them onely to yeld obedience vnto whom they ought to doe Finally he shall seé coÌ„moÌ„ weales begyn to take breath agayne after a certeine sort now at the length and the hartes of the faythfull to rayse them selues vp at the ioyfull countenaunce of their auncient sauetie and to geue most humble thankes to almightie God for their most happy peace and deliueraunce Certes Osorius if the chaunges and chaunces of thynges which men seé with their eyes feéle by practize and dayly experience may without checke be open to the viewe of the worlde you should playnly discerne and seé all those thynges if you were here in England and not in England onely but in Germany in Denmarke Sweuland Scotland Polande and the more part of FrauÌ„ce in SwitzerlaÌ„d finally throughout all incorporatioÌ„s and freé Citties this authoritie vtterly abolished Goe to And where now are those sectes Schismaticall dissentions which you do obiect agaynst vs If you know not this to be true Osorius or if happely you be ashamed to confesse the thynges that you know I will confesse the same for you and will speake the same as frankely as truely If I shall say that euen with you in the very Court of Rome in your Churches in your Monasteries Colledges Rules and Orders of Friers briefly wheresoeuer that shauelyng marke of the Romish Prelate is emprinted or wheresoeuer that authoritie is of most force that there are whole swarmes and sectes most outragiously raungyng I feare nothyng lesse least that my wordes may seéme to emporte more then the truth Nay rather I am sure I haue yet spoken very litle I should haue spoken in this maner
is well enough known what meanes he vsed for the suppressing that tēptes of Carolastadius the Suenfeldians Zuinglius in hys booke entitled Elenchus contra Catabaptistas Caluin de hereticis Bullenger of Tiguirine in hys inuectiue agaynst the sectes of our time the Basileanes against the Georgianes The Heluetianes and people of Sauoye and Lumbardie how seuere and earnest pursuers were all these in rooting out of wicked opinions how estraunged and alienated from all desire of Faccions all these I say haue geuen vnto vs notable presidēts and examples therof And to speak nothing of other Churches what hath bene done in England long sithence yea and of late also towardes the ouerthrowing and confuting of erroneous opinions Let your Portugall Marchaūt certifie you by letter your notary what soeuer he be or in what corner soeuer yee lurcke whō I suppose to be sent ouer into England not for any other purpose but to become Osor. hys spye Go to where is now the experience of Osorius by the wh he hath found out in Luther as he sayth so many sectes and diuersities of opinions But the names of Sects had neuer bene so raked vp together no nor any sound of any such should euer haue bene heard at any tyme. If abode had bene made in the Fayth of the Pope and of the Romanistes So likewise also I suppose that if weé had not bene diliuered from that Ethnick Paganisme of the old Idolatrye this Botche had neuer infected our Churches neyther had Ierusalem bene euer troubled at anye tyme vnlesse Christ had bene borne neyther had so great and so many swarmes of Heretickes flusht abroad vnlesse the Apostles had preached the Gospell why therefore are we not weltered back agayn into that puddle of Paganisme or Iewishnes hauing shaken away from our shoulders the most sincere and pure religion of Christ according to the choppe Logicke of Osorius that wee may shroud our selues safely from the company of those wilde faccious Sectes and daungerous diuisions But Osorius though fallen away at the last from his tackle of mans experience hath gathered more courage yet vnto hym takyng handfast of the Ankerholde of Christ his owne wordes for the proofe of the Popes Chayre so that nowe this Seé seémeth no more humayne or terrestryall but heauenly and Angelicall Affirming that this power is established not by the ordinaūce of man but chiefly by the very words and ordinaunce of our Lord and Sauiour Christ himselfe Surely if Osorius can perswade that to be true he shall beare the bell away But by what reason will he make it apparaunt vnto vs not with one nor with a simple and naked reason but with a double horned Argument that shall cutt like a sworde for besides the authority of holy Scriptures and the Testimonyes of all auncient antiquitie also whereof he boasteth himselfe not a litle skilfull he affirmeth that he knoweth it to be true by experience But go to it remayneth that you declare vnto vs what authoritie of the sacred Scripture that is at the length and wherein that testimony of auncient antiquitie is to be found Thou must needes attend a whiles perhappes he will tell theé hereafter gentle reader For as now because Osor. is not at leysure to tell theé let it suffice theé that the man hath spoken it and vouchsafe at this present to interprete all hys speaches to be very Oracles as sweéte as honny And this much hitherto touching the Maiesty of the Seé of Rome The next vnto this hath he placed in order the obedience that they yelde vnto Princes which I maruell if any man can reade and not laugh at so also I beleue sure that Osor. himselfe could not stay but laugh at himselfe or els doughtles he was disposed to dally with vs when he wrate these wordes so pleasauntly deuised and so cunningly coulered But we sayth he do not refuse the aucthoritie of any lawfull power Howe truely you speak herein how reuerētly you esteéme of princes how obediently you behaue your selues to the higher authoritie and how hūbly you do acknowledge it and how you refuse no commaundement of the Magistrate Weé will take a taste if it please you by the conference of faythfull Historiographers by the course affayres of experience whereof the actes monuments of Princes doe make mencion Finally by search of antiquitie it selfe whereof you make your selfe experte and well beseene And to beginne first with the Empire of Greece the lawfull succession whereof contynued from Constantine the founder thereof about 500. yeares more lesse if the Bishop of Rome at that tyme would not haue refused to be subiect to the authoritie of the higher powers why then did Hadriane and after him Leo 3. hauing rooted out the kingdome of Desiderius and the Lombardes contrary to their faith an allegiaunce presume to be so hardye as to pluck away the imperiall maiesty afterwardes from the right and true heyres vnto the whiche aswell they the Bishops thēselues as also all the Italiane Natiō had submitted and obliged them selues by othe no lesse then the Greékes and why did they at theyr owne appointemente trāslate the same frō the Greékes to the Frenche nacion And although Charles him self vnto whom the Diademe Imperiall was geuen seéme worthy to be registred amongst the most vertuous famous Princes as one that endued the Church of Rome with greatest treasures possessions and liberties Yet was not that cause sufficient wherefore the maiestie of the sacred Empyre should beé vyolated and oppressed with manifest iniuries Namely sithēs the ouerthrow of that state could not choose but draw after it wonderfull troubles rancour of hartes Which thing happened in very deéd not long after For euen by the meanes thereof chiefly it came to passe that not only the Emperours of the East West were enflamed agaynst ech other with perpetuall deadly and vnquenchable hartburning hatred and enmity but also that Greéce being left naked of those helpes became an open Road to the Turkes and Sarracens for the suppressing of whose powers and recouery of which countrey I knowe not whether the whole power of the Romanistes when they haue retched it to the vttermost will be euer able to preuayle But to admitte that this translation of the Empyre came either of the speciall prouidence of God or to attribute the same to the worthines of Carolus or the Necessitie of the tymes or to mittigate the matter with some plausible and colourable excuse Yet is not this excrable sawcines of these Romish Bishopps sufficiently accquited hereby which durst be so presumptuously arrogant at that tyme or the Popes of this present which do imagine that their authoritie which they claime from Peter may priuileadge their insolent vsurpacion ouer the kingdomes of the earth and theyr iniurious transposing them where they liste nor doth waraunt their shamelesse challenge of lineall succession in the same authoritie as deriued from Peter himselfe vnto
bycause she loued much And agayne where excludyng all other by helpes he willed the Maister of the Synagoge to beleeue onely and sayd vnto an other all things are possible to him that doth beleeue And to the sicke of the palsey all sinnes are forgeuen thee without openyng mouth to any confession at all what shall we say that Sinnes are not therfore forgeuen bycause this word of confession was neuer heard of before or shall we say that God hath not heard their confession bycause there wanted priestes at that tyme If it suffice not to open the secretes of the hart vnto GOD what do these wordes of Chrisostome emporte where writyng vpō the 51. Psalme Homel 2. If thou be ashamed sayth he to confesse thy Sinnes to any mā confesse them dayly in thy hart I bidd thee not to confesse them to thy fellow seruaunt which may reproche thee cōfesse thee to him that may heale thee And agayne in an other place I bidd thee not to come before the people nor that thou accuse thy selfe to others But I will haue thee follow the wordes of the Prophet saying Open thy sinnes vnto the Lord. Confesse thy faultes therfore vnto God open thyne offences vnto the true Iudge with harty prayer not with thy toūg but with a remorse of consciēce c. And yet I speake not this as though that priuate confession of sinnes ought not be receaued in the church as vnprofitable whereas the counsell of a godly Minister is desired or consolation required by troubled consciences where the exercize of priuate absolution which is the word of the Gospell is by authoritie of the Gospell vttered by the Ministers And yet I doe so allow of it as that this name priuate Confession wherewith you haue wickedly entangled Godly consciences may neither participate with any nature of a Sacrament nor be deliuered to any as cōmaūded by Gods law Moreouer neither so necessary at all tymes as though without it sinnes were not forgeuen to the contrite and sorowfull in hart groūdyng them selues vpon the infallible fortresse of Fayth Wherfore if you be so farre in loue with this sacred eare cōfessiō Osori you may a Gods name go to your Priest as oftē as much as ye liste If we content our selues to be washed in the bloud of Iesu Christ if we repose all our hope affiaunce whatsoeuer in him alone trouble vs not nor hinder vs I beseéch you For thus are we directed by the authoritie of the Scriptures to beleéue that to be dypped ouer head cares in this most comfortable and sacred fonte is sufficient for the clensing and purgyng of our sinnes and agayne that neither this most blessed bloud of Iesu Christ is any other wayes effectuall vnto vs nor appliable to our comfort any other wayes then through Fayth onely which is to beleéue in his name Whatsoeuer Resemblaunce of truth your decreés do expresse vnto vs doughtlesse the Scriptures cannot lye wherein we are taught that our hartes are washed cleane by Fayth and that remission of sinnes is receaued through Fayth which is in Christ Iesu. Addyng moreouer the testimony of all the Prophetes that it must come to passe that as many as beleeue in Iesu Christ shall obteine forgeuenesse of their sinnes So that neédelesse Stole of your Catholicke confessours is altogether fruteles towardes the cleansing of our consciences In the meane space if the soule be afflicted with some more greéuous scrupule wherein brotherly consolation may seéme to be requisite we gaynsay no man that will goe to some godly learned Minister nay rather we do hartely allow therof we our selues also do the same many tymes yet such is our repaire togethers as tendeth rather to seéke counsell and comfort then for any necessitie to craue pardon for our sinnes Neither do we compell any man to do so nor do we make to speake Chrisostomes owne wordes a necessitie of Freédome neither make we a Sacrament therof Nor yet require we a Beadroll of all their Sinnes neither doe we enforce any person to state tymes of the yeare Finally we do not burdeine them with any clogge of satisfactory penaunce which of all other is most horrible Wherein it is a wonder to seé what is be fallen vpon you and the rest of your Catholickes Osorius I thinke veryly that Dame folly her selfe if could speake with toung would neuer vtter nor do any so wittles a foolery as hauing first pardoned acquited the offendour cleare from crime to enioyne him afterwardes to penaūce whereby he should be compelled after pardon receaued to make satisfaction notwithstandyng and so to send him after into Purgatory where he must satisfie to the vttermost far thyng I beseéch you Right Reuerēd Father for the honor of your great wisedome if all the filthynes of your consciences be thoroughly clensed first by Confession to what purpose serue any satisfactory and penall lawes where the offence beyng pardon remaineth nought now to be satisfied If they be not throughly clensed whereunto then auayleth that Priestly Stole Priestly crossing what becommeth of that absolution which you promise who will euer say that his offence is forgeuen which must be forced to make satisfaction by some maner of composition Moreouer if Christ haue made full satisfaction for our Sinnes and if his satisfaction be a generall release of punishmēt and crime what other neéde is there of any humaine satisfaction Agayne if Christes satisfaction be not a full satisfaction but that there must be enioyned a Temporall punishment then do I demaunde further what is it that the Priestes Stole and Crossing or the Popes pardons cā geue more to the releasing of punishment and crime thē the bloud of Iesu Christ the sonne of God was able to geue But to proceéde Now that this Catholicke people haue with this spunge of penaunce cleane purged all the spottes and blottes of conscience so happely what do they stay here No I suppose but steppyng foreward from vertue to vertue The myndes beyng furnished after this maner they doe forthwith addresse thē selues to that most holy mystery of all other most miraculous the Euchariste not rushyng rashely thereunto nor with vnwasht handes as the Prouerbe is but with feare and tremblyng doe humbly kneéle vpon their kneés with great reuerence open their mouthes to the priest ready to receaue that heauenly banquet in that which they tast not any bread at all no wine at all no nor any other terrestriall matter nor yet that substaunce which they do seé with their eyes and handle with their fingers but all substaunce of bread and wine beyng vtterly driuē away they do at one morsell receaue swallow down the very same body of Christ which was borne of the virgine Mary and the naturall bloud shed out of his side though vnder the forme colour and kynde of wine and not of bloud contrary to all sense and feélyng of
