glorious Saint But would he disclayme his lying and calumniating this accusation would soone cease To preferre holy Scripture before any one Father is no scorne nor wrong Caluin in some things leaueth him but Papists leaue him where he followeth the Apostle and setteth forth the grace of Christ they beleeue that Monicaes soule was in Purgatorie but so did not S. Austine Toward the end of his Preface hauing almost tyred himselfe with lying and busie search of that he cannot finde he cryeth out O Heresie how deepe are thy Rootes layd in Hell Some pang belike of Hellish Treason and Heresie wrung his rotten carkasse and pinched him at the heart for to denie Masses and Dirges for the dead is no Heresie but to destroy Christs humanitie to renounce his grace and to maintaine Pelagianisme as Papists doe is most grosse and notorious Heresie We esteeme S. Austine and other Fathers as much as they desire to be esteemed and preferre them farre before the Pope and his whole Consistorie of Cardinals But the Papists doe preferre euery blind and ignorant Popes Sentence before all the ancient Fathers of whom albeit they speake gloriously in their Breuiaries and Missals yet they neyther regard them nor the Apostles of our Sauiour if they speake against their holy Father and his profit and Monkes slow bellyes S. Austine beleeued repented and liued a boly life but yet he neyther whipped himselfe nor did Penance as Fryars do neyther did he make boast of his eminencie in all perfection of life which the Apostate attributeth vnto him The Fable of the writing of the seuen Penitentiall Psalmes before S. Austine as he lay on dying is not probable the same being a practise of Fryars and not mentioned by Possidonius We endeuor by Faith and good Workes and the testimonie of a good Conscience to make our election sure to vs and so no doubt did S. Austine but we perswade no man to assure himselfe of his saluation his life being flagitious and sensuall and himselfe being ignorant and liuing without repentance and hauing Faith onely without good Workes as this lying and flagitious Apostate doth falsely charge vs that is rather the flagitious error of the Apostate and his Consorts who promise saluation to all absolued by Masse-Priests and dying in the Popes Faith which was also the Heresie of Eunomius The example of S. Austine he sayth is profitable to all men whether they be in state of puritie or are fallen into sensualitie hauing darke and frozen soules As if S. Austine were a Catharist or Puritan or sensuall Papists whose hearts are darkened with ignorance and frozen with coldnesse of deuotion could reape any profit by S. Austines example Onely he would not haue his Reader so to remember S. Austine as to forget their deuotion to his Mother Monica who as he sayth had a manly soule indued with massie and solide vertues A note of remembrance full of stoliditie rather then soliditie for deuotion and religion in the opinion of all solide Christians tryeth vs to God and not to men or women departed this life and vnknowne to vs. Further if her soule were manly why may not the Apostate haue a female soule being so much addicted to the feminine gender If her vertues were massie why may not his vanities be spongeous and light like Tyffanie Lastly if S. Austine and his Mother were Saints being not canonized by the Pope then is the Popes power lately vsurped in canonizing Saints nothing And thus an end of the Apostates idle and long Preface proface to his indignitie that hath thus vnworthily disgraced himselfe and his gracelesse Cause CHAP. VI. Notes and Aduertisements vpon the Translators Aduertisement concerning S. AVSTINES Retractations ALthough his idle Aduertisement to the Reader is neyther worth any Animaduersion nor the Readers paines yet because it commeth in sute next after his Preface it followeth in order that vpon his Aduertisement we put our Animaduersions And first I could not ouerpasse his impudence and arrogance albeit noted before in calling himselfe and his companions Catholikes whose Faith is neyther Catholike nor Apostolike nor Christian Let him if he haue any shame demonstrate that Christs Body is made of Bread nay of Wine and that it is contained vnder the accidents of Bread and Wine and was eaten not onely by the Apostles but also by Christ himselfe yea by men and beasts eating the Sacrament that the Pope is Christs Vicar and hath two Swords and power to depose and kill Kings that Fryars and Monks were instituted by Christ and liue in perfect puritie and all the new Creed of Trent When we are vrged by Papists with the authoritie of Saint Austine making euidently against vs it is our vse sayth the Aduertiser to alledge that he made Bookes of Retractation But first he is not able to shew any authoritie of S. Austine making euidently against vs contrariwise we haue alledged places making euidently against the Popish Faction and their Heresies Secondly it is no fault to say he made Books of Retractations Thirdly wee alledge places neuer retracted Lastly it is an easie matter to auoid whatsoeuer is obiected against vs out of S. Austine without any such friuolous and idle shift as is by this poore