his portract the other his person the one the cloude which contained the light of Gods Church the other the fire which shined into the cloude or to speake it more familiarlie as it were to draw this new wine out of these old vessels this oyle out of that Oliue this honey cut of that combe this corne out of that chaffe this marrow out of that bone this manna out of that pitcher this law of grace out of those Tables of damnation This word which is intellectuall and not imaginarie necessarie and not superfluous diuine and not humane certaine and not doubtfull in points necessary plaine and not obscure that from the beginning of 〈◊〉 to the Reuelation there is no other difference but of the figure and the things figured That like vnto that golden propitiatory from the which God spake described by Moses to haue two Cherubins one of euery side looking directly each vpon other And in manner of these Seraphins seene by Isai which by alternatiue voices did continually sing holie holie Euen so do those Cherubines of the old and new Testament mutually breathe out the testimonie of our great propitiation of the which Dauid saith Quia apudte Domine propitiatio est And these two Seraphins in like manner doâ—… render alternatiue ecchoes in both these Testaments of that holie holie Sauiour In such manner that it doth breed incredible ioy to a Christian heart to remarke the vniformitie and correspondence of the Spirit of God throughout the word The Scripture for Example maketh frequent mention of the waters of life to vnderstand what is ment by the waters of life in the old Testament God himselfe said to to Moses and Aaron Loquimini ad Petram istam ipsa dabit vobis aquam in the new Testament Saint Paul doth expound the mistery bibebant Patres nostri de spirituali consequente illos Petra Petra autem erat Christus was there euer any more cleerenesse or correspondency Againe it is said in Ezechiel Effundam super vos aquam mundam mundabimini ab omnibus iniquitatibus vestris And in Esai Effundam aquam supersitientem fluentia super aridam And in Zacharie Erit font patens Domui Iacob in ablutionem peccatoris menstruatae Is not that as plaine as Christ himselfe did speake it to the Samaritane woman at the same well of Iacob thereafter I giue you water to drinke after the which you shall thirst no more was there euer prophecie or exhibition more correspondent then to heare Esay crying Omnes sitientes venite ad aquas and to heare Christ himselfe answering by St. Iohn Si quis fitiat veniat ad me The law of Moses was written in Tables of stone and deliuered with horror per â—…mpadas seniâ—… Buccinae montemque fumantem saith the Text to shew the austeritie thereof and our impossibilitie to fulfill it and doth not the Gospell accord most cleerely with the same Hoc iugum neque nos neque Patres nostri pertare potuiâ—…us The law Euangelicall and of Grace was written in the flesh of the incarnate deitie to declare the softnesse and facilitie thereof according to that which was prophesied as our Sauiour himselfe doth testifie Iugum meum suaâ—…e est â—…us meum leue All which things doe shew the correspondencie and plainnesse of the holy Scriptures Lastly it is that omnipotent word where of the Apostle saith It is inspired from God and is able to make the man of God perfect in euery good worke Then seeing it is such a powerfull and perfect word shall we turne backe to Iudaisme and blinde our selues in obduration against the splendor thereof boldly affirming that it is obscure imperfect and hath neede of humane helpe how shall we be confounded in that great day being confronted with that learned Iewish Rabbin Barachia who out of consideration of this harmonie and correspondence of Gods word was forced to say in his booke intituled Medras Cobel-eth Redemptor primus Moses Redemptor vltimus Messias sicut Redemptor primus fecit ascendere puteâ—…m ita Redemptor secundus fecit ascendere aquas ad salutem And with that other Rabbin Iosue who doth directly call them the waters of Baptisme which saith he succeedeth to circumcision Qui baptizatur non circumciditur ipse erit Gher id est Gentilis conuersus ad rectam fidem So that I say for your Loto hold that this word is not sufficient to instruct you and why because it is not panis fermentatus it is not corrupted with pharisaicall traditions nor flowes not from a Church whose Prelates and members pretend that they cannot erre O but it flowes from the three persons of the God-head and is inspired from aboue as the holy Spirit doth testifie This is a sorrow neuer to be repented to maintaine that any thing other then Gods infallible incorruptible word can be without error or fault Man not to erre seeing the Prophet Dauid hath said omnis homo mendax seeing God himselfe hath said It repents mee to haue made man all the cogitations of his heart are wicked there is nothing true but God and his word as the Apostle saith Deus autem verax est sermo eius veritas What shall wee speake of men no not his very Angels be cleere in his eyes Et reperit prauitatem in Angelis suis saith Iob vnto the great spirit of God is only giuen to be Custos Tabularum Verbi Dei Gardian of Gods truth it is too pretious a iewell to be trusted to flesh and bloud for if it had bin Gods will to tye his truth to men why not to his knowne Saints Adam whose body was formed by the finger of God whose soule was breathed in his nostrils from the mouth of God he had this spirit of truth once giuen him but it left him by the suggestions of Eua Noah the first Preacher of the second World he had this spirit but was neglected of him in his drunkennesse The excellent Moses of whom it is said dilectus Deo hominibus Moses cuius mememoria in benedictione est he had that great spirit in such measure that he ouercame nature by Sea and Land he commanded the Angels and in a manner wrested the will of God but he was neglected of this great spirit in his distrustfull percussion of the Rocke Aaron had this spirit but was forgotten of him in the erection of the calfe Miriam also was forgotten in hir grudging against Moses Dauid a man to Gods owne heart was fearefully neglected of this great spirit to follow adulterie and homicide Salomon whose breast the Lord filled with wisedome was likewise left of this great spirit when he fell in impious Idolatrie The Arch-Apostle Peter did not obey this spirit in the deniall of his master yea after the Ascention and comming of the holy Ghost there was contradictions among the Apostles It is more then madnesse to affirme that the wisedome of any man hath