should the Byshop of Rome haue done if wormyng out this ragyng ringworme of madd ambition and keépyng him selfe within his owne limittes and boundes of Scriptures modestly he would endeuour to bring to passe to become faultlesse him selfe and voyde of all iust reproche of deserued infamie Now beyng so pestered with botches blaynes on all partes what maruell is it if he complaine of pinching at the least touch of an vlcer Moreouer neither should our Osorius also demeane him selfe in any respect lesse discretly if laying aside this foule fashiō of flattering he would more simply and plainly deale herein with Authorities and testimonies of Scriptures rather then with disordered affections nor would enter into so contentious a brablyng about the Popes Authoritie before he had by good and warrantable proofes made manifest to the world by what right the Pope were able to mainteyne his challenge touchyng the sayd Authoritie Concernyng the ouerthrow of Mōckeries and Nunneries and their goodes and possessions scattered and spoyled although I can not deny but that they might haue bene in some places cōuerted to better vses yet are there no small nomber of Regiōs and freé Cities where those goodes and Selles are conuerted into Schooles of learning hospitals for Straungers and sicke persons and other good vses farre more seémely and profitable then when they were receptacles and dennes of idlenes slouth I dolatry and superstition I speake not now of the liues of these Caterpillers I touch not their hypocrisie I sturre not out the stenche of that puddle Bycause these are externall and incident to mās nature As for these beyng naturall diseases of the belly and the flesh I leaue to thē selues But I enter now into the due consideration of the very inward and best part of Monckish profession to witte the Rules of the order their ordinaunces their Statutes and the very foundations of their Religion I meane the whole course of Monckery which I do altogether accuse Agaynst this I do with full mouth exclame from the very bottome of my hart professe that this order of Monckery is wicked and detestable finally such and so wicked that if all thinges els within the same were founde yet this their very lurking in dennes after that maner of liuing can haue no maner of partaking with the kyngdome of Christ. Of other Monasteries other may Iudge better then I but of such as were in England I can speake fully of myne owne knowledge the first foundations erections wherof if a man behold it will euidently appeare that they were instituted for none other end and purpose then for the redeémyng of soules out of Purgatory for Remission of sinnes and for obteinyng of life euerlasting And what could haue bene deuised more cruell agaynst Christian Relligion or more repugnaunt to Christes Gospell Therfore as touchyng these Temples Dennes and buildyngs of Relligious houses I do not so much maruell that they are thus razed to the grounde as I maruell more at this that they could so long cōtinue to so great preiudice cōtumely and reproche of the Sonne of GOD. But it is euen the selfe thyng wherof the Lord him selfe did long sithence Prophecie Euery building that my heauēly Father hath not planted sayth he shal be pluckt vppe by the rootes But what holynes of Ceremonies do you tell vs of here Osorius If ye meane those old shadowes of Ceremonies prescribed in old tyme by God surely these vanished quite away immediatly vpon the discouery of the cleare light and bright beames of the Gospell And yet they did not so vanish away as I supose That ceremonies for ceremonies shadowes for shadowes or newes shapes should supply the old for what had this bene els then frō Iewishnes to reuolt backe agayne to Iewishnes But if you meane of Ceremonies deuised by men surely of such you may read the Scriptures greuously complatnyng euery where They do worship me in vayne teachyng the Doctrines traditiōs of mē And in an other place The houre cōmeth and now is whēas the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth And how often do we heare Paule the Apostle callyng vs backe from those hungry elementes of ceremonies and that very feruently If you be dead with Christ sayth he from the elementes of this world why are you then holden backe with ceremonies as though you were liuing in the worlde And to the Galat. How is it that you turne agayne to the weake and beggerly ceremonies whereunto agayne ye desire to be in bondage a fresh Now by what reason can you ascribe holynes to those thinges which are called in Paule Beggerly Elementes and are onely corporall exercizes scarse profitable to any thyng and which do rather make a Iew then a Christian man For what is Christianitie els then a spirituall life and worshipping Euen as God him selfe whom we do worship is a Spirite And the armour wherewith we mainteyne his warfare is spirituall our inheritaunce and countrey is sayd to be heauenly and not earthly For although we be clogged yet with infirmities of the flesh we do not liue as bondslaues to the flesh But are risen agayne together with Christ in Fayth Spirite and Truth seékyng not the uisible thinges of this world but heauenly neither betrayeng the freédome wherein we were called and agayne not abusing the freédome wherein we do dwell to the lust of the flesh But what fréedome of Religiō is this if we be holdē as yet bōdslaues to the Traditions of men Paule crieth out That one of vs should not Iudge an other in meate and drinke or in the part of the holy day or new moone or of Sabbathes And will Osorius tye necessity to the keépyng of these Be I not here taken at the worst I speake not this as though I thought simply that no constitutions of men nor ceremonies are tollerable in the Church without the which there can be no Congregations nor Churches of Christians in this life But this present treaty concerneth those ceremonies not which are brought in by any kynde of necessitie but by way of superstition not which come in for decency or order but are instituted as especiall matter of piety godlynesse In the which many men haue grounded their hope of Saluation the chief foundation of Relligion and hauen of affiaunce wherein they flatter thē selues and condemne others vpon the which the greater part of Catholickes now a dayes do fawne ouer greédely nor do onely dwell vpō them but euē bury thē selues aliue in thē And euē these Ceremonies do so nothing at all agreé with the pure and sincere Relligiō of Christ as that no pestilent botche can be more deadly cōtagious vnto it Of that which many famous godly men haue sundry tymes complayned bitterly and not without cause For wise men and men of experience did perceaue this to be true as it is most true that the effectuall force of the Gospell was
extinguished true pietie neglected not the consciences onely but the lyues also of men endaungered through none other so perillous a contagion as this glitteryng pompe of gorgeous Ceremonies Amongest the which this is one that Reporte telleth of two persoÌ„s in FrauÌ„ce who not many yeares agoe were in daunger to be burned for none other matter but bycause they did eate flesh two dayes in Lent beyng constrained thereunto by necessitie of sicknesse Behold the fruites of Ceremonies to witte that for mens Traditions we shall breake the CoÌ„maundements of God recoÌ„ptyng murther to be a more tollerable offence then to leaue a peltyng coÌ„stitution of a Pope vndone I could rehearse six huÌ„dreth like exaÌ„ples out of the Monuments of our own Martyrs chiefly who were more often and more sharpely punished for despising meÌ„s Traditions then for breakyng the CoÌ„maundementes of God in so much that a maÌ„ would thinke that the whole face of Christian Relligion had bene estraunged into Ceremonies or els to hang more vpon these then vpon the word of God And whereas you say that Images Signes Crosses and Altares are throwen downe I thinke veryly that Luther and the other ministers of the Gospell cannot be duely charged with this slaunderous reproch forasmuch as they neuer put their handes to the breaking or plucking downe of Images nor is it conuenient for any priuate person to presume vpon any innouation in Christian coÌ„mon weales or Churches by force and vproare But if the Magistrate do execute his office godly and peaceably acording as he may lawfully do in the things which he doth perceiue to be consonaunt with the word of God What maketh Osorius here with vs being but a priuate man himself and a meére straunger to keépe a skolding or medling with our matters If the famous king of Portingall Sebastian be of the mind to remayne a fawtor and follower of those Romish superstitious Ragges in Altares Pictures Signes and worshippyng of Images He hath on the one side the testimonies of the Scriptures on the other side the Parasiticall pratyng of Monckes let him follow which he will let him doe in hys owne Realme vpon his owne perill what him pleaseth best On the other side If the most vertuous Queéne of England Elizabeth by the guiding of Scriptures haue thought it more conuenient to expell and Banish out of her Realme the stincking pilfe of durty superstition the sight whereof no Christian Prince can endure without great perill daunger of himselfe and hys subiectes Truely she doth nothing herein but that she may safely do iustify the doing therof by the manifest authority of the sacred scripture and singuler examples of most famous and renowmed kings Unlesse peradueÌ„ture Osorius doth make small account of the commendable remembraunce of Ezekias Iosias Iosaphat and others which brake downe and krusht in peéces Altares Idolles Groanes and the Brasen Serpent Or the example of Gedeon also who though were not a kyng did yet cut downe the Groaue and tare abroad the Altar What now The same which was lawfull for the kinges of the Iewes in the carnall law shall not be as lawfull for our Rulers and Potenâ—ates in the spirituall kingdome of Christ shall that which redouÌ„ded to their glory and prayse in the olde law be condemned in our age in Christian Princes for Sacriledge And what if Osorius had liued in that season when as Epiphanius Byshoppe of Cypres seing the Image of Chryst agaynst the manifest authoritie of the Scriptures as he sayed paynted in a veyle rent it in peéces with his owne handes what if he had liued in the time of Origen or in that florishing age of the primitiue church at what time Augustine Lactantius Ambrose Eusebius would not suffer in the church this kind of Paâ—anisme at what time as yet was not any shadow so much of an Image in the temples of Christians Or what if afterwardes he had happened in the Court of Phillippicus Leo Isaurick an Emperor of Greéce and of his sonne Constantine the fifth or of Leo the 4 What if he had bene present at those threé councels Constantinople vnder Constantine the fifth Emperour or at the Elibertine and Franckfordine Councels vnder Charles the great in the which Images were vtterly Banished out of Churches by most manifest argumentes out of the holy Scriptures and by the generall consentes and voyces of the whole counsell at what tyme great and inuincible reasons were alleadged to proue directly that the Images of Chryst of our Ladye of the Apostles Martyres as neuer instituted by any tradition of Christ of the Apostles no nor of any that auncient Fathers ought not in any wise be brought into Churches or being brought in not to bée permitted and suffered in any respect The Catholicke Church say they standing amids Iewishnesse and Gentility doth neither allow the bloody Sacrifices of the Iewes and in Sacrificing doth vtterly abandone all manner of Gentility gaze of Images And agayne a litle after Whosoeuer shall practise to erect Pictures or Images of Sayntes after the errour of the Gentiles shal be adiudged a Blasphemer c. And so concluding at the last We say they that are inuested in Priestly dignity being asseÌ„bled together do with one voyce determine and decre that all manner Imagery of whatsoeuer mettall wood or stuffe deuised by the wicked practise of paynters shal be vtterly abolished out of the churches of Christians as execrable and abhominable And whosoeuer shall presume to sette vppe aâ—y such Image either in the Church or in his priuate house or secret closet If he be a Byshop or a Deacon Let him be deposed If he be a seculer or a lay person let him be holden aceursed and turned ouer to the punishment of the Imperiall constitutions as one that doth wilfully impugne the ordinaunces of God and breake the Rules thereof c. Not vnlike vnto this was the decreé established in the Elibertine couÌ„cell It seemeth good vnto vs that Images ought not be in Churches and that no thing be paynted vpon the walles that is reuerenced or worshipped c. Of these I say and of other the like decreés of councels if Osorius had bene an eye witnesse himselfe or would yet vouchsafe to peruse the monumentes of auncient Fathers he would surelye conceiue an other opinion of Images he would beleue the testimony of Lactantius who sayth that there is no Religion where any picture is in place Agayne he would geue creditte to Chrisostome saying we do enioy the presence of Sayntes by reading their writinges hauing therein a present view not of their bodyes but of their soules To this may be added the testimony of Amphilochius Byshoppe of Iconium We esteeme it not worth the labour to paynt any corporall shape of Sayntes in coloured tables because we haue no need of them but we ought to be mindfull of their good liues And from this differeth very
what I ought to defend what you meane to oppugne it behoueth vs to cōclude vpon this point For you do so entangle all your discourse with I know not what crooked crabbed conueyaunce and choppyng of matters together knittyng and reknittyng one thyng vpon an other that ye neither agreé with your selfe nor any man els can perfitly determine what your meanyng is You doe accuse Haddon I suppose and our Preachers of Nouelty But we must thē know wherein you define this Noueltie to consiste In the lyfe that we lead or in the doctrine which we do professe If you meane of our lyues but therein wicked may we be new we cā not be For what is more auncient then vyce If the question be of doctrine onely why thē do ye transpose the Disputatiō which is onely instituted vpō doctrine racke the same to the lyues maners of men and then at last to cōmaunde Haddon to deliuer vnto you some example of that auncient Vertue As though if he could not do so he should be forthwith condemned for an heretique I know we lyue not Apostolicke lyues no more then we worke the miracles which the Apostles wrought what then what is this to the purpose Haddon affirmeth as he may iustifie it well enough that our Church here in England doth not vary from the institution Apostolicque in any thyng meanyng doctrine fayth and Religion If this seéme not to be true in your cōceipt it behoued you then to oppugne that which he doth defende For his defence cōcerneth the principles and substaunciall pointes of Christian doctrine wherein he sayth that our Churches do vary nothyng at all from the institution of the Apostles You or the other part ouerpassing the matters apperteinyng to doctrine do writhe and wreste the state of the whole questiō to morall vertues And in your owne conceipt seéme that you haue very notably besturred your selfe agaynst Haddon if you winne this much of him that the Lutheranes haue not attained to that excellencie of Apostolique integritie And hereupon you spende and wast all the smoaky pouder of your miserable Rhetoricke wherein you both bewray the weakenes of your cause to much the subtill steight of your deépe deuise For if it would haue pleased you to deale franckly here and not sticke to discouer the very grief of your minde this lyfe of ours howsoeuer it be was not the matter that made vs heretiques nor that made you and your Catholickes to be so maliciously incensed agaynst vs. For how filthy soeuer we seéme to you and your fraternitie wollowyng weltryng in all abhonimation if besides this licentiousnesse of maners had bene nought els doughtles we should haue found both your fatherhoode and the rest of your profession our good Maisters enough and not onely our good Maisters but most foreward felowes and mates of the same vyces and of all kynde of abhomination besides yea and not fellowes onely but our auncientes and Captaines therein For what filthynesse in all our liues what pride ambition cruelty sauadgenes robberies disreipt violence arrogancy lust despising of Magistrates was euer so monstruous in any of vs wherein you do not vnmeasurably exceéde vs And therfore if dissolute maners and vnbridled course of licentious lyfe haue made you so skittish and forced you to boyle in so beastly rancour agaynst vs surely this trōpet ought so much the rather haue bene founded agaynst your popes of Rome your Cardinalls other your Copesmates of the same crew by how much more greéuous matter may be foūde in them to be quarelled at reproued But this is not the prick that makes you to kicke bycause we breake Gods commaundementes by liuyng wickedly but bycause we yeld not to the Decreés of your traditions bycause we do not humble our selues to your Cannons and Lawes but chiefly aboue all others bycause the light of the Gospell spreading her glorious beames abroad and the whole world at the length hauyng shaken of her wonted drousines euē Coblers and Tyukers begyn to discerne a Frier from a Fursebursh a Moncke from a Marmyan and the Pope frō a Puppet bycause the vgly vysours and counterfaite hypocrisie of Frameshapen Religion is layed open to the view bycause the errours of doctrine blyndnes of Iudgementes and most false pretences of antiquitie be openly discouered to the worlde hereof come all these stormes hereof arise all those Tragicall outcryes and exclamations of Osorius agaynst the poore Lutheranes Syth it is euen so and for asmuch as all this controuersye betwixt vs consisteth not vpon examples of good lyfe but vpon the chiefe principles and foundation of Doctrine and Religion reiecting all vnnecessary circumlocutions come agayne to the matter Osorius and stand fast vpon the speciall poynt of the question The controuersye at this present concerneth matter of Doctrine and Fayth which onely matter must either conuince vs for Heretiques or arquite vs for Catholiques And here writing agaynst Haddon you require vs to cleare our selues from all suspicion of Noueltye There is nothing more easy to be done But sithence you prouoke vs to this challenge my Lord become a man of your word then and let not your discourse runne at randone from the state of the question And let vs conclude if it please you vpon this poynt That whether of vs can iustify his part best by testimony of Fathers and Antiquity of tyme the same to goe away with the garland But who shall be vmpyer you will say yf I vouch the scripture you will forthwith cry out that it is to obscure neither doe I deny but that in certeine propheticall and profound and deéper misteries it is in deéde somewhat obscure but in matters of fayth saluation the holy ghost would not haue it so obscure but that euery indifferent and godly reader might gather thereof matter sufficient for the necessary instruction of fayth and abilitye to discerne And for mine owne part I will require none other witnesse or vmpyer herein then the Reader himselfe whatsoeuer he be so that he will stand vpright and will lay aside all priuate affectiōs and all partialytye of foreiudgement and geue sentence according to the very touchstone of the manifest Scriptures But our Osorius and his companiō Pighius will exclayme agayne and say that none ought be iudge in this cause but the Pope of Rome neither will I forsake him condicionally so that he will faithfully sincerely simply without fraude or guile exclude priuate affection nor will be addicted to one part more thē the other setting aside his authoritye awhiles will promise to become an vpright sounde vmpier of the cause together with scripture being Iudge For otherwise I thinke it not to stand with conuenience of reason that any man shall be in his owne cause both a pleader a witnes and a Iudge Neither doe I thinke that any such one will euer become in indifferent Iudge nor will any
