Thyest quod nulla posteritas taceat sed nulla probet exceeding any particular Scythian Scillian Marian Tartarian Barbarian Iewish Turkish villany yet it was plotted by Catholiques Anticoton conspired by Catholiques acted Ioh. Mariana and to be acted by Catholiques and maintained as a lawfull doctrinall position by Catholiques Heretofore it was a Catholique doctrine held tyrannous in a king to kill a Priest but now it is thought a meritorious point in a Priest to kill a king and you must iustifie it If you iustifie not it they will not iustifie you Mr LEECH And if this blowe haue not hit home to the finall deciding of this quarrel depriving his heresie of al breathing let him or any or all his complices and especially those six well selected doctours who haue so farre engaged their credits by interessing themselues so deepely in the quarrell warde and answere the blow which they haue publikely received Doctor Benefield for all of them put togither haue not yet diverted the stroke Or if the cause which the principall Actor vndertooke will abide so much as the least touchstone of tryal let him vpon what grounds and confidence soever he stādeth as I dare boldly chardge challeng him he standeth vpon none but hereticall divulge his lecture vnto the cēsure of the world ANSVVER Your challēdge is received But why were not those many challēages answered by you which were offered by the ingenious and learned students of Christ-church and by the ingemminated motions of the Reverend Deane that you shoulde sit to answere or oppose in the scholasticall forme of Disputations about this point The sixe Doctors need not to raise their forces to encounter you One of them whom it most cōcerneth hath opposed more then you and Rome will ever answer His lecture is divulged to the worlds censure so it was desired by the Rightly Honorable and most reverend Bishop Ravis whose great care before his death was that your ignorant scandalous Pamphlet they were his owne wordes might receiue a rigid answere The learned and painefull lecture is able to satisfie any who giue i 1. Tiim 4.1 no heed vnto spirits of errour doctrines of Divels which speake not lies through hypocrisie having their consciences seared with a hot yron With that lecture the places of Scripture be truely expounded the question as in the sight of God truely discussed in the Appendix the ancient Fathers most sufficiently answered Mr LEECH Meane while for the honor of God confusion of Sathan to preserue Christ his word the word of verity from the infectiō of Heresie for the iust defence of this doctrine the due reproofe of hereticall innovatiō I haue thought good here to insert a true coppy of the Sermon preached by me in Oxford to iustifie Evangelicall Counsailes vpon the occasion aboue mentioned Anno Dom. 1608. 27. die Iunij ANSVVERE k Chem. in loc Commun loc de Cons Evang. Luther about to cōfute this very doctrine vseth these words In perpetuam rei memoriam maximè verò in Redemptoris gloriam ista sunt memori mente servanda exaggeranda adversus impudentissimos rabulas Papisticae abominationis defensores I wil not bee so bitter But to the glory of God dischardge of my conscience and satisfying of those great and honorable friends that did importune me to this businesse I follow you line by line to see whether your coppy bee right You say you haue endevored to reproue hereticall innovation I say so much dicit Scaurus negat Varius vtri creditis you must put your selfe vpon God and the Country Mr LEECH Reade it deare Christian brother severely iudge of it impartially and God graunt it may effect in thee what I wish hartily and that is if thou feelest thy selfe called and thy soule mooved effectually to practise the same Amen ANSVVER Wish faithfully pray religiously then no doubt God will giue you vnderstanding in al things which you must haue in your selfe before you cā wish it or teach it to others I lament you should so oppose your selfe to the doctrine of Christs holy Catholique Church in a mercenary respect and discontented humour burthen your soule with so fowle a sinne as this is truely iudged to be even Apostasie All such to the life S. Paule doth decipher and giveth order against such 1. Tim. 6.3 4.5 If any man teach otherwise and consenteth not to the wholesome doctrine which is according to Godlinesse he is puft vp and knoweth nothing he doateth or languisheth about questions and strife of words whereof commeth envy strife raylings evill surmises vaine disputations of men of corrupt mindes destitute of the truth which thinke that gaine is Godlinesse Fly such and feare such So I wish you so I counsell you so I pray for you and seale my counsell wishes and prayers with Amen Mr LEECH THE SERMON PREACHED IN defence of EVANGELICALL COVNSAILES and the Fathers ANSVVER It was and ever will be true Causa patrocinio non bona peior erit In that it is Bellarmines doctrine all your authorities gathered from him you are his advocat hee your author But I know not whose the Sermon is he made it but preached it not you preached it but made it not Mr LEECH AND I saw the dead both great and small stande before God Apoc. 20.12 the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their works This verse naturally floweth into three streames of Christian Doctrine The first is a generall citation of all And I saw the dead both great and smal stand before God The second is a particuler examination of all vpon a two-fold evidence brought in liber conscientiae librū praescientiae the booke of conscience and the booke of God his eternall prescience the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life A finall retribution involved in the act and particuler manner of the iudgement and the dead were iudged of those things which were writtē in the books according to their workes ANSVVER AS the Surgion seeking to heale some vlcerated partes of a corrupted body doth not apply his Kataplasmes vnto every mēber but vnto those that are worse affected so must I deale with your sermon seeke to cure only those partes that are most tainted In this first Passage if by the rules of Criticisme I should examine it I shoulde finde it guilty of diverse errors but chiefly of your mistake in calling the first part of your text a Citation which is an appearance or a vision of the appearāce the effect of the citation I saw the dead both great and smal your best helpe here wil be to let it be dispensed with per metonimiam satis impropriam Mr LEECH The generall citation more particularly wrappeth in it the persons appearing the dead the extent of