and his tyranny againe intercepted by Henry the seuenth These were the infinite effusions of natiue bloud during that tempest of Naufrage wherein their Writers doe collect haue beene sixteene or 17 seuerall pitched battells the slaughter of nine Kings or Kings sonnes forty Dukes Marquesses and Earles 200000. of the popular And what extraordinary punishment haue wee in our time seene inflicted vpon the persons houses and states of diuerse disloyall subiects who haue attempted to abuse the sacred authority of our most gracious Soueraigne certaine it is a ground in reason a tryall in experience a conclusion of all politickes and warranted by Gods word in holy Scripture strengthened with the opinion of graue Doctors of the Church That Rebellon doeth euer moue greater mischiefe then Tyranny CHAP. X. A defence of Episcopall gouernment by diuerse most cleere and ingenuous reasons NOw wee come to conside◅ what affinitie the Church gouernment hath with those others whereof we haue spoken before the written Law of Moses God did elect so many Patriarckes to rule his first Church Enoc Noah Abraham Isaac Iacob and others And our Sauiour before the written Law of the Euangel or of grace hee did elect so many Apostles to rule the second whereof the former was the type when the numbers of the beleeuers did increase euen vnto Moses were adioyned seuenty to assist him in his charge so did Christ next his twelue Apostles elect seuenty Disciples In Israel there were many particular Princes and Elders of the people who did rule euery man his own Centuries and Chiliads but these seuenty were created to beare vniuersal rule as we collect frō the words of Moses Ego solus ferre omnem populum istum non possum I only cannot beare the charge of this people answere Congregatibi gather vnto you which is to be his Collegues and yet they were subordinate for while Moses went to the mountaine he left a deputation ouer the people Ecce Aaron Hur. If any man haue controuersie let him come to Aaron and Hur euen so these seuenty Disciples howsoeuer they were adioyned to the Apostles yet they were subordinate and inferiour the Apostles being still chosen to be conuersant with Christ constant witnesses of all his actions and onely intire with him like vnto Moses who onely went vp to talke with God We read in the twelfth of the Acts how the Apostles found Iustus and Matthias onely sufficient of all the rest to succeed in the place of Iudas argument enough of the Apostolicall superiority ouer them Luke againe and Marke were of good authorities among the Apostles because they were the Euangelical Historians yet were they not of the seuenty Euangelists being elected by men and not our Sauiour as Tertullian writeth of Luke Non Apostolus sed Apostolicus non Magister sed Discipulus vtique Magistro minor Not an Apostle but Apostolicall no Master but Disciple and alwaies inferiour to the Master That diuerse had the holy spirit as the Apostles who were not yet their equals it is euident after their dispersion Philip did Euangelize at Samaria but Peter Iohn were sent to constitute the churches The holy spirit without the ministery of S. Paul did come vpon Cornelius and his company for besides these two orders of Apostles and Disciples there was a third among the number of an hundred who were present at the choosing of Matthias besides the twelue Apostles and seuenty Disciples there were thirty eight who beene in neither ordination were Prophets as all the learned do affirme who treat of this point of which number was Annamas and Agabus endued with propheticall spirits to impart to the Church diuers reuelations which they had Touching these againe who were thereafter called Episcopi Presbiteri we see that in the Apostles daies the Church was a while without them the first mention of of that order we finde it in the Church of Ierusalem in the twelfth of the Acts for so long as the Apostles and Euangelists did remaine there was neither Episcopus nor Presbyter but after they were disseuered Iames being beheaded and Peter fled then did they enter from that forth Luke doth coniunctly report of them with the Apostles Saint Paul so like vnto himselfe in all his Epistles we cannot thinke that without a reason in his Epistle to the Philipians hee hath giuen salutation to the Episcopi and Diaconi and hath not done so in the rest of his Epistles In that Epistle to the Romanes hee salutes diuers whom he calles his co-operarij or fellow labourers as Andronicus and Vrbanus famous among the Apostles And of the Domestick Church which was some while at Ephesus and somewhile at Corinth to these hee giues them their owne praises yet doth he not call them Episcopi nor Presbyteri as hee doth Epaphroditus in that to the Philipians And Archippus in that to the Colossians when hee came to Rome we read how hee was receiued but by no Presbiteri which had not beene omitted if that ordination had beene then among them more then it is omitted in the 15. and 21. of the Acts where he is said to be receiued of Presbyters all this time there was no Presbiteri yet planted other then Timothy Titus Apollo Luke Stephen Fortun. Achai and a few others whom the Apostles did send vpon occasions nor these Churches had then no other Bishop but S. Paul In the meane time the Apostles and the Euangelists did at their commodities visit them as Epiphan and Ambrosiu◅ beare witnesse Epiphanius thus while the preaching of the Gospell was but resent the holy Apostle write according to the time and to things that were where there were Episcopi hee write to them and vnto Diaconi where they were for the Apostles did not ordinate saith hee al things vpon the sudden there was great neede of Presbiteri and Diaconi vnder the Apostles because by these Ecclesiasticall function is perfect Where none was found worthy of Episcopall charge that place did remaine without a Bishop for they being no great multitude of beleeuers saith he they were no great numbers found capable of the Presbyterat therefore the Church at that time did rest vnder the Apostolike Bishopricke till with time things grew to greater perfection in which words we doe obserue this that in the beginning while the Apostolicall mission was limited to Iudea Christ did onely chuse 12. Apostles and 70. Disciples but after the Legation was generall both to Iew and Gentile they tooke vnto them co-operarij Euangelists Prophets and others and when the Gospell beganne to spred they did institute Episcopi and Presbyteri So that Christs Church was planted by the like beginnings and had the like growth of policie as that of Ierusalem both hauing their originall in the persons of Moses the figure and Christ the man figured and both with time diuoluing by little and little into a diuersity of subordinate rulers of whom the Apostle setteth downe the cleere distinction and imparity giuing