shifter suggested and deuised for vs. Where S. Austine Lib. 9. Confess c. 13. speaketh of the price of our Redemption he sayth nothing is signified but the Sacrifice of the Masse A conceit fond and ridiculous for first what is more absurd then to confesse that the soule of the Translator and his companions is of so little value that they may be redeemed with euery three-halfe-peny Masse Secondly that Father doth not so much as in one word mention the Sacrifice of the Masse Thirdly hee vnderstandeth the Sacrifice made vpon the Crosse for our Redemption a memoriall whereof is made in the holy Mysteries prophaned by wicked Masse-Priests That which S. Austine sayth of Prayers for the Dead maketh nothing eyther for the sale of Masses or Dirges or the blazing fire of Purgatorie neyther is the Apostate able to auow his irreligion by any words of S. Austine of Vowes of Miracles or of the darkenesse of any Texts of Scriptures He telleth vs that S. Austine mentioneth Monasteries of Religious persons and great numbers of Hermites yet cannot he shew any such institation of Hermites nor demonstrate that S. Austine euer knew any Popish Monke or Fryar That one and the same Scripture hath very many and different sences is not the Doctrine of S. Austine but the foolish conceit of this idle Translator that hath in his head very many crotchets but very little sence or vnderstanding for how can we be assured of the truth and certaine vnderstanding of Scriptures if the same haue many sences Apollo Loxias gaue forth ambiguous Oracles but farre is that from the Text of holy Scriptures and the wisdome of the holy Ghost He noteth also that albeit S. Austine wrote the storie of his youth yet he was no young man
also more euidently appeare by the answer made to his Obiections and by the whole Discourse ensuing The second shall manifestly bee demonstrated as well by our publike Confessions which containe nothing but sound Catholike doctrine as by his vayne friuolous and calumnious opposition in his Preface and idle Annotations See then I pray you the pride and presumption of this rinegate who at his first setting forth taketh that as granted which in all his tedious Discourse he shall neuer be able to proue For how can hee call himselfe and his fellowes Catholikes whose Doctrines reiected by vs are a composition of old and new Heresies And how can hee deny vs that title whose Faith is wholly Catholike and Apostolike Hee presenteth vs as hee professeth with a translation of S. AVSTINES Confessions A poore present God wot and nothing worth our acceptance being first as it seemeth rather turned out of Spanish then Latine and next differing from the Originall in diuers places and thirdly being corrupted with false Notes and glosses Hee presumeth it will be profitable and not vnpleasing so Geefe beleeue their owne Goslings to be goodly birds He addeth that the subject will bee now and then hard As if euery Schoole-boy could not translate S. Austines Confessions as well as hee or any Discourse could be more easie As the beauty of a person saith he consisteth in Complexion proportion and motion So he would proue S. Austine to bee excellent in the complexion of his Soule the proportion of the parts of his Booke and the actions of his Life A similitude borrowed from his skill in discerning the beautie and complexion of his out-landish Mistresses but euill befitting this Subiect For first what likenesse is there betweene Men and Bookes Secondly when did he euer see the complexion of S. Austines Soule Thirdly what beauty is there in the distinction of the Chapters made by some ignorant transcriber of S. Austines Confessions Lastly what maketh this tale of faire Complexion decent proportion and motion to his euill fauoured translation and jeiune Preface and Notes He pitieth some Critickes offended as hee saith with some tautologies of this Booke But such Critickes pitie rather the translators Morologies and Pseudologies handling an argument vnfit for such a person and with diuers lies commending his owne friends and taxing his aduersaries Vanting of his labours he saith It was not in his will to commit the least fault but what if ignorance and partialitie haue caried him into faults and errours shall wee accept his will for excuse In the Preface and Translation you shall find faults lyes and corruptions such as will easily conuince this vayne brag Hee taxeth some for falsifying and corrupting S. Austines bookes De ciuit Dei and his Meditations But his reproofe is easily answered For first he doth not nor cannot shew any proofe of the corruption of S. Austines bookes de ciuit Dei Secondly the booke of Meditations attributed to him is not his I haue seene it vnder the name of Anselme Others attribute it to some later Schoole-man and Master Rogers doth not so much translate the booke of Meditations as frame a new Discourse vpon that ground But that the beleefe and practise of S. AVGVSTINE and the Church of his time is fully agreeable to the Roman Church at this day and different from the Church of England as he affirmeth cannot bee proued out of any of S. Augustines workes This I haue cleerely demonstrated before