and they obey him in the matters he giueth them in charge Is he that is directed and commaunded equall with him that directeth and commaundeth Theyr crosse-blowe of Fellowe labourers will not saue theyr ribbes if they be no better Fencers The Archb. and inferior Minister are both equal in respect of theyr fight in the Lordes battailes as the Generall of the fielde and the common Souldiours are but not in respect of ordering and disposing of the fight when euery Souldiour is appointed to his place Thys equalitie beeing hatched by Aerius it is well prooued by Ma. Doctor Bancroft in his Sermon at Paules crosse both out of Epiphanius and S. Augustine to haue beene condemned for an haeresie with the consent of the whole Church When S. Ierom heares of such a matter he wonders at it For the Bishop of Ierusalem beeing requested to appeare in a Counsell and refusing it sent one Isidorus a Priest in his stead a Bishoppe was looked for a Priest came who to couer the Bishops absence had nothing to alleage but that it was all one and the authoritie of the one as great as the other because he was a man of God that sent and a man of God that came Nihil interest inter Presbyterum et Episcopum eadem dignitas mittentis et misse hoc satis impâ—â—â—â—e in portu vt dicitur naufragium What saith S. Ierom is there no difference betweene a Priest and a Bishop is the dignitie of him that is sent as great as his that sendeth him This is spoken without wit or learning and this is euen at the first putting into harbour to east away the shyp The first lifting vp of a Bishop as S. Ierom noteth was the very phisicke of the Church against Schisme least euery man drawing his owne priuate way the ioynts of Gods house should be puld one from another and so the building fall The weakest sight in the worlde may well discere that this busie seeking of an equalitie among the Clergie is the practise of Nahash with the men of Iabesh when they were besieged He would admitte no conditions of peace with them except he might thrust out theyr right eyes and bring a shame vpon all Israell Bishops were lifted vppe into the highest places of the Church as the right eyes of the people of the Lorde to keepe watch against Schisme Haeresie no peace no truce no silence no agreement will be gotten at the handes of the Faction except we suffer them to bore out these eyes that a shame and reproche may be brought vppon all Religion Thys is the conclusion of Penries prayer in his Epistle to the Treatise that the Bishoppes may be thrust as one man out of the Church and the name of them forgotten in Israell for euer Nowe is the broode of hell broken loose the Church is a besieged Iabesh the deuill hauing whetted the sword of Spayne against it finding open force to be nothing worth he cals out his Pianers and sets Martin and Penrie a worke to vndermine it But heere is our comfort As the spirit of God came vpon Saul and stung him forward to put to sword and to scatter the hoste of Nahash in such sorte that there were not two of them left together The spirite of the Lord shall come vpon her Maiestie and kindle her sacred hart with a newe courage to strike home that there may not one couple of the Faction be left together in the Realme of Englande not so much as to binde vppe each others woundes nor one to be-mone another What is it els to desire this equalitie but that euery man might be his owne iudge and reach what he wyll in his owne charge when he hath no Bishoppe aboue him to controll him Howe dangerous this is in the high and hidden misteries of the worde a man may perceiue by experience in common matters for euen in things dailie subiect vnto our sences a mans owne aduice is commonly the worst counseller he can haue Salomon who was a great deale wiser then any Sect-master euer was or wyll be hath giuen vs warning That if a man beginne once to be wise in his owne conceite there is greater hope of a foole then of him And I dare auouch that whosoeuer is possessed with an ouerweening or giues two much credit vnto himselfe needeth not to be tempted of the deuill because he is a tempter and a deuill vnto himselfe At the deliuery of the Lawe in Sinay GOD commaunded his people to be folded vp and to stand within the barres vppon-paine of death At the deliuerie of the Gospell our Sauiour branded his sheepe with these two marks hearing and following They must harken to the voice of him that teacheth and followe the trace of him that leadeth they may neither commaund