not close and inseparable among our selues we shal be found the vncleane vessels of dishonour Vnity is the beauty of the Church now and it shall bee her triunphant song in the end to cry as the Prophet had foretold of lattet times Venite ascendamus in montem Domini Come brethren let vs goe vp together to the mount of God Therefore these exhortations are to pray the Lord God who hath formed vs to make vs vnited vessels of honour and to that effect to rectifie our iudgements that wee may esteeme no names so sacred vnder heauen as the holy names of harmony peace and vnanimity within the Church in one thing and in all things that we may thinke no opinion more Christian in this age wherein wee liue then that of the venerable Zanchius one of the brightest stars of our owne Hemispheare in his treatise De verareformandarum Ecclesiarum ratione written for that part as followeth Whatsoeuer is in the Church of Rome or in any other Church it is either agreeable to the written word or contrary or adiaphoron indifferent Whatsoeuer is besides the written word either in the Fathers in the Councels or in the Papall decrees they are in like sort vnder the same distinction Pro contra or indifferent For the first that which is agreeable with the word is to be retained or if it be reiected it is againe to be receiued for the second that which is contrary is to be refused or if it hath been followed is againe to be forsaken for the third that which is indifferent we must not thinke that it doth of it selfe belong vnto saluation but in such a case we must follow the rule of the Apostle That nothing bee brought into the Church but that which doth tend to edification order or vnity All indifferent ceremonies therefore may bee securely followed for any of those respects but so to be followed as that we stil preferre things which bee more ancient vnto those which be more late aswell for the honour of antiquity as because that which is most ancient in the Church is most true for albeit nothing can binde the conscience but canonicall Scripture yet to introduce nouelties or to banish out of the Church any of those things which from the primitiue time hath beene allowed by common and Catholike consent and confirmed by the writtes of the ancient Fathers To reiect such things with out authoritie of generall Councell it is not lawful for any Christian man who feareth God saith he Can we maintaine more sound opinions either as good Christians or as good subiects then those of Zanchius for vnity tending to the strengthening both of Church State we especially of this Isle the condition wherof if we consider truely when it lay thousands of yeres of our ancestours diuided in weake and dismembred Kingdomes and as our owne eies haue seen it subiect to the ambition of so many forrain Pharaohs as haue pressed to bring it vnder their seruitude by practises now from France now from Spaine now from Rome we shall thinke this age wherein we are to be like to that fourth generation wherein God did predestinate as he foretold Abraham to bring his posterity out of Egypt for that same God called Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis miraculous in his Saints who raised that excellent Moses to lead his people through the troublesome deserts to a glorious state in the Land of Canaan hee hath also sent to vs a mighty and extraordinary instrument to lead vs through those perilous perplexities now past vnto the ioyfull Iubile of these conioyned Kingdomes making this Isle great and fortunate in his royall person as hee made his people of Israel most blessed for the time by the like coniunction of the tree of Ioseph with the tree of Iuda saying by the Prophet Ezechiel That they should bee all vnder one King and no more a diuided people So that they who delight in disiunction be they Aaron be they Miriam be they Core Daâ—…han or Abiraâ—… who rebels against Moses especially bee they Iesuited Papists or heteroclite Puritans I speak not of any good men who obey God and the Prince but of those who carry armed hartâ—… factious and vehement spirits against the State spirits contrary to God because as the Scripture saith Non in commotions Domâ—…us The Lord is not in commotion spirits not of peace nor edification but of destruction In spiritu vehâ—…ti câ—…nteres naâ—…es Tharsis saith Dauid Be who they will who grudge against Moses euery wel disposed member of the common-wealth hath great cause to grudge against them least they cut the thred of our felicity and bring vpon vs which God of his infinite mercy forbid by our constant murmurings that euill which befell the obstinate Israelites at the waters of contradiction whose wicked rebellions made Moses to offend the Lord grieuously euen that good Moses of whom it is said Delectus Deo hominibus Moses cuius memoria in benedictione est Though hee was dearely beloued of God and men and though hee was the most meeke of all liuing flesh yet they brought the Lords indignation vpon themselues and vpon him who both were preuented by death and were not suffered to enter into the Land nor to taste the fruits of their long and painefull voyage in the Wildernesse God of his goodnes grant you to loath these waters of strife and chiefly these waters which bee poysoned with Iesuiticall wormewood and gaul wherof so many millions of people haue died within these threescore yeres that you may cry in time with that Prophet Saluum me fac Domine quoniam intrauerunt aquae vsque ad animam meam Deliuer me O Lord because those waters haue gone vnto my Soule God grant that like vnto the holy Doue you finde no resting place among them vntill you enter into the Arke and vnitie of the Church that we may liue together in one hope to see the further mysteries of this happy time the seale whereof is already opened to the great admiration of all the world It was forbidden anciently to sacrifice a Swan because her plumes are white and her heart black so would I wish that from this peace offering might be debarred all such whose hearts are incurably blacked with pride of stricktnesse and singularity and that it should bee onely handled of those meeke and ingenuous spirits who will bee contented to found their iudgement thereof vpon those three grounds without the which our knowledge cannot be sure as S. Augustine faith Contrarationem nemo sobrius contra scripturâ—…s nemo Christianus contra Ecclesiam nemo pascificus That no sober man should make opposition to reason nor no Christian man to the Scriptures nor no peaceable man to the Church And so hoping that the modest Reader will obserue these grounds I doe submit my selfe to his discretion beseeching him that he would not looke vpmy paines with his sinistrous eye nor receiue with the wrong hand that which