falsified Mr LEECH Thus the assēbly was dissolued I putting M. Vicechancellour in minde of the Articles which he formerly promised and bade me now to expect within two or three daies tooke my leaue for that time ANSVVER What prostituted cōscience would so persevere in falsity This must not passe vnconfronted Articles were not promised you It is more then improbable that such experienced discreation and expert resolution should first condemne and sentence and after giue the reason It is neither the custome nor commendation of Iuridicall proceedings His wisdome prevented you in this scandall and told you before many that you most falsly did bely him all may perceiue your spiting spleene to break out in revenge which revenge that you seeke to wreake vpon others will without repentance proue vengeance to your selfe Mr LEECH And now courteous Reader since thou hast seene the proceedings of these mē consider with me whether I haue not iust cause to complaine against them as S. Augustine complained long before against the Donatistical faction Fecerunt quod voluerunt tunc in illâ caecitate Non Iudices sederunt non Sacerdotes de more Quod solent in magnis causis congregati judicare Non accusator reus steterunt in quaestione Non testes documētū quo possent crimē probare Sed Furor Dolus Tumultus qui regnant in falsitate Wherfore I conclude this whole passage with the burthē of that excellent Psalme Omnes qui gaudetis de pace modò verum judicate ANSVVER Consider Christian reader duly ponderat whether a malignant adversary or a repugnāt Controversiary may more truely be portraied then these antecedent proceedings of M. Leech haue most liuely deciphered Malice hath strengthned error error begot heresie and this last brought forth Apostasie The virulence of speech is much in the former chapters Prolog ad 1. sentent the accusation in this Paragraph is the summe of all Lombard well noteth that in such cases fidei defectionem sequitur hypocrisis mendax And I feare me this will proue a remaining disease in the bowels not only of this Triumphant Pamphlet but of any thing that shall come from the same Author It is absurd you should so vnfitly and rudely apply S. Austins verses Fury Deceit and Tumult are the vpholders only of Heretikes And as good Physick misapplied is but poison so good Authorities misvsed though they keep the sense yet loose their reason To your verses so rudely applied in prose we returne S. Chrysostome his speech vpon Genesis Chrysost in Gen. hom 5. Quocirca divinae Scripturae vestigia sequamur neque feramus eos qui temerè quidvis blaterant and this shall bee the resolution of vs to follow the steppes of holy Scripture and not to endure those that rashly babble every thing And if this prose serue not wee returne part of the same Psalme of Austin contra Partem Donati Sacerdotes transmarini possent inde iudicare Quid curritis ad schisma altare contra altare Vt quod postea iudicatum est iam non possetis audire Et à iudicibus vestris cogeremini appellare Dum vultis erroris regnum quoquo modo confirmare You may abuse and accuse your iudges seeing like to the Donatists you appeale from them The clause and aphorisme of the song of S. Austin we receiue and honor our Saviour is the Prince of peace our Gospell the Gospell of peace we are the children of peace and the end of our beleefe is the peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding CHAP. 4. Mr LEECH VVHen S. Paul had appealed vnto the tribunall of Caesar Festus the deputy thought it an vnreasonable thing to send a prisoner vnto his Lord and not to signifie the cause For thus the light of nature could teach an Heathen that in discretiō and in iustice no man should be called into question without a pretence at the least of some speciall crime But see now a Christian Magistrate inferiour vnto an heathen in this behalfe who did not only convent but cōdemne me and never signified the cause which yet could be none other 1. Cor. 7.25 then that which concerned S. Paul himselfe Consilium do c. ANSVVER To whom appealed you whether were you sent Prisoner An idle and dull comparisō And to vse your owne wordes if but the light of nature had taught you any thing your comparison had not beene so rude nor your senses so duld as not to remember what was obiected not as a pretence but as a generall scandall offred not only against authority and the Vniversity but against the law and the truth of God For which you were often convented threatned inhibited now censured Was not the cause signified by Doctor Hutton by the Vicechancelor in your censure and by all that were assistants and dare you say the cause was never signified Was it so and do you deny it Do you deny it in one line in the next say it could be no other then that which concerned S. Paule himselfe Consilium Do wheras it is manifest S. Paul hath not the word Consilium By this you cōfesse the cause of the censure though we deny that ever S. Paul was the cause of your doctrine Mr LEECH Howbeit if he had dealt with me according to the law sparke of sinne he would answer him as he answereth you Avoide Sathan I will worship the Lord my God I abhorre the name of periury I will never sweare but in truth and iudgement and iustice And for that which followeth in this poisōful Paragraph I say that which S. Ierome in the like case counselleth Ierom. prol super Mat. if Shemei barke and snarle at thee contumelious wordes are to bee regarded only as the barking of Dogs And I ende this with the speech of Seneca Men speake evil of him but evil men If Marcus Cato if wise Lelius if Scipio should so speake it would grieue him but when professed slaunderers branded with the indelible marke of falshood and pursued with the fury of feare taught by error tempted by Sathan replenished with vnrighteousnesse and malitiousnesse let it no way grieue goodnesse it selfe Mr LEECH When I perceiued what small conscience he made either of faith in his promise or of equity in his proceedings I desired him with many earnest obtestations that it woulde please him at the least to signifie vnto me now by worde of mouth expresly what that point is for which he had thus punished me to my disgrace and losse And this fauor I hūbly requested at his hands asmuch for the generall as my owne particular satisfaction For many saw the punishment but could not know the cause ANSVVER Is there extant in the worlds greatest volume of history example of such dulnesse and senselesse apprehēsion that when the cause had been ingeminated yea tergeminated so often mentioned yea so often exprobrated and censured that yet you should pleade that you knew not the cause And that without
S. Paul saith to the Corinthes 1. Cor. 6 2. that the Saints shall iudge the world shall iudge the Angels In the Gospell Christ pronounceth it vnto them of the regeneration and in the Epistle Paule proclaimeth it vnto the Saints and will you impropriate so great an honour only to your Observers of Evangelicall Counsells The Saints shall iudge the Angells iudicio assessionis or approbationis as the Schooles speake but they haue this endowment of honor for beeing of the regeneration not mentioned for keepers of Counsells And it was not only an assurance made to the Disciples but to all the Saints neither were the Disciples professors of voluntary poverty virginall chastity or humble obedience as you interpret obedience First not of voluntrary poverty we never read they begd Paule made Tents and Peter did fish neither of them did begge and not only the Disciples did labour but as S. Austin proueth the Monks Clergy men of ancient times enioyed both their possessions and wiues and taxeth the Apostolici some Ad quod vult Deum haeres 40. that in a blind superstitious ambition would imitate the Apostles in refusing those into their company that had goods and wiues Arrogantissimè se vocaverunt saith S Austin they did most arrogantly call themselues Apostolici I may adde that most falsly they called themselues so for the Apostles did not refuse the communion and fellowship of any in that kinde neither were they professors of voluntary poverty as it is proued neither did they professe virginall chastity as I proceed to proue The Apostles for the most part were married men S Ambrose saith In 2. Cor. 11. AL but only Iohn the Evangelist The old Postils Dormi secure in Iohan. 