entred into any order Ecclesiasticall foreswearing to be coupled in wedlock should sweare them selues to obserue perpetuall vow of vnmaried lyfe If any man be of opiniō that this Tyrāny was brought in by the Apostles and not rather directly agaynst the ordinaūce of the Apostolicke Church is much deceaued in imagination whereas that law was neuer begon nor euer heard of before the tyme of Hildebrand And although I can not deny that there were many vnmaried Ministers many dayes agoe in the Church of Christ at that tyme when as there was not such a huge multitude of Priestes and more plentyfull giftes of chastitie possessed Christian Churches yet did neuer any man read or heare that this necessitie of vowyng chastitie became a publique cōmon coaction before Hildebrād was borne How earnestly the Germaines did set them selues agaynst this wicked prohibition decreéd by Pope Gregory the 7. at what tyme the Archbyshop of Mentz Sollicitour of this Popish decreé was almost slayne let the Histories beare witnesse As touchyng what was done in England I will note somewhat my selfe For on this wise writeth Henry Huntyngton in his Chronicle Anselme sayth he did prohibite Mariadge of Priestes in England which was neuer prohibited before Which seemed to some a matter of wonderfull continēcie but to other very pernitious and perillous least whiles they should couet for a cleannes that surmounted their power they might rushe healong into horrible filthynes to the great reproche and dishonour of Christian name This much he with whom also accordeth the testimony of Monumetensis touchyng the same matter Herbert Byshop of Norwiche sayth he by the commaundement of Anselme and a Decree of a Prouinciall Synode did endeuour by all meanes possible to sequester the Priestes from their Wiues in his Diocese And when he could not bring it to passe he was constrained to send to Anselme for Counsell This is to be founde in a written History pag. 240. The same also happened to Gerrarde Archb. of Yorke about the same tyme. Now what will Osorius say to this If I shall be able to shew him out of our own auncient Recordes more then 40. Recordes and Rolles which doe make mention not onely of our Priestes companying together with their Wiues but also that do by publique authoritie and law of the land prouide that their Wiues ought to be endowed in landes and possessions There was an old Decreé in the Councell of Gangren That no man should make any difference betwixt an vnmaried Priest a maried Priest as to Iudge the one more holy then the other in respect of his vnmaried lyfe I will annexe the wordes of the Coūcell If any man doe take exception betwixt a Maried Priest at that in respect of his Mariadge he ought not to minister the Communion and so sequester him selfe from Communicating with him let him be accursed There ensued after this the Councell of Areletens the 2. wherein was a contrary Decreé made that no person should be admitted to Priesthood that was Married to a Wife vnlesse he vowed to depart from his Wife c. Whereunto also agreéd a Decreé of Pope Lucius long after the other Whereby Priestes and Deacons and such as serued the Altares should lyue continently And this hetherto tollerable enough But what kynde of cōtinency he did meane let vs marke by the sequele But if it happen sayth he that a Minister doe go to bedd to his Wife after he haue once receaued orders let him not enter within the Chaūcell nor be made bearer of the Sacrament nor yet come a neare the Altar c. As touchyng Images Inuocation Sacrifies for Sinnes and Freéwil hath bene spoken sufficiently before And what shall I adde more of the rest of the rascall rable to witte of Purgatory of Satisfactory Constitutions of vowes of other lyke peltyng pelfe of the newfangled Romish Traditions and of the antiquitie of all the rest but euen as they be in deéde namely that in them all appeareth no countenaunce of true Antiquitie but are deuises altogether of mens inuētions bastardes and misbegotten chaungelyngs of Scholeianglers and cowled crauens not grounded vpon any authoritie of the Scripture altogether vnknowen vnto the aūcient primitiue Church the most part wherof hath bene hatcht thrust abroad into the world within these 500. yeares within which compasse of tyme that noumber of yeares began to be fulfilled which was long before Prophecied of for the lettyng louse of Sathan into the world whose libertie out of that bottomles gulfe of hell was foretold by the Propheticall Scriptures should be after a thousand yeares to the end he might now preuaile to deceaue the people dwelling vpon the foure corners of the earth Gog and Magog c. By meane of which pestiferous deceauing it is scarse credible to be spoken what mōstruous ruine dissipation of Empires and Kyngdomes with in these 500. yeares what an alteration hath ensued in that church chiefly how much of Christian force hath bene decayed through Ciuill warres priuate grudgynges how greatly the power of foreine Nations hath increased to our destruction and vndoyng And how in the meane tyme whiles the Turke doth inuade the Christian Church without seékyng with foreine force to vndermine it The Popish Prelates be no lesse busily bent to builde vppe their fortresse of furious Tyranny euen within the bowels of the same Church and to fill vppe their Coffers with Treasures they moyle and turmoyle all thynges Procure warres and bloudshed for the establishment of their primacy sturre vppe Ciuill warres and commotions turne all thynges vpsidowne Wherupō commeth to passe that doctrine is nought sett by by how much their treasory aboundeth in ouer flowing-plenty by so much to speake with Ierome their vertues are pyned away with famine skarsity Idolatry ambitiō superstitiō haue growne to an vnmeasurable excesse all things are defiled with abuse Religiō ruleth the roast with violence cruelty Finally all things are come to nought Trueth is turned to playne lying and treachery The place of sincere fayth possesseth false hipocrisie Praying for the dead kneéling and crowching to Images supplyeth the place of the true and pure worshipping of God The word of the Lord is troden downe with mans authoritye The most godly and auncient ordinaunces are transformed into new fangled traditiōs the simple meaning of the Scriptures is entāgled with scholetrickes and Sophystrye Luste and vnbrideled licentious outrages preuayle aboue godly conuersation and seueritye of discipline Presūptuous pride and greédy desire of Lordlynes and superioritye doe wrestle agaynst lowlynes and humilitye huge heapes of new Noueltyes increase dayly errors and falshode flocke abroad vnmeasurably Finally the whole state of the auncient Church is become a very stage of an earthly Monarchye and a filthy forgeshoppe of foolishe fond ceremonies But now assoone as the Lord of his louing mercy good pleasure towardes vs vouchsafed to amend this dayly drowsy darkenes with
agaynst Haddon that there is nothing in our Churche comparable with the auntient Church nor that any example out of the auncient Recordes or Antiquityes can be alleadged for our Church that doth fauour of any smacke of antiquitye And that on the contrary part the whole vniuersality of antiquity doth in their behalfe as he sayth beare witnesse agaynst vs. And that with them remayneth nothing at all but that which is throughly established by the testimony of the holy Scriptures by the authority of the godly Fathers and by all the consent of all antiquity How vntrue this is hath bene sufficiently declared before by the testimony of the auncient historyes as muche as may suffice for this present purpose Of the same stampe is the like deuise that followeth For whereas Haddon doeth take exception agaynst Osorius writyng on this wise In the aūcient most pure age of the Church sayth Haddon was neither name of Pope nor leaden Bulles for remission of sinnes nor martes and markettes of Purgatory nor croochyng to Images nor gadding on pilgrimage nor sacrificing Masses for the quicke and the dead nor many other such Bables c. These wordes of Haddon as though had bene vomited out from a wonderfull surfett of furious frēsye Osorius in great choler doth challenge and confuteth with these reasons Because without reason as he sayth without any testimony or exāple of antiquity without argument or proofe at all he hath spoken bare affirmatiues onely without proofe and the same in such wise spoken as that he seemeth to haue done nothing but spoken And first for the Supremacy what doth he shew But we sayth he are wont to make playne demonstration by the authoritye of the sacred Scriptures by the testimony of the holy Fathers by the autenticke Recordes of auncient antiquity by reasō vse and experiēce and by innumerable examples that this was the Supreame head of the Church alwayes c. If you haue so great and infinite a number of examples wherewith you be able to iustify this Supremacy as you say why then out of this vnmeasurable heape vouche you not one example at the least for examples sake whereby we may likewise discerne this supremacy hitherto as yet I do heare nothing but bare words and smoake and not a sparcke so much of Reason example or proofe But you committe this charge perhappes to Hosius or Pyghius and one of you helpeth to claw an other by the elbow so that Osorius with words whereof he hath stoare and Hosius with such witnesses as he can suborne shall vnderproppe thys Prymacy of the Romish Royalty as Atlas did sometime beare heauen vpon his shoulders But if these two gallaunt Gyaunts apply no stronger pillers besides thē selues to vphold the Maiesticall State of that theyr toppegallaunt of Rome it is much to be feared least it will haue a fall shortly be shieuered all in pieces and least theyr brauery come within the compasse of that sweet song whereof we heare the melody more then once in the sacred Reuelation Babylon is fallen Babylon is fallen that great Cytye the Mother of all the Whoredomes and abhominations of the earth c. ANd as for the fayres Marketts of Pardōs Purgatory if you do not perceiue that to be most true the Haddon hath affirmed surely you are more then poreblinde If ye doubt thereof you are very wittelesse if you deny it you are more then Impudent Fyrst if you will affirme that there were no Markettes and Martes of Pardons whereupon then grew that controuersy betwixt Luther your Church did it not arise by the meanes of buying and sellyng of Pardons and chopping and chaunging for Purgatory If you will say that those Markets were proclaimed without consent of your Church and contrary to theyr commaundement vouchsafe then I pray you to shew vs who it was that suborned that noughty packe Tecelius the Dominick Fryer to be proctor of that Mart if it were not Pope Leo the tēth and Albert Archbyshop of Mentz who made this compact ech with other that the one halfe of the spoyle shoulde redound to the Pope the other halfe to the Archbyshoppe to pay for his Pall In which Marte proclamation was made at the sound as it were the stroake of the Popes dromme as Masseus doth verify that whosoeuer would geue x.s. should redeéme what soule he listed out of the paynes of Purgatory But these Markettes sayth he if any such were holy Church doth not allow but doth banish away none otherwise thē as a detestable pestilence of the common weale What Church Osorius doth speake of here I know not this is out of all question that as there is none so horrible a kinde of falshood as that which lurking and cloaking her craft vnder a false vysor for piety doth dazell the sences of a number so if we narrowly sift out the very oryginall of this mischiefe we shall find that all this fatt feast and blessed banquet came from no where els thē out of the Popes kitchin from hence forsooth come that lewde largesse of pardons those Retchles Releases of paynes from hence plenary and full remission of sinnes from hence so many Iubiles so many stations visiting of Saint Peters Church all which where were they hatcht but euen in the Church of Rome From hence so many grauntes of free graces to eat to marry to weare linen or wollen freè libertye to be confessed where men listed were sette to sale the penny From hence so many Stationars Treasurers Fowkers Pardoners who haue long sithence wearyed out and made deafe the eares of the simple people with crying out Imponite Imponite Imponite for such was theyr proclaymation protesting withall that it should come to passe that all such as would buy those pearles of Pardons their soules should be sure to skippe vp into heauen at one leape without any lett Addyng hereunto that all such soules whō they were willyng to redeéme out of the flamyng fire of purgatory should immediately mount from thence into heauen assoone as the money which should be throwen into the redde Boxe did cry chinke For it was out of all questiō that the Pope of Rome was of power to rake Purgatory cleane by vertue of his Pardons of as many soules and whatsoeuer soules he listed And him also they magnified so gloriously that as they sayd no Sinne could be so horrible yea though agaynst all possibilitie a man had defiled the mother of God but could be redeémed by pickpurse Pardōs were not these the very speaches of your Romish rufflers wh if your Church did not allow of by what authoritie then did your Pardoners scrapers for money presume to pynche all Churches by the purse with such kynde of wares why were not these shamelesse Rūneagates put to scilence why could your holy mother Church suffer so horrible a Tympany and Impostume within her owne bowels so long if she