to himselfe God lookes to the sinceritie of our spirit to see that no arrogancie be there nor no discrepance from his holy will in matters of his worship how many times did he cast off his people Israel because of their presumptuous confidence in religious Ceremonies in false and Pharisaicall workes because of their lippe-labour and externall shew of pietie saying their heart was farre from him and that he was caried with their tedious and lothsome sacrifices Sisteterint Moses Samuel coram me non est anima mea ad populum istum Euen the best earthly Princes are jealous of their Maiestie but this God of Maiestie he is a consuming fire of jelousie in points of his worship he pronounced Sauls reprobation and ouerthrowe by Samuel for that which appeared to man a light transgression because it was a point of his Maiestie and honour but by the Prophet Nathan hee easily pardoned Dauid for his adulterie and murther which seemed in humane eyes most hainous wickednes because they were not points of his worship but sinnes of weakenesse next he looked to both their hearts in the heart of Dauid it was fleshly corruption which made him to fall in the heart of Saul it was the pride of spirituall Idolatry adding to Gods worship thinking himselfe wiser then God and saying to the Prophet he had obeyed God as it is said in the Church of Rome that worshipping of Images is a point of Gods honour while as it is directly contrary to his Commandement Let all the world tremble at that strict dealing of the Lord with his good seruant Moses in a point of his Commandement at the waters of Contradiction were the Israelites did grudge God said to Moses and Aaron that they should take vp the Rodde and speake to the Rocke of Rephidim and it should yeeld waters loquimini ad Petra◅ because he did strike the Rocke and did not vtter his speaches confidently to Gods meaning saying distrustfully behold rebellious if we may bring water out of this rocke man would imagine that there was but a Peccadiglio a small fault or none at all yet the Lord did not onely impute it for disobedience because thou hast not honoured me before my people said hee but he did punish it in most rigorous manner in mans eies yet iustly hee let him not enioy the fruits of his long paines in the wildernesse preuenting him by death saying for this thou shalt neuer enter into the land considering then that precise Commandement in speciall Thou shalt make no kind of Image in heauen nor earth nor in the waters considering secondly the stricktnesse of Gods word and will in generall wherein Qui cadit in syllaba cadit in t◅to And considering thirdly the greatnesse of his Ielousie what a furious audacity is it that we should sport with God so manifestly to preuaricate in his worship by so many Idoles and strange inuocations by twenty Aue Maries for one Pater noster auowedly repugnant to his precept presuming to excuse it with a good meaning and with I know not what distinctions of Dulia and Latria as if God himselfe could not haue put downe the distinction Certainely I thinke not onely Moses but euen Saul had better excuses for his fault it is no distinction will serue the turne The Lord he is a jelous God and strict in the point of his worshippe They are not founded vpon the Chimeraes of our head but vpon his holy will and who so pleaseth to bee homely with it shall receiue the same doome of Samuel pronounced against Saul that his sinne is a sinne of Witchcraft The most profound Doctor and best versed thac euer hath beene in Gods Law was the Prophet Dauid who speaking in his first Psalme of the iust man sed in lege Domini est voluntas eius whose delight saith he and will is the Law of God which words are obserued to haue a good importance of knowledge noting this much that we must not wry Gods Law to our fancies though it seeme neuer so holy and deuoute nor to our interpretation our will or our delight no but wee must conforme our will and delight to bee in it The Law saies sit irreprehensibilis Episcopus And must we make our owne glose to say it is a Counsell and not a Commande The Law saies Qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendam eam iam maechatus est in corde shall we interpret that it is spoken to Married persons The Law saies Omnis anima subdita sit superioribus potestatibus shall we glose it to be so long as they gouerne vertuously The Lawe saies absolutely thou shalt haue no kind of image to bow downe to it Shall wee forge an exposition with our friuolous distinctions as if God did sophisticate with vs in the directions of his owne worship truely by this sort of doing Lex est in tua voluntate non autem tua voluntas in Lege The Lawe of of God is in your will and not your will in the Lawe therefore Dauid himselfe did not onely presse to keepe the Law but kept in his heart also Gods own pure meaning in the Law In corde meo absc◅ndi eloquia tua He not only obeyed the Law but he obeyed it by the right way of obedience Uiam mandatorum tuorū cucurri For who knowes not this to be true quod iniustus potest facere iusta sed non iuste that an vniust man may doe a iust act but not iustly Therefore wee must not only obserue Gods precepts according to his owne word precisely but which is more we must doe it as Saint Paul saith Ex corde puro conscientia non ficta for this is to doe iust things iustly facere secundum substantiam ◅erum secundum intentionem Legis latoris to doe the substance expressely of that which is commanded and to doe it after the manner and meaning of him who did command it Out of these it did appeare by the diuine light of reason that the worshipping of images in ◅e Popish Church must bee indeede Idolatry regar◅ed chiefelie as they are which I will shortly tell your Lordshippe All the while I was in France my minde was busied in taking pleasure in those exteriour shewes so gracious to my senses and neuer seene of me before that I tooke no leasure to lift vp the vaile which was so delicatly painted that I might see what poysoned and deadly hookes lay hidden vnder such pleasant baites reseruing my chiefe curiositie to haue her contentment in the famous Citie of Rome a place most proper for true discouery and chiefest Theater of the world for knowledge of things from the which no mysterie can remaine vnseene of one who hath ingine and dexterity to explore it For agitation of great Counsels it is like the Primum Mobile which in his Motu rapto carries with him the inferiour orbes so it is the maine spheare that ◅es many States in Christendome that beside their owne naturall