nor goe before When they beginne to snuffe vppe the winde in theyr noses like the wilde Asse in the Wildernesse which tyreth all that follow her when they stande vpon the pinacle of euerie Tower Castle built in the ayre by theyr owne conceite and say to the Bishoppes as the people did to Ieremie What soeuer commeth out of our own mouth that will we doe then they are verie easie to be deceiued And then it fareth with them as it did wyth the Disciples of our blessed Sauiour he appearing vnto them vpon the Sea they tooke him for a spirit and imagining theyr Maister to be a bugge they grewe verie fearefull of a great benefit Such a dazling it is that afflicteth the eyes of our Reformers our Maister Iesus offereth himselfe vnto vs in thys excellent gouernment of the Church by graue and learned Lorde Bishoppes but they mistake it to be Satanicall and tremble and quake at theyr own commoditie But to come to anker if they be of one fayth and one hope with vs let them helpe to twine vppe a threefold corde and become of one hart with vs. Let witte which is windie obtaine the lesse that Charitie which edifieth may gaine the more No doubt but our Sauiour had an especiall care of the vnitie of his Church both when he made his request vnto his father that we might be one as the father and he are one and when he tooke his leaue of his Church with so kinde a farewell My peace I giue you my peace I leaue vnto you If this peace wyll not be had at theyr handes that haue so long troubled the Church of GOD among vs I cast then my Gauntlet take it vp who dares Martin or any other that can drawe out any Quintessence of villanie beyoynde Martin the cause shall not want a Champion I haue nowe gallopped the fielde to make choyse of the ground where my battaile shall be planted And when I haue sent you the May-game of Martinisme at the next setting my foote into the styroppe after it the signet shall be giuen and the fielde fought Whatsoeuer hath beene written to any purpose of eyther side shal be ledde out into the plaine the foote men and horse small shotte and artilerie shall be placed euery troupe wing and squadron ordered and the banners displayed Therwithall I will make both Armies meete and the battaile ioyne bullet to bullet staffe to staffe pyke to pyke and sworde to sworde the blowes dealt and the breache made vpon the Puritanes shall be discouered you shall see who be falne and who be fledde what Captaines are slaine and what Ensignes taken It shall be shewen howe like a good Generall the Archb. of Canterburie hath behaued himselfe with his battle-axe and howe the braynes of Tho. Cartwright flye thys way and that way battered and beaten out euery bone in his bodie pittifullie broken and his guttes trayling vpon the grounde heere a legge and there an arme of his followers shall be gathered vppe and the carkases of the deade like a quarrie of Deare at a generall hunting hurled vppon a heape Wherein my Supplication shall be to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie at the end that our Conquerors returning from the chace may by vertue of her highnesse fauour and authoritie holde still the honour which they haue wonne and well deserued in the seruice of GOD and the crowne of England Therefore as the Reformer hath made proclamation for Armour and Munition desiring you to help him to a booke of Church discipline which he sayth was written in the dayes of King Edward the sixt the Authors whereof he sayth were M. Cranmer and Sir Iohn Cheeke The like proclamation make I in his behalfe because mine peraduenture will come to more handes then his Furnish him I pray you the better he is prouided the greater honour it will be to ouerthrowe him I would be glad he should haue it if there be any such and sette downe what he can ere I come foorth againe that I may driue all before me and roote out the verie name of a Puritane from vnder heauen In which exployt as Berzillai the Gileadite refused to courte it in his age resining that place to hys Sunnes as fitter for younger yeeres So I beseeche all our Bishoppes Doctors and auncient men vpon whose siluer heads the Almond-tree hath blossomde to giue vp this taske to me and fitte and iudge of my labours The spirite of the Lord assisting me opportunitie and other circumstaunces concurring with it I trust they shall see me pricke it and praunce it like a Caualiero that hath learned to manage Armes From my Castell and Collours at London stone the 2. of Iuly Anno. 1590. FINIS Pag. 194. 195. CAP. 36. LVKE 4. 16. 1. TIM 4. 13. REVEL 15. 3. 4. Pag. 91. sect 1. Cartwright and Penne both at buffets Pag. 126. line 14. MAT. 24 45 46. Pag. 49. sect vlt. 44. 8. Ep. ad Pammach EXO 19. IOH. 10. 3.