2.1 Dormi secure Bentontine others say that S. Iohn was also married and that when Christ was at the marriage of Canaan in Galily then Iohn his marriage was celebrated and Pontanus Diez Costerus Pontan bibl con tom 1. fol. 217. Diez Con. 1. Cost to 2. with many others of the most quicksilverd wits among the new Papists doe so affirme For their humble obedience they practised all obedience in generall but not Monasticall obedience as you intend not such obedience as Ignatius warneth his fellowes of in an Epistle to theÌ„ that they be carefull least saith he the famous simplicity of blind obedience should decay Ep. ad fratres in Lusitan A blind obedience indeed for it is so straightly inioined them Pseudo Martyr cap. of Iesuits obedience that if one of them were so highly dignified as in a revelation to talke with Angells if his superior call him he is bound to leaue them and come away The obedience of the Apostles was no Monasticall obligation And howsoever Bellarmin would found this vpoÌ„ Christ his speech to the yong man sequere me yet De Monach. c. 9. § sex Test Mat. 19.21 if it would please his father-hood to looke into the Text hee shall finde that that obedience is there Commanded not couÌ„selled Matth. 19.21 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an imperatiue follow me But his Cardinalls hat serveth for a cap of maintenance for more wrestings and inforcements of Scripture then this You double your citatioÌ„ of the Saints iudging the Angels which you say all the wrangling wits and priuate contentious spirits in the world cannot wrest them The words of Scripture with all ioy and comfort we acknowledge but the inference we deny You sprinkle your lines with sulphur in steed of salt wee wrangle not about Scriptures we abuse them not wee wrest them not we say to all that shall reade our interpretations Aug. ad Petil. as Austin said of Petilian Petilianus Manichaeum me esse dicit dico me non esse eligite cui credatis So you say we are wrangling wits and contentious spirits we say we are not Let the world choose whether of vs they will beleeue But for the abuse detraction prophanation falsification and blasphematioÌ„ of Scripture by men of your side it is so commoÌ„ that men and Angells stand agast at it The yong Novice that vnderstood his father was an Abbot said hee might well cry Abba Pater Owen Epig. And Gonzaga himselfe the devout Iesuit Vita Gonz. fol. 187. when he heard his Father was dead answered that now nothing could hinder him from saying Our father which art in heauen These iocular wrestings be hatefull and harmefull but there bee not only these among you but most monstrous and blasphemous wrestings of holy writ whereby as enimies of righteousnes Act. 13.10 yee cease not to pervert the straight waies of the Lord. Mr LEECH To shut vp all in one word Precepts are exalted as necessary Counsells are offred as voluntary and arbitrarie The one being done is praised highly rewarded the other being vndone is reprehended and punished ANSVVER In one word Bell. de Mon. cap. 7. you should haue vrged Bellarmin his owne words from whom you had this Paragraph lib. 2. de Monachis cap. 7. Praeceptum visua obligat c. To which Iunius others answer humane couÌ„sel are arbitrary divine necessary For if that of Plato be true Plato ep 7. ad Dion propin fam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the petitioÌ„s or requests of kings lay a coÌ„maÌ„d much more should the counsels of God Rev. 3.18 those counsells being comands as among others that to the Church of Laodicaea I counsell thee to buy of me gold tryed by the fire that thou maiest be made rich it is a commande because it hath a threatning inferred in the former words Rev. 3. â—6 It will come to passe that I will spue thee out of my mouth the threat menaced enforceth it as necessary if necessary a precept and so your distinction betweene the precept and couÌ„sell properly holdeth not Mr LEECH This distinction betwixt precepts and Counsells is no new doctrine S. Hierom ad Eustochium de custodia virginitatis and against Iovinian layeth downe the point and differences thus Where there is a counsell there is left a freedome but precepts inioine a necessity precepts are common to all Counsells are the perfection of some few And this is agreeing with that of Gregory in the place aboue cited non omnibus praecipiuntur sed perfectioribus consuluntur they are not commanded to al but advised to men of the perfiter rank Precepts obserued haue a reward not observed a punishment Counsails not obserued haue no punishment but observed haue a greater reward ANSVVER Your vrging of these fathers is no new argumeÌ„t it is twise before answered Is this no new doctrin Plead antiquity while you will Scripture hath taught mee that the Gibeonites old shooes were but fained and that Bildad stood on Antiquity to overthrowe the Truth His words proue your worke for hee was the first that corruptly vrged the Fathers Ios 3.5 Iob. 8.8 Prepare thy selfe to search of their Fathers saith he
some stricter courses as Abraham is tied to marry Iohn to liue single Peter to forsake all Philip to keepe somewhat for his daughter Some quoad viam in this life may goe further then other mē as hauing greater graces from aboue and a richer talent committed to them quoad gradum as in this life there is of Christian perfection so some degrees in the life to come of Coelestiall glorification may be obtained by Gods infinit mercy Wee confound not therefore precepts and Counsells vnderstanding the word aright yet distinguish them as in our Vniversity the generall statuts which binde all and the particular which tie only those of such a qualitie and degre Whence it appeareth that wee hold not the like necessity as you conceit who never knewe what we held for the generall precept necessarily bindeth al the particular being that which in regard of indifferēcy of the courses to bee vndergon some call a Counsell but so that the same act may be Consilium in electione praeceptum in opere and they only can and if they can must performe these who are extraordinarily disposed and furnished beyonde other men And that this is true doctrine faith and reason doe both ioine in the proofe For if all bee too little can somewhat bee too much And Canst thou helpe me with thy oile Tertull. saith Tertullian that art a sinner wantest for thy own Lamp No our conclusiō must be that we are ready to cōfesse as Christ taught his servants to professe Luk. 17.10 we haue done nothing but that which was our duty to do In the old Testament iust Noah faithfull Abraham meeke Moses true harted David beloved Daniel could do no more did professe no more Tom. 2. Epistolar lib. 2. adver Pela And in the new Testament Ecce Apostolos omnes ardentes c saith S. Ierom beholde all the Apostles and all beleevers come short of that they should and whosoever hold that they may do more an Ostracisme must be had for them for they are too iust Hier. Comment in 19. Mat. And for the Fathers so heaped wrested there be as many that call these Precepts as Counsels I will trouble the reader but with some Virginity by the Decretals is called a precept Lib. de Incar verbi Dei In edit Comel Greek and Hierome calleth Virginity virginale praeceptum and so Athanasius speaking of Virginity Chrysost in Tit 3. col 1636. in huiusmodi praeceptis tātum Christus valuisset vt pueri virginitatem c. And concerning Poverty the iniunction of Christ to the young man is called a precept by S. Chrysostome Austin ep 84. G. 4. Hilary Can. 18. in Matth. in Tit. 3. Vides vt ideo praeceperit ei vt Christum sequeretur S. Austin in his Epistle 84. hath much to this purpose Hilary on the place calleth it vtile relinquēdi seculi praeceptū Euseb lib. 3. historiae c. 31. Cocc Thes Cath. Tom. 