Now I say onely hee cannot proue eyther the mysteries of the Masse or the Popes vniuersall Monarchy or the 7. Sacraments and Indulgences or the Decrees of Trent which wee refuse Onely it is easily proued that hee is an aduersary of this Church of England and so hee professeth himselfe to bee He is also an enemy of his Countrey and the State and a slaue of Antichrist albeit hee doth not professe it Hee complaineth of the great difficulty of Translating this Booke and yet a Child of 15. yeares old might well haue translated a harder Booke then this And if his betters thought so as well as himselfe both hee and his betters were poore weake and ignorant Translators The sentences of S. Austines Confessions are no such deepe matters but they may easily be vnderstood But to find Sentences that grew on the tree of S. AVSTINES soule and to gather them with Flewers and dowe vpon them is an absurd conceit and altogether impossiâ—le Neuer were any such Trees Flower or Dew heard of but in the Apostates harsh stile Let him rather beware of sentences growing out of Tiburne tree and of treacherous Doctrines taught him by Masse-Priests Monkes and Ignatians Hauing finished the Translation he found as he confesseth That hee had much mistaken the sence of diuers places And euery man that is not obdurat will yeeld that hee sayth it truely But that he reformed his mistakings it apeareth not Nay we iustly doubt he made the matter worse By his most significant and sententious soule saith hee his penne is thrust into so little roome A strange and monstrous kind of guibrish for who euer heard before of a significant and sententious soule and a penne thrust into a little roome but if S. Austine spoke significantly how could hee speake so obscurely as is pretended If the Apostates tongue were wedged in a wimble hole would he speake darke sentences thinke you The Heresie of the Manichees saith he is layd vnder the ashes of obliuion And yet in his Popish doctrine concerning prohibition of Mariage to elected Priests in the extending of Christs body into diuers places in the destruction of Christs humane nature and the Communion vnder one kind it is againe reuiued The arguments of the Chapters hee saith are not S. Augustines A very profound Speculation He might also haue added that the meaning expressed in his Translation is not S. Augustines but that shall appeare hereafter Going about to commend his Booke of Confessions hee saith He will borrow the wordes of Ribadineira And I doubt hee borrowed some light from his Spanish translation But if he had chosen out a hundred hee could not haue encountred a more wicked enemy of Religion and the State nor a more false and treacherous companion then that Jesuwide who translated and amplified that scandalous Libell of Sanders De schismate deuised of purpose to the disgrace of the Kings of England and this State The Iesuite compareth his Learning to a Spring that riseth and runneth perpetually And yet Masse-Priests and Fryars drinke rather of the puddle Decretals of the Pope then of S. Austines cleare Spring Hauing vowed Chastitie to God sayth the Translator he retyred in the companie of two friends into a solitarie house where he spent three yeeres in meditation of Scripture Prayer Fasting and other Penance But first it is most vntrue that he vowed Chastitie or other Monkish Vowes secondly he was no longer there then he pleased himselfe thirdly he read Scriptures which Monkes vse not much to doe now
when he wrote his Booke A high point of the Translators learning as if old men could not write the storie of their younger yeeres the Translator himselfe if he please may write what he did in the Brothels of France Italy and Spaine when he was younger then now Further he chargeth vs as if we should say that S. Austine was but a young man when he wrote his Confessions and that afterward he grew wiser As if any of vs did taxe S. Augustine of indiscretion for writing this Booke if he know any such why doth he-not name them if he name none himselfe seemeth to be a false accuser who albeit growne in yeeres is neyther more honest nor wise then when he was young He in his Retractations sayth he confessed his sinnes and good deeds An example which the Aduertiser meaneth not to follow for his enormious sinnes he will not confesse and good deeds I know none he hath to relate He addeth that his Confessions much pleased many of his Brethren Yet we heare of no Confession that this prodigall and Popish Apostate hath made nor doth he greatly care to please his Parents Brethren and Friends neyther doth his Translation please any man but himselfe S. Austine in his fourth Booke of Confessions saith Hee made rather a light Declamation then a serious Confession But the aduertiser although hee make both idle Declamations and friuolous and false Annotations yet neyther in jest nor earnest doth hee confesse his faults but rather proudly and vaine-gloriously boast of his doings In the end the Aduertiser beseecheth his discreet Reader to admire the humility and exactnesse of the Saint A request that concerneth himselfe nothing that is neither Saint nor humble nor exact nor discreet nay