the holy Ghost a deceiuer that saith Moses is preached when Moses is read Is the right eye and vnderstanding of God put out because he commaunds the message of Ieremie to be set downe in writing and to be read vnto his people Are Christ and the Apostle to be condemnd for Haereticks because the one stoode vp in the Synagogue on the Sabboth day to read the other chargeth Timothie to giue attendance to reading till he com Was the reading of the word when there went no preaching with it no better then Swines blood before the Maiestie of GOD Howe commeth it to passe then that God would haue it so and why doth he attribute an effect of preaching vnto reading Iere. 36. 2 affirming that by this meanes the people may heare and repent and he may forgiue them their iniquities I wyll thresh at his shoulders before I leaue him let him make his complaint to his Maister Cartwright and let him dresse him if he please when I haue done with him It is not his emptie reply of emptie feeders darke eyes ill work-men to hasten the haruest that shall stop my mouth I looke for scholasticall graspes and aunswers to so graue and weightie arguments he may not thinke to beguile mine appetite as women do their children that cry for meate when they giue them a bable to play withall As a man comparing the ioy of heauen with the painfulnes of feare cannot say there is feare in heauen yet as feare is taken for a reuerence and admiration of the works the wonders the iustice the trueth and maiestie of God it is no hard manner of speech at all to say there is feare in heauen feare in the holy Angels feare in the bosoms of the blessed so if you compare the exposition and application that are in preaching as preaching is strictly taken with the barenesse of reading in respect of the person of him that readeth you cannot say there is preaching in reading nor that reading is preaching without derogation vnto preaching yet as preaching is taken in holy Scriptures for euery kinde of instruction by the word the speech may be swalowed with ease enough to say there is preaching in reading and reading is preaching as the Aunswer to the Admonition teacheth you Though they grinne with the mouth grinde with the teeth stampe with the feete and take stones with the Iewes to hurle at me this truth shall be defended against them all Neuerthelesse I wyll not be theyr vpholder which lye sleeping and snorting in their charges vnapt or vnable to stand in the breach or to run between the wrath of God and the people when the plague approcheth for I wish with my heart that euery Parrish had a Watch-man who with the tongue of the learned might call vpon them but this is such a matter as cannot by all the Bishops in the land be brought to passe For suppose that all they who cannot preach could be remoued where will you finde sufficient men for so manie places as would be voide If you goe to our Vniuersities they cannot affoord you one for twentie which matter T. C. saw well enough when he had no other shift to aunswer this but to say he looked for help from the Innes of Court No doubt manie excellent learned wits and religious mindes are nursed there and suppose the Gentleman whose vnprinted booke I spake of could find in his hart to make such an honorable change of life as to forsake the barre to pleade for GOD I doubt how many hundreds would follow him The Church of the Lande beeing still vnfurnisht what shall we doe I know what morsels Penrie would haue before he gapes he will cry let them be restored that are put to silence If we should yeeld so much vnto him though the number of them also would not fill vp the emptie places yet they must be examined by the Apostles rule of cutting and deuiding the word a right and not one of them should be admitted that hath not a steddie hand to cleaue iust where the ioynt is where would they stande trowe you which in stead of sound doctrine to feede our soules haue giuen vs the wine of giddines to turne our braines I wil not trouble them at this time with their triall by the touch-stone of Contradicentes redarguere for then I should find them so ill appointed that they must be throwne ouer the Pulpit as thicke as hoppes Therefore Penrie began to gather his wits vnto him when he limitted his Petition to certaine