2. l. 4. art 3. p. 383. Aug. de dat Christ c. 17. Greg. Moral lib. 26. c. 25. by Euseb in his history Praeceptum Domini antea traditū by Saluianus as Coccius cōfesseth imperativum officiū And to omit others S. Austin doth so plainely distinguish the difference in his 3. booke de Doctrina Christiana the 17. chapter betweene praeceptum commune omnium and particulare praeceptum aliquorum Gregory doth so absolutely deliver in his 26. booke of Morals the 25. chapter the distinctiō of generale praeceptum and particulare that nothing is more resolutely and positiuely taught by that reverend Father And yet neither Gregory nor the other Fathers nor we are guilty of being Apostolici we abhorre their sect heresie and yet thinke Precepts and Counsels both to inioine necessity The Apostolici mentioned in Augustin are not branded with any Character but that which is the indelible marke of Monks to refuse the societie of those that haue possessions wiues therfore were they condemned but no worde of Precepts and Counsels in that chapter of Austin Epiphanius Aust ad quod vult Deum haeres 40. in his Chapter of Apostolici hath no worde of Counsailes Precepts neither do I finde any part of their heresie to concerne this point Secondly we teach that Coūsailes containe not in them perfection First not the perfection of a few for all are called to perfectiō 2. Cor. 13.11 Ephes 4.3 Col. 1.28 Paul inviteth all the Corinthians and afterwards all Christians as in the Epistle to the Ephesians giving reason hereof to the Collossians because perfection is the end of all preaching If all are called and commanded to be perfit then Counsels of perfection serue not as you teach for some few But I step a degree further there is no perfection in Counsels you affirme it Pag. 41. Parag. The defence in these words they are not in thēselues perfections but dispositions directions prepaparations to perfection So that in denying them to haue perfection in them we are no more guilty for Iovinians heresie or Virgilantius then you are According to the way Act. 24.14 which you call heresie so worship wee the God of our fathers beleeving all things writtē in the Law and Prophets In which Oracles of truth of the Law Gospell we finde no lawfulnes to vow single life Ramus wel observing Ram. lib. 2. de relig de talibus perpetuae virginitatis votis fides nulla nulla in sacris literis est litera Whatsoever was heresie in Iovinian we detest and yet in this equalling of mariage with virginity we are no more Iovinianists thē S. Austin Clem. Alex. strom l. 7. c. 6. who equalled Abrahams maried state with Iohns single life or Clemens Alexandrinus who affirmeth that the coniugall parties doe over-match the virginall profession in perfection of holy life giveth instance in the Apostles-Vigilantius heresie we are no way tainted with and Espencaeus Espens l. 1. de con pag. 3. more charitable thē many of the calumnious Papists did professe he thought it a slander to the Churches reformed to be accused of Vigilantius heresie Lastly to answer to your obiection if we hold none we thwart all antiquity I deny your inferēce for neuer did antiquity maintain any such profession of Monkish Counsellors They were free from the newe bond of humane ordinances Polyd. Virg. l. 7. Inv. c. 1. and vowes as Polidor Virgill testifieth and they had both goods possessions and wiues as S. Austin teacheth Aug de haeres ad Quod vult Deū haer 40. The professiō of every Christian God hath appointed it vnto him he must keep Centinell follow his vocation seeke to giue holy example by his profession not outwardly only but inwardly acknowledging according to our Saviours interpretation that the law requireth the exactest obedience and that wee are not able in this life to do so much as is commāded not in the lest precept and therefore workes of supererogatiō
Of revolting in these later times he had reason to speake whē the misery of this age is such that an asses head is sold at a shekle and our Philistine adversaries will offer any preferment to him that will turne their Proselite and yet when they receiue them admit them into no order but of Mendicants as the late proofe of some present experience of your selfe shew ◠Pet. 2.1 Apostasie was foretold as by others so prophetically by Peter that there shal be false teachers which shall privily bring in damnable heresies And who can ponderat this but with much sense and sorrow he will lament that anie sonne of this Country nay any son in the outwarde appearance of the church shoulde exenterat his naturall nay his spirituall mother and do this in a sinister conceit either for some particular discontent or for want of preferment ever for want of iudgement Lamentable is such Apostasie to Antichristian Popery Mr LEECH At which simple suggestion I coulde not but smile within my selfe first to consider that whereas he had absolutely charged this doctrine to be erroneous yet nowe he could not tel whether it were true or false Secondly to obserue that the preaching of truth contained in the gospell should be a meanes to draw men from the gospell vnto Popery as he was pleased to speake ANSVVER Simple suggestion If the Cumane beast could speake more modesty and duty would bee vttered You smile like the Picture that having two faces hath his embleme over it Nos tres so you by an enterchangeable view looking on them two you smile as ill favored as they and so make three The first cause of your vnseemely smile is that which wil cause gnashing of teeth vnlesse you repent He whose wisdome and knowledge ioined togither faithfully and strongly to charge you with the error of your doctrine did hee now doubte whether it were erroneous It is a mint of forgeries and falshoode and vnworthy the invention of anie that is called Christian Your second smiling consideration was as fonde as the other was false did you preach the truth out of the Gospell Bern. sup Cant. ser 65. Evangelium apellasti ad Evāgelium ibis Hast thou appealed to the Gospell saith Bernard vnto the Gospell thou shalt go The Law is said to be the killing letter but the Gospell will bee the killing letter at the arraignement of this supposititious erroneous position Mr LEECH But perceiving him to be enkindled with the flames of passion I forboare to adde fuell vnto the fire and therefore I pretermitted the mētioning of his folies at that time Only I made this briefe answere that if some truth bee not to be preached at all times yet the Contrary vnto truth was to be preached at no time and if it be lawfull for any man to impugne it is it not lawful for me to defend it and especially when it concerneth my selfe in particular For so it did in this case the eie of the whole Vniversity being cast vpon me in this behalfe ANSVVERE Rather say But trembling and fearing to stay much lesse to speake that there is so black liuor in your paper seeing you had so white a liver at your speech I admire not much Iam. 3. seeing your fictiōs be great though your Poetry none at all You say you forbeare to adde fuell vnto the fire S. Iames saith the tongue is a fire but I finde that your pen is a fire and yet but ignis fatuus I wonder that these poysonfull and filthy calumnies fabricated in the forge of a froathy braine eate not through your paper Lubert Replic l. 1. c. 1. If you continue this railing reviling slaundring you will so envenom your booke that none will buy it as Gretzer the devills agent in slaundring villany and railing scurrility was vsed in Frisia where only one of his bookes were to bee sold which none would buy because