were not partaker of the spoyle did not onely winke at them but authorize them also by her owne Bulles so to do Agayne when these felowes Tecelius Wympine were gone to what purpose was Cardinall Caietane posted abroad in the yeare 1518 who in in the Councell of Augusta might reuiue the same opinions agayne and force Luther who had already confuted these abuses by open Disputation to recante And how will Osorius his defence now hang together with these practizes of his Pope denying vtterly that these Pardones were neuer scattered abroad by the consent of that holy mother Churche If it be true that the Church did not so what did that forme of Commission vsually geuen from the Seé of Rome emporte the tenour whereof was this He that soweth niggardly shall reape sparely but he that soweth bountyfull shall reape aboundauntly vnto life euerlastyng And agayne what meaneth this We do exhorte you all generally in the Lord do enioyne you vpoÌ„ payne of Remission of your Sinnes that of the goodes that God hath geueÌ„ you ye enlarge bouÌ„tifully your charitable deuotion vnto theÌ„ c. For these wordes were euery where scattered abroad by Maisters of Hospitalles Which what is it els theÌ„ to set vp a commoÌ„ Marte and moneybancke of remission of sinnes which is due to Fayth not to workes and which the Scripture willeth by all meanes possible to be freé and what is it els then as Chrisostome sayth to turne the forme of worshippyng and prayer into an occasion of wicked buyeng and sellyng But Osorius will cite vs forthwith to the Tridentine Councell wherein these Markettes of Pardons were after a sort mitigated with a certeine quallification Uery well But how much better had the Fathers of that Councell prouided if they had vtterly abrogated not the Markettes of Pardons onely but the very Pardons them selues out of all ChristiaÌ„ CongregatioÌ„s Regions But these Fathers now fosteryng continually this frettyng Fistula within the Bowels of the Christian common weale thinke they haue besturred them selues gayly if they foreseé not that the caÌ„ker may be throughly cured and kept from crawlyng any farther but that it be suppressed aloft and so suffred to creépe more closely below that is to say that men may freély now and withoâ—t money plunge their soules into hell But what is this to the purpose whether Pardons be put to sale or not put to sale For this is not in questioÌ„ now whether Pardoners may be abridged of their bold presumptioÌ„ but the question coÌ„cerneth Pardons theÌ„ selues not whether they ought to be sold but whether they may be tollerable how freé soeuer they be whether it be consonaunt to Christian Fayth or lawfull by the authoritie of the Scriptures for the Pope of Rome to make any kynde of choppyng and chaungyng with mens peltyng Pardons for the redeémyng of mens Sinnes I speake of those Pardons that are now in vse not such as were deliuered by the auncient Fathers For the Church had alwayes her Consistories and Iudiciall Courtes wherein for notorious offences certeine publique chastisement was ministred the Greékes called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we call theÌ„ Canonicall Satisfactions The rigour of the Church did vse many tymes to quallifie or acquite by releases pardons as occasion did serue accordyng to the qualitie of tymes places persons offences As if a man had reuolted froÌ„ the Fayth of Christ wtout any cause which kinde of backsliding was not thought worthy to be receaued to mercy in the primitiue Church yet afterwardes some courtesie was extended vnto such as repented them of the same and shewed them selues hartly sorrowfull for the same and such were enioyned to penaunce by the space of 12. yeares as appeareth by the 11. Canon of the Nicene Councell Wemen that either would procure vntymely birthes before they were borne or would murther their childreÌ„ beyng borne were by the same Canon excluded froÌ„ the CongregatioÌ„ for euer After this ensued the 21. Canon of the Councell of Antycira Which moderatyng the auncient censure with lenitie did prescribe vnto such wemen tenne yeares penaunce If a man had committed manslaughter by chauncemedley the same accordyng to the auncient Canon was enioyned seuen yeares penaunce which afterwardes thorough gentler mitigation of the same Councell was abridged to fiue yeares penaunce by the 22. Canon At the Councell of Agathe was a Canon made which was in noumber the 37. speakyng on this wise The auncient Fathers did enioyne a greuous payne vpon such as forsooke their Fayth whom we abridgyng the noumber of yeares doe enioyne onely two yeares penaunce We read in Eusebius that a certeine Bysh. returnyng with teares to the Church froÌ„ the heretique Nouatus was receaued into the CoÌ„gregatioÌ„ the whole Congregation makyng earnest Supplication for him contrary to the order of the Canons Cyprian reporteth that the Martyrs of his tyme consideryng the earnest amendement of lyfe in certeine PeniteÌ„tiaries and perceauyng the tyme of their penaunce limited vnto them by the Church to draw neare to an end obteined by their earnest petitions made to the Elders of the Church that they releasing some part of their penaunce might receaue them into the Congregation agayne as reconciled notwithstanding their satisfactions beyng not fully accomplished And the Reason of this Pardon doth the 5. Canon of the CouÌ„cell of Antycira declare A Byshop sayth the Canon ought to haue this prerogatiue as that he may vpon consideration of the demeanour of Penitenciaries become somewhat more tractable and either quallifie the rigour of the penaunce or aggrauate the censure as he shall thinke conuenient and as necessitie shall require So also in the Nicine Councell the 5. Canon Let them stand excommunicate sayth the Canon vntill either the Congregation or the Byshop shall thinke it conuenient to mitigate the tyme of their penaunce Thus much I thought not amisse by the way to note brieflye of the maner of publique penauÌ„ce and Canonicall satisfactions exercised in the olde Church To the end it may more fullye appeare by what meanes those auncient ordinaunces of publique penauÌ„ce did first decay and were abolished in the Popes church and how by litle and litle certayne new Satisfactions were crept in thrust in place For albeit this name of Satisfactions be of some auncienty yet were Satisfactions exercised farre otherwise in the auncient Church then they are now in dayly practise in the Popes Church For in the Primitiue Church such satisfactions were enioyned as publicke penaunce for publicke offeÌ„ces only But your Popes CoÌ„fessioners do enioyne satisfactory penaunces for certayne priuate and secret sinnes The first sort were neuer ministred but in presence of the congregation onely to serue for outward Discipline onely and not to redeéme the wrath of God for their sins by way of satisfiyng and the cause why they were called Satisfactions was because they did satisfy the opinioÌ„ of the congregatioÌ„ in
publique offences only Euē so and in such wise Releases Pardōs were esteémed not to be in any respect valuable to clense the sinnes of guiltye consciences in the sight of God simply but should be as pledges and witnesses of a full releasing their penaunce enioyned vnto thē by the Church or of mitigating the same with some gentle quallification As appeareth by a Transcript drawen out of the Penitentiall of Rome vp Burchard treating much of those exchaunges of satisfactions namely that in stead of this penaunce where a man was enioyned to fast one whole day with bread and water heé should be released thereof and say fifty psalmes or Lxx. psalmes kneéling relieue some one begger with food If he were a rich man and vnlettered he should redeéme one dayes penaunce by paying iij. pence if he were poore and vnlettered he should paye one peny or feéd threé poore folke The penaūce of a whole weékes fast was redeémed with CCC Psalmes a whole mouethes fast by saying xij hundred Psalmes for one yeares fast he shoulde geue in almes to the poore xxij shillinges c. Many other like exchaunges of penaunces are mentioned in Burchard all which respected none other end but that they might quallify the rigor of the olde Canons touching publique penaunce ministred to this end not as necessary instrumentes to obtayne remission of sinnes and to pacify the wrath of God but instituted for exāples sake that they might be speciall prickes and prouokementes to sturre vpp such as were fallen and allurementes to earnest amendement of life On the contrary part the custome of our time and of our Popes hath so farre degendred from the auncient ordinaunces of the Elders in dispensing with Pardons and Satisfactions that it may seéme to haue ouerwhelmed not onely all discipline of the auncient Church but also almost ouerthrowen the whole force and efficacy of Christian fayth For whereas the Summe and Substaunce of all our Religion consisteth in the cleansing and purging of Sinnes and the same comprehended also in the onely obedience and passion of Christ these new vpstart Popes haue translated all this Release and satisfaction for our sinnes from the merite of Christ to I know not what newfangled absolutions and Pardons And whereas the olde penitentiall Canons were onely mens constitutions wherein men might dyspence with men according to the necessity of the tyme hereupon our Popes taking hart of grasse are become so shamelesse impudent that with theyr Pardons they dare presume to dispense with mens sinnes yea and theyr consciences also and to make their satisfactory merites by merite meritorious as it were worthye and able to encounter the wrath and iudgement of God And now behold how many pumples and fretts lurke vnder this one skabbe of the popish doctrine First they do so ouerlade mens consciences with a commaundement of confession without all authority of scripture and contrary to all the presidents of the primitiue Church they force all persons to render an account of theyr sinnes whether they be contrite or not contrite and this also vpon payne of eternall damnation As for Absolution they leaue cleane naked of all effectualnesse denying it to be auayleable without workes precedent ouer and besides thys also they do clogge them that are confessed with an vnauoydable necessity of doing penaūce they do thrust in Pardō of sinnes graunted by mans authority which they call Satisfaction for sinnes to deserue freé release from that punishment payne which the iustice of God may duely exact Out of which Syncke proceéd many vntimely and vyperous birthes full of lyes sacrilege and blasphemy agaynst God Namely Mounckes vowes The Sacrifice of the Masse for the quick and the dead Pilgrimages to stockes and stoanes Iubiles Pardons and Purgatory and out of that Purgatory sprang forth that momish maxime of Scotus Scottish and crabbed enough to this effect That Sinners after absolution ar either turned ouer to pardones or to Purgatory I do not here complayne or expostulate for those portesales and crafty conueyaunces of Pardōs Let Pardōs be as francke and freé as they would seéme to be for me But this is the thyng that I do demaund by what title by what scripture by what example finally by what I do not say authority but by what honest colour the Pope of Rome may presume so much vpon hys authority as to challenge to himselfe an interest and as it were an inheritable possessiō of those things wh Gods owne mouth and the promises of the whole scripture doe geue franckely and freély vnto all them that repent and beleue euen by theyr fayth in Christ Iesu and how he dare also affirme that such men are not otherwise to be dispēsed withall then by his Bulles of Pardons and his deputary Cōmissaryes Saynt Peter cryeth out with a loud voyce and confirmeth his saying with the authority of all the Prophets that shall receiue forgeuenesse of Synnes as many as do beleue in Christ. So doth also the Apostle Paule proclayme boldly that all thinges are pacified by the bloud of Christ both in heauen and in earth and addeth moreouer And in him sayth he you are made perfect And because no man shall be of opinion here after that there wanteth any thing to the full accomplishment of our saluation read in Iohn The bloud of Christ doth clense vs from all Sinne. And immediatly after He is the propitiation for our sinnes not our sinnes onely but for the sinnes of the whole world And Iohn Baptist poynting to Christ with his finger doth affirme Christ to be the Lambe appoynted by God to take away the sinnes of the world And Paule to the Hebrues By one onely oblation Christ made perfect for euer them that were sanctified And in an other place we are taught that our hartes are purified by fayth To conclude The whole meaning and intent of the scripture being nothing els but a certayn neuer interrupted course of recomfortable refreshyng in Christ it doth so allure vs all vnto hym that it leaueth none other medicine or restoratiue for our ouerladen and encombred consciences but the onely bloud of the Sonne of God And therefore if the onely death of Christ once offred for all be a full Raūsome for our Sinnes and the full price of our Redemption If Christes onely death and Passion be imputed to the faythfull beleuer for righteousnesse What neéde then any other Pardōs If Christ pacified all thinges in heauē in earth why could he not aswell pacifie all thynges in Purgatory When full power was geuen vnto him ouer all thinges in heauen and in earth what shall Christ haue nothyng to doe in Purgatory but that the Pope must be onely Prince of that Region The bloud of Christ say they did Raunsome vs from guilt and euerlasting punishment But there remaineth yet a Temporall punishment to be endured partely in this lyfe partly in Purgatory out of the which
doe aunswere and confesse that this Iustice and Clemēcy of God wherof you speake haue their place and time But you haue not yet proued that the time and place of executing this Iustice and Clemency doth belong to any Purgatory vnder the ground neither is it concluded by that your manner of arguing through any necessitye of consequence There is a Fier that shall torment in euerlasting paynes the Persecutors and Enemies of Christ. Ergo There is also a Fyer els where that maye be putt out If this argument should be examined by the exact Rules of Logick the Logicians would surely say that there is no forme at all in your Consequence howebeit in respect of the materiall poyntes both propositions be true For as it is certayne and assured by the authoritie of the Scriptures that the fier of hell shall neuer be extinguished so hath this life also his fier and tēporall paynes wherewith Gods elect are now and then tryed purged both which we do read in the history of the Rich man and Lazarus whereof the one feéling no greéuaunces in this life was throwen into the Tormentes of Hell The other contrarywise after many greéuous stormes and dayly miseries of this life was receiued into the Bosome of euerlasting ioy In which Similitude euery man may behold his owne estate and condition For such as with barbarous cruelty do outragiously rage agaynst the Gospell of Christ and triumph in this world in carelesse security shall tast of bitter wormewood in an other world on the contrary part such as are afflicted with wretchednes and purging calamities in this life their passadge frō hence is not to Purgatory but to glory But the troublous turmoyles and paynefull afflictions wherewith the godly are ouerwhelmed in this life are not sufficient after the opinion of Osorius for besides all these temporall miseries punishmentes and plagues a certayne meane place yet is sought out which they call by the name of Purgatory Where greeuous tormentes doe abide for the clensing the remnaunt and dregges of sinne which doe deserue vengeaunce through a certayne vnauoydable necessity of iustice And how so Forsooth because the iustice of God must needes be satisfied And because this satisfaction once purchased by the merites of Iesu Christ is not so absolute and sound but hath certayne degreés as that it may be made more absolute and perfect therefore are our passions and afflictions required of necessity which if be not superadded and coupled together with the merites of Christ it can not by any other possible meanes be brought to passe that the cryme which is inordinate may be reduced to the order of Iustice. O sacred Fayth O new tradition not procured out of Portingall I trowe but coyned euē in the very forgeshop of Purgatory it self If Caluine or Luther were aliue present whose doctrine you affirme to haue proceéded from the most detestable deuill of hell and did heare this communication of yours how lowdly how extreamely how forcibly how vehemētly would they exclayme and cry out with full mouth agaynst you in this place surely as fiercely as they might agaynst an open enemy of Christ. For what shall we say if this be not a notorious reproche and blasphemy vnto Christ Many hundred yeares agoe did S. Paule teach that we were all made perfect in Christ Iesu and your worship now like a fresh vpstart Gospeller creépyng out of the crooked crowdes and ragged skrappes of the Thomystes dare take vpon you to pyke out certayne degrees I know not what in this most excellent clensing purchased by the great boūty and liberality of Christ which neither Paule nor any one of all the Apostles could euer descry Go to let vs heare then I beseech you from out that Syluane Pulpet what steppes be these of amplifieng this clensing and purifieng Without salt say you no sacrifice was accustomed to be offered in the olde Law Therfore in this salt and in this fier that is to say in the punishement appoynted for purging sinnes all this amplification of purifieng doth consist that so the sacrifice may be more pure and more holy I do heare it and doe aunswere to this most vnsauerye argument of Salte if he will vouchsafe first with all the seasonable Salte of hys wisedome to declare what was signified by these Priestly sacrifices moreouer what the wisedome of God dyd meane to expresse by this Salte Fier for it is not to be doughted but that vnder these carnall shadowes lay hidden some more darcke couert misteries whether will he say that this mistery did represent the body of Christ or our bodyes If he meane the body of Christ that was wasted with the fier of Gods iudgement being seasoned and besprinckled with a certayne heauenly Salte of most sweéte smelling sauour But this payne of fier and Salte can signify none other kinde of Purgatory but that onely Purgatory that was finished and accomplished vpon the Crosse If he meane our bodyes which are filthy by nature but this cann in no wise be true for that the ceremoniall law it selfe would not admitte any vncleane flesh to be sacrificed Furthermore whereas that Frye and Salt also of Gods iudgement did cōsume not the spottes and filth onely of those Sacrifices but the holy substaunce of the Sacrifices also for the clensing of Sinnes It remayneth therefore that either there is no Purgatory after thys life that may encrease the degreés of purifiyng with Fire and Salte or els that the Sacrifices themselues that is to say the Soules of the faythfull must of necessity be swallowed vpp and consumed wholy in this Purgatory For not the Bodies but the Soules be tormented there I suppose Which way will our Portingale wend himselfe now to the example of Dauid in whom although the condemnation of the trespasse committed was forgeuen yet was he not clearely deliuered from punishment notwithstanding It is true but this Punishement good Osorius was exequuted vpon him in this worlde and not reserued for an other worlde How thē can you square vs out a new plattforme of Purgatory myddway betwixt heauen and earth for them that are departed out of this lyfe by this example of Dauid Because a recompence must be made say you for the trespasse committed according to the dew and iust rule of Gods Iustice. But this Iustice of God being prouoked to displeasure by infinite and vnmeasurable wayes and meanes cann not be duely recompenced without endlesse punishment or perhappes it will not be satisfied without his owne vicar the Pope and his propiciatorye Masses Not so but he will exequute his punishment vpon vs for our sinnes nothwithstanding And why so because the sacrifice say you may be more pure more holy and more acceptable vnto God May we be so bold by your patience Osorius to take a taste how this assertion of yours will agreé with the rule of the Apostles Doctrine And first I would