these iniquities and idolatrie that wee may call it like vnto that monstrous Minotaure kept in the Labyrinth of Daedalus Alter a parte hominem alter a parte bouem when the mother of this monster went in to see it her naturall affection did neuer suffer her to behold the beastly part of it It is iust so with many men when they are brought where they may haue a perfect discouerie of this forged and monstrous worship their naturall inclination to superstition will neuer permit them to behold the wicked and impious parts of it and therefore as multitudes who entred within that Labyrinth were deuoured of that monster because they knew not the way to returne till Theseus did deuise a meanes of retreat by tying a thread to the entire by the one end and carrying the other with him he did come backe by the same Euen so who doth eter within the mysticall Labyrinth of these cunning and craftie superstitions deuised by many Dedalean artificers he is neuer able to make recourse nor to saue himselfe vndeuoured of that monster without he be tyed to the thread of Gods word And he who is so shall not onely passe most securely through the most secret places thereof but as Dauid got out of the hands of Goliah that speare wherwith he slew him so shall he bring as many arguments from that which he shall see among them as shall suffice to confound themselues wee slide into errors peece and peece and peece and peece we must recoile from them we are not to looke for suddaine and miraculous conuersions for that blow comming from heauen which strooke S. Paul to the ground suddainely draue the diuell out of him for that diuine light which in an instant remoued the darkenesse of his soule and made him crie Lord what wilt thou I am heere The dayes of miracles are past we haue Moses the Prophets and Apostles we must follow the rule of Christ Scrutamini Scripturas search the Scriprures because they giue testimonie of me The way of conuersion to Gods truth is by diligent Reading of his word by diligent hearing of the preachers of the same by diligent prayer who doth hold the bookes of holie Scripture insufficient hee reades in vaine who prayeth with the Church of Rome which thinkes she cannot erre she hath no need of reformation such Pharisaicall prayers are also in vaine And therefore I meane now to giue your Lordship a Christian aduise first by telling your Lordship by what naturall defects many men lie ouer in this blindnesse Secondly by shewing vnto your Lo that which happened vnto my selfe and by what meanes and degrees I was freed from those errors wherein you are And thirdly by pointing vnto your Lordship out of these a way which I would wish you to follow in particular for your helpe for the first I say that the diuell seekes craftily to ouerthrow vs with our owne weapons also hee worketh vpon the infirmities of our nature he maketh aduantage of our naturall weakenesse he assalteth the walles of our minds there where the breach is likeliest as he wil sooner tempt a man of a fierce and tygrish disposition to commit murther then him who is naturally milde modest and meeke so I hold this ignorance of men giuen ouer to Idolatrie to proceede from one of those two faults in themselues either it is a naturall inclination to superstion that while they will not beleeue the holy Scriptures to be sufficient they will giue faith enough to the most ridiculous Aniles fabulae of the legendaries to the relation of a Straw miracle pretended to bee done heere or there in which kinde of foolishnesse I must say some of our Catholicke Romanes within this kingdome bee the poorest men vnder the heauen Well Pharaoh did see in the myracles of Moses the finger of God working Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis but he gaue more credit to the Magicall miracles of his Sorcerers and why because his heart was hardned Let vs beware of this fearefull Iudgement therefore which I haue told your Lordship doth follow vpon Idolatrie to be abandoned of the Lord vt credant mendacio qui non crediderunt veritati that they may beleeue lyes and follies who would not beleeue the truth Indura cor populi huius occoeca occulos claude aures c. Obdurate the heart of this people close their cares blinde their eyes that they doe not heare see nor vnderstand lest they turne to me and I heale them saith God to the Prophet Or next this obstinate and wilfull ignorance wherein men cannot be broken no not from one point of most grosse things it proceedes as we haue obserued in many forbearing to iudge so of your Lordship from a secret selfe-loue glorying to be called constant and inflexible Surely constancie and good resolution it is a Cardinall vertue and perseuerance in faith is the height of all Christian vertues but beleeue me this sort of constancie is a despightfull pride it is to haue that which all the herefiarches haue had hereticum ingenium an hereticall inflexible and rebellious ingenie of Nature such were Manicheus Marcion Arrius Pelagius c. Such an heretike was not the good Father Augustine who fell but Timide and Languide into the Manichean opinion and was easily againe reformed by his good and toward nature by the inspiration of Gods Spirit willingly to heare the Sermons disputes and conferences of the holy Saint Ambrose Secondly I will tell your Lordship syncerely by what steps it pleased God to grant me retreait foorth of this fearefull Labyrinth of Idolatrie your Lordship hath heard how I already did distast these things which I did see in Italy but that did not serue the turne it was indeede a good beginning vpon my backe comming to France and new conference with that famous Protestant Mounsieur Causabon resident then at Paris in the seruice of the late King with whom I was familiar before who now finding me somewhat better disposed hee did farre second those beginnings of mine saying to mee that howseeuer it was the tricke of the Consistorie of Rome to deny any cause of reformation on their side and to disclaime generall Councells yet if it pleased God to inspire the hearts of Princes to challenge that auhoritie ouer Ecclesiasticall gouernment which was due to their Predecessors in the primitiue Church that the body of the Catholike Church might be easily reformed he told me that designe of Charl. 5. as I haue relared it vnto your Lordship he told me that two Emperours his successors Ferdinand Maximilian did much labour for the same In token whereof there be yet extant numbers of their letters sollicitatory to that most graue and profound Doctor of the Romane Church George Cassander most zealously entreating him touching his opinion of the deciding of Christian Controuersies which Booke with diuers other learned Treatises of other pacificators he gaue me to read as also these Theames written De auferibilitate