that foule mouthed Cerberus doth so besmeare all mens reputations hee dealeth with The conceited malice in you whetted with a custome of slaunder and edged with a contagion of error hath made your tongue so keene your stile so sharp and your truth so short that you woūd whom you can What follies can the bottomlesse pit of your opē sepulchre mētiō against this Paragon of men In whose defence men and Angells stand against all clamorous railers When you say Only I made this breefe answere c. that onely is ONELY more you neither did nor could reply so You never had that advantage given you as the acknowledgemēt of one sparke of truth in that doctrine nor ever was there doubt made but truth is allowed to bee preached and that you say the eie of the Vniversity was vpon you it was only the eie of iudgement and condemnation not the eie of respect or expectation few lent you their eies fewer their eares none their beleefe Mr LEECH Thus I tooke my leaue of M. Vicechancellour hee being full of passion and I of resolution for this matter against which he declamed with many words and without any reason consorting herein with those furious Donatists of whom S. Augustin pronounceth truly Contra lit Petil. l. 2. c. 51. Quid hoc aliud est quà m nescire quid dicere tamen non posse nisi maledicere ANSVVER He was full of resolution you full of discontented turbulent passion you were glad to be gon being so beaten with the power of truth for the wordes that stroke you were full of reason faith and religion as your consciēce knoweth notwithstanding your profusd dissembling and professed railing S. Austins speech to the Donatists retorteth it selfe vpon you so full of contradiction and malediction Aust and with it I returne another speech of S. Austin Non est intuendū quà m amarum sed quà m falsum I stand not so much vpon your acerbity as to shew to the worlde how you falsifie Mr LEECH CHAP. 3. THis Magistrate intending a preposterous course against me and yet pretending a formality of iustice convented me before him in iuridicall manner vpon the vigill of S. Peter a practitioner of my doctrine Lord said he what shall we haue that haue forsaken all and followed thee ANSVVER THis faithfull deputy of his maker and Master entended no preposterous course against you His brest like the hart of a good Magistrate is the Ocean whereinto all the cares of our Academicall causes empty themselues which hee ever sendeth forth againe in a wise conveyance by the streames of iustice he hath in all the time of his goverment beene the Pay-master of good deserts and Patron of Peace it was not formality of iustice he pretended but the satisfaction of the whole Vniversity who importuned that you might be convented and censured What vaine-glorious humor riseth vp in that froth of ostentation to cause you cal S. Peter a practitioner of your doctrine He was married therefore practised no Counsell of Virginity hee continued his
or rather annotations considered that there are divers Fathers meerely forged as Hyppolitus Amphilochius the epistles of Cletus Anacletus c. B. Iuell D. Rainolds that world of learning the honorable B. of Winchester haue proued which point was never answered as yet Secōdly divers false tracts are fathered on the true fathers as Mr Perkins Probleme a book neuer answered the worke now in our Oxford library in hand for comparing all the Fathers with their most ancient manuscripts do shew 136. bastard Epistles already discovered in Gregory Thirdly the Fathers are reiected most scornefully by Papists where they cannot wrest them to their purpose as is proved by the practise of Canus Villa vincētius Sixtus Senensis Baronius Bellarmine Fourthly that all of these Papists haue taxed the Fathers for particular errors Fiftly omitting many more reasōs the fathers make more for vs thē for Papists nay only for vs not for Papists as that precious Iewell of the Church hath irrefragably proved The counsaile out of Lyrinensis is already answered but this I adde hee doth not there meane vnwritten verities or a supply to bee made to scripture for hee doth acknowledge in the next Chapter and so againe in the 41. that solus Canon Scripturae sufficit ad omnia Vincent Lirinens satis supérque that the Scripture is sufficient alone against all Heretickes yea alone for all things more thē this that it is more then sufficient his 41. Chapter doth plainely deliver vnam regulā to be scripture the interpretation of which is ever to bee approved by Scripture And for those notes of vniversality Antiquity and consent which you say doe inseparably concurre Vinc. c. 4. c. 5. 11. he saith not so the word inseparably is not his for Vincentius sheweth that Heretikes haue claimed the two former shewing that the Arrians had vniversality and the Donatists Antiquity And for consent he forewarneth as a Prophet in 39 Chapter that when men endeavor Maiorum volumina vitiare to corrupt the ancient Fathers as Papists most openly doe to obtaine Consent then the only remedy is sola Scripturarum authoritate convincere to convince them by the only authority of Scripture And therefore if you built your fort vpon this ground as not hauing red or not vnderstood your Author choosing some fragments and not observing all the particulars and passages of his meaning your foundation is not on the corner stone the foundation rotten the building reeling and your doctrine hath no approbation from Vniuersality Antiquity or lastly from consent either iointly from all from the greatest number of fathers or from that which is the only Countenance and Approuer of Spirits Doctrines from the Scripture That therefore which you make your first motiue to haue rended you from the truth the same I make my first confirmation to settle me therein and to detest Popery that seeing Papists admit not a trial of their religion by Scriptures that the Fathers admitte none that reiect Scriptures as also that Papists approue not alwaies the Testimony of the Fathers as they pretend I infer in particular that this doctrine of yours is worthily condemned but not the Ancient Church as also in generall that by condemning of vs in any point you cōdemne Antiquity seeing our Reformed Churches be reduced to the ancient Primitiue And therfore your New foūd Religion is Rebellion against the Truth Apostasie frō Scripture and Antiquity Mr LEECH The second Motiue The Protestants preferre their Reformed Congregations before the ancient Catholique Church AS my violent Iudges did palpably disclaime the sentence of the ancient Church so they vnreasonablie required my submission vnto their reformed Congregations which as they be not comparable with the purity of the former so their principal Doctours Luther Zwinglius men no lesse odious each vnto the other S. Austin S. Ambros S. Hierom. then both are hatefull vnto the Church of Rome are no waies matchable with the Patrones of my doctrine For as S. Gregory Nazianzen iustly excepted against the Arrians in this māner If our faith be but 30. S. Gregory Epistola 1. ad Cledō contra Arrianos yeeres old 400 yeares being passed since the incarnation of Christ then our gospell hath been preached in vaine our martyrs haue died in vaine vntill this time c. So if for a point of faith I must remit my selfe vnto Luther Zwinglius Calvin and their reformed conuenticles rather then vnto the holy Fathers ancient Church thē surely the gospell hath beene miserably taught and all our predecessors haue beene pitifully deceiued for 1600. yeares since Singular therefore was the folly and partiality of my Iudges to