dead how is the safetie of all men and the state of the Churche preserued thereby To make this matter good Iustifiable S. Paule him selfe is forced maugre his beard to become wittnesse agaynst him self beyng charged with his one wordes spoken once or twise in his Epistle written to the Corinthes as when he sayth I do dye dayly through the reioysing that I haue of you in Christ Iesu our Lord. c. And agayne writyng to the Collo Now I do Reioyse sayth he ouer my afflictions for you and I do fill vpp that which wanteth in the afflictions of Christ in my fleshe for his body which is the Church c. Out of these wordes of Paule well spoken not well vnderstanded and wickedly wrested it is a wonder to seé what horrible doctrine and monstruous blasphemies these false Apostles doe inferr and thrust in place For whereas the Apostles meanyng doth note onely the confirmation of doctrine and the afflictiōs and agonyes that he endured for the enlargyng of the Fayth of Christ onely the same doe these praters most horribly mistourne force to the satisfaction for Sinnes yea to the very price of our Redemption not without manifest Sacriledge agaynst the bloud of Christ As though the Death and Passion of the onely Sonne of God Iesu Christ could not otherwise suffice to the absolute accomplishment of the whole action of our Redemption vnlesse meritorious afflictions of Sainctes were annexed besides which beyng mingled together with the bloud of Christ should counterpeise in equall ballaunce the iust and true proportion of the Iudgement of God and with full measure as it were fill vpp that euer flowyng founteyne which doth purge and washe cleane away the Sinnes and filthe of the quicke and the deadd Which mingle mangle they call by the name of the Treasure of the Churche which of all the rest is most vayne foolishe And this Treasure of the Church they dare not committe to the custody of Christ onely nor to euery of the Ministers nor yet to laye men nor to Priestes not to poore Prelates not to Abbottes or Priours not to Prouostes and Wardens of Colledges nor to simple Preachers as they call thē but to Byshoppes onely and amongest them also chiefly to the high and superexcellent Byshoppe the Pope which is of all the rest most absurd And yet least you shall thinke that these be not their own proper Assertions we will heare what holy Saynct Bonauenture and such like doctours of the same Schoole doe speake of theyr owne mouth For on this wise doe those profounde Deuynes frame theyr Argumentes out of the wordes of holye Scripture Because according to the Law say they he that doth marry his Brothers wise to rayse vpp seede to his brother that is dead ought to enioy the possession of his brothers goods that appertayne to the education of the Children Ruth 4. Therefore the dispensation of this treasure of the Church belongeth to the Byshoppes onelye which be the husbandes of the Church haue power to beget sonnes daughters that is to say perfect vnperfect and amōgest all these principally the high Byshopp which is husband gouernour of the whole Church vniuersall Ha Ha gentle Reader haue you not heard a mynyon mariage worthy for a Popes puppett grounded vpō the very vnpenetrable Rocke of the profundity of all Scriptures by which ye may first perceiue that Christ was once the husband of this spowse Now because he departed this lyfe dyed without issue of his body lawfully begottē his next brethrē the Byshops do succeéd him who marrying their Brothers wife may rayse vpp issue to their Brother vpon her and may begett Children perfect and vnperfect And because all this shall not wāt creditt they do proue it by the authority of the scripture to witt in the 4. Chapiter of Ruth and other testimonies of the Law But by the way whereas we find that by the same law it was lawfull for one husband to haue many wiues or concubines I do not yet remember any such liberty geuen by the law that one wife should be married to manye husbandes Wherein truely they doe describe a very hard and miserable estate and condition of the Church if one wife shal be constrayned to be buxonne and bonaire to so many husbandes as there be Byshoppes in Christendome But let vs harken yet what followeth more For he proceédeth on this manner And therefore all Byshoppes sayth be that haue issue may graūt pardones but especially aboue all other our most holy Father the Byshopp of Rome as to whom belongeth the dispensation of the whole spirituall treasory because he hath the charge of all the whole Church and of all her Children whereupon all be his Children and he is the Father of all c. Thus much doth preach vnto vs our holy Saynt Bonauenture Behold here gentle Reader the summe of this most excellent mysticall interpretation of the Schole doctrine where in bethinke aduisedly with your selfe how many fowle horrible errors blasphemies are scatrered abroad by this pestilent dogg and recken them vpon your fingers if you will whiles I sett thē downe in order vnto you First an vtter disability and a worne out Emptymes in the bloud of Christ his most comfortable death is here set downe wherein is manifest blasphemy Then followeth an Eclipse of Christes passion That is to say whatsoeuer wanteth in his passion to the full satisfaction of our Redemption must be supplied and recompenced with the afflictions of Martirs and Sainctes Next vpon this minglemangle of the merytes of Christ and his Martirs they gather together a certayne treasury of most precious and aboundant Satisfactiō which they call the Treasure of the Church Now whereas out of this treasury all Remission and pardō of Sinnes is dawen forth then yet must not all be Stewards and distributers of this great riches nor any other then the Bishoppes and the chiefe Byshopp of all other the Pope of Rome which is of all other a most pestiferous error Moreouer as is most meét out of this Romish Budgett and dispensation of Romish treasure are begotten Bulles and Pardons which is a most horrible fraud and liegerdemayne Lastly out of these Pardons is framed at the lēgth the skalding house of Purgatory by this argument forsooth Because otherwise these pardons and prayers of the Church and merites of Sayntes should not be worth a Rush vnlesse the soules of the faythfull did frye and broyle in this skalding house of Purgatorye for ease of whom these qualificatiōs are proued by the Church I haue reckened vpp orderly and briefly the chiefe of all their errours monstruous horrible enough I thinke which being directly agaynst manifestly repugnaunt and contrary to the true meaning and naturall sense of the scripture will not require any long aunswere in the confutation of them First where as they do affirme that
any such thing at any time no more can you make that iustifiable that you doe now by any approued testimony of the scripture or lawfull example of antiquitye But here will some one vrge agayne what did not Melchizedech offer bread and wine then I doe not deny it was he not a Priest Yes surely and a king also For he was both the king of Salem and the Priest of the most high God But he was not therefore a Priest because he did offer bread wine Nor did he geue bread and wine being a King because he would make a sacrifice thereof No more did he offer his presentes vnto God but vnto Abraham neither yet of any priestly duety but of a kingly magnificence moreouer he did not onely geue giftes which was the poynt of a princely hart but he blessed them also which was part of a priestly function For Priestes are wont to blesse men sometime but they do neuer accustome themselues to offer sacrifice to men The wordes of the History are playne and well knowne Therefore lett vs returne to the very springhead and originall according to the â—ounsell of Cyprian if it may please you After the olde TraÌ„slation the wordes be thus Melchizedech King of Salem bringing forth bread and wine for he was the Priest of the highest did blesse him c. Although here be not so muche as a word of Sacrificing Yet in this translatioÌ„ is no litle difference from the very originall whereas chaunging the copulatiue Hebrue sillable for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it readeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Moyses expresseth thys sentence after an other sort for he doth vse not the word of Sacrificing but hath Hozia which word what it signifyeth according to the verye naturall proprietye I referre me to the iudgement of the learned After the same maner also doth the chaldean expositor interpret the same And Iosephus an especiall witnesse hereof doth expound it after the same sence For Melchizedech sayth he did Banquet the souldiours of Abraham suffering them to lack nothing necessary for their sustenauÌ„ce and withall inuited Abraham to be a Guest of his owne Table Wherein the courtesy of the King is commended that disdained not to make Abraham a Guest of his owne Table Whereupon you seé that it is most false which they do assume in the Minor touching the oblation of Melchizedech who being both a Pryest and a Type of Christ is not called therefore a Pryest neuerthelesse in the history because he brought forth bread and wine as is declared before But agaynst this is there a strong countermure raysed namely the Authority of the Tridentine councell with a very horrible cursse annexed thundring out after this sort Whosoeuer shall say that the Masse is onely a sacrifyce of prayse and thankesgeuing or a bare memoriall of the Sacrifice performed vpon the Crosse and not a propitiatory sacrifice or that it auayleth to the Receiuer onely and ought not to be offered for the quick and the dead for sinnes for punishmentes satisfactions and other necessityes let him be holdeÌ„ accursed If he shall be holden accursed whosoeuer shall so say surelye the very same haue all the auncient Deuines before mentioned spoken and affirmed All the Doctors especially of the primitiue Church haue both sayd so and taught so neither did the whole Greéke Church almost teach otherwise not exempting out of the same beadroll all the Apostles of Christ no nor Christ himselfe vnlesse perhappes the Tridentine Lordinges will esteéme themselues to be of greater creditt and authoritye then Christ and the Apostles that so it may be lawfull for them to coyne a newfaÌ„gled Gospell wherew t Christ his Apostles were neuer acquainted First what the opinion of the doctors is herein hath bene expressely set downe before Surely Christ himselfe and the Apostle Paule do require nothing els in this celebratioÌ„ but onely a memoriall and an expressing and shewing forth of the Lordes death nor doth seéme to determine vpon any other end of this Sacrament then a remembraunce with a thankesgeuing This do ye sayth Christ in remembraunce of me And Paule deliuering to the Corinthians the same which he receiued of the Lord doth commaund them to shew forth the Lordes death whensoeuer they do celebrate this Supper vntill he come agayne Now I beseéch thee geÌ„tle reader doost thou heare any thing els in these wordes of Christ and his Apostle then the shewing forth of the Lordes death onely And what els will the Tridentine councell exact of vs Forsooth that we shall agayne and agayne offer the sonne of God for a sacrifice to God the Father for the remission of sinnes world without end a sacrifice I say not sacramentall onely but very propitiatorye which may helpe and be profitable not for the receiuer onely but may procure saluation for the quicke the dead also and wh thought to be offred of very necessity for the ease of punishmentes of satisfactions and of all other miseries afflictioÌ„s of this present lyfe But by what authority do they proue this where do they finde this of Christ of his Apostles or of any prescript word of Gods gospell No truly I am not of that mind But why do I demauÌ„d this of theÌ„ what warrant they haue by the word of God Lett it suffice me rather to admonish theÌ„ to beware lest through the selfe same Sacrifice wherewith they iudge themselues able to satisfy for their owne and other mens punishmentes and sinnes without all warrant of Gods word yea rather most wickedly requgnaunt to the expresse word of God they procure and heape vpon themselues lust damnation for this their shamelesse and horrible Idolatrye which they shall neuer be able to redeéme with all their massings and Iuggling Sacrifices It might seéme that we had alleadged sufficiently for thys matter and euicted the controuersy throughly if we were not pestered with such brawlers that dyd not delight rather to contend and striue for theyr owne victory then for the glorye of Christ or with such as would be satisfied with any authoritye of scriptures in the discouery of the truth of the question But they being now pressed downe and quyte ouerthrowen with the multitude of testimonies out of the sacred scripture fleé to the testimonies of men As though Diuinity as Tertullian sayth ought to be valued by the deuises of men or that the touchstone should be tryed by the golde and the golde not by the touchstone or that the course of the Sonne should be apportioned after the will of Iohn Clockekeéper and Iohn Clockekeéper not ruled rather by the course of the Sunne And on this wise now our catholicks bend their force with Testimonyes and Consent The Catholicke Churche hath alwayes hitherto from the age of the Apostles ratified those obseruaunces this doctrine of the sacrifice of the Masse whiche it would neuer haue done vnlesse this doctrine had bene agreable with the
word of God Ergo They are worthy to be accursed whosoeuer will spurne agaynst this Catholicke doctrine And because they may seéme to speake this not without some good ground they haue scraped together a few shreddes out of Auncient Fathers namely Cyprian Hesychius Ierome Ambrose Irene Oecumenicus wherewith they may bolster vpp not their credytt but their false packyng shuffled in among to delude the simple people withall Out of Cyprian is vouched first this sentence in an Epistle of hys For why rather sayth he the priest of the high God then our Lord Iesus Christ who did offer a sacrifice vnto God the Father and did offer the selfe same that Melchizedech did namely bread and wine to witt his body and bloud c. And immediately after As therefore it is sayd in Genesis that the representatiō of the sacrifice did goe before by Melchizedech consisting of bread and wine which thing the Lord performing and accomplishing did offer the bread and the cupp mingled with wine and he that it fulnesse it selfe hath fulfilled the verity of the prefigured representation Whereupon groweth this Argument We are commaunded to do the same that Christ did Christ did at his supper offer the Sacrifyce of his bodye and bloud Ergo We also ought to do the same if we beleeue Cyprian I do acknowledge the wordes of Cyprian I doe allow the authority neyther doe I sist out ouer narrowly how he doth agreé herein with the trueth of the hebrue letter because he sayth that Melchizedech did offer bread and wine and that vpon this offring hys Pryesthood was grounded because he did offer bread and wine As though Melchizedech were not a Pryest before he offered bread and wine Neyther doe I presume to take vpon me to aunswere herein as Augustine did aūswere Crescentius I am not bound to the authority of this Epistle because I doe not accompt the Epistles of Cyprian as canonicall but I do measure thē by the Canonicall scriptures And whatsoeuer I finde in him agreable with the authority of Gods word I doe allow of it and cōmend him therefore but whatsoeuer is contrary to Gods word I do by his patience refuse it c. And therefore lett those sayinges of Cyprian be true and autentick for me Goe to then and what aduantage hereof may be gathered for the ratyfiyng of the popish sacrifice wherein they do say that they do offer the sonne of God really for a propitiatory sacrifice which is auayleable not to the Receauer onely but to the quicke and dead also We are commaunded sayth he to do the same that Christ did at his last supper But he did not offer sacrifice for himselfe at his last supper as I suppose And how then doth the Pryest do the same thing that Chryst did yet neuerthelesse