feede vs with contentious Sillogismes Pascuntur Sillogismo sicut Boues foeno as Oxen are fed vpon haye O you who call your selfe a Christian Pastor how doe you forget that precept of Saint Paul Vt orationes fiant postulationes gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus That prayers supplications and thankes giuing may bee made for ◅ll men in generall how doe you not remember that he hath commanded your corrections and admonitions to be brotherly Noniactantiae studio nec contumeliosa obiurgatio sed in spiritu lenitat is Not in ostentation or cōtumelious reproach but in the spirit of lenity there is no other reason for this but because Confregitis Iugum rupistis vincula you haue broken the bonds of Christian fraternitie and loue This fire of charitie in the soule of a good man is like to the abundance of heat in the stomacke of a strong body which draweth good nourishment out of grosse and euill matters the want whereof againe doth turne the most delicate substance into phlegme and noysome humours if you had abundance of this loue you would doe through the heat thereof as the Apostle commaunds you Alter alterius onera portare you would digest the ignorance and weakenesse of your brethren by seeking their reformation by all brotherly meanes and the want of this againe vndoubtedly maketh you to distaste and loath euen the good things which be among them The want of it makes you to detest the name of a pacificatour to fly the voyce of peace to cry Crucifige to carrie one against an other murthering tongues poysoned pennes and vehement spirits of destruction spirits contrary to God Inspiritu vehementi conteres naues Tharsus saith Dauid in a vehement spirit shalt thou breake the ships of Tharsus Wee read in the second of the Kings while Eliab was commanded to attend the comming of God vpon the Mountaine the holy Spirit saith Behold there was a winde which did rent the rockes but the Lord was not therein therewas a great commotion and earthquake but neither was he there and thereafter a huge fire but he was not yet in it In the end there came Sibilus aura tenuis the whispering of a sweet and temperate ayre and therein was the Lord Euen so the Christian Clergie who goe into the mountaine of God to vnderstand the secrets of his will so long as they thunder out such tempestuous windes of mutuall despight God will neuer be there to pitty our Christian distractions So long as they raise such vehement commotions and fearefull earth-quakes to rent the states and liues of Christian Princes God will not be there neither to restore Ierusalem and to purge his holy Sanctuarie of the Catholike Church so long as you burne your selues with fire of mutuall acerbity and wrath you shall not yet see the Lord there to pitty our Christian discordes that our Christian Religion bee no longer a reproach to the dangerous multitudes of infidell nations who watch their opportunitie to assault vs because as the holy spirit doth testifie in that same place Non in commotione Dominus the Lord in his mercy cannot be in a commotion but if you should whisper out this Sibulus aurae tennis ibi Dominus this gentle and soft ayre of meeknesse and brotherly admonition there possibly you might finde the Lord. Now to the effect that this briefe exhortation to dispose our selues to Christian peace should not bee mistaken and neglected as an indigested phantasie of my braine I send you all to read that treatise called Eirenicon sine de pace Ecclesiae of the peace of the Church done by that famous Iunius one of the chiefest lights of the Church while he liued In which treatise he doth call all these of your humour wicked and seditious Tribunes and of which he did vpon his death-bed protest as I was informed of those who were present to haue more comfort hauing written it immediately before Tanquam cantum Cygneum as the spirituall song of his farewell then of all the religious exercises of his life time which were many and most laborious So that to imitate for Reformation the practise of our architype Ierusalem this is the first point which we must obserue with Daniel to make generall confession of our transgressions as well Pope and Iesuite as Puritan and againe to make orations and suppications for all which as it is a thing wee ought to doe so it is strange how wee should refuse to doe it while Daniel hath said Lord to vs belongeth open shame our Kings our people our selues T is strange of the Papist that you should affirme thy Pope and thy Priests are holy and cannot erre that they haue no need of generall Councells nor of generall Reformation as if God had taken corruption mutabilitie from the earth and granted vs heere a generall beatitude for the sake of Rome In Gods name let it please you to esteeme your Pope no more holy then Daniel was and if you wish him to be cleansed from his Idolatry and vniust vsurpations to be restored againe to the vnity of the Catholike faith and that dignity which he did once lawfully brooke to be a chiefe Bishop of the occidentall Church Then must you cry with Daniel O God to our Pope our Cardinalls and Priests and to vs belongeth open shame because we haue transgressed against thy seruant Moses euen our great Moses Iesus Christ who redeemed vs from the bondage of that fearfull Pharaoh Satan Wee haue turned his faith and all Religion to superstitious worship wee haue turned his spirituall gouernment into a Tyranous Monarchy and we haue turned the piety of Christian manners into iniquity and abhominion This must be the voyce of thy confession And thou protestant if thou wilt wish the increase and restitution of Christs Church thou must pray for Rome as Daniel did for Ierusalem Lord be mercifull vnto the holy City where thy name was once so truely worshipped thou must teach and admonish them preach and write to them as the Prophets did to the Israelites in captiuity Brethren as it came in your minde to depart from the Lord your God so wee beseech you to indeuour your selues tenne times more to turne to him againe If you will deny that Rome is your mother Church that is nothing either it is lerusalem Antioch Alexandria Rome or some other you cannot deny that shee is your sister Church who once had a concord and vnity of faith with you and that by her defection the Catholike Church is greatly weakned You cannot deny that whiles shee is fornicatrix the Lord doth beget in her sonnes and daughters who daily turne vnto him as he did in Ierusalem when hee said to his Prophet Hosea Goe yet and loue a woman that was an harlot according to the loue of God toward Ierusalem for she looked after strange Gods and I bought her with siluer c. You cannot deny but those who did possesse the chiefest functions