foolishly hee admireth himselfe and his doings albeit his Prefaces Notes and Aduertisements containe nothing but foolery vanity and lyes S. Austine saith the Aduertiser beleeued what hee taught But neyther did hee teach any thing in fauour of his Popish Heresies nor preiudiciall to the Faith of the Church of England Vainely hee boasteth that the moderne Faith of Rome is Catholike But we haue conuinced it to be neither Catholike nor Apostolike nor true Let him answer to our arguments and hee shall be forced to confesse so much himselfe This aduertisement therefore howsoeuer it pleased the Translator therein to mention S. Austines Retractations maketh nothing for his owne glory and commendation He should haue shewed more wisedome if hee had retracted both his Preface and Aduertisement After his Aduitisement he confesseth that his Copie was euill written and that many errours escaped in Printing But this should easily haue beene pardoned if that his whole labour had beene well performed and grosse Errours had not been committed in his Preface Annotations and Translations Now then wee come to speake of his Annotations and Translations reserued for the last Chapter CHAP. VII Of the false wicked and absurd Annotations of the Apostate vpon S. AVGVSTINES Confessions and how euill-fauouredly they and hee answere the Text. SAint Augustine in the first Booke of his Confessions Cap. 2. Doth inuocate his Lord and God which made Heauen and Earth and which notwithstanding was not contayned in them But this Apostate and his fellowes doth inuocate and call vpon Angels and Saints yea vpon their God of the Altar that neither made Heauen nor Earth nor any thing else but as themselues say was made by a Priest and is contayned vnder the accidents of Bread and Wine and shut vp in a Pixe and hanged ouer the Altar This the Apostate did well perceiue made not for his profit and therefore hee was content to passe by this Chapter in sad silence Chap. 4. S. Augustine saith Supererogatur tibi vti debeas which the Apostate translateth thus By our Supererogation thou becommest our debtor and noteth that God maketh vs able to doe workes of Supererogation But neyther doth that holy Father say or thinke that God was made our debtor for our Workes but onely for his Promise nor account Monkish vowes to be workes of Supererogation nor teach that man was able to performe the whole Law and more Chap. 5. lib. 1. the Translator noteth That S. Austine did oblige God to bee good vnto him A patch stitched to the Text and not in one word signified by that holy Father and most false For by what obligation can God that is aboue all be obliged to a sinfull man that is so farre vnderneath him Nay in this very Chapter hee declareth his sinnes against himselfe and confessing the impietie of his heart and disclaiming his Merites and Workes saith Hee will not stand in judgement with God In the Margent Chap. 10. the Translator noteth that there are Sectaries who blasphemously affirme that God appointeth men to sinne But he durst not name any party least touching M. Caluin he should be deprehended in a manifest Lye and conuinced of his ordinarie Crime of Calumniation Howbeit if men should appoint men to worship the Pope and to embrace his Heresies to worship Saints and Images after the practise of Rome to rebell against Princes excommunicated by the Pope which the Apostaticall Faction of Rome sayth he doth then by their Doctrine he should appoint men indeed to sinne Wee say onely God forbiddeth all sinnes and directeth all mens actions Chap. 11. he obserueth the vse of signing with the Crosse but S. Austine there speaketh of signing and salting Infants newly come out of their Mothers Wombe and sometime before Baptisme Ceremonies not now vsed in the Romish Church Hee talketh therefore of no matters of Faith nor helpeth the Translator who so often and superstitiously abuseth that signe S. Austine Chap. 13. toucheth the buyers and sellers of Grammar but the Translator addeth Rules as if Rules of Grammar were sold so that a man might haue licence to speake false Latine In Rome the Pope selleth Rules Lawes and Dispensations but the Translator careth for none of that nor doth the Pope care for Grammar Rules or good Latine Lib. 1. Chap. 16. S. Austine speaketh of a Floud but the Translator turneth it into a Torrent and noteth in the Margent A noble Discourse as if it were a noble thing to talke of Torrents of Custome and drying vp of Flouds Afterward he talketh of learning these words the Golden Shower the Lap the Ornament and the Temple of Heauen and the Translator noteth an extreme abuse still on foot but sheweth not what it is nor wherein it consisteth These words Qui templa Coeli summo sonitu conculit he translateth thus which shakes the whole Vault of Heauen with his soueraigne Voyce as if the Heauen were like a Vault of a Cellar and euery great noyse were a soueraigne Voyce O the soueraigne dizardrie of a transcendent Translator whose words soare aboue all vnderstanding and reason God is the Centre of all true sweetnesse sayth the Apostate in a Marginall Note vpon the first Chapter of the second Booke of Confessions But in the Text