bounds he would haue able men in euerie Congregation within England as farre as possibly they might be prouided Heere his wit is at the fullest and presentlie it beginneth to wane againe fore-seeing the matter though possible with God impossible with vs it is verie boldly doone of him before he knowes the waie of his own spirit to iudge the spirite of another man and pronounce condemnation to a Bishop before the tribunall seate of God where he must stand to receiue sentence vpon himselfe What a watch had S. Ierom before his mouth when writing against an erroneous Bishop which neither all Warwicke nor all Wales shall euer be able to prooue by the Archb. of Canterburie with great humilitie and humblenes of spirit he sayd that if the honour of the Priest-hoode and reuerence of the very name of a Bishop did not with-hold him and but that he called to minde the Apostles aunswer I knew not that he was high Priest he confesseth with what out-cryes and heate of tearmes he could finde in his heart to inueigh against him If so learned a Father as S. Ierom to whom Cartwright and Penrie may goe to schoole had such a respect to the place person of the Bishop of Ierusalem euen then when he was suspected of the haeresies of Origen and Arrius refused personally to appeare in a Counsell to cleere himselfe what a reuerend regard ought euerie one of vs to haue of the Bishops of Iesus Christ which are and haue beene the very hands whereby God hath deliuered his truth vnto vs He that receiueth and honors them receiues and honors not them so much as him whose Bishops vndoubtedly they are Heerein neighbour Cartwright I challenge you of a daungerous Angina in your throate how durst you presume to make so lowde a lie as to say the B. of Sarisburie D. Iuell cals the doctrine of the holy Ghost wantonnes You would make vs beleeue that if humanitie stayed you not you could breake vppe his graue and bite him beeing dead whom you durst not looke in the face whilst he liued That Bishop hath a great many learned sonnes first taught by him in his house afterwardes maintained by his purse in the vniuersitie they are all of the nature of the Elephant the more they see the blood of their Maister shed the more their courage increaseth and they breake with the greater force into the battaile They haue all vowed to
Reformer hath that the Bishoppes of the land should be throwne downe and the Iewes Synedrion set vp And why because from the be-beginning of the new Testament to the latter end of it there is not a word spoken of a Lord Archbishop nor a Lord Bishop Will he neuer leaue to play the lubber what a lazie lowtish kind of argument is this to reason ab authoritate negatiue it is condemned and hyssed out of all Schooles of learning had it beene a matter of saluation I could haue borne with him to heare him reason negatiuelie from the authoritie of holy scriptures and all Schooles of Phylosophers shoulde haue vailed the bonet vnto GOD the case standing as it dooth I cannot but draw my mouth awrie Not satis-fied wyth the slippe he hath giuen the Vniuersities and Lawes of learning he is as bolde with the Scriptures and schoole of Angels Bishops sayth he pollute the Church two wayes the one is by theyr dealing in ciuill matters the other by theyr superioritie ouer inferiour Ministers I might iustly scorne to looke vpon so foule a vomit were I not perswaded that the poyson beeing tasted before the drinke I must giue you will be the better welcom His proofes for these two points are these Math. 10. 24. 25. The Disciple is not aboue his Maister c. Which lesson our Sauiour giueth his disciples to encourage them to beare the persecution hatred nyppes taunting and euill speeches of the wicked according to the patterne he had giuen thē inferring vpon it that if they called the Maister of the house Belzebub much more they would doe so to the seruaunt and they must looke for the lyke intreatie You see there is no such matter as the Reformer would force vpon vs. But you may imagine what a terrible burning fitte he is in by his tossing and turning from place to place to recouer rest though it torment him much the more From the tenth of S. Mathew he thrustes himselfe into the 18. of S. Iohn v. 36. My kingdome saith our Sauiour is not of this world if it were my seruaunts woulde fight for me There was an accusation framed against our Sauiour to put him to death the maine poynt whereof was this that he affected the Scepter and sought innouation and