in our Church the times of reformation that they had their calling deriued from the Church of Rome and those who receiued calling from them By the Church of Rome I meane as before those Churches that receiued not the true faith so much at first as at last corruption and Idolatry from her who consenting therein with her may bee called after her name You cannot deny that our Ancestours who now liue in whose faith we were baptised that they had their Baptisme from the Church of Rome and that Sacrament truely administred there not in the name of the Church of Rome but in the name of the Father Sonne and holy Ghost therefore our fathers were neuer pressed by any reformed Church to be rebaptised That confession of S. Peter that Iesus was the sonne of God no man can deny that it is the faith of Rome corrupted indeed with Idolatrous worship she hath fallen from her spouse Christ to play the harlot Shall ye not therefore as a member of one body with her as a kinde brother or sister pitty her disease will ye answere me to this that she is obstinate reprobate hath stopped her eares with the serpent so that she cannot heare but how doe you know when God hath appointed her to heare consider the calling of Ezekiel and in what termes that spirit which entered into him did send him to the house of Israel and in his 2. and 3. Chap you shall finde aboue sixe seuerall commissions giuen him in these words Son of man thou shalt go to them but surely they shall neuer heare thee but lay thee in bonds And how many Prophets were sent vnto them whom they did neuer heare yet after seuen generations captiuitie it was said to Ierusalem Lyft vp thine eyes and Behold thy ioyes comming from the east thy people who were caried in captiuitie for their Idolatrie turning backe reioycing in the word of the holy one to the honour of their God saith the Text. Ierusalem was but our Type and shaddow she fell from God so absolutely that Hosea saith Ierusalem for many yeares shall neither haue Prince priest sacrifice nor Prophet because in her captiuitie she durst not practise her owne Idolatries So that neuer Church was in more fearefull and desperate condition yet the Lord did restore her whereupon we haue reason to hope that hee will in his mercie more fauour the body vnlesse our ingratitude and transgressions doe close the doore of his mercie The second point which we note in the Reformation of Ierusalem is that they were performed by ordinary meanes of lawfull Princes and Prelates The Prophets indeed whom God appointed to be watchmen ouer the house of Israel they were extraordinarily called but the worke was wrought by ordinary Gouernours for in that place of Daniel we read that after his prayers for all the Angell Gabriel appeared vnto him reuealing vnto him the designed time of their restitution by certain circumstances saying betwixt the going out of the commandement for taking back of the people and reedifying of Ierusalem and betwixt the comming of Messias the Prince there shall be seuen weekes and threescore and tenne weekes c. where he shewes how that restitution and reformation of Ierusalem proceeded from one ordinance giuen to Princes and Prelates who did enterprize it as wee see testified by the Spirit of God in that restitution made by Cyrus King of Persia who did proclaime it in these words The Lord God of heauen hath giuen me all the kingdomes of the earth and hath commanded mee to build him a house in Ierusalem who is among you with whom his God is let him goe vp to Ierusalem and build the house of the Lord. Where he himselfe professed to haue a warrant from God as supreme King who had power to performe it And againe that hee did not depute to that discharge euery man or any man indifferently no but hee with whom God is and who were such it is subioyned in the Text Then the chiefe Fathers and the Priests and Leuites rose vp to goe to the worke And Cyrus King of Persia brought foorth by the hand of Mithridate his Thesaurour the vessels of the house of the Lord and counted them on to Zorobabel Prince of Iudea and made the people to be furthered and strengthened by siluer gold cattell and substance of his owne subiects T is cleere that the commission was giuen to the Princes and to the Prelates it was not done by priuate pretenders nor by sedition nor insurrection the people did endure the yoake of bondage till it pleased the Lord to reforme Ierusalem by ordinary Magistrates and meanes a point that howsoeuer is is expressely to beimitated and followed in Christian reformations yet such hath beene the times fore-past that diuerse haue beene forced to doe contrary to the same partly for want of patience to attend Gods secret appointments or through the feruours of zeale and partly through the intollerable pride of Rome who would neuer hearken to any voice of Reformation touching the which and the pretenders of extraordinary vocation I will not meddle to speake because I am no extraordinarie Diuine onely this by the way Two things doe appeare to me one that such pretexts haue euer beene the fountaine of all disorder and nouelties in the Church For whence haue Arrianisme Pelagianisme and those other flowed of old and whence of late Anabaptisme Brownisme and besides those so many concussions and afflictions as we haue seene mooued within this kingdome by those who vrged the Geneua discipline to bee accepted for a third essentiall note of the Church From whence came all these but from singularity of opinion and from holy pretenders whereof the meanest would take vpon him to affirme that A Christian true albeit a country clowne May teach a King to weare a Scepter and a Crowne So that so long as extraordinary calling shall bee pretended or permitted that spring of curious and Libertine impieties shall neuer be stopped as may be seene in Holland which is become a Prostibulum of damnable sectaries pretending the holy spirit for their dreames Againe for another it appeares looking vpon the Scriptures of God that there is no backe doore left for such dangerous Reformatours God doth indeed frequently illuminate the hearts of men with vprightnesse and true knowledge amidst vniuersall ignorance that such may perswade write and insinuate why not but to intrude themselues into the Church or to attempt Reformation I know not how euen the Prophets of the old Law who had the extraordinary spirit they would not goe to declaime publikely against manifest Idolaters but when the Angell of God did specially send them There bee times when God will not vouchsafe his light to men as S. Matthew saith Ne Sancta dentur canibus Margaritae porcis proijciantur that holy things should not bee giuen to Dogges nor pearles cast before swine And speaking of the Apostolicall times I thinke they are