he did offer at his supper his owne body and bloud Did he offer it for sinnes yea or nay If you say yea The Apostle will deny it who did acknowledge none other sacrifice of Christ but onely one and doth likewise affirme that Christ was offered once onely to purge and wype away the sinnes of many If you say nay how then doe the Priestes the selfe same who do sacrifyce for sinnes as they say But I returne agayne to Cyprian Christ sayth he accomplishing in effect and trueth that which went before in a shadow dyd offer his owne body and bloud This is true in deéd But where did he offer it at his supper surely so say the Papistes But Cypriā doth not say so For whereas he speaketh of bread and wyne mixt together what he meaneth thereby he doth imediately declare in the same Epistle very playnely and doth interpret himselfe openly that it may appeare that this was not done at the tyme of hys supper but doth confesse that the same was performed at the passion and death of our Lord which was foreshewed and prefigured before And agayn a whiles after he shall wash sayth he his garment in wyne and his vesture in the blood of the grape Now when it is named the blood of the grape what els is declared then the wine of the cupp of the blood of the Lord And thus much Cyprian not meaning the supper surely but the crosse of Christ which doth appeare euidently by this that he annexeth forthwith in the same place denying that we are able to drinke the blood of Christ vnlesse Christ had bene troden and prest in the wine presse first and had dronken of the Cupp before of which Cupp he should haue tasted first to the beleeuers Which speéch of Cyprian forasmuch as can not be aptly applied to any other thyng then to the sacrifyce of the Crosse it may easily appeare hereby what aunswere ought to be framed to the Argument The same which Christ did must be imitated of vs. Christ did offer at his supper hys bodye and his bloud according to the Testimony of Cyprian But this is false For Cyprian throughout all that whole Epistle did neuer affirme that Christ dyd offer his bodye and bloud at hys supper but vpon the Crosse. If an Argument must neédes be framed from out the wordes of Cyprian we shall argue much more probably on thys wyse The same that Christ did offer we must offer also Christ did offer the same that Melchizedech did Ergo We must offer the same that Melchizedech did But Melchizedech did offer bread wine according as Cyprian doth witnesse Ergo We also must offer bread and wine Is there any sillable here that may helpe the Papistes cause or vtterly ouerthrow it rather Here is an other boane to pycke vpon raked out of Ierome where he sayth Melchizedech in the Type of Chryst dyd offer bread and wyne and dyd dedycate a Christian Mystery in the bloud and body of our sauiour c. This knott also is cleane cutt away with the very same two-edged Axe for I am not ignoraunt that the Ecclesiasticall writers doe make comparison now and then betwixt the presentes of Melchizedech which he gaue to Abraham and the sacrifice of Christ vpon the Crosse to witte that one figuratiuely this other truely and in veryty Be it now as they say Yet is thys no good proofe notwithstandyng to iustify that the Priest doth forth with offer the Sonne of GOD in the mysticall Supper really to God the Father in full remyssion of sinnes And yet here also do not all the holy Doctours agreé amongest themselues in all poyntes whereas some do compare the oblation of Melchyzedech with the Sacrifice of the Crosse Agayne other do compare it with the Celebrating of the holy communion yea and do make it equiualent therewyth Some do neyther agreé with thēselues applying the Allegory now this way now that way and many times both waies Finally though they should be vniforme in theyr Allegory yet how true that Argument is that is deriued from an Allegory accordyng to that saying which is commōly frequēted in
to dispoyle the Chaste of their continencye to raze out all endeuour of godlynes and humanitye to robb and ransack holy Churches to murther holy Fathers to spoyle some and to oppresse others with infinite afflictions to throw others out into miserable exile to expresse vngodly malice and deadly hate agaynst the Reliques of Saintes to be outragiously insolent in this vnmeasurable destruction and ouerthrow of all holy Religion is this a poynt of honesty of Modesty or worthy to be aduaunced with immortall commendation and prayse Truely I doe not suppose so But whereunto tend all these at the last forsooth to make you know what he meaneth hereby And therfore marke now gentle Reader the other part of his collation But to be subiect to lawfull Authoritye established by the commaundement and ordinaunce of Christ to preserue the bandes of Vnitye and concord to esteeme highly of the vniting together of Gods Iustice and mercye to reuerence the monuments of notable holynes to make that most Sacred and most heauenly Sacrifice for the quick for the dead finally for the preseruation of all Christian Common weales the Maiesty and vertue whereof we are neither able to expresse with tongue nor comprehend in thought and imagination shall this be accompted shamefull infamy and an intollerable haynousnesse And yet you blush nothing at all to call these disgracements of Religion c. To aunswere these great speéches at a word First as touching those slaunderous crymes which you throw out agaynst vs as being Rebellious to the lawfull Magistrate what els shall I aunswere to this your Insolency then the same which Augustine did Aunswere sometime to Petilianus If I should speake as much of such as you are sayth Augustine I am sure you would require me to make profe of the wordes that I should speake The selfe same doe I now require looke for at your hāds Osorius which so lustely rayle agaynst vs at this present Whereas you exclayme that we doe renounce dutifull obedience doe disquiet auncient orders doe betray Chastitye ouerthrow all mindefulnes and endeuour of vertue and godlynes doe raze downe Temples of Religion doe kill and doe spoyle godly personages If I should now demaund of you in the voyce of Augustine how you be able to proue that all the foresayd crymes innumerable such lyke which your raūging penne hath raged agaynst vs may be duely fathered vpon vs how would you proue it Agayne how will you deny that your selues are not duely to be charged therewith what aunswere will you make for hitherto as you haue spoken much so haue you proued nothing Unlesse you be of this opinion that your bare speéches must be taken for sufficient proofes If you thinke so what resteth els but that we requite you with the same that you reproch vs withall or els we desire you to rehearse so much agayne in our behalues and then is our profe sufficient enough as Augustine sayth if such kindes of proues be allowable If I should deale with you on this wise Osori What would remayne of your accusatiō But I do not handle you so now For I frame myne aūswere otherwise and in flatt denyall make our purgation frō all that you haue raked together agaynst vs. You say that we refuse lawfull Aucthoritie But I on the contrary part do affirme that this Aucthoritie which you name to be lawfull is neither any Aucthoritie at all neither lawfull by any meanes Nay rather what if this Aucthoritie whereof you bragge so much be so farre from beyng lawfull that it is most manifestly proued by the expresse wordes of the Scriptures to be the kyngdome of Antichrist What then Osorius will you in despight of our beardes make vs subiect to such a Tiranny frō whence the manifest word of the holy Ghost doth commaunde to cutt of our selues vpon perill of the losse of our soules not onely in the old Testament but in the new also as is declared before You adde further that we do disturbe the auncient order of the Churche and dispoyle the continent of their Chastitie But I do deny that this order of yours is auncient which I haue Iustified to be true before aboundaūtly enough with many and sounde Testimonies Moreouer as touchyng your chast Uirgines I know not what to say Surely if Cloisters Dorters could as well haue made Uirgines as they could couer their incontinency it were not all amisse that you say And yet it may be that in Portingall be many holy Nunnes such as you preache of who did neuer treade their shoes awry But without all question to speake of our litle Englād whenas the neastes of these prety sparowes were scattered abroad how these neastes were founde then not altogether so cleanly as was supposed I had rather were notified by publick Recordes Registers therof wherein they be decyphred at large thē to be proclaymed by any my writyngs Many Recordes wherof be at this present in my custody which if I would vtter would easily bewray that in these close Cloysters of coacted chastitie were more open bellied Nunnes thē chast and continent Uirgines besides many other matters that the common people euery where doth report of their owne knowledge whereof I will now say no more vnder payne of Confession This one thyng will I speake such as haue persuaded vnuoluntary Uirgines from this coacted single lyfe to enter into honorable wedlocke without all compulsion doe not defile Uirgines as I suppose nor dispoyle the chast of their cōtinency but rather prouide more circumspectly for their honestie And to say the truth this complainte of defilyng Uirgines can be applyable so iustly to none as to some of your owne Catholickes not all of the best Geldynges perhappes Now that which followeth touchyng the memory of vertue and Iustice abolished and endeuour of godlynes banished by these Lutheranes I cā not well conceaue what Osori doth meane hereby For in as much as the consideration of all righteousnes and godlynes is comprehended in the law of God chiefly I do Appeale here to the secrett Iudgementes of all the godly how farre the Lutheranes be estraūged from all thought of ouerthrowyng this law of the Lord. You say that they haue razed and ransackt Churches But what Churches they were you do not tell vs for consideratiō is not alwayes to be had of all Churches alike Some Churches do serue for godly and necessary vses Some are erected to mainteyne Idolatry and superstition God hath his peculiar Churches So hath the Deuill also his Chappelles The Gentiles had sometymes their Temples for their dumme Goddes There be Selles also Monckeries at this day for their mumblyng Goddes Neither be the Turkes destitute of their Tabernacles And therefore to raze downe any particular Church whatsoeuer for any speciall cause is not altogether so haynous Marke a most valiaunt Martyr of God did on a tyme throwe downe the Temple of Diana in Arethusiū in place thereof did
whereof as many their notable lessons did aboundantly declare so aboue all other who can wonder enough at that heauenly voyce of Scipio the Romayne surnamed Affricanus being an Ethnicke whereof Marcus Cicero doth make relatiō in his Treatize called the dreame of Scipio Writing on this wise There is sayth he a certayne sure and determined place reserued in heauē for all such as do preserue ayd aduaunce their natiue coūtrey where they shall liue in euerlasting felicity for euer and euer There is nothing more acceptable to that high and mighty God that guideth and ruleth all the world amongest all the actions of men then counsailes corporations and societies of men lincked and knitt together with orders and lawes which are called Citties c. If we regard the iudgement of the flesh what sentence cann be spoken more plausible or more notable in the singler commendation of vertue then this was which doth assure the good deseruinges and mutuall amities of men ech towardes other exercised here of eternall and infallible rest and ioyes in heauen Go to And what is it els almost that this diuinitye of Osorius doth trayne vs vnto then to teach the very same that Scipio the Romaine did namely That there is no passable way to the attaynmēt of the blessed felycyty of eternall lyfe then that whych is atchyeued by godly actions wyth an absolute integryty of excellent life Pag. 32. But heauenly Philosophy doth direct vs a farre more neare way The heauenly Scholemaister doth out of heauen display abroad and chalke vs out a speédier way and an easier iourney towardes heauen teaching vs in the Gospell on this wise I am sayth he the way the trueth and the life Neither will Osorius deny this to be true I know in word but in deéd what doth he els then deny it For to admitt him his saying that there is no passable way to heauen but which is purchased with absolute perfection of life what may we winne hereof els but that this way to heauē be not Christ but the speciall prerogatiue of our owne purchase So that by this reasō if our owne industry do satisfy all thinges what neéd is there of Christ thē or to what vse will his death and passion auayle yes forsooth to this purpose you will say that by the merite of his passiō he may purchase for vs the grace and gift of sanctification regeneration wherewith being once endued hereof fortwith springeth that excellency of absolute perfection and other ornamentes of charity and vertues which will make vs an easy passage into the kingdome of heauen What then doe you so depaynt vs out the whole office and power of Christ in this one onely action namely that he shall powre out vpō vs new qualityes godly actions by the Deuine operation of the holy ghost what doth he not redeéme vs also doth he not iustify vs and reconcile vs yes What els you will say Doth he iustify all men without exception or the faythfull onely if he doe iustify them onely that do beleue I do demaūd further what the cause is why they be iustified Is it for their faythe 's sake or for their workes sake If it be for their faythe 's sake I aske againe whether for faith onely or faith ioyned with good workes I do here expect some oracle frō you for an aūswere hereunto If you finde that there is no hope of any thing to be iustified by wtout fayth then must you neédes alter your foundation that you grounded vpon before to witt That there is no passable way to heauen but whych is atchyued wyth godly actions of thys lyfe Pag. 32. And that it is onely righteousnesse that doth obtayne the fauour of God to Mankynde Pag. 142. And in an other place That fayth onely is onely rashnesse Pag. 74. What shall fayth therefore be quite banished away No but you will couple her with some copemate that neither Fayth without the company of good workes nor workes without the cōpany of Fayth may be able to procure righteousnes But this knott will the aucthoritie of the Scriptures easily cracke in peéces for if Fayth onely doe not aduaunce the faythfull to saluation except it be coupled with excellēt integritie of life why did not Christ thē couple them together whē he spake simply Hè that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life Why did not Peter couple them together when he doth preach Remission of Sinnes vnto all as many as doe beleeue in his name prouyng the same by the Testimonies of the Prophetes Act. 10. why did not Paule couple them together Actes 16. where he instructeth the Gaylor in Fayth Beleeue sayth he in the Lord Iesus and thou and all thy houshold shal be saued Many Sentences might be vouched purportyng the same in effect but it shall suffice to haue noted these fewe for breuities sake The History of the Galathians is notably knowen who beyng seduced by the false Apostles did not simply reuolt frō Christ nor did simply abandone their Fayth in Christ but endeuoured to couple the good workes of the beleéuers together with Fayth in the Article of Iustification before God for the attaynemēt of lyfe euerlastyng On which behalfe how sternely and sharpely the Apostle did reproue them his owne Epistle beareth sufficient Testimony But here commeth a Reply by and by out of the same Epistle where writyng to the Galathians he doth treate vpon such a fayth as doth worke by loue Upon this place Osorius agreéyng with the Tridentine Councell doth builde an vnseparable coniūction of Fayth and Charitie together so that Fayth without Charitie as an vnshapen and vnformed Image is altogether vneffectuall to the absolute fullnes and perfect accomplishment of righteousnes But that Charitie which they call a righteousnesse cleauyng fast within vs is so vnable to be seuered a sunder from the worke of Iustification that they dare boldly pronoūce that it is the onely formall cause of our Iustification To satisfie this place of S. Paule here is an easie and a Resolute aunswere For in the same Epistle the Apostle doth endeuour by all meanes possible to call backe agayne his Galathians to the onely righteousnesse of Fayth from whence they were backslyden and withall bycause they should not be seduced with a vayne persuasion of counterfaict Fayth he doth discouer vnto them what kynde of Fayth it is which he doth meane Not the fayth that is idle and dead without workes but which doth worke by Fayth sayth he And in this respect it is most true that Fayth is not alone But what maner of concludyng an Argument is this Liuely Fayth is not alone without Charitie Ergo Not Fayth onely but coupled with Charitie doth Iustifie The Argument that is deriued from thynges setterer by nature to thynges coupled by nature concludyng from that which is Secundum quid ad Simpliciter is worthely reiected in the Logicians Schoole and is called a meére