detract authority from our blessed Fathers to yeeld it vnto Lutherans men of as new a stāpe in these times as the Arrians were in S. Gregory Nazianzen his time whose carnal appetites and base condition of life drew them to allow that in their doctrine which they performed in their practise being contrary in both vnto the canon of scripture and continual succession of the Church The consideration whereof did manifestly detect vnto me that either their vnderstāding is very meane or their will very perverse who feared not to disauthorise the Fathers yet would not grant me the same liberty against their brethren in whom I neuer approued any thing other waies then it was consonant with the prescription of Antiquity or dissonant from hir Tradition ANSVVER THe reformed Church that hath left Babylon and is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler having received true Religion 〈◊〉 according to Scripture was in all reason to haue had submission performed from you both because that the truth professed is against this position as also for that profession and subscription you had willingly afforded to her when you were supposed to be not only a member but a Minister in her Congregation Had you straied as a sheepe through simplicity it had been lamentable but to fly being a shepheard through Apostasie this is damnable Luther and Zwinglius though they agreed not in all points yet they both ioined in demolishing your Dagon Great lights of the Church haue diffred in some particulars nay haue whet their pens like rasors and edged their tongues like swords yet in the truth of God they haue agreed to the suppressing of the kingdome of Sathan The differēces between these two were nothing so scādalous as their ioint conflicts with Rome were victorious To coūtervaile your place out of Gregory Nazianzene Prudent Peristep hym 10 which you apply improperly Prudētius witnesseth the heathens did scornfully so deale with the religiō of Christianity in the beginning thereof Nunc dogma nobis Christianum nascitur post evolutos mille demū Consules so you as if after so many holy Fathers our Religion had beginning from Luther Zwinglius or Caluin But how contrary to all truth this is Bristow Motiue 45. Bristow his confession sheweth in
Vincentius rule is twice already interpreted and without any further answer to your clamarous repetitions interrogations You received not this point iointly from the fathers The Latin fathers how ever they retaine vpon mistake of S. Paul the word Counsel yet haue no part of your meaning the Greeke are so far from your meaning that they had not so much as the word They therfore that impugne your doctrin do it not vntruly or vnconscionably nor haue condēned you as a brother a graduat or a Minister but because you were a false brother and betraied truth and in your degrees like the Sun that went many degrees backward that in your ministry you were disobediēt you were no better then a Minister of Sathan to buffet the eares of Gods servantes with heresies and in a stubborne opposition contradiction you did repugne Authority and orders stoode out against the Iudges and Magistrates that confuted and censured you And how could you professe such reverence to the fathers you knew not when you were so opposite to your natural fathers as this is your Country Academicall fathers as this is your Vniversity spiritual fathers as this is Aust 48. epist your Church We answer your Patriarke with Saint Austin in his 48. epistle Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Hilarius aut Ambrosius aut Augustinus sed dicit Dominus We honor the fathers and where they bring Dicit dominus our eares and harts be open to entertaine them And as S. Austin vsing the same words which your Patriarch doth both vsing the words of Scripture Haereticū devita so this is my 9. irrefragable position to avoid that Religion which claimeth but hath no Antiquitie and only hath though it confesseth it not the most absurd and ridiculous Novelty for mainetenance of their positions Mr LEECH The tenth Motiue The Protestants for want of better meanes to convince the Catholiques propose vnto them questions of capitall daunger I haue often heard the Catholiques cōplaine that where as they are persecuted for righteousnes sake for their Religion yet they are traduced with the crime of obstinacy disobedience treason and such like odious imputations But aboue the rest their iust griefe arising from vniust vexations did seeme to deserue great compassion forasmuch as their life and liuelyhood is alwaies in the mercie of a most vnmercifull law touching Reconciliation and the Supremacie matters of high and capitall nature Touching the later of these two I can say more Doctor Aray because the bloudy hart of a Calvinist did seeke my ruine and subversion thereby For whereas in my sermons I continually gaue this stile vnto his excellent Maiestie viz in all causes and aboue al persons for iustice and iudgmēt supreme Head and Governour the Calvinist suspecting me not to stand throughly affected to the kings Supremacy according to the purport of the law whereby his Maiestie hath as much spirituall Iurisdiction as ever the Pope de facto had in England and 26. Henr. 8. chap. I. I. Edward 6.1 Elizab. See these things excellently discoursed by a Cath. divine against the 5. part of Sir Ed. Cookes Reportes by vertue of his saide supremacie power of Excommunication is graunted by the Lord Chancellour vnto the Delegates vpon Appeales from the Archbishop of Canterbury his courts wished M. Vicechancellour to examine me vpon this point and to require my opinion therein Which severity though it was then declined yet if that other Calvinist had beene in office as lately he was al mē may easily conceiue into what extremity of perill I had beene cast For though I ever did and shall attribute that right vnto his Maiestie which by the law temporal not dissenting frō law divine is annexed vnto his imperiall crown yet I must confesse that I did purposely moderate his title of Supremacie as the law hath established it because I alwaies conceived that the stile of Defensor fidei given vnto the Crowne of England by the Pope did more properly belong vnto him then the other which was translated from the Pope vnto the Crowne by the violence of a King and by the flattery of his subiects And if Doctor Airay had made a cōscience of his Masters iudgement he would rather haue condescended vnto the equity of my opinion then sought to draw my life into the certainety of such a danger But these men are so possessed with malice and adulation that they rather desire to satisfie their owne passions and to winne favour from their Superiours then to speak or doe according to the truth which pleadeth for it selfe within their corrupt hearts and dayly accuseth them before the throne of greatest iustice ANSVVER MAny complaine without a cause as the ful bellied Monks so fatte that they coulde scarsely breath yet cry Heu quāta patimur pro Christo The Protestants never persecuted your Religion but for the vnrighteousnes therof The mulct was inflicted for Popish opinion but execution never was threatned for Religion The oath of supremacy required is not as you treacherously cal it a most vnmercifull law if it were not required it were an vnwise vniust mercy Your accusation so vncharitable as to tearme him bloody who in his governement hath beene meeke as Moses nay in heavy iniuries cast vpō him hath beene as meeke as a Lambe and not opened his mouth I would you were as farre from bloodthirsting as his hart was