as to say Ezekiel was rapt in his spirit from Babel to Ierusalem it might be in spirit or in body The Hebrew Doctours hold in their remote Theologie that the Angels make oblation to God of the soules of his Saints who become dead by way of this abstraction alleadging for it this passage of the 116. Psalme Speciosa in conspectu Dominimors sanctorum suorum Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints but to denie that transportation which is both in body and spirit were to denie the Scripture Eliah Enoch Abacucke were transported and in the Euangelists our Sauiour corporally transported by Satan to the pinacle of the Temple and after vpon a mountaine The best Theologes hold that Habacucke was indeed soule and bodie transported and so Saint Philip the Apostle whereupon Thomas Aquinas reasoneth thus If it bee possible in one it is also possible in moe and in like maner both he and Durand Herne S. Bonauenture do make this argument If Satan can abstract the spirit from the body much more can he transport both because the separation is more miraculous of the two and is next vnto the veritie of Gods word the strongest argument we haue for the immortality of the soule and an argument subiected to reason For saith Aristotle in his ninth booke De Animalibus if the soule can doe any thing without the body then it should be immortall alwayes this Aphairisis Exstasis or ablation of the soule is a thing most vndoubtable the Scripture approueth it in diuers places specially in the persons of Saint P. aul and Saint Iohn the greatest Philosophers haue acknowledged it Plato and Socrates did call the bodie Antrum animae the cauerne of the soule the chiefest Sorcerers who know it by experience haue acknowledged it Zoreaster did call the body the sepulchre of the spirit and the great Orpheus did call it the prison of the soule and to reason euen naturally we see that locall motion can be some times without touching of bodies but onely by vertue of the agent as the sea is mooued by the moone which is distant from it more then 50000. Leagues and the Iron is drawen to mooue by Magnes or the Loadstone without any touching which being so in things so insensible and Inanimal as Iron much more it may be in things not onely animal but who haue their greatest force and vigour in that locall abstraction as our soules be most Galliard when they be most remote from the body And for this point of Satans power to transport I say that while that Cherubin which moues the eight Spheare wherein there fixed stars doth role it Millions of miles in one houre what matter is there of admiration if Satan can transport a body some few miles vpon the earth Lastly there is the commerce or copulation of good and bad spirits with men and women and whether it be really locally or per exstaâ—…n experience doth commonly teach vs that sundry things which we may call spirituall because they are inuisible and intouchable doe take really possession of our bodies as the passion of loue which entering by the subtile spirits of the eyes doth wound the heart corrupt the blood weaken the vitall faculties and sometimes spoyle the life yea the vehemencie of loue towards God hath oftentimes hereby wrought as much in his best Saints Againe the plague of pestilence and such cotagious things doe enter in a mans body in a spirituall sort to possesse it The Scripture doth testifie this reall and locall copulation of good spirits with good men our bodies are said to be the Temples of the holy Ghost Our Sauiour hath said that the father and he would dwell in him who obey his will The Prophet Ezekiel speaking of his vocation by God to preach to the Iewes I fell downe said he vpon my face and the spirit which entered in me did raise me vp and set me on foote In like sort of euill spirits the euill spirit of the Lord is said to enter into Saul really and the spirit of Satan into Iudas and our Sauiour did eiect diuers reall and sensible deuils because their voyces were heard The oddes and distinction of these in my opinion is this the good spirits hath more celestiall and subtile bodies and so their possession of men and copulation with them being more spirituall then others It is also more perceiued by the actions of our spirit then by any change of our bodies whereas Demones as Saint August in his tenth Booke De ciuitate Det Thomas Aquinus in Summa 2. Questi 95. Origen in his booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe affirme that they be meere corporall so that Arist. Plato and diuers Philosophers who diuided them in aereall terrestriall and subterrestriall spirits they hold that the two inferiour species of them be in some sort grosse and elementarie more remoued from the celestiall intelligences of the supreme world and therefore giuen to a wicked commerse with men and women by all sorts of deceitfull and impious suggestions whose copulations are both bodily palpable and visible possessing the bodies specially of women as grosse filthy and contagious vapours breeding inflamation visible in the hearts and breasts mouing swelling and dumbenesse in the tongue depriuing the organicke faculties of hearing seeing and such like as daily experience doth teach Neither let any man imagine the carnall copulation of the euil spirits with women to be a thing extaticke or fantasticke that enemie spirit of whom the Prophet saith Ad conterendum erit cor eius ad internecionem gentium non paucarum whose heart shall bee bent for the ouerthrow and destruction of many nations and people hee delighteth to defile or extinguish the seed of man euen in the mothers wombe so farre that the profound naturallist Paracelsus affirmeth that those grosse and vncleane spirits of deuils doe mixe themselues with humane feed where it is lost by naturall weakenesse or nocturnall dreames that they doe cooperate with it to produce thereby those succumbent or incumbent spirits deuils which are found chiefly in the moystie and Northen Regions To which abomination it seemeth the lawe of God hath some relation where it is said that all these who should couple themselues with the deuill Peor should perish wickedly and who will marke these places in Exod. Leuit. Deut. Where sorcerie and brutall Paliardise or luxurie is forbidden will find vncouth and vnknown villanies couertly touched as there where it is said you shall not present to God the wages of a harlot nor the price of a dogge and againe where God doth say you shall no more sacrifice vnto those Buckes and Satyrs after whom you went a whoring which I doe not heere introduce impertinently nor curiously but that wee may learne to reuerence whatsoeuer meanes the Lord hath appointed for vs to withstand the malice of Satan which is so dangerous for two respects First because of his craft and skilfulnesse who