vnam Sanctam What kinde of obedieÌ„ce popes vse towardes Magistrates A conspiracie of Iohn 12. most abhominably practized against Otto the Emperour ContentioÌ„â— raysed betwixt the Emperours and the popes rehearsed out of Hystories A singuler president of the popes obedience towardes the lawfull Magistrate Conrade his brother HeÌ„ry the 5. teazed agaynst their own father through the popes faction Anselme agaynst HeÌ„ry 1. Kyng of England Henry 5. is enforced to yeld to the popes commauÌ„demeÌ„t 25. Quest. 1 violatores The popes of Rome do challenge a certeine heauenly power vpon earth Gratian his booke of Decretalls Ionocent 2. ouerthroweth the order of Senatours in Rome The cruelty of Alexander 3. agaynst the Emperour Fridericke Barbarossa The singuler insolency of Hadrian 4. in banishyng the dignitie of Consulshyp The troublesome seditions of HadriaÌ„ the pope Hadrian choaked with a flye 1159. The seditious tumults of AlexaÌ„der the pope agaynst Caesar his soueraigne Lord and Prince The vnspeakeable pride of a seditious pope A president of the popes pryde farre passing Tarquines pride Iudas â— Nazianzen Oration vpon the holy Penthecost The incredible fury and outrage of Innocent 3. of Honor. and Gregory 9. agrynst Frederick 2. Extimo Concil 49. Pag. 639. The filthy gaynes of the pope Innocent 4. doth sette vpon the same Frederick the Emperour Agaynst the Successours of Frederick do Vrbane 4. and Clement 4. kept warre The pope Clement doth conspire the death of Conrade Frydericke Nicholas 3. doth sowe the seedes of discention betwixt Charles King of Sycile and Peter Kyng of Arragon The seditiouse troubles of Boniface 8. agaynst Celestine agaynst the Family of Columne agaynst phillyppe the Frenche kyng and agaynst Albert the Emperour Clement 5. doth prescribe lawes to Emperours Ludouick the Emperour most shamefully abused by Clement 6. Charles 4. appoynted Emperour agaynst Ludouick the true Emperour by the procuremeÌ„t of Clement 6. The onely popes of Rome the common pestilence of Christianes and of all Europe How little the Romish obedience doth agree with the Rule of Paules obedience Chilpericke the French kyng Henry 2. kyng of England Iohn kyng of England Victor a Byshoppe Phillippe the French kyng Henry 6. the Emperour Wicked practize of Pius 2. agaynst the Emperour Out of Recordes of Germany Henry the 8. kyng of EnglaÌ„d excommunicated by pope Clement the 7. Pius the 5. keepeth a sturre agaynst Elizabeth Queene of England Osori pag. 170. B. The maner of Popishe obedieÌ„ce to their Princes The horrible crueltie of the Spanish Inquisitours against English Marchauntes The king of Spayne subiect to his owne subiectes Inquisitours How the Catholicks be obedient subiectes to their owne kynges Anselme Theobald Thom. Archb of cauÌ„terbury Byshop of Ely Stephen Langton Edmund Archb. of Caunt Iohn Peccham Rob. Wilkelse Gualter Archb. The froward coÌ„tumacy of Monckes agaynst their kyng Out of Mathewe Parisâ— vpon the lyfe of Henry 3. Math. Parisiensis The proude rebellion of the pope the Bishops agaynst the kyng A tenth of all moueables in EnglaÌ„d and in Scotland graunted to the pope Mathaeus Parisiensis The auncient lawes and ordinaunces of Emperours enfringed by Popes Dist. 63. Out of the Englishe Chronicles Osor. The Troumpetour of the Romishe Ierarchy Pag. 170. The picture of the crosse must be worshipped Images of Sainctes Sanctusâ—es Lord for the bloud of Thomas graunte our prayers to wend c. No Nation in the world hath any pictures or grauen Images in their Churches but Papistes onely Osorius doth defend pictures to be as Kalenders of remeÌ„braunce Osorius pag. 17. The monument of the Brasan Serpent and the bookes of SalomoÌ„ de curandis morbis abrogated by Ezechias for the abuse Osorius pag. 171. How the Fayth of the Catholickes is ioyned with hope and feare Confidence of workes by Osor. Fayth How feare ought to be ioined with the fayth of the gospell Of workes Osorius pag. 172. Of Ceremonyes and Sacraments Pag. 171. Of Confession Osori pag. 172. 1. Iohn â— Pag. 172. Plaut in Bacchid Luke 10. The Charecter of the priest The Character of the Beast in the Apocalips Math. 9. Luke 7. Mar. 5. Mar. 9. Luke 4. Chrisost. vpon the 51. Psalme Homel 2. Actes 15. Actes 26. Actes 10. The Reformation of Confession The Superstition of SatisfactioÌ„ A poena culpa Osori pag. 172. Osori pag. 173. FroÌ„ wheÌ„ce that so holy lyfe and so great chastitie of the papistes doth proceede The incredible force and efficacy of the Masse Osori pag. 173. Osorius reason to proue that the rude people should be restrayned froÌ„ readyng the Scriptures Vnknowne tounges in the Papists churches Osor. pag. 173. Smale care had of preaching the word in the popes churches The senteÌ„ce of Barnard To muche light or no light at all How light must bee quallified according to Barnard that there be not too much light nor to litle Psal. 19. Psal. No man ought to be forbidden from reading the Scriptures Ephes. 3. Ephes. 1. The cause is fouÌ„d out why the Byshoppes do fle so much the light of the scriptures What kinde of authority it is of the Popes and Byshoppes in the Popish church Osor. pag. 173. Out of the Trepartite history 9. Booke cap. 35. Si non caste tameÌ„ cauté How farre the lawfull authority of the church extendeth it selfe Luk. 10. Ioh. 20. The Ecclesiasticall dignitye wherein it consisteth There is one power of the church an other of this world Iohn 5. Of the Rites and state holy dayes of the Romish churche Osori pag. 174. How great occasion of idlenes and dronkennes the multitude of holy dayes do engender How blasphemous Idolatrous the songes of the Romish Churchebe Christemasse day Pag. 175. Ashewednesday Palmesonday Good Friday Easter EueÌ„ Easterday Ascention day Whitsonday All HolleÌ„day What thingeâ— be reproued in the papistes holy dayes ceremonies Esay â— Popish worshyppyng compared with the worshyppyng of the Iewes in the olde law The superstitioÌ„ of the people in their state holy dayes ceremonies ought to be reformed Osori pag. 175. Esay 58. Gala. 4. Osor. pag. 176. Principles of Osorius Religion How much commodity and necessity there is in outward ceremonies and signes in Osorius iudgement Sarcasmus a nipping skoffe An Aunswere to Osorius mocke The papists acquayntaunce with mortall fragility The vow of chastity What Ceremonies are necessary with the Christians Baptisme The Communion All Ceremonies are not to be coÌ„demned yet in the allowaunce of Ceremonies Reason and choyse must be â—â—dâ— Osorius spightfull â—nuectiue by a Rhetoricall figure wrest back vpon the Lutheranes Pag. â—77 Osor. pag. 178. Osor. pag. 179. Osorius bauld Rhetorick The confutation of Osorius inuectiue Luther Phillippe MelancthoÌ„ Martin Bucer Huldricke Zuinglius Iohn Caluiâ—e Luther vpoÌ„ the 15. Psalmes of Degrees How the Pope is afflicted by the Lutheranes Apoc. 1â— The authoritie of the Romish See can not agree with the authoritie of the Scriptures The complaint of Osori concernyng the ouerthrow of Monckeryes and Nunneries It was
of Epicharmus Seuen SacrameÌ„ts ordeined by the pope but by Christ two onely were Instituted There is no cause to the coÌ„trary but that the Churche may be gouerned in the best maner though we be neuer acquainted with the popes supremacy Haddon a Babe in the Latine touÌ„g but Osor. a Gyaunt in Eloquence Osor pag. 193. Cyprian in his 4. booke and 2. Epistle The Papistes doe wrongfully define the Church of Christ. Cipria in his 4. booke and 2. Epist. Apoc. 18. Esay 52. 2. Cor. 6. The peace and the vnitye of the Church according to Cypriane The definition of the Church after the meaning of the Romishe Church The Popish definition is confuted What is required to the true definition of a Church The description of a true church according to the rule of the scripture Osorius Reasons The fallacy in the AequiuocatioÌ„ that is to say in the word of diuers significatioÌ„ A necessary coniunction of souÌ„d doctrine with vnitye Vnitye of the Church Succession Multitude Gods promise made vnto the Church Popes and Cardinalles will not admitte examinatioÌ„s of their cause Osori pag. 195. Papane Redeeming of Sinnes Markett of Purgatory Worthy ppyng of images Pilgrimage goyng Masses Sacrificatory for the quicke and the dead Osori pag. 196. Osori doth deale with wordes and no matter Apocal. 14 17. 18. Of Fayres and markets of Pardons Pag. 196. Out of Chris. Masseus Iohn Sleidonne M. Luther What darnell groweth in the Popes fieldes Putt in putt in putt in Masseus Iohn SleidoÌ„ M. Luther The horrible impudencye of the Romanistes Out of the Decretalles Gregory 5. in the title of Repentaunce and RemissioÌ„ of Sinnes Cum ex co Chrisosto Homel 38. vpon Math. Tridentine Councell The pardoÌ„s of the popish church Nicene Canon 11. Antycira Canon 21. Antycira Canon 22. Agathe Councell Canon 37. Eusebius 6. booke Cap. 35. Cyprian 3. booke Epistle 15. 16. 18. Antyciran Canon 5. Nicene couÌ„cell Cannon 5. New satisfactioÌ„s crept into the Romishe Church vnknowen to the Antiquitye Burchard How much the order of the old discipline doth varry from the Romish Nouelty The errours of the Popish discipline The ordinaunces of the Pope are contrary to Christ his Scriptures Act. 20. Collos. 1. Iohn 1.2 Iohn 1. Heb. 10. Rom. 3 4. The absurditie of the Romishe doctrine Eccius interpretation vppon the Popes decretalls Out of the Commentary of M. Luther to the Galath cap. 2. The Papisticall absolutions How great an absurditie is in the popes pardons Math. 16. The Keyes and Chayre of Peter Lucian 2. part pag. 525. Orpheus Harpe maketh not a Harper not doth Peters Chayre make an Apostle The succession of Peter the Apostle The circuÌ„stauÌ„ces must he considered wherefore the keyes were deliuered vnto Peter Math. 16. The foundatioÌ„ of the Churche is fayth the knowledge of the Sonne of God What Circumstaunces do goe before the true keyes of Christ what doe come after Peter receiued the keyes first but not onely Out of Eusebius third book cap. 7. The Succession Apostolique is not to be measured by place or tyme. The nature of the Gospell is altogether spirituall nor regardeth earthly and carnall thinges The spirite of Christe The succession of Peter doth consist in spirite not in externall thinges Pardons Succession The Keyes The 5. Canon of the councell of Ancyra Ex titulo de penitent Remiss cap. cuÌ„ ex eo The fulnes of power first brought in by Innocent .3 first Authour therof The fulnes of power Esay 55.12 Out of a decree in the Lateran Councell Anno. 1215. A decree of Boniface 8. Extraua A shamelesse abuse of the keyes The Byshops of Rome can challenge to themselues fulnes of power by no Argument of proofe Apoc. 3. An obiection The state of the Question is mistourned by-the Romanistes The wordes of August vnto Peter haue no playne application vnlesse they be referred to the churche Thomas Aqui. lib. 4. distinct 18. Extrauade Re. paen Cap. Cum ex eo nostro Thomas Aqui lib. 4. dist 18. Extrau de Re poeni ca. Cum ex eo nostro The Keyes were geuen for the necessary benefite of the Church nor to meÌ„s lust nor yet to Reuenge The Iudiciall vse of Keyes Tho. lib. 4. dist 18. Actes 2â— The power of the keyes how great and to whom are geuen Whether no RemissioÌ„ of sins is in the Church without the vse of the keyes How much the publike keye and how much euery mans fayth is effectuall to the Remission of Sinnes Rom. 5. Luke 8. Math. 9. When the vse of the Keies ought to be ministred Thomas lib 4. dist 18. The error of Thomas Aquinas The discoÌ„modities of the Shauelinges confession Iohn Scotus The Rom. See doth sell nothing forsooth Mantuan in his booke of Lamentation The matter doth agree if you reade the verses backward CanoÌ„s penitentiall described by Burchard and Gratian. When began fayres and markettes of Pardons first Ex CoÌ„cillo Latera Extran de poena Remi Cap. Cum ex co The Councell of Vienna 1311. Ex ClemeÌ„t 5. Lib. 6. Deâ—creta Cap. Abusionibus Ex ClemeÌ„t Cap. Abusionibus in Glossa The first 〈◊〉 of â—uâ—â—â—â— instituâ—â—â— Extrauag de Pâ—nit Remi Ca. AntiquoruÌ„ Out of the GreuauÌ„ces of Germany Out of Polydore Virgill The pardoÌ„s of Boston A History of Flaunders The Papists flee to denyals Osori pag. 196. It is one thyng to prayse Martyrs and an other thing to worshyp Images The Oration of Gregory Nissenus in the prayse of Theodorus Martyr Osorius Argument pag. 197. Osorius ill-fauoured Argument deriued froÌ„ Resemblaunce to worshipping Who be called Saintes Saintes not to be worshypped Apocal. 22. Of Purgatory the Popes Kater Why the Papistes doe striue so earnestly for Purgatorye Osorius great sturre about Purgatory The popes Pnrgatory Mores folly The new IlaÌ„d of Purgatory newly found by the Deuines What day Purgatory was made Gregory Alcuinus At what tyme the flame of Purgatory was kyndled at the first Whether God be author of Purgatory or the Pope Other questions of Purgatory Thomas Aquinas opinion of Purgatory Luther is vouched to defend Purgatory Osor. pag. 197. Roffensis agaynst Luther in praefatione veritatis Luther in the 15 Conclus Osor. pag. 198. Osor. subtill Sophisme Ex Thoma secunda secunduÌ„ dist quest 110. cap. 1. Diâ—ers kindes of lyes Abraham Iacob Rebecca The Midwiues of Egipt Dauid Luther is not cleared from all error Iohn 1. Osor. pag. 198. Truth is alwayes one Errour ought to be refuted by Scripture doctrine not with tauntey and reproches Faultes layd Luthers charge Osor. mainteineth his cause with slauÌ„ders nor with Argumentes Osori pag. 199. Luther doth deny that Purgatory can be proued by the scriptures in the declaration of his 37. Articl Mar. 9. Osori pag. 200. Lynceus was a man that could eâ—ery a ship at the Sea xxx myle of Osorius reason of Salt very fresh and vnsauery Osorius pag. 200. The words of Osorius pag. 200. Wordes of Blasphemy
vaunt your selfe so much yet this discent in geÌ„try was not valued of Paule amongest the vertues qualities which he assigned to a Christian Byshop But other ornamentes where with I wishe you were better acquainted perhaps ye would then seéme somewhat a woorse Rhetorician but sure I am you would bee farre better Byshop But now you haue enured your selfe so much to vnmeasurable raylyng that ye seéme rather a coÌ„mon brauling Thersites theÌ„ a meéke Prelate You thinke that I yelde to much to the authoritie of kynges because I affirmed that the kynges of Israell dyd rule the Priestes in matters of Religion And this you say is not true Why so I pray you is it false bycause you say that it is false O notable Pithagoras the credite of your naked affirmatiues beyng bolstered vp with no reason nor witnesse bee not crept so farre on high benche as yet to be takeÌ„ for Iudges I did alledge a litle before Dauid Salomon Iosias Ezechias Peruse who so list the Chronicles of them and theÌ„ let him decide this controuersie betwixt vs. The sentences of Paule and Peter in the new Testament are very manifest as I haue sayd before For Paule Commaundeth prayers to be made for kinges and for all other set in authoritie In which sentence you may discerne a distinct degreé of Power and Nobilitie vnlesse you will bee blinded with malice conceaued agaynst the truth you may also seé the kyng to be placed first and highest In the same wise Peter Submit your selues to euery humune creature for the Lord whether to the king as most excellent or to the Magistrates as beyng appointed by him Loe here the lyke degreés loe here also the kyng placed chief and most excellent Here you cry out exclame Comically or rather tragically O heaueÌ„ O earth O the Seas of Neptune When as it had bene better for you to stoppe that lauishe foule mouth with the euident testimonies of the Apostles But you proceéde on rather Saying if kynges obteine the highest authoritie the whole world would be turned vpsidowne as ye thinke for that kynges would bee subiect to flatterers and so nothyng could bee executed in due order and truth but all thyngs would be gouerned after the lust of flatterers First of all kings of this our age are much beholdyng vnto you surely and amongest the rest your owne kyng especially For if it bee true that you stampe out so boldly that all Counsels of kyngs are corrupted by flatterers what one thyng do ye leaue vpright in their gouernement Beholde my good Lord and behold earnestly how trecherously and perillously you beguile your selfe with rashnesse and ignoraunce that blemish all regiment of kynges with so coÌ„mon an infamie But admit vnto you for this time that your saying is true in this respect that to to great store of flatterers swarme in Princes Courtes What then doth this let that in the Palaces of your holy Monarchies this kynde of vermine that we call a flatterer is not fostered is not dallied with all yea nâ—urished had in high price I will passe ouer myne owne neighbours and will referre you to all that new puddle of Schoolemen amongest whom you shall not