frō the desire of your bloodshedding But if you remember the particulars as they bee discussed in my answer Pag. 262. it was most seasonable to sound how you stood affected to the kings Maiesty when you denied your faith and appealed from your Church The rather because in your Prayer you often left out the words supreame Head and Governor For howsoever you infer that you vsed all that belongeth to the Supremacie in acknowledging his most excellent Maiesty to be supreame Head and Governour in all causes and aboue all persons for iustice and iudgement yet seeing in the forme of the oath prescribed vnto al you were in particular bound vtterly to testifie declare in your Conscience that the Kings Highnesse is the only supreame Gouernor of this Realme and of all other his Highnesse dominions and countries as well in spirituall or Ecclesiasticall things or causes as Tēporall you ought for the avoidance of this suspition to haue spoken cleerely and plainely I knowe there be some that vse such manner of speech in their publike prayers for his Maiestie yet their forme is much more consonant to the required forme then yours is And howsoeuer Salomon was placed on his throne for iustice and iudgement as the Queene of Sheba told him and Doctor Raynolds in the end of the Preface to Harts Conference 1. Reg. 10.9 affirmeth that the Lords Annointed are the higher powers ordained to execute iustice and iudgement yet ever these words haue beene interpreted to containe not only ius Politicum
but Ecclesiasticum in which point you were most vnsound vouchsafed not to afford so much vnto the Kings most royall Maiestie as Hart doth who in the end of the Conference thus cloaseth out of S. Austin D. Rain conf with Hart. c. ◠10. fol. 589. Kings do serue God in this as Kings if in their own Realme they commande good things and forbid evill not only concerning the civill state of mē but the Religion of God also and thus much saith hee I subscribe to I omit here to lengthen my discourse by inserting any speech cōcerning the Oath The Apology where of seeing Maiesty hath so divinely and powerfully delivered As also that the grounds of all that can be said are so exactly long since proved by that Reverend father of our Church the Bishop of Winchest now of late in the divers answers to the snarling Curres that barke at the Ecclesiastes of our Salomon I also omit purposely the quotation of your Cath. Divine against the exquisite labours of that most Reverend and most iudiciously learned Sir Edward Cook because others of eminent place either haue already perfited or very shortly wil silence your Catholique diuine Your profession that you attribute as much to his Maiestie as the law Temporall requireth not dissēting from the law divine is false The law divine doth giue vnto Caesar place vpō earth next vnto God And from the vertue of that law is derived the oath of English men for the KINGS Maiestie against the Pope 2. Kings 11.4 vsurping part of his right as well as Iehoiada of the men of Iuda for Ioas their King against Athalia that vsurped his state And doe you presume to moderat this title of Supremacy I would from my soule that I might moderate your title of Traytor It is too much to be an Apostate an Adversary but in this kinde to offēd it is an offence with a high hand You see thē that the Doctor had good reason to susspect you whē you translated your selfe frō the title of subiection the KINGS Maiestie as much as in you lyeth frō his lawful dominiō You shoot at Calvin in your margine and againe and at the Doctor in your Text the Reverend Doctor is scholler to none but Christ though he and all honest men doe reverence blessed Calvin And Calvin in the place quoted reproveth not the title of Head as Protestants graunted it but in that sense which Popish Prelats gaue it him namely Stephen Gardiner who did vrge the title of Head so as if he had meant thereby that the KING might doe things in Religion according to his own will and not see them done according to Gods will Wherefore cease that calumny and quench that tongue which setteth on fire the course of nature and is inflamed by hell fire You were not oppugned by any flattering devise or spiteful malice as you affirme but by truth and faith alleagiance to God and the King Hence I ground my tenth pillar that their religion is bad who possessed with malitious recusancy and treacherous Apostasie speake evill of those that bee in authority and yeeld not Caesar that which is Caesars or vnto God that which is Gods Mr LEECH The eleuenth Motiue The Protestants manner of proceedings against Catholiques and Catholique Religion is absurd in reason and vnequall in Iustice And hence they are proued to be Heretikes IN my perusall of the ancient Fathers and Ecclesiasticall histories I did very often obserue these two things First that the Catholike Church had wisdome to discerne Hereticall innovations Secondly that she had power to enact necessary lawes for the suppression thereof so that an Heresie could not escape hir censure nor an Hereticke hir iustice If Popery therefore be Heresie and Papists Hereticks as some fanatically brand them then surely the Catholike Protestanticall Church is able to shew that she in all ages hath impugned this Heresie and that she hath her proper lawes to proceed against Hereticall offendours If not so then doubtlesse she is no more Catholique then the furious Congregations of Donatists Arrians and such like who afflicted the true Church against all order of iustice being neuer able to shew any Catholike predecessors who maintained their opinions nor any lawes made by them to correct the impugners thereof That this is the condition of Protestants I am a witnesse by their disorderly proceeding against the Doctrine which I delivered out of the conforme testimonies of the Church For whereas it pleased my Calvinian iudge to call it Popish erroneous false lying absurd Doctrine they could not reproue it otherwaies then Arrians and Donatists that is to say by reiecting the Fathers and by a tumultuous processe without any legall course And though I required them to deale with me as with an Heretique by refelling my doctrine and by proceeding Canonically against me yet they oppressed mee with authority alone hauing their will for reason and their power for iustice But for asmuch as I haue such abundant proofe for the verity of my doctrine and that their opinion is condemned in the Church for no lesse then Heresie Ambr. 10. lib. epist epist 80 81. by Syricius Bishop of Rome and a Counsaile there by S. Ambrose Bishop of Millain and a Counsaile there I appeach them confidently as Heretikes for embracing Iovinianisme as Heretikes for contemners of Antiquity and therefore as Heretikes culpable of singular pride Which infamy if they can wash away from themselues by learning and honesty then I will retract my sentence and confesse my selfe to be an Heretke for the one of vs must needes be Heretikes howsoeuer every ingenuous indifferent man must needes confesse that they did not carry themselues as they should haue done to proue mee guilty of this crime ANSVVER In your abusall of the Ancients you observed much and deserved little for it because it was farre from their meaning to speak as you desired to teach them Your two observations here be good I cōfesse but ill applyed For the Catholike Church being the same with our Protestants in all ages hath impugned the heresies which Papists mainetaine The Valentinians worshipped the Crosse and were condemned as Hereticks saith Irenaeus The Carpocratians worshipped Images they were condemned for hereticks Iren. lib. 1. Aug. haeres 7. saith S. Austin Collyridiam hereticks for adoring the Virgin Mary Angelici hereticks for adoring the Angels Pelagians hereticks for holding perfectiō Priscilianists heretickes for mental reservatiō Maniches herteicks forbidding to eate flesh Tatians and Montanists forbidding marriage and Anthropomorphites painting God in similitude of a man Are not these all by Austin Irenaeus and Epiphanius and others condemned bee not all these positions by the Church of Rome maintained For our Catholicke Protestāt Predecessors the fathers of the first 500. yeeres are ours and from thence a continuall succession of learned faithfull couragious teachers in all the following ages as Mr White in his learned Chronologicall collection in
these words the truth is that some there haue beene in many ages Motiue 46. in some points of their opiniō in his next motiue that many points of Protestancie were long before and in divers places As also the Waldenses spoken of by many who were almost 400. yeeres since do manifest our Religion to haue beene more anciēt then so But we stand not so much vpon these as because we are certaine that from the time of Christ the profession and succession of the doctrine of Protestant religion hath with much happines continued and hath appeared in place and persons and time and Doctrine and from the beginning of the Churches declination there haue beene some ever who resisted the Church of Rome and refused their Doctrine and therefore you may conclude as you do that the Gospel hath beene miserably taught amōg thē who haue not sought after the purity of doctrin Scornefull and shamefull is that title you call vs by in the by-name of Lutherans we haue no other title but Christians And as vniust is your slander that Lutherans are men of carnall appetites and base condition whose regularity in life by integrity of conversation is farre aboue any sort of Papists And this your second consideration is my second confirmation that Papists having not true knowledge cannot haue true faith either Originally in the foundation or Doctrinally in their assertions because they want the assurance either evidentiae or inhaerentiae accounting the Scriptures subordinat and the Reformed Churches illegitimat Mr LEECH The third Motiue The Protestants brand the Catholique doctrine with the name of Popery Luther THe name of Papists was first deuised by a luxurious Apostata inventour also of the name of Sacramentaries for so both Catholiques and Zwinglians stand indebted vnto him in these respects By the insolency of this man it came to passe that as many other doctrines so particularly this had beene stamped with the imputation of Popery whence it was that my Calvinian Iudges calumniating both me and it were pleased to fasten the note of Popery vpon it and of a Papist vpon me But since my grounds are meerely Catholique as you see and since this doctrine it selfe is the common faith of ancient Church it followeth either that it is no Poperie as these mē tearme it or that Popery truely conceiued is the very Catholique faith But of the two the later is more probable Wherevpon I inferred this conclusion for my finall resolutiō that Popery was necessarily consequent vpon the true grounds of diuinity and therefore my Iudges betrayed their owne folly in this behalfe for asmuch What Pope did ever devise this and many other doctrines which are called Popepery as by a condemnation of this doctrine they must inevitably confesse that Popery well vnderstood is the doctrine of Antiquity and that the Fathers were no lesse Papists haue in then my selfe ANSVVER LVxurious Apostat you know is a scandalous title cast vpon Luther whose many volumes continuall sermons and indefatigable paines did receiue a better Testimony out of the mouthes of learned Papists as is before proved The sirname of Papists is among some of you gloried in and are you ashamed of it Seeing it commeth from the worde Papa that is the Pope to whom you all profess subiectiō as a matter necessary to salvation why should you abhorre it Indeede it is S. Hieromes rule aduersus Luciferianos If any which are said to belong to Christ wil be tearmed not of our Lord Iesus Christ but of some other Hier. advers Lucif c they are not the Church of Christ but the Synagogue of Antichrist But you reply that you do not approue and assume this name more learned and more wise Papists do Anast Cochel Palaestrit honoris 1. p. 9. 6. Cochelet is zealous in the defence of it if it bee odious to others it is glorious to him wee are Papists saith he and confesse it and glory in that name and to this purpose I coulde cite others Luther was the first Author you say of this name It were the abuse of my Reader to discourse about such impertinēcies but otherwise I could easily disproue this This doctrine was by Luther and your Calvinian Iudges called Popery It was some iniurie sure to ioine things of so dislike natures as to cal him Papist who holds popery and it had beene a great calumny to you if you had not become Papist because then you were tearmed so and now professe your selfe to bee so Is not this a good reason to make you Turnecoate to leaue the religion and Church wherein you were Baptised Or because we tearme your Catholique doctrine Poperie therefore you are so angrie you will leaue vs. But consider that Catholique Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Catholique Church and the true Catholique church by the signification of the word is the vniversal Church so called because it is over al the world is not tyed to anie Country place person or condition of men According to which sense the Romane Church cannot bee called the Catholique Church Boz sig Eccl. l. 19. c. 1. Bell. de Rom. Pont praef lib. 3. c. 21. For Bozius Bellarmine doe complaine that the Protestants doctrine possesseth many and large Provinces England Scotland Denmarke Norwey Sweden Germany Mag Gregor descrip 166. Poland Bohemia Hungaria Prussia Litvania Livonia And Maginus in his Geography saith that the Greeks lōg since departed frō the Church of Rome appointed thēselues Patriarks these provinces follow the Greeks religiō Circassia Walachia Bulgaria Moscovia Russia Mingrelia Brosina Albania Illyricum part of Tartary Servia Croatia and all the provinces living vpon the Euxine Sea And not only all these but how manifest is it that the kingdome of France and the low Countries florish in the Protestant beleefe besides many thousands in Spaine and Italy It is as easie to proue that Popery is not Catholike in time as it is plaine it is not vniversall in place for besides that Reynerius who lived three hundred yeeres agoe Refert Illyr catol. tom 2. doth acknowledge that the Waldenses which professed as wee doe were reputed to haue beene ever since the Apostles time so on the contrary it is open to all the world that the Romane Church hath receaued many new born bastardly opinions which were never before extant I knowe there was a time whē the faith of the Romans was published through out the whole world Rom. 1.8 But now the Angell hath told vs that Babylon is fallen many alterations from the state of that Church Who knoweth not howe strange the point of Supremacy was even in the time of Gregory the great how the Councells of Lateran and Trent giue the Pope so great a transcendency as that he is aboue a generall Councell that the Councell of Constance and Trent forbid the Cup to the lay people that Transubstantiation was made a matter of faith by Innocent