change of the present state whereupon Pilats interrogatorie ministred vnto him was Art thou the king of the Iewes Christes aunswere vnto him cleeres him of it They might see by his proceedinges that he had no such pretence for then he would haue sought it by Armes and inuasion as they that hunt for kingdoms doe No brovles nor commotion beeing made by him or by his followers they might perceiue he was wrongfully accused to seeke any subuersion of the state Thys is Caluins iudgment vpon that place Had he founde it to make against mingling of Ecclesiasticall and ciuil authoritie in one person I dare auouch he wold haue bent the nose of this Canon vpon vs presentlie But when Christ saith there His kingdome is not of this world he takes it to be spoken in respect of the transitorinesse of worldly kingdoms that must passe ouer the stage with all theyr pompe and come to a winding vp at last when his kingdome shall haue no end They that abused thys place to prooue out of it that the cause of Religion ought not to be defended by sword though it be by sword inuaded had a little more tincture from hence to lay vppon theyr opinion than Penrie can haue yet both are from the meaning of the texte The other quotation of Iohn 6. v. 15. helps him as little as this Christes hyding himselfe out of the way when the people went about to make him king was because he came to suffer not to raigne and to shew them theyr error who thought it was in theyr power to make a king the setting vp of Princes pertaining not vnto them but vnto God To gather from thence that a Minister may not deale in ciuil causes is to reason as I heard an Ironmonger did in a Pulpit the last Summer Moses refused to be the sonne of Pharaohs daughter ergo a Minister may not meddle in ciuill causes Bounse thers a gunne gone off doe not the Bishops quake at thys ô that I could drawe him out of his hole to print me the poynts which he hath preached the spirite of the Prophets being subiect to the Prophets and his spirite and doctrine examined by the spirite and doctrine of the Church of England you should see me so clapper-claw him for it that he should haue no ioy to runne into Reformation before he be better learned The pearle of the word must not be weighed in those scales that men commonly vse to weigh their yron it is a nicer work Now me thinkes the Reformer should smell ere I goe any further that the rest of his reasons haue taken water and are rotten before they come to shore I see not one of his prooues that will abide the hammer they are so beaten to powder by the examples of the old and new Testament In the old you shall finde that Melchisedeck Aron Eli and Samuel were both Priests Iudges they both offered Sacrifices and sate vpon ciuill causes In the newe Testament Christ who refused to be made King of the Iewes tooke vpon him to ouerthrow the tables of the money changers and whipt the buiers and sellers out of the Temple Paule also requested Timothie as a Iudge to receiue no accusation against an Elder but vnder two or three witnesses Thys authoritie beeing receiued from the Prince vnder whom we liue and being exercised in the Church vnder her The B. of Sarisburie iudgeth to become Ecclesiasticall in that it serueth to the furtheraunce of the Church The matter hauing beene so well debated and resolued vpon by so reuerend learned men as with great studie and trauaile haue run the race before vs to teache vs that come after howe to vse our weapons I wonder how these seelie snayles creeping but yesterdaie out of shoppes and Grammer-schooles dare thrust out theyr feeble hornes against so tough and mighty aduersaries Moreouer it is very strange to consider howe many gashes the Faction haue giuen vnto themselues in denying this iurisdiction vnto our Ministerie and seeking it vnto theyr owne wherein they will haue some of theyr Elders to be gouerning and preaching Elders to handle the word and the sword together and whereas our Bishops receiue their authoritie from her Maiestie exercising it in her name and vnder her Tho. Cartwright would haue his authoritie to be aboue her in the ruling of the Church and her Maiestie to be fitted vnto him and to his Alder-men as the hangings to the house Looke what a pittifull Megrim it is that troubleth them in this poynt the like God wot maketh theyr braines to crow in the superioritie of Bishoppes aboue theyr bretheren Are all Ministers I beseech you of equall authoritie Howe then commaundeth Paule Titus and Timothie