finde any one sounde Exposition of Diuinitie but whole Commentaries of flatteries and Parasiticall poyson For they beautifie the Pope with these Titles videl They call him the Sunne of the worlde they ascribe vnto him both swordes Temporall Spirituall They create him the Lord of Purgatory They aduaunce him aboue the authoritie of the Canon Lawes They deny that hee is to be directed by any other person They affirme in their writynges that the Pope hath all lawes engrauen or rather lockt fast in the closet of his hart They say that the Pope can be guilty of no fault though hee throw many thousandes Soules into hell they make the Pope high Steward of PardoÌ„s as though they were the treasurie of the Churche so that hee may forgeue infinite sinnes both past already and sinnes not yet committed Furthermore they haue enthronized him chief Uicare of Christ vpon earth who can neither erre him selfe nor bryng others into errours vnto whom onely all generall Councels must be in subiection at whose feéte Emperours and Kyngs ought to prostrate them selues last of all whom all Christendome must honor and worship as an earthly God These blasphemous flatteries detestable and horrible blaunchyngs are not vttered onely by mouth at all aduenture but are extaunt in the monuments and bookes of the Romish patrones written by them aduisedly and in earnest Can you charge any kynges Courtes with the lyke Ye name Henry the eight a most excellent kyng endued with all kyngly ornaments who ye say tooke vnto him absolute authoritie ouer his subiectes through the enticemeÌ„ts of flatterers loue that he bare vnto theÌ„ boylyng also with malice agaynst the Byshop of Rome froÌ„ out whiche fountaine forsooth I know not how many floudes of wickednes and mischief did issue These be no proofes of a sober Byshop my good Lord but droÌ„keÌ„ dreames of a drousie Sophister For the noble kyng of most famous memory attempted nothyng either of loue or of hatred or by procurement of flatterours But wheÌ„ he perceaued that it was most euideÌ„t by the Gospell that generally all England was committed vnto him as his proper peculiar charge aswell by the authoritie of Gods law as mans law he banished out of his Realme that foreine authoritie and resumed his owne lawfull gouernement wholy into his owne handes studying to reserue the same inuiolable to him selfe as meéte was wherein he performed the duetie of a wise and perfect kyng and easing so his subiectes of great and importable trauailes and charges he left vnto his successours a very riche and florishyng kyngdome But touchyng the Iustice executed vpon More and Roffensis was not without much sorow of his Royall hart in respect of their witte and learnyng But after that they were publickly attainted of high treason and would by no persuasion be reclaymed from their wilfull errours hee must neédes suffer the law to proceéde agaynst them left wynking at their treachery he might haue opened a greater gappe of obstinacie and rebellion to others At the length you are come to Peters wordes but by the way spurnyng at me and calling me a most filthy person Wherin you do me no small iniurie like a wicked Sophister You demauÌ„de of me out of what wordes of Peter I framed my sentence which I vouched before touchyng the superioritie of kynges whether that enduced me bycause Peter doth name the kyng to be most excellent Not that onely graue Gentleman but the whole processe of Peters communication You doe argue in this wise That men are many tymes called excellent either in nobilitie or learnyng bycause they be very notable therein not bycause they are set in authoritie aboue all men and here a Gods name it pleaseth you to produce me for example
are sequestred froÌ„ all felicitie euen so farre seéme we to be cut of from all freédome without the Grace of the Redeémer For shyppe wracke beyng once made of vniuersall blessednesse I can seé none other remedy but that freédome must be drowned withall Therefore the selfe same thyng whiche doth open Paradise beyng shut fast agaynst vs must of necessitie restore freédome agayne which can not by any meanes be brought to passe through force of nature or through any power of our owne It consisteth onely in the Grace of the Redeémer As our Redeémer him selfe witnesseth in S. Iohns Gospell If the Sonne shall make you free then shall you be free in deede Notyng vnto vs this one thyng chiefly by those wordes the state of our bondage to be such as except it be renewed with Grace of the Redeémer that in all this nature of ours is nothyng freé Moreouer as concernyng the vsuall maner of speach that men are called good holy and wise I know that men haue bene accustomed to bee tearmed so But what is this to the purpose The question here is not by what name meÌ„ are called but of what value euery thyng is in the sight of God And yet do I not doubt at all but that many men may bee in their kinde good holy and wise euen so to be esteémed well enough But howsoeuer this holynesse godlynesse and wisedome of meÌ„ seémeth in mans Iudgement yet is nothyng whatsoeuer it be if it proceéde not from the grace of God For what hast thou that thou hast not receaued After the same sorte do I aunswere touchyng freédome whiche beyng once lost through Freewill must of necessitie sticke fast cloyed in the puddle of thraldome vnlesse it be renewed agayne by Gods grace WhereupoÌ„ August very aptly Freedome sayth he without grace is no freedome but coâ—tumacle And as in this place August denyeth that to be liberty which is seuered froÌ„ grace so in an other place he will not graunt that to bee named will except it be conuersaunt in good things Will sayth he is not will but in good thyngs for in euill wicked thinges it is properly called Luste not will Wherfore if there be neither freédome where Gods grace is not present nor will where wickednesse is practized by what meanes then will Osorius mainteyne that Freewill is in euill thinges whenas in that respect there is neither freédome nor will There is also in the same August in the same his Epistle to Hillary that may well be gathered and framed into an Argument on this wise The lyfe of libertie is the perfect soundenesse of will But in doyng euill mans will is not sounde Ergo In doyng euill mans will is not freé For euen so are we taught vp Augustines wordes The lyfe of libertie sayth he is the soundenesse of will and by so much euery man is more free by how much his will is most sound Albeit I will not striue much about the contention of tearmes If any maÌ„ be minded to name the choyse of will applyable towardes good or euill to be voluntary rather then freé he shall not erre much in my Iudgement Neither will I be offended if a man do say as Augustine doth that maÌ„s will is freé towardes euill thinges so that he hold the meanyng of Augustine as well as the wordes For I am of this mynde that when Augustine doth name mans Freewill couple it to grace he calleth it freé in this respect bycause beyng freé froÌ„ all forcible constrainte it beÌ„deth it selfe through voluntary motioÌ„ that way whereunto it is directed be it to goodnes through Grace or to euill through naturall lust And in this sense accordyng to August meanyng the ConfessioÌ„ of Auspurgh doth expouÌ„de maÌ„s will to be freé that is to say yeldyng of his owne accord The selfe same do Bucer and Melancthou also this also doth Caluine not deny who doth neither striue much about this tearme of freédome doth learnedly also professe that the originall cause of euill is not to be sought elles where then in euery mans owne will But as concernyng Luther for that he doth vpon some occasion sometyme expresse his minde in writing somewhat roughly wherein afterwards he discouereth his meanyng in a more mylde phrase of speach it was not seémely in my conceite to racke out those thynges onely whiche might breéde offence cloakyng meane whiles those thynges fraudulently which do wipe away all mislikyng He doth set downe in his Assertion thus That it is not in mans freé power to thinke a good or euill thought Agayne in the same Assertion the same Luther doth not deny that all mans imaginations of their owne inclination are carried to all kynde of naughtynesse that Freewill can do nothyng of it selfe but Sinne. On this wise with lyke heate of disputation rather then of any errour he calleth Freewill sometyme a fayned or deuised tearme not to bee founde in deéde any where makyng all thynges to be gouerned by vnauoydeable necessitie Which vehemencie of speach many men do cast in his teéth reprochfully now and then And yet in other places agayne expâ—undyng him selfe he doth grauÌ„t without all Hyperbolicall speéche that in inferiour causes Freewill can do somewhat and withall doth franckely affirme that it can do all thynges beyng assisted with Grace And why is hee not holden excused as well for this as snatcht at for the other why doe the aduersaries shut fast their eyes and blindfold them selues willyngly at matter well spokeÌ„ and neuer looke abroad but when they liste to carpe and cauill Was there euer any so circuÌ„spect a writer whose latter diligence more attentiue heédefulnes might not alwayes amend some ouersight escaped at the first either in Exposition or Iudgement of thynges The more that Solon the Sage grewe in yeares the more he increased in knowledge and may it not bee lawfull for vs to encrease vnderstaÌ„dyng with our age likewise Surely August could not excuse the errours of his youth neither shamed he to confesse in his age the ouersight that escaped his penne in youth vnaduisedly not onely to reforme them by ouerlickyng them as the Beare licketh her whelpes but also to reuoke them openly with an open graue and grayheaded retractation and to pray Pardon of his errours franckly nor doth in vayne permitte those bookes to be preiudiciall vnto him whiche hee wrate beyng a young man saying very modestly of him selfe that hee began then to write like a learner but not aâ— grounded in Iudgement Neither was such perfection to be required in Luther who albeit vttered somewhat at the first in wordes otherwise then common custome of Schooles were acquainted with it had bene the partes of graue Deuines not to prye narrowly into the vnaccustomed phrase of wordes so much as to sift out the substaunce of the doctrine how agreably it accorded with the Scriptures in truth and sinceritie And if
the matter would admitte some other interpretation yet ought Assertiō haue bene compared with Assertion and place with place Finally consideration ought to haue bene had of the entent and meanyng of the writer then also of the first originall scope of his doctrine whereunto it tended and what it emported And if ye would examine vprightly the opinions and assertions of mē accordyng the true touchstone of Gods truth and not sinisterly for eiudge them whether opinion I pray you seémeth in your cōceite most sounde of those which doe aduaunce the Maiestie of Gods grace or of those whiche doe enhaunce the weakenesse of mans nature of those which doe make mens merites workes the effectes of Saluatiō or of those which do ascribe it to Gods freé imputation through Iesu Christ of them which doe determine that righteousnesse commeth by fayth or of them which say it is obteyned by the workes of the law of those whiche spoyle Freewill of all matter to glory vpon or of them which do call mē backe to a true and humble acknowledgement of them selues of those whiche razing out the euerlastyng and vnchaungeable decreé of Gods Predestination doe committe the successes of thynges to happe hazard and blynd chaunce and to freé affectiō of mans will or of them whiche settyng aside all chaunceable euentes of fortune and all power of mans will doe referre all things to the assured gouernaunce of Gods infallible foreknowledge guidyng all thyngs after his own pleasure in most stayed and stable order And yet doth not Luther so roote out all Free-will altogether and all chaunceablenesse of fortune but that he doth admitte the vse of them in some respect to witte in respect of inferiour causes although in respect of hygher causes in those thynges whiche concerne saluation or damnation he beleueth surely that no force of Freewill ne yet any chaunceablenesse of fortune doe preuayle any thyng at all For as much as this is the chief grounde of Luthers doctrine what els may the well affectioned indifferent Reader I pray you cōceaue of this his Assertiō then that which may magnifie the glory of God extoll his omnipotencie may establishe the sauetie of the faythfull dependyng vpon the freé promise of God through fayth not vpō the worthynes of merites through Freewill may terrifie the wicked with a wholesome feare of God may restrayne them frō outrage may comfort vs agaynst death with lyfe that is in God agaynst miserie with grace against infirmitie with strength agaynst destruction with Gods mercy may rayse vp the godly to loue and embrace their God The fruite of all which thyngs as the godly Reader may easily reape by this doctrine let vs seé now on the other side what poyson Osorius doth sucke out of the fame as one that seéth nothyng in this Assertiō but horrible wickednes as he fayth shamelesse arrogācie detestable maddnes execrable outrage And now would I fayne heare how he will confirme this proude affirmatiue so vehemētly vttered For sayth he this beyng graunted I doe say that lawes are abolished decrees put to silence sciences rooted out learnyng extinguished peace and trāquillitie disturbed and vtter confusion made of all right and wrong without all order If Osorius require this at our handes that whatsoeuer his lauishe tounge shall rashly roaue at large be coyned for an vnreproueable oracle thē is this matter soone at an end But that world is gone long sithēce Osor. wherin this Pythagoricall Prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was takē for a law We thinke it not now enough to harken to all that a man will speake but to cōsider what vpon what groūde a mā speaketh Well what say you vnto vs at the lēgth Osorius That lawes will decay statutes be put to silence sciences rooted out learnyng extinguished trāquillitie disturbed and right and wrong confounded together Certes you haue heard of this man here many hygh and absurde speaches gentle Reader but heare yet much more absurditie I say furthermore that hereupon doth follow that mā is spoyled of sense bereft of aduise and depriued of reason and driuen to that passe as no difference may seeme to be betwixt him a stone throwen out of a mans hād And yet haue you not heard all Osori crauleth forward still is come now as it seémeth into some mayne playne where he purposeth to make vs a course of his harysh eloquence I say also that the holy cōmaundements of God his preceptes statutes his exhortatiōs and threatnyngs rewardes promised for well doyng and punishmēt threatened for malefactours were all in vayne prescribed to the posterity by Gods word O Heauē O Earth O Sea of Hercules But is there any more yet tush all these be but trifles yet For ouer and besides this ensueth so haynous a fact more horrible then toung can speake or hart cā thinke so vnspeakeably filthy so monstruously straūge that all the rest beyng layd together may in respect of this be accompted scarse worth the speakyng And what is it a Gods name Forsooth that Luther or Melancthon Bucer or Caluine or whosoeuer were the first foūder of this doctrine besides that he doth thereby turne all states and cōmon weales quite vpsidowne he breaketh yet further into such vnmeasurable impiety as that he doth imagine God him selfe the most holy of holy ones our most deare Father to whō no iniquitie can by any meanes be imputed to be the author of all wickednes and cruelty We haue heard a tedious Catalogue of haynous absurdities which as he sayth must needes ensue vpō Luthers doctrine And if it be not true He requireth vs to make him a lyar as that either Luther neuer spake so or els to teach him that Luthers doctrine may well be mainteined As though there were any such pitthe in all this your rayling M. Osorius that might not easily be confuted or any such weakenes in Luther that might not much more easily be defended yea so defended as that neither he may seeme to haue taught the doctrine of Necessitie without good cōsideratiō nor you able to deface the same without great perill of cōmittyng horrible sacriledge I speake now of Necessitie not that Necessitie that is called violēt coactiō but of that which is named of vndoubted assuraūce absolute infallibilitie not that Necessitie which the schoolemen call Consequēti◠but which is called Consequētia or ex Hypothesi For Necessitie is neither takē after one onely significatiō amongest the Deuines nor yet amōgest the Logiciās Philosophers wherof of I suppose you be nothyng ignoraunt at the least you ought not be ignoraunt therof surely Therefore they that haue employed their studyes somewhat more carefully about the scannyng of this matter haue defined Necessary after this maner to be such a thyng as can not bee altered a certeine settled and firme vnmoueablenes